October 11, 1937. The longest day of the entire war against the USSR began! While the vast Russian land was still shrouded in darkness, China's first-line assault troops had already entered the starting positions, and the generals of the Wehrmacht had begun to enter the field command posts. Behind them, more than 6,000 cannons of caliber above 100mm had already stripped their armor and raised their muzzles high to point at the northern sky. The motors of thousands of tanks and armored vehicles are already rumbling......

And in Moscow, the entire staff of the Soviet High Command was also ordered to remain at their posts. Because, the Battle of Brest has also reached the most critical moment, the offensive of the Bolan White Army has been thwarted, and hundreds of thousands of Bo troops are digging trenches around the Brest Fortress east of the Bouag River, waiting for the counteroffensive of the Soviet Red Army. At the same time, the armored and cavalry units of the First Red Banner Army and the Ukrainian side also achieved great success in the offensive of the Ukrainian cluster of the Bo Army, and more than 300,000 Bo troops were driven to a small area around Civonarad on the east bank of the Buwag River, and were under siege from three sides by the superior Soviet army, and the situation was precarious. At this moment, at 8:30 p.m. Moscow time, the Chairman of the Revolutionary Military Council, Voroshilov, and the People's Commissar of Defense Tukhachevsky suddenly received an urgent telegram from the Far Eastern Front, saying that a large number of Chinese Wehrmacht troops had suddenly advanced in the northeast of the ancient province of East China, which was originally under the control of the Chinese Glench! In addition, the defenders of the entire Amur line reported a growing noise coming from the front of the squadron ** opposite.

About another hour later, the commander of the Far Eastern Front, Blyukher, reported by high-frequency telephone to Voroshilov that explosions had occurred in several sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway. Rail traffic has been paralyzed. In addition, there was an internationalist fighter lurking in the White Army of China who threw himself into the Soviet border defenders, a soldier of the 81st Regiment of the 243rd Infantry Division. This Chinese soldier crossed the river to report to the Soviet defenders that the Chinese White Army would begin its offensive at 7 a.m.! Voroshilov ordered Blyukherd to forward the order to prepare for battle as soon as possible to all the troops, and to deal the heaviest blow to Chinese imperialism.

Everything indicates that the squadron is about to launch a large-scale offensive. So Voroshilov decided to immediately meet with Stalin and report to him about the emergency situation from the Far East.

And at the moment Stalin is facing sèyin sinking. Sit behind his large desk and listen to the report of the trembling NKVD Yagoda across from him.

"Comrade Stalin, we arranged for the reconnaissance crews in the city of Krasnoyarsk in Eastern Siberia to report to the NKVD via a secret radio station...... Many of their important party, government, and military cadres were arrested yesterday! ”

"What do you say? Apprehend? Playing the piano indiscriminately, who gave the order? A hint of haze flashed across Stalin's face, and he coldly asked, "Is that you?" Comrade Yagoda, don't you think that the current situation is not chaotic enough? Hurry up and let them go! ”

"But...... But ......"

"But what!" Stalin glared at the other and was about to attack. Yagoda's answer made him gasp.

"But we didn't order those people to be arrested! And our head of the city of Krasnoyarsk was also arrested! They also reported that the railway station, airfield, government buildings, telegraph office and radio station of Krasnoyarsk had been occupied by a group of people claiming to be internal guards! ”

"What!" Stalin jumped up suddenly, opened his mouth, raised his hand and pointed at the other party, and couldn't even say a word! Just then, the office door opened, and Voroshilov walked in a hurry.

"Comrade Stalin, urgent report from the Far Eastern Front! The Chinese may soon be on the offensive! Moreover, there are many sections of the Trans-Siberian Railway that have been sabotaged by Chinese agents. Now the shipping has been completely disrupted! ”

There was dead silence in the room. After a while, Stalin gritted his teeth and said: "It's Chinese!" It must have been a good thing they did! The city of Krasnoyarsk is occupied by them, they have closed the gates to Eastern Siberia, we must take it back as soon as possible! Voroshilov, where are our closest troops to the city of Krasnoyarsk? Let them go out at once! It has to be fast, Chinese must have a long-range transport plane......"

"Okay, Comrade Stalin, I'll go and set it up." Voroshilov did not know what was happening, but Stalin's instructions were always to be carried out unconditionally. He paused. And then asked: "Comrade Stalin, do you have any instructions for the Far Eastern Front?" ”

"Order Blyukhel! The Far Eastern Front must fight to the last man! No surrender, no retreat! Otherwise, it will be punished as a betrayal of the Soviet Motherland! Stalin had regained his composure, his god was very severe, and he commanded: "Tell Ubolevich and Kirov that they must defeat Bolan by the end of October!" In addition, you put the troops on the Soviet-German border on full alert as well. Tell Tukhachevsky to come to me again, and I'll let him go to Leningrad...... The city must not be allowed to fall into the hands of a mad woman, Anastasia! ”

……

Just when Stalin and the Soviet High Command were in a hurry to direct the war. At 7:30 a.m. on October 11, Wuhan time, the Chinese and Russian armies assembled on the opposite side of the Amur River defense line of the Soviet Union mobilized all heavy train guns, howitzers, cannons, and regimental 75-mm mountain guns directly under the headquarters, group armies, military families, and divisions. Even the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns of the air defense forces launched a fierce artillery bombardment of trenches, posts, barracks, fortifications along the entire Amur line of the Soviet army! Meanwhile. A large number of A-4A Thunderhawk dive bombers, He-111 medium bombers, and A-2A light dive bombers of the Chinese Air Force also swooped down on various important targets and transportation hubs of the Soviet army in groups, dropping a string of bombs one after another, turning the Soviet positions into a sea of fire.

