Eight hundred and fifth chapter life and death speed
Inside the headquarters of the Central Asian Front Army, there were dim lights and an unprecedentedly depressing atmosphere. All the major generals were gathered together. Zhang Henian's eyes were red and his face was gloomy. After a while, he said: "What do you think of these two days of defeat?"
?”
After a moment of silence, Zhou Zijian said sadly: "We made a serious mistake. The smooth start made us underestimate the Russians' ability to resist. Our carelessness caused us to ignore many details. For example, at the beginning, the armored forces did not receive
With the air force's cover, they rushed in with surprise. When launching the attack, the infantry did not follow up well, the artillery preparation was insufficient, and the air power was not used properly."
"And the most terrible thing is that time is not on our side." Chief of Staff Rong Zhen also said: "The armored assault is about going all out in one go, then fading again, and finally exhausting itself. Since breaking through Alashankou, we have attacked for more than 500 kilometers, and the soldiers have already
We are a little tired, and the pressure on logistics is increasing. Moreover, because some troops have been dispersed along the way, we only have a little over 20,000 people on hand, which is not a numerical advantage. If we continue to consume and Russian reinforcements arrive, our situation will be dire.
It’s too dangerous.”
When Zhang Henian heard this, he couldn't help but nodded: "You are all right. I will explain the situation to the president. The current situation is caused by my mistakes. But here I want to know, what do you think?
Any good idea?"
"Commander-in-Chief, I don't believe that the Russians can fight against steel with their flesh and blood." Huang Xiansheng said loudly: "At dawn tomorrow, I am willing to lead the first regiment as the main force, and we will definitely break through the defense line. No matter what the cost. If we take
If you don’t come down, I’ll raise my head to see you.”
Rong Zhen waved his hand: "No. If we show this energy on the first day, maybe we can really win after a hard fight. Now that the Russians' morale is greatly shaken, if we continue to fight hard, even if we win Kara
Ganda, and Astana behind us. If we continue to fight hard, we will also lose the ability to continue attacking. You must know that just losing Central Asia will not make this polar bear surrender."
"Chief of Staff, do you have any good ideas?"
Rong Zhen walked to the sand table without hesitation, pointed to a location and said: "As long as we capture this place, the Russian army in Central Asia will become a turtle in the urn, and it can also threaten the transportation arteries of Omsk and Novosibirsk.
It's in our hands."
Zhang Henian and others gathered around and took a closer look. The location pointed out by Rong Zhen was Kleku. This is an important town about 200 kilometers northeast of Astana. There is a railway connecting to Omsk. As Rong Zhen said
He said that as long as he controls this place, he can threaten the Siberian Railway, block Russian reinforcements, and make the Central Asian troops a prey in the urn.
There is no doubt that this plan is the best option at present. As long as it is implemented, it can break the existing deadlock. However, it also has severe challenges. From their location to Kileku, it will be at least three hundred kilometers away.
, even at the fastest speed, it would take about five days. The battlefield was changing rapidly, and what they had to cross was the most desolate no-man's land in Central Asia. The variables were very large, and the difficulty was really amazing.
Once the Russians mobilize reinforcements in advance, it will be difficult to complete the attack. Everyone is thinking in their minds whether they should take a gamble.
But at this moment, someone suddenly ran in, holding a telegram in his hand, and hurriedly delivered it to Zhang Henian. When he opened it, he saw that the telegram was sent by the Supreme Command.
When Zhang Tinglan was fighting, he always trusted his generals very much and basically would not interfere with their combat operations. After all, the commanders at the front knew the situation on the battlefield better than those thousands of miles away.
However, this time Zhang Tinglan made an exception and sent a telegram, which also shows the seriousness of the matter. When Zhang Henian and others opened the telegram, they immediately had a headache. It turned out that according to reliable information, Russian reinforcements had been sent. Tukhachevsky personally
Led two divisions to Omsk.
"Everyone, this Tukhachevsky is not a simple man. He is known as the Red Napoleon and is a god in military skills. He was sent here because I am afraid that the situation will be worse." Rong Zhen said with a little worry.
Zhou Zijian couldn't help but said: "Look, what would happen if Tukhachevsky captured Kleku?"
When everyone heard his words, they all gasped. Indeed, this idea was too terrible. Once Keleku fell into the hands of Russia, they would definitely move south in large numbers to attack Akdoka and cut off the retreat of the Chinese army.
Originally, China's attack on Central Asia was to attack the Siberian Railway from this flank. Who knew that the Russians would take advantage of this loophole and threaten themselves in turn? Everyone's face was very gloomy.
After a while, Zhang Henian slapped the table and said loudly: "Now it seems that no matter what, we must capture Keleku first. Can everyone tell us what good ideas they have?"
Rong Zhen calculated the distance and then said: "Commander-in-Chief, it will take at least five days for us to get to Kreku, and the Russians have railways to use, so three days is almost the same. There is a difference of two days. We
There is no way we can catch up. There is only one way, and that is to use Wu Kaijie’s First Cavalry Division and rely on them to seize Kileku.”
