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Chapter 1577 Cattle knife test

On 28 May, Edminster, the plenipotentiary representative of the US Government, concluded his "secret" visit to South China, formally identified himself in Saigon, and began a state visit to South China. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

During his trip of more than a month, Edminster visited railways, highways, industrial bases, trade markets, and urban residential areas under construction in various parts of South China, visited villagers in rural areas to inquire about land reform and collective farms, and then conducted an in-depth understanding of South China's laws, politics, and economic policies, and finally came to a conclusion: South China's industrial structure is reasonable, and the agricultural policy is targeted, which can greatly stimulate the development of productive forces, and it is only a matter of time before the economy takes off. However, the industrial layout of South China is still uneven, and the central and southern regions are still undeveloped virgin land, and there are many opportunities, and it is the right time for American capital to enter.

Every day, Edminster sent the news he had interviewed back to the United States for the reference of Secretary of State Hull and President Roosevelt, and when Edminster visited Saigon from north to south, taking countless economic samples, the US government had a relatively intuitive understanding of the situation in South China.

In the United States, the low factory operating rate due to insufficient demand is the main reason for the continued economic downturn, so finding and developing the market and finding investment directions for the surplus funds in the United States is the top priority of the US government. Nanhua not only has a large population of its own, but can also radiate the entire southwest region of China, which is the richest region of China, through Nanhua, and is fully equipped with the conditions for cooperation with the United States.

Previously, Americans were worried about the unstable social environment in South China and worried that their investment would be lost, but from Edminster's feedback, South China's public security situation is good, and the political and economic situation is gradually stabilizing.

As for the whereabouts of the Americans, An Yi, who was sent by special intelligence almost every day, was naturally clear, and he did not show excessive affection, and instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Government Council to come forward to receive them. Although the current United States is very economically and industrially developed and is known as the world's factory, it is not the notorious "international policeman" who will intervene in everything in the future, and An Yi, as the supreme leader of a country, does not need to praise the stinky feet of a diplomatic representative.

On 1 June, after an in-depth exchange of views with South China Foreign Minister Wu Tingyan and Premier Xu Ziliang, Edminster asked for a face-to-face conversation with An Yi.

The next day, Edminster boarded a passenger ship bound for San Francisco at Haiphong Port, and South China sent a 100-member delegation represented by Foreign Minister Ngo Dinh Diem to the United States to hold consultations with the US Government on a series of issues such as the establishment of diplomatic relations.

At a regular news conference held by the US Foreign Ministry on 6 June, spokesman Bruce openly stated that US Secretary of State Hull will pay a state visit to South China next month, causing an uproar in world public opinion.

......

Far Eastern theater.

On the evening of 7 June, at the cost of thousands of dead and wounded, the Japanese airdropped two divisions to the valley on the south bank of the Heilongjiang River, one division went north to attack Komsomolsk, and the other division went south to the Gulskoye Pass, lurking behind the entire defensive line, ready to respond to the frontal Japanese attack.

On the morning of the 8th, the Japanese army used aircraft and artillery to launch a stormy attack on the city of Gurskoye.

Taking advantage of the fact that the Far Eastern Army was focusing on the frontal defensive line, the Japanese parachute troops launched a surprise attack on the rear of the defensive line, and under the surprise of the Japanese army, the Gurskoye defensive line was penetrated by the Japanese army, and then the Japanese troops stationed in front of the Xiongguan poured in, and the Far Eastern Army panicked, and the defensive line immediately collapsed.

The town of Trozzi, forty kilometers south of Gurskoye, was crossed by the Primorsky Railway, and the headquarters of the First Army of the Mongolian Military District of the Anjia Army was set up on the railway platform.

"What?"

Major General Dong Jinmin's face changed greatly, he looked at the chief of staff, Colonel Zhang Zixuan, and asked loudly: "The Gulskoye defense line is lost?" ”

Zhang Zixuan's face was heavy: "That's right, at two o'clock in the afternoon, the positions on both flanks of Gurskoye have all been broken through by the Japanese army, and the three infantry divisions that rushed to the rescue from Komsomolsk were defeated by the Japanese army in the Humihu area, and the loss of the Gurskoye defense line is a foregone conclusion." ”

Dong Jinmin stood up, paced back and forth, and after a while asked in a deep voice, "In which direction is the Japanese army advancing?" ”

