Stalin opened the door of the duty assistant's room, and inside sat Major General Rumyantsev. He hurriedly stood up and looked at Stalin inquiringly. The owner of the villa glanced at the general's figure with a blank gaze, closed the door gently, and walked back to his room.

Stalin stood for a while by the seams of the curtains, gazing at the silhouette of the night garden. For some reason, he suddenly remembered a passage from a letter written by Tukhachevsky a long time ago: "The war of the future will be the war of engines." The concentration of armored tank forces can form powerful assault fists, and it is not easy to resist them. "This man is smart, but he wants to carry out a palace coup...... If Tukhachevsky had been put in Pavlov's position, perhaps many things would have been different...... But what's the use of thinking about it now? Stalin tried to dispel the shadow of the past, hoping to relieve his sorrows, but the "sleep" was difficult: the reality was too frightening. Not only is the eastern theater in an all-round emergency, but the southern theater is also in danger.

Deployed in the southern section of the Sino-Soviet front was the Northwest Army Group of the Chinese Army, commanded by Field Marshal Xu Shuzheng, who was 63 years old and had also been engaged in command and staff work for a long time. The army group had 42 Chinese divisions (6 armored divisions, 3 motorized divisions, 3 guard divisions, 4 light infantry divisions, 1 mountain division, 25 infantry divisions) and the "Blade" division of the internal affairs forces, which was only equivalent to a brigade. The division consists of 4 reinforced infantry battalions, 2 artillery battalions, 1 air defense battalion, 1 reconnaissance battalion, and 1 assault artillery battery. Together with the reserve of the rear army headquarters, the Northwest Army Group has a total of 57 Chinese divisions and more than 1.1 million army personnel. Within the 1st Panzer Group of Army Group there are 6 armored divisions with a total of 926 tank armored vehicles (221 "Walker" 85-mm guns, 409 "Walker" 100-mm guns, and 125 "Snow Wolf" tank destroyers), and 4 assault artillery battalions and 1 tank battalion are reinforced. Supporting this army group was the 4th Air Force of the Chinese Air Force, General Gu Changqing, whose aviation unit included the 4th and 5th Air Armies with 1140 aircraft. Its army support anti-aircraft artillery unit is mainly the 2nd Anti-aircraft Artillery Corps, which is responsible for supporting the 1st Panzer Group. In addition, the Northwest Army Group was also coordinated by the Kazakh army, and its troops were organized into two army groups (the 3rd and 4th armies), with a total of 14 infantry divisions, 5 infantry brigades, 4 cavalry brigades, and 1 motorized brigade, with a strength of 360,000 troops, 201 tanks, about 3,000 artillery mortars, and 623 combat aircraft. From April 6, more than 40,000 people from five brigades (including two motorized brigades) of the Kazakh "Altai" cluster under the command of General Batlan were also put into operation. The Soviet Army in front of Army Group Northwest had two fronts: the Southern Front (the pre-war Caspian Military District) and the Turkestan Military District (on the basis of which the Southwestern Front was formed on April 3). The former was the most powerful front of the Soviet army, and its commander, General Kirponos, who was only a division commander in 1939 (although he was already a deputy division commander at the time of the civil war), was awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union" for the outstanding performance of his unit in the Soviet-Finnish war, and was quickly promoted to his current position. His front army has 58 divisions (26 infantry divisions, 16 armored divisions, 8 modified divisions, 6 mountain divisions, and 2 cavalry divisions), with a strength of 864,600 troops, and its eight mechanized corps has 4,525 tanks, including 758 "T-34" and "KV" tanks. There are a total of 5645 tanks in the whole military district, of which 1124 are in good technical condition. The aviation has 1672 combat aircraft. The Turkestan Military District has 22 divisions (13 infantry, 4 tank, 2 motorized divisions, 3 cavalry divisions), 769 tanks (60 T-34 and KV tanks) in its two mechanized corps, and 950 aircraft in the air force of the Military District. The Caspian flotilla has another 626 aircraft. For the Chinese, in the northwest, although they were slightly outnumbered by the Soviets, they were numerically inferior in tank power (the Chinese tanks were qualitatively superior, although the mobility of the forces on both sides was not taken into account here). The total number of aircraft of the Soviet Army in the south, including the air forces of the Southwestern Front, the Turkestan Military District, and the Caspian Flotilla, amounted to 3,248, which greatly exceeded the 1,763 aircraft equipped by the 1st Air Force of the Chinese Army and the Kazakh Army. Although the overall quality of the Soviet aircraft is not as good as that of the Chinese army, the equipment of its new aircraft is better than that of other armies and front armies. Moreover, the combat readiness of the Soviet aviation unit of the Turkestan Military District was the most adequate, its planes were evacuated before the Chinese army attacked, and each aviation regiment sent squadrons on duty, so that by noon only 23 planes were lost, while the neighboring Southwestern Front lost 277 planes, more than 10 times more than the military region. Therefore, in the southern region, the Chinese army did not have a significant superiority in troops.

