The scout on a two-wheeled scooter hurried back. He stepped on the accelerator and the dust was flying all the way. You didn't need to think carefully to know that something bad must have happened.
The scouts were part of Alsim's combat engineers. As soon as they crossed the river and hit the beach, they rode in front of their motorcycles to give a reconnaissance warning.
Now that he saw the soldier to his east returning, Alsim quickly stood up without even bothering to put on his clothes. He was still shirtless, holding a cigarette in his mouth and beckoned the soldier to come over and report.
"Tell me, what happened?"
The soldier who ran over immediately after getting rid of the motorcycle did not bother to catch his breath. He hurriedly raised his leg and pointed in the direction he had just come back from and said.
"Tsukimoto Japs, a large group of Tsukimoto Japs are coming. They are riding tall horses with armored vehicles and small tanks, and they are quite fast! If we keep the marching speed unchanged, we will arrive at our place in less than twenty minutes.
"
"."
Not only Alsim, but also Sulovechenko, who was resting nearby, also came over after hearing this.
After hearing the scout's report, Sulovechenko thought for a moment and quickly spoke first.
"Are you sure that we will attack instead of retreating or moving? The Yue Army's various garrison points and troop gathering areas are now all bearing saturation blows. He wonders if any of the Japanese soldiers who were blown apart will withdraw to the east and regroup."
Sulovechenko's analysis is not unreasonable. From a probability perspective, the Japs are indeed in a state where they can launch an organized and large-scale counterattack, with a low probability. This does not mean that Sulovchenko is careless and underestimates the enemy.
It is indeed very important to understand the enemy's situation and not to shout.
"No came to attack, definitely No! There can be no mistake!"
"Those Tsukimoto Japanese didn't look like they had been beaten at all. Their morale was very high and they were marching singing, heading straight towards them. He didn't quite understand the meaning of the song. It seemed like it was about cherry blossoms, hometown.
, in short, as for those broken sutras recited by Yue I, when I sing them, I feel like my mother just died."
"puff--"
I couldn't hold it back for a moment, and laughed directly at the description of the scout soldier. Alsim, who also had a curved mouth, followed up and asked.
"Have you seen clearly the composition of the enemy? What are the proportions of each type of arms and the total number? It's probably OK."
Upon hearing Comrade Company Commander's question, the thoughtful soldier rushed to recall the details of what he had witnessed not long ago, and then answered.
"The enemy's march is very long, and you can see the vanguard."
"The vanguard was composed of a brigade of cavalry clearing the way. The cavalry column was closely followed by armored vehicles and small tanks, but the number was not large. He estimated that it was only a dozen or twenty vehicles in size, and there were accompanying infantry, whose number was about the same as that of the cavalry.
Almost. If they come on trucks, their marching speed is about the same as that of horses and crawlers."
"."
After hearing this, Alsim and Sulovchenko immediately looked at each other wrongly, and both of them understood the unspoken meaning in the other person's eyes.
He ordered the scouts to return to the original route to investigate again and report again. Looking at the back of the motorcycle speeding away, Alsim, knowing that it was definitely going to be in trouble, then quietly spoke.
"It seems that Yueben Japanese is not stupid. He knows how to drive us to the Dongjiang River before we have a firm foothold. He thinks that only their three melons and two dates were bombed so badly, and he has to guard that three-quarter acre.
They are just waiting for us to go over and crush them to pieces."
Sulovechenko, who knew whether Alsim said that intentionally and half-jokingly, and knew that time was tight, also whispered back.
"Okay, I'll take command there first, and he'll go and report to the comrade commander. If there happens to be a pontoon bridge built, he can go back as soon as possible."
"Well, be careful. The pontoon is narrow. Don't be hit by a car and fall into the river. He doesn't want to go east to catch me."
With Alsim's "enthusiastic advice", Sulovechenko, who was as fast as flying, ran quickly to the pontoon.
I caught a ride with a truck from the Zhouqiao Army that had just finished unloading construction materials and then turned around to go back to the wrong bank to pick up the goods. I hitched a ride and drove quickly towards the wrong bank of the river.
The benefits of building two light pontoons are obvious. Two-way traffic ensures that construction materials can enter the site and unloading vehicles can return smoothly at the same time.
I don't know how long the smooth construction can continue. Sulovechenko was walking in the passenger seat of the truck, looking at the river at the pontoon construction site that has been extended to the central area.
I can't help but worry that when the Japanese anti-beach attack troops arrive, the construction of the pontoon bridge, which involves the leader's heavy equipment crossing the river, may not proceed smoothly.
"We must stop the Tsukimoto Japs. We must not let those bastards ruin the good things!"
When Malashenko received Sulovechenko's personal report, Malashenko, who was reading the latest bombing damage report, immediately frowned.
"The sky is above the plane and the sky is above the cannons. They have been ringing non-stop since it was dark. Where did those devils come from? How dare they arrogantly gather troops and rush towards the leader's army to seek death?"
The answer to the first reaction question was quickly found on the war zone map.
The political commissar who accompanied Malashenko to look at the map analysis, based on the intelligence description brought by Sulovechenko, could see the problem in just a moment.
