Chapter 183: Tactical Deception (I)

Liu Mingzhao got more than he wanted, reinforcements from two mechanized corps. In this way, a powerful and invincible mechanized force appeared in the whole of Central Asia, and with the super endurance of the Mustang fighters as a cover, and the exit kjand in the Fergana Valley in hand, the obstacles to a rapid mobile campaign were removed.

The only thing Liu Mingzhao doesn't understand is why the president trusts his ability so much. This kindness can only be repaid on the battlefield. After the meeting, Jiang Fangzhen specially asked Fang Jianxiong to stay for a while, he had something to say.

When there was no third person present, Jiang Fangzhen expressed his worries and said: "Winter is coming, hasn't that place in Central Asia always been said to be unsuitable for large-scale mechanized troops to fight?" ”

"The winter in Central Asia should not be so cold, as for whether it is suitable or not, Liu Mingzhao said that it will be okay. Even if it doesn't work, turn around and fight Tashkent again, I think as long as Liu Mingzhao doesn't make too big a mistake, there will not be much change in the posture of our strategic superiority before the New Year. Stalin suffered losses because he underestimated the combat strength of our army, and at the same time did not have a clear understanding of the deployment of our troops in Central Asia. Frankly speaking, I can't believe that the Central Asian campaign has achieved such results until now. After repeated arguments, some young people in the General Staff Headquarters have come to the conclusion that you may not have imagined that the smooth progress of the Central Asian campaign lies in our side's long-term targeted preparations for war and the smooth flow of logistical support. At that time, Xiulan New Railway, a scene of a war of words in the cabinet. I still remember it vividly. Fang Jianxiong was very confident, and Jiang Fangzhen was also touched.

"Yes, the spring breeze is not the Yumen Pass! Some sections of the road are desert. I didn't expect to build a railway on top of this. The sand control research institute established in the fifth year of the Republic of China can be regarded as a great contribution to the maintenance of the Lanxin Railway. ”

Liu Mingzhao did not have time to stay in Beijing to rest, so he hurried back to Andijan after the meeting, and when he returned, the exhausted Liu Mingzhao was so excited that he did not feel the slightest sleep. I opened the map and kept looking at it, wondering how to surround Tashkent without fighting. But he had to deceive Zhukov again, so that he misjudged that the ** team still had to play Tashkent.

New campaign focus. It was to destroy the living forces of the Soviet army in Central Asia, especially the few mechanized units in Zhukov's hands. As long as the Samarkand military group is defeated, Liu Mingzhao can ignore the winter in Central Asia and quickly advance in the direction of the Caspian Sea. Just push to the edge of the Caspian Sea. It's much easier to organize defenses. If the Soviet army wants to return to Central Asia, it can only go through two lines to the north and south, bypassing the Caspian Sea. When the time comes, there will still be a fight in Tashkent, and hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops will starve to death if they are hungry.

The half-month preparation period seems to be a long time, but in Liu Mingzhao's heart, he doesn't think so at all, there are too many things to prepare. First of all, it is tactically deceitful, to put sufficient pressure on Tashkent from three directions, so that the Central Asian Front will strengthen its attack on Tashkent. Taking advantage of the night movement of troops, a quiet build-up was made at the exit from the Fergana Valley.

After the first transition. Liu Mingzhao's excitement weakened, forcing himself to sleep on the plane. When I woke up, it was already the next morning, and I was at Dihua Airport. Although night flights are dangerous, the pilots of transport aircraft of the Wehrmacht already have this ability. Thinking of this, Liu Mingzhao could not but admire the great president's foresight, without a powerful air force, the Central Asian Front did not dare to imagine that it would achieve the current results.

Shymkent, the gateway city north of Tashkent, has been in a state of panic since November 8. The repaired railroad pulled up two separate siege artillery regiments and bombarded the fortified batteries and fortresses built by the Soviets with the terrain. This kind of siege weapon during the First World War has a new youth under this small city.

Rumble! A huge cannon directly hit a fort, and the 122 howitzers weighing several tons were lifted five or six meters high, and the soldiers hiding in the concrete fortifications on the side were directly stunned, and some were directly shocked from bleeding from their mouths, noses and ears, and were shocked to death.

Lukin, who was appointed commander of the Tashkent army group, is now a general. Why did he become a general, Lukin knew very well in his heart that the bearded man in the Kremlin hoped that he would live and die with Tashkent. When he was defeated in East Kazakhstan, Lukin thought he was going to die, but at the critical moment, Moscow sent planes to fish him out at night.

In other words, Lukin, who picked up a life in vain, doesn't care about whether he dies or not at all now. If he was defeated, he would not dare to flee back, which would be more ugly than death. Isn't that what his former boss Pavlov is? It is said that he has been secretly executed by such and such a department.

