About 40 kilometers away from the periphery of Minusinsk, the second line of defense of the independent division, in the headquarters of the 43rd Army of the Soviet Outer Mongolian Front, at this moment, a solemn atmosphere enveloped the hearts of all Soviet commanders.

The commander of the army group, Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, frowned, the progress of the battle was completely unexpected, and the troops of the separate division, abandoning their original positions, did not retreat into the city as they judged, preparing for street fighting.

The Chinese still have a second line of defense, that is, this line of defense, the group army troops, in more than three hours, launched five consecutive division-level attacks, but they were all repulsed, even, the infantry did not see the opponent's position, fell under the rain of shells, and the roaring artillery, which did not know the model, but could blow the offensive route into a sea of fire, more than three hours of fighting, the group army has paid the price of more than 20,000 casualties.

From the heart, the sudden use of powerful artillery fire by the troops of the independent division really shocked Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, and he had a question that haunted his mind, "Why didn't the Chinese use artillery fire in the previous battles?" Is it the final hole card, or is there another conspiracy? ”

Is it the main force of a separate division? According to the situation of the battle, it should not be, although the artillery fire of the Chinese is very fierce, judging from the intensity of the firepower on the front, the strength of the independent division on the position is, at best, four to five divisions, 890,000 people, and the intelligence department of the front army shows that the main force of the Chinese Tang Qiuli is at least 200,000 people.

Could it be that the Chinese Tang Qiuli, who did not use all his troops, prepared a huge trap for himself?

At this thought, Lieutenant General Bamilyanov. At that time, he broke out in a cold sweat, and he could surround the 43rd Group Army, and the strength of the independent division troops should reach at least about 300,000 people, and he was a little hesitant in his heart, whether to report the situation to the front army headquarters, or continue to attack and beat out the true intention of that Chinese Tang Qiuli?

There are shortcomings in both approaches, and if the situation of the war is reported, it will be later. It proved that it was not the main force of the independent division that it was confronted, because of its own false military information, which attracted all the units of the front army to the perimeter of Minusinsk. So much so that it affected the overall campaign plan of General Vasilevsky, and the consequences were quite severe. This grumpy comrade commander. I definitely can't spare myself, and dismissal and investigation is the lightest punishment.

If the offensive continues, if it falls into Tang Qiuli's trap, the 43rd Group Army may be annihilated, stop moving forward, and wait and see what happens. It didn't work either, as it turned out later, it was a false alarm, the troops of the independent division opposite. It's just the strength of four or five divisions, and the charge of delaying the fighter plane and cowering makes it impossible for him to eat and walk around.

For a time, Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, who had more than 100,000 heavy troops in his hands, was in a dilemma, behaved at a loss, and hesitated.

The Chief of Staff of the Army, Major General Khabarovsky, saw that Comrade Commander, he was a little distracted and hurriedly reminded: "Comrade Commander, the top priority is to decide what action we should take, whether to organize another offensive, or to rest all night and make plans again tomorrow, or to report the situation to the Front Command and wait for instructions?" ”

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, full of entanglement, continued to attack, obviously not bargaining, but not fighting, and it was not a good way, he asked: "Comrade Chief of Staff, how is the situation in the armored forces?" ”

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky, with a dark expression, replied: "The anti-tank weapons of the units of the independent division are very advanced, and after several battles, our tanks, less than three hundred remain, and the rest have been destroyed!" Not only that, but a large number of tanks were destroyed, as well as the artillery of separate divisions. ”

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, the whole body was shaken, the losses of the tank troops were not small, as expected, on the battlefield, those burning steel, right in front of him, but four tank brigades, more than 1,000 tanks, more than three hours, only less than 300 left, even a single enemy defense line, could not help but let himself not accept this fact.

Artillery! Damn artillery, if it is its own artillery, it follows behind the troops, three artillery divisions, more than 800 heavy artillery, can completely suppress the fire of the artillery of the independent division, can bomb the positions of the Chinese into the sky, why such a large loss of tank troops and infantry?

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov said angrily: "Comrade Chief of Staff, where is our artillery now?" Why haven't you rushed to the battlefield yet? ”

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said: "Comrade commander, I will immediately go to the telegram to ask!" "I just turned around, and I haven't had time to get out yet.

A staff officer of a major, holding a telegram, hurriedly barged in and said: "Report, Comrade Commander, I received an urgent telegram from the artillery unit that they were suddenly attacked by the troops of the independent division, but, without specifying the size of the units of the independent division that attacked the artillery, and the current situation, the contact was interrupted, and the current situation is unknown!" ”

A chill instantly swept over the hearts of all Soviet generals, attacking an artillery corps, then how many troops do the Chinese have to move, is it just the strength shown in front of them?

