Age of Rebirth

From the outskirts of Minusinsk, the second line of defense of the independent division, about 40 kilometers away, in the headquarters of the No.[-] Third Army of the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front Army, at this moment, a dignified atmosphere enveloped the hearts of all Soviet commanders. heart.

Lieutenant General Bamyanov, the commander of the group army, frowned. The progress of the battle was completely unexpected. The independent division troops, abandoning their original positions, did not retreat into the urban area as they judged, preparing to fight. street fighting.

The Chinese still have a second line of defense, which is this line of defense. The group army launched five division-level attacks in a row within more than three hours, but they were all repelled. Even the infantry did not see the opponent's position. , just fell under the raindrops of shells, and the roaring, unknown model, but able to blow up the offensive route into a sea of ​​​​fire, the group army has paid 2 yuan for more than three hours of fighting Many casualties.

From the bottom of his heart, Lieutenant General Bamijanov was really shocked by the sudden powerful artillery fire used by the Independent Division. He had a question that lingered in his mind, "During the previous battles, why didn't the Chinese use artillery fire? It was the last The hole card, or is there another conspiracy?"

Is it the main force of the independent division?But according to the battle situation, it shouldn't be. Although the Chinese artillery fire is very violent, judging from the intensity of the firepower on the front line, the strength of the independent divisions on the battlefield is at best four to five divisions.** There are only 10,000 people, and the information from the intelligence department of the front army shows that the main force of the Chinese Tang Qiuli has at least two [-]+ people.

Could it be that the Chinese, Tang Qiuli, prepared a huge trap for himself by not using all his troops?

With that in mind, Lieutenant General Bamyanov.At that time, he broke out in a cold sweat. To be able to encircle the 43rd Army, the strength of the independent division must reach at least 30 people. He was a little hesitant in his heart. Tang Qiuli's true intentions?

Both approaches have shortcomings. If the battle situation is reported, it will be later.Prove that what I am facing is not the main force of the independent division. Because of my false report of military information, I have attracted all the troops of the front army to the vicinity of Minusinsk.So much so that it affected General Vasilevsky's overall campaign plan, and the consequences were quite serious.The grumpy Comrade Commander.I definitely can't spare myself, dismissal is the lightest punishment.

If you continue to attack, if you fall into Tang Qiuli's trap, the No. 40 Third Army may be completely wiped out, so stop and wait and see what happens.It didn't work, and it turned out afterwards that it was a false alarm, and the independent division troops on the opposite side.It's just four or five divisions of troops, and the accusation of delaying the fighter plane and shrinking back made him unable to bear it.

For a while, Lieutenant General Bamyanov, who had 10,000+ troops in hand, was in a dilemma, bewildered, and hesitated.

Major General Khabarovsky, the chief of staff of the army group, saw Comrade Commander, he was a little distracted, and hurriedly reminded: "Comrade Commander, the most urgent task is to decide what action we should take, whether to organize another attack, or rest overnight, and try again tomorrow." Make a plan, or report the situation to the front army headquarters and wait for instructions?"

Lieutenant General Bamyanov, full of entanglements, continued to attack. Obviously, there was no bargain, and it was not a good idea not to fight. He asked, "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation of the armored forces?"

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky, his expression darkened, replied: "The anti-tank weapons of the Independent Division are very advanced. After several battles, we have less than [-] tanks left, and the rest have been destroyed. Not only that, it caused a large number of tanks to be destroyed, as well as the artillery of the independent division."

Lieutenant General Bamyanov was shaken all over his body, and the loss of the tank troops was not small. As expected, the burning steel on the battlefield was right in front of his eyes, but four tank brigades, more than a thousand tanks, three For more than an hour, there were only less than [-] vehicles left, and they couldn't even break through an enemy's defense line, which made him unable to accept this fact.

artillery!Damn artillery, if it's your own artillery, follow behind the troops, three artillery divisions, more than 800 heavy artillery, can completely suppress the firepower of independent division artillery, can blow up the Chinese positions, how can tank troops and infantry Such a big loss?

Lieutenant General Bamyanov said angrily: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where is our artillery now? Why haven't we arrived at the battlefield yet?"

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said: "Comrade Commander, I will send a telegram to inquire immediately!" He just turned around and had not had time to go out.

A major staff officer rushed in with a telegram and said: "Report, Comrade Commander, I received an urgent telegram from the artillery unit that they were suddenly attacked by the independent division. The size of the division, as well as the current situation, the connection is interrupted, and the current situation is unknown!"

