Comrade, your ingredients are too complicated.

Blood stained the snowfield red, but the battle continued.

The Japanese 27th Cavalry Regiment, like a speeding dog connected to an F2 engine, relentlessly attacked the Suiyuan Military Region's "bunker" complex with the force of a breached dam, disregarding casualties and costs.

The fallen corpses were instantly trampled into a bloody pulp by the following cavalry. From the air, the battlefield looked like a layer of decaying fungus.

Inside the circular defensive perimeter, the soldiers mechanically repeated the tactical actions of loading and firing, the scorching hot gun barrels hissing in the cold wind.

But those ointment flags kept approaching, like a swarm of insects that could never be eradicated.

This is a showdown six centuries ahead of schedule, a life-or-death clash between urbanization and dogs plus a toxic explosion.

"They're insane, absolutely insane! The Japanese are using human lives to fill the gaps in their firepower. An entire cavalry regiment has been wiped out, with more than half of its men killed or wounded in the blink of an eye."

"This isn't a war; it's more like they're rushing to be reborn!"

"Quickly, keep calling for artillery support! Our company's firepower is almost too much for those mad dogs to handle!"

The Japanese 27th Cavalry Regiment originally belonged to the 10th Division of the Kwantung Army, with a total strength of 497 cavalrymen.

In order to race against the Eighth Route Army's support troops and to break through the outer minefield of the ring defense as quickly as possible, Regiment Commander Kazuki Kamijou issued an order for a half-marathon-interval charge before the attack officially began.

This six-column deep formation maintains the cavalry's striking power while effectively avoiding the drawbacks of an excessively long and wide battle line, making it the best tactical choice under the current battlefield situation.

This is why the firepower of the advance troops of the Suiyuan Military Region was somewhat inadequate.

After all, on this narrow battlefield only about 100 meters wide, even the ruthless Ah Chou would find it difficult to deploy a large number of heavy weapons. The Machine Gun Master was ultimately an exception.

Hearing the company commander's thunderous roar, the communications officer rushed to the field telephone. He cranked the generator three times with his right hand, and almost the instant the bell stopped ringing, he grabbed the receiver with his left.

"Artillery Company, this is position 2815! Enemy cavalry have advanced to within 95 meters of the front line!"

"Ignore us, just overwrite! Repeat, just overwrite! Coordinates remain the same, full platoon fire at breakneck speed!"

"Fire! Fire!!"

Just as the communications officer was desperately calling for artillery support, ten specially modified half-track armored vehicles suddenly rushed into the second line of defense.

The triple-mounted 25mm Hotchkiss anti-aircraft gun was quickly prepared. The coordination between the elevation and traverse mechanisms was no less than that of the hydraulic motors, and the gun barrel was raised to a -5 degree depression angle while still in motion.

At sea, you can call me a piece of junk anti-aircraft gun in the inner ring, and I won't argue with you. But on the land battlefield, when I'm laid flat, what should you call me?
"Open fire! Leave no one alive!"

The moment the order was broadcast from the radio, thirty cannons roared simultaneously, and chains of blazing fire intertwined in the air to form a giant net of death.

Hot shell casings poured into the open fighting chamber like hail, the clanging of metal mingling with the smoke of gunpowder, creating a symphony of carnage on the snowy plain.

In the first volley, the Japanese cavalry at the forefront were blown to smithereens along with their horses.

The warhorse's chest cavity was torn open by 25mm anti-infantry shot, and 8mm steel balls and internal organs were scattered on the snow, instantly emitting a foul-smelling white vapor.

The second salvo sent a barrage of metallic bullets sweeping across the battlefield.

A stray warhorse was still galloping wildly, but its rider was now only half-eaten and hanging from the saddle, his intestines hanging out several meters, drawing a dark red trail on the snow.

"Load!"

The loaders simultaneously pressed down on the magazine catch with their left thumbs, while their right hands grabbed the empty magazines and pushed them forward. The 7.5-kilogram steel magazines slammed directly into the fighting compartment of the truck bed with a dull thud.

Just as the soldiers were loading their weapons, a noble officer raised his katana and roared as he led the last of his cavalry in a desperate charge.

They knew that stopping now would only lead to their deaths.

Unfortunately, the third volley is coming.

