July 2, 1941.

The tug-of-war between China and the Soviet Union around the Ishim line entered its 23rd day. The shells became denser and denser, the charge became more and more urgent, and the soldiers on both sides were exhausted after more than three weeks of fierce fighting. The ** of the battle became numb, and the blood froze into a glacier. As the Battle of the Southeast Ryukyu drew to a close, and the Japanese army on the Korean Peninsula was constantly annihilated, Stalin's patience had been exhausted to the extreme! Every day, he sent more than a dozen telegrams to the front and made dozens of phone calls, which were densely packed with anxious words such as urging and strict orders, and even Soviet Chairman Kalinin secretly came to Chelyabinsk to urge the troops to fight on the spot.

Vasilevsky and Le Shiwen fought hard in the most difficult combat terrain in the world, but Lukin and Rokossovsky still balanced the attack and defense, relying on the gap left by Xu Xiangqian's mistake, sending the Ukrainian Third Army and the Siberian Army across the Ishim River, trying to cut off the supply channel while storming Petropavlovsk from the northwest. But Sun Chuanfang and Fan Shisheng opposite them were equally old and spicy, and while dragging the enemy's main force under the city, they forced Xu Xiangqian's eight divisions between the two, so that they could not connect from end to end, and could only passively fall into a war of attrition. The Irgiz salient in the south can no longer be described in words, Zhukov's arrival has made Malinovsky's troops even stronger, and the 'villain' Mehris makes the two hateful at the same time, but also secretly vigilant and cheers up the spirit of 120,000. A flood offensive regardless of the cost and casualties overwhelmed Du Zishan, and sometimes a unit was put in in the morning, and at night it had to withdraw due to losses of more than fifty percent. Many times, he wanted to put in the reserves of a total of two armies at all costs, but in order to paralyze the enemy and not disrupt the counteroffensive plan, he had to wipe his tears, grit his teeth and stuff the casualty reports into his pocket.

Kirponoski of Sarekopa in the center of the country was old and steady, and he knew very well that in Afghanistan and East Kazakhstan several battles with the Chinese army, in the face of the opponent's superior armored forces, any negligence could cause unimaginable losses, so he relied on the Great Lake to fight steadily, neither rushing nor taking risks, and like Vasilevsky, he dragged the opponent's living force for the tactics of flying on both wings.

For more than three weeks, millions of soldiers have been at a stalemate, and even the people in the country have forgotten about the "East Siberian Consolidation Act" that is about to be voted on in the National Assembly, and even the peninsula and the Ryukyus have become unimportant. Many people began to worry about the soldiers who were thousands of miles away. How are your children? The Soviet soldiers couldn't finish fighting? Will you lose? One problem after another has made this summer even more hot and uncomfortable.

Sprouting is always accompanied by the most severe cold. Even the Shaolin abbot of Kirbo's post-80s generation wrapped his figure. "You're all there, right?" With a pony whip in hand, Sun Liren walked past a column of tanks draped in camouflage nets and entered the command post where the officers were gathered. "Well, it's all here." Gong Chu handed him the roster with eager eyes.

3 armored divisions, 3 motorized infantry divisions, and 4 motorized infantry divisions, plus additional reinforced troops, gathered 12 armored regiments, 15 motorized infantry regiments, 3 night tiger battalions, 10 armored engineering battalions, 8 mechanized boat bridge battalions, 6 'Fury' self-propelled anti-aircraft artillery battalions, 4 half-track anti-aircraft artillery battalions, 8 105-mm self-propelled artillery battalions, 4 150-mm self-propelled artillery battalions, and 2 210 self-propelled heavy artillery battalions. A total of 78 Type 25C Tanuki light reconnaissance tanks, 108 Night Tiger tanks, 122 Type 31 Golden Leopards, 878 Type 36 Siberian Tiger main battle tanks, and 516 all-track armored personnel carriers. Plus self-propelled guns, half-track personnel carriers, trucks, motorcycles, jeeps, and so on, more than 4,000 vehicles of all kinds were right under his nose. You must know that in last year's spring and summer offensive in Central Asia, all armored divisions and mechanized infantry divisions in the country had to be equipped with a certain proportion of mules and horses, and only a year later, a purely mechanized army appeared with the support of the generalization, standardization and almost unlimited military spending of the country's industry. Of the more than 300 divisions of the whole army, two-fifths have been motorized and mechanized.

