Xu Rui was not wrong, because at this time, Rommel and Yamashita Fengfumi had already flown to the frontline headquarters in Tongjiang on a transport plane. In another two hours, the "Sakura Plan" formulated by the Japanese army against the Eastern Cluster of the Soviet Far East Front was launched.
It’s about to be fully launched, this time it’s an unprecedented blitzkrieg!
For this blitzkrieg, for the Sakura Project, Yamashita Tomofumi and the German advisory group led by Rommel have made preparations to the extreme. Even the time for erecting a pontoon bridge on the Heilongjiang River has been accurate to the hour, and there will be more to come.
The number of attack aircraft dispatched to bomb the Soviet army was also accurate to single digits!
The little devils built an airport in Tongjiang in the name of the pioneering regiment, so Yamashita Fengfumi's team and Rommel's advisory group were able to land directly in Tongjiang. The headquarters of the Far Eastern Front was built next to the airport in order to deceive the Soviet army.
, it is only said to the outside world that it is a dormitory building built for the armed reclamation regiment.
But in fact, these rows of dormitories are Yamashita Fengfumi’s headquarters!
When Yamashita Fengfumi and Rommel walked into the hall on the first floor of the main building, they found that the hall had already been decorated. A huge map of the Far East was hung on the front wall. In the middle of the hall was a huge sand table. At this moment, the hall had already been decorated.
The station was already full of combat staff officers from the headquarters, and communications staff officers kept rushing in from the communications office next door, reporting the latest positions of the armored divisions and infantry divisions of the Far Eastern Front to the combat staff officers at the headquarters.
Then, the combat staff will reflect the latest position on the sand table and map.
Seeing Yamashita Fengfumi and Rommel walking in, dozens of combat staff and communications staff in the headquarters stood at attention, and then nodded heavily to the two men. Yamashita Fengfumi and Rommel returned the military salute, and then walked hand in hand to the edge of the sand table.
Looking down, I saw that the sand table was already filled with densely packed models.
"Your Excellency, Chief of Staff, General Rommel." Asaburo Kobayashi, deputy chief of staff of the Far Eastern Front, pointed to the sand table and introduced, "All divisions and armored divisions of the Front have all entered their designated positions, and the palanquin troops and aviation regiments have also been in place.
As long as you give the order from the Chief of Staff, the Sakura Project can officially begin!"
When he said these words, Kobayashi Asaburo couldn't hide the excitement in his expression.
There is no way not to be excited. Such an unprecedented large-scale mechanized contract operation is a valuable asset for every staff officer participating in the war. For Kobayashi Asaburo, the deputy chief of staff, it is even more a rich resume, because
He is nominally the deputy chief of staff, but in fact he exercises the powers of the chief of staff!
Because Yamashita Fengfumi, the chief of staff, is actually the commander of the front army!
Anyone with a discerning eye can see that the reason why Hanin Gong Zaijin was concurrently appointed as the commander of the Far Eastern Front was to leave this position to Yamashita Fengfumi, because compared to other front army commanders, Yamashita Fengfumi's qualifications were still somewhat junior, but when
After Project Sakura achieved victory in the first phase, Yamashita Tomofumi took over as commander of the Far Eastern Front and no one dared to raise objections. At that time, Asaburo Kobayashi could naturally take over as chief of staff.
Yamashita Fengwen nodded reservedly, turned to Rommel and asked: "General Rommel, do you need to start in advance?"
"General Yamashita, there is no need." Rommel shook his head calmly and said, "Just stick to the scheduled time."
"Hai." Yamashita Fengwen nodded, turned to Kobayashi Asaburo and said, "Kobayashi-kun, please notify us immediately and launch the operation at ten o'clock tonight according to the original plan."
"Hai!" Asaburo Kobayashi nodded heavily.
…
At this time, Vasilyev, commander of the First Red Banner Army of the Soviet Far Eastern Front and commander-in-chief of the Eastern Group, had just returned to his private apartment in Khabarovsk.
It stands to reason that as the commander of the First Red Banner Army and the commander-in-chief of the Eastern Cluster, Vasilyev should stay on the Nerchinsk front line at this time and command the two armies of the Eastern Cluster to cooperate with Zhukov's Western Cluster to attack from the east and west.
Attack Ishihara Kanji's headquarters entrenched in Chita.
But why did Vasilyev appear in Khabarovsk?
This matter has to start with Xu Rui. After judging that the Japanese might launch a blitzkrieg against the Soviet army, Xu Rui immediately telegraphed to Zhukov to be prepared. Zhukov knew Xu Rui's ability well, so he listened to Xu Rui's warning carefully.
, but he could not go to Khabarovsk, so he had to secretly order Vasilyev to return to Khabarovsk and take charge.
According to Zhukov's order, Vasilyev should have returned to Khabarovsk three days ago and organized a defense against Tongjiang. However, Vasilyev did not pay enough attention. After receiving Zhukov's secret order, he also
After procrastinating and procrastinating, I didn’t return to Khabarovsk until today. After I came back, I didn’t immediately convene a meeting with the generals of the Khabarovsk garrison. Instead, I thought about going home and having a good sleep first, and waiting until dawn tomorrow.
