In the face of the encirclement of more than 200,000 troops of the independent division on three sides, on the question of whether to hold on to the reinforcements or to break through and retreat, because of differences of opinion, the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union, General Kulygin, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zirnianko, two partners for many years, fell out.

After all, General Kulygin was scheming and preemptive, saying that he was going to rest, but in fact it was equivalent to putting Lieutenant General Zirnenko under house arrest, and the sudden change shocked all the officers in the headquarters, and everyone did not understand, the troops of the independent division were pressing forward step by step, constantly compressing the battlefield space, and the shells were exploding on the left and right, and they did not seek a way to get the troops out of the crisis as much as possible, why did the commander and the chief of staff fight in the nest?

Looking at Lieutenant General Zirnenko with a dejected face, a trace of regret flashed on General Kulygin's face, after all, the two have worked together for several years, and they cooperate with each other quite tacitly, if they say that they have no friendship, they don't even believe in themselves, and they are forced to do this by themselves, and it is impossible to shoot him, and it has not yet reached this point, as long as he is not in the way, even the post of chief of staff of the military district will not be relieved.

However, there are some things that must be said, General Kurygin looked sorry, and said: "Comrade Zirnianko, I clearly tell you that your idea of breaking through and retreating is not only unrealistic, but also dangerous. ”

"In the east, west, and south directions, there are the main forces of independent divisions attacking fiercely, why is there no in the northern direction alone, you don't think which Chinese Tang Qiuli will make such a low-level mistake, right? Therefore, I can tell you unequivocally that the most fatal blow to us should be on our way to the Sesago. You insisted on the view, and even did not hesitate to risk yourself, just fell into Tang Qiuli's trap, as the chief of staff, you are qualified, as a battlefield commander, you are much worse! ”

Lieutenant General Zirnenko's face showed a trace of exhaustion, and he said: "Comrade commander, I am willing to do what I did today. Take any responsibility, however, I still have to say that because of your stubbornness and arrogance, you will bury the lives of more than 200,000 soldiers of the Transcaucasian Military District! "Finished. Lieutenant General Zirnenko staggered under the watchful eye of several guards and turned away.

The vagaries of the battlefield. No one can fully grasp it. Originally, because of the lack of troops, Tang Qiuli had to open the northern opening and could not encircle on all sides, but because General Kurygin made a wrong judgment, there was no need for Liu Chun's cavalry troops to fight an unsuitable blocking battle. This may be an unintentional planting of willows and willows!

After the initial confusion, the Soviet troops, under the command of commanders at all levels, gradually regained their senses, relying on improvised dug rudimentary fortifications. Although it was unable to stop the pressing of the troops of the Independent Division, it also succeeded in forcing Liu Hongzhang's troops of the Eastern Assault Group, Qiaomanshan's troops of the Western Assault Group, Yang Ketian's troops and Battle's armored troops to slow down the pace of the offensive.

The sound of guns and cannons on the battlefield is endless, the fire of the shell explosion reflects half of the sky before dawn, and the smell of gunpowder smoke wafting in the wind is mixed into a picture of the night battle in full swing, Tang Qiuli is in the command headquarters, observing the situation on the battlefield, from his point of view, the battlefield situation is very clear, the three-way attack troops, fighting very orderly, the battle line is clear, and gradually compressing the living space of the Soviet troops.

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe hurriedly came in and said: "Division commander, the situation on the battlefield has changed, I have received a report from the command of the three-way assault group, the resistance of the Soviet army is increasing, the speed of our assault has slowed down, and the commanders of all directions have asked for instructions, whether to increase the intensity of the attack?" ”

Tang Qiuli smiled coldly and said, "The trapped beast is still fighting, order all troops, maintain the current rhythm of attack, don't be impatient, don't risk huge casualties, rest assured, the Soviet army can't run, order all artillery groups, immediately move forward the position, use more artillery fire, compress the Soviet army's defensive circle, kill and injure its living forces, Battle's armored troops, to master the rhythm, Yuhe, this encirclement and annihilation battle is not a day or two to end, 2780,000 Soviet troops, enough for us to eat for a few days!" ”

Speaking of this, Tang Qiuli suddenly asked, "Yuhe, didn't the Soviet army break through?" Why haven't I heard reports of this? ”

Zhao Yuhe also looked confused, and replied: "Division commander, I am also strange, according to the normal situation, once it is found that the troops are in danger of being encircled, they should break through immediately while the encirclement has not yet been closed, but the Soviet army has adopted another way, the troops have carried out limited contraction, digging field fortifications on the spot, and blocking the attack of our army, which seems to be putting on a posture of stubbornly waiting for reinforcements. ”

"Oh?" Tang Qiuli raised his thick eyebrows in surprise, his eyes flashed, he walked quickly to the map, thought about it, and after a while, he turned around sharply and said to Zhao Yuhe: "There is only one possibility, the commander of the Soviet army, General Kurygin, has made a wrong judgment on the battlefield situation, he thinks that we are deliberately leaving a gap in the north, on the way to retreat, to pursue and annihilate them, or rather, I still have ambush soldiers, on the way from Checherleg to the Sesagog River, ambush them!" ”

"Kuregin is gambling, betting that we can't eat them as much as possible, he is waiting, waiting for reinforcements, the first to come, it is likely to be the air force of the Soviet army, Yuhe, this is a great opportunity, order, Yang Ketian of the frontal assault group, commanding the three mechanized brigades of the east finger, and the two tank brigades with armored corps, immediately withdraw from the battle, make a detour from the left flank, plug the gap in the north, and Yang Ketian's roundabout troops must reach the south bank of the Sejingge River within two days."

