Chapter 211: The Stalemate of the Western Front

"Woo boom"

With a low roar, a large-caliber 203 howitzer shell fell on the position on the outskirts of the small city of Selenginsk, and in the sound of explosions that shook the mountains, a seemingly impregnable pillbox suddenly split apart like a bursting watermelon.

In a fortified semi-underground headquarters, the commander of the 45th Army, Lieutenant General Vusjevich, accompanied by several staff officers, was observing the battlefield.

"Ordered the 34th Division to be stable and never lose its position, and then ordered Major General Rubievich to prepare for a counterattack. Tell the soldiers that this is the territory of great Russia and must not be ceded to these hateful aggressors. "Lieutenant General Vusjevich was a well-known general in the Soviet army, known for his strong will, so Zhukov entrusted him with the task of defending Selenginsk.

The offensive and defensive battle in Selenginsk had been going on for nearly a week, and with the steady arrival of Soviet reinforcements, the offensive of the 37th Army slowed down, and the two sides became a stalemate.

The two sides reached a stalemate along the line between Selenginsk and Kamensk, and on the nearly 100-kilometer-long line from Selenginsk to Kamensk, the two sides gathered a total of nearly 300,000 troops. Among them, 200,000 are Russian troops and 100,000 are on the Chahar side.

The Soviets relied on the large number of people, but Chahar had the advantage in firepower and was now clamoring, while Selenginsk was the focus of contention between the two sides.

On the forward position, Zheng Xiaoyou was arranging for the brothers in the battalion to seize the time to rest, and this morning's offensive did not make much progress, the Soviet army's resistance was very stubborn, and the two sides repeatedly fought over a position, and the three battalions under the direct command of Zheng Xiaoyou alone suffered more than 30 casualties.

"Deputy Tuan, let's have a cigarette." Niu Gensheng, the commander of the third company, smiled and stretched out his dirty big hand.

Zheng Xiaoyou took out a cigarette and gave it to Niu Gensheng, Niu Gensheng quickly lit the fire, and the two sat on the ammunition box and swallowed the clouds.

"Deputy of the regiment, the old Maozi on the other side is really tough enough, we have been fighting all morning and we can't attack it, it's really evil." Niu Gen Chang let out a sigh and said depressedly.

Zheng Xiaoyou said lightly: "That's natural, the one who commanded on the opposite side was Vusjevic, who was known as a fierce general among Lao Maozi, how could he be so easily beaten by us." ”

"That's just as well." Niu Gensheng nodded and said with a smile: "But the regiment deputy, I wonder, you, the regiment deputy, are not enjoying the blessings in the regiment headquarters, why did you come to our battalion to play with our big soldiers." ”

Niu Gensheng still admires Zheng Xiaoyou Niu for being a deputy regiment commander, but still holding the position of battalion commander and fighting with the officers and soldiers on the front-line position. After all, if you compare your heart to your heart, you can't do this if you change them and ask yourself.

Regarding this question, Zheng Xiaoyou just shook his head lightly and said: "Get used to it."

Yes, he is used to it, for two years, most of the time he has been fighting with the brothers on the battlefield, although he is a regimental lieutenant, but he still likes to be with the brothers, he likes to make unbridled jokes with the brothers, go to occupy the enemy's positions together, and taste the taste of victory together.

A sharp sound pierced the air and quickly reached the ears of the soldiers. The soldiers, who had long been trained agile by the battlefield, quickly lay on the ground.

With a "boom", two shells exploded one after another in front of the position. As soon as the explosion ended, Zheng Xiaoyou and Niu Gensheng immediately jumped into the nearest anti-artillery hole at lightning speed. They knew that the two rounds just now were just test firings, and it would not take thirty minutes for the artillery fire of the Soviets and Russians to fly overwhelmingly, and those who remained on the position at this time had only a dead end.

As soon as the soldiers entered the anti-artillery hole, the enemy's artillery fire resounded outside the anti-artillery hole. Zheng Xiaoyou glanced at Niu Gensheng, who even lost his helmet, and knew that he was no better than the other party, and the two of them looked at each other and laughed.

The artillery fire outside became more and more intense, and at first you could still hear where the shells had landed, but after a few minutes, the explosions were all in one piece, and the whole anti-artillery hole was trembling.

After five or six minutes, the artillerymen of the 37th Army also joined the feast, and the artillery fire of both sides was firing at each other, and projectiles were flying everywhere in the sky. From time to time, several shells collided in the air and created a violent explosion.

The heavy shelling lasted for half an hour, and only then did the artillery on both sides get tired and then gradually stopped.

"Quick, give me the position, Lao Maozi is going to attack." Zheng Xiaoyou shouted loudly, and called the soldiers in the anti-artillery hole one by one.

