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May 2, 4:30 p.m.

Looking at the group of Snake B combat attack planes that were flying away, Zhukov looked at his watch and breathed a sigh of relief. The time required to return, refuel, and change ammunition is enough to ensure that the opponent does not arrive before nightfall. "Put out the embers, ask Comrade Commander Golikov to come to me, what did the scouts find?"

Zhukov began to prepare for the offensive, first he ordered to extinguish the remaining fires on the surface, because as long as there was no fire, the night bombardment of open areas was a waste of ammunition, so as to ensure that there would be no more air attacks before the start of the battle. As tanks and armored vehicles hiding in the woods, camouflaged nets rolled out of concealment, large numbers of infantry and trucks began to assemble at the officers' whistles, and from the Ultau Mountains to the north, the front of the 50-kilometer-wide front was full of Soviet soldiers.

When the commander of the Don Army, Philipp Ivanovich Golikov, arrived at the command post, most of the officers had already arrived. The staff officer first drew a long red sign from Satpayev along the Ultau hill from Satpayev, according to the report of the scouts. Seeing Golikov coming in, Zhukov immediately pointed to the red line: "Comrade Golikov, look here. On the front of the hill from Ultau to Satpaev, they built a mound of earth 47 kilometers long, the northernmost one three meters high and 17 kilometers long, with a slightly lower middle section. In appearance, the mound affects the charge of the infantry. ”

Golikov, commander of the Don Army, was a brave general during the civil war, graduated from the famous Frunze Military Academy by correspondence, served as the head of the reconnaissance bureau of the General Staff during the Great Purge, and was transferred to the Don River after the start of the war to be responsible for the formation of new troops. Stalin was ready to appoint Timoshenko as commander of the Don Army Group to support Zhukov, but considering that Timoshenko was higher than Zhukov and was not easy to command, he asked him to lead his troops to support the counterattack.

As the commander of the infantry army, he attached great importance to this mound of earth that suddenly appeared. So he immediately asked for the detailed height, volume and size, and finally pulled the commander of the 7th Tank Army, Aharyukin. Pyotr Nikolayevich Akhalyukhin was the former commander of the 13th Kalinin Tank Army, after the crushing defeat of East Kazakhstan, Stalin, who was eager to replenish the Eastern Front, transferred a large number of tank crews and officers from Ukraine and Kalinin and other places, he was assigned to the Siberian Front, and followed Zhukov to participate in the Soviet-Finnish war, was one of the two meritorious tank corps commanders who opened the isthmus. Another Major General Baranov, who served as the commander of the 5th Tank Army, is currently advancing in depth to the north, trying to bypass the Ultau Mountains. Akhalyugin immediately found the key point from the description: "Their forces must be insufficient!" That's why a three-meter-high mound of earth was used in the distance to the north (the Soviets did not know at that time that there were containers of earth filling under the mound in the north). Such a mound could block the movement of tanks. But the harm is not very great, and tank guns can smash such mounds. The mound in the middle is only two meters high, and the slope is so large that it does not interfere with tank charges. ”

Hearing what Akhalyukhin said, Golikov thought about it and immediately suggested: "The words of Comrade Akhalyukhin are of great reference value. Their defenses were inadequate, so they must have been deployed on the slopes of the mounds and in the hilltop positions. The mound of dirt was supposed to expose my infantry to an open height when I climbed over. So I suggested that there was no need to waste shells on the mound, and the artillery gauge should be set at a distance of 500-1000 meters behind the mound, killing and wounding their defensive infantry and anti-tank fire, which began in twenty minutes. At the same time, tank units were dispatched to escort the assault division to the mound, which made it possible to shorten the distance of the infantry attack. As long as the tanks can protect the infantry from rushing forward, they can minimize the threat of long-range fire to the enemy, and their night bombers will not dare to bomb at will because the soldiers are entangled with each other. ”

Zhukov nodded. Although he was worried about the sudden appearance of the mound, the problem was that he didn't have much of a choice. Due to the repeated bombing and harassment of the Chinese Air Force, he has lost nearly half of his baggage, plus the attack is ahead of schedule. The shells that were supposed to be replenished before departure have just arrived from Chelyabinsk. As a result, although he had a powerful artillery, he had only 110 shells per gun. If too many shells are wasted on the mound, then it will not be possible to form a covering suppressive fire on the living forces behind. So after thinking about it, he asked, "Where is the Fifth Tank Army?" ”

"Here, 130 kilometres from Kurgasen, it is expected to be crossed tomorrow evening. By the morning after tomorrow at the latest, we can make a detour behind the Ulegau Mountains and flank them to open the gap. Akhal Yukhin quickly pointed out the location of the Fifth Tank Army and said: "Judging from previous experience, each military base of the Chinese is equipped with strong tank units. The Second Army opposite us was the main force of the meritorious army that had fought in the Civil War, the European War, and the War against Japan, and such a force must have a large number of tanks, and I expect the total to be probably between 300 and 350 units. Their tanks are better than ours, and if they cannot be dragged here with a fierce attack, they may well pose a threat to Comrade Baranov. So my suggestion is to take an uninterrupted assault, to drag them down with forces to buy time for Comrade Baranov, and as long as his tank corps and three infantry divisions go around the rear, then we can quickly open the situation and avoid the entanglement and go to Kyzylorda. ”

