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Text Chapter 1036 Approaching the Urals (Part 2)

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    "west?"

    Before the battle report from Dimiryadevka came back, Liu Mingzhao learned the information about Lu Jin's troops breaking out to the west after breaking off the encirclement.  "This Lu Jin is really troublesome" Gong Chu shook his head repeatedly at this surprise, and in his heart he listed Lu Jin as his number one enemy.

    Liu Mingzhao feels the same way about this. Lu Jin is really difficult to deal with.  During the encirclement battle in East Kazakhstan, he saw through the Balkhash Lake landing and almost wiped out the airborne troops. Then he led a group of remnants to block the 1st Armored Division's violent attack for two days and two nights, and finally escaped, leaving Chu Nan devastated.  Big or small loss.  During the Battle of Zhezkazgan, they took advantage of the melting ice and snow and the surge in river water to suddenly attack the highlands of Akdem Mountain and block Long Yun's main force of 40 divisions for half a month with a weak force.  If Zhukov hadn't been defeated too quickly and Zhuo Fan penetrated his flank, it would have been impossible to create the legend of Zhezkazgan.  In the final siege of Petropavlovsk, he led the remaining troops to hold on for a full 31 days. He was able to lead the Siberian Army to break out of the encirclement in the face of extreme difficulties, demonstrating his super defense and battlefield prediction capabilities.

    Even this time, it was because Kilponos failed to hold the plateau passage. In the end, Stalin and Timoshenko commanded one after another, and the success fell short.  It can be said very seriously that so far, Lu Jin's defeats have all been caused by the mistakes of friendly forces, and he has not made any mistakes himself.  It is the same now, because according to common sense, since he took the initiative to break the rear, he should follow Timoshenko, but he suddenly went west to join Vlasov, and immediately caught the biggest flaw of Liu Mingzhao.

    This flaw is the special terrain of the Urals.

    Due to glacial subsidence in ancient times, the terrain of the Ural region is very special. In the center is the steep Ural Mountains, and the wide Ural River splits the plateau in half. There are many lakes, winding rivers, and extremely high vegetation coverage. Therefore, the Ural region  It looks like a low Bashu Basin.  Glacial subsidence effect.  It gave birth to the fertile Ishim Plain and Turan Plain, but it also brought about a practical problem, that is, there are few roads into the Ural Plateau from east to west.  From Kurgan to Aktobeinsk, on the hundreds of kilometers of plains and plateaus bordering the border, there are only a few roads that can allow troops to move, and there are even fewer roads that can allow heavy troops to pass.  It's still summer, if it's winter.  Only railways and aviation are left, and other channels are completely out of the question.

    ??The reason why the National Defense Forces were able to loot the Urals of Tsarist Russia was because the troops were inside at that time and did not need to cross mountains and ridges.  Otherwise, Nicholas II only needed to send hundreds of thousands of peasant troops to hang any troops attacking from east to west at the entrance of the passage.  Even for twenty years the Soviet government worked hard to build railways.  Currently, there are only 5 passages for heavy troops to enter and exit.  From north to south they are Tyumen, Kurgan, Troitsk, Karetal and Orsk. Among them, the Tyumen passage has been proven to be unsuitable because the railway from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg is very long.  They were all in mountainous areas, and the Soviet army could easily carry out destruction.  Moreover, it is not easy to fight after entering the Ural region, because it is fundamentally different from Central Asia.  The Kazakhs and other ethnic groups in Central Asia have always maintained their own cultural traditions. However, due to the immigration suppression by Tsarist Russia and the great famine during the Soviet period, the rich peasants and traditional herders were eliminated.  They made mistakes such as setting up collectivized farms, so they harbored a general hostility towards Moscow and could easily incite them.  But Ural is the symbol of the Russian Slavic double-headed eagle. Hundreds of years of rule have not only made this place a base camp radiating to the East, but also a true Slavic cultural circle.

    Don¡¯t underestimate the cultural circle. It not only means that the people here are Russians in the true sense, but also means that once the troops enter, it will be a long-term guerrilla war and a war of attrition that is completely different from Central Asia.  Yang Qiu and the General Staff knew this very well.  That's why it is required to consume the enemy outside the Urals at all costs, and it is also required to control two to three key mountain passes into the Urals to ensure that they are not blocked outside the plateau.

