The sun on the September afternoon in the grasslands of northern Outer Mongolia shone on people's backs, penetrating the military uniforms, the scorching heat, blowing through the wind of the grasslands, but it was cold, and the soldiers of the Outer Mongolian border guards lying in the trenches experienced the taste of cold faces and hot backs.

Second Lieutenant Chen Qingchun, platoon commander of the mortar company of the third battalion of the second regiment of the first infantry brigade, carried a mortar, followed by the ammunition man, the two of them bent on their waists, ran for a while, came to the gun position, half knelt in the trench, and quickly cleared out the firing position, Chen Qingchun's position was excellent, poking his head out from the edge of the trench, but at a distance of more than 100 meters, the figure of the Soviet army engineer could be seen very clearly, and even, a Soviet army engineer, with a lunch box hanging on his body, could see the general outline.

Chen Qingchun slowly adjusted the elevation angle of the mortar, visually measured the distance, and constantly corrected the shelling target, the target he chose was the most concentrated place for Soviet engineers, there were about 20 Soviet engineers, busy working there, according to his own judgment, it should be the key position connecting the pontoon bridge, a shell went down, kept and exploded to the point, and by the way, those Soviet sappers were sent to the west sky.

Wang Xiaochuan, an ammunition man, is a young man who is no more than 20 years old, but he is a veteran who has been in the army for more than two years and is also a member of the old base unit of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army. ”

Seeing that Chen Qingchun didn't squeak, Wang Xiaochuan was still nagging, "It's strange, platoon commander, you said Lao Maozi's tank, how can the cannon hit accurately, Xiao Liu in the second platoon, is my good friend, he died in the morning, let the shells hit directly, and everyone was blown to pieces, I rushed over." I don't even recognize him! ”

Saying that, this twenty-year-old soldier's voice was low, looking very sad, Chen Qingchun turned around and said comfortingly: "Xiaochuan, it's okay, your life is big, how fierce the Soviet artillery bombardment was just now, isn't there nothing wrong at all." The tank guns of the Soviet army are aimed at artillery fire, not that they are accurate, but that they see our gun positions, okay. Get the shells ready, it's time for the brigade commander to give the order! ”

Chen Qingchun's echo just fell. on the left side of the position. Then came the shout, "The brigade commander ordered, prepare in one minute, and after seeing three red flares, start shelling!" ”

Chen Qingchun's face suddenly became stern. said to Wang Xiaochuan: "Xiaochuan, when you hand me the shell for a while, your hand should be steady, don't panic!" ”

Three red flares. Rising in the sky, Chen Qingchun's eyes were staring at the pontoon, Wang Xiaochuan steadily handed the cannonball to him, and with a "bang", the mortar shell flew out with a roar, and landed accurately on the pontoon, "Boom!" Wang Xiaochuan saw that the two dozen or so busy Soviet sappers were pouring out a puddle of blood and falling into the river as if they were drunk, and a big hole appeared on the pontoon bridge.

Immediately afterwards, another shell flew over, falling on the left side of the big hole, the bridge deck of the pontoon, under the power of the shell explosion and the impact of the river, swaying, another shell, falling on the right side, more than ten meters long bridge deck, violently "creaking", rolling, floating away along the rushing river, Wang Xiaochuan excitedly shouted: "Platoon commander, hit!" Hit! ”

At the same time, from different directions and angles, mortar shells accurately fell on the pontoon bridge, blowing up the bridge deck to a thousand holes, the Soviet sappers were flying flesh and blood, Wang Qingshan lay in the trench, holding a telescope, nervously watching the effect of the shelling, seeing the Soviet pontoon bridge, was blown away by a few shells, excited a pile of soil, and shouted loudly in his mouth: "Good explosion!" Well fried! Which battalion was the first to open fire? Such a soldier, the award! ”

No one answered him, in the tense battle, no one could determine the exact location of their fighters, fired the fourth shell, Chen Qingchun put the fifth shell, just put it into the barrel, he suddenly saw that on the opposite bank, there were three Soviet tanks, the turret slowly turned, the black hole of the gun, aimed at his position.

Chen Qingchun pulled Wang Xiaochuan up, turned around and ran into the anti-artillery hole, the shells aimed directly at the tank gun, with a screaming sound, in an instant, Chen Qingchun suddenly pressed Wang Xiaochuan under him, "Boom, boom!" Several violent explosions, mud and smoke from the explosion obscured the figures of the two people.

Wang Xiaochuan got up dizzily, shook off the dirt on his head, and saw the platoon commander lying motionless on his body, his back, there was a warm liquid, soaked in military uniform, his heart, suddenly a strong sense of fear hit his heart, hurriedly sat up, hugged the platoon commander's body, Chen Qingchun's face was pale, his eyes were closed, and a hideous piece of shrapnel pierced his back and leaked through his chest.

Wang Xiaochuan shouted bitterly: "Platoon commander! However, the platoon commander who treated him like a brother could no longer open his eyes and look at himself with a smile.

