There was a fierce sound of artillery in his ears, and the flames flashed in the night sky, but this cannon sound did not belong to the 37th Army, but the artillery of the independent division, which was unscrupulously pouring shells on the heads of his own soldiers, and the positions were drowned in steel fragments, and Lieutenant General Hippoliv knew that the first line of positions was over, and in a hurry, the simple fortifications built could not withstand such fierce artillery fire!

The phone call just now was bad news for Lieutenant General Hippoliv, the commander of the artillery of the army group reported a very bad situation, the artillery group was destroyed, that is, in the next battle, in the face of the surprise attack of the infantry of the independent division, without artillery fire to suppress, it will be a very difficult battle to fight.

As for the artillery of the group army, how it was destroyed by the artillery of the independent division, he didn't want to know the specific reason, what he wanted to do most now was to send the damned artillery commander of the group army to the military court, first reacted slowly, so that the troops on the first line of positions were hit by the intensive fire of the independent division, and before they could fight with the infantry of the independent division, they lost tens of thousands of people, and then they behaved mishapantly and mishandled, so that all the artillery of the group army was destroyed, and no matter how many times he shot that guy, it was difficult to understand the hatred in his heart!

At this moment, he has realized that his previous thoughts were somewhat naïve and arrogant, advancing and retreating freely, and now it seems that without the support of artillery firepower, the next battle will definitely be very hard, once the infantry begins to fight and fight together, it is impossible for him to withdraw from the battlefield!

What's more, there is also the order of the commander of the Front, General Vasilevsky, to block the troops of the independent division for twelve hours, the artillery is gone, and the only hope is the tank army to which the group army belongs, whether it is used for counterattacks or to cover the retreat. Tanks all play a key role.

Lieutenant General Hippoliv picked up the phone, "Tank Army, I order, your unit immediately conducts tactical deployment and prepares to counter the attack of the Chinese!" ”

"Offense is the best defense, of course, you will not be beaten passively, if necessary, use tanks to counterattack, and kill and injure a large number of the living forces of the independent division, otherwise. After completing the cover mission, it is also difficult to retreat to Kulen. Lieutenant General Hippoliv thought to himself.

At 9:40, the artillery group of the separate division began to extend its artillery fire and shell the Soviet positions in depth, around the headquarters of Lieutenant General Hippoliv. I also dropped shells from far and near, and took a deep breath. The heart of Lieutenant General Hippoliv. Inexplicably jumped a few times, "Is it finally here!" He muttered to himself, "Order, the troops of the second line, enter the battle at once!" Tanks prepare for counter-assault, and at the same time. The troops covering the first line of defense are withdrawn! ”

For the troops on the first line of blocking positions, Lieutenant General Hippoliv did not count too much on the troops on the positions under the volcanic eruption of the artillery of the separate division. The casualties are certainly not small, even if they withdraw to the second line of positions, they are still broken and incomplete troops, and at the beginning of the battle, even the shadow of the infantry of the independent division, before they have seen, their own troops, lost tens of thousands of people, fell under the rain of Chinese shells.

He was very aggrieved in his heart, and basically took it into account, that is, he did not expect that the troops of the independent division, for the sake of his own group army, would use the artillery of no less than three artillery corps, which can be described as a big investment, but the Chinese alone rely on artillery fire, it is not enough, the 37th group army has not yet broken its bones, at this time, Lieutenant General Hippoliv, but hoped that the infantry of the independent division would launch an attack, and the two sides would be mixed together, which would be beneficial to themselves without artillery.

Under the flash of the shells, the Soviet troops on the first line of defense retreated like a tide, Lieutenant General Hippoliv was quite reasonable, and the troops continued to stay in the artillery of the independent division, the first line of positions in the coverage area, not only meaningless, but also left tens of thousands of live targets for the Chinese, what he was most worried about now was the infantry of the independent division, pulling the retreating troops and assaulting them.

Therefore, Lieutenant General Hippoliv gave a necessary but cruel order to the commanders of the various units on the second line, "Once the troops on the first line of positions are withdrawn, the troops of the independent division follow and pursue, threatening the security of the second position, and the commanders at all levels have the right to order the retreating troops to launch a counter-charge against the troops of the independent division, otherwise, they will be killed on the spot!" ”

Lieutenant General Hippoliv's order is chilling, but necessary, otherwise, on the first line, the withdrawn soldiers will become a cover for the Chinese, and they will suddenly break through their last line of defense!

The Soviet officers and soldiers on the second line of positions watched with fear, and the brothers who ran closer and closer, for fear that behind them, they would kill the soldiers of the independent division, and the Chinese shelling stopped, which was obviously a precursor to the infantry's imminent attack, although their hands were trembling, but, according to the orders of the officers, they still aimed the muzzles of the black holes at the front, and the staggered figures.

