Major General Tong Batu, commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, calculated the speed of the cavalry with great accuracy, and he could easily control the rhythm of the charge and retreat of his brigade and each company, so that the Second Brigade could attack and defend freely under his command.

The withdrawal from Irkutsk this time is the same, according to Tong Batu's calculations, after the Soviet army completed the final encirclement, the second brigade has been far away from the Soviet encirclement at least more than 20 kilometers, even if the Soviet army pursues up, the vast steppe of Outer Mongolia is a paradise for cavalry, you can play hide and seek with the Soviet army, if you are lucky, maybe you can seize the opportunity, fight a counterattack, and export evil anger.

However, Tong Batu underestimated the artillery of the Soviet army, and most of the troops of the Second Brigade had already closed the gap, but at this moment, in the sky, there was a scream of shells piercing the air, and then, dense shells like raindrops smashed into the gap, and it was when Major General Sergeyev, commander of the Third Army of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union, ordered the artillery of the 37th and 38th Divisions to block the gap.

On a high post less than ten kilometers away from the gap, Tong Batu held a telescope with a blue face, looking at the area that was blown up into a sea of fire by shells, his fists were clenched, his nails almost pierced into his muscles, and the second battalion of the first regiment, which served as the rearguard, was blocked in the encirclement by the Soviet artillery fire.

Everywhere Tong Batu's eyes looked, except for the explosion points of the shells, one after another, the smoke and flying dust, the whistling shrapnel and the flashing fire, nothing could be seen, and under the feet was the trembling earth, under such intensive artillery fire of the Soviet army, the second battalion was more auspicious and less lucky, and the possibility of rushing out was very small. That's more than 500 fierce Mongolian men, his old subordinates for many years, he closed his eyes in pain.

An hour later, the Soviet artillery fire gradually thinned out, and the remaining men and horses of the second battalion of the first regiment appeared in Tong Batu's field of vision, and the battalion commander of the major, Gao Jirigala, was covered in blood, his left arm was empty, and his sleeve was tattered. With the autumn breeze fluttering in the grasslands of Outer Mongolia, people and horses are like returning from hell.

Gao Ji Rigala staggered on horseback, and when he arrived in front of Tong Batu, he shouted with a crying voice: "Brigade commander. I'm sorry for you, a battalion. More than 500 brothers. Less than a hundred people have returned, shoot me! ”

Tong Batu's eyes were black, and he shook a few times, if it weren't for the quick eyes of the guard next to him, he helped him. The brigade commander will definitely fall headlong under the horse, Tong Batu calmed down, waved his hand weakly, and said to Gao Ji Rigala: "Don't cry. Like a, go down and bandage it first, and then raid the list of fallen soldiers. ”

The military doctor with the team, hurriedly helped Gao Ji Rigala off the horse, Tong Batu couldn't bear to look at less than a hundred, wounded soldiers of the second battalion, patting the horse alone, to the other side, weak dismounting, Tong Batu's heart, heart-rending pain, more than 400 Mongolian men who followed him, from the Chahar grassland, all the way to Outer Mongolia, just threw their lives on this land.

The Soviet artillery bombardment was indeed without warning, but the loss of the second battalion also had a great relationship with his own overconfidence, if he had given his retreat order 30 minutes earlier, or, after receiving the order of the division commander, he would have withdrawn from Irkutsk immediately, instead of grinding for half an hour, there would have been no such heavy losses, as a brigade commander, Tong Batu could not forgive himself.

The night wind of the Outer Mongolian steppe, with a cold air, blew Tong Batu trembling, woke up from his memories, looked up at Irkutsk in the north, the sound of guns and cannons had completely fallen silent, and the boundless darkness shrouded the earth.

The brigade chief of staff, Colonel Hexi Getu, walked over with light steps, he understood the brigade commander's mood at the moment, handed a telegram to Tong Batu, and said: "Brigade commander, I received a telegram from the Kulun ground air command in the Outer Mongolia patrol area, asking if our brigade is retreating safely? ”

Tong Batu did not answer the telegram, but said coldly: "Chief of Staff, call back to Kulen ground air command, the second brigade has safely evacuated Irkutsk, thanks to their air cover, the second brigade has lost hundreds of men and horses, and I Tong Batu can't die, in addition, send a telegram to the division commander to report the retreat and casualties of our department, and explain that because of the command error of the brigade commander Tong Batu, the second battalion of the first regiment has suffered huge casualties, and the brigade commander Tong Batu asks the division commander to give punishment!" ”

The first person to receive the telegram from Tong Batu was Colonel Meng Qingpeng, commander of the Outer Mongolia Patrol Area of the Northern Flight Group of the Air Force, who was in the Kulun ground command post, looking at the telegram full of gunpowder, and couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Brigade Commander Tong is still old-tempered, but the casualties of the Second Brigade also have his own part of the responsibility, which exposes the lack of tacit understanding between the troops of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards and other units in the cooperation between the air and the ground. ”

