"Boom, boom, boom......"

The bare hills were shrouded in gunsmoke, and the flames of the explosion tore a blur of the blue-black smoke, and after the firelight disappeared, more gunpowder smoke covered the hills again, and the little vitality that was rare in the arid mountains seemed to have been completely lost in this round of shelling. On the opposite side of the hill, in a loess-covered shelter, the commander of the 14th Army, Belov, was carefully observing the shelling on the opposite side with a telescope, while the chief of staff of the group army, Lurier, and the commander of the 55th Infantry Division, Vyzlko, were also watching the battle with telescopes.

As soon as the cannon fire stopped, a somewhat sparse-looking yellow-green stream of people appeared in the telescope, shouting "Ula! Ulla! It was a well-trained Red Army assault battalion, composed of veterans of the Western Front, and imitated the configuration of the German assault troops, equipped with the latest PPT23 submachine gun (PP is the abbreviation of the Russian submachine gun, T stands for Tokarev, the designer who designed the submachine gun), 60mm mortars, wooden-handled grenades, Mosin. Weapons such as the Nagant rifle and the M1922 light machine gun, modeled after the Lewis light machine gun.

A flash of fire burst out from the hill, followed by the sound of machine guns, and the offensive of the Red Army assault battalion was immediately halted. But it was not completely contained, mortars and M1922 light machine guns were mounted, and the fire of the counterattack quickly suppressed the Chinese troops on the hills, and then "Ula!" Ulla! The slogan of the charge sounded again. Soon a red flag embroidered with a golden sickle hammer rose on the hill that had held back the Red Army's advance for 12 hours. But none of the senior officers of the Red Army, including Commander Belov, showed joy on the faces of all the senior officers of the Red Army. Because they know that the squadron retreats on its own initiative! I don't know what the reason is. From the night of October 15, the squadron adopted the tactics of fighting and retreating. For two days, they have retreated more than 70 kilometers to the west. If they retreat like this for another three days, the Chinese will have to retreat to Iraq! But will the 14th Army of the Red Army be able to chase it all the way?

"Comrade Viczlko, prepare to organize the troops to move forward." Belov put down his binoculars, sighed softly, furrowed his eyebrows tightly, and said to the chief of staff of the group army, Lurier: "Go and send a telegram to the General Headquarters of the Volunteer Army and report to them the latest developments here." Request further instructions. ”

As for the difficulties that the Soviet Union is now facing, senior Red Army generals of the rank of Belov are very clear. Although the Soviet Union put on a posture of baring its teeth and claws in the international arena, it seemed that it was about to launch a world revolution to liberate all mankind. But this is all an illusion, the real situation of the Soviet Union is not good, it is surrounded by the five-nation alliance externally, and it is facing great military pressure. The first five-year plan was again slow to progress because of the imperialist blockade.

So the Soviet Union had to find a way to break the imperialist blockade. For this reason, there are two opinions in the Coalition Party: one is Comrade Trotsky's "theory of world revolution and continuation of revolution"; One is the "theory of socialism in one country" put forward by Lenin and Stalin, which is currently being suppressed. In fact, these two theories are, to put it bluntly, an environment for building a socialist Soviet Union with fists, or a compromise with imperialism in exchange for the opportunity for peaceful development.

In the present Soviet Union, with the Trotskyites in power, the strategy adopted was naturally to create a peaceful environment for the "theory of world revolution and continuation of revolution." Hence the Polish Liberation War, the Japanese Revolution, the Indian Revolution and the present Persian War.

The Persian War was the most crucial blow in Trotsky's series of revolutionary combinations, and only when Persia hurt the British Empire and crumbled the British Empire would the British take the initiative to make peace with the Soviet Union. Trotsky's "world revolution, continuation of the revolution" can be regarded as a phased victory.

