Age of Rebirth

For the No.40 Third Army, it was still a relatively easy task. Like the other four armies, they crossed the Ural Mountains exhaustedly, and they will reach their destination immediately and take a rest. Together with the Front Army Command Order, turn around and head south immediately, and run a distance of seven or eight hundred kilometers to Ulan Guben, that would be bad luck!

"Comrade Commander, please ask for instructions from the commanders of the armies. The troops have been marching continuously and are extremely exhausted. It is already dusk. Do you want to rest in place overnight and enter Minusinsk tomorrow?" Major General Khabarovsky, the chief of staff of the group army, put down the phone , turned to him and said.

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov ignored the question, but asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, how far is the vanguard from Minusinsk?"

Major General Khabarovsky replied: "Comrade Commander, there are still about fifty kilometers!"

The sun has already set in the west, and in the western sky, there is a red fire cloud, like a burning flame. Behind the fire cloud, layers of black clouds can be seen, which are gradually pressing towards the southeast sky. The wind blowing from the Ural Mountains, With a piercing chill, in the distance, the flat stretch of wilderness was shrouded in the dim light of dusk, and it seemed that there was some unknown danger in it.

"Maybe, there will be another heavy snowstorm tonight. Damn the weather! Sleeping in the wild, but not comfortable in the city, resting in place for a night, maybe those scattered independent division troops have already fled after hearing the wind, and the group army traveled a long way Come on, didn't the battle not be won?" He thought to himself.

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov frowned slightly, and replied blankly: "No, the command of the Front Army Command is to occupy Minusinsk as quickly as possible. Order the vanguard First Army, Speed ​​up the march and enter Minusinsk, tonight, the group army will spend the night in the urban area!"

"Let's go too, hopefully tonight, with a burning fireplace, piping hot coffee, and a fluffy bed," maybe.Lieutenant General Bamiyanov felt that his tone was too stiff, and said half-jokingly to the chief of staff.

The Chief of Staff, Major General Khabarovsky, responded with a smile: "Comrade Commander. I have ordered the First Army. After entering the city. Give it to the Army Group Command. Choose a good office location. Everything you want will be there. Yes, after all, Minusinsk has never experienced a large-scale war!"

"However, there may be no more beautiful girls. According to the residents who fled to the interior, after the Chinese occupied here, the residents in the city almost ran away! Minusinsk is already an empty city!" The competent chief of staff Comrade, obviously knowing that Comrade Commander prefers this option, he deliberately eased the atmosphere and said jokingly.

Lieutenant General Baminov, who was obviously very useful, got into the car and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, there will be beautiful girls in the future. You see, this is a disaster caused by the Chinese. A good city, unexpectedly It has become an empty city, by the way, after the group army is stationed, you and the political commissar should study it and restore the party organization as soon as possible, our Soviet city should not be so desolate!"

The car has not started yet, and there is a faint sound of guns and guns ahead. Lieutenant General Baminov opened the door and looked suspiciously at the direction of the guns and guns. Now, these damned Chinese didn't escape, it seems that there is still a little trouble!" He thought to himself.

The Chief of Staff, Major General Khabarovsky, ran over and said: "Comrade Commander, after receiving a report from the First Army of the vanguard, it was blocked by an independent division about [-] kilometers away from the city of Minusinsk. , is now in fierce battle!"

Lieutenant General Bamyanov got out of the car and asked, "How many defensive troops does the enemy have?"

"Judging from the intensity of the battle, the guards of the independent division consisted of about two divisions, and there were no heavy equipment such as artillery and tanks. However, the vanguard division of the First Army suffered heavy shelling and suffered relatively large losses. However, , They are mortars rather than heavy artillery, and the artillery fire is extremely violent and intensive, and the number is about a few hundred," replied Chief of Staff Khabarovsky.

"Two divisions?" Lieutenant General Bamijanov couldn't help frowning. Didn't the enemy situation report from the intelligence department of the front army make it very clear? Around Minusinsk, there are only small units of independent divisions and local garrison troops?Where did the two divisions come from, are they still called small units?

"Mortar?" What kind of artillery is this? In the group army, there has been no trace of this kind of weapon that can't be used for a long time. The Chinese actually used this simple weapon to give themselves a blow. Sinsk's independent division unit had been prepared for a long time, what the fuck, the somewhat annoyed comrade commander couldn't help but greeted the female relatives of those guys from the Intelligence Department of the Front Army viciously.

However, the defensive troops of the independent divisions of the two mere divisions have not been put in their own eyes. Lieutenant General Baminov thought for a while and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, give an order, the second and third armies of the follow-up troops, Immediately go into battle, attack across the board, defeat the blocking enemy army, and then, the first army occupies the urban area, the second army and the third army chase and wipe out the fleeing enemy army, tonight, we must occupy Minusinsk!"

