Instead of controlling the entire territory of Mongolia, the 2nd Expeditionary Army lost the area under its original control, and the area under its control was further reduced.

When Huang Ke returned from India, the ink on the alliance between China and the Soviet Union was not dry, and the army of the Mongol Khan, with the support of the Soviet Union, brazenly slaughtered from the desert in northern Mongolia.

Coupled with the extreme shortage of food and grass in winter, the Khan's army relied on Soviet-made artillery, tanks and trucks to rumble and crush the vanguard of the 2nd Expeditionary Army stationed in Kulen.

The troops around the 2nd Expeditionary Army fought bloody battles with the Khan's troops, but the Mongol Khan's army fought back one after another, and God knows how these guys received and mastered a batch of new equipment so quickly.

Kulun's troops were originally insufficient, and the 2nd Army of the Expeditionary Force, which was originally stationed, had recently dispatched many troops to the Kham area of Sichuan to assemble, and Liu Jian led the team to prepare for the invasion of Tibet.

In this way, the troops of the 2nd Expeditionary Army were transferred away from a lot of elites, and the strength can be said to have dropped sharply.

Batu did not feel anything unusual at the time, as good news came from the diplomatic and military and political departments, the heads of state of China and the Soviet Union were chatting and laughing in Cairo, Egypt, and photographs of the heads of state of the four countries shaking hands were published in various newspapers.

Such a harmonious situation caused Batu and Nanjing to misjudge the situation in the Mongolian region, so they transferred the main forces here.

This transfer did not matter, and it directly led to the emptiness of the Cullen defense. There were not many troops in the Kulen area, and they were all logistics and agency troops, so when the troops of the Mongol Khan rushed over, these people almost organized any effective resistance, and they were beaten to pieces.

This battle made Batu feel humiliated, and he vowed to recapture Cullen.

Kulen changed hands, and the Khan's army recaptured Kulen and proclaimed* the state.

Although this move was not enough to detonate the world's public opinion, it had a great impact on Nanjing.

After Huang Ke heard the report of the incident, he immediately convened an emergency meeting of the Central Executive Committee and the Ministry of National Defense to discuss the progress of the matter.

In addition to scolding the Soviets for not keeping their word and being double-stabbed, they also ordered the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff to issue dozens of orders to Batu to regain all the lost territory, and if not, military law would be carried out.

Batu also issued a military order to Huang Ke and the Ministry of Defense as a guarantee that Mongolia would be taken back.

After all, he lived up to his promise. At the end of the year, Batu still led a group of troops, cleared the obstacles around Kulen, and approached the city of Kulun.

However, at this time, the city of Kulun is no longer the same as the original city of Kulun.

After the city of Kulen was recaptured by the Khan's army, they continued to increase their forces and stationed them on the outskirts of Kulen. With the help of the Soviet Red Army, these people also built a relatively complete defensive network in the city of Kulen, anti-tank trenches were dug outside, anti-tank cones were piled up, ring sandbag fortifications were piled up on the streets, barbed wire fences were pulled up, machine gun nests were placed one by one, light and dark anti-aircraft guns were placed on the commanding heights and some important positions in the urban area, and on several occasions the reconnaissance planes of the Chinese army did not dare to fly too low, because these guys opened fire when they saw the planes, and the reconnaissance planes had to hurriedly take a few pictures and leave.

The Khan's troops built Kulen like an iron pass, and even put it on the Tula River*.

However, these Zaibatu are all local chickens and dogs in their eyes. He said to the generals under his opponent who didn't care: "King Khan's army is at that level after all, and he can't become a prince if he gives him a dragon robe." Lao Maozi wants to train these guys into elite troops, and I think it's almost hot. Besides, permanent fortifications are not built in a month or two, these are superficial efforts. ”

Having said that, Batu did not dare to be sloppy in the operational deployment, after all, it was a semi-mechanized force of 50,000 people, and its firepower and equipment could be said to be on par with them, and it was slightly superior in terms of troops.

Batu didn't dare to be careless, he felt that the probability of success in the frontal march was extremely low, even if he recaptured Cullen, it would be a defeat for both sides, and who could guarantee that these people would not make a new army and take it back?

Batu decided to send a surprise army, he called Huang Zhengzhong, and asked Huang Zhengzhong to lead the 706th Regiment of more than 1,000 people to attack in the dark night from the Kulen flank, while Batu led a large army to attack in the front.

The 706th Regiment is the elite of Batu's troops, and the old unit under Batu's command. From the time of the Northern Expedition, this army has been following General Batu, and later turned into a transport force, building the Yunnan-Burma Highway, etc., the establishment and number of this army have not changed, and it is also called the old "706".