The Chinese troops deployed in Kazakhstan did not launch a large-scale offensive at the beginning of the war, because Yang Shuoming had always feared that if the offensive in the northwest failed, the Soviet army might launch an attack on Kazakhstan, thus threatening the oil fields of Kazakhstan and Xinjiang Province, the blood bank of China's war machine. In view of this, he decided to go on the defensive in this direction before the battle became clear.

On the first day of the battle, the main forces of Army Group Northwest launched an assault from the junction of the 5th and 6th armies of the Southwestern Front of the Soviet Army in the direction of Lutsk and Dubno. Here, the Soviet 5th Army, commanded by Major General Potapov's tank corps, was only equal to less than 1/3 of the 1st Panzer Group and the 6th Army of General Zhang Zhizhong, which attacked it, and its firepower was also at a disadvantage. At the beginning of the war, the army group was deployed on the border only with the main forces of the border guards and the 87th Infantry Division. In the rear of these units, the 45th, 62nd, and 124th Infantry Divisions of the 5th Army and other units of the 87th Infantry Division were advancing towards the border, of which with the exception of the 124th Infantry Division, the rest of the divisions could only commit two regiments, and the third regiment could not reach the battlefield because it was still building in the rear at that time. And just as the Soviets marched 10 to 25 kilometers from the border, a huge Chinese armored column that had rushed across the border had already poured in front of them. In the face of countless roaring armored beasts, the Soviet army suddenly fell into chaos, unable to organize resistance at all, and had to retreat desperately.

In order to contain the Chinese 1st Panzer Group, the 5th Army of the Red Army engaged its subordinate mechanized 22nd Army, the 135th Infantry Division, and the 1st Anti-Tank Brigade to counterattack. As a result, they ran into the 13th and 14th armored divisions of the Chinese army. Just when the commander of the 22nd Mechanized Army of the Red Army, Major General Konde Lutsev, was not yet sure whether the huge tank column rumbling in front of him was friend or foe, the shells of the Chinese tanks had already fallen on his side. Kondelutef was seriously wounded and died the next day. However, his subordinates and the 1st Soviet Anti-Tank Brigade (commanded by Colonel Moskalenko) temporarily halted the advance of the Chinese army with heavy artillery fire. Nevertheless, during the day's fighting, the Chinese were able to break through 10 to 25 kilometers from the junction of the 5th and 6th armies. Compared with the 5th Army, under the command of Lieutenant General Muzchenko, the defense of the Soviet 6th Army, which was on a covering mission, was relatively stable for the time being. In the middle of the defensive sector of the army, the 41st Infantry Division, which was part of the 6th Infantry Army, organized effective resistance from the first hours of the war, and the Chinese offensive was repulsed in many areas, and the once occupied cities were recaptured by the Soviets. But this is not the main direction of attack of the Chinese army after all.