At 8:15, on a 2,000-kilometer-long front from Amursk to Manchuria, the first strategic echelon of the powerful Chinese and Russian armies began to attack. At the same time, the "Russian Queen's Guard", which had long been airdropped into the rear of the Soviet army, also began to intensify its activities. Dressed in the uniforms of the Soviet Interior Guard, armed with Soviet-made weapons, and of course able to speak Russian as if they were fake, they created chaos in the Soviet Red Army, occupied the bridges that the Chinese and Russian troops had to pass, cut off the Soviet army's communications, and even used radio stations to guide the Chinese Air Force to bomb important targets.

Prior to this battle, the generals of the Chinese National Defense Forces had also debated the offensive method because they had seen the great power of the Soviet Union's "large-depth offensive operations". Some generals of the Japanese faction, headed by Defense Minister He Yingqin and Deputy Chief of General Staff Yang Jie, advocated imitating the Soviet army. The infantry division launched the first BO attack with a large-scale concentrated artillery cover, and then threw armored troops into an in-depth assault after tearing through the enemy's defensive line, but Huang Guyu, commander of the armored corps, Xu Yunlong, deputy commander, and Qiu Qingquan, Zhang Lingfu, Zhao Gongwu, Gao Kuiyuan, and other commanders of the armored division advocated investing in armored troops from the beginning.

In their opinion, the topography of the Soviet Far East was markedly different from that of Belarus and Bolan. The Far East, especially the western part of the Far East, is home to a large number of mountains, hills and rivers. Not particularly suitable for assault in depth with armored units. Only the Borja region, which is close to Manchuria and Eastern Ménggu, is dominated by the steppe and is a natural battlefield for armored forces. In order to destroy a Soviet army group in the Borja region in the shortest possible time, encircle the Borja fortress, seize important border strongholds such as Nebuchu and Krasnokamensk, and advance the front to the line of the Onèn River and the Shigrad River, so as to create conditions for encircling or seizing the Chita fortress before the cold winter of 1937. It would be better to use armored clusters of thousands of tanks and large motorized units to carry out a powerful assault with the support of powerful artillery and aviation. Even if it is the loss of some more tanks, armored vehicles. As long as it saves time, it's worth it! Because in this offensive against the Soviet troops in the Far East, the real enemy was not the Soviet Red Army, but the harsh climate and time! Every day from October 11, 1937 is extremely precious!

Thanks to the "cooperation" of the Chinese GCD at a critical moment, the powerful armored cluster was able to make a detour through the ancient steppe of Méng in the east and quietly came to the position south of Borja, where the Soviet defense was relatively lax, in almost complete secrecy. Under such once-in-a-lifetime superior conditions, the Chinese tank forces could successfully break through the opponent's positions at a slight cost. Moreover, it can outflank the back of the Soviet army Bolja cluster at the fastest speed, and even pass through the railway bridge of the Onene River, which has been controlled by the Russian special forces (Empress Guard), and approach the last barrier of the Soviet army in the Far East - the Chita Fortress!

As heavy artillery fire and thousands of bombers crossed the border and began to bombard Soviet airfields, assembly positions, and Chita fortresses within 200 kilometers, the Chinese Wehrmacht tanks finally began to attack. In the steppes of eastern méng, thousands of tanks rumbled into battle formations and pressed against the positions of the Red Army, black smoke and dust from the exhaust pipes obscured the sky and the roar of motors was deafening. Under the formation of whizzing Thunderhawk fighters and BF-109s. The Chinese tank mobile troops are like resurrected medieval ironclad knights, covered in armor and armed with spears, stepping across the grassland desert and leveling all the enemies who are not able to measure themselves!

Because it has been at war for a long time. So the Soviet Red Army did not appear to be as panicked as it is in history, and their reaction was timely. The artillery group reacted almost immediately. A booming return fire began. The Soviet Army deployed on the Amur River defense line also had 22 corps, with a total of 88 artillery regiments, not including regimental artillery, but also more than 3,000 cannons of various calibers, the vast majority of which were 152mm and 122mm caliber heavy artillery. Although the number is more than half of the Chinese and Russian coalition forces on the other side, they are all carefully deployed in the fortifications, and they are not without the ability to fight back. However, none of the famous Soviet generals, including Marshal Blyukhel and Marshal Tukhachevsky, did not expect the enormous lethality of the Chinese Air Force, especially the underestimation of the new A-4A Thunderhawk dive bomber. This kind of bomber equipped with a 1400 horsepower engine, a maximum bomb load of up to 1.5 tons, and can do a 90-degree vertical dive.

