The commander of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union, General Kulygin, was very satisfied with the preparations made by Chief of Staff Zirnianko before he reached the front line.

Therefore, General Kuregin did not want to waste too much time on the Sezuge River, because it was not necessary to capture Kulen, occupy Sainshanda, and meet the main force of the independent division that might reinforce Outer Mongolia from the territory of China.

According to General Kurygin's prediction, forty minutes of artillery bombardment, plus the first round of attacks by four tank brigades and three mechanized infantry divisions, would have caused heavy casualties to the defending troops of the independent division on the opposite bank, and of course, some prisoners would be captured, as well as the suddenness and concealment of the launch of the battle.

Half an hour after the arrival of the troops, they launched an attack, which was absolutely not expected by the defending troops of the independent division, even if it was a temporary adjustment of deployment, it was too late in time, and it is very likely that when the commander of the independent division was busy increasing troops to the forward position, the shells of the Soviet Red Army had already been smashed, so it was better, and when the provincial troops crossed the river, they would have to clear the remaining Chinese soldiers, and delay the time to attack in depth.

After the chief of staff of Zirnenko finished his report, he hesitated, as if he had something to say, and General Kurygin noticed this detail and asked cordially: "Comrade Zirnianko, do you have anything else?" Although it is said that before the battle is launched, all deployments can be adjusted! ”

Lieutenant General Zirnenko said: "Comrade commander, in ten minutes, the attack will be launched, and in the first place, I should not have such scruples to interfere with the commander's determination. But, taking into account the effect of the offensive, it was decided to say it, comrade commander, don't you find it strange? ”

General Kurygin raised his eyebrows and asked in surprise, "Concerns?" What are your concerns? Comrade Zirnenko? ”

Lieutenant General Zirenenko said: "Comrade commander, I followed the first batch of troops and were the first to reach the north bank of the Sejingge River, but, according to my observations. The troops of the Independent Division on the other side did not seem to be alarmed by the sudden appearance of our troops, but were very quiet, which gave me the feeling. It is our enemy who already knows the information that we are going to attack. And the preparation was made in advance. ”

"So. I am afraid that the suddenness and stealth advantage of our attack is no longer there, and it has increased considerable difficulty for our attacking forces, therefore. I'm worried that the casualties of the troops will increase, and the time for the breakthrough will be delayed! ”

General Kurygin laughed out loud and said with a visibly relieved expression: "My comrade chief of staff. Your worries are unwarranted, whether it is our pre-planned plan, or the defense of the independent division is prepared, in the face of our four artillery divisions, the covered shelling of nearly 1,000 guns, the second-rate troops of the independent division with no reinforced concrete structures and permanent fortifications, how long do you think they can hold out? ”

Lieutenant General Zirnenko replied honestly: "Comrade commander, if more than 100,000 shells are smashed, those civil fortifications will not last twenty minutes, and they will be razed to the ground." ”

General Kurygin smiled and said, "Then what are you worried about? In order to reduce the casualties of the troops, the shelling time was extended to an hour, and when our troops passed guò, perhaps only the march remained! ”

When he said these words, General Kurygin's heart was also secretly pondering, "Yes, Zirnianko's words are reasonable, I didn't notice the defense of the independent division, the chaotic and panicked actions, according to the normal situation, the enemy suddenly appeared in front of his position, at least he should have a reaction, which link went wrong and made his surprise attack plan fail, you should check it carefully!" ”

At four o'clock in the morning of September 20, on the north bank of the Sejingge River, the Soviet artillery position first rose up with a cloud of red smoke, then there was a scream of cannonballs dragging tail flames, piercing the air, and finally, a continuous loud thunder-like sound, shaking the air, breaking the silence of the early morning, and the Soviet offensive began!

Shells rained down, and the front of the south bank of the Sejingge River, about 20 kilometers wide and 8 or 9 kilometers deep, suddenly shook the mountain, and the smoke of gunpowder rose everywhere, shrapnel whistled, the fire flashed, and the mud mixed with pasture grass flew into the air.

The Soviet artillery bombardment was so fierce and intensive, first one explosion point after another, on the grass, clusters of soil mushrooms appeared, as more shells fell one after another, soon it was impossible to distinguish the explosion point, the earth seemed to be suddenly arched by a huge force, the earth waves rolled, wave after wave, the air was filled with the smell of this choking gunsmoke, and the sound of the explosion could not be distinguished, only the "hissing" roar of the air torn by shrapnel was heard.

The soldiers in the shelter department squatting a few meters deep in the ground are like a small boat sitting in a storm, fluttering, and there is a danger of capsizing at any time, and the people in the shelter department shout loudly to each other, and they can't hear what the other party is saying, and only shouting in their ears can they hear the intermittent words.

