Chapter 2377: Burning the Kwantung Army

After Sokov ended the call with Lyudnikov, Yakov reported to him: "Misha, I have called the three army commanders and asked them to come over as soon as possible for a meeting, saying that they have important things to do. Announce it to them.”

"Yasha, you did the right thing." Sokov waited for Yakov to finish, then nodded and said, "I originally wanted them to come over for a meeting, and I was planning to wait for the phone call to be completed before I asked you to notify them. , who knew you had already considered this issue."

Since the three army commanders were at different distances from Sauron, although they received the notice at about the same time, they did not arrive at the same time.

The first person to arrive at the headquarters was Lieutenant General Afunin, commander of the 18th Guards Corps. As soon as he entered the door, he couldn't wait to ask Yakov: "Comrade Chief of Staff, are you calling me here in such a hurry? Do you have any important combat tasks?" ?”

"You sit down first." Yakov pointed to the chair next to the conference table and said, "We will make a unified announcement after the other two army commanders arrive."

Chumakov arrived next. As soon as he entered the door, he asked the same question as Afunin, but Sokov and Yakov still did not give him any explanation. They only asked him to sit down and wait for Meleho. husband's arrival.

Seeing that he could not get any useful information from Sokov, Chumakov approached Afunin and asked in a low voice: "General Afunin, do you know what important matter Comrade Commander called us here for? "

Afnin shook his head with a wry smile, then shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "General Chumakov, I know as much as you. Don't think I came before you, but I don't either. We know why the commander urgently summoned us."

 After waiting for about half an hour, just when Afunin was about to lose his patience, Melekhov finally appeared at the door.

Seeing Melehov arrive, Yakov said: "Since everyone has arrived, I will announce something important to you now."

 At this point, he paused intentionally for a moment to observe the expressions of the three military commanders. Seeing the three people staring at him intently, he nodded slightly and continued: "Not long ago, we received a formal notification from the front army headquarters that Tianhuang, the island country fighting against us, has sent a message to his troops. A surrender edict was issued.”

When the three army commanders heard what Yakov said, they were stunned for a moment, and then showed expressions of ecstasy on their faces. The most exaggerated one was Melekhov, who raised his hands above his head and cheered: "Ula, this way we don't have to continue fighting with the Kwantung Army."

 The reason why he was so happy was entirely because his troops were not making good progress in today's battle. When I was upset, I suddenly heard that Tianhuang of the island country had issued an edict to surrender. Then there was no need to continue this battle. The next thing my troops had to do was to collect the weapons of the Kwantung Army and accept their surrender. .

Unexpectedly, less than a minute after they were happy, Sokov, who stood up, poured cold water on them: "Comrade commanders, do you think that Tianhuang of the island country issued an edict of surrender? Will our army stop resisting, lay down their weapons and surrender unconditionally to us? I solemnly tell you now, do not hold on to such illusions, otherwise you may suffer big losses."

“Why, Comrade Commander.” Melekhov asked puzzledly: “Since it was their Tianhuang who gave the order to surrender, does anyone in the Kwantung Army dare to disobey?”

"There are many people who disobey." Sokov told the three army commanders in detail about the Japanese pirates' tradition of subjugating their superiors, and finally emphasized: "Many officers in the Kwantung Army, although they know that they They are not our opponents, but they are obviously unwilling to put down their weapons and surrender. Not only are they unwilling to surrender, they will even prevent others from surrendering to us. They will create rumors in the army that the officers and soldiers are broadcasting The Tianhuang Edict heard here is false and is a conspiracy of our army to force their officers and soldiers to fight to the death with us."

 After listening to Sokov’s story, Afunin realized something and quickly asked: “Comrade Commander, will our original airborne operation still be carried out according to the original plan?”

"Of course." Sokov nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "We will continue to implement the original plan."

Afuning breathed a sigh of relief and said: "Although Master Ye Liao didn't train for a long time, it is indeed not an easy task for the soldiers to master the skills of airborne combat in such a short period of time. If it is suddenly announced By canceling the airborne combat plan, I am worried that the mood of the officers and soldiers will fluctuate. Since everything remains as usual, there is nothing to worry about."

