Age of Rebirth

The overwhelming artillery fire covered the battlefield in the northeast border area. Lieutenant General Jiyong, the commander of the border garrison of the Kwantung Army, listened to the sound of the approaching artillery, with a dull expression on his face. A major staff officer walked in lightly, "Report to the commander Your Excellency, our artillery position was met with a strong counterattack from the artillery of the Outer Mongolian Field Corps of the Independent Division, and the artillery battle..." He paused for a moment, observing Lieutenant General Jiyong's face.

It's a pity that there was no expression on His Excellency the Commander's face. It seemed that he had expected it long ago, and that his thinking had become numb. The Major's staff swallowed a mouthful of saliva with difficulty, and then reported: "The result of the artillery battle is very bad. Optimistically, so far, most of the artillery positions of the imperial army have been destroyed, and the artillery commander, General Yamaguchi, died for the country!"

Lieutenant General Yoshinaga's almost frozen eyeballs finally rolled a few times, but his tone was worryingly calm, "Understood, Yamaguchi-kun and the artillerymen under him have completed their mission and died a worthy death. Pass my order and stand guard. The main force of the team immediately broke out in the direction of Ulannaoer and Harezan, and the independent first defense team immediately attacked in the direction of Baogeda Mountain, we should go too!"

The directly subordinate regiment plus the artillery of the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, the overwhelming artillery fire finally began to extend in depth to the Kwantung Army's border garrison position after an hour and a half. At this moment, Zhao Yuhe's expression became more and more relaxed. Lieutenant Colonel Min said: "Chief of Staff, immediately order the armored group and infantry to start an assault! Order the Outer Mongolian Field Corps to start an attack!"

In the faintly bright sky, they were already at the starting point of the attack.The armored units and infantry units of the directly affiliated regiment, which were ready to go, rushed up according to their respective attack targets.At the same time, the troops belonging to the Outer Mongolian Field Corps also started to attack. The two troops launched at the same time, like the two ends of a huge iron pincers closing, and crushed the border guards of the Kwantung Army fiercely.

The attack of the Corps directly under it was unexpectedly smooth.The shelling of the previous hour and a half destroyed all the front positions of the Kwantung Army, and.When the tanks and infantry began to attack, they encountered extremely weak resistance, and the troops seemed to be in no man's land, and there were not many effective forces to annihilate the Kwantung Army.

Zhao Yuhe who received the report.Feeling a little depressed.It's like punching with all your strength, but it hit the open space. According to the frontal width of the attack of the directly subordinate corps, it covers all the positions of the Kwantung Army. It should not be possible to hit the open space, but this is the case.

At this time, Wu Zhengmin, the acting chief of staff of the Corps directly under it, came with a telegram. "Chief of Staff, I have received a telegram from Commander Sun. The border guards of the Kwantung Army are divided into three groups to break out of the siege in the direction of Ulannaoer, Halezan and Baogeda Mountain respectively. Among them, the direction of Ulannaoer and Halezan , as its main force to break through the encirclement area, which is related to the previous Kwantung Army artillery shelling the above three areas, so Commander Sun concluded that the Kwantung Army's border guards' intention to break into Outer Mongolia has been fully exposed!"

Zhao Yuhe breathed a sigh of relief after receiving the telegram. As long as he knew what the Kwantung Army was doing, the two regiments had more than 80 troops attacking from north to south. What tricks could the Kwantung Army do? He looked at Wu Zhengmin with a smile, Said: "Chief of the Military Staff, everything is as you expected! The Kwantung Army really chose the direction of Outer Mongolia!"

Wu Zhengmin's mind was not on this, "Chief of Staff, can the attack of the corps directly under it be properly adjusted according to changes in the battlefield, and the focus of the attack should be on Ulan Nur, Harzan and Baogeda Mountains?" direction?"

Originally, Zhao Yuhe wanted to praise Wu Zhengmin a few words, but seeing that his mind was not on this, he changed the subject and said: "There is no need to adjust the overall offensive deployment, Commander Sun has already used six brigades to Set up a blocking line in the main direction of the Kwantung Army's breakout. The task of our corps now is to wipe out the remnants of the enemy on the battlefield as soon as possible, and then surround the remaining Kwantung Army troops in the area from Halege to Menghehan! "

"Order Guo Jinshan, the commander of the No.13 Brigade on the right wing, and Kong Xiangjie, the commander of the No.14 Brigade, to attack the southeast from their current positions immediately. The direction the Kwantung Army is going to run is not on the right wing. There is no point in reporting this situation to Ren Zhaoquan, commander of No.11 Brigade, and Chen Han, commander of No.12 Brigade. In addition, order the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and fifth brigades The sixth brigade will attack in the direction of Ulan Nur and Harezan, and the tasks of the other brigades will remain the same!"

Wu Zhengmin reminded: "The chief of staff, there is also the direction of Baogeda Mountain, and there are also some Kwantung Army troops. In which direction are they breaking through? Will you send at least one brigade of troops to pursue the attack?"

Zhao Yuhe smiled and said: "Chief of Staff, in the direction of Baogeda Mountain, our two main brigades are blocking the way. Commander Sun's troops are about to turn there. Take the train from Aershan to Ximan. Say, do you still need us to send troops? No matter what, we have to save some meat for Commander Sun!"

