The Chinese army began to fight back, and the good days for the Russian army were over.

Although the Russian army stopped again that night and created a smoke screen that filled the entire front, the Chinese army did not launch a counterattack on the front, but focused on the rear of the Russian front-line troops and put heavy troops into the gaps between the Russian army.

Using the powerful vertical airlift force, the 15th Airborne Army sent ten assault clusters to the rear of the Russian front.[]

At that time, the 15th Airborne Army sent nearly 300 anti-armor platforms to the battlefield by dismantling and transporting them, and engineers assembled these platforms on the battlefield. This was also impossible, because the weight of the fully equipped anti-armor platform exceeded the maximum carrying capacity of the inclined rotary wing aircraft. Only by removing the turret can vertical air transport be carried out, and only assembled on the battlefield can it be assembled.

Although this is a very troublesome thing, it is of great significance.

In the subsequent battles, these fully armed anti-armored platforms exerted a crucial force and became the key combat force to siege the main force of the Russian army. For example, in the direction of Novosibirsk, more than 40 anti-armored platforms of an assault cluster withstood more than 30 charges launched by the Russian army from both directions within three days, destroyed thousands of Russian tanks and chariots, and killed, wounded and captured nearly 30,000 Russian officers and soldiers. For example, in the direction of Tomsk, the two assault clusters used simple positions and, with the support of nearly 100 anti-armored platforms, fought with the Russian army for three days and two nights, severely damaged the four main divisions and six reserve divisions of the Russian army, and the enemies they annihilated were ten times their own strength.

That night, the 38th Army also entered the battle.

The difference is that the 38th Army mainly fought on the front, with the purpose of only dragging the Russian army on the front and preventing the Russian army from retreating in time.

In fact, Brushilov has recognized the problem and has taken remedial measures.

In the afternoon of that day, Brushilov ordered the reserve team to press forward to fill the gap with the front line troops. However, the Russian reserve team was mainly reserve troops. Not only were the officers and soldiers of low quality, but they also had serious lack of main combat equipment. By the time the 15th Airborne Army launched a counterattack, the Russian reserve team had only advanced a few kilometers and failed to complete the tasks arranged by Brushilov. There was still a gap of several kilometers wide between them and the front line troops.

At night, when he learned that the Chinese army had begun to fight back, Brushilov began to order the front-line troops to retreat.

At that time, he issued only a tactical retreat order, and had no intention of giving up the attack, but just hoped to fill the gaps behind the front by actively retreating.

As a result, the 38th Army launched a counterattack on the entire line, and the Russian front-line troops were unable to retreat smoothly.

It can be seen from this that it is not that Brushilov is not ineffective in command, but that the Russian army's combat effectiveness is too poor.

After the war, many people mentioned one thing when evaluating Brushilov, that is, he might be the best strategist in World War III, but the worst tactician, and he always hopes that the Russian army with poor quality can complete difficult combat operations. In other words, if Brushilov was the commander of the Chinese army, he would definitely achieve great achievements, but as the chief of staff of the Russian army, his value would be very limited.

In just one night, the Russian army's dream of strategic counterattack was completely shattered.

In the early morning of the fifteenth, the situation on the battlefield became extremely unfavorable to the Russian army. The 15th Airborne Army controlled all the major traffic routes behind the Russian front-line troops, and extended the front line in a vertical maneuverable manner, cutting off the connection between the Russian front-line troops and the rear reserve troops. On the front battlefield, the 38th Army concentrated its elite troops after night battles and began to divide and annihilate the Russian front-line troops.

At that time, eight of the twelve main Russian divisions on the Western Front fought on the front line!

When the 38th Army beat the drums of the general attack, the Chinese Air Force also timely strengthened its support, and even some long-range artillery deployed in the Altai region of northern Xinjiang joined in. More importantly, the main task of the 38th Army was not to annihilate the Russian army that was trapped in beasts, but to conduct a comprehensive tactical cutting, mainly attacking the command center of the Russian army, that is, to break up the Russian army's establishment.

This is also a last resort, because there are about 300,000 Russian troops fighting on the front line, while the 38th Army has only more than 50,000 people in total. If you fight head-on with the Russian army, the purpose of annihilation of Russian combat troops will not only take more time, but also suffer greater casualties.

In fact, annihilation of the enemy does not necessarily mean that the enemy is eliminated, and capturing the enemy can achieve the same goal.

That's right, the assault troops of the 38th Army are relatively small, generally composed of two battalions, and the breakthrough on the Russian front is not very large. After all, without reserve forces, there is no need to expand the breakthrough. There is only one key point in the assault operation: speed.

At this time, a unique arrangement of Qi Kaiwei played a crucial role.

