northernbook Chapter 146 Send a telegram to the headquarters: We have taken control of Ice City!
Chapter 146 Send a telegram to the headquarters: We have taken control of Ice City!
Wei Gang, commander of the 1st Airborne Army, also personally took a transport plane to the Songhua River Military Airport in Bingcheng to take command.
The Songhua River Military Airport is located on the banks of the Songhua River in the north of the Ice City, so it is also called the Songhua River Military Airport.
Originally, an aviation division of the Tsarist Russia and a battalion of guard troops were stationed here.
However, due to the attack on the airport, almost all the fighter jets stationed at the airport were lost.
Coupled with the surprise attack of the 19th Gliding Infantry Regiment of the 55th Airborne Division, the largest military airport in Songjiang Province, the Ice City, was captured at a small cost.
After clearing the runway of debris a bit, the airport was quickly put into use.
Currently, there is a squadron of P-51 Mustang fighters and a squadron of Il-10 attack aircraft stationed at the airport.
Almost every minute a transport plane takes off or lands at the airport.
From here we can also see how busy the Songhua River Military Airport is.
It was also thanks to the huge fleet of transport aircraft that the main force of the 20th Airborne Division was able to quickly reinforce.
"Commander, according to helicopter reconnaissance, we've spotted a marching Russian force approximately 18 kilometers from the airport. It's believed to be an infantry regiment."
Wei Gang’s current military rank has been promoted from Major General Division Commander to Lieutenant General Commander.
We have achieved a leap forward and now is a time of great success.
However, he did not become complacent because of this.
When he heard that the Tsarist Russian troops were heading towards the airport, he did not give orders immediately, but started thinking.
"Only one regiment? What about the rest of the troops? Have they taken any action?"
"We are currently investigating, but according to our General Staff's military chess deduction, there is a high probability that the main force of the Ice City garrison will be fully deployed."
Zhou Tianyou, the current commander of the 19th Airborne Division and former deputy commander of the 1st Airborne Division, shares the same idea as Wei Gang.
So when Wei Gang heard his old partner Zhou Tianyou say this, he was not very surprised.
"Then let's wait and let the 55th Regiment block the attack for a while, and buy some time for our transportation."
Considering the current strength and capacity of the 19th Airborne Division, it would not be difficult to completely wipe out this Tsarist Russian infantry regiment.
But if he did this, it would undoubtedly scare Tsarist Russia into not daring to come out.
If they hide in the Ice City and fight street battles with them, it will definitely be more troublesome to deal with them.
So he lured the enemy out first, and then sent troops to infiltrate them, go around their rear and attack the Ice City, and take over the Ice City as quickly as possible.
This is the ultimate goal of Operation Dandelion.
The blocking position of the 55th Gliding Infantry Regiment was set up in a village called Dongchengzi. The width of the position reached 7 kilometers, completely blocking the possibility of the enemy wanting to bypass and attack the airport.
The 37th Infantry Regiment of the 174th Division of the Tsarist Russia stationed in the northern part of the city is now launching an attack on the Songhua River military airport.
When the regimental commander saw the 55th Regiment's blocking position in Dongchengzi, he commanded his troops to attack without saying a word.
They didn't even conduct fire reconnaissance, but directly mobilized troops to launch a charge.
This scene stunned the 55th Regiment, and they had no idea what the other party was doing.
"Is it some new tactic we don't know about?"
At this time, the commander of the 55th Regiment began to doubt.
It was not until the attacking forces of the 174th Regiment approached the position to about 500 meters that their mortars hastily launched an artillery attack on the blocking position of the 55th Regiment.
A large number of mortar shells fell on the positions in the direction of attack, causing dense explosions.
However, the 55th Regiment found that the opponent's accuracy did not seem to be very high.
Many mortar shells either flew overhead and hit the rear of the position, or fell in front of the position. Only a few shells fell accurately into the trenches of the position.
Compared with the Japanese mortars and grenade launchers, the accuracy is far worse.
If it were the Japanese, seven or eight out of ten of their shells would have hit the position.
It was only then that the commander of the 55th Regiment realized that this was not a new tactic of the opponent, but because the opponent seemed to be a little weak.
"Is the Russian army's combat effectiveness so weak?"
The 55th Regiment, which had fought many high-intensity battles, suddenly felt a little uncomfortable.
"beat!"
When the attacking force of the 174th Regiment of the Tsarist Russian Army was only 200 meters away from the position.
The 2th Company of the 4nd Battalion, which was responsible for this section of the position, opened fire at full force and poured dense rain of bullets on the enemy.
At the same time, the mortar units in the rear also launched a counterattack.
"Ula!!!"
Facing the dense rain of bullets coming from the direction of the position, the Tsarist Russian soldiers shouted "Ura" and continued to advance, and then fell one by one on the way to charge.
The MG-42 general-purpose machine gun roared continuously, and under its muzzle, the Tsarist Russian army fell in large numbers like wheat being harvested.
I don’t know how much time had passed, the machine gunner had already replaced the barrel of his gun several times, and finally found that there were no enemies in front of the position.
Instead, the front of the position was covered with the corpses of Tsarist Russian soldiers.
