Age of Rebirth

So in the night of late autumn in Outer Mongolia, the cold wind blew through the empty street in bursts. From the outside, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army was quiet, with only a few dim lights, which were sparsely lit in the courtyard. Here, there are no guards at the gate, and there is no tension. From the outside, everything is as usual.

However, the rows of rooms at the back of the compound are brightly lit, and there is a busy and tense atmosphere. From time to time, staff officers come in and out in a hurry. The "tick" sound of the radio interweaves into a chorus of radio waves. The battle coincided with each other, and all the personnel of the division commander's temporary headquarters were in their respective jobs, and no one dared to slack off.

In the division commander's office, Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe put down the phone and said to Tang Qiuli, "Master, there is a call from the radio room. They have just received a telegram. Brigadier Liu's troops launched a counterattack against the Soviet army half an hour earlier, because Time is running out, there is no time to send the telegram, so call to report first, Chief of Staff Wang Jun will bring the telegram right away!"

Facing the wall with a large map of Outer Mongolia, Tang Qiuli turned around, raised his eyebrows, and said nothing. Zhao Yuhe said worriedly: "Master, the counterattack was launched in advance. It should be from the front line of the Selenge River." The Soviet army has undergone abnormal changes. If there are factors that are not conducive to our army, is it necessary to counterattack? Do you need to remind Brigadier Liu Hongzhang? Or, stop this counterattack?"

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "No need, it is a taboo for military strategists to interfere with the deployment and determination of front-line commanders before the battle. I believe in Liu Hongzhang's command ability. , Liu Hongzhang proposed to counterattack. From this point alone, his deployment of the battle should take into account all possible situations. The enemy changes and we change. Liu Hongzhang is not confused by the simple way of using troops. So far!" [

Zhao Yuhe hesitated to speak, Tang Qiuli looked at him, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, and asked: "Yuhe, the final result of this counterattack you organized against Liu Hongzhang. What do you think? Liu Hongzhang Can we completely annihilate or expel the Soviet troops on the south bank according to the plan?"

Zhao Yuhe replied cautiously: "Teacher, I personally think that the outcome is between five and five. The first brigade and the second brigade. The long-distance march is short of men and horses. The heavy equipment is left behind. The strength of the Soviet army is not superior to that of the Soviet army. It was even more disadvantaged. The troops of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards faced the Soviet troops who had an absolute advantage in strength and firepower. They fought for two consecutive days and suffered heavy losses. Therefore, the counterattack was given to the Soviet troops on the south bank of the Selenge River. With a certain blow, it should be possible. But the result will not be too great!"

Tang Qiuli smiled and said nothing. At this time, Colonel Wang Jun, Chief of Staff of the Outer Mongolia Frontier Army, came in with a telegram, which was sent by Liu Hongzhang before the start of the battle. Sure enough, the content of the telegram confirmed that the Chief of Staff According to Zhao Yuhe's judgment, the Soviet army had indeed acted abnormally. However, the battle had already started, and any orders issued would only make up for it, so Zhao Yuhe didn't make any further suggestions.

Tang Qiuli walked to the map again. Although he had read the map several times, and he was familiar with the hills, valleys, rivers, grasslands, and deserts of the Gobi Desert in Outer Mongolia, he still looked at it very carefully. It is not as calm as it looks on the outside. Both the internal and external battlefields are affecting his heart. It is nonsense to say that he is not worried at all. There is another matter that is also involving his energy.

The Soviet troops of the two infantry divisions continued to advance westward, pointing directly at Kobdo, and it was seven or eight days away from Uliasutai. Li Changjiang's Fifth Cavalry Brigade followed and harassed, but the effect was not great. After the reinforcement of an armored brigade, the restrictions on the cavalry were very obvious. In addition, the Soviet commander learned the lesson of the previous night attack and did not give Li Changjiang's cavalry a chance to make a surprise attack.

The plan to delay the Soviet army's actions was not very smooth, and it would take at least ten days for the Xiao Jinshan Department of the Ninth Brigade and the Fang Yuanshan Department of the Tenth Brigade, which marched eastward from Khobdo, to reach the Uliasutai area. It is a matter of time to arrive at the pre-set ambush area two days in advance, deploy troops, and conduct campaign deployment.

Tang Qiuli smiled helplessly. The most lacking thing in this battle of Outer Mongolia was time. Whether it was the plan to encircle and annihilate the troops of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region in the area north of Kulun and south of the Selenge River, or in Ulia Sutai's campaign plan to ambush two Soviet infantry divisions forced the troops to march desperately, but the poor traffic conditions in Outer Mongolia and several heavy rains in autumn greatly restricted the marching speed of the mechanized troops.