However, the current Soviet Union does not have the strength to fight a protracted war with Britain, Italy and China in Persia, not only because the heavy industry of the Soviet Union is difficult to support hundreds of thousands of Soviet-Polish troops, but also in Persia for a long time with the British, Italian and Chinese coalition forces. Even the great pressure from China and Germany in the west and east of the Soviet Union will not allow the Soviet Union to fight endlessly in Persia, and if Germany and China are allowed to see through the Persian War, they will probably launch a full-scale invasion to eliminate the Bolshevik regime!

Therefore, Trotsky's instructions to Tukhachevsky were to win a quick victory, to achieve the greatest victory in the shortest possible time, to let the whole world see the power of the Soviet Union, to force Britain to sue for peace, and at the same time to deter China and Germany, which had ambitions for the territory of the Soviet Union and Poland.

It was based on this strategy that Tukhachevsky would go all out to attack the Anglo-Italian and Chinese forces as soon as they showed their flaws, and formulated a strategy of feints against the Chinese expeditionary force in order to attract the Italian expeditionary force to the north for a decisive battle. And the focus of the whole strategy was that the Chinese and Soviet armies were fighting on the Dehlolan line, so that the Italian expeditionary force on the southern front felt that there was an opportunity to take advantage of it, and came north to Andy Meshk to drill a trap. But Tukhachevsky never imagined that the Chinese Expeditionary Force would be so "without fighting" that the 14th Army had only stormed for a long time, and they would retreat shamelessly! What is even more infuriating is that these Chinese are not retreating painfully, but fighting and retreating in an organized and planned way. The 14th Army looked good on the scene, but there were not many enemies actually destroyed, but in the eyes of the Italian Expeditionary Force on the Southern Front, it was the Soviet Volunteer Army that was victorious, and the Chinese Expeditionary Force was difficult to parry the defeat step by step. If the Chinese Expeditionary Force had returned to Iraq, they would have been diverted to join the Italian Expeditionary Force on the Ahvaz front......

"No, we can't wait any longer!"

Tukhachevsky's patience finally ran out as he watched the squadron get closer and closer to the Iraqi border on the map, and the Italian troops stalled around Ahvaz. He slapped the map table and shouted: "Give Comrade Yakir an order to abandon the Andymisk operation, and form a southward cluster with the 16th Army, the 17th Army, the 1st Cavalry Army, the 1st Tank Army, and the Persian First Army, and immediately go south to break the main force of the Italian Expeditionary Force in the area of Ahvaz." Approaching the Shatt al-Arab! ”

At the sound of the order, Borodin and Pavlov, who were present, were stunned, and the Italian expeditionary force had gathered in Ahvaz in the past few days. And began to build fortifications, put on a posture of being ready to be beaten, and then mobilize the main force to attack at this time, even if it can win, it will end up with heavy casualties, right? Borodin frowned slightly: "Comrade Tukhachevsky, is it too risky to launch the Battle of Ahvaz now?" ”

"Yes, Comrade Commander. The 14th Army was still at war with the Chinese army, and we had only 150,000 troops on the Andymisk front, while the Italian Expeditionary Force had 100,000. The British still had 30,000 troops, and if the battle was settled, the British might still be able to transfer troops from Egypt and India. Pavlov apparently did not approve either, and he euphemistically suggested: "It is better to expel the Chinese army from Persia first, and then use a Persian army group to replace the 14th Army to confront the Chinese army on the Polish-Iranian border." Wait for the 14th Army to return to Andymisk before launching the Battle of Ahvaz. ”

Tukhachevsky shook his head resolutely: "A Persian army group cannot contain 100,000 Chinese expeditionary forces. Don't forget, they have just defeated the Japanese army in the Far East, and tens of thousands of Persian troops will hold back at most one division of the Chinese army, and the remaining 80,000 people will be transferred to the Avaz front. Therefore, we should immediately start the battle of Ahvaz. ”

Tukhachevsky's attitude was very resolute, Borodin and Pavlov did not raise any further objections, Borodin immediately drafted the order in the name of the chairman of the Military Council of the Soviet People's Volunteers, and Pavlov directed the staff officers to begin to draw up a plan for the Battle of Ahvaz. Tukhachevsky's decision was translated into concrete combat orders.