But what puzzled and even distressed him and the officers present was that in the face of the anxious stalemate on the front line, the command seemed to have forgotten about them. "No! Can't wait. I think so, it's better for us to go to Commander Mei together and ask for clarification, it's better than waiting here stupidly! Yang Yuchun, who was as fierce as fire, pinched the cigarette butt hard and stood up loudly. He is the commander of the 29th Mobu Division, and he is also a well-known desperate San Lang in the army, and he is even more popular than Zhao Dengyu in battle. But it's also this stinky temper, I don't know how many times I've caused trouble, otherwise he wouldn't still be the brigadier general's division commander by now. Gong Chu knew his temper well, and grabbed it: "Yuchun, don't be so impulsive." ”

"Impulsive? How impulsive I was! Yang Yuchun inhaled hard, and his chest was about to burn: "Senior Sun, you also come to comment." The brothers in front, who are not playing with their heads in their hands! Who isn't waiting for reinforcements to come up? At this juncture, why don't you let us go! And you, you yourself touched your chest and said, this kind of war report, who doesn't feel sorry for it?! The common people are thrifty, and the president has worked hard for decades to build so many tanks for us, is it because we are stupid to watch the blood and sacrifice of the robes? Can you sit still and eat? ”

The words made everyone angry, and Sun Liren was also distressed. He is also a non-commissioned officer exchange student, in order to avoid ideological rigidity and promote competition within the army, he was sent to study at the Virginia Army Academy in the United States for three years after graduating from Baoding. It was only at the end of last year that he reached the position of commander of the 2nd Armored Division. Along the way, it was particularly difficult compared to Zhuo Fan and others, and a large part of the reason was that the army felt that the US Army's combat thinking was outdated, while the German Army was more advanced. For this reason, he also applied for a postgraduate course at the National Defense University in the middle of the course. But the deep-rooted thinking makes it easier for those army non-commissioned officers and students who study in Germany and France to get ahead, so he has always felt that he is very wronged. After all, going to the United States at that time was also arranged by the troops. Now standing in the position of the ace division leader, he naturally wants to make contributions to prove himself.

Gong Chu, who was more introverted and calm, saw that he didn't speak, so he had to continue to persuade: "Yuchun, let's wait a little longer, the commander will not be available for this meeting." ”

"What's wrong with not being available? Left us here and ignored if you don't have time? If the commander can't do it, I'll go to Chief of Staff Liu! Find the Commander-in-Chief! Yang Yuchun was determined to ask the ugly man, so he rolled up his sleeves and walked out. Just two steps away, a voice came from outside: "Hehe, who is looking for me?" ”

"Chief of Staff? Attention! ”

Everyone turned their heads to see that Liu Mingzhao and Song Ziqing, dressed in ordinary combat uniforms, walked into the crowded command post hand in hand. The officers who were still angry just now suddenly fell silent, even if Yang Yuchun had such a hot temper, they didn't dare to attack in front of the two of them. The Rezikazgan counterattack and the Petropavlovsk battle alone have already established Liu Mingzhao's position in the army, and many people know it in their hearts, if it weren't for General Chu Nan's seniority, I'm afraid he would have succeeded Marshal Yue on the throne of chief of the general staff. What's more, next to him stood Song Ziqing, who was second only to Marshal Yue Peng and had controlled the Ministry of National Defense for more than 30 years.

But these two legends in the eyes of the soldiers did not have the slightest shelf, patted their butts, and found two blackened wooden stakes casually, and after sitting down, Liu Mingzhao deliberately said: "Huh? Just now, they were shouting and shouting to kill, why are they all wilted now? Oh, sit down, sit down, I'm not Stalin, don't give others a chance to speak. Say, what do you want to see me? The affectionate words relieved everyone, and Yang Yuchun had the courage to say that he didn't want to wait any longer to join the war.

"Hehe, I thought something was going on." Liu Mingzhao smiled, glanced at Song Ziqing, picked up a dry branch and said: "A soldier should have a temper and dare to put forward different opinions, you have done a good job in this!" I remember that the president said this to Minister Song back then. Soldiers, fight! ”

"Yes, the president said that these four words are still on my desk." Song Ziqing nodded and motioned for Liu Mingzhao to continue.

