The Battle of Novosibirsk completely changed the situation on the mainland battlefield.

On March 25, Qi Kaiwei organized the 38th Army and the 15th Airborne Army to launch an annihilation battle on the eastern front of Siberia. In three days, he besieged nearly 500,000 Russian troops in Abakan and forced these Russian troops to surrender on April 4.

Generally, this can also be regarded as part of the Battle of Novosibirsk.[]

Of course, some people separate the two battles and call the latter the Battle of Abakan.

In any case, by early April, the Russian army had basically lost its combat effectiveness. According to the war report released by China, by early April, a total of 3.5 million Russian troops were killed, wounded and captured on the battlefields of Siberia and the Far East, of which 2.8 million Russian officers and soldiers were captured.

Obviously, this battle report is very rich, or not detailed.

Among the captured Russian officers and soldiers, most of them were reserve soldiers who only armed after Russia joined the war, and many were militiamen who temporarily picked up weapons.

There is only one thing that cannot be denied, that is, Russia's war potential has been severely hit.

In this case, what China needs to do is to strive for pro-Russian countries as much as possible, such as Kazakhstan in Central Asia and expand the camp of the Eastern Alliance.

It is precisely because Huang Hanlin asked the emergency to stop the 38th Army from attacking Omsk.

Although Qi Kaiwei was full of resentment about this and believed that Huang Hanlin should not interfere with the front-line combat operations, after the war, Qi Kaiwei had to admit that Huang Hanlin's intervention actually helped him and saved thousands of Chinese soldiers, because the problems of the Chinese army had been exposed at that time.

The most serious problem is the severe lack of winter combat uniforms in the cold zone.

Two years before the outbreak of the war, that is, in 2050, the Chinese army began to replace new combat uniforms and purchased cold-band winter combat uniforms for the standing troops in time. The problem is that by the time the war broke out, the cold-band combat uniforms were only enough to equip five standing armies. In fact, this is also the main reason why Qi Kaiwei followed Mu Haoyang's advice and reduced the troops deployed on the northern front to five group armies. You should know that when Russia participated in the war, it was the coldest time of the year. Without suitable cold-band winter combat uniforms, no one could persist in the cold Russian battlefield for one day, and the severe cold of minus 30 degrees below the night could freeze everyone to death.

By March, the Chinese army's cold winter combat uniforms were only enough to equip eight armies.

The problem is that there were a total of ten armies fighting on the front line at that time. In other words, two armies could not obtain cold-band winter combat uniforms in time. At that time, the officers and soldiers of these two armies were wearing down jackets that were purchased urgently, and many officers and soldiers even paid for their own money to buy down thermal underwear.

In terms of warmth, down jackets are better than any military uniform made of chemical fiber.

The problem is that down is hydrophilic and loses its warmth after encountering water. In combat, no one can avoid letting clothes get stained with rain or snow. In other words, down jackets are not qualified military uniforms, otherwise the Chinese military would not spend much effort to develop waterproof cold-band winter combat uniforms.

In this way, these two armies cannot perform combat missions.

Fortunately, the two reserve armies did not receive the cold winter combat uniforms at that time, and they did not take on combat missions on the Far East battlefield.

The result is that before the cold winter passed, Qi Kaiwei was able to use only eight armies.

Obviously, in order to maintain the mainland battlefield, there are not many eight armies, and they can only maintain a limited attack, and they are not yet able to start fighting.

In other words, if Qi Kaiwei decides to attack Omsk, there will be a serious shortage of troops.

In this way, even if the 38th Army can cross the Ertise River and occupy Omsk, it will be difficult for it to continue to advance eastward.

More importantly, Qi Kaiwei is preparing to withdraw the 38th Army and the 15th Airborne Army to rest.

If he conquered Omsk, at least the 38th Army would not be able to withdraw quickly and would have to continue to carry out