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March 10 is the Chinese lunar festival, and most parts of China, which have only been peaceful, as well as the Indochina Peninsula and the subcontinent, where Chinese live together, are all lit up to celebrate the end of the Spring Festival. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info (--Outlets)

However, in the whole of West Asia, the atmosphere is still tense, the war is continuous, even in the Chinese New Year's Eve, the fighting has not stopped, the commanders are nervous, and the officers and men are spending the arduous march and battle, not to mention the Lantern Festival, which is of little less importance.

At night, in the Mukan steppe in the southern part of the Transcaucasian Plain, a gentle breeze blows, and the grass growing in the barren fields sways in the wind.

The Mukan steppe was originally relatively arid, but during the First Five-Year Plan, the Soviet Union built a number of reservoirs on the Araks River, and then built a number of canals in the north and south of the reservoirs, including the Orzmin Canal on the north bank and the Falcon Zbekov Canal and Lenin Canal on the south bank.

After the confluence of the Araks River and the Kara River, it joins the Caspian Sea at the twenty-six Baku commissioner cities in southeastern Azerbaijan. The large river that stretches for more than 200 kilometers from the confluence of the two rivers to the mouth of the sea is called the Kura River.

In the wee hours of the morning, about six kilometers from the inner city of Masalyan, on the south bank of the Kura River, about a battalion of sappers, in the light of the moon, wielded tools and rushed to repair the railroad that had been blown up by the Germans. A hundred meters behind them, there was an armored train with muzzles and teeth and claws.

This armored train, one of the four armored trains captured by the Japanese army in the northeast, was equipped with a large number of 105 mm and 75 mm caliber guns and 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, as well as a 240 mm main gun. The reason why it was possible to move westward from the deployed Far East to the Transcaucasia to participate in the war was entirely dependent on the newly built railway line connecting the eastern and western coastlines of the Caspian Sea.

The railway runs from the city of Tonghai (former Krasnovsk) in the east, along the lowlands on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, connects with the port of Yanran (formerly the port of Tolkaman), the starting point of the Persian Railway, and goes west along the coastline to the city of Juyan (the former Surrey), and then continues to build a railway line connecting the city of Juyan to Astara, and successfully connects with the Caucasus Railway built by the Soviet Union.

After the railway was completed, the General Staff Department specially transported three ** tank brigades from the Central Asian Theater and assigned them to the mountain clusters as a mechanized strike force for the northward attack.

At this time, the two divisions of the 1st Mountain Army of the forward force had successfully broken through the southern defense line of the inner city of Masalyan and were engaged in a fierce battle with the German army in the urban area.

In the command car of the armored train, Colonel Fan Hui, the chief of communications, walked in with a telegram, and reported loudly as he walked: "Commander Sun sent a telegram, the Germans blew up the Masalyan inner city well, the railway bridge across the Kura River to Baku, and the other two road bridges were also demolished. At the same time, the Germans also launched a fierce artillery bombardment of our attacking troops at the bridgehead on the north bank of the Kura River, relying on two fortresses. Read with me h-u-n mixed *h-u-n--please remember"

Jiao Guangxu, the commander of the mountain cluster, took the telegram, read it carefully, came to the large map hanging on the wall of the carriage, looked at the map for a while, and immediately frowned: "The German army retreated so quickly!" We set out from Liankolan, a distance of more than 120 kilometers, and it took less than 24 hours to conquer seven towns of 20,000 or 30,000 people along the way, which is fast enough! But it was surprising that the Germans were able to sabotage the railway ahead of schedule.

It would be nice if there were air force paratroopers to cooperate in the operation like the southern front, and it was only necessary to take the railway bridge in advance, and our armored train would rush over on a rampage, and the Germans would not be able to parry it at all! ”

Lieutenant General Gao Jinbao, chief of staff, also finished reading the telegram at this time, came to Jiao Guangxu's side, and said helplessly: "Since the situation on the Western Front has stabilized, the air groups of the two divisions have returned to Northeast Asia to guard against possible air raids by the Japanese army. I heard that the paratroopers of the Air Force also have other tasks, and now they have all been transferred to the subcontinent. We'll have to do it ourselves! ”

"yes!"

