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Volume Three Far East Stories Chapter 367 The Lost Voronezh Division

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    ~Date:~November 21st~

    While the three divisions of the Second Army led by Mahin encountered air attacks and hardships on the shores of Lake Algar, the 4th Armored Regiment of the Allied Forces mixed into the 2nd Armored Brigade finally reached Kamesla, 20 kilometers southwest of Severno County.  On the road near the village, they caught up with the division led by the Ninth Army Chief of Staff Stepin who was retreating along the road.

    Stepin had 9 artillery companies, 5 heavy machine gun battalions and an infantry division of more than 7,000 people. In order to cover the wounded, he simply stopped and built a position to block the pursuing troops.

    After the rearguard discovered the pursuers, they retreated and arranged the heavy machine gun battalion near the small high ground on the north side of the road. The artillery of 9 companies was also pushed up by men and horses, while the infantry rushed to build structures on both sides of the road.  They set up bunkers and positions, stretching three kilometers in front and back, and prepared for a head-on battle with the overtaking coalition forces.

    The 4th Armored Regiment of the 2nd Mixed Armored Brigade is the main regiment of the 2nd Brigade. Last night, it relied on its own armored regiment to block the way of Slavin's division, forcing it to lay down its weapons and surrender. Then it was the first to capture Bav.  Lei captured more than 3,500 wounded soldiers left by the Ninth Army, and now it was the vanguard who caught up.

    The commander of the Fourth Armored Regiment is Cheng Ruhuai, who graduated from the fourth phase of Baoding. He and Hu Zongduo, commander of the Second Armored Brigade, were classmates at the same time. However, this guy joined the army two months late, so Hu Zongduo was already a major general of the Second Armored Brigade.  After all, this guy is still just the leader of the Shangxiejia Group!

    Cheng Ruhuai, courtesy name Zhongsu and Hao Shizhe, was born in Huang'an, Hubei Province in the 14th year of Guangxu's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1888 AD). His family was engaged in farming and business in Zoujiawan, Chunshu, Yonghe, Huang'an County, Hubei Province.  The tribesmen returned to Macheng, Xiaogan and other places after hesitation.

    When he was young, Cheng Ruhuai was admitted to the Hubei Army Primary School. When the Revolution of 1911 broke out, he participated in the Wuchang Uprising with the revolutionary army. Later, he enrolled in the fourth phase of Baoding Military Academy and was considered a tiger general in an armored brigade.

    This time, after he caught up with the enemy, he saw that the enemy was already on guard, so he did not dare to be careless. After all, they had nine artillery companies. While retreating and deploying troops, he called for air support from the air force.

    The armored regiment's own vehicle-drawn artillery battery also deployed directly, but the six mountain cannons certainly did not fire against the opponent's 54 mountain field guns. The fd-17ii wheeled armored vehicles equipped by the armored regiment could also defend against Maxim's machine gun bullets.  Even the bullets of our own 12.7 large-caliber heavy machine gun may not be able to withstand the bullets of the opponent's 76 mountain gun or field artillery. If it is hit directly, the armor of the armored vehicle will definitely not be able to withstand it.

    Fortunately, the armored regiment commanded by Cheng Ruhuai was able to advance and retreat freely. The first round of shells from Stepin's artillery company over there hit both sides of the road ahead and they were still correcting the firing range. With a wave of his hand and a cheer, the vanguard company of the armored regiment reversed and drove out.  5 kilometers away, and the main force of his armored regiment was originally two kilometers behind the vanguard company. Seeing this, he drove off the road and set up a position. Of course, the number of artillery was at a disadvantage, so Cheng Ruhuai had to wait for air support from the aviation team.

    Although the first round of artillery bombardment commanded by Stepin did not destroy the opponent's armored vehicles, he was very happy when he saw the opponent's hurried reverse retreat. Damn it, who said that the Soviet Red Army can't fight?  We have enough artillery to beat up the opponent's armored forces!

