Age of Rebirth

Commanding an army of more than one million people, changing the original plan to go straight to Kulun, turning around and heading north, and heading all the way to Milusinsk, the commander and political commissar of the Soviet Outer Mongolia Front Army, General Vasilevsky, was very upset and upset To the extreme.

When the two group armies that were divided all the way rushed to Ulan Guben, they found that the independent division had disappeared, leaving an empty prairie town. When the Soviet soldiers walked into the town cautiously, what they saw When I arrived, there were only empty houses, dead streets, dust blown up by the north wind, and well-built fortifications, but there was no one in sight.

Of course, there were countless landmines, and there was a series of loud bangs. In an instant, the earth seemed to be boiling, and the first division that entered Ulan Guben was almost buried in the flying ruins and frozen land. Among the clods.

General Vasilevsky, who received the report, was speechless for a long time before he gritted his teeth and said, "That nasty Chinese, this cunning and difficult opponent!"

As for the two group armies that seem to be going very smoothly and have already occupied Ulan Guben, General Vasilevsky is quite hesitant about what to do next. He followed the main force of the southern front troops of the Front Army to the north. At present, it seems that there is no need for this , By the time they arrived at the Minusinsk battlefield, I am afraid that the battle was already drawing to a close.

Instead of the main force on the southern front of the front army, continue to follow the original plan, go straight to Kulun, attack cities and villages along the way, and capture key points. According to common sense, the strength of the two armies of nearly 30 people should be enough. However, from the Tannu Mountains , Facing his own army of more than 100 million, that Chinese Tang Qiuli.They all dared to attack head-on, and gave themselves a clean slap in the face, and then the No.40 Third Army Minusinsk was surrounded.

Although he only made two shots, Tang Qiuli's cunning and unpredictable use of troops made General Vasilevsky absolutely not dare to take it lightly. At the beginning, Kurygin's Transcaucasus military region also had more than 30 people Troops marched southward with great momentum.What happened, the whole army was wiped out!

If he hadn't personally experienced Tang Qiuli's methods, General Vasilevsky would not hesitate to order the two army groups to go straight to Kulun.But now he dare not.Who knows that Chinese.Did he set a huge trap for his 30 people somewhere on the way to Kulun?

Although it has been 40% confirmed, Tang Qiuli's main force is in the Minusinsk area.It is encircling and annihilating its own No.40 Third Army, but who can guarantee that this Chinese will not turn out hundreds of thousands of troops.Swallowing up his two armies in one gulp, following in the footsteps of the No.[-] Third Army, when the time comes, almost all the troops of the front army will be attracted to the northern front, and it will be too late to rush to rescue.

intelligence?General Vasilevsky, now the most disgusting and disgusting thing is these two words. He has lost even the last bit of trust in the intelligence department, whether it is the General Staff Military Intelligence Directorate or his own front army. The intelligence department would rather trust their own military intuition than any intelligence!

After some hesitation, General Vasilevsky issued an order to the two armies that entered Ulan Guben, "Immediately focus on the existing occupied area, expand the results to the surrounding area, and wipe out the remnants of the independent division in the area." The troops on the ground must not go south in the direction of Kulun without the order of the front army headquarters!"

After dealing with this disturbing matter, there are even more disturbing ones. I don’t know where so many small units of the Independent Division came from, like poisonous snakes hiding in dark corners, jumping out from time to time to bite. The losses caused by his million-dollar army were minimal, not even a slight injury to the fur, but it was hard to guard against, and it slowed down the marching speed of the troops even more.

When the posture was set, the cannons and tanks came out together, and when they were about to fight, the small troops of the independent division slipped away like mice without a trace. In desperation, General Vasilevsky had to order Troops were constantly dispatched to pursue and suppress. Calculated, the number of troops dispatched along the way was almost 4 to [-]. However, until now, there has been no such suppression force, and there has been no good news.

What is even more troublesome than the small unit of the independent division haunted by ghosts is that the road north to Minusinsk, all bridges, and dangerous intersections have been devastated. The continuous work can not guarantee the normal marching speed of the troops.

The originally relatively flat and spacious road was sold by a small group of independent divisions. I don’t know how many landmines. Maybe at some point, there will be a sudden explosion like an earth-shattering explosion. Hundreds of corpses will be added to the march. Hundreds of wounded soldiers with broken arms and legs, every day, the troops started marching with the sound of explosions like this. For all of this, General Vasilevsky felt that he was about to collapse!

