At dawn on 1 May, the Kwantung Army began a sudden offensive and fought until more than 9 o'clock in the morning; at the beginning, the troops of the Soviet Far Eastern Front were busy withdrawing and were caught off guard, and suffered losses, and the two sides engaged in a bloody hand-to-hand combat.

The report of the troops on the front was reported to the command of the Soviet Far Eastern Front, and the commander, General Zhukov, never believed it, and did not blame him for not believing it, the purpose of the Kwantung Army was to entangle the Far Eastern Front, and the Japanese would never stop if the troops were not exhausted, this was a conspiracy, and he made his own judgment, but the subsequent report overturned his judgment.

Lieutenant General Godayav, Chief of Staff of the Front, rushed over to ask for instructions, "Comrade commander, I have personally called to verify that the situation reported by the troops is true, and at the same time, the commanders of the counterattacking troops asked for instructions, taking advantage of the repulsion of the Kwantung Army troops, whether to pursue them on all fronts?" ”

"Chase?" Senior General Zhukov asked rhetorically, "Why the pursuit, Comrade Chief of Staff, do not forget what our main task is?" Immediately ask the commander of the front whether the Kwantung Army units were withdrawn far away, or were they temporarily disengaged? "He thinks about it from a different angle.

"Are you saying that the Kwantung Army troops were repulsed, but it was just an illusion, and the Japanese would still attack?" Chief of Staff Godayav asked suspiciously.

General Zhukov said with certainty: "Yes, the commander of the Kwantung Army will not give up the opportunity, after determining the situation, report it to me immediately!" ”

After a while, Lieutenant General Godayav came back with an ugly face, "Comrade commander. I personally consulted all the commanders of the front-line troops, and as you judged, the Kwantung Army units did not really retreat, but simply retreated beyond the range of our fire! ”

Zhukov sighed silently, the Kwantung Army was preparing to fight the Far Eastern Front, it was obviously a magnetic tactic, and the ghost followed it, which was really a headache, "Comrade Chief of Staff, the two group army units that were put into the battlefield after the order. Alternate cover, withdraw from positions, do not dwell on the re-offensive of the Kwantung Army, their defense, hand over to the troops responsible for cover. We can't afford to drag it out! Zhukov said a little lonely.

The chief of staff of Godayav was just about to convey the order, when Zhukov asked again: "Reconnaissance unit of the intelligence department of the front." Is there any news coming? ”

"Nope. Comrade commander, according to the time of departure of the reconnaissance troops, they should now be more than a hundred kilometers from the battlefield, and at the moment, nothing has been found! Chief of Staff Godayav replied.

Zhukov wordlessly waved his hand and motioned for his chief of staff to leave. "Why is the feeling of uneasiness in my heart getting stronger and stronger, where is that invisible hand?" He thought worriedly.

"Repulsed. It's all the attacking troops! After listening to the report of Chief of Staff Kenjiro Matsuda, Senior General Minamijiro asked tepidly, not surprisingly, "What are the casualties of our troops?" "The face is as calm as a bowl of water, which makes people wonder through.

Chief of Staff Matsuda replied after deliberation: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, the specific casualty figures of the attacking forces have not yet been counted, I called and asked several unit commanders, the casualties are not too large, less than expected, and the casualties of the Soviet army are roughly the same as those of the imperial army, maybe slightly more!" ”

"After the retreat of our troops, did the Soviets have the deepest pursuit?" Admiral Minamijiro asked again.

Chief of Staff Matsuda's answer this time was very simple, "Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, no, not a single unit has been pursued by the Soviet army!" ”

"Zhukov is a smart fellow!" General Minamijiro sighed that for this old opponent who had fought with him for two or three years, General Minamijiro was still full of awe and vigilance, and his command art and battlefield strategy should not be underestimated, "Order all the troops to prepare to attack again, Zhukov doesn't want to entangle with us, then we will go the opposite way and firmly entangle the Soviet army!" ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda's expression was obviously sluggish, hundreds of thousands of troops, fighting and withdrawing, what kind of trick is the commander-in-chief doing, just the attack just now, took advantage of the surprise, according to his own estimates, the casualties of the troops should be at least seventy or eighty thousand, and attacking again is not the result of being repulsed, so tossed a few times, the last bit of the Kwantung Army's family base, is really going to be defeated?

"Commander-in-chief, there is a plan in the headquarters, whether to attack on the whole front, change it to a surprise attack in a key direction, concentrate all the forces, first inflict heavy damage on the Soviet troops in front of our position, and ignore the Soviet troops in other directions, and prepare to evacuate, according to the telegram from the headquarters, the vanguard of the Far East Dispatch Army and the Korean garrison army has arrived near the battlefield, and the evacuated Soviet troops will be dealt with by them!"

"After all, our Kwantung Army has done its best, and succeeded in delaying the withdrawal of the Soviet Far Eastern Front at the first time, of course, this is only my personal idea, the specific battle command, or the decision of Your Excellency the Commander-in-Chief!" Chief of Staff Matsuda said tactfully but firmly.

