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Chapter 1512 The melee begins

March 18, 1938. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The million-strong army of the Far Eastern Army, divided into three routes, left, center, and right, marched south from Orsk, Petropaplovsk, and Omsk, and its mighty and obscuring army, led by three mechanized armies, advanced at a speed of nearly 100 kilometers per day and night.

At this time, Kazakhstan is really vast and sparsely populated. As a result of the loss of a large number of people during the civil war in the Soviet Union, coupled with the severe drought that lasted for several years after the establishment of the Soviet Union, and the policy of collectivization of agriculture in the late twenties, there was a famine in the entire Kazakh region for more than 20 years, and the population has plummeted from 6 million before the October Revolution to 1.76 million now, and the population of the entire Central Asian region is not 11 million as Lyuschenkov said, but only 5.82 million at the end of 1937, which is not as large as the population of the city of Syria. The rest of the population, in these twenty years, has all "drifted".

(Note: On the eve of the Soviet-German war in '41, the population of Kazakhstan recovered to 4.28 million due to the large number of people moving in from Ukraine, Russia and other places.) ）

It is precisely because of the large land and sparse population that there is often not a single village within hundreds of miles, and most of the people are gathered in cities with resources and arable land.

As for someone asking about this thousand-mile prairie, there should always be someone grazing, but unfortunately, no, really not.

During the collectivization movement of the late twenties, even a herdsman's family with only one sheep was considered a kulak, and heavily armed commissioners, accompanied by military police, would break into their homes and take everything from livestock, first livestock, then money, clothing, food, and even dishes, and in many areas, including women and children, all of them were sent to concentration camps for eight days of ideological reform.

It is precisely because of this cold-blooded and cruel policy that millions of livestock were slaughtered by peasants and herdsmen before they were turned into collective property, and millions of livestock died without being cared for; according to statistics, in February 1932, 87 percent of collective farmers and herdsmen and 61.8 percent of individual farmers and herdsmen did not have a single livestock, and on the eve of collectivization, Kazakhstan had a total of 40.5 million heads of various types of livestock, and by 1 January 33, there were only 2 million heads. The two million head of livestock, which can only belong to the collective, are scattered over 2.7 million square kilometers of land, and it is normal to not see a single horse, a cow, or a sheep for a month in a row.

By sunset on the 18th, the cities located in the northwest of Kazakhstan and within 100 kilometers of the northern border with the Far East were occupied by the Far Eastern Army.

The people of these cities were indifferent to the entry of the Far Eastern Army, neither angrily objected, nor gathered to pick up red flags and slogans to welcome them, as if nothing had happened, and continued to do their work, which was also a good treatment for the Far Eastern Red Army, which was eager to eliminate the flank threat.

Unfortunately, on the first day of the march, the main forces of the Red Army were not found, and the opponents hidden in the shadows were all the more terrible compared to the huge territory of Central Asia.

As night fell, the street lamps in the western Mongolian city of Khobdo were lit up one after another, and the electric lights in the homes of the residents were also shining one after another, and in the Mongolian plateau with an average altitude of more than 1,500 meters, it was like a galaxy falling into the mortal world, making thousands of Mongolians truly feel the benefits of the new government.

Kobdo City is located on the shore of Lake Harabo, is one of the most important cities in western Mongolia, as early as the Yongzheng period has been built the city, at its peak governed the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains, with jurisdiction over most of today's Kazakhstan, Tangnu Ulianghai and Mongolia, Mongolia and other large areas of land. Today, in 1938, although the city of Kobdo is declining day by day, there is already a relatively smooth cement road to Uriya Sutai, extending in all directions, west to Tarbagatai (now Tacheng), Ili, Nantong Dihua, Balikun, north to Tangnu Ulianghai, northwest to Kazakhstan.

With the full efforts of the engineering corps and the help of the air force transport unit, the first thermal power plant in the city of Kobdo was connected to the grid in early March, ending the history of using kerosene lamps and horse lanterns for many years.

After the unremitting efforts of more than 200,000 officers and men who settled down, even in the bitterly cold of January, the officers and men used boiling water to remove the ice and stirred cement to build the foundation and brick wall.

At half past ten o'clock in the evening, around a house in the middle of the camp, there was a heavy guard.

Lieutenant General Hu Jiyang, commander of the Western Front of the Mongolian Military Region, Lieutenant General An Mingqi, deputy commander, and Major General Liu Quan, director of the Political Department, Colonel Liu Yu, who was transferred from the Operations Department of the General Staff Headquarters to the Mongolian Military Region to serve as chief of staff of the Western Front, Lieutenant Colonel Yang Sichen, director of the Intelligence Division, and a staff officer of the Front Army Command are gathering to discuss the battle situation.