Wang Qingshan's tactics were very effective, the pontoon bridge opposite the first battalion of the second regiment was blown to pieces, if it were not for a few wooden stakes, standing alone on the river, a few ropes, swaying with the wind, no one could see that a few minutes ago, there was still a pontoon bridge dozens of meters long, which could lead to guò tanks.

However, the two mortar platoons of the Second Regiment were able to stand in front of the brigade commander Wang Qingshan, less than 10 people, two mortars, 20 mortars, and 40 soldiers, and in less than 10 minutes of shelling, there were only so many people who survived, and all of them were wounded, and they only had time to fire four or five shells.

Wang Qingshan looked at the surviving soldiers with a heavy heart, Wang Xiaochuan's head was wrapped in a thick bandage, with a crying voice, and said to Wang Qingshan: "Brigade commander, our platoon commander died so miserably!" ”

Wang Qingshan waved his hand to stop Wang Xiaochuan's words, patted the soldiers on the shoulders one by one, didn't say a word, turned to leave, the surviving soldiers, didn't see it, the brigade commander's eyes flashed with tears.

Although they did not receive orders from the command, the four brigade commanders of the forward troops all realized that the pontoon bridge erected by the Soviet sappers was the greatest threat to themselves, and they took different ways to destroy the pontoon bridges that the Soviet sappers had spent several hours and worked hard to build, and of course, they all paid a great price, and the Soviet tanks on the other side always threatened the lives of the soldiers.

Senior General Kulykin, who was resting in his tent, received a report: "Comrade commander, the pontoon bridge built by the engineering units was destroyed by the troops of the independent division after 70 percent of the work was completed, and the engineering casualties were very heavy. ”

The staff officer who delivered the report looked at the comrade commander with sweaty palms, and General Kurygin smiled slightly and said: "Tell the commander of the engineer unit, work all night, it seems that the commander of the independent division is a very smart person, knowing the great threat to them from the pontoon bridge, hum, struggle in vain!" Staff officer, convey my order to the troops, organize the third wave of attacking forces, the size of six infantry regiments, and join the battle thirty minutes after the second wave of attacking forces launched their attack! ”

General Kurygin has planned to carry out a large-scale attack on the positions of the independent division in three waves, with a total of 26 infantry regiments and more than 8 divisions and nearly 90,000 troops, before dusk, and it will take less than two hours to break through.

After the effect of the anesthetic passed, Sun Zhenbang woke up slowly, and the first thing he did was to ask Lieutenant Colonel Meng Zhaoxu, the chief of the operations section, in a weak voice, "Chaoxu, how is the situation of the front-line battle, the position is still in our hands, right?" ”

Meng Zhaoxu briefly explained the situation of the battle, especially the four brigades, all went to destroy the pontoon bridge erected by the Soviet army, Sun Zhenbang smiled tiredly, when he heard that the first wave of attacking Soviet troops had already gained a foothold on the river beach, and the troops failed to drive the Soviet army across the river, his heart was very anxious, as a commander with rich command experience, he knew what it meant?

Anxiously wanted to get up, but the wound on his body was affected, and he snorted in pain, and beads of sweat rolled down, which frightened the two nurses, Meng Zhaoxu hurriedly stopped him, thought for a while, and said: "Commander, I tell you something, don't be angry, after you fell into a coma, I made a detailed report to the division commander on the situation faced by the troops!" ”

Sun Zhenbang frowned, glanced at Meng Zhaoxu unhappily, but did not blame him, but said tiredly: "Chaoxu, it's okay to report, my current situation is no longer able to command the troops, what I am worried about is that the Soviet army's offensive will be continuous and passive, can you hold the position, just today, without heavy fire support, our pressure is too great, and your experience is not enough to replace my command." ”

Meng Zhaoxu nodded, and at this time, a staff officer came in and said, "Report to the commander, receive a telegram from the division headquarters!" ”

Sun Zhenbang's face was happy, Meng Zhaoxu took the telegram, and read: "The Outer Mongolian Frontier Army's Sejingge River Battle Headquarters, Chief of the Operations Section Meng Zhaoxu, called to learn that Commander Sun's injuries and rescue results were the results?" Report the situation immediately. ”

"The division commander is in the field hospital, and after receiving the telegram, he immediately made the following arrangements: Send four bomber regiments of the Northern Flying Group to provide you with air fire support, and it is expected that in 40 minutes, you will be able to reach the combat airspace, immediately communicate with the air and ground, and indicate the target for the bomber group.

"According to the order of the division commander, while Commander Sun is wounded, the division commander will directly command the battle on the Sejingge River, and order your department to immediately open a direct communication radio station with the division headquarters to facilitate the command of the troops to fight," said Wang Jun, chief of staff of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army.

A bitter smile appeared on Sun Zhenbang's face, and he seemed to say to himself: "I didn't expect it, I still withdrew from the battle halfway and reported the news of the division commander personally commanding the battle to all the troops!" ”

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