At this time, on the railway on the Sino-Soviet border, there were several 380mm railway guns with their necks extended. These massive guns, converted from naval guns, spewed tongues of fire with incredible power above the specially erected spurs. As soon as the shells fell, the front of the Soviet Red Army was constantly trembling! The fortifications, carefully built of reinforced concrete, were as vulnerable as papier-mâché in the face of the 380mm shells. Every loud sound of shaking the mountains often means that a strong Soviet fortress is under rubble!

All the communication lines of the Soviet army are shouting wildly, and the large-scale full-front offensive of the squadron is just around the corner! As soon as the artillery fire was extended, the surviving Red officers and men poured into the trenches from their respective anti-artillery holes, and some sappers risked their lives to replenish the mines under the artillery fire. Mosin. The Nagant rifle was erected, and the M1910 Maxim heavy machine gun and DP light machine gun also went into firing position. Braving the rain of bullets, the Soviet army quickly put on a posture of resistance! Except for front-line troops. The reserves also urgently moved towards the starting positions, ready at any time to replenish the losses of the front line, or to counterattack the shaky positions.

……

In the main direction of the assault of the squadron - from the Soviet Klaas, a passage was opened for the attacking troops. The assault group was followed by scouts and topographic surveyors of all arms. After they surveyed the terrain and ascertained the positions of the Soviet troops and the configuration of obstacles. The Chinese armored clusters, arranged in echelons, and the other units that accompanied them, launched a powerful offensive from a narrow front. In the steppe south of Borja, with only thirty or forty kilometers of breakthroughs, nearly 3,000 tanks and more than 100,000 motorized units and cavalry units of the entire armored cluster swooped down overwhelmingly! The Soviet army, which adopted a line defense and spread its troops on a front of more than 2,000 kilometers, could only resist with a mere infantry division.

In the midst of a hail of bullets, an observation officer of the 305th Division of the Soviet Red Army who guided artillery fire stood guard at a well-camouflaged observation post. Swinging the artillery mirror and looking at the vast grassland. As soon as the infantry of the squadron emerges, he will guide the hidden artillery group for covering fire. A Soviet infantry division. Anyway, there are almost 60 guns of various calibers! Although quite a few have been destroyed. But the rest can still teach those Chinese invaders a hard lesson! Artillery observer Yevlenko thought to himself. At this moment, the smoke on the battlefield had not yet dissipated, and a figure of a lieutenant ** officer wearing a black uniform and a beret faintly appeared in his artillery mirror...... After a while, something beneath the officer in the black uniform also came out of sight. That's a tank! A tank much larger than the T-26 and even slightly larger than the T-28! And behind this tank are many more tanks, almost endlessly covering the entire steppe! These steel monsters spewed black smoke and dust, roared and drove towards the Soviet front!

Comrade Yevlenko hurriedly left the artillery mirror. Picked up the phone and shouted: "Tank! Tank! Discover the tanks of the Chinese White Army! At the front of the position of the 305th Division, there should be several thousand, so many that they can't be counted at all, all of them are heavy tanks! It's coming towards me! Artillery fire immediately began to block the shooting! And anti-tank guns, hurry up and pull up those 12 ZIS-1 anti-tank guns, now it's all up to them......"

After saying this, he unconsciously smiled bitterly. 12 cannons to block thousands of tanks? How can such a thing succeed?

Major General Zhang Lingfu, commander of the 1st Armored Division of the National Defense Forces, was standing in his armored command vehicle at this time, looking at his troops with a telescope. Above the assault front of more than two thousand meters. Three hundred and eighty tanks No. 2 and No. 3 of two tank regiments of the 1st Panzer Division formed a triangular assault formation. The 32-ton No. 3 tank was used as the front, and the 22-ton No. 2 tank guarded the flanks. The officers and men of the two Panzergrenadier Corps followed the rear of the tanks in half-tracked armored transport vehicles, rumbling across the open steppe and advancing in a surprise attack.

Zhang Lingfu looked up at the sky. A fleet of A-4B Thunderhawk dive bombers, another sub-model of the Thunderhawk, is whistling overhead. They each carry six 100-kilogram bombs under their bellies, and two 35mm cannons are installed on the wings, which can directly bombard ground targets with their cannons! This kind of aircraft is used against tanks, but at the moment it can only be used to fight the infantry and artillery positions of the Soviet army!

The artillery fire of the Soviet army finally came to a sparse blow, and the panicked reports of the officers and soldiers of the front line made the commander of the 305th Division not dare to slack off, and immediately ordered all the hidden artillery groups to open fire and counterattack! However, how much effect can those twenty or thirty cannons have in the face of a long steel dragon composed of seven armored divisions spread out on a forty-kilometer front? What's more, it won't take much time for the Chinese bombers circling all over the sky to destroy all the remaining artillery of the 243rd Division! Then it was the end of the more than 13,000 officers and men of the division......!