Chapter 2338

After Fatyushin put down the phone, he did not immediately issue an order to the troops. Instead, he called the army commander, Major General Chumakov, and told the other party the mission Sokov had assigned him.

After listening to Fatyushin's story, Chumakov felt dissatisfied with Sokov's overstepping of command, but in any case, others were his immediate superiors, so he could only hold his nose and admit it. "Colonel Faqiushen," he said into the microphone: "Since Comrade Commander has given you the combat mission, you can just carry it out. Do you understand?"

"Understood, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Chumakov did not raise any objections, Faqiushen quickly replied: "I will immediately lead my troops to negotiate with the Kwantung Army."

Faqiushen knew in his heart that in order to rescue the reconnaissance team trapped behind enemy lines, he had to be stronger, so he mobilized the latest elite guard battalion and a fully equipped T-34 tank company. Heading toward the Kwantung Army's forward positions in a mighty manner.

As early as when the Soviet army used artillery fire on the Japanese squadron that was chasing Captain Feng and others, the Japanese were anxious. They did not expect that the Soviet army would launch a violent artillery bombardment in their defense area without any warning. Because the two countries signed a non-aggression treaty, even if they were attacked, the commander of the Japanese frontline troops did not dare to take any counterattack without authorization. He could only report everything that happened here to Hongo Zhong, the commander of the 44th Army. A report will be made.

After Lieutenant General Hongo learned about this incident, he was also very puzzled. How could the Soviet army suddenly launch a violent bombardment of its own defense area? A month ago, although the Soviet army also shelled its own defense area, it was its own side that was at fault at the time. The small unit that penetrated the area actually shelled a Soviet convoy without asking for instructions. As a result, suffered a retaliatory attack. He was worried that it would be for the same reason this time, so after listening to the Chief of Staff's report, he asked: "Chief of Staff, are our troops taking the initiative to attack the Russians again?"

"No, Your Excellency, Commander." The Chief of Staff quickly replied: "Since the infiltration team opened fire without permission in July, causing certain casualties to the Russians and causing our positions to suffer heavy shelling, I have spoken in your name. An order has been given to the troops to which they belong. Even if they are provoked by the other party, as long as the other party has not fired, no one is allowed to fire the first shot."

Regarding the Chief of Staff's statement, Lieutenant General Hongo expressed doubts: "Chief of Staff, do you think it was one of our troops that acted without authorization and angered the Russians? You know, our army has always had According to the tradition of "lower than superior", even if I give an order, the lower-level officers below may disobey it. Maybe they did some small tricks behind our back, which attracted the Russians' revenge."

"Your Excellency, Commander, you have misunderstood. This time the Russians shelled our defense area, not because our junior officers violated your orders and clashed with the Russians." The chief of staff explained to Lieutenant General Hongo. Said: "While they were encircling and suppressing a Chinese force that had penetrated into our defense lines, they were suddenly shelled by the Russians."

"Chinese troops that have penetrated into our defense line?" Lieutenant General Hongo raised his eyebrows: "Is it the anti-alliance troops?"

"They are the original anti-alliance forces." said the chief of staff: "But they have now been changed by the Russians into the 88th International Brigade. Recently, their traces have been found in many places within our army's defense lines. They have sneaked into our army's defense zone, in order to find out our troop deployment and equipment situation. This small unit that was encircled and suppressed was discovered by our officers and soldiers during the reconnaissance process. The commander of the local garrison immediately deployed a squadron of troops to encircle and suppress them. . Unexpectedly, during the encirclement and suppression, we were severely shelled by the Russians. Our army suffered heavy casualties, and this small team also took the opportunity to escape from the encircled area."

“Where are they now?” Lieutenant General Hongo asked through gritted teeth, “Have they escaped back to the Russian positions?”

"Not yet, Your Excellency, Commander." The Chief of Staff said: "According to the latest intelligence, when they entered the Yonggang Regiment's defense area during their retreat, the battalion captain, Major Takahiro Suzuki, commanded the troops to block their retreat. I believe that with It won’t take long to completely wipe out this **** squad.”

