General Kurygin was in a hurry, since the last time he tried his best to attack and was defeated, another day and a night have passed, and the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District have not dared to take offensive actions at all, which makes him feel unsure.

Although there was good news from the General Staff again, Comrade Stalin personally ordered that Zhukov's Far Eastern Front had added two infantry corps to the Outer Mongolian battlefield and support his own troops, reaching the strength of nearly 200,000 troops in the four infantry armies, but it was far water, and it could not quench the thirst of the near, and it would take two to three weeks for reinforcements to arrive at the earliest.

However, with the existing forces to continue fighting, General Kurygin did not have this idea, and now, with the reinforcements of the air force, he himself has the capital to launch a large-scale attack, at the very least, he can grasp the air supremacy, and according to his own mind, he is eager to put these hundreds of planes into battle immediately.

Lieutenant General Zirnenko, chief of staff of the Military Region, understood the thoughts of Comrade Commander, but he did not have such childish urgency, and calmly replied: "Comrade Commander, comrades of the Air Force have called, and the time to enter the battle must be on the morning of 25 September at the earliest. ”

General Kurygin shouted dissatisfiedly: "Absolutely not, we have to wait for twenty-four hours, I only give them eight hours, we have to launch an attack at three o'clock this afternoon, we need air cover from the air force, and repel the fleet of independent divisions!" ”

Lieutenant General Zirnenko, looking at the angry commander in surprise, he could not understand. How could Comrade Commander, who is the supreme commander of the military region, say such naïve words, the Air Force is not as simple as the infantry when it enters battle, it can be fought when it arrives, it is the infantry, and there is also a process of getting acquainted with the terrain, thinking that it is a rifle, and it will be put away?

So, Lieutenant General Zirnenko did not speak. This in itself is an attitude, and General Kurygin also realized that he was in a hurry, but he wasted a day and a night. It's really unwilling.

General Kuregin's eyes rolled and he thought of a good idea. Said: "That's it." The reinforced Air Force, two fighters and one bomber division, can use the navigation map provided by the Air Force of the Military District, and this matter will be handed over to the commander of the Air Force of the Military District, Colonel-General Konev, and the Air Force of the Military District. Pilots who had participated in the air battles on the Setuge River were mixed into their units, so that there were pilots who were familiar with the airspace of the battlefield. Isn't this problem solved? ”

This is a good way, Lieutenant General Zirnenko, who couldn't help but admire, turned around to convey the order, but was stopped by General Kurygin, "Comrade Chief of Staff, wait a minute, send an order to the Air Force Command of the Military District, tell Sù Konev, the reinforced Air Force units do not need his command, and the Military District Command will be under the unified command, and the Air Force of the Military Region only needs to do a good job in logistics and tell him to meet the requirements of the comrades of our Air Force units to reinforce us!" ”

This is to deprive the commander of the military district air force, Colonel-General Konev, of the right to command, especially the last sentence, it is even more incredible, is it possible that these foreign pilots want to sleep with the wives of those pilots of the military district air force, and they also have to be satisfied, Lieutenant General Zirnenko can't help but slander, however, the comrade commander is obviously on the rise, and there is no need to eat deflated himself, he only needs to change the order slightly, and the problem can be solved.

However, he still raised a crucial question: "Comrade commander, will the existing fighter and bomber units of the Air Force of the Military Region participate in this offensive, and if so, how should the question of command be resolved?" ”

General Kurygin said without hesitation: "Break up the formation, take the regiment as a unit, and organize the fighter and bomber divisions into the support respectively, I said, Konev's military district air force command only supports logistics, and the rest, don't care!" ”

Sure enough, General Kurygin's method was very effective, and the Soviet fighter and bomber groups that arrived at the Seranga River theater saved time for familiarizing themselves with the air situation, and at about 3 p.m. on 24 September, they could not wait to dispatch more than 500 fighters and bombers to cover the strength of the five reinforced Soviet regiments and launch a large-scale attack on the positions on the south bank of the Sejingge River.

The battle was extremely fierce, Liu Hongzhang commanded the troops, braved the bombs of Soviet bombers to defend their positions, and for the first time the troops suffered heavy casualties, and the Northern Flying Group of the Independent Division's Air Force, under the command of Colonel Meng Qingpeng, commander of the Outer Mongolian Patrol Area, launched a fierce battle with the Soviet fighter group in the sky above the Sesoge River.

In the last decisive air battle, the troops of the Northern Flying Group suffered a great loss of vitality and had a slight advantage in the number of fighters, and successfully repelled the Soviet fighter group and bomber group and the air attack on Liu Hongzhang and the troops' positions.

From the afternoon of 24 September, when the sun went down, the group's fighter units took off several times to meet the fight, and finally stopped the Soviet fighter group, which was in full swing, but the fighters of the Northern Flying Group also suffered considerable losses, and in more than three hours of air fighting, they were shot down and more than 80 fighters were damaged by Soviet fighters.

