Red Moscow - #2379 - Chapter 2378:

Chapter 2378

 After the two sides reached a consensus, early the next morning, they started setting fire in the middle of the positions of the two armies.

 Sokov prepared two fire-breathing tanks and twenty Pyros, and started setting fire in front of the position. Another thirty-six 82mm mortars were deployed to fire incendiary bombs towards the location of the Kwantung Army’s position in the distance.

Just a few minutes later, the grass in the Kwantung Army’s position began to burn.

Seeing the Kwantung Army’s position shrouded in fire and smoke, the Soviet commanders and soldiers on the position preparing to attack couldn’t help but cheer. Everyone knows that after the fire is over, not only will there be few living people left on the opposite position, but all the mines buried in the grass will be detonated, thus opening up safe passages for tanks and infantry.

The infantry commanders stood on the starting position and looked at the burning company, while the nearby tank soldiers were also sitting on the tanks, looking at the Kwantung Army position shrouded in flames and thick smoke, pointing and talking and laughing.

 Lieutenant General Saveliev, commander of the 5th Guards Tank Corps, was standing behind the turret of a tank at the moment, holding a telescope to observe the situation on the Kwantung Army position in the distance. Although obscured by the flames and thick smoke, he could still clearly see countless figures covered in fire, running back and forth in the trench like headless flies. Some soldiers with weak willpower had climbed out of the fortifications when the fire reached the trenches, and fled away into the distance.

“Comrade Commander,” the Army Chief of Staff also climbed onto the tank body with the help of a soldier, and asked Saveliev with concern: “Although the flames are so big, will the Kwantung Army find a place to hide? ?”

“I don’t think so.” Saveliev said with a smile: “Look, the fire is so big, even if the officers and soldiers of the Kwantung Army are not burned to death, they will be smoked to death alive. So their best choice , that is, give up the position and run back, as far away as possible, so that you have a chance to survive.”

“It would be great if this was the case.” The Army Chief of Staff said with emotion: “After the fire is extinguished, we will not encounter any obstruction when we move forward. In this way, we can put the troops’ Casualties are kept to a minimum.”

“I heard from the commander that this method was thought up by General Sokov, the commander of the 53rd Army.” Saveliev looked at the enemy positions in flames and said with emotion: “He is really a genius. He used this method.” This method can not only break through the enemy’s defense as quickly as possible, but also minimize the casualties of our army and the loss of technical equipment. It is really amazing.”

“Comrade Commander, you are right, General Sokov is indeed a very remarkable person.” The Army Chief of Staff echoed: “On the Soviet-German battlefield, he used his excellent military talents to defeat Germany. People were frightened by the news. Now that we are in the Far East, I believe his legend will continue.”

After a pause, the Army Chief of Staff asked Saveliev again: “Comrade Commander, when will we launch the attack?”

“What, my Comrade Chief of Staff, can’t you wait?” Saveliev looked into the distance and said: “To be honest, I also want this fire to burn out quickly, and then we can stride towards the enemy’s The defenses advance in depth. It’s a pity that it can’t be done. You can’t eat hot cheese in a hurry. If we rush our troops into battle, once the wind direction changes, we may be burned by then, causing unnecessary chaos.”

After hearing this, the chief of staff of the army sighed and said a little helplessly: “So, we can only continue to wait.”

“Yes, we can only continue to wait.” Saveliev raised his hand and looked at the time and said: “But according to my estimation, the burning time of this fire will only be two or three hours, and our soldiers can just Use this time to get some good rest.”

At the same time, hundreds of kilometers away in Xinjing City, as Lyudnikov’s 39th Army approached the city step by step, the island officials in the city issued a call to the expatriates of the Pioneer Corps through the radio, asking them to take up arms. They fought to the end with the invading Russians, but while the broadcast was still going on, they rushed to the train station in Xinjing with their children and their children, trying to take a train from there to leave this place of right and wrong and escape to the customs. Then take a boat back to the island country. .

