I am Jiang Weiguo in World War II

Page 408

Kuznetsov was quite proud of this, but he ignored two things intentionally or unintentionally. First, the casualties of the Soviet Army were actually higher than those of the Nanjing Army. Dozens of heavy artillery were blown up.

However, Kuznetsov thought it was worth it, and after dark, he issued an attack order again.

"The enemy didn't expect us to attack them during the day, so they were caught off guard by us. However, they didn't expect that our attack during the day would have a second round of attack at night, so they would be attacked by us again. One caught off guard!" Kuznetsov was full of confidence.

Although Konev called to "be cautious", Kuznetsov resolutely launched a second active attack at night, and the facts seemed to prove his idea again. "The 150th Division retreated again and again, and fled all the way to the Sino-Soviet border without hesitation.

At dawn, Kuznetsov, who personally inspected the battle situation and results, raised his binoculars, picked up the phone, and reported a very meaningful discovery to Konev: "Comrade Konev, just in the distance of my line of sight, There is a city!"

Konev was at a loss: "Comrade Kuznetsov, what have you found?"

Kuznetsov replied: "It's Irkutsk, the city we lost that was renamed 'Anbei' by the Chinese, a city that originally belonged to the Soviet Union!"

Konev's heart moved: "Comrade Kuznetsov, do you have any ideas?"

Kuznetsov said excitedly: "Comrade Konev, if we can regain Irkutsk, the symbolic meaning may not be lower than the annihilation of a division of the Chinese army! Once we regain Irkutsk, good news If it gets out, the Soviet Red Army and the Soviet people will rejoice, and Comrade Stalin will send us a congratulatory telegram!"

Konev had a bad feeling in his heart: "Comrade Kuznetsov, this is not in our plan!"

Kuznetsov was unmoved: "Comrade Konev, war is full of uncertain factors. We must seize every opportunity that is beneficial to us, expand the results and win victory, right? Recover Irkuts The words of Irkutsk are the first time for the Soviet Red Army to recover a Soviet city occupied by the Chinese! It is of great significance!" His eyes were bright, as if he had seen that after he successfully recovered Irkutsk, the highest official in the Kremlin All kinds of awards given to him by the leader under his elation.

Konev suddenly groaned secretly.

Chapter 481 Strategizing (1)

Anbei, formerly known as (Russian name) Irkutsk, is located at the southwestern end of Beihai Lake (Lake Baikal), on the main line of the Siberian Railway. hub and commercial core.

During the Far East War, the 74th Division of the Nanjing Army captured the city through long-distance raids, thus laying the foundation for the Nanjing Army's final victory. After the war, the Soviet Union was forced to return large areas of China's territory such as the Outer Northeast to China and cede There are only a few areas, and Anbei is one of them.

The new Sino-Soviet border is just a few kilometers outside Anbei City. Starting from Anbei, it will enter the territory of the Soviet Union more than ten kilometers to the north or a few kilometers to the west.

There is no doubt that the city of Anbei is an out-and-out border area. After being assigned to China by the Soviet Union, considering that Anbei is close to the Sino-Soviet border, all the machinery and equipment in the city were dismantled by the Nanjing Army and transported to North China, etc. The land makes this city no longer an industrial city, but a border military castle.

The Nanjing Army converted it into a military city with a small arsenal and some simple infrastructure, but nothing else. The buildings in the city are mainly for the frontline officers and soldiers and their families to live in.

The recovery of Irkutsk was a victory of great political significance and propaganda value achieved by the Soviet army in this war.

Irkutsk was not a Soviet city that was captured by the Chinese army or the German army after the outbreak of the Soviet war. Strictly speaking, Irkutsk was a Chinese city when the Soviet war broke out and belonged to Chinese territory, which also allowed the Soviet army to recover Irkutsk's behavior not only "recovered lost ground", but also had the meaning of "counter-offensive into the enemy's territory". It had to make the Moscow authorities, who were devastated by the extremely critical situation in the Soviet Union at this time, very excited.

The Soviet army's recovery operation against Irkutsk was surprisingly smooth. The Nanjing Army in Irkutsk was almost defeated at the touch of a finger. It barely lasted for more than an hour. The sky above the city named "Anbei".

Along with Pravda and Izvestia, "Red Star", which is listed as the three major central organs of the Soviet Union, reported "this glorious, brilliant and great victory of the Soviet Red Army" in extremely enthusiastic and lengthy articles, using The words made Konev on the front line feel his scalp tingling after reading it:

"...under the orders of the great Comrade Stalin, the Red Army soldiers of the Eastern Military Region, in response to the call of the motherland, fearlessly and scrambled into this war to defend the motherland and the Soviet Union.

