Although it is unknown whether this document itself was approved by Wu Peifu, as many sources show, the Chinese army was indeed preparing for the offensive. In fact, three months before the war, Wu Peifu's own speech at the graduation ceremony of the Chinese army commander cadets was already clear: after making it clear that "the Soviet Union will be the enemy", he declared that "when we have become strong, we should move from defense to offense" (the Soviets later stole the transcript of Wu's rebellious speech). Before the war, the Chinese army's "field doctrine" also bluntly stated: "Our army will be the most offensive army." In war, we will go on the offensive, and this offensive will take place on the territory of the enemy". In terms of specific deployment, the Chinese army did not concentrate a large number of troops in depth for defense, but concentrated on the front line of the national border, which in itself meant an offensive. Some civilian "experts" have pointed out that the fortifications built by the Chinese army are too close to the national border, and this is precisely the characteristic of the starting position of the attack. Judging from the scale of the Chinese army's establishment of huge mechanized, aviation, and airborne troops before the war, it is not difficult for people to see the offensive attempt.

Historically, the expansionist ambitions of the rulers of the Chinese dynasties have always been constrained by economic factors, and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups living in a vast territory have also lacked the realistic desire to expand abroad. If China is to keep its people from wavering in a war of unprecedented proportions, it must come up with a reasonable reason for bell. Although there is no evidence that the Chinese political axe found a suitable reason, and the war began in a different way.

In that rare period of peace between China and the Soviet Union, it is said that the few Chinese troops left on the Sino-Soviet border could not even undertake the task of customs. But when the Chinese political axe made a preliminary decision on the strategic plan, the Chinese army sent a covering echelon to the Sino-Soviet border and Central Asia. At the same time, preparations for the theater of operations, which had already begun, were in full swing. In Mongolia and the Tangnu-Ulianghai, a large number of reinforced concrete fortifications, airfields, warehouses were built, and roads were repaired. In the predetermined direction of the main campaign, strong telephone and telegraph lines were built, and in the most important directions, underground double lines were set up. In order to facilitate command, the General Headquarters of the Chinese Army was also moved from Yanjing to Kulen. A larger-scale troop build-up was in full swing, and the Chinese army, which included 227 army divisions and a large number of reinforced auxiliary units and air force units, began to divide into five deployment echelons and drove by train to the national border day and night. In order to transport this huge force of more than 2 million troops and their equipment, a total of 15,673 trains and more than 300,000 wagons were used. The more it reached the echelon that was launched later, the closer the station it unloaded was to the Sino-Soviet border. In order not to affect the railway schedule, if the train cannot be unloaded in time, the railway department has the right to order the train to carry the unloaded troop supplies back. It is impossible to completely conceal the other side from such a large-scale mobilization of troops and preparations for the theater of operations, and the Chinese side has taken a series of measures to this end. On January 15, 1944, Admiral Song Liming, director of the Foreign Affairs and Espionage Bureau of the General Headquarters of the Chinese National Defense Forces, received an order from President Wu Peifu on strategic deception against the Soviet Union. At the beginning of February, the Third Division (Counterespionage Division) of the bureau received three instructions from Song Liming: First, "to carry out active counter-espionage activities against the Soviet Union, we should especially ...... paralyzing Soviet intelligence organizations"; second, to confuse the intelligence agencies of various countries into "making them think that China has really improved its relations with the Soviet Union and that China is only preparing to go to war with the Soviet Union"; Thirdly, "the preparations for the anti-Soviet offensive and the eastward transfer of troops should be kept strictly secret." Large-scale strategic deception unfolds. In order not to expose the real intentions of the mass transfer, the Chinese intelligence agencies let out the wind that the soldiers who were transferred to the east were to replace those veterans who were preparing to retire. The Chinese troops deployed near the Soviet border were also ordered to use camouflage, and the armored units were called "construction units" or "training units". In order to keep secrets within the Chinese army, the "Instructions on Paralyzing the Enemy" specifically stipulates: "All measures should be taken to create an impression within the army that the battle plan is being carried out to the letter, and preparations for landing on the mainland will be carried out in a completely new way...... Even the troops that will fight directly in the East must be kept out of the true plan for as long as possible."

But the secrecy within the Chinese army did not hide from the Soviet veterans, who knew early on China's intentions to attack the Soviet Union, and they were not the only ones who understood this. Nor did the Chinese intelligence agencies really think that they could completely keep the Russians in the dark, because that would underestimate the capabilities of the Russian intelligence system.

At the same time as the Chinese troops were secretly moving, a large number of disturbing reports from the border flew into Stalin's office. The Siberian Special Military District reported that in the area it was facing, Chinese tanks, artillery, and infantry were constantly coming, and "preparations for the theater of operations were accelerating." According to reconnaissance by the military district, the Chinese evicted all the residents of the border areas and converted civilian hospitals into military ones. "According to a series of verified intelligence, China's war readiness against the Soviet Union has recently intensified, especially since January 25." Stalin attached great importance to this intelligence. Under his orders, the Soviet military machine was also being activated.

