However, it is not enough to have "iron leaders", it also needs people who are equally strong. It is up to them to use their relatives and even their own flesh and blood to bear the endless suffering and sacrifice brought about by the war. The rhetorical strategists can talk as much as they can about the great potential of the Soviet Union in terms of territory, resources, and manpower, but all this potential needs to be exploited by the Russian people at an unprecedented sacrifice that no other nation in the world has ever endured. In the history of mankind, there have been many countries and nations with great potential who could not afford the hellish war and chose to compromise and surrender. Stalin understood his people, and he was going to rally them. After making a series of concrete arrangements, on July 3, 1944, Stalin once again made a radio address to the people in his capacity as the supreme leader of the Soviet Union. The Georgian, who was not particularly good at speaking, tried to impress his people with his native Russian, many of whom were determined to heed his call to resist the Chinese through fortified wilderness, guerrilla warfare, and superhuman efforts. It turned out that it was the innumerable flesh and blood of the indomitable Russian people that made Stalin, the "great leader".

After a brief period of panic, the Soviet High Command and the General Staff tried to build a new line of defense by committing the 13th, 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd armies on the way to crushing the Chinese offensive of the Eastern Front, plus the remnants of the breakout.

Stalin's face was thin and pale, his lower eyes were swollen, and his eyes were bloodshot from sleeplessness...... He finally realized the weight of the great danger that hung over the whole country, and over him as the "leader". If some extraordinary measures are not taken, and all forces are not mobilized, the Chinese may reach Moscow in a few weeks. He proceeded to remove the military chief. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of Brazzaville, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on the creation of the National Defense Committee, headed by Stalin. The Chairman of the National Defense Committee has unlimited powers. The mortal danger facing the motherland requires the concentration of everyone's efforts. The new commander of the Northeast Front, Major General Sobennikov, received an order from Stalin: "Return to the previous posture." "The haphazard retreating troops, having received new orders, were unable to attack or defend. The Chinese Army, perceiving this confusion, carried out a surprise attack on the junction of the 8th and 27th armies and broke through the defensive line...... These messages do not strengthen the confidence of the Chairman of the Defence Commission, who has neither been able to achieve psychological balance nor a correct course of action in order to give the strategic command organs the confidence they so desperately need in those tragic narratives so that they can be firm and deliberate.

In Kulen, the capital of Mongolia, Chiang Baili, the chief of the Chinese General Staff who was staying at the headquarters of the Chinese army on the Eastern Front, known as the "Eagle's Nest", was very happy when he learned of Stalin's speech. In his opinion, Stalin's call would provide a pretext for the Chinese [***] team to resort to violence against Russian civilians without any scruples, and the Soviets themselves would starve to death. Jiang Baili commented on this: "Thanks to Stalin's slogan of destroying everything, millions of people are now doomed to starve." "As for the possible and dangerous surnames of the [***] contingent of the Russians in response to Stalin's call to revolt, Chiang Baili and his generals attached considerable importance to it. But they believed that the Soviet Union was doomed to defeat and that guerrilla warfare could not change this outcome.

Convinced of this, Chiang Baili began to arrange the fate of Moscow and Stalingrad as early as July 8. He was determined to raze these two Soviet cities, along with millions of Soviet soldiers and civilians. Jiang Baili estimated: "By August 15, it will enter Moscow." By October 1, the Russian campaign would be over. He is not alone in this sentiment. An official of the Chinese National Defense High Command also estimated in a personal letter dated June 29 that Stalingrad and Moscow would be in 14 days! Fearing that his estimate would be too conservative, he added, "Sooner than we think, though." ”

China's view is not unfounded. Although they were fully aware of the tenacity of the Russians and the strength of their technical might, they were convinced of their victory. Because the losses suffered by the Soviet troops and their equipment were so great that it was almost impossible to recover. In this regard, the operational note of the Chinese National Defense Forces High Command on 4 July commented as follows: The Russians have lost so many planes and tens of thousands of tanks, and they must have little left. On the same day, Jiang Baili told the Chinese generals: "Actually, they (the Soviet Union) have already lost the war, and we have destroyed the Russian tanks and air forces at the beginning, which is very good, and the Russians will not be able to recover in this regard." Jiang Baili is also taking credit for himself here, because it is he who chose such a great opportunity. For the same purpose, after a week's news silence, on June 29, Chiang ordered the publication of 10 victory communiqués – one every hour. It's really in the limelight.

