Chapter 211: Reversal! Churchill's Tears (11)

Needless to say, it was the battalion commander, Major Fu Liang, who scolded the stupid behind the three of them.

The three of them hurriedly turned around to salute, Fu Liang hurriedly replied, and only spit out two words: "Meeting." ”

The group hurried to the detachment headquarters, and in the large tent supported by the two "Zhi Leopard" armored command vehicles, the slender figure of the detachment leader, Brigadier General Lin Yi, was reclining in front of the map board, holding Xiōng in his arms, and a whip on his shoulders, but his slightly squinted eyes were full of ambition.

Fu Liang and the others came a little early, and most of the chairs in the venue were still empty, but Fu Liang didn't dare to slack off, and led his subordinates to salute solemnly: "Fu Liang, the commander of the 1st Tank Battalion, and his subordinate company commanders came to report!" ”

Lin Yi smiled back: "Battalion Commander Fu is still always cautious, he has always been the first to arrive—sit down." ”

After the four of them took off their hats and sat down, Lin Yi's gaze fell on Zhong Yi's face - the little company commander who was the halo of His Excellency the Duke on his head a few days ago actually questioned the reasonableness of this operation in front of the commander.

"Company Commander Zhong, do you remember what you told me the night before the detachment crossed the Ural River?"

Zhong Yi held his hat and nodded: "Report to the chief, I remember it very clearly." ”

Lin Yi flicked the whip lightly, and the end of the bamboo slab swept across the map board, making a loud noise.

"Our army is proud to underestimate the enemy, and if it does not have a quick victory in seven days, it will surely be defeated—that's what you meant then, right?"

Fu Liang secretly pushed Zhong Yi with his elbow and signaled him not to fight with the chief, but Zhong Yi was unmoved, but instead straightened his waist and replied with his neck twisted: "Exactly." ”

Lin Yi hugged his arms and sneered: "Thank you Jiyan, our army has been in real trouble in the past two days, the two armored corps that should have rushed to Calgara last night to eat big households, it seems that they will have to cook dead fish on the banks of the Oren River tonight - but don't be too complacent, the next is the time for our cavalry detachment to turn the tide and turn the tide, Calgala is destined to be in the pocket of my cavalry detachment, you just keep your eyes open and watch carefully!" ”

Zhong Yi pressed his hands on his knees, and his voice was like a bell: "Report to the chief, I'm here to fight, not to come here." ”

Lin Yi squinted his eyes and sneered: "Very good, I look forward to your performance." ”

As he spoke, the other battalion and company commanders of the detachment began to report one after another, and Lin Yi glanced at Zhong Yi with slanted eyes and turned his attention to others.

Soon, all the more than 20 commanders at and above the company level of the detachment arrived, and after the detachment chief staff officer had taken the roll call, Lin Yi announced the beginning of the meeting, and first of all, the operational staff officers sent by the cluster headquarters reported on the battle situation in the past two days.

On the night of 23 June, the main force of the assault group reached the south bank of the Olun River opposite the village of Sakmara, and with the fire support of 200 artillery pieces and hundreds of combat vehicles, armored vehicles and self-propelled guns, more than 3,600 officers and men of the four motorized infantry battalions under the two Panzer Corps forced their way across the river several hundred meters wide on rafts, and opened two bridgeheads on the north bank of the Olun River, 5 km and 8 km west of Sakmara, respectively.

Under the protection of the bridgehead on the north bank, 4,500 officers and men of three mobile engineer battalions and six mobile engineer companies of brigades fought hard overnight, built two pontoon bridges capable of passing 10-ton vehicles within 12 hours, and assembled six 10-ton and three 20-ton motorized floating rafts.

Early in the morning of the 24th, under the cover of the Xu Jin barrage of 200 artillery guns and the disruptive bombardment of 120 aircraft, the armored 5th Army crossed the river at the same time from the No. 1 pontoon bridge closer to Sakmara, and the armored 6th army from the No. 2 pontoon bridge farther away.

Beginning at 2 p.m. in the afternoon, the two armored corps formed an advance detachment with three tank battalions as the backbone, each with a motorized infantry battalion carrying half-track armored personnel carriers and two armored artillery batteries equipped with "Fire Wolf" self-propelled infantry guns, to launch an advance assault on the enemy's depth.

Among them, the forward detachment of the Panzer 5th Army planned to seize the village of Sakmara, then turn north, sweep the Russian airfield near the village of Svetre, and finally outflank Calgara from the north.

The forward detachment of the Panzer 6th Army planned to cross the plains north of Orenburg and leap westward at high speed, reaching the Calgala railway junction 30 kilometers away in one go.

After the follow-up cavalry 5th Army completes the river crossing, the main force of the assault group will drive to Calgala overnight, striving to seize the place before dawn on the 25th, and cut off the rear route of the main Russian forces on the Orenburg side in one fell swoop.

However, the armored reconnaissance detachment of the forward detachment drove out of the riverbank forest where the landing ground was located, and went north through a narrow flat land called "Pinggu" by our army, which was no more than two to three kilometers wide and more than 10 kilometers long, and searched for several highland woods separated by swamps, when it was suddenly ambushed by fierce direct fire from the Russian army, and the Russian tanks and anti-tank artillery, which were absolutely superior in numbers, fired cross-fire at the vehicles of the reconnaissance detachment from many directions, and only one "Jiehu" machine-gun combat vehicle of the armored 5th Army survived. Of the more than 20 armored vehicles of the reconnaissance detachment of the 6th Armored Army, only three escaped wounded.

