"At dawn on July 3, when our division was about to launch its final assault on Kbnovsky, the Soviets made a heavy assault on its right flank, causing a crisis for a while. A battalion was surrounded. The 11th Panzer Division halted the assault on the landing site and turned around to deal with the attacking enemy, thus relieving the battalion. This battle, without doubt, ended with the victory of our defense. It is a pity that it was not possible to completely clear the landing site of Soviet troops at Kebnovsky, and it was this that caused serious consequences. The 11th Panzer Division marched at night for eight days, fighting during the day, and was in great need of rest. ”

"On July 4, the 4th Tank Army launched an offensive to rescue Sverdlovsk, and the armored instructors had been impatient with this attack. During this period, Admiral Cao Yang, who was responsible for air supply of the besieged army, came to inspect our command post. According to him, the supply situation in Sverdlovsk has been bad since the beginning of July, when it was still supplied according to the minimum requirements of the armored instructors, that is, 500 tons per day, and now only a maximum of 100 tons of supplies can be airdropped to the besieged army, and at that time the number of our transport planes, compared to the huge tasks, was clearly insufficient, so bombers had to be used. Such aircraft cannot carry too much bombs and cargo, and they are very much needed at the front to support ground forces. ”

"At this time, the Soviet troops were attacking Sverdlovsk with all their might. Despite the urgency of the situation on the Kakama front, we couldn't have thought about anything more. Unfortunately, our nearby landing ground, under constant Soviet attacks, had been lost, and it needed to be recaptured before we could go on a mission and join up with the 4th Tank Army. On 4 July, the Kakama River defense line was quiet for a day. On the 5th, the 11th Panzer Division withdrew from its positions near the Soviet Kobnovsky landing ground and moved downstream in order to force its way across the half-frozen river and join up with reinforcements. The area of the Kobnovsky landing ground of the Soviet army was occupied by emergency forces sent by the 'Xuanyuan' special field division. ”

"On July 6, the advance guard of the Soviet troops had reached the bank of the river, less than 20 kilometers from our nearest unit. We planned to open a road by the 11th Panzer Division on the 7th and then attack to the southeast, and the Soviets had no idea what was going on in front of them. The Soviet 5th Tank Army stopped its offensive along the line of the Kakama River, and it seemed possible to cross the Don. Due to bad weather, the planes of the Air Force have not taken off for several days, and aerial reconnaissance has not been carried out. By the 7th, the situation had become clear. Just as the 11th Panzer Division was about to force its crossing, the Soviets broke through the position of the 36th Division about 6 kilometers north of it with a fierce attack. At this time, there was no other way but to throw the 11th Panzer Division into battle, and our division drove the Soviet troops back to the riverbank. On the 8th, the 11th Panzer Division continued its attack in the hope of clearing the foothold of the Soviet troops crossing the Kakama River. Had it not been for the news that another Soviet army had launched an offensive at the Kobnovsky landing site, 12 kilometers to the northwest, the 11th Panzer Division's attack would have been successful. A Soviet mechanized corps carried out a breakthrough on a wide front, and the 11th Panzer Division was forced to close the breach. I did not agree with this, and I thought it would be better to destroy the enemy in front of the 36th Division before doing so. ”

"Having received the order, I decided to set out at once, and after a night's march, at dawn the next day, I would attack the enemy without waiting for the Soviets to move. To this end, the 10th Panzer Infantry Regiment was to pin down the enemy from the front; The 15th Panzer Regiment attacked the enemy's eastern flank; The 11th Panzer Infantry Regiment was left in reserve on the right rear to cover the flank. ”

"At 5 o'clock on July 9, everything went according to plan, and the sky was dark, and the vanguard of the 15th Panzer Regiment saw that the powerful tank units of the Soviet troops in battle formation were marching southward, and because our armored regiment was well concealed, 25 tanks were following behind the Soviets, and before the Soviets could react, they opened fire on the Soviets, destroying 42 Soviet tanks in just a few minutes. Only then did the Soviets understand that it was our tanks that were following them, not their own. The commanding heights of 112 were taken by us. On the other side of the heights, Soviet tanks were advancing in battle formation, and their movements were almost the same as those described above. Our tanks, commanded by Captain Wang Yikai, once again attacked the Soviets from behind, and before the Soviets could figure out the situation, they were wiped out. In such a surprisingly short period of time, 25 of our tanks wiped out 75 tanks of the Soviet army, but they were not harmed. The battle crushed the Soviet offensive, and the remnants fled in panic and did not dare to resist again. ”

"Throughout the battle, the 11th Panzer Division was simply a fire brigade, marching behind two infantry divisions, extinguishing one fire, followed by another. When we encountered a Soviet landing field that the infantry could not deal with, we attacked the enemy with all the strength of our tank crews, and the reason why we were able to achieve brilliant results was that we were able to coordinate closely with the two infantry divisions and nearby friendly forces. We will never allow a single tank to directly support the infantry, because I think that would be detrimental to the much-needed tanks and would be a waste. The tactics of mobile warfare often turn the situation from dangerous to peaceful and cause the enemy to suffer heavy losses. During this period, more than 700 enemy tanks were destroyed in the 11th Panzer Division's operational zone. Based on what I have seen and heard, I believe that as long as we have calm and brave soldiers, and have concentrated use of tanks and artillery, we can defeat the Soviet army, which has a large number of troops and weapons. ”

"The 11th Panzer Division, with its decisive heroic actions, achieved a defensive victory on the line of the Kakama River. If the defenses of the sector were broken through and the Soviets were able to continue their advance, the retreat of Army Group Center would be cut off, which would have subjected it to the same doom as the Sverdlovsk Panzer Teaching Army. In this way, the situation forced the 11th Panzer Division to do its best to complete the assigned task. ”

"Fortunately, after all the hard battles, the commanders who did not stand the test were replaced by experienced people. The commanders who remained were infallible. For several weeks in a row, our division moved at night, reaching the most vulnerable positions to the enemy before dawn and attacking an hour before the enemy sorted. The use of this tactic required a great deal of energy and physical exertion on the troops, but the casualties were minimal, as it often took the enemy by surprise. One of my division's mottos is 'The night march is a lifesaver.' However, the question of what time the soldiers of the 11th Panzer Division slept is probably never answered. ”

"The Soviets threw into battle a large number of newly formed and poorly equipped units. Some divisions, despite their superior technical equipment, collapsed in just a few days. It was poorly trained, and in addition it lacked experienced commanders. These divisions were created by the Soviets, but there was no rational military basis for this creation, and their soldiers died in large numbers because of this absurdity. ”

"On the part of the armored forces of the Soviet army, tank crews, especially those of the mechanized corps, could not talk about any decent training at all. This shortcoming is also one of the important reasons why we were able to win with a small number of troops. ”

"The tactics of the Soviet army are a strange mixture. Despite their mastery of infiltration operations and their particular skill in building field fortifications, the rigidity of Soviet offensive operations was unbelievable. Stupid repeated assaults on a certain point, formulaic organization of artillery fire, and unskillful selection of terrain for the offensive manifested a lack of creativity and ideological rigidity in the performance of tasks. Our radio listening team has heard many times the impatient question: 'What are we going to do now?' Only a small number of junior commanders are able to express their personal views when the situation changes. In many cases, what could have been a successful impact, a breakthrough, or a completed encirclement was not extended in time because the superiors did not take care of what to do. ”

"We also found the German [***] team assisting the Soviets in the battle, according to some prisoners, the Germans sent three elite armored divisions, and some heavy tank regiments, and our tankmen also reported fighting with huge German tanks and suffered certain losses, German tanks can easily destroy the 'Walker' tanks equipped with mechanized infantry divisions, and the 'Gray Wolf' tanks equipped with armored divisions are also a great threat. Although this information is yet to be confirmed, I believe that we should seriously consider the German threat. ”

