Chief of Staff of the Outer Mongolian Front of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Pozhnev, groaned for a moment and said: "Comrade commander, I understand your intentions, I will order the troops to march to Kulen as quickly as possible, however, there is still a question that you need to decide, what do you plan to do with the commander of the 43rd Army, Lieutenant General Bamiyanov?" Also, how can the 43rd Army, which was almost completely annihilated, deal with the aftermath? ”

Vasilevsky frowned, how to deal with the stupid guy who lost more than 100,000 horses and failed to entangle Tang Qiuli's troops, it was really a question of scratching his head, he thought about it for a long time with a sad face, and he said: "Immediately remove the commander of the 43rd Army, Bamiyanov, and the chief of staff Khabarovsky, escort them back to Moscow, and hand them over to the General Staff for processing, the number of the 43rd Army will be revoked, and the remaining troops will be disorganized and incorporated into the other four group armies." ”

When he said these words, General Vasilevsky was so distressed that his cheeks trembled, not because of pity for Bamiyanov, but because of heartache, the Outer Mongolian Front Army was missing the number of a group army, which was an absolute shame and a huge loss, that was 150,000 or 60,000 horses!

However, according to the regulations of the Soviet Red Army, if a fully formed unit loses more than 80 percent of its soldiers, the number of the unit will be revoked, and the remaining officers and soldiers will be scattered and integrated into other units.

As for the defeated Bamiyanov, how the General Staff likes to deal with it is not a matter of concern to him.

Chief of Staff Pozhnev, with a look of disbelief. It was expected that the 43rd Army was revoked, but it was really unexpected that Lieutenant General Bamilyanov, who had lost a group army, was not ordered to be shot by Comrade Commander!

Could it be that his short-tempered boss suddenly changed his mind and softened his heart, of course. Chief of Staff Pozhnev will not show a little of his own thoughts, the commander has bypassed Bamiyanov's life, why should he be in the ground, and immediately said: "Yes." Comrade commander, I will carry out your order at once. Arrange for capable personnel of the Security Department of the Front Army. Escort Bamiyanov back to Moscow! ”

A big battle in Minusinsk came to an end, Vasilevsky didn't even have the heart to look at the battlefield, he felt that it was his own shame, commanded a million Soviet troops on the southern front, turned around. Again rushed to Ulan Guben, and at the same time, ordered the two army groups that stayed in Ulan Guben to act as the vanguard of the troops of the Southern Front. Immediately advance in the direction of Kulen.

If a line is drawn on the map for the traces of the main forces on the southern front of the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front, it will be a completely overlapping straight line, from the direction of Minusinsk to Ulanguben, on this straight line of several hundred kilometers, more than 1 million Soviet soldiers are exhausted and complaining.

After General Vasilevsky's report on the battle situation arrived in Moscow, at the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPSU, it caused an uproar, and almost all the members of the Political Bureau were shocked by the huge losses of the Outer Mongolian Front, losing nearly 200,000 troops, but they did not even catch the shadow of the Chinese Tang Qiuli troops, and a fully organized group army was lost like this?

Although several high-ranking generals of the Soviet Red Army have suffered great losses at the hands of Tang Qiuli, the farthest is Zhukov, and the closest is the traitor Kulygin, but after all, they are in constant battles, and they are finally defeated.

Shame, the shame of the great Soviet Red Army, therefore, more than two-thirds of the members of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union demanded that Vasilevsky be dismissed from his post and that another experienced general be sent to command the Outer Mongolian Front.

Stalin quietly smoked his pipe, listened to the excited members of the Political Bureau, denounced Vasilevsky, and the big guy spat and shouted for a long time, but found that Comrade Stalin, who was full of words, had not yet said a word, no matter how noisy everyone was, only Comrade Stalin could finally decide the fate of Vasilevsky.

Stalin spoke, his tone was still so gentle, but naturally with an invisible coercion, "Comrades, I have just listened to your speech, and it is not unreasonable, but just because of a little mistake in the early stage of the campaign, the dismissal of a general with considerable command skills is unfair to him, and also unfair to the Red Army soldiers at the front, who are fighting for the great Soviet Union!" ”

"In the early stage of the campaign, because we did not understand the characteristics of the enemy, some losses were inevitable, and we could not be too harsh on the comrades who commanded the operations at the front, and I believe that Comrade Vasilevsky would dispel his comrades' doubts about his ability with a greater victory.

