In early November, the thermometers in Harbin began to frequently show readings below minus ten degrees. The land in the Northeast also entered the stage of being covered with snow. Dirty snow after cleaning began to appear on both sides of the city's streets.
.And outside the city, the vast farmland is completely white as far as the eye can see, and the more remote mountainous areas have become a veritable "forest and snowfield".
However, in the newly occupied area further north, that is, in the Far East Siberia region, it was even more icy and snowy. Here, it was common to see temperatures below minus 20 degrees at night. By this time, the Ming army had basically built winter barracks, repaired fortifications, and prepared
Stabilize the front and spend the winter. In the warm wooden house, the stove is burning warmly, these southern soldiers are wrapped in thick winter clothes, but they are freezing. Fortunately, the Soviet Far East Red Flag Corps has been basically eliminated, and the Ming Army
The strategic objectives of the first phase of the "Autumn Campaign" were basically achieved, and the front line advanced to the outer Xing'an Mountains.
Now, the best city-building troops and fortress troops of the Ming Army have been stationed in the defense fortifications on the outer Xing'an Mountains, while stationing and strengthening the fortifications. Behind them, in order to maintain air superiority, dozens of front-line airports have also been built.
The country got up, and thousands of planes were stationed in the newly occupied Far East.
At the end of October, the Soviet garrisoned area along the Khabarovsk-Komsomolsk line had been captured, and the last tens of thousands of Soviet prisoners of war were put on trains and transported to the rear of the occupied areas to serve as labor for the construction of fortifications.
In the entire area south of the Xing'an Mountains, apart from Sakhalin Island, which is still in the hands of the Soviet army, only a small part of Vladivostok is still holding on to the mainland. And the Soviet army on Sakhalin Island cannot hold out for long. First, Kurhin Island is still in the hands of the Soviet army.
The number of Soviet troops on Ye Island was originally small, with one division at most. Second, they were now a lone army, trapped on the island, and lacked land contact with the Soviet-controlled areas. The reason why the Ming army has not yet invaded
Sakhalin Island is simply because there is a strait in the middle, and the control of the Sea of Japan is in the hands of the Japanese army. The Ming army lacks large ships to transport troops and equipment to the island.
But the Ming army is not in a hurry. Soon, the strait will freeze, and by December at most, the ice in the strait will be thick enough to drive tanks. If the Ming army attacks at that time, it can avoid many casualties. Once it is captured
Sakhalin Island, the Ming Army has an entrance into the Sea of Japan. This entrance is the strait between Sakhalin Island and the mainland. - However, this is of little significance. Because the Ming Army fleet wants to enter the Sea of Japan from here,
First, you need to bypass the entire Japanese archipelago from the Pacific Ocean, then pass through the Kuril Islands and enter the Sea of Okhotsk, which is cold and foggy all year round.
It is certain that Stalin will definitely try to launch an offensive in the winter to reverse the defeat. He must think that the Ming army is from the south and cannot endure the difficult winter war, but his Russian soldiers can. This is also the reason why the Ming Dynasty
What everyone is most worried about is that the top brass of the Ming Army are considering whether they need to deploy new troops to the Far Eastern Siberia region to participate in the garrison. Although they are all officers and soldiers of the Far Qing Dynasty, they are from the north after all. Many of the former Eight Banners Division officers and soldiers were stationed in the Far East Siberia for a long time.
Those outside the Northeast Pass are definitely more adapted to the bitter cold climate in the north.
However, being able to adapt to the "northern climate" is one thing, being able to adapt to the "northern war" is another. This is certainly related to whether a soldier can withstand the cold, but it is more related to whether the soldier has excellent training and strict discipline.
and firm belief. These things are not lacking in the Ming army in the south, but it is what the new army in the north lacks most.
