After listening to the words of the chief of staff of Zirnenko, General Kurygin was speechless for a while, yes, the troops of tens of thousands of people in eight infantry regiments crossed the Sejingge River, occupied the positions held by the defenders of the independent division for a week, and opened the gate to Kulen, this is an indisputable fact, he should have been happy, but the victory came so easily, how could he feel weak in his heart and have a feeling of not being at the bottom?

However, this kind of weakness of heart could not be expressed in front of his chief of staff, and General Kurygin calmed down his feelings and said: "Comrade Zirnianko, you are very right, we have broken through the positions of the defenders of the independent division and ordered the comrades of the air force to cancel the operation of air fire support, but we must send a large number of reconnaissance planes to conduct extensive reconnaissance from the south bank of the Sejingge River to the area near Kulen. ”

"Order the first echelon to stop the operation of attacking in depth and stand by in place, and the rest of the troops will immediately begin to cross the river, and the engineering units will immediately erect pontoon bridges for tank units to cross the river, and report the news of the breakthrough of the Chinese defense line to the General Staff."

All the orders of General Kurygin are normal, except for the order of the troops that have already advanced southward, to stop advancing and stand by in place, which makes Chief of Staff Zirnenko very incomprehensible, there are less than three days before the end of September, and the deadline given by Comrade Stalin is stuck there, time is completely precious for the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District, and it is too slow to use troops and gods, how can they stop advancing?

Looking at the puzzled eyes of the chief of staff of Zirnenko, General Kurygin said: "The situation is extremely abnormal, we must be careful of the conspiracy of the Chinese, any action is risky until the reasons for the defenders of the independent division and the sudden abandonment of positions are understood, hoping for the reconnaissance aircraft of the Air Force." Bring me news! ”

The chief of staff of Zirnenko nodded understandingly, sincerely admiring his superior, in this situation, it is not easy to keep a cool head, however, he still put forward his own proposal, "Comrade commander, all troops are stagnant, and it is not the best way. The intelligence detected by the Air Force may not be able to reflect the real battlefield situation, and it will take time, while waiting. What should we do? ”

General Kurygin hesitated, frowning. I muttered in my heart. Even the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District, marching at mechanized pace, did not encounter any form of resistance from the troops of the separate divisions along the way, and rushed to the outskirts of Kulen, it would take at least two days, if conditions permitted. He will definitely let the troops, on the south bank of the Sejingge River, stay for enough time to allow the Chinese to try. Exposed.

Damn time, like a noose, strangled his throat, the end of the noose, in the hands of Comrade Stalin, is what should be done, at this time, three of the eight regiments of the second echelon of the Soviet army have already landed on the south bank, and looking from the north bank, soldiers in grass-colored military uniforms overflow the river beach like a tide and disappear from sight.

Suddenly, "Boom......! A series of loud noises, the ground shook, the land on the south bank, as if by a pair of big hands, suddenly lifted from the ground, countless piles of soil and mushrooms appeared on the flat ground, flying dirt and sand and stones, wrapped in black smoke, instantly bloomed in the morning sun.

At 7 o'clock in the morning of 27 September, when Liu Hongzhang was about to retreat, the explosives and mines planted under the ground were detonated on time, engulfing the three regiments of Soviet troops that had set foot on the south bank in an instant in the smoke and mud.

Right in front of General Kulygin and Chief of Staff Zirnianko, in front of hundreds of thousands of Soviet soldiers, the land on the south bank was violently angry, thousands of tons of sand and gravel, scattered in the air, huge shock waves, spreading, striking people's hearts, my God! How so, what happened?

General Kurygin and Chief of Staff Zirnenko looked at this qiē in amazement, at the south bank, which was once again shrouded in gunpowder smoke and dust, and looked at each other.

The explosion subsided, and the situation became clear, before retreating, the defenders of the independent division had planted a large number of explosives and mines in all the fortifications, and three regiments of soldiers had unfortunately stepped into this death trap, and almost all the troops were wiped out, with less than two battalions of survivors, and the rest were swallowed up by the explosion.

General Kurygin's face was blue, his eyes were on fire, and he cursed in a low voice, who would have thought that such a sudden situation would occur, but also verified his fears, the Chinese are cunning and mean, accustomed to playing intrigues, for the Transcaucasian Military District troops with nearly 300,000 soldiers, the loss of three infantry regiments is not even a fur, the key is the way the Chinese take.

It's hard to prevent, "damn it......! Although there was an accident, it did not affect the normal crossing of the river, but the fire in General Kulygin's heart was ignited, and he said to the chief of staff of Zirnianko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, convey my order, the troops of the Fifth Army of the Military Region, with a tank brigade, as the lead, immediately attack and advance in the direction of Kulen, and the main force will set off in five hours to smash Tang Qiuli's old nest Kulen!" ”

As Tang Qiuli expected, General Kulygin still adopted this seemingly safe way, sending troops of an army to make a tentative attack, and the main force followed up.

At about 7 o'clock in the morning of 27 September, in a wide shelter at the front headquarters of the Outer Mongolia Campaign, division commander Tang Qiuli was on the phone, "Is it a piano?" There is an important task, you immediately send several fighter groups to carry out air patrols in the area from Hagengol to Baiyinchagan, and once you find a Soviet reconnaissance plane, you will immediately shoot it down. ”

On the other end of the phone, Le Yiqin said: "Division commander, this is easy, I will arrange it immediately, send out three regiments, but it is just a few Soviet reconnaissance planes, but it is not enjoyable, division commander, I still have an idea, taking advantage of the fact that the Soviet Air Force was dizzy by us yesterday, I want to make a long-distance attack, send eight fighter regiments, rush to the Soviet army's Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Chita and Balnaur field airfields, knock out Lao Maozi's lair in one fell swoop, and the air supremacy is ours!" ”

Tang Qiuli replied categorically: "No, the task of protecting our army's concealment is very important, more than 200,000 troops, distributed in a vast area around the battlefield, before the main force of the Soviet army enters the ambush circle, we must not be discovered by the Soviet army Our campaign attempt, otherwise, it will have an immeasurable adverse impact on the campaign, Le Yiqin, I warn you, don't think about eating a fat man, the strength of the Soviet aviation is not weaker than you!" ”

Le Yiqin didn't move at that time, and said wistfully: "Teacher, I'm such a builder, don't I still have your approval!" Since you don't agree, I just don't think about it. ”

Tang Qiuli put down the phone and said to Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe: "Le Yiqin, this guy still thinks that fighting the Soviet army's reconnaissance planes is not enjoyable, and he wants to make a long-distance attack on the four field airfields of the Soviet army, and startle the snake, if there is no campaign to encircle and annihilate the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Army, his method is feasible, and it is too early to put it forward now!" ”

Zhao Yuhe said: "Division commander, my opinion is that after the campaign is launched, Commander Le can start to carry out his plan, and seizing air supremacy is a necessary condition to ensure that the campaign proceeds smoothly. ”

Tang Qiuli shook his head and said: "The Soviet air force gathered on the battlefield of Outer Mongolia still maintains a considerable strength, without a few large-scale air battles, the air power of the Soviet army has been consumed to a certain extent, it is impossible to grasp the air supremacy, Le Yiqin's plan is too optimistic and impatient, Yuhe, order all troops, pay attention to concealing themselves, do not be detected by the Soviet army, especially Liu Chun's cavalry troops, prohibit a qiē activity during the day." ”

"In addition, the Air Defense Brigade of the directly subordinate Corps and the Air Defense Brigade of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, as well as the Kulen Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment and the Saiyinshanda Anti-aircraft Artillery Regiment, should arrange a tight anti-aircraft fire network over the battlefield to ensure that after the campaign is launched, the troops will not be killed or injured by Soviet combat aircraft!"

Zhao Yuhe was puzzled and said: "Division commander, we have concentrated two flight groups, more than 1,500 fighters, is it not enough to grasp the battlefield is air supremacy?" ”

Tang Qiuli said: "Be prepared!" ”

Then explained: "Once the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union fall into our encirclement, even if the Soviet ground forces want to rescue, it will be too late, the only thing Stalin can use, the fastest is the air force, hundreds of thousands of troops in a military district are surrounded, Stalin will sit idly by, let us eliminate, no, so he will desperately rescue, at that time, with the steady stream of Soviet air forces, Le Yiqin will be under great pressure, I am afraid that there is no time to doppelganger, air supremacy on the battlefield, It's going to be handed over to the ground air defense forces! ”

Zhao Yuhe said: "If the situation predicted by the division commander appears, I am afraid that all the air forces of the Soviet army in the east will be attracted to the battlefield of Outer Mongolia, and it is indeed a lot of pressure for Commander Le, division commander, I understand, go and arrange it immediately!" ”

Tang Qiuli said, "In this way, someone will be very happy!" ”

Zhao Yuhe asked strangely: "Master, who will be happy?" ”

Tang Qiuli stretched out two fingers and said humorously: "Two people, one is the German Führer Hitler, we are consuming the Soviet army's air force in advance for the Germans, and the other is Emperor Hirohito of Japan, he wishes that we and the Soviets will lose both in Outer Mongolia, and then the Japanese will be able to reap the benefits and pick up a big bargain!" ”

"From the fact that the Japanese Kwantung Army released water to the troops of the Soviet Far Eastern Front and reinforced the Outer Mongolia battlefield and let the Soviets leave, we can see the intentions of the Japanese!"

Zhao Yuhe said disdainfully: "As far as the Japanese are concerned, they still want to play the trick of fighting with the snipe and the clam and the fisherman profiting, which is ridiculous!" ”

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