When Ninth Army Commander Luo Zhang looked excited because of the unexpected gift brought to him by Commander Song Chenghui. The Soviet command headquarters, more than ten kilometers away from the Ninth Army Headquarters, looked at an infantry regiment that suddenly disappeared on the battlefield a few kilometers away. Lieutenant General McKees, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet forward army, showed genuine panic on his face. expression.
Then, like an angry lion, he roared loudly at the subordinates behind him: "Check, find out immediately what happened in the frontline position of the National Defense Forces, what the explosion was just now, find out for me immediately" "
More than ten minutes later, Lieutenant General McKees was pacing back and forth in the tent with a pair of red eyes, heartbroken at his losses today. A slightly panicked report finally sounded at the door of the tent.
Under the order of the political commissar, a combat staff officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel walked quickly to Lieutenant General McKees, saluted, and reported as calmly as possible: "Comrade Commander, the latest battle report of the frontline offensive forces"
Lieutenant General McKees quickly focused his attention on the lieutenant colonel in front of him and ordered in a deep voice: "Say"
"Yes Comrade Commander" In front of the lieutenant general, the lieutenant colonel's staff did not dare to neglect anything and quickly reported: "Our offensive force successfully occupied the front-line position of the National Defense Forces under the cover of a heavy tank battalion. The Wehrmacht troops holding their positions collapsed without a fight. But"
"It's nothing, say" The next report was obviously related to the explosion just now. Facing the hesitant lieutenant colonel's staff, Lieutenant General McKees's face became more worried. He asked directly and sharply.
"However, when the Wehrmacht defenders were retreating, a large number of high explosives were buried in the caves they used to hide from artillery fire. The explosion just now was caused by our attacking troops triggering the fuses of these high explosives"
"Cunning Chinese, I must make you pay with blood Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, what about the casualties of comrades? I want to know the specific casualties of the attacking troops in the explosion just now" A pair of eyes quickly looked outward. After giving out a sharp look, Lieutenant General McKees continued to question with a murderous look on his face.
Under the pressure of Lieutenant General McKees¡¯ murderous gaze, beads of sweat began to appear on the forehead of the lieutenant colonel staff unconsciously. After suppressing the inner tension, the lieutenant colonel staff reported: "Comrade Commander. According to reports from the front line, a heavy tank battalion and a field infantry regiment responsible for the attack successfully retreated except for less than two hundred remaining soldiers. All suffered a devastating blow Preliminary estimates indicate that the retreating National Defense Forces buried at least ten tons of high explosives and 5,000 heavy artillery shells in underground military caves."
"In other words, the Wehrmacht defenders could easily eat up a heavy tank battalion and an infantry regiment of our army using only some explosives and heavy artillery shells without consuming a single soldier." Lieutenant General McKees said in a heavy tone. asked rhetorically.
"Yes, Comrade Commander" the lieutenant colonel staff confirmed.
He waved his hand, indicating to the nervous lieutenant colonel in front of him that he could leave. Lieutenant General McKees quickly turned his attention to the Chief of Staff who had been silent behind him, and asked with a serious face: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I want to know. How many troops have we lost in today's offensive" "
The chief of staff, who knew the situation of the troops well, replied without thinking: "Comrade Commander, in one day's attack, we have lost four heavy tank battalions, totaling 150 heavy tanks. In addition, we have also lost three infantrymen. Half a regiment, with a total of more than 7,500 people. Two of the field infantry regiments were completely wiped out. The remaining three infantry regiments that participated in the attack also lost more than half, almost losing their combat effectiveness."