Thanks to the division commander Tang Qiuli, he left a valuable legacy to the troops of the Independent Division, and there were strict and harsh regulations on the depth of the defensive artillery holes and shelters for the blocking of positions, as well as the thickness of the safe soil layer on the roof of the caves, so that the soldiers of the Outer Mongolian border guards could hide in the anti-artillery holes and shelters deep underground and avoid being killed and injured by the intensive artillery fire of the Soviet army.

Despite this, Sun Zhenbang still underestimated the fierceness of the Soviet artillery fire, the wooden pillars in the shelter and anti-artillery holes, in the violent explosion, "creak, creak", it seems that it will break and break at any time, under the command of the squad and platoon commander, the soldiers will spare wood, hurriedly go up, finally can not hear the seeping "creaking" sound, but the soil on the roof keeps falling.

Sun Zhenbang's shelter department, the situation is not much better, the soil on the roof keeps falling on the map, Sun Zhenbang was shaken around, pulled a staff officer, and shouted loudly in his ear: "Immediately report to the radio room, send a report to the division commander, the Soviet army is carrying out large-scale artillery bombardment on our position at four o'clock this morning, at present, the casualties of each unit are not clear!" ”

The shelter of the radio room is dug deeper, more than ten meters deep into the ground, here, unlike other shelters or anti-artillery holes, it is like a small boat, relatively quiet, several radio stations are "ticking and ticking" and are busy, but the signal is very bad, it should be the antenna outside, which was damaged by the Soviet shells, and the telegram of the commander Sun Zhenbang was sent intermittently for more than ten minutes before it was finished.

At 3:18 a.m. on 20 September, in Kulen, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, in the temporary headquarters of division commander Tang Qiuli, looking at the telegram brought by Colonel Wang Jun, chief of staff of the border defense army, Tang Qiuli said with a calm face: "The commander of the Soviet army is ruthless, and he wants to use artillery shells to blow up the defense line of the Sejingge River. ”

"The difficulty of the troops is not in the artillery bombardment of the Soviet army, but in the positional battle in the back, facing the armored forces of the Soviet army, the pressure is very high, and the Soviet planes have not yet joined the battlefield, Chief of Staff Wang, give me Commander Liu Cuigang!"

The phone was quickly connected, and Tang Qiuli picked up the phone: "Is it pure?" ”

Liu Cuigang's voice was loud, and he replied, "It's me, division commander, what orders do you have?" Is it an order for our aviation to attack, six fighter regiments, two bomber regiments, ready to take to the air at any time for combat, just waiting for your order! ”

Tang Qiuli looked at his watch, at 4:25 in the morning, the Soviet army's artillery bombardment had been carried out, nearly half an hour, he said: "Cui Gang, it's not yet time for you to attack, two hours later, your troops will provide Sun Zhenbang with the first air fire support, remind you to pay attention, you are fighting on two sides, don't patronize the fight, you must guard against the surprise attack of the Soviet fighter group, and the ground radar station, have they all entered a state of combat readiness?" ”

Liu Cuigang said: "Understand, don't worry, commander, all the radars have been turned on, even if a fly flies from the territory of the Soviet Union, don't try to escape the radar surveillance!" My second echelon is ready to take off and is dedicated to dealing with Lao Maozi's fighter group. ”

Putting down the phone, Tang Qiuli seemed to say to himself: "For the Outer Mongolian border guard troops, this is a severe test, after being bombarded, and repelling several attacks by the Soviet army, they should be able to survive today!" ”

After chattering, Tang Qiuli turned to Wang Jun and said, "Chief of Staff Zhao and the first and second brigades of the directly subordinate corps, where have they reached now?" ”

Wang Jun replied: "Division commander, this evening, I received a telegram from Chief of Staff Zhao, the troops are still a day and a half of marching from the battlefield of the Sejingge River, however, according to the telegram of Chief of Staff Zhao, in order to speed up the march, the two brigades are advancing lightly, and all the heavy weapons are lagging behind. ”

Tang Qiuli's heart was also quite hesitant, the first brigade and the second brigade, no matter what position they were in, were not very easy to manipulate, too fast, as Wang Jun said, they couldn't play too much of a role, too slow, in case Sun Zhenbang's troops, the defense line was broken through by the Soviet army, or it was divided and surrounded, and there were no rescue troops.

The specific measures are to wait for the end of the first day of the Sejingge River blockade battle, look at the situation of Sun Zhenbang's troops, and then decide whether to quickly rush to the battlefield of the Sejingge River to block the Soviet army's southward advance, or turn around and return to Kulen to form a second line of defense.

From the heart, this sense of loss of control that cannot grasp the rhythm of the battlefield makes Tang Qiuli very uncomfortable, and at the beginning of the battle, he was tied, and Sun Zhenbang's troops turned out to be the key to the victory or defeat of the battle.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )