Liu Hongzhang, commander of the command headquarters of the Sejingge River Campaign, Ouyang Yishan, deputy commander, and the command headquarters were the last to evacuate their positions, and they were evacuated with the command headquarters, and only the first regiment of Liu Hongzhang's brigade, which was this regiment, did not stay to protect the safety of the command headquarters, and Liu Hongzhang had his own plans.

As the commander of the attack group on the eastern road of the Outer Mongolia Campaign, Liu Hongzhang understands the division commander's campaign deployment, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Military Region in his hands will definitely withdraw by the same route after being attacked, and the area that the troops of the independent division will hold is also the only way for the Soviet army.

Therefore, the First Regiment temporarily served as an engineer unit, and planted a large number of explosives and mines in all the anti-artillery holes, shelters, and four communication trenches, and detonated the device at a timed basis, and the time of the explosion was set at 7 o'clock in the morning of 27 September, when the troops had already walked for more than nine hours.

In Liu Hongzhang's words, "The more than 100 tons of explosives and thousands of mines we prepared are not just to blow up these fortifications, but also a big gift for Lao Maozi. ”

Regarding Liu Hongzhang's approach, Ouyang Yishan only gave a two-word evaluation: "insidious!" ”

After 10 o'clock on the night of 26 September, on the south bank of the Sejingge River, on a front of more than 20 kilometers, all the troops of the Independent Division had been evacuated, and there was no one in the whole evacuation process. did not alarm the Soviet troops on the other side.

Kulun, at about nine o'clock in the night, the Outer Mongolia Campaign Headquarters was brightly lit, and there was a tense and busy atmosphere, staff officers came and went from time to time, and in the radio room, the sound of the electric keys for sending and receiving telegrams "ticked tock" rang non-stop, and the orders of the headquarters were sent to all units.

Tang Qiuli's office. Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe and Deputy Chief of Staff Wang Jun kept signing and receiving telegrams sent by the staff officers, but Tang Qiuli seemed very leisurely, standing in front of the large map of Outer Mongolia for more than half an hour.

Zhao Yuhe held several telegrams. said: "Division commander, commander of the eighth brigade directly under the corps." The commander of the West Road Attack Group, Qiao Manshan, called. The eighth, ninth, and eleventh brigades of the group have already been deployed in the scheduled arrival area, and only the Chen Han division of the twelfth brigade will need more than three hours to reach the designated position! ”

Tang Qiuli turned around. His brows furrowed, and he said dissatisfiedly: "Ask Qiaomanshan, what's going on with the Twelfth Brigade?" The time of the assembly of the brigades of the Western Road Attack Group was about the same. Why was Chen Han's troops delayed? ”

Zhao Yuhe explained with a smile: "The bridge brigade commander sent a telegram explaining the situation, the area where the 12th Brigade is going is farther than other troops, you also know that the road conditions in Outer Mongolia are really bad, our troops are mechanized marching again, and there are still thirty-one hours before the time when the battle is launched, and it is three or four hours late, which will not affect the overall situation!" ”

"Brigade Commander Chen Han also called and explained that his brigade set off three hours earlier than the other troops of the West Road Attack Group! Our brigade commander, you know it all in your heart, division commander, don't be harsh! ”

Tang Qiuli thought about it, Zhao Yuhe said the actual situation, so he didn't delve into it, but he was still a little dissatisfied with Chen Hanlu's late arrival at the designated location, and originally wanted to go to the telegram to investigate it, but gave up this idea.

Liu Hongzhang and Ouyang Yishan's troops have already withdrawn from the defense line of the Sejingge River, and when the Soviets attack again at dawn tomorrow, they will find that the positions are already empty, and according to the speed of the Soviet army's march, they will be able to reach the area around Hagengol and Baiyinchagan by the evening of 27 September at the latest.

Although this happened very little, Tang Qiuli did not dare to be careless, and he had carefully considered the question of whether the commander of the Soviet army, General Kuregin, could take the bait, continue to go south and pounce on Kulen after crossing the Sejingge River.

Judging by the normal situation, the troops of the Independent Division fought fiercely and tenaciously in the blocking battle on the south bank of the Sejingge River, and they were completely in a position of not yielding an inch, and there must be something wrong with their sudden withdrawal.

If Kurygin had been cautious enough, it would have been safe for the Soviets to cross the river and not rush south, but to stay for a while, wait for the arrival of the troops of the Soviet Far Eastern Front, and then continue their southward advance after the rendezvous.

However, from another point of view, the Soviet army's attack on the defense line of the Seshuge River appeared to be very urgent, regardless of the losses in the past few days, continue to attack, it should be Stalin or the General Staff of the Soviet Army, give Kurygin a death order, a limited time limit to conquer Kulen, this battle, Stalin absolutely does not want to drag on for a long time, therefore, after crossing the Sesuga River, the Soviet army will continue to advance south, it is absolutely possible.

