The results of the bombing of the Ulan-Ude station were not small, and the logistical and heavy materials supporting the Soviet army in the center had to be turned over in Ulan-Ude, and a large number of materials were stored in the warehouses of the station.

The Soviet army never imagined that in the central part of Siberia, near the airfield more than 200 kilometers from the border, it would be attacked by air strikes.

Siberia is full of primeval forests, and there is never a shortage of timber. Therefore, almost all the buildings of Ulan-Ude station are made of wood, not only a dozen large warehouses are made of logs, but also the waiting room and dispatch room of the station, and the workshop of the vehicle maintenance plant, which are also made of wood, and a few incendiary bombs go down, and the whole station becomes a sea of fire.

In addition, Gao Zhihang commanded bombers to bomb a railway bridge in the valley 30 kilometers north of Ulan-Ude.

However, because the location of this bombing was outside the country, in order to prevent any bombers from being shot down, the new sights of the bombers of the Fourth Route Army were removed before taking off. Therefore, for the narrow railway bridge, the accuracy of the pilots in dropping bombs was not high, many bombs fell into the deep valley, dozens of bombs were dropped, and only a section of the bridge more than ten meters long was blown up, and it was estimated that the Soviet army could repair it in two days.

To bomb the Mack of the Great Uri, the results were not great.

Dauri Airport is close to the border and was attacked by Song Zhewu, so the Soviet army paid great attention to air defense when rebuilding the airport. Not only are the ammunition depots and oil depots made of reinforced concrete, but also large and sturdy hangars.

The Great Uri Airport, which has already been notified by the Ulan-Ude airport, has already begun to tow planes into the hangar. By the time Mike arrived, there were only 8 bombers left on the tarmac. and thirty U-1 fighters that met them in the air.

Against the U-1, which was much worse in performance, Chen Honglu's Newburg brigade had a great advantage, and after a large group of Soviet planes was beaten for a while, the number of enemy planes shot down by Chen Honglu increased by two, and the remaining seven Soviet planes knew that they were not opponents, and hurriedly fled to Chita in the north.

Mack commanded his strike aircraft group, and after blowing up the eight bombers at the Great Uri airfield, there were still many bombs that were useless, and these bombs could never be brought back. Mack also temporarily changed the bombing target and directed the aircraft group to bomb the Great Uri station and the railway. He even chased a train bound for Primorsky Krai and bombed it for more than 20 minutes, until it turned the train into a "fire dragon". Then, Mike, who was in high spirits, led the young pilots, who were elated by the novelty and excitement, to return to Manlai in a graceful manner.

In these four hours, Jiang Xingcheng had already carried out two rounds of bombardment of the Soviet troops on the Western Road, inflicting heavy losses on the Soviet troops on the Western Road, not only most of the artillery of the Soviet troops on the Western Road were blown up, but the losses of ammunition and other baggage were even more serious, and the remaining flour was only enough to maintain the supply of more than 80,000 Soviet troops for four days.

Song Zhewu did not take this opportunity to bomb the Soviet troops on the eastern and central routes, but only bombarded the Soviet troops on the western routes, in order to give Blyukhel the illusion that he wanted to annihilate the Soviet troops on the western route first.

The reason why the Soviet troops on the western route dared to go deep south of Kulen alone, in addition to relying on their superiority in firepower, was mainly because they had air superiority. Even if it was besieged by the heavy troops of the Fourth Route Army, hundreds of planes bombed and strafed, broke the encirclement of the Fourth Route Army, and even defeated the main force of the Fourth Route Army in one fell swoop.

However, after the bombing of the Ulan-Ude airfield, the Soviet air power was basically wiped out, and the Soviet army on the western route was repeatedly bombed by the planes of the Fourth Route Army several times, and after heavy losses, Blyukhel began to worry about the fate of the Soviet army on the western route. It's just that now, it is obviously very dangerous for the Soviet army on the western route to turn around and travel hundreds of miles through the mountainous areas with complex terrain to join the main force of the Soviet army in the center. …,

Although the responsibility for the loss of hundreds of planes is not small, there are still air force personnel on the top cylinder, and it has little to do with him.

The Soviet Air Force is different from the United States, but like Britain and Germany, it is a branch of the army that is parallel to the army, and the establishment of the Soviet Air Force at this time is also very different from that in the late stage of World War II. Because the Transbaikal Military District is facing China, a country that is constantly war-torn and weak, and has almost no air force, the air force of the Transbaikal Military District has always not received Moscow's attention.

On the basis of the aviation units of the Transbaikal Military District and the aviation units of the Special Red Banner Army in the Far East, Moscow transferred a large number of planes from other military districts to temporarily form this large aircraft group. Because of the large number of troops and the fact that they were not subordinate to each other, they had to be sent by the air force of the high command to command the operation, but they were nominally under his command of Blyukher, but it was not he who was actually responsible for commanding Blyukher.

However, if more than 80,000 troops are lost, then the responsibility can only be borne by him, Blyukhel.

For the safety of the Soviet army on the western route, the only safe plan now is to abandon the plan of besieging Kulen and let the Soviet army on the western route enter the Krulun River valley in the east to join the Soviet army on the eastern route. In that case, although it is difficult to say whether Kulen will be taken before the end of October, at least the troops are safe.

Blyukhel believed that the Soviet troops of the five armies were gathered in one place, and the Fourth Route Army would not dare to fight the idea of 200,000 troops under any circumstances. In order to encircle and annihilate such a large heavy army group, with the combat effectiveness of the Fourth Route Army in person, it is necessary to concentrate at least 600,000 people.

According to the intelligence collected before the war, the Chinese only had eight infantry corps and one mountain army in Northern Mongolia, plus two cavalry corps, and the total strength was about 600,000.

Blyukhel had little feeling for the mountain troops, who he believed would not pose any threat to the Soviet army because they did not have heavy weapons. And the two cavalry armies, with the superiority of the firepower of the Soviet army, will not play a role.

What's more, in front of the Soviet army in the center, there was also this Chinese's 39th Army that could not get out.

In this way, if the Chinese want to attack a certain road of the Soviet army on the east and west roads, they can concentrate more than 400,000 troops at a time. With 400,000 troops, it is impossible to strike at a heavy group of 200,000 people with a strong firepower advantage no matter what. If the Chinese dare to attack this big group, if they don't do it well, they will be bitten hard. In the words of the Chinese, it is called "stealing chickens does not make rice".

The situation was critical, and Blyukher, who had always been resolute, did not dare to slacken, and immediately telegraphed the Soviet troops on the western road to immediately send powerful troops to the east to seize the mountainous key road leading to the Krulun River Valley, and the large army should move overnight, while the Chinese had not yet had time to encircle it, and at all costs, they should enter the Krulun River Valley eastward and join the Soviet army on the east road.

At the same time, Blyukhel also strictly ordered the Soviet troops on the eastern route to arrive at Kulen this evening, so as to put pressure on the defenders of Kulen and contain the Chinese troops in order to prepare for the safe eastward advance of the Soviet troops on the western route.

On the orders of Blyukhel, in the evening of the same day, the vanguard of the Soviet army on the eastern route hurried to the east of Kulen and camped in the steppe by the Kruren River, 15 kilometers from Fortress No. 3. The main forces of the Soviet army on the eastern route did not all arrive at the camp until after 20 o'clock in the evening.

The three Soviet armies were lined up from west to east along the Krulun River, and their camps were all located within a kilometer of the river, mainly for the convenience of obtaining water.

Although the Soviet troops were very tired after a whole day's travel, the Soviet troops were still very careful to set up a 2-meter-wide fire road between the camps in regimental units to prevent people from accidentally igniting the dry grass by smoking. The cooks of all the units also gathered on the grassless river beach to prepare dinner. …,

Because it was impossible to build defensive positions at night, the Soviets only set up more than a dozen guard companies on the north, west, and east, five kilometers away from the camp, each company was equipped with a tank platoon with four tanks, four tanks occupied four sides, and one company of the Soviet army set up tents in them.

The Krulun River is now in dry season, the river is 60 to 70 meters wide and only 70 centimeters deep. The Soviets sent a division, waded across the river, and camped on the south bank of the Krulen River to secure the flanks of the main forces.

Because of the late hour, the place where the ammunition and baggage were stored could not be built, and the things were not even unloaded by the trucks. Moreover, for the sake of air defense, the Soviet army did not park these trucks and carts full of ammunition and materials on the river beach, but parked them in the grass close to the river beach and covered them with camouflage nets.

As for the air defense positions, the Soviet troops were not ambiguous at all, and the three small-caliber antiaircraft artillery battalions and a large number of anti-aircraft machine gun positions attached to the three armies were all set up safely overnight. Because there was no air superiority, the Chinese suddenly got a large number of planes out of nowhere, and they had to be careful.

In addition, the Soviet army, which has always preferred artillery, also built all the artillery positions before midnight. The grass on the artillery positions was cleared to prevent the hot shells from igniting the hay during firing.

In this way, the Soviet army was busy until midnight before finally settling down

Although a tight north wind had blown at this time, the temperature had dropped a lot compared with the daytime, and the Soviet troops who were still wearing summer clothes felt very cold, but in the Soviet camp, it was still strictly forbidden to light bonfires to keep warm, and the Soviet officers and soldiers who were shivering from the cold had to hide in tents and huddle together to rest early.

The hustle and bustle of the Soviet camp that stretched for more than 10 kilometers gradually subsided, and in the huge camp, there were only countless gas lamps swaying violently in the wind.

Because of the layout of the station, Huang Yinghuan's meteorological research institute can only make a 48-hour weather forecast, according to the weather forecast provided by Huang Yinghuan to Song Zhewu, the north wind that will blow from the morning will become more and more violent, and the maximum wind force is likely to reach more than 5.

In the gradually increasing cold north wind, a great danger is approaching the sleeping Soviet army step by step......