The Third Army, the vanguard of the Soviet Far Eastern Front, which reinforced the battlefield in Outer Mongolia, in accordance with the order of the commander of the team and the deputy chief of staff of the Front, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, opened fire on the marching route.

Liu Tiehan, who received the report of the Soviet army's atrocities from the reconnaissance unit, was so angry that he gritted his teeth, and vowed that even if the Soviet troops withdrew to the Outer Khing'an Mountains, he would command the troops to catch up and fight.

If the deputy division commander really made a decision, he would have done to dissuade him no matter what, but once the report was made, if the division commander was not impulsive, and the division commander came to ask how embarrassed he would be.

Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Liu Tiehan say: "Guangjin, you frown for a while and shake your head for a while, what are you thinking there?" I don't think I'm carried away by anger! Hahaha! You can rest assured, nothing like that will happen, order the reconnaissance unit that monitors the bridge over the Ulez River, pay close attention to the movements of this guy Soviet troops, and don't let these rats spoil my big business. ”

Li Guangjin's face turned red, and he said honestly: "Don't hide it from the deputy division commander, I'm really worried about this, and I'm thinking about whether to report it to the division commander!" ”

Liu Tiehan shook his head helplessly, and said: "You, you are too serious and honest, Ketian is different, he knows what I say, what is it, you should learn from Yang Ketian!" ”

Under Liu Tiehan's dispatch of troops, Major Waldrich, a reconnaissance staff officer of the Third Army of the Soviet Far Eastern Front, had been ordered to lead two companies of reconnaissance troops, and the main force of the army was more than 50 kilometers away, with only one task, to control the Ulì River. The only road bridge.

There are not many bridges in Outer Mongolia, and this bridge is the only passage on the Ulez River that can lead to guò tanks and heavy howitzer artillery trucks.

The commander of the army, Major General Aslanov, had a very stern expression when he gave the task. "Comrade Waldrich, I have given you a very important task, to get ahead of the main forces, to control this bridge, and not to let the Chinese army destroy it. This task is related to the marching speed of the entire unit. Once destroyed. More than 100,000 troops of our four armies will be blocked on the east bank of the Ulez River, you know what that means? ”

"I would also like to tell you that this arduous and glorious task was personally given by the commander, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Front. Therefore, your actions, Comrade Commander, are closely watching and preparing for it. Bring a few more radios, set off immediately with your troops, move quickly, and immediately telegraph directly to the deputy chief of staff, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko, as soon as you encounter the troops of the independent division, or if the bridge has been destroyed. ”

Major Waldrich stood on the bridge across the Ulez River, the sky above him was overcast, not even a little starlight could be seen, under his feet was the whistling river, lapping the bank, making a "whoosh" sound, bursts of wet cold air rushed up, the night was so thick that he couldn't see his fingers, and looked into the distance, the four fields were vast, pitch black, a few hills, like crouching monsters, the night wind blew, and the cold air penetrated into his bones.

I don't know why, Major Waldrich's heart swelled up with a feeling of unease, whether it was too quiet, or the cowardice of the lonely army, he always felt that something was not quite right on the other side, he said to the two company commanders beside him: "You two companies, respectively control the two ends of the bridge, go forward three kilometers to establish a cordon, each send a platoon of troops, check whether there are explosives buried on the bridge, be careful, in more than three hours, the main force will be able to arrive, we can be regarded as completing the task!" ”

A captain and company commander thought for a moment and said, "Comrade Major, have we sent some troops to reconnoiter in depth on the west bank?" ”

A cold wind blew, and Major Waldrich shrank his neck and said unhappily: "There is no need for this, our task is to control this bridge and reconnoiter in depth, do you know that this is the main direction of the troops?" Moreover, what should I do if a small unit moves at night, and if something goes wrong, what should I do if the whereabouts of the troops are exposed? ”

A series of question marks, smashed this company commander with a strong sense of responsibility, speechless, Major Waldrich said to the communication soldier beside him: "Send a telegram to Deputy Chief of Staff Yemenchenko, the vanguard reconnaissance unit of our Third Army has taken control of the bridge over the Ulez River, and the bridge is intact!" There were no signs of the activities of the troops of the Independent Division on both sides of the strait! ”

The two companies of Soviet soldiers began to move, but they did not realize that not far from the bridge, the reconnaissance battalion of the Ninth Brigade in the east, hundreds of pairs of eyes, staring closely at every move of the Soviet army, and farther away, three brigades in the east plus seven local garrison regiments of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army, more than 50,000 soldiers, had already entered the position and were ready for battle.

On the positions of two artillery brigades and five rocket artillery regiments, the artillery has faded its armor, the thick muzzles are raised, pointing to the eastern sky, and the gunners are carefully wiping the shells, waiting for the arrival of the main force of the Soviet army, thousands of shells, immediately smashed over.

