Chapter 20: Deafness (Three)

The Soviet army attacked the front line from Suilai, and the Provincial Defense Force encountered obstacles. Yang Zhengzhongbi, who attacked Hutubi, Ma Buqing's troops in Changji, Ma Zhongying and Ganiyazi's troops in Dihua, were also delayed due to landmines being killed on the periphery. Only Ningma, who had other plans, used the excuse of blocking the road by wind and snow, and did not approach the periphery of Fukang and escaped.

However, Ningma did not follow the route originally designated by Dalbut, but soon left the Rijia Haizi and headed eastward, heading towards Santai and Fuyuan. Ma Dunjing, who made up his mind to leave Xinjiang, a place of right and wrong, did not want to lead his troops to fight with the People's Army head-on, and was preparing to take this opportunity to take the troops to find Ma Hongkui at the junction of Ningsui.

In the eyes of Ma Dunjing and Ma Quanliang, the People's Army is indeed very powerful. However, under the attack of the "Natural Army", Provincial Defense Army, Qingma, Ma Zhongying and other troops, the People's Army's troops in Xinjiang will definitely be concentrated in Dihua and the west area. Even if there are garrisons in the eastern Xinjiang area, it is impossible to have too many troops. In such wind and snow weather, Ningma can cross the People's Army's blockade line with tens of thousands of troops. Moreover, in case of failure, Ningma can also enter the Mongolian boundary from north of Yuanhu controlled by the People's Army, and arrive in Suiyuan along the former Suixin Camel Traffic Road.

But what Ma Dunjing and Ma Quanliang did not expect was that because they chose such a route, a conflict that was a comedy for the People's Army and a tragedy or farce for Ningma and other forces occurred. Due to this conflict, coupled with the later actions of the People's Army, Ma Dunjing, Ma Quanliang and others who wanted to go east to meet Ma Hongkui were wiped out. When the Ma family and son met again later, they could only sigh that fate was aroused.

After suffering losses near the periphery of the People's Army's defense line, Dalbut, Sheng Shicai and others readjusted their tactical arrangements. In order to eliminate landmines hidden in the snow on the road ahead, Dalbut ordered people to use horse-drawn plows to open up roads for the army to advance in the snow, according to Sheng Shicai's suggestion.

However, horses that were beaten and dragged to the plow and ran wildly often run shortly, causing the horse to die and disperse due to the landmines. The continuous loss of plow and plow is only a narrow safe passage in the snow. Such passages obviously cannot meet the needs of the army to advance. If you want to broaden the passages, you must continue to invest in horses, plow and accept this unbearable speed of advancement. Even if someone later came up with a box of wood to nail it into a square frame instead of plowing plow, the result was still unsatisfactory.

In Ulan Usu, west of the Manas River, Dalbut asked anxiously: "Sheng, is there a better way? We must speed up the advancement otherwise, we will encounter disaster when crossing the Manas River."

Originally, the People's Army occupied the east bank of the Manas River, while the Soviet and Provincial Defense Forces were deployed in the Ulan-Usu area on the west bank. According to Dalbut's original intention, after the battle was launched, it would quickly pass through the frozen Mass River before the People's Army reacted. Otherwise, once the People's Army became alert and destroyed the frozen river surface, the Soviet and Provincial Defense Forces would have to suffer major casualties if they wanted to cross the river forcibly, and would even make the future battle more difficult. Such a result was unacceptable to Dalbut.

But before the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces began to take action, the People's Army on the other side took advantage of the heavy snow to sneak to the west bank and lay mines in the snow. Although Sheng Shicai performed military laws on the commander of the Provincial Defense Forces who were responsible for river defense tasks in the name of dereliction of duty, he thought about the price he had to pay to cross the river later and was shuddered.

"Or the worse, we will leave a small number of troops here to continue to clear mines, creating an illusion for the bandits on the opposite side. The main force will cross the river in the Shawan area below the Manas River. Then it will break through the tributary of the Manas River and rush to Suilai from the side and back." Soviet chief of staff Bortala suggested.

The Shawan mentioned by Bortala is not Shawan County west of Shihezi City, Xinjiang in later generations. The Shawan County in this era is located in the area of ​​Laoshawan Town in later generations, which is more than 50 kilometers away from the location of Dalbut and others. According to Bortala's suggestion, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force must first travel more than 50 kilometers northwest, cross the Manas River, and then turn to Suilai County, which is more than 60 kilometers southeast. The total distance of about 120 kilometers is not too far. However, under the conditions of snow-covered and biting cold, the main force of the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force will take at least two days to complete. If the transportation and transit of logistics materials are considered, it will take longer.

