Of course, Gao Zongbao is not an unreasonable person, and he also knows that these people that Song Zhewu reused are all very talented, and they are all talents with extremely rich experience in combat command, and they are not mediocre talents who have nothing to show for themselves. Song Zhewu used these people to really focus on the development of the Fourth Route Army, and he had no intention of alienating them as old men.

Gao Zongbao knew very well in his heart that these people had only been here for a short time, and the people Song Zhewu trusted the most now were still the old men who followed Song Zhewu to start a business.

Not to mention Xiao Guodong and Wang Xu, Wu Jin is an excellent example. Including this time, Song Zhewu appointed him Gao Zongbao as the deputy commander of the Northern Mongolian front, and gave him the task of defending Kulun.

However, Gao Zongbao also understands that whether it is in the Fourth Route Army or in the civil affairs system of the four northern provinces, Song Zhewu has only one criterion for employing people, that is, on the basis of having loyalty, meritocracy, and never seniority.

As long as you are faithful, you have a chance; As long as you have talent, you will be promoted quickly. The most prominent example is Li Ruifang, the commander of the mountain division, who was exceptionally promoted from a small battalion commander to a division commander within two years, and is also a division commander who commands nearly 60,000 elite soldiers.

Although Gao Zongbao is not a person who is jealous of the virtuous and capable, nor is he a person who likes to be competitive, he still wants to make some achievements in his heart, so that Song Zhewu can see that he is not only loyal, but also not inferior to these later generations in terms of military command ability. Therefore, it is true that a lot of effort has been put into Cullen's defense.

However, after Liang Zhongjia was transferred to Kulun this time, he was appointed by Song Zhewu to be responsible for defending the No. 3 fortress group on Bogda Mountain and responsible for the defense of Kulun City, which made Gao Zongbao very unhappy.

This is not counting, as soon as Liang Zhongjia arrived in Kulun, after inspecting the defense of Kulun City, he suggested in front of Li Wentian that the defense facilities of Kulen City should be strengthened.

Because the German expert group headed by Gao Zongbao and Ludendorff all believed that the No. 1 and No. 2 fortress groups could completely block the Soviet army's attack from the east and west, and it was impossible for the Soviet army to attack under the city of Kulen. Even if it hits the city of Kulen, it will not be able to attack Kulen under the fire from the Bogda Mountain.

The Soviet army attacking from the north could only attack Kulen from the west along the Tula River valley, and it was impossible to give up heavy weapons and attack Kulen from the north over the mountains and mountains. And the Soviet army, which did not have heavy weapons, Gao Zongbao was not afraid and did not care.

Gao Zongbao not only learned a lot about the combat characteristics and combat effectiveness of the Soviet army from the summary meeting of the Fourth Route Army held in Laiyuan after the war in Manchuria, and from the subordinates of the former Zhang Yafei who were reorganized and adjusted to his troops after the reorganization, and even from Ludendorff, who participated in World War I and fought against the Russian army, he had a deeper understanding of the Soviet army.

In his opinion, the combat effectiveness of the Soviet army, which was not supported by artillery, was not much different from that of the domestic army. Of course, Gao Zongbao, the domestic army, did not refer to the Northeast Army, but to the Central Army, the Northwest Army, and the Gui Department.

As for the Soviet army's attack from the south, for example, if the Soviet army's western front troops did not have a strong block, it was likely that they would go around to the south of Kulen and attack Kulen from behind.

However, Gao Zongbao believes that this is even less to worry about, and the fortress group of Bogda Mountain can completely block the tens of thousands of Soviet troops who are very tired from trekking thousands of kilometers.

In particular, Ludendorff believes that with his experience in the First World War in Europe, a small city like Kulen, which has no tall buildings in the city, once the enemy army attacks the city, it will be absolutely impossible to defend, and it is better to seize the time to strengthen the three fortress groups than to waste manpower and material resources on the defense of Kulen City.

Therefore, both Gao Zongbao and the German expert group did not make too many arrangements for the city defense of Kulen. Of course, in the mountains north of the city of Kulun, the necessary fortifications were still made, and it is entirely possible that a small group of Soviet troops came over the mountains.

However, Liang Zhongjia did not think so, he believed that although the two fortress groups No. 1 and No. 2 were very strong, they should also prepare for the worst, the Soviet army's heavy artillery and aircraft bombardment was fierce, and he had learned it in Manchuria, and this time the Soviet army attacked Kulen, the firepower must be much more fierce than that, and he must be prepared in case the Soviet army rushed through the fortress group.

In addition, the Soviet army has a strong will to fight, and in the absence of heavy weapons, the Soviet army is very likely to come from the north over the mountain, which will go straight to the city of Kulen, if the Soviet army occupies Kulen regardless of casualties, and attacks the No. 1 and No. 2 fortress groups from behind, the two fortress groups will be dangerous. If the No. 1 and No. 2 fortress groups were lost, it would have been much easier for the Soviets to attack the fortress on Bogda Hill. Because Cullen's city defense must be strengthened, Cullen must not fail.

Although the deployment of the defense of Kulun was agreed by Li Wentian, after listening to Liang Zhongjia's suggestion, Li Wentian supported Liang Zhongjia very much, and handed over the task of the defense of the city of Kulun to Liang Zhongjia, which made Gao Zongbao a little dissatisfied, and even thought that Liang Zhongjia was grabbing credit and showing off.