"If I didn't just patronize the pleasure, and was bent on killing more of the Soviet army's vital forces, and sent part of the aircraft group to bombard the Soviet artillery positions on both sides of the gap, there would be no casualties of the Second Brigade, in other words, I didn't know at that time, the exact location of the Second Brigade's retreat, or the lack of cooperation, should let the division commander know about the situation," Thinking of this, Meng Qingpeng instructed the staff officer: "Prepare the car immediately, go to the headquarters of the border guards, the division commander!" ”

Colonel Wang Jun, Chief of Staff of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, Colonel Wang Jun, Chief of Staff of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, walked in and said: "Division commander, I received a telegram from the 2nd and 5th Cavalry Brigades that the two divisions have safely evacuated from the Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude regions and are retreating in the direction of Kulen. ”

Tang Qiuli retracted his gaze from the map, he was very uncomfortable with the smell of oil smoke emitted by a few mutton fat lamps in the house, his head was a little dizzy, and when he heard Wang Jun's words, he was startled, his brows furrowed slightly, and asked: "Chief of Staff Wang, what about the Fifth Brigade, have there been casualties, and the current location of the two brigades is safe?" ”

Wang Jun replied: "Brigade Commander Li Changjiang of the Fifth Brigade reported that the troops did not suffer any casualties, they had left the danger area, and the troops were resting in a safe area, and the situation of the Second Brigade was the same, but the speed of evacuation was slower than that of the Fifth Brigade. ”

Tang Qiuli thought for a moment and asked, "How were the casualties of the Second Brigade caused, and did Tong Batu explain the situation?" ”

Wang Jun replied: "A brief report, in the process of evacuation, it was blocked by Soviet artillery, and the rear guard battalion of the second brigade was blocked in the encirclement, and almost all the troops were annihilated. ”

Tang Qiuli raised his eyebrows, the situation was not right, when he gave the order to retreat, there was still a big gap in the encirclement of the Soviet army, enough for the second brigade to retreat, how could there be troops, blocked in the encirclement, what the hell was that Tong Batu doing?

Just as Wang Jun was about to send a telegram to Tong Batu to inquire about the situation in detail, Colonel Meng Qingpeng, commander of the Outer Mongolia Patrol Zone, shouted loudly outside his office: "Report, Meng Qingpeng, commander of the Outer Mongolia Patrol Area of the Northern Flight Group of the Air Force, has something important to report to the division commander!" ”

After listening to Meng Qingpeng's explanation, Tang Qiuli finally knew that the specific reason for the casualties of the Second Brigade was not a command error by Tong Batu, nor was it Meng Qingpeng's disregard for the overall situation, it was indeed a problem of air-ground coordination, and the command ability of the Soviet commander and the speed of the Soviet artillery shelling were the fundamental reasons for the casualties of the Second Brigade.

To be exact, it was Tong Batu who underestimated the rapid offensive and defensive conversion ability of the Soviet mechanized troops, and overestimated the movement speed of the cavalry, it seems that when fighting against the Japanese army, the role of the cavalry is undoubtedly very huge, but in the battle with the mechanized troops, the role of the cavalry has been weakened to a considerable extent, war horses and sabers, which are difficult to compete with the armored forces.

However, this does not mean that the cavalry has withdrawn from the stage of war and has been reduced to a doomsday service; at the very least, it will still play an extremely important role under the current circumstances, but it is necessary to put more effort into the tactical guiding ideology and the innovation of tactics.

Tang Qiuli said to Wang Jun: "Chief of Staff Wang, call Tong Batu back, a temporary loss cannot affect your combat effectiveness, the Mongolian man's saber will not be damaged by a momentary setback, let alone be blinded by hatred and make senseless sacrifices, as for the punishment, I will talk about it when you withdraw safely to Kulun, I am waiting for all the cavalry soldiers to return safely in Kulun!" ”

This telegram, there is a reminder, more understanding, Tong Batu took the telegram from the division commander, his heart was full of blood and blood, and he was more moved, and said to himself: "Division commander, you can rest assured, I, Tong Batu, am not an impulsive person, there is a chance for revenge, I am just ashamed of those brothers who died!" ”

After reading the telegram from the division commander Tang Qiuli, Tong Batu's painful and heavy mood seemed to be a little more relaxed, he picked up dry food and a water bottle, and prepared to fill his stomach.

Tong Batu took a bite of dry food, and before he could taste it, in the dark night, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves, coming from far and near, and a war horse appeared in front of him quickly.

Tong Batu saw that it was Bai Yin Baoligao, the captain of the brigade reconnaissance company, and when he arrived in front of the brigade commander, Bai Yin Baoligao panted and said: "Report to the brigade commander, behind us, about 20 kilometers away, we found an armored brigade of the Soviet army, which was on the march, judging from this, it was chasing us!" ”

Tong Batu got up suddenly, dropped the kettle, and asked Baiyin Baoligao anxiously, "What?" There are old Maozi's pursuers, tell me the details! ”

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