Chapter 575 Steel, Storm! 1

September 13th.

Tomsk, the first fortress in Western Siberia, the headquarters of the Army Group on the Russian Eastern Front.

Admiral Chekov sat quietly in front of the map and listened to the report of the staff. The town of Krasnoyarsk was erased from the map by 30 mysterious large planes suddenly appeared in the Xinhua Empire, and the whole town was turned into ruins. Lieutenant General Barnov, the commander of the 11th Army, was said to have not even screamed. It was torn to pieces by the explosion, and so far the body has not been found.

Along with Barnov, the entire 11th Army Command disappeared, and all 300 commanders and staff were killed. In addition to the guard camp and a division stationed around, nearly 10,000 people were killed in the air raid.

This situation changed the color of the Eastern Front in an instant. The 15th Army, which was deployed in the shape of the 11th Army, was also bombarded by the air for a day yesterday. Although the temporary replacement of the headquarters of the Army Group survived, the raging Xinhua aircraft still caused nearly 3,000 casualties.

Starting early this morning, two other Armies 21 and 22 deployed in the middle of Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk were also bombed, and even the seven armies of the Central Caucasus Army deployed in a fan shape 100 kilometers in front of Tomsk were attacked.

Although their attack can only be regarded as a slight one, this sudden large-scale air attack made Chekov a little puzzled. According to the intelligence, although the Northwest Xinhua Army stationed in Minusinsk has recently been reinforced, there are only 25 divisions in total, only 500,000 people. Do you want to attack more than 3 million? The eastern line of the army?

He is not the idiot of Kuropatkin before. The Sixth Army under him is the three main armies of Russia, with ten armies, 40 divisions, a total of one million elite Caucasian soldiers, and nearly a thousand cannons and machine guns of various calibers. Even the four armies that have just been reinforced are It was the new army, but His Majesty the Tsar also knew the important surname of the Eastern Front, so he also handed over the Ural Cossack Army to his command. They had 7, 8 and 9 Cossack divisions, with a total of 100,000 most powerful cavalry.

And after accepting the lesson of the last failure, the fortress of Tomsk has been strengthened a lot. It dare not be said to be comparable to the fortress on the European continent, but it also has eight 203mm fortress guns converted with naval guns, so even if the Xinhua Army has an advantage in equipment, it will not be able to nibly for a while.

The most important thing is that St. Petersburg has brought him some secret weapons recently, which are enough to tear up any troops trying to attack. Even if Xinhua has a German tank, it is impossible to break through!

Chekov stopped the staff officer's continued report: "I don't need to explain, tell me where the Xinhua troops have moved!"

The staff officer swallowed: "The enemy is now attacking the Krasnoyarsk area. It is estimated that at least ten divisions have been invested. The command of the 11th Army has not been restored, so the casualties of the troops are very heavy. At present, the 21st Army has gone to support, but the enemy's artillery fire is too fierce, and And their planes keep scratching the way forward, so.

"There is no so!"

Chekov stared at the report's staff: "Order the 8th Cavalry Division to immediately set out to support Krasnoyarsk, and also ordered Major General Smirnov to lead our 65th and 66th armies to reinforce. Please tell him that I don't need him to cross the Yenisei River, but I need them to at least hold on until the end of the month when winter comes! "

"Yes!" After the staff officer saluted, he suddenly remembered something and asked, "General, after the three armies left, there are only 61 troops and some garrison troops left in Tomsk. Is it too weak?"

Chekov squinted at the staff and pointed to the map: "It's 470 kilometers from Minusinsk to here, with 3 million troops in the middle! From the farthest point of the Ili theater in Xinhua, Lake Balkhash is more than 630 kilometers from here, and the road from there to the Irtysh River is very difficult. Even if you cross there, you still need to face the 7th Division of the Ural Cossack Army stationed in VoloNikolayevsk!

Do you think the cavalry division led by Major General Krasnov will be a coward who can't even stop the infantry? Or do you think the enemy's plane can fly so far here? Or drop soldiers and cannons directly?

The staff withdrew from the office and looked at the thick gun barrel on the fortress. He also felt that he was too worried just now. Even if Xinhua could pass through the 50,000 Cossack cavalry of Major Krasnov, Volo Nikolayevsk, they would never have the opportunity to contribute to such a powerful fortress, not to mention.

The staff officer looked at the twenty giant square boxes arranged neatly like monsters in the distance, and a smile rose from the corners of his mouth. What could pass in front of them? ——

Wolo Nikolayevsk, located 80 miles south of the fortress of Tomsk, is the only way for East Kazakhstan to enter the Western Siberian Plain.

For the 4th Stepper Division and the 1st Cavalry Division, who have just crossed the Irzis River, this is the first roadblock to go north.