"If it should be there, there is a high probability that it can be there. It is only reasonable that there are Japanese soldiers coming out of that county. It is safe to assemble troops safely without being bombarded by their shelling and air attacks."
The leader's army was responsible for artillery preparations and air strikes in the direction of attack. Except for a few strikes that missed key command hubs, they basically did not place strike targets in densely populated civilian areas, even though they knew that the Japanese were using human shields to cover themselves.
Didn't do that either.
Malashenko did not want to cause a large number of innocent civilian casualties. The people in that land were already miserable enough being bullied by the Yue bandits, and they should not be killed by the Red Army's artillery bombings.
But that gave some large-scale Moon troops an opportunity to safely assemble their troops in the garrison area at the county level and set off as a whole.
That also explains why the leader's army of more than 500 heavy artillery and rocket launchers, coupled with the indiscriminate bombing of the aviation force that covers the sky and the moon, can still have a large-scale Lunar army massed to launch a counterattack.
Comrade Comrade Political Commissar, who was pointing at the map with his leg for analysis, had not finished speaking. Malashenko was also about to say something.
But not far away, I saw the communications staff officer who had been working non-stop, suddenly ran over with a freshly baked telegram in his lap.
"Comrade Commander, there is an urgent call from the Front Army Headquarters!"
"read!"
Malashenko, who went to study the map, did not choose to see it in person. The communications staff officer who obeyed the order immediately picked up the telegram and spoke.
The aerial reconnaissance of the Front Army Headquarters also confirmed that at least one regiment of Japs was approaching and was about to come into contact with the leader's beachhead. Marshal Vatutin, who was commanding the overall situation from the rear, asked Malashenko to do something.
Well prepared for an attack.
"Huh, a regiment? That Japanese Japanese despised Malashenko so much, how dare a mere regiment dare to ride on my face and come here to die?"
"Perhaps it is the first wave of troops. Considering that the Moon troops in various surrounding positions and garrison areas are currently unable to protect themselves and cannot escape, then it is the largest rapid reaction force that the enemy can currently assemble.
"
"And if they are not annihilated quickly, there is a high probability that more enemies will come continuously in the future. They cannot let that happen."
Listening to the analysis of comrade political commissar, I stared at the map hanging on the wall in front of me.
The fate of the Lunar Army regiment was decided with a scowl at the corner of his mouth. Without thinking, Malashenko immediately spoke in a deep voice.
"Order the artillery units directly under the corps and division to turn their guns and fire towards the designated bombing areas No. 3 and 4."
"Contact the front army headquarters and request to send artillery reconnaissance aircraft to the above-mentioned area to observe and confirm the damage effects. The forward troops that have crossed the river carry communication equipment and move towards the enemy, responsible for ground observation of the damage effects and correcting the artillery target."
"No, Comrade Commander."
The communications officer responsible for conveying the order took the order and left. Malashenko, who was still standing in front of the map, sneered.
"He wants to see if the Tian Ling Gai of the Yue Ben devils is strong, or if the mace of his leader is strong. They want the Tian Ling Gai to fight the mace, okay, let them do it! Don't blow up those Yue Ben beasts
It’s not over until the bones are broken and the ashes are thrown away!”
The treatment Malashenko gave to the invading Lunar Army unit was unqualified.
Not counting the artillery equipment provided to each combat unit east of the division, the size of the artillery of the leader's army and division alone accounted for more than half of the total, more than 300 vehicles.
Is that a matter of course? With 122 heirlooms of various tanks and 130 red naval guns crawling all over the ground, the leading army does not lack direct heavy firepower with support.
More than half of the existing heavy artillery is placed directly under the corps/division, which can better mobilize sufficient firepower for artillery bombardment and open attack channels, thereby sending the leader's massive accompanying support direct heavy firepower into the battlefield.
On the other hand, that means that Malashenko mobilized more than 300 132mm Katyusha starters, 203mm ISU-203s without caps, and more for that short-sighted Lunar army.
310mm huge Andryusha's "top-level supreme package" with full tube.
Anyway, I have more ammunition than I can use up. The artillery preparations started very early in the morning, and now I have almost blown up all the Japanese garrison areas and troop assembly points. I am worried that the artillery bombardment will have a marginal effect and it will not be better.
The target can be exploded.
If you feel sleepy, you will be given pillows. If you have no target to explode, you will be given huge amounts of heads.
My Japanese are very cooperative. To be honest, Malashenko is wondering if he should say "thank you" to some extent? Just look at the 300 heavy artillery package, which is enough to make my Japanese feel good about physics.
Ascend to heaven.
With an order from Comrade Commander of the Army, the directly affiliated field artillery units at all levels that set up artillery positions in the JB area immediately took action upon hearing the order.
Because they had long expected that the unwilling Moon Army would most likely do all the bad work while the leader army was seizing the beachhead and building the pontoon bridge.
Therefore, Malashenko personally issued an order to the riverside area in the south of the Yangtze River, and designated several scheduled artillery bombardment areas outside the range of the artillery.
