dognovel Chapter 164 The final target: Irkutsk, dispatch a bomber
Chapter 164 The final target: Irkutsk, dispatch a bomber
Chaktu!
In this important border trade town, a war that lasted for a week finally came to an end.
The Russian 16th Army was almost completely wiped out, and the 53rd Army was defeated and fled.
Facing the siege of four divisions of the Second Army, the two armies were able to hold out for so many days with equal forces.
Among the many army groups of the Far Eastern Front, he is considered a tough guy.
Once the road to Chaktu was opened, it meant that the last obstacle to the Irkut region was also cleared.
Now there is only one remnant of the 35th Army that is blocked in the Hamar Daban Mountains.
They were called the remnants because several of their divisions that set out on foot from Chita were discovered by Air Force reconnaissance aircraft.
The General Staff then discovered that the 35th Army that appeared in the Hamar Daban Mountains was actually not fully staffed, and so many troops were left in the rear.
In this case, the Fifth Army will not be polite.
The 12th Armored Division, advancing at top speed, caught up with this force on the road between Chita and Udinsk.
A single assault caused the army to be defeated, and two to three thousand people were captured as prisoners.
At present, the 12th Armored Division of the Fifth Army's vanguard has now successfully arrived in Udinsk and is waiting to join the Second Army.
A day and a half later, the Second Army and the Fifth Army successfully joined forces in the direction of Udinsk.
Then an armored division and two mechanized infantry divisions formed a mechanized cluster and advanced westward along the railway line, aiming directly at the 35th Army that was blocked on the east side of the Hamar Daban Mountains.
On the Hamar-Daban Mountains, the 19th and 20th Airborne Divisions stood like rocks blocking the 5th and 35th Armies.
No matter how hard they attacked, the defense line remained motionless.
After a few days, General Ivanovich's plan was shattered.
Both he and Lieutenant General Victor of the 35th Army understood what they would face next.
So when the mechanized group composed of the 35nd and th Armies arrived at the Hamar Daban Mountains, the th Army decisively laid down its arms and surrendered under the order of Lieutenant General Victor.
After receiving the news, the 5th Army also decisively retreated to the city of Irkutsk.
Now General Ivanovich only has this one army group left.
If the 5th Army suffered further losses in the Khamar-Daban Mountains, the Irkutsk region would have to be handed over.
Ling Liang really wanted to stop the Fifth Army.
But they retreated so decisively, and chose to do so at night, so there was no way to stop them.
The 19th and 20th Airborne Divisions of the Airborne Army also fought extremely hard in this battle.
You must know that in order to break through the Hamar Daban Mountains, both the 5th Army and the 35th Army were fighting desperately and at great expense.
And large-scale night raids are launched almost every night.
Because of this, the 19th and 20th Airborne Divisions suffered heavy losses, with more than 3000 soldiers killed or wounded in the two divisions over the course of several days.
This is even when they have certain firepower and defensive advantages.
Fortunately, with the natural water airport of Lake Baikal as a supply base, the 19th and 20th Airborne Divisions did not suffer from shortages of ammunition, food and medicine.
Otherwise, whether it can be held is really an unknown.
This operation was also very risky.
However, the benefits were also huge, as the 35th Army was retained.
Currently, only the 5th Army is left fighting alone in the vast Irkutsk Oblast.
There was no possibility of holding the line against the combined attack of the Second and Fifth Armies.
Anyway, for the Restoration Army, it doesn’t matter even if Irku City is reduced to ruins. After all, it’s not their city, so they won’t feel bad if it is destroyed.
So if General Ivanovich wanted to use the complex urban environment of Irkutsk to fight street battles with the Renaissance Army, then his calculations were wrong.
But for General Ivanovich, this seems to be the only way.
Some also suggested that he lead the Fifth Army to withdraw to Taishet, on the border between Irkut Oblast and Krasnoyarsk Krai, to block the Restoration Army there.
"Retreat? Do we still have a way out? We have lost Monyuan Province, Vladislavl, Khabarovsk, Chita, and Udinsk. The entire Far East will fall into the hands of the Restoration Army.
Moreover, of the more than 40 troops in the entire Far Eastern Front, only the Fifth Army with more than 7 troops is left.
Do you think I have a way out? Do we have a way out?
Even if I returned home safely, what awaited me would be trial by a military court and the condemnation of the people.
So I can't leave, I will live and die with the city of Irkutsk.
If any of you want to evacuate, I will arrange trains and planes to get them back to the country safely."
General Ivanovich's heartfelt words silenced all the generals.
As the commander of the front, he refused to retreat and insisted on staying at the front line.
How could the generals under them retreat first?
I'm afraid that when he reaches Taishet, the military police will be waiting for them.
So, just as General Ivanovich said, they had no way out.
