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Text Chapter 828 Trouble in Moscow

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    "We're surrounded!"

    News of the failure swept across eastern Kazakhstan in just one day, faster than the north wind in Siberia.  Whether it was the northern front that was smashed to pieces by tanks, or the southern front that was struggling to defend itself on Aitao Mountain, the news was spreading wildly in every trench, every bunker, and every headquarters.  To confirm, hundreds of radio stations sent inquiries to Karaganda, but they were met with nothing but silence.

    Food is running out, ammunition is running out, and heating fuel is more valuable than gold.  Faced with this situation, the frontline commanders and fighters had no choice but to inquire about several other material storage points and send electricity to distant Omsk or even Chelyabinsk. However, the results were very disappointing to the frontline commanders and fighters.  The second largest material warehouse is Shakhtinsk, only thirty kilometers away from Karaganda, Pavlodar, one of the logistics general hospitals and material distribution centers.  Aksuayure remained silent, Taraz did not know the truth, and Chelyabinsk and Omsk responded with only one sentence.

    "Don't believe the rumors, just keep waiting."

    Wait, how long do you need to wait?  Even Moscow doesn¡¯t know.  From the rapid penetration and expansion of 60,000 square kilometers in a few days, to the loss of Pavlodar and Karaganda one after another, and the encirclement of a million troops, in just twenty-five days, Moscow's mood was faster than a plane descending in a dive!

    Legend has it that Comrade Stalin had smashed several teacups and smashed his beloved pipe into pieces.  Chairman Kalinin and Zhdanov immediately went to the East, and even Motorov reportedly went to Germany again to seek advanced weapons to restrain the Chinese Air Force.

    Support must be provided as soon as possible!

    The Kremlin¡¯s order is clear, but the Soviet General Staff and the Chelyabinsk Eastern Headquarters are anxious to get angry.  From the Urals to Kazakhstan, heavy snow has fallen and many roads have become impassable.  And there are only two railways from Europe to Central Asia, the first one is the branch line of the Siberian Railway.  From Omsk to Pavlodar Karaganda and finally to Zhezkazgan.  The second one is that South Kazakhstan enters Uzbekistan through the Caspian Sea coast, and then extends to Turkmenistan, Dushanbe, Tashkent and Turkestan respectively.  As for the railway in the second five-year plan that merged into the Orenburg main line along the Syr Darya River via the Aral Sea, only the Syr Darya section in South Kazakhstan was repaired due to the defection incident.

    It may seem like there is a lot of railway mileage, but in fact there are many problems.  The road south from Omsk ends at Pavlodar, and the southern section of Tashkent and Turkestan is still 200 kilometers away from being connected. That is to say, even if there are enough troops, after arriving in Omsk and Tashkent,  They also had to walk hundreds of kilometers into the battlefield.

    And the Soviet Union is seriously short of trucks, and the second five-year plan has been stumbling and has not achieved its goals.  So many of the originally planned truck factories are only half-completed, so what about finding so many military trucks?  What's more, Moscow has raised 50,000 trucks for the Kazakh Front for this battle, which has resulted in a shortage of trucks in other parts of Central Asia. In addition, all current factories are arranged to prioritize the production of T34 tanks, aircraft and artillery, and there is no production capacity at all.

    Since it is difficult to provide support from Europe, we can only mobilize troops nearby.

    Chief of Staff Voroshilov quickly figured out a way to send the 200,000 Soviet troops in Herat, Afghanistan, to move north, and then mobilize 200,000 troops along the way.  In this way, 400,000 troops were gathered, and then they broke through from Taraz to join the 400,000 Soviet troops on Mount Aitau, and finally opened a gap in Balkhash, allowing the East Kazakh troops to break out from here.

    But as soon as this plan was proposed.  He was slapped on the table by Budyonny and Timoshenko, who had already disliked him.  "Are the Red Army those prodigal sons of imperialism who dispatch hundreds of transport planes at every turn? Even if it can reach a 1,500-kilometer long-distance attack, it will still take seven or eight days. What's more, let alone seven or eight days now, not even three or four days! The frontline soldiers have already  They were killing horses to satisfy their hunger, and many troops even had only a few bullets left!¡±

    Voroshilov¡¯s face was gloomy.  Okay, you are timid.  Then I'll go find the bold one, put away my plan, put my briefcase under my arm, and get ready to go to the Kremlin.  But just as they arrived at the door, the bad news came again.  Eight o'clock in the morning on November 14th.  Isfahan and Arak were captured by the Chinese Persian Gulf Army at the same time, and 50,000 Soviet troops were annihilated. The Chinese National Defense Forces forward was less than 40 kilometers away from Qom, known as the southern gate of Tehran.  At the same time, three infantry divisions emerged from nowhere in the mountains of northern Iran. With the help of tens of thousands of guerrillas and pack horses, they suddenly launched a surprise attack on Mashhad.  Although a Soviet infantry division stationed there resisted vigorously, it gradually lost control despite being outnumbered and had to withdraw to Herat to join the Soviet troops stationed in Afghanistan.

