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Chapter 1565 Success or failure is here

On the night of May 4, Mount Kurandag on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

Standing on the coastal highlands of the Caspian Sea in the bay of Lake Karaborgaz, anyone who stands on the mountain and overlooks the turquoise waters, hears the sound of the crashing waves, and smells the salty and wet smell of the air, will think that anyone has come to the sea. But no one would have thought that this is only an inner lake of the Caspian Sea, the largest inland lake, and as the Caspian Sea gradually dries up, the water of this bay will gradually reced, and nearly 20,000 square kilometers of sea area will become the Gobi and desert, and the days of standing on the Kurandag Mountain to enjoy the beautiful scenery of the sea and sky will no longer exist.

After more than half a month of arduous marching, during which he repeatedly took over control of the major cities along the way from the Far Eastern Army, waiting for the armed police force and the Democracy Movement Corps to be stationed, Tang Wen led the guard division and the 22nd division directly under the Eighth Group Army of the Western Front of the Mongolian Military Region to Kulandag Mountain.

Like a giant python, Mount Kurandag stretches across the northern part of Turkmenistan and has become a natural border with Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Beyond the Kurandag Mountains and south to the Kopet Mountains on the border with Iran, there are flat Caspian coastal lowlands, deserts and oases that are undefended. The Soviet army obviously also knew what Mount Kurandag meant to Turkmenistan, and almost all the troops in the territory were transferred and sent to mountain passes, passes, river valleys and other important places to defend tightly, and the 18 divisions of the six armies of the Far Eastern Army and the Western Route Army used all their skills to fight fiercely for more than 20 days in a row, suffering heavy casualties, but they were never able to move forward.

In the headquarters of the Western Route Army of the Far Eastern Army, General Shevchenko, the commander-in-chief of the Western Route Army, who was haggard, asked Tang who came to report with anxiety:

"General Tang, we have stopped advancing on this front for too long, and compared with the triumphant advances of other combat units and frequent good news, the results we have achieved are embarrassing. I have heard that the Chuyili Mountain defense line on the eastern front was broken with the assistance of your army, may I ask if you can break the current stalemate? ”

"Yes, we have some ideas."

Tang Wen looked serious, looked around, turned around and came to the map on the wall of the headquarters, pointed to Kurandag Mountain, and talked eloquently:

"This mountain range is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the enemy occupies an advantageous position, and wherever we attack, we will be attacked by artillery fire from which the enemy has placed it on the advantageous terrain.

"If we ignore this and go around the Atasac-Odan depression from the Kalenzalyk depression and penetrate the enemy's rear from the Cherinkere plateau, it seems that we can also attack the hinterland of Turkmenistan, but this will be a great risk, and we will be in danger once the enemy marches out of the Kazakh Bay with the force of a tiger descending from the mountains, enters and occupies Aksu, an important port city on the coast of the Caspian Sea, and picks up the Soviet troops on the west coast of the Caspian Sea, and cuts off our supply lines. The enemy is entangled in three armies with nearly twenty people, which is not a small number, and once such a situation occurs, the consequences will be unimaginable, so it seems that defeating the enemy from the front is the only correct choice at present. ”

Hearing Tang ask and analyze his combat intentions, Shevchenko nodded again and again, and a cadre and colonel in the headquarters were also full of smugness. Marshal Yegorov, chief of the General Staff of the Far Eastern Army, was very dissatisfied with the progress of the Western Route Army, and one of the routes pointed out to the Western Route Army was what Tang Wen had just said, but it was rejected by the Western Route Army as too dangerous, and for this reason, the entire Western Route Army was under tremendous pressure.

Tang Wen actually agreed with Yegorov's analysis, believing that the current Soviet army has become a frightened bird, and if it moves south with an indomitable momentum and occupies Ashgabat, the capital of Kazakhstan, then the Soviet army will inevitably be led by the nose to the south, and the battle will be much easier to fight at that time. But now that the war has come to this point, there is no point in talking about those things, but it is better to say something nice, close the relationship between each other, and wait for the opportunity to solve the current enemy.

Tang Wen continued: "On the way south, my staff officers and I have already thought that only by taking a three-dimensional attack can we disintegrate the opponent in one fell swoop. ”

"Oh? How to carry out a three-dimensional attack? Shevchenko asked with interest.