"Although the time lags a bit, this method is indeed feasible." After listening to the translated content, Sheng Shicai thought about the map for a while and agreed.

Although he was unwilling to accept it, Dalbut knew that he could only take this approach at the moment. If the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force had not made any progress for a long time, it would be even harder to say whether the leaders of the military attack on Hutubi to Fukang would do their best. Once the People's Army first eliminated several other raiding forces, even if the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force finally took Sui, the entire battle would end in failure. Not only could he, the commander in front, could not bear it, but even the commander of the Central Asia Military Region could not bear the anger from Moscow.

"Okay. I agree with this plan." Dalbute said, "In addition to daily reconnaissance, the air force will concentrate its firepower to attack Sui to Fukang's front line, firmly nail the enemy's troops to this area, and order other troops to increase offensives and harass them, find ways to solve the enemy in front as soon as possible."

After Dalbut's order was issued, although Yang Zhengzhong, Ma Zhongying and Gani Yazi were dissatisfied, they also accelerated the mine clearance progress. After receiving the news that "the Soviet army was blocked" from Ma Lin, who was in charge of Jin Shuren, the Ma Buqing army was still the same as mechanics. In Ma Buqing's words, it was: "The Russians are now helpless in the fight against the people, so I am unwilling to stand up for others."

As for Ningma, after Dalbut's electric order arrived, he was thrown aside by Ma Dunjing and Ma Quanliang. Since he was on the way east, Ningma had no need to pay attention to any orders and just let him go.

From December 5 to December 8, the main force of the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces moved in, dispatched planes toward the defense line of the People's Army that came to Dihua in Sui. The pressure on the People's Army on the front line increased sharply.

The 704th Regiment of the 7th Column in Suilai was responsible for the defensive combat mission, and was temporarily assigned to a reinforced anti-aircraft machine gun battalion under the command of the regiment, with a total force of more than 3,000. If the Soviet army faced the Soviet army, the Provincial Defense Force successfully crossed the river, and with the cooperation of aircraft and tanks, the 704th Regiment would definitely not be able to withstand it for long. But now, with the landmines, the Dahe and the 704th Regiment had delayed the enemy for more than 3 days before the ground confrontation.

In the past three days, the enemy's total 70 fighter jets and bombers took turns to fight, causing more than 500 casualties to the People's Army in Suilai to Dihua. However, with the advance discovery of radar, the firepower of two anti-aircraft machine guns of two air defense regiments, and the light and heavy machine guns of the garrison troops, they shot down two Tebo-3 bombers and nine fighters, and even captured a Soviet pilot named Alexander Balmin. In addition to these results, due to the weather and fuel exhaustion, the Soviet army lost three I-15 fighters. That is to say, in just three days, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force lost 14 aircraft, accounting for 20 of the participating aircraft. In other words, in just 3 days, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force lost 14 aircraft, accounting for 20 of the participating aircraft. In other words, in just 3 days, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force lost 14 aircraft, accounting for 20 of the aircraft participating in the battle. In other words, in just 3 days, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force lost 14 aircraft, accounting for 20 of the aircraft participating in the battle. In other words, in just 3 days, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force lost 14 aircraft in just 20 days, accounting for 20 of the aircraft participating in the battle.

Faced with such a result, Bortara, who was responsible for commanding the air force, felt overwhelmed. Dalbut and Sheng Shicai, who received the battle situation in the Shawan area, were also very shocked. However, after carefully understanding the situation from Bortara, Dalbut believed that this was caused by improper use of the aircraft.

The two Teb-3 bombers were lost because of their slow speed and were concentrated on ground machine gun fire. The three I-16s were also lost on concentrated fire strikes during dive attacks, which is generally normal. However, the nine I-15 biplanes were limited by range and weather. After arriving over Dihua, they hurriedly chose the target and attacked and returned. It was this situation that caused excessive losses to the I-15. However, what made Dalbut felt relieved was that the enemy only used to defend air defense was machine gun fire. As long as the tactics were adjusted, it would be fine to use the aircraft to deal with machine gun air defense fire.