Marshal Xu Yuanjin also recorded his analysis of the situation in his work notes on the same day: "Of the 164 enemy infantry divisions identified by our side, 89 divisions have been completely or mostly wiped out, there are still 46 Russian infantry divisions that have combat capability on the battlefield, and the other 18 divisions have been pinned down in other places, there are obviously 11 divisions in the rear as reserves, 20 of the enemy's 29 armored divisions identified by our side have been mostly or completely annihilated, and 9 divisions are still fully combatcapable. With this amount of force, the enemy is powerless to form a dense front, even on the most important front. I insisted that the Russian campaign had been won in two weeks. ”

The successive victories of the Chinese army on the Sino-Soviet battlefield made the situation around the Soviet Union very unfavorable. During this period, German and Italian assistance to the Soviet Union was still mainly in the gestation stage, and the situation on the Soviet battlefield became tense. Although from June 29, the Soviet army mobilized sufficient army divisions from Europe to fight in the east. However, in 1944, instead of increasing the strength of the Chinese army, the strength of the Soviet forces in the Far East decreased from 2.1 million to less than 1 million.

At that time, the Soviet Union was eager to attack China and to expand its aggression in the Asia-Pacific region in order to contain the power of the United States and China. Stalin, who was deeply influenced by the commander-in-chief of the German navy, Raeder, believed that the combined fleet was the most powerful navy in the world, and that he should give full play to its role instead of using its weak army to compete with China for the "honor" of Asian hegemony. In this regard, it is clear that the early German military attachés in the country had a role in their assessment of the low level of the army. (In fairness, it should be noted that the Navy, which was valued by Stalin, looked down on the Soviet Union.) In their eyes, it was a gang of hooligans who specialized in sensationalism, while the despised Army of the Present Army worshipped the German Army State to the fullest).

But this situation did not come as predicted by the conclusions of Jiang Baili, Xu Yuanjin, and other Chinese generals. Although the Russian [***] team has suffered a heavy blow, it has not been completely wiped out. Just when the Chinese believed that they had won, the huge Soviet strategic reserve (48 divisions in total) had already moved to the front. These units, which were originally used to carry out a strategic counteroffensive against the Chinese army, are now being used to organize defensive lines to block the Chinese army's offensive.

In order to prevent the Chinese army from breaking through to Moscow, the main forces of the reserve were thrown in the eastern direction. As early as June 25, the Soviet army had formed the reserve army group of the Supreme Command under the command of the cavalry hero of the civil war era Budyonny (under the jurisdiction of the 19th, 20th, 21st, and 22nd armies), and on July 2, the above-mentioned troops were incorporated into the Eastern Front, and the 16th Army, which was originally intended to be transferred to the Southeastern Front, was also deployed in Ulyanovsk. Further afield, the 24th and 28th armies were also preparing.

The reserves, which were scattered and rushed into the battlefield, were obviously not enough to change the disadvantage in which the Soviet army was located, but they were able to stabilize the situation on the battlefield and temporarily prevent the Chinese army from advancing to the heart of the Soviet Union. And behind these strategic reserves, the Red Army was rapidly expanding. By July 1, 5.3 million people had enlisted. As the Chinese side estimated, these recruits will not be able to be equipped with a qualified fighting force in the short term, but they will be able to wear down the strength of the [***] squad little by little through their own great sacrifices.

For Chiang Baili and the Chinese generals, the war had only just begun.