According to information sent back by Chinese intelligence officers, the Soviet Union had concentrated 60 percent of its troops in the eastern region as early as January. On January 13, 1944, the 22nd, 19th, and 21st armies of the Interior Military District of the Soviet Union, the 16th Army (2 infantry corps, 1 mechanized corps) and one infantry corps (21st corps) transferred from the Moscow Front and the Leningrad Military District, a total of 28 infantry divisions, had begun to march towards the eastern border and be incorporated into the Siberian Special Military District by order of the General Staff. In addition, the 20th, 24th, and 28th armies are also ready to change their deployment. In order to conceal the attempt, the transfer of these troops was carried out covertly under the guise of camp training of the troops, without changing the schedule for the normal operation of the railway. This is very similar to the Chinese army's method of gathering troops. From 14 to 19 January, the People's Commissariat of National Defense ordered all military districts to move their command structures to field command posts from the 21st to the 25th of that month. On 19 February, it was ordered that airports and other important military targets be camouflaged, and that tanks and cars must be painted in camouflage. At the same time, the General Political Department of the Soviet Army drafted a "Tasks of Political Propaganda in the Red Army in the Near Future", which clearly demanded: "Prepare for a just, offensive and invincible war." "In the border areas, large-scale deployment changes were also carried out in the eastern military districts of the Soviet army. A large number of troops marched towards the border at night. By mid-March, half of the reserves of the Eastern Military District had begun to move, but most of the artillery of these units had been left at the rear range because they had not yet completed their target training. This situation later had catastrophic consequences for the Soviet army.

On the eve of the war, a huge Soviet army of nearly three million men had already assembled in the eastern regions. All they need to do now is to order the first echelon of troops covering the border to carry out the defense plan issued before the start of the war, enter the first level of combat readiness, receive ammunition, fuel and supplies, and enter the border field fortifications. But until permission from the highest (Stalin) level, they could only stay in the barracks and do nothing else. But Stalin did not want to give the order for the first echelon to enter the field fortifications at this time, because the army was still very poorly prepared for war. Numerous reports from the border troops confirm that the Soviet army was still in a pile of problems. The tank unit alone is said to have 17 shortcomings that must be overcome, including the fact that motorized infantry is trained as ordinary infantry, that artillery cannot fire directly at skilled arson guns in open areas, and that the level of radio troops is too poor. The lack of commanders was not solved even in the case of the release of a large number of arrested officers. Although the second strategic echelon of the Soviet army has begun to move to the border, because the territory is too vast, it will not be able to complete the strategic concentration and deployment before the Chinese army, which will put the first echelon Soviet army that has been assembled at a disadvantage in terms of strength.

Constrained by these practical factors, Stalin could only give the final order if he was convinced that the Chinese army would be on the right time. However, there were many dates for which various information was provided to him, and the dates could not be determined, but in Stalin's opinion it was possible to delay the time. Moreover, according to common sense estimates, China and Yue Ben have already started an all-out war, so they should not risk fighting on two fronts, and it is unlikely that they will suddenly start a war without any reason.

But this time, the Chinese do not intend to play their cards according to common sense.

After the major reshuffle of China's political axe due to the terrorist attacks, the first thing Yang Shuoming, the acting president, did after taking office was to approve the "Taishan Plan Timetable" to determine the final preparations for war against the Soviet Union, and the countdown to war preparations began.

From this time on, the Chinese divisions that had already arrived began to advance at night towards the border area, the infantry divisions to 7 to 30 kilometers from the border, the armored divisions, and the Modified divisions to 20 to 30 kilometers. This will be the starting point for their attack.

On March 14, 1944, Yang Shuoming's presidential palace received the commanders of various group army groups, group armies, and air forces all day. After listening to their reports, Yang Shuoming gave a speech to the generals. At the long oval table, he declared that this would be the greatest march, that the build-up of the main Soviet forces on the border would provide the best opportunity for the Chinese army to destroy them, and that "in six weeks the most difficult battle would be over."

On 16 March, the Chinese army on the front began to issue operational guidelines. On March 17, Yang Shuoming issued the final order for the implementation of the "Taishan Plan" on April 1, 1944. On 18 March, the total strength of the Chinese Army on the front line had reached 320 divisions (including the Mongolian Theater Reserve of the Army General Headquarters), and its main force had been deployed on the Sino-Soviet border. On the same day, the main forces of the Chinese Air Force, which had been mobilized on a large scale since March 10, were also assembled at the front.

