Steel Soviet Union

In addition to being bombed, the victims of bombings were more miserable than those who suffered bullets. The Japanese army finally couldn't bear the bullets many times more.

No matter how reluctant they are, they still have to face the cruel fact that it is impossible to win back the forward positions captured by the Russians.

The Russians, whose firepower was so outrageous that they occupied the position, looked like a bloody mouth full of fangs.

Just open your mouth and do nothing, and a huge amount of death-defying Japanese will be used continuously. Just like the pork that is continuously fed into the meat grinder and stuffed with sausages from the assembly line in the meat factory, it is smooth and smooth.

The Japanese army was crazy, but not stupid.

No matter how arrogant the Japanese commander was, seeing this posture, he realized that this should not be the case, and something must be done to save the situation.

On the third line of the Japanese army's position, placed in a fully buried earthwork bunker at a hidden commanding height, a Japanese division commander with the rank of lieutenant general on his shoulders was holding a telescope and frowning.

"Is the Russian artillery fire still going on?"

"Hi! Your Excellency, Division Commander! The Russian heavy artillery barrage extends to the first position, continues to bombard the buffer area between it and the second position, and directly covers the second position! The shelling has continued from just now to now 48 minutes without stopping!”

"It's been 48 minutes, almost an hour?! Your Majesty, how many artillery shells do the Russians have? This is a heavy artillery cluster that sounds like none of them have a caliber below 100 millimeters!"

Previously, I had only heard that the Russian artillery was powerful. They always emphasized the "big artillery doctrine" and blasted the Germans to pieces, but I couldn't understand exactly how powerful it was.

Now it's better, I feel it myself, which is thousands of times more powerful than any verbal description heard through hearsay.

The key to the current problem lies precisely in the extremely brutal artillery firepower of the Russians.

The buffer zone between the first and second positions has completely become the bombing area of ​​the Russian heavy artillery cluster, and the Russians have used artillery barrages to create a wall of destruction visible to the naked eye.

The intention was very obvious. They were determined not to let the Japanese troops on the first line of defense withdraw.

As soon as the aggressive Russians took over the battle, they planned to take down the entire regiments and brigades stationed in the first position. This made the old lieutenant general who was responsible for coordinating the joint command of the three divisions both Angry and scared.

What makes the Russians angry is that the Russians are so arrogant that they don't even conduct fire tests. When they come up, they directly want to eat one of their own regiments and a large group.

What I'm afraid of is that the Russians seem, seem, and maybe, really have this strength.

At least if there are no major changes in the current development of the war situation, it means that the Russians can really do it.

It was impossible for the Japanese troops on the first line of defense to withdraw. Retreating through the bombing zone of the heavy artillery barrage was purely an act of suicide.

Even the mechanized elites of the Germans, who had considerable tactical mobility, could not do this. The Japanese soldiers walked across the bombing zone on two bow legs. This was a suicide attempt without even knowing where their own graves pointed.

If we can't withdraw, then we can send reinforcements to help, okay?

Even worse.

The Russian artillery shells do not distinguish whether the troops you are trying to cross the bombing zone are retreating troops or reinforcements. As long as they are Japanese devils, they will all be killed. One by one, they will all be sent to you.

Not to mention that the Russians are not satisfied with this.

The artillery fire coverage extending in depth not only stayed in the buffer zone between the first and second positions, but also hit directly to the front of the second position.

The intention is very obvious. This is a naked conspiracy to warn the Japanese army.

Assemble troops at the starting position at the front of the second line of defense and try to assist the Japanese troops who were beaten and beaten on the first line of defense to withdraw.

Regardless of whether you Japanese devils can do it or not, you should not even think about this idea, which directly physically cuts off the possibility of the Japanese army sending reinforcements.

"The Russian pig is too bully! It's so arrogant!"

The Japanese lieutenant general, who became increasingly angry as he thought about it, cursed in his heart.

But if words could curse the Russians to death, Moscow would have fallen long ago. Which one is more effective than words and heavy artillery is a question that all fools know the answer to.

The Japanese lieutenant general, who had no other choice, pondered for a moment, and then blurted out an order that was unwilling to sit back and ignore failure.

"Send chariot troops for reinforcements! Use your mobility to bypass the Russian bombing zone and outflank them from both sides to quickly support the first position!"

"We are not asking to regain the position, but we must at least support the retreat! We must not let the Russians attack so unscrupulously!"

Your Majesty the Lieutenant General had a good idea. He allowed the Russians to attack with their first move, seizing a position and adding one regiment after another.