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, no longer hesitated at this moment, from the moment he knew that the artillery was attacked, he judged that he had fallen into the trap of the Chinese Tang Qiuli, and around Minusinsk was undoubtedly the main force of the independent division!

"Chief of Staff, immediately report the situation to the Front Command, my 43rd Army, on the outskirts of Minusinsk, surrounded by the main forces of the Independent Division, request reinforcements!" He said eagerly.

Immediately, Lieutenant General Bamiyanov issued another order: "Order, all units of the army group should immediately retreat and move closer in the direction of the troops going south!" ”

The staff officer, who had finished recording the order, did not wait to convey it, "Jingle bell!" The phone on the shell box rang urgently, and the chief of staff of Khabarovsky, as soon as he picked up the phone, just listened to a few words, his face turned pale, "What? Repeat! ”

Putting down the phone, Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said: "Comrade commander, I received a report from the forward troops that the troops of the independent division have begun to counterattack on all fronts, and, using large-scale armored clusters, at least more than a thousand tanks, launched a fierce assault on the depth of our positions!" There is also an unknown number of self-propelled guns, which accompany the attack of the armored clusters of the independent division! ”

"More than a thousand tanks? Self-propelled artillery? "Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, his scalp was numb for a while, cold sweat was running down his spine, his throat and eyes were dry, in terms of the terrain conditions around Minusinsk, Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, knew too well the lethality of tanks and self-propelled guns of the independent division to his own troops, before that, the 43rd Army had been taking an offensive posture and had not built positions at all.

The flattened field, tanks and self-propelled guns, is undoubtedly a nightmare for their own troops, "Order, throw in all tanks, be sure to block the attack of the armored cluster of the independent division, buy time for the troops to retreat, all units adopt the tactics of echelon cover, gradually retreat, the order of retreat is, the third army, the second army, the first army, move quickly!" Lieutenant General Bamiyanov yelled angrily.

That is to say, the entire group army, a big U-turn, the previously attacking Third Army, became a broken force, this is also a helpless decision, the broken army, under the fierce attack of the armored cluster of the independent division, the chance of survival is very slim, but it is better than the entire group army, entangled by the Chinese!

In the headquarters, there was immediately a mess, the staff officers were in a hurry to pack up all kinds of things, and the radio was busy collecting and transferring, "Report, I received a call from the Second Army and the First Army, and on our left and right flanks, a large number of independent division troops appeared, launching a fierce attack on us!" A staff officer, putting down the phone, shouted in a panic.

Dense gunfire came from both sides, and Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, sitting on the canvas marching chair, "Encirclement!" This was his first reaction, and he got into the trap set by the Chinese Tang Qiuli in a daze.

"Intelligence! Damn intelligence! "Lieutenant General Bamiyanov, suddenly roared hysterically, who is complaining, in the final analysis, the 43rd Army has come to this point, it has been misled by the intelligence of the intelligence department of the Front, what around Minusinsk, there are only small units of independent divisions, fart!

Chief of Staff Khabarovsky said anxiously: "Comrade commander, it is not time for us to hold anyone responsible, we should immediately take countermeasures, otherwise, our situation will be very bad!" ”

Lieutenant General Bamiyanov's eyes flashed with a cold light of despair, and he said viciously: "Chief of Staff, order the troops, at any cost, to break through!" Must break through! As long as we can hold out for two days, reinforcements will arrive! The Third Army withstood the frontal attack of the Chinese, the Second Army launched a counter-assault on the left and right flanks, and the First Army quickly retreated, telling the three army commanders that if we could not break through, we would break the net with the Chinese! ”

On the periphery of Minusinsk, a frontal battlefield more than 30 kilometers wide, in the face of Soviet troops without any fortifications to rely on, four tank brigades of the independent division and more than 1,000 tanks formed eight attack arrows, and without much effort, they crushed the blocking line of the Soviet infantry, fiercely cut into the depth of the Soviet position, and cut the weak blocking line hastily formed by the Soviet Third Army into fragments.

The self-propelled guns that accompanied the tank attack, the artillery group that extended the fire, blew up the Soviet positions into dust, and the fire flashed, clearing all obstacles in the tank offensive route.

Tang Qiuli's counterattack, as soon as he made a move, was extremely fierce and fierce, throwing in all the tanks and four brigades of infantry, and it was completely a frontal and hard fight.

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