Marshal Petroshilov, chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, had an indescribable feeling that he was cautious, or that he was cautious and planned before acting, and did not fight uncertain battles, or that he arranged his troops in formation, and that his attack was a thunderous blow and dealt a devastating blow to the troops of the independent division.

From the perspective of the situation in the entire Outer Mongolia region, Vasilevsky is a little too careful, except for the area south of Kulen, which is occupied by the Soviet Red Army, then, Tang Qiuli's troops will definitely be in the area of Seyinshanda, and may also return to China, or in other words, the battle of Minusinsk, the fierceness of the Chinese Tang Qiuli's departure made him frightened, and under the cautious appearance, he covered up his inner cowardice.

But in either case, it should not be a reason for General Vasilevsky, who has more than a million heavy troops, to delay in launching an attack on Seyinshanda.

Of course, Marshal Petroshilov would never mention these words in front of Comrade Stalin, and his own judgment was all speculation, and the commanders of the armies in all aspects had great autonomy, and even if he was the chief of the General Staff, it was sometimes difficult to interfere too deeply, and offending Vasilevsky, who was quite valued by Comrade Stalin, would not benefit him at all.

However, now that Comrade Stalin has asked, Marshal Petroshilov, there is nothing to hide, and there is no need to hide it, so Comrade Chief of the General Staff retold the contents of General Vasilevsky's telegram in its original form, and did not dare to mix it with water at all.

Stalin listened, and the more he listened, the more unpleasant he became, and his face became more and more ugly, "Enough, Comrade Petroshilov." I don't want to listen to this nonsense anymore, Vasilevsky disappointed me very much, the war situation in Outer Mongolia has become very clear, except for the area of Seyinshanda south of Kulun, which is not occupied, other areas, there is still the Chinese troops, hiding places? ”

"Previously, another unit of the separate division that occupied the area around Chita. Isn't it also under our strong military pressure that we retreat to China in a panic, no matter what conspiracy and tricks the Chinese plays, the soldiers will fight all his attempts when they come to Seyinshanda. What energy is wasted to reconnoiter the specific position of the troops of the independent division. The loss of some troops is not terrible. We in the USSR have an endless number of soldiers, and I will replenish as much as I lose! ”

"The terrible thing is that the front-line commanders are hesitant and even timid, and thus miss the opportunity, and I think the only reason why Vasilevsky did not immediately attack Seyinshanda was because he was afraid. Behind the prudence is the lack of confidence in our victory! Stalin said with some anger.

Marshal Petroshilov, without saying a word, listened to the angry words of Comrade Stalin. In fact, in such a situation, he could not interject or express his opinion, it was not appropriate to conform or oppose, the scale of the period was difficult to grasp, only silence was the best policy, however, Comrade Stalin would soon have an order, and he would respect and implement it!

After Stalin lost his temper, he probably felt a little out of shape, took a puff of his pipe, slowed down his tone, and said: "In the name of the General Staff, order Vasilevsky to launch an attack on Seyinshanda within two days at the latest, opening the passage to the Inner Mongolia region of China, and any attempt by Tang Qiuli will be exposed, either to counterattack or to continue to retreat, either in any case, it will be very beneficial for us!" ”

Stalin is indeed experienced in using troops, has an overwhelming superiority in troops, should not be confused by the opponent's feints, all the way to the past, capture Seyinshanda, the independent division troops will inevitably be exposed in front of the Outer Mongolian Front, on the local battlefield, in the face of absolute strength, any strategy and strategy, is an empty word, in other words, you Vasilevsky has more than a million troops in your hands, what are you afraid of?

On 2 April, the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front, which had been staying in the Kulen area, finally moved, and the commander of the front, General Vasilevsky, was very cautious and divided the troops into three echelons, the first echelon of which was divided into four armies with more than 600,000 troops, divided into four routes, and the distance between the various group armies, no more than 30 kilometers, marched in unison to avoid the tragedy of the 43rd Army on the battlefield outside Minusinsk.

The second echelon is the strength of the three army groups, which are personally commanded by Vasilevsky and are in the center, and the other group army unit, as the general reserve of the campaign, also serves as the rear guard of the front army, and the three echelons are separated by a day's march, echoing from end to end.

For a time, like a surging tide, millions of Soviet troops poured out, went south to Saiyin Shanda, spread across the southern steppes of Outer Mongolia, and on all the roads from Kulen to the south, there were endless Soviet infantry marching columns, long dragon-like trucks rolling up dust, and tanks and armored vehicles rumbling past, the momentum was very amazing, with a murderous aura that rushed to the sky, rolling in, and there was a great tendency for the army to overwhelm the realm!