When Wu Kaijie was mentioned, everyone showed a hint of joy. As an old brother who went to the martial arts hall with Zhang Tinglan, Wu Kaijie has always had a high status in the National Defense Force and was promoted quickly. Together with Ma Zhanshan, he can be called
The two best commanders of the cavalry.
After fighting in Korea and Japan, the entire Feng army realized the value of using jeeps for rapid assaults. Wu Kaijie proposed to equip the cavalry with motor vehicles. However, the capabilities were limited at that time and there were not a large number of them installed.
However, with the implementation of the First Five-Year Plan, the country's industrial strength has increased rapidly, and the Fengjun's equipment has also reached the time of upgrading. The traditional cavalry can no longer meet the needs of the battlefield. Adding tracks and wheels to the army has become a military
consensus among the parties.
As the first ace main force to mechanize, the Guards Division is mainly positioned as the sharp knife of the entire army, so it is equipped with the latest medium tanks. The 1st Cavalry Division has also been upgraded, but they are positioned to be fast and mobile.
Strength must be extended to the maximum extent possible to maintain the advantages of cavalry.
The 1st Cavalry Division is mainly equipped with high-speed light tanks, wheeled combat vehicles, as well as a large number of jeeps and half-ton trucks. The main task of the 1st Cavalry Division is to counter infantry and cavalry to achieve rapid support and rapid strikes.
At first, Zhang Tinglan wanted to send the 1st Cavalry Division to the Far East. However, he later considered that the situation in Central Asia was complicated, and thieves were rampant in various regions. The troops had to go deep into Russia, and the logistics line was greatly threatened. Therefore, Zhang Tinglan decided to transfer the 1st Cavalry Division.
Come over here and let them take care of logistical security.
At this time, the main force of the 1st Cavalry Division happened to be stationed in Akdouka and other places. Rong Zhen mentioned them, and Zhang Henian's eyes lit up. He immediately clapped his hands and said, "Okay, give Wu Kaijie an order and let him do it within two days."
, we must rush to Keleku and firmly control this place."
Zhang Henian looked at Zhou Zijian again, and then said: "Deputy division commander, you lead a brigade of troops and continue to attack Karaganda. I will lead other soldiers and rush to Keleku quickly."
"Commander-in-Chief, why don't you leave it to me and you can stay here."
"No, I must let the Russians know how powerful Mr. Zhang is!" Zhang Henian clenched his fists loudly. The depression of the past two days made him full of anger, and he was about to take it out on the Russians.
Soon everyone divided the work. The Guards Division was divided into two halves. Zhang Henian led the main force and quickly left the outskirts of Karaganda.
At this time, Wu Kaijie had already received the order. When he heard that he was asked to attack Kleku, Wu Kaijie also became energetic. The First Cavalry Division is a unit with great military achievements. You can't squat behind and look after the house. What's going on?
!
Wu Kaijie also knew that soldiers are valuable and quick, so he specially drew 80 Type 16 wheeled armored vehicles from the 1st Cavalry Division to act as the main force of this attack.
The so-called Type 16 wheeled combat vehicle is Zhang Tinglan’s reference to the technical standards of the American M8 Greyhound wheeled armored vehicle during World War II, but he also made some adjustments suitable for China. For example, the Americans used a 6-cylinder gasoline engine. In this field, China
It is still quite backward. China's strength is the diesel engine jointly developed with Germany. Therefore, the Type 16 is equipped with a 6-cylinder oil extraction engine with a power of 140 horsepower.
Due to the use of a diesel engine, the total weight reaches 8.2 tons, and the entire vehicle adopts a 6*6 wheel structure. The maximum highway speed reaches 70 kilometers, and the off-road speed also exceeds 40 kilometers. Although it is somewhat far behind the genuine Greyhound, it is
Currently, it is still very advanced among all types of wheeled combat vehicles in the world.
It is also simple to operate and easy to maintain, and it caters to the characteristics of the Chinese army. The Type 16 is equipped with a 37mm main gun, a 7.92mm coaxial machine gun, and a 12.7mm machine gun on the top.
The 37mm main gun is a threat to most tanks currently in service. The configuration of the machine gun makes it have considerable attack power against the air and the ground. The infantry will definitely face death when facing this weapon.
Of course, compared to tracked chariots, wheeled chariots are lacking in off-road performance, but wheeled chariots also have advantages, that is, maintenance is simple, and the wheels last longer than tracks. Therefore, during long-distance operations, wheeled chariots
Chariots still have unparalleled advantages.
The soldiers of the 1st Cavalry Division were also confident in this new weapon. Wu Kaijie led a total of 80 Type 16 tanks, 200 jeeps, and a large number of logistics vehicles to form a rapid assault force.
They quickly headed north to Keleku along the Silk Road that merchants had traveled for thousands of years. The Type 16 chariots ran wildly on the endless plains, like a huge wolf pack, majestic and unstoppable.
At the same time, Red Napoleon and Tukhachevsky also led two divisions of troops and quickly rushed towards Kleku. The outcome of the war had become a high-speed confrontation, with both sides running wildly.