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Text Chapter 747 Thunder over the Pamirs!  (six)

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    December 8, 1937, evening.

    There is no warmth in the Afghan plateau under the setting sun. The mercury thermometer shows that the outdoor temperature has dropped to minus 17 degrees.  As soon as he got out of the command tent, Zhuo Fan felt as if his skin was being cut open, so he tightened his cotton coat before walking towards the temporary airport.  The temporary airport was built on a flat land 13 kilometers east of Kunduz City. Two Soviet T26 light tanks with their bellies turned upside down can also be seen on the road.  The tank's turret was tilted, the tracks were broken in two, the 45mm rifled gun was bent, and the two DP machine guns were also removed by Afghan soldiers.  The serial numbers on the vehicles showed that they were from the 6th Tank Brigade of the Soviet Army. Unfortunately, before this tank brigade, which Zhukov and Kozlov had high hopes for, was beaten 11-0 by the sharp knives that opened the way, they had to be defeated.  Liu Liu retreated into the city.

    Behind the wreckage is the field airport that the engineers spent half a day clearing out.  On the half-track anti-aircraft vehicles deployed around the airport, 40mm and double-barreled 25mm anti-aircraft guns pointed directly into the sky.  Under their protection, four Y-10s coming from the Tajik base were unloading two 155mm towed howitzers and artillery shells from the 1st Battalion of the 711 Heavy Artillery Regiment.  Although this is Hanyang Company's lightest 1935-style 155mm towed howitzer, it uses a 24-fold barrel, has a total weight of only 3.6 tons, and a maximum range of 13 kilometers.  But it is still too heavy for ordinary transport aircraft. Even the twin-carrying aircraft with the largest load capacity in China can only carry one gun at a time. The gun frame and gun body need to be separated before transportation.  As for the larger Yunba and Yunjiu, they can carry three doors, but their take-off and landing conditions are relatively harsh.  It is impossible to land at this makeshift field airport.

    In the National Defense Forces, the units starting with the letter "7" are all heavy artillery units. For example, the 711th Regiment is an independent organization and is mainly used to strengthen the suppressive firepower of the division/army.  A regiment has three battalions, each battalion has 12 155mm (or 210mm suppressed heavy artillery).  Zhuo Fan made a rough calculation and found that a regiment would need 101 sorties to transport the simplest items such as artillery, two basic shells and artillery.  Fortunately, the isthmus has been opened. Although the road is difficult to travel, it can at least be smooth. Otherwise, relying solely on the logistics maintained by the air force, two tank battalions could be established in half a year.

    Heavy artillery is unloaded here, and the sound of artillery is also rumbling in Kunduz in front.

    After breaking through the Khan Balad Pass, the 10th Armored Division immediately divided its troops into two groups.  A tank battalion and the Asian Brigade quickly penetrated towards Aliabad, 35 kilometers away, blocking the retreat route of the Baghlan Soviet army.  The main force continued to advance towards Kunduz with the 23rd Infantry Regiment and the 3rd Afghan Army Division.  Although it is only 30 kilometers away, this is Afghanistan after all. Even though Kunduz is an oasis basin, there are still hills and many obstacles.  What's more, after learning that the Isthmus was lost, the Soviet commanders voluntarily abandoned the perimeter and retreated to the city. They deliberately scattered small groups of anti-tank troops and scattered machine gun points in the surrounding farms and settlements to harass and delay, so the clearing was very time-consuming.

    By the afternoon, the armored division had basically cleared the area north of Kunduz.  Du Yuming originally planned to attack Kunduz at night, but he restrained himself after seeing the photos of the city taken by reconnaissance planes.  Kunduz is like most Afghan cities.  They are all made of clay, with low buildings and narrow streets. After tanks enter, the view will be seriously obstructed.  During the Army's Tiger Roar exercise, an armored division's attack on such a city was simulated. As a result, the more than 200 tanks of the Second Armored Division that were responsible for the attack were half destroyed by the densely packed grenades and other light weapons that came out from all directions.  Got a miserable victory.