Zhang Zixuan shook his head: "There is no accurate movement yet. After the Japanese forward troops occupied the mountain pass, they spread out to both flanks along the place where the plain meets the mountain range. If the Japanese had taken a forced march, they would have been able to make contact with us at midnight. ”

Dong Jinming strode to the map, looked at it carefully for a while, and muttered: "The situation is not good, Zhou Xin's third division is trapped in the northern front, Lao Zhang, I think they should withdraw immediately, cross the Knus Mountain from the northwest direction of Humi Lake, and retreat to Komsomolsk." The Japanese army had to walk at least more than 200 kilometers from the Gurskoye Pass to Komsomolsk, and if Zhou Xin could seize the time, he would have been able to withdraw across the Heilongjiang River before the Japanese army encircled Komsomolsk. ”

"But—"

Zhang Zixuan hesitated a little: "I didn't receive an order to give up the position without permission, that's a big crime, isn't it a communication with the top level of the Far East Army?" ”

"I guess they're all panicking at this point! The Japanese army actually routed the reinforcements of the Far Eastern Army in the Humihu area, this thing is strange, there is only one explanation, that is, the Japanese army used their paratroopers again! ”

Dong Jinming waved his hand: "The military situation is urgent, if we sit back and watch the passage of time, it will be seriously irresponsible for the lives of our officers and soldiers!" ”

"Okay!"

Zhang Zixuan also understood that the situation was serious: "Lao Dong, I will draft and sign the order, and I will bear the responsibility if something goes wrong!" ”

Dong Jinming smiled: "We are close comrades-in-arms, how can we roast you on the fire?" Let's name it together, don't worry, there won't be a mess......"

......

After the Ninth Division stationed on the northern front received the order to retreat, although the division commander Zhou Xin was extremely shocked by the collapse of the defensive line, he still arranged for the evacuation of the whole division in an orderly manner, giving priority to sending away the wounded and sick by truck, and then packed up his bags, and the 11,000 officers and men of the division and five companies of tank troops urgently retreated to the west in the evening.

The next morning, when the troops arrived at a small town 50 kilometers north of Humi Lake along the road, the reconnaissance team found that the crossing of the Humi River in front of them had been firmly occupied by the Japanese army.

"Hell! How could the Japanese army come ahead of us? Zhou Xin hurriedly ordered the team to pause and wait for the reconnaissance force to give accurate information.

Half an hour later, Xu Tianshu, the commander of a reconnaissance company dressed in camouflage and with a tree branch stuck in his head, walked into the headquarters that was used as a civilian house and reported:

"Divisional commander! The devil does not have many troops at the ferry, it should be a paratrooper paratrooped by the Japanese army, and there is probably a brigade. However, it was part of the river fortification area that had recently been constructed in the Far East to defend against the Japanese forces attacking from the southeast. I don't know why, but now this place has become a position for devils to block us. ”

Zhou Xin thought for a while and said, "Let's go!" Let's take a look at the devil's defense! ”

Subsequently, Zhou Xin, deputy division commander Qi Huishen, and chief of staff Zhang Ke took several guard soldiers and reconnaissance company commander Xu Tianshu to a small forest about five kilometers away from the devil's defense line on the opposite bank.

When he arrived at the edge of the woods, Zhou Xin picked up the binoculars, looked at the enemy's defensive line, and found that the enemy's riverbank positions were heavily guarded, and all kinds of trenches were deepened trenches, and he secretly complained in his heart.

"Division commander, there are not many devils on the other side, we bombarded with heavy artillery and rushed with tanks, and the problem was solved at once?" Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Zhang Ke said.

Zhou Xin shook his head: "There is an anti-tank trench in front of the enemy's position, and it is somewhat difficult for our tanks to rush through!" ”

"We should be better than the Japanese in terms of firepower...... Since it was a paratrooper airdropped by the Japanese army, it should not be equipped with heavy weapons, can we take advantage of this? Qi Huishen analyzed.

"But the problem is that the defense line here was built by the Far East, and we don't know if the Japanese army received the heavy firepower weapons of the Far East Army! Hell, now these fortifications against the Japanese army have become an obstacle to our advance......" Zhou Xin said with a smile.

"Report!"

The communications staff officer strode up to Zhou Xin and handed him a telegram.