After finding the key to the problem, Dalbut immediately charged Bortala and ordered him to adjust his combat arrangements. The I-15 fighter jet will only be used to attack the enemy in front of him in the future, and the I-16 and Tybor-3 will be used to attack the deep areas such as Dihua. At the same time, Dalbut and Sheng Shicai accelerated his own operations, while again urging several other troops to attack the People's Army.

The Soviet Army, Provincial Defense Forces and other departments have stepped up their actions, and the People's Army is also making adjustments.

In the combat room of the 704th Regiment headquarters in Suilai City, the regiment commander Nie Hui frowned as he looked at the list of casualties and material losses recorded. Before he could see the ground troops of the Russians, he lost more than 300 people. When the Russians and Jin Shuren's main force came up, there would inevitably be a fierce battle.

After thinking about it, Nie Hui said: "Full Mountain, the Air Defense Battalion has suffered a lot in the past few days. I will transfer two companies to temporarily replenish you. You still have to rely on you to withstand the pressure on your head later."

"It's certainly good to have troops to supplement it, but we can't use two companies of the remaining equipment now, one is enough." Considering the current situation of the Air Defense Battalion, the battalion commander Cheng Yuanshan is not greedy for much.

"These two companies, one is the regiment supply company and the other is the regiment machine gun company, are both useful." Nie Hui explained, "Only if you defend the enemy from attacking from the beginning, we can fight well on the ground."

The 704th Regiment machine gun company now has machine guns, and many of them can drive cars in the baggage company. It can replenish such a force and basically make up for the previous losses of the air defense battalion.

"Since that's the case, I'm not polite." Cheng Yuanshan nodded and agreed, and was a little unwilling. "If the anti-aircraft guns in our air defense regiment were there, the annoying flies that have been on the top these days can kill at least 10 more aircraft."

Nie Hui also heard that the air defense regiment in Xinjiang was equipped with some good guys, but he had never seen them before. He said: "The group has the group's considerations. We must first execute orders and complete combat tasks on the front line. Other things will be considered by the superiors."

"That's right, we must first complete the task of blocking the enemy. At least we must block the enemy between Sui and Hutubi until December 1st, the regiment commander Meng Qingxi said on the side.

"From the current arrangement, it is okay for our regiment to complete the enemy blocking mission. After all, so many landmines are not in vain." Chief of Staff Qu Shaoqin was also very confident. Then he wondered: "The tasks given by the column include blocking the enemy, preserving live power, and evacuating one after another. In addition to having clear requirements for the time to block the enemy, there are no specific requirements for the number of enemies killed, which is a bit strange."

"Nothing is strange." Nie Hui explained, "As long as we complete the task according to the order and go east, the forces of our troops will become increasingly concentrated, the defense line will be more stable, and the logistics supply line will be greatly shortened. The burden we have dropped will be picked up one by one by one by the enemy. Once we advance and retreat, the enemy will deteriorate and grow, and the situation will also reverse. Moreover, our column has more than 10 regiments, but this time the deployment between Suilai and Fukang, plus the air defense regiments, there are only 6 air defense regiments. Other forces will definitely be of great use. I believe that the final victory of this battle belongs to us."

Nie Hui's words made the participants' hearts bright.

In addition, the artillery regiment, transportation regiment, air defense regiment and the Seventh Column had just been assigned to the column, with nearly 40,000 troops. But now there are only 6 regiments between Suihe and Dihua and Fukang, which are less than half of the 7th Column's troops. What about the remaining troops of the Seventh Column and other troops of the Westward Advance Group? Where will it be used?

After thinking about this, everyone believed that there must be greater actions behind the group and headquarters. From the establishment of the Guards to the establishment of the People's Army, everyone has experienced many big and small battles, but until today, from the perspective of the battle, they have never failed. This is also the fundamental guarantee for the continuous development and growth of the two bases in Yimeng and the northwest. Thinking about the past, everyone has added a belief in winning.

However, the Provincial Defense Forces, which took three more days to detour the Soviet army, did not give everyone more time to recall. On the afternoon of December 8, the Soviet army, arriving in the northwest of Suilai, had a fire with the People's Army in the area of ​​the Manas River tributary.

Under Dalbut's command, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces concentrated 22 artillery pieces to bombard the People's Army's defense line, and the remaining 56 aircraft also came here to assist in the war.