Fortunately, the thing that killed his comrades-in-arms with his own hands in front of him in this way did not happen, and the withdrawn Soviet soldiers stumbled through the trenches, and when they reached the rear of the position, they were immediately contained by the officers waiting there, and the political commissars at all levels were busy doing propaganda and agitation, and the officers sent by the group army headquarters were busy reorganizing the troops that ran back, and the disabled troops were reduced and combined into the reserve of the group army, which could be filled in the position at any time.

With the cessation of the artillery bombardment of the Independent Division, the battlefield fell into an unbearable silence, the flames from the shells were still swaying in the wind, the pungent smell of gunsmoke, the craters everywhere, and the frozen soil turned up, all witnessing how fierce and dense the overwhelming artillery fire just now was.

The Soviet soldiers, tightened their coats, their eyes did not blink, staring at the dark and dreary earth in front of them, perhaps, those Chinese soldiers, will soon emerge from the darkness, a murderous figure, the north wind is howling, more than 90,000 Soviet soldiers on the second position, the nerves are about to break, not far behind them, seven or eight hundred Soviet tanks, hidden in the dark night, ready to start at any time.

Ten minutes passed, in front of the position, there was no movement, twenty minutes passed, the battlefield was silent as always, there was no intention of the infantry of the independent division to charge, the Soviet soldiers, in the cold trenches, waited for a burst of tightness in their hearts, Lieutenant General Hippoliv in the command headquarters, waited until his eyes were on fire, impatient, and there was more and more an ominous premonition in his heart, on the battlefield, the fierce gunfire will not make people nervous, and this calm is the most torturous!

In the artillery position of the independent division in the rear of the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, there was a tense busyness, and hundreds of self-propelled artillery vehicles drove in at full speed, and the artillery wagons carrying the "Thunder" rocket launchers ran out of the dusty road, and more than 1,000 large-caliber howitzers, under the traction of the artillery trucks, quickly moved forward to move their positions.

In order to deal another heavy blow to the Soviet army, the entire independent division artillery group is moving forward rapidly, reaching the effective range of the artillery bombardment, on the battlefield, moving the artillery position forward, that is, Zheng Yong has the courage to do this, self-propelled artillery and "Thunder" rocket artillery are good to say, they have a power system, which is conducive to rapid maneuvering, and they can go, but for the howitzer group, the difficulty is not ordinary.

A large-caliber howitzer, weighing more than ten tons, from unloading the tractor, stabilizing the gun body, to being able to start shelling, is a very laborious work, and when transferring positions, it is even more laborious, but Zheng Yong knows that the howitzer artillery unit under his command has the ability to quickly transfer positions, and he has practiced it with great effort in peacetime.

What's more, the howitzer group did not all move forward, and about half of the artillery was left to shell the Soviet army's position in depth, which made the Soviet commander think that the infantry was about to launch a charge and enter the position to defend, otherwise, they would all hide in the fortifications.

Major General Zheng Yong, the commander of the artillery of the Independent Division, stepped on the shell box with one foot and his ear close to the walkie-talkie, and shouted at the top of his voice: "Self-propelled artillery group? Yes, move forward as fast as possible, reach the predetermined positions, and the artillery fire should completely cover the second line of Soviet positions, mainly in several directions where the infantry is ready to break through! ”

"Rocket artillery group, what's going on, procrastinating, you can run by car, your actions are slow! What the? Running too fast, afraid that the rocket artillery will not stand the bumps, that there will be a malfunction,! Is it that delicate! Don't make excuses! -- I will only give you 30 minutes to prepare for the rocket artillery group, and when the time comes, I will not be able to see the rocket artillery shells flying in the sky, so you artillery group commanders, let me go to the logistics department to carry the artillery shells! ”

"Howitzer swarms? After the artillery group of self-propelled artillery and rocket artillery groups has begun to shell, you will carry out a second artillery strike, and all the shells you carry will be fired. What about the battle below? It's not something you're worried about, and the logistics department isn't for dry food! ”

Putting down the walkie-talkie headset that was covered with heat, Zheng Yong exhaled a long breath and said whiningly: "I'm tired to death, that is, the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, this kind of army that has just entered the battlefield, let me work hard, if it rests on the main force of several other old brands, let's shell once, even if the work is finished, then we still need to move the artillery position forward, so many artillery, within thirty minutes, to reach the second launch position, is it easy?" - The division commander is too, let the novice temper his courage, but it will be hard for our artillery! ”

After speaking, he picked up a large vat on the table and opened it coldly, "Goo Dong, Goo Dong!" He drank it all and shouted, "Rejoice! ”

Division commander Tang Qiuli, indeed before the campaign was launched, called Zheng Yong alone, saying that it was an order, but it was better to discuss, "Zheng Yong, I am Tang Qiuli, the Outer Mongolia Field Corps, the first time to participate in such a large-scale battle, in order to avoid excessive casualties in the troops, your artillery units, to play a full role, I don't ask what to do, there is only one request, to reduce the casualties of the troops to a minimum!" ”

"-Don't let Sun Zhenbang know, I called you!" Tang Qiuli finally gave another admonition.

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