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Text Chapter 816 The Great Battle of Central Asia (8)

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    Late at night on November 5th, Semiyi.

    "Get up, don't sleep! Pack your things and get ready to fight." Zhang Erhu from the 5th Company of the 1st Regiment of the 22nd Division was wearing an autumn combat uniform and wrapped in a wool blanket. He just held the hj32 general machine gun and squinted his eyes when he heard the company commander's voice next to his ears.  shouting.

    "It's so late at night, why don't you let people calm down?" Zhang Erhu muttered, unscrewing the kettle and pouring a few mouthfuls of cold water on his face.  The cold and stinging feeling on his face made him sober up a lot, and he asked: "Company commander, are the Soviets coming up?"

    "No. The division commander ordered us to go to the power plant by the Nanmen River immediately. The Third Battalion found a large number of Soviets there. I heard there were tens of thousands." After the company commander shouted, he ran to other positions.  Zhang Erhu was left to gasp.  Tens of thousands?  Are the Soviets desperate?  Throw tens of thousands of troops into a city full of enemies in the middle of the night to fight!

    "You're going crazy!"

    Zhang Erhu shouted that he was crazy, but his hands and feet were not idle.  He immediately wrapped three hundred-round ammunition belts around his body and asked the assistant machine gunner to bring two more barrels before following the troops to the power plant.

    At this moment, no lights can be seen in the strategic town in the northwest corner of East Kazakhstan. Only the flares that light up over the city every 10 minutes prove that it is still full of vitality.  Under the dazzling light, no complete buildings could be seen in Nancheng, and there were rubbles and broken walls everywhere.  When Zhang Erhu and everyone arrived at the power plant, the Soviet artillery shells fell.

    Boom!  boom!  boom!

    The shells fell like hailstones.  76mm, 82mm, 122mm, 152mm In just a few minutes, half of the city was flooded with shining red light. Thick smoke clouds rose from every street, spreading and expanding unbridled, overturning houses.  , destroy buildings, kill people.

    Although the war had only been fought for half a month, Zhang Erhu felt as if he had been fighting for half a lifetime. He quickly recognized that this was an indiscriminate barrage covering the artillery bombardment before the attack.  This kind of bombardment is not aimed at a certain position, but a tactic used by barrages.  Mainly used for killing personnel and covering attacking troops.  But I know that the massive shelling still made everyone complain incessantly, hiding in the hole like a mouse covering their head.  Zhang Erhu looked at the flowing fireball on the ground and cursed: "Why do I think the Soviets have more artillery than us? Damn it, didn't Stalin grab all the coffins?"

    The company commander was so angry that he kicked him hard: "Why are there so many nonsense? Just hide from me. I don't want to collect your body."

    "Ha ha."

    Zhang Erhu scratched his head and continued to act like an ostrich amidst the laughter of his comrades.  In fact, what he said is true, in terms of quantity, especially the barrel artillery.  The Wehrmacht is really inferior to the Soviet Army.  Kulik prepared quite well for this battle. He knew that his air force was outmatched, so he invested tens of thousands of barrel artillery on both the north and south sides, plus mortars, etc., totaling nearly 30,000.  The total number of barrel artillery pieces of the National Defense Forces in Kazakhstan is only more than 5,000.  Of course, this is because Yang Qiu chose the Air Force, so most of the resources are tilted toward aviation. The Army mainly develops armored assault forces, so the resources and manufacturing capabilities determine that it is impossible to hoard tens of thousands of troops like Stalin did before the war.  Tens of thousands of cannons.

    Although the quantity is insufficient.  But the quality is not bad.  Soon, three independent heavy artillery regiments hidden in 12 positions in the east of the city began to counterattack.

    The 1935-type 155mm towed howitzer is the world's lightest howitzer of the same caliber. Since the total weight is only 3.6 tons, it immediately becomes the most important support force for the infantry after being installed.  After 108 155mm howitzers from three artillery regiments opened fire.  105mm howitzers and 120mm mortars from each division also joined the chorus.  Although the number of all 105mm, 120mm and 155mm artillery shells is not as good as that of the Soviet army, their power is not much less than that of the Soviet army.

    But what surprised Zhang Erhu and everyone else was that the Soviet artillery fire preparations took at least an hour in the past few days, but today they stopped fighting in less than fifteen minutes.  Before everyone could figure out what was going on.  There was a cry from the front: "Soviet people! The Soviet people are coming up!"