Meanwhile. Marshal Hamilton in Basra was also busy adjusting his deployment because of the "defeat" of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, preparing to let the coalition forces temporary

Move to defense.

"Tell General Sù Wang, ask to delay the offensive of the Soviet Volunteers as much as possible, and to send at least one division of troops to retreat to Ahvaz first, Ahvaz must hold on, and must not give up! The Italian Expeditionary Force was ordered to defend on the line of Susan Gald Ahwasram Hormuz. ”

The repulsion of the Chinese army by the main force of the Soviet Volunteer Army seemed to have been expected by the British marshal, so he did not get angry after receiving the report of the defeat of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, and still maintained the calmness of an excellent commander and adjusted his deployment unhurriedly.

"The Italian Expeditionary Force reported that the numbers of the First Persian Army and the Soviet First Tank Army and the First Cavalry Army were ascertained on the line of Shush, Shushtar, and Masjid Suleiman."

As he spoke, Wavell drew a horizontal line on the map, which faced the Italian expeditionary force to the south, forming a line of defense that would block the Italian army's northward march north to Andimeszk. It seems that the Soviet Volunteers went on the defensive in this direction, focusing their attacks on the Chinese Volunteers.

At this moment a staff officer handed Wavell a telegram he had just received to Wavell, who looked at the report and said: "Your Excellency, General Badoglio wishes to transfer our 30,000 troops across the Shatt al-Arab to join the Italian expeditionary force in attacking the Soviet-Polish forces in front of him. ”

"What? The Italians want to attack? Hearing the news, Hamilton was stunned, since the Chinese army and the Soviet volunteers started fighting on the Dehloran line, he gave the Italians the order to attack, but the general Badoglio found a lot of reasons to shirk, refused to attack, and shrunk the vanguard that advanced to the vicinity of Shushtar back to Ahvaz, why did he suddenly think about preparing to attack now?

"Your Excellency, perhaps the Italians think that the main forces of the Soviet Volunteer Army are fighting fiercely with the Chinese, and the emptiness of Andy Meshk is a good opportunity to seize it." Wavell seemed to understand Hamilton's thoughts and explained with a smile. "I think we can let the Italians try to attack, and at the same time order the Chinese expeditionary force to stop retreating, start a defense on the spot, and entangle the main force of the Soviet Volunteer Army, so that they will not return to Andymisk."

After Wavell finished speaking, he looked at Hamilton, but Hamilton didn't say anything, and after a while he spoke: "Archibald, do you think the Italians can defeat Andy Meszke?" ”

Wavell shrugged: "Why don't you let them try?" 100,000 Italian troops plus 30,000 British troops, even if they can't defeat Andy Meshke, they will not be defeated, and at most they will be in a situation of attrition. Your Excellency, we are not afraid of attrition, and the Baloch plan is already in full swing, as long as we and the main forces of the Soviet-Polish coalition are in the Huchistan region for a while, Balochistan will appear. The passage from Persia to India was sealed. ”

When Wavell was analyzing, Hamilton nodded frequently, attracting the main force of the Soviet-Polish coalition to the Khuchistan area. Creating conditions for Baloch independence was originally one of the pre-selected options for the British side, and it would be good if it could be achieved.

"Well, let's let the Italians give it a try." Hamilton paused, turned to look at Weber and smiled: "Archibald, you personally go to Ahvaz to assist General Badogglio as a representative of the Coalition General Headquarters." Remembered. The British Empire did not have any ambitions for Persia, we were only helping Italy to seize Persia, so our men should not be overburdened with combat missions. ”

……

At this moment. Inside the headquarters of the Soviet-Polish coalition army in Andy Meshk.