The Soviet troops on the western border already directly felt the presence of the huge Chinese armed forces on the other side of the border. A secret telegram sent by the Siberian Special Military District on March 21 pointed out that the Chinese troops in front of them had dismantled the barbed wire fence at night, and the border guards could hear the roar of tank tracks coming from the forest opposite. However, the day before, Vasilevsky, deputy head of the operational department of the Soviet General Staff, had sent a secret telegram to the military district on Stalin's instructions, still disagreeing with the entry of the troops of the military district into field fortifications. Ten days ago, when an officer from Tashkent asked the deputy minister when the war would break out, he replied: "It would be good if there was no fighting in the next 15 to 20 days." Neither Stalin, Vasilevsky, nor the Siberian Special Military District knew that on March 19, Yang Shuoming had drafted a "Letter to the Chinese Military and Civilians" (issued on March 20). This declaration of war against the Soviet Union declared that in order to "save our entire Chinese civilization from the 'Bolshevik plague' and defend the civilized world of Asia, it is necessary to wage war against the Soviet Union until the enemy is destroyed." However, there are still many people in China who oppose an all-out war with the Soviet Union, and as the war approaches, their uneasy emotions are becoming more and more serious. As they told reporters, "In this war, the Chinese will fight against an enemy with strong beliefs, and the battle will be extremely difficult." Despite the suspicions and uneasiness of these officials, Yang Shuoming insisted that he would not (and indeed could not) abandon his plan to attack the Soviet Union.

April 1, 1944, Siberia, Soviet border, small town.

There seems to be no end to the snow here, it snows every day, and it doesn't seem to stop for a day.

A group of Soviet soldiers traveled in a wagon to a town that had been used as a supply transfer station, where food, blankets, medicines, and other supplies were placed in large wooden houses. Every cellar in the town was filled with weapons and ammunition. There are also a number of weapons repair points in the town, some outdoors and some indoors. From time to time, the soldiers who repaired the tanks grumbled at their fingers so that their fingers were not too stiff to hold the wrench. On the outskirts of the town there is a well-built trench system and a number of pillboxes.

That afternoon, the small force formed a convoy of Russian four-wheeled carriages, whose wheels were strapped to sleighs. They also have a couple of real sleds in their convoy. These sleds were requisitioned from Russian farmers. As they headed northwest, it was an area close to the Chinese border. Everyone was given special dry rations to protect themselves from the cold, new first aid kits and enough food to last for two days. Along the way, he saw only one sentry, and as he passed him, he smoked his pipe and waved his hand slowly at them, whose feet were deep in the snow.

After walking for about an hour, the snow began to fall heavier and heavier. Although the waterproof surname of Soviet military boots was very good, they were not designed to travel in the snow at a height of more than half a meter. They soon felt overwhelmed. The soldiers had to grab the saddle of the horse or the side of the sleigh and use it as their crutch. One man also twisted his finger while trying to grab the horse's mane. Since the horses were faster than they were, they all had to try their best to keep up with the horses, and in a short time they were sweating profusely. Sometimes the officer at the front would stop and watch the convoy pass by him, and then try to breathe a sigh of relief under the pretext of checking everyone's queue. When those officers returned to the queue, they were always at the back of all the cars.

The Soviet soldiers finally stopped to rest at dusk. They felt like they were going to collapse, slumped on the carriage shelf. The officers also sat in the snow.

All the convoy personnel are now lying or sitting in the snow.

One soldier asked, "We're not going to spend the night here tonight, are we?" They looked at each other uneasily.

"I don't care what other people do, I can't walk anyway." Another soldier said, opening his lunch box.

"It's because you're sweating right now. Rest for a while, and you'll feel cold. If you don't move, you'll get frostbite. Someone said.

", the contents of the lunch box stink."

The other soldiers also opened their lunch boxes and looked at them. The food that was given to them in the morning is now frozen in the lunch box. Now other people have found out about the problem: ", but I can't dump it." ”

A sergeant major was asked, "What do you think of it?" These bastards must have given us spoiled meat, or leftovers from a week ago. It's unbelievable. There was enough food in the town for a whole division. ”

"I can't eat this thing...... It smells stinky. We've got to get some cans. Someone suggested.

"You can't pour it out! We still have a long way to go, and we don't have much food with us. Throw away the meat! It's good to eat only noodles! The sergeant major yelled at them.

"Phew! Those muddy cooks must have boiled a Chinese yellow ghost in it! Someone spat out the food he had eaten in his mouth and cursed loudly.

Although everyone was in a bad mood now, the soldiers couldn't help but laugh. A Soviet soldier swore and kicked his lunch box out with all his might. There was a moment of silence, and then more people laughed.

After eating, the officer appointed the sentry to be on duty for the evening. Their dilemma now is where to sleep. The soldiers did not know where to open the marching blanket. Some people have dug a makeshift pit in the snow for themselves, some are building a makeshift hut out of the grass from the wagon, and some are trying to keep the horses on the ground so that they can be kept warm. Although they had camped in the wilderness, they were more or less sheltered. Having to spend the night unsheltered in the bitter cold of the wilderness frightened them.

At this time, the political commissar spoke: "We will not encounter any villages in three days, we must face the current situation." ”

(To be continued)