Seeing the increasingly gloomy Lieutenant General McKees in front of him, the Chief of Staff continued after a brief hesitation: "In addition, in yesterday's battle, we also lost 48 heavy tanks and more than 5,000 infantrymen. There are more than thirty artillery pieces of various calibers. If we add up all the losses in the two days, the total loss of our forward troops has exceeded 12,000 people, which is more than a field infantry division. Two regiments of tanks were lost, and nearly one regiment of heavy artillery was lost"
Hearing this, Lieutenant General McKees clenched his fist out of anger and slammed it on the table in front of him. Afterwards, he said to himself with a look of unwillingness: "With air superiority and artillery superiority, we lost a quarter of the total strength before occupying the first line of defense of the National Defense Forces. According to the Air Force reconnaissance, the National Defense Forces deployed completely in front of us We have formed three lines of defense, and each one is stronger than the last. If we continue to fight like this, when we completely break through the three lines of defense of the National Defense Forces, we will lose all the tens of thousands of troops in the front. How can we meet the National Defense Forces that may rush to Outer Mongolia at any time? Reinforcements"
After saying that, he ordered to the chief of staff: "There is no way to crack the counterattack tactics and mine tactics of the National Defense Forces, even if we successfully occupy the National Defense Forces"With the three lines of defense in front of us, we who are responsible for the offense will also suffer heavy losses. Therefore, today¡¯s attack will stop here for now¡¡±
"Order: All troops in the army camp on the spot. In order to prepare for possible night attacks by the squadron, the tank divisions are grouped into regiments, one kilometer apart from each other, and defend themselves around the military camps. The artillery unit must have a The heavy artillery division remains on alert at night and is ready to counterattack any sudden artillery attack that the Wehrmacht may launch"
The Soviet army stopped attacking and began to set up a night cordon. After hearing the news, they were thinking about how to block the Soviet offensive with minimal casualties in the next few hours, and on the way to the Soviet offensive, they would remove all the more than 10,000 landmines stored in the arsenal. Luo Zhang, who was buried and troubled, couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Not only that, a hint of joy from the heart also flooded the cheeks of Army Commander Luo Zhang.
The Soviet forward troops are now setting up warning positions at night, which undoubtedly gives the Ninth Army night attack troops more time to prepare.
Not only that, Lieutenant General McKees, the commander-in-chief of the Soviet army, who was confident that with the support of aircraft, heavy tanks, and even heavy artillery, nothing would happen at night, he directly ignored one thing: he deployed various weapons in broad daylight under the nose of the Wehrmacht. With such a night defense position, your opponent's National Defense Force may not even need the most basic reconnaissance. It can be seen clearly directly.
Sure enough, as the sky started to darken. After the Soviet Air Force, which had been cruising over the battlefield, began to return one after another, a hand-drawn map marked with various marks was quickly thrown in front of Luo Zhang by Chief of Staff Wu Xin. Afterwards, several major generals in the military headquarters quickly gathered around the map at Luo Zhang's greeting.
"Chief of Staff, please give everyone a brief introduction first" Seeing several subordinates gathered around the map with hot faces, Luo Zhang, who was also looking forward to tonight's night attack, ordered decisively.
"Military seat, comrades, according to the reconnaissance, the deployment of the Soviet Red Army did not surprise us. The remaining seven heavy tank regiments of the Soviet Red Army. They are all grouped into regiments, separated by one kilometer from each other, and are scattered around the military camp. This location is very clearly marked on the hand-drawn map in front of us."
"Except for the Soviet heavy tank troops, which we are very afraid of, their heavy artillery units are all deployed in the center of the military camp, and there is always a heavy artillery division in a state of combat readiness, which may counterattack our artillery units that launch sudden artillery fire at any time."
"In addition to the two arms of tanks and artillery, the remaining three field divisions of the Soviet Red Army are also grouped into regiments and gathered in this camp area. In addition, in order to prevent the sudden attack of our army's artillery fire from bringing chaos to the military camp, In the Soviet camp area, small military camps organized in regiments are separated by one hundred meters from each other. Certain sentries and patrols are arranged to provide warning."
Army Commander Luo Zhang suddenly interrupted at this time: "It seems that Lao Maozi's vigilance is quite strong. However, in my opinion, no matter how tight the defense is, it cannot escape the eyes of predators like us. Chief of Staff, You continue to introduce to everyone our battle plan tonight. After the introduction, everyone expresses their opinions and improves tonight's night attack as much as possible. Let us achieve the maximum results of the night attack at the minimum cost, and let the old man feel heartache because of our results. .¡±
When everyone¡¯s eyes focused on the hand-drawn map in front of them again, Chief of Staff Wu Xin had already drawn three big arrows from three different directions on the map with a pencil. Then, pointing to the three arrows, he introduced: "Comrades, the plan formulated by the staff is that our troops participating in the night attack will be directly divided into three. According to the specific positions of the three field divisions of the Soviet military camp, we will attack the Soviet army separately. Three field divisions launched an attack to kill as much of the Soviet Red Army's effective forces as possible."