As soon as the chief of staff finished speaking, the phone on the table rang again. He picked up the phone and listened for a while, and his face changed drastically.

Upon seeing this, Lieutenant General Hongo asked quickly: "What happened again?"

“Report to your Excellency, Commander,” the Chief of Staff replied: “Colonel Yong Gangyou reported on the phone that a large number of Russian infantry appeared at the front of their position, and at the same time as the infantry, there were seven or eight tanks.”

When Hongo learned that the Soviet army actually appeared in front of his defense zone, he couldn't help but asked angrily: "What are the Russians going to do? First they shelled our defense zone for no reason, and now they mobilized a large number of troops to appear in our defense zone." At the front line, do they want to start a war with us?"

"Colonel Yonggang!" the chief of staff asked into the microphone: "Your Excellency, the commander, asked me to ask you, what is the purpose of the Russians doing this?"

"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff." Senior Colonel Yong Gangyou reported respectfully: "The Russians were led by a division commander, Colonel Faqiushen. He negotiated with me and said that one of their teams was performing an exercise mission. Missing in our army’s defense area, we require people to be brought into our army’s defense area to search.”

"Too much bullying!" Lieutenant General Hongo grabbed a teacup on the table and threw it to the ground: "Not long ago, they brazenly bombarded our defense area, and now they want to send people into our defense area to search. They What do you want to do?"

As soon as the Chief of Staff and Lieutenant General Hongo finished speaking, he quickly expressed his guess: "Your Excellency, Commander, if I guess correctly, the Russians did this to try to get rid of the small force trapped in our military defense zone. Detach the team and rescue them."

"Hmph~!" Lieutenant General Hongo snorted heavily and said disdainfully: "The Russians treat our army's defense area as a hotel. They can come and leave whenever they want? Ask Colonel Yonggang, why do the Russians They will brazenly bombard our defense area and cause huge casualties to our army."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have already asked Colonel Yonggang." said the chief of staff: "He said that the Russians' answer was that they were conducting exercises because there were errors in the data provided by the artillery observers, which resulted in the artillery shells being fired. , all accidentally shot into our army's defense area. After they discovered this mistake, they corrected it in time. In addition to stopping the shelling, they also punished the relevant responsible persons and put them in a solitary room."

"It's ridiculous, it's simply ridiculous." Lieutenant General Hongo said angrily: "Even if there is a deviation in the data provided by the artillery observers, the error cannot be that far. I think they are deliberately shelling our defense area. The purpose Just to rescue the encircled squad." "Your Excellency, Commander, what should we do now?" The chief of staff asked Lieutenant General Hongo for instructions: "Colonel Yonggang is still waiting for your answer."

"Waiting for my answer?" Lieutenant General Hongo said with a sneer: "Let me surrender to the Russians and let the small team of resistance alliance go? No, no, no, I will never do such a harmful thing. Something that damages the honor of the Locust Army."

“There are now a large number of Russian infantry and tanks at the forefront of our army.” The chief of staff reminded the other party: “If we do not agree to their request, they may take some drastic measures.”

The words of the chief of staff forced Lieutenant General Hongo to think carefully. He knew very well that there was a Soviet division stationed opposite the Yonggang regiment, and there were also a large number of tanks and artillery. Once the two sides started to take action, I am afraid that You are the one who suffers. After repeated weighings, he said to the Chief of Staff: "Chief of Staff, please ask Colonel Yonggang to personally negotiate with the Russian division commander to find out what the other party's true intentions are. If it is really just to rescue the small army Detachment, we can allow those people to return safely to the Russian defense area, but the prerequisite is that the Russians cannot enter our army's defense area."

"Okay, Your Excellency, Commander." The Chief of Staff nodded and said, "I will immediately contact Colonel Yonggang and ask him to start negotiations with the Russians."

 A few minutes later, Colonel Yonggangyou, the commander of the Yonggang Regiment, appeared in front of Colonel Faqiushen. He first raised his hand in a salute, and then said respectfully: "Hello, Sir Commander, I am Colonel Yonggangyou, the captain of the Yonggang Regiment, and I have been ordered to come to negotiate with you."

After listening to the translation, Faqiushen said arrogantly: "Colonel Yonggang, my troops are conducting exercises in this area, but unfortunately, one of my detachments lost their traces near here. I think they may Because the terrain is unfamiliar, I entered your defense area and had an unpleasant conflict with you. In order to ensure the safety of my men, I plan to personally lead people into your defense area to find the whereabouts of this team. I hope you Allow my troops to enter your defense zone."

"No, Sir, this is absolutely not possible." Yong Gangyou shook his head and said: "If your team is really missing, we can arrange manpower to help you find it. As for your entering our defense area, unfortunately, I cannot agree to it. Please forgive me."

Faqiushen had known for a long time that the Japs would not let his troops enter their defense zone, but that was not important. Anyway, the purpose of his visit was to rescue the reconnaissance team trapped behind enemy lines. Of course, if the other party does not know how to praise and is shameless, I will not rule out using force to solve this problem. Anyway, this matter was personally deployed by the commander. Once both sides open fire, I am afraid that the little devil on the opposite side will bear it. A blow beyond their imagination.

Precisely because of such a trump card, Faqiushen was very confident to speak: "Colonel Yonggang, so you don't have the sincerity to solve the problem. Do you have to force us to take action?" As he said, he put a Raise your hands high above your head.

Seeing Faqiushen's signal, the tanks parked not far away turned their turrets one after another, aiming their black muzzles at Colonel Yonggang and his entourage.

Colonel Yonggang saw that the situation was not good, and knew that if he continued to resist, he would definitely be the one to suffer in the end. Moreover, before I came here, I had received an order from the headquarters to hand over the small team to the Russians, provided that they could not enter their own defense zone. At this moment, seeing that the other party was showing signs of taking action without even talking, Colonel Yonggang quickly lowered his posture, nodded and bowed and said: "Master Commander, if you have no objection, you can send a few liaison officers into my defense area, and I will lead them myself." They are going to look for the missing team, but the prerequisite is that you cannot enter our defense area. Do you think this is okay?"

Faqiushen felt that the other party's proposal was not bad, so he quickly called a captain and said to him: "Comrade Captain, take two people to follow this little devil to find our people."

“Comrade division commander.” The captain asked cautiously, “How do I know if the guy the little devil brought us to is one of our own?”

"The small team trapped behind enemy lines are all comrades of the 88th International Brigade, and the leader is Captain Feng." Faqiushen explained to the other party: "I guess the reason why they have not been able to leave the Japanese defense zone is because they were They are trapped somewhere, but the Japs cannot destroy them for a while. When you get there, shout out to them and tell them that the troops to support them are in front of the Japs' position, and ask them to follow you."

In this way, the Soviet captain, led by Colonel Yonggang, came to the rock where the team was hiding.

Colonel Yonggang said to the Soviet captain: "Your people are hiding behind the rocks. You can find a way to contact them."

The Soviet captain nodded and took a few steps forward, but immediately stopped. He knew very well that if he walked over recklessly, he might be beaten to death by his comrades in the squad as enemies, so he borrowed an iron trumpet, hid behind a rock, and pointed at the rock not far away. Shouted: "Hello, comrades of the 88th International Brigade, I am from the 233rd Infantry Division, and I have been ordered to come to meet you."

 But after shouting, there was no movement behind the rock. The Soviet captain couldn't help but frowned, and turned to ask Colonel Yonggang: "What's going on? Why is there no movement behind the rock? Are they all killed by you?"

"No, no." Colonel Yonggang hurriedly waved his hands and said: "They have been hiding behind the rocks. Although we are firing machine guns and firing grenades here, they may cause some casualties, but There are definitely people alive. They may not have heard you shouting, you might as well try shouting twice."

The Soviet captain stared at Colonel Yonggang for a while. From the expression on his face, he felt that he did not seem to be lying, so he raised the microphone and shouted to the rock again, hoping that his comrades hiding behind the rock would hear him. , can come out and talk to yourself.

 (End of this chapter)