Take Battelle’s four tank brigades as an example, they are still struggling with the mud and swamps in the area south of Saiyinshanda. They are all trapped by natural conditions, and cannot advance quickly to reach the designated position. Otherwise, with Liu Hongzhang and Ouyang Yishan's two brigades far away, whose strength and firepower are weaker than the Soviet army, I will never approve this counterattack. planned.

However, the situation on the battlefield forced me to approve Liu Hongzhang's counterattack plan, to annihilate the Soviet troops occupying the beachhead on the south bank or drive them back to the north bank. , the troops on the front line will also pay a great price in casualties, and it is another battle that has to be fought. Tang Qiuli, who is used to using heavy troops and superior firepower to command, is not used to putting troops at a disadvantage. Down, go to fight.

"Dingling!" The red phone on the table rang quickly, interrupting Tang Qiuli's thoughts. Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe picked up the phone, "Well, okay, I see, report immediately Master!"

Zhao Yuhe put down the phone and said, "Teacher, Director Shen of the Investigation Department has reported that the arrest operation has officially begun!"

Tang Qiuli looked at his watch. At two o'clock in the morning on September 22, he suddenly let go of all his worries and said with a big smile, "Okay, Liu Hongzhang has already started playing for half an hour, and Shen Jun and the others started again. The difference is half an hour, it seems that today is destined to be an unusual night, just let us wait here for the good news!"

In the dark night of Kulun Street, the gates of several secret locations opened quietly, and groups of heavily armed soldiers appeared, and quickly dispersed and disappeared into the night, quietly rushing towards the intended target.

Hu Jitu, a key member of the "Outer Mongolian Independence League" and the squad leader of the security company of the [-]th Cavalry Brigade of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Defense Army, quietly returned to the training brigade of the advance sergeants after a secret meeting from the Lama Temple, and lay down on the bed , without the slightest drowsiness, eyes wide open, staring straight at the dark roof, the sound of his comrades sleeping soundly, filled his heart with irritability, outside, the footsteps of the sentries walking around from time to time made him feel nervous again.

The way back to the camp went very smoothly. From Hujitu’s point of view, it didn’t arouse anyone’s suspicion or interrogation, and he didn’t find anything wrong with the training camp. Everything was as usual, but I don’t know why, Hujitu In his heart, there was a strong sense of uneasiness. He couldn't explain where this feeling came from. He always felt that there were several pairs of eyes staring at him in a dark corner somewhere.

Originally, after the meeting ended, it was already past one o'clock. According to the plan, the key members of the "Outer Mongolian Independence League" should disperse and leave the monastery and sneak back to various places quietly. However, the martial law in Kulun disrupted their activities. According to the plan, it is possible for one or two people to find an opportunity to sneak out, but five NO.60 people scattered and slipped away during martial law, which is similar to throwing themselves into a trap.

If a person is captured by the Independent Division and tortured to extort a confession, it is guaranteed that all the information he knows will be revealed, and none of the key members who participated in the meeting will try to escape. Nimya Dorji has not yet found out To this extent, he ordered all the members participating in the meeting to hide in the lamasery, wait for dawn tomorrow, and after the martial law is lifted, they can go out openly.

However, Hujitu can't do it, he is a soldier, once he doesn't return home at night, there will be doubts if there is no doubt, so only Hujitu left the Lama Temple, but he didn't notice when he jumped out over the wall, Around the Lama Temple, there are dozens of pairs of eyes, staring closely at this place, and their every move has not escaped the surveillance.

At two o'clock in the morning, a rush of whistles resounded in the corridor of the dormitory. In the darkness, it was extremely ear-piercing, and there was no random Hujitu at all. I got up in a jerk, and opened my ears suspiciously, listening to the sound outside. However, this kind of late-night emergency gathering is commonplace for the training brigade, and they will come back in less than two days, and the time is not fixed. [

The sound of the whistle woke up all the sleeping soldiers. Everyone turned over and jumped out of bed in silence, quickly put on their military uniforms, and ran outside. Hujitu didn't take off his clothes at all, so these processes were saved. He was the first to go out, but he hesitated, dawdled on purpose, reached out from under the bed, took out a sharp dagger that was secretly hidden, tucked it around his waist, and quietly pulled the five people who were in the same dormitory with him. The same party whispered a few words hurriedly.

When these six people went out, they consciously stood together. After gathering in the big playground outside, Hu Jitu found that something was wrong. The usual emergency gathering at night was carried out in the dark. Everyone was a veteran. There was no sound, only the sound of hurried footsteps, but today was different, a few bright gas lamps illuminated the playground as bright as day, dazzled people's eyes.

The instructors and district captains who usually don't carry weapons are also fully armed and stand in front of the queue with serious faces. Hujitu also found that there are many unfamiliar faces in the queue, and all of them are tigers. The big man, from the breath on their bodies, could tell that they were people who had seen blood, and Hu Jitu's heart suddenly tightened.

(to be continued) (to be continued...)