In eastern Outer Mongolia, on the west bank of the Ulez River, at about 4 a.m. on September 29, Liu Tiehan's eastward troops ambushed the Soviet Far Eastern Front and reinforced the troops on the battlefield in Outer Mongolia.

After the Third Army of the Soviet Far Eastern Front crossed the bridge over the Ulez River, the artillery of the eastward command troops on the frontal position played a beautiful set of combination punches, and the momentum was like thunder.

The large-caliber howitzer group, blocking and cutting off its retreat to the east bank of the Ulez River, covering the rear guard and baggage units, the mortar group and the combination of light and heavy machine guns, hitting the avant-garde division of the Third Army and the rocket artillery group, turning more than 200 tanks of a tank brigade of the Third Army into piles of scrap metal, and covering the avant-garde division of the Third Army in a sea of fire.

Hundreds of large-caliber howitzers, five regiments of 32-barrel rocket launchers, nearly 1,000 mortars, plus light and heavy machine guns, hit the west bank of the Ulez River, an area with a radius of only a few tens of kilometers, like boiling molten iron, like boiling a pot, the fire of the shell explosion reflected the gloomy sky, and under the flash of fire, it was the figure of the Soviet soldiers hiding from the artillery attack, and it was the scattered and burning cars and artillery trucks.

The Soviet artillery who hurriedly responded to the battle was considered to be good, and began to return fire by means of the temporary artillery position, and just fired a round of shells, it attracted thousands of rounds of large-caliber grenades to retaliate, the fire flashed, smoke and dust were everywhere, and shrenching the temporary positions of the Soviet artillery, and the Soviet artillery and artillery together turned into flying parts, and the Soviet artillery was completely dumb after ten minutes of artillery battle.

Less than an hour after the battle began, the rear guard division and the vanguard division of the Third Army were licked into more than a third of their troops by this flame that enveloped the heavens and the earth, and not even a shadow of the infantry of the East Command Army was seen. What I saw was the cannonballs flying and falling like meteors in the sky.

When the battle came to this, the commander of the Third Army, Major General Aslanov, knew that he had hit the iron plate, moreover, he also vaguely guessed the intention of the troops of the independent division, to fight the head and tail without hitting the middle, this is the posture of the Third Army, in the words of the Chinese. Called dumplings, dumplings filling, that is, the troops of the Third Army, especially after the loss of the main assault force tank brigade, the plan to break the ambush circle of the troops of the separate division. No drama at all.

Commander Aslanov began to panic and could not retreat. You can't move forward. An army of more than 40,000 men and horses was in an open field, with no terrain to hide from artillery fire, no concealment, and thousands of shells next to it. He didn't even have a chance to return the phone, don't look at his current position, it can be considered calm for the time being, he knows it very well. It won't be long before swarms of shells will cover here.

Commander Aslanov sent several telegrams asking for help to the commander of the team, Deputy Chief of Staff Yemenchenko, "Comrade Deputy Chief of Staff, our Third Army was under heavy shelling by the artillery of the Independent Division on the west bank of the Ulez River, and the intensity and ferocity of the artillery fire were unprecedented, and I request the main forces to immediately move closer to us and receive the withdrawal of our Third Army to the east bank of the Ulez River to get rid of the situation of annihilation of the whole army. ”

After receiving the telegram from Commander Aslanov, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, his face was pale, and he tore the telegram to pieces in a few angry handfuls, looking at the battlefield where the guns and cannons sounded into a pot of porridge, and thought angrily in his heart, "Aslanov wants me to save him?" I don't know who to save yet? Find out the number of the independent division that attacked us, and the name of the commander, it really fucking doesn't hurt to stand and talk. ”

"If I knew that I had been attacked by Tang Qiuli's general, would I still be confused here? Reactive? God doesn't know how so many independent divisions appeared out of thin air! ”

Thirty minutes after the battle on the west bank of the Ulez River began, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, who had received a report from Army Commander Aslanov, did not dare to slack off and commanded the troops of the three armies to move closer to the Third Army as quickly as possible.

Just when the Soviet troops of the three armies were rushing towards the direction of the Ulez River, on the left and right flanks, more than 100,000 horses of the six brigades of the East Finger Army, which had been in ambush for several hours, suddenly struck out from both sides, and the sudden storm caught the Soviet army by surprise.

The fighting style was the same as that of the troops in the frontal position, first covering the marching columns of the Soviet army with heavy artillery fire, and then, a rain of bullets, whistling and flying, immediately disrupted the Soviet troops of the three armies.

Lieutenant General Yemenchenko definitely did not expect that there would be so many troops of the independent division suddenly, judging from the sound of guns and artillery that stretched for dozens of kilometers, Tang Qiuli took out at least a hundred thousand troops to ambush himself, then, the question arises, the troops besieging Kurygin are the main force of the independent division? Also, so many independent divisions have entered the battlefield of Outer Mongolia, why is there no mention of it in the enemy situation report of the high command?

However, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko was not too worried, he commanded more than 130,000 horses in three armies, even if he was ambushed by the troops of the independent division, it was not easy to be defeated, the battle took place in the left and right directions, and there was no gunfire in the back, that is to say, the strength of the troops of the independent division, roughly equivalent to his own strength, could not be encircled on three sides, and it was a big deal to hold on for a day or two, and then withdraw the same way.

However, the high command should be let know what is going on, and the plan of raiding Kulen to rescue the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District is difficult to realize, at least, the troops of the independent division in front of them will not let themselves go.

Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, calmly gave the order, ordering the three armies to spread out on the spot, first block the attack of the troops of the independent division, and then stand firm, although they were suddenly attacked, they could not be chaotic first.

After the arrangement of 1510, looking at the battlefield that was red for half the sky, sighing, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko personally drafted a telegram to the high command, "The high command and transfer to Comrade Stalin, our Far Eastern Front rushed to Kulen's troops, in the area east of the Ulez River in eastern Outer Mongolia, was suddenly attacked by the troops of the independent division, judging by the battle situation, the enemy's troops dispatched at least about three or four corps, accompanied by a large number of large-caliber artillery. ”

"And the Third Army, which I went out to the west bank of the Ulez River, was also attacked by the troops of the Independent Division thirty minutes ago, judging from this, Tang Qiuli's troops were more than our army in terms of numbers, and now, the battle situation is very fierce, and all the troops are engaged with the enemy, so it can be seen that the plan of a long-distance attack on Kulen is no longer possible, and the troops of the Far Eastern Front should immediately withdraw the same way to avoid unnecessary losses.

At about 5 a.m. on September 29, Stalin was awakened in his sleep by the attendants, "Comrade Stalin! Comrade Stalin! The Chief of the General Staff, Marshal Petroshilov, is here and has an important military situation to report to you! ”

"What a nasty guy who doesn't even get a good night's sleep!" Stalin muttered, put on his pajamas, and walked out of the bedroom with an inappropriate expression.

When I arrived in the living room, I saw at a glance that Marshal Petroshilov was walking back and forth in the living room with a sweaty face like ants on the hot pot, looking at the feeling of restlessness, without waiting for Stalin to ask, Marshal Petroshilov said in a hurry: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, I disturbed your rest, there is really an urgent military situation, I want to report to you in person!" ”

Stalin said kindly: "Sit down and say, Comrade Petroshilov, the sky will not fall," and after speaking, he sat down on the sofa first.

Petroshilov was in the mood to sit down, opened the folder, took out a telegram, handed it to Stalin, and said: "At about 4:40 this morning, the General Staff received an urgent telegram from the commander of the Far Eastern Front, Deputy Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, who was rushing to Kulen, to be suddenly attacked by the main force of the independent division in the eastern region of Outer Mongolia, near the Ulez River!" ”

"According to the situation described in the telegram of Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, the strength of the independent division should be in four and a half armies, about 170,000 to 180,000 people, and there is also a large number of large-caliber artillery.

"What?" Before he could read the telegram, Stalin, who was shocked by Marshal Petroshilov's words, jumped up from the sofa and exclaimed in a frustration, "Comrade Petroshilov, please tell me that the troops of the independent division besieging the Transcaucasian Military District are about 150,000 people, and the troops of the independent division attacking the Far Eastern Front are about 180,000 people, and the troops of the independent division attacking the Far Eastern Front are about 180,000 people. ”

"With so many independent divisions and troops entering the Outer Mongolia region, why don't we have any intelligence at all? Military intelligence is the responsibility of the General Directorate of Military Intelligence of the General Staff, you say, because there is no exact intelligence, who should bear the responsibility for the fact that we have misjudged the strength of our Outer Mongolian battlefield and independent divisions, and that nearly 300,000 troops of the Transcaucasian Military District and the Far Eastern Front are facing heavy dangers? ”

Stalin's tone was cold, his voice was hoarse and dry, his eyes flashed with a burning and fierce light, and he glared at Marshal Petroshilov, and a shuddering coercion rushed to his face, making him tremble in his heart, and subconsciously took half a step back.

Marshal Petroshilov was speechless about Stalin's vicious words, the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence, a second-level unit under the General Staff, himself was the chief of the General Staff, and his subordinates made mistakes in their work, and of course he could not escape the blame and had nothing to say.

What made him tremble was that the person directly responsible, General Bessovsky, head of the Main Directorate of Military Intelligence, had already been sent by Comrade Stalin to the hands of Beria, who was feared and worried.

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