    Since then, armored divisions lacking the protection of a large number of infantry have been considered unsuitable for attacking cities, especially in such a cramped and crowded city where two infantry divisions are waiting.  Zhuo Fan looked at Kunduz and sighed secretly.  If it were not for the poor logistics due to terrain restrictions and the fact that the headquarters could no longer provide much follow-up infantry to carry out the siege in a short period of time, otherwise the 10th Armored Division could have handed over the siege work to the infantry and bypassed this big nail and penetrated directly into Termez.  .

    pity!

    While Zhuo Fan was secretly cursing the weather and terrain, a small Y-7 special warfare liaison plane appeared in the sky.  There are many types of aircraft in the country now, and there are dozens of them in service. The average soldier can't even count them.  Although there are many models.  But it also proves that the domestic aviation industry is already among the world's best with a hundred flowers blooming.  For example, the Y-7 in front of you is a new product of Northern Raytheon Company, and its appearance is similar to the Swiss PC-6 special warfare aircraft of later generations.  It uses an 850-horsepower 12-cylinder water-cooled engine and a sturdy non-retractable landing gear.  It has an upper monoplane and a large push-pull door. It can carry 8 fully armed mountain infantry at a time. It can take off and land on flat ground the size of a tennis court. It is an excellent short take-off and landing liaison and special aircraft.

    Like a light petrel, Yun Qi stopped steadily in less than twenty-five meters.  As soon as the plane stopped, Zhuo Fan saw Long Yun and an Afghan lieutenant general in his thirties getting out. The latter seemed to be still in a state of praising Yun Qi. After getting off, he looked back repeatedly.  "Zhuo Fan, the major staff officer of the 10th Armored Division, has met the chief of staff and the general."

    "Oh? You just want to??Using gray sand to cover Zhuo Fan who broke through the isthmus?  here you go!  This is Lieutenant General Chahatu.  "Long Yun didn't expect that he would see Zhuo Fan at the first sight when he came to inspect. He used gray sand to cover the tactic of breaking through the isthmus. When Lian Yue, the Chief of General Staff and the President learned about it, they both praised him, so he praised him a few words before asking  He said: ¡°Where is Du Yuming?  Take me to him.  "

    "Report to the Chief of Staff, the division commander is in front, please wait a moment."

    Since there was still fighting ahead, Zhuo Fan not only found a large jeep, but also brought two tanks.  This carefulness made Long Yun very satisfied, and he kept asking about the details of the battle in the Isthmus along the way.  When he arrived at the front line, Du Yuming was lying in the command post observing the city with an artillery periscope. When he saw Long Yun and Chahatu, he quickly saluted and said hello.

    "Okay. Since the army is outside, there is no need for false courtesy. This is Lieutenant General Khachatu of the Afghan Army. How is the situation on the other side?" After Long Yun introduced Khachatu, he walked towards the observation window of the bunker.  Most of the veteran officers in the 1911 Revolution have retired from the front line. In addition to more than a dozen generals such as Yue Peng and Zhang Xiaozhun, the lieutenant generals are already the backbone of the National Defense Forces.  So when he saw him coming, the guard saluted again and handed him the binoculars.

    In the lens, an infantry company of the 10th Armored Division is attacking a farm near the city under the cover of a tank platoon.  It can be seen that the Soviet army's firepower is obviously insufficient. Faced with the siege of four tanks, they can hardly come up with any decent anti-tank weapons. However, they have done a good job in fortifications. Two deep trenches and a few logs can limit the enemy's firepower.  If the tank squad cannot attack, they can only rely on vehicle-mounted machine guns to cover the infantry advance.  After watching it for a while, Long Yun lost interest. This kind of small battle of peripheral clearing was a necessary task before the war, and all grassroots commanders would handle it themselves.  In addition to inspecting the troops and encouraging the soldiers, he mainly came to deploy the battles in the two encirclement circles of Baghlan and Kunduz.

