After listening to the words of Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe, Tang Qiuli's face changed slightly, and he said in disguise: "Liu Hongzhang, who has always been smooth in the war, can only take advantage of it, and cannot suffer losses. ”

Zhao Yuhe said: "Division commander, you guessed wrong this time, Brigade Commander Liu did not get angry or scold his mother in the telegram, but unexpectedly put it forward and asked the division commander for approval, whether the troops on the front line of the Gege River should give up the defense line and withdraw to the front line of the Troubled Stone Mountain to block the Soviet army!" ”

Tang Qiuli was greatly surprised, Liu Hongzhang, who has always dared to fight tough battles and likes to fight tough battles, actually made such a request, which was not normal in itself, whether he was frightened by the offensive of the Soviet army, or the loss of the troops, which made him unbearable.

Tang Qiuli took the telegram and looked at it carefully, "Division commander, in the first battle this afternoon, our troops on the front line of the Gege River were under unprecedented pressure from the Soviet army's ground-to-air firepower, especially the Soviet bomber group, which almost destroyed the surface position, and the Soviet infantry once captured the beachhead on the south bank, and was repulsed under the desperate counterattack of our department, but our department also paid a considerable price!" ”

"The battle lasted more than four hours, the Soviet army dispatched about two infantry divisions, launched several waves of attacks, to the final stage of the battle, I was forced to devote all my troops, into the counterattack against the Soviet army, after the war to count the casualties of the troops, the loss of more than 6,500 troops, nearly two regiments, I personally believe that if the Soviet air combat firepower advantage can not be solved, the troops are withdrawn to the second line of defense, the first line of chaos rocky mountain, it is more appropriate."

"One is to avoid the Soviet air fire striking at our existing positions, and the other is to avoid the Soviet army's air firepower to hit our existing positions. There can be a large buffer space, using the existing communication trenches and tunnels, to continue to block the Soviet army, otherwise, the troops stick to the same place, can only be beaten, I hereby build yì for the reference of the division commander! ”

Tang Qiuli's face was very unsightly, and he said angrily: "Confused." Liu Hongzhang was confused, and at the slightest setback, he retreated, giving up favorable terrain conditions, relying on his strength of less than 60,000 people. And without a large amount of artillery support, how can you stop hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops? It's a heap of people. can also drown Liu Hongzhang! ”

After the fire. He turned his face and asked Zhao Yuhe, "Yuhe, do you think Liu Hongzhang's construction is feasible?" ”

Zhao Yuhe shook his head without hesitation and said, "Commander, it's absolutely not feasible. The Sesagoge River is a natural barrier, and it is also the only barrier north of Kulun, if you give up. A large number of Soviet troops landed on the south bank, especially when the Soviet armored units crossed the river, our army was bound to be unable to stop it, and the division commander, there were less than two days left in the original time for blocking, and by the afternoon of 26 September, all the troops had completed the deployment of the campaign. ”

Zhao Yuhe paused, and Tang Qiuli urged: "Yuhe, you go on!" ”

Zhao Yuhe continued: "However, judging from the casualties of the troops today, Brigade Commander Liu Hongzhang's worries are also reasonable, if we continue to hold the current position, after two days, the troops on the front line of the Sejingge River will inevitably be greatly damaged, division commander, the flexible defense plan we formulated earlier was abandoned because of the insistence of Commander Sun Zhenbang and the changes in the battlefield situation. ”

Tang Qiuli also calmed down from the anger, and ordered the troops to stick to the defense line of the Sesagoge River, which was also a last resort, if there were many terrains that could be used from the Sesagoge River to Kulun, he would never order the troops to fight this kind of hard-hitting positional blocking battle, this is not his own command style, but there is no if, it is a Sesagoge River, forcing the Soviet army to fight in this way.

Tang Qiuli was worried that if Liu Hongzhang gave up his position on the bank of the Sejingge River, and could he stop the Soviet army for two days with the second-line position on the Ranshi Mountain, of course, it was not impossible to defend flexibly, but there was a problem, if the Soviet army crossed the Sejingge River, adopted a mechanized march, and the speed of the assault was too fast, the other troops who surrounded it did not reach the designated position, and the preset battlefield would be ineffective.

If the reinforced troops of the four armies of the Soviet Far Eastern Front get rid of the interception of Liu Tie Handong's troops and rush to the battlefield of Outer Mongolia to join up with Kulygin's troops, no one can predict what the next battle will look like! Flexible defense was a stopgap measure, based on the strength of the Soviet army faced by the Outer Mongolian border guards at that time.

At this time, the battlefield situation, and then adopt the tactics of elastic defense, is inappropriate, the Soviet army crossing the Sejingge River, if the speed of advance is too fast, will affect the deployment of the entire Outer Mongolia campaign.

