Age of Rebirth

The military conference convened by Stalin lasted for just over an hour, and it ended. Rescuing soldiers was like putting out a fire. The newly established high command immediately began to operate, and orders were issued to all relevant units of the Soviet Army.

This high command is headed by Stalin, that is to say, Stalin directly commanded the army, which is equivalent to depriving Kurykin of the authority of the commander-in-chief of the Outer Mongolia campaign. To the battlefield of direct confrontation.

Of course, it is impossible for Comrade Stalin to do everything himself. In such a huge Soviet Union, there are too many things to worry about. Therefore, Marshal Petroshilov, the chief of the general staff, was appointed as the assistant to the commander-in-chief, who directly obeyed Stalin’s orders. Comrade, responsible for dealing with the daily situation on the battlefield, and conveying the orders of the commander-in-chief to the various units.

Marshal Petroshilov did not lose anything. What he lost the most was Beria, who was full of hope to formally take over the General Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff. As a result, the bamboo basket was empty. Excluded, even Molotov, a person who has nothing to do with the army, has also entered the high command. Does this indicate a dangerous signal, which means that he has been far away from the power center of the Soviet Union, and was defeated by Stalin? Intentionally marginalized?

The more he thought about it, the more Beria became terrified, and then he lost the trust of Comrade Stalin. Beria knew how miserable his fate would be. In the name of eliminating counter-revolutionaries and under the banner of a pure revolutionary team, how many people in the party and the army The elders who died at their own hands, once they lose power, their subordinates and family members will not kill themselves alive, and it will be difficult for them to die at that time.No, no matter what, you can't let this happen. [

Beria deliberately lingered until the end, seeing that no one noticed him, turned around and slipped into the door that Stalin had just walked through, but he did not see that Molotov, the Soviet People's Commissar for Foreign Affairs, saw all this in his eyes, his A gloomy look flashed across his eyes.

At around 28:20 a.m. on September [-], the northern battlefield of Kulun, Outer Mongolia.The independent division followed three sides and encircled more than [-] troops from the Transcaucasus Military Region of the Soviet Union in a small area from Hagengaul to Baiyinchagan, with a radius of only a few hundred kilometers.

According to the order of the division headquarters, after the troops stopped attacking.On the periphery of the encirclement, fortifications were built.Put on a siege posture.Just use non-stop artillery fire to bombard the temporary positions of the Soviet army. Every time a burst of artillery falls, more or less the lives of Soviet soldiers will be taken away, and the strength of the Soviet army is gradually being consumed.

This was the result Tang Qiuli wanted to see most.It only takes two days to change the balance of troops on the battlefield, and the resistance and casualties suffered by the troops during the final general offensive.It would be much smaller. Moreover, Tang Qiuli also hoped that Kurygin would lead the troops to surrender. It would be much more useful to capture a unit of the Soviet army in an organized way than to destroy them all.

In the headquarters, Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe and Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Jun started arguing over why the Soviet Army did not break through.

Tang Qiuli listened with great interest for a while, and said to the two with a smile: "There is no need to argue, the reason why the Soviet army did not dare to break through was because Kurygin's thinking had entered a blind spot. Forming a trend of encirclement on all sides, it is a last resort to open the opening in the north."

"But in Kurygin's view, this is a great conspiracy. He is afraid that I will set up an ambush on the south bank of the Selenge River. At that time, there will be pursuers behind and interceptions in front. He only wants to retreat and escape. The Soviet soldiers are afraid that they will be defeated in one blow. Instead of taking risks, it is better to stick to them and wait for reinforcements. There are more than 20 people. Kurygin believes that Stalin will not fail to rescue them. They will persist until reinforcements arrive. Maybe they will counterattack and turn the tide of the battle. maybe!"

Zhao Yuhe and Wang Jun fell into contemplation. At this moment, a captain came in and said, "Report to the division commander. We have received information from the reconnaissance troops that went deep into Lake Baikal. The troops are gathering in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, and they seem to have the intention to go south."

"The intelligence also said that the remaining troops of the Soviet Army have a strength of more than [-] people per division. They are all logistics and supply troops. Their combat effectiveness is very weak and they only have very few heavy weapons. At present, the reconnaissance troops are closely monitoring among!"

"Oh?" Tang Qiuli was quite surprised. He couldn't understand that there was only a second-rate infantry division and lacked heavy weapons, so what effect would it be able to come forward to rescue Kurykin's troops?If this is the case, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army may be hungry and have no soldiers to use.

Tang Qiuli didn't believe that the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army would come up with such a low-level foolish trick. He must have other intentions. He said to Zhao Yuhe, "Yuhe, order Yang Ketian to send a team to the south bank of the Selenge River to The troops of the brigade crossed the river and set up defenses on the north bank. Zeng Shiqiang's [-]rd Cavalry Brigade and Bagna's [-]th Cavalry Brigade were transferred to Yang Ketian's command. In this way, Yang Ketian had enough troops to find an opportunity to wipe out this Soviet army .”

"At the same time, report the situation to Liu Chun and Tong Batu, remind the cavalry to keep in touch with the reconnaissance troops at any time, bypass this Soviet army, and don't reveal the intention of long-distance raids. Liu Chun and Tong Batu have luck, Il Kutsk and Ulan-Ude have become two empty cities, and the battle between the first and second cavalry brigades is easy!" Speaking of this, he was the first to laugh. Things, put it in your eyes.