Wu Zhengmin patted his head and was also happy, "Chief of Staff, I forgot this quarrel, the troops of the Outer Mongolian Field Corps going south also have 10,000+ people, and they can take the Kwantung people who broke out in the direction of Baogeda Mountain with them. The army eats it!"

Five hours later, on the Gobi Desert in the southeast of Outer Mongolia from Halege to Menghehan, the tired figures of soldiers of the Kwantung Army appeared. The commander, Lieutenant General Jiyong, was also among the messy ranks.

Under the scorching sun, Lieutenant General Jillong stepped on the hot gravel, looked back at the battlefield where guns were still ringing, and let out a long breath, "Finally, I can stand out from both sides of more than 80 soldiers of the Independent Division." It is incredible to break out of the encirclement under the attack!" He thought with admiration that the staff officer beside him saw that the Commander's lips were chapped, his face was covered with dust, and he looked like a refugee, so he handed over the water bottle, but he did not push it go aside!

Even Lieutenant General Jiyong did not dare to believe that the hope was slim or desperate to break through this time. With the current results, he was able to avoid the interception and killing of the independent division's armored group on the battlefield full of artillery fire, and he was able to fight in the Mongolian field outside the independent division. On the Corps' position, two openings were torn open, and it was more than [-] kilometers away from the battlefield. Everything was like a dream. It succeeded, and it felt like a narrow escape!

Lieutenant General Jiyong walked to a gravel-covered mountain and looked at the messy team. Soldiers walked hard on the Gobi Desert in groups of three and two. The wounded soldiers supported each other and tried to keep up with the march. Just at the bottom of the hillside in front of his eyes, a wounded soldier fell headlong on the scorching Gobi Desert and did not move anymore, while the soldiers walking past seemed to be indifferent, as if they had never seen him. He walked past the corpse of his companion, just as if it was a stone lying on it.

Lieutenant General Yoshinaga couldn't help frowning. From the soldiers of the Empire, he saw a great crisis. It was a kind of spiritual failure and depression. This was very dangerous. The energy has been destroyed, but the troops are not out of danger yet. The distance of more than 20 kilometers is only a matter of ten minutes for the tanks of the independent division.

Lieutenant General Jiyong felt that it was necessary to gather troops, count the number of people, or reorganize to determine the blocking troops. He needed to know how much money he had in hand before he could make a decision on the next move. The most important thing was to give The imperial soldiers were confident and encouraged to meet the next long-distance march and deal with the trailing pursuit of the independent division troops. For the soldiers of the Kwantung Army Border Guards, the test has just begun!

"Chief of staff, order the troops to march quickly and assemble immediately with the original establishment. Each unit counts the soldiers and weapons and equipment! All staff of the staff department immediately go to each unit to supervise and inspect this matter! Hurry up, within an hour, It must be done, we don't have much time!" Lieutenant General Yoshinaga said hurriedly to the chief of staff of the garrison, General Watanabe.

On the battlefield that was still shrouded in embers, sporadic gunfire was still ringing. Sun Zhenbang's armored command vehicle passed through the bomb craters and the corpses of Kwantung Army soldiers everywhere, and drove like lightning to a hill with sparse bushes. , in front of Zhao Yuhe's command car.

Under the protection of dozens of guards, Zhao Yuhe watched Sun Zhenbang jump out of the car. The two commanders on the northeast border battlefield had just met at this moment. "Hello, Chief of Staff Zhao!" Sun Zhenbang raised his hand in salute.

After Zhao Yuhe returned the gift, he said straight to the point: "Commander Sun, your troops are about to go south, and the remaining matters on the battlefield will be handled by the corps directly under your command! The troops deployed on the line from Halege to Menghehan , have you started to turn in the direction of Aershan?"

Sun Zhenbang laughed, and said: "Chief of Staff, you are in a hurry to drive me away, what's the matter, are you afraid that I will steal the fat from the mouth of the regiment directly under you? Except for the remaining six brigades, I noticed that the little devil After attempting to break out of the siege from the two directions of Halleg and Menghe Khan, I was worried that I would let the little devil go, so I didn't have time to ask for instructions, so I transferred five infantry brigades and two tank brigades. The devils have fought!"

"I just want to leave. I'm afraid I can't leave now. At this time, you asked me if the troops have begun to transfer in, ah... Hahaha! To tell you the truth, there are only eight brigades left around me. But it doesn't matter, the troops on the front line of Harag and Menghehan are under your command, and I promise not to interfere. After this battle is over, except for the remaining six brigades, you will return the other troops to me. Already!"

Sun Zhenbang laughed, his eyes gleaming with cunning and complacency, Zhao Yuhe was speechless, pointing at Sun Zhenbang and said, "You, if I force you to withdraw the troops, it would be a blind command. Let’s talk about the battle. According to reports, there are still a small number of Kwantung Army troops breaking out in the direction of Baogeda Mountain. They are directly under the No.11 Brigade and No.12 Brigade of the Corps, and set up a blocking line there. This part of the Kwantung Army will be handed over to you. Already!"

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