When the bomber group calmly left after dropping bombs, the sporadic anti-aircraft artillery sound of Selenginsk sounded in a hurry, but at this time it could only hit the air left by other people.

In Irkutsk, more than 700 kilometers away from the small city of Selenginsk, Zhukov was already asleep at this time, but the stubborn sound of the phone still woke him up.

"Hey! I'm Zhukov, what's the matter? ”

"What, Selenginsk was bombed, and there were heavy casualties among soldiers and civilians? Tell everyone to come to the headquarters for a meeting right away! ”

It was already four o'clock in the morning, and the lights were still bright in the headquarters of the Eastward Advance Group set up in Irkutsk, and the military meeting in the headquarters had been going on for nearly an hour and there was no sign of an end.

"Comrades, Selenginsk was bombed, and almost half of the troops of our three divisions stationed in the small city were lost, and the inhabitants there were also killed and wounded. Only the 13th Tank Brigade survived because it was stationed outside the city, and according to the latest information that had just been transmitted from there, the Chinese air raid caused more than 50,000 casualties among our soldiers and civilians. Among them, the army suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and one division had lost its combat effectiveness and needed to rest in the rear. ”

After listening to the briefing of General Praliuvich, the political commissar of the Eastward Advance Group, the faces of everyone in the command were gloomy, because this was the first time since the establishment of the Soviet Russian political axe that the enemy country had caused heavy casualties by the large-scale bombing of its own cities. And now before the two sides officially started fighting, a division was blown up and disabled, and everyone's faces only felt hot, and the Chahar army on the opposite side was slapping them in the face in the red fruit field.

The atmosphere at the headquarters was very dull, and nearly 100 commanders at the army and division level sat at their tables and were silent.

"This is a disgrace to our great Soviet Russian army, and we must take revenge." A voice full of anger rang out, and everyone looked at it, and it turned out to be Lieutenant General Vusjevich, commander of the 45th Army: "We can't eat this loss in vain, we have to teach them a lesson." ”

"Oh? Comrade Vusjevich, tell me how to teach them a lesson? Zhukov next to him asked.

"We can also send bombers to bomb their camps and cities and let them know our determination."

"Comrade Vusjevich, according to intelligence, those brutal Chahar troops used a large long-range bomber last night, but our air force currently does not have a similar long-range bomber that can fly to the territory of China, so we have no way to retaliate against them."

The speaker was Major General Glitsch, commander of the 23rd Air Division, who was also the oldest among the Air Force generals.

When he spoke, Major General Glitsch was in a bitter mood, because at present, domestic aircraft, whether they are fighters or bombers, are far behind those countries that once represented backwardness and ignorance.

"We will first report the situation to Moscow and ask them to hurry up and urge the research department to develop a new type of fighter." At this time, Zhukov, who was sitting at the front of the meeting, spoke: "Also, Comrade Zosliv, you immediately rush to Selenginsk with your air defense brigade, and you must not let the tragedy in Selenginsk be repeated again." ”

"Yes, Comrade Zhukov!"

"Comrade Lyginsky, the two air defense brigades under your command should also do a good job in the air defense of Irkutsk, understand?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander."

"Comrade Vusjevich, you immediately lead your 45th Army to Selenginsk to take over the city defenses there, and if the railway does not work, you can take a car, or even on foot, there must be no more accidents there, do you understand?"

"Yes, Comrade Zhukov."

After giving instructions one by one, Zhukov felt tired like he had never felt before. The air force of the [***] squadron on the opposite side put too much pressure on him. Now hundreds of thousands of troops who arrived in advance are crowded around Irkutsk, but the railway to Selenginsk is often bombed, and their own troops can only pass little by little, like squeezing toothpaste. So much so that the forces that have the advantage in the air cannot be brought into play, which is really frustrating. It seems that in the absence of new aircraft, what they need is more anti-aircraft guns.

At the same time, there was jubilation at the airfield in Ulan-Ude, and the bombing of the previous night went unusually well, and all the planes returned without a hitch. This also made Chief Su, who had been hanging his heart to his throat, finally put his mind at ease, after all, it is not easy to train a pilot now, they can be said to be piled up with time and gold.

Secretly sent a sigh of relief to our newly appointed deputy chief of staff Bai Chongxi, this is the first plan he has planned since taking office, if it fails, it will be a big blow to his prestige, after all, he is not Jiang Baili, who is full of protégés.

"Okay, finally I can get a good night's sleep." Looking at the pilots and ground staff who were cheering below, Su Tong, who was standing on the control tower, sighed, stretched his waist, and said to Bai Chongxi, who was standing beside him, with a smile.

