Episode 142 Long Drive

The Ming Army was divided into two army groups, one was the Northern Army Group, the offensive direction of the Northern Army Group was the Heilongjiang River in the east-west direction, and the offensive direction of the Eastern Army Group was the Ussuri River in the north-south direction. The two rivers met in Khabarovsk, and Khabarovsk became the demarcation point for the offensive frontal of the two army groups.

The Ming army is still the old style of play that has been practiced - breaking through on both flanks, pincer offensive, and encirclement in the center.

Army Group North attacked in two fronts, that is, breakthrough points, and one in the east was from "Petrovskoye" to "Stepanovka", with a frontal width of about 60 km. This one is very close to Khabarovsk. The western one is from "Ozhornaya" to "Kirovo", and the frontage width is about 80 kilometers. The distance between the two breaches is about 260 kilometers.

The vast area between these two breakthrough points is more plains and fewer hills, and further west, there are more mountains and few plains, which is not conducive to the advance of the large army. The Ming army planned to break through from both ends of this section of the battlefield to form a pincer offensive and quickly encircle the Soviet army in the center.

There were also two fronts of the offensive of Army Group East, one in the north from "Somovoye" to "Sheremekivoye", with a frontal width of about 50 km. The southern part is from the southern end of Lake Xingkai to Fadeevka, with a frontal width of about 80 km. The distance between the two places is about 400 km.

Compared with Army Group North, the distance between the two breaches of Army Group South was much larger. There is not much emphasis on the "pincer offensive" and "central encirclement" here, because the Soviet troops on this side of the battlefield do not have much depth, and more than 200 kilometers east from the Ussuri River is the sea. In the middle is a narrow strip of land. As long as the Ming army cut off the connection between this piece and the vast inland in the north and the connection with the seaport of Vladivostok in the south, then the Soviet army in the middle will be alone. The Ussuri River and the sea have replaced the Ming army, sealing off the eastern and western sides of the Soviet army. As long as the Ming army is sealed from the north and south, it will be encircled.

The pressure of the Ming army to cross the river was mainly concentrated in the Northern Army Group. Because at this time, Heilongjiang has more than 1,000 meters at the widest point and several hundred meters at the narrow place, which has to fight with the forced crossing of the Yangtze River last year. But the pressure on the Eastern Army group to cross the river was much less. The Ussuri River, in terms of volume and width, cannot be compared with the Heilongjiang River. The Ussuri River originates from Lake Xingkai in the south and meets the Heilongjiang River in Khabarovsk in the north. The north side is wider, but it is only four or five hundred meters. In the south, near the source of Xingkai Lake, the narrowest point is only one or twenty meters. In some places, even tanks can drive directly through.

To the south of Xingkai Lake, there is no boundary river, and the two sides are bordered by land, both of which are farmland. Here, the tank army of the Ming army, under an order, directly launched, rushed out of the camouflaged haystack, and roared away with a full body of thatch.

At this time, the Soviet Union was the "world's largest armored power", but the Soviet soldiers had never seen such a large army of tanks. The almost "perverted" shelling just now had already caused most of the Soviet soldiers to have a nervous breakdown. A few of them were still lying dead in the field, shooting at the oncoming tanks with rifles, quite brave. But most of them have turned around and fled for their lives.

The tank divisions of the Ming Army in the first wave of the charge were all old armored divisions of the People's Guard that participated in the "D-Day" charge of the Unification War. The veterans in the tank were all enthusiastic at this time, and they re-experienced the situation of sitting in the tank and strafing the Qing army in front while charging...... Now, as before, they sat in the crowded and dark tank, surrounded by the roar and vibration, their faces pressed against the small observation window, aiming at the Soviet soldiers in front of them, shooting one after another.

The Woodpecker machine guns were extremely efficient, and the men were extremely accurate. As the muzzle fire flashed one after another, the Soviet soldiers fleeing in the distance in front fell to the ground one by one. Most of the Soviet soldiers were disheveled, except for a few sentries on duty, most of whom had been blown out of their beds by the shelling just now. Some of them were unbelted, some were wearing only white shirts, some were shirtless, and some were not even wearing pants......

There were also quite a few people running in front of them with their bare hands, not even a gun in their hands. It was a small number of armories that were resolutely following the rules, and despite the rain of shells and bombs, the guards insisted that weapons should not be issued without instructions from above.

The hat of "anarchism" is too big for anyone to bear. In Moscow, this charge has already caused many people to move their heads.

