On the south bank of the Sejingge River, the earth-shattering sound of shells and bombs exploded as if it were boiling, and the dust and smoke raised obscured the rising sun, making people almost think it was a gloomy morning.

Liu Hongzhang held up the binoculars, his face was full of dark clouds, and carefully observed the Soviet infantry who were attacking the south bank in rubber assault boats under the cover of open ground fire.

But not now, the bombs and shells overhead rained down, blowing up the surface position almost overturned, how many troops were put up, they would be blown up immediately, and they made a surprise move, organized anti-aircraft fire, and suddenly attacked, still taking advantage of a little bit and killing dozens of Soviet bombers, but what followed was a fierce retaliation by Soviet artillery fire and bomber groups.

After Liu Hongzhang saw that the situation was not good, he ordered all the anti-artillery holes and shelters to be withdrawn, and only less than half of the soldiers who came back from hundreds of anti-aircraft firing points, that is, in less than half an hour, lost more than 400 people, wounded more than 2,000 people, and also lost hundreds of light and heavy machine guns and dozens of anti-tank guns.

Deputy Commander Ouyang Yishan was on the side, and said worriedly: "Commander Liu, I'm afraid that after this air raid and artillery fire, the casualties of the troops will not be small!" ”

Liu Hongzhang knew what Ouyang Yishan was referring to, and the anti-artillery holes and shelters built by Sun Zhenbang when he was there were fierce battles, and the shells and grenades were basically damaged, and they could withstand the bombardment of the shells. But it couldn't withstand the bombing of heavy aerial bombs, and it was expected to be blown up.

Hiding in the anti-artillery holes and shelters to be bombed, this battle was fought from the beginning, but it could only be fought like this, as bold as Liu Hongzhang, and he did not dare to brave the flying shells and bombs in the sky to order the troops to enter the surface position, which was similar to letting the soldiers go to death.

Liu Hongzhang gritted his teeth and said to Ouyang Yishan without looking back: "Brother, there is no way. If you don't hide, the casualties will be greater, and now there is no too good way to fight, so I sued the troops and put the Soviet troops closer to fight. Mix it together, whether it's shells and planes. have lost their effect. With grenades and submachine guns, wait for the old Maozi soldiers to get close to beat and fight in close combat, the soldiers of our direct corps have not been afraid of anyone, what about the little devil. Bayonets have also been fought! ”

Ouyang Yishan nodded, Liu Hongzhang's words were reasonable, there was no threat of artillery fire and aerial bombardment, and there was a face-to-face battle. The two brigades directly under the corps are mostly equipped with automatic weapons, which can ensure the density of firepower, which is the only method that can be taken at the moment, and like Liu Hongzhang, Ouyang Yishan also believes that the soldiers of the first and second brigades who rolled over from the battlefield of blood and fire have never lost face in fighting the Japanese army and the British army, and they cannot admit it in the face of the Soviet army!

General Kurygin came up with the largest offensive lineup, and seven or eight regiments of Soviet troops, without any resistance, approached the south bank along the way, and the Soviet soldiers shouted in Russian "Ula!" "Wading through waist-deep water, splashing all the way, from four main directions, rushed towards the positions of the troops of the separate division.

At this time, the Soviet artillery fire began to extend, and the bomber group was ready to start returning after dropping bombs, and the Soviet fighter group, which was on escort duty, was still hovering over the position, preparing to attack the soldiers of the independent division who had drilled out of the underground shelters and anti-artillery holes.

Liu Hongzhang's hand had already picked up the phone, and was about to give the order to counterattack, in the sky, there was the sound of machine guns in the fierce fighting of fighter jets, and Meng Qingpeng commanded all the fighters of the Northern Flight Group to rush to the sky over the battlefield of the Sejingge River.

Liu Hongzhang's hand was put down again, and he said to himself: "It's finally here, it's not too late, Lao Tzu doesn't ask you winged people to do anything, just kill Lao Maozi's bombers, and I, Lao Liu, will do the rest of the work myself!" ”

Judging from the number of fighters, the reinforced Soviet fighters plus the remaining fighters of the Air Force of the Transcaucasian Military Region were more than the fighters of the Northern Flying Group.

However, Meng Qingpeng's style of attack was different from yesterday's, and he was ruthless in his determination to inflict heavy losses on the Soviet bombers that posed the greatest threat to the ground positions, and at least to reduce the pressure on the ground troops to the greatest extent before the arrival of reinforcements from the Southern Flying Group.

Therefore, as soon as the air battle began, it was divided into two battlefields, with a small number of fighter groups of the Northern Flying Group facing the Soviet fighter group, and most of them throwing off their opponents and directly attacking the Soviet bomber group.

Meng Qingpeng piloted the fighter plane, rolled over on one side, dodged a bullet fired from behind, and glanced at the situation on the ground, on the beachhead on the south bank of the Sejingge River, the Soviet soldiers were black and pressed, and they were wading through the water to attack, Meng Qingpeng gritted his teeth fiercely, although he was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of fighters, and he was in the stall of dealing with Soviet fighters and attacking Soviet bombers, he was not without the ability to provide air fire support to the ground troops.

"The 3rd and 4th regiments, immediately attack the Soviet troops on the ground!" Meng Qingpeng gave the order.

More than 80 fighters immediately abandoned the Soviet bombers that were about to succeed, pushed the control stick, pressed down the nose, quickly lowered the altitude, and threw themselves straight to the ground.

The blow from the air was tantamount to a catastrophe for the Soviet attacking troops, and a string of bullets swept over, causing the river to foam at the water, and immediately a piece of flesh and blood flew sideways, and the Soviet soldiers fell in rows in the river and the muddy muddy water on the beachhead.

General Kulykin, who was on the high ground and observing the situation on the battlefield, put down his binoculars and shouted angrily to the chief of staff Zirnianko beside him: "Ask the Air Force, what are they doing?" With such a superior number of fighters, it is even possible to let the fighters of the independent division attack my offensive echelon? ”

There is no need to ask, the commander of the Soviet air group in charge of the command immediately realized this problem, and more than 100 Soviet fighters broke away from the battle group and pounced on the third and fourth regiments.

Meng Qingpeng smiled with relief, it's okay, he can only do so much for the ground forces, the fighters of the third and fourth regiments, under his order, immediately climbed in height, approached the large group of planes, and killed the Soviet fighter group.

Liu Hongzhang, who witnessed this qiē, shouted excitedly: "Good job!" What is needed is this, Cheng Lin, order the troops to enter the surface fortifications immediately, take advantage of the old Mao soldiers, who were dizzy by our planes, to start a counterattack, not to drive these guys back to the other side of the river, not to allow the end of the battle! ”

The soldiers of the 1st and 2nd Brigades of the Corps, who came out of the anti-artillery holes and shelters, did not have time to shake off the mud and dust on their bodies, and did not have time to repair the fortifications that had been blown up beyond recognition, and began to fire fiercely by relying on the craters.

Light and heavy machine guns and submachine guns, roaring and raining bullets, slashing heads and covering the Soviet soldiers on the beachhead, the sound of guns in the sky and on the ground reflected each other, and the line of the river was stunned, like a boiling pot of boiling water, glowing with blood and gunsmoke.

Meng Qingpeng's tactics were very effective, a bomber division of the Soviet army was surrounded by more than twice as many fighters of the independent division, surrounded and beaten fiercely, and the Soviet fighter group on the periphery rushed desperately inward, although the fighters of the independent division were constantly emitting black smoke and planting to the ground, and there were more Soviet fighters and bombers that exploded in the air, this was an unprecedented melee, the scale may not be as large as the scene of the air battle of thousands of planes, but the fierce Cheng dù was more than equal.

The smoke of gunpowder rising everywhere mixed with the smoke in the air, forming a thick layer of three-dimensional smoke clouds, enveloping the sky and the ground in chaos, and it was impossible to distinguish between the gunfire in the sky and the gunfire on the ground, the screaming of bullets, the explosion of grenades, and the roar of fighter planes.

Flesh and blood flying, shrapnel whistling, ground defense battles are particularly fierce, the nearest distance, the Soviet ground offensive troops, only a few dozen meters away from the position of the independent division, seems to be within reach, it is this distance that can be crossed in a few steps in ordinary times, but it has become a barrier to death, light and heavy machine gun and submachine gun bullets, tearing the air like a wild roar, hitting the morning air in the Outer Mongolian steppe, are full of scorching smell.

From time to time, the soldiers of the independent division were beaten by the machine guns of the Soviet army and their whole body was covered with bloody holes, or the grenades thrown by the Soviet soldiers were blown up to a blur of flesh and blood, but the comrades-in-arms around them continued to shoot without changing their faces.

The veterans of the First Brigade and the Second Brigade are used to this, and Liu Hongzhang and Ouyang Yishan have long been out of the command headquarters, and have taken their respective guard units into this fight.

The attacking Soviet troops, after landing on the beachhead, hit a hard nail and could no longer attack, and General Kulykin, who was observing the situation on the battlefield in the rear, received a report, "Comrade commander, the first echelon has suffered heavy casualties, and at present, it has not been able to break through the defensive positions of the independent division, and the front-line commander asks for instructions!" ”

General Kurygin looked at the sky full of fireworks, his own fighter group, obviously had the upper hand, casualties, not surprisingly, he said indifferently: "Order, the first echelon continues to attack, and the second echelon of six regiments will immediately enter the battle!"

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