Age of Rebirth

The battle in the northern battlefield of Outer Mongolia lasted for a whole day and night, and the sound of guns never subsided. The troops of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region kept withdrawing for a day and a night. For Commander Kurykin and his 10,000+ soldiers , it was a nightmarish 24 hours.

More than 1000 independent division tanks and tens of thousands of independent division infantry who were chasing after them swept in like a hurricane. It goes without saying that the oppression brought to the Soviet army was obvious. The independent division troops attacking on the left and right wings were more like a group of fierce Hungry wolves, biting the retreating troops one after another, flying flesh and blood flying across the river. When they were more than 100 kilometers away from the south bank of the Selenge River, there were still more than 5 troops left in the troops of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region, which was heading south aggressively.

After receiving the troop loss report compiled by the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Ji Erenenke, General Kurykin deeply lowered his head, "A fiasco! An undeniable fiasco. At the beginning of the southward march, the 30 strong army , What a magnificent momentum, just less than 20 days later, there are only so few troops left, and they returned miserably, and were chased by 10,000+ troops of the Independent Division."

"Perhaps, at the Selenge River, the troops of the Transcaucasus Military Region had already planted the seeds of their downfall. If they had not insisted on crossing the river, they would not have suffered a disastrous defeat today. Then again, Comrade Stalin and The General Staff, you are so pressed, you can't help yourself!"

General Kurykin knew better, even if he took the rest of the troops, safely retreated to the north bank of the Selenge River, returned to Irkutsk, and waited for his own fate, he did not complete the task of capturing Kulun set by Comrade Stalin , and lost 80.00% of the troops of the Transcaucasus Military Region, no matter which one, it will make itself fall into the abyss of eternal doom.

Think about it now.How ridiculous and unrealistic was the idea that I stood by and waited for the arrival of the troops of the Far East Front Army to capture Kulun in one fell swoop. General Kulykin admitted that starting from the blockade of the Selenge River, the cunning Chinese Tang Qiuli was digging a big trap for himself, which was big enough to hold more than 30 troops in the entire Transcaucasus Military Region.

It's my own misfortune.Either Tang Qiuli was too cunning, or Comrade Stalin and the General Staff simply made a badly wrong decision. Countless thoughts filled General Kurykin's heart.It was a mess like a knot of hemp that could not be untied and could not be untied.

General Kurykin suddenly thought of Zhukov, a famous Soviet Red Army general.During the First Outer Mongolian War.He was also defeated by Tang Qiuli, but he saved 10,000+ troops and his own life. As for himself, he was inferior to Zhukov.

General Kurykin hadn't realized it yet.The opponent he met was such a monstrous evildoer, with nearly a hundred years of memory from the previous and previous generations, he had no doubts about the direction of history.He had foreseen and planned ahead of time, and every step he took was calculated. Facing such an opponent, how can he be invincible?

What's more, the corps directly under the Independent Division, which is facing the troops of the Transcaucasian Military Region, is also the field corps with the strongest combat effectiveness, the best equipment, the best training, and the best fighting skills among the nearly 200 million troops of the Independent Division. , the most combat-friendly troops is the realistic situation faced by General Kurykin.

Suddenly, General Kurygin was not so enthusiastic about bringing the remaining troops back to Irkutsk safely, or he was already disheartened. Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Zirenenko, see Seeing the tragic look on Comrade Commander's face, I empathize with him. I don't know his inner thoughts. It's too early for the rabbit to die and the fox is sad, but there is sympathy.

Chief of Staff Zirenenko persuaded: "Comrade commander, now is not the time to be pessimistic and disappointed. We are not out of danger. Only when we cross the Selenge River can we completely get rid of the pursuit of the independent division troops. Comrade Stalin's order has ordered our troops staying in the Baikal area to go south and build a pontoon bridge on the Selenga River to accommodate the retreat of the troops."

After looking at General Kurykin's face, Chief of Staff Zirenenko continued: "It can be seen that Comrade Stalin and the High Command are still very concerned about us. Perhaps, the responsibility for this defeat is not entirely on us. After I am out of danger, I will fly to Moscow with you and explain everything to the command headquarters."

This somewhat means sharing weal and woe. Lieutenant General Zirnenko knows very well that General Kurygin will not end well, and he will not be spared. The cruel leader will not forgive the defeated general, rather than help General Kurykin is trying to fight for a chance of life, it might be better to say he is saving himself!

Of course General Kurykin understood this, but with a look of gratitude in his eyes, he sighed from the bottom of his heart and said, "Comrade Zirenenko, we can only do our best to save some seeds for the Transcaucasus Military Region. Order the troops, don't stop, continue to retreat!"