    This guy regretted opening fire too early. The main reason was that the opponent's vanguard company seemed to have noticed the ambush on their side and stopped moving. Instead, it leaned out and looked left and right with a telescope, which made people anxious. He waved his hand before giving the order to fire.  Unexpectedly, the artillery skills were not good enough. The first wave of artillery shells actually landed fifty meters in front of the car and missed them. They watched as they retreated beyond the range of their own mountain cannon!

    It should be said that the coalition's Hawkeye early warning aircraft was aiming at the ground at an altitude of 3,000 meters. The location where Stepin's team stopped to set up positions after making such a big movement was notified by radio to the armored regiment on the ground early in the morning!

    "Chief of Staff! What are you waiting for? Let's order the artillery to continue shooting. If the mountain artillery can't fire, why not still have field artillery? How can we go without destroying them?" Liukin, the commander of the Voronezh Division, said anxiously from the side.

    Stepin nodded and ordered the three field artillery batteries to fire. When the shells hit, he found that the opponent's armored vehicles had spread far apart. For direct fire weapons such as field artillery, covering fire requires a high density to achieve effect.  Although the artillery battery's artillery fire also failed to hit the opponent's wheeled armored vehicles 5,000 meters away, it was true that the coalition's armored vehicles retreated further.

    But what happened next obviously didn't take seconds. The opponent's 75 mountain artillery also opened fire, and shells fell towards the Soviet Red Army's field artillery position on the high ground. At a distance of less than 6 kilometers, the field artillery and gunfire from both sides  The mountain artillery battle was evenly matched, and for a while no one could do anything to their opponent.

    Stepin listened carefully and asked Liu Jin hesitantly. The sound of the opponent's shells didn't sound like a field cannon. Could it be that the mountain cannon was used as a field cannon to make a direct fire attack? This was refreshing.

    Before Liu Jin could answer, a dark cloud floated in the east sky. Steping looked up and was shocked. He hurriedly ordered the entire army to disperse.Hidden, push the cannon into the woods, and the heavy machine gun battalion is ready to shoot in the air!

    Three squadrons of SE5 and three squadrons of D4 of the coalition aviation fleet rushed to the battlefield. The artillery bombardment of the armored regiment directly pointed out the bombing target for the aircraft in the air. The horizontal bombing carried out by 96 aircraft at an altitude of 3,000 allowed five to be replaced.  The heavy machine gun battalion with local anti-aircraft gun mounts was powerless and unable to exert its strength.

    48 SE5 fighter jets dropped 192 aerial bombs weighing 11 kilograms at an altitude of 3,000 meters. The power of one bomb is equivalent to the explosion of two 75-caliber field artillery bombs, while 48 D4 reconnaissance bombers dropped 384  Each aerial bomb weighs 25 kilograms, which is equivalent to the power of more than 10 companies of 150-caliber heavy howitzers firing six consecutive salvos.

    Fortunately, the targets of such powerful air strikes by the coalition forces were concentrated on all artillery positions and heavy machine gun battalion firing positions. Therefore, the evacuated and concealed Voronezh Division infantry under the command of Stepin and Liukin suffered only nearly a thousand casualties in the air strike.  However, nine companies of artillery and five heavy machine gun battalions were completely wiped out, and the artillery and machine gunners suffered more than 2,000 casualties.

    With the destruction of the artillery and heavy machine gun battalions of the Stepin cluster, 96 coalition fighter planes were still circling overhead and did not leave. All the Soviet Red Army soldiers below were devastated and filled with panic and despair.

    Cheng Ruhuai¡¯s armored regiment had unknowingly approached in a fan shape to a position 1,000 meters away from the opponent¡¯s position. A loudspeaker broadcast sounded from the armored vehicle of the avant-garde company:

    "This is the Allied Forces. Please put down your weapons, the soldiers of the Soviet Ninth Army. Please put down your weapons. The coalition forces treat prisoners preferentially. The coalition forces treat prisoners preferentially. Please do not resist fearlessly. Please do not resist fearlessly. Your relatives  I and my comrades are waiting to see you again soon, please cherish your life! The future of Russia needs you to live well! Just to see clearly whether the path you have chosen is right or wrong, you should all live!  Please put down your weapons!"

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