Yongshan and Shen Hao, who had been promoted to the commander of the First Cavalry Division, lay in front of the map, with several regimental commanders and staff officers standing beside him, looking at the 50,000 Cossack cavalry scattered on the nearly ten-kilometer defensive belt. Everyone's face was not very good.

Two reading armored regiments and the armored regiment of the 4th infantry division have a total of 360 M3 cheetah tanks, 96 Wildcat armored vehicles, and 48 towed howitzers. In addition to these heavy firepower, they also have 90 80mm recoilless guns, 120 60mm mortars and a large number of machine guns.

In order to ensure such a large amount of heavy equipment, everyone spent eight days on the road, that is to say, they can only walk less than 70 kilometers a day. This speed is equivalent to a turtle for a walking division. Even if an infantry division forces, it can run at least 150 kilometers a day.

In this way, the three infantry divisions that were asked to give up heavy equipment can catch up tomorrow morning at the latest, but everyone can't continue to wait.

According to the intelligence, Tomsk Fortress sent at least 20 trains today, sending at least two Caucasian troops to the front line. If the information is accurate, there is only the first army deployed outside the fortress, which is the weakest time.

It can be said that without this Cossack division, Yongshan would not hesitate to issue an offensive order and arrive in Tomsk at night for a raid, but the way of 30,000 Cossack cavalry suddenly reduced the action.

It is not difficult to attack this cavalry division. In front of tanks and armored vehicles, the flesh and blood of the cavalry did not have any power to fight back, but after the attack, the scattered troops of the other side will immediately flee to Tomsk. If Tomsk is warned, then the 30,000 people in his hand can't gnaw down the fortress with eight heavy guns. Of.

What should I do?

"Master, I don't think it's necessary to fight with the Cossack cavalry." The speaker is the fourth step engineer's staff officer baked bran (book friend guest appearance, but the name is really painful, haha!) At the age of 27, he is a new generation officer trained by Fengtian Army Academy. He likes to study tactics and has good command skills, but he is cautious, meticulous and consider the advantages of problems, which made him recommended to be a counselor after graduation. Only two years, he climbed to the position of division staff by step by step with a solid foundation. Compared with leading troops to charge, Baked Bran himself also likes this kind of role.

"The Cossack cavalry are not afraid of death and have great mobility. Even if we don't want to fight, I'm afraid they will pester us." Shen Hao, who participated in the last war against Russia and fought with the Cossack cavalry, said.

"I have studied the Cossack cavalry. If the information is correct, in front of us should be the 7th Division of the Ural Cossack Army. The division commander is Krasnov, known for his bravery." The baked bran continued: "So I think we can use the method of infantry seduction and containment to attract them to the front, so as to cover two armored regiments and an infantry regiment from both wings and quickly cross them straight into Tomsk!"

"Suddenly, the surname has been reached, but Tomsk is a fortress with heavy artillery. It is impossible for the armored regiment to defend, and there are a large number of heavy artillery and fortifications in the fortress. If there are no cannons, it can't be opened at all."

"You can call the air force and use air-ground collaboration to open the gap." The baked bran insists on its own point of view.

"Air-ground collaboration?" Everyone frowned at the new noun.

"Yes, this is a new concept proposed by the Chief of Staff when I went to the General Staff meeting last time. Within a certain distance, use the heavy bomb cover carried by air force bombers to help the army open up the situation."

"Now Minusinsk has 30 latest bombers, and there were 48 new storm attack aircraft yesterday. Their combat radius is 500 kilometers. Theoretically, they can support the bombing of Tomsk, and the time should be to calculate the 250 kg heavy bombs urgently transported from Kulen, so I We can let the air force bomb the fortress of Tomsk in advance.

The Russian defenders certainly would not have thought that our aircraft could fly so far, allowing the air force to focus on bombing fortresses and fortifications. As long as a gap is pulled out, the armored advantages of the two armored regiments can be maximized.

"It makes sense, but have you ever thought that 5,000 infantry are not enough to support the protection of a fortress, and there is also a Caucasian army with 100,000 people on the periphery of the fortress. There are also 10,000 infantry in the fortress itself, and I'm afraid 5,000 people can't support it." Yongshan said.

"We have enough army." The baked bran pointed behind him: "Bein us, three infantry divisions are coming urgently. The previous telegram from the reconnaissance plane said that the vanguard troops were only 70 kilometers away from us! They were transported by truck as soon as they arrived, and they could reach Tomsk in an hour and a half at most.

"Then how to hold the impact of 30,000 Cossack cavalry? I'm afraid it's too late to dig trenches now, and I'm not sure to block the Cossack cavalry with all their strength. Shen Hao shook his head and was still a little worried.

"Hehe."

The baked bran blinked: "Hundreds of vehicles and tractors, if they are all lined up horizontally, it will probably be several kilometers, right?"

(to be continued)