After finishing speaking, he gave a self-deprecating wry smile, "Continue to retreat, it is more accurate to say that continue to be routed, a defeat of hundreds of miles, even a decent blocking line cannot be organized, the independent division troops encircled and attacked on three sides, this battle is still going how to spell?"

Therefore, General Kurygin and Chief of Staff Zirnenko, with the remaining [-] to [-] exhausted soldiers with numb expressions, continued to retreat in the direction of the Selenge River amidst the sound of gunfire on their heels. What they didn't know was that on the south bank of the Selenge River, three mechanized infantry brigades, one tank brigade, and one cavalry brigade under the command of Dongzhi Chief of Staff Yang Ketian were already in full swing, completely sealing off the exit for the Soviet army to retreat. The remnant soldiers who had been beaten to the point of despair, got in headlong!

At noon on September [-]th, for the remnants of the retreating Soviet Transcaucasus Military Region, a greater disaster came. After yesterday's bloody air battle, the mixed fleet of fighter jets and bombers of the Independent Division Air Force joined the attack on the Soviet troops. in the air raids.

Originally, according to the order of the division commander Tang Qiuli, after the aviation unit fell through the war, the Soviet Air Force did not move out, so it would not move by itself, mainly on standby at any time. Last night, Le Yiqin's landline was covered with battle injuries After landing at the Kulun Field Field Airport, I had no time to catch my breath. I immediately changed into a light reconnaissance plane. Report on the air battle situation.

When Le Yiqin landed on the temporary runway next to the headquarters, it was completely dark, and the night covered the northern grasslands of Outer Mongolia. The chilly north wind blew the smell of gunpowder smoke from the battlefield, and he came to pick him up. A lieutenant staff officer in the staff office simply said, "See the division commander directly!"

Tang Qiuli looked at Le Yiqin quietly, and stood straight in front of Le Yiqin. After a long time, he said, "Yiqin, you've worked hard. The aviation team fought well. Come on, sit down and talk!"

Le Yiqin shook her head, stood like this and said: "Teacher, I have to rush back after reporting the air battle situation. After the war, the troops lost a lot, and the pilots were a little emotionally unstable. There are still many things waiting for me to deal with! "

Tang Qiuli's eyes jumped, and he nodded slightly. He sat on the cannonball box, took out a cigarette and lit it, took a deep breath, and looked at Le Yiqin with warm eyes.

Le Yiqin rubbed his forehead and said: "Master, in today's air battle, the losses of the southern and northern flight groups exceeded any other time. Seven fighter jets were shot down, 480 were injured, and 560 and eight pilots were sacrificed. A hundred pairs of pilots have been found, and the whereabouts of others are still unknown, but please rest assured, the air force has not been beaten to the ground by the old Maozi Air Force!"

Speaking of this, Le Yiqin's voice choked up for a moment, then quickly adjusted his mood, and then said: "We paid such a high price, and the Soviet Air Force did not take advantage of it. According to the statistics of each regiment, a total of 690 Soviet fighter jets were shot down. Five planes, more than 180 planes were damaged, and [-] bombers were three planes. This is the result of the battle. After the report is over, please give instructions to the commander!"

"Also, as the supreme commander of the formation in charge of this air battle, I am fully responsible for the loss of the air force in this air battle. Please punish the division commander. No matter what the result is, I will accept it unconditionally and have no complaints!" Said After that, there was faint flame dancing in Le Yiqin's eyes, the muscles on his cheeks bulged, he gritted his teeth, and looked at the teacher.

Tang Qiuli's body trembled violently, and he wanted to stand up suddenly, but then he sat back down weakly. The shock and pain in his heart were beyond words. Fighter planes, after the war, the number of fighter jets that were shot down and damaged reached 52, and the number of fighter jets that flew back intact was only more than 60. It is not an exaggeration to describe it as annihilated!"

I already had a very high estimate of the loss of the aviation unit. After all, this was a head-to-head air battle in a disadvantaged situation, and the loss was inevitable. However, I never thought that it would be so serious, especially when 260 soldiers were sacrificed. Eight pilots, this loss is even greater.

With the independent division's current financial resources, technical level, and manufacturing capacity, no matter how many planes it loses, it will soon be able to replenish the troops. However, the lost pilots cannot be quickly made up. That pilot didn't go through the Dingbian Aviation School for more than two years Careful training is required to fly solo and join the combat force, and it takes several air combat exercises to become a qualified fighter pilot and to go into battle to kill the enemy!

The loss of too many pilots is a fatal blow to an air force, especially the pilots with rich combat experience. They have fought with the Japanese air force for five or six years, and the air force has never suffered such a heavy blow The loss, Tang Qiuli's heart, was in severe pain, and at the same time, he had a deeper understanding of the Soviet Union's national strength and war potential. This is only a part of the Soviet Army's combat aircraft!

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