"We will coordinate the operation of the air and ground, send bombers to suppress the enemy's artillery positions placed in the mountains, and at the same time send troops to parachute behind the enemy and flank the front and rear to crush the enemy in one fell swoop." Tang Wen said confidently.

After listening to Tang Wen's answer, there was silence in the headquarters, and many people were a little confused.

"Is it a paratrooper?"

Lieutenant General Pubachev, the well-informed chief of staff of the Western Route Army, asked with some uncertainty, and then explained: "Eleven years ago, the Soviets used transport planes to drop troops in Central Asia and annihilated the Batuma Red bandits in one fell swoop. Eight years ago, at the suggestion of Marshal Tukhachevsky, the Soviets began to build up paratrooper units, which were successively organized into six paratrooper divisions, but with the beginning of the rebellion, all the paratrooper units were disbanded without any reservations. Now we are facing an enemy with three corps, how many paratroopers do we have to drop in order to open the gap? ”

Tang Wen was a little surprised, he didn't expect the Soviet Union to establish a paratrooper unit so early, and shrugged his shoulders and said: "I don't know the situation in the Soviets, but we really have paratroopers." Last year, we formed the Airborne Corps in Syria and organized it into three paratrooper divisions, but so far, only the first parachute division has actual combat experience, and we are still exploring the relevant operational essentials, so it is unlikely that we will be able to engage in the battle in front of us. ”

Facing the increasingly bewildered gazes of everyone, Tang Wen continued: "Through the high-altitude reconnaissance of the reconnaissance plane, we found that the Chelingore Plateau behind the Kurandag Mountains is flat, and the plateau is full of the kind of flat grasslands covering an area of several square kilometers. Therefore, when we were in Aksu, we made a strategic arrangement in advance, taking advantage of the time when the sky was dark and the people were scattered every morning and evening, and airlifted troops to the enemy's rear by airships and transport planes, and so far two divisions of troops have been airlifted, and tanks, armored vehicles, and heavy artillery have also been transported, so that a surprise attack can be launched from the enemy's rear. ”

Tang asked as he spoke, while making a gesture on the map, the generals of the Far Eastern Army were greatly lifted by the hearing and gathered in front of the map, and Shevchenko asked excitedly: "Where are they moving now?" ”

"Dagger!"

Tang Wen pointed to a city behind Mount Kurandag: "Tonight they will approach the rear of the enemy's main position, and only tomorrow when we launch an attack, they will immediately destroy the command center, artillery positions and ammunition depots of the Soviet army, and then flank the front and rear to destroy the enemy." ”

"Good! Very good! ”

Shevchenko nodded again and again, and then discussed with his generals, and then asked Tang: "The situation is becoming more and more urgent, and all signs indicate that Japan will launch an attack on our coastal areas in the Far East in the near future, and once the war on the Vladivostok line starts, our main forces will have to come back to help, so we can only strive to destroy as many enemies as possible in the shortest possible time to create conditions for your next battle." Today, almost all of the enemy forces in Turkmenistan are concentrated on the line of Mount Kurandag, and as long as you destroy these three armies, it will be much easier for you to fight in the future. So tomorrow we will make no reservations and attack on all fronts, hopefully this time it will be successful. ”

Tang Wen thought for a moment and asked, "In addition to cooperating with you to flank the front and back, do you need us to do anything?" ”

"Air Force! We need as many bombers as possible! ”

Shevchenko pointed to the map and said: "Most of our air force is concentrated on the front line of the Ural Mountains to suppress the offensive of Moscow, and there is simply no way to send extra fighters to the south to assist in the operation, which is also the main reason for the current crisis." I hope we can work together to defeat the enemy! ”

"Understood, I think we can answer the general's request now, and tomorrow we will send at least three flying regiments of nearly three hundred bombers to participate in the bombardment of the enemy forces on the front line of Mount Kurandag. Don't be confused, think I'm bragging, in fact, when I led my troops south, I had already authorized the command of three flying regiments to assist in the battle, and now these three regiments are stationed in the cities of Aksu, Aktau, and Shetepe, and can participate in the battle at any time. ”

Tang asked to answer without hesitation.

"In that case, then it is decided, tomorrow we will launch a general attack on the enemy army on Mount Kurandag, and the success or failure will be in one fell swoop!"

"Yes!"

A neat answer was heard from the command headquarters.

......

Mongolia, Kulen.