This time, the Nanjing side will send the troops of the 2nd Expeditionary Army to Sichuan to prepare for entering Tibet. He basically did not hesitate to transfer other elite troops to be transferred, but when it was the turn of the 706th regiment, Batu used his private power for the first time and hung up a special line for Huang Ke.

He earnestly begged Huang Ke not to transfer this unit, and Huang Ke agreed to him.

I didn't expect it to come in handy at this time.

"Beyond the hills, at the foot of Cullen. They wouldn't have thought that we would be attacking here overnight, so you must march here overnight. Batu said to Huang Zhengzhong.

Huang Zhengzhong glanced at the map, briefly measured the distance, and said: "Walking more than 50 kilometers of mountain roads in one night, and still carrying equipment, is indeed a problem. ”

Batu shook his head after hearing this, "It's not night, it's the middle of the night." ”

"In the middle of the night?" Huang Zhengzhong was surprised.

Batu nodded, "To be exact, it's only seven hours, a little more than the middle of the night, but there is definitely no overnight time." You have to climb over the hill before three o'clock to reach the position where you are going to attack, so that you can attack before we do. Do you understand? ”

Huang Zhengzhong pursed his lips and remained silent for a long time.

The fire in the tent was burning, crackling with firewood, and the dim light and fire shone on his face, reflecting his bronze Chinese face.

At this time, Huang Zhengzhongtong has changed a lot when he first came, the original appearance of the white-faced Xiaosheng has long been gone, replaced by a strong muscle and bronzed rough skin, the original three or seven points of the head are also clean, and the body is a little less bookish and more masculine.

"What? Questions? Don't ask me any questions, it's a war. Batu's self-questioning and answering is equivalent to blocking Huang Zhengzhong's opinions.

Huang Zhengzhong knew that this battle was destined to be a battle against the water. The Khan's more than 20,000 troops are not soft stubble, their combat effectiveness and equipment are first-class, and in this weather, people are fighting you in warm machine-gun bunkers, and freezing can freeze people to death.

But he had no other choice, and neither did Batu.

"More than 1,000 people went to disperse more than 20,000 people, this battle ......" Huang Zhengzhong said this, muttered for a while, and after a while, he simply said: "Yes!" ”

……

When night fell, Huang Zhengzhong set off lightly with more than 1,000 officers and soldiers of the 706th Regiment, and the Mongolian desert was already bitterly cold at this time, with a minimum temperature of more than 20 degrees below zero. Coupled with the strong wind at night, walking on the road is like a knife cutting in the face.

On the winding mountain road, more than 1,000 steel helmets undulated slightly, lined up in a long line. Huang Zhengzhong stood on the side of the team, urging everyone to speed up.

While the procession was climbing the hills, it snowed again in the overcast sky. Goose-feather-like snowflakes fell one by one, and poured into people's bodies with the north wind.

Huang Zhengzhong put on his raincoat and shouted loudly: "Herald! Heralds! ”

"Here! Arrive! Arrive! In the middle of the group, the voice of the herald was heard, and he hurriedly ran from the other side of the line. The herald was a nineteen-year-old young man, and although his skin was very rough in this ghostly weather, his face was still visibly immature.

"You, tell me to go down, the speed of the march can't be left behind, don't wait to fall behind, stay where you are left behind to rest, and come back to find the big army."

The wind was blowing, and when Huang Zhengzhong spoke, the herald was taking out a notebook to remember the key points.

"Also, if you can throw away excess ammunition and dry food, you can throw it away immediately to reduce the weight! Don't slow things down! Did you hear me clearly? After Huang Zhengzhong finished speaking, he asked the herald loudly.

"Hear me clearly!" The herald replied firmly.

"You repeat it again!" Huang Zhengzhong said again.

"Yes!" The herald repeated the general idea again. After confirming that it was correct, Huang Zhengzhong patted him on the shoulder and said, "Go, give the order!" ”

Immediately afterward, the herald began to run to the front and back of the procession, conveying the order.

Now that the death order has been given, there is no reason for the troops to slow down. In the rolling Mongolian hills, the white-haired wind is blowing in the heavy snow. The procession of more than 1,000 people marched through the hills, and the sound of wooden handles* colliding and leather boots creaking on the snow was constantly heard in the procession.

The officers and men basically did not rest, and they ate on the road to eat canned beef that had been frozen into ice cubes, but they still had to eat, because if they did not eat, they would have no energy, and without energy, they might not be able to get up as soon as they fell down.

Huang Zhengzhong also pried open a can he was carrying, picked up the frozen beef in it with a bayonet and put it in his mouth, and then chewed a few bites and swallowed it indiscriminately.

It tastes bad, it's cold, and it feels like swallowing an ice cube.

He wanted to drink some water, but shook the kettle, only to find that it had frozen into ice.

Huang Zhengzhong sighed and gave up the idea. He put the kettle away and continued to walk forward.