Just when Stalin was angry and optimistic, the Russian people, who had planned to spend a pleasant "festival" on April 1, also learned of the outbreak of war. On the border and in the air-raided areas, people saw Chinese planes flying in the sky and frantically dropping bombs and strafing, while others encountered heavy artillery fire and Chinese tanks rumbling closer. A Soviet train at the Omsk station was hit by an air strike, and many people lost their lives before they could understand what was going on, as survivors recalled: "There was chaos on the train, people were crying and moaning. I looked up and saw corpses, broken glass and blood everywhere. The passengers who had been sitting next to me, I noticed that their bodies were still twitching, but their heads were gone. In the rear cities, more people learned about the invasion of the Soviet Union through Molotov's "Letter to the Soviet People," which was published on the radio at 12 noon that day. Nervous, the Soviet No. 2 who had participated in the October armed uprising and was known for his uncompromising steadfastness, stammered a little during the broadcast, trying to move the hearts of the Soviet people, including those who listened to the indiscriminate bombardment: "Our cause is just, the enemy will be defeated, and victory will be ours!" "But in reality it had the opposite effect.

The outbreak of the Sino-Soviet War also caused great shock and repercussions throughout the world. This incident did not happen suddenly for Britain and the United States. They had already obtained this information beforehand. The British welcomed the war, because from then on the main pressure of the war would be borne by the Chinese, which was undoubtedly a lifesaver for the British Empire. For the British, the best outcome of the war was, of course, a defeat for both China and the Soviet Union. According to the opinion of the experts on British affairs at that time, this "rock" of Russia will be split by the "sharp giant axe" of the Chinese army, but it will not be easy. The Americans see much the same thing as the British, and the U.S. War Department estimates that it will take at least one year for China to defeat the Soviet Union, but no more than three years at most.

In China, which started this war, the situation is much calmer. Yang Shuoming had a good night's sleep at noon, and most of his staff went swimming. The task of declaring war on the Soviets was carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

On the afternoon of April 1, 1944, Yang Shuoming woke up from a nap and received a satisfactory battle report, but in order to wait for more accurate news, it was not until 12 noon the next day that he stepped on the train to the "Eagle's Nest" headquarters in Kulen, the capital of Mongolia. The train ran from afternoon to evening, in the vast night, I don't know what emotion was affected, Yang Shuoming didn't say anything, just looked at the scenery outside the window. Almost at the same time, Order No. 3 of the General Military Council of the USSR was also sent to the headquarters of the various armies of the Western Red Army. As mentioned earlier, this order, based on erroneous information that "the enemy's offensive on most of the border has been repulsed and has suffered losses," was full of optimism and demanded that all armies "attack the enemy and annihilate them in the border area by all forces and means." However, instead of repelling the fierce offensive of the Chinese army, the troops were in great confusion and suffered heavy losses. Even if these factors are not taken into account, a huge mechanized corps equipped with a large number of technical weapons is required to prepare for an attack in one night without ammunition, no fuel, no information on the enemy's situation, and with only a bunch of tanks to be repaired, drive from different places near and far to the area from which the attack begins, and then launch an attack without reconnaissance at all. But Stalin's order is not to be disobeyed: "The counter-assault must be carried out!" As Colonel Baglamyan, who was then chief of operations of the Southwestern Front, admitted: "The optimism in the judgment of the headquarters document was also to a large extent caused by the proud documents we sent." In this case, the front-line troops had no choice but to carry out the helpless "pride" to the end.

According to the specific provisions of Order No. 3, the three fronts of the Red Army in the western border area (the Northeast, the East, and the South-East Front) were to send strong mechanized units to meet the attacking squadrons. Among them, the Northeast and Eastern Fronts were given the task of "encircling and annihilating the enemy's offensive group (i.e., the 3rd Armored Group of the Chinese Army attacking at the junction of the two fronts) by means of concentrated assault, and occupying that area by dusk on the 3rd." But the commander of the Northeast Front, Colonel-General Kuznetsov, somehow did not pay attention to the advancing 3rd Panzer Group of the Chinese Army. Perhaps, he thought that the Eastern Front under the command of General Pavlov should deal with it.