The entire Fifth Army withdrew its forces to the city of Irkutsk and built an outer defense line around the city.
However, this line of defense is not used to stop the Renaissance Army, but to provide early warning.
Therefore, they only deployed two regiments with more than 4,000 troops in this line of defense.
The real core line of defense is the Irkutsk city area and the Angara River.
The source of the Angara River is Lake Baikal, and then it flows westward to merge into the Yenisei River.
This is a river with a large flow of water. When it passes through the city of Irkutsk, it divides the city into two parts, the south city and the north city.
Therefore, the first line of defense of Irkutsk city is the southern city area, the second line of defense is the Angara River, and the third line of defense is the northern city area.
On August 8, 12, although the Siberian cold wave had not yet started to blow in Irkutsk Oblast, the temperature had already dropped to only a dozen degrees Celsius.
Moreover, according to meteorological observations, this year's Siberian cold wave may come earlier than in previous years.
It is very likely to arrive in early September, or at the latest in mid-September.
At that time, the entire Siberian region will be covered with snow.
For the troops, that would be a real struggle.
Wanting to fight in Siberia in winter is no different from seeking death. It is simply challenging the limits of human beings.
This also means that the Second Army and the Fifth Army only have half a month to resolve this battle.
In order to upgrade the base, Jiang Hua also received a death order from the front line, and he must eliminate all remaining enemies in Irkutsk Oblast before September 9st, at any cost!
This was also the first time he issued such an order.
The First Siberian Column was a temporary army-level unit formed by the Second Army and the Fifth Army.
The commander of the First Column Headquarters was Corps Commander Zhuang Hua.
Guo Mingxuan, commander of the Second Army, and Zhao Qi, commander of the Fifth Army, served as deputy commanders of the column.
In addition to these two armies, the 1st Artillery Division, the 1st Marine Division, the 1st Railway Artillery Regiment, the 1st Independent Heavy Artillery Regiment, the 1st Independent Heavy Tank Brigade, the 2nd Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion and other troops will also join this battle.
This time, the Fuxing Army has an absolute advantage in military strength.
The total strength of the two armies and eight divisions alone is more than 15. With the addition of these troops, the total strength has exceeded .
It was more than twice the size of the Russian Fifth Army.
Of course, mobilizing so many troops was not entirely for the Fifth Army.
It was to defend the western side of the Irkutsk region and prevent Tsarist Russia from providing support from this side.
Although the Yenisei River Railway Bridge was bombed, it does not mean that the highway is useless.
On the morning of the 12th, at the command of the column headquarters.
The Siberian Column, with the 12th Armored Division as the vanguard, launched an attack on the first outer defense line of Tsarist Russia.
After two days of investigation, Zhao Qi had a rough idea of the troop deployment in Irkutsk City.
He knew that the real fierce battle was still in Irkutsk City.
The first line of defense is as fragile as paper.
The 12th Armored Division had just charged when the Tsarist Russian soldiers on the defense line raised the white flag in surrender.
They knew very well that they had become abandoned pawns, and coupled with the demoralized military, they were basically on the verge of collapse.
General Ivanovich did not expect this line of defense to be able to hold off the Restoration Army for long.
It was enough for him to know that the Restoration Army had begun its attack.
"Let the Air Force plow through the entire city of Irku first. Our heavy artillery will take two days to arrive, so we can wait two days."
After surrounding the city of Irkutsk, Zhao Qi and Guo Mingxuan were no longer in a hurry.
In his opinion, it would take less than half a month to take over the city.
Basically one week is enough.
So he was not in a hurry, which was in line with his steady command style.
The Air Force is also well aware of the importance of Irkutsk.
In addition, the fighting on other fronts had already ended, so a large number of bomber groups were dispatched to bomb the Irkutsk region.
11 bomber aviation brigades and 4 fighter aviation brigades, totaling fifteen aviation brigades.
这11个轰炸机航空旅当中，6个是B-17重型轰炸机航空旅、3个是B-29战略轰炸机航空旅、2个是B-25中型轰炸机航空旅。
The number of bombers reached an unprecedented 1023.
From this scale, we can see how intense the bombing on Irkutsk city was.
When Zhao Qi and Guo Mingxuan received the telegram, they were stunned by the generosity of the Air Force.
"It's the Air Force's ambition, 1000 bombers.
The artillerymen probably won't even get a sip of soup, so is it necessary to bring in the heavy artillery?"
"They bomb ours, and we bomb ours. We just need to achieve our goal."
The 1000 bombers were not dispatched at once, but were divided into three batches, with an interval of 2 hours between each batch. Each bomber would be divided into two sorties every day.
That is to say, within two days, the entire city of Irkutsk will face carpet bombing by more than 4000 bombers, which is indeed intended to raze the city of Irkutsk to the ground.