As the war in Central Asia became more and more urgent, and Japan sharpened its knives and gathered heavy troops in the Yanji, Qingjin and Xiongji areas, which could provoke a war at any time, and it was obviously not enough time for the troops to go north in Syria.

The number of airships has now expanded to 50 airships, and all but 20 of them are used in Central Asia.

With the continuous deepening of the research on airships and the technical support of Germany, the carrying capacity of the new airship has exceeded 250 tons, and the cruising speed has reached 150 kilometers (note: the load of the German Hindenburg airship has reached 550 tons, the maximum speed is 290 km/h, and the cruising speed is 180 km/h), deducting the weight of the cabin and piloting equipment, the available tonnage is 150 tons. Thirty airships can transport 4,500 tons of supplies at one time, and 30,000 people can be transported by air at one time based on each soldier plus 150 kilograms of individual equipment.

After continuous rush transportation, the group army group under the command of Yang Jiuxiao has now been basically established, and the follow-up tank, armor, and artillery equipment work is also in full swing, but it has not affected the normal training of the troops.

Yang Jiuxiao's front army has three group armies under its jurisdiction, and in addition to Li Jun, Liu Chuankui, Xiao Ruofei, Fang Tianming, Li Tong, and other former generals of the 30 th Group Army who followed him away, the general headquarters has also transferred elite and strong generals from the southern Yunnan Military Region, the engineering headquarters, and Gu Changfeng's headquarters.

On 5 May, at 9 a.m. South China time, Yin Jinan, accompanied by Yang Jiuxiao, went to a military camp more than 20 kilometers west of Kulun City to inspect the construction of the troops.

The random spot check was Li Jun's 46th motorist division. In accordance with the real needs of operations in Central Asia, the division had five regiments, three motorized infantry regiments, a cavalry regiment and an artillery regiment, in addition to an anti-aircraft battalion and a tank battalion.

When Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao's off-road vehicles drove into the camp, the soldiers had already begun training. Among them, the 196th Motorized Infantry Regiment conducted a coordinated drill with the tank battalion, the 197th Motorized Infantry Regiment was training in target shooting, and the 198th Motorized Infantry Regiment was conducting civil engineering operations.

The officers and men of the artillery regiment, divided into 10 circles, were taught artillery skills by artillery experts seconded from the Second Artillery Corps, how to obtain firing elements including firing direction, bearing, and firing distance through the use of logarithmic tables, calculation boards, and plate operations, to determine the loading scale, to learn test firing correction, and to transfer artillery positions in an emergency.

As for the cavalry regiment, it was practicing the technique of slashing.

The reason for the establishment of cavalry units lies in the special geography of Central Asia and Mongolia, where the grasslands and grasslands are connected, and the cavalry units are able to give full play to their specialties and strike at the enemy by surprise.

The officers of the cavalry regiment were mainly transferred from Zhang Chengzhu's front army, and the soldiers were selected from the young and middle-aged who could ride horses who had fled from North China to Mongolia.

After visiting the shooting and civil engineering training, and admiring the coordination of the infantry for half an hour, Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao came to the cavalry training ground.

Watching a group of cavalry wielding sabers, skimming over those grass targets, where the silver flashes, the grass targets were split in half. There are also cavalrymen with a knife and a pistol in one hand, first firing a shot, and then swinging a knife to slash and kill, Yin Jinan couldn't help asking: "Cavalry training, isn't there a unified standard?" ”

Yang Jiuxiao explained: "Yes, at least I know that is true. Take Lieutenant Colonel Zhao Lingyun, the commander of the cavalry regiment, as an example, he just served as the commander of the cavalry company under General Zhang Chengzhu, and later the troops carried out mechanized construction, and the cavalry gradually declined, but he always insisted on staying in the cavalry unit, and finally rose to the commander of the cavalry battalion, but he was seriously injured and hospitalized in the eastern Hebei operation, and was discharged from the hospital at the beginning of the year, and was assigned to General Zhang Chengzhu, but there was no war horse to ride.

"This time we formed a cavalry unit, we needed a large number of cavalry officers, and he immediately signed up for it, because he was always accompanied by horses, he did not need to take the reins on horseback, so that he could hold a gun in both hands, and he could accurately hit a target of about 300 meters while marching, while many people could not meet such requirements."

