Chapter 214: Middle East Strategy
A distance of seventy kilometers is not a big problem for armored forces. But in the high-speed march, there are still fierce tigers crawling nests one after another. Huo Lu's order to the divisions: repair on the spot, repair badly, tank crews on armored vehicles. All troops must arrive on time to reach their designated locations.
The Soviet army did not choose to blow up the railway bridge over the Borja River, which was the biggest mistake. They simply maintained multiple patrols and built machine-gun positions at the bridgehead. Such a defensive force can basically be ignored for armored forces, and the full-speed charge and heavy machine gun storm of several Cheetah wheeled armored vehicles are troubled.
Like the Soviets in other directions, the two infantry divisions of the 52nd Army of the Transbaikal Military District, stationed in Borja, were not able to quickly enter the actual situation, and their slow movement gave the Guards more time to penetrate in depth.
The 1st Guards Division, which was the first to cross the river, did not directly attack the Soviets, but bypassed the city of Borja and continued to the town of Sherlovayagora, twenty kilometers north of the city. Their aim was to cut off the Soviet army's retreat, because Commander Huo was not just trying to defeat the Soviet army. When the infantry was surrounded by armored forces, surrender was their only option, and on the Chinese battlefield, the Japanese army, which was known as fighting to the death, was also the surrender of divisions and regiments after being divided by the armored forces at high speed, and Huo Lu did not believe that these Russian gray cattle could be more tenacious than the will of the Japanese army.
Another task of the 1st Guards Division was to block possible Chita reinforcements. Borja is 349 kilometers away from Chita, and losing Borja is equivalent to losing the throats of the two major arteries of the Middle East Road and the Trans-Siberian Railway, and the Soviet army will definitely fight to regain it.
The First Guards Army was not alone, with Chen Shukang leading the Youzhou Army and five divisions of the Dongying Army to follow. The only 75th Division of the Youzhou Army, which acted alone, crossed the Ergun River and set out in a small town called Kailastui, where they targeted a place called Redstone. Although Redstone was also a roadside town on the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was not of much strategic importance after the Left Army cut off Borja and Haranoor. However, Chen Shukang insisted on the capture of Hongshi and demanded that all the captives be sent back to Harbin for custody, which was said to have been ordered from the Weiyang Palace.
In the previous life, Redstone was founded in 1968, and now Redstone is a small town of researchers and miners drawn from all over the Soviet Union. His Majesty, who didn't interfere too much with the "Heavenly Song" plan, was able to notice the redstone town thousands of miles away, because it was rich in uranium, an ore. In previous lives, it was the redstone uranium mines that supported the Soviet Union's vast nuclear arsenal.
Zhong Yi chose not to use the atomic bomb again, and of course he would not allow other countries to use it, and the best way to stifle the scientific research projects of various countries is to stifle them. In the case of the atomic bomb, there is no need to be too anxious on the Soviet side, what His Majesty wants to solve most is, of course, the Manhattan Project, since there is already a little naughty, it is better not to be born of that little boy! With less than four years to go, Zhong Yi has already figured out that if the United States cannot be defeated by then, even if it is to use the "little naughty" in the nuclear arsenal again, he will also sabotage the Manhattan Project.
There were not many Soviet troops in Redstone, only one regiment. Perhaps in Stalin's eyes, the Chinese would not even know what an atomic bomb was, let alone what uranium ore extracted from rare earth elements.
In fact, the most abundant country in the world is the Han Empire, which has several world-class uranium mines on the South China continent, and its reserves exceed the combined reserves of France and South Africa, which are the second and third largest in the world.
Even though Comrade Stalin had strictly ordered Lieutenant General Kovalev, commander of the Transbaikal Military District, to protect the red stone, it is estimated that now, the leading comrades may not be able to remember that it is only a theoretical basis for the study of nuclear energy.
The Allied armies attacked at the same time, Borja fell within five hours, and the news that the defenders had surrendered surrounded by armored forces shocked Lieutenant General Kovalev.
"Borja can't be lost, order all tank divisions to go out!" Comrade Commander, who is well aware of the importance of Borja's geographical location, played his biggest card as soon as he came up, and the three tank divisions of the Transbaikal Military District were all reequipped with T-34 medium tanks that had just left the factory in the first half of the year, because almost all of the most advanced tanks were assigned here to deal with the Kwantung Army and the coveting of Chinese territory.
