As Qian Tianfu spoke, he used his baton to point out on the large map on the wall the situation of the Soviet-Russian Kolchak White Guards on the northern battlefield that had been marked by the staff. Then he pointed down the baton to the North Caucasus region. , then said,
"In the southern battlefield, the coalition's Southern Front, under the command of General Wu Peifu, made good progress in the early stage. It swept from Krasnodar on the Don River to the Maykop Oil Field, and moved eastward to capture the Grozny Oil Field, and finally advanced to The port city of Makhachkala on the Caspian Sea went into rest. Because the attack was the furthest away and the logistics transportation line was too long, the Southern Front was in short supply of supplies, ammunition and food. Except for oil, everything else was in short supply. They had to wait. The Baku campaign can¡¯t be launched until the rest is complete!¡±
Qian Tianfu's words caused the commanders and chiefs of staff of the coalition forces in the conference room to whisper to each other. They were obviously surprised by the overwhelming power and bravery of Wu Peifu's Southern Front Army, and also worried about the Southern Front Army. On the Ufa Plains The supplies of the assembled Central Front Army were somewhat stretched. In the North Caucasus, thousands of kilometers away, Wu Peifu's soldiers were probably hungry. Most of the people in the North Caucasus were fierce and stubborn. There is no chance of gaining the support of the local people in a short period of time.
Then Qian Tianfu moved the baton to the Ukrainian defense line, and his tone became deeper,
"On the Ukrainian battlefield in the middle, the first phase of the attack was the Center Army of the Southwest Front. Lieutenant General Oba Erlang commanded the main force of the 3rd Division, the Lu Huanyan Armored Regiment and the main force of the Stepin Voronezh Group Army to conquer Kharkov and annihilate the 1st Ukrainian National Army. division and most of the 2nd Division, and defeated the main forces of the 3rd and 4th Divisions. The 47th Reserve Infantry Division of the 29th Infantry Corps of the German 10th Group Army stationed in Kharkov suffered heavy losses. It can be said that the Central Army was victorious! "
"The remnants of the 47th German Infantry Division withdrew along the railway line to the important town of Yekaterinoslav on the north bank of the Dnipro River. Also retreating were the remnants of the Ukrainian government cabinet and the 4th Division of the National Army. Considering the fact that Kharko The Central Route Army of Husband's side suffered heavy casualties. In order to maintain combat effectiveness and the efficiency of the continuous offensive, according to the instructions of the Allied Forces General Headquarters, the Southwest Front Army adjusted its deployment and formed the Kharkiv Cluster and the Donetsk Cluster on the front line! "
Qian Tianfu¡¯s tone was unhurried. As the executive chief of staff, he knew it was important to control his emotions. If the director of the war room who advises the commander-in-chief panics, the mood of the generals below will be more likely to become impetuous and hectic.
? 9:15, August 8, 1918, combat conference room of the Samara Allied Forces Headquarters
"Everyone, the Kharkov cluster in the Ukraine campaign includes the Japanese 7th Division of Fujii Yukitsuki, the Japanese 3rd Division of Oba Jiro, the 1st and 2nd Chinese Army Armored Regiments, and the Kursk and Voronezh two regiments. The Federal Army Group is under the unified command of General Utsunomiya, Commander of the Southwest Front, and Chief of Staff Shunroku Hata, and is organized into a mixed brigade at the firing line below Kharkov City!"
Each Japanese infantry brigade in the two groups was assigned a field artillery regiment. The packhorse artillery in the Japanese army was towed by Dodge one-and-a-half-ton trucks. The streamlined personnel enriched the infantry brigade, and the horses supplemented the cavalry regiment. Go with the baggage troops The six artillery battalions of the 14th Federal Infantry Division, the 15th Division, and the 9th Division were mixed into two federal field artillery regiments and assigned to the mixed brigade of the Kharkov cluster! "
As for the Southwestern Front's final strategy in the Ukrainian campaign, the Kharkov cluster was reorganized and attacked south along the railway and highway lines to attack Yekaterinoslav. If it could attract the main German reinforcements from Kiev, it would return to Kharkov. , preparing to rely on the city to annihilate the main force of the German armyThe Kharkiv cluster is personally commanded by Taro Utsunomiya and Shunroku Hata, while the Donetsk cluster is commanded by Lieutenant General Shibagoro and Chief of Staff Itagaki."
"In addition, the two artillery battalions of the 9th Federal Infantry Division are assigned to the 1st Armored Regiment and the 2nd Armored Regiment respectively. The 3rd Armored Regiment of the Donetsk Cluster is also assigned to a federal artillery battalion. As for the attack of the Eastern Route Army Continuing to postpone, the original plan was to wait for the main force in the direction of Kharkiv to dispatch to Yekaterinoslav before waiting for an opportunity to dispatch. At the same time, the coalition's second fighter-bomber wing was also ordered to closely monitor the build-up of the Luftwaffe in Kiev and prepare at any time. Preparation for a large-scale air battle!"
When Qian Tianfu said this, Tanaka Yiichi, deputy chief of staff of the coalition forces and commander of the Japanese First Army, couldn't help but interjected, "Wait a moment, Director Qian, if I remember correctly, in the reorganization plan reported by the Southwest Front Army at that time, The 13th Infantry Brigade strengthened the 7th Field Artillery Regiment to form the 13th Mixed Infantry Brigade, headed by Major General Guosi Wuqi.
The 14th Infantry Brigade strengthened two 75mm field artillery battalions of the 9th Federal Infantry Division and 2 artillery batteries of a field artillery battalion of the 8th Federal Infantry Division to form the 14th Mixed Infantry Brigade, with Tatsujiro Uchino serving as the brigade commander. , since the establishment of the Japanese field artillery wing is three field artillery brigades plus one mountain artillery brigade, the total number is 48 75mm mountain field guns.
The artillery battalion of the Federal Infantry DivisionEach has three 6-gun 75mm field artillery batteries. Therefore, the number of field artillery of the 14th Combined Infantry Brigade is 3 artillery battalions and 54 guns, which is one more artillery company than the 13th Combined Infantry Brigade In this case , the two mixed infantry brigades of the Kharkov cluster have extremely strong firepower and strength. How can they be defeated thousands of miles away? ! "
Tanaka Yoshiichi was busy reorganizing the 8th Mechanized Army of the Central Front under his command on the Ufa Plains two days ago. He just came back early this morning. Apparently he was a little surprised and confused about the situation on the Ukrainian battlefield. This guy has a lot of knowledge. Wen Guangji reported the details of the Southwest Front Army's reorganization cluster with just one mouth! At the same time, he is also vaguely questioning Utsunomiya Taro's commanding ability and responsibility!
"General Tanaka is right. I remember that the 24 150mm Taisho four-year heavy howitzers of the 7th Regiment of the ** Field Heavy Artillery belonging to the 7th Division at that time, according to the decision of the Front Army Headquarters, and the ** of the 3rd Division The 3rd Field Heavy Artillery Regiment forms a 48-gun heavy field artillery brigade, which is used as the strategic firepower reserve of the Kharkov Cluster! In terms of firepower, the Kharkov Cluster is by no means inferior to the Germans. , why did you lose so easily?"
Jiang Fangzhen, deputy chief of staff of the coalition forces and commander of the Chinese 4th Group Army, seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to be echoing General Tanaka¡¯s doubts. It sounded like he was personally leading the team to join the Ukrainian battlefield.