Zhou Xin looked at it, and his brows furrowed even tighter: "The Japanese army is pressed from the south, about eighty kilometers away from us, the Japanese army is equipped with tanks and heavy artillery, and the troops are strong, and our S3 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is described as 'vast and boundless'...... In this way, there is not much time left for us, and as long as we delay a little, our department will be completely wiped out. ”

"So what to do?" Zhang Ke asked in shock.

Zhou Xin didn't answer, but turned to Xu Tianshu: "Company Commander Xu, as early as a week ago, I asked you to familiarize yourself with the terrain leading to Komsomolsk, is there a path here that can go around to the other side of the river?" The enemy is already anti-tank ready, and we should not storm it. ”

Xu Tianshu replied with some embarrassment: "Yes, but ......"

"But what?" Zhou Xin frowned slightly.

"That path had to pass through a small river halfway through, which could not be crossed by infantry who could not swim, let alone tanks and heavy artillery. Moreover, it is about 30 kilometers from here, and it is 60 kilometers back and forth, so I am afraid that I will not be able to catch up! Chu Tianshu replied.

"That's it!"

Zhou Xin groaned slightly, and said, "As long as the cavalry can pass!" I now have an idea, if we attack, it is estimated that it will take about two days to break through the Japanese position, and the pursuit of the troops is so urgent, I am afraid that it will be too late to come up, so it is better to send cavalry to go around the rear of the enemy, and we will also have a front and rear attack. ”

Zhou Xin's suggestion was that the cavalry battalion in the division disguised itself as devils, crossed the creek from a distance, and went around the enemy's back to attack suddenly. The Japanese paratroopers were probably not aware of the progress of the battle on the front line, nor did they know the situation of their own friendly forces, so they could use their brains on this point.

Zhou Xin's plan was unanimously agreed by everyone, and soon, a "devil cavalry" appeared in front of everyone. The cavalry, consisting of 400 men, was mostly armed with pistols and sabers, with a small number armed with submachine guns or automatic rifles, and some simply armed with box guns.

Zuo Yuan, commander of the cavalry battalion, led the cavalry, and under the guidance of the guide sent by the reconnaissance company, crossed the small river from more than 30 kilometers to the north, and before he even had time to dry his clothes, he went around to the rear of the enemy's defensive line.

.....

At ten o'clock in the morning, Zhou Xin commanded his troops to begin a frontal attack on the riverbank positions held by the Japanese army.

All the large and small artillery of the Ninth Division Artillery Regiment roared together, the earth trembled, and the overwhelming fireball smashed down on the Japanese position like hail. A series of loud noises sounded on the Japanese positions, and one after another not very strong fortifications flew into the sky, and the enemy's defensive line suddenly turned into a sea of fire.

The shelling lasted five minutes, and the An Jiajun poured thousands of shells on the Japanese positions.

Subsequently, more than 70 tanks from five tank companies rushed out of the attack position, and behind the tanks were six-wheeled armored vehicles and anti-aircraft artillery vehicles.

The infantry shouted, followed by tanks and armored vehicles, and swooped down on the Japanese positions, and from time to time the enemy's fire points spat out tongues of fire, but they were soon destroyed by the tank guns one by one after shooting up the smoke of gunpowder.

The deputy division commander, Colonel Qi Huishen, personally sat in a Leopard tank and rushed all the way to kill, but when the tank rushed to a distance of more than 200 meters from the enemy's trench, he realized that something was wrong.

"The tank pauses to advance! In front are anti-tank trenches! There must be Japanese death squads inside! Qi Huishen yelled into the phone.

Qi Huishen's judgment was not wrong, the anti-tank trench in front of the Japanese position was dug very wide, the tanks could not pass, and a large number of Japanese "death squad" members were ambushed inside!

Tanks and armored vehicles paused to advance, and the armored soldiers of the An Jia Army simply rained down bullets on the trenches with their on-board machine guns. As expected, the Japanese "daredevils" hiding in the trench could no longer hold on, jumped up one after another, and pounced in the direction of the tank.

The barrels of the tank's parallel machine guns spat out a scarlet tongue of fire, and the devil "daredevils" who had just jumped out of the trench were suddenly beaten into a strange arc in the air, accompanied by flying scarlet blood lines, and these devils fell into the trench one after another.

Tanks and armored vehicles fired at the same time, beating the devil "death squad" to the ground.

However, the battle was not all smooth sailing, and the fire points hidden in the second and third trenches suddenly spat out countless tongues of fire, and many fighters who followed the tanks and armored vehicles were caught off guard and fell in pools of blood.

