Chapter 192: Thunder (II)

What Bao Zhiguo's brigade found was a Soviet infantry corps that had been ordered to come out of Bukhara, fully loaded, with all kinds of equipment and baggage, and hundreds of cars, and it was impossible to march without taking the road.

As soon as the Mustang fighter group came into sight, the Soviet troops, who had been prepared for a long time, were like hornets being frightened, the personnel on the road scattered in all directions, and the anti-aircraft guns on the vehicles were immediately in place. Army Commander Mikhailovsky's head was full of sweat in the winter, the battle without air supremacy was too difficult to fight, and the Chinese planes were everywhere, and they arrived before they came out and walked 30 kilometers.

Anti-aircraft artillery fire was flying all over the sky, and an anti-aircraft artillery battalion was repeatedly insisted on by Mikhailovsky and brought out of Bukhara alive or dead, even if it would encounter an attack by enemy planes halfway through.

Finding that there were anti-aircraft guns on the ground, Bao Zhiguo shouted loudly as if he had been beaten with chicken blood: "Exciting, too exciting." Brothers, I'll go first. "It takes courage to dive against an anti-aircraft gun, and Bao Zhiguo likes this kind of exciting work. Because he went out on a cruise, he carried 50 kilograms of small bombs, and two bombs fell near an anti-aircraft gun in one dive, blowing up several Soviet troops, and the anti-aircraft guns were still violently chasing the plane and beating their butts.

After two rounds of dives, the artillery fire on the ground was much more sparse, and at least one-thirtieth of the anti-aircraft guns were neutralized by the bombs. The cost was that one plane was damaged and had to leave the battlefield ahead of schedule. Bao Zhiguo saw what this meant, and a brigade couldn't play any tricks, so he ordered other planes to return home, anyway, as soon as the news came back.

The planes fled, and the Soviet troops on the ground came out of their respective hiding places, and it took half an hour to complete the formation. Taking advantage of this time, Mikhailovsky hurriedly discussed with the political commissar, it is not a matter to go forward like this, the Chinese have many planes, completely control the air supremacy, and bomb all the way along the way, and the casualties are too great. In particular, heavy equipment suffered the greatest losses. Just now, an anti-aircraft artillery battery was dismantled, not to mention the loss of more than a dozen trucks, and the casualties were almost 100. The machine guns of the Mustang fighters 12 and 7 dived and strafed, and when they hit people, they killed people with flying limbs. This is too much of a blow to the morale of the troops and must be adjusted.

After discussing with the two, it was decided that the vehicles and heavy equipment would be concealed on the spot, and the anti-aircraft guns would be left for protection. When it was dark before leaving, the infantry continued on the road, did a good job of reconnaissance, and when they found that the plane was coming, they fired warning shots and hid on the spot. In short, get to Urgench as fast as possible. Otherwise, the strength of a local infantry division will not be able to hold for long at all, and those small troops along the railway line will be sent to death if they go up, and it will be okay to harass them a few times, and don't count on anything else.

The importance of Urgench lies in the railway and road bridges over the Amu Darya River, both of which were lost. It will be difficult for the Soviets to take it back. With the Amu Darya, the defense of the Chinese parachute troops will be relied upon, so it is necessary to arrive before the Chinese paratroopers occupy Urgench, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.

Mikhailovsky's judgment was very accurate, Bao Zhiguo's brigade had just walked for less than an hour, and the Soviet infantry had just continued on the road for less than half an hour, and the sky resounded with a roar that made people's scalps explode. Fifty Mustang fighters, ten B-17s flew into the sky. The Soviet troops on the highway had long been hiding, and the planes that arrived saw that they had no target, and the angry radio station continued to curse, and the final result was that the B-17 vented his anger with the bridges and railways that he had discovered earlier. Fifty Mustangs continued westward towards Bezingen, where the paratroopers needed air support.

The crisis in the direction of Bezingen, from the direction of Urgench. The Soviets had an infantry division in Urgench, plus some local armed forces, more than 18,000 people, and a 122 howitzer regiment. An anti-aircraft artillery regiment was responsible for the protection of the railway bridge. After the discovery of the Chinese paratroopers, the commander of the 63rd Army, the supreme commander of Bezingen, Lieutenant General Petrovsky, was a very bold commander, and his troops were urgently drawn from the Western Front, because of the limited transportation capacity, only one infantry division could be transported first, and as soon as they arrived in Urgench, the Thunder Plan began, and the Chinese paratroopers came down. Petrovsky immediately ordered his troops to take over the defense on the spot and sent scouts to reconnoitre.

Finding that the Chinese paratroopers in Belzingen numbered only two or three thousand, Petrovsky was not polite, and immediately gathered all the cars he could find, and a mixed brigade of improvised infantry killed them, and he wanted to eat the advance paratroopers before the Chinese paratroopers could complete their assembly.

Han Zhixin, the commander of the second paratrooper division, had only 2,000 men, and the heavy weapons were 120 mortars and eight guns. Fortunately, Han Zhixin was cautious and sent a small force to keep an eye on the direction of Urgench, and as soon as Petrovsky went out, the reconnaissance unit reported with walkie-talkies.

Han Zhixin broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly reported it on the radio, and at the same time ordered to prepare for battle and call the air force for help. The well-armed paratroopers all carried a portable sapper shovel, which was a quick way to dig trenches. The houses in the town have also been made into fortifications one by one, and the anti-artillery holes are also prepared enough.

