The most urgent problem for the armored brigade, which was suddenly attacked by the 2nd Brigade of Tongbatu, is how to report the news to the military headquarters of the Third Army, which can not only explain the reason for the death of Brigade Commander Nikolagsky, but also not involve himself in the funeral of this guy.

The meeting of all the surviving officers at and above the battalion level lasted more than four hours, and in the end, a consensus was reached, and Comrade Vladimir, the chief of staff of the brigade, who currently holds the highest position and rank, wrote a report to the military headquarters, and as for continuing to pursue the retreating cavalry of the independent division, it has long been left behind, and it is too late to take care of the order, besides, who knows what will happen if the pursuit continues, and the Chinese are not allowed to come again, and the armored brigade will end up completely destroyed.

"Comrade Sergeyev, commander of the army headquarters, our armored brigade was ambushed by the superior forces of the independent division in the Habdol area on the way to pursue the retreating Chinese cavalry troops, and the enemy dispatched a large number of tanks and artillery.

"In the course of the battle, Comrade Nikolagsky, personally commanding the 1st Armored Battalion, launched a fierce assault on the enemy's positions, unfortunately, the enemy's shells hit the armored car of the brigade commander, and the brigade commander and the crew of the armored vehicle totaled five people, and died honorably.

"After more than four hours of fierce fighting, our armored brigade repelled the ambush troops of the Great Independent Division and killed and wounded a large number of Chinese soldiers, but our brigade also paid heavy casualties and losses, with a total of officers and soldiers killed. More than 1,800 people, more than 100 armored vehicles and trucks were damaged, in view of the severe loss of personnel and equipment of our department, we stopped continuing to pursue the cavalry of the independent division fleeing south, and rested in the Habdol area, 60 kilometers south of Irkutsk. Brigade Chief of Staff Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir. ”

This is a report to the commander of the Third Army, Major General Sergeyev, on the situation of the battle, for this report, which is only a few hundred words, Comrade Vladimir, tired to death I don't know how many brain cells. It is necessary not only to show the great image of the brigade commander Comrade Nikolagsky who fought bravely, but also to highlight the fierce course of the battle. The brave actions of the Red Army soldiers in the face of being outnumbered. Casualties and losses of troops are also to be stated. Otherwise, the fierceness of the battle cannot be reflected.

After the telegram was sent, it was just a matter of waiting, waiting for the final decision of the military department, whether it was a blessing or a curse, and it was a disaster that could not be avoided. Vladimir's chief of staff, too, was out of the box and showed an attitude of resignation.

Commander Sergeyev, the call back is fast. In less than an hour, a short telegram was sent to the armored brigade, "Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir, chief of staff of the armored brigade of the army, the military department has been informed of the unfortunate death of Comrade Nikolagsky, and the opinions on handling it are as follows: 1. The body of Comrade Nikolagsky should be sent back to Irkutsk as soon as possible, and 2. The chief of staff of the brigade and the commanders of the six armored battalions under the brigade should be relieved of their existing posts, temporarily acting for their respective duties, and directing the troops to withdraw to Irkutsk. ”

"3. After the withdrawal of the troops to Irkutsk, all officers of the brigade above the rank of captain will be examined by the Military District Suppression Committee in order to find out the real cause of death of Comrade Nikolagsky, this order, Major General Sergeyev, commander of the Third Army."

This is something that all the officers of the armored brigade expected, and the death of the commander Nikolagsky, whose identity and background are not simple, is impossible to spare everyone without anything, but the first article of the order of the comrade commander has a big problem.

The report said that the armored car he was riding in was bombarded by shells, and the two ways of dying are not the same thing at all, as long as they see the corpse, they will immediately be exposed, distort the battle process, and lie about the facts of the battle.

Helplessly, the chief of staff, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir, re-gathered the officers together, brainstormed, studied countermeasures, and there were really capable people, and soon came up with a solution, and after a while, there was a loud "boom", smoke and flames came out of an armored car, and the brigade commander Comrade Nikolagsky, the charred body was wrapped in a white cloth, put on a truck, and drove quickly to Irkutsk.

Then, Chief of Staff Vladimir and several officers separately talked to the soldiers who found the body of the brigade commander, coerced and intimidated them, and then sealed the officials and made wishes, and finally sealed the mouths of more than a dozen soldiers.

On the afternoon of 16 September, the remnants of the armored brigade of the Third Army were defeated, buried the bodies of more than 1,800 dead soldiers, pulled up hundreds of wounded soldiers, and returned to Irkutsk in despair.

In fact, what the officers of the armored brigade who were worried about did not know was that the commander of the army, Major General Sergeyev, had no interest in Nikolagsky's corpse at all, and that there were no dead people in battle, and if an officer was killed in battle, he would be sent to the military headquarters, and he would not have to do anything else.

It was all caused by Nikolagsky's identity, and Commander Sergeyev forwarded the report of the armored brigade to the military district headquarters as it was, and the grumpy comrade of the military district commander, in addition to being furious and scolding himself, was still in the phone call, vaguely insinuating, alluding that he had borrowed a knife to kill people and borrowed the hands of an independent division to eradicate important members of the military district's anti-counterterrorism committee.

Isn't this an unwarranted disaster, Commander Sergeyev was so angry that one Buddha was born and the second Buddha ascended to heaven, but he did not dare to contradict and refute Comrade Commander, and in order to clear his suspicions, he was not regarded as the object of retaliation by the Military Region's Suppression Committee.

Because of the death of Colonel Nikolagsky, commander of the armored brigade and member of the political council, the Third Army of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union caused panic among the people, everyone was in danger, and rumors spread everywhere.

At this time, Tong Batu had already led the troops, galloped for several hours, and when he arrived at a high post, Tong Batu ordered the troops to stop advancing, according to his estimates, it is now more than 150 kilometers away from Irkutsk, and the Soviet armored brigade that was attacked at night, even if it catches up, does not have three or four hours, and even the dust raised by the war horses cannot be seen.

The night battle coupled with the non-stop retreat, the soldiers and horses were already tired, Tong Batu ordered: "All rest for two hours, and each unit counts the casualties!" Count the results of enemy annihilation. ”

Then, he called the operator, picked up the walkie-talkie, asked for the reconnaissance company that served as the rear guard of the troops, and said: "Baiyin Baoligao, your reconnaissance company is serving as an escort, have you found any signs of Soviet pursuit?" ”

Bai Yin Baoligao, the commander of the reconnaissance company about thirty kilometers away from the troops, replied: "Brigade commander, so far, no signs of pursuit by the Soviet army have been found, I am not at ease, I sent two squads of troops to check back in the direction of Habdor, and they have been set off for more than two hours, they reported that they did not find the Soviet pursuit troops, brigade commander, these old hairy people, are they afraid of us and dare not catch up!" ”

Tong Batu calculated the time, the reconnaissance company served as the rearguard, about an hour and a half behind the troops, more than two hours of backchecking, and the troops marched for more than five hours, adding up, more than eight hours of time, and did not find the pursuing soldiers of the Soviet army.

Tong Batu ordered: "After the reconnaissance company has completed its rearguard mission, return immediately, catch up with the troops, and inform the chief of staff of the news that we have completed our mission and safely escaped from the battle, so that they will not worry."

The number of casualties of the troops participating in the night attack has been counted, 14 companies, 58 soldiers were killed, 325 were wounded, of which 87 were seriously wounded, for the cavalry troops, the serious injuries mean that they are unable to participate in the charge battle, but they can still ride their own horses and follow the troops' actions, as for the minor injuries, they do not affect the combat effectiveness of the soldiers at all, and the war horses have lost more than 40 horses.

The results of the battle were also counted, because it was a night attack, a scuffle, the soldiers patronized and killed the enemy, and each company could not count the specific number of enemies destroyed at all, but only roughly summed up, about a thousand Soviet soldiers, fell under the muzzle and saber, as for the number of Soviet soldiers wounded, there is no way to know.

Tong Batu exhaled slowly, the anger accumulated in his heart, emitted a lot, killed 58 people, in exchange for more than 1,000 lives of Soviet soldiers, the ratio of 1 to 20 killed, it was worth it, avenging the more than 400 brothers of the second battalion, if he knew that in the 20-minute raid, the number of Soviet soldiers killed was as high as more than 1,800, and the ratio of enemy and friend killed was more than 1 to 30, his mood would be better.

Tong Batu said to more than a dozen company commanders: "Keep the roster of fallen soldiers, in addition to the pension that should be given according to the regulations of the army, I Tong Batu personally took out half a year's allowance and divided it equally among the families of the fallen soldiers, which is also a little bit of my Tong Batu's heart, I brought these soldiers out of my hometown in the Chahar grassland, but I couldn't bring them back, I feel ashamed!" ”

Two hours later, the reconnaissance company of Baiyin Baoligao caught up with the troops, Tong Batu got up, looked at Outer Mongolia in September, in the afternoon sun, a dark green mixed with golden steppe, stretched to the sky, looked in the direction of Irkutsk, and ordered loudly: "All get on the horse, march quickly to catch up with the main force of the brigade!" ”

More than a thousand cavalrymen rushed down the hillside, their horses' hooves crushing the pasture, bringing up a trail of smoke and dust, and soon disappeared into the depths of the steppe.

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