In this round of reorganization, the Mongolian Military Region has organized a total of 10 group armies and two mechanized armies, of which the Central Front Army, which is the general reserve of the whole army and the defense of the surrounding areas of Kulun, has the first, second, and third group armies under its jurisdiction. The Southern Front Army was under the jurisdiction of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Armies, which were stationed in the southern Mongolian border areas with Chahar, Suiyuan, and Rehe, and were vigilant day and night against border provocations or even full-scale attacks that the Japanese army might launch at any time.

The Western Front Army, which is responsible for the combat mission in Central Asia, is the most powerful of the three front armies, with four group armies and two mechanized armies under its jurisdiction, the seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth armies, and is the core striking force of the Mongolian Military Region.

Due to the substantial expansion of the troops, the Central Military Commission has specially transferred a large number of backbone cadres from the Syrian Noncommissioned Officers School and the main units to the north to serve as commanders at all levels.

Hu Jiyang organized tonight's meeting, and after introducing the progress of the Soviet army during the day, he invited everyone to speak their minds freely.

In order to enrich the strength of the Western Front, An Mingqi, who was transferred from the military region to the deputy commander of the Western Front, had a serious face: "From the analysis of various situations, Moscow should have been informed in advance of this sudden and rapid attack by the Far Eastern Army, otherwise there would never have been a situation in which nothing was gained on all fronts. It is highly likely that the Soviets will be hiding somewhere in the Turkige Plateau and the Kazakh hills of Central Asia, looking for weaknesses in the Far Eastern Army, and then surprise them with several key victories to reverse the unfavorable situation since the beginning of the war. Therefore, we should not look at the fact that the Far Eastern Army is progressing smoothly on all fronts and that difficulties are still to come, and we must not be blindly optimistic, but should be more vigilant. ”

Liu Yu, the chief of staff who looked a little weak between his eyebrows, nodded: "We should be vigilant!" In this world, advanced weapons and tactics are not the only force that determines the outcome of a war, and there are many other factors that affect and restrict the course of war. Now the Moscow side has gained the upper hand in public opinion by constantly discrediting the government and the army of the Far East, and it is a peace for the people; The Red Army in Central Asia has been active in this area for a long time, is familiar with the terrain, and can use every mountain and ravine as a location for troops. However, we only have one advantageous condition, that is, because of the use of reconnaissance planes, radars, and radios, we have far more advanced means of reconnaissance and liaison than the other side, and we can only use more brains in this regard to gradually weaken the superiority of the Soviet army and win back the geographical advantages and people in our hands. ”

Liu Quan, who is in charge of political work, does not agree with Liu Yu's point of view: "The geographical advantages and people of the Soviet army are actually relative, and the Soviet Union is not popular in Kazakhstan and even in the entire Central Asian region. Today, more than 2.7 million square kilometers of Kazakhstan are experiencing an unprecedented famine, and urban residents can still get the necessities of subsistence through rations, but the situation of farmers and herdsmen is extremely difficult.

"Because the Soviet Union implemented a compulsory sales system for collective farms, that is, the state expropriated most of the peasants' agricultural and animal husbandry products at low prices, and the peasants' labor income was not enough to cover the cost of production, so they could only rely on their own land and livestock to make up for it, and many families suffered from hunger all year round. The Soviet government set up machine-tractor stations in the countryside and handed over agricultural products to the state in exchange for farming services, and the Subu Party set up a political department in the machine-tractor stations, the main task of which was to supervise the collective farms to unconditionally perform their duties to the state and to fight against the resistance to the purchase of grain and meat.

"As of last year, the collectivization of agriculture in Central Asia was completed, and the personal freedom of the collective peasants was severely restricted. Hundreds of thousands of farmers and herders flee from Central Asia every year due to hardship and even famine, and it can be said that the resentment has accumulated to a crater, and it is up to who will trigger it. ”

Liu Quan looked very confident when he spoke, seeing that everyone was digesting the information he provided, he continued: "Our land and ethnic policy will be a powerful weapon against Subu, Islamization, and Turkic ideology. In fact, irrigation is also very convenient for such a large country, and as long as there is a slight reform and innovation in agricultural technology, there will be no famine at all. On the contrary, this vast land can bring us a lot of grain and become a well-deserved granary of Nanhua. ”

Hu Jiyang nodded: "The political department is to use more brains in this regard, I don't want our soldiers to worry about being thrown bricks and rotten vegetables on the street, or even being shot cold, and the blow to morale will be extremely huge." Lao Liu, I heard that this time your Political Department has carried out a pre-war general mobilization, and there are many new ideas to be tried in Central Asia. ”

"Please rest assured that since the high-level visit to Syria in the Far East at the end of last year, the chairman believed that sooner or later our army would enter the Central Asian region to fight, so he instructed the General Political Department to conduct a special study on this. Liu Quan said.