"Comrades, the task of this campaign cluster is to quickly break through the Italian line and capture Ahvaz. Defeat all the 100,000 Italian expeditionary forces in the province of Khüchistan! Yakil, the former commander-in-chief of the Soviet-Polish coalition army, looked at the participating generals and said loudly.

At this moment, Yakil was in high spirits. He is now deputy commander of the Soviet People's Volunteers and commander of the 16th Army of the Red Army, and is in charge of 200,000 Soviet-Polish troops. However, Tukhachevsky's order also clearly told him that the limit of this offensive operation was the Shatt al-Arab, and that it could not be crossed under any circumstances, let alone attack Basra. Even if there weren't any British defenders in Basra! Basra was the center of British rule in the Persian Gulf, and the capture of Basra meant the collapse of British rule in the Persian Gulf. Isn't this something that the USSR dreamed of? And why did Tukhachevsky give the order not to cross the river and capture Basra?

Yakir, of course, did not think that Tukhachevsky was afraid of the British Empire, but he concluded that there must be a reason, and that it was probably a wise decision made by Comrade Trotsky in the light of the overall situation of the world revolution, and that a general of his rank should simply follow the instructions of the revolutionary prophet.

"Comrades, the 50,000 men of the 14th Army defeated the 100,000 Chinese Expeditionary Force, and now we have 200,000 opponents of 100,000 Italians and 30,000 British, do you have confidence?" Yakir smiled proudly, of course, the victory of the 14th Army had a lot of water, but the Soviet Volunteers still tried their best to publicize this victory, the purpose was to boost morale and dispel the myth of the invincibility of the Chinese army In the previous impression of the Soviet Red Army officers and soldiers, the combat effectiveness of the Japanese army was already very strong, but such a strong army was completely defeated by the Chinese army in less than three months, and it is impossible to say that the Red Army is not afraid at all.

"Commander-in-chief, please rest assured, these Italians have never been the material for war, we will definitely be able to defeat them, and this battle will be on our 17th Army."

"Please give the order to the commander-in-chief, let our First Tank Army be the vanguard in this battle!"

"Let's let our 1st Cavalry Army take the lead and flatten the positions of the Italians with our horses' hooves!"

A room full of Red Army generals immediately began to talk about it, and they all rushed to take the lead. Yakir looked at these comrades who were eager to fight, and showed a satisfied smile: "Comrades want to take the lead, which is good, but I can't arrange for everyone to take the lead, we are now fighting, not a group fight, and it is not a good way to rush forward." ”

As soon as the joke came out, the Red Army generals below burst into laughter. It was still 1924, and most of the senior generals of the Soviet Red Army were active young men, and even Yakir himself was only 28 years old.

Akir smiled and waved his hand at everyone, and the laughter below stopped abruptly, and he picked up his whip and walked to the map table, where a group of young Red Army generals automatically gathered around.

"Comrades, now the Italians have set up a long serpentine formation in front of us, with five infantry divisions lined up along Susan Gald Ahvasram Hormuz, and three divisions of the Blackshirts placed south of Ahvaz as reserves. In addition, we have received information that two British infantry divisions and a South African infantry brigade are crossing the Shatt al-Arab, presumably to reinforce the Italian Expeditionary Force. ”

Yakir pointed at the map with his whip as he spoke, "The line of Susan Gald Avasram Hormuz is all plains, easy to attack and difficult to defend, and the Italian army's defense line has just been arranged, so it is not strong at all. My idea is to use the tactics of a large-depth assault to concentrate the absolute superiority of artillery, armor, cavalry and infantry, to break through from Susan Gelde, the westernmost part of the Italian defensive line, and then use the First Tank Army and the First Cavalry Army to form a rapid assault group, sweep the rear of the Italian army, and cooperate with the 16th Army, the 17th Army and the Persian First Army to encircle the Italian invading army! Strive to completely destroy this enemy force in the shortest possible time, and then approach the Shatt al-Arab with the whole army and threaten the city of Basra, the center of British Empire rule in the Persian Gulf! (To be continued.) )