The howling and raging heavy wind and snow for three days and three nights finally stopped, the east and west sides of the Ural Mountains, stretching to the Outer Mongolia region, a group of silver-covered, undulating mountains, like a statue of solidification, silent in the white snow, the snow on the flat land, up to more than one meter thick, all the ditches, rivers, depressions, mountain cols, woods, are filled with snow, according to the locals, such a big snow in March, a hundred years rare.

In this way, a rare snowstorm in a hundred years caught up with the ambitious commander and political commissar of the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front, General Vasilevsky, the sun rose, the sky was clear and blue, and the bright sunlight shone on the snow, reflecting a dazzling light, which was another disaster for the Soviet troops transferred from the direction of Europe, many soldiers were inexperienced and suffered from snow blindness.

According to the statistics of the staff department, the soldiers of the Outer Mongolian Front alone who suffered from snow blindness accounted for about 30 percent of the total number of soldiers, that is to say, before Tang Qiuli had started fighting, General Vasilevsky's troops had lost more than 500,000 troops in non-combat.

Looking at the statistical table sent by the General Staff, General Vasilevsky's heart was completely messy, like a dead branch in the snowstorm last night, so messy that it almost broke, if this is an irresistible natural disaster, then the next report is an out-and-out man-made disaster.

The chief of staff of the Outer Mongolian Front of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Pozhnev, looked at the comrade commander whose face was as black as the bottom of a pot, and then looked at the statistical table in his hand, and sighed in his heart, still stubborn. He said: "Comrade commander, last night, the statistical report on the attack on our airfield in the rear, as well as the bomber group of the independent division and the coefficient of the bomber bomber group in the seven passages of the Ural Mountains, have you taken a look?" ”

General Vasilevsky, turning his clumsy body, his face full of bitterness. His voice was a little hoarse and he said: "Comrade Pozhnev, I don't look at the statistical report, you can tell me, how strict is the situation?" ”

Lieutenant General Pozhnev's answer. Very concise and very exciting. "Comrade Commander. Very strict zhòng! ”

"Be detailed!" The tone of the comrade commander was somewhat unkind.

Lieutenant General Pozhnev smiled wordlessly, looked at the statistical table in his hand, and said: "According to the report of the airfield guard unit in our rear, all field airfields, except for two. All were attacked by different Cheng dù, and according to the Cheng dù of the attack, the airport was not functioning normally for at least three weeks. That is, our troops, when they began to attack, did not receive fire support from the Air Force. ”

"According to the statistics of the Air Force, more than 1,800 combat planes of all kinds were bombed and destroyed, all the airfields that were attacked, and the aviation fuel stored in them were completely lost, and the infrastructure of the airfields was severely damaged."

General Vasilevsky took a deep breath and felt very depressed in his heart, but he didn't expect the Air Force to play much of a role in this offensive, it couldn't be just the icing on the cake, without the Air Force's planes, the Outer Mongolian Front still fought through the Ural Mountains, and what he was most concerned about was the passage of the Ural Mountains, "This damn heavy snow disrupted all his plans," he thought hatefully.

"What is the situation with the passage to the Ural Mountains, on the part of the sappers, are there any reports that it can be completely repaired in a few days? Do you want to affect the normal movement of troops? General Vasilevsky asked sullenly.

Chief of Staff Pozhnev paused for a moment and replied cautiously: "According to the report of the commander of the engineer unit, because the bombed areas are all major sections, a large number of earth and rocks, piled up, just to clear these earth and rocks, it will take five days at the most to open to traffic, plus this heavy snow, the time for our army to launch an offensive will be delayed for at least a week." ”

General Vasilevsky, finally angry, fat big hand, slammed the table, roared: "Obviously, the Chinese must have a small group of troops that sneaked into the rear of our army, for their bomber formations, indicating targets, including various field airfields, were attacked at the same time, and these small units of Chinese did it!" The purpose is to delay the offensive of our army, so many Chinese soldiers have infiltrated the defense area, what are our guard units doing, are they sleeping? ”

After losing his temper, he said bitterly: "My God, overnight, attacking more than 100 targets at the same time, how many Chinese soldiers have infiltrated our rear, 10,000, 20,000 ......, or more?" Comrade Chief of Staff, is there a report on this? ”

With regard to the attack on the field airfield, Senior General Vasilevsky had no choice but to pay attention to it, because the air force would certainly not give up if it suffered such a big loss, and the airfields guarded by the troops of the Outer Mongolian Front accounted for more than 60 percent.