"Well, I've seen this Zhao Lingyun, he can be regarded as the first veteran to follow Zhang Chengzhu's eldest brother, and he can be regarded as my old friend, you can call him over!" Yin Jinan nodded with satisfaction and whispered to Yang Jiuxiao.

Yang Jiuxiao called his guards and asked him to call Zhao Lingyun over.

Zhao Lingyun is about thirty years old, about one meter six, and he looks quite strong, at this time he is teaching a few cavalrymen with good riding skills how to shoot accurately on their horses, when he heard that Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao were coming, he immediately jumped on his horse and ran over.

Coming to Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao, Zhao Lingyun reported loudly: "Zhao Lingyun, the commander of the 199th Cavalry Regiment, has seen two commanders!" With that, he raised his right hand on his horse and gave a military salute.

Yin Jinan returned a military salute and said with a smile: "Zhao Lingyun, I remember that when Brother Chengzhu led his troops to join my independent division in Cangzhou, you were still a young man with strong blood, and now ten years have passed in the blink of an eye. I've heard that you've not fallen behind at all over the years, and you can shoot accurately at a gallop, can you show us a demonstration? ”

Zhao Lingyun's face flashed red, and he grinned happily and replied, "Okay!" Then he turned his head and shouted, "Xiaozhuang, let me hide in the trench in front of me, and remember to bring a wine bottle......

Xiao Zhuang was Zhao Lingyun's guard, and when he heard this, he immediately took an empty wine bottle and ran towards the ditch a hundred meters away.

Yang Jiuxiao smiled slightly when he saw it, and said to Yin Jinan: "Commander, it seems that this kid wants to shoot a live target, this is much more difficult than killing a target three hundred meters away......

Yin Jinan nodded: "I still remember Brother Chengzhu's cavalry vividly, before the first Northern Expedition failed, we encountered Brother Chengzhu's elite cavalry, if he hadn't opened the net, you Commander An and I would probably not be in this world." Originally, I thought that with the regularization of the army and the use of trucks, tanks and armored vehicles, the use of cavalry became less and less, but I did not expect that Mongolia and Central Asia have a vast territory and many pastures, and in many places vehicles could not go at all, but the cavalry could gallop across the country. It can be seen that things are always changing. ”

During the conversation, Xiao Zhuang had already run to the designated place, and after hiding, he shouted "Ready", and Zhao Lingyun immediately urged the horse to run.

Yin Jinan's eyes couldn't help but widen, just now he thought that Zhao Lingyun was going to shoot while running, and the horse speed would definitely not be too fast, but now, seeing the raised tail of Zhao Lingyun's mount, he immediately understood that Zhao Lingyun actually wanted to shoot a moving target in a fast run, which was really too difficult.

On the cavalry training ground, maybe there are too many similar performances, or the soldiers know the ability of their regiment commander, or maybe the military discipline is very strict, and no one stops to watch, everyone is still chopping or shooting, and they don't squint, which makes Yin Jinan very satisfied with the spirit of the troops.

At this time, Zhao Lingyun began to shoot, unlike the ordinary cavalry with one hand, he actually held the gun with both hands, and the whole person relied on the horse's belly between his feet, and his buttocks seemed to be tightly glued to the saddle. Wine bottles flew out of the trench one after another, and Zhao Lingyun's mount rushed forward without hesitation, and his gun was never put down.

"Bang Bang-"

Successive gunshots were heard, and the wine bottles exploded one after another, and none of them escaped the net.

"Good!"

Yin Jinan shouted hello and clapped vigorously with both hands.

Whether it was by An Yi's side or later going to Germany, Yin Jinan's marksmanship did not fall, but after watching Zhao Lingyun's performance, he knew that he could not reach Zhao Lingyun's height.

At this time, Lieutenant General Yan Zilin, commander of the 16 th Group Army, and Major General Li Jun, commander of the 46 th Motor Infantry Division, who were discussing how to further improve the training level of the troops, heard that Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao had arrived at their unit and immediately arrived in an open-top jeep.

This kind of jeep developed and equipped by the Syrian Research Institute is one meter high and 1.5 meters wide, and the foldable canopy can only symbolically shelter from the wind and rain, and the driver sits on the seat, as if sitting on the highest wooden step in front of the house. But the jeep has a four-cylinder petrol engine with a load of 1.25 tons and can drive off-road with four-wheel drive, climb steep slopes of 60 degrees, and reach a maximum speed of 105 kilometers per hour on the road.