An entire battalion of more than 4 Tsarist Russian soldiers fell under the guns of the th Company.
This type of attack left the commander of the 55th Regiment stunned.
"It turns out this isn't a new tactic, it's just a way to get yourself killed."
In less than an hour, after two waves of attacks, the 174th Russian Regiment lost two battalions and more than troops and finally stopped the attack and began to ask for help.
In fact, he didn't need to ask for help, as the reinforcements from the rear had already arrived.
The 173rd and 175th infantry regiments plus an artillery regiment finally arrived in the Dongchengzi area.
Their movements have always been watched by Wei Gang and Zhou Tianyou.
When he learned that they had completed their reunion with the remnants of the 174th Regiment, Wei Gang knew that the time had come to act.
However, he still hesitated before giving the order.
Because this operation was too smooth, almost too smooth.
"Old Zhou, do you think that the Russians are playing tricks on you? They've actually set up an ambush in Ice City?"
Zhou Tianyou chuckled as he looked at Wei Gang, who was a little hesitant because things were going so smoothly.
"Teacher, I think you are worrying too much. Don't you believe the intelligence from the General Military Intelligence Bureau?
Even if they have troops hiding, they can’t hide much.”
"That makes sense. Then let the 56th Regiment sail south along the river and land in Ice City."
The fastest way to bypass the Ice City is undoubtedly water transportation.
Songhua River is the largest river in Songjiang Province. Ice City is built on the east bank of the Songhua River, and runs through the entire Ice City from southwest to northeast.
Therefore, river transportation is much faster than land transportation.
Soon, more than two hundred rubber boats appeared on the wide surface of the Songhua River.
These rubber boats were transported by air and were prepared for a surprise landing on the Ice City from the Songhua River.
Driven by the tail engine, the rubber boat carrying 8 soldiers went upstream at a speed of more than 20 kilometers per hour.
The journey of more than 20 kilometers took only more than an hour for the 56th Airborne Regiment that raided and landed in Ice City.
When the merchant ships and fishing boats on the Songhua River saw this spectacular scene, they all began to hide and looked at it in surprise.
"They are ancient Chinese, not foreigners, and they are not Tsarist Russians."
When they discovered that the people sitting on the rubber assault boats were not foreigners but Orientals, they became a little excited.
They had already guessed who this troop was.
"The Renaissance Army, the Renaissance Army is here, the Renaissance Army is attacking!"
"Buzzing..."
At low altitude, Mustang fighter jets roared past, and rubber assault boats sped across the river.
At this moment, they could already see the railway bridge across the Songhua River.
To the left they also saw the complex of buildings.
After more than an hour's rush, they finally arrived at the Ice City, which was very close.
"rush!"
When they reached a shallow beach, a number of rubber assault boats rushed up violently and slid on the river beach for a long distance before stopping.
Then, soldiers from the 56th Airborne Regiment jumped off the assault boats and began to advance to the surrounding areas, forming a security circle.
The subsequent landing troops quickly assembled on the river beach and advanced towards various targets in company units according to the plan.
At this time, Lermontov, commander of the First Independent Army, received two pieces of shocking bad news in succession.
The first bad news was a call from the 37th Division saying they were surrounded by the Fuxing Army.
The airborne troops of the Renaissance Army are not light infantry. They not only have dozens of cannons, but also dozens of tanks, and their manpower is no less than theirs.
So not only was their attack thwarted, but they were also surrounded by two regiments of the 19th Airborne Division.
The second bad news was that the Fuxing Army had landed in Ice City from the Songhua River.
Their landing troops have already engaged in a firefight with the troops defending the city.
Among them, there was also a troop heading towards Yang Mansion.
That is, they are heading towards their headquarters.
These two pieces of news shocked Lermontov to the point of being stunned.
I even felt a little overwhelmed.
"Retreat south and join the 7th Army!"
He had no troops available except the 37th Infantry Division.
Although he knew that the Renaissance Army had landed in Ice City, he was powerless to do anything.
So I could only run away as fast as I could.
If it was any later, he wouldn't be able to escape even if he wanted to.
The 7th Army he mentioned was the 7th Guards Tank Army of the st Independent Army.
It has one tank division and one motorized infantry division, with a total strength of more than 20,000 troops.
This unit was also the absolute main force of the Independent First Army and one of the three major tank armies of the Tsarist Russian Army.
Two of them were deployed in the Xizhou direction, and one was deployed in the Far East, namely the 7th Guards Tank Army.
He will only feel safe if he joins up with this tank army.
After leaving the Ice City in a car, Lermontov looked at the Ice City getting farther and farther away and said bitterly: "I will fight back!"
"It's going too smoothly. Is this the strength of the Western powers? How come they're not even as good as the Japanese?"
Wei Gang, who was in command at the Songhua River Airport, said with some disbelief after receiving the telegram that the 56th Airborne Regiment had taken control of the main areas of Ice City.
Not only Wei Gang was confused, but Zhou Tianyou, the division commander, was also confused.
In their minds, the Tsarist Russian Army's Independent First Army should be an elite force and a very tough nut to crack.
But when I took a bite, I found that the bone was actually brittle.
"Forget it, send a telegram to headquarters and tell them that we have successfully taken control of Ice City."