China is busy doing business and making money, but chaos is still common in Russia.
The troublemaker was Chechnya again. Near the end of 1991, the Chechens used their own armed forces to invade the Republic of Dagestan in the east. No one wonders why the Chechens do not take good care of their territory and instead attack Dagestan, which is dominated by the Avars. Some people simply explain this as the national character of the Chechens. The Chechens used to be a very clannish and relatively primitive nation, and they were proud of robbing others. The more they robbed, they were heroes, so they sent troops to attack Dagestan. It seemed that It's not something difficult to understand.
In fact, Dudayev sent his troops to attack Dagestan, mainly for the Caspian Sea port in Dagestan, Makhachkala. The city was called Port of Petrovsk until 192 and was the capital of Dagestan. The most critical thing is that Makhachkala has complete port facilities, which can facilitate the loading, unloading and acquisition of weapons and equipment from the other side of the Caspian Sea.
Dagestan¡¯s defensive strength is actually not that strong. Even after Chechnya declared its independence, the Russian army did not deploy large forces here to deter the Chechens. In fact, it has something to do with the fact that the Russian army is busy with its own reorganization and reconstruction. Although a lot of equipment and troops have been brought back from the union republics, it is actually not that easy to reorganize these scattered soldiers, horses and weapons into a fully organized and combat-effective force.
The Russians have even just snatched the Kuznetsov aircraft carrier from Ukraine. A large number of Russian troops have been assessed as not having the ability to fight, which also gives separatists like Dudayev an opportunity to take advantage of it. .
There are actually quite a lot of Russian troops stationed in Dagestan, but because the salaries have not yet been received, and Russia is in the throes of its establishment, it has no morale and no intention to fight. When three battalions of Chechen troops entered Dagestan, the Russian army only put up limited resistance, was defeated and then retreated. In fact, the Russian army's losses were not large, but they had no intention of fighting. In the end, the Chechen armed forces entered Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan, from the border along the road within one day.
This attack was carefully calculated by Dudayev. On the second day after Makhachkala was captured, several transport ships came from Kazakhstan, carrying dozens of tanks and armored vehicles, and a large number of light weapons. , even including anti-tank missiles and individual air defense missiles. The matter of arms transportation was naturally kept strictly confidential, and for a while Russia did not know exactly what happened in Makhachkala.
Yeltsin was furious after learning that the Chechens actually had the guts to invade other neighboring republics of the Russian Federation. He found the new Defense Minister Grachev, whom he deeply trusted, and asked: "Do you think it is feasible for us to launch an attack on Chechnya now? ?¡±
Grachev was a little confused, because the Kremlin¡¯s previous timetable for recovering Chechnya was not like this. They would not be able to launch an offensive until the spring of 2019 at the earliest. However, Grachev is also very good at flattering people and likes to flatter others. He said "The contrast in power between us and Chechnya is significant. Although the army is experiencing some setbacks, I still believe that only a small number of elite forces are needed to pull Dudayev and his hypocritical regime back." dismount."
Yeltsin was very satisfied with Grachev's answer and nodded.
But Grachev knows very well that the Russian army does not even have the ability to launch a small local war. If the battle ends quickly, there will naturally be no big problem. However, if it lasts for a long time, various hidden dangers will be exposed. And if this war doesn't go well, then as the new Minister of Defense, he will naturally be held responsible. Grachev is only in his early forties and has a bright future, and he absolutely does not want to tarnish his career.
So, Grachev said to Yeltsin in an insinuating way: "Mr. President, although we have a chance to win, there is no guarantee that a local war may bring more collateral effects. If there are twists and turns in the process, it is likely that some people with ulterior motives will People use this to attack you and cause political instability in the country."
Yeltsin is not unclear about this. He also understands that his position is unfair. Although he has gathered a large number of supporters around him, many of these people are speculators. Once Yeltsin declines, they will not hesitate to defect to him. The new politicians, politics are worse than prostitutes and bitches, and there are always people lurking who want to bring down Yeltsin, who is currently in the limelight.
But this is also a war that must be fought. Chechnya has not only become independent, but has also extended its claws to other nearby republics. If Chechnya is condoned, it will definitely encourage the ambitions of some other separatist forces, and the largest separatist group, Siberia, and the Far East will also look down upon the Russian Federation even more.
At the end of the month, Yeltsin finally signed the order "Disarmament of "Illegal" Arms and Restoration of the Constitutional and Legal System in Chechnya. Russian Air Force Commander Deinegin dispatched multiple Russian bombers and attack aircraft.The plane launched an air strike on Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. In addition, the Russian Army also prepared a series of rocket launchers such as Buran and began to bombard Grozny.
