Ah Mao was observing the surrounding environment, he didn't know what kind of place this was, he could only roughly divide it from the geographical environment, not far away a sign with the words "Guisui Military Station" written in both Chinese and Mongolian languages, and he couldn't help but gasp, "Fuck! How did you get to this place? ”

Just then, a convoy rumbled. I saw that the officers and soldiers were all standing in a queue, and the soldiers guarding these prisoners shouted with guns: "Stand up, stand up!" ”

The convoy creaked to a halt, and a man in a khaki military uniform approached, surrounded by a group of officers. The man was not tall, stocky, with dark skin and a slightly collapsed nose, and a foot-wide cowhide belt tied to his shy belly, which, unlike other generals, carried a slender cavalry knife instead of a gun.

Seeing the way everyone surrounded him, I guessed that he should be the head here.

Mingjiang Long leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Ah Mao, is that the head here?" ”

Ah Mao has followed the Kong family for many years and recognized the rank, he nodded and said, "I guess it should be, he is a general." ”

"How old is the Admiral?" Mixed Jianglong really didn't have any concept of this.

Ah Mao said in a disdainful tone: "General is the biggest military rank. The commander of our Wuhan Garrison Command is a major general, three levels younger than him. ”

"Good boy!" Chao Jianglong gasped, "Let's not shoot such a big official, right?!" ”

"Don't speak!" The sentry on duty scolded, and Mingjianglong and Ah Mao hurriedly closed their mouths. The soldiers with guns on the road are what they are most afraid of, they have a temper and many means, and they are punched and kicked at every turn.

The general who came was General Batu, who was in the Mongolian region back then. This time, he was ordered to reorganize his old troops and go to Mongolia to embark on an expedition.

Batu walked forward with strong steps, his fat body, his boots creaking on the soft grass, and the spurs on his boots swaying.

"When will the troops arrive?" Batu stopped and asked the staff officer beside him.

A colonel spread out the notebook in his hand and said: "There is still a lack of two infantry divisions of the Northeast Army of the Wehrmacht, as well as three regiments of the original engineering corps, and the rest have already arrived in the designated area to assemble and standby." ”

"What about the unassembled troops?" Batu asked again.

"The two infantry divisions in the northeast are still repairing in the Rehe area, and our old foundation, the three regiments of the engineering corps are still on the road, and it is estimated that they will arrive in a few days." The colonel said.

Batu snorted coldly, "Let those two infantry divisions in Rehe arrive at Guisui within three days." Tell them that if they don't make it within three days, they will be court-martialed! The engineering unit was Lao Tzu's old unit, and it was originally going to go to Kham, but Lao Tzu simply deducted it, and it would be a little later. ”

The colonel's staff officer and the other officers looked at each other and smiled, they were all Batu's old subordinates, and they knew Batu's temper, the original Northeast Army was raised by his mother, and his own engineering unit was his own son.

However, Du Yuming, chief of the general staff of this corps, was displeased when he heard this, and the main component of the Second Army of the Expeditionary Force was the units of the Northeast Army of the National Defense Army, which were originally Zhang Xueliang's troops.

Batu obviously didn't care about the red tape, he took a few steps forward and scolded, "Damn! Lao Maozi's tanks have all been driven to the trading city, and I am afraid that Outer Mongolia will be occupied by them later. Before I came, our Commander Huang told me that our Second Army of the Expeditionary Force could not fight worse than the First Army in Burma. The order went down, and after three days of the Northeast Army, the infantry divisions were assembled in place and immediately marched towards Kulun. ”

At this time, Du Yuming, who was the chief of the General Staff, naturally couldn't be silent, and he stepped forward and said: "General Batu, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult in three days. At present, the material supplies in all aspects have not yet been put in place, and the troops have not yet completed their initial reorganization. ”

Batu stopped and glanced back at Du Yuming. Du Yuming's face was fearless, and he also looked at him calmly.

He secretly thought in his heart that when he met for the first time in Nanjing a few days ago, he felt that he and Du Yuming might not be able to get along with the team, but he didn't expect that this would be the case, and he dared to veto his proposal in front of so many people when he first came here.

A few days earlier, Batu had received an order to rush to Nanjing, where he would put on his battle robe and become commander of the Second Army of the Chinese Expeditionary Force.

Contrary to the direction of the First Army of Sun Liren's expeditionary force, they marched north along the Rehe River and Suiyuan, pointing to the Mongolian steppe. In fact, when he first received the order to go to Nanjing, Batu had already concluded that Nanjing was going to use his own troops to Mongolia this time, not that he had any gossip, but mainly because Batu had developed a habit of reading newspapers to collect information.

During the Northern Expedition, Batu led the Northern Expeditionary Army of 100,000 iron cavalry to go deep, and used sharp sabers and infantry spears to defeat the Mongolian Khan nobles who tried to become independent and the remnants of the Tsarist Russian army in collusion with them, completing the feat of recovering Mongolia after the Beiyang warlord Xu Shuzheng.