In the blink of an eye, several Hotchkiss armor-piercing incendiary shells struck the lieutenant directly in the chest, his body disintegrating in mid-air, his head spinning as it flew off.

When he fell into the snowdrift, the Japanese soldier's eyes were still open, his death unresolved.

Soon, only the burning horse carcasses, shattered saddles, and slowly falling black ashes remained on the snowfield.

······
Late at night on December 30, 1942, in Wanquan County, Chahar, the headquarters of the advance troops of the Suiyuan Military Region.

Inside the command center, the air was thick with the smells of tobacco and sweat. Military maps of the frontier lay spread on a long table, the marks of red and blue pencils forming a chaotic battlefield.

"Call one more time! I refuse to believe that a light tank battalion and an infantry regiment can just disappear like that!"

The moment the battle commander gave the order, the communications officer's fingers started turning the radio knob again, but all he could hear in the headset was hissing white noise, like countless tiny insects gnawing at the radio waves.

After waiting for a while, he shook his head helplessly, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the sweat stains on the edge of his earphones.

"Report, still no response. I've checked all the preset channels three times, including the two backup channels, but I still can't get in touch with the 3rd Regiment of the 55th Division or the light tank battalion of the 2nd Armored Division."

"I deduce that the radios they carried were too weak to receive our calls during the blizzard."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a codebreaker burst into the operations room. He arrived at the superiors amidst a gust of wind and snow particles, handing them a telegram.

"Where did the telegram come from?"

"From the Air Force." The chief of staff glanced at it and began to read, "In order to support ground troops, the 2nd Air Division forcibly dispatched a squadron of near-ground support aircraft despite the blizzard."

"They discovered a large number of motorized and mechanized troops advancing southwest of Toronto, and judged them to be our advance force. They then bombed the enemy units in front of our troops. This is to inform you."

During World War II, blizzards did pose an extremely severe challenge to fighter aircraft in carrying out their missions, but with excellent flying skills and sophisticated countermeasures, these difficulties were not insurmountable.

As one of the world's most elite air forces, the Eighth Route Army Air Force had long established a scientific and comprehensive combat preparation system.

This system covers three major areas: mechanical modification, personnel protection, and tactical adjustments, which is sufficient to ensure that troops can maintain strong combat effectiveness under any adverse weather conditions.

Upon hearing this, the person in charge of the battle finally relaxed. The corners of his mouth turned up slightly, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Good, good, good! I knew Liu Qingcheng and Yan Changzhi wouldn't let me down!" He said "good" three times in a row, his voice filled with a sense of relief. Although the wind and snow outside the window were still raging, the air inside the command post seemed to have warmed up instantly.

Good news came like a tidal wave, one wave after another.

Just as the person in charge was about to issue a new order, good news came from the communications room: "Report! The 3rd Regiment of the 55th Division and the light tank battalion of the 2nd Armored Division have jointly reported!"

Before the words were even finished, they rushed over.

Upon entering the room, the two found the telegraph operator engrossed in recording the telegram, not even having begun the decoding step.

Fortunately, the two units at the front were sending unencrypted plaintext messages, and the content of the telegram was not long. The comrades compiled the entire content in just five minutes.

Soon, the decoder handed over the converted telegram.

"Our department has taken complete control of the entire Duolun County area by 21 p.m. today and is now taking over key departments such as the county government, granary, and transportation bureau."

"The precise bombing by our air force comrades cleared the key obstacles for the siege. The bunker complex in the west of the city collapsed in less than ten minutes under the rocket bombardment of the Storm fighter jets."

"As of 23 p.m. on the 30th, the battle results were successfully tallied. It was confirmed that Colonel Kazuki Kamijou, commander of the 27th Cavalry Regiment of the Japanese Army, was killed, and 497 cavalrymen of the regiment and the 5th Cavalry Regiment of the Manchukuo Army were annihilated."

"The seized items include: 4 Type 94 mountain guns, 217 Type 38 rifles, 2700 winter military overcoats, and more than 200 tons of horse feed, which can solve the urgent need for winter clothing for the people in the county."

The campaign commander's eyes swept quickly across the telegram; the entire report was almost entirely composed of encouraging statistics on the battle results.

He casually handed the document to the chief of staff beside him, his tone carrying a hint of approval:

"This Liu Qingcheng always manages to come up with some new tricks. Who would have thought that he would dare to use this blizzard to his advantage and catch the enemy off guard?"

