A special train crawled along the railway track from the direction of Kulun (today's Ulaanbaatar) in the south, and then slowly stopped with a long whistle. Then, groups of people wearing cotton coats
, Soviet soldiers wearing velvet hats jumped out of the carriage carrying water rifles and began to guard the entire Kyakhta station.
The reason why the Soviet soldiers felt as if they were facing a formidable enemy was because Zhukov was there.
"Oh, shit." Zhukov poked his head out of the special train window, glanced at the dark sky above his head, and then immediately shrank back. He hated the extremely bad weather in Siberia, and it had just entered October.
The weather here is already so cold in the second half of the year. I really don’t know how cold it will be after entering the severe winter.
However, what made Zhukov even more unhappy was the situation on the battlefield in the Far East.
Carrying Comrade Stalin's expectations, Zhukov came to the Far East battlefield with high ambitions. He originally thought that with the Soviet Red Army's powerful armored clusters and aviation regiments, he would be able to sweep away the Kwantung Army's northward cluster entrenched near Chita just like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
, quickly opened up the Siberian Railway, and then turned to counterattack.
Zhukov had even imagined that this counterattack would be to occupy Northeast China in one go and completely drive Japanese forces out of China. If the situation allowed, a direct counterattack into North Korea could also be considered.
However, when Zhukov arrived in the Far East, the cruel reality immediately dealt him a heavy blow.
The complexity and difficulty of the battlefield in the Far East far exceeded Zhukov's imagination. Although the Soviet high command had assembled an army of 500,000 troops near Irkutsk, there were as many as six tank divisions, with more than two tanks.
Thousands of vehicles, in addition to more than a thousand combat aircraft, this kind of strength is enough to crush the entire Japanese army invading China.
What's more, this is just the Western Cluster assembled in Irkutsk. There is also an Eastern Cluster in the Far East. Although the Eastern Cluster does not have as many tanks and aircraft as the Western Cluster, it has more infantry and has a full army of one million.
!This means that on the entire Far East battlefield, the Soviet army assembled more than 1.5 million troops!
On the other hand, the Kwantung Army on the opposite side only has a total of more than 700,000 troops, and the number of tanks and aircraft is even less comparable.
In a pure competition of military strength and weapons, the Japanese Kwantung Army was no match for the Soviet Army. The comparison of strength was crushing.
However, in actual combat, the Soviet army failed to demonstrate its superiority in strength and weapons. Instead, it was beaten miserably by the Japanese Kwantung Army. The source of all this was that the Soviet army was choked by the Japanese army by seven inches of Chita!
After Chita was cut off by the Kwantung Army, not only was the Far Eastern Front cut into two sections, the east and west, unable to form a joint force, but what was even worse was that the lifeline of the Siberian Railway was also cut off. The Soviet army's military strength on paper was indeed very strong, but
This must be based on adequate logistical support. Once the logistical support cannot keep up, the combat effectiveness will decrease exponentially. This cannot be changed by relying on command ability.
No matter how many tanks there are, what is the use if there is not enough fuel?
No matter how many planes there are, what's the use if there aren't enough aerial bombs?
No matter how many soldiers there are, how can we fight a war if we can't even supply cotton uniforms for the winter?
Because the transportation capacity of the Siberian Railway was too low, and the Japanese aviation force frequently sent out bomber groups to bomb the railway west of Chita, the Soviet army was unable to keep up with the supplies transported from Europe and gathered in Irkutsk.
The western cluster quickly fell into trouble and is now unable to attack.
Faced with such a predicament, Zhukov certainly could not sit idly by.
This time when he went south to Kulun, Zhukov hoped to build an industrial base in Kulun. Not only to provide the Far East Front with much-needed oil, aerial bombs and mechanical parts, he also wanted to solve the problems of the Soviet army's cotton-padded clothes, military boots and rations.
, otherwise the half-million-strong army in Irkutsk would not be able to survive the winter!
However, the results of the inspection disappointed Zhukov.
It’s not that the Mongolian government is unwilling to cooperate. In fact, the Mongolian government is very happy to cooperate. It’s not because transportation is not smooth. Although the railway between Kulun and Irkutsk was blown up by the Japanese army, Mongolia has a large number of camels.
Camel teams can also transport supplies in large quantities using camel teams.
The biggest problem is that Mongolia lacks a sufficient population.
Although there is a lack of statistics, according to Zhukov's estimate, the total population of Mongolia is currently only 3.5 million people at most. The vast majority of the population are herdsmen who live in pursuit of water and grass. There are less than 3 people living in Kulun.
Ten thousand people, so even if all these thirty thousand people are converted into industrial population, it will only be a drop in the bucket.
Therefore, after returning from the inspection in Kulun, Zhukov's mood became very bad. When he arrived at Kyaktu Station, the weather happened to get bad, and there was a blizzard in front of him. This made Zhukov's mood even worse, so he started swearing.
, you know he is always personable.
Zhukov retreated to the sofa and ordered the guards to deliver dinner to the car.
