Chapter 210: Choosing the Will of the Empire III

Six hundred kilometers southwest of Chelyabinsk, Orenburg, the forward command of the Volga Front of the Russian army

“…… The Front was divided into three main parts: namely, the direct detachment of the Front, the 53rd Army of General Panlyotsev, and the Nizhny Ural Group of General Rovisos "

In a dark bunker in the forest on the outskirts of the city, Colonel Malinov, the chief of staff of the Front, who was thin and tall like a hemp pole, was announcing the deployment of the whole army

"The troops directly under the Front include: the 1st Panzer Corps has a total of 2 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 3 tank armored brigades, and 1 independent heavy tank battalion and 1 independent mobile anti-tank battalion, with a total strength of 70,000 troops, equipped with 280 tanks, 300 armored vehicles and mobile anti-tank guns."

"- This part of the force is mainly used as a reserve of the Front, deployed in the area from Calgara to Sorochinsk, northwest of Orenburg, ready to strike back against the enemy who has broken through behind our lines."

"The 14th Cavalry Division, the Orenburg Militia Detachment and the Samara Militia Detachment had a total of 8 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division and 14 civilian regiments, with a total strength of 220,000 troops"

"- As the main corps of the Front, the 53rd Army was responsible for defending the front of the Orenburg Line, not only to defend Orenburg, a hub of land and water communications, but also to prevent the enemy from crossing the Ural River from the vicinity of Orenburg"

"The Nizhny Ural group includes the 20th Cavalry Division, as well as the Lower Ural Militia Corps, with a total of 3 infantry divisions, 1 cavalry division and 18 civilian regiments, with a total strength of 100,000 troops."

"- The task of the Nizhny Urals group is: to defend the lower Ural region with the Uralsk as the center, to attack the lines of communication of the enemy in front of Orenburg from the flank"

"The Nizhny Ural Group has already made another deployment, and today we want to determine the deployment of the 53 Army and the troops directly under the Front Army"

"What else is there to be sure? My troops have been fully deployed," said the commander of the 53 Army, Lieutenant General Panlyotsev

"The 30 Corps defended the Orenburg front; The 31st Army defended the section of the Gorodishhe to Dedurovka river on the left flank of Orenburg; The 32nd Army defended the section of the Vyazovka to Ostrovnoye River on the right flank of Orenburg; The 14th Cavalry Division was assembled as a reserve in the area from Sakmara-Svetre north of Orenburg; The civilian teams have also arranged separate riverbank guard and rear patrol tasks."

"The front-line units have already dug trenches and stockpiled ammunition, and the temporary adjustment of the deployment will only cause confusion, and the enemy is less than eighty kilometers from Orenburg - we cannot risk it"

In the face of Panlyotsev's resistance, the commander of the Front, General Nakasidze, was head-on with a basin of cold water: "Yes, you can't take risks, but the enemy will definitely break through your line of defense, either from the left flank, or from the right flank, and it is even possible that both flanks will break through at the same time"

Panlyotsev's face turned red suddenly, but he was powerless to argue, so he had to bang on the table and shout: "No matter what, I will make the enemy pay enough"

Nakasidze tilted his head, spread his hands and smiled: "To tell you the truth, what Malinov said just now is all fart, it is just an assignment handed over to the base camp, I don't expect you to stop the enemy from crossing the river at all"

Panlyotsev's face darkened: "Then what do you want us to do?" ”

"I want you to be flexible," Nacasidzer narrowed his fox-like eyes

"What does it mean to be flexible?" Panlyotsev looks like a bear on the verge of a rush

"If the enemy's main force crosses the river, don't make a full counterattack from the front as before, first get out of the way, and let the enemy attack in depth."

"Isn't that the end of it?"

"No, this is just the beginning, in the deep reserve positions, the front reserves will hold the enemy, and at the same time cut off the enemy's lines of communication with armored cavalry units, and divide and surround the part of the enemy forces that have broken through"

As he spoke, Nakasidze made a gesture with his hands folded: "After that, you should do your best to close the breakthrough and form a double encirclement of the intruding enemy, if it goes well, we may be able to annihilate a part of the enemy's armored mobile forces, disrupt the enemy's combat plans, and make him lose the ability to attack for a period of time, so as to buy precious time for the rear - but also for ourselves."

The haze on Panlyotsev's face gradually dissipated, he lowered his head and thought about it, nodded and said: "Understood, our task is no longer to rush forward and fight desperately when we see the enemy, but to get out of the way, preserve our strength, quietly assemble on both sides of the breakthrough, and wait for the right moment to cut off their rear road?" ”

Nakashize approvingly: "Your understanding is completely correct - but it is not enough to defeat the enemy by thinking like this, we have to anticipate all kinds of situations, conduct adequate map operations and live exercises, and implement this concept in the grassroots troops, so that everyone knows what to do and when."

Panlyotsev's face was half helpless: "It will take time, but the enemy is already under our noses"

"The enemy is still eighty kilometers away, and they also need time to occupy positions and reserve supplies - besides, time is squeezed out by people, so call your staff officers, army commanders, and division commanders here today, and let Malinov brainwash them, and then go back and carry them down layer by layer, what do you think?"

Panlyotsev patted the back of the head: "I have no opinion...... In fact, I think I need to wash this wooden melon again."