After the counterattack officially started on August [-], due to the clever and ingenious deployment of the resourceful front-line Red Army commanders such as Comrade Konev, Commander of the Military Region, Comrade Marankin, Chief of Staff, Comrade Susaikov, Political Commissar, the Chinese invading army Completely dizzy, the Red Army soldiers who launched the counterattack were full of loyalty to the motherland, high confidence in victory, and deep-rooted hatred for the Chinese invaders. They rushed towards the Chinese invading army like a blizzard, with the slogan "Ula" The sound resounded over Siberia, and also shattered the courage of the Chinese invaders.

The soldiers of the artillery unit of the Red Army manipulated the cannons and sprayed the anger of revenge on the Chinese bandits who invaded our homeland. The fierce artillery fire roared away. Tens of thousands of Chinese invading troops were bombed to death on the spot, and they ended up in the shameful end of working for Chiang Kai-shek's counter-revolutionary regime. More frightened Chinese aggressors fled in panic. They were completely powerless to resist. The number of cannons in China was very small, only a fraction of that of the Red Army, so it faced the revenge bombardment of the Red Army's artillery fire. This shows how militaristic the Chiang Kai-shek reactionary regime is. It has no capital to launch a war of aggression, but insists on following the German fascists Launched the aggression against the Soviet Union, so that countless Chinese young people were reduced to tragic cannon fodder and died in vain on the battlefield; while the hurricane-like bombardment was unfolding, the soldiers of the Red Army Tank Troops were already attacking energetically. The slogan of the soldiers Together with the sound of the tank's engine, the enemy's liver and gallbladder were torn apart. The tank unit commanded by the brave and tenacious Comrade Vatutin stabbed at the positions of the Chinese invading army like steel knives. The offensive was full of Soviet anger and the Soviet Red Army. When the torrent of steel from the Red Army rolled towards the positions of the Chinese aggressors, countless Chinese aggressors were terrified. Some officers who were stubborn and loyal to Chiang Kai-shek bravely and viciously urged the demoralized Chinese The soldiers of the invading army launched a futile counterattack, but their counterattack was only feeble, and they were quickly crushed. The Red Army tanks quickly crushed their positions, rolling forward like a broken bamboo, and the Chinese invading army was desperately fleeing everywhere. More and more terrified Chinese invaders surrendered to the Red Army soldiers. The officers showed their shame and the soldiers were terrified.

The Chinese invading army that was attacked by the Red Army was the No.80 Eighth Division, one of the so-called ace troops of Chiang Kai-shek's army. This division did make the Japanese suffer a lot when fighting the Japanese, but it quickly died in front of the just and powerful Red Army. collapsed.

According to the confession of the Chinese invaders who surrendered to the Red Army soldiers, they did not want to fight at all, and they were all recruited by force.

This is precisely the essential difference between the Soviet Red Army and the Chinese invasion army. The Soviet Red Army was a righteous army belonging to the Soviet people, while the Chinese invasion army was just the lackeys of the Chiang Kai-shek regime.

Facing such a powerful offensive by the Red Army, the Chinese invading army panicked and their positions collapsed. The Red Army soldiers who participated in the battle roared and charged heroically, regaining a large piece of sacred territory in one go. The Chinese invading army suffered a complete defeat. dead bodies and the officers and soldiers of the Chinese invading army who raised their hands and surrendered in despair.

After a whole night of fierce fighting, the offensive of the Chinese invading army on Cheremhovo was completely shattered. Their dream of launching an aggressive attack on the Soviet Union from Siberia was suddenly shattered, and they began to head towards a shameful failure.

At dawn, the wise and resolute Comrade Kuznetsov took over the command of Comrade Vatutin. He keenly noticed that the Chinese aggressor army was disintegrating, so he decisively continued to pursue the Chinese aggressor army further. .

The soldiers of the Red Army were very excited. Before the war, they swore to the national flag and party flag that they would drive the Chinese invading army out of the sacred territory of the Soviet Union and send good news to Comrade Stalin. And they fulfilled their oath with actions.

The defeated Chinese invaders almost panicked and didn't have the courage to fight back. They just wanted to escape back to China. The Red Army soldiers chased them and fought until Irkutsk, which had fallen before the war.

Comrade Kuznetsov was determined not to miss this great opportunity to regain the country and wash away his shame, and decisively issued an attack order.