This stopped for more than ten years, and later Huang Ke presided over industrial construction, the revolutionary army carried out the reform of the national defense force, and the cavalry units were eliminated because of backwardness.

Under an order from the central government, Batu and his 100,000 horsemen stationed in these steppe deserts threw away their sabers, picked up shovels and went to Yunnan, where they built the Yunnan-Burma Highway, the lifeline of the future, together with tens of thousands of laborers.

After Batu's iron cavalry was revoked, the Mongolian garrison was handed over to one of Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army, which had completed the reconstruction. However, the situation was unpredictable, and shortly after the Sino-Japanese War began, China and the Soviet Union entered a period of friendship, and the Soviet Union began to provide equipment to China and sent pilots to China to resist the war.

At this time, the strength of the Northeast Front was tightened, Zhang Xueliang's Northeast Army was transferred to the front line, and the Japanese army rushed from all directions, and the strength was tight, and the Mongolian garrison was basically transferred away.

In the past few years, there was nothing to do, and China and the Soviet Union were still allies, so naturally they would not be stabbed in the back, and the Mongolian region was quite calm.

However, after the Battle of Normenheim, Japan and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, and the Soviet Union cut off aid to China, and this relationship became delicate.

Huang Ke also had an earlier expectation of the Soviets' plot against Mongolia, and he originally thought that the Soviet Union would not get involved in Mongolia until it completed its counterattack against Germany; In addition, the defense of Nanjing had been mainly used in the early stage, and the troops on all fronts were under great pressure, and it was not easy to be deployed, so it was shelved.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of this year, the nobles of the Mongol Khan clamored for independence in Kulen, and the Nanjing government did nothing after issuing a rebuttal, but then the Soviet Red Army brazenly entered the trading city where Mongolia and the Soviet Union were handed over, and provided a large amount of equipment to arm the Mongolian aristocratic army.

Now, the sab-armed Mongol warriors are armed with modern Soviet-style weapons and vow to defend Kulen.

At this time, Huang Ke knew that he couldn't drag it out any longer. If it drags on any longer, I am afraid that the Americans will sell China together with the Soviets, and when the time comes, it will be difficult for Mongolia to come back.

An emergency meeting of the Central Executive Committee and the Military Committee in Nanjing was held to make a decision on the situation in Mongolia. Surprisingly, the other committee members were not very much in favor of sending troops to Mongolia at this time.

Lin Sen, chairman of the national government, felt that the troops were tight, and he said: "At present, whether it is Nanjing, Beiping, or Jinan, they are all facing a huge Japanese army. Where is the strength of the troops at this time? If it is transferred here, I am afraid that it will be lost over there. In order to resolve the Mongolian issue, it can be postponed for a while. ”

"The problem that Chairman Lin said no longer exists." Huang Ke gently blew the hot air in the teacup, and then told Zhang Xueliang about giving up the right to send troops. "Several group armies under Zhang Xueliang's command are now basically idle in the northeast, and after their reorganization a few years ago, their equipment is also advanced, their combat effectiveness is good, and most of their troops are from the four northeastern provinces and Mongolians. As long as there is a tiger general, this army can be invincible, and the expedition to Mongolia is very suitable. ”

In this way, Lin Sen couldn't say anything more. However, Sun Ke, the premier, went on to say: "The problem of military strength is easy to solve, but at present, China, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union are the four major powers and allies. Will the use of troops against Mongolia at this time cause a rift between China and the Soviet Union? Will this cause disharmony between allies, and we must not lose the big because of the small. ”

Sun Ke's words were agreed by many committee members at the scene, and after they finished speaking, they all muttered to each other. Some said that it would affect US aid, while others said that they were afraid of a conflict with the Soviet Union, which would cause such a situation of troops on both fronts.

Huang Ke's face was displeased when he heard this, and he put the teacup on the table with a bang, "It's really strange! When Stalin sent troops to the trading city, why didn't he think about whether he would offend us and affect the peace between the allies? It's better for you to speak from the other person's considerations. ”

"Don't be rash, how can Dean Sun mean this?" Yu Youren, a member of the committee who was present as an observer, saw that the atmosphere was a little wrong, so he also came out to play a round.

Huang Ke realized that he was a little out of shape, so he changed his tone and said in a soothing tone: "I apologize to Dean Sun, I made a mistake just now. It's just that you have to understand that only if we occupy Mongolia, the USSR will be afraid of us. Mongolia was a buffer zone for the USSR, but for us it was an outpost for the offensive. In the event of a war between China and the Soviet Union, we can quickly cut off the east-west connection of Siberia through Mongolia, and conversely, the Soviets can quickly advance to a calm hinterland based on Mongolia. Mongolia is imperative! ”

In the end, the committee voted unanimously to send an expeditionary force to Mongolia.

The next day, the Ministry of National Defense formally decided to prepare for the establishment of the Second Army of the Expeditionary Force, and Batu rushed to Nanjing overnight to accept the appointment.