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Text Chapter 869 Armored Pig Rush!

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    May 2nd, 4:30 pm.

    Looking at the flying Snake B combat attack aircraft group, Zhukov looked at his watch and let out a sigh of relief.  The time required to return, refuel, and change ammunition is enough to ensure that the opponent cannot come before nightfall.  "Put out the remaining fire and ask Comrade Commander Golikov to come to my place. What did the scouts find?"

    Zhukov began to prepare for the attack. First, he ordered to extinguish the remaining fires on the ground, because as long as there are no fires, night bombing in open areas is a waste of ammunition. This can ensure to the greatest extent that there will be no further air strikes before the war begins.  As tanks and armored vehicles hiding in the woods with camouflage nets hanging on them came out of hiding, a large number of infantry and trucks began to gather at the officer's whistle. Looking north from Uletau Mountain, it is up to 50 kilometers wide.  The front of the front was full of Soviet soldiers.

    When Don Army Commander Philip Ivanovich Golikov arrived at the command post, most of the officers were already there.  The staff first drew a long red mark from Satpayev along Uletau Mountain based on the scout's report.  Seeing Golikov coming in, Zhukov immediately pointed to the red line: "Comrade Golikov, look here. They built a 47-kilometer-long mound on the front of the mountain from Uletau to Satpayev.  The one on the north is three meters high and 17 kilometers long, with the middle section slightly shorter. From the appearance, the mound will affect the infantry's charge."

    Golikov, commander of the Don Group Army, was a brave general during the civil war. He graduated from the famous Frunze Military Academy by correspondence. During the Great Purge, he served as the director of the Reconnaissance Bureau of the General Staff. After the war began, he was transferred to the Don River to be responsible for the formation of new troops.  .  Stalin came to prepare to appoint Timoshenko as the commander of the Don River Army to support Zhukov. However, considering that Timoshenko had a higher position than Zhukov and was difficult to command, he was asked to lead the troops to support the counterattack.

    As the commander of the infantry group army, he attached great importance to the sudden appearance of the mound.  So I immediately asked for the detailed height, volume and size, and finally grabbed the commander of the 7th Tank Corps, Akhal Eugene.  Peter Nikolayevich Akhal Eugene was the former commander of the 13th Kalinin Tank Corps. After the disastrous defeat in East Kazakhstan, Stalin, who was eager to supplement the Eastern Front, transferred a large number of tank troops and officers from Ukraine, Kalinin and other places.  He was assigned to the Siberian Front and followed Zhukov in the Soviet-Finnish War. He was one of the two meritorious tank corps commanders who broke through the isthmus.  Another Major General Baranov served as the commander of the Fifth Tank Corps. He is currently advancing deep north, trying to bypass Uletau Mountain.  Ahal Eugene immediately found the key point from the description: "Their troops must be insufficient! That's why they used a three-meter-high mound in the far north (the Soviet army did not know at the time that there were earth-filling containers under the mound in the north). Like this  The mounds of soil can block the movement of tanks. But the harm is not very great. Tank guns can smash such mounds. The middle section of the mound is only two meters high and has a large slope, which will not affect the tank's charge."

    After hearing what Ahal Eugene said, Golikov thought for a while and immediately suggested: "Comrade Ahal Eugene's words are of great reference value. Their defense forces are insufficient, so they must be deployed on the mountain slopes of the mounds.  And in the hilltop position. The purpose of building the mound is to expose my infantry to the open space when climbing over. Therefore, I suggest that there is no need to waste artillery shells on the mound, and the artillery sight should be set 500-1000 meters behind the mound.  distance, killing their defensive infantry and anti-tank firepower, starting in twenty minutes. At the same time, tank troops are dispatched to escort the assault division to the mound, so that the infantry's attack distance can be shortened. As long as the tanks can protect the infantry from rushing up, they can  The threat of enemy long-range fire damage is reduced to a minimum, and their night bombers will not dare to bomb at will because the soldiers are entangled with each other."