In the East Command Headquarters, Colonel Li Guangjin, head of the Operations Division, reported to Liu Tiehan: "Deputy Division Commander, the commander of the reconnaissance battalion of the Ninth Brigade, who is responsible for monitoring the small Soviet army, reports that the Soviet Army only controlled the Ulez River Bridge and did not do in-depth reconnaissance. ”

Liu Tiehan smiled coldly and said contemptuously: "They don't dare, two companies of hundreds of men and horses, dare to run to the hinterland of Outer Mongolia, if it weren't for the fear of startling the grass and snakes, hundreds of Soviet soldiers would have become corpses a long time ago, Guangjin, the troops on the left and right flanks who were outflanked were all in place?" ”

Li Guangjin replied: "Zhao Yi, commander of the 1st Brigade of the commander of the left attack group, reported that the troops had been deployed at the designated position, and just an hour ago, the vanguard of the Soviet army, from the area where they were ambushed, Huo Shouyi, commander of the 4th Brigade of the right attack group, reported that his troops had also been deployed, and found that the Soviet army was marching rapidly, and according to the speed of the Soviet army's march, it would reach the east bank of the Ulez River between 2 and 3 o'clock tomorrow morning." ”

"Only the 10th Brigade and the Mixed Cavalry Brigade outflanking the rear of the Soviet army, there is no news yet, the route they outflanked is the farthest, and they are marching in the dark, it is possible that the speed is not up, what I am worried about is that they encountered one of the Soviet troops advancing in multiple ways, what happened to the accident!"

Liu Tiehan said with certainty: "Impossible, our preset battlefield has taken into account the situation of the Soviet army advancing in multiple directions, leaving enough space for nothing to happen, the troops on the left and right flanks have not reported similar situations, Chen Guozhu and He Zhuguo and their troops, they will not encounter, it doesn't matter, wait, it must be on the way to the march, and they did not contact the command in time." ”

"Also, the report to the division pointed out that because the time for the Soviet troops to arrive on the east bank of the Ulez River has changed, it was originally scheduled to launch an attack on the reinforcements of the Soviet Far Eastern Front at 1 a.m. on September 29, and it was postponed to between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning!"

After receiving a telegram from Major Waldrich of the reconnaissance team, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko was completely relieved, he was really worried that the bridge over the Ulez River was destroyed by the troops of the Independent Division, if that was the case, a Ules River would be able to block his troops for two or three days, and for Kulygin, who was eager to penetrate, one more minute of delay would be a little more dangerous, and the old men of the General Staff would not eat themselves?

Yemenchenko, the deputy chief of staff who was relaxed, couldn't help but become active in his thinking, and couldn't help but think: "Zhukov said that the Chinese Tang Qiuli is very powerful, godly, the bridge of the Ulez River, such an important traffic chokepoint, if it is not blown up, troops should also be sent to defend, but the reconnaissance team did not find any abnormal situation, what is going on?" ”

After thinking about it, there was no answer, and in the end, Lieutenant General Yemenchenko attributed this qiē to the sudden change of direction of the troops, coupled with the secrecy measures he had taken, although a little cruel, but absolutely effective, the commander of the independent division, including Tang Qiuli, who seemed to be very powerful, would never have expected that more than 100,000 people in the four armies had entered the eastern part of Outer Mongolia.

"I haven't fought with Tang Qiu, but now it seems that it's just that!" Lieutenant General Yemenchenko thought to himself, and he couldn't help but despise Tang Qiuli a lot in his heart.

At about 2:30 a.m. on September 29, the night was as dark as ink, and the gloomy dark clouds obscured the starry sky, but the wind became more and more blowing, blowing through the open grassland, blowing the withered yellow pastures, and making a whimpering sound.

In Liu Tiehan's headquarters, it seemed very quiet, the deployment had been completed, and all that was left was to wait for the Soviet army to drill the pockets.

"Deputy Division Commander, come and see! Soviet troops appeared! A combat staff officer, who was lying in front of a high-powered telescope and observing the situation on the east bank of the Ulez River, suddenly shouted loudly.

Liu Tiehan, who closed his eyes and recuperated, suddenly opened his eyes, the cold light in his eyes flashed, and he walked to the telescope in a few steps, and in the lens, on the vast grassland on the east bank of the Ulez River, a long series of lights appeared, like a meandering poisonous dragon, shaking his head and tail to swim towards the Ulez River, the lights pierced the night, and in the dark night, it was particularly eye-catching.

Liu Tiehan breathed a sigh of relief, his tense heart suddenly put it down, and said to himself: "I didn't wait in vain, I finally came, and if I didn't invite guests to such a big scene, wouldn't it be a waste of my hard work!" ”

At the same time, several telephones in the headquarters rang one after another, and the reconnaissance units of the 7th, 8th, and 9th brigades all reported a similar situation, "The vanguard of the Soviet army, a corps, is approaching the Ulez River and is crossing the bridge!" ”

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