At the end of June 1944, the Soviet army's counterattacks in the three main strategic directions of the center, south and north ended in failure. And the Central Army Group and Army Group North of the Chinese Army, under the cover of the Chinese Air Force and Army Air Force, had already launched a counter-encirclement of the Soviet troops encircling Sverdlovsk near the adjacent Sverdlovsk area. According to the plan, the offensive of the two army groups was to be carried out separately. The northern route was Army Group North, whose goal was to solve the Soviet forces north of Sverdlovsk, to ensure the security of the besieged armored teaching group, and to cut off the retreat of the Soviet troops. In the middle was Army Group Center, which was responsible for relieving and joining forces with Dongfang Bai's armored teaching group, and encircling the Soviet troops on the South Route together with Army Group Northwest. The task of Army Group Northwest on the southern route was to attack in the Kazakh direction and cut off the retreat of the Soviet troops on the southern route. The three army groups had a total of 2,970,000 troops, 17,037 artillery mortars, and a total of 4,113 tanks. The above does not include the strength of 2 Kazakh army groups.

Confronting these three Chinese armies was the Soviet-German coalition army commanded by Rokossovsky and Hort. The total strength is 1,526,000 troops, including 2,150 artillery pieces and mortars, and 1,430 tanks (including 80 "Tiger" tanks and 30 "King Tiger" heavy tanks of the Germans). On the whole, the Soviet ground forces were only half of the Chinese army, and they were at a disadvantage in terms of strength comparison. In terms of air power, the Chinese Air Force had 2,316 combat aircraft on 24 June, including 552 "Phi Rhino" fighters, 412 "Swiftlet" fighters, 231 "Kuaidao" medium bombers, 365 N4 "Spitfire" tactical attack aircraft, and 442 N5 "Dragonfly" tactical attack aircraft. The Soviets had only 367 "Sibo" fast bombers, 470 old "I-15", "I-16" and "I-153" fighters, and 49 reconnaissance planes. Both in terms of the number and quality of aircraft, the Soviet Aerospace Forces were at a disadvantage.

Despite the disadvantage in troops, the Soviet army was more prepared than before. In order to concentrate forces, the group army and its subordinate infantry divisions could only be organized into one echelon in defense, and each infantry division had only one battalion in reserve. Rokossovsky also built up the depth of the defense as much as possible. The arrival of the German volunteers, who were more combative, also added fresh blood to the Soviet army, but in any case, all this could not prevent the destruction of the Soviet army.

On June 22, 1944, after an hour and a half of artillery preparation and bombing by a large number of bombers, the Chinese army launched an attack. Despite the direct support of a large number of bombers of the Chinese Air Force, the Chinese offensive did not go well under the resistance of the Soviet troops who had been prepared in advance. In the first few hours of fighting, the Chinese army suffered more than 10,000 casualties. Despite the stubborn defense of the Soviet-German forces, the Chinese army continued to advance and entered the Soviet position. In this initial battle, the commander of the 14th Soviet Infantry Division, Major General Zuleba, and a large number of officers were killed in the air raids of the Chinese army.

In order to relieve the pressure of the Chinese offensive, the Soviet army launched a forced counter-assault. This action of the Soviet army was completely unexpected by the Chinese army. Due to the inability to understand the scale of the Soviet counterattack, by the end of the day, the Chinese army could not advance further.

Three days later, the Chinese attacked again, but made little progress under the stubborn resistance of the Soviet troops. Soviet troops, totaling 13,500 men, broke through to the flank of the Chinese army. In order to eliminate the threat posed by this force, the Chinese army had to bring in new troops. Despite the overwhelming superiority of the Chinese army, the battle to destroy this Soviet army lasted for 3 days. The rescue of Sverdlovsk by the Chinese army had to be stopped.