It's just that because the time is too short, it must be too late to build reinforced concrete city fortifications, but fortunately, Liang Zhongjia has a way, according to the structure of Song Zhewu's tunnel fortifications, combined with his own experience in Manchuria, set up many light and dark firepower points outside the city of Kulun, designed three fortifications facing the northwest and east, and organized the excavation of three three-meter-wide anti-tank trenches, and made a good deployment of street battles in the city.

After the First Battle of Manchuria, Liang Zhongjia had a good understanding of the combat effectiveness and tactics of the Soviet army, and he was more targeted in the design of fortifications.

Kulen does not have a large number of steel rails to use in Manchuria, but there are as many logs as in the northeast, and the Mongolian oak trees are much harder. In order to build the fortifications of the city before the Soviet attack, Liang Zhongjia sent all his more than 60,000 troops up, and now except for the outermost anti-tank trench, the others have been basically completed.

Although the fortifications designed by Liang Zhongjia were relatively simple, Ludendorff also appreciated them very much, believing that such fortifications were more than enough to block the enemy without heavy fire support.

Although Gao Zongbao saw that Liang Zhongjia had built a perfect fortification in such a short period of time, he also admired Liang Zhongjia. But he still thinks that Liang Zhongjia is a bit excessive. Especially Liang Zhongjia, as his subordinate, insisted on doing this regardless of his feelings, which somewhat made his face unbearable.

After commanding several armies in the south to rush to their respective predetermined positions, Li Wentian also rushed to Olgit south of Kulen to set up his headquarters, and this time he came to Kulen to inspect defense affairs.

Li Wentian inspected the No. 1 fortress yesterday, and today Gao Zongbao saw that Li Wentian was very satisfied with Kulun's defense, and even Liang Zhongjia was also amazed, which made Gao Zongbao very proud. That's why there is such a saying, which has some face-saving meaning.

Li Wentian is well-informed, and he can't see Gao Zongbao's thoughts. However, for the old people like Gao Zongbao and Zhang Yafei who started with Song Zhewu, Li Wentian still has to save some face. Therefore, just smiled and did not speak.

Liang Zhongjia had a typical Northeast surname, and sincerely admired and said: "It is indeed very good, there is such a complete fortification fortress group, not to mention that Lao Maozi came to 400,000, that is, 600,000, and in less than half a year, he would not want to take Kulun." ”

Li Wentian knew that Liang Zhongjia's surname was straightforward, and he was not very good at these delicate and scheming things, so he didn't hear the meaning of Gao Zongbao's words, so he took over the conversation with a smile and said: "These three fortress groups, with strong fortifications and reasonable firepower, are indeed very good, and I have never seen such good national defense fortifications in our country." Commander Gao, you and the German expert group have done a good job, I will report to the commander-in-chief. ”

Gao Zongbao hurriedly smiled and said: "This credit is all from Lao Lu's expert group, I just moved my mouth, I don't dare to take credit." ”

Although he was modest, Gao Zongbao was still very happy in his heart. The Kulen defense system was well built, and the greatest credit naturally belonged to him, the supreme commander of the Kulun.

Li Wentian changed his words and said: "However, I still want to remind you that the Soviet army came prepared this time, and the hundreds of thousands of people of the Northeast Army who fought tens of thousands of Soviet troops back then were powerless. This time, more than 400,000 Soviet troops are coming, and we must not underestimate the enemy. ”

"The firepower of the Soviet army is so powerful, Zixin and I have seen it, and it is by no means comparable to any army in China, even our Fourth Route Army is far from being good."

Regarding Li Wentian's mention of the fact that the Soviet army had embarrassed the Northeast Army back then, Liang Zhongjia couldn't help but blush. In the battle of the Middle Road, the Northeast Army fought really badly, and every time he mentioned it, Liang Zhongjia felt a fever on his face.

Ludendorff on the side nodded and interjected: "What Commander Li said is extremely true, the Soviet army originated from the Russian army, and their characteristics should be the same. The Russian army has always attached great importance to artillery, and their artillery fire is very fierce, which is also famous in Europe. In Europe, with the exception of the French [***] team, the armies of all other countries were inferior to the Russians in artillery fire. Therefore, we have fully taken this into account when designing these three fortress groups. ”

Li Wentian nodded to Ludendorf, seeing that Gao Zongbao still looked disapproving, while Wang Bi, who was standing behind Gao Zongbao, smiled and said nothing, and couldn't help but feel a little angry in his heart.

Li Wentian straightened his face and said solemnly: "I still want to remind you that there is no fortress in the world that cannot be attacked. The commander-in-chief often said that you should despise the enemy strategically, but you must pay attention to the enemy tactically, and I hope you will remember that. ”

Then he said in an accentuated tone: "I remind you once again that the commander-in-chief has made great determination to defend Northern Mongolia, Kulen must be protected, and the Soviet army will win this battle, and there can be no mistake anywhere." Therefore, I once again reiterate military discipline: those who fear the enemy in battle will be killed; Those who lose their positions are killed; Those who disobey orders are killed. Those who violate the above three articles shall be punished on the spot by the head of the regiment; Division commanders and army commanders were dismissed on the spot and handed over to the commander-in-chief for handling. I hope you can all do it for yourself! ”

Seeing that Li Wentian was a little angry, Gao Zongbao, Wang Bi, and Liang Zhongjia, who didn't know why, all stood silently.

At this moment, a staff officer hurriedly ran to the top of the mountain, came to Li Wentian and reported loudly: "Report to the commander, the commander-in-chief is calling." Because the matter was urgent, the front command forwarded to Kulen. ”

(To be continued)