On March 9, 1942, under the attention of the world, Japan, the emerging Asia-Pacific hegemon, and Soviet Russia, the long-dormant red empire, broke out the Second Russo-Japanese War for control of Northeast Asia. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

When the first rays of the dawn shone on the earth, under the background of the rumbling artillery, hundreds of Soviet fighters flew over the Haraha River with a real overwhelming momentum, and the spectacle made the Japanese soldiers who had participated in the war of aggression against China and the Pacific War feel deep surprise and fear. In less than an hour, the Japanese army was subjected to heavy air raids on seven military airfields in the northeastern part of the puppet Manchurian region. More than 60 percent of the more than 500 combat planes deployed by the Japanese and Manchurian armies in this area, especially the more than 300 reconnaissance planes and fighters deployed within 200 kilometers of the border line, were damaged or injured in this wave of bombing, and the number of battle losses actually exceeded the total number of combat losses on the Chinese battlefield in the previous months!

Standing on the wasteland of Nomenkan under the warm sunshine, a group of two-winged and single-engine I-15 fighters proudly oversaw the heads of the Japanese soldiers accustomed to air superiority, although their performance was far behind the times, after devouring a few Japanese fighters that barely took off, they avoided the anti-aircraft fire of the enemy's key defensive areas, and swooped down with impunity, strafing any Japanese vehicles and men that dared to march on the roads, fields, or village streets. The equally impressive number of I-16 fighters were like elegant and light egrets, circling and cruising at high altitude, guarding against those Japanese fighters who might rush to support from deep airfields.

In the equally large number of bombers of the Soviet Russian Air Force, the bombers of the SB and DB series occupied the lion's share - the number of SB-2 and DB-3 alone exceeded the total number of active bombers of the Japanese Army Aviation! These bombers, built in large quantities in the mid-to-late 30s, although their protection capabilities were weak and their bomb load was not very strong, was fast and flexible, and when more than 2,000 of these bombers flew over rivers and fields in batches with more than a dozen huge fleets, people seemed to see a terrible locust plague coming! In fact, everywhere these bomber groups went, whether it was the border defense line, the transportation hubs in the rear, and the towns and factories, all of them were filled with flames and thick smoke!

Fighting with a temporary loss of air supremacy was the first time for a Japanese unit that had been fighting in China for a long time, but the difficulties they faced did not end there. The Halaha River is generally narrow and the current is gentle, which cannot stop the rapid advance of the Soviet Russian army. With the rumbling roar of more than 4,000 cannons, sappers built dozens of pontoon bridges over the long and winding boundary river, hundreds of chariots and thousands of soldiers easily crossed the river, and the BC series of light and fast tanks and C series medium and heavy tanks showed the Japanese soldiers loyal to Bushido a steel frenzy that was not inferior to that of the Western Allies. This was followed by the "steamroller" that had become famous all over the world in the days of Tsarist Russia - 4 front armies, 99 infantry divisions and a large number of independent troops divided into four large groups to attack from a wide front.

As the Russian warriors surged in the undulating fields, even the earth trembled at their strength!

After crossing the river, the 1st Mechanized Corps of Soviet Russia, commanded by Lieutenant General Romanenko, with the support of heavy artillery and air force, tore a breakthrough in the Japanese defense line in just over two minutes. At lunchtime, the vanguard of this elite ace had approached Arshan, where the Japanese front headquarters was located, where they encountered the tank teaching brigade of the newly formed 1st Mechanized Armored Division of the Japanese army and the main force of the 2nd Division, which was known for its ability to fight tough battles. A fierce collision broke out in an instant!

The 1st and 2nd Mechanized Armored Divisions of the Japanese Army were all new-style combat clusters ordered by the base camp after the First Battle of the Haraha River, and their composition and equipment allocation fully drew on the existing practices of the German and American armored forces, and they were respectively headed by Lieutenant General Tokushi Yoshida and Lieutenant General Toshigen Shinno, experts in armored warfare. By the beginning of 1942, the two master regiments gathered in Northeast Asia, the 1st Mechanized Armored Division was deployed in the territory of the puppet Manchukuo, with the 1st Tank Brigade, the Chariot Teaching Brigade and the 1st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, and the 2nd Mechanized Armored Division was deployed on the Korean Peninsula with the 2nd and 3rd Tank Brigades and the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade. In addition, in order to cope with the large-scale military movement of the Soviet and Russian troops, the Japanese army base camp also formed the 3rd Mechanized Armored Division on the mainland.

In the eyes of the Japanese military high-level, the formation of two mecha divisions according to German and American standards is already a super-first-class equipment, in the early stage of the Central China and South China battlefields, the two troops tried their knives, everywhere they went, but during the period of 1935-1936, the Soviet Russian army formed 7 mechanized corps and 7 independent armored brigades, horizontal comparison, the Japanese army's actions are like frogs at the bottom of the well.

Each Soviet Russian mechanized corps is composed of 2 tank divisions, 1 motorized division, 1 motorcycle regiment, 1 communications battalion, 1 engineer battalion and air force detachment, with more than 36,000 officers and soldiers, and is fully equipped with 927 combat vehicles, 290 armored vehicles, and 455 artillery pieces and mortars. Such a unit with rigorous training, its combat effectiveness will be very considerable, and this is also a new combat mode that the Soviet Army has explored and summarized from the armies of the Western Allies - by the beginning of 1942, although the Soviet armored forces were still facing various equipment shortages, the highly valued 1-3rd Mechanized Corps had reached or was close to full strength. As a whole, the total number of trucks of the Soviet armored forces reached 74% of the required total, armored vehicles - 67%, motorcycles - 52%, while artillery reached the required 70%, and some motorized divisions reached 69% of the standard equipment.

