Age of Rebirth

"No need?" Yang Ketian asked back in astonishment, "Deputy commander, we have established a blockade line from Chita to Irkutsk. , Wouldn’t it be a pity not to take advantage of such a great opportunity to seriously injure the Soviet army, and at the same time, it would not violate the strategic intention of the division commander—so, please consider my suggestion!” He then clarified his point of view.

Liu Tiehan put down the binoculars, looked at Yang Ketian, and said in a relaxed tone: "Ketian, remember the teacher's request. On the Far East battlefield, our purpose is not to inflict heavy damage on the Soviet army. Last night, the teacher called in person. In particular, this point is explained. If we severely injure the Soviet army, it will break the balance between the Soviet army and the Japanese army, which is not in our interests. The Kwantung Army has assembled three troops with a strength of more than two million. Time to consume each other."

"If we beat the Soviet Outer Xing'anling Front Army and Lake Baikal Front Army too hard, and lose the ability to turn back to rescue Zhukov's troops, in the future, what we have to face is the Japanese army with little loss. Is this beneficial to us?"

"Besides, if we make a move, we will expose our strength to the Soviet army, which will instead prompt the Soviet army to make up their minds and take the road regardless of casualties. Wouldn't it be better to keep it secret? What the commander means is to try to facilitate The two Soviet troops returned to aid Zhukov, allowing the Soviet army and the Japanese army to engage in a bloody fight in the Far East battlefield, consuming each other's strength, especially the strength of the Japanese army."

"Although the two Soviet troops, under the orders of Stalin, may insist on returning to the European battlefield regardless of the dangerous situation of Zhukov's troops, we must make two-handed preparations. Don't worry, our minefields alone will be able to wait until the end of the war. When Zhukov's troops were surrounded by the Japanese army!"

Yang Ketian didn't speak, apparently lost in thought, but in his heart, he was still not convinced, but he couldn't come up with a reason for his disbelief.

Liu Tiehan is near Chita.It's quite like sitting on the mountain and watching the tigers fight, pointing at the battlefield, talking and laughing happily, with an extremely leisurely posture, General Kilganin on the side of the minefield.While distraught and battered, he received a telegram from Zhukov. "The No. 20 First Army of the Far Eastern Front and its logistics troops. They have left the battlefield and will join your troops near Chita to build a channel to the Far Eastern battlefield!"

At first glance at the content of the telegram, there is nothing unusual, it is nothing more than the troops of the Far East Front Army.The evacuation of the battlefield has already begun, but General Kilganin is an experienced battlefield veteran, but from this telegram.There was an ominous smell.

The Far East Front Army has nearly 200 million troops. Although it has been fighting with the Japanese Kwantung Army for more than a month, the consumption of troops is not large. According to normal circumstances, the first troops to evacuate should have at least three to four army groups , but why only one group army can reach Chita and join its own troops?

Based on this, General Kilganin came to a chilling conclusion, "Zhukov's Far East Front Army is in big trouble, and the trouble comes from the Japanese! It may not be able to get out of the battlefield smoothly on time!"

However, based on General Kilganin's understanding of the situation on the battlefield, the Kwantung Army's current strength and strength alone cannot entangle the Far Eastern Front Army at all, unless the Japanese also secretly mobilized other troops with the intention of encircling the Far Eastern Front Army in the Far East. On the battlefield, after the withdrawal of our own troops and the troops of the Baikal Front Army, in a certain way, the Far East Front Army can become a lone army, and it is very difficult to become the target of the Japanese encirclement.

The line from Chita to Irkutsk is more than [-] kilometers away from the Far East battlefield. Such a large gap is enough for other Japanese troops to intersperse. Realizing this, General Kilganin broke out in cold sweat.

He carefully weighed the situation on the battlefield. The only feasible way now is to turn his troops around with the Baikal Front Army and return to the Far East Front Army. Tang Qiuli couldn't even say anything, he could only stare blankly at the troops continuing to retreat westward.

Turning around and returning to the Far East Front Army was a matter of my own order, but—but, this order is difficult. The general staff urges a telegram every day, and the content is the same. Urge your troops to act as quickly as possible. , Returning to the European battlefield, the German army has already hit the city of Moscow. General Kilganin understands better that the order of the General Staff is the order of Comrade Stalin.

On the one hand, it is the dangerous situation faced by the Far East Front Army, and it needs to be pulled back by itself. On the other hand, Comrade Stalin's order, which delays Comrade Stalin's life-saving plan, will of course be well known to General Kilganin. , he fell into a dilemma, and the current minefield laid by the Chinese is also a difficulty that cannot be overcome in a short period of time.

