The staff officers in the headquarters are already packing their luggage, because the forward troops of the Japanese Far East Army have advanced to the vicinity of Shilok, and the straight-line distance to Irkutsk is less than 400 kilometers. For the Japanese armored forces,
Generally speaking, four hundred kilometers only takes five or six days.
If the Soviet army had not resisted desperately, the Japanese army would have advanced even faster and might have reached Irkutsk in two days. Therefore, the headquarters had to retreat in advance, otherwise, by the time the Japanese army crossed Lake Baikal or advanced to
Outside Irkutsk, when they tried to retreat, it was too late.
Zhukov plans to move his headquarters to Tulum, and Tulum is also his bottom line!
Of course, the retreat of the headquarters does not mean that the Soviet army will completely abandon Siberia.
The only thing that made Zhukov hesitate was whether to blow up the factory in Irkutsk? Especially the Irkutsk Tractor Factory was one of the three major tank manufacturing plants in the Soviet Union. Once it was blown up, it would be difficult to rebuild it.
Yes! However, if it is not blown up, once the factory falls into the hands of the Japanese, the consequences will be disastrous.
Zhukov also thought about moving the entire tractor factory to Tulum, but time was too tight.
After much hesitation, Zhukov finally decided to blow up the tractor factory. However, just when he was about to issue the order, Seryosha hurried into the war room.
"Comrade Seryosha?" Seeing Seryosha's excited expression, Zhukov immediately swallowed the order that had been spitted to his mouth, and then asked with expectation, "Is the Chahar Independent Regiment against
The blitzkrieg in Northeast China has worked, and the Japanese army has made corresponding adjustments?"
"Yes, Comrade Zhukov, the Chahar Independent Regiment did play an role in the blitzkrieg against the Northeast, and the Japanese army did make corresponding adjustments." Seryosha nodded and said with regret, "However, with
There is still a considerable gap between the results we expected. The Japanese army did return reinforcements, but only the Seventh Army returned!"
"This is already an amazing result." Zhukov said happily, "Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army has been holding on to the Chita battlefield for more than a year. Although its officers and soldiers are exhausted, their morale is very high, and their combat experience is even greater than that of Japan's Far East.
The Army's twenty infantry divisions are comparable, so whether the Seventh Army participates in the next battle or not is a completely different situation for our Far Eastern Front Army."
Seryosha was convinced.
After a pause, Zhukov continued: "If Kanji Ishihara's Seventh Army participates in the next offensive operation, our Western Group may not be able to hold on for a week, but if there is no Seventh Army participating in the battle, our Western Group can at least
It lasted half a month, so this has been a great help to our western cluster."
Seryosha sighed, shook his head and said: "But, Comrade Zhukov, you just said that even without Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army joining the battle, our Western Group can only hold on for about half a month. Half a month
In the end, our western cluster will inevitably lose most of Siberia."
"Not necessarily." Zhukov waved his hand and said, "If it is only three days and it comes in a blink of an eye, the possibility of an accident is very slim, but if the timeline is extended to half a month, anything can happen! Half!
A few months is enough time for many unexpected things to happen!"
Seryozha's eyes lit up and he said excitedly: "Comrade Zhukov, are you saying that it is possible for Comrade Xu Rui's Chahar Independent Regiment to defeat the Kwantung Army, then defeat the Seventh Army, and force the Japanese Far Eastern Army to return reinforcements? No
Maybe, the Chahar Independent Regiment is more than 20,000 people, and the armored force is only one regiment, how can it be possible to achieve this?"
"I didn't say that." Zhukov shrugged and said, "I just said that half a month is enough time for many unexpected changes to happen, maybe changes that are beneficial to us, maybe changes that are not beneficial to us.
, who knows? But what if there are changes that are beneficial to us?"
Seryosha nodded and said: "So we must be prepared?"
"Yes." Zhukov nodded and said, "Try your best and prepare for the worst."
While the two were talking, a young Soviet officer with the rank of captain suddenly strode in, walked up to Zhukov, stood at attention, saluted again, and then said loudly: "Comrade Zhukov, Captain of the Special Task Force of the Soviet High Command, Vladimir Putin."
Xili, lead all the members of the special team to report, please give your instructions!"
"Headquarters Special Task Force?"
"Captain Vasily?"
Zhukov and Seryosha were stunned when they heard this.
If Vasily hadn't suddenly appeared in front of them, Zhukov and Seryosha would have even forgotten that there was such a force.
After a long while, Zhukov finally came to his senses and asked: "Comrade Vasily, aren't you supposed to learn special operations from the Langya Brigade on the Chinese battlefield? Why are you here?"
Vasily replied: "Comrade Zhukov, it was Comrade Xu Rui who ordered us to come back to support the western cluster defense operations. Comrade Xu Rui also said that our special team has learned the essence of special operations and can now independently carry out special operations on the battlefield."
Combat mission, so we came back."
"Really?" Seryozha was overjoyed and asked, "Have you really learned the essence of special operations?"
"Yes." Vasily replied loudly, "Comrade Seryosha, our special brigade is ready and ready to go to the battlefield for the Soviet and the Supreme Leader at any time."
"Very good!" Seryosha nodded heavily and said to Zhukov, "Comrade Zhukov, what do you think?"
Zhukov smiled slightly and said to Seryosha: "Comrade Seryosha, what did I just say?"
Seryosha said blankly: "Comrade Zhukov, you just said that half a month is actually a long time. Anything can happen during this period."
"Yes, anything can happen. No, the first unexpected situation has already happened. The command team has returned early! This gives us an elite force in our hands!" Zhukov
Smiling slightly, he turned to Vasily and said, "Comrade Vasily, I order your special squad to go into battle immediately!"
"Yes, Comrade Zhukov." Vasily said again, "What direction and what target?"
"There is no direction and no clear target." Zhukov waved his hand and continued, "Your mission is to freely attack all enemies on the opposite side! And there are no restrictions!"
"Yes!" Vasily responded loudly, turned around and left.
Zhukov turned back to Seryosha and said: "Comrade Seryosha, immediately report to Comrade Xu Rui the situation of the Seventh Army led by Ishihara Wanji to return to the Northeast to aid, and remind him by the way that after the Seventh Army has been tempered on the Chita battlefield,
The combat effectiveness has been greatly improved, which is definitely not comparable to that of the Japanese army in North China. Let them be mentally prepared in advance!"
"Yes!" Seryozha agreed and turned to leave.
…
Half an hour later, Jinxita Mountain.
Xu Rui looked at the small village in front of him with emotion.
In another time and space, two columns of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, in Tashan, which has no mountains at all, used their flesh and blood to carry the Eastward March Corps of the Kuomintang Army for five whole days and nights. You must know that the Eastward March Corps of the Kuomintang Army not only had tanks and artillery
, there are even aircraft and warships, but they just can’t cross the small tower mountain.
Just as he was feeling emotional, Wang Husheng suddenly came over with a telegram.
Xu Rui then asked: "Old Wang, is it Zhukov's telegram? Has Vasily's command team successfully arrived in Irkutsk? It should be here by the time."
"It's already here. That's what Zhukov wanted to tell us." Wang Husheng nodded and said, "However, Zhukov also said another thing. He said that our blitzkrieg against the Northeast has worked, and the Japs have really returned to support.
, but the troops returning for reinforcements were not the troops of the Far Eastern Army, but the Seventh Army of Kanji Ishihara."
"What? It's Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army who came back?" Xu Rui frowned when he heard this.
This result was somewhat beyond Xu Rui's expectations. He really didn't expect that it would be Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army who came back for reinforcements.
Xu Rui thought that the main force of the Japanese Far Eastern Army would definitely not return for reinforcements, but he did not expect that the Japanese Far Eastern Army would not even transfer a division back, but instead transferred back Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army!
"Yes, it's the Seventh Army." Wang Husheng said worriedly, "Zhukov specifically reminded us in the telegram that after being tempered by Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army on the Chita battlefield, its combat effectiveness is no longer what it used to be.
The North China Front that we annihilated before was at least a lot larger, so we are reminded to be mentally prepared for a hard fight."
After a pause, Wang Husheng asked Xu Rui again: "Old Xu, is the problem serious?"
"It's more serious than imagined." Xu Rui said in a deep voice, "Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army was able to hold on in Chita for more than a year without being defeated. One can imagine the tenacity of its fighting will.
What's even worse is that in addition to the five infantry divisions, the Seventh Army also has two armored divisions. This is the biggest trouble!"
"What?" Wang Husheng shouted, "The Seventh Army still has two armored divisions?"
"Yes, there are still two armored divisions." Xu Rui said solemnly, "So this time, the tank battalion will probably have to undergo an unprecedented test! Although the T-34B tanks equipped by the tank battalion are overwhelming in terms of performance,
It has a crushing advantage, but after all, there are only more than 80 tanks left, while the Japs have two divisions with more than 600 tanks!"
Wang Husheng said solemnly: "The number of tanks is more than seven times mine!"
"No!" Xu Rui's narrowed eyes suddenly opened and he said, "Ishihara Wanji's Seventh Army must not be allowed to return quickly for reinforcements, otherwise this battle will be impossible to fight. We must try to delay them!"