"The three night attack forces each include an infantry regiment, a medium tank battalion, an armored battalion, and a vehicle transport battalion. During the attack, in order to ensure the speed of the entire assault and avoid being pursued and surrounded by Soviet tank troops, all infantry units were The armored battalion and the motor transport battalion carried it, followed closely behind the tank battalion and assaulted the Soviet barracks, and finally broke out from the other direction of the Soviet barracks."
"The Soviet Red Army is equipped with heavy tanks with slow assault speed. Therefore, in terms of speed, the Soviet heavy tanks are definitely not our army's medium tanks, or even armored vehicles and transport vehicles. As long as everyone does not stop after breaking into the Soviet barracks, a large number of While killing the Soviet army's effective forces and attacking in the other direction of the military camp as quickly as possible, you will never be overtaken by the Soviet heavy tanks. Without the deadly threat of the Soviet heavy tanks, the medium tanks equipped by our army can completely defeat the Soviet army. The military camp ran rampant, breaking through all obstacles and breaking out from the other direction of the military camp.¡±
"Before launching the specific night attack, the three commandos detoured their troops back to a position three kilometers away from the Soviet military camp under the cover of night. Then, under the cover of three heavy artillery battalions, they approached the Soviet military camp and moved towards the Soviet military camp. Launch an attack and cover it with lightning speedThe force broke into the Soviet military camp"
"In order to allow the three heavy artillery battalions to persist longer under the counterattack of the Soviet heavy artillery troops, the artillery positions of the three heavy artillery battalions must be redeployed. All heavy artillery units are deployed in squads and platoons, spaced five hundred meters apart to avoid being The Soviet counterattack came all at once"
"When the heavy artillery troops launched an attack on the Soviet military camp, they used ordinary artillery shells mainly for killing in the first five minutes. The main target of the attack was the Soviet artillery position. The explosion of the artillery shells was used to cover the various noises generated by the commandos approaching the Soviet military camp. .¡±
"After the commandos approached the Soviet barracks, the heavy artillery troops immediately switched to napalm bombs and used napalm bombs to create an attack gap for the commandos in the Soviet tank defense line. After the commandos entered the Soviet barracks, the heavy artillery troops immediately stopped shelling And transfer as many artillery pieces as you can"
After the introduction, Chief of Staff Wu Xin quickly turned his attention to Army Commander Luo Zhang. He asked Luo Zhang: "Military seat, that's all the specific combat plans. I wonder if you and your comrades have anything else to add"
"I have a question" Luo Zhang answered bluntly.
Under the suspicious gaze of the chief of staff, Luo Zhang opened his mouth and analyzed: "In your introduction, the location where the commando raided the Soviet military camp was a full three kilometers away from the Soviet military camp. Even if there are heavy artillery in the subsequent assault The troops' use of artillery sound as cover may also allow the Soviet army to be aware of it and prepare in advance. Therefore, we must find a way to shorten the assault distance, and it is best to send the commando team one kilometer outside the Soviet barracks."
Wu Xin replied with a look of embarrassment: "Military seat, I also know this situationbut the roar of the tanks is so loud. More than ten people in our staff racked their brains and failed to think of quietly sending the commando to a place. The solution from kilometers away is really too difficult and almost impossible to do"
Just when the command headquarters fell into silence, the commander of the 091st Division Shen Kaiyun suddenly said: "No, Chief of Staff, there is a way, there is a way to cover up the sound of the marching medium tanks of our army"
Under everyone¡¯s expectant gaze. Commander Shen Kaiyun explained: "As long as the medium-sized tanks equipped by our army are traveling at a constant speed and are separated by a certain distance from each other, the sound is not particularly loud. In this case, we can completely deploy an infantry regiment and disperse them all in squads and platoons. Around the Soviet barracks, grenades, machine guns, and even mortars were used to continuously launch small-scale sneak attacks on the Soviet barracks. Of course, the purpose of the sneak attacks was not to harass the Soviet troops and kill their effective forces. It was to allow sneak attacks on the Soviet troops. The sound of the gunfire covered up the sound of the tanks marching."