"Order, Liu Chun, commander of the cavalry unit, Zeng Shiqiang Brigade and Bagena Brigade of your department, change the original task of blocking and retreating Soviet troops, and instead cut off the logistics supply line of the Soviet army, and conduct mobile operations in the area north of the Sejingge River.

"Order, Le Yiqin's aviation unit, the main force forward, will control the air combat battlefield in the airspace north of the Sejingge River, Yuhe, after adjusting the deployment, this is the real encirclement on all sides, three days later, there is no food and ammunition inside, there is no rescue troops that arrive quickly, more than 200,000 Soviet soldiers, how long can they hold on, the next battle, it will be easy to fight!" Tang Qiuli said confidently.

After the order of the division headquarters to adjust the rhythm of the offensive was issued, the offensive speed of the troops of the independent division immediately slowed down, and the Soviet troops, who were overwhelmed, secretly breathed a sigh of relief, taking advantage of the shells flying in the sky and not falling like raindrops, in order to save their lives, without the encouragement of the political commissars and the shouting of the officers, the Soviet soldiers consciously and automatically dug temporary fortifications, counting on it to save their lives, and no one dared to be lazy.

On the periphery of the encirclement, at the artillery command post of the Independent Division, the commander Major General Zheng Yong, with one hand on his waist and one foot on the shell box, shouted into the phone: "Yes, the position will move forward immediately, the location of the new position?" Right in the current position of the infantry, it is too dangerous to be close to the front line? ! It won't take an hour, that's the rear! Move fast! Forty minutes later, I'm going to see the shells hit the head of the old Mao Zibing! ”

Putting down this phone, Zheng Yong grabbed another phone, "Is it Brigade Commander Liu?" I am Zheng Yong, because the width of the battlefield is limited, the artillery position of your East Road Assault Group should not move forward too much, it is best to move within 10 kilometers, and form an overlapping firepower with the artillery on the West Road! Let your brother save time and effort! ”

On the same phone, Zheng Yong called Major General Qiao Manshan, commander of the West Road Assault Group, put down the phone, Zheng Yong said triumphantly to several staff officers in the command post: "See, at the critical time, the division commander is still thinking about our artillery, don't believe you look at it, the final solution to the battle is still our artillery shells!" ”

Forty minutes later, the artillery of the independent division's artillery unit, which had fallen silent, roared again, and in the faint light of dawn, swarms of shells, with piercing screams, smashed the temporary positions of the Soviet troops into a sea of fire and a hell of death.

"Boom, boom!" Clusters of fire shone brightly, broken metal shrapnel flew horizontally, wantonly cutting the bodies of Soviet soldiers, broken arms, mixed with dirt, flying into the air, tired and half-dead Soviet soldiers, sad to find that the calculated distance should be outside the range of the artillery fire of the independent division, but now, it happened to fall within the range of artillery fire.

The temporarily excavated field fortifications, just waist-high, did not even have anti-artillery holes, how could they withstand such dense and fierce artillery fire, large-caliber grenades fell, several loud bangs, the soil raised by the shells, mixed with the blood of Soviet soldiers, scattered in all directions, blowing up Soviet soldiers with nowhere to hide, ten minutes, the Soviet troops on the periphery, could no longer withstand the attack of artillery fire, and retreated to the central area one after another, as for Commander Kulygin, the order not to retreat a step became empty talk.

At about 7 o'clock in the morning of 28 September, after an hour and a half of fierce fighting, more than 200,000 Soviet troops were compressed into a narrow area of no more than 300 kilometers by the troops of the independent division that had been besieged from three sides.

Seeing that the situation was not good, more than 200,000 people were huddled together, and a single shell from the artillery of the independent division could kill a bunch of soldiers, and the prerequisite for holding on to the reinforcements was that there was enough space and strong fortifications, but neither of these things were available.

In order to change the situation of extreme passivity, General Kurygin ordered the troops, in three directions, to counterattack the troops of the independent division at the same time, and the counterattack of the Soviet army hit the iron plate, and the Soviet soldiers were greeted by a dense rainstorm of bullets, shells that formed a three-dimensional wall of fire, and countless muzzles of guns that spit tongues of fire.

In addition to dropping a bloody corpse, the Soviet counterattack received nothing!

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