The Soviet army has retreated to an area about 300 kilometers east of Lake Baikal, and is temporarily using "Chita" as a supply center to try to gain a foothold. To the south of Lake Baikal is Outer Mongolia, which already belongs to Central Asia. The Ming army is unable to move further west.
pursued. It is expected that throughout the winter and spring in the future, it will be difficult for anyone to launch a large-scale offensive, and at most it will be a tug-of-war. It is just a question of who has the advantage and who suffers the loss. It is impossible for the Ming army to defeat the Soviet army across Lake Baikal.
And it was impossible for the Soviet army to push the Ming army back to far Eastern Siberia.
The prime time to fight in this climate zone is summer and autumn. Winter is extremely cold, heavy snow, and blizzards block all transportation, and only the railway can barely pass. Spring is the snowmelt season, and a large amount of snow and frozen soil will melt.
Let the plains turn into swamps, making it difficult for people and vehicles to pass. This is not as good as the European part of Russia. Although it is also cold there, it at least has a relatively complete transportation network and a large number of cities and villages that can serve as supply points. And here, in the east
There is basically nothing in the vast areas of Siberia and Central Siberia. Moreover, the temperature in winter is lower than that in other parts of Europe, and the mud in spring is worse than that in European parts.
There are currently no major wars in the north. But in the "south" - or "relatively south" - it is the golden season for the siege of Vladivostok.
In the ice and snow in winter, Vladivostok lacks both food and fuel, entering the most difficult stage. Moreover, Vladivostok usually enters the freezing period in early December, and will not thaw until mid-to-late March next year. In other words, for
The maritime supply of Vladivostok has basically been interrupted. That is to say, icebreakers are relied on to clear the way so that a few ships can enter and exit. When the Ming army aircraft bombed Vladivostok, icebreakers were prioritized as targets. Currently, the Soviet Union does not have an icebreaker in the Vladivostok port.
. Unless the Japanese fleet brings icebreakers, the fleet can be forced to enter the port.
Under this circumstance, the combat pressure on Ming army submarines in the Sea of Japan was greatly reduced, and more submarines could be deployed to the Pacific coast.
Now, the Ming army has set a goal: to prevent Vladivostok from surviving this winter.
To this end, the Ming Army dispatched additional bombers to carry out more intensive bombing of Vladivostok. Because the operations on the northern front had basically stopped, a large number of Ming Army combat aircraft were idle, and now a large number of bombing aviation regiments were transferred to the southern front to participate in the attack on Vladivostok.
bombing, while competing for air superiority over the Sea of Japan. Now the Ming army has controlled the west coast of the Sea of Japan, and the two countries have half of the sky over the Sea of Japan.
But Japan's advantage is that in addition to airports, it has many ports and controls several straits in the Sea of Japan. It can allow its fleet to enter and exit the Sea of Japan at will and firmly control the sea. This is something that the Ming army does not possess.
On the west coast of the Sea of Japan, the Ming Army can only use Vladivostok, which is still an isolated port deep into the enemy sea. And as long as the Ming Army does not capture the entire Korean Peninsula and the Tsushima Strait, the Sea of Japan will never be the Ming Army.
. Even if the Ming Army's aircraft controlled the sky over the Sea of Japan, they could only blow up Japanese warships and merchant ships, but it would be difficult for the Ming Army's own warships to enter.
The northern battlefield was temporarily silent, but the "political battlefield" between the Ming and Soviet sides was filled with smoke. The Soviet Union continued to accuse the Ming army of "crazy" atrocities in the League of Nations, accusing the Ming army of deliberately polluting water sources, engaging in unrestricted submarine warfare, and "raping, burning and killing"
", "abused prisoners of war" and committed "heinous crimes" in the occupied territories.
The Ming army's response measures were much simpler. They directly invited international observation groups to visit each labor camp and let the press group interview the political prisoners and their implicated family members. Moreover, those who had been persecuted during Lenin's era
The peasants whose families were ruined and almost all of them starved to death - not only middle peasants and rich peasants, but also a large number of poor peasants, became the subjects of interviews with reporters accompanying the international observation team.