    The closest access routes to Kostanay are Troitsk in the northwest and Karetal in the west.  Behind the former is the important Ural town of Chelyabinsk, where 80,000 Soviet troops are stationed. Rokossovsky's Moscow Army Group Central has to be eaten first, so there is almost no hope of a quick victory.  The latter was originally a sure bet.  But Lu Jin's sudden move to the west suddenly brought changes.

    Including the troops who went to support last night, Wang Wenshan's full strength only has 4 divisions. This strength is enough to deal with Vlasov's 24th Army.  But coupled with Lu Jin's 100,000 troops, it could not be stopped.  If Lukin seizes Karetal first, with his defensive ability, the losses will definitely be huge if he tries to attack again.  But if the encirclement and suppression is abandoned and Wang Wenshan is allowed to turn around and seize Kartare first, then Vlasov and Lukin's hundreds of thousands of troops will use the lowland glacial lakes and dense forests to escape.  Letting them withdraw to the Urals will also have an adverse impact on subsequent operations.

    So Liu Mingzhao faced a choice, whether to capture Kartare first or eat Lu Jin first.

      "Seize Kartare first!" Yang Qiu, who was far away in Beijing, did not hesitate to choose to capture Kartare first.  Yue Peng and Jiang Baili also agreed. The former pointed to Magnitogorsk further west: "Magnitogorsk is the largest steel base in the Urals. In the early 1940s, the steel production here was 1.3 million tons.  . Although Stalin ordered the relocation last year and also carried out damage, many of the foundations cannot be taken away. If we take this place, we can transport some small equipment there to solve the ordinary steel needed by the front line."

    "Zian is right. No matter how powerful Lu Jin is, he can't change the declining situation of the Soviet army. From Afghanistan to now, we have destroyed almost 6 million troops. The only remaining Soviet veterans before the war were those who defended Germany in Europe.  , the full calculation is less than 600,000 troops. What's more, after taking Magnitogorsk, we can go south along the Ural River and cooperate with Duzi Mountain to attack Orsk. We can also establish the Ural River defense line before winter and use it as a strategic bombing  The base. If Sun Chuanfang can capture Kurgan, he can control three entrances and exits, which can basically meet the supply needs later." Jiang Baili also agreed to attack Kartaly first, and also proposed the necessity of establishing a Ural River defense line and a strategic bombing base.  .

    With the support of the president and the two marshals, Liu Mingzhao, who had decided to capture Kartare first, no longer hesitated and immediately ordered the main force to speed up. At the same time, he asked Wang Wenshan to turn around and go all out to seize Kartare before Lu Jin arrived.  , occupied Magnitogorsk.

    "Hurry! Bring the oil truck over."

    The sudden order filled the Tulan Plain with a tense atmosphere.  When He Hai and the battalion commander turned around and returned to the supply point, the place was already in chaos, and there were shouts of refueling and replenishing ammunition everywhere.  There are a dozen vehicles parked next to each tanker waiting to be refueled.  "Platoon leader. Where are we going?" He Hai and his comrades grabbed a fuel pipe, stuffed it into the tank and asked the platoon leader loudly.  "

    "Go to the Urals!" The platoon leader rubbed his hands excitedly, and the pits on his face glowed red.  He Hai was also confused: "Moving towards the Eurasian dividing line? We, the Class B wheeled tank regiment!" According to usual custom, such a major task must first dispatch the Class A armored division, but a light wheeled armored regiment actually pulled out the  Go ahead, no wonder there are shouts of heat all around.

    "Nonsense. Let me tell you, this time the Chief of General Staff personally ordered our regiment! Why are you still standing there? Remember, bring more ammunition and diesel." The squad leader pushed He Hai, who was in a daze, and pointed into the distance.  ammunition supply truck.  "Give me 70 grenades and 25 more." He Hai came to his senses and immediately joined the team to supply ammunition.  Finally, we hung a 200-liter diesel drum on the butt of the car with our comrades. After all, it is 150 kilometers from here to Kartare.

    At three o'clock in the afternoon, three light wheeled tank regiments rushed in front of the main force of the 66th Infantry Division, packed with soldiers and weapons, dragging a variety of heavy equipment, and took the lead towards the Ural with a "Siberian Tiger" main battle tank battalion.  Pretty close.  In order to protect the safety of the march, the Air Force also dispatched a large number of fighter planes to provide cover.

    The wheeled armored regiment is a lightly armed unit.  It is somewhat similar to the lightly-armed rapid reaction force of later generations.  Of course, at this time it is only a supplement to the main armored force.  The reason for the large amount of equipment in the past two years is that, firstly, the production of main battle tanks has not increased much, and secondly, because of the vast area of ??Central Asia, light armor forces that can reach quickly are needed.  A standard wheeled armored regiment is equipped with 1 light fast tank battalion, 2 wheeled armored battalions, 1 infantry battalion, 1 artillery company, 1 anti-aircraft company and 1 engineer company.  It is equipped with 38 Type 26 tanks, 76 wheeled Hound armored vehicles, 26 trucks, 12 wheeled anti-aircraft trucks, 16 jeeps, 33 motorcycles, 12 85mm towed cannon howitzers, etc., all of which are fast vehicles.  .  In a wilderness like the Tulan Plain, you can easily move forward at a speed of 40 kilometers per hour.

    The Soviet Union is a typical country with well-developed subway railways and extremely poor roads. There is a heavy rail railway from Kostanay to Kartare, but there are no roads, so after entering the mountainous area.  The advance of the troops slowed down significantly because it had just rained, so it took He Hai and everyone five hours to reach the mountain pass.  The troops did not attack at night. The commander, Colonel Cai Rui, asked everyone to establish a defense line and adjust to rest.  At the same time, several infantry reconnaissance companies were sent to conduct advance reconnaissance.

    Colonel Cai Rui is the eldest son of the late Marshal Cai E. After graduating from Baoding Army Academy, he further studied in Germany for two years and is an outstanding army officer.  But this time he did not go well. Although He Hai could not see clearly the fighting situation ahead, the fierce explosions and the continuous withdrawal of wounded soldiers proved that this small railway town was not easy to fight.  He finally waited until the sun rose in a daze, and He Hai could clearly see the whole scene ahead.

    It can be seen that the air force has been 'washed' in advance, so the entire town can no longer see its original appearance. The bent railway tracks cross from the north of the city and plunge into the endless Trans-Ural Plateau behind.  There is only one road into the plateau, surrounded by hills and dense forests that are difficult to pass.  Along this railway, you can go directly to Magnitogorsk, the most important steel base in the Ural region of the Soviet Union.  It is said that there are foreigners thereSeoul's best rich iron ore has reserves of more than one billion tons, as well as 4 blast furnaces, 16 open-hearth furnaces and 11 heavy-duty rolling mills.  Of course, the Air Force had 'visited' dozens of times since last year, so the Soviet army had already moved all the remaining supplies to the west of Kazan.  Not only here, but throughout the Urals, industrial facilities were relocated during last year's bombings.  However, industrial equipment can be moved, but resources and foundations cannot be taken away. Therefore, after occupying this place, the National Defense Forces can also rely on the long winter to establish small steelmaking plants and theater maintenance bases to provide guarantee for seizing the Urals and marching into Europe.

    ¡°The Air Force is coming.¡± As his comrades shouted, a large wave of ¡®ghost car¡¯ dive bombers and H-10 attack aircraft passed over He Hai¡¯s head.  Boom, boom Fierce explosions came from the direction of the small town, and all targets suspected of being hidden were violently bombed.  After the bombers completed their cleaning mission, the Siberian Tiger main battle tank battalion of the 66th Infantry Division used smoke cover to launch the first attack under the cover of artillery and infantry.

    "Get in the car." As soon as the main tank regiment moved, He Hai's tank battalion was also ordered to follow the main battalion to protect the infantry.  "Pay attention to the search, and cheer up!" the squad leader shouted, reminding everyone to be careful around them.  Although the 'Civet Cat' is the latest modification of the Type 26, it is not as luxurious as installing double periscopes like the 'Siberian Tiger'.  Therefore, He Hai and the loader must each be responsible for a narrow aiming window.  The small town has been completely destroyed, with rubble and rubble everywhere, and many corpses of Soviet soldiers and locals can be seen.  But it is strange that the Soviet army, which has always fought for every inch of territory, did not use the complex urban environment to block the attack, whether due to lack of troops or other reasons.

