Age of Conquest Reborn

Faced with the three-sided encirclement of more than 200,000 troops of the Independent Division, the commander of the Soviet Transcaucasus Military District, General Kulykin, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zernenko, had different opinions on whether to stand firm and wait for reinforcements or to break out and retreat.

Two partners who had been partners for many years had a falling out.

After all, General Kulykin was wily and pre-emptive. He said he was letting him rest, but in fact it was equivalent to placing Lieutenant General Zernenko under house arrest. The sudden change shocked all the officers in the headquarters. Everyone was confused. What happened to the Independent Division troops step by step?

They are pressing hard, constantly compressing the battlefield space, and shells are exploding left and right. They do not find a way to get the troops out of the crisis as soon as possible. How come the commander and chief of staff are fighting each other?

Looking at the defeated Lieutenant General Zernenko, General Kulykin's face flashed with a look of regret. After all, the two had worked together for several years and cooperated with each other quite well. If there was no friendship, even he would not

If you don’t believe me, I have no choice but to do this. It is impossible to shoot him. It has not reached this point. As long as he stays out of the way, he will not be relieved of his position as chief of staff of the military region.

However, something must be said. General Kulykin looked regretful and said: "Comrade Zernenko, I tell you clearly that your idea of ​​​​breaking out and retreating is not only unrealistic, but also dangerous.

Tang Qiuli always had many tricks in his military use. In the first war in Outer Mongolia, he used the strategy of encircling a point and attacking with reinforcements. In ancient Chinese military art, there was such a strategy, which is called surrounding three and missing one."

"The main forces of the independent division are attacking in the three directions of east, west and south. Why are there not only in the north direction? You don't think that any Chinese Tang Qiuli would make such a low-level mistake? So, I can make it clear

Let me tell you, the most fatal blow to us should be on our way to the Selenge River. Your insistence on the view, even risking your own life, just fell into Tang Qiuli's trap. As the chief of staff, you are qualified.

As a battlefield commander, you are far behind!"

Lieutenant General Zernenko's face showed a hint of fatigue, and he said: "Comrade Commander, I am willing to take any responsibility for what I did today, but I still want to say that because of your stubbornness and arrogance, you will be buried alive."

The lives of more than 200,000 soldiers in the Caucasus Military District!" After saying that, Lieutenant General Zernenko staggered and turned to leave under the supervision of several guards.

The changes on the battlefield are unpredictable. No one can fully grasp them. Tang Qiuli, who had to open the northern entrance due to insufficient troops and was unable to encircle him on all sides, did not have to use Liu Chun because of General Kurekin's wrong judgment.

The cavalry troops fought an unsuitable blocking battle. This may be an unintentional attack!

After the initial chaos, the Soviet army, under the command of commanders at all levels, gradually recovered and began to carry out organized resistance relying on the temporary and crude fortifications. Although it could not stop the pressing pressure of the independent division troops,

, but also successfully forced Liu Hongzhang's troops of the East Road Assault Group, Qiao Manshan's troops of the West Road Assault Group, as well as Yang Ketian's troops and Battelle's armored troops who attacked from the front, to slow down the pace of the attack.

The sound of guns and artillery on the battlefield was endless, and the fire of exploding artillery shells illuminated half of the pre-dawn sky. The smell of gunpowder smoke drifting in the wind mixed into a picture of a night battle in full swing. Tang Qiuli was observing in the headquarters.

From his point of view, the situation on the battlefield was very clear. The three-pronged attack force fought in a very organized manner, with a clear front line, gradually reducing the Soviet troops' living space.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe hurriedly came in and said: "Division Commander, the battlefield situation has changed. I have received a report from the headquarters of the three-way assault group that the resistance of the Soviet army is increasing. The speed of our assault has been slowed down. All commanders have

Officials ask for instructions whether to increase the intensity of the attack?"

Tang Qiuli smiled coldly and said, "The trapped beast is still fighting. Order all troops to maintain the current attack rhythm. Don't be impatient. There is no need to risk huge casualties. Don't worry, the Soviet army cannot escape. Order all artillery groups to move forward immediately.

Multipurpose

Artillery fire compressed the Soviet defense circle and killed its effective forces. Battelle's armored forces must master the rhythm. Yuhe, this encirclement and annihilation battle will not end in a day or two. The 2.78 million Soviet troops are enough.

We’ve been eating for a few days!”

Having said this, Tang Qiuli suddenly asked: "Yuhe, didn't the Soviet army make any move to break out? Why didn't I hear any reports on this?"

Zhao Yuhe also looked confused and replied: "Commander, I am also surprised. According to normal circumstances, once the troops are found to be in danger of being encircled, they should break out immediately before the encirclement is closed. However, the Soviet army took

Another way was adopted, the troops made a limited contraction and dug field fortifications on the spot to block our army's attack, which seemed to be a posture of standing firm and waiting for reinforcements."

"Oh?" Tang Qiuli raised his thick eyebrows in surprise, his eyes flashing, and he walked quickly to the map and began to think about it. After a while, he turned around suddenly and said to Zhao Yuhe: "There is only one possibility, the Soviet army

Commander General Kulykin

, made a wrong judgment on the battlefield situation. He believed that we deliberately left an opening in the north to chase and annihilate them during their retreat. In other words, I still had ambushes from Checherleg to Selenge River.