Amidst the earth-shattering "Ula" slogan, the Red Army soldiers launched this glorious battle to recover Irkutsk. The Chinese invading army in the city desperately resisted, but they could not stop the advance of the Red Army soldiers at all. Many hours later, Irkutsk, which has been ravaged by the Chinese invading army until now, finally broke free from the clutches of the Chinese invading army and returned to the warm embrace of the Soviet Union.

... "

"Nonsense!" Konev slammed the newspaper on the table angrily. "It's a self-deception to speak of the Chinese so badly! The victory was obviously won by hard work and blood. In the mouth of the institution it becomes a no-brainer?"

"Red Star" reporter Vasily Grossman was at the Cheremkhovo front at this time. He wrote many manuscripts, but "passed the review" on the grounds that "there were words that exaggerated the enemy and discredited the Soviet Red Army."

According to Vasily Grossman's interview, the Soviet officers and soldiers who participated in the war believed that "the Chinese are not easy to fight." A Soviet tank soldier said to him: "...when the tank brigade approached the Chinese position, the Chinese Very calm, without any panic, they seem to have been mentally prepared for this kind of battle, although our artillery positions have been bombarding them, blowing up the sky full of gunpowder smoke, but it seems that there are endless Chinese people Resisting us endlessly, they are not afraid of death at all, but they are not suicidal, they are tenacious and desperate.

They didn't have many anti-tank guns. Although they caused us a lot of losses, what really made us afraid was their Molotov cocktail offensive.

Raindrops of Molotov cocktails were constantly being thrown from the Chinese, and fireballs burst out around and on our tanks. Even if our machine guns kept firing and killing them, they still maintained The density of Molotov cocktails, with thousands of Molotov cocktails thrown at us, makes us scramble.

Facing our tanks, the Chinese still dared to rush over with bayonets in their hands, performing their tasks like robots, bombarding us with anti-tank guns, burning us with Molotov cocktails, climbing up our tanks and stuffing grenades into the cabin of the tanks , even drilled under the chassis of our tanks and fired grenades. These methods of fighting tanks are very effective, but they are almost dead, but the Chinese are not afraid of this, and they have launched one after another. We have a sense of fear.

The night is called 'Molotov cocktail night' by the Chinese, and they are obviously very proud of it.

By the end of the battle, the battlefield was littered with wrecked tanks and countless, shiny shards of glass!"

A Soviet infantryman said: "...We were previously propagated that the reason why we lost to the Chinese in the Far East War and the Central Asian battlefield was that the Chinese played cunning tricks.

The political commissar told us that during the war in the Far East, the Chinese lied to us that they would not participate in the war, and then took advantage of the Red Army’s Far East Front to attack the Japanese with treachery. It is undefeated and defeated.

We firmly believe in this, but after we actually fought against the Chinese, we discovered that these yellow-skinned enemies are very difficult and stubborn. Not only are they not afraid of death at all, they are also very flexible and cunning, and they are determined not to surrender.

At the end of each battle, the superiors came to receive the Chinese prisoners we had captured, but almost every time there were zero. There were very few Chinese captured by us, and almost none of them voluntarily surrendered.

The Chinese will not abandon their wounded, even the corpses will be taken away, so their seriously wounded are rarely found and captured. Once, we found a dying soldier of the Chinese invasion army. We tried to capture him alive, but he pulled The grenade on his body blew up and he was bloody and his head was blown off. He was completely suicidal. This kind of spirit makes us puzzled.

Later, we found some documents on the corpses of the Chinese invading army, all of which were written in Chinese, and comrades who understood Chinese translated them. One of the documents was titled "Ten Principles for Fighting the Soviet Army", which I remember very clearly The first point, the first point is 'resolutely don't be a prisoner of the Soviets', there is a reason in the document, it says 'the Soviets, especially the Russians, are brutal and barbaric, they don't care about their own lives, they don't care about the lives of their compatriots, I don’t even care about the life of the enemy, so it’s best not to be captured alive by them. Even if you run out of ammunition and food, it’s best not to surrender, don’t have illusions, and commit suicide without hesitation, because this is the only way to get rid of pain.

The Soviets will not treat the prisoners well, they will only use various cruel means to torture and kill the prisoners, and will not allow the prisoners to enjoy humane treatment'.

I suddenly understood that this was the main reason why the Chinese were determined not to surrender, so they fought crazily and were not afraid of death at all, even if they committed suicide, they would not fall into our hands.

I have to admit that this kind of view of the Chinese is really not slander, the Soviet Red Army really did not treat prisoners well, and the most ideal ending was to be sent to labor camps as coolies.

