Episode 61 Running by the Nose

The 1st Red Division, which was marching rapidly along the highway and preparing to support the 6th Red Division, did not expect that the vanguard reconnaissance unit suddenly encountered a "large number" of Blue Army tanks, and was immediately beaten on his back. Immediately afterwards, a "large number" of Blue Army tanks rushed all the way, and in less than half an hour, they were killed in front of the Red First Division, which was more than ten kilometers to the west.

Although the headquarters of the 1st Red Division was immediately alerted to the encounter with enemy tanks, in just half an hour, it was simply impossible to organize the long marching column into a defensive position.

It can be said that even if the Red Army knew that the Blue Army was an armored division and a motorized infantry division, it was not used to moving so quickly. Or rather, there will be no war at all with an opponent who moves so fast.

From the perspective of future generations, when the 1st and 6th Red Divisions heard that the friendly defense line was broken dozens of kilometers away, and they knew that the opponent was a fast-moving armored division, the wisest thing to do was not to rush to the aid of the friendly army at a speed close to crawling, but to seize the time and establish a defensive line on the spot.

But now they have chosen the traditional approach that seemed right at the time. The consequence is that before he has traveled half the distance, his friendly forces have been routed, and he has become the next target in the blink of an eye. By the time they realized that they should have a line of defense, the enemy forces were already in front of them. And at this time, there was not even the most basic trench on the ground.

The result is predictable. An infantry unit on the march, caught off guard, suddenly collides with an armored unit in an offensive state, and then it will be torn to pieces in an instant.

……

Within a few minutes, the front of the 1st Red Division was already full of smoke columns and "corpses" everywhere.

In front of them, tanks and armored vehicles "rumbled" over, and the opponent's self-propelled guns also kept firing at their own marching columns, and overhead were dive-dropping bombs and strafing from aircraft...... In fact, Huang Shuliang's judgment was basically correct, and the Blue Army only dispatched 24 tanks, 20 armored vehicles, and 18 self-propelled guns in this feint. Of course, with the planes roaring and diving overhead, and a large number of smoke bombs, it seems that the attack is huge. The figure of the blue army tank loomed in the smoke screen, constantly advancing, which really made the panicked Red 1st Division headquarters think that this was a large-scale attack by the 1st Blue Division.

The artillery of the 1st Red Division was basically still behind the marching army, and it was too late to deploy. The dozen or so anti-tank guns that were hastily deployed could only be roughly fired because the smoke screen released by the Blue Army blocked the line of sight, which seriously affected the aiming. However, even the referee of the exercise could not see the specific position of the Blue Army tank, and of course could not determine that the Red Army's anti-tank gun hit the Blue Army tank.

"Steady-steady-don't be nervous-"

The commander of the division's anti-tank company was prostrate on the ground, commanding thirteen anti-tank guns on the left and right, cheering up with the brothers who were also lying beside him. These thirteen anti-tank gun groups were the only anti-tank forces that could be caught in a hurry. The anti-tank guns were still behind, and looking at the chaos behind him, and the planes above him constantly strafing and dropping bombs, he didn't expect to push them over.

Twenty-six soldiers lined up on the left and right, two operating an anti-tank gun. The boys were lying on their stomachs with their heads low, and their steel helmets were pressed very low, clumsily pulling the bolts, unloading the shells, reloading the anti-tank bullets, and then roughly aiming and pulling the trigger......

The exercise referees stood behind them, holding binoculars and observing the cluster of tanks looming in the smoke screen to determine whether they could count as a hit. So far, not a single tank has been declared damaged. Only one tank was declared hit once. But according to the regulations, an anti-tank gun must hit a tank twice in order to determine that the tank was damaged. In this case of poor visibility, it is difficult to aim at the vital point, so it is necessary to hit at least three times before it can be considered a wound.

"Steady, see it and hit again-"

The company commander held the telescope and shouted loudly. Although it was a drill, listening to the roar that was getting closer and closer, and feeling the tremor of the soil beneath them, they still had a feeling of being on the verge of a great enemy. They listened to the deafening sound of gunfire and the roar of tanks, as well as the chaos behind them and the shouts of the brothers, all of which made these hairy young men who were on the front line uneasy and hurried. Now no one wants to stay alone on the front line to fight against an absolutely superior enemy, and they all want to run backwards with everyone, fearing that if they run slowly, they will die and lie here for a day.

Although it was a drill, this feeling of tension and even fear made everyone's nerves almost collapse.

Behind him, the referee's mood was much more relaxed. They will not be "killed" if they stand with their waists straight, as long as they concentrate on counting and calculating the casualties on both sides.

But little by little, they all realized that something was wrong.

A man said to himself:

'It seems like the Blues have a very narrow front.

In the sound of gunfire, no one heard him. But many people already have the same doubts in their hearts. Soon, not only the referee of the exercise, but even many officers and soldiers of the 1st Red Division could see that the width of the Blue Army's attack was very narrow, and it seemed that they did not invest many troops.