Jiao Guangxu regained his composure: "Now that all fronts have reported frequent successes, our mountain clusters have been passively defending until the Van Lake and the surrounding areas in Turkey in the west are controlled by our army, and we can finally free up our hands to launch a counterattack against the German army on the northern front!" This time, we will lead three group armies to the north and take charge of a battlefield alone, this is a good opportunity for us to perform! ”

Gao Jinzun looked up at the map: "To break through the German defense, we are afraid that we will have to fight a tough battle." ”

Jiao Guangxu nodded: "I have been mentally prepared for this, but fortunately, the dam upstream is already under our control...... If it weren't for the fear that attacking from upstream would provoke the Germans to do everything they can to destroy the dam, we would have opened up the situation a long time ago. Of course, now that we have the help of armored forces, we are more sure of victory! ”

Speaking of this, Jiao Guangxu raised his wrist and looked at his watch: "It's not early, and the following battles can only be forced to cross when the Germans are in shock." Although it is winter, the water of the Kura River, which originates in the Caucasus Mountains and Transcaucasus Mountains, has not weakened much, and the snow water flowing down from the mountains is bitterly cold, this battle may be a litmus test of our combat capabilities! ”

Gao Jinbao instructed Colonel Ren Yuhua, the chief of operations: "Inform Commander Sun Zhuming that the water temperature is too low, and there are constantly floating ice floating down the river upstream, so let him be fully prepared before launching the river crossing!" ”

"It's best to have their special brigade go and explore the width and depth of the river in advance, and try to find a shallow and narrow place to cross the river." Jiao Guangxu added.

"Yes, I'm going to deliver the order." Ren Yuhua turned to leave.

At this time, a communications staff officer ran in: "Report, the railway in front has been repaired." ”

"Okay, order to resume the advance immediately, enter the railway station in the south of the city and be on guard, and start a forced crossing operation when the sapper equipment and river-crossing vehicles on the follow-up train are unloaded. Tell Sun Zhuming to prepare for battle, and we will take the defense line of the Kura River before dawn tomorrow! ”

"Woo woo one by one"

The sound of the air whistle sounded, and the railroad tracks, which had been silent for two hours, shook again in less than a quarter of an hour, and the train traveled to the edge of the southern part of the inner city of Masalyan, and from time to time you could see the buildings on both sides of the railway, which were clearly in the Tsarist style, scattered and scattered, mostly low-rise houses.

In this era, the oil resources in Sariyanny were not exhausted, hundreds of large oil production wells stood in the northeast of the city, and in the south there was the Kezny oil field, which was not only connected by railways and roads, but also connected by special oil pipelines, which was the main transportation route between the north and the south, and the size of the city was more than twice as large as that of later generations.

The inner city of Salyan is divided by the Kura River and is connected by three bridges, the main urban area is the delta zone on the south bank and the north bank, and the northeastern part of the city is an important industrial area, and the Germans relied on the factory area to build a defensive line.

The city on the south bank is very large, and the further north you go, the denser the buildings become, and from time to time you can already see high-rise buildings in the simple and crisp style of the Soviet Union. After entering the city, it took ten minutes for the train to reach the railway station, which was located two kilometers on the south bank, and when the train slowed down, you could see the officers and soldiers cleaning the battlefield on both sides of the railway.

At this time, a steady stream of information had come from the front.

According to the observations of the reconnaissance troops, the section of the river that passes through the railway and highway is the narrowest, only 350 to 400 meters, while most of the other sections are more than 500 meters wide.

Jiao Guangxu looked at the map and his brows furrowed into a pimple, and after a long time, he pointed to the eastern part of the Kula River flowing in the shape of an anti-zigzag, that is, the section of the river connecting the western part of the city with the other side of the river: "The river here also looks quite narrow, why don't you choose to cross the river here?" ”

Yuan Fang, the director of the intelligence department, who rushed to report the situation, said: "This section of the river is more than 400 meters wide, but due to the continuous turning of the river, the water flow is more turbulent than other places after several impacts, and the other side of the river is the opponent's river defense center of gravity, and the defense is extremely tight, so from the beginning, the reconnaissance force excluded this place!" ”

Jiao Guangxu shook his head: "We don't have to force the crossing at the mouth of the river, it's okay to go a little downstream, I think the widest river here is about four hundred and fifty meters, and although this is the main defense line of the German army, there is no one of the most important fortresses, and our heavy firepower equipment can completely suppress the enemy!"

