The telephone lines leading to the positions on the front line were blown up by Soviet artillery fire, and the orders of the command had not yet been conveyed to the various units on the front, and the Soviet sappers were setting up pontoon bridges.

However, Sun Zhenbang had strict orders, and without his orders, no troops were allowed to go out of the artillery holes and shelters, so the officers and men of the forward troops were in a hurry, but these commanders had followed Sun Zhenbang to fight with the Japanese army for many years since they were in China.

The surface of the Sejingge River is more than 100 meters wide, and the speed at which the Soviet army engineers erected the pontoon bridge is very fast, and after more than ten minutes of effort, the pontoon bridge has been extended to more than 30 meters above the river surface, and it just enters the mortar's shot, almost unanimously, the commanders of the various forward positions have sent more than 20 mortars, and quickly entered the fortifications that were almost in ruins, and the goal is very clear, using mortars, blowing up the Soviet pontoon bridge, and killing the Soviet sappers by the way.

Sun Zhenbang was in the telescope, he could see it clearly, he was so anxious that he stomped his feet, and roared in a rage: "Confused, who gave them the order?" Unauthorized defense of the artillery hole, staff, artillery brigade 1st and 2nd brigade radio contact? ”

The staff officer hurriedly replied: "Commander, I have been contacted and are waiting for your order!" ”

Sun Zhenbang said: "Order, the 1st Artillery Brigade will take the Soviet pontoon bridge as the target for shelling, and the forward position will be responsible for observation, and the 2nd Artillery Brigade, when the Soviet Army shells again, will suppress the Soviet artillery position, and wait for my order to be issued before allowing the artillery to be fired, remind them to pay attention, and after 15 minutes of shelling." Immediately move to the reserve position! ”

There are only two artillery brigades, Sun Zhenbang can only use them in this way, he has no capital and Soviet artillery, to fight an artillery battle with the same number and caliber of artillery, after giving the order, Sun Zhenbang rushed to the observation port of the shelter department, held a telescope, and observed the movement on the river with fear.

Soon, the mortars of the forward troops, began shelling. More than 200 mortars rained shells on the pontoon bridge and on the Soviet sappers who were working hard to erect the pontoon bridge. Constantly falling into the river, on the surface of the river. From time to time, it stirs up a column of water that soars to the sky. The rushing river, carrying the corpses of Soviet engineers, quickly moved away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

The shelling was very effective, and the Soviet sappers spent more than ten minutes erecting twelve pontoon bridges. In an instant, it turned into a pile of wood chips, and the shelling stopped, and Sun Zhenbang saw it in the telescope. The artillerymen at the front, as if cheering, were so anxious that he stomped his feet, and regardless of whether the soldiers could hear it or not, he shouted loudly: "Quick! Come on! Fast forward to the anti-artillery hole! ”

Then, turning back to the staff officer, he yelled: "Is the telephone line to the front line connected?" ”

The staff officer replied: "Only three are connected, and the rest are being repaired by the communications battalion of the headquarters!" ”

Sun Zhenbang then shouted: "Call quickly, order the mortars, immediately withdraw and enter the anti-artillery hole, quick!" ”

As soon as his words fell, in the sky, there was a scream of large-caliber shells piercing the air, Sun Zhenbang's face turned white with a "swish", he knew that his bad premonition had become a reality, the cunning Soviet commander, killing back the horse gun, more than 200 mortars, and more than 400 soldiers were finished, and they would be drowned in the Soviet artillery fire!

There was another violent explosion that shook the mountains, and countless shells immediately covered the position on the south bank of the Sejingge River, and the earth fell into chaos in an instant, Sun Zhenbang sat on the shell box dejectedly, his heart was torn like a sharp pain, and he couldn't blame the commander of the front troops.

No matter who it is, they will adopt such a combat method, destroying the Soviet pontoon bridge, which can delay the Soviet army's offensive speed to the greatest extent, that is, to ensure that the troops block for a longer time, and the choice of tactics and the timing of the artillery bombardment are correct, but the first heavy casualties of the troops appeared.

On the north bank of the Sejingge River, General Kurygin put down his binoculars, with a confident smile on the corner of his mouth, and the chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zirnenko, said with admiration: "Comrade commander, I have seen, what is called a return carbine, your judgment is correct, our shelling, indeed did not give the troops of the independent division, with maximum damage, they still have so many mortars, the Chinese, it is really incredible, how did they survive under such fierce shelling?" ”

When the chief of staff of Zirnenko said these words, he still reserved some, "It's a pity that those sappers and a third of the pontoon bridge has been erected, this price is inevitably greater, right?" ”

General Kurygin was obviously in a good mood and explained: "If my judgment is correct, the Chinese soldiers are hiding underground to avoid the killing and wounding of our artillery fire, convey my order, extend the artillery fire, continue to erect pontoon bridges, and at the same time, order the 1st and 3rd Mechanized Infantry Divisions, the 37th Mechanized Infantry Division of the 3rd Army, take assault boats, and force the crossing of the Sejingge River, and the 48th Mechanized Infantry Division of the 5th Army, as a campaign reserve, to join the breakthrough battle at any time!" ”

The artillery fire of the Soviet army, "booming" to the depth, Sun Zhenbang's face was pale, gritted his teeth lying on the observation port of the shelter, the forward position gradually dissipated, he saw that the Soviet sappers continued to erect pontoon bridges, at the same time, on the river beach on the opposite bank, countless Soviet infantry, carrying assault boats, quickly put into the river, and then, sliding the oars hard, rushed to the south bank, the river surface, densely packed with Soviet assault boats.