Kovalev had watched the T-34 train target shooting, and the 76mm long-barreled smoothbore gun could blow up the old A-30 tank in one shot, the most powerful tank he had ever seen. Kovalev was convinced that the heroic and loyal tank crews of the Red Army would definitely defeat the bullshit guards of the Han army.
But the first to engage the battle was not the tank units of both sides, the distance of more than 300 kilometers is not the T-34 basic type that has just been mass-produced can travel continuously at high speed, and the Soviet tank troops are almost all the way to repair, and hundreds of tanks have been left behind in less than half the distance. The task of quickly recapturing Borja could not be completed, and the commander of the tank unit decided to rest in Akinskoye and wait for the tanks that had fallen behind.
The big-nosed tank crews, who were busy refueling and repairing, were still happy that they could rest. They did not expect that the commander's order to rest in place was actually a death order - a large number of Royal Air Bombers had been dispatched, and their goal was to bomb Chita.
A small town like Aginskoye was not on the air force's radar, but the large expanse of tanks outside the city caught the attention of several Howler bomber pilots, and with a burst of radio contact, the two hundred Howlers that had already flown over Aginskoye turned around and dived, dropping small 50-kilogram and 100-kilogram bombs.
This kind of aerial bomb is not very powerful in bombing cities, and it is possible to blow up people's houses, but it is somewhat powerless to deal with concrete fortifications. However, the small aerial bombs dropped by dive acceleration are the biggest killer weapons for tanks.
Generally speaking, the front armor is the thickest, and the T-34's nearly 100 mm thick front armor can even withstand general rocket launcher attacks, and the side armor and rear armor are slightly worse but also reach 70 mm. The biggest weakness of the Steel Monster tank is the armor above and the chassis below, so the tank is most afraid of anti-tank mines and attacks from above, and there is no doubt that the Air Force is the natural nemesis of the tank.
Accelerated aerial bombs fall on the top armor or turret of the tank, and even if the Howler is carrying a high-explosive shell instead of an armor-piercing shell, it is not something that a medium tank like the T-34 can withstand.
The tank groups that have been put out and recuperated are like a group of dead targets, and the bombardiers are showing off their bombing skills as if they were dropping training bombs to their designated targets during daily training.
Tanks whose turrets are blown up are lucky, and the T-34 can be called the perfect design of the second-generation tank, only the position of the ammunition compartment is the most criticized, and if it is a head-to-head duel between tanks, it is okay, but when encountering an opponent like the Royal Air Force, this small flaw immediately becomes an Achilles' heel. The continuous martyrdom made the commander of the Soviet army have to order the personnel to retreat, abandon the tanks to save and train the tank crews, and his choice is correct. Although he was subsequently removed from his post for the loss of a large number of advanced tanks, the commander was able to organize a large number of armored forces to support Europe in the second year of the war.
The diesel barrels piled up around the area became a talisman for this powerful armored force, and the ammunition inside the tank detonated the oil depot, and the roaring flames and heat waves even formed a small mushroom cloud.
The Soviet soldiers who were hiding far away were rejoicing in the wisdom of the commander, and even more fortunately, they still had hundreds of T-34s crawling on the road.
The news that the bomber units of the Air Force had eliminated the armored forces of the Soviet army made Chen Shukang excited, and the loss of armored power made the Soviet army unable to compete with him head-on.
And Captain Huo, who led the first guard army in Sherlovayagora and was ready for a passionate tank showdown, was depressed, "Nima, can you stop stealing the show?" The protagonist of this is obviously us! ”
Lieutenant General Kovalev's counteroffensive plan ended with a crushing defeat of the armored forces, and he had no choice but to rearrange the defensive line, and the losses of the armored division could not be replenished for a while, which meant that for a long time, the Transbaikal Military District could only take a defensive position, which was not what Kovalev liked, but the supplementary report he typed was like a stone in the sea.
In the next few days, the duel between the Soviet Far East Eagle and the Royal Air Force made Kovalev completely speechless, "The bullshit eagle, that's a flock of shit house sparrows." Hasn't the Air Force always boasted that their MiGs were the most advanced? Why is it the same as being beaten by others! ”
The lieutenant general is indeed qualified to say such things, after the defeat of Akinkosye, Kovalev commanded the 44th and 30th corps of the Soviet Union in the Transbaikal Military District, held the Shilka River, withstood the bombardment of the Royal Air Force, and repelled numerous attacks by the Youzhou Army and the Dongying Army. The Bolshevik death squads organized by the political commissars of the Red Army successively blew up the short pontoon bridges erected by the Youzhou Army Engineer Division with great sacrifices, preventing the advance of the Guards Panzer Corps.
For a week in a row, Chen Shukang was blocked on the south bank of the Shilka River and was not allowed to enter an inch.
A week after the launch of the two-front assault of the Iron League, Comrade Stalin, Supreme Leader of the Soviet Union and successor of Comrade Lenin, finally woke up from shock and delivered a national mobilization speech in the Moscow Kremlin, calling on the proletariat of the world to unite against the brutal aggression of imperialism. The Soviet Socialist Union had the confidence and ability to crush the shameless attempts of the evil League. All peace-loving people of the Entente countries must unite to oppose fascism.
"Nima, when will we become fascists?" His Majesty the Han Emperor in Chang'an also received the full text of Stalin's speech, "Yunzhi, what does fascism mean?" "In my previous life, I was familiar with the word fascist, but I knew that it was a derogatory term.
The Latin word for rod, an axe tied in the middle with multiple sticks, was a sign of power and prestige in ancient Rome. In Caesar's time, there was a slogan called 'Strength comes from unity,' which means that the individual is subordinate to the collective, and the collective is subordinate to the leader. ”
The answer was not the new chief of the General Staff Jiang Yunzhi, but the indigenous girl standing aside. His Majesty was a little surprised, "Yes, the word fascist is very good, it is in line with the current situation of our empire!" Well, Vivien is also good and knowledgeable. ”
After Ye Zhiqiu passed away, Jiang Yunzhi's black face also showed a rare smile, "Well, Vivian is really good, go to the Command Academy for further study, maybe you can become an excellent female general." This sentence suddenly made the indigenous girl blush, well, maybe she was so anxious that she blushed!
His Majesty and Chief Jiang smiled wickedly at the same time, two men playing tricks on a woman, especially a little girl who is more shy, is indeed a little too evil.
"It seems that Stalin has come to his senses and has begun to shout for reinforcements!" Amusement is the spice of the tense war life, Jiang Yunzhi's face was straight, and he still got down to business.
There are fewer and fewer bigwigs left in Weiqingge, the "Heavenly Song" plan, Ye Weixun went north to command the Siberia War, Hans also left for Somaliland, Italy's Afrika Korps is not in a good situation, and the Coast Corps is ready to participate in the war at any time. The Navy's Southern Fleet has also set sail, although the Arabian Sea is the traditional territory of Britain, but His Majesty intends to compete in the Middle East, if the war cannot be ended quickly, the oil resources in the Gulf region will be an important factor to support the war, although there is no shortage on the side of the Grand Alliance, but Germany is lacking! If there was oil, would Hitler be worried about the oil-producing areas of Baku in the Soviet Union?
However, Zhong Yi didn't plan to reveal the news now, no one thinks there are many resources, right?
A Yanzhou legion to clean up those waste of the British and Ah San coalition is enough, and the "father of the Jews" in the previous life, and now the governor of the state, Ben? Gurion, we can't underestimate the energy of this product's activities in the Middle East, there are still nearly a million Jews in Palestine who are clinging to their ancestral homeland, and they are playing a small game of "kill me, I kill you" with the Arabs every day, and they are also a force to be reckoned with when armed.
The occupation of the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the use of a powerful navy, the control of the Gulf region, and even the establishment of the Empire's agents in the Arab world have been the main objectives of the General Staff in recent times.
As for Siberia...... Who told you that the "Heavenly Song" plan was to occupy Siberia? Is that cold and snowy place, where hands and feet are frozen, suitable for war? Contain the Soviet Far East forces and recover the Chinese territories occupied by Tsarist Russia, but not fight too hard, and pull the main force of the Red Army from Europe. This is the essence of the "Heavenly Song" plan, except that His Majesty added at the end of the plan, "The right opportunity to split Russia!" ”