-- The battlefield of Nomenkan

Two days, these two days of fighting is enough to make all the people who participated in this battle remember eternal life, the artillery of the Japanese and Soviet armies bombarded each other as if they were crazy, from the beginning only heavy artillery to the later period even mortars joined the artillery battle, all the artillery was desperately firing, the barrel did not fight and swore not to give up, one train after another from the west to the east, trucks of shells were unloaded, and shells were thrown everywhere like garbage, The soldiers of the two sides could only hold their heads in the trenches and curse how the artillery of the other side was not dead, and the fighters of both sides kept trying to attack each other's artillery, but the two sides had already learned to be obedient, and at any time, there were one or twenty fighters in the sky to be on guard.

"Your Excellency Commander, if we continue to fight like this, we will not be able to stand it, our logistics can no longer be replenished, and our heavy artillery can only be fired now, and the Soviet army will have at least 300 guns!" Inside the headquarters, a staff officer bowed his head to Komatsubara and said.

Komatsubara could feel the vibration of the battlefield without looking, and heavy artillery shells continued to explode on the ground, and there were even requests for artillery units to stop shelling on the battlefield.

"Cannon is the god of war!" Komatsubara stood up, looked at the shining artillery position and said.

"If we continue to fight, all our artillery will be wiped out by the Soviet army!" The staff officer shouted loudly. His head was lowered.

"Command! The 5th Division on the left flank immediately attacked, using samurai swords to fend off the Soviet artillery! "Komatsubara knew that his artillery battle was over, so he could only grit his teeth and let the infantry find a way to charge forward, hoping to use the infantry advantage to break through the Japanese defensive positions.

"Great joy, great joy." A communications soldier hurriedly ran in and said.

Komatsubara hurriedly asked, "What big joy?" ”

The corners of the communication soldier's mouth were curved and said, "Just now the headquarters called, the first brigade of the chariot originally stationed in Gongzhuling is about to arrive at the battlefield, and the leader of the brigade is Lieutenant General Masatomi Yasuoka!" ”

"Oh!!" Everyone in the command shouted in surprise, and Komatsubara laughed and said, "Great, with the Yasuoka Tank Detachment, we have a chance to win, let me see, well, let the Yasuoka Tank Detachment and the Fifth Division attack the left flank together, the strongest tank detachment and the strongest infantry division, we will definitely be able to win with such a combination!" ”

And in Zhukov's headquarters on the other side, Zhukov is planning ways to end this war.

"Our artillery fired more than 8,000 tons of shells in just two days, which was extremely rare even in World War I. However, we can see that such firepower can only suppress the Japanese troops, but cannot defeat them. Zhukov pointed to the map and said, "I order, the rear must transport no less than 50,000 tons of combat materials by October 15, there will be 20,000 tons of artillery shells, I want you to tilt all these shells on the heads of the Japanese devils, tell them what a red iron fist is!" ”

As he spoke, Zhukov pointed to the map and said, "Order the 6th, 11th Tank Brigade, 7th, 8th, and 9th Armored Brigades to attack on the left and right flanks respectively, the Japanese army's favorite thing is to concentrate their forces and break through a little, our forces are much stronger than them, we can break through more, in addition, order the 212th Airborne Brigade to parachute into their rear and cut off their retreat!" Airborne not only infantry, but also mortars and anti-tank guns, and if you can, some tanks! ”

The staff officers quickly turned Zhukov's ideas into one order after another, and Zhukov stroked the map and kept putting forward his own ideas, among which there were a large number of tactics that had never been fought in real combat, and in Zhukov's heart, Nomenkan had become a testing ground for testing his new tactics.

On the grassland, which is only a dozen kilometers away from the battlefield, a team of hundreds of chariots is advancing towards Nomenkan, and they are the Anoka chariot detachment.

The Yasuoka Tank Detachment has the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Tank Wings, of which the 3rd and 5th are the Medium Tank Wing, and the 4th Wing is the Light Tank Wing.

For this war, after the first Nomenkan conflict, the Japanese military headquarters vigorously strengthened the Yasuoka tank detachment, the fifth wing has a newest Type 97 tank brigade and the Type 89 tank brigade, each with 28 vehicles, the fourth wing has three light tank squadrons, all of which are Type 95 tanks, a total of 48 vehicles, and the third wing is all Type 89 tanks, with 32 vehicles, and there are 17 reserve tanks. In addition to the fact that the 1st Tank Brigade only had a tank detachment, the Japanese army added an infantry brigade, an artillery squadron, an anti-aircraft artillery squadron, two engineer squadrons, an automobile wing, a sanitary squadron and a radio squad in order to improve its independent combat and support capabilities, and jointly formed the Yasuoka Tank Detachment.