Zhao Yuhe and Wang Jun also laughed. They were worried that the two cavalry brigades were going to attack Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude. It would be a tough battle. Unexpected circumstances made worrying redundant. .

As soon as Zhao Yuhe left, the teacher pointed to Colonel Chen Feng, the director of the communications department, and came in right after him, saying, "Master, point east to Deputy Commander Liu for an urgent call!"

"Urgent call" Tang Qiuli had a question mark in his mind. According to the current location of the Dongzhi troops, there is still more than a day's journey away from the border. It is impossible to encounter the Soviet army. What urgent matter does Liu Tiehan have? ?

Could it be that the four infantry corps of the Soviet Army who reinforced the Outer Mongolia battlefield have new situations? "Read!" he said succinctly.

"The division pointed out that I pointed to the reconnaissance troops in the east, and went deep into the Soviet Union for reconnaissance. I learned that at about [-]:[-] this morning, the Soviet reinforcements suddenly changed their marching direction and entered the eastern part of Outer Mongolia in the Svobodny area of ​​the Soviet Union. , has arrived in the Nalartu area, so that the two brigades of the Soviet army and our Dongzhi vanguard will meet at around [-]:[-] tonight. According to this unexpected situation, Dongzhi has adjusted its campaign deployment."

"The specific deployment is as follows. The troops stop advancing immediately. In the area of ​​the Wulezi River in eastern Outer Mongolia, preset positions and build fortifications. Three brigades will be used for frontal blocking, and three brigades will be deployed on each of the left and right wings. One brigade will be mixed with the cavalry of Hezhu Kingdom. The brigade, after the Soviet army has passed, block the rear road, form a situation of encirclement on all sides, and strive to wipe out the Soviet army. The start time of the campaign is at 29 o'clock in the morning on September [-]. Whether the above deployment is safe, please give instructions to the division commander!"

After Chen Feng finished reading the telegram, the headquarters became extremely quiet. This was another unexpected situation. Four Soviet infantry corps, with nearly 15 people, suddenly changed their marching direction. What caused the Soviet army to do this?Sudden changes in the enemy's situation will affect the entire Outer Mongolia campaign. [

A series of question marks flashed in everyone's minds. Tang Qiuli walked quickly to the map, examined it for a long time, picked up a pencil, and drew a straight line from Nalartu to Kulun. Then, he dropped the pencil, There was a disdainful smile on the corner of his mouth.

Stalin made a good plan. The reinforcements of the Far East Front Army were originally scheduled to join the troops of the Transcaucasus Military Region on the north bank of the Selenge River, and then the plan to attack Kulun in the south fell through. Kulykin's troops were made dumplings by themselves.

Stalin knew very well that it was not an easy task for the reinforcements to rush to the battlefields of Hagengaul and Baiyinchagan to clear the siege. First, they had to break through the blockade of the independent division troops. Two days?three days?It may take longer to get close to Kurygin. I can't afford it, and the troops of the Transcaucasus Military Region can't afford to wait.

Therefore, the troops of the Far East Front Army were ordered to temporarily change direction and go straight to Kulun, and to "encircle Wei and rescue Zhao," this move was very insidious and vicious, and it must be rescued when attacking. It didn't have much of an advantage in the first place, once Tang Qiuli sent his troops back to aid Kulun, it would definitely disrupt the planned deployment.

Then the troops of the Transcaucasus Military Region can break through the siege and break out. If the battlefield situation is favorable, it is not impossible to combine the two forces to encircle the main corps of the independent division fighting in Outer Mongolia.

Tang Qiuli had insight into Stalin's intentions, and also appreciated his ability to grasp and judge the battlefield situation, but Stalin wanted to have a Soviet version of "surrounding Wei and saving Zhao," but he forgot that there was also the "Warrior of War" by Mao Weiren, a contemporary military master. Surround the spot to fight for aid," Liu Tiehan's ten mechanized brigades were prepared for the Soviet army's reinforcements.

Tang Qiuli said to Chen Feng: "Director Chen, call back Deputy Division Commander Dongzhi Liu and fully agree with Dongzhi's campaign deployment. It is extremely necessary to completely wipe out or severely damage the Soviet army. It can ensure the complete wipeout of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region troops. The battle can be carried out calmly, because it belongs to two independent battlefields, and the specific battle plan is determined by Dong Zhi himself, and there is no need to report it to the division headquarters."

"In addition, do you need the Northern Flying Group to send fighter jets to gain control of the air? Do you need Feng Jiwu's Niangziguan Garrison Corps to send some troops to the north to assist in the battle, so as to gain an absolute advantage in strength? In addition, Brother Tiehan can serve as the deputy division commander In his capacity, he ordered the garrison troops of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards in the eastern region to participate in this campaign."

Chen Feng repeated the content of the telegram and left in a hurry.

Looking at the glaring red line on the map, Wang Jun said in surprise: "Master, are you judging that the purpose of the reinforcements of the Soviet Far East Front Army changing the marching direction is to attack Kulun?"

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