Sun Desheng took a stuffy train from the flower-filled Kunming, changed trains several times in the middle, traveled for nearly ten days, and finally stumbled to Guisui, the base camp of the 2nd Army of the Expeditionary Force.

The door opened, and the procession, covered in sweat and dirt like beggars, felt the cold wind from Siberia. Sun Desheng couldn't help but shudder, and then the assembly whistle sounded, and the group of ragged officers and soldiers had to get out of the car, and the warehouse stomped their feet to form a team.

"And voila! There are tanks over there. A few soldiers saw the armored group not far away, and forgot about the cold with excitement.

Sun Desheng snorted coldly, "A group of guys who have never seen the world, let's equip this as well." ”

"Yes, company commander. Our brothers can drive tanks too? A soldier asked excitedly.

"That is, who are we? We are General Batu's old troops. General Batu took us with him during the Northern Expedition, and this time the requisition of Mongolia will definitely give you good guys. Sun Desheng's words were recognized by everyone, and several veterans also gathered together and muttered and talked.

Not far away, Batu held a telescope and looked at this group of old subordinates who had just arrived from the south, he threw the telescope to the guards next to him and said happily: "This group of rabbit cubs! Chief of Staff Du, this is our last batch of soldiers, right? ”

Chief of Staff Du Yuming thought for a while and said, "Yes, this regiment is the last regiment transferred by the engineering corps. According to the original plan, it was formed into a motorized infantry regiment, but in this situation, I am afraid that there is not much time to train them. ”

Batu pinched his chin and thought for a while, "Tell me to go down and hurry up to train this army." Although these soldiers are engineers, they are all carrying guns, but they are not familiar with the new military orders and equipment, and it is estimated that they will be able to form combat effectiveness in a month. ”

"I'm afraid we don't have that much time." Du Yuming walked over with a freshly copied telegraph, "Look at it, it just came from the front line." Choibalshan had already mobilized two divisions of the Mongolian People's Army from Kulen in the direction of Chahar, and the Soviet Red Army had also increased its forces towards Maicheng. I heard that the People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union has officially sent a note to our embassy saying that we should stop all military operations in Mongolia or face all the consequences. ”

Batu took the telegram and newspaper, "I don't care about diplomatic matters, let them make trouble." But I must take this Cullen, and I think our diplomatic department should also give Choibalsan and the Soviets a general order, and if they interfere again*, they will bear the fucking consequences. ”

Du Yuming lifted the hat on his head and said: "This matter is a bit difficult, not to mention that our national strength is inferior to the Soviet Union, let's just say that now the United States, Britain and other countries are also unwilling to quarrel between China and the Soviet Union for the sake of the overall situation." I heard that President Roosevelt had also made a special phone call to Chairman Huang to persuade him to put aside the dispute over the Mongolian region for the time being and wait until the fascists were defeated before discussing it. ”

"When you deliberate, you have to pay attention to strength. Roosevelt was willing to do this peacemaker, but I don't think the Soviets would necessarily buy his account, and if we didn't occupy a favorable position at that time, could it be that we could expect the Americans to uphold justice? Batu waved his hand and said, "Don't talk about this, let's talk about the present, where are our penal camps now?" ”

Batu asked, walking over to the map.

"Here!" Du Yuming also walked to the map and pointed to a location, "The vanguard of the penal battalion has arrived in Chechen Khan!" ”

"Good!" Batu clasped his hands behind his back and said: "Let these good men stand firm first, and if they encounter any resistance, they will be eliminated on the spot." After the logistics line is perfected, he will go straight to Cullen, and Lao Tzu will capture Choibalshan alive! ”

……

By the time the order of the 2nd Army of the Expeditionary Force was issued, all the reorganized penal battalions had already been driven to the small Mongol city of Chechen Khan.

Naturally, they encountered some resistance before marching, and the Mongolian People's Army cavalry, wearing Soviet helmets and carrying Mosinagan rifles, surged at them, but in front of the mechanized ranks of tanks and armored vehicles, the cavalry was like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

The penal battalion is an ordinary stormtrooper type, with Browning heavy machine guns on armored vehicles and * on motorcycles cooperating with each other, and a tight network of fire reaps the lives of the charging cavalry.

In the face of large-caliber machine guns, the proud tactics of the cavalry in the past have become worthless, what stirrups to hide, marching and shooting are all useless in front of large-caliber machine guns, Browning's bullets are thrown over, even men and horses are pierced, and it is useless to hide anywhere.

After one battle after another, the cavalry units of the Mongolian People's Army were completely lost, and their artillery confronted the artillery of the expeditionary force.

Within three days, the troops of the penal battalion had taken the Chechen Khan. At this time, the Mongolian herders living here realized that this Chinese army was very different from the Chinese army in their previous impressions.

