Frunze City is the capital of Kyrgyzstan. It is located at the northern foot of the Kyrgyz Mountains in the Lower Chu River Valley. It was an ancient city on the "Silk Road" in history. It was the territory of China during the Han and Tang Dynasties. Li Bai, the greatest poet in Chinese history
He was born in Broken Leaf near the ancient city of Tokmok, 60 kilometers west of Frunze. Lake Issyk-Kul, which the Kyrgyz people are proud of, is known as Broken Leaf Lake in the history of our country.
After the rise of Mongolia, Frunze became the territory of the Junggar Mongols and the Kokand Khanate. After Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty pacified the Junggar Mongols, the Kokand Khanate professed its vassalage to the Qing Dynasty, and the entire region was once again incorporated into the Qing Dynasty. In 1854, Tsarist Russia
Start an invasion
Kokand Khanate, twenty-six years later, Kokand fell, and the entire Kyrgyz region, including the city of Frunze, fell into the hands of Tsarist Russia. Later, the Soviet Union inherited the territory from Tsarist Russia, and this area
Leaving the embrace of motherland.
At nine o'clock in the morning on June 23, at the Soviet Government Building in the north of Frunze, an emergency military meeting of the Central Asian Theater of the Soviet Red Army was being held.
"Comrades, the Far Eastern Army, which betrayed its communist beliefs, has launched an all-out attack on the great Soviet Union. As of six o'clock this morning, the forwards of the Far Eastern Army have occupied Neteva, Pavlovsky, Dvorets and Kara.
Guys, the Ural defense line run by our Red Army is in danger of complete collapse.
“We in the Central Asian Theater must take practical action to defeat the Chinese who oppose us as soon as possible, just as we defeated the White Guards and the imperialist army eighteen years ago, and completely crush the reactionary army supported by the Chinese capitalists who colluded with the Far East Army against our country.
Intervene, and then move north as quickly as possible to attack the flanks of the Far Eastern Army, forcing it to withdraw its forces from the western front to relieve the pressure on the frontal battlefield. Now please speak freely and talk about how we can defeat the current enemy."
After speaking, Kulik's majestic eyes glanced at the room full of generals.
Chuikov, commander of the Almaty Corps, stood up and said: "Based on the entire strategic situation, I think we should resolutely attack the weak enemy first, and then wait for opportunities to find the enemy's main force for a decisive victory, and use this to formulate relevant combat plans. The current situation is that the Chinese army is divided into
The three forces on the left, center and right are outflanking us with far fewer troops than ours. The troops in the center are even more obviously weak. We should attack the enemy unswervingly.
After breaking through the Chinese defense line, we can rush northward, forcing the Chinese army to actively seek a strategic decisive battle with us. At that time, we can use the eagerness of the Chinese army to catch them off guard in areas that are conducive to our operations, and wait for opportunities to eliminate the enemy's main force.
By then, the war situation in Central Asia will be basically clear, and we can easily choose to go west or north to regain lost territory."
The commander of the cavalry group, Gorodovikov, is Budyonny’s old subordinate. As early as the civil war, he was the commander of the fourth division and later the sixth division of Budyonny’s 1st Cavalry Army. During the battle with the White Army and Poland,
The dispatched troops of Britain, France, the United States, Japan and other countries were invincible in the battle. They looked down on Chuikov, a young boy, and immediately stood up and retorted:
"The enemy is not a fool. If he feels that the situation is not right, he can calmly retreat to Chuyili Mountain and use the advantageous terrain there to conduct defensive operations. The soil layer at the southern foot of Chuyili Mountain is basically solid, unlike the shale structure in the north.
Rock, we want to repeat the Chinese blasting attack
Such a feat is absolutely impossible. How many lives can we take to fill it? On the Western Front, it is different. The enemy is in an offensive posture, and the army does not build defensive fortifications. Our army can make a deep breakthrough with a single charge and capture the victory in one fell swoop.
Defeat Simkent and Ares, and then recapture Tashkent!
"The westward attack is of great political and military significance. I think during this period, everyone was suffering from food shortage. Many troops could only sustain two meals, and some even only one meal. How could we continue like this?
Maintain combat power? Therefore, we can only attack all the way to the west unremittingly. As long as the Caspian Sea channel is opened, the strategic materials we need can be transported from the Caucasus and Ukraine! This is the right choice!"
There was a buzz of discussion in the conference room. Both Chuikov and Gorodovikov had their own followers, and neither one was willing to admit that their opinions were wrong. The debate was extremely fierce.
Mehlis, who was transferred from the director of the General Political Department of the Red Army to the general political commissar of the Central Asian Theater, was originally a writer for the "Pravda" controlled by Bukharin. He was used to the cruelty of the Great Purge and was cautious. He knew that a group of generals and colonels were sitting here.
, were all considered to be the generals that Stalin valued more highly. He did not dare to offend any party, so he stood up and said cautiously:
"Our total strength exceeds 900,000. Our central group has an absolute chance of victory against any enemy. Calculated in this way, Comrade Chuikov's Almaty Corps is considered to have surplus troops. So, can you please ask General Chuikov to ignore other aspects?
fight, lead troops
Go north and penetrate directly into the Ust-Kamen area, the bridgehead of the Chinese army into Central Asia, and cut off the material supplies of the Chinese army. When the Chinese army mobilizes its troops to relieve the siege of Ust-Kamen, we can calmly launch the central and western offensives.
The battle will be much easier to fight by then."
Stern, the commander of the Tianshan Corps stationed in Dural Abad (today's Jalalabad), did not speak from the beginning to the end. The retired general adviser of the Spanish National Liberation Government was appointed as the Central Asian Theater Corps shortly after returning to the country.
The commander's military commander was filled with fear when he saw many of his colleagues who had just returned from Spain being arrested and shot. However, Kulik did not let him go and asked him by name for his opinion.
In desperation, Stern had to stand up: "Central-line operations have the advantages of center-line operations. Opening up the Caspian Sea Railway can closely connect us with the Soviet Union. Fighting northward can threaten the supply of the Chinese army. Each has its own advantages.
I will resolutely obey the organization's decision, fight wherever it is directed, and never take a step back!"
Kulik rolled his eyes: "Comrade Stern, are you resistant to the organization? After taking office as commander of the Corps, you did not make a reasonable suggestion. This is very different from your performance in Spain. Could it be said that you
Is there something wrong in your heart?"
Stern did not expect that his deliberate forbearance would still arouse suspicion. He could not help but feel angry and answered loudly:
"Comrade Kulik, as far as I am concerned, General Chuikov's opinion is more correct. To put it bluntly, war must rely on people to carry out the war. Only by resolutely eliminating the effective strength of the Chinese army and continuing to widen the gap between the enemy's and our own forces can we ensure the success of our strategy.
Proceed victoriously.
"The current situation is obvious. The Chinese army on the western front is the most powerful of the three Chinese armies. The reason why they don't have any defensive measures is to dig a hole for us to jump into. Once we go west
When launching an attack, it is easy to fall into the trap set by the opponent and lose troops. Once we lose too many troops, not only will we be unable to attack the enemy troops east of the Chu River, but we may not even be able to ensure defense, and we will be completely defeated by then!
"
Stern regretted it after saying this. He knew the status of Kulik, known as the "Tsaritsyn Artillery King", in Stalin's mind. Although this man suffered consecutive defeats in Central Asia, his status in the hearts of the Central Asian Red Army commanders and fighters plummeted.
But he still maintained his favor, as evidenced by the rank of marshal he had just obtained. At this moment, Kulik was trying to re-establish his authority, so didn't he go in and let him slap him in the face?
Sure enough, Kulik stood up with a serious look on his face: "Comrade Stern, you are promoting pessimism before the battle begins. What is your intention? The most important thing is that you actually question the strategy made by our great leader Comrade Stalin.
Are you planning to usurp the party and seize power?"
Having said this, Kulik took out a telegram and waved it in his hand: "This is the urgent telegram sent to me by Comrade Stalin last night in the name of the Central Executive Committee and the Supreme Command, asking us to fight westward at all costs.
, to recapture Tashkent, Stalinabad and Ashgabat, the capitals of the three Central Asian republics, to inspire the determination and courage of all Soviet people to resist aggression!"
Stern screamed in his heart that it was bad, and summoned up the last courage to ask: "Since Comrade Marshal already has Comrade Stalin's highest instructions, what else do we need to discuss? Can't we just announce it directly?"
The whole audience was silent, and Kulik smiled coldly: "Comrades, as early as a month ago, Comrade Beria informed me to pay attention to identifying the enemy spies hidden within us. The key targets are the group of people who came back from Spain.