In Kuznetsov's own plans, what really needed to be taken seriously was the Chinese army (i.e., the 4th Panzer Group of Army Group North and the 18th and 16th armies covering its flanks) that were attacking the center of his Front's defensive zone. In order to repel this enemy, Kuznetsov was determined to mobilize his two mechanized corps: the 3rd and 12th mechanized armies. The former had the 2nd and 5th Tank Divisions and the 84th Modified Division, and had 692 tanks at the outbreak of the war, including 52 "KV" tanks and 3 "T-34" tanks. The latter consisted of the 23rd and 28th tank divisions and the 202nd Mohua Division, which had 691 tanks at that time, including 54 "T-34" tanks. According to the counterattack plan of the Northeast Front, the 12th Mechanized Army should attack the left flank of the Chinese Army with the cooperation of the 8th Infantry Army of the 10th Army, while the 3rd Mechanized Army should attack the right flank of the Chinese Army. The entire counterattack was to be under the unified command of the commander of the 8th Army, Major General Sobinnikov, and the order was issued at 9:30 a.m. that day. The plans of the Northeast Front are impeccable in theory, but in practice they do not buy the theoretical account. First of all, the Soviet troops in the battle were unable to establish effective contacts between their superior headquarters and subordinate units, as well as between friendly and neighboring units, and they were almost ignorant of the enemy situation in front of them. In terms of specific measures, the Soviet army did not act in accordance with the principle of concentrating forces at all. The 2 mechanized corps that participated in the war, the 23rd tank division of the 2 tank divisions under the 12th mechanized army was handed over to the command of the 10th infantry army, and failed to cooperate with the actions of the 28th tank division of the army, the reason for this strange deployment was not clear to the Soviets themselves after the war; The 3rd Mechanized Army also dispatched only one 2nd Tank Division, and the 5th Tank Division, the 5th Tank Division, fought with the troops of the 3rd Armored Group of the Chinese Army and failed to participate in the counterattack of the main force of the army. In this way, although the tank mechanized units used by the Soviet army to counterattack the 4th Panzer Group had three tank divisions, they could not form an assault force at all because they had no tactical coordination or even a minimum connection with each other. Moreover, due to the haste of preparation (less than a night), the troops did not receive enough ammunition and fuel, and at the same time, due to the lack of transport vehicles, they could hardly count on replenishment in the upcoming battle. Later reports from the Chinese side also confirmed that there were often not a few shells in the destroyed and abandoned Soviet tanks. This was a huge difficulty faced not only by the Northeast Front, but also by the mechanized units of the Soviet Army in the entire western region. As a result, it is difficult to exert the enormous power that tank units should have. On the morning of April 3, the tanks of the Red Army began to advance to the battlefield. Their movements were detected by reconnaissance aircraft of the Chinese army. This information was quickly transferred to Army General Xiao Yat, commander of the 4th Armored Group of the Chinese Army. At this time, among the two motorized armies under Xiao Yi, the motorized 56th Army of General Xue Zhenyuan on the right was ahead of the motorized 41st Army of General Wang Chaoyong on the left because of the small resistance it encountered. Xiao Yi initially planned to let Xue Zhenyuan turn around and eat this Soviet army, but considering that reaching the Anwa River as soon as possible was related to the overall situation of whether the Chinese army could annihilate the Soviet army in the Caspian Sea, Xiao Yi dispelled the original idea and decided to let Xue Zhenyuan continue to advance, and Wang Chaoyong's motorized 41st Army would eliminate this Soviet tank force. This battle was a fierce battle of great disparity in power between the 41st motorized army of the Chinese army and the three Soviet tank divisions that were covered by cavalry and artillery at the same time. The Soviets did commit three tank divisions, but in the course of the battle, these three divisions failed to act in unison: at the beginning of the battle on April 4, the 23rd tank division of the 12th mechanized army did not achieve much success in the battle; The 28th Tank Division, another division of the army, did not have its main force dispatched at all due to lack of fuel, and only 40 tanks of the 55th Tank Regiment to which the division belonged engaged in a skirmish with the Chinese army, which pushed the Chinese army back 5 kilometers and claimed to have destroyed 14 Chinese tanks and 20 artillery pieces. However, due to the lack of cooperation from friendly and neighboring forces, the Soviet army was unable to make further progress.

(To be continued)