How to fight this battle? What do the wing and group commanders below think? What to do about the morale of the grassroots soldiers?

Not to mention that the Russians, who have no losses and are coming with the power of victory, will definitely continue to attack with all their strength.

The invisible ebb and flow of morale will only make it more difficult to fight. Even if the first position is lost, it must cause some losses to the Russians, dampen the Russians' vigor and consume their offensive energy.

It's called fighting when it comes back and forth, and it's called giving away for free.

The Japanese lieutenant general, who was well aware of this, decided to use his division's trump card - a fully manned tank regiment, and aggressively killed the Russians as if they were going to show off. past.

At the same time, on the other side, behind the violently attacking Red Army offensive troops, Kulbalov, who was located in the forward command post, also received the latest battle report.

"Comrade Division Commander, the enemy's reinforcements are moving towards the two wings of our attacking force. The scouts reported that the Japanese army dispatched a large number of tanks. It seems that they are trying to attack quickly with mobility and launch an attack from the flanks."

Long ago, the leader division used small and light tanks like the T-70 for reconnaissance. They are easy to raise even though they are small in number, and there are no logistical problems.

But later, when better equipment became available, little guys like the T-70 retired from the leadership division with great success and honor, and were replaced by the BMP43 infantry fighting vehicle as the scout's accessory vehicle.

Whether one type of equipment can completely replace another type of equipment depends on whether it has stronger performance than the old equipment it is replacing, and whether it can win overall in the same field.

Just like the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship, it is purely because the aircraft carrier is positioned as a long-range firepower projection platform at sea. The firepower projection distance and combat radius output by the carrier-based aircraft have completely exceeded the positioning of the long-range firepower projection platform at sea. Platform battleships can replace them.

It's not that the aircraft carrier sank the battleship. The aircraft carrier was awesome, the aircraft carrier restrained the battleship, and the aircraft carrier replaced the battleship. That's not the case at all.

In the same way, the BMP43 can replace the T-70 as a new reconnaissance combat vehicle purely because the BMP43 can do better than the T-70 in the reconnaissance field under the current equipment system.

In terms of maneuverability, the BMP43 is also a fully tracked and fully enclosed combat vehicle. It is no qualitatively inferior to the T-70 in terms of passability and speed.

In terms of firepower, the BMP43's 25mm cannon is sufficient for reconnaissance missions. Especially in most enemy reconnaissance situations, the enemy's lightly armored peripheral troops that are likely to come into contact have stronger suppressive power, far exceeding the single-shot cannon of the T-70.

In terms of protection, although the BMP43 is known as an infantry fighting vehicle, it is better than the T-70, which is known as a tank.

After all, it is the basis of a medium tank, and it can also be equipped with a full set of additional armor. No matter how bad it is, it can't be much worse.

Not to mention the function of BMP43 to pull an infantry squad, which is simply a sight that makes the scouts ecstatic and the listeners in tears.

No longer do you have to drive a GAZ small jeep, ride a motorcycle, or even use a tank plug-in to follow the T-70 to take risks and engage in meat reconnaissance. It’s just exciting to get off the car to conduct reconnaissance, get in the car and run.

The BMP43, which has a larger space and a newer platform, is also equipped with a vehicle-mounted radio station with higher power and longer communication distance. Compared with the original T-70, which had no radio but had a metal box welded to the outside of the tank and a plug-in radio, it was infinitely better.

Therefore, although it sounds strange for an infantry fighting vehicle to be used for reconnaissance, it is one of the most suitable models and equipment under the current equipment system of the Red Army that was modified by Malashenko.

With a reconnaissance vehicle like the BMP43 in hand, the leader's scout troops, whose ability to perform tasks has been greatly enhanced, can maneuver around the edges of the battlefield and provide timely feedback.

The news that a large number of Japanese tanks were discovered in a roundabout way was reported to Kulbalov's division headquarters as soon as possible.

Holding a telescope and staring at the smoothly progressing offensive in the distance, Kulbalov turned around to face the chief of staff without thinking much and immediately gave the order.

"Send out a second batch of attack troops and circle around from both sides. If the Japanese want to play with tanks, then play with them and fight them back with attack versus attack."

"The artillery troops continue to maintain fire coverage! I judge that within half an hour, the battle on the first position will be over. Once the artillery fire stops, the first batch of attacking troops will continue to attack from the front, and the second batch of attacking troops will continue to attack from the front. After defeating the enemy's reinforcements, immediately encircle and press them from both sides!"