"My goodness, bombard the plane, and the enemy on the other side is at least 10,000." In a semi-underground fortification along the river defense line, Zeng Wei, the company commander of the 9th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 704th Regiment, used a telescope to observe the movements outside through the hidden observation hole, while sighing.

"Company Commander, can we block so many enemies?" Feng Liang, a guard who joined the army last year, asked nervously.

"We have a hundred or ten people in our company. Even if they can each take one hundred, can you stand up to this plane and cannon?" Zeng Wei gave Tang Liang annoyed and said, "Different troops have different tasks in different positions. Our company is here to take on the task of alerting and delaying the enemy, not fighting hard with the Russians."

"Lao Zeng, don't scare Xiao Feng." Deputy Company Commander Tan Xiang smiled at Feng Liang, "We are just in this fortification, with three feet thick frozen soil on it. Even if the shells fall directly, the bomb can hold it up for a while. However, if you want to delay the enemy, you have to land on the river outside."

Near the tributary of the Manas River in the northwest of Suilai, the People's Army set up semi-underground hidden fortifications with varying distances along the river. Except for the observation and shooting holes and inlet and exit passages towards the river bank, the entire appearance looks not much different from other mounds and hills. The observation holes are close to the ground, so it is difficult to detect if they don't walk in. Hundreds of people in the entire 3rd battalion were scattered in nearly two hundred such hidden fortifications along the river.

"Old Zeng, do you need to report to the battalion commander? It is also easy to act in a unified manner." Tan Xiang suggested.

"No need, the cannons and planes have already told the battalion commander. We are waiting for the order." Zeng Wei waved his hand, "According to this situation, we can delay the enemy until tomorrow afternoon. Moreover, we are likely to evacuate tonight."

"Anyway, we have other arrangements behind us. It's better to retreat early to prepare for other things." Looking at the momentum outside, Tan Xiang sighed, "The enemy is numerous and powerful, and it's coming very aggressively. It's too late to retreat. Don't be surrounded by them from other places to behind us."

"Deputy Company Commander, we retreat tonight, how can we block the enemy until tomorrow afternoon?" Feng Liang was puzzled.

"You will know then." Tan Xiang kept him in a silence.

After the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Force bombed the aircraft and cannons one after another, suppressing several machine gun fire points that originally appeared. After the aircraft reconnaissance, it confirmed that there was no sign of enemy on the opposite side of the river, so it began to prepare to cross the river.

Just as the front troops approached the river bank and the subsequent troops and vehicles were passing through the ice, the third battalion, which received the order to operate uniformly, detonated the explosives that had been laid at the bottom of the river. At the same time, the combatants in the hidden fortifications also opened fire on the enemies who had just been docked.

Although the river water here is not too deep, it is still okay to flood one person. The Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces, which fell into the ice water, sank one after another due to the equipment and winter clothes they were burdened with. The hundreds of people who had not yet reacted just after the docking were also harvested by the People's Army's firepower.

In the face of this change, Dalbut, Sheng Shicai was stunned. Dalbut had participated in the Russian civil war before and wiped out the Basma Red Bandits, but he had never encountered a cunning enemy like the People's Army. While gritting his teeth and making a furious heart, he also secretly thanked: Fortunately, the river here is not big, and there are not many people on the other side and on the ice, otherwise, he would have suffered heavy losses.

This is just a tributary of the Manas River, and its width and depth cannot be compared with the main stream. The weight that can be withstood on the ice surface is limited, and there are not many people, vehicles and supplies that can pass at one time. But even so, this incident has caused losses to nearly a thousand people, and three cars have sunk to the bottom of the water.

After being defeated by the People's Army, Dalbut and Sheng Shicai mobilized artillery again and the plane attacked the other shore. However, the firepower point just exposed on the other shore fell silent again, as if it had never appeared before.

"Sheng, prepare to build a pontoon bridge. There will not be too many troops on the other side, we must pass here tomorrow." Dalbut looked grim.

"That's all. However, it's too late today, so I have to wait for tomorrow morning." Sheng Shicai sighed, "For this small river, I have to delay for more than a day."

It is unrealistic to set up a floating bridge in the cold winter night. What's more, under the lights, the bridge builders will become targets for enemies in the dark. Everything can only be said tomorrow morning.

Due to the time difference, the sunset time in Xinjiang is more than two hours late in winter than in North China. In the Suilai area, the sunset time in early December is more than 6:30 pm. After 7:30 pm, it turns completely dark.

