Episode 140 Sharpen your knives

In mid-September, in parallel with a series of intense diplomatic activities, .

The plan of the Ming army was to finish the first battle before winter, destroy the Soviet Far East Army in two months, and defeat the Far East in one piece. The goal is to advance north to the Trans Khingan Mountains and east to the sea. Then, taking advantage of the opportunity of easing the fighting between the two sides and consolidating the defensive line in winter, the Free Russian Liberation Army will be developed and expanded, and by the spring of next year, the main force of the war against the Soviet Union will gradually be handed over to the Russians themselves, and the Ming army will gradually retreat into the background.

But the first battle is quite important, and the Ming army must mobilize elite soldiers and strong generals to eat the first bite steadily. In other words, at the beginning of the campaign, the positioning was still a war between the Ming and Soviet states. And the Ming also wanted to give the Soviet Union the impression that the Ming Dynasty's ambitions were limited, that this was just an expansion of the war in Central Asia, and that the purpose of the Ming State was not to overthrow the Soviet regime, but only to take the Far East coast so that it could be dealt with Japan. Because, at the negotiation table, Ming Guo wanted this piece, but the Soviet Union didn't give it, Ming Guo was impatient and took it himself.

But at the same time as the Far East was taken, Free Russia also entered the political arena and began to carry out large-scale arms purchases from it. Moreover, the first move of the Ming army still has a way to retreat, and it is not a gamble on the fortunes of the country. If Free Russia's arms purchases don't work, or if White Russia can't hold it up, then the war will end there, and then the two sides will continue to negotiate in the winter. This result is certainly not unacceptable to Moscow, and Stalin will not play for this "local war" in the Far East. Because the battlefield was at the door of the Ming Dynasty, the Soviet Union wanted to end the war as soon as possible more than the Ming Dynasty.

However, if the path of Free Russia is going well, then the next spring will continue to advance westward, turning this war into a Russian civil war.

On September 15, the Supreme Command of the Ming Dynasty finalized the battle plan and determined the time of the attack - that is, D day and X hour.

Day D is scheduled for September 26, and X o'clock is scheduled for 4:30 a.m. It was Sunday. Although the Soviet Far East Corps will not be too paralyzed, and the troops below will not necessarily have a holiday on weekends, the military and political organs in Moscow will definitely have a holiday. The leading organs of the border military districts are also on holiday. However, the command system of the Soviet army was very rigid and lacked subjective initiative. Without Moscow's instructions, the generals of the troops did not dare to let go of the command.

Now the entire Soviet Union, and especially the leadership, are in a panic of "purge". Now the Great Purge is in full swing in the party and government system. The army has basically not been affected, but the generals of the army system, especially the senior generals, are already frightened birds, and they all dare not breathe, for fear that when they will be bitten by Moscow's "forced confession", they will be brought back to Moscow to live and die, and their daughters will also be sent to concentration camps......

There were some high-ranking generals who knew that they were on Stalin's list of suspicions, and they already knew it. Like Tukhachevsky. They are even more cautious, walking on thin ice, as if they are on the edge of an abyss, and they dare not take a step beyond the thunder pool in every move, for fear that some people will be caught and charged with a political crime.

Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that the current war against the Soviet Union would definitely not be the same as Germany's war against the Soviet Union in 41 years. At that time, the Great Purge of the Army had already been carried out, and the command system of the Soviet army had been washed away. And now, the Ming army is facing the Soviet army, whose chain of command is almost intact.

But there are two sides to everything. The situation of the Ming army over the German army also had a huge advantage.

First, the equipment of both sides. Now the military strength of the Ming army is no worse than that of the German army. At least in terms of hardware, such as aircraft, tanks, artillery, and light weapons, it is not inferior at all, and even stronger.

Second, international support from both sides. During the Soviet-German war, Germany was largely alone, while the Soviet Union was supported by the entire Allied bloc. The massive material support of Britain and the United States for the Soviet Union was, if not the most critical, factor in the persistence of the Soviet Union, at least one of the most critical factors. Now the situation is the opposite, the Soviet Union is fighting alone, and the Ming will be supported by many countries, including Britain, the United States, France, and Germany. The United States, the world's largest arsenal, will be open to supply and provide the Ming army with material support that will comprehensively overwhelm the Soviet army.

Third, the battlefield mobility of both sides. The German army on the Soviet battlefield in 41 years was far less mobile than the current Ming army. At least the dozens of divisions that the Ming army is now preparing to put into the Far East battlefield, either armored divisions, mechanized divisions, or motorized infantry divisions, have all been mechanized and motorized, and they are already 100% "marching on wheels". Moreover, the Ming army still has dozens of motorized infantry divisions in the country. On the battlefield of the Soviet Union, the German army was still mainly transported on foot and by animal power. This is not only a question of battlefield mobility, but also has a great impact on the "offensive limit." With the same length of a front of 1,000 kilometers and hundreds of kilometers, the German army fought from Poland to Moscow, and it was already at the end of its strong crossbow, and it was no longer able to make a move. The Ming army fought from Harbin to the Outer Khingan Mountains and Lake Baikal, and because of the abundant mobile means of transport, it should not be able to reach the "end of the strong crossbow".

Fourth, the winter preparations of both sides. Hitler was quite optimistic, his mind was full of killing the Soviet Union in seconds, and he never thought that the German army would spend the winter on the battlefield of the Soviet Union. So much so that when it was minus 40 degrees outside Moscow, the German soldiers were still wearing summer clothes...... And the current Ming army is very realistic, knowing that the Soviet Union will not be able to solve it in a short time, and has long been fully prepared for the winter. The heavy vehicles are filled with thick winter clothes, all vehicles have been replaced with special antifreeze lubricating oil, gasoline has also been added with antifreeze ingredients, and some parts of tanks, automobiles and airplanes have also been specially treated with antifreeze......

Every Ming soldier was given anti-frostbite medicine, as well as some medicines commonly used in cold areas. In order to cover people's eyes and ears, the Ming army also continued to carry out "garrison training in the cold zone", and in order to cover people's eyes, it was called "in order to prevent the invasion of the Soviet army, and the troops should be stationed in the northeast for the winter", but in fact, the content of the training was not only "stationing", but also a large number of "offensives...... How to fight in the cold forest and snowfield, how to maintain body temperature, how to quickly get a warm hiding place, what to do if you are injured in a cold environment...... The military health system has also conducted a lot of relevant training......

Although the Ming army was mainly southerners, judging from the northern winter operations of the Unification War, the performance of the Ming army was still satisfactory, and there was no significant decline in combat effectiveness because it was a southerner. Of course, Shanxi in winter and Siberia in winter are still incomparable. The Ming army has a clear understanding of this point and has a strong ideological preparation.

Fifth, and perhaps the most important, Hitler's paranoid and brutal policy of "exterminating the Slavs" vividly forced the Soviet soldiers and civilians who welcomed the German army in the early days of the war and took the initiative to defect to the German army back into Stalin's arms. And the Ming army will never do this. On the contrary, the Ming army wanted to "fight the local tyrants and divide the land" and give preferential treatment to the officers and soldiers of the Soviet Union. Whatever the Bolsheviks could not give to the Soviet people, the Ming army had to give to them.