Tao Rong continued in his inherently unhurried voice: "Especially in the western part of Northern Mongolia, although the territory is vast, it is all mountainous, and our army does not have any important and valuable military objectives there. And outflanking Cullen from the flanks is only meaningful if there is a frontal main attack. Therefore, we judge that the main direction of the Soviet army's attack on Northern Mongolia is in Kulen. ”

Song Zhewu took over and said: "Kulun is not only the economic and political center of Northern Mongolia, it has important political significance, and its geographical location is also very important. Kulen is located in the central part of Northern Mongolia, once the Soviet army occupies Kulen, it will completely cut off the connection between our army in the east and west of North Mongolia, and then break through the east and west of our army. ”

"Therefore, we believe that this Soviet army south of Tangnu Mountain is trying to attract our troops in North Mongolia to move westward. If our troops stationed in North Mongolia want to strengthen the defense forces in the western part of North Mongolia, it is necessary to mobilize troops from Kulen and the southeast. ”

"The closest is of course Kulun, from Kulen to the west, the mobilization of troops to the west, in terms of time, is the shortest, but that is likely to fall into the trap of the Soviet army."

"Our army now has two corps in Kulen, and if one army is transferred, it will be difficult for the remaining army to fully defend Kulen. And the troops from the southeast were drawn and rushed to the west in 20 days. Once the Kulen forces are empty, it is very likely that the Soviet army will enter North Mongolia from the northern border of Kulen, and even the Dauri region in the northeast, and launch a full-scale attack on us. At that time, if our army wants to return to Kulen, it will be too late. ”

Song Zhewu stopped, took out a cigarette, and motioned for Tao Rong to continue to introduce the battle plan.

Tao Rong said with a smile on her face: "I just came back from my inspection in Beimeng, and the main fortifications of the three fortress fortifications in the west, east and south, which we built for a year and a half around Kulun, have now been basically completed and are very solid. I have been to Jiangyin Fortress, and in my opinion, these three fortresses are much more complete than Jiangyin Fortress, and the defense effect is also better, as long as there are sufficient troops, it is completely possible to hold Kulen. The only problem is that the number of troops is still slightly insufficient. ”

"Given the importance of Cullen's strategic location, we must send additional troops to Cullen. Therefore, the command decided to transfer the Liang Zhongjia Division into Kulun to strengthen the defense of Kulun. appointed Gao Zongbao as commander of the defense of Kulun; The three armies of Liang Fang, Ma Fawu, and Zhou Yaoming were stationed along the Krulun River valley at Krulun, Wendur Khan, and Darkhan, and Chu Xichun, chief of staff of the Northern Mongolian Front Command, was appointed as the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Front. ”

"If the Soviet army enters North Mongolia from the west of Dawuli, the northeastern part of North Mongolia is mainly mountainous, and only the Krulun River valley is flat, which is most convenient for large troops and vehicles. We judged that it was very likely that the Soviet army on the eastern route would first move south to Kullen after entering North Mongolia, and then outflank Kulen along the Krulun River valley westward. Once the Soviets attacked, the troops of the Eastern Front had to block them one by one along the Krulen Valley, and before 30 September, the Soviets must be blocked east of Darkhan, who would be the last blocking position for defensive operations on the Eastern Front, and they would have to defend to the death without an order to retreat. ”

"Because of the complex terrain and rugged mountain roads on the Western Front, it is not suitable for the deployment of large forces, on the contrary, it is very suitable for defense, so the command decided that the Western Front should be defended by mountain divisions. The method of blocking attacks one by one was also adopted, but the mountain division should send no less than one regiment of elite troops to attack and harass the Soviet transport lines and rear bases behind the Soviet front, and try to slow down its advance. The last blocking position on the Western Front was set west of the Orkhon River. ”

"The gist of this plan was that Cullen was to use the fortress group to resolutely resist the attack of the Soviet army in the center; Although the terrain of the eastern front is not conducive to defense, it is necessary not to allow the Soviet troops on the eastern and central routes to join the Soviet army in Kulen within a month; The Western Front was to allow the Soviet troops to advance to the Orkhon River grassland around September 20. ”

"Xu Fangjun, Zhao Fengwu's army, the 1st Cavalry Army, and the 2nd Cavalry Army moved to the area south of Kulen as a strategic reserve for the whole army."

"Considering the increasing density of modern firepower and the limited role of cavalry, in order to maximize the role of our limited troops, the headquarters decided that the numbers of the First Cavalry Army and the Second Cavalry Army will remain unchanged, but these two cavalry units should all be changed into rapid mobile units like the two armies of Xu Fang and Zhao Fengwu, and the replacement of troops should be completed within a month."

"This project is codenamed 'Shield of the North'"

These senior generals understood this plan, that is, to retreat from the middle to the east, induce the Soviet troops on the Western Front to go deeper, and finally gather and annihilate the Soviet troops on the Western Front.

The Soviet army attacking Kulen in the center will undoubtedly be the main force of the Soviet army, so the pressure on Kulen's defenders will be the greatest. However, Cullen has three fortifications, which are conducive to defense, and it is necessary to defend Cullen with three corps. On the eastern front, because of the relatively flat terrain of the Krulen Valley, it could only be interdicted in a few narrow areas suitable for interdiction, where it was very difficult to interdiction. Although three armies were deployed, there were not many. In the battle plan, it is required to fight one by one, and there is no way to do it.

Although the key to this plan is to hold on to Kulen, otherwise it will not be possible to annihilate the Soviet army on the western route, so it is necessary to keep enough reserves south of Kulen to support the blocking forces in the Kulen and Krulun valleys at any time, but leaving four armies as reserves is still a bit too much.

On the Western Front, with only 60,000 mountain divisions, it would be difficult to hold back more than 80,000 Soviet troops. Even if Fu Zuoyi and Sun Weiru's troops are added, there are more than 60,000 people in the two divisions, and after joining up with the mountain division, they are only in the early 100,000s, and they can barely compete with the 80,000 Soviet troops, but if you want to annihilate the Soviet army on the Western Front, these forces are absolutely not enough. Once broken through by the Soviets, they would be under the southwestern city of Kulen directly. Then Cullen would be in danger.

In particular, if the Soviet army is to the west of the Orkhon River, it will make them even more incomprehensible, there is a large grassland, the terrain is flat, how to block the impact of more than 200 tanks of the Soviet army?

Zhang Yafei first said: "Chief of Staff Tao, I think there is a problem with this plan, if you want to encircle and annihilate the Soviet troops on the western front, why don't you find a suitable location in the western mountainous area, which will be more convenient to divide and encircle the Soviet army." And in the steppes west of the Orkhon River, it will be difficult to deal with Soviet tanks. Also, the Mountain Division, Fu Zuoyi and Sun Weiru and other troops are insufficient, and it is difficult to encircle and annihilate the Soviet army? ”

Li Sichi is no longer as cautious as when he first joined the Fourth Route Army, he has completely regarded himself as a member of the Fourth Route Army, and he does not have too many scruples when he speaks.

"Chief of Staff, I agree with Commander Zhang. The art of war: ten are annihilated, five are encircled, and they can be battled. Although the mountain division and Fu Zuoyi's and Sun Weiru's troops are less than double the possible number of Soviet troops on the Western Front, if they take advantage of the mountainous terrain, they can completely fight a battle, but if they want to annihilate the Soviet army, the strength is not enough, according to intelligence, the Soviet army not only has hundreds of tanks, but also hundreds of planes and hundreds of heavy artillery, and it is not bad if these forces can block the Soviet army, and it is absolutely not enough to annihilate the Soviet army. ”

(To be continued)