The Ming army of tanks roared past the Soviet village, strafing and firing artillery, and the big horn on the tank shouted loudly in Russian:

"Brave Soviet soldiers, we are your friends, not enemies...... Although we have different nationalities, we are all workers and peasants! We too are proletarians...... Our common enemy is the murderous tyrant Stalin...... Lay down your arms, and you will be treated like comrades......"

The loudspeakers kept shouting, but the Ming tanks still unceremoniously opened fire, strafing the fleeing Soviet soldiers in front.

Overhead, several Vulture dive bombers continued to whizz by, pounced on the deep battlefield in front of them, swooped down with a terrible scream, dropped three or four bombs, and set off several columns of black smoke one after another......

The loudspeaker still shouted:

"Soviet soldiers, stop resisting, think about who you are shooting! To the workers! To the peasants! Shoot your class brothers! Can you bear it......"

A large swarm of tanks roared like a tidal wave past the Soviet village. Old Russian aunts and young women with headscarves on their heads screamed, with the most terrifying expressions on their faces, desperately looking for a place to hide. Many of the cattle pens of the collective farms were blown up, cattle and horses ran lifeless in the fields, and many were killed by tanks and then run over from above.

The tanks passed, and the armored personnel carriers that followed behind followed. The task of the tank is only to move forward, while the task of the infantry includes clearing these residential areas. A few armored vehicles stopped outside the village, and then a dozen or so Ming soldiers jumped down from both sides, carrying submachine guns, machine guns, and bright bayonet rifles, outflanking the village from both sides, and began to inspect street by street, searching for the remnants of the Soviet army.

Some of the Soviet people in the houses were terrified, and some were looking forward to it. But at this time, every house closed the door tightly, and the man held a wooden stick, ready to defend his wife, children, and daughter.

Several Ming soldiers trotted over the side of the street, when the small window on the upper floor of a thatched hut opened, and an old man in ragged clothes with a white beard poked his head out and shouted in a low voice:

"Hey! Lads! Lads! Come with me, I'll take you to the farm leaders! …… Where you are going, I will show you the way! ”

Several Ming soldiers were startled, raised their heads, and looked at the old man. However, these Ming soldiers couldn't understand his words, shook their heads, put their fingers to their lips, motioned for him to keep quiet, and then continued to search.

The old man understood, they didn't understand, but the old man didn't seem to be afraid, with a clear scar on his face and his eyes shining with excitement. This probably turned out to be a kulak.

At that time, the policy of Soviet Russia was to "rely on the poor peasants, unite the middle peasants, and eliminate the rich peasants." They exterminated all the rich peasants and gave them almost no way to survive. Not to mention the rich peasants, even the middle peasants, who were also made extremely miserable, shot to death, starved to death, and not many survived. How many peasants, who had been living a good life, became criminal people and were ruined because they had worked hard and thrifty for half their lives, and had accumulated a few plots of land and a few livestock in their hands. They all had a blood feud with the Bolsheviks, and the Ming army also explained to the front-line troops before the attack, and after the fight, such people were more trustworthy objects.

It was just over two hours of effort, when the sun had just risen and the morning sun was shining all over the land, and everywhere on the front line, the Ming army took a large group of disheveled Soviet prisoners and concentrated on this side of the border.

These Russian lads were squatting on the ground, squatting in a large black area, their faces blackened by the smoke and dust, and their eyes and teeth were white. Some of their faces are numb and expressionless, while others have mixed expressions: frustration, consternation, fear, humiliation, anticipation......

In a captain's car next to him, a female soldier of the Ming army held a megaphone and said loudly in Russian:

"Comrades, now you are free...... Your lives will be secured, you will be able to eat well, and the injured will be well cared for...... Do not misunderstand you, we are not here to invade you, we are here to liberate you...... Your hometown, we will soon be liberated...... You'll be able to go home soon...... Your father and your mother, and your brothers, will also receive land and livestock...... I'll never go hungry again......"

However, in stark contrast, the dive bombers in the sky are still roaring by, and tanks, armored vehicles, cars, and sidecars on both sides are still pouring into the Soviet land...... In the distance, there was still the muffled sound of explosions...... There was a heavy smell of gunsmoke, burning, and blood......

The female soldier of the Ming army continued to announce: "Now, you have to single out the political commissars who are hidden among you...... Don't worry, whoever says it is not a traitor, on the contrary, you are helping all of you...... We'll keep it confidential for you too...... The political commissar was too dangerous to incite a prisoner of war revolt and needed to be kept in solitary confinement...... As I said earlier, if there is a riot, you will all be put to death......"