Chapter 46 I Want to Live

  The commander of the 113th Division, Xiao Hua, led the reinforcements to an area less than ten kilometers from Manzhouli, but was held back in this area. The Soviet army deployed an infantry corps here for interception, and it can be said that the two armies met. Xiao Hua's troops fought hastily, fortunately, the 114th Division and the 115th Division were not far apart, and they arrived on the battlefield after fighting for an hour, completely suppressing the Soviet army.

  But the Soviet army relied on its firepower advantage to hold its ground, and the 38th Army and the Soviet 53rd Army became bogged down. Commander-in-Chief Shang Zhen personally led the troops in a full-scale charge, with artillery pouring into the Soviet positions non-stop, but still failed to break through the Soviet defensive lines.

  Then the 50th Army rushed to the battlefield, at this time it was already 7 o'clock in the evening. This cannot be blamed on the 50th Army, but rather the 50th Army lent one-third of its vehicles such as cars and transport trucks to the 38th Army, and they were able to arrive at this time with great effort.

  Zhang Zhong said to Guo Si Zhong, commander of the 50th Army: "Thank you, you've worked hard!"

  "Cut the pleasantries," said Guo Sizhong bluntly. "What's the situation now? How are we going to pull out this nail? Is there a mature plan?"

  Zhao Zonghu immediately revealed his plan, saying: "I intend to concentrate all our artillery and use it in a concentrated manner to blast through at one point! Your 50th Army will encircle and attack from the side. If the Soviet army retreats, then pursue; if they resist on the spot, your troops must launch an immediate counterattack! We must quickly defeat this enemy force!"

  Kuo Tzu-chung nodded in agreement: "Alright, let's do it that way. I'll go back and make the arrangements right away!"

  "Alright, launch the attack in half an hour!"

  "Alright, I'm ordering the artillery troops to come over and join your unit immediately, you're in command!"

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  In the Far Eastern battlefield, the 39th Army selected elite troops to form a strike force, which successfully launched a surprise attack on the Soviet airfield in the enemy's rear, destroying 48 Soviet warplanes and 18 transport planes. The strike force suffered heavy casualties!

  The 39th Army of the First Front captured the Far Eastern stronghold of Skovorodino at 6 pm, defeating the Soviet army and killing or wounding over 4,000 Soviet soldiers. Meanwhile, the 40th Army of the Second Front advanced to the Amur River and immediately launched a river-crossing battle. The Soviet army put up fierce resistance on the opposite bank, and the battle became increasingly intense. After three hours, the 40th Army successfully occupied the opposite bank at the cost of over 1,000 casualties and crossed the Amur River by 7 pm. At this point, the passage to Komsomolsk was completely opened up! The army's spearhead pointed directly at Komsomolsk, the third-largest city in the Far East.

  The two major attack troops chose Mohe and Jiamusi as the troop command post and logistics base. The Northeast Field Army's captured National Government aircraft also entered the final moment of flying into battle. The pilots were all pilots from the National Government period, most of whom had heard that they had joined after going abroad to fight.

  Pilot Liu Juyi said to the political officer who came to do ideological work: "Flying abroad for battle is different from internal war, and it's against the Soviet Union. As a Northeasterner, I have no excuse!"

  At 8 pm, Chinese and Soviet fighter jets engaged in the first dogfight since the outbreak of war, with a ratio of 8 to 24. After a fierce battle lasting forty minutes, only two Chinese fighter jets returned, while all Soviet military aircraft were shot down! The most heartbreaking thing is that the pilots of the two returning fighter jets closed their eyes forever due to severe injuries after landing.

  In the cockpit of Liu's plane, there was a piece of paper stuck on which was written in bold letters: "The ancestral land has not been recovered, it is shameful to be a soldier!" This sentence was the most famous and widely spread during the National Army's resistance against Japan. Now, holding this in the war with the Soviet Union is what kind of eye-catching! What kind of heart-shaking.

  Two-thirds of the Northeast Field Army's forces were used to fight against the Soviet Union, with a force of over 700,000! More than 2,000 large-caliber howitzers were mobilized! At the beginning of the war, initial victories were won.

  The leaders of the Northeast Army of the original National Government are now watching the Far Eastern battlefield. The captured generals, who were asked to join the revolutionary ranks again, all put forward a request, which is also their only request: "Request to participate in the fight against the Soviet Union! If General Zhang were here, he would agree with my request."

  The Northeast Army's feud with the Soviet Union was too deep, not only the Kaimingiao incident in 1929 before the Anti-Japanese War, but also the brutal seizure of industrial events after the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. The Northeast Army had a natural hatred for the Soviet Union and did not need to be mobilized.

  The chairman, upon learning of the matter at the first time, sighed and said: "Since ancient times, countries have indeed had their traitors and national thieves, but there have also been emerging patriotic heroes. Although they have different ideologies, they all have a patriotic heart! They are all worthy of our respect."

  At around eight o'clock in the evening, Liu Yin Qin Ke held a telescope to observe the current battle situation. At this moment, he finally had a slight relief, his troops had been continuously attacking and were about to eliminate this enemy force.

  The Communist troops in Manzhouli have been restricted to an area of less than one square mile. Our own troops have completely surrounded them. Even if our own troops do not charge, they can be eliminated with artillery fire.

  Liu Yin's heart was once again filled with bitterness, the cost of this victory was too great. An entire army of nearly 40,000 men had been sent to attack an understrength independent division, which had fewer than 8,000 troops. The result was that they themselves had suffered over 18,000 casualties and lost 23 tanks. What's more worrying is that the morale of their own troops has been severely damaged, and it's likely that their troops will not be able to continue fighting after this battle, requiring a long period of reorganization and training, the troops' vitality has been severely injured.

  Liu Yin-qin discovered that among the Communist troops' positions, there was one person who particularly caught his attention. He found that this Communist soldier was very special at this moment, clearly having suffered a severe injury yet sitting in a chair, still holding the military flag.

  He found that this person was an officer, and he had a premonition that this person was the one he was looking for. This person was very likely to be the commander of Manchuria, his opponent! Despite looking very young.

  The more he looked, the more shocked he was. What kind of eyes were these! His conviction was so strong! With such a severe injury, he still persisted, and it was clear that he was doing this to boost the morale of his soldiers.

  He wanted to order his men to open fire and kill the opponent, which would quickly crush the enemy's morale and annihilate them. However, he was filled with respect for such an opponent who deserved respect. As a sign of respect for him, he decided to personally lead the charge on the battlefield and stand face-to-face with him.

  Liu Yingqin put down the telescope and said: "Order the attack! Capture the enemy commander alive! Remember, I want him alive!"

  "Yes!"