When the last ray of light left Yang Jingyi's sight, the scenery of the distant battle line slowly dissolved into the night. Carrying the dusty Soviet-made "**Sha" submachine gun on her back, Yang Jingyi began to climb out of the foxhole. Along the way were discarded steel shells, fragments of artillery shells, and shattered gun parts and rubble, interspersed with unrecognizable strips of clothing.

"It's been a week...... No, there are still 9 hours left, and it's time for the reinforcements to fight back, right? Yang Jingyi thought tiredly while crawling.

Less than 100 meters away from Yang Jingyi, the barrel of a "gray wolf" tank could be seen silently stretching out in front of the rubble-covered building. "Hey, this guy is still alive!" Yang Jingyi looked at her companion who was still alive with joy, and the direction of crawling changed to the position of the tank ambush. If it hadn't been for it, the enemy might have rushed through the ambush position set up by Yang Jingyi and her comrades yesterday.

When Yang Jingyi stood up along the wall of the building, she couldn't help but look at the center of the castle behind her. "More buildings were destroyed by air strikes, I don't know if there are any reinforcements tonight." Yang Jingyi was staring blankly at the outline of the castle, trying to find out if the tall water tower was still there.

"Come in, don't hang around the door, watch out for the enemy's cold guns." A tall and lanky tankman greeted Yang Jingyi.

"Panic what!" Yang Jingyi muttered dissatisfiedly, but the person quickly turned into the tank bunker.

"Why are you alone?" Another tanker asked Yang Jingyi. "Lao Liu, where are they?"

"Oh, his leg was injured, his artery was broken, and he was taken down by the medic in the afternoon. The others ...... sacrificed. ”

"If we don't come again, we'll all have to fight it out!" The lanky tankmen were a little gloomy.

"They will definitely arrive today, I heard that the siege and annihilation battle has ended, and a total of 700,000 enemy troops have been annihilated." Yang Jingyi comforted them.

"They have eaten 700,000 enemies, but there are more and more enemies in front of us." The tankman smiled wryly and sighed.

Since Yang Jingyi decided to stay and stick to this secret Soviet military base, the fighting here has not stopped for a moment, and the Soviet army has been desperately attacking to try to recapture the base, but it has never been successful under the resistance of Chinese paratroopers and special forces, as well as volunteers composed of local fugitive natives.

"Reinforcements!" The tall and thin tank soldier standing at the door shouted happily to Yang Jingyi.

When Yang Jingyi rushed to the door, the reinforcements had already climbed the slope, more than a dozen people carrying large and small boxes, one of them was also carrying an anti-tank rocket launcher, and the other burly person was probably carrying an automatic grenade launcher. The crowd cautiously walked over the ground, flipped over the broken wreckage of the towed artillery, and walked briskly towards Yang Jingyi.

"How can there be only so few people, how can they survive the repeated attacks of the enemy at night?" Yang Jingyi thought dissatisfiedly in her heart, and a feeling of hunger, thirst and tiredness came to her heart. Yang Jingyi had not slept for a day and night, only eating a compressed biscuit, and the kettle was hung on the stretcher of Lao Liu, that is, Captain Liu Hanliang, after he was injured in the afternoon.

"What's going on here?" The reinforcement officer who came up at the head asked Yang Jingyi, looking at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

"It's okay, there are three of them." The tank crew, who was observing the enemy position behind Yang Jingyi, turned around and said.

"Oh?" The lieutenant colonel hesitated. "What about the others?"

"Six seriously wounded have been lifted since last night, others ...... All sacrificed. Because she didn't drink water, Yang Jingyi's voice was a little low and hoarse.

Last night was the most difficult night since Yang Jingyi took the position, and the enemy launched a three-dimensional assault at the same time as soon as it was dark. The sky was covered by dive bombers and fighters, a large number of bombs fell on the position, and the enemy on the ground threw about a regiment of armored infantry mixed forces to repeatedly attack the line position of Yang Jingyi and her comrades. Every enemy attack was suppressed by artillery fire from self-propelled guns. Reinforcements simply did not come. While hiding from enemy aviation and artillery fire while wearing an oxygen mask in the tunnel, Yang Jingyi almost thought that the trembling roof of the tunnel would collapse at any time, even though it was protected by several layers of I-beams.