The officers and men of Anjia gave full play to the function of the jeep to the extreme: the front windshield can be equipped with a heavy machine gun or a recoilless gun, and the radio and other communication devices can be installed to become a command vehicle, and a stretcher is placed horizontally behind the front seat, the jeep can act as a stretcher soldier in the line of fire on various terrains, and the jeep can also tow an ammunition cart to hang bombs for the aircraft, which is so useful that it is breathtaking.

With the explosive development of the steel, chemical and rubber industries, as well as the wartime economy, the automobile industry, which is closely related to the army, has also made leaps and bounds, and today's An Yi Group has a monthly output of 90,000 vehicles, including 50,000 trucks of various types, 20,000 jeeps, and 20,000 cars, off-road vehicles, and buses, which are almost ten times larger than before the war, which is also the most important reason why the army vehicles can be guaranteed.

Yin Jinan was in high spirits, and said to Yan Zilin and Li Jun who jumped out of the car with a smile: "You came at the right time, I was just about to say to you Commander Yang that your troops have brought well, not only have they preserved the traditional advantages of our Anjia Army's unique shooting skills such as high shooting skills and excellent engineering skills, but the cavalry is also well trained, and I want to give you credit!" ”

Yan Zilin, who was transferred from the deputy commander of the Southern Yunnan Military Region to the commander of the 16 th Group Army, said with a smile: "Our troops, from the grassroots noncommissioned officers to the officers at all levels, have all graduated from the Syrian non-commissioned officer school, have received systematic training, and everything they do is in an orderly manner, and the training results are naturally not bad. ”

Li Jun nodded: "Generally, I only make directional arrangements, and the specific training is all completed by the staff department and grassroots officers. It has to be said that the regularization of the armed forces has already yielded results, and our military commanders can devote more energy to directing operations. ”

Yin Jinan frowned slightly: "Then do you still insist on the system of taking at least half a month to go to the grassroots level every month?" ”

"It's our old tradition, and of course we stick to it!" Yan Zilin and Li Jun said in unison.

"That's pretty much it!"

Yin Jinan regained a smile on his face: "We are a people's army, if our officers at all levels do not personally go to the grassroots level, go to the soldiers, understand their thoughts, and be anxious about their anxieties, our troops will lose their souls, lose their pursuits, and lose their combat effectiveness." Therefore, no matter who it is, how big an officer is, or how brave it is in battle, if we do not strictly enforce the iron discipline of our army and do not insist on sharing weal and woe with the soldiers, we can only ask him to be laid off! ”

Many generals, including Yang Jiuxiao, were all in their hearts, and they should say "yes" in unison.

At this time, Zhao Lingyun had already finished shooting, he took the reins, turned the horse's head, and hit the horse. Seeing that the division commander and army commander were also coming, they hurriedly saluted.

Yin Jinan praised loudly: "Head Zhao, you did a good job." If you can train your regiment to be like you, I guess the enemy will be in bad luck! ”

Speaking of this, Yin Jinan took off his pistol from his body, threw it to Zhao Lingyun and said, "This is the pistol issued to me by the headquarters, it can be regarded as a reward for your excellent performance!" ”

Zhao Lingyun is a person who loves guns, and the first feeling when he took the gun was so heavy, he looked down and took a closer look, and his mouth suddenly opened open. He knew that this gun was called the Desert Eagle, which used the principle of air-conductive operation, had an adjustable trigger mechanism, a polygonal barrel was finely forged, and the sighting device was composed of a notched illuminator and a flaky crosshair, which was so powerful that only a few senior generals in the army had it, and immediately said happily: "Thank you, sir!" ”

Zhao Lingyun saluted solemnly, dismounted, handed the horse to the guards who ran back after him, and then stood beside Yin Jinan and other generals.

At this time, an off-road vehicle came from far and near to stop in front of Yin Jinan and others, and Wang Buyun, chief of staff of the front army, hurriedly got out of the car, walked quickly to Yin Jinan and Yang Jiuxiao, and handed the telegram to Yang Jiuxiao, commander of the front army.

After reading it, Yang Jiuxiao's expression became extremely solemn, and he handed the message to Yin Jinan.

"What!? Japan has entered the final stage of war preparations, and the battle for the Far East may start at any time, which ......"

Yin Jinan blurted out, and then read it carefully.