Therefore, Tang Qiuli categorically vetoed the construction of Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe, and said: "Yuhe, you send a telegram to Liu Hongzhang and ask him, did you suffer a little loss?" Just became a bear bag and was frightened by the Soviets? Sue him, don't be afraid of casualties, the troops are gone, I will replenish him, the officer is killed, I will transfer him, not only the brigades directly under the corps, but also the troops of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, treat me like a nail, firmly nail me to the position on the south bank of the Sesagoge River. ”

Probably feeling that his tone was too harsh, Tang Qiuli paused for a moment and continued: "Two days, I only need him to fight for two more days, don't be afraid of casualties and troop losses, by six o'clock in the evening of September 26, even if he doesn't want to withdraw, he can't!" If he felt that it was difficult to complete the task, he would hand over the command to Ouyang Yishan as soon as possible, and return to Kulun, who was still safe, as soon as possible! ”

It just so happened that Wang Jun, chief of staff of the Outer Mongolia Frontier Army, sent a telegram over, heard the words of the division commander Tang Qiuli, and glanced at Zhao Yuhe, both of them felt the anger in the division commander's heart, and knew that it was useless to say more, so it was convenient for Zhao Yuhe to send a telegram to Liu Hongzhang.

In the corridor, Wang Jun quietly asked Zhao Yuhe: "Chief of Staff Zhao, why did the division commander lose his temper?" ”

Zhao Yuhe sighed, shook his head and said: "It wasn't because of the things on the battlefield of the Sejingge River, the Soviet aviation suddenly increased its strength and mastered the air supremacy of the battlefield, Brigade Commander Liu's troops suffered a big loss, and the Northern Flight Group did not take advantage, Brigade Commander Liu built yì and withdrew to the second line of defense, that is, the first line of the Ranshi Mountain, I also agree with Brigade Commander Liu's construction, as a result, the division commander was furious at that time, and there was such a harshly worded telegram. ”

Wang Jun opened his mouth, but found that he had nothing to say, so he said comfortingly, "It's the division commander's descendant troops, and it's normal for him to have a fire in his heart!" ”

Zhao Yuhe shook his head and said: "Chief of Staff Wang, the division commander lost his temper, I'm afraid it's not only related to this, but also related to Commander Liu Cuigang's injury, look at it, the telegram has arrived at the front line, Brigade Commander Liu can't tell how big the fire is?" is known as the First Brigade of the Independent Division, but was scolded by the division commander for being useless, with Brigade Commander Liu's temper, is it still upside down? I'm really worried that he will lead his troops to fight desperately with the Soviet army and do something out of the ordinary! ”

Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe knew Liu Hongzhang's personality and temper well, and after the telegram from the division was sent to the front command of the Sejingge River, sure enough, before Liu Chenglin, chief of staff of the First Brigade, finished reading the telegram, Liu Hongzhang, who was sitting and smoking a cigarette, exploded all at once!

A cigarette butt was dropped and slammed on the table made of shell boxes, "Smack!" The telescopes, magnifying glasses, pencils and other objects above almost jumped to the ground, their faces were flushed, their necks jumped high, their eyes were as wide as copper bells, and they shouted at the top of their voices: "What? The division commander said that I was soft-spoken, instigated, and didn't dare to fight a ruthless battle, isn't this a stumbling person, asking around, I, Liu Hongzhang, have been wearing this military uniform since I put on it, when was I afraid of death? ”

Everyone in the command headquarters changed color in unison, silent, only heard Liu Hongzhang's roar, roared for a while, Liu Hongzhang still felt panicked in his heart, turned his face to Ouyang Yishan and said: "Brigade Commander Ouyang, you are the deputy commander, I will leave it to you here, I will rush back to Kulun immediately, and ask the division commander clearly, I, Liu Hongzhang, am not a bear bag or a soft egg, and the First Brigade is not a recruit who has never seen blood, why do you bury people like this?" ”

After speaking, he called a few guards and was about to rush back to Kulun overnight, Ouyang Yishan said coldly: "Brigade Commander Liu, I advise you not to go, the division commander said this, not only your first brigade, my second brigade can run?" Think about the reason why the division commander is angry, are there any mistakes in what we did? ”

Liu Hongzhang stopped, glared at Ouyang Yishan angrily, and his voice was still earth-shattering, "What? Where the mistake is, what is the mistake, do not withdraw to the second line of defense, the sky is full of old Maozi bombers, as soon as our soldiers show up, they will be hit by heavy bombs that split their heads and cover their heads, hiding in anti-artillery holes and shelters, and they can't get to the position in time, only after the Soviet troops land on the shore, can they counterattack, you have also seen, this battle is not a nest? ”

"For more than four hours, our troops have wiped out one and a half regiments, not counting the troop losses of the Outer Mongolian border guards, blocking in place for two days, and fighting like this for two days, the two of us have really become the commanders of the light pole, what to do with Lao Maozi? Replenishment? The new raw melon and eggs, can the original veteran be good? Brother Ouyang, tell me, my construction is a little wrong, the division commander stumbled me and my soldiers like this? ”

Ouyang Yishan was very calm, and said: "Brother Hongzhang, think about it carefully, when you sent a telegram and proposed to build a new one, I didn't quite agree, why did the division commander know that our troops had heavy casualties, and ordered us to defend the south bank and not take a step back, is it that there is no name in it?" Moreover, we are only allowed to fight for two more days, and when the time comes, we will not be able to withdraw if we don't want to! ”

Liu Hongzhang frowned and turned back, obviously still angry, panting heavily, but without that kind of angry energy, he took out a cigarette and lit it, and took a hard breath, the smoke swirled around his body, and Ouyang Yishan's words hit his heart heavily.

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