A chill flashed across the hearts of all the Soviet generals in an instant, and attacked an artillery army. How much troops would the Chinese have to mobilize? Is it just the strength shown in front of them?

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov no longer hesitated at this moment. From the moment he knew that the artillery was under attack, he judged that he had fallen into the trap of the Chinese Tang Qiuli. It is undoubtedly the main force of the Independent Division!

"Chief of Staff, report the situation to the Front Army Headquarters immediately. My No.40 Third Army is surrounded by the main force of the Independent Division on the outskirts of Minusinsk. I request reinforcements!" he said eagerly.

Immediately, Lieutenant General Bamyanov issued another order: "Order, all troops of the group army should retreat immediately and move closer to the troops going south!"

The staff officer who had finished recording the order had not waited to convey it, "Ding ding ding!" The phone on the shell box rang hastily. Chief of Staff Khabarovsky picked up the phone. She paled suddenly, "What? Repeat it again!"

Putting down the phone, Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said: "Comrade Commander, after receiving a report from the forward troops, the independent division troops have started a full-line counterattack, and a large-scale armored cluster has been used, with at least a thousand tanks. , to launch a violent assault into our position! There are also an unknown number of self-propelled artillery, accompanied by the attack of the independent division armor group!"

"More than 1000 tanks? Self-propelled artillery?" Lieutenant General Bamiyanov's scalp was numb, cold sweat ran down his spine, and his throat was dry. In terms of the terrain conditions around Minusinsk, Bamiyanov Lieutenant General Miyanov is very aware of the lethality of the tanks and self-propelled artillery of the Independent Division to his own troops. Before that, the 43rd Army had always adopted an offensive posture and did not build a position at all.

The flat field, tanks and self-propelled artillery are undoubtedly the nightmare of our own troops. "Order, invest all the tanks, be sure to block the attack of the independent division's armored group, and buy time for the troops to retreat. The troops adopt the tactics of echelon cover and retreat gradually. The order of retreat is, the third army, the second army, and the first army, move quickly!" Lieutenant General Bamijanov roared angrily.

In other words, the entire group army made a big U-turn, and the third army that had attacked earlier became a broken army. This is also a helpless decision. The broken army, under the fierce attack of the independent division armor group, has very little chance of survival , but it is better than the entire group army being entangled by the Chinese!

In the headquarters, there was an immediate chaos, the staff members were anxious to pack all kinds of things, and the radio station was busy picking up the wires and transferring, "Reporting, I received a call from the Second Army and the First Army, and a large number of independent soldiers appeared on our left and right wings. Division troops, launch a fierce attack on us!" A staff officer put down the phone and shouted in panic.

Intensive gunfire came from both sides. Lieutenant General Bamyanov sat down on the canvas marching chair, "Surround!" This was his first reaction, and he got into the Chinese people in a daze. Tang Qiuli set a trap for himself.

"Information! Damn intelligence!" Lieutenant General Bamiyanov suddenly roared hysterically, who is he to blame? In the final analysis, the 43rd Army has come to where it is today because it was misled by intelligence from the Front Army Intelligence Department. Around Nusinsk, there are only a small group of troops from the Independent Division, fart!

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said anxiously: "Comrade Commander, now is not the time for us to hold anyone accountable. We should take countermeasures immediately, otherwise, our situation is very bad!"

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov's eyes showed a cold look of despair, and he said viciously: "Chief of Staff, order the troops to break through at all costs! We must break through! As long as we can hold on for two days, the reinforcements will catch up." Arrived! The third army withstood the frontal attack of the Chinese, the second army launched a counterattack to the left and right flanks, the first army retreated quickly, and told the three army commanders that if we cannot break through, we will fight the Chinese to the death! "

On the outskirts of Minusinsk, with a frontal battlefield more than 1000 kilometers wide, facing the Soviet troops without any fortifications to rely on, the independent division had four tank brigades, more than [-] tanks, and formed eight attack arrows. It didn't take much effort In a short time, the Soviet infantry's blocking line was defeated, and it cut into the depth of the Soviet army's position fiercely, cutting the weak blocking line hastily formed by the Soviet Third Army to pieces.

The self-propelled artillery accompanying the tank attack, and the extended shooting artillery group, blasted the Soviet army into dust, and the flames were shining, clearing all obstacles on the tank's offensive route. In the flames, there were infantry soldiers of the independent division accompanying the tank to counterattack, A healthy figure.

Tang Qiuli's counterattack was extremely fierce as soon as he made a move. All the tanks and infantry of the four brigades were thrown into the attack.

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