General Kurygin bowed his head, mourning in silence for his failure, resentful at not being able to seize air supremacy, and many complicated feelings stirred his heart like a burning pain.

A soft sound of footsteps woke General Kurygin from his loss, it was the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zirnenko, who had returned, and the two looked at each other, and both saw the complicated feelings in each other's hearts.

The commander, Comrade Kurykin, was bitter, while the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zirnenko, was deeply worried.

General Kulygin said: "Comrade Zirenenko, tell me about the situation, I am mentally prepared for this!" ”

Lieutenant General Zirnenko, taking out a few pages, said: "The losses of the various units have been statistically improved, the follow-up troops of the second attack wave have suffered heavy losses, the three infantry regiments have lost more than 90 percent of their strength, the two tank brigades, with more than 300 tanks, have been blown up by the bombers of the independent division, and the battle loss rate has exceeded more than half, and the third echelon that is being assembled has also been bombed, and the losses are not large, but it is difficult to complete the attack according to the original plan." ”

Looking at General Kulygin's somewhat blank face, Lieutenant General Zirnenko continued: "We have climbed the troops on the south bank of the Sejingge River, a total of fifteen regiments, more than 50,000 troops, the current losses are not large, I asked in detail about Major General Vadkin, who commanded on the south bank, the formation of each unit is relatively complete, however, Major General Vadkin stressed that without the reinforcement of follow-up troops, with the current strength, it is difficult to break through the position of the independent division. ”

"Moreover, Major General Wadkin also raised the question of whether the Chinese will carry out a large-scale counterattack in the absence of tank artillery fire to suppress the fire of the troops of the independent division, and if such a thing happens, for the troops on the south bank." The situation will be quite bad, and after losing the foothold on the beachhead, the troops will be forced to retreat, and it will be a problem to receive tens of thousands of soldiers to cross the river. ”

General Kurygin sneered and said, "Retreat? How could Vaddkin think of such a stupid question, after two days of fierce fighting, the troops of the independent division have already suffered a great attrition, they are powerless to launch a counterattack, and the foothold that has been gained. How could it be lightly abandoned, jokes, chief of staff, ordered the third echelon, immediately began to cross the river and attack. The bombers of the Independent Division have returned, and we are going to seize this opportunity! ”

"It's 4:25 p.m. Sue sù troops. An hour later, the attack had to be launched, the troops on the south bank were ordered, fire cover was provided, and the engineering units continued to build bridges, working continuously. Don't stop at night, tell him the engineer command, if tomorrow morning I don't see a pontoon bridge for two tank brigades to pass through Guò. Their commanders, including the political commissars, will be executed! ”

The chief of staff of Zirnenko was shocked, he had just returned from the third echelon that was preparing to assemble, and he knew that the troops had been bombed so badly by the bomber group of the independent division, and in an hour, it was too late to rescue the wounded and reorganize the troops, let alone cross the river to attack? It was now 4:30 p.m., an hour later, and at half past five, it was already the late autumn season, and it was dark early.

A night attack is something that has never been done before for the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District, and it is not easy to fight during the day, let alone conduct an operation at night, and it is even more impossible for the engineers to build bridges overnight.

The rushing river water, even during the day, is difficult, at night, I am afraid that the pontoon bridge is not built, the equipment will be washed away by the river, and besides, without the suppression of tank artillery fire, the troops of the independent division can allow the sappers to build a pontoon bridge? The mortar bombardment in the morning still lingered in his mind, and did Comrade Commander think about these questions?

Zirnenko, chief of staff, hurriedly said: "Comrade commander, I understand your feelings, but we should also make campaign arrangements according to the actual situation. ”

Then, Lieutenant General Zirnenko, with his reasons for his opposition, made a detailed statement with sincerity and firmness.

How could General Kurygin not think of this, but the attitude of his chief of staff was a little unexpected, but he knew that these were all difficulties in actual existence, but did he have any other choice?

General Kurygin smiled a little bitterly, and said in a gentle tone: "Comrade Zirnianko, I agree with you, but it does not mean that I accept your proposal, today's battle, if there is no sudden appearance of the bomber group of the independent division, we have already set foot on the land on the south bank, so the lack of air supremacy is our greatest passivity, and the troops on the south bank, which are firmly held by the independent division troops who are holding on to the danger, are desperately suppressed on the river beach, extremely passive. ”

"If you don't take advantage of the situation to launch a continuous attack, what if the independent division defends the army and launches a counterattack that night? After a scuffle, will the troops on the south bank still be able to take on the task of covering the subsequent troops to cross the river? If we still have to wait for the cover of tank artillery fire, the bomber group of the independent division will still come to bomb, we will not be able to bear such large losses again, lose the armored assault force, and it will become very difficult to overcome the battle of Kulen. ”

"Perhaps, before reaching the outskirts of Kulen, the cavalry units of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards of the Independent Division will drag us down, and Sergeyev's Third Army is a clear example of this, so in any case, a continuous offensive must be launched!"