"Comrade Akhalyukin, don't be too nervous about their tanks, we also have a comparable weapon like the T34/57." Golikov is worthy of being a politician, and his words are very encouraging, and he said with a smile: "Our total strength has 25 infantry divisions, 2 tank corps, plus artillery divisions and other troops, there are already 410,000. And the enemy has only 7 divisions, and even 11 divisions including Kyzylorda, which cannot stop us. ”

Golikov has a reason for being confident, not only because the total strength of the Wehrmacht on the opposite side is only 170,000, but also because the Moscow General Staff has been preparing for this counterattack since last winter. Stalin also attached great importance to Zhukov's counterattack tactics, so he especially strengthened his troops. The Fifth and Ninth Tank Corps are organized into 7 tank divisions/brigades and 1,976 tanks of various types, including 132 in the latest T34/57 and 1,100 in T34/76. Not only that, but Zhukov was also equipped with a total of 1,626 large-caliber howitzers (Soviet standards, 122 mm and above are heavy artillery), of which 1,187 were main 122 mm howitzers. 407 152-mm howitzers, 26 B4-mm howitzers, and 6 M1939-mm 280-mm howitzers (BR5 type) were also brought. Golikov's Don Army, although it belonged to the infantry group, also ordered it to be strengthened before the departure, bringing not only 400 T34/76 tanks, but also 832 heavy artillery pieces, and requiring the rear factories to send one each to Alkarek and Asnata to the nearest battlefield as long as two T34s were produced. After five months of frantic replenishment, Zhukov now has 7,635 artillery pieces of various types in his hands. There were more than 30,000 machine guns, and in order to speed up the movement and avoid the bombing, more than 4,370 vehicles and tractors, 4,100 horse-drawn carriages, and more than 20,000 livestock of various types were mobilized in this long-distance counterattack. More than 40,000 local residents were requisitioned to ensure transportation.

In the end, more than 3,000 planes were deployed at the surrounding field airfields, and according to the original words of the Politburo of the Moscow General Staff, even if the planes were inferior to the opponents, they would be rammed! It is also necessary to ensure the smooth running of this counteroffensive.

Zhukov had also been listening intently to the officers, and the most difficult issue for him was supplies. He was well aware that the counterattack had to be swift, as the East Kazakh-Karaganda railway, which had been built by IDF prisoners of war since last winter, was only 200 kilometres away and had not been repaired. And because the 29th Army did not have time to destroy the railway during the Kyzylorda blockade, the railway from Almaty to Kyzylorda was reopened at the end of last month, and it is also 200 kilometers away. That is, if it can't be resolved as soon as possible. Once he is brought up by the opponent's reserves, he is likely to be blocked here! So after much thought, it was decided to follow Golikov's opinion and order all heavy artillery to place the ruler 500-2000 meters behind the mound. and concentrated forces on the eastern slopes and hills of the mountain. Then the 76-mm guns in the troops were ordered to destroy the mound.

But he didn't know. I made a big mistake myself!

Night, eight o'clock sharp. Soviet soldiers dragged heavy guns into the emplacements, and the artillerymen aimed their muzzles at the slopes and hills behind the mounds according to the rulers. "For the sake of the Soviets, open fire!"

2,122 heavy artillery pieces, densely deployed at a terrible distance of 30 guns per kilometer, in a loud shout, the defense line of the Ultau Mountains in the dark was instantly ignited by artillery fire! The entire eastern slope of Ultau Mountain was full of dense fireballs, shells smashed on the hard volcanic sedimentary rock, bursting with a deafening sound, and the whole mountain range was trembling, groaning, and bleeding! Even in Liu Mingzhao's post-war memoirs, he wrote: "In the whole war, what worried and nervous me the most was not the enemy's tanks, not the fortresses, not the new weapons, but the artillery clusters of the Soviet army. ”

The overwhelming cannonballs were covered with a dense weave comparable to raindrops. Even though the mountains of Ultau Mountain were hard, Liu Mingzhao hid most of the main force in the bomb shelter area on the western slope, and used thousands of tons of cement to strengthen the fortifications, but the continuous artillery fire still made all the soldiers face blue, and some even closed their eyes and gritted their teeth to resist the urge to flee. Fortunately, due to the early precautions, coupled with Zhukov's lack of supply and ammunition, the firepower coverage intensity was only half of what Liu Mingzhao expected, so it did not play a big role. According to post-war statistics, only 1,300 casualties were inflicted, and only 19 of the anti-tank gun positions deployed on the eastern slope were cleverly reinforced with thick cement, leaving the rest intact.