Tang Qiuli, who received the report from the reconnaissance unit, breathed a sigh of relief, if the Soviet army remained still in Kulen, it would have made him unable to figure out Stalin's steps, and now, what should have come has finally come.

Tang Qiuli put down the telegram and said to Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe: "Yuhe, Vasilevsky has finally moved, and ordered the first, second, and third brigades of the corps directly under the corps to attack at the same time on the left flank of the first echelon of the Soviet army, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth brigades on the right flank of the first echelon of the Soviet army. ”

"The purpose of the operation is to disperse the first round of Soviet forces attacking Seyinshanda, to contain and delay the speed of action of the Soviet army, to tell the six brigade commanders not to carry out in-depth attacks, to keep a certain distance from the main force of the Soviet army, and to avoid falling into a heavy encirclement!"

"The 7th and 8th Brigades of the Corps directly under the Corps, on the left flank of the second echelon of the Soviet Army, and the 9th and 10th Brigades on the right flank of the second echelon of the Soviet Army, when the second echelon of the Soviet Army advanced to the area around Halvinlag, they launched an attack at the same time, and the purpose and requirements of the campaign were the same as those of attacking the troops of the first echelon of the Soviet Army."

"Order, Liu Cuigang's Northern Flying Group, starting at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, will dispatch no less than ten fighter regiments and five bomber regiments to carry out uninterrupted air raids and bombardments on the marching columns of the three echelons of the Soviet Army, and when it will end, wait for the order of the division headquarters!"

"The troops under the Niangziguan Garrison Corps, the troops under the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, and the remaining troops under the Corps are on the front line of Saiyinshanda, blocking the Soviet army head-on, and all the defense facilities must be activated during the first day of the battle to ensure that the defending troops exert the maximum firepower intensity!"

The purpose of this is to take out the greatest blow in the offensive and defensive battle on the first day, and to frustrate the sharpness and morale of the Soviet army, and the first battle is bound to be a blow by Vasilevsky with all his might, and it is also the best time to rely on the strong fortifications to consume a large number of Soviet troops.

Tang Qiuli didn't mind sending tens of thousands or even more Soviet soldiers to hell on the day of the first battle, and turning Saiyinshan into a meat grinder for Soviet soldiers.

After a pause, Tang Qiuli's gaze swept over the large military map of the Outer Mongolia region, and then said: "In addition, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Cavalry Brigades of the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, under the command of cavalry commander Liu Chun, bypassed the frontal battlefield and made a long detour to the rear of the Soviet army, launched an attack on Kulen, and cut off the logistics supply line of the Soviet army. ”

"It is particularly emphasized that the attack on Kulen is a feint, and the four cavalry brigades are mainly aimed at destroying the logistics of the Soviet army, and they should adopt a flexible combat method, and take advantage of the characteristics of the cavalry's long-distance rush and rapidity to carry out operations, and if the Soviet army attacking Seyinshanda can be transferred back to a group army, it will be a victory!"

In the face of the superior strength of the Soviet army, although it had assembled three and a half field corps, the strength in its own hands was only about 700,000 people, and compared with the Soviet army's strength of more than 1.4 million, it was still at a disadvantage.

This is like facing a surging flood, the front of the embankment, the pressure is huge, there is a danger of bursting the embankment at any time, then take the way of diversion and flood discharge, the impact of the flood peak, to the minimum, according to Tang Qiuli's design, the final arrival of the Soviet troops on the first line of Saiyinshanda, should not exceed 800,000 people, in the first line of Saiyinshanda, the Niangziguan garrison corps of ten brigades, the Outer Mongolian frontier army twelve brigades, and the two brigades of the directly subordinate corps within the range of the strength of the troops.

In particular, the four cavalry brigades of the Outer Mongolian Field Corps went deep into the Kulen area, attacked the Soviet army's logistics supply line, and attacked the Kulen, which was even more ruthless, pinching the Soviet army's life, forcing Vasilevsky to turn around and deal with the threat from the rear, the logistics supply lines were cut off, and there would be difficulties in what more than one million troops in front of them ate and drank, guns and ammunition, and the largest logistics supply base of the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front Army was in Kulen, and the old nest was attacked, can the battle still be fought?

Tang Qiuli dispatched troops and deployed the Saiyinshanda Campaign, and the ten mechanized infantry brigades of the directly subordinate corps and the four cavalry brigades of the Outer Mongolia Field Corps left the garrison and rushed forward in the direction of the Soviet army.

If you look down from a high altitude, the Soviet army and the troops of the independent division are staggered with each other in the vast steppes and Gobi in southern Outer Mongolia, and the distance in the middle is so large that the scouts on both sides cannot find each other's Cheng Dù.

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