    "Erhu! Did you see that? Take your machine gun squad to the third floor. Remember! Don't die too early. The whole company will use your machine gun as a benchmark!"

    "Company commander, don't worry!" Zhang Erhu carried a machine gun.  Lead the deputy and run toward the power plant building.  In order to ensure the supply of ammunition, the company commander specially arranged five Kazakh ammunition feeders for him.

    After the war broke out, a large number of Kazakhs spontaneously joined the resistance every day. Especially after the president's speech that he would support Kazakhstan's independent establishment, the Kazakhs became more enthusiastic about joining the army.  Although no formal arrangements had been made, these honest prairie men took the initiative to take on the task of transporting ammunition and transporting the wounded. Some of them used their superb riding skills to serve as sentinels, which helped the troops a lot.

    "Little Suzhou! Don't you always tell me how good your marksmanship is in front of me? Do you see that? There is a water tank over there.?, go up and let the Soviets have a taste!  "

    "Mortars go to the reservoir to the east. Qiu Ning, your anti-tank guns are based on the tank destroyer battalion! After they open fire, hit them back hard! Don't let the Soviet tanks break in!" Company Commander  After arranging the missions of the mortars and two 70mm cannons, he shouted again: "Everyone else, pay attention! Those with sniper rifles will shoot first, with Erhu's machine guns as the benchmark. Next will be rifles, and submachine guns last.  Responsible for protection, don¡¯t let them get close!¡±

    "Company commander, look, it's T34!"

    As soon as the company commander arranged the task, two flares were fired from the direction of the regiment headquarters.  Under the dazzling white light, everyone swallowed their saliva, even Zhang Erhu, who had just climbed to the third floor, was a little dazed.  Only a five-kilometer-wide front was seen, with about forty or fifty T34 and T26 tanks covering tens of thousands of Soviet infantry rushing towards the power plant.

    "Regiment 2201 is calling! Regiment 2201 is calling! T34, there are about 30 vehicles, Nanmen Power Plant! Request bombing! Request bombing!"

    "Received, received! Arrival in five minutes, pay attention, use ground flash bombs to guide!"

    "Get ready for flash bombs! The air force will arrive in five minutes! Attention anti-tank guns, fire T34 first! Fire at 1100 meters, 900 meters, and 850 meters!"

    "Boom! Boom!"

    Four Type 35 Jagdtiger anti-tank destroyers hidden in buildings and factories just opened fire, and the two anti-tank cannons of the fifth company also sprayed out orange-red fireballs.  Not to mention the T34 at this distance, even the National Defense Force's own Type 31 tank could not stop the 70mm/L50 anti-tank gun, so two T34s were immediately stopped.

    Zhang Erhu had already spotted the opportunity. As soon as the tank stopped, he immediately aimed at the exposed Soviet infantry behind and pulled the trigger.  The hj32 general-purpose machine gun has long been famous.  Especially in this battle, as long as its unique sound of pulling tarpaulin can be heard, the morale of the Wehrmacht will be greatly shaken, but the Soviet army has long been tortured by this strange sound.  There is really no way, the hj32 is too fast, even the most elite veterans can only rely on luck to escape, let alone the Soviet recruits whose quality has seriously declined after the Great Purge.

    ¡°Da Zi Zi Da Zi Zi.¡± The unique sound of tearing cloth is particularly clear at night.  The trajectory of tracer bullets forms a line of death, ruthlessly harvesting lives.  With just a few triggers, the Soviet troops behind the two T34s were basically unable to move.

    Zhang Erhu opened fire.  The entire company's machine guns and mortars screamed, and large numbers of Soviet soldiers were suppressed on the ground 500 meters away, unable to move. Some even began to retreat.

    "Can't stop! Charge up, charge up!"

    When Vlasov, the commander, saw that the troops had been stopped, he stamped his feet angrily: "Rush up and follow the tanks! Jericho, use your machine gun to beat them! Artillery regiment, concentrate your firepower to knock the south side open!"

    "Boom!" After another T34 was hit by an anti-tank gun and exploded, Captain Jericho, who was wearing the logo of the Moscow Internal Guard, pulled out his riding crop and yelled and cursed, ordering to fire on the retreating soldiers.  Da da da. The dp light machine gun hit him.  Dozens of Soviet soldiers were killed as they tried to escape.

    The fierce law enforcement team was so frightened that the soldiers did not dare to stay longer. They immediately got up and continued to charge.