    The east gate of Iran¡¯s Northern Railway has been opened!

    Before the crippled infantry division could reach Herat, another IDF outflank force consisting of 30,000 infantrymen and an armored regiment emerged from the Kelif Depression in the southeast corner of Turkmenistan and quickly occupied the unsuspecting area.  Mare, cutting off the Afghan front troops in Herat from returning to Turkmenistan.

      In just three days, the third encirclement was formed in Mashhad, Marais, Badghis and Ghor provinces of Afghanistan!

    By the afternoon, news came from Tashkent.  The Chinese Andijan Group Army, which has been relying on the defense of Khujand Fortress, broke out of the fortress for the first time. According to reports from the front line, at least three to four regiments entered the Gulistan Plain and attacked the Uzbek Front troops here, destroying 37 tanks and hundreds of vehicles.  During the pursuit, the Uzbek front army had to give up the pursuit after being bombarded by three 305mm fortress guns from 35 kilometers away.

    On the morning of November 15, taking advantage of the snowfall, the Kazakh Army of the National Defense Force also dispatched bombers and used incendiary bombs for the first time to bomb the Soviet military warehouse in Taraz. During the two-hour continuous bombing, a total of ten  Tens of thousands of tons of weapons, ammunition and food stored here were burned to the ground, and then about a division of the National Defense Forces completed the fourth encirclement!

    Now Voroshilov no longer dared to promote his attack plan, so he had to go back to the original plan, mobilize reinforcements from the Urals and the Don River, and at the same time order the Siberian Army to attack Semiy and Pavlov with all their strength, trying to  To open up the gap, the frontline troops were also strictly ordered to wait for reinforcements.

    While Moscow was desperately deploying troops everywhere, Xu Shuzheng and the Kazakh Army were not idle either.  Due to the increasingly bad weather and concerns about the Soviet counterattack, the Kazakh Army also spent all its resources this time. Even many troops that had just been transferred from the mainland were sent to strengthen the defense of the encirclement before they could adapt to the weather.  At the same time, the four assault groups were ordered to speed up.

    ¡°Sir, how far is it to Akchatau?¡±

    A convoy crossing from Balkhash stopped in front of Zhuo Fan.  The convoy crossed from Balkhash. The warrant officer leading the team wore special imitation snow-blind sunglasses and asked for directions with a Jiangnan accent.  For southerners, even if they have training experience in the north, it is easy to lose their sense of direction when staying in this vast grassland with continuous snowfall.

    "Continue to go 75 kilometers north, and you can get there in about 3 hours."

    "Thank you, sir." The warrant officer was very polite, saluted and thanked him before returning to the car.  Two cigarettes were left behind from the escorted supplies.

    Zhuo Fan smoked a cigarette and looked at the fleet.  This is a standard logistics fleet. At first glance, there are 200 ten-wheel heavy trucks tied with anti-skid chains, 20 tank trucks and about 700 draft horses.  In case of an attack, six supporting half-track armored vehicles were escorted.  The trucks are all loaded with containers that have only recently been used. These containers have been specially improved and can not only be used repeatedly, but also after removing the goods inside, only a few soldiers can convert it into a temporary container in half an hour.  housing.  Coupled with some oil-burning heaters, it became the most urgently needed simple winter accommodation for frontline soldiers.

    Each container can accommodate eight soldiers.  It adopts a standardized design and can be combined into restaurants, conference rooms, etc.  In addition to the simple, cramped and crowded facilities, the shelter from the wind and cold is very effective after being covered with a white tarpaulin.  It can also protect against aerial reconnaissance.

    Because it was defensive before, the supply pressure was not great, but as the encirclement was formed, the front expanded hundreds of kilometers outward.  Supply has become the top priority of the army.  In order to ensure the needs of the troops, the headquarters has invested in hundreds of such supply fleets, transporting a total of 20,000 containers to the field troops in the past few days.  Fortunately.  Due to the rapid action, the huge supplies that the Soviet army had stored for several years in places such as Karaganda and Pavlodar were basically under control, which greatly reduced the pressure on the command headquarters. Otherwise, it would have been worried that the supply would be delayed for too long and the supplies would be blocked.  They were surrounded instead.  On the contrary, due to the loss of these supplies, the Soviet army in the encirclement could no longer hold on for long. Even if they did not attack the few supplies left in their hands, they would not be able to last until the end of the month.  As the weather gets colder and colder, it is only a matter of time before surrender.

    But there was no happiness on his face. Thinking of the new mission of the chief of staff, his eyebrows slowly squeezed together again.

    "Zhuo Fan!"