The living warriors lay down one after another, letting the bullets whizz over their heads, suppressed by the enemy's heavy fire, unable to raise their heads at all.

"Fire!"

Qi Huishen's eyes widened angrily and he shouted loudly.

The tank shuddered slightly, and a slender tongue of fire spat out from the muzzle of the gun, and with a loud "boom", a dark bunker that was spitting flames flew into the sky in the firelight.

All kinds of tanks bombarded one cannon after another, destroying those hidden fire points one after another.

However, at this very moment, several more points of fire appeared in front of them, and those points of fire were all made of solid reinforced concrete and concrete, how could those small-caliber tank guns destroy them? The shells hit the walls of the pillbox, leaving only small traces.

These solid firing points, with a frontal thickness of two meters, were specially built by the Far Eastern Army in order to strengthen the Komsomolsk defense line, unless large-caliber cannons could penetrate it. The bunker kept spitting flames frantically, and the bullets like a torrential rain "swished" on the ground, and many soldiers of the Anjia Army who were lying on the ground were unfortunately shot and died.

Among them, many soldiers used the bazookas they carried with them to shoot directly at those pillboxes, but the range of the rockets fired by the bazookas did not exceed 300 meters, and the rockets fell to the ground in flight and exploded violently, although many Japanese soldiers were killed and wounded, but those pillboxes were unscathed.

In the temporary command post in front of the formation not far away, Zhou Xinxin's telescope saw the scene of the attack being frustrated, and hurriedly ordered: "Retreat!" Retreat all! Pause the attack! ”

After the attacking troops retreated, Zhou Xin immediately summoned officers above the battalion level to convene an emergency meeting on dealing with the devil fortifications along the riverbank.

"Divisional commander? Why not ask the Air Force to help? Lieutenant Colonel Zheng Zhen, the commander of the Seventh Regiment, suggested.

Zhou Xin shook his head: "It's unrealistic, it's too far from the airport in Mongolia and too close to the Japanese airfield." Due to the appearance of Japanese paratroopers, Boli, Komsomolsk and other cities are not safe, and at the same time, the Japanese air force has absolute air superiority, and the command will not agree to our request. And now it is too late to mobilize the Air Force. ”

Zheng Zhen sat down disappointed, and Liao Xinong, the head of the eighth regiment, and Cai Ziqiang, the head of the ninth regiment, made suggestions one after another, but they were rejected one by one. Just when everyone was at a loss, Wang Cheng, the commander of the engineer battalion, stood up: "Report to the division commander, I have a way, I don't know if it will work!" ”

Zhou Xin waved his hand: "Say it, but the chasing soldiers are too urgent, and your plan can't waste too much time!" ”

"We can dig trenches close to the enemy! Use rocket artillery to fire at the Japanese at close range! According to the armor-piercing properties of the bazooka, even reinforced concrete fortifications can be destroyed! If you can shoot at the Japanese shooting hole at close range, the effect will be even better! ”

Zhou Xin pondered for a while, and immediately agreed to Wang Cheng's proposal: "Okay! I agree, I let the infantry cooperate with the actions of your sappers! ”

As soon as it was said, the sappers and infantry immediately began an intense operation.

At this moment, a group of black-pressed bombers suddenly appeared from the southeast sky, and the devil planes swooped down on the position of the An Jiajun if they smelled the bloody sharks.

At this moment, countless nets of fire suddenly shot out from the ground, intercepting in front of the enemy aircraft.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the devil plane had to abandon the attack on the position. Suddenly, one of the devil pilots shouted, "Over there! There's a Shina digging trench over there! ”

When the devil planes circled in the air and adjusted their posture and swooped down to the construction site, more than 80 anti-aircraft artillery trucks fired fiercely at the enemy planes in the air to protect the sappers digging trenches.

Undaunted, the sappers and infantry braved the enemy's heavy bombardment, tenaciously working, and they had to push the trenches all the way to the enemy's eyes!

The anti-aircraft artillery trucks of the An Jiajun showed extraordinary power, shooting down four enemy planes and damaging six of their own combat vehicles, forcing the devil planes to turn around and fly in the direction of Soviet Port.