On the way, ambush them!"

"Kurekin is betting that we can't eat them as quickly as possible. He is waiting for reinforcements. The first ones to come are probably the Soviet air force, Yuhe. This is an excellent opportunity. Order, head on.

Yang Ketian of the Assault Group,

Commanding the three mechanized brigades of the East Point and the two tank brigades with armored troops, they immediately withdrew from the battle and detoured from the left to block the gap in the north. Yang Ketian's detour troops must reach Selenge Henan within two days.

shore."

"Order, Cavalry Commander Liu Chun, your Zeng Shiqiang Brigade and Bagena Brigade, change the original mission of blocking the retreating Soviet army, and instead cut off the Soviet army's logistics supply line, in the area north of the Selenge River,

Carrying out mobile operations, the Liu Chun Brigade and the Tong Batu Brigade immediately attacked Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude respectively, with the goal of destroying the Soviet logistics supply base."

"Order, the main force of Le Yiqin's aviation force will go forward and control the air combat battlefield in the airspace north of the Selenge River. After Yuhe adjusts the deployment, this will be a real encirclement. After three days, there will be no food, grass or ammunition.

, Without reinforcements arriving quickly, how long can the more than 200,000 Soviet soldiers hold on? The next battle will be easy to fight!" Tang Qiuli said with confidence.

After the division headquarters issued the order to adjust the offensive rhythm, the independent division's offensive speed immediately slowed down. The overwhelmed Soviet army secretly breathed a sigh of relief, taking advantage of the fact that the artillery shells flying in the sky stopped falling like raindrops.

In order to save their own lives, the Soviet soldiers consciously and voluntarily worked hard to dig temporary fortifications without instigation from political commissars or shouts from officers, hoping that they would save their lives. No one dared to be lazy.

On the outside of the encirclement, at the independent division artillery command post, the commander, Major General Zheng Yong, put one hand on his hip and one foot on the shell box, shouting into the phone: "Yes, the position will be moved forward immediately. Where is the new position? It's right here

In the current position of the infantry, it is too dangerous to get close to the front line? Bullshit! In less than an hour, it will be the rear! Move quickly! In forty minutes, I want to see the artillery shell hit the old Maozi soldier's head!"

Putting down the phone, Zheng Yong picked up another phone, "Is this Brigadier Liu? I'm Zheng Yong. Because the width of the battlefield is limited, the artillery positions of your East Road Assault Group should not move forward too much.

, it’s best within ten kilometers, just form overlapping firepower with the artillery on the west route! Let your brother save time and effort!"

With the same phone call, Zheng Yong called Major General Qiao Manshan, the commander of the West Road Assault Group. After putting down the phone, Zheng Yong said proudly to several staff officers in the command post: "Did you see it? At the critical moment, the division commander

I’m still thinking about our artillery. If you don’t believe it, just look at it. The final solution to the battle is our artillery’s shells!”

Forty minutes later, the silent artillery fire of the Independent Division's artillery unit roared again. Under the faint light of dawn, groups of artillery shells, with ear-piercing screams, turned the Soviet temporary position into a sea of ​​flames.

The hell of death.

"Boom, boom, boom!" Balls of fire shone brightly, and broken metal shrapnel flew horizontally, cutting the bodies of Soviet soldiers wantonly. The remaining parts of their arms were broken, mixed with soil, and flew into the air. The Soviet soldiers, who were half dead from exhaustion, were sad.

He discovered that the calculated distance should be outside the artillery range of the independent division, but now, it happened to be within the range of artillery fire.

The temporarily excavated field fortifications were just waist-high and did not even have artillery holes. How could they withstand such dense and violent artillery fire? Large-caliber grenades fell, making several loud noises. The soil raised by the artillery shells was mixed with the blood of Soviet soldiers.

, scattered

Flying high, the Soviet soldiers had nowhere to hide. Within ten minutes, the Soviet troops on the periphery could no longer withstand the attack of artillery fire and retreated to the central area. As for Commander Kulykin, he was not allowed to retreat even one step.

The order became empty talk.

At around seven o'clock in the morning on September 28, after an hour and a half of fierce fighting, more than 200,000 Soviet troops were surrounded by independent division troops from three sides and were compressed into a small area of ​​only more than 300 kilometers in radius.

General Kulykin saw that the situation was not good. More than 200,000 people were crowded together. A falling artillery shell from the independent division's artillery could kill a bunch of soldiers. The prerequisite for standing firm and waiting for reinforcements was that there was enough space and

Strong fortifications, but neither of these are available.

In order to change the extremely passive situation, General Kulykin ordered the troops to counterattack the independent division troops in three directions at the same time. The Soviet counterattack hit the iron plate, and what greeted the Soviet soldiers was as dense as a torrential rain.

Bullets, cannonballs that form three-dimensional walls of fire, are countless muzzles spitting out tongues of flame.

In addition to leaving behind bloody corpses, the Soviet counterattack yielded nothing!

(To be continued)(To be continued...)