    Seeing that the troops were finally moving again, Vlasov breathed a sigh of relief.  In fact, he didn't like the supervising team sent by Moscow, but this time he really had no choice.  After more than half a month of fierce fighting.  Hundreds of thousands of soldiers of the Chinese National Defense Force used flesh and blood as a wall to gradually curb the Soviet assault. The war has shown signs of shifting from offensive and defensive to stalemate.

    This is a very bad thing, once it reaches a stalemate.  The Soviet army, which lacks air superiority, can only be passively beaten, so Moscow has strictly ordered to capture East Kazakhstan and Almaty before December.  Especially Seminyi, a strategic town in the northwest corner of East Kazakhstan bordering Siberia.  If it can be captured, the East Kazakh Front and the Siberian Front can be linked. Not only can they break through the defense line, but they can also release 500,000 Siberian Front troops to crush the East Kazakh in one fell swoop.  That's why Kulik decided to take the risk and invest heavily in troops at night, hoping to use the human sea charge tactic to completely destroy the Wehrmacht positions.

    Although the war team is disgusting, the effect is very good.  Under the threat of the supervising team, the two battalions of the Fourth Mechanized Army quickly broke through the first line of defense.  Upon seeing this, Vlasov immediately ordered the follow-up troops to be deployed in an effort to open up the situation before daylight came.  But as soon as the second-line troops went up, the bad news came.

    Like the god of death singing, the humming sound of engines came from the night sky.  This sound is so familiar to everyone that every time it is heard, the Soviet soldiers become confused.

    "The Air Force is coming! Get down! Flashbangs!"

    The Soviet army was in chaos, but the 2201st Regiment was greatly encouraged.  As the officers shouted in unison, six flash bombs were sent into the middle of the Soviet army by mortars, forming a cutting line between the enemy and ourselves. After seeing the second squadron hovering in the sky, theyCaptain He Yong immediately led his wingmen to push the rod, rushed into the battle circle and dropped eight 120kg cluster bombs along the straight line to the south.  This type of cluster bomb was used for the first time in the Northwest Battle. Each 120-kilogram bomb contained sixteen 5-kilogram bomblets.  When the bomb dropped to a height of 300 meters, the explosive bolt on the head of the bomb suddenly lit up, and the shell quickly cracked and the bullet was thrown out.

    In just a short moment, hundreds of fireballs exploded among the Soviet troops at the same time.  Hundreds of soldiers were blown to pieces, and even the tanks were not spared.  After the squadron leader dropped the bomb, the 14 Snake Bs that followed also rushed into the battle circle. Fifty-six 120 kilogram cluster bombs turned the short five-kilometer front into a hell on earth. Thousands of people were exposed.  The Soviet troops were killed, and their screams and howls of pain filled the entire battlefield.

    The power of the cluster bombs made the entire battlefield sluggish for a while.

    "My tank!"

    Vlasov was even more trembling. In just one round, almost all the twenty tanks in the second wave of charges were destroyed. The remaining few tanks were also found by the hunting tigers of the National Defense Force. The exposed infantry suffered heavy losses.  Since the second wave could not keep up, the two battalions that had just rushed in were immediately devastated and strangled.  The fire net composed of semi-automatic rifles and HJ32 general-purpose machine guns swallowed up the two battalions silently in less than thirty minutes.

    "Despicable and cunning Chinese! Why don't you want to fight openly and openly!" A staff officer who was stimulated by the tragic situation cursed angrily, but his words were immediately met with a blank stare.  Is there any dignity in war?  "Someone, send this bastard back to Moscow!" As a result, three regiments were wiped out. Vlasov was so angry that he immediately had this idiot who had no idea how to get to the position be dragged away.

    "Where's the artillery? Where's our artillery!"

    "Tanks, let all the tanks come up!"

    A division commander who really couldn't stand it shouted, but the logistics officer's words immediately poured cold water on everyone: "We only have fifty barrels of oil, and only seven shells for each gun. If we continue to invest  , once the enemy counterattacks, we will lose the support of tanks and artillery!"

    A mechanized army consumes thousands of tons of supplies every day during wartime.  Only fifty barrels of oil left?

    This is no joke!

    The logistics officer spread his hands and told the whole story with a sad face.

