General Kurygin, commander of the Soviet Transcaucasian Military District and commander of the Frontline Command of the Campaign for the Restoration of Outer Mongolia, and member of the political council, blamed the failure of the troops' offensive on the first day on the military region's air force, Colonel-General Konev, who commanded unfavorably and did not know how to judge the enemy's situation.

Thinking of this, General Kulygin could no longer sit still, out of the tent, under the sinking sunset, the late autumn wind in northern Outer Mongolia blew through the withered yellow grassland, between the heaven and the earth, there was no longer a trace of green, more and more empty and sluggish, the color of the river water, the tireless torrent rushed to the southeast, the twilight wind blew, and there was a cold chill.

In less than a month, the Outer Mongolian steppe will enter winter, when the time comes, the cold wind is howling, and the snow is falling, which will make it more difficult for the mechanized troops to fight; first, the mobilization and movement of the troops will be greatly restricted; if they cannot capture Kulen before the winter comes, the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District will be in a dilemma; on the one hand, the Outer Mongolian border guards who are stubbornly resisting, and the main force of the independent division, which is constantly reinforced, and on the other hand, the cold climate of ice and snow.

General Kulygin's gaze crossed the river more than 100 meters wide and looked at the position on the opposite bank, quietly, without a single light, silent as a lurking beast, but he knew that in the underground more than 20 kilometers wide and deep for an unknown length of time, there were tens of thousands of soldiers of the independent division who had won the first battle and had high morale, staring at their own troops, and would give their attacking troops a blow at any time.

How to break through the Sejingge River. General Kurygin had no clue about this only natural barrier to Kulen, and although he instructed the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zirenenko, to convene a meeting of commanders above the regimental level at eight o'clock in the evening to discuss the plan for tomorrow's attack, in his heart, it was like a mess, what to say to those officers under him? And what to say, anyway, tomorrow's offensive. It must be done on time!

The guard staff officer cautiously came over, "Comrade commander, the cooking squad has prepared dinner for you!" ”

General Kuregin woke up from a dream, withdrawing from his disorganized thoughts, and it was dark. The night completely engulfed the grasslands of northern Outer Mongolia, and the evening wind became stronger and more biting. He muttered. Turned and went into the tent.

Despite the indistinct tone, the staff officer of the guard, who had been following him for a long time, heard the words of the comrade commander clearly, "I have no appetite!" ”

General Kurygin took out a pen and paper, followed the light of the gas lamp, and began to write a report on the situation of the battle. This report on the situation of the battle was divided into two parts, one was addressed to the Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Petroshilov, who was also a member of the army line. Moreover, Comrade Marshal was still the commander-in-chief of the campaign to recover Outer Mongolia, and he had no intention of concealing the defeat in the first battle of the Sejinggeshui Campaign, and telling the truth was more conducive to Comrade Marshal judging the enemy's situation.

In the report, in addition to stating the facts, the main purpose of General Kurygin is to ask for more reinforcements, and other troops do not want it, as long as the air force has five fighter divisions and three bomber divisions for reinforcements, and in today's daytime air battle, he has witnessed the whole process with his own eyes, and he cannot imagine how difficult and dangerous it will be for the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District to attack the Kulen road under the condition of losing air supremacy.

Hundreds of kilometers long, there will be bombers and fighters of the independent division flying in the sky like locusts, and the soldiers are not afraid of marching, but of bombs falling from the sky, is there still a way to fight this battle? I am afraid that before I see the shadow of Kulen, the more than 200,000 troops of the Transcaucasian Military District will be greatly damaged and demoralized.

Therefore, if the Chief of the General Staff asked the Chief of the General Staff for the Air Force, even if he said that his situation was more sinister and more wolf-like, he did not hesitate to submit another report to the Air Force General Headquarters, and there was only one request, to remove the commander of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military District, Colonel-General Konev, and to replace it with an air force general who could fight.

In the report, in addition to General Ralekonev's command mistakes, General Kurygin also emphatically expounded his viewpoint: If the Air Force General Headquarters does not remove General Konev, he will personally rush to Moscow to report to Comrade Stalin on the course of the Outer Mongolian campaign and the factors affecting the offensive of the troops.

General Kurygin believes that after this report is submitted to the Air Force Headquarters, they have to be cautious, and if the matter is stabbed to Comrade Stalin, no one will have a hard time, and if he had the right to recall, he would have driven Konev out of the Transcaucasian Military District a long time ago, but unfortunately, according to the system of the Soviet Red Army, he only has the right to build a transfer, otherwise, he would not have taken great pains to bring out the supreme leader and threaten the people of the Air Force Command.