    It wasn¡¯t until he was approaching the hilly highlands to the west of the city that He Hai finally understood why the Soviet army had abandoned the city.  "Be careful!" with a tearing roar, on the mountainside 1,000 meters away.  Several fireballs suddenly burst out. Before they could see what kind of artillery they were, the two Siberian Tigers at the front seemed to be forcibly held down, and flames burst out in the blink of an eye.  "Heavy artillery! There are heavy artillery!" Since the Siberian Tiger first appeared on the Central Asian battlefield, this kind of tank has rarely been destroyed frontally, so it was damaged this time.  It also made everyone suddenly worried.

    "Mountainside forest, distance 1,000 meters, wind speed three levels" Before the shouting in the earphones ended, the loader had already stuffed the 70mm grenade into the barrel, and then shouted at the top of his lungs: "70 rounds, fill it up"  Finished pretending!"

    "Boom." He Hai saw clearly just now, so he fired the shell quickly.  The 70mm low-pressure infantry gun is a short-range suppression artillery with a small caliber.  It is fast and very effective against infantry and soft targets.  But this time He Hai hit a wall. There were obviously very thick fortifications on the mountainside, so the cannonball only fired a ball of fire, but no one could be seen.  The troops reacted quickly, and more than a dozen tank guns and the artillery behind them immediately suppressed the Soviet heavy artillery.  But unexpectedly, several fireballs erupted from the forest near the suppression point, and He Hai could even hear the clang of the shells hitting the tank's main armor.

    Less than a few minutes.  Four of the Siberian Tigers, which have been running rampant in Central Asia, were destroyed.  Facing the heavy anti-tank gun of unknown type, Colonel Cai Rui immediately ordered to retreat to the city.  Even the Siberian tiger couldn't stop it, and the civet cat was even less likely to be stopped, so the squad leader quickly ordered the vehicle to reverse.  But just as he was turning to avoid his comrades, He Hai suddenly felt as if his body had been hit hard by something, and then he fainted.  When he woke up again, he saw the loader's face covered in blood.  Her fingers kept wagging in front of his eyes: "He Hai! He Hai! Answer me!"

    "Not dead." After He Hai replied, he took a hard look into the car and found that two large holes were opened in the front and side of the car, as if a shell had penetrated the car directly.  The driver and squad leader were already dead because of their positions.  Later he learned that during the few minutes he was unconscious, nine tanks were destroyed one after another, and he was attacked by a 100mm naval gun.  What destroyed the Siberian Tiger were three 130mm naval guns.  Fortunately, the 100mm cannon deployed in the mountainside bunker is a real naval gun, not used by the KV100 tank. A muzzle suppressor is installed to reduce the rear seat, resulting in an Army version with much weakened armor penetration.  Because it was so powerful, the shell directly penetrated the body of the "Civet Cat" without detonating or catching fire.

    There are precedents for the landing of small-caliber naval guns in the armies of various countries. Even the new main battle tanks of the National Defense Forces were developed using naval-type 105mm naval guns as prototypes.  But this is the first time that a naval gun is used directly as an anti-tank gun without modification.  Because the 100mm and 130mm naval guns are too heavy, the Soviet army only used them to defend fixed passages and could not be directly used in field battles.  "It's fine, let's go." Seeing that he was fine, the loader quickly took out the submachine gun and tactical vest under the seat, and also carried the 84mm recoilless rifle on his back, and got out of the turret together.  After getting out of the tank, He Hai discovered that there were many wrecks of his own tanks around, and the infantry had withdrawn early to a small town in the distance.

    The falling shells forced the two of them to constantly change their shelters.  Fortunately, the Soviet troops at the mountain pass did not have enough troops, so they did not dare to attack and only used artillery.??Machine guns blocked the road.  After the two returned to the city and found the troops, the Air Force, which had received the news, also rushed to support them. However, the slopes of the mountainside and the thick bunkers caused the dive bombers and attack aircraft to hit the wall and return.

    The weakness of the light division was fully exposed in front of the heavy artillery and bunkers. Colonel Cai Rui's consecutive attacks were defeated by the Soviet army, resulting in more than 200 casualties and more than 20 tanks destroyed.  This tough battle made He Hai realize the difficulties of Ural for the first time.  "Damn it! If they can get close, look how I'll deal with them!" The loader, whose head was wrapped in thick gauze, was furious and hugged the 84mm recoilless rifle tightly.  Unfortunately, the recoilless rifle had a short range, so he could only stare at the cliff.