"The goal is to cooperate with the first batch of attacking troops on the middle road, capture the second Japanese position in one go, and finally complete the rendezvous on the second position. Then switch to a defensive posture on the spot and prepare for the general attack on the third position. "

"The Japanese defense line only has three positions. No matter what the third position, they will fight us desperately. These crazy militarists would rather die than surrender as soon as possible."

"So be sure to be prepared, use all your strength to destroy the enemy, and then report the news of our victory to Comrade Commander!"

"Yes, Comrade Commander."

There is one thing that Malashenko has never said, but is quietly doing it with his heart.

It is Malashenko's long-established plan to train Kulbalov as the successor to the future commander of the leading army.

In order to avoid the advent of the great peace era after the war, if he and Lavrinenko were transferred from military command positions in the military agencies one after another and moved to higher positions, the leading army would not even have a reserve cadre to promote and no successor.

If he really wants to directly parachute a military commander down, Malashenko is more or less worried that he will lead the leading army astray and will not be able to complete the messy work of combining various arms.

Also because he has always been with Malashenko, Kulbalov's commanding style of broad openness and frontal suppression is indeed very similar to Malashenko.

In today's battle, the reason why Malashenko chose to delegate the power of command was to let Kulbalov take charge.

A very important reason is that I also want to take this opportunity to see what Kulbalov's current strength is and whether he can command a force of the same size as the original leader's division.

If the integration of various arms at the division level fails, Malashenko will have to make other plans, and the time when Kulbalov can take the position of corps commander will be postponed indefinitely.

But judging from the current situation, Kulbalov, who has basically learned 90% of Malashenko's skills in arranging troops and has no difficulty in dealing with the Japanese army, can be said to have performed well.

With one division at hand dissatisfied and with only 80% strength, the three Japanese divisions on the defense line were beaten violently and lost their temper. Put the Japanese army into a complete set of combat plans, lead the Japanese soldiers by the nose, and go straight to hell.

"Varosa sent a telegram from the river. He is directing his divisions to cross the river and assemble. He can't sit still knowing that Kulbalov is killing everyone in front of him. Look, it is clearly stated in the telegram that he is asking for money. He kept it, it didn't look like a telegram from the division commander, but more like a commando captain."

"Then he was the commando captain when he was in Stalingrad? Now that he is sitting in the position of division commander, he can still remember his original intention. I think it is a good thing. If he is indifferent, I think there is something wrong here."

Malashenko, who smiled and spoke in agreement with the political commissar holding the telegram, stood in front of the map and drew it himself.

The red circle drawn by the drawing pen in his hand seems to have firmly framed the blue defense line representing the three Japanese divisions.

"After this battle, at least the Japanese field corps in the direction of Harbin will be exhausted by more than half of its strength."

"This bunch of bandy-legged monkeys are now in dire straits on all sides of the defense line, and their mobile forces have basically been mobilized. Killing these three divisions will be an irreplaceable force deficit for this bunch of bastards, and then Kurbalov and Varosha will The march of these two men was in a race."

Before he finished speaking, Malashenko put down the drawing pen in his hand. He turned around and saw that the political commissar comrade holding the telegram had already arrived in front of him.

"Kurbalov came to report that the first Japanese position has been captured. It was found that the Japanese defenders were fully equipped with one regiment and one brigade, and they have been completely wiped out. From the time the attacking troops left the starting position to the complete capture position, it took a total of 58 minutes to end the battle, and it was specifically emphasized that it was within one hour.”

"We are now launching an offensive against the Japanese army's second position. The intensity of the resistance encountered has greatly increased, but we are still confident that the battle will be ended within three hours."

"Three hours? It seems that our Comrade Kurbalov has set a big goal for himself. He wants to eat all three Japanese divisions in one day."

"Otherwise, if the first two positions were taken down in the morning, what would Kulbalov do in the afternoon? Is he organizing his men to stand on the positions and pee on the Japanese in the third position?"

His tone was relaxed and he was even joking. He took a look at the telegram from the political commissar's hand with a smile and immediately gave the order.

"Okay! Since Kulbalov has such ambitions, the military must fully support him!"

"Delegate the command of the army's artillery to him, and tell Kulbalov that those ISU-203s now belong to him. In addition, send a report to the front army headquarters, requesting to arrange the aviation operation schedule in the afternoon to conduct an attack on the last Japanese position. Supplementary bombing.”

"With all the artillery and aviation support in place, it depends on whether Kulbalov can accomplish the goals he set for himself."