Age of Conquest Reborn

Prince Zai Ren, the commander-in-chief of Japan's Far East Campaign, must fight desperately. On the Far East battlefield, because the Soviet Union's two front armies with more than two million troops turned around and returned to support Zhukov's troops, they were pressing towards the Far East battlefield. I originally thought that they fell into their own calculations.

The force-reading division troops will not let go of the opportunity for the Soviets to hold back.

Now it seems that I still underestimated the cunningness of that abominable China devil Tang Qiuli. He made it clear that when the Japanese [***] team was fighting with the Soviets and both sides were injured, he would jump out and take advantage.

Prince Zai Ren did not believe that the battle rear guard cluster deployed at the blocking line could completely block the Soviet reinforcements. The gap in military strength was too great. Now, the war situation in the Far East has reached a point where there is no possibility of making peace with the Soviets. In order to

In order not to be eaten by Tang Qiuli, the Imperial Army in the Far East must eliminate Zhukov's Far Eastern Front at any cost, and then turn around and face the Soviet reinforcements.

Although doing so would greatly weaken the empire's military strength in the Far East, it must be done. As for the follow-up actions of the Chinese devil's troops, Prince Zai Ren could not care about the solution he had to solve for the time being.

Facing the current crisis, "I can't help myself!" Prince Zai Ren lamented in his heart. Who would have thought that the flawless plan would now be out of control.

Prince Zai Ren turned his attention to Major General Yamada and said in a hoarse voice: "Yamada-kun, please convey my order immediately. The troops on the left and right wings of the Soviet position will immediately engage in the attack. In addition, in the name of the headquarters, I will send a message to all the troops."

The troops issued an order to break through the first line of defense of the Soviet army before six o'clock in the evening on May 24th, otherwise, the top commanders of each department will come to the headquarters to take the blame!"

"Send a telegram to Lieutenant General Haruhiko, commander of the Battle Guard Group, that your unit must block Soviet reinforcements in the current area for more than two weeks. Even if you fight to the last soldier, you must not retreat even half a step. If you are in

Within the time specified by the headquarters, the blocking defense line was breached by the Soviet army, and the commander, Lieutenant General Haruhiko Taichi, should commit suicide by disembowelment as apology!"

After saying these words, Prince Zai Ren seemed to have exhausted all his energy and collapsed on the camp bed, with a sallow paleness on his face. "Everyone, please go out and do your own business. I will be quiet for a while!" He was weak.

waved his hand and said.

At night, the sound of guns and artillery on the battlefield in the Far East finally subsided. The biting cold wind blowing from the Sea of ​​Okhotsk drove away the trace of warmth brought by the sun during the day. The smell of blood and gunpowder smoke had faded away.

But the broken corpses lying on the snow, the dark red blood that had solidified on the snow, and the craters all over the place all showed that a fierce fighting had just come to an end.

General Zhukov, the commander of the Soviet Far East Front, sat tiredly on a canvas marching chair, not even wanting to raise his eyelids. Only now did he have a chance to take a breath. The whole day on May 23, Zhukov was highly nervous.

This was the first time the Japanese army launched an attack since the encirclement. Although they had been mentally prepared for this, it would definitely be a fierce battle.

However, the craziness and intensity of the Japanese attack still exceeded his imagination. Under the dense fire net of his own troops, he dared to launch a hand-to-hand charge. "The Japanese really don't take their lives seriously!" before returning to the headquarters.

On the way, he murmured to himself and looked up at the starry night sky. His ears were still filled with the roar of artillery fire. The silence at this moment made him feel unreal and uncomfortable.

Those Japanese soldiers, as if their lives were worthless, carried out wave-like continuous charges without fear of death. Judging from the scale of the battle, the Japanese army dispatched at least 800,000 people on the first day of the attack.

Above, this is just a frontal attack. The Japanese artillery shells rained down on the position. Even the headquarters of the front army was blown up by the Japanese artillery shells, leaving big holes all over the place.

Of course, Zhukov did not let the Japanese take any advantage. All front-line positions were not lost. If the battle continued according to this pattern, Zhukov had absolute confidence that he would be able to support the arrival of reinforcements. However, he was even more worried.

The troops that have been depleted of supplies and the existing ammunition can last for how many days. In such a fierce and large-scale battle, what if the Japanese Kwantung Army troops on the left, right and rear also engage in large-scale attacks?

"We should request the General Staff for air supply, otherwise the troops will not be able to hold on to the arrival of reinforcements!" Zhukov thought, as for the two troops returning for reinforcements, he would not ask the General Staff to order them to speed up by telegraphing Lake Baikal.

It is hard to say what the troops of the Front Army will be, but for the troops of the Outer Xing'an Mountains Front Army, Zhukov believes that General Kilganin will do his best to rescue him.