    He Hai was also full of anger. Thinking of his comrades who died tragically, he grabbed his submachine gun and walked out.  "He Hai, where are you going?"

    "Go to the battalion commander."

    "Wait for me." The loader and the soldiers around him were very depressed. When they saw him going to find the battalion commander, they also chased after him.  After arriving at the battalion headquarters, He Haigang was about to ask them to attack again when he saw the battalion commander put down the radio and shouted: "You guys came just in time. Who has ever played with a remote control car?"

    "Remote control car?"

    ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? out out what time is it, are you still thinking about playing with toys?  However, seeing the seriousness of the battalion commander's question, He Hai immediately raised his hand: "Batalion Commander, I assembled a radio-controlled car myself in college."

    "Very well, follow me."

    Without saying a word, the battalion commander put He Hai on a three-wheeled motorcycle and came to the headquarters.  After the vehicle arrived at the headquarters, five Y-7s also appeared above everyone's heads at the same time.  This single-engine short-range liaison support aircraft has extremely strong low-altitude short-distance take-off and landing capabilities. It only requires a piece of flat land the size of a football field to take off and land.  After the plane landed, several airborne troops took out five tracked vehicles that were more than one meter long and resembled mini tanks.

    "Are you the operator? Do you know how to use a radio-controlled car?" After the airborne soldier and Cai Rui murmured a few words, Cai Rui walked over to He Hai and two other soldiers who knew how to use radio-controlled cars.  After explanation, He Hai found out that these "small tanks" were a type of radio-controlled demolition vehicles called "Dilong".  Originally, the Falcon team had a dedicated operator, but because an aircraft malfunctioned and returned midway, it needed to be solved on the spot.

    Operating a remote-controlled blasting tank is not complicated, as long as you know some simple electronic skills and can avoid debris and obstacles.  After He Hai tried it a few times, the Falcon Team began to stuff explosives into the 'Earth Dragon'.  "How many can it hold?" He Hai looked at the airborne soldiers who had never seen these armbands before and asked about the data.

    "You mean this cockroach?" The airborne soldier was a big man, pointing to the 'earth dragon' in front of him.

    "Cockroach" I really don't know what is going on in these guys' minds, so they can only nod.

    "Not much, just like 80 kilograms of explosives."

    "80 kilograms is not much?" He Hai found that he could not talk to these old people, so he had to retreat to the side as an assistant.  The remote-controlled tank, called the 'cockroach' by the Falcon Team, uses a small gasoline engine and uses wireless remote control. The maximum combat distance is 870 meters. Therefore, if you want to get close to the Soviet fortifications on the hillside, you need a series of tactical coordination. However, this and the river  It doesn't matter if it's the sea, it's a matter for the headquarters.

    After installing all five ¡®Earth Dragons¡¯, the Falcon Team hung them behind the ¡®Civet Cat¡¯ light tank.  Because the 'Civet Cat' light tank is faster and has a certain amount of armor, it can help them get close to the enemy quickly.  Soon, He Hai, like the Falcons, put on a helmet and a special nylon and steel plate bulletproof suit, and sat directly on the trailer on the butt of the tank waiting to set off.

    At eight o'clock in the evening, Cai Rui ordered the fifth attack.  Different from the previous times, this time the artillery used not only ordinary grenades, but also a large number of smoke grenades. Even the mortars of the troops worked hard to create smoke to cover the attacking "civet cats".

    The smoke made it impossible for the Soviet army to aim, so they could only fire blindly. Amidst the fierce explosions and the clang of shrapnel hitting the tank armor, the 'Civet Cat', which was protected by 14 'Siberian Tigers' behind it, began to accelerate. After reaching the predetermined position,  He Hai and everyone immediately untied the 'cockroach', six people towed a car, and rushed into the small woods at the foot of the mountain under the cover of machine guns and cannons.

    "Untie it! Battery, give me the battery."

    "Let them use tracer bullets to provide coordinates!"

    Ten minutes later, five small black cockroaches made a soft noise, crawled in the low grass, and crawled towards the Soviet fortifications on the hillside little by little
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