"Huh?" General Nanjiro's gaze flashed coldly, staring at his chief of staff, his face was calm, but his tone was cold and cold, "What? Is Matsuda-kun questioning my commanding style? ”

Chief of Staff Matsuda was frightened, and hurriedly bowed and said: "Commander-in-Chief is strict, the department does not dare, I will go and convey your order immediately!" He wiped the cold sweat on his head and left in a hurry.

Looking at the back of Chief of Staff Matsuda's departure, General Minamijiro spontaneously arose, and a feeling of loneliness as a master appeared, "When will a smart enough person appear among his subordinates?" With a wave of his hand, he called over a staff officer and ordered: "Report the situation of the start of the offensive at dawn today, as well as the reaction of the Soviet army, and the measures that our Kwantung Army is about to take, to the General Headquarters of the Campaign immediately!" ”

In Khabarovsk, Far East, the General Headquarters of the Japanese Far East Campaign, Prince Zaihito's eyebrows fluttered, he looked at the telegram sent by General Minamijiro with relish, and his face was full of joy, and Major General Yamada, head of the General Staff Headquarters, stood respectfully aside, his eyes shuttled on Prince Zaihito's face from time to time, figuring out the thoughts of his superiors.

"Nan Cijun is worthy of being a general of the Imperial Army, just after the attack on the whole front was strongly counterattacked by the Soviet army, he immediately ordered all the troops to retreat, and did not disengage from the Soviet army, among the current army generals, few people can do it!" Putting down the telegram, Prince Zairen said with emotion, "This command can be included in the textbooks of the Imperial Army University, so that those young officers who only rely on the courage of blood and courage can have a good experience of what is called the art of command!" He deepened his assessment.

Major General Yamada's heart was shocked, with Prince Zaihito's current status and power, it is rare to give such high praise to a theater commander, especially since the other party is also an important cadre of a hostile faction, could it be that His Royal Highness the Prince means ......?

"Commander-in-Chief, the Ministry considers that this is the highest praise for General Minamijiro himself and for all the officers and men of the Kwantung Army, and it should be in the callback, plus what you just said, and whether the headquarters will give appropriate guidance to the Kwantung Army's next move?" Major General Yamada keenly grasped the key to it, these words, His Royal Highness the Prince is embarrassed to say clearly, to reach the ears of General Minamijiro, only to do it yourself!

Prince Zairen's eyebrows raised, and in his eyes, he couldn't hide his appreciation, "Sure enough, he is an empathetic guy, with him by his side, many things for himself are much easier!" He secretly admired and thought, "No, Yamada-kun, there is no need for our headquarters to interfere with the specific battle command of the Kwantung Army, and what General Minamijiro handled was even more beautiful than we expected!" But at the same time, he denied Yamada's other suggestion.

In Delun, southern Outer Mongolia, the temporary headquarters of the independent division, the chief of staff Zhao Yuhe, handed a piece of information to Tang Qiuli, and said: "Division commander, the information from the intelligence department, at dawn today, the Kwantung Army launched an offensive on the whole front of the Soviet Far Eastern Front, and the battle was very fierce, and it is said that the two sides engaged in a long hand-to-hand fight!" ”

Tang Qiuli took the telegram, glanced at it slightly, and said: "Last time, the information provided in the intelligence of the intelligence department was that the one who commanded all the Japanese troops in the Far East was Prince Zairen, the chief of the general staff of the Japanese army's base camp!" ”

Zhao Yuhe nodded and replied: "Yes, division commander, his latest title is, Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Far East Campaign, unified command of the Kwantung Army, the Japanese Far East Dispatch Army, and the Korean garrison troops!" ”

Tang Qiuli thought thoughtfully, "Zairen is a very strategic senior general of the Japanese army, for example, this time, the big trap designed for Zhukov's troops is perfect, aren't we all being used by him, since the Kwantung Army dares to launch an attack on all fronts, it means that Zairen is going to close the net, tell the Sù Intelligence Department, pay more attention to this person, he will be a strong opponent for us to recover the Northeast!" ”

After a pause, Tang Qiuli suddenly asked, "Yuhe, is there any other information?" He asked.

"Yes, the reconnaissance unit of the Eastern Command found that the Japanese Far Eastern Front and the Korean garrison troops both sent light infantry units at the same time to take a shortcut to the Far Eastern battlefield, and the strength was about 500,000 troops. Zhao Yuhe replied precisely.

Tang Qiuli sighed, "In this way, Zairen's big net can be said to be seamless, Zhukov is in trouble, and the Eastern Army is entangled endlessly, and there are lightly armed troops in front of him to intercept it, as long as it takes about a day to block the retreating Soviet army, the main force of the Japanese army outflanking the troops on both sides will arrive, Zairen's hand, it is very exquisite?" ”

However, while Tang Qiuli was amazed, he still asked himself suspiciously: "Could it be that with Zhukov's rich command experience, he didn't perceive this huge danger?" ”

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