    Zhukov nodded.  Although he was worried about the sudden appearance of the mound, the problem was that he didn't have much choice.  Due to repeated bombing and harassment by the Chinese Air Force, he had lost nearly half of his luggage, and the attack was advanced.  The artillery shells that should have been replenished before departure have just arrived from Chelyabinsk.  This resulted in that although he had powerful artillery, each gun only had 110 rounds.  If too many shells are wasted on the mound, it will be impossible to form covering suppressive firepower against the effective forces behind.  So after thinking about it, he asked: "Where is the Fifth Tank Army?"

    "Here, there are still 130 kilometers away from Kurgason. It is expected that we can cross Kurgason tomorrow evening. At the latest in the morning of tomorrow, we can detour behind Uletau Mountain and attack them to open a gap." Ahal Eugene quickly  Pointing out the location of the Fifth Tank Army, he said: "Judging from previous experience, every Chinese army base is equipped with a strong tank force. The Second Army opposite us has participated in the Civil War, the European War and the War with Japan.  The meritorious main force, such a force must have a large number of tanks, I estimate that the total number is likely to be between 300 and 350. Their tanks are better than ours, and if they cannot be dragged here with a fierce attack, it is very likely that the Pakistanis will  Comrade Baranov poses a threat. So my suggestion is to launch a non-stop forceful attack and use troops to hold them back to buy time for Comrade Baranov. As long as his tanks??Go around to the back with the three infantry divisions, then we can quickly open up the situation and avoid entanglement and head to Kyzylorda.  "

    "Comrade Ahal Eugene, don't be too nervous about their tanks, we also have comparable weapons like the T34/57." Golikov is worthy of being engaged in politics, and his words are very encouraging.  , smiled and said: "Our total strength is 25 infantry divisions, 2 tank corps, plus artillery divisions and other troops, which already totals 410,000. The enemy only has 7 divisions, including Kyzylorda.  11 divisions cannot stop us."

    Golikov has reason to be confident, not only because the total strength of the National Defense Forces opposite is only 170,000, but also because the Moscow General Staff began preparations for this counterattack since last winter.  Stalin also valued Zhukov's counterattack tactics of attacking in the east and west, so he strengthened his troops.  The Fifth and Ninth Tank Corps have a total of 7 tank divisions/brigades and 1,976 tanks of various types, including 132 of the latest T34/57 and 1,100 of the T34/76. In order to implement the tactics of shortening the attack distance, the remaining  They are all extremely fast tanks such as bt5, bt7, and t26.  Not only that, Zhukov was also equipped with a total of 1,626 large-caliber howitzers (Soviet army standards, 122 mm and above are heavy artillery), including 1,187 main 122 mm howitzers.  There are 407 152mm howitzers, 26 B4 203mm howitzers, and 6 M1939 280mm howitzers (BR5 type).  Although Golikov's Don Army was an infantry group, Stalin also ordered it to be strengthened before departure. Not only did it bring 400 T34/76 tanks, it also brought 832 heavy artillery pieces, and required the rear factories to produce only two  If you want a T34, you must send one each to Alkarek and Asnata, which are closest to the battlefield.  After five months of frantic replenishment, Zhukov currently has 7,635 artillery pieces of various types.  There were more than 30,000 machine guns. In order to speed up the movement and avoid bombings, this long-distance counterattack also mobilized more than 4,370 vehicles and tractors of various types, 4,100 horse-drawn carriages, and more than 20,000 livestock of various types.  More than 40,000 local residents were recruited to ensure transportation.

    In the end, more than 3,000 aircraft were deployed at various field airports in the surrounding areas. According to the original words of the Political Bureau of the General Staff Headquarters in Moscow, even if the aircraft is not as good as the opponent, just hit it!  We must also ensure the success of this counterattack.