If he sends telegrams to the General Staff again and again to urge reinforcements, it will appear that he is panicking. The war situation has not deteriorated to this extent. Zhukov himself does not bother to do it. As long as the problem of ammunition and supplies is solved, he can persist until the reinforcements arrive.

.

Zhukov shook his head to drive away the uncontrollable tiredness, and waved over a staff officer. Just as he was about to dictate the contents of the message, Lieutenant General Godayav, the chief of staff of the front army, hurried in. Zhukov said: "Just in time, Comrade Chief of Staff is here.

Yes, I am going to request the General Staff to send the air force to supply us. What do you think?"

Chief of Staff Godayav, holding a stack of paper in his hand, replied: "It is very necessary, Comrade Commander, I will immediately order the radio room to send a telegram to the General Staff. The intensity of the battle will exceed our expectations.

Before coming to see you, I gave the front army logistics

The Ministry made a phone call and inquired about the situation of ammunition and supplies. Comrade Commander, he is very pessimistic. According to the Minister of Logistics, if the scale and intensity of the battle continue, our ammunition will only be able to support ten people.

About days!”

Chief of Staff Godaev did not continue this topic, and handed a stack of papers in his hand to Zhukov. "Comrade Commander, you should take a look at this!" he said.

"What is this?" Zhukov did not answer, but asked strangely.

Chief of Staff Godayav first dictated the contents of the telegram to the staff officer, then turned around and replied: "It is the number of casualties reported by each army group. Comrade Commander, it is shocking!"

Zhukov said nothing. As a veteran on the battlefield, in such a large-scale battle, the casualties of the troops must be considerable. It was expected and not worth making a fuss about. The performance of the chief of staff was a little abnormal.

Seeing that Zhukov did not speak, Chief of Staff Godayav continued: "In just one day of fierce fighting, the front armies suffered more than 128,000 casualties. Commander, such shocking casualties exceeded our expectations. Is it possible to

In the name of the Front Army Headquarters, I sent a telegram to the General Staff Headquarters to urge the reinforcements to rush to the Far East battlefield as soon as possible, otherwise...!" He did not go on to say the following words.

Zhukov understood what his chief of staff meant. The current strength of the Far Eastern Front, which is more than one million men, will be exhausted in more than ten days according to the current battle consumption.

What's the use? But he didn't agree with the chief of staff's suggestion. Zhukov shook his head and asked another question, "Comrade chief of staff, our casualties are like this, what about the Japanese army's?"

When this issue was mentioned, Chief of Staff Godaev's expression suddenly improved, and a look of admiration could not help appearing in his eyes, "Comrade Commander, according to the statistics of the results reported by each army group, the casualties of the Japanese army were approximately

One hundred and fifty thousand

I also went to the front line to take a look. There were corpses of Japanese soldiers everywhere. It was thanks to the defensive positions you designed that we were able to achieve such a record under heavy siege by the Japanese army. When we were on the front line, commanders at all levels also

They all talked about this!”

Seeing that Zhukov was still unmoved, Chief of Staff Godaev continued: "Including the soldiers, they are full of praise for the defense system you designed. Thanks to these fortifications, otherwise, our casualties would be far more than this."

!”

Zhukov smiled silently and bitterly. There was nothing worth boasting about. If he could avoid the current situation, he would never fight such a battle. In a word, the measures taken in a passive situation, as for the defense system he designed, were done as a last resort.

.

Speaking of which, Zhukov's military ability is definitely second to none among the Soviet generals. It is freezing cold in the Far East. It is wishful thinking to dig out fortifications, communication trenches, shelters, firepower points, etc. in the uncivilized land.

When the pickaxe went down, only white spots appeared on the ground, but the shock made the soldiers' hands go numb.

Therefore, Zhukov suddenly came up with the wonderful idea of ​​using local materials and using the snow everywhere. After melting, he poured it on the snow wall. When the cold wind blew for a few hours, it immediately became stronger than reinforced concrete.

The fortifications, communication trenches, shelters, and firepower points were all built in this way. Thanks to this, the lives of Soviet soldiers were protected to the maximum extent under the overwhelming Japanese artillery fire. Otherwise, the casualties would be more than just

There are hundreds of thousands of people.

Chief of Staff Godaev wanted to continue talking. Zhukov waved his hand and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I arrived at the front line today. Our fortifications were damaged a lot under the bombardment of Japanese artillery fire. Also, during the day

The weather and rising temperatures have also affected the sturdiness of the fortifications, so it’s not the time for us to sit back and relax.”

"The Japanese army has been attacking for a whole day and suffered great losses. I judge that the Japanese commander will definitely adjust his tactics. There will be no battle tonight. Tomorrow, there will be a more brutal battle. You personally

Call the commanders of each group army and take advantage of the cessation of the Japanese attack and the lower temperature at night to immediately melt the snow and strengthen the fortifications! In addition, order the troops to take turns to rest and prepare for tomorrow's battle!"

((To be continued.)