At the same time, the reconnaissance detachments on foot that searched along the riverbank woods to the east and west of the landing ground were also intercepted one after another by the superior forces of the Russian army, equipped with combat vehicles and armored vehicles, suffered heavy losses, and were forced to retreat by the same route.

Immediately afterwards, the Russian heavy artillery hidden in the woods on the high ground began to bombard the landing site, and at this time, more than 2,000 vehicles and more than 20,000 officers and men of the two armored armies were already stuffed into the narrow landing field, and more than 10,000 men and horses of the 5th Cavalry Army were still pouring towards the north bank.

As of 4 p.m., more than 100 vehicles and more than 700 people were killed or injured in the landing site.

The assault group had no choice but to change its operational plan, concentrate its efforts on clearing the perimeter of the landing site first, and summon artillery and aviation to suppress the highland woods north of the landing site.

However, after fighting all night, the artillery units under the assault group were running out of shells, and although the trucks of the baggage troops were still sending shells directly to the positions without stopping, they were far from keeping up with the rate of artillery consumption.

There were not enough shells, especially with a serious lack of special smoke grenades, and the effectiveness of artillery suppressive fire was not noticeable.

Due to supply constraints, the base of the aviation unit attached to the assault group is too far away from the battlefield, and the combat aircraft have limited time in the air. On the other hand, the Russian air force, which had previously tried its best to avoid the war, suddenly attacked with new fighters, and the largest air battle between the Chinese and Russian air forces broke out in the sky over Sakmara.

Under the frantic interception of Russian fighters, less than half of our bombers were able to fly over the target with bombs, but they immediately fell into an unprecedented anti-aircraft fire network, and most of the dense bombing formations were scattered and sparse, and the bombs dropped were scattered far away, and the effect can be imagined.

Since it could not count on the suppression of long-range firepower, the assault group could only force an assault on the woods and villages where the enemy was entrenched with its existing forces: the forward detachment of the 5th Panzer Corps, reinforced by two cavalry battalions, was ordered to sweep the No. 1 forest northeast of the Dàng landing site (it was later learned that the Russian army called it "reindeer forest"); The headquarters of the 5th Panzer Corps marched eastward along the riverbank woods and was responsible for capturing the village of Sakmara; The forward detachment of the 6th Panzer Corps, reinforced two cavalry battalions, was ordered to clear the No. 2 grove (called the "boar grove" by the Russians) northwest of the landing site; The headquarters of the 6th Panzer Corps advanced westward along the riverbank woods and occupied the No. 3 forest (called the "pheasant forest" by the Russian army) at the western end of the "Pinggu" connecting the highland with the riverbank.

At 4:15 p.m., the four assault units launched their operations at the same time, and soon discovered that the enemy's strength was far greater than expected, and that the enemy troops encountered in each assault direction had different divisional numbers, and were equipped with independent units such as tanks, armored vehicles, and anti-tank guns of considerable size.

Later, it was ascertained that the Russian troops stationed in the area of the No. 1 forest, that is, the reindeer forest, were based on the 35th Infantry Division of the 100th Army, and were attached to the 1st Tank Brigade and the 1st Independent Mobile Anti-Tank Battalion - the former was equipped with about 90 British-made combat vehicles and about 30 armored vehicles, and the latter was equipped with 24 57-mm half-track self-propelled anti-tank guns and eight 76-mm towed field guns.

The Russian army stationed around the village of Sakmara, with the 35th Infantry Division of the 115th Army as the backbone, is equipped with more than 10 independent special tank companies, and the 12th and 15th motorized anti-tank battalions are each equipped with 24 47-mm towed anti-tank guns and eight 76-mm towed field guns.

The Russian army stationed on the front line of the No. 2 forest, that is, the wild boar forest, is based on the 41st Infantry Division of the 23rd Army, and the armored units under it include the 2nd Tank Brigade and the 1st Independent Heavy Tank Battalion, equipped with about 130 legal combat vehicles and about 30 armored vehicles.

The Russian army stationed around the No. 3 forest, that is, the pheasant forest, is based on the 23rd Infantry Division of the 39th Army, and the armored unit is the 11th Armored Vehicle Brigade, equipped with more than 40 British combat vehicles and more than 90 armored vehicles, in addition to the 11th motorized anti-tank battalion.

In addition, the motorized infantry battalion and artillery battalion of each tank brigade or armored vehicle brigade are equipped with 16 towed field guns and anti-tank guns, 8 vehicle-mounted or towed antiaircraft guns, and 12 single or combined antiaircraft machine guns and antiaircraft machine guns.

The assault units of our army lacked infantry, and most of the artillery remained on the south bank.

The backbone of each assault force is three less than one battalion of tanks, equipped with about 100 "Jiehu" machine-gun fighting vehicles and "flying wolf" light tanks, and they are accompanied by only two or three dismounted motorized infantry battalions or dismounted cavalry battalions, and one or two self-propelled artillery batteries equipped with "fire wolf" 75-mm self-propelled infantry guns.

It was in this situation that the largest armored war in human history began...... Of course, at this moment, no one in the huge tent would have thought that perhaps the word "human" should be preceded by the phrase "this time and space".

…… RO@。