Without the threat of enemy aircraft, the speed of digging trenches was significantly faster, and the fighters dug trenches step by step. According to Zhou Xin's request, it was necessary to advance the trench to the enemy's position before sunset, and use his own trench to cut off the Japanese anti-tank trenches, so that the infantry soldiers could rush into the enemy's trenches and use the advantage of their forces to start a fierce battle with the enemy.

......

On the north bank of the Humi River, a "devil cavalry" unit was galloping on horseback, with yellow sand flying all the way, and galloping war horses galloping on the grass. This cavalry unit is the cavalry unit of the Anjia Army led by Zuo Yuan.

The cavalry rolled up the dust all the way, covering the sky and the sun, and galloped towards the rear of the Japanese defense line, when a small group of devil patrols suddenly appeared in front of Zuo Yuan.

"Attention! Ahead are the scouts of the devils! Be prepared to do what I command! Zuo Yuan, who rushed to the front, gave orders to several special forces fighters who were following him.

When the devil scouts saw the army coming from a distance, they immediately set up their machine guns on the ground, and when they saw clearly that it was their own people, they breathed a sigh of relief and got up from the ground.

"Dog's day little devil! Actually play the flag! We pretended not to see it, rushed over quickly, and made sure to capture a few alive! Zuo Yuan gave an order to the soldiers.

The special forces faced the devil and rushed away on horseback. The devil scout noticed that the rushing horse had no intention of slowing down, and before the flag boy could figure out what was going on, he only felt his feet off the ground. The devil turned his head to look, only to see that he was lifted by a pair of powerful big hands, and hurriedly struggled and shouted, but no one cared for him.

The group of war horses rushed over from the middle of the devil scouts, and with a wave of swords, most of the devils in a squad were immediately hacked to death, and the remaining more than ten devils raised their guns to shoot, but in the panic, the muzzles of the guns were not raised, and most of them were hacked to death, and in the end, only five devils remained.

The special forces jumped off their horses and quickly knocked out all the devils.

"It's all bundled! Shut your mouth! Zuo Yuan snorted.

The warriors captured six devil scouts and led them into the nearby woods. The Far East lacks everything, that is, there is no shortage of trees, and the mountains are full of dense woods, so it is necessary to find roads to pass.

Zuo Yuan ordered the interrogation of these devils separately, however, none of these bushido-influenced devils said their orders and banners except for shouting, and they were even more reluctant to reveal the situation of their troops. Let the special forces use all their tricks to beat these devils all over their bodies, but none of them are willing to speak.

"! Can't handle just a few little kings and eight lambs? Zuo Yuan cursed, then strode up to one of the devil captives, turned his head and said to the special forces around him:

"You guys, all of you are self-righteous, are you deflated now? In the future, I will obediently go to the special major of the Syrian non-commissioned officer school to further my studies, where there is torture to make the enemy speak. Look at me! ”

Zuo Yuan asked in Japanese: "Tell me, your password and flag, and the situation of your troops!" ”

"Yaga! Despicable and shameless Shina pig! We, the warriors of the Great Japanese Empire, will not bow to you! The devil soldier roared fiercely.

"Yo Xi!" Zuo Yuan smiled and said, "Although you don't want to say it, I will let you speak!" After speaking, he pulled out a steel wire from his waist, then pulled the devil's pants out, pulled out the dirty thing, and then strangled the "ball" with the wire, tightened it hard, and then pulled out a needle and stabbed it through the devil's horse eye. Suddenly, a pig-killing howl sounded in the woods.

After about five minutes of torture, this devil held on, gritting his teeth and scolding: "Despicable and shameless China pig! You have the ability to kill me with one sword! ”

"Hehe-"

A cruel smile appeared at the corner of Zuo Yuan's mouth, "It's easy to want to die!" Answer my questions honestly, and I'll give you a good time! ”

After another five or six minutes of torture, this devil could no longer hold it back, and said the password and flag, as well as the general situation of the troops. However, this was not the end of the matter, Zuo Yuan went to the other side and interrogated another devil who was separated and isolated.

After more than an hour of interrogation, the results were varied, and each of these devils said something different.

"your grandma's little devil! How dare you lie to Lao Tzu! Zuo Yuan roared angrily, and then turned to those special forces soldiers and said, "You go and interrogate me separately and do it according to my method!" I'm going to see how long they last! ”

After more than two hours of interrogation, Zuo Yuan finally got the answer he wanted. Then, the special forces fighters twisted the necks of those devils.

After disposing of the corpses of the devil scouts, the cavalry hit the road again.