At that time, the Army Air Force, which assisted the 38th Group Army in combat, did not participate in the vertical assault operation, but went all out to provide logistical support for the 38th Group Army, that is, to provide ammunition, batteries and other essential materials for the dispersed assault troops through vertical air transportation.

Among them, the battery of the ground war platform is the most important.

At that time, most of the power equipment on the battlefield was damaged, so after the assault forces of the 38th Army entered the enemy's defense zone, replenishing power became the main problem. Obviously, it was unrealistic to send power supply equipment up. The only way was to replace the battery for the ground war platform on the battlefield. Fortunately, when designing the ground war platform, this situation was taken into account. The battery could be replaced as a whole through hoisting. All that was needed was a small crane, and the occupants of the platform could complete the entire work without arranging special engineers. More importantly, all ground war platforms could temporarily install small cranes.

It can be said that adequate and timely logistics support is a key factor in ensuring the continuous combat capability of the troops.

Of course, in addition to this, the mental state of officers and soldiers is also the main factor that determines the troops' continuous combat capabilities.

In high-intensity assault operations, officers and soldiers consume a lot of energy, and even well-trained soldiers can last for up to two to three days.

Fortunately, this is not only a problem with the Chinese army, but also a problem with the Russian army.

After the defense line was broken, the Russian army had only one choice: retreat.

The problem is that the retreat passage has been blocked, so the Russian army can only break through with all its might. This is not the biggest problem, because the Russian army still has to be on guard against the small assault forces of the 38th Army when breaking through. It can be said that the Russian army will not be at peace for a moment.

Of course, this also contributes to the Air Force and the Long-range Artillery.

While the 38th Army and the 15th Airborne Army were fighting bloody battles, the Chinese Air Force dispatched thousands of fighter jets to bomb the Russian army in turn. The long-range artillery of the two armies and the long-range artillery deployed in the rear were also taking turns to bombard the Russian troops that were not attacked.

The result is that most Russian soldiers have to tighten their nerves.

Obviously, it was not the Chinese army that collapsed first, but the Russian army's front-line troops.

The fierce battle lasted from the morning of the 15th to the early morning of the 18th. After the Russian army had no hope of breaking through, they began to surrender to the nearest Chinese army. On the night of the 17th, six Russian divisions in the direction of Tomsk surrendered first, and nearly 100,000 Russian officers and soldiers surrendered to less than 4,000 Chinese soldiers. In the early morning of the 18th, five Russian divisions in the direction of Barnaul surrendered, and fifty thousand Russian officers and soldiers surrendered to six,000 Chinese soldiers. On the morning of the 18th, seven Russian divisions in the direction of Novosibirsk surrendered, and ten thousand Russian officers and soldiers surrendered to ten,000 Chinese soldiers.

At this point, 250,000 Russian troops have surrendered.

Among these surrendered Russian officers and soldiers, only about 30,000 wounded, and the other 220,000 were weapons laid down in despair.

But the battle is not over yet.

On the morning of the 18th, two assault clusters of the 38th Army crossed Novosibirsk and continued to advance westward.

Because before this, the 38th Army had never crossed Novosibirsk, this was equivalent to expanding the war zone, that is, advancing towards Omsk according to Qi Kaiwei's intention.

By this time, Brushilov was helpless.

Although Brushilov believed that he should retreat to Omsk and deploy defense lines along the Ertish River, the Russian president once again intervened in the combat operations and demanded that Brushilov block the Chinese army east of the Barba grassland no matter what, and that Omsk should not be threatened.

You should know that Omsk is the most important railway hub center in the Siberian region. The three Siberian railways meet here and are divided into two trunk railways, one leading to Yekaterin Arbor, Russia's third largest city, and one leading to the famous military and industrial city of Chelyabinsk. Whether Brushilov is confident or not, the Russian president does not have much confidence.

The result was that the Russian army did not undergo strategic retreats in a mess.

For Qi Kaiwei, this is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You should know that there are about 200,000 Russian troops in the west of Novosibirsk. If these Russian troops can be eliminated, they can reach Omsk without any obstacles.

In the next few days, the 38th Army and the 15th Airborne Army launched a full-scale attack, bringing a perfect end to the battle.

By March 22, not only did the 170,000 Russian troops guarding the Barba grasslands be wiped out, but the vanguard troops of the 38th Army also arrived in Tatarsk, less than 200 kilometers from Omsk. It was only at this time that Huang Hanlin urgently stopped, and the 38th Army had to stop moving forward.

Unlike the previous times, Qi Kaiwei did not withdraw the 38th Army.

After this decisive battle, not only did the Russian army's 500,000 troops (420,000 captured Russian officers and soldiers, and it took five days to send these prisoners of war), but also severely damaged the main force of the Russian army, so that the Russian army would not have the intention to launch a counterattack again in the next few months.

Obviously, in a few months, the Chinese army has reached Ural Mountain.
Chapter completed!