"Get the shells up! Hurry, hurry! Hunt and destroy tanks, you must be in place within ten minutes! ”

In order to prevent being lured by artillery fire, all anti-tank positions were devoid of shells at this time, and the hunter tanks withdrew early. So when the Soviet artillery fire weakened, Liu Mingzhao immediately ordered the shells to be transported. When the soldiers were carrying the shells under artillery fire, two battalions of hunting tanks, all with BDD additional armor, a total of 44 Hunting Tigers and 28 Hunting Tiger B hunting tanks (the 35-year 85 mm hunting tank was nicknamed the Hunting Tiger, and the 105 mm model was called Hunting Tiger B) also entered the semi-buried bunker that the sappers were clearing along the predetermined passage.

At the busiest time for the First Army, the Soviet tank clusters, which were charging under the cover of artillery fire, had already entered the 13-kilometer circle of fire. With 220 T34/57 and T34/76 as the main force of the arrows, covering the 362 fast tanks and 120 troop carriers/trucks behind them, more than 28,000 infantry from three infantry divisions launched the charge. At the same time, Zhukov also divided 200 T34/76 and four infantry divisions to attack Satpaev to the south, trying to hold back the Wehrmacht in the direction of Rzezkazgan and prevent it from reinforcing the defense line of the Ultau Mountains.

"Ulla! Ulla! ”

On the plains east of Ultau Mountain, there was a frenzied sound of Ula. In order to shorten the offensive distance and prevent being blocked by bombers that would surely arrive after being suppressed by artillery, a large number of Soviet infantry sat directly on tanks and tractors without protection, and even directly invested some tractors and trucks to follow the tanks to transport troops. This kind of armored assault tactics similar to the Japanese pig-stud tactics is extraordinarily crazy! Facing the Soviet army who wanted to shorten the distance and fight hand-to-hand combat, Liu Mingzhao's answer was very simple.

Two Thunder 1937 210 mm howitzer battalions, three 155 mm howitzer battalions, three 105 mm howitzer battalions, five 85 mm field artillery battalions and one 105 self-propelled howitzer battalion deployed on the northern side of the mountain opened fire. At the same time, 16 old K16 150mm cannons, which were deployed in a hidden place on the hill and urgently removed from the Karakum fortress, were also aimed at the surging Soviet tank cluster. The K16 was the star of the artillery in the last European war, and the Wehrmacht had a large number of equipment, and in the post-war distribution plan for dealing with German fire, 600 were selected to be brought back to China, and the total number of the whole army exceeded 1,500. Although it was eliminated from the first line due to problems such as overweight and caliber, and most of them were used for the second line and fortified fortress protection, Liu Mingzhao took a fancy to its 22,800-meter range, straight and accurate trajectory and 52-kilogram shells that are close to the 210-mm howitzer, so he deliberately removed it from the Karakum fortress and used more than 100 sorties of transport planes to transport all the 16 guns and supporting ammunition and artillery to strengthen the defensive line.

Although the 484 barreled guns cannot be compared with Zhukov's artillery, Liu Mingzhao also has his own killer weapon, that is, the 107-mm rocket launcher in his hand. However, he is not the kind of officer who likes to lift all the cards at once, so he temporarily withheld more than a hundred rocket launchers. Artillery shells continue to explode in the charging Soviet troops, and from time to time you can see tanks and trucks that have been torn apart by shells, especially the K16 cannons in the bunker on the top of the mountain, and the sophisticated German Krupp technology, even in the past 20 years, can still accurately hit the Soviet tanks and troop carriers that are running wildly.

The shells of both sides were strangled together, and the soldiers were torn apart in the explosion, but neither Zhukov, who came up with the tactics of armored pig assault, nor Liu Mingzhao, who constantly had soldiers killed, were not moved. This is their war, and the number of sacrifices is always the last consideration compared to the whole victory.

"Turn on the lights!"

At this moment, the battlefield suddenly brightened. After a special modification, 12 T26 fast tanks equipped with high-power searchlights suddenly turned on their lights, and 12 snow-lit lampposts pierced a soft mound of earth several kilometers away, pointing the way for the Soviet armored pig cluster in the darkness and explosive fireball. Seeing these modified tracked searchlights, the corners of Liu Mingzhao's mouth slowly hooked: "This Zhukov, there are really a lot of ghost ideas." The staff officers and officers behind him nodded unconsciously, their eyes focused on the special trench in front of the mound, which had been covered with thin planks and camouflaged.

"Another 500 meters! Speed up! Get ready to climb! Machine guns beware of infantry! Colonel Sinenko, who commanded the assault, saw through the observation window that the mound under the searchlight was getting closer and closer, and excitedly shouted: "Rush over and win!" Comrades, rush and wait, what is that? What's going on? What's going on! But Colonel Ssinenko's joy was too early, and before he could rush 300 meters, his eyes suddenly bulged out, as if he had seen a ghost! It turned out that in front of the observation window, a whole row of T34 tanks that had just been preparing to climb the slope were like war horses staggering on their front feet, and they swooped forward.

Before he could figure out what was going on, the T34/57 under his seat seemed to be kicked into the air, and the 25-ton body leaned forward quickly, and then stabbed down like a cliff, and his butt was raised high.