"It seems that we haven't reached the point where Tarzan collapses and changes color!" Bai Chongxi laughed self-deprecatingly, then shook his head and said: "I still can't sleep, and now I have to rush back to the Chita Staff Office to make plans and arrange air defense work, otherwise if Lao Maozi also draws a gourd for us like this, the joke will be big." After speaking, he turned around and got into the jeep behind him, which made our Chief Su sigh with emotion, his chief of staff is both capable and diligent, where can I find such a good laborer? Well, yes, I'm going to rush back to Chita, and I still have a lot of work waiting for me.

To the east, the closest to Chita was the town of Atamanovka, which, for various reasons, was not occupied by the 37th Army, so it also became a forward base for the troops of the Far Eastern Military District stationed in this area. Since most of the main forces of the Far Eastern Military District were annihilated, there were less than 300 troops in one battalion here.

Originally, the residents and soldiers here were still worried that the Chinese army would come over, but after the Chinese army defeated Chita, they had been fighting with Marshal Timoshenko's army in the west, and the residents of the town were still panicking for a while after hearing on the radio that Marshal Timoshenko surrendered, and they knew that after hearing that General Zhukov and his army were confronting these hateful invaders in the west, the residents and troops in the town were relieved.

This morning, the small town of Atamanovka was still quiet, and the small town of only 2,000 people had a lazy schedule, and often got up at three o'clock in the morning. The lazy atmosphere also infected the defenders here, and it was the same today, which was already 8 o'clock in the morning in the outpost set up three miles from the town, and more than a dozen soldiers were still sleeping in their nests.

After a while, a soldier who had drunk too much water last night and now had a bladder that could not stand it was too much to squint and squint to a big tree to start making sense, and suddenly he seemed to hear the sound of a truck coming. The soldier shook his head and muttered, "What's the matter, it's only Thursday today, and it seems that the time for the change of guard has not arrived." ”

After a while, the soldier who had put on his trousers had just taken two steps, and suddenly he turned his head sharply, and the sleepiness in his eyes had all dissipated, and there was a look of horror in his eyes, and now he heard clearly that the sound of the truck was coming from the west.

"It's not good, it's the Huaxia people who called!" The soldier was shocked and hurriedly ran back, shouting loudly as he ran: "Comrade corporal, everyone get up quickly, the Chinese are coming." ”

At this time, a bearded corporal who came out of the post lazily said impatiently: "Arkady, you damn Ukrainian idiot, what are you shouting nonsense? You're still not letting people sleep."

"No, it's not! Comrade Corporal! Arkady felt like his tongue had been knotted, and he couldn't speak. It's the sound of trucks, I hear trucks, coming from the west! ”

"What's so strange about trucks, haven't you ever seen a truck?" The corporal had just said dissatisfied, when his expression suddenly froze, "What, the voice is coming from the west?" "Yes, Comrade Corporal." Arkady nodded anxiously.

"Quick, call everyone up, damn you stupid pigs, hurry up, the Huaxia people are coming!" The corporal rushed into the outpost, and with a flurry of punches and kicks, drove everyone up.

Five minutes later, all the men at the post were dressed and their weapons on their backs, and they arrived in a trench in front of the post.

At this time, you can already see the convoy coming from the west, oh, this is a convoy of at least hundreds of trucks, and there are dense soldiers standing in the trucks, starting with three tanks with semicircular turrets, on one side of the turret is the blue sky and white flag of the Chinese people, and on the other side is a hideous black tiger head on a white background, and the muzzle of the tank is faintly pointing to this trench of its own.

"Below, Comrade Corporal, they have found us, what are we going to do? Yes, to stop them from going? Arkady stammered and asked the Supreme Commander here.

The corporal looked at the long convoy in front of him and shuddered at the thought of the consequences of the shooting. He turned his head to look at the soldiers around him, and found that they were all staring at him with expectant looks.

The corporal let out a long sigh, looked around at the dozen or so young soldiers under him, and asked, "Now that the Huaxia people have discovered us, everyone is telling me now, if we resist, can we stop them?" ”

All the soldiers were silent, no one was a fool, there was at least one regiment of Chinese soldiers in front, so many Chinese soldiers would drown them with each spit, block them, and look at what a joke.

The corporal was silent for a while and said: "In my hometown my young wife is still waiting for me to go back, I don't want to die here, I'd rather go to their country to build a railway, so I don't want to shoot and resist, do any of you still have a different opinion?" ”

After waiting for a long time, seeing that no one objected, the corporal squeezed out a smile on his face and nodded, "Since no one objected, then everyone will listen to me, comrades, which of you is wearing a white shirt?" ”

So in the observation mirror of the captain of the first tank, a wooden pole rose not far ahead, and a white shirt on it was so dazzling in the sun

(To be continued)