 In just one hour, Xinjing Railway Station was overcrowded. At first, everyone obeyed the order and got on the bus one by one from the door. But seeing more and more people pouring into the station, they were afraid that if they were too late, they would not be able to find a seat, so they threw their luggage in through the window, and then Then with the help of others, climb into the car. The carriage was full, and people climbed onto the joint between the two carriages. The junction was full of people, and others climbed onto the roof of the car on their hands and knees, put their luggage on the top of the car, and sat on the luggage.

If Sokov happens to be in the station at the moment and sees this scene, he will definitely have the illusion that what he is seeing is not the Xinjing Station in the Northeast, but a station in India, because only people from that country, Only then would every seat on the train be filled with people.

The gendarmes who maintained order at the station saw that not only the roof of the carriage was full of people, but also many people were hanging on both sides of the carriage. After a brief moment of surprise, they began to perform their duties and remove the overloaded people from the vehicle. If the people they wanted to drive away were Chinese people, they would definitely greet them directly with bayonets. But now the people they want to drive away are their compatriots, including many dignitaries. They can only find wooden sticks and hang them on People on both sides of the train and those sitting on the roof rushed down to prevent accidents while the train was moving.

After a lot of trouble, the train, which was delayed for nearly an hour, finally left Xinjing Station and headed towards Guannai. But at this moment, there were still three to four hundred expatriates from the island country sitting on the roof of the car. They bribed or used their identities to intimidate them to get the military police to stop driving them away.

The islanders who were lucky enough to get on the train, whether they were dignitaries or ordinary expats, felt relieved. According to their plan, after the train arrived in Peiping, they would immediately buy tickets to the seaside and take the train back to the island country.

 When the train traveled a certain distance, a discordant sound appeared. A middle-aged expatriate with a beard in the carriage said to the people around him: “Gentlemen, have you ever thought about whether it is appropriate to return to the country at this time? You know, a few days ago, the Americans in Hiroshima and Changchun Qi dropped two super bombs one after another, causing the death of more than 100,000 or 200,000 people.”

But as soon as his words came out, he was retorted by others: “Okura-kun, didn’t the rumor be refuted on the radio? This is an American conspiracy. They are trying to use these false news to undermine our confidence in resisting to the end.”

The man known as Ogura-kun waited for the other person to finish speaking, and immediately told what he knew about the situation: “I listened to the radio at the time, and I thought it was an American conspiracy, trying to make us fear. But I gave it to my relatives in Hiroshima It has been four or five days since I sent the telegram, but there is no news at all.” Perhaps because he was worried that others would not believe what he said, he also specifically added, “My relatives have business dealings with me, and usually I If you send him a telegram, you will receive a reply in one or two hours at most; even if he is delayed for something, you can still receive a telegram on the same day, but this time there is no telegram, doesn’t it explain the problem?”       ” Maybe there is a problem with the communication line and you have not received the telegram for a long time.” The man who was the first to refute Ogura said: “Since the United States started bombing our homeland, problems with the communication line are common.”

“Even if what you say makes sense, the line interruption cannot last for four or five days.” Ogura said to the man with a straight face: “Hayakawa-kun, I heard from an acquaintance in the military department that the lines like those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki Americans still have a hundred of those kind of super bombs, drop one in each city, and they are still rich. Are you really determined to return to your country by boat on the beach?”

The surrounding expats who heard Ogura speak no longer had any objections to him, but fell into deep contemplation. Now he finally escaped from the city before the Russians reached Xinjing. But what should I do if after returning to China, the United States drops a super bomb that can kill hundreds of thousands of people at a time in my city?

Before they could make a final decision, they heard someone shouting: “Plane!”

At this moment, when they heard someone calling for a plane, everyone’s hearts couldn’t help but tremble. Then they crowded to the window and looked up at the sky. As they looked up at the sky, there was still a sense of luck in their hearts. Maybe the plane the man saw was an imperial plane.

 But the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment.

They quickly saw clearly the fuselages of the four planes flying in the sky. The red five-stars indicated that these planes belonged to the Soviet army.

 What appeared in the sky were four IL-2 attack aircraft. After the pilots saw the targets on the ground clearly, they descended one after another, preparing to attack the moving train.