    "Kunduz has two Soviet divisions and a tank brigade, as well as several machine guns, anti-tank battalions and anti-aircraft battalions. We have killed more than 4,000 people during the day's battle. According to my estimate, the city  There are less than 20,000 troops left. There are still two divisions and several independent brigades in Termez, but they have to divide their forces to rescue Baghlan's two divisions, so they should not attack them all. In addition to armor, I  Outside the division, there are more than 3,000 people in the 23rd Infantry Regiment and 7,000 in the 3rd Afghan Division. The total strength of the troops is not much different. But judging from the investigation situation, the commanding Soviet officers have good experience. Taking advantage of the narrow buildings and streets, the troops are  They were broken into pieces and scattered everywhere. It seemed that they were preparing to use the narrow streets and houses to block my tanks. The situation here in the city is roughly the same. To the west of the city is the Kunduz River, where the Soviet army deployed  Heavy troop protection. Originally, I wanted to go around and outflank the enemy from the rear, but the Zhouqiao Battalion was trailing behind and had not yet arrived, and the Soviet army had also blown up the ice, so tanks and heavy equipment could not get through for the time being."

    After listening to Du Yuming¡¯s introduction, Long Yun turned to Zhuo Fan.  He asked in a thoughtful tone: "Major Zhuo, tell me your opinion."

    Zhuo Fan knew it well and replied: "There are many houses in Kunduz, the city is narrow, and the terrain is uneven. It is not the best terrain for tanks to advance. However, these problems mentioned by the division commander are not big. Just be patient. Advance step by step.  Just clear it out slowly. I think the biggest problem now is whether to attack Baghlan first or here. If Baghlan is attacked first, then we might as well send a battalion to continue to penetrate northward and cut off the support of Termez  Route. If you attack here first, you can intersperse it two days later. Because the air force's bombing has destroyed a lot of supplies, the more reinforcements they come, the greater the consumption, so we can just clean them up together."

    "You're not old, but you have a big appetite." Long Yun's words made the officers around him laugh, and then he continued to ask: "Then where do you think it is better to fight?"

    "To be safe, we must attack Baghlan first. The two Soviet divisions there have been completely surrounded, and they will definitely not last long in such cold weather. As long as Baghlan is eliminated, the three infantry regiments and the Asian Brigade can quickly attack  Come here to form a strength advantage. But if you want a quick victory, you should attack Kunduz first! Because Kunduz is the transit point between Termez and Baghlan, cutting it off will be equivalent to closing the northern gate of Afghanistan. By then, Baghdad will  No matter how hard the Soviet troops in Glen do it, they are still a turtle in the urn. It¡¯s just that Kunduz is a large city with complex streets and requires a large amount of infantry, so at least two more infantry battalions are needed.¡±

    The armored division has two battalions and one thousand infantry.  The 23rd Infantry Regiment used to be the 23rd Brigade. Although the divisions were withdrawn from the brigades and reorganized into regiments after the new military reform in 1922, it was still a large regiment with six battalions totaling more than 3,000 people.  Coupled with the miscellaneous engineers and other combatants, they could only make up 6,000 infantrymen.  If the terrain is open, then one armored division with 6,000 infantry is enough to deal with three Soviet infantry divisions, but when faced with a chaotic city where at least hundreds of thousands of people live, it needs to be eliminated layer by layer and guard against Soviet counter-encirclement.  This amount of troops is not enough.

    Of course, Zhuo Fan did not count the Third Division of the Afghan Army, because in his opinion, the Afghan soldiers were not as effective as the National Guard, so he could only??Logistical work such as guiding or appeasing local citizens.

    "That makes sense."

    "Everyone! Whether this battle can go quickly and smoothly is not only related to whether our allies can regain their territory as soon as possible, but also related to the aspirations of the people in Central Asia and even the Persian Gulf region! Therefore, the president has asked us to capture Kunduz as soon as possible, General Staff Sgt.  Commander Chang He also discussed and decided to abandon Baghlan and attack Kunduz first!" Long Yun patted Zhuo Fan on the shoulder, turned around and said: "The General Staff has ordered the deployment of 300 long-range transport aircraft to transfer the 16th Plateau Brigade.  Come to help, it is expected that at least one regiment will arrive here within two days. Starting from tomorrow, the Air Force will change the bombing target and conduct tactical bombing of Termez and the Soviet railway lines, destroying the Soviet army's ability to build up and cutting off their support channels!  "
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