In fact, before the start of the war, the Anoka chariot detachment had already set out from Gongzhuling and arrived at Arshan, 60 kilometers east of the scheduled assembly site of Nomenkan, and completed the unloading of the train with the assistance of sappers. As a result, it rained heavily, the ground turned into a quagmire, and it took 1 week for the 1st Tank Regiment to move to the starting position of the attack, and the worst record was that the Type 89 tank moved a total of 2 kilometers in one day. In the past two days, the weather has improved, and the chariot can come to the vicinity of the battlefield safely.

Seeing that the sky began to be cloudy again, Yasuoka Masatomi couldn't help frowning, rainy days are not a good time for chariot battles.

"Your Excellency, the command has sent a telegram ordering us to participate in the offensive on the western flank, with the goal of immediately organizing sappers to build bridges after breaking through the Soviet defenses on the left bank of the Halaha River, allowing large forces to cross the river and smash the Soviet defenses!" The communications soldier said with a telegram.

Masatomi Yasuoka took the telegram, thought for a while, and said, "It's going to rain heavily, and ordinary people probably think that we won't attack in such a heavy rain." ”

The staff officer next to him asked in surprise, "Are we going to attack in such weather?" ”

Yasuoka Masatomi touched his nose and said, "It's not an attack!" It's a raid! Contact the 5th Division, and when the rain starts to fall for half an hour, we will attack, and I hope they can cooperate! ”

In the dark night, the heavy rain with the lightning slammed down, the rain brought a coolness to the sweltering battlefield, and the soldiers on both sides who had persisted in the artillery fire for several days could finally rest.

"The 4th Wing, Target 733 Heights, the 5th Wing, Target 758 Heights, the 3rd Wing, Target Haraha River, find the enemy's pontoon bridge, control the pontoon, open a gap for the follow-up troops, okay! Offensive!! With the order of Yasuoka Masatomi, hundreds of chariots and thousands of Japanese troops widened their eyes, and under the cover of heavy rain, they raided the Soviet position.

Joma had just rotated from the eastern front of the fierce artillery battle to the rear of the western front, and was bragging with several Soviet troops, and until now, there are still very few people who have seen the Japanese army at close range, and Joma has the experience of fighting with the Japanese cavalry at close range, which is enough for him to brag about it.

"Listen, what's the sound?" A sharp-eared Soviet soldier asked.

"Is there any sound anywhere, nothing but the rain and the wind!" Joma said nonchalantly.

"It's not like the engine of a tank!" Another Soviet soldier also shouted loudly.

"Bang" a shell fell on a lookout, a sentry and a searchlight on the lookout. The machine guns were blown up together.

"Hurry up, enemy attack! Enemy Attack!! "The Soviet position was in chaos for a while, hundreds of tanks rushed into the Soviet position, the Japanese tanks were not stranded by the Soviet infantry, and they rushed forward frantically under the command of Yasuoka Masatomi, behind Yasuoka Masatomi, thousands of Japanese soldiers with rifles and bayonets sent the Soviet troops who were dizzy by the chariots to hell.

"Quick, anti-tank gun!" A 45mm anti-tank gun hurriedly turned the muzzle, facing the moving black shadow is a cannon, the gunner carefully observed after the shot, found that there was no movement, knew that it was probably missed, and loaded another shot, but before it hit, three or four shells fell on his gun position, in the artillery fire, he used his last strength to pull the gun rope, with the weight of his body to pull it, the shell flew into the darkness, still no gain.

For concealment, the Japanese tanks did not turn on their lights, which made it impossible for the anti-tank artillery positions in the distance and the Soviet artillery at a distance to capture the exact position of the Japanese tanks at all, and could only attack the approximate position with little success.

The 3rd Wing of the Japanese Tank Squadron advanced quickly, and soon came to the river, looking for a long time but did not find any pontoon bridges, just when it was disappointed, suddenly heard a loud noise nearby.