“In addition to the continued implementation of the airborne combat plan,” Yakov continued: “The attack on the Kwantung Army cannot be stopped for a moment.”

“Comrade Chief of Staff,” Melekhov interrupted after waiting for Yakov to finish speaking: “Our attack today is not going well.”

"General Melekhov," although Sokov saw the battle situation of the 49th Army in the battle report, he did not understand some details. Since Melekhov took the initiative to bring it up, he said casually: "Let's go." Tell us all about the fighting situation of your army, so that we can understand what is going on."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Melekhov nodded and began to describe the problems encountered by the troops in cooperating with the tank army's offensive. He told Sokov one by one, and he finally said Wei said helplessly: "Although the road ahead of us is a plain, the Kwantung Army's position is hidden in weeds half a man high, so our artillery cannot find accurate attack targets. Also, the enemy uses weeds to cover The favorable conditions for the field of vision of our army's commanders and fighters resulted in the laying of a large number of infantry mines and anti-tank mines, which caused us to suffer heavy casualties during the advance, thus greatly slowing down the forward speed of our army."

"Comrade Commander." Gorokhov learned that the 49th Army was advancing slowly due to terrain restrictions. He couldn't help but feel anxious. He quickly asked Sokov for a countermeasure: "What method should we use to deal with the cunning Kwantung Army?" ?"

As soon as Gorokhov's words came out, the entire conference room suddenly became quiet. Everyone was thinking hard about what effective methods could be used to clear the Kwantung Army's hidden defensive positions and reduce casualties as the troops advanced. .

Sokov stood up and walked back and forth in the conference room with his hands behind his back, thinking quickly in his mind about how to solve the problem at hand.

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Jin said jokingly in order to relieve the dull atmosphere in the room: "It's a pity that it's summer now. If it were winter, just a burst of Siberian cold current might freeze the Kwantung Army to death in their simple defenses." inside."

The speaker is unintentional, but the listener is intentional. When Sokov heard what Lu Jin said, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind, and he thought of a good idea. He quickly walked to his seat, held the edge of the table with both hands, and leaned forward slightly. , said to everyone: "I thought of a good way to deal with the Kwantung Army's field fortifications."

Everyone was racking their brains to think of a solution, and suddenly they heard Sokov say that he had thought of a solution, and they couldn't help showing a surprised expression on their faces.

Sokov did not have time to guess what everyone was thinking. He said to himself: "I just heard Comrade Deputy Commander talking about the Siberian Cold Current, and I immediately thought that the wind blows from high latitudes to low latitudes. Am I right, Comrade Deputy Commander?" His next sentence was directed at Lu Jin. Hearing Sokov's question, Lukin immediately realized that the other party might have come up with a good idea, so he smiled and nodded, agreeing: "Yes, it is true."

“General Melehov,” Seeing that Lukin agreed with his statement, Sokov turned to Melehov and said, “Your troops are advancing southeast, right?”

“Yes, Comrade Commander, we are indeed advancing to the southeast.” Melekhov asked with some confusion: “But does this have any connection with clearing the Kwantung Army’s field fortifications?”

"Of course there is a connection." Sokov nodded and said: "Early tomorrow morning, you will set fire to the grassland. The wind is blowing from the northwest now. As long as you light a fire, the Kwantung Army located in the southeast will turn into a fire. chicken."

After hearing this, Melekhov thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was really the case. He slapped his hands on the table and said excitedly: "Comrade Commander, your idea is really great. As soon as the fire starts burning, , even if the Kwantung Army in the downwind is not burned to death, it will be smoked to death. After the fire is extinguished, our troops will move forward, and the only things they will see are the burnt corpses of the Kwantung Army."

After hearing this, Afuning showed an unbearable expression on his face: "Comrade Commander, would it be too cruel for us to do this?"

"Any means can be used to deal with the enemy." Sokov said righteously: "As long as it can reduce the casualties of our army and eliminate more of the enemy's effective forces, I don't mind using any means to deal with the enemy."