... "

Although the Soviet propaganda organization wantonly belittled the Nanjing Army for political purposes, the grassroots officers and soldiers of the Soviet Army who fought directly with the Nanjing Army were deeply impressed by the tenacity of the Nanjing Army.

The tenacity of the Nanjing Army is a kind of spirit, a tradition of military soul from top to bottom.

The 88th Division lost three regiment-level officers one after another in the fierce battle of "Night of Molotov cocktails". None of them were killed during the retreat, and all of them were killed in front-line battles.

The recovery of Irkutsk was a "windfall" for the Soviet army. Kuznetsov, who commanded this battle, was also very proud of it. His name was listed in the "Red Star" and "Truth" for several days in a row. The top of the list of "Izvestia" and "Izvestia" instantly became a national figure, "Hero of the Red Army Front", and he received a telegram from Stalin himself, the telegram reads as follows:

Comrade Kuznetsov, congratulations on your victory of great significance. You have reclaimed an occupied land for the Soviet motherland and proved to the Soviet people and foreign invaders the strength and invincibility of the Soviet Red Army.

On behalf of the Soviet people, I would like to express my gratitude to you and extend my warm greetings to you personally.

Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin

After receiving the good news, Stalin ordered 112 gun salutes to be fired 20 times in Moscow to celebrate the victory of the Soviet army.

Not only that, Stalin also ordered Kuznetsov to be awarded the title of "Hero of the Soviet Union".

The huge glory suddenly plunged Kuznetsov into extreme joy. Among other things, the telegram sent by Stalin himself is of great significance, which is equivalent to a notice of promotion.

Stalin indeed highly praised Kuznetsov. Although the recovery of Irkutsk was not of great military significance to the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War at this time, it had great propaganda and political significance.

Stalin, the Soviet government, the Soviet people, and the Soviet Union really needed a victory at this time. On the battlefields of Eastern Europe, the German army was in full swing. At this time, they were fighting the Soviet army in Kiev. The two sides fought countless times. Undoubtedly, the Soviet army On the battlefields of Eastern Europe, a single fallen city has not yet been recovered. On the battlefields of Central Asia, the Soviet army was defeated even more shamefully. The 50 troops were defeated by the 10,000+ Nanjing army. After learning about it, Stalin was almost furious. Signed an extremely stern order: "Arrest Tolofemenko, the commander of the Central Asian Military Region! No interrogation, no excuses, shoot him immediately!" Beria, who was in charge of this matter, was busy for a while before he knew Tolofemenko Ko has died in the Central Asian battlefield.

At this time, Stalin was sitting on pins and needles every day in the Kremlin. He waited eagerly for the victory, even if it was only a partial battlefield victory, and then he would reward the victors well, so as to boost morale and inspire people. Kuznetsov sent the good news of recovering Irkutsk at the right time. Although this good news did not come from the Kiev front that Stalin most hoped for, and the results were not of particularly great value, Stalin definitely wanted to fully Make good use of this opportunity to award Kuznetsov more than his merits, set an example for all officers and soldiers of the Soviet army, and let them know that the supreme leader not only kills the defeated generals, but also rewards the victorious generals. The generous rewards are also used to publicize how powerful the Soviet Red Army is and will never be defeated by the German and Chinese troops, so as to stabilize the hearts of the Soviet Union and at the same time seek assistance from the United States, Britain and France.

When Kuznetsov was proud, Konev had misery.

The recovery of Irkutsk is indeed a victory, but it is even more unexpected. Konev does not think that the Soviet army has the ability to capture the city held by the Nanjing army in a short time at this time, so this is not in his plan. The "beautiful situation" instead made him passive.

After hesitating again and again, Konev called the Supreme Leader.

On the phone came Stalin's exhausted but relieved voice: "Comrade Konev? I was about to call you, Comrade Konev, your Eastern Military Region has done a good job, and the Central Asian Military Region has disappointed me. This made the Red Army's Great Patriotic War worse, but your Eastern Military Region saved the game. I want to reward you, and Comrade Kuznetsov, you are all very good..."

Konev said respectfully: "Comrade Stalin, this is our duty and what we should do. Please rest assured that all Red Army soldiers in the Eastern Military Region will fight to the end for the Soviet. However, regarding Irkutsk, I have a little I hope I can report to you!"

"Comrade Konev, tell me!" Stalin said softly.

Konev said: "Comrade Stalin, the recovery of Irkutsk is indeed an exciting victory. However, this victory was unexpected. This is not included in our battle plan. I am actually very puzzled. China The ease with which the army seems to have abandoned Irkutsk is uncharacteristic and disturbs me.