The Chinese army did not make a major breakthrough on the central and northern routes, which had only been launched on July 1. The Soviets, with their familiarity with the local climate and environment, were much stronger than they had been at the beginning of the war. The 104th Infantry Division of the Soviet Army and the 72nd Frontier Corps under the NKVD performed well and successfully withstood the attack of the Chinese army, but under the continuous impact of the superior forces of the Chinese army, the main defensive positions of the Soviet army were broken through one after another.

In general, in the case of achieving the sudden surname of the battle, the squadron still achieved the results they expected in the region, and of course paid a heavy price. By July 1, in just nine days of fighting, the total number of casualties of the Chinese [***] team had reached more than 20,000.

In both directions, the [***] squadron had a superiority in strength, so the Soviet army had no intention of holding on to the front line. On July 2, 1944, the Chinese 11th Army (consisting of seven infantry divisions) and the Mongolian Army crossed the Puxin River. Resisting them was the newly formed Southern Front of the Red Army. The Front consists of the 9th Army, which was reorganized from the Odessa Military District, and the 18th Army, which was formed on the basis of the command of the Kharkiv Military District and part of the troops of the Ufa Military District (the L7th Infantry Army, the 16th Mechanized Army, including the 96th, 60th and 164th Infantry Divisions of the Mountain Infantry, the 15th and 39th Tank Divisions and the 240th Motorized Division, the 64th Aviation Division, the 45th Mixed Aviation Division, and the 9th Reading Infantry Army.

In terms of troops, the Soviet troops of the Southern Front were not at a disadvantage, and since the aviation units dodged the surprise attack of the Chinese Air Force, they saved considerable strength. Soviet fighters flying at ultra-low altitudes often inflicted extremely serious losses on the Mongol army, especially the cavalry. However, the Eastern Front to the north of the Southern Front had been routed by the Chinese at this time, which forced the Southern Front to fight and withdraw under the threat of exposed flanks.

In contrast, those Soviet troops who lacked heavy equipment could only retreat slowly in the wind, frost, rain and snow of the Soviet Union under the resistance of the Chinese troops, and only marched more than a dozen kilometers a day. In such an open terrain, when encountering Chinese tanks, the Soviets could only hurriedly disperse and return fire, while if the opponent was a heavy tank, the Red Army soldiers climbed up and blasted with cluster grenades or explosive packs, which was almost the only effective means (sometimes Soviet soldiers even shoved grenades into the muzzles of Soviet tanks).

As of July 10, the Chinese [***] team has achieved great results. In the north, the Chinese army advanced 200-250 km, and its advance was directed towards Kazan. In the center, they broke through to a depth of 250-300 kilometers in the Soviet Union, and the 4th Panzer Army, which consisted of the 2nd and 3rd Panzer Clusters, arrived in Sverdlovsk under the command of General Lin Yuying, and joined forces with the Dongfang Bai Panzer Teaching Group. In the south, the Chinese [***] team also advanced 200-250 km, and the three-way Chinese army had completed the encirclement of the Soviet-German forces attacking Sverdlovsk.

Now, the scattered army of Dongfang Bai was finally able to escape from the clutches of the Soviet army, and the Soviet army retreated and began to shrink the defensive line, intending to make an attempt to break through. An unusual silence descended on the battlefield. The endless wasteland is littered with smoky, smoky tank wreckage, Soviet helmets and caps are everywhere, and every corner is filled with empty ammunition boxes, asphalt barrels, barbed wire, and postcards that don't fit in with the surrounding atmosphere. The pockets of the rotting and blackened corpses contained letters from distant relatives. "You can leave the terrible Siberian wilderness and enter beautiful Russia. We are so happy," a Russian mother wrote in the letter; A young woman wrote to her husband: "May you always be a brave warrior, my dearest, and may God protect you." ”

(To be continued)