    Zhukov has also been listening attentively to the officers. The most difficult problem for him is supplies.  He knew very well that this counterattack must be swift, because the East Kazakhstan-Karakanda railway built by the National Defense Forces using prisoners of war since last winter is only 200 kilometers away from here and has not yet been repaired.  And because the 29th Army did not have time to destroy the railway during the Kyzylorda Blockade, the railway from Almaty to Kyzylorda was rerouted and opened to traffic at the end of last month. It is also 200 kilometers away from here.  That is to say, if it cannot be solved as soon as possible.  Once the opponent's reserve team comes up, he is likely to be stuck here!  So after careful consideration, we decided to follow Golikov's advice and order all heavy artillery to place their scales 500-2000 meters behind the mound.  And concentrated its efforts on shelling the eastern slopes and hills of the mountain.  Then ordered the 76mm artillery in the army to destroy the mound.

    But he doesn't know.  I made a big mistake!

    Night, eight o'clock sharp.  Soviet soldiers dragged heavy artillery pieces into the artillery positions. The artillerymen aimed the muzzles at the slopes and hills behind the mounds according to the ruler.  "For the sake of the Soviets, fire!"

    2122 heavy artillery, densely deployed at a terrifying distance of 30 artillery pieces per kilometer. With a loud cry, the Uletau Mountain defense line in the darkness was instantly ignited by artillery fire!  The entire eastern slope of Uletau Mountain was filled with dense fireballs. The shells hit the hard volcanic sedimentary rocks, making a deafening sound. The entire mountain range was trembling, groaning, and bleeding!  Even in Liu Mingzhao¡¯s postwar memoirs, he wrote: ¡°Throughout the entire war, what worried me most and made me nervous was not the enemy¡¯s tanks, fortresses, or new weapons, but the Soviet artillery cluster.  "

    The overwhelming cannonballs poured down and covered the ground, as densely as raindrops.  Even though Uletau Mountain is hard and Liu Mingzhao hid most of his main forces in the bomb shelter on the west slope and used thousands of tons of cement to reinforce the fortifications, the continuous artillery fire still made all the soldiers turn blue, and some  He even closed his eyes and gritted his teeth to resist the urge to escape.  Fortunately, due to the long-awaited preparations and Zhukov's lack of supplies and ammunition, the intensity of fire coverage was only half of Liu Mingzhao's expectation, so it did not have much effect.  According to post-war statistics, only 1,300 casualties were caused. Because of the cleverness of the anti-tank gun positions deployed on the east slope and the reinforcement with thick cement, only 19 were destroyed, and the rest were all intact.

    "Bring the artillery shells up! Quick, quick! The hunting and destroying tanks must be in position within ten minutes!"

    In order to prevent being detonated by artillery fire, all anti-tank positions were empty of artillery shells at this time, and the hunter-killer tanks were evacuated early.  So when the Soviet artillery fire weakened, Liu Mingzhao immediately ordered the artillery shells to be transported up.  When the soldiers carried the artillery shells up under the artillery fire, both of them were equipped with BDD additional armor.The Hunter-Destroyer Tank Battalion, with a total of 44 Hunter-Destroyer tanks and 28 Hunter-Destroyer Hunter-B tanks (the 85-year-old Hunter-Destroyer Tank is nicknamed the Hunter-Destroyer Tank, and the 105-mm Hunter-Destroyer Tank is called the Hunter-Destroyer Tank B) also entered the engineering corps along the predetermined passage.  They are cleaning the semi-buried bunker.

    Just when the First Army was busiest, the Soviet tank group that launched the charge under the cover of artillery fire had already entered a 13-kilometer fire circle.  220 T34/57 and T34/76 served as the main force of the arrow, covering the 362 fast tanks and 120 troop transport tractors/trucks behind them, carrying more than 28,000 infantry from three infantry divisions to launch the charge.  At the same time, Zhukov also detached 200 T34/76 vehicles and four infantry divisions to attack Satpayev southward, trying to hold back the National Defense Forces in the direction of Rezikazgan and prevent them from reinforcing the Uletau Mountain defense line.

    "Ula! Ula!"