The train driver was an island native. When he saw the Soviet plane in the sky, he couldn’t help complaining. He quickly pulled the whistle and released smoke, trying to interfere with the pilot’s vision. But everything he did was in vain. Under clear weather conditions, the Soviet pilots in the air could clearly see the route of the train.

After a round of bombing and strafing, the train was like a dead snake cut into several sections, lying across the railway. The overturned carriage was burning, surrounded by dead bodies in various shapes. The survivors spread their feet and ran towards the nearby woods, because they knew very well that only by escaping into the woods would they be able to survive. There is some life.

Ogura was one of the survivors. After he climbed out of the carriage, he turned to look at Hayakawa who was pinned down by the seat and could not move. He felt that he had no value in rescuing him, so he turned around and followed the fleeing crowd, limping away. Toward the woods in the distance.

The nearby patrol team discovered that the train was under air attack and rushed to the rescue. Unexpectedly, they were violently beaten by the waiting Soviet fighter planes. In less than two minutes, the patrol of more than thirty people was wiped out.

The train leaving Xinjing was attacked by Soviet air raids, and the news of heavy casualties was not returned to Xinjing Station until noon.

When the station used the radio to announce the bad news to the expatriates who were trying to board the train, some of the expatriates who managed to get on the train threw their luggage out of the window and climbed out of the carriage to find their luggage. Walking home dejectedly.

At first, only a few people walked out, but their actions soon affected everyone. Those who didn’t get on the bus turned around and walked outside the station. Those who got on the bus had to find ways to squeeze out of the bus and try to leave the station as soon as possible. . The big guy’s idea is very simple. The Russians have already attacked the train leaving Xinjing. Who knows whether they will attack the station next. Instead of staying here and waiting to die, it is better to go home early and stay. They were all looking forward to a miracle, hoping that the defeated Kwantung Army could make a comeback and drive the **** Russians back.

Since the officials have fled and most institutions have been paralyzed, when the Soviet army will arrive in Xinjing, what response measures the army will take, etc. Although the expatriates want to know, they don’t know who to ask.

Soon after the Soviet army began to attack the Northeast, the commander of the Kwantung Army, Yamada Otsuzo, moved Emperor Kant to Linjiang, and he himself also moved his headquarters to Tonghua. After Tianhuang issued the surrender edict, the base camp did not issue any orders or instructions to the Kwantung Army, which made Yamada Otsuzo a little confused. He did not know that he ordered the troops to lay down their weapons and surrender to the Soviet army in compliance with Tianhuang’s order. Or command the troops to continue fighting the Soviet army?

After repeated thinking, Yamada Otsuzo was still undecided. He called his chief of staff, Qin Yanzaburo, and said to him: “Chief of staff, what do you think we should do next? Is it to continue fighting the Russians?” Go down, or follow Tianhuang’s edict and surrender to the Russians?”

Hearing this question from Yamada Otsuzo, Qin Hikosaburo replied without hesitation: “Your Excellency, Commander, since we are all Tianhuang’s subjects, no matter what kind of edict Tianhuang issues, we must surrender unconditionally. .”

“Oh, you mean to ask me to surrender to the Russians?”

“Yes, Your Excellency, Commander.” Qin Yansanlang said in a positive tone: “That’s how I think about it.”

“Chief of Staff, I also want to follow Tianhuang’s order and order the troops to surrender to the Russians.” Although Yamada Otsuzo saw that Qin Yanzaburo had the same idea as his own, considering the current situation of the troops, he could not help but worry. : “If I really give such an order, I’m worried that those young soldiers will cause trouble.”

Qin Yansanlang, as the chief of staff of the Kwantung Army, naturally knew what happened the day before the edict was issued. He felt that if he really wanted to surrender to the Soviet army, he must first unify everyone’s thinking to avoid unnecessary complications. So he said to Yamada Otsuzo: “Your Excellency, Commander, I propose to hold a military meeting tonight and call the commanders of the main forces to have a meeting to let everyone understand that surrendering to the Russians in accordance with Tianhuang’s edict is completely Necessary.”

 (End of this chapter)