    It turned out that due to the Soviet assault being too fast and the supply taking too long, they were constantly attacked by troops and aircraft behind enemy lines.  In addition, after the National Defense Forces implemented the scorched earth policy, they were no longer able to obtain any supplies from the occupied areas.  The 4th Mechanized Army was already well prepared. In many units, especially those in the assault on Karakum, most of the tanks had to stop serving as temporary forts for infantry due to lack of fuel.  Moreover, the National Defense Forces, which had control of the air, deliberately stepped up their strangulation of supply convoys. During the fierce battle for half a month, more than a hundred convoys transporting supplies were attacked, and the packhorses and cavalry also faced crazy fire from the sky.

    Poor logistics affects more than just combat.  Even the soldiers' rations were in trouble.  Many soldiers had been living on only a can of beans or a few slices of black bread for two or three days in a row. It was said that even the bean curds fed by the cavalry to the horses were snatched away by the infantry and used to fill their stomachs, and there were even cases of horses being killed to satisfy their hunger.

    Vlasov was one of the few officers who knew the supply difficulties.  We also know that the Soviet army is not short of supplies. After all, the conflict between China and the Soviet Union did not break out suddenly. The Soviet Army General Staff began to reserve supplies and ammunition in the East a few years ago.  According to Stalin's request, Kazakhstan alone has reserves of supplies and ammunition for three million troops to use for half a year.  But the problem is that no one thought at that time that air control was so important, and that there would be troubles such as having supplies in the air but not being able to transport them.

    Now he finally understood that the blitzkrieg in Ahvaz and Poland was really not something that the Soviet army with chaotic logistics could use.  Without strong logistics and air superiority guarantees, blitzkrieg would be a torture for the Soviet army.  We also know why Kulik gave a fatal order to capture Semiyi. If we cannot capture this place to obtain the huge supplies stored by the National Defense Forces in this area, I am afraid that the Soviet army itself will take the initiative to retreat due to supplies.

    After crossing the border, Vlasov, who had been rushing to the front and making great military exploits, became very excited and gave up the idea of ??letting tanks and artillery continue to participate in the attack.  But the question is, facing the National Defense Forces equipped with all light and heavy weapons, how many lives will be needed to kill a simple infantry attack?  "The last reserves cannot be moved for the time being. First, organize the tanks and armored vehicles that can be driven to cover the infantry. Send a telegram to the headquarters and ask them to use planes to send them as soon as possible. It is better to use cavalry to send them as soon as possible." Vlasov originally wanted to say.  Airdrop, but thinking of the scene just now, I immediately gave up this unrealistic idea.

    Although the Soviet artillery shells still fell from time to time in the northwest and south directions, the gradually weakening intensity made the experienced officers heave a sigh of relief.  In the Fifth Army headquarters located in the stadium east of the city, Long Yun frowned and listened to the battle report, and arranged defense together with the officers.

     "From the intensity point of view, tonight's attack is the most violent. It was launched from three directions, northwest and south, with a total investment of about 200 tanks and 30,000 to 40,000 infantry! The frontline troops suffered heavy losses, including the 7th Division and the 52nd Division.  The division's casualties exceeded a thousand people." Chief of Staff Fan Shisheng was worried.

    He was brought out by Cai E back then. He studied at Baoding Army Academy and participated in the European War.  Although he is not as outstanding as Long Yun, he is still a rare general, especially good at battlefield analysis, so he quickly grasped the main line: "I am not worried about ammunition and supplies, I am just afraid of problems with morale. The weather is getting worse and worse.  It was cold, and there was no fire to keep warm in front, so the soldiers could only rely on brown sugar water and chocolate to maintain body heat consumption every night. Judging from the preparation time of the Soviet artillery fire in the past few days, there should be a problem with their supplies, but the more this happened, the more I felt.  We are worried that they will attack at all costs. Tonight is an obvious example. If the damage is too great, I am afraid that we will lose more than half by the time we counterattack."

    Long Yun listened to the report and stared at the sand table and map in front of him.  He had read the information on the table about Soviet logistics supplies and ammunition shortages dozens of times, and it had been deeply imprinted in his mind.  With the Soviet army's poor logistical efficiency, a 200-kilometer assault was already the maximum range, so he was not worried about whether he could hold on, but he was also worried about how much power he could use after the counterattack began!  He also unbuttoned his collar impatiently and asked, "Is there no news from the headquarters yet?"

    Fan Shisheng knew the entire Talos plan, so he shook his head: "It's still a weather problem. It's been raining in Almaty these days, and the airborne troops can't parachute at all. It was originally planned to let the First Army cross over, but the headquarters thought that it would be just across the lake.  The terrain is hilly, and it would be very bad for the armored troops to rush into the hills without enough infantry to cooperate. Once the three unchecked Soviet divisions attack, it is very likely to cause heavy losses."