What really broke down Comrade Commander was Lieutenant General Bamyanov, Commander of the No.40 Third Army, a telegram sent from the Minusinsk battlefield. Among them, the most psychologically shocking passage was this passage:

"Comrade Commander, I have to report to you and the Front Army Command with a heavy heart that after more than two days of fierce fighting on the Minusinsk battlefield, our army has lost all casualties, leaving less than [-] troops. However, even though we paid such a high price, we still failed to complete the task assigned by the Front Army Command. The independent division troops, before the arrival of my reinforcements, withdrew from the Minusinsk battlefield, and their whereabouts are unknown.”

That's enough. You don't need to read the telegram that is thousands of words long. This passage alone is enough to make you go berserk. Now, General Vasilevsky's expression is on the verge of going berserk. He wants to kill someone!

Bamyanov deserves to be killed!Lost a group army of 10,000+ people, still failed to entangle any Chinese troops, just based on this one, it should be killed, but think about it carefully, is the responsibility really all on the No.40 Third Group Army?

The intelligence department, as well as itself, seem to be responsible. From a certain point of view, the No.40 Third Army stood alone and occupied Minusinsk. If the other four armies were not transferred, even if Tang Qiuli's troops were all concentrated on the northern front, they would not have such a big appetite to swallow more than 55 of them. Therefore, Bamijanov still couldn't kill him!

In the final analysis, it was his own command error, not to mention, an army commander is not so easy to kill, there must be a reasonable explanation from top to bottom, and General Vasilevsky began to have a headache again.

Just like the two group armies that decided to attack Ulan Guben at the beginning, how to act next, the more than 100 million troops that went south continued to go north, which has lost any meaning. The Chinese Tang Qiuli took the No.40 The Third Army was bitten to death, swallowing its own 10,000+ soldiers, bones and flesh, and then retreated. Before its own big net was closed, the main force of the Independent Division floated away.

Floating away without a trace, the Baikal front army went south, and it would take seven or eight days to reach Kulun, enough for Tang Qiuli and his troops to run to a safe place. Also, the battle of Outer Mongolia had not yet officially started, and in the On the outskirts of Minusinsk, a full-stacked group army was put in, which was regarded as a head-on blow to the Tannu Mountains. Adding up, the lost troops of the Outer Mongolian Front Army exceeded 20 people, which can be described as a bad start.

How should I report all this to Comrade Stalin? General Vasilevsky is full of worries. Of course, it can still be carried out according to the original plan. The troops on the southern front turned around and continued to attack Kulun. However, such a toss back and forth , It’s just a dozen days, that cunning Chinese, I don’t know what other plots and tricks are there outside of Kulun?

General Vasilevsky, so worried that his hair was turning gray, finally made up his mind and told the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Pozhnev: "Comrade Chief of Staff, report the situation in front of the Outer Mongolia Front Army to the Politburo truthfully. , In addition, order the troops, part of the two routes, the four army groups on the north route, go south from the direction of Minusinsk, and the main force on the south route will immediately approach Kulun via the direction of Ulan Guben. Speed ​​up, encircle Cullen!"

Chief of Staff Pozhnev, a little unclear, entered through the coordination of the General Staff, and the Baikal Front Army had already begun to go south. After capturing Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, the army came to Kulun, but only five or six days In terms of time, what's the point of the Outer Mongolian Front Army rushing south to Kulun?

The top priority is to find traces of the main force of the Independent Division as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Tang Qiuli is allowed to command a force of 10,000+ combat effectiveness and continue to make waves in Outer Mongolia, it will be a serious disaster!

How could Vasilevsky fail to see the doubts of his chief of staff, sighed slightly, and said: "Comrade Pozhnev, our Outer Mongolian Front Army has suffered consecutive defeats since its departure, and there is even a group army that almost What would the General Staff think, what would the Politburo think, Comrade Stalin, would think of us if the Chinese were eaten by the establishment?"

"Therefore, the only way to save the face of the Outer Mongolian Front Army is to get ahead of the Baikal Front Army, capture Kulun, and then look for fighters to chase and wipe out the Independent Division troops in the Outer Mongolian Area. This is no longer simply a matter of capturing a city Question, do you understand, my Comrade Chief of Staff?"

Speaking of this, if Chief of Staff Pozhnev doesn’t understand it, he’s really a stick. There’s no need to say more about the joints and mysteries, but there’s still one more question that needs to be decided by Comrade Commander!

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