Of course, the Soviet army's fighter group and bomber group did not please him, and left more than 100 fighter and bomber wreckage behind, and stopped in shock; that night, division commander Tang Qiuli was in his office and listened to Meng Qingpeng's report.

Meng Qingpeng's expression was heavy, the commander Liu Cuigang was still lying in the hospital, unconscious, the burden of the entire Northern Flying Group was pressed on his shoulders, and the Soviet Air Force had added new forces, if we counted the remaining fighters of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military District of the Soviet Union, in terms of quantity, the Northern Flying Group no longer had any obvious advantage, what if the Soviet Air Force continued to increase the number of fighters?

Tang Qiuli looked at Meng Qingpeng, who had a solemn face, and asked gently, "Why Qingpeng, is there pressure?" ”

Meng Qingpeng looked up at the division commander and replied honestly: "Yes, division commander, there is a lot of pressure, it doesn't matter if I sacrifice myself, I am afraid that I will not fight well, such as today's air battle, we did not take a big advantage, when Commander Liu commanded, it was not a beautiful fight that time, with the smallest loss, the greatest result!" Division Commander, my ability is not enough to take on such a heavy responsibility, I beg you to choose another commander to command the air battle! ”

Tang Qiuli's gaze froze, and he said in a deep voice: "Meng Qingpeng, I hope to hear your sincere words, if it is these discouragements, I have mistaken you, or I have mistaken all the pilots of the entire Northern Flight Group, you are not as brave and good at fighting as I imagined!" ”

Meng Qingpeng Huo Ran got up, his face turned red, as if he had been greatly insulted, and said in a trembling voice: "Division commander, you can mistake me, but you can't mistake all the pilots of the Northern Flight Group, they are all good, in the face of the continuous reinforcements of Soviet fighters, fighting desperately, not afraid of life and death, everyone has done it as if they were at home." ”

"We are now under tremendous pressure, after the last big air battle, the troops suffered heavy casualties, and they have not yet recovered, while the Soviet Air Force has added new troops to fight a war of attrition with us, if the situation continues to be like this, this little bit of the Northern Flying Group will be destroyed in my hands, how can I explain to you and Commander Liu, who is still unconscious, how to explain to all the pilots!"

Looking at Meng Qingpeng, who was so excited that he couldn't help himself, Tang Qiuli smiled instead, he heard the truth, the fighter group reinforced by the Soviet army gave him great pressure, it seems that Stalin's reinforcements to the Transcaucasian Military District are not only the infantry on the ground, but also the air force.

Tang Qiuli patted Meng Qingpeng on the shoulder, and said gently: "Qingpeng, don't get excited, sit down, I know you are facing pressure, but picking a picker is not what a qualified commander should do, what you need to do is how to adjust your tactics, study the way of playing, and fight as many wonderful battles as possible under the current strength. ”

"I have good news for you, Le Yiqin, commander of the Southern Flying Group, will arrive in the Outer Mongolia region tomorrow morning, and at the same time, there are five fighter regiments, and the follow-up troops will arrive one after another, in short, our air force in the Outer Mongolia region cannot be weaker than the Soviet army!"

"At that time, he will have full command of the air battle, and your pressure will be reduced, after returning to the unit, inform all the pilots of the news, however, before Le Yiqin arrives, you will have to have a battle with the Soviet army's fighter group, and the momentum will be taken over, the Soviets will not stop there, and they will launch an attack tomorrow morning, go back and plan well, and report the plan!"

These words are uplifting, and Liu Cuigang and called the north and south heroes Le Yiqin is going to come to Outer Mongolia to command the air battle against the Soviet army, one is five fighter regiments, listen to the meaning of the division commander, this is just the vanguard force, with the command of famous generals, and the reinforcements that have arrived one after another, what are you afraid of, Meng Qingpeng's heavy mood was relieved, and he stood up with a radiant face, and said: "Please rest assured, the division commander, we will fight tomorrow's battle!" ”

Sending Meng Qingpeng away, Tang Qiuli had just sat down, and Chief of Staff Zhao Yuhe pushed the door in, and said with a smile: "Meng Qingpeng is gone!" ”

Tang Qiuli nodded, Zhao Yuhe took out a telegram from the Wen Jiàn folder he carried, and said: "Division commander, I received a telegram from Brigade Commander Liu Hongzhang, the situation is not too good, in today's attack of the Soviet army, the front-line troops of the Se Jie Ge River have suffered certain losses, according to the telegram, the Soviet bomber group is the main cause of casualties among the troops, just now Meng Qingpeng was here, I didn't come in, I was afraid that he would hear it, and it would add to the burden in my heart!" ”

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