Say it again.
As a result, the most precious few hours were wasted.
The most powerful and terrifying thing about blitzkrieg is the lightning-fast offensive at the beginning! Being caught off guard will really knock you out! But if the defender is prepared, the first line of defense can withstand it
A period of time will buy enough time for the follow-up defense line to take shape.
It's a pity that Vasilyev did not pay enough attention.
After all, Vasilyev is not like Zhukov who has engaged in war games with Xu Rui, and unlike Timoshenko, he has worked closely with Xu Rui for two months and witnessed Xu Rui's almost demonic commanding talent.
Therefore, Vasilyev did not take the warnings of Xu Rui and Zhukov to heart.
After returning to the apartment, Vasilyev told his adjutant to wake him up at eight o'clock tomorrow morning, and then fell asleep.
In a daze, Vasilyev was awakened by the continuous explosions. He hurriedly turned over from the bed and sat up, and saw that the bedroom window had been completely illuminated red!
Immediately afterwards, Vasilyev heard the piercing air defense siren!
Damn it, air raid! It’s an air raid! It’s the Japanese Kwantung Army’s air raid!
Vasilyev got dressed as quickly as possible, and as soon as he rushed out of the bedroom, he met his adjutant. The adjutant had obviously just gotten up, and he looked uneven and sleepy.
"Commander, quickly enter the air-raid shelter!" the adjutant said in panic, "it's dangerous here!"
As he spoke, the adjutant stepped forward and took Vasilyev's arm.
"Go away!" Vasilyev pushed the adjutant away, then opened the door and walked out.
As soon as the door opened, a dazzling red light and a huge explosion came in, accompanied by a huge air wave. Vasilyev was caught off guard and was knocked to the ground by the air wave.
Upon seeing this, the adjutant rushed over and helped Vasilyev up.
After calming down, Vasilyev looked carefully again, but he saw that the entire Khabarovsk city had been completely enveloped by the dazzling red light produced by the explosion, and there was still a huge red light blooming continuously. Obviously
, the bombing of Khabarovsk by the Japanese bombers has not ended yet and is still continuing!
The Khabarovsk garrison has begun a counterattack. The anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns deployed in every corner of the city have begun firing fiercely. Bright ballistic trajectories crisscrossed through the air, forming a dense network. In the red light,
You can vaguely see the Japanese bombers passing through, and from time to time, a dazzling red light will bloom in the sky.
That was a Japanese bomber that was hit by an anti-aircraft machine gun or anti-aircraft gun and exploded in the air! Unfortunately, there are too few such pictures, and the hit rate of anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns is very low.
At this time, more than a dozen flares finally screamed and took off into the air.
In an instant, the sky above Khabarovsk was illuminated by the bright light produced by burning flares.
With the bright light of the flares, Vasilyev finally saw clearly, but all he saw was a large black area in the sky, all of which were Japanese bombers. The most conservative estimate was that there were as many as a hundred! Seeing this, Vasilyev
In an instant, my heart sank to the bottom of the Nine Nether Valley. It was over now, Khabarovsk was over!
…
Half an hour later, in Irkutsk.
Zhukov had just taken a nap while leaning on the camp bed when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of rapid footsteps.
Looking up anxiously, he saw Xie Liaosha, deputy director of the Political Department of the Far Eastern Front, striding over with a livid face.
"Commander!" Seryozha said solemnly, "I just received an urgent call from Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk. Half an hour ago, the Japanese Kwantung Army dispatched more than two hundred bombers to attack Khabarovsk and Komsomolsk.
A large-scale bombing was carried out, and the power supply systems in both places were completely destroyed, and the aircraft manufacturing factory in Komsomolsk was also severely damaged!"
"Huh?" Zhukov's heart suddenly trembled when he heard this. Have you started?
However, even so, Zhukov still remained calm enough.
At that moment Zhukov asked: "Has Comrade Vasilyev been contacted?"
"No." Seryosha shook his head and said, "The staff at the command center in Khabarovsk reported that Comrade Vasilyev was not on duty at the headquarters when the air raid occurred. The staff on duty at the headquarters also went to Comrade Vasilyev's apartment.
I called, but couldn't get through. It's probably because the phone line was blown."
"Damn it!" Zhukov's face immediately darkened and he frowned, "At this time, Comrade Vasilyev is not on duty at the headquarters? What is he doing? He was asked to rush back to Khabarovsk urgently just to be on guard against the Japanese army.
Blitzkrieg, but after he returned to Khabarovsk, he was not on duty at the headquarters? Then what was he doing back there?"
After venting for a while, Zhukov said again: "Comrade Seryozha, contact the 365th Division Headquarters directly!"
Seryosha shook his head and said: "Commander, I just asked the Communications Department to contact the headquarters of the 365th Division, but there has been no response until now. If nothing else, it should have been destroyed by the Japanese bombing.
"
"What?" Zhukov's heart suddenly fell to the bottom of the Nine Nether Valley.