    Long Yun¡¯s eyebrows deepened. No one expected that the last step would be disturbed by the weather.  After taking a deep breath to calm down, he pointed to Pavlodar to the west: "Is there any movement from the Soviet army?"

    "No, they probably don't know our counterattack plan. Pavlodar still only has one division, but the number of wounded soldiers will increase a lot. It should be possible to piece together two divisions."

    "That's good." Upon hearing that the target had made no movement for the time being, Long Yun's impatience was mostly eliminated.  Asked: "In your opinion, what should we do?"

    Fan Shisheng thought about it and pointed in the direction of the power plant: "We only have the 5th Armored Division in hand. Tomorrow the headquarters will also transfer the 123rd, 124th and 137th divisions from Tacheng, but these three divisions were transferred from last year.  The combat effectiveness of the newly formed division cannot be guaranteed. Once we go to block Pavlodar, we will inevitably be attacked from the front and rear by at least two Soviet armies, so I suggest that the Ye Weixun 22nd Division at the power plant in the south be withdrawn first.  , replaced by the 137th Division."

    "Commander. Why did you withdraw us?"

    Before he finished speaking, Ye Weixun rushed in wearing a helmet and an air force leather jacket.  He didn't bother to wipe his face and ran over in a hurry, looking very aggrieved: "Commander, you can't turn your elbows outward! How is our 22nd Division worse than our brother divisions? Duolong asked us to withdraw. We just got here.  We have to withdraw after two battles, and if this continues, we might as well call our retreating division."

    Seeing his aggrieved look, Long Jun and Fan Shisheng couldn't help laughing.  When Ye Weixun saw this, he immediately wondered, could he have said it wrong?  He quickly asked: "Commander, Chief of Staff, what do you mean?"

    Ye Weixun was strict in organizing the army and brave in battle. He was a rare general in the Baoding system. Long Yun usually valued him very much, so he deliberately jokingly said: "Okay, you didn't withdraw yourself, don't blame me.  Chief of Staff, I think we should have the 7th Division withdraw and form a counterattack assault group."

    Counterattack assault group?  !

    Ye Weixun's eyes lit up and he quickly grabbed Fan Shisheng: "Chief of Staff, are you really going to fight back?!"

    "Yes. The headquarters has called me, it's been these two days."

    "Great! Withdraw, Army Commander, Chief of Staff, tell me how to withdraw." Upon hearing that he was going to fight back, Ye Weixun even forgot what he had just said, and patted his chest and promised to complete the mission.

    Long Yun was too lazy to pay attention to him and simply asked Fan Shisheng to hand over the task.  The latter walked to the map, pointed to Pavlodar to the west and said: "See, there are only two ways to escape from Karaganda. Retreat to Asnata, or turn north and go to Pavlodar."  Dar, take the railway from here to Omsk in Siberia. The brother troops in Karaganda will be in charge. Our task is to occupy this place and cut off the railway line immediately after the counterattack begins before the main force of the Soviet army breaks through! So the army commander decided,  Let your 22nd Division and 5th Armored Division serve as arrows to block their way north."

    "Commander, you really think highly of us. Zhukov has an infantry corps in Omsk, plus the breakout troops, at least three to four hundred thousand! Two divisions can't stop it!" Ye Weixun's eyes brightened after hearing this  Yes, butHis eyes quickly dimmed again, and he looked at Long Yun with a grimace: "Commander, you really think highly of me."

    "Okay, don't make me cry. I still don't know what you are thinking." Long Yun said with a smile: "Commander Xu has already called. The 123rd, 124th and 137th Divisions will come from Tacheng tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow at the latest  Everyone will arrive in the afternoon. The 137th Division will replace your current defense line, and the 123rd and 124th Divisions will all be merged into the assault battle group. As long as you grab the outside and open up a field airport, the Air Force will send you several regiments there and arrange aircraft nearby.  support."

    "Two infantry divisions, one armored division plus its own 22nd Division, plus the air force and follow-up troops. Although it is still a little thin, it can already fight.  So Ye Weixun nodded quickly, rubbed his hands and came closer: "Haha, Commander, when will the counterattack start? Just tell me clearly, and I will be ready."

    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡±¡­(To be continued¡­)
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