Although I don¡¯t know if this method is really feasible. However, Luo Zhang, who had the attitude of treating a dead horse as a live doctor, still ordered to Chief of Staff Wu Xin: "This method is very feasibleChief of Staff. You immediately arrange for someone to do a test. Under the cover of gunfire, How far can the roar produced by our medium-sized tanks be transmitted? You know, when the commando leaps forward from the Soviet barracks, the shock effect will be greater, and accordingly, the damage to the Soviet infantry will be greater. The bigger.¡±
"Yes, military seat"
"Bang bang bang" A burst of dense and crisp gunfire rang out on the grassland, and a Soviet patrol was less than a hundred meters away from the Soviet military camp. A total of one squad of Lao Maozi patrolmen didn't even have time to react when the gunfire rang out. They were all turned into corpses in the sudden hail of bullets.
Faced with the sudden provocation around the military camp, three heavy tanks not far from the patrol quickly turned on their front searchlights. At the same time, the three high-level dual-purpose machine guns located on the top of the turret quickly sounded the crisp impact of bullets being loaded.
Then, dull gunshots rang out on the battlefield. For three days, thick and hot tongues of fire, guided by searchlights, quickly shot towards the grassland where the bullets had just been fired.
However, when the Soviet army began to counterattack, the four Wehrmacht soldiers who carried out the sneak attack had disappeared into the vast grassland with two general-purpose machine guns. The thick bullets fired by the Soviet heavy tank machine gunners did not achieve any results except leaving traces of smoke on the moist grassland ground.
The gunshots that occurred here were like the general signal for the Wehrmacht to launch an attack.
As soon as the Soviet tank crew¡¯s counterattacks stopped, all kinds of intensive gunfire began to sound throughout the military camp. More importantly, this dense and messy gunfire was also mixed with the sound of a large number of grenade explosions and even the explosion of mortar shells.
Facing the despicable night attack launched by the Wehrmacht, the Soviet tank troops scattered around the military camp certainly would not be beaten passively. Whether it was a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun or a tank gun with a caliber of 75 mm, they all joined the counterattack against the sneak attack troops without receiving orders.
That¡¯s it, the National Defense ForcesThe small-scale sneak attacks triggered by the two infantry regiments became larger and larger due to Lao Maozi's revenge mentality, and the sounds of various gunfire became more and more dense and intense.
"It's time to order the three commando teams to move towards the Soviet military camp immediately. After approaching the position of 800 meters, they will hide. Without orders, any commando team is prohibited from exposing the target. Otherwise, military law will be engaged" It is about 100 meters away from the Soviet military camp. On a small high ground three kilometers away, listening to the increasingly lively sound of gunfire around the Soviet military camp, a trace of heartfelt excitement quickly jumped onto Luo Zhang's cheek, and he gave decisive orders to the equally excited Chief of Staff Wu Xin behind him.
Under the cover of gunfire, the three commandos quickly moved around the Soviet barracks as if they were in uninhabited territory. Until this time, several tank regiments deployed by the Soviet Red Army around the military camp were still panicking and counterattacking various sneak attacks by the Wehrmacht. They were completely unaware that three commandos armed to the teeth had sharpened their fangs and were ready to give themselves a fatal blow at any time.
As Army Commander Luo Zhang waited anxiously, a report directly put Luo Zhang's anxious and nervous heart at ease.
"Report to the military seat, the first commando team reports that the troops have arrived at the designated position"
"Report to the military seat, the second commando team and the third commando team report that the troops have arrived at the designated position and may launch an assault on the Soviet barracks at any time"
"Reporting to the military seat, the artillery commander Wang reported that the three heavy artillery battalions have been dispersed according to the order, and can immediately launch artillery strikes on the predetermined targets, opening a breakthrough for the commando team"
Hearing this, the expression on Luo Zhang's face was quickly covered with excitement and anticipation, and he said loudly: "Okay, our opportunity has finally come"