"This sound should be heavy artillery, there is a heavy artillery position near here!!" The commander of the third wing, Yoshimaru Kiyotake Daisa, exclaimed excitedly: "Immediately move in the direction of the sound!" ”

The chariot wing drove a kilometer along the sound, and sure enough, they saw a depression where dozens of artillery pieces were constantly firing, looking at the huge heavy artillery, Yoshimaru Kiyotake Daisa put down the binoculars tremblingly and shouted, "Attack!" Offensive!! ”

When the artillery met the tank at such a close range, the victory or defeat was obvious, and the Japanese tanks rushed into the Soviet artillery positions like tigers entering a flock of sheep, bombarding and shooting everywhere, and the Soviet artillery who were not prepared at all suffered heavy casualties.

The Japanese tank wing attacking the Soviet heights finally encountered decent resistance, and the Soviet army, which had recovered its strength, desperately counterattacked with grenades and anti-tank guns, due to the rain, the Japanese tanks could not move at high speed, and the old Type 89 medium tanks could only run at a speed of 5 kilometers per hour on the muddy ground with 2nd gear, which made the Soviet army run through the Japanese tanks with both legs.

As the sky began to light up and the rain stopped, Yasuoka Masatomi found that the Soviet position was gradually solidifying, and knew that he could no longer take advantage of it, so he ordered to retreat while fighting and preparing for the next attack.

"Your Excellency General, at seven o'clock, hundreds of Soviet combat vehicles appeared!" A scream made Yasuoka Masatomi tremble, and he hurriedly took the binoculars to look, only to see hundreds of BA-10 armored cars and BT-7 fast tanks rushing towards him. Farther away, it seemed that some tanks were left behind, and he thought for a moment and said, "All the tanks are armor-piercing, driving in reverse, facing the enemy with a front, and the infantry immediately set up a defensive line and prepare for anti-tank combat!" Yasuoka Masatomi said slowly, "Warriors of the Empire, the decisive battle is coming!" ”

Whether it is the Soviet Army's BA armored car or BT tank, the armor thickness is only about 20 mm, while the Japanese Army's Type 97 tank can penetrate 20 mm armor at a distance of 500 meters, and the Type 89 tank can penetrate 20 mm armor at a distance of 300 meters.

The Soviet tanks were much faster than the Japanese ones, and they soon caught up and began to shoot, although the Soviet tanks were numerous, but Yasuoka Masatomi could see at a glance that the training of these tankers was extremely rusty, many tanks were crowded together, and the accuracy of artillery shooting was also very poor, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and said, "Shoot back!" ”

"Bang" "Bang" "Bang"

It was not the Japanese tanks that fired first, but the captured and carried anti-tank guns of the Japanese, and these 37 or 45 mm anti-tank guns were so powerful in the hands of the Japanese that two Soviet tanks were destroyed in the first round of fire.

"Fire!" The Type 97 tank on which Yasuoka Masatomi sat suddenly shot projectiles, and the largest tank battle of the Japanese and Soviet armies began.

The tanks of the two sides continued to fire at each other, the Soviet army had a numerical advantage, the Japanese army was well-trained, and the Japanese army had more than a dozen anti-tank guns to help the battle, and the battle was evenly divided for a while, at this time, a Japanese tank team was interspersed from the right, this is the third wing that had just finished raiding the Soviet artillery position, and the third wing continued to fire shells from the flank to shoot the side armor of the Soviet tank, only to see the Soviet tank continue to explode, and soon broke through the double-digit mark.

Finally, under the lure of Yasuoka Masatomi, the Soviet tanks rushed into the defensive positions of the Japanese army, and in a burst of shouting, a large number of Japanese troops rushed up with grenades and ****** shouting "onboard", among which in addition to the Japanese army, there were many Korean troops and puppet Manchurian troops, the Soviet army's machine guns were all ringing, but they could not resist such a **** attack at all, and after the tank battle was over, the Soviet tanks defeated by the Japanese **** were much more than the Soviet tanks defeated by the Japanese tanks.

Yasuoka Masatomi recounted his brigade and was surprised to find that more than 30 tanks had been left on the battlefield, of course, as a price, more than 60 Soviet tanks were being recovered by the Soviet army with black smoke, but many of those tanks would be repaired and sent back to the battlefield, and he would not have that opportunity.

"Huhu" Hearing a whistling sound, Yasuoka Masatomi raised his head and found dozens of large planes flying over his head, flying towards the rear.

"Are there any important targets in our rear?" Masatomi Yasuoka asked.

"There are our logistics supply bases, these may be bombed, it's okay, our aviation is enough to protect our safety." The staff officer next to him said with relief.

(To be continued.) )