"The actions of the tank troops must be rapid and multi-pronged assaults to prevent these Chinese from abandoning their positions and fleeing under our fierce attack. They cannot be wiped out. We are stationed in Minusinsk, which will always be trouble in the future!"

Lieutenant General Baminov, it is a pity that if the artillery unit of the group army follows behind, there is almost no need for infantry and tanks to charge. Three artillery divisions, with more than 1000 heavy artillery pieces, will be able to destroy the independent divisions in less than an hour. The blocking position is flattened!

It's just that I'm just thinking about it right now, because of the bad road conditions, the artillery of the group army is still more than 50 kilometers behind!It is hard to have tank troops, otherwise, the first battle will be more difficult.

All the troops of the No.40 Third Army of the Outer Mongolian Front Army of the Soviet Union were devoted to the attack on the blocking positions of the [-]st Brigade and the [-]nd Brigade directly under the Independent Division. , the shells whizzed and flew towards them, blasting out clusters of flames.

Liu Hongzhang, the brigade commander of the first brigade, stood in front of the observation port of the cover, holding up binoculars, watching the Soviet tanks, the armor reflecting the cold light, forming a wedge-shaped attack formation, the muzzles spewing flames, accompanied by a large number of infantry , towards their position, swarming, can't help but sneer.

Just now, the [-]st Brigade took advantage of it. A division of the [-]st Army, the vanguard of the Soviet Army, came in dizzy and unprepared. The Soviet soldiers sitting on the truck were not even prepared for battle. , Even the trucks ran to the front of the tanks, and no reconnaissance troops were sent to open the way. Just like that, they lined up in several columns and swaggered over.

Seeing such a good opportunity, Liu Hongzhang certainly would not let it go, and he played extremely cleverly. In order to facilitate the rapid withdrawal to the second line of defense, the brigade belonged to the heavy artillery regiment, and the artillery battalions of each brigade, all large and medium-caliber All the artillery remained on the second line of defense and did not keep up, but this did not prevent Liu Hongzhang from using artillery skillfully.

He concentrated all the more than 700 mortars in the brigade at the front. After the Soviet army entered the range of the mortar, a shell hit it. Mortars, three to 700 minutes of artillery fire, a division of the Soviet army, can retreat, but about one-half, burning vehicles, billowing smoke, the corpses of Soviet soldiers, lying in a mess On the icy snow.

According to the division's order, this is considered to have repelled the Soviet army's first attack. The first brigade and the neighbor's second brigade should immediately withdraw to the second line of defense, and together with the seventh and eighth brigades, stand firm Stare there, buy time for the four brigades that outflank the left and right wings.

However, the reaction speed of the Soviet commander was extremely fast. After receiving a head-on blow, he immediately counterattacked under the cover of the tank, and pressed all his troops up. If he retreated at this time, he would be killed by the Soviet army. The army rushed to fight.

Liu Hongzhang picked up the phone and wanted to call the headquarters of the Second Brigade, but he shouted loudly: "I said, Brigadier Ouyang, how is your situation? Old Maozi Commander, your brain is quick enough, don't let us retreat, Is that right, our two legs can outrun the wheels of Soviet tanks? What's your opinion?"

The brigade commander Ouyang Yishan said: "Brother, my situation is similar to yours. After repelling the first Soviet attack, the Soviet tanks came up immediately, and it was difficult to withdraw. We If you want to fight another battle, you must at least kill these tanks! Otherwise, it will be difficult to escape. There are still [-] kilometers away from the second line of defense. In the middle of the road, you can be overtaken by Soviet tanks !"

Ouyang Yishan paused for a moment, and then said: "However, the command of the master is to let us fight once and then retreat, and continue to fight. Is it against the order? If the master investigates it, we will be in trouble!"

Liu Hongzhang focused his eyes on the Soviet tanks that continued to advance, and said in his mouth: "According to the situation on the battlefield, we will deal with it on the fly. The current situation is that we can't withdraw. It's okay. The teacher will investigate it. My old Liu is alone. Come on, it’s a big deal, I’ll be his staff officer again!”

Ouyang Yishan didn't want to hear it, and yelled: "What are you talking about! You're still an old brother. If something goes wrong, we'll handle it together. You're right, deal with it on the fly! Let's fight again!"

Liu Hongzhang shouted: "Okay, as expected of the good brothers who fought together at Selenge River, our bazookas and recoilless guns should also be fired!"

Putting down the phone, Liu Hongzhang squinted his eyes happily, and said to Liu Chenglin, chief of staff of the brigade: "Cheng Lin, order the anti-tank companies of each battalion to enter the forward positions immediately, and for the first round of shooting, more than half of Lao Maozi's tanks must be reimbursed! "

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