Speaking of this, General Kurygin suddenly sighed, and continued with some loneliness: "Comrade Zirnianko, we have no time, a stunned river, blocking us for more than two days, according to Comrade Stalin's instructions, comrades in Outer Mongolia, will hold a riot, asking the air force of our military region to bomb Kulen and create opportunities for them, you also know that the current air force, after two large-scale air battles, has suffered a great loss of vitality, and the troops with combat capability are basically exhausted and no longer capable, Organize a capable force of night bombers to bomb Cullen. ”

"The stipulated deadline, just tomorrow night, Comrade Zirnianko, the Air Force of the Military Region cannot be counted on, we can only break through the defense line of the troops of the independent division as quickly as possible, otherwise, without external response, the comrades in Outer Mongolia will inevitably be massacred by Tang Qiuli's subordinates, so that the insurrection fails, this responsibility is stricter than the loss of tens of thousands of troops, and it is not something that I and you, or even the entire Transcaucasian Military District, can bear!"

"I want to attack after gaining air supremacy, will the General Staff agree to let us stay on the north bank of the Sesage River for too long? Will Comrade Stalin be able to accept that our nearly thirty mechanized troops will not be able to break through the line of defense held by the second-rate troops of fifty or sixty thousand independent divisions? Neither, so, Comrade Chief of Staff, I have no choice but to launch a continuous offensive today, even if the losses in the troops are great! I hope you can support my work! ”

Chief of Staff Zirnenko sighed deeply, he saw the helplessness in the eyes of Comrade Commander, was silent for a moment, and said: "Comrade Commander, I understand, I will immediately rush to the attacking troops and personally command the third echelon and the engineer troops, since you have no choice, I can only do my best to do a good job as the chief of staff!" Hope your wish is granted. ”

However, when he said the last sentence, the chief of staff of Zirnenko had no bottom in his own hands, of course, General Kurygin also heard it, he smiled, shook the hand of the chief of staff tightly, and watched him leave in a hurry.

On the south bank of the Sejingge River, at the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army Campaign Headquarters, at about 5 o'clock in the afternoon of 21 September, Sun Zhenbang's spirit was a little better, his face was not so pale, although he was still very weak, but he could think normally, he closed his eyes slightly, and was listening to the report of Meng Zhaoxu, chief of the Operations Section.

Meng Zhaoxu's concise report was finished, and after a long time, Sun Zhenbang opened his eyes and asked: "Chaoxu, according to your judgment, after the bombing of our bomber group, will today's Soviet attack end here?" ”

Meng Zhaoxu cautiously replied: "Commander, according to my judgment, the Soviet army is unable to launch another attack, at least it will be like this today, the reason is very simple, the Soviet tanks have been heavily damaged, and more than half of the follow-up troops who are crossing the river are almost completely annihilated, and they will gather troops again and prepare to cross the river to attack, without two or three hours, they can't do it, seeing that the sun is about to set, crossing the river to fight is extremely unfavorable for the attacking side." ”

Sun Zhenbang didn't express any opinion, he asked another question, "Chaoxu, how are the casualties of the troops?" ”

Meng Zhaoxu replied in a heavy tone: "Commander, the casualties of the troops are very large, and the attrition has reached about one-third, especially the headquarters of the commander of the First Brigade Wang Qingshan, because it is guarding the main assault area of the Soviet army, the casualties will be more than one-third, especially the mortar troops, the losses have reached more than half, our two artillery brigades, the artillery that can continue to be used, less than two regiments, now, the strength that can fight is more than 34,000 people, and the casualties of the troops in two days of fierce fighting have exceeded 20,000, and we have no reserves, all the troops, threw themselves into battle. ”

Sun Zhenbang closed his eyes and didn't speak for a long time, Meng Zhaoxu saw that the corners of the commander's eyes were with a trace of tears, and the muscles of his cheeks twitched uncontrollably.

For a long time, Sun Zhenbang said in a weak tone: "Chaoxu, my judgment, the Soviet army will never give up, it has gained a foothold on the beachhead, it is their biggest reliance, you inform a few brigade commanders, tonight, we must strengthen our vigilance, I always have a feeling that the Soviet army will also launch an offensive and take out all the family resources, as long as they survive tonight, reinforcements will arrive, and artillery, all the shells will be exhausted, and fire support will also be provided to the forward positions." ”

"It's time to fight hard, and also, report the battle situation to the division commander diligently!" After saying these words, Sun Zhenbang fell asleep tiredly.

Meng Zhaoxu quietly exited Sun Zhenbang's hospital room, looked at his watch, just arrived at five o'clock, the sun seemed to be hanging in the sky and not moving, the night was so far away, he had never felt that today was so long, so long that it was maddening.

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