    When he was worried that the weather would cause the "horse pole" to fail, Ye Zishan drove over from the direction of Balkhash with a half-track armored battalion. When he saw him, he immediately jumped out of the car: "It's snowy, what kind of scenery are you seeing here?  "

    "Hey, our hero is back. Have you received any love letters from female reporters? I heard that there are many female college students this time." Zhuo Fan asked with a smile.  It turns out that for publicity purposes, the Ministry of National Defense specially invited journalists and university student representatives to visit Almaty, and also summoned all the recently emerged combat heroes to meet them face to face.  Ye Zishan calmly commanded on the night of the airborne landing and led the troops to stop hundreds of enemy tanks to avoid heavy losses to the troops, making him the most important star at the meeting.

    But Ye Zishan was a little shy and covered his mouth with red cheeks: "Don't talk nonsense, I have a girlfriend."

    "Okay, okay." The two laughed for a while, then Zhuo Fan turned to look at the half-track armored battalion:??How many?  "

    "A reinforced battalion, with a total of 72 Iron Bulls. There are 42 troop carriers, 16 support vehicles, and 14 assault vehicles. You see, each vehicle is also equipped with a towed ammunition and fuel truck, all of which were just shipped from Changchun.  New goods." Ye Zishan introduced the results of his trip to Almaty.

    The Changchun-produced CCL1937 half-track vehicle is an important supplement to the army's armored force. Although a few units such as the First Army have begun to equip full-track armored vehicles, full-track armored vehicles are expensive. One can purchase three half-tracks, and the technology and maintenance are also complicated.  It was simpler than full tracks, so the troops liked it very much and nicknamed it "Iron Bull".

    Tieniu¡¯s chassis is actually a ten-wheel heavy truck chassis that has been extended by two meters and then enlarged. The back adopts a simple and easy-to-make horizontal spring suspension, two groups on each side.  This chassis is the same as the chassis of the Wehrmacht's earliest T2 armored vehicle (Bren machine gun vehicle), which has long been understood in China.  Because it is two meters longer, the weight of the entire vehicle increases to 10 tons. It uses a 250-horsepower six-cylinder diesel engine, which has good speed and off-road capabilities.

    It has many models. The most basic troop transport type uses a simple and easy-to-manufacture square carriage. The carriage is closed from the tail up and down. In cold areas, engine cooling circulating water is used to heat the carriage. Two additional kerosene heating stoves are also installed.  There is a 12.7mm heavy machine gun on the top and an HJ32 general-purpose machine gun on the left and right. It can carry 18 fully armed soldiers and can also hang a 2-ton ammunition and oil trailer.

    The firepower type is changed to a 25mm or 40mm machine gun, the assault type is equipped with a 105mm cannon, there are also fire suppression types, 120mm heavy mortar types, etc.

    Zhuo Fan originally had no intention of taking Tieniu on a mission. In any case, it was not as fast as a wheeled hound. However, the endless heavy snowfall in the past few days made him worry that wheeled armored vehicles and trucks would not be able to undertake this operation.  .  Moreover, it was also doubtful whether the Falcon Commandos could be dispatched, so it was decided to add a reinforced half-track battalion. With these big guys around, they could attack by force if necessary.

    With the completion of the encirclement, a large-scale surrender of the Soviet army was imminent, and the operation of roping horse poles was urgent, so after hearing this, he immediately asked: "Have you got everything?"

    "I got them all. In addition to the reconnaissance photos, the Military Intelligence Bureau also sent people to help. I heard that they have been performing tasks locally for a long time and are familiar with the terrain. Two Kazakh guides also came with them. By the way, Commander Xu also asked  Let me remind you that the Military Intelligence Bureau is currently instigating a rebellion against the local Kazakh Cavalry Division. Let us be careful when we act and try not to cause too many conflicts." Ye Zishan said as he rummaged through his bag to get the documents. Zhuo Fan quickly interrupted: "No more on the way.  Take a look."

    "On the way? Do you plan to leave now?"

    "Yes." Zhuo Fan looked at the sky: "I don't know how long it will continue to rain. The snow is getting deeper and deeper. If you don't leave, the snow will be too thick and you will be in trouble. Besides, once the Soviet army surrenders on a large scale, the main force will  The troops have to move southward. If the target is frightened away, it will be more troublesome to clean up in the future."

    Ye Zishan already knows the entire content of the "horse pole" operation, and knows that the president and chief of staff attach great importance to this operation. After all, taking down the local Kazakh high-level officials in one fell swoop is equivalent to severing the political link between Moscow and Kazakhstan.  So he thought about it and agreed to set off: "Okay, I'm just going to call everyone to prepare."

    "I'm going to contact the Falcon Brigade. Remember to bring more food, ammunition and fuel. I'm afraid we will have to stay on the grassland for a while. If the weather improves in a few days, we will go as planned, otherwise we will find a way to make a sneak attack.  "

    "Okay." Ye Zishan nodded and picked up the things and was about to leave when he suddenly remembered something and took out the latest war situation report from his pocket and handed it over: "This is the war situation report that was just sent out this morning. Last night,  The Japanese captured Manila.¡±

    "So fast?" Zhuo Fan was stunned on the spot (To be continued)
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