Two hours have passed since the general offensive began, and the Soviet defense line on the Western Front has been unexpectedly stubborn and has not been able to break through. On the defense line of about fifteen kilometers, Liu Mingzhao threw in three infantry corps in one go, just trying to break through the Soviet defense line as much as possible.

Zhukov was not given in vain, the western defense line stretched nearly twenty kilometers deep, one defense line after another, and the stepped defense made it difficult for the squadron to penetrate it at one time. In the first hour after the launch of the general offensive, the attacking troops advanced extremely quickly, and under heavy artillery fire, the Soviet troops in front of the breakthrough could hardly organize an effective defense and were overwhelmed by the tide. Within an hour, the front advanced more than three kilometers, and then the battle began to become difficult, the Soviet army's defense gradually strengthened, so far, the fastest advance is Sun Liren's department, which has broken through the six lines of defense of the Soviet army and advanced a little more than five kilometers. But now Sun Liren's army encountered a defensive line of the Soviet army again, and was stubbornly blocked.

On the premise that the defensive line is not completely broken, it will be difficult for the Ninth Mechanized Army to play the role of rapid advance. This is where Liu Mingzhao is in a dilemma, whether to put mechanized troops into a surprise attack? The purpose of the campaign was to destroy as many Soviet forces as possible, force the Soviets to retreat in the direction of Turkmenistan, and then pursue them all the way to Iran.

Now it seems that the course of the whole campaign was not as smooth as expected, and Zhukov's Central Asian Front was well prepared. While advancing west from Jizzak, it was necessary to put sufficient pressure in the direction of Samarkand, otherwise Zhukov would even have the spare strength to launch an operation to flank our troops on the Western Front.

The battle has begun, and the momentum of the adjustments that can be made are all local adjustments.

"Bo Cheng, the Soviet defense line on the Eastern Front has been broken through, and it seems that this is not the focus of the Soviet defense." Zhang Zhizhong walked in, handed over the telegram in his hand, Liu Mingzhao put down the teacup in his hand, glanced at the telegram and said: "Inform Bai Chongxi to attack, don't care about Dushand's direction, after rushing over, turn around and go west, and hit in the direction of Samarkand." The reserve prepares an army, and as soon as the attack in the center is blocked, it is necessary to put sufficient pressure on Samarkand. Inform Li Zongren to move westward and join Ye Weixun's Ninth Mechanized Army, and once it was found that the Soviet army's defense line was weak, the Ninth Mechanized Army immediately entered the battle, forcibly penetrated the Soviet army's defense line, and quickly inserted it westward. With the strength of two mechanized corps, go straight to Vonay. ”

"What, you're worried that the Soviets will run?" Zhang Zhizhong immediately understood, Liu Mingzhao nodded and said: "Zhukov is not easy to deal with, now that our army has an absolute advantage, it is impossible for him to fight a stupid battle like Pavlov." Especially having lost air supremacy, I judge that his current insistence must be waiting for dark, and then quickly retreating southeastward, as long as the main force can safely withdraw across the Amu Darya River and build a new defensive line to gain a firm foothold, he will be able to hold back the main force of our army in Central Asia. ”

"But the Air Force reported that it had been discovered that an infantry corps of the Soviet Army had left Bukhara to reinforce the direction of Urgench." Zhang Zhizhong expressed his different opinions, and Liu Mingzhao shook his head and said: "Zhukov is not Pavlov, judging from the current course of the campaign, he knows very well in his heart that if he retreats to the west, he will not have air superiority, and it is expected by me." Abandoning Samarkand and retreating to Turkmenabad on the south bank of the Amu Darya River, there is also a railway to Turkmenbasi, a city on the shores of the Caspian Sea. As long as there is a railway, his logistics and supply of troops will be guaranteed. On the contrary, he will now go west, and after the railways and highways are severely damaged by our air force, the speed of the march will not be raised at all. Speaking of Central Asia, it is still too big, and Zhukov has enough strategic depth to maneuver with our army. ”

Zhang Zhizhong also came back to his senses, nodded and said, "I understand, this is Zhukov's best coping plan." In this way, Wojnay is very important, and Samarkand is not so important. If Zhukov withdrew to Karshi in the southwest, the car would still have to turn west to Karshi, otherwise he would be forced to leave the railway line, and then many of his heavy equipment would have to be left behind. ”

"The key now is whether Li Zongren can command two mechanized armies, and whether the 500-kilometer journey from Jizzakh to Vonay can catch up with Zhukov. I even suspect that the mechanized corps, which Zhukov has been hiding, is in this area of Bukhara, because only in this place can reinforcements be sent in all directions at any time. Therefore, the defenders of Samarkand must be bitten to the death on the central route, and the western route must be tried to force Zhukov to retreat in the direction of Karshi, so that the retreat process of the Soviet army will be continuously attacked by our army, and the battle will be in vain if he does not leave three or four hundred thousand people. ”

Moscow, the Kremoli, the meeting is still going on, and an urgent telegram from Zhukov has arrived.

After reading it first, the bearded man handed it to his successor, Chief of the General Staff, Vasilevsky, and then silently pondered.

"Comrade Zhukov's view is correct, Liu Mingzhao's purpose is to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Central Asian Front, and if Comrade Zhukov retreats to the west, he should be in the enemy's calculations. Withdraw to Vonay first, then calmly hold back the enemy forces in Bukhara, and at worst withdraw across the Amu Darya. As long as the enemy's main forces stick to this area and Tashkent is still in our hands, the Chinese will not dare to advance westward with confidence. As long as Comrade Petrovsky can hold Kunuz, Dashaguz, Urgench and other places, this campaign launched by the Chinese is of little significance. Vasilevsky gave his opinion.