Most Mongolians still remember that more than 20 years ago, taking advantage of the civil strife in Soviet Russia, the Beijing government sent the general Xu Shuzheng to lead his troops to recover Mongolia. At that time, the Chinese army was still wearing two-and-a-half-foot military uniforms, cloth shoes, leggings, and a large-brimmed hat with a five-color emblem on the head, and the equipment was mainly light weapons.

Although this army was able to quell the independence movement at that time, everyone knew that when the Russians in the north came to their senses, the army would automatically retreat as soon as it arrived. The fact is that later, without waiting for the Soviet Russian troops in the north to come, these troops were transferred back to fight each other as warlords.

When they heard that the Chinese were preparing to send troops again, most of the Mongols did not think so. They had all seen the Soviet Red Army, those tall guys driving tanks and armored vehicles, dragging thick and terrifying artillery, and the troops drove past with a puff of diesel black smoke, such an army was naturally not comparable to the poor Chinese army.

But the Chinese troops they saw today made their eyes plummet. The gang wore khaki uniforms, black cowhide boots on their feet, steel helmets covered with camouflage nets, and short, small* in their hands. Their infantry was almost no one on horseback, and they rarely even walked, they all sat in large trucks with more than ten wheels, and their tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery were all shot in long formations, which looked almost indistinguishable from the equipment of the Soviets.

The most impressive thing was the faces of the soldiers, this unit was unlike any other they had seen before, all of them were grim and unsmiling, and they all looked at people with a fierce look in their eyes.

No wonder the Mongol troops were defeated so badly, and could they not be defeated against such a team?

How would the herdsmen of Mongolia know that these soldiers are all gangsters who have committed serious crimes, and they are naturally different from ordinary officers and soldiers.

However, this also caused problems for management. It is precisely because this ticket is composed of some prisoners that it is doomed that they will not obey military discipline like ordinary soldiers, abide by the military discipline and military regulations of the Wehrmacht, especially after some people have guns in their hands, they want to run away or do evil.

In terms of management, Han Guang, the newly arrived deputy commander of the penal battalion, was quite a headache.

Because the conflict with No. 76 intensified and the frontal clashes became more and more frequent, at the suggestion of Chen Liewen, Han Guang was restored to the rank of colonel and transferred to the Mongolian front as the deputy commander-in-chief of the penal battalion troops.

said that he was the deputy commander-in-chief, but in fact he coordinated all the management duties, because the commander-in-chief of the penal battalion, Batu, was only responsible for giving orders, and did not ask about other specific matters.

Although the deputy commander-in-chief before Han Guang was a major general, he was unable to manage such a group of tigers and wolves. In desperation, Batu asked Nanjing, and after Chen Liewen learned about it, he recommended Han Guang. Because Han Guang has managed many criminal soldiers before, and has been engaged in espionage work in Shanghai for many years, he is essentially a person similar to these people, and it is most suitable to manage these people.

After Han Guang arrived at the penal merchants, he led his troops across the dividing line between Chahar and Mongolia and went straight to Chechen Khan, an important Mongolian city.

The combat effectiveness of the troops is very satisfying, but there are also those who are not right. Han Guang was not merciless in this regard, and if he caught a deserter, if the consequences were not serious, he would first beat 30 military sticks, and then send him back to the prison of the Ministry of Justice, and the sentence would be increased.

Generally, after the sentence of such a prisoner is increased, he can basically only spend the rest of his life in prison, so after dealing with several escapes, no one runs anymore.

In addition to the punishment, it is also because this place is too desolate, there are grasslands and plains everywhere, and only a single person can be seen for dozens of miles, and if you want to run, you will either be caught or starve to death, and no one will run anymore.

But a new problem has emerged, which is gambling, fighting, and bullying of local civilians in the army. The first two questions Han Guang can still turn a blind eye, but the latter question is related to how the expeditionary force can gain a firm foothold, so he can't rub sand in his eyes.

Yesterday I met a bandit who robbed a herdsman of a cow and killed a herdsman. The herdsmen found the command of the punishment camp, Han Guang knew that he didn't say a word, and after asking who it was, he took out a pistol and shot the soldier who did the wrong thing in front of the herdsmen.

The shot frightened everyone into not daring to speak, and the herdsmen ran back after repeating the blows. Han Guang knows that in troubled times, you have to use heavy codes, and you can't be merciful when dealing with these people.

In the past few days, he has prepared to write down some regulations as military orders and promulgate them, and has drafted 10 articles for the penal battalion to be distributed. But as soon as it was written, and before it was printed, the chief of staff walked in and said, "The Soviets are coming!" ”