……

Eighty kilometers south of Orenburg, in the railway town of Soli-Iletsk, between the ruins and broken walls, next to an open-air simple sand table made of broken bricks and rotten wood, General Yan Canglong, chief of staff of the Central Asian Front of the Chinese Army, was pointing left and right with a horsewhip, surrounded by Marshal Liang Tianhe, commander of the front army, and five generals in different uniforms

“…… The 23rd Army, which is directly under the Front Army, is now scattered in the vast Kazakh steppe north of Lake Balkhash and west of the Irtysh River, and while covering the flanks of the Front Army and maintaining the contact between our army and the Northern Army, it is actively pacifying the local tribes, eliminating enemy influence politically, and trying to make the local forces available to us."

"The 50th Army, which is scattered over a vast area south and west of Lake Balkhash, is continuing to guard the main communication line between Akdouka and Tashkent, and is also working to promote the strategic work centered on the establishment of national self-government institutions in order to achieve sustained stability around the communication line."

"The 103rd Independent Division, which is now scattered along the main communication line of the Front between Tashkent and Aktobe, is making every effort to ensure law and order around the communication line"

"The two Janissary Armored Cavalry Brigades and two separate tank battalions in the direct subordinate team have now been assembled in Aktobe, but due to the mechanical wear and tear on the march, the actual number of vehicles is less than 70% of the establishment, and about half of them still need to be repaired or even overhauled"

"Anyway, don't expect reinforcements from the front, that's what you mean?"

General Lu Kaiping, commander of the Second Armored Army, who was dressed in a silver-gray armored uniform, summed up cleanly

"Almost—"

Yan Canglong nodded, and his words changed immediately

"Therefore, I hope that you can flexibly use the existing forces in your hands and have an appropriate number of reserves to deal with all kinds of adverse situations that may arise."

"It's easy to say, the group armies are either dissatisfied with the staff, or there are insufficient vehicles and supplies, and the actual combat strength is already discounted, and they have to take out a part of it as a reserve, and they still want to break through the Ural River in one go?"

General Qian Lan, the commander of the Fifth Army, who had always been straightforward and almost venomous, was not surprisingly imprisoned this time

"Yes, it is necessary to blindly underestimate the enemy, and the lessons of the Battle of Jusare are not far away......"

General Yan Meng, commander of the First Janissary Army, is a rare low-key singer this time

Jusare, in Yan Meng's mouth, is located on the Central Asian Railway, 1,100 kilometers southeast of Orenburg, only 120 kilometers away from Kyzylorda, the spring offensive of the Central Asian Front, and is the reserve defense center of the Russian army's Jalagash defense line

In the in-depth outflanking operation of the Chinese army at the end of February and early March aimed at encircling and annihilating the defenders of the Jalagash defensive line, the Russian Turkish Front quickly abandoned its first-line positions and defended Jusary with a part of its forces, covering the main retreat to Aralsk

The main force of the Second Armored Group Army, the armored mobile unit of the Chinese army, which was tasked with outflanking in a roundabout way, rashly rushed straight into the enemy's position in a dense march column without adequate supply and reconnaissance, and without being fully supplied and reconnoitred, in an attempt to occupy Jusaray during the march and cut off the retreat of the enemy's main force in one fell swoop

Although Lu Kaiping tried to command his troops to form a formation to meet the battle and summon aviation fire support, due to bad weather, the aviation troops could not arrive in time, and the dense and long marching column had already suffered heavy losses before it was fully deployed, and was forced to retreat to wait for reinforcements

On that day, more than 100 combat vehicles and other armored vehicles were discarded on the battlefield by the Chinese army, and dozens of combat vehicles and armored vehicles were wounded and were waiting to be repaired, which can be regarded as the heaviest losses suffered by the Chinese armored forces in a single day of combat since the beginning of the war

The early defeat of the 2nd Panzer Army, which was tasked with the main attack on the right flank, caused the general offensive on the whole front, which had been planned to be launched the next day, to be postponed by one day, and the main Russian army was able to break out of the encirclement and retreat to the Churatam reserve line northwest of Jusare

When the infantry units of the Chinese Praetorian Guard Army and the Fifth Army finally arrived in Jusare, the Russian rearguard units put up the most rear-end resistance

The Second Panzer Army, which had recovered from the initial blow, with the close support of infantry, artillery, aviation, and armored engineers, broke through in one fell swoop the enemy's frontal defense line with a large number of anti-tank obstacles and anti-tank firearms, while the two Janissary armored cavalry brigades attached to the Praetorian Guards, with the support of the cavalry units, quickly cut off the rear route of the defenders

In this battle, the Chinese army captured 13,000 enemy men and captured 150 artillery pieces, but failed to achieve the campaign goal of capturing and annihilating the main force of the enemy's Turkestan Front

Although the Chinese army suffered a setback, the total number of casualties and missing in the first week of the battle was less than 3,000, and the total number of combat vehicles and other armored vehicles damaged by the Second Panzer Army in the entire course of the campaign was only more than 200, most of which were recovered and repaired

However, the real blow that this battle dealt to the officers and men of the Chinese army, especially the Central Asian side, was at the psychological level, and the myth of the invincibility of the armored corps came to an end, and the unconditional trust of other arms in the armored corps began to waver, and the armored corps itself inevitably carried the burden of humiliation

However, in Lu Kaiping's view, this battle was not so much a shame to his armored corps, but a timely warning to the imperial armored troops: the knife is blunt, and it is time to sharpen