God, the leaders are all against the crowd and affirm that Vasilevsky, who has a figure like a wine barrel, who has a different opinion, dare you? The answer is obviously no, and in the end, the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPSU will not be over.

Receiving a briefing from the General Staff on the meeting of the Political Bureau, General Vasilevsky, with a hanging heart, finally fell into his stomach and secretly thanked Comrade Stalin for his trust.

This kind of trust turned into the strong vindictiveness and incomparable hatred of General Vasilevsky, and if the Chinese who almost lost his post and lost face in the Outer Mongolia region, he could not hang him with his own hands and send those Chinese to hell one by one, it would not be enough to eliminate the hatred in his heart and not enough to repay Comrade Stalin's trust in him.

General Vasilevsky began to go crazy, the trust of the leader turned into infinite motivation, and under his strict orders, all the troops of the Outer Mongolian Front, as if they had been beaten with blood, marched day and night, like a flood, quickly approaching in the direction of Kulen, and it was necessary to seize the advance of the Baikal Front and occupy Kulen!

At the same time, on the orders of the General Staff, the Soviet Baikal Front, which also began to move south and seize Kulen, was naturally not to be outdone, and also wanted to be the first unit to occupy Kulen.

Compared with the Outer Mongolian Front, the biggest advantage of the Baikal Front is time and distance, and General Gregarif knows very well in his heart that even if Vasilevsky lets his subordinates run and break their legs, they will never rush ahead of their own troops, occupy the two important places of Kulen, Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, and they have already been obtained, and they have not fought at all, and before the troops arrived, the troops of those independent divisions have long run away without a trace.

Of course, General Gregarif did not dare to take it lightly, and ordered the troops to go south to Kulen as quickly as possible, this lottery head must not be allowed to be obtained by Vasilevsky's guy, but in his heart, he still hopes that the main force of the independent division can take the initiative to come to the door as he did against the Outer Mongolian Front, and he wants to fight a big battle with this rumored Chinese in the north of Kulen, if this is the case, he does not mind giving up Kulen to Vasilevsky, and the benefits cannot be taken alone, It's going to be hated!

The Baikal Front, which can seize the main force of the Chinese Tang Qiuli and annihilate it, is stronger than how many cities it occupies, and the two Soviet armies, with a strength of more than 2.5 million people, are like two torrents of mud and sand, with a murderous aura that rushes to the sky, from two different directions, rushing towards Kulen, as if there is an incomparably huge temptation in Kulen.

Tang Qiuli, who had already retreated to Kulun, naturally felt a burst of murderous aura, but he was not in a hurry, even if the fastest Soviet Baikal Front reached the periphery of Kulun, it would take about five days, enough to make some arrangements by himself.

In the Outer Mongolia region, the implementation of the clear of the wall, he himself has no worries, do you take advantage of the natural danger of the Sejingge River, arrange troops on the south bank, concentrate all the troops directly under the corps, set up a large ambush circle, and give the Soviet Baikal Front that rushed to the first blow?

After withdrawing to Kulun, Tang Qiuli was thinking about this problem, but he knew the hidden danger in it, and if he was not careful, the direct corps would be bitten by a million Soviet troops, and the Baikal Front Army adopted a way of advancing in unison, and all the group armies were close together, and they were not scattered, nor did they give themselves a chance to take advantage of.

Therefore, this idea has been circling in Tang Qiuli's mind for a long time, but he can't make a decision, and if he is not careful, he will lose the whole game!

Tang Qiuli stood in the courtyard, undecided, weighing the gains and losses repeatedly, it was already late March, and there were still more than ten days before Hitler took action against the Soviet Union, is this risk worth taking?

"Division commander, the communications office has just received a call from Deputy Division Commander Liu, the vanguard of the Soviet Outer Xinganling Front has occupied Chita!" Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe, holding a telegram, hurriedly walked in, and said eagerly.

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