Liu Mingzhao said: "Since we are soldiers, we must not do anything that is indifferent to watching Pao Ze shed blood and sacrifice in front." But I want to ask you, let you go up now, how are you going to fight? ”

"It's not simple, according to the plan, crush the Ukrainian 2nd Army on the front, and then turn around and attack Kostanay to the north and outflank the enemy." Yang Yuchun had a fiery temper, but his brain was very flexible, and he quickly explained the direction and goal of the assault. After listening to this, Song Ziqing interjected and asked, "Then let me ask you, what about the Irgiz salient?" ”

"Let General Du Zishan continue to defend to the death, try to hold off the enemy's four group armies, and buy us time."

"Hehe, are you so sure that the enemy can listen to your obedient being dragged down? What if they see that the situation is not good, or if they notice our movements, they immediately retreat and catch up? Liu Mingzhao picked up the dead branch and drew it on the ground. In less than a moment, the terrain and battle situation from Irgiz to Sarekopa were roughly outlined. "I ask you, how far is it from Irgiz to us?"

"207 kilometers separated by canyons in between." Sun Liren vaguely understood and replied immediately.

"And what about from us to Kokshetau?"

"310 km, to first defeat the Ukrainian Second Army, there are about 3 armored brigades, and five to six cavalry divisions. No matter how fast we were, it would take at least two days and two nights to reach Kokshetaau. With this time, the Soviet army could have laid a certain defense here. Because there is a gorge of more than 100 kilometers to block it, if the Soviet troops in the salient take the initiative to retreat and support Kokshetau, we will not be able to cut it off quickly. In this way, they can move towards Kokshetau, and form a front and rear attack with Lukin's department. Sun Liren's eyes became brighter and brighter, and he saw through the whole situation at once.

Liu Mingzhao nodded with satisfaction, but did not say the answer, but recalled the European war: "When I was hiding in the trenches on the Western Front of Europe, I always thought, how could I fight like this? Why is there a stalemate? ”

"Because there was a lack of such an assault force as tanks and airplanes at that time." A thin officer stood up and squeezed his colleagues to the front, apparently also in a hurry.

"What's your name?" Liu Mingzhao looked at him, which made the officer a little apprehensive, and hurriedly saluted: "Report to the chief of staff, my name is Wang Wenshan, and I am the commander of the 66th Mechanized Infantry Division." "Wang Wenshan, yes, I got it right. At that time, the technical forces could not guarantee the rapid movement of the troops, so they could not cut off the enemy's supplies and logistics, so that the battle lines could only be arranged in parallel, thus falling into a brutal trench stalemate! And our current troubles have already been said by Master Sun just now. The presence of the Grand Canyon made it impossible for us to cut off the march routes of the four Soviet armies to the south from the middle. Once they retreat on their own initiative, we can just watch. That's why I'm making you wait. ”

"But when?" Yang Yuchun said anxiously.

"Wait until they break through the defenses!" Liu Mingzhao broke the dead branch hard, and his voice was crisp.

Song Ziqing was afraid that everyone still didn't understand, so he said again: "Stalin can't hold his breath anymore, so as long as the Soviet army breaks through the Irgiz salient, it will definitely require the four group armies to penetrate in depth at full speed!" When they went deeper to the east, they found that we had suddenly set out from here to make a surprise attack on Kokshetau, what would happen, you say? ”

They are all divisional and regimental officers, and naturally they know how happy and excited they will be when a exhausted army, which has reached its limit, suddenly breaks through the defensive line. No matter who it is, I am afraid that they will be impatient to penetrate in depth in order to gain greater strategic advantages before resting. Therefore, the formation, mentality, playing style and equipment of the troops will be in a state of complete attack. If you suddenly find that the rear is lost, you will definitely fall into the chaos of turning from attack to retreat! Putting aside the cost of what it took, the heavy equipment alone had to be thrown away! In case it becomes a burden to be quickly counterattacked by the opponent. Thinking of these, the gaze of everyone looking at Liu Mingzhao can no longer be described with admiration, but a kind of awe, deep awe! Not only did he have to make Irgiz a big pit that the Soviets had to fall into with one foot, but also dragged the other foot into it after they had completed the breakthrough!

"Chief of Staff, Minister. I still have a question, since we had already prepared to use the salient to drag the four armies and complete the flank encirclement of Kokshetau, why didn't we fight a dozen and then take the initiative to let go? "It was Gong Chu who was asking, and compared to Sun Liren and others, he was obviously more stable. Liu Mingzhao raised his head, his face slowly serious: "The four group armies, more than 550,000 troops, if they are allowed to come in intact, who can guarantee that there will be no accidents?" And if they don't exhaust the enemy here, how can they have the ecstasy after the breakthrough, how can they be confident and bold to go deeper? ”

"Isn't General Du Zishan very dangerous? Once the Soviet army penetrates, how can it be stopped? Sun Liren said worriedly.

"It's simple." Liu Mingzhao slowly stood up, sorted out his military uniform and walked out. It was only when he walked to the door that he stopped and explained the answer: "Because I ordered him, the reserves of two armies, not one soldier, are not allowed to be sent!" This sentence made the officers' eyes widen. The two armies of the reserve did not move, which means that General Du Zishan has fought until now, and he has stubbornly relied on two armies to block the 23-day onslaught of the Soviet army's four group armies! Of course, they know that the officers and men of the 16th Army and the 33rd Army are probably going to be lost in the salient area.

"Let's make the final preparations." Song Ziqing also sighed: "We have just received news that the 412 Heights, the most critical highland in the salient department, have been cut off for 3 hours. So the chief of staff has just ordered General Du to retreat from the front line! ”

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"Commander! Let the reserves go up! "In the command post of Irgiz, the deputy commander of the 16th Army, who was already in his fifties, was holding on to the door frame, his face covered in blood, crying and begging to let the reserves go up." Please! Leave a little seed for our 16th Army! If you continue to fight, the brothers will die Commander! The sad voice made all the officers can't help but bow their heads, and several division commanders of the reserve team even rolled up their sleeves, their eyes red and waiting for the order.

Standing opposite him, in just three weeks, Du Zishan, who had no black hair on his temples, also had red eyes and his heart was trembling. Why didn't he want to transfer the reserves, why didn't he want to keep the 16th Army and the 33rd Army, many of them were soldiers he brought out! But he can't open this mouth, the military order is like a mountain! The military order is like a mountain! "No! I'm going to tell you the commander that I ordered not to send reserves. Because this is the command, it is the General Staff, it is the order of the president! As long as the order does not come down, who dares to mention the reserve again, military law will deal with it! ”

"Commander!" Seeing that he couldn't convince Du Zishan, the deputy commander had no choice but to pick up the steel helmet. But after taking a few steps, he turned around sharply and suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowing a few times: "Commander, if there are still people in our 16th Army and can survive, please take care of me!" The 16th Army must be saved! Brother, go first! Whoever is here, all belonging to the 16th Army, all follow me! The deputy commander gritted his teeth and stood up, roared, and with more than a hundred assembled soldiers, he once again met the artillery fire.

Looking at their backs, Du Zishan seemed to be dozens of years old, and sat down slowly, his eyes full of tears. "Commander! Connected, connected! 412 Heights is connected! But he couldn't clean up his mood, and he had been contacting the communications staff officer of 412 Heights, and jumped up again.

"Quick, take it!" Du Zishan bracked his body and held the edge of the table tightly, not even realizing that Xu Zuyi, the chief of staff who was holding the telegram in a hurry, entered the door.

There was a rustle in the speaker, and after a long time, a familiar and loud voice suddenly poured out. "Report to the Commander! The flag is still there! The flag is still there! The position is still there! Wehrmacht, get on the bayonet! After the excitement, there was the eternal silence of the radio, and Zhao Siyuan and the 412 Heights, as well as the soldiers of the entire Irgiz salient, left behind a period of eternity.

In the loud shout, Xu Zuyi's hand was loosened, and the newspaper slipped to the ground.

On paper, it was Liu Mingzhao's order just now that he could mobilize the reserves and take the initiative to retreat to lure the enemy to continue to go deeper.