    The plains east of Uletau Mountain are filled with the sound of urrahs.  In order to shorten the attack distance and prevent being blocked by the bombers that would definitely come after being suppressed by artillery, a large number of Soviet infantry directly sat on tanks and tractors without protection, and even directly invested some tractors and trucks to follow the tanks.  Rushing forward to transport troops.  This armored assault tactic, which is similar to the Japanese pig assault tactic, is particularly crazy!  Facing the Soviet army who was determined to shorten the distance and engage in hand-to-hand combat, Liu Mingzhao's answer was simple.

    ? Two Thunder 1937 210mm howitzer battalions, three 155mm howitzer battalions, three 105mm howitzer battalions, five 85mm field artillery battalions and one 105 self-propelled howitzer battalion deployed on the north side of the mountain opened fire together.  At the same time, 16 old-fashioned K16 150mm cannons deployed in a hidden place on the hilltop and urgently removed from the Karakum Fortress were also aimed at the roaring Soviet tank group.  K16 was the artillery star in the last European War. The Wehrmacht had equipped it in large quantities, and in the post-war distribution plan for dealing with German artillery, 600 were selected to be brought home. The total number of guns in the army exceeded 1,500.  Although it was eliminated from the front line due to problems such as overweight and caliber, and most of them were used for the second line and fortification protection, Liu Mingzhao fell in love with its 22,800-meter range, straight and accurate ballistics and its close to 210mm howitzer.  The powerful 52-kilogram artillery shells were specially removed from the Karakum Fortress, and more than 100 transport aircraft were used to transport all 16 guns and supporting ammunition and artillery to strengthen the defense line.

    Although the 484 barrel guns cannot compare with Zhukov's artillery, Liu Mingzhao also has his own trump card, which is the 107mm rocket launcher in his hand.  However, he was not the kind of officer who liked to reveal all his cards at once, so he temporarily withheld more than a hundred rocket launchers.  Artillery shells continued to explode among the charging Soviet troops. From time to time, you could see tanks and trucks blown to pieces by the artillery shells. Especially the K16 cannon in the bunker on the top of the mountain. Thanks to the sophisticated German Krupp technology, it can still hit accurately even after more than 20 years.  Running Soviet tanks and troop transport tractors.

    The artillery shells from both sides strangled together, and the soldiers were torn apart in the explosion, but neither Zhukov, who came up with the armored pig burst tactic, nor Liu Mingzhao, who kept soldiers being killed, showed no signs of movement.  This is their war. Compared with the overall victory, the number of sacrifices is always the last consideration.

    "Turn on the lights!"

    At this moment, the battlefield suddenly lit up.  After special modifications, 12 T26 fast tanks equipped with high-power searchlights suddenly turned on the lights, and 12 bright lamp posts penetrated the soft mounds a few kilometers away, pointing out the Soviet armored pig cluster in the darkness and explosive fireballs.  direction.  Seeing these modified crawler searchlights, the corners of Liu Mingzhao's mouth slowly twitched up: "This Zhukov has so many clever ideas." The staff officers and officers behind him nodded unconsciously, and their eyes were all focused on the mound.  A special trench covered with thin wooden boards and camouflaged.

    "There are still 500 meters to go! Speed ??up! Prepare to climb! Machine guns, watch out for infantry!" Colonel Sinenko, who was commanding the assault, saw through the observation window that the mounds under the searchlight were getting closer and closer, and shouted excitedly: "  If you rush over, you will win! Comrades, wait a minute, what is that? What's going on? What's going on!" But Colonel Sinenko's joy was too early. Before he could rush 300 meters, his eyes suddenly bulged.  Coming out was like seeing a ghost!  It turned out that in front of the observation window, a whole row of T34 tanks that had just been preparing to climb the slope suddenly jumped forward and fell down like war horses that staggered on their front legs.

    Before he could figure out what was going on, the T34/57 under his seat seemed to have stepped on the air. The 25-ton car body quickly tilted forward, and then plunged down like a cliff, with its butt raised high in the air.  stand up.
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