Soon, a simple dinner was delivered to Zhukov, including two slices of black bread, a small piece of butter, and a cup of hot borscht. Although he was the commander-in-chief, Zhukov did not like to be special.
He prefers to share the joys and sorrows with his ordinary soldiers, which also helps him understand the combat effectiveness of the army.
When dinner was served, Zhukov found another novel from the bookshelf, Gorky's Mother.
Opening the novel and taking another sip of borscht, Zhukov's mood finally calmed down a bit. Then while reading the novel, he spread butter on the black bread, and then gnawed it with relish. After only two bites, the adjutant suddenly opened the door.
He came in and placed in front of him a top-secret telegram issued by the Soviet Supreme Command.
Zhukov immediately put down the bread in his hand and picked up the secret message.
After reading the secret message, Zhukov immediately ordered the special train to turn around and head south to Kulun again.
This secret message was sent by the Supreme Commander of the Soviet Union, Comrade Stalin, requesting Zhukov to immediately go south to Kulun to discuss with comrades of the Chinese Communist Party the construction of a light industrial base in Baotou and the specific matters of providing military supplies to the Soviet Far East Front. Obviously, Comrade Stalin was also concerned
The problem of food and clothing for half a million Soviet troops in Irkutsk.
But what really aroused Zhukov's interest was the Chinese comrade who was sent to Kulun to negotiate with him this time, Xu Rui, the guy Cherev mentioned many times in his letter, the guy who showed outstanding commanding abilities on the Chinese battlefield.
Guy? It is said that he has created miracles one after another on the Chinese battlefield and has never been defeated.
Zhukov was a close friend of Cherev, the former Soviet minister to China. In his letters to Zhukov, Cherev mentioned Xu Rui's performance on the Chinese battlefield many times and praised Xu Rui in every possible way. This made Zhukov
I feel very curious, what kind of virtues and abilities does this Xu Rui have that can make Cherev, who always thinks highly of himself, so admire him?
Xu Rui? Zhukov rubbed his chin and began to fall into deep thought.
…
Chita City, headquarters of the Seventh Army of the Japanese Kwantung Army.
Not long ago, the Northbound Group under the command of Kanji Ishihara was officially reorganized into the Seventh Army under the Kwantung Army. However, the composition of the army has not changed much. It still has the Second Division, the Fourth Division, and the Twenty-seventh Division.
, In addition, there are the First Tank Division, the Second Tank Division, and the First Flying Group of the Aviation Corps.
In terms of military strength, the Seventh Army has a total of less than 200,000 people, but it withstood the 1.5 million-strong Soviet Far East Front Army's attack from the east and west. This cannot but be said to be a miracle! Of course, it must be explained
Unfortunately, the Eastern Group of the Far East Front was restrained by the main force of the Kwantung Army and did not attack with all its strength.
But even so, Ishihara Kanji has already created a miracle.
If you analyze it in detail, you can find that there are two main reasons why the Seventh Army was able to nail it to Chita like a nail. First, after Ishihara Kanji captured Chita, he built a strong foundation in the shortest possible time.
The second is the First Flying Group of the Kwantung Army's aviation regiment directly under the Kwantung Army's defense fortifications, which played an important role.
The Japanese pilots of the First Flying Group were all drawn from the North China Front Army and the Central China Condemnation Army. They had just experienced repeated strangleholds with the Chinese Air Force. Their skills, experience and psychological quality had reached their peak, so in the face of
When the Soviet pilots had little experience in air combat, they formed a crushing situation.
In addition, after several months of fierce fighting, Ishihara Wanji's command has become more and more proficient.
Moreover, Ishihara Wanji, an old Japanese soldier, showed signs of becoming more courageous in the Vietnam War. After October, heavy snow blocked the road, preventing the Soviet army's large corps from deploying, and the offensive was severely hampered. On the contrary, the small Japanese army counterattacked, but
Gradually, it began to show its destructive power, causing the Soviet army to retreat continuously and was exhausted to cope with it.
The Chief of Staff of the Seventh Army, Otonzaburo Yano, hurriedly walked in and reported to Ishihara Kanji: "Your Excellency, Commander, this is the news just forwarded by the secret service. Please take a look."
Ishihara smiled and reached out to take the telegram.
After reading it, Ishihara smiled and his thick eyebrows immediately tightened.
The telegram from the secret service only said one thing. It said that the CCP, with Xu Rui as its trade negotiator, was preparing to go north to Kulun to negotiate with Soviet representatives to restart the Baotou Tea Road. At this time, what kind of tea trade was the CCP actually talking about with the Soviet Union?
Moreover, the negotiator sent was actually Xu Rui, which made people wonder about this.
Who is Xu Rui? This guy is the most capable general in China, and he is actually sent to engage in trade?
"Yano-kun, I have a very bad feeling." Ishihara Wanji struck a match and ignited the secret electricity. While watching the secret electricity turn into ashes, he said, "Xu Rui's trip north is probably related to the Far East Campaign.
Therefore, I request the people from the secret service to follow up with all their strength and make sure to find out this matter."