"It's not easy for you to hold out from last night to today, and only let the enemy advance 300 meters!" The lieutenant colonel said as he stood next to the tank and looked out with a telescope.

There was a short ditch more than 5 meters deep in front of the position of Yang Jingyi and her comrades, which had been temporarily converted into an anti-tank trench, and was now almost flattened by artillery fire. Thanks to the fact that the sappers had at first put up concealment on the top to cover them, several of the enemy's "T-34" tanks fell into it, and the remaining few tanks and armored infantry fighting vehicles had just rushed from a flat place when the anti-tankers, who were hiding on the anti-slope side of the ditch, hit the rear of the tank turret and the weak part of the armored hull with heavy rocket launchers, and immediately took the account; The enemy's infantrymen on foot outside the car were also suppressed by Yang Jingyi and her comrades with machine guns, submachine guns, and grenades. The enemy would never have imagined that there were still people alive in this narrow position, after repeated bombardment with aerial bombs and large-caliber heavy artillery! But Yang Jingyi and her comrades paid a considerable price: a reinforced company included a squad of anti-tank fighters and three "gray wolf" tanks. Now only Yang Jingyi and the other three people are still complete. At dawn, Yang Jingyi could barely stand up, her "Storm" assault rifle was scrapped, there were no anti-tank guns and rockets, if it weren't for the heavy artillery fire support that suddenly appeared in front of them and the "gray wolf" tank constantly changing blocking positions to destroy the enemy's 4 tanks and 2 infantry fighting vehicles in a row, this place would have been broken through by the enemy for a long time.

"That's right, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel. Where did our heavy artillery come last night? Is it from the other side of the mountain? How did it not before? Yang Jingyi asked the officer suspiciously.

The lieutenant colonel did not immediately answer Yang Jingyi, he was still carefully observing the enemy's movements. "It seems that the enemy's strength is almost depleted, and the red-haired men are adjusting the attack sequence, and even infantry fighting vehicles and self-propelled anti-aircraft guns are ready to take the lead." He muttered to himself. The lieutenant colonel turned to the soldiers who were assembling their weapons and said, "Be careful, everyone, you must not allow the enemy to rush through here tonight. Anti-tank and sniper dispersed into position, paying attention to the use of pit protection. ”

"My name is Song Yugang, and I'm fighting with you tonight. What do you call it? The lieutenant colonel turned back to Yang Jingyi and the tankers and said.

"My name is Yang Jingyi," Yang Jingyi said.

"It turns out that you are the female combat hero who killed 37 enemies!" Song Yugang said to Yang Jingyi with a smile.

"Knowing soon, but I'll have to add nine more." Yang Jingyi also said with a smile.

"My name is Liu Junkai, the squad leader of the 1st platoon and 1st squad of the 2nd Company of the 9th Armored Division Reading Tank Regiment." Said the tankman standing by the tank.

"My name is Jin Yongwan, and I am in the same class as Liu Junkai, and I am a driver." The lanky tankman stood up at this point.

"Drink water, there are biscuits. My name is Han Chunpeng, and I will trouble you to show a few of our snipers and familiarize ourselves with the position. A sturdy young man handed Yang Jingyi a kettle and biscuits, his eyes sparkling in the night.

"Hold out until dawn and we move from here to the castle, reinforcements are already in action this evening, and our main forces will be assembled on the hill, ready to cooperate with the large army to counterattack tomorrow." Song Yugang said to Yang Jingyi.

"On the mountain? There are main forces on the mountain? Did last night's heavy artillery come from there? Yang Jingyi asked in surprise.

"There is a situation, get into the position quickly." The lieutenant colonel shouted to Yang Jingyi in a low voice.

The enemy's offensive has once again begun, and the rapid fire of multiple rocket launchers known as the "Katyusha" is still in the lead, and it seems that the enemy has nothing new to do tonight.

(To be continued)