"I agree with Misha's method." Seeing Afunin questioning Sokov's method, Lu Jin quickly came out to smooth things over: "As long as we set fire on the grassland, we can not only eliminate the enemies hiding in the grass, but also It can detonate the landmines laid by the Kwantung Army, thereby reducing the casualties of our army's commanders and soldiers. I don't think many people will object to this approach."

"Yes, Comrade Deputy Commander is right." Since Melekhov's 49th Army, which was in charge of the offensive, has now discovered a good way, he will naturally not give up easily, and naturally he will agree: "Afunin General, if you have not personally gone to the front line, you will certainly not be able to understand the helplessness of our military officers and soldiers facing landmines in the grass. Nowadays, the method of arson can not only burn or smoke to death the enemies hiding in hidden fortifications, but also detonate those Landmines that cause headaches are exactly what we want.”

Since the area to be set on fire was on the offensive route of the 49th Army, Sokov saw that Melekhov agreed with his point of view, so he continued: "Since General Melekhov has no different opinions, then after daybreak, we will Just set fire to the offensive area. Yasha!"

"Here!" Yakov said quickly: "I will ask the logistics comrades to prepare enough gasoline to burn these **** Kwantung Army to death."

"It's not enough to have gasoline." Sokov continued: "Find two fire-breathing tanks. Once they spray, a large piece of grass will burn. By the way, arrange a group of Pyros to accompany them. The fire-breathing tanks will not be able to burn." Wherever there are, the Pyros use rocket throwers to set fire to them."

"No problem." Yakov nodded and said, "I will arrange the fire-breathing tanks and Pyro soldiers, and I must burn all the Kwantung Army who are stubbornly resisting into roast pigs."

"Misha." Lukin reminded Sokov from the side: "Since the troops of the 49th Army are fighting in coordination with General Kravchenko's troops, do you think we should communicate with them, lest we start setting fires? The army tank rushed through, but was trapped in the fire and was in trouble."

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander, you are right." After listening to Lujin's reminder, Sokov nodded repeatedly: "How could I forget such an important thing? The 130th Division of the 49th Army is cooperating with If the 5th Guards Tank Corps is operating without ventilation in advance, it may cause unnecessary confusion."

Before the meeting ended, Sokov ordered the director of communications to connect himself to the headquarters of the 6th Guards Tank Army and found Kravchenko: "Hello, General Kravchenko, I am the commander of the 53rd Army. Member Sokov.”

When Kravchenko heard that it was Sokov who was looking for him, he guessed that the other party must be for cooperative operations, and quickly said: "Hello, General Sokov. In fact, even if you don't call me, I plan to call you." Make a phone call."

Sokov was stunned after hearing this, and then asked: "What do you want from me?"

"It's like this," Kravchenko said: "Today during the day, my 5th Guards Tank Corps and your 130th Infantry Division fought in coordination, but because the terrain was too complex and the enemy's resistance was too tenacious, we After paying a lot of casualties, the distance to advance is very limited. I want to call you to discuss how to coordinate operations tomorrow."

“Oh, that’s it.” Sokov waited for Kravchenko to finish, then continued: “I just studied a tactic that can break through the enemy’s defense at the minimum cost.”

“Really?” Kravchenko asked with surprise: “Tell me quickly, what are you going to do?”

"It's very simple," Sokov said: "I plan to have the troops set fire in front of the position tomorrow and carry out a fire attack on the Kwantung Army holding on to the position."

"Ah, use fire attack tactics?" After hearing this, Kravchenko asked with some lack of confidence: "General Sokov, is this possible?"

"sure."

 “You won’t burn your own people, right?”

"No." Sokov heard that Kravchenko was worried, and quickly explained to him: "The wind has been blowing from the northwest recently, and the position we are sitting in is exactly northwest of the Kwantung Army. In other words, the wind is blowing from the northwest. , we are in the upper wind, even if the entire grassland burns, it will not burn us."

After figuring out what was going on, Kravchenko thought for a moment, then nodded and said: "You are right, General Sokov. If we are in the upper wind, even if we set fire in front of the position, the Kwantung Army will be burned." Our defensive position has been minimally affected.”

“General Kravchenko, since you have no objection, then as soon as daybreak, we will start setting fire in front of the position to burn the Kwantung Army.”