"You see, this area is a triangular terrain, the northernmost point is only 500 meters wide, and we only need to block it with artillery fire while attacking, and the German reinforcements from the north will not be able to pass. At that time, we will be able to launch a forced crossing by surprise of the enemy, and I believe that as long as the gap can be successfully opened, the German army on the north bank will collapse immediately! ”

Gao Jinbao's eyes lit up: "The commander's idea is good, I don't think the Germans will think of it, we will find their toughest breakthrough, so that we can not only avoid the artillery fire of the Germans' fortresses, but also give full play to our firepower advantage, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone!" ”

Jiao Guangxu read all the information sent by the intelligence department again, and finally made up his mind: "Let's just decide." After the attack was launched, the divisional artillery regiment of the 1st Mountain Division was first asked to launch an artillery attack on the German troops in the direction of due north, so as to create a posture in which our troops would launch a forced crossing in the front and attract German artillery fire to return fire.

Five minutes later, the artillery regiments of the 2nd and 3rd Divisions began to extend their artillery fire westward along the river bank until they sealed the 100-meter land at the top of the triangle.

A quarter of an hour later, the heavy artillery brigade and rocket artillery brigade of the First Army began to cover the German riverbank positions west of the river, and our train artillery also joined the attack, and then the armed swimming began! ”

After recording Jiao Guangxu's order, Ren Yuhua, the chief of operations, immediately began to convey the order after Jiao Guangxu reviewed it and signed his name.

At three o'clock in the morning, everything was ready.

As the artillery fire from the south rumbled, the German artillery group also began to perform, and it was not long before the artillery regiments of the 2nd and 3rd divisions entered the battle, and the German artillery and machine-gun counterattacks on the north bank became more violent, and the entire bank of the Kura River was shrouded in dazzling firelight.

And in the western part of the city on the south bank, the armored train had already traveled to a distance of only 500 meters from the river bank, and the muzzles of the various carriages pointed to the sky in the distance.

At 3:15 p.m., as the artillery fire in the sky exploded on the positions of the German troops in Hexi, the armored train also sounded the sound of passwords.

With the information fed back by the on-board radar and infrared rangefinder, the 240-mm heavy howitzer loaded with shells, under the operation of the artillery, slowly rotated the gun body, and then the muzzle of the gun was gradually lowered.

The distance of one kilometer is too close for the 240 mm main gun of the armored train, you must know that this kind of heavy artillery ordered from the French company Sunada, when the shell uses a maximum charge of 885 kg, the firing range can reach 50 km, even if it is a 60 kg reduced charge, the range has reached 35 km, so the barrel can only be lowered to point directly at the German position on the opposite bank.

This kind of armored train, the Kwantung Army was equipped with a total of four trains, mainly used as border and coastal fortress guns, but unfortunately it did not play much strength, and was attacked from behind by the An Jia Army. minutes, but still inevitably suffered the fate of the captives.

"Fire!"

"Boom One by One"

A huge cannonball whistled towards the other side of the Kura River, and soon a huge explosion was heard, and red fireworks rose into the sky, kicking up puffs of gunpowder and dust. A 240 mm caliber shell can effortlessly tear through a three-meter-thick concrete wall, and its explosion has a range of more than 100 meters.

On the west bank of the Kura River, with more than 40 "Dolphin 4 1," amphibious tanks opening the way in front, more than 200 // fastest text update - no advertising // "Crocodile IV" amphibious armored transport vehicles carrying more than 3,000 officers and soldiers rushed to the river.

Behind the surging steel army, general-purpose machine guns and Gaoping dual-purpose machine guns fired frantically at the exposed firing points of the German troops, and further behind, 150 mm and 120 mm heavy guns were desperately thrown on the German positions, and the rocket artillery shells were like meteor showers, and everywhere they went, everything fell silent.