Once the counter-beachhead assault force of the Lunar Army tries to approach, the long-range field artillery of the Leader Army does not need to obtain precise strike targets. Instead, it needs to focus fire towards the predetermined killing area to cover the artillery fire based on the enemy's incoming direction and general direction reported by the scouts.
That’s it.
The advantage is that the reaction speed of artillery fire is definitely fast enough, but the disadvantage is that if you fire like this, a lot of shells will be blown up and wasted. And if artillery is used in this way, it must be in sufficient quantity to produce a qualitative change, and the firepower of the artillery equipment must also be sufficient.
Otherwise, the sparse artillery fire density will not only fail to achieve the desired effect, but will actually make the enemy laugh at the "pyrotechnics show".
Unfortunately for the Japanese, regardless of the number of artillery or firepower, this is what Malashenko lacks most.
What's more unfortunate is that Malashenko doesn't even lack ammunition. He is worried that there are too many excess artillery shells in Dongdong during the preparations for the battle, and there is nowhere to fire them.
At that time, the Japanese dared to show off and sing songs joyfully as they arrived at the door. Malashenko thought that anyone who didn't want the Japanese to do anything cruel to me would just say hello.
Boom boom boom boom——
Rumble——
At the leader's long-range artillery position, the ISU-203 self-propelled artillery with their giant cannons raised high was roaring.
The steel giant that frightened the entire audience and shocked the West when it first appeared on the scene can definitely be called the most powerful mass-produced self-propelled artillery in the world today.
The whistling 203 artillery shells crossed the Ussuri River in parabolic trajectories, flew over the beachhead on the other side of the river, and headed straight towards the Moon Army, which was still unaware of the misdestruction.
At the same time, on the other side, there was a marching column of the Moon Army sending people away.
Major General Morishima Kurogai, who was riding a tall horse, was quite worried. He always felt that there was an ominous premonition lingering in his heart, lingering like a haze, but he couldn't explain the reason.
Morishima Kurokai, who has been from a military family since the Taisho era, has an unquestionable background and power.
Even if he is outside the Kwantung Army where big bosses gather, he can still hold a high position.
The independent mixed 105th Brigade under his command is the only mechanized cavalry unit outside the Kwantung Army.
Not only the Tiger tanks were brought back from Germany, but also the Kwantung Army with supporting armor tactics was brought back from Germany. Compared with the status in the existing history, many changes have taken place.
One of them is that the Kwantung Army also began to imitate the Germans and tried to form the kind of armored grenadier divisions that the German army had in the second half of the war.
Unexpectedly, De Lao's mechanization level is already unbearable. It turns out that Tsukimoto's mechanization level is very high and he wants to stretch his hips even more.
If half-track armored personnel carriers are not available, trucks will be used instead, tanks will be replaced by armored vehicles, and mechanized combat vehicles will be directly adapted from cavalry.
It turned out to be the independent mixed 105th Brigade led by Morishima Kurokai, that kind of "four different" troops that were mechanized, mechanized, and mules and horses, but slightly more advanced.
But there is a benefit, at least the marching speed is increased.
With cavalry added to trucks and small tanks, the armored vehicle's marching speed was finally faster than a pure two-legged No. 11 bus.
Perhaps it was because of their fast marching speed and strong ability to respond quickly, and in addition, they were killed and maimed by the Red Army's artillery fire preparations and air raids at the very first moment of the war. They had a chance to escape by stationing themselves in the county town and using civilians as shields.
One calamity.
Therefore, the Morishima Kurowai Brigade was selected to carry out the anti-beachhead assault mission. The Kwantung Army Headquarters, which expected that the Red Army would seize the opportunity to cross the river, was determined to give it a try.
It is best to drive the Russians away from the Dongjiang River. Even if they cannot be driven back from the Dongjiang River, they can still be killed randomly. At least it can slow down the speed of the Russians' assembly and advancement, and buy time for other Kwantung Army troops to assemble and re-establish their defense lines.
If you feel that you were not killed in the first moment of the war, but were bombed to death and left in pieces in the sky, then you are undoubtedly lucky.
But the depressed Morishima Kurogai also felt that it was extremely unfortunate that he was sent to perform a mission that was almost tantamount to suicide and was euphemistically called the "vanguard of the entire army."
Not to mention that his own brigade had half the strength, and the other brigade went to pick up new equipment and conduct integration training. By the end of the day, they were all in the rear and had no time to rush back to the front line.
Although the Kwantung Army Headquarters repeatedly assured that follow-up reinforcements would arrive soon, Morishima Kuroi did not need to achieve much results, he just needed to rush to entangle the Russians and wait for the reinforcements to arrive.
With such an elite mechanized unit in our hands, I, Morishima Kurokai, can do it in half a day, right? If it doesn't take half a day, I'll definitely find a way to mobilize reinforcements for me, so don't worry.
Thinking of the guarantees from the Kwantung Army Headquarters, Morishima Kurokai, who always felt that there was something good about him, frowned, looked sullen, and felt very unhappy riding his cruel BMW.
The riding adjutant accompanying him saw this in his eyes and remembered it in his heart. He was about to say something comforting, but before he had time to speak, he heard the roaring sound from the distant horizon, like the sky collapsing and the earth collapsing, and it was already destroyed.