Less than a kilometer in front of Zheng Xiaoyou's position, the commander of the 13th Tank Brigade, Major General Rubievich, stood in the turret of a tank, half of his body exposed. Beside him, the figure of T26 was constantly flashing. The Soviet general, who had vomited blood in the last bombing of Selenginsk, led more than 100 tanks to kill the position of the 102nd Division in front of him with infinite resentment against the 37th Army.

"Quick, Lao Maozi's tank is coming, and the anti-tank gun is ready." With Zheng Xiaoyou's order, the six Pak 38 50-millimeter anti-tank guns temporarily allocated to their battalion were pushed out of the anti-gun holes, and soon, the six anti-tank guns were placed on the originally scheduled gun positions.

"Phew" Zheng Xiaoyou spat out his saliva, if it weren't for the fact that the First Armored Division was still behind to replenish the equipment and personnel lost a few days ago, where would it be Lao Maozi's turn to come to Lao Tzu's position today to show off his might.

However, this also revealed the weakness of the Chahar army, which was too weak, especially the small number of armored troops. Of the three armored divisions in Chahar, the newly formed Second Armored Division remained in Chahar, while the most elite Sun Liren's 101st Armored Division was advancing in the direction of Vladivostok to the east. Now the only armored force that can be used on the Western Front is the 1st Armored Division of Bai Yingliao.

With the continuous expansion of the occupied area, in addition to staying in the city, the 300,000 troops who originally seemed to be large sent a few days ago also sent a force to advance in the direction of Vladivostok with Sun Liren.

So much so that now Su Tong can only use more than 200,000 troops to resist the nearly 700,000 army of Soviet Russia, and he really feels clumsy in the use of troops. This also made Chief Su dream of looking forward to the early arrival of the date of the opening of the railway.

"Put" Following the order of the commander of the artillery company, the six anti-tank guns that had been prepared immediately poured out metal projectiles and flew towards the Soviet tanks a kilometer away.

"Boom" a shell fell near the tank in which Rear Admiral Rubievich was riding, and Rear Admiral Rubievich did not even blink his eyes, but still ordered the troops to move forward at full speed.

Major General Rubievich knew that the Chahar army on the opposite side currently had only one armored unit, and this force was still resting in the rear, and this was a good time to crush the other side.

As the T26 tank group approached, the artillery fire on the positions of the Chahar army became more and more intense, and the tanks were constantly hit, on fire, smoking or exploding. Seeing this, the corners of Major General Rubievich's mouth twitched slightly, and he ordered the tank group to continue the attack.

Lieutenant General Vusjevich, who was in the command, saw this scene from the telescope and ordered happily: "Okay, it's time to approach the enemy's position, order the infantry to speed up and keep up with the tanks." ”

As the T26 tank group approached, the artillery fire of Zheng Xiaoyou's position became more and more intense, Zheng Xiaoyou looked at the sky, and more than a dozen Stukas in the sky were hovering above his head, but the only remaining ammunition could only allow them to carry out one more fire support.

"Quick, speed up, hurry up and get into the effective strike range of the tank."

The first generation of the T tank, which was equipped with a 45mm Model 38 tank gun, was not very powerful, and it was often ineffective against strong fortifications at a distance of 300 meters, and the accuracy was surprisingly poor. Therefore, the commanders of the T26 tank commanded the tank to enter within 300 meters before starting to shoot.

"Quick, recoilless gun fire." Zheng Xiaoyou silently estimated the distance and gave an order.

"Whoosh" As the Soviet tank group approached, the Soviet tankers found that the opponent's anti-tank fire had increased again, and there were flying shells everywhere, which would be hit and turned into a pile of dazzling torches if they were not careful.

"Boom" a T26 was hit by a shell from an unknown source, and the shell in the tank was also detonated, and then a raging fire broke out.

"Well done" Zheng Xiaoyou pounded hard into the dirt in front of him, grinning, revealing a mouth full of white teeth.

"Deputy of the regiment, Lao Maozi's tank is already very close, can we call in air support?" At this time, Niu Gensheng approached Zheng Xiaoyou and asked.

Zheng Xiaoyou nodded: "It's okay, you go and tell the brothers, let them all be careful, don't be touched by your own shrapnel, at that time, you won't even have face." ”

After a while, Major General Rubievich, who was advancing behind the tank group, saw that the tanks in front of him had approached a hundred meters from the local position, and his heart was happy. But he suddenly found that the other party's artillery fire had suddenly disappeared without a trace, and he was feeling strange when he suddenly heard a sharp siren coming from the sky.

"Boom" With a loud bang, the T26s were like beer that had been opened, and countless metal bubbles bubbled out.

More than a dozen Stuka swooped down like hungry wolves, and tanks were blown up amid the sound of explosions. In less than 10 minutes, more than 30 tanks that had rushed to the front of the position were completely destroyed.

"Order Major General Rubievich to retreat, there is no point in attacking any further," said Lieutenant General Vusjevich, who was watching the battle from the rear position, like a deflated ball.