Locking himself in the tent, General Kilganin racked his brains and thought hard. He wanted to send a telegram to General Gregarif, the commander of the Baikal Front Army, to explain his thoughts and opinions. Then, the two Front Army joined hands, Let's go back and rescue the Far East Front Army. No matter how you say it, it is the Soviet Red Army. Zhukov is not annoying.

Furthermore, the weight of two front army commanders is always greater than that of one person. Even if Comrade Stalin gets angry, he has to weigh it. However, General Kilganin has a deeper consideration. Mingming, who knows what he planned, in case he resolutely carried out Comrade Stalin's order, or even if Comrade Stalin knew the dangerous situation facing the Far Eastern Front, in order to defend Moscow, he abandoned the Far Eastern Front and ordered himself and General Gregarif The troops in the army are not allowed to nod back for help. Wouldn't it embarrass him once the telegram is sent out?

General Kilganin sighed, his embarrassing hair almost turned white, and finally, he wrote a telegram himself, "Comrade Zhukov, the speed of our evacuation of the troops of the Outer Xing'anling Front is temporarily hindered on the Chita line, but The problem is not big, the only thing I am worried about is that the Far Eastern Front Army is isolated on the Far Eastern battlefield, and it is very easy to become the target of the Japanese army mobilizing heavy troops to encircle it, so I remind Comrade Zhukov to pay attention to the Japanese army's conspiracy!"

"In addition, if there is a possibility that your department may be encircled by the Japanese army, please be sure to report to Comrade Stalin and state the serious relationship. Our Xing'anling Front Army will immediately turn around and return to aid at any cost!"

This is General Kilganin's best effort. Moreover, he vaguely felt in his heart that Zhukov did not inform the Far Eastern Front of the imminent danger. I am afraid that he had a lot of worries. The most important point in person is Comrade Stalin. He didn't believe that Zhukov's military skills could not detect the Japanese army's attempts and conspiracies. Otherwise, why would he send a group army unit to communicate with his own unit? He was planning for the worst!

The Brea Mountains, hundreds of kilometers long, lie in the northwest of Birobidzhan City. The peaks are not high, but they are like a natural barrier, blocking a fertile plain from the Outer Xing'an Mountains to Heilongjiang from the cold current of Siberia. In addition, over the rolling mountains, facing it is the Kukan Mountains. The plain between the two mountains is nearly a hundred kilometers wide. It is the Soviet Union's three front forces in the Far East. They fought with the Japanese Kwantung Army for more than one year. The battlefield of the month.

After more than a month of desperate fighting, more than 80 million soldiers from the Soviet Army and the Japanese Kwantung Army fell on the plain between the two mountains. The wetland plain has never calmed down. On the frozen swamp, there are dark red bloodstains. Although it has snowed a few times, it cannot cover up the bloodstains. of dark red.

Captain Vatutin, Captain of the Third Reconnaissance Brigade of the Intelligence Department of the Soviet Far East Front, led more than [-] scouts from his brigade, and laboriously climbed up the halfway up a mountain. Captain Tujing looked at the white snow on the mountain peak, took a greedy breath of fresh air, and felt unusually comfortable, as if it had accumulated in his lungs for many days, and the smell of gunpowder smoke and blood on the battlefield all followed his breath, It's refreshing to clear everything out.

The task of the third reconnaissance brigade is to cross the Bulieya Mountains and go out to the west bank of the Bulieya River to scout the enemy situation in that area and establish an outer guard post for the front army here. For this reason, a brigade is equipped with ten The rest of the radio stations, almost every team has a radio station, and they can get in touch with the intelligence department of the front army at any time. In case of an emergency, for example, as judged by Commander Zhukov, another Japanese army, the team, is found The radio station can directly report the information to the Intelligence Department of the Front Army Command.

In order to ensure the scope of the search, Captain Vatutin spread out the nine teams of his brigade in parallel directions. The distance between each team was about [-] kilometers, and they kept in touch with the radio station. Captain Vatutin himself , Leading the brigade directly under the squad, forming its own way, taking the most direct route to the battlefield, crossing that mountain pass, you can overlook the entire battlefield.

However, Captain Vatutin himself didn't care much about this reconnaissance mission. As a reconnaissance veteran, he didn't think that there would be a large number of Japanese troops choosing this place to cross the Brea Mountains under such terrain conditions. Just because of the snow on the top of the mountain, the mountain road is slippery even if you climb it with bare hands. A large Japanese army can pass by here. If you deploy a battalion of troops here, plus a dozen light and heavy machine guns, you can stop [-] Japanese troops.

It took more than one day and one night to walk nearly 10 kilometers. Even the well-trained scouts were exhausted. Seeing that the troops were too tired, Captain Vatutin gave the order to rest in place for [-] minutes.

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