"The Soviet Military Council demanded that the commanders and fighters of the Red Army ......." With a bang, a radio hanging on a telephone pole flew into the sky, and soon disappeared. Lukin, who was in the underground command room, calmly observed the direction of the squadron with a telescope, and said to Krolev, the commander of the Shymkent defenders beside him, with a stern expression: "It seems that the Chinese will soon launch an attack, and I hope that Shymkent can hold out for half a month." ”

Lieutenant General Krolev's face was like stagnant water, and he nodded solemnly and said: "I will do my best, if the city is broken, I must have died in battle." ”

"The key to defending the city is artillery, and we must hide the artillery units well to avoid the bombardment of the Chinese." The cannon body finally came to an end, and after looking at the time, the two hours of continuous heavy artillery bombardment were almost at the point.

Despite having nine infantry divisions and strong fortifications, Krolev had no idea how long Shymkent would last. For no other reason, the bombs dropped by the Chinese bombers were all 500 kilograms, and the situation began to deteriorate even more today, and the siege artillery also came up. The troops who had retreated from Taraz would tremble at the mention of these two large-caliber cannons. No strong fortifications are spared from a direct hit. The only ones that could withstand this kind of artillery bombardment were concrete fortifications more than ten meters deep underground, which were not found in Shymkent, but in Tashkent, but there were not many.

Buzz Buzz! Hearing this voice, Krolev's face changed again, and he hurriedly said: "Air raid, Your Excellency General, it seems that it is difficult to calm down before dark." As soon as the words fell, more than a dozen bombers had already flown over Shymkent, and a sharp whistling body fell from the sky, and the earth shook violently, although it was a little worse than the previous shelling, but it was also very powerful.

"It's been three days, and it's all these 500-kilogram bombs." Krolev looked at Lukin with a gloomy expression, the new general looked at the smoke and dust rolling around the city with a blank face, and very calmly raised his hand to dust off his shoulders, and after looking at the dust falling from the top of the command post, he gave up the action of tidying up his appearance.

"I know, but we don't have a choice but to fight." Lukin's face became more and more gloomy, such a situation means that the Soviet troops in the encirclement have been basically cleared, otherwise the Chinese bombers and heavy artillery would not have come so quickly.

Separate heavy artillery regiments bombarded every two hours for two hours each. The bombers were much busier, with no less than 10 bombers per hour. According to Lukin's analysis of recent movements, it is most likely that the squadron will press towards Tashkent from the back. Of course, it is not excluded to press it from the south. As for the east, this worry is unnecessary, the road from the direction of Kokand to Tashkent passes through some canyons, and the Soviets do not even need large troops, as long as one or two artillery companies and one or two infantry companies hold a certain gorge, the mechanized units of the squadron will not dare to pass through these sections. If you use infantry, this kind of terrain is no different from sending you to death.

Unfortunately, at that time, Khujand was not able to hold out for long, mainly because of the limited number of troops in hand. By the time the follow-up reinforcements arrived in Tashkent, it was too late to reinforce Kuzhan, and if it had not been for the hassle of destruction during the retreat, the Chinese might have killed Tashkent before the reinforcements arrived.

Looking back on the course of the battlefield war, Lukin felt that the defeat of the Soviet army was not unjust. Even if Pavlov had taken his approach and concentrated his forces on Bishkek instead of dividing East Kazakhstan, the outcome of the war would not necessarily have changed.

The reason is simple, the equipment gap. In particular, the gap in the equipment of the air force was too large, and the Soviet army was severely constrained throughout the campaign. The build-up of troops, the bombing of logistical supply lines, and the slightest military value of targets will all be subjected to dive bombing and strafing by fighter jets.

The Chinese's mode of war is completely different from the Soviet army's mode of war, and the tactics of throwing thousands of tanks in the counterattack and tearing apart the Soviet defense line with a concentrated assault are simply not something that the Soviet army, which is still armed with Mosin Nagant rifles, can resist. The only one that could inflict heavy casualties on the Chinese mechanized troops was the 122 howitzer. That's it, and only a dozen Chinese infantry fighting vehicles can be hit.

"According to the experience of past wars, 76-mm anti-tank guns cannot penetrate the armor of Chinese tanks from the front, so it is still necessary to use your brains on the issue of how to use anti-tank guns. Find a way to hide anti-tank weapons on the flanks, and break their tracks even if they can't penetrate the armor. Also, organizing death squads and blowing up tracks with cluster grenades is also a good idea. During the Spanish War, the Comintern fighters invented a simple Molotov cocktail that could be prepared with more. Lukin slowly said some of his experience, Krolev did not say anything to his face, and secretly thought in his heart that the role of Molotov cocktails was undoubtedly exaggerated, and the tanks of the Chinese never broke away from the cover of their mechanized infantry. Use this brain, it's better to dig more anti-tank trenches. (To be continued......)