Comrade Stern is a serious suspect. In holding this meeting today, on the one hand, I want to hear the thoughts of comrades.
The idea, on the other hand, is to use this meeting to find out the traitors within us. Unexpectedly, after I briefly tried it, Comrade Stern was indeed hostile to our revolutionary cause and actually cursed our great leader Stalin.
The principles and strategies guided by comrade himself are bound to fail. What a serious wrongdoing this is?"
Stern's face turned pale and he said with a trembling voice: "Comrade Kulik, didn't you ask me to express my opinion? If I don't say it, it is wrong, but if I say it, it is wrong? How can I not be wrong? Today you want me to explain it correctly.
I didn’t know that Comrade Stalin had given instructions on how to proceed with the war. As the saying goes, “Ignorance is not a crime.” How could you put a shit basin on my head? Even if I had to go to Comrade Stalin to reason with me, I wouldn’t be afraid!
"
"quibble!"
Kulik snorted coldly, "You are a hateful counter-revolutionary who has sneaked into our revolutionary army. Don't even think about exonerating yourself! If you were innocent, how could Comrade Beria call you and say that Comrade Stalin requested that you returnees be punished?"
Focus on review?”
At this point, Kulik waved his hand, and the four Cheka personnel who were already standing at the door rushed behind Stern, removed the gun from Stern's waist, then pulled his hands behind his back and escorted him out of the conference room.
After a while, a crisp gunshot was heard outside. A Red Army general with outstanding military exploits was shot to death for unfounded charges.
, and this was almost a norm in 1937, 1938, and 1939 when the Great Rebellion was prevalent. (In real history, Stern, the Hero of the Soviet Union, was imprisoned by the Ministry of Internal Affairs in October 1941.
He was shot by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the 28th, along with another two-time Hero of the Soviet Union - Air Force Lieutenant General Smushkevich.)
The entire venue was depressing, and no one dared to say a word. They were afraid of making an accident, so they got involved themselves.
Seeing that Kulik had shocked the whole audience, everyone looked at him with awe in their eyes. He couldn't help but be high-spirited, strode to the large combat map, and picked up the baton:
"Comrades, according to Comrade Stalin's instructions, the theater staff department finally formulated a specific combat plan after a night of study. In the first stage of the campaign, Comrade Chuikov led the Almaty Corps to attack Shokpal to the west to contain the Chinese army.
The middle corps prevents it from posing a threat to our main corps;
"In the second phase of the campaign, we concentrated eight armies, five cavalry corps and three armored divisions in the central group, with a total of 580,000 people, to launch an attack on Simkent and Ares, and wiped out the main army group of the Chinese army in
Karatau Mountain and the area south of Talas Mountain, then our army will not take any rest and recuperation, and rush southward, striving to eliminate another main Chinese combat group in the Leninabat area;
"In the third phase of the campaign, we will dedicate part of our forces to recover the cities along the Caspian Railway to the west and restore contact with the Soviet Union. The main force will resolutely move north along the Central Asian Railway to attack the southern city of Chkalov in the Ural Mountains, disrupting the
The Far Eastern Army's rear was disturbed, forcing it to dispatch troops to return reinforcements;
"Then the battle entered the fourth stage. Our army withdrew from Chkalov and moved south from Akmolinsk and Karaganda. Together with the Chuikov Corps, they moved from the south to the north to eliminate the Chinese Army's Middle Army Corps at Lake Balkhash and
Chuyili Mountain area; in the fifth stage of the battle, our army launched an all-out attack, wiping out the last part of the fleeing Chinese army in the mountains and hilly areas of eastern Kazakhstan, and finally burning the flames of war towards Mongolia."
Kulik seemed very excited: "With 900,000 people versus 500,000 people, our army's strength is almost twice that of the other side, and Central Asia is our territory. We are fighting on the inside and can get supplements from the people, while the Chinese army is
The invaders will surely fall into the quagmire of people's war, and our victory will be unstoppable!"
Chuikov hesitated to speak, but thinking about what happened to Stern, he couldn't help but feel chilled in his heart, and finally refrained from speaking. As a result, the strategy of the Soviet Army's Central Asian Theater was decided, and the deployment of troops and materials was fully launched around the combat plan, and the war was about to begin.