The chief of staff took the telegram, his eyes darting quickly across the paper.

A moment later, he looked up, his eyes gleaming with excitement: "What a fruitful haul! It's a bit of a shame we didn't manage to capture the 27th Regiment's regimental flag. The other spoils are excellent propaganda material."

"I'll contact the 2nd Air Division right away and have the Air Force comrades make another trip to deliver all the materials to the Xinhua News Agency in the border region, to add fuel to the fire for the upcoming general mobilization."

Just as the two were talking, the radio suddenly emitted a series of urgent beeping sounds.

The telegraph operator, who had been leaning back in his chair, suddenly sat up straight. He quickly adjusted the frequency knob with his left hand and grabbed a pencil with his right hand to start taking notes.

The scratching sound of the pencil tip on the paper was particularly clear in the quiet communications room.

Upon seeing this, the campaign leader and the chief of staff exchanged a puzzled look.

The battle reports from the Air Force and the advance units have just been compiled, and according to the planned communications schedule, no new telegrams should be arriving at this time.

The chief of staff glanced at his watch subconsciously. It was 23:47 p.m. At this time, neither the rear nor headquarters should be sending a telegram during this non-routine communication period.

With these questions in mind, the person in charge asked directly, "Where did the telegram come from? Was it from friendly forces in the Hebei province?"

Upon hearing this, the telegraph operator's expression turned somewhat strange. As he recorded the dots and strips, he reported in a hesitant tone, "It seems, it seems to be the Second Military District of our northern ally."

The decoding ended shortly afterward.

The whole process was so quick mainly because the entire telegram contained only a few words. The decoder stood up, holding the freshly printed telegram, and handed it to his curious superiors.

"Report, it's an urgent telegram from Makarov of the Second Military District, our northern ally."

"The other party requested immediate strategic consultations and formally submitted an application for entry permits for a transport aircraft and two fighter jets."

"If our application is approved, they are expected to arrive at Wanquan Field Airfield in two hours."

Although the person in charge of the battle was the top leader of the military region and the highest commander of this Chahar battle.

However, according to organizational discipline, all major matters involving allies must strictly adhere to the reporting and request system.

Upon realizing this, the person in charge immediately reacted.

He first reported the matter to the authorities, and after receiving approval from Warfox and the Army Morale Genius, he contacted the nearby 1st Air Division base and the Weapons Experimentation and Research Bureau.

"Quickly, quickly, get the Air Force comrades ready for escort. Makarov is coming to visit, we absolutely cannot have any accidents on the way."

"Send someone to Yinshan again and drag Director Huang out of bed!"

"Tell him that a big fish has taken the bait!"

······
Let's rewind to half an hour earlier, in Khabarovsk, at the Second Military Region Command.

Makarov rubbed his throbbing temples and, exhausted, pushed open the heavy oak door of his residence.

Inside, the fire in the fireplace had long since died down, leaving only a few dark red embers. He casually tossed his briefcase onto the sofa; inside was the exercise plan that the 16th Army Group had submitted to headquarters that afternoon.

"Sigh, coming to the Far East is actually busier than before on the Eastern Front. These three generals are indeed not so easy to handle."

Just as the old man opened the drawer, preparing to have a few glasses of Fenjiu, a gift from his ally, before going to bed, there was a sudden knock on the door.

"Lieutenant General Makarov, there is an emergency. Our radio center has received an unencrypted plaintext telegram from the Suiyuan Military Region of the Eighth Route Army."

"General Maxim Alekseevich Purkaev sent me to pick you up for a meeting. The car is already waiting downstairs, and the engine is still running."

As the central nervous system of the Second Military District in the Far East, Khabarovsk is home to the largest radio center in the entire Far East. Its large directional antenna array can cover an area of ​​2000 kilometers.

In this top-secret department codenamed Snow Sparrow, intelligence officers wearing headsets work in four shifts, specializing in searching for communications signals from the Japanese Kwantung Army, Manchukuo, and others.

Clearly, the telegram signals sent in plain text by the 3rd Regiment of the 55th Division and the light tank battalion of the 2nd Armored Division of the Suiyuan Military Region were as conspicuous as fireflies in the night and had already been captured by the Russians' radio system.

"Okay, I understand, I'll be right there!" (End of Chapter)