Sun Zhenbang visually judged that at least two or three divisions of Soviet troops had launched an attack, and he did not reply to the order: "Order, the 1st Artillery Brigade will immediately shell the Soviet troops crossing the river, and the 2nd Artillery Brigade will shell the Soviet artillery positions, and after 15 minutes, move to the reserve position!" ”

From the rear of the position of the Outer Mongolian border guards, a group of shells flew in the roar, raindrops fell on the river, stirring up countless water columns that rushed to the sky, the shells fell on the Soviet assault boat, in an instant, splashed a splash of blood, the residual value of the Soviet soldier's broken arm, flew into the air, the shell fell on the river, the stirred up water column, overturned the assault boat, the Soviet soldier fell into the water, the turbulent river, with the Soviet soldiers who sink and float, went away in the blink of an eye, but could not escape the tearing of the shell, and the corpse floated on the river.

More shells, swept across the Sejingge River and flew to the rear of the Soviet troops, and the Soviet artillery, which was shelling the depth of the troops of the independent division, became messy in an instant, adjusting their coordinates one after another, looking for a new opponent.

Suddenly, he saw that on the forward position, the figure of the soldiers of his own troops appeared, and in the trenches that were blown up, one by one light and heavy machine gun fire points were quickly erected, and immediately, the roar of light and heavy machine guns sounded, and the dense bullets were fired at the unobstructed river, and the river surface was like a boiling pot, and the Soviet assault boat was overturned by the bullets, and the Soviet soldiers on the assault boat fell into the water one after another.

The counterattack of the forward troops was also not ordered by the commander Sun Zhenbang, but the commanders at all levels chose not to wait for the order and began to counterattack.

With only one artillery brigade and less than 200 artillery pieces, it was impossible to repel the Soviet army's river-crossing offensive on a river more than 20 kilometers wide.

As soon as the battle began, it developed to a white-hot stage, and the Soviet soldiers braved the artillery fire and light and heavy machine gun bullets of the Outer Mongolian border guards to desperately attack the south bank, and the artillery battle of the four Soviet artillery divisions with an artillery brigade was also carried out more intensely, and the shells of both sides staggered through the air, and the sky over the battlefield was full of shells piercing the air and piercing screams.

Fifteen minutes later, the shelling of the Outer Mongolian border guards suddenly stopped, and only the shells fired by the Soviet artillery were still whistling past as if they were not asking for money, and the pressure of the Soviet troops who were crossing the river to storm suddenly decreased greatly, and the light and heavy machine guns mounted on the assault boats also began to spit out tongues of fire, hitting the positions on the south bank and flying dust.

Sun Zhenbang suddenly became nervous, he saw that there were more than a dozen Soviet assault boats, braving dense bullets, had approached the south bank, and the Soviet soldiers on the first few assault boats jumped down the river, flowing waist-deep river water, were rushing, and the guns in their hands began to shoot intensively to suppress the firepower of the defenders on the opposite bank.

Sun Zhenbang knew that it was the position of the 1st Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Brigade, and he was so nervous that his left hand tightly dug into the dirt of the shelter, and kept shouting: "Quickly counterattack, take advantage of the unstable foothold of the Soviet army, and press the enemy down!" ”

At this moment, countless grenades suddenly flew out of the position of a regiment, like a black eagle, and landed on the heads of about a company of Soviet soldiers, "Boom, boom! The flames and smoke of the explosion drowned out the Soviet soldiers who had already landed on the south bank, and then a group of grenades flew over, and the Soviet soldiers fell down screaming, and then there was the familiar sound of the "Suomi" submachine gun.

Ten minutes later, a skirmish and counterattack battle ended, and the only Soviet troops who had landed on the beachhead on the south bank and seemed to have grabbed the wreath of victory, more than 100 soldiers of an infantry company, all fell in front of the position of the 3rd Infantry Brigade of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, and all of them survived, becoming bloody corpses, not even a single wounded.

Sun Zhenbang slammed the wall of the shelter and shouted, "Good fight!" I'm going to give them credit! ”

On the battlefield more than 20 kilometers wide, there was gunpowder smoke everywhere, the battle broke out in an all-round way, the sound of guns and artillery was already indistinguishable, and as soon as the Soviet army's attack began, Sun Zhenbang invested all his forces to counterattack and curb the Soviet army's frantic attack.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )