The battlefield that Stalin could not grasp the most was the ongoing campaign to recover the Outer Mongolian region, and from a practical point of view, in the Outer Mongolia battlefield, Tang Qiuli could do his best, but he could only stretch out a finger to the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District.

Putting aside the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District and undertaking the task of recovering Outer Mongolia alone, the risks contained in it are that the Chinese Tang Qiuli also made Stalin elusive, whether it was this Chinese's strategy of using troops, the art of command, or the equipment level and combat effectiveness of the independent division, Stalin often had a sense of powerlessness in the face of Tang Qiuli, and he had to admit that this was a terrible opponent.

Far away, there was the defeat of the Soviet Red Army in Outer Mongolia a few years ago, even the just-concluded battles of Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude on Lake Baikal, although the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District completely occupied the two places and declared the end, but the process of the battle did not make Stalin have the joy of victory.

If, in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude, the troops of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army of the Independent Division are surrounded, such a battle process is what they want; first, the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District can ensure the combat effectiveness of the troops with the shortest logistical supply line, and second, they can attract the troops of the Outer Mongolian Border Guards of the Independent Division to come to the rescue and consume their strength in the battle.

Attracting and entangled all of Tang Qiuli's forces in the Outer Mongolia region in the Baikal region would be the most ideal result, clearing the way for the Soviet Red Army to rapidly advance to the line of Kulen and Saiyinshanda, and establishing a defensive line sufficient to resist the northward advance of Tang Qiuli's main forces before the Outer Mongolian battlefield could be reinforced, so that the battlefield could be maintained in a confrontational situation with the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District.

However, the separate divisions were in Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude. The fact that the two cavalry brigades retreated without a fight and abandoned these two strategically important places shows that it was Tang Qiuli, the commander of the Outer Mongolian region, who saw through the intentions of the Soviet Red Army and had the idea of resisting and defending step by step, and that the troops of the Transcaucasian Military Region would be struggling step by step on the way south, and it would be difficult to achieve the strategic intention of quickly occupying Kulen and Sainshanda.

How difficult it is to win quickly and move quickly. This is just the commander under Tang Qiuli, if Tang Qiuli himself commanded the Chinese army on the battlefield in Outer Mongolia, what would be the result? Staling was distraught.

He chose this time for himself to launch a campaign to recover Outer Mongolia. There is a vague sense of remorse, actually. Just now at a meeting of the Political Bureau. Since the war has begun, even if he does not order the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District to go south, Tang Qiuli can give up, even if it is to recover Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude. It was also inevitable that there would be a big war with the Soviet Red Army.

The Chinese Tang Qiuli is a character who never wants to suffer losses and will not look at the Baikal region. Cut off from the map of Outer Mongolia by himself, this war that left little time for himself, more, with the nature of gambling, betting on Hitler's German army, within a year, not attacking the Soviet Union, gambling on Tang Qiuli's main army, before the Transcaucasian Military District troops, occupied Kulen and Sainshanda, there was no time for reinforcements.

Since it is a gamble, there are winners and losers, and if he gave up this rare opportunity to recover Outer Mongolia, Stalin would certainly not forgive himself, and the war, in a very large way, was a big gamble.

"Comrade Stalin! Comrade Stalin! Molotov saw that the leader's spirit was in a trance, and he hurriedly shouted softly.

Stalin gathered his mind, took a puff of his pipe, and said: "Molotov, no matter what difficulties and dangers there are, we must be firm in our determination to recover Outer Mongolia, and at the same time, we must also be prepared for defeat. ”

"Also, can the comrades of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party, whom you are responsible for liaising with, inform them that the Soviet Red Army's task of liberating the Outer Mongolian region requires their strong support, and that it is best to use the strength of the Outer Mongolian Independent Alliance to hold an armed uprising in the Outer Mongolia region before we begin a large-scale offensive in order to coordinate our military operations.

Molotov nodded, his mood was a little gloomy, it seems that the comrades of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party are destined to make due sacrifices for the great cause of the Soviet Red Army, without arms, without a mass base, without a strong core leadership, in the Outer Mongolia region under the strict control of the independent division troops, holding a riot, it is almost like looking for their own death, it is better to wash their necks, line up, and wait for Tang Qiuli to cut off their heads.

As far as I know, the "Outer Mongolian Independent League" is an organization with extremely complex composition, and various forces are gathered together for the sake of temporary goals, each with its own political goals and demands, and it is difficult for the Soviet Red Army to be willing to take such a big risk, and in the end, only the comrades of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party are desperate for the Soviet Red Army and are not afraid of sacrifice.

Perhaps, as soon as Comrade Stalin's idea came out, it was their sorrow and their honor that the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party was destined to become leaders, sacrifices of great political goals, and shed their own blood for the increase in the size of the Soviet Union.

Moreover, Comrade Stalin's attitude was not very optimistic about the prospects of the war, and did the sacrifice and dedication of the comrades of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party have any value and significance?

To be honest, having dealt with Tang Qiuli several times, he knew very well that this Chinese was very powerful, and he was not very optimistic about the battle to recover the Outer Mongolian region, and the plan proposed at the original five-member meeting was very large in order to limit the war to the smallest extent, and even more to solve the problems at that time.

Molotov pondered for a moment and said: "Comrade Stalin, in order to avoid defeat, we can also adopt such a tactical guiding ideology, order the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, General Kulygin, to advance cautiously and put the enemy's reconnaissance in the first place. ”

Molotov's construction was contrary to Stalin's original meaning, and the order he gave to the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, General Kulygin, was to move south as quickly as possible to occupy the line of Kulen and Saiyinshanda, and block the northward advance of Tang Qiuli's main army.

However, after careful weighing, this order is very difficult to complete, once it encounters Tang Qiuli's main army, the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District can maintain the confrontation situation, which is the best result, and it is very likely to repeat the mistakes of the past.

However, Stalin did not copy everything completely, and in the subsequent order to the commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, General Kulygin, in the name of the Supreme High Command, Stalin adopted a compromise approach, ordering Kulygin to command the troops, advance quickly, crush all the resistance of the Outer Mongolian border guards of the independent division, and quickly occupy Kulen and Sainshanda, but the enemy reconnaissance must be put in the first place, and once signs of reinforcement of the main forces of the independent division are found, they must be reported to the Supreme Command, no matter what time they are.

After the meeting of the Political Bureau of the CPSU decided to continue to expand the results of the war and recover the Outer Mongolian region, the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District, which had undertaken the combat mission, immediately transferred additional troops to the front line. Everywhere you can see trucks full of Soviet soldiers, artillery trucks towing artillery, tanks "rumbling" by.

Two days later, the Soviet Air Force Headquarters and the two fighter divisions supporting the Outer Mongolian battlefield were also stationed at field airfields and temporary airfields in Chita, Barnao, Irkutsk, and Ulan-Ude, and at this time, on the Baikal line, 11 Soviet infantry divisions plus two motorized brigades (including five mechanized infantry divisions), four tank brigades, eight artillery regiments, one armored brigade, four fighter divisions, and one bomber division, a behemoth with a strength of about 170,000 troops.

On 18 September, General Kulygin, commander of the Transcaucasian Military District, commander of the Front Command and member of the Political Committee, arrived in the city of Irkutsk on the western shore of Lake Baikal with a large command team and several transport planes.

The clouds of war on the front line of the Soviet-Mongolian border continued to expand, and Stalin took out all the troops he could, quite a bit of a broken posture, and the new changes that had taken place in the Baikal region, the situation of the large-scale build-up of Soviet troops, in the Tang Qiuli in Kulen, was not known for the time being.

Tang Qiuli met Major General Zhao Yuhe, chief of staff of the division commander and chief of staff of the directly subordinate corps, who rushed to Kulen at the headquarters of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army in Kulen, and Tang Qiuli was overjoyed by Zhao Yuhe's arrival, which meant that at least two brigades of the various units of the directly subordinate corps, that is, the first brigade and the second brigade, had reached the line of the Seshuangge River.

With these two main field brigades, Sun Zhenbang's four infantry brigades and two artillery brigades of the Outer Mongolian Frontier Army do not have to face the attack of seven divisions and a large number of tanks of the Soviet army alone, and the pressure and casualties will be reduced to a minimum.

You can also free your hands, calmly mobilize your troops, and put Stalin's claws into the Outer Mongolian region, completely interrupting, and time will not be so short for you.

But Zhao Yuhe, who was tired and dusty, was taken aback by Tang Qiuli's next words, and then broke out in a cold sweat.

(To be continued) (To be continued.) For mobile phone users, please go to read. )