The air raids overhead became more intense. It was as if the Blues had dropped planes from other battlefields, and groups of dive bombers and fighters lined up, taking turns to dive down, throwing bombs and strafing them, and no one dared to look up. Don't say that the anti-tank guns can't move, even the divisional anti-aircraft guns have never sounded.

The fighters flew almost close to the treetops. As if they had seen the front row of anti-tank gun positions, six fighters flew over their scalps in turn, twenty-four machine guns erupted wildly, and suddenly four of the twenty-six men were declared dead. The rest of the people didn't care about fighting the tank, they all held their heads and kept their bodies close to the ground.

At some point, the sound of the tank on the opposite side became quieter, and the smoke screen gradually faded. Some Red officers and men suddenly discovered that dozens of Blue Army tanks and armored vehicles on the opposite side were retreating far away. But the planes overhead were diving so tightly that they couldn't even report to the divisional headquarters.

The air raid lasted for another ten minutes before the Blues planes overhead flew away.

Only then could the entire Red Sixth Division raise its head and take a breath.

But they were surprised to find that the battlefield that had been filled with smoke and roaring just now was now empty. All that remains are dozens of staggered track indentations in the field.

……

The commander of the 1st Red Division was in a dream, almost not believing what had just happened. I hardly believe that my division is still basically intact.

He didn't care about anything else, and immediately ordered to build a defensive line on the spot, dig anti-tank trenches, and at the same time spread out heavy artillery positions in the rear, and all anti-tank guns were pushed in front of the positions, and machine guns and barbed wire were laid in front of the positions. At the same time, the reconnaissance unit was sent out again to look for traces of the 1st Blue Division.

At this time, the communications staff officer handed him a translated cipher. When the division commander saw it, he almost vomited blood: the weasel of the sixth division said that it was a lie not to reinforce him, and he said that he was rushing to help. The guy almost used the tone of a child to tell himself not to use the plain radio to transmit important information in the future.

"The Blue First Division fought and retreated...... "The division commander muttered and analyzed, "The Red Sixth Division is rushing here again...... In other words, he may be counterattacked by the Blue First Division at any time. ”

Suddenly, another communications staff officer took off his headset and said loudly:

"Master, the Red Sixth Division asks for help!"

The commander of the 1st Red Division immediately grabbed the headset and put it on, and the sound of ping-pong gunfire, the roar of planes and tanks, and an officer shouted in despair:

"The first division hears the reply, and the first division hears the reply......"

"I'm a division, what's wrong with you?"

"The 1st Division, I am the 6th Division, we were attacked by a sudden attack by the tank cluster of the 1st Blue Division, and we suffered heavy losses...... I beg your ministry to reinforce immediately! ”

The eyes of the commander of the 1st Red Division were almost black: what I was worried about had happened.

He steadied himself and asked:

"What is the size of the enemy army? Are you sure it's not a small-scale feint? Our unit has just received a feint from the enemy......"

"It's not a feint! Damn......" The officer on the other side of the microphone scolded frantically, "Lao Tzu counted it with his own eyes, there are **ten tanks alone, and there are dense armored vehicles, I'm afraid of one or two hundred taels!" Damn, my plane here is like dumplings! The planes of the entire battlefield are coming over my head! ”

The commander of the 1st Red Division sank in his heart and determined that the 6th Red Division was the main target of the Blue Army. He got a little angry and asked:

"I'm the commander of the first division, which one are you? What about your teachers? ”

The other party was stunned for a moment, and his tone softened a little:

"Sir, I'm sorry, I'm Wang Dabao, the communications staff officer of the Sixth Division...... Sir, we're struggling, and if you can't reinforce in two hours, we won't be able to! …… Sir, now that we are in the east, you are in the west, and the Blue Division is in the middle of us, as long as you can speed up and attack eastward, you can catch the ass of the Blue Division, and we may turn defeat into ......victory."

This last sentence went to the heart of the commander of the Red First Division. Turn the tables......

He immediately promised the other party that he would enter the position within two hours.

Then he put down the microphone and immediately gave the order: build all the fortifications of the defense line, restore the marching army as quickly as possible, throw down the food and baggage, and the whole army only carries artillery and ammunition, and runs forward.

……

Twenty-five kilometers to the east, outside Xinmengzhuang, the 1st Blue Division was capturing prisoners all over the mountains. The Red Sixth Division had collapsed, and only a few small areas of resistance remained.

Major Shi Shengli, the commander of the tank regiment of the 1st Blue Division, put down the wireless telephone and was very satisfied with his performance just now.

He turned out to be only a lieutenant battalion commander of the tank battalion of the 1st Mechanized Infantry Regiment of the People's Guard, and now he is a major commander of the tank regiment of the 2nd Division of the People's Guard.

Shi Shengli patted his beloved tank beside him, picked up the lunch box, and smiled with the brothers around him while eating:

"In this case, in the next two hours, the 1st Red Division will not be able to build a defensive line, and it will have to run for its life. They didn't even have time for lunch, so they had to run hungry...... Let's eat well, strive to get rid of the Red Sixth Division within these two hours, and then turn around and deal with the Red First Division......"