Air strikes and rocket attacks caused a large number of casualties in Grozny, mainly civilian casualties. Even at this time, many ethnic Russians stayed in Grozny, resulting in the deaths of at least one hundred non-Chechen Russian residents. However, the Russian Air Force was not completely without losses.
Because the Russian Air Force¡¯s night combat capabilities are still weaker than those of the US Air Force among the multinational forces in the Gulf, air strikes are generally carried out during the day, which gives ground air defense personnel a good view. During the air strike in Grozny, a Su26 attack aircraft was shot down by a Vanguard-L shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile launched by the Chechen army. The pilot died on the spot. This was also the first casualty of the Russian army after the battle began.
Compared with China and the United States during the Gulf War, the gap between the organizational capabilities and planning level of the Russian Air Force is quite obvious. The waves of air strikes are chaotic and tactically poor. Sometimes they cause large intervals between air strikes, and sometimes they are repeated. Attacking targets makes the Russian Air Force's combat efficiency low.
During the air raid on the second day, the Russian Air Force had not yet learned its lesson. A low-flying MiG-2 fighter jet and a Su-24 fighter-bomber were shot down by Chechen man-portable air defense missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. The military operation, which was originally intended to slap Chechnya in the face, lost three military aircraft in a row in just the first two days. Although it caused heavy casualties to Chechnya, its military strength was definitely not at the level of breaking bones.
Russian Air Force Commander Deinegin believed that if the ground air defense forces were not cleared, the Russian Air Force's continued attacks would cause more unnecessary losses, so he asked Defense Minister Grachev to send ground troops to attack Chechnya and occupy Grozny. .
With no other option, Grachev had to dispatch more than 20,000 soldiers from the Russian Army and the Ministry of Interior¡¯s Internal Security Forces to march towards Grozny with limited rocket artillery and air force cover. The northern region of the Chechen Republic is a flat and fertile plain area, where Chechens mainly engage in farming, and now it has become a smooth road for the Russian army to enter Chechnya.
In fact, Dudayev had already started the evacuation of the Chechens in Grozny and other places ahead of time under the prompts of the military advisers sent by the Siberian Army. The Chechen army lacked armor and could not face the Russian army on flat terrain. Therefore, Chechnya's only hope of victory is to drag the enemy into arduous, bloody and ruthless street fighting and urban warfare.
The Russian army mainly launched an attack on Grozny from two directions, one from the northwest, attacking from North Ossetia, and the other from northern Dagestan, attacking southward from areas not yet controlled by Chechnya. The main purpose of the eastern route march is to cut off the Chechen army already stationed in Makhachkala, Dagestan, and then jointly attack Grozny with the northwest route army. After Grozny is pacified, they can turn around and attack the Chechen army on the east side. The remaining forces will be decided in one battle.
It¡¯s just that the Russian army¡¯s thinking was too simple. The Russian army coming from the northwest encountered a large number of minefields in the northern region of Chechnya. Because the Russian army was disorganized, many tasks were done carelessly, and even effective battlefield The survey was not done well, so the leading Russian troops plunged into the minefield, causing certain casualties. This is nothing, because the need to clear mines and find a passable route greatly slowed down the movement speed of the Russian army on the northwest route, while the Russian army on the east route arrived in Grozny ahead of schedule.
Although Dudayev was determined to use street fighting to drag down the Russian army to death, he definitely did not sit still and wait to be killed. Because he obtained a lot of artillery by obtaining assistance from Siberia and looting Russian equipment, after the evacuation of a large number of Grozny residents, he directly set up some artillery positions in the city. When the Russian troops were preparing to enter the city, the Chechen army immediately launched a fierce artillery offensive against these Russian troops.
In order to allow Chechnya to hold back the Russian army, Qi Yiming recruited many Red Police soldiers who could speak Chechen into the Chechen army. These hundreds of skilled Red Police soldiers became the backbone and backbone of the Chechen army. Especially technical arms such as artillery and armored forces rely on the support of these red alert soldiers.
Although the effect of the artillery bombardment was not particularly good, it still gave the Russian army a head-on blow, causing chaos in the Russian army's position. They actually retreated a certain distance to make adjustments before attacking the city. Some commanders in the army even thought that they should wait for the northwest. After the friendly forces arrive, they will attack Grozny.
As a last resort, the Russian Air Force once again took the risk to attack the artillery in the city. Although some artillery positions were destroyed, the air strike did not produce much results because the Chechens moved quickly. Instead, another Su-26 attack aircraft It was shot down by anti-aircraft guns hidden somewhere in the city.