In Arshan, Lieutenant General Yoshida personally went to the front line to direct the operation, he put the fully formed tank teaching brigade that had not been hit by major blows before to the front line, and the anti-tank guns of various calibers were also properly arranged at various fulcrum positions along the entire defense line, and the wing equipped with Type 97 medium tanks was concealed on the edge of the city as a tactical maneuver, trying to fight a beautiful armored ambush battle.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The sound of artillery coming from the position sounded much softer than the howitzers, which were 37 mm and 47 mm anti-tank guns equipped by the Japanese army. The gunners on the emplacements became more and more engrossed, and after a few moments, the flames and black smoke from the armor-piercing shells hitting the vehicle rose in sight. Those Russian tanks were sprayed with yellow paint suitable for fighting in the wasteland, but in the presence of well-trained Japanese infantry anti-tank gunners, this did not help to increase their survival rate.

"General!"

In the front-line bunker of the Japanese army, a well-dressed lieutenant stood next to a hand-cranked telephone, holding a receiver in his hand, and reported with a serious face: "The Russian army has attacked, there are hundreds of combat vehicles!" ”

The clanging outside the bunker had been going on for almost ten minutes, and the brief artillery bombardment was followed by a rapid attack of tanks and infantry clusters, as the Russian army had taken off during the First Battle of the Halaha River.

After listening to the deputy's report, Yoshida took off a pair of huge binoculars from the wall and walked out without saying a word.

Within a few steps of the bunker, which had both anti-aircraft and anti-shelling functions, dozens of Soviet and Russian bombers appeared in a menacing manner over Warsaw. Carefully identified, they were not escorted by a few fighters, and their loose formation was completely unfavorable for air self-defense, but it also made it impossible for the Japanese ground artillery to exert their fire. These twin-engine bombers deftly flew at low altitudes, tilting a large number of black bombs at the Japanese positions in the west of the city, and some flew almost against the rooftops, and once they found the traces of Japanese vehicles or artillery, they would fiercely attack with bombs and machine guns.

"General! Be careful! The not very burly adjutant did not hesitate to protect his superior, and a bomb that fell not far away shook the feet of the two of them, and the dust falling from the sky choked even more. After the aftermath of the explosion faded, Yoshida Del patted the dust off his body disappetively and said lightly: "The Russians still have a poor crosshair!" ”

After the departure of the Russian fighters, Yoshida climbed a wooden watchtower, stood on a high place, and observed the fighting on the outskirts of the city with a telescope. The fields in front of the Japanese trench positions were littered with the wreckage of dozens of combat vehicles, mostly lightly armored BC series vehicles.

A little farther away, the moving Soviet and Russian chariots seemed to be moving haystacks, and a rough estimate was indeed more than a hundred.

Yoshida did not envy the strength of his opponent, but thought hard about how to deal with the attack of the Soviet Russian army. This time, the Russian tanks engaged in the attack were in no hurry to open fire, and they quietly advanced to a distance of about a kilometer from the Japanese position, during which the creaking of tracks could even be heard. At this time, Yoshida noticed that some of the tanks in the opposing attack cluster were significantly larger than their companions, and had sloping bodies and turrets with trapezoidal sections.

The heavy tanks of the Russians......

At a distance of more than 1,000 meters, the Soviet Russian tanks launched a rapid and fierce artillery attack on the Japanese positions with a direct firing attitude, only to see the fire flashing in the trench area, the smoke and dust billowing out, and the broken parts of various firearms and the sawdust blocks of the ammunition boxes were constantly thrown into the air. Under the call of artillery, a small group of biplanes flew at a low altitude, and they circled and strafed along the Japanese trenches, and the red five stars on their wings were so close that they were clear!

In the face of the bombardment of Soviet and Russian tanks, the Japanese artillery fire could not be endured, but the aging Soviet fighters were so provocative that the anti-aircraft gunners behind the positions did not do anything, only to see a string of machine gun bullets interspersed with tracer bullets rising from the ground, chasing those Soviet and Russian fighters who were not fast. Suddenly, a Soviet Russian fighter could not escape the intertwined firepower net, after being shot, a large amount of gray smoke came out from its engine position, because it was a low-altitude flight, the Soviet Russian pilot could not parachute, so he had to very reluctantly control the plane to taxi and make a forced landing, just when he almost escaped the doom, the plane suddenly lost its balance, an untimely roll immediately made its fuselage and wings fall apart, and finally slammed on the hard ground, and the remaining ammunition and fuel on the plane instantly turned it into a big fireball!

This small accident did not slow down the pace of the attack of the Soviet Russian army, after a short direct shot, the Soviet front row of combat vehicles suddenly accelerated, like a wild bull rushing on the grassland rushed to the Japanese position, the dust raised by the tracks gradually covered the sky and the sun, the rear chariots appeared and disappeared in the smoke and dust, and the mechanized infantry fighting in armored vehicles, trucks and motorcycles followed, and the entire Soviet Russian offensive cluster suddenly became a deep hammer!

(End of chapter)