After writing the two reports, putting them in a thick envelope, and carefully gluing them with glue, General Kulygin's mood was somewhat relaxed, looking at his watch, it was already more than seven o'clock in the evening, he suddenly felt very hungry, and had an appetite for food, Comrade Commander did not want to, hungry to preside over the military meeting in an hour, called over to the guard staff officer, and simply ordered: "Prepare dinner!" ”

Then, he said to the staff officer of the guard: "You arrange for four reliable people, by plane, to rush to Moscow overnight, to deliver two letters to their destination according to the address on the envelope, remember, do not alarm anyone, including the chief of staff, Comrade Zirnianko!" ”

On the south bank of the Sejingge River, in the shelter department of the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, the commander, Major General Sun Zhenbang, after the end of the air battle, ordered the forward troops to prepare for the Soviet attack.

However, from more than four o'clock in the afternoon, until twilight engulfed the steppes of northern Outer Mongolia, to the strong autumn wind blowing on the Mongolian Plateau, but did not wait for the attack of the Soviet army, Sun Zhenbang rubbed his sour neck, withdrew his gaze to observe the Soviet position, and instructed the chief of the operations section: "Order the forward troops, lift the combat state, and pay attention to vigilance!" ”

The chief of the operations section went to call, and Sun Zhenbang muttered unwillingly: "What the hell is Lao Maozi doing?" It seems that it is impossible to launch an offensive today, and it is also that it has been hit hard again and again during the day, especially Liu Cuigang's aviation, which has fought even harder, and the Soviet commander has to adjust his deployment, so it is the best, Lao Tzu can afford it! ”

After hastily finishing dinner, with the help of a little dim mutton oil lamp, Sun Zhenbang began to write a report on the battle situation to the division commander Tang Qiuli.

"Division commander, starting at 4 o'clock in the morning, the Soviet army launched a fierce attack on the first-line position of our Sejingge River, and shelled our army's position with the artillery fire of about four divisions, and after more than two hours of fierce fighting, repelled the first attack of the Soviet army, after which the aviation unit bombed the Soviet artillery position, effectively striking at the arrogance of the Soviet artillery, as of more than 7 o'clock this evening, in more than 10 hours, the Soviet army failed to organize another attack."

"On the first day of the battle to block the Sejingge River, it ended with our division defeating the Soviet army and killing and wounding more than 2,000 of them, judging from this, the subsequent offensive of the Soviet army was nothing more than that, therefore, on behalf of the front-line troops of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, I request the division commander to revoke the order of flexible defense and instead, with the vigorous assistance of the Northern Flying Group of the Air Force, hold the position on the south bank of the Sejingge River for five to six days, so as to gain enough time for the division commander to deploy troops."

"Moreover, I ordered the front-line troops to withdraw half of their troops to the front line of the rocky mountain about three kilometers behind, which can effectively avoid the killing and wounding of the Soviet artillery fire, in addition, starting from 6 o'clock tonight, the troops will dig communication trenches leading to the forward positions, which is convenient for transporting troops and ammunition and materials, and has increased the mobility of the troops. If the above construction is proper, please give instructions from the division commander! ”

On the night of September 20, after receiving Sun Zhenbang's telegram, Tang Qiuli, the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Guards and the temporary headquarters of the division commander, carefully read it twice, and then, with his hands behind his back, paced back and forth in the room, frowning and thinking hard from time to time, Colonel Wang Jun, chief of staff of the Outer Mongolia Frontier Army, and Liu Cuigang, who came to report the situation, looked intently at the division commander who was turning back and forth, and his eyes followed his movements.

Tang Qiuli could not but think carefully, if he approved Sun Zhenbang's request, it would mean that he would change the battle plan he had formulated before, which would of course be extremely beneficial to mobilizing troops and gaining time, and besides, the Sesagoge River is the only natural barrier north of Kulun, and if this advantageous location is lost, the next defense will be very difficult, and the Soviet army can quickly advance to the Kulen line.

However, let Sun Zhenbang's troops, on the front line of the Sejingge River, hard top five or six days, Tang Qiuli could not but take into account the casualties of the troops, the first battle thwarted the Soviet army's offensive, the reasons are many, Liu Cuigang's air force, the great merit, the Soviet army does not understand the defense system and combat effectiveness of the border guards, this is also one of the reasons, the next battle, I am afraid it may not be as easy as Sun Zhenbang expected.

Tang Qiuli understands the senior commanders of the Soviet army, and his ability to adapt to the battlefield is very strong, although after Stalin's iron-blooded and ruthless rebellion, what can be retained are all commanders who have experienced a hundred battles, and in the face of an unfavorable battlefield situation, he will definitely come up with an effective solution, and tomorrow, Sun Zhenbang will encounter the Soviet army with a different style of fighting.

Tang Qiuli suddenly stopped circling and asked, "Chief of Staff Wang, where have the first and second brigades of the Corps directly under Zhao Yuhe's command reached now?"

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