Yang Sichen, director of the intelligence department, saw that everyone was still faintly worried, and after thinking about it, he decided to tell the unconfirmed information forwarded by the Intelligence Department of the General Staff, so that everyone had a number in their hearts: "The problem of the Soviets is not only a land problem, but also a more important problem, that is, the suppression of rebellion." The year before last and last year alone, hundreds of thousands of people in Central Asia lost their lives as a result of the suppression, and although the Central Committee of Sub-Bu has now put all the blame on Yezhov, the damage caused to the people in Central Asia is not so easy to heal. ”

Speaking of this, Yang Sichen took out a black notebook from the briefcase in front of him:

"I have here a copy of the information forwarded by the Far East, which, although unconfirmed, has a certain credibility. In June last year, all the members of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Kab Party, elected by the First National Party Congress of Kazakhstan, without exception, were arrested and shot, and the deaths were: Mirzoyan, Deputy General of the Central Committee of Kazakhstan Nurpyisov, Chairman of the Central Executive Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kulubetov, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Republic Isaev, member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the Republic of Kazakhstan, famous scientist and theorist Kabrov. Also arrested and executed at the same time were: all members of the Central Committee of Kazakhstan, the chairman of the regional party committee and the regional executive committee, almost all the municipal party committees and district committees, these people were the ones who created the Soviet power in Kazakhstan, including Jandosov, Shekitsbayev, Babaev, Rozbakiev, Aserbekov, etc.

"After a purge of this magnitude, the cadres of the whole of Kazakhstan from the top to the grassroots were basically wiped out, all the Kab Party institutions were in a state of stagnation, and the purge of the old party members left all the old party members behind, which led to great suspicion of Bolshevism among the people. In fact, if you think about it, you can understand that the leaders who usually lead everyone to make revolution and carry out socialist construction are all traitors, spies, ideological degeneration, corrupt and degenerate, so how should the party members under their leadership deal with themselves, and what else is there for this party to be trusted and supported by everyone?

"The other four countries in Central Asia are almost the same as Kazakhstan, and the entire party organization has been basically uprooted from high to low, and this time can be said to be the weakest time in Central Asia. If this shocking news is true, then we can say that we have found the most opportune time to enter Central Asia and win the hearts and minds of the people! In the next few years, Moscow will support a new group of interest strata to replace those old party members who died in the rebellion, time can also slowly dilute the people's doubts about ideals and beliefs, and the cohesion and centripetal force of the country and the Subu party will slowly be restored, and then everything will be difficult to do! ”

Everyone nodded their heads again and again, greatly excited, and some even thought: Will Stalin's purge, which was extremely confused, be God's help for China to regain its sovereignty over Central Asia?

Hu Jiyang was also deeply touched when he heard the detailed analysis of the arguments, and he felt extremely happy in his heart.

After the regularization of the troops, all the work in their hands is done by professional personnel, and the commander-in-chief of the army can freely grasp and make decisions on the basis of the information fed back from all quarters and in combination with the suggestions of the staff departments.

However, because of this kind of regularization, it has also greatly weakened the ability of the commanders of a troop, and as long as they are not too mediocre and can carry forward democracy and pool their wisdom, under such a perfect system, anyone can make some achievements. Hu Jiyang secretly sighed, if he hadn't seized the opportunity and successfully achieved a series of dazzling results in the Northeast War, it is estimated that it would be impossible to be promoted like a rocket like before!

Hu Jiyang listened to everyone's opinions for a while, and felt that it was almost over, so he said:

"Everyone has a lot of truth in what they say, but no matter what the time, place and people, victory ultimately depends on our hard battles, the sky will not drop pie out of thin air, only after careful deployment, mobilize all forces to win, this is our ultimate goal.

"During this period, our air force carried out uninterrupted reconnaissance of the Kazakh region southwest of the Tangnu-Ulianghai Sea, and found that there was no trace of Soviet troops in the area of Lake Zaisan, and its main forces were mainly concentrated in the areas of Leninlogorsk (now the city of Reed), Ust-Kamenn (now the city of Oskemen), and Semypalatinsk (the city of Semiy). However, the mountains on both sides of the road are dangerous, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and there is no reason for the Soviets to voluntarily abandon such a geographically advantageous ambush site, and I think at least one or two divisions of the Soviets are already waiting there at this time.

"Our two mechanized corps have already been transported by rail to the territory of Kazakhstan, and tomorrow morning, with the cooperation of the infantry of the two divisions of the Far Eastern Army, will launch an attack on Semypalatinsk, and after taking the city, the two mechanized corps will quickly pounce on Ust-Kamenn and cut off the retreat of the Soviet troops stationed in the Leninogorsk region. Tomorrow at noon, the vanguard of our infantry will also cross the border and officially set foot on the territory of Kazakhstan, and an encounter with the Soviet army will break out at any moment. This time, we threw in two to three flying groups and more than 300 warplanes in one go to launch a merciless attack on the Soviet troops who dared to block us. Let's see, are there any gaps in the plan we have made before? ”

Liu Yu stood up, walked to the map, and pointed to the northeastern region of Kazakhstan:

"This area is steep in mountains and mountains, and the terrain is dangerous, even if it is bombed indiscriminately by fighter planes, it may not be able to cause any substantial damage to the Soviet troops who are familiar with the terrain. For specific examples, you can refer to the long-term siege of Jiangxi, Dabie Mountain, Yan'an and other Soviet areas, as well as the Red Army's Long March, etc., which had absolute air supremacy, what kind of effect was achieved in the bombing, and whether the opponent was completely defeated. When I say this, I don't mean to preach defeatism, but to win at the lowest cost.

"It was originally planned that at noon tomorrow, our vanguard would cross the border to fight, and at this time, our mechanized troops, probably still attacking Semypalatinsk, would not be able to attract and involve the Soviet troops on the front line of Tohorshan. The enemy occupies a favorable position, our army is attacking from the bottom up, and the losses are bound to be heavy, it is better to wait until the two mechanized armies advance eastward, attack Ust-Kamen, and attract Soviet reinforcements, and it is not too late for our army to launch again. If the Soviet army does not choose to return to the division, then our mechanized troops will take Ust-Kamen, and after occupying the airfield built by the Soviet army, our army can mobilize a large number of troops to Ust-Kamenn by air to encircle this stubborn opponent. ”

The generals discussed a lot, and they all felt that it was extremely inappropriate to rashly change the operational plan drawn up by the Military Region and the General Staff Headquarters, but Hu Jiyang's eyes lit up, and he got up and walked quickly to the map to observe carefully.

The eastern, southern and western parts of the region are the Irtysh River and the Katong River from the Mongolian Plateau, respectively, the river is wide and turbulent, only the mountain valley in the north is connected with the Tangnu Ulianghai in Mongolia, the city of Ust-Kamenn spans the Irtysh River, and the three bridges communicate the north-south traffic, once this mouth is blocked, then the Soviet army in this area will never be able to cross the water surface up to three or four hundred meters wide, and it is a surging river when the ice and snow are melting, so it is a difficult choice regardless of the advance or retreat of the Soviet army.

Liu Yu said again: "At two o'clock this afternoon, ten brand-new airships have departed from Syria, and they will arrive in the Tangnu Wulianghai area by tomorrow afternoon at the latest. In addition to being used for high-altitude radar monitoring, the load capacity of this airship is also very considerable, the airship has a characteristic, the higher it flies, the lower the load, but if it flies low, the load is very large. If the altitude is reduced to 2,000 to 1,000 meters, or even 500 meters, the payload of the airship will be very considerable, for example, when maintaining an altitude of less than 500 meters, the maximum usable load/lifting capacity of the airship we have developed can reach 55 tons. However, in Mongolia, the flight altitude is generally 2,000 meters, and the highest is between 2,500 and 2,800 meters, so the usable payload is about 25 to 30 tons.

What is this concept? A fully armed warrior, weighing no more than 150 kilograms, such an airship can transport 200 people at a time, 10 ships are 2,000 people, from Tangnu Ulianghai to Ust-Kamen, at least five times a day back and forth, that is 10,000 people, if you join our mosquito transport plane, this number will be even more impressive. Therefore, I feel that there is absolutely no reason to risk the lives of our soldiers! ”

Hu Jiyang no longer hesitated: "This proposal is very good, I will immediately report to the Military Region, the Northern Bureau and the General Staff Department, and to avoid casualties among soldiers as much as possible, which has always been what the chairman has been pursuing, I think he will agree to this request." ”

"I'm convinced of that!"

Liu Yu smiled and nodded, and An Yi's voice and smile suddenly appeared in his mind, feeling very cordial.