For this reason, Tang Qiuli also made two preparations, once the Soviet army stayed on the south bank of the Sejingge River, originally scheduled to ambush and encircle the Soviet army in the area from Hagen Gaole to Baiyinchagan, north of Kulun, then the troops of all walks began to counterattack head-on, after several days of fierce fighting on the Sesagoge River battlefield, the exhausted Soviet army could not resist the frontal assault of ten mechanized infantry brigades directly under the corps, three mechanized infantry brigades in the east, a total of 13 brigades, and more than 220,000 people.

In order to avoid being encircled, Kurygin would order his troops to cross the river and return north, withdraw to Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, and Liu Chun's cavalry troops, supplemented by Le Yiqin's aviation troops, would turn the north bank of the Sejingge River into a position to block the Soviet troops, and as long as the Soviet troops were blocked for more than a day, the frontal counterattack troops would pounce on them and gather and annihilate the Soviet troops on the south bank of the Sejingge River.

If Kulykin, under pressure from Stalin, had to attack south as quickly as possible, and was afraid of falling into a trap, he sent a part of his troops to make a tentative attack, and his main force followed up immediately after confirming that there was no danger, this possibility is very high, after all, the supreme commander of the Soviet army, General Kulygin, is a veteran of the battlefield.

The troops on the front line of Checherleg put on a posture of blocking and striking head-on, which would make Kurygin mistakenly believe that the independent division of the blocking troops had suffered heavy casualties in the defense line of the Sejingge River, and had to retreat and organize a second line of defense.

Subsequently, it will be the main force of the Soviet army to press up, then, their own campaign purpose, will also be achieved, belongs to another way to lure the enemy deep, if this situation occurs, the key is the Checherlegh line of troops, how to fight?

If you fight too hard and too fiercely, you will undoubtedly expose your intentions, and the scale of it is very important, and I don't know where Battle and Yang Ketian are there, they should be taught face to face, so it is safe.

Thinking of this, Tang Qiuli asked: "Chief of Staff Wang, you are responsible for liaising with and supervising the progress of the march of various troops, have the four tank brigades scheduled to assemble on the front line of Checherleg, the three mechanized infantry brigades of Yang Ketian in the east, and the third, fourth, and fifth brigades directly under the corps have all arrived at the designated positions?" Order Battle and Yang Ketian to rush to the battle headquarters as quickly as possible! ”

Wang Jun was just about to answer, but outside the door, two voices came, "Report to the division commander, the commander of the armored corps of the independent division, Battle, and the chief of staff of the East Command Unit of the independent division, Yang Ketian, meet the division commander and ask the division commander for instructions!" "Full of neutrality, in the voice, there is a masculinity!

This voice, listening to Tang Qiuli's ears, was extremely kind, he walked quickly to the door, and as he walked, he laughed and said: "Kulun is evil enough on this ground, say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will arrive, and there are two of them, Battle and Ketian, come in quickly!" ”

The door opened, and the dusty, dusty, but heroic Bartel and Yang Ketian, both stood at the door, on their combat uniforms, splashed with mud, and the military boots under their feet were covered with mud. ”

Tang Qiuli pulled one in one hand, looked at the two of them carefully, and said with satisfaction: "The complexion is okay, come in!" Just looking for you two to have something to do! While beckoning the orderlies to bring up steaming milk tea.

After a bowl of milk tea without a few sips, Tang Qiuli said: "Time is very tight, the command is about to go to Checherleg, it just so happens that your two commanders are here, there is only one problem to discuss, that is, on the front line of Checherleg, the battle on the frontal battlefield, how to fight, by the way, Battle, Ketian, have the troops arrived at the predetermined position?" ”

Battle glanced at Yang Ketian and motioned for him to answer, Yang Ketian said: "Division commander, in another hour and a half, the troops will all enter the designated position, and by about five o'clock in the morning, they can be deployed, Commander Battle and I, handed over the troops to the brigade commanders, and hurriedly ran to you, to be honest, how to fight the battle, the two of us really don't have an accurate number, I am afraid that the attack will be too ruthless, which will affect your overall plan, I want to listen to your instructions!" ”

Tang Qiuli was very satisfied, and said: "Yes, I didn't get carried away without more than a thousand tanks and six mechanized infantry brigades, for the actions that the Soviet army might take after crossing the Sejingge River, I estimated in advance what time it was, staff officer, spread out the map on the table!" ”

Facing the map, Tang Qiuli carefully explained to Battle and Yang Ketian the possible actions of the Soviet army and the way to deal with it, and finally, he said: "The most likely situation is that the commander of the Soviet army, General Kurygin, will send part of his troops to make a tentative southward attack. ”

"Tanks and artillery, don't use them first, in order to avoid too many casualties among the troops, it is very important to build fortifications and anti-artillery holes and shelters, so that the soldiers can work hard, don't be afraid of sweating!"

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