Comrade Stalin, Irkutsk is in our hands, which actually makes us passive, because we have to draw troops to guard Irkutsk. I hope that in order to better complete the task, you can allow us to Give up when the time is right..."

"Give up what?" Stalin heard what Konev meant, and his tone suddenly became severe, "Irkutsk? Comrade Konev, how could you have such an idea? Irkutsk belongs to the Soviet Union. Now that the territory has been recovered, how can it be occupied by the Chinese invading army again? No! Can't give up!"

"Comrade Stalin!" Konev argued, "The main force of our army is mainly in the Cheremhovo area. Now that Irkutsk has been recovered, the distance between the two places is more than 50 kilometers. On the one hand, our army cannot relax Cheremhovo. Mkhovo, on the one hand, our army took Irkutsk into account, which made our army's front line stretched out, and there was a big crack of more than 50 kilometers between the two places! The Chinese army is very easy to take advantage of loopholes! I I am very worried about this! Our army should shrink the line of defense and fight steadily. My counterattack plan is actually to test the enemy's reality and find an opportunity to wipe out part of the enemy's army. But now there is an extra unexpected task of guarding Irkutsk, which breaks the My original plan was broken, which also made the deployment of troops unfavorable and rigid..."

"Comrade Konev!" Stalin's tone became more and more severe. "What are we fighting for? To defend our territory! This is the fundamental purpose! Now that Irkutsk has been recovered, how can we give it up? In addition , think about it, the Red Army gave up Irkutsk as soon as it regained it, what would the Soviet people think? What would the international public opinion think? Where is the military prestige and face of the Soviet Red Army? The results of the battle were lost again. Didn't he slap himself in the face? Comrade Konev..." Stalin's tone became gentle again, and there was a faint desolation, "I want to remind you that since the beginning of the war, we have been fighting Losing the battle, we need a victory so much. We have finally won it now, and we must not lose it! Once lost, it will deal a heavy blow to the morale of the army, the hearts of the people, and the confidence of the army and the people! Do you understand what I mean?"

Konev moved his lips, but said nothing.

"Irkutsk cannot be occupied by the Chinese again! Comrade Konev, this is my order!" Stalin's tone became severe again, and he hung up the phone after speaking.

Konev held the phone, feeling more and more ominous in his heart. He understood that this so-called victory was "fundamentally" a hot potato.

In the former enemy headquarters of the Northern Group of the Nanjing Army, Xiao Yao was having a conversation with Jiang Weiguo and Xue Yue.

"Stalin's personality is very similar to that of the principal, right?" Xiao Yao winked at Jiang Weiguo and Xue Yue.

Jiang Weiguo was stunned, but Xue Yue quickly understood.

"Yes! Yes! Very similar!" Xue Yue couldn't help laughing.

Chapter 482 Strategizing (2)

Konev's strength at this time is not inferior to the Nanjing Army, and even has several advantages that make the Nanjing Army unable to parry, and Konev's troops are calm and cautious, decisive and swift, and at the same time he is very good at grasping opportunities. Such a person, naturally It is a strong enemy of the Nanjing Army.

In this regard, the senior leaders of the Nanjing Army took a different approach, adopting the countermeasures of static braking and retreating, deliberately abandoning Anbei (Irkutsk) on the Sino-Soviet border, and luring the Soviet army to swallow this sugar-coated poison, thereby disrupting Konev's overall deployment and combat plan, and turning Nanjing's military from passive to active.

Regarding this situation, Konev quickly became aware of the plot of the Nanjing Army. He realized that the opponent had resorted to an "overt scheme".

Konev had to admit that the opponent's move was very clever and impeccable, and he caught the Soviet army's Achilles heel all at once.

Abandoning Irkutsk is the most important thing the Soviet army should do. The city was taken back by the Soviet army. Keep this rare victory, so as to boost the morale of the Soviet army and civilians.

Konev actually understood Stalin, but from a military point of view, he could not agree with Stalin's decision. However, since Stalin had issued an order, Konev could only obey. He had to rack his brains and think about the current situation. The most beneficial solution for the Soviet Army.

"Maybe, I can use this Irkutsk backhand to give the Chinese an unexpected blow!" Konev thought hard.

"Konev is indeed a person who will not be easily fooled. It is very difficult for him to lure the enemy deep!" Xue Yue, who had not slept well for several days in the Nanjing Army Command, opened his bloodshot eyes and looked at the enemy. Looking at the map, a trace of joy appeared on his tired face, "But we used Anbei as a bait, and he couldn't help himself.