Chief of Staff Pozhnev, who is also a caring person, understands the situation in detail in this regard, and answers unequivocally, "Comrade commander, our guard troops, only after the explosion did they discover that a small group of Chinese troops had infiltrated the airport, but there was no report of engagement, because, after the explosion, the airport was in chaos, and those Chinese had already slipped away!" ”

General Vasilevsky's gasp began to thicken, stared at the bull's eye, and asked in disbelief: "What?" There were no reports of an exchange of fire, that is, those small units of the Chinese, after destroying more than a hundred of our airfields, did not even leave a single corpse and retreated? Our troops in charge of airport guards, not even a shadow of it? ”

Pozhnev's chief of staff was bitter in his mouth, but he had to answer hard: "Comrade commander, I am afraid that the situation is like this, but the engineering unit responsible for opening the passage to the Ural Mountains, while the road was bombed by the bombers of the independent division, also doubted the accuracy of the bombing of the Chinese bombers so accurately, sent guard troops, searched the nearby area, and there were brief exchanges of fire with small units of the independent division in seven places, which shows that your judgment is accurate!" ”

The last sentence, which is clearly a compliment, "Oh! Are they all wiped out? Were there any bodies left at the scene, were there any captured prisoners who could confirm the identities of these people? General Vasilevsky, but instead of being happy, asked a crucial question.

"No, there are no corpses, no prisoners, according to the report, the soldiers of these independent divisions are extremely capable of individual combat, each place of fire, the other side is only seven or eight people, we dispatched at least two companies of guard troops, but nothing was found, at present, the guard troops are still searching!" Pozhnev, the chief of staff, replied with bitterness, it was embarrassing to say, two companies dealt with seven or eight people, and they were slipped away.

General Vasilevsky was speechless with anger, and his face, which was like the bottom of a black cauldron, was covered with a layer of purple, and in the huge office, only Comrade Commander remained, as if pulling a wind box, panting for breath.

However, what is more difficult than Comrade Commander is the Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Pozhnev, and the situation reported earlier is just a foreshadowing and an appetizer, and the situation to be reported next is a bombshell.

Looking at the current appearance of Comrade Commander, Chief of Staff Pozhnev really doesn't want to provoke him anymore, but this matter is too big to say that it is absolutely impossible.

After hesitating again and again, Chief of Staff Pozhnev still decided that no matter what, he would also report the real situation to Comrade Commander, and there would be no way to conceal it at all, and there would be no delay, otherwise, the General Staff would investigate and all the members of the Outer Mongolian Front Command would not be able to eat and walk around, including himself.

Chief of Staff Pozhnev, when he got a cup of strong coffee, personally handed it to General Vasilevsky, who was stunned for a moment, although he was his chief of staff and a direct subordinate, but there had never been such a thing as coffee before, "Isn't there anything more important to say?" I hope it's not bad news, but when I open my eyes today, all I receive is irritating bad news," he muttered to himself.

Sure enough, Chief of Staff Pozhnev, taking a deep breath, said as tactfully as possible: "Comrade commander, there is an important situation that I have to report to you, the General Staff received an urgent report from the commander of the 57th Airfield Guard Battalion, the commander of the Far Eastern Forward Command of the Air Force and member of the political council, General Jonasov, is missing!" ”

This news was also too shocking, like a thunderbolt from the blue, "What? General Vasilevsky jumped up in surprise, the hot coffee was spilled all over his body, the whole person was stupid, his hands trembled, and the coffee cup fell to his feet.

"Comrade Commander! Comrade Commander! Seeing that his boss's face was gray, his eyes were motionless, and his gaze was dilated, Chief of Staff Pozhnev hurriedly shouted.

The thinking of General Vasilevsky is basically at a standstill, the commander of the air force in the theater is gone, this is too big, it is bigger than more than a hundred airfields were attacked at the same time, and all the roads in the Ural Mountains were bombed by bombers of the independent division, combined, it is bigger!

What is terrible is that airfield No. 57, which is only 30 kilometers away from Yekaterinburg, where the headquarters of the Front is stationed, is the area where his own troops are responsible for guarding, and right under his nose, a dignified air general, who is gone, is not killed or killed in battle, what will be the consequences if this matter reaches Comrade Stalin?

(To be continued)(To be continued......