While it was dark, after all the 3rd Battalion buried explosives and detonation devices in hidden fortifications, they carried the bodies of the sacrificial personnel and quietly evacuated the wounded. After walking for more than 10 kilometers, the 3rd Battalion boarded the regiment headquarters and sent a car to greet them and ran towards Sui.

Later, in order to avoid the enemy's surrounding both sides of its troops after crossing the river, the 704th Regiment laid a large number of landmines in the direction of the enemy's advance, and then voluntarily evacuated Suilai County and concentrated to fortifications west of Hutubi River.

The Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces suffered continuous defeats and progressed slowly. The other routes were originally working hard to preserve their strength. In addition, the adverse effects of winter combat brought about by the adverse effects, the progress was naturally not much faster.

From December 5th, the Soviet army and the Provincial Defense Forces met with Yang Zhengzhong and Ma Buqing troops and arrived around the Changji defense line of the People's Army. During this process, Suilai and Hutubi were also lost one after another.

Jin Shuren was already full of joy in being able to recapture the two counties from the People's Army. He specially led his men from Wusu to Hutubi, which had just been occupied, to visit various armies, and proposed: "Recapture Dihua for the New Year." Even Jin Shuren even deliberately reported the good news of the recovery of lost land to Nanjing, saying that "all walks of life in Xinjiang Province are united and pacifying the people and bandits are just around the corner."

However, within a few days of Jin Shuren's happiness, he received a stern question from Nanjing. Chiang Kai-shek asked in the name of the Military Commission whether he seduced Soviet troops into Xinjiang? Did he sign an agreement with the Soviet Union to sell national interests without authorization? At the end of the questioning, Chiang Kai-shek warned: "The Xinjiang province has been China's territory since ancient times, and this is an undisputed fact and cannot be interfered with by foreign countries. Although it is important to pacify civil bandits, it has attracted other countries' forces to enter the country without passing through the central government. This is to connect with foreign countries. The Xinjiang provincial government should not drink poison to quench thirst, so as not to make mistakes on its own and the country."

After receiving the telegram from Lao Jiang with a stern tone, Jin Shuren's original joy was swept away. In the depressed state, his heart was filled with a sense of emptiness and powerlessness.

Because Xinjiang is remote and transportation is inconvenient, and the People's Army occupies Gansu and eastern Xinjiang, almost isolates the traffic between Xinjiang and the mainland. Affected by this, the transmission of information between Xinjiang and the mainland is also in a state of frequent and non-existent situation. However, the Nanjing authorities' attention to Xinjiang has always existed.

On December 8, when Dalbut and Sheng Shicai were commanding troops to pass through the frozen tributary of the Manas River in the northwest of Suilai, the Northwest People's Radio Station suddenly broadcast an amazing news to the domestic and foreign countries:

"There are solid facts that the Jin Shuren authorities in Xinjiang colluded with the Soviet Union, led the Soviet army into Xinjiang, and were launching an attack on our People's Army. This is the Soviet imperialism expressed great indignation for the extremely rough invasion of the Northwest People's Government and the People's Army.

Here, the Northwest People's Government warns the Soviet authorities to stop their horses so as not to mislead others and themselves.

When Japanese imperialism occupied the three eastern provinces and was preparing to split my country's North China, the Soviet Union's move was undoubtedly cooperating with Japan's invasion of China. Recalling this spring, the Soviet Union sold the Middle East Railway to Japan despite the opposition of the Chinese people; recalling the fact that the Soviet Union had occupied 1.5 million square kilometers of our territory so far; considering the fact that the Soviet Union instigated the Mongolian forces and divided our territory, we have every reason to believe that the Soviet Union's dispatch of troops to Xinjiang is by no means an isolated incident. This is completely a new conspiracy to collude with the Soviet Union and Japan to premeditate the division of Chinese territory.

Here, the Northwest People's Government called on the people to unite, overthrow the Kuomintang's reactionary stolen government, and completely drive Japan, the Soviet Union and all hostile forces that invaded China out of China.

This important task is what the Northwest People's Government and the People's Army must do and will definitely do it.”

Although this news was short, it caused an uproar in the mainland.

In December 1935, it was the critical moment when the Japanese authorities provoked the North China Incident. If the Soviet Union suddenly took action in the northwest, China would be in a disaster of overthrow and destruction...
Chapter completed!