Chapter 2344

The three military commanders who received the call rushed to the headquarters as quickly as possible.

After they saluted Sokov, Afnin first asked: "Comrade Commander, is there any combat mission in calling us here in such a hurry?"

"You are right, General Afunin." Yakov said with a smile: "I called you three here just to assign you combat tasks."

　　When they learned that they were indeed going to participate in the battle, the three army commanders all showed joyful expressions on their faces.

Afnin asked on behalf of the three of them: "Comrade Commander, I wonder which area we want to launch an attack in?"

"Come here." Sokov led the three people to the wall, pointed to the map above and said: "According to the report from the front army headquarters, the 39th Army on the left and the 17th Army on the right have advanced towards the enemy's defenses. It advanced more than thirty kilometers in depth..."

"What, you advanced more than 30 kilometers in more than an hour?" After hearing the data reported by Sokov, Afuning turned to look at his companions on the left and right, and found that they were just like him, with disbelief written all over their faces. : "It's simply unbelievable. The speed of this advancement is too fast."

"General Afunin," Sokov smiled slightly when he saw the performance of Afunin and others, and then said: "The strength of the Kwantung Army cannot be compared with the German troops who have fought against us. Maybe a few years ago, Their combat effectiveness is still very strong, but with the opening of the Pacific battlefield, the elites of the Kwantung Army were sent to the area and became the dead souls bombed by U.S. naval guns and aircraft. Although the Kwantung Army today has millions of people , but their strength is far less than before.

The reason why the friendly forces were able to advance so quickly was due to many reasons. The Kwantung Army's insufficient combat effectiveness was certainly one of the reasons. What's more important is that our army did a good job in concealment before the war. The Kwantung Army was not aware of our army's combat intentions before the war started. As a result, we were caught off guard. In addition, another point is that the Kwantung Army has only deployed a small number of troops in the border areas with our army, and its main forces are deployed in large cities in the Northeast. "

 After listening to Sokov's explanation, the three army commanders finally understood why the friendly forces were able to advance quickly after breaking through the enemy's defense line. Afuning asked anxiously: "Comrade Commander, where is our main attack direction?"

"Start the attack from here." Sokov pointed at the defense zone of the 57th Army and said: "According to my plan, General Chumakov's 57th Infantry Army, as the main force of the group army, will launch an attack from here. Although the Kwantung Army A large number of troops were assembled in this area yesterday, but they were unable to defend against our powerful offensive. Moreover, the friendly forces on the left and right flanks launched the attack earlier than us, which may have given the enemy an illusion that they Our shelling of their defense area the day before yesterday and the series of actions we sent to retrieve the trapped squad were all done to confuse them. Therefore, at this moment, the heavily assembled troops may have already returned to their respective locations. defense zone."

"Comrade Commander," Chumakov was naturally very happy to learn that his troops would be the main offensive force, but he was worried that Sokov's judgment was wrong, in case the enemy still massed heavy troops in his attack direction. , which meant that there was a fierce battle to be fought, so he asked tentatively: "What if the enemy's heavy troops still stay in the direction of our attack, what should we do?"

"Even if the Kwantung Army has massed heavy troops in your main attack direction, what's the big deal?" Lu Jin interjected: "You know, the aircraft, tanks and artillery our army has far exceed the Kwantung Army's , even if we fight head-on, they can't stop our attack at all."

Regarding Sokov's arrangement of the 57th Army as the first offensive mission, neither Afunin nor Melekhov had anything to say. After all, the location of his troops was still a certain distance from the main attack direction. No matter who was in charge, It is impossible for the commander to sacrifice the near for the distant and let the troops far away from the enemy's position be the first to attack. What they are interested in now is which army will serve as the second echelon. This means that although they can't eat meat, they can drink some soup.

Sokov was not in a hurry to announce the answer, but said to Chumakov: "General Chumakov, after your troops break through the enemy's defense line, do not make any stops and advance southward as quickly as possible. Because the left and right The troops on both wings are advancing too fast, and a gap as wide as dozens of kilometers has been formed between them. If the current trend continues, this gap will expand to hundreds of kilometers by night. The mission of your army , which is to quickly fill the gap after breaking through the enemy's defense line."

"Comrade Commander," Chumakov once again raised his concerns: "Our offensive front is dozens of kilometers wide. If all the troops are deployed, the intensity of the offensive will be weakened; but if they are used intensively, the left and right wings will be There is a possibility of being attacked by the enemy.”

"Don't worry, General Chumakov." Seeing Chumakov's hesitation, Sokov said to him: "You are not fighting alone. In addition to the 17th and 39th armies on the left and right wings, the Guards tanks The 6th Army will also act simultaneously with you. I think as long as the enemy is not a fool, facing such a powerful offensive force, what they have to do is not think about how to repel you, but how to safely leave the battlefield."

Just as Sokov was assigning tasks to the three army commanders, after understanding the situation on the battlefield, Harem Chun realized that he had thought about the problem too simply. The Soviet army that was attacking him was simply unable to do so with its own strength. Resistant. The so-called solid defense line you built is like a castle made of sand on the beach. When the tide washes over, it disappears without a trace.

When the attacking Soviet troops were blocked, they would call in aircraft bombings and artillery bombardments, causing the fortifications that had been built with great efforts to be wiped out in the huge explosions. As for the officers and soldiers staying in these fortifications, few survived after the bombing and shelling. At this time, the Soviet infantry, under the cover of tanks, can easily occupy and break through its own defense line if it launches a charge again.

"Your Excellency, Commander," Haremiya Jun reported to the other party after answering Yamada Otsuzo's call: "The Russian offensive is too fierce, and my troops cannot resist them at all. Some elite troops holding on to the fortifications were They were all shattered by Russian bombing and shelling."

A few hours ago, Yamada Otsuzo was still full of confidence. As he continued to receive reports from different units, he discovered that the situation was far more serious than he imagined. The Kwantung Army, which he relied on, was like a Soviet army. Chickens and dogs are generally vulnerable. He specially sent a telegram to the base camp, reporting the difficulties he faced, and asking for instructions on how to deal with the Soviet attack next.

The answer given to him by the base camp was simple. If the Soviet attack could not be stopped, then abandon the Northeast and retreat to North Korea to continue organizing new resistance. With the instructions from the base camp, Yamada Otozo had some idea of ​​how to fight next. At this moment, when he heard Harem Chun asking himself what to do, he said slowly: "Harem Lord, according to the instructions from the base camp, if we are sure that we cannot hold Manchuria, we will abandon Manchuria, retreat to North Korea, and reorganize a new army. Resistance. I think your 3rd Front Army can first retreat to the mountainous areas around Tonghua and use the favorable terrain there to carry out tenacious resistance."

But after Harem Jun listened to Yamada Otsuzo's proposal, he protested: "Your Excellency, Commander, I object to the withdrawal of the troops to the Tonghua area. There are many mountains and forests there, and transportation is inconvenient. If the troops are withdrawn there, it will be very detrimental." Fighting."

"Then what do you think about it?" "Since we can't resist the powerful mechanized regiments of the Russians, continuing to hold on to the current position is tantamount to letting the officers and soldiers die." Haremiya Jun said: "I plan to let Yoshio Hongo The 44th Army contracted its forces and concentrated on Shenyang and Changchun. At the same time, the 108th Division on the left wing stationed in Chengde was ordered to shrink to Jinzhou and Fuxin to try to hold on. If after completing the new deployment, it is still unable to resist the Russian attack, It’s not too late to evacuate to North Korea.”

Yamada Otsuzo thought about the battle plan proposed by Harem Jun for a long time, and finally expressed his agreement: "Harem Jun, I agree with your plan, implement it immediately. I hope that we can safely retreat to you before the Russians." Said city.”

 “Your Excellency, Commander, I have a question.”

"what is the problem?"

"Why was there no warning in advance for such a big event that the Russians launched an attack on us?" Harem Chun said in confusion: "You know, this is an assembly of millions of troops, so there can be no warning in advance."

"It can't be said that there are no signs at all." Yamada Otsuzo said hesitantly: "We have long been aware that the Russians are transporting soldiers and supplies from the Western Front to the Far East and may launch a war against us. In order to understand the Russians' We sent a large number of spies to penetrate into the Russian defense area. But unfortunately, except for the spies sent to Khabarovsk, which provided us with some fragments of intelligence, we never obtained any useful information. information."

"What about those guys at the base camp?" Harem Chun asked angrily: "They always boast that they are strategizing and winning thousands of miles away, so why didn't they realize that the Russians would launch a large-scale attack on us?"

"They once made such a judgment." Yamada Otsuzo said: "But unfortunately, they felt that the Russians had just ended the war with the Germans and needed some time to recuperate. In the 21st year of Showa, which is the Gregorian calendar There would be no attack on us before June of 1946. It was this misjudgment that led our officers to slack off, thinking that there would be no war with the Russians before next summer."

"Well, I understand, Your Excellency, Commander." Harem Jun knew that although Yamada Otsuzo was the commander-in-chief of the Kwantung Army, he still had a lot of helplessness, so he did not make any requests to the other party, but simply said: "I will immediately issue an order to all the troops. Order them to start retreating immediately to avoid being surrounded by the Russians."

After assigning tasks to the three army commanders, Sokov said to them: "Comrade commanders, time is pressing. After you return to your respective units, you must start preparing for the attack. General Chumakov, I can only Give you two hours, and after two hours, your troops must launch an attack on the Kwantung Army's defense area."

Chumakov heard what Sokov said and said with a smile: "Comrade Commander, it won't take two hours, one hour is enough. In fact, since our army launched artillery bombardment on the Kwantung Army's positions, our commanders and soldiers They have already entered a state of preparation for war, and now as long as they make a move, they can immediately launch an attack on the enemy on the opposite side."

Hearing that Chumakov was so confident, Yakov was also deeply encouraged: "General Chumakov, the opportunity has come to make a contribution. I hope your army can achieve brilliant results in the next battle. I wish you good luck! "

 After Yakov and Chumakov shook hands, Sokov and Lukin also shook hands with him one after another: "General Chumakov, I wish you good luck!"

After Chumakov drove back to his defense zone, he immediately called all his division commanders to the military headquarters and said to them: "Comrade division commanders, I have good news for you. The commander ordered us to attack the enemy in front."

Hearing the news, the happiest person was Colonel Faqiushen, commander of the 233rd Infantry Division. He said excitedly: "Great, really great. I thought that in this battle, we could only sit on the sidelines Looking at the excitement, I didn’t expect that I would one day join the war.”

"Okay, stop talking nonsense." Chumakov interrupted Faqiushen and said to him: "Your division is the first offensive force. I hope you can break through the enemy's defense in the shortest possible time. How about it?" , can it be done?”

"No problem, Comrade Commander." Faqiushen replied confidently: "Our division has already made all preparations for battle. Just waiting for your order, we will immediately launch an attack on the enemy's defense line and Break through their defenses in the shortest possible time.”

"Very good." Chumakov was very satisfied with Fatyushin's statement. He nodded and said: "Colonel Fatyushin, go back and tell the soldiers: The time has come to establish meritorious deeds. The commanders and fighters of the entire group army are watching them. , waiting for them to achieve more glorious achievements, and hope they will not disappoint everyone's expectations."

“Comrade Commander, please rest assured.” Faqiushen patted his chest and said, “Our division will never embarrass you. Just wait and see our performance.”

Chumakov nodded, and then assigned the other two division commanders their respective combat tasks. After deploying the mission, he stood up and said to several people: "Comrade division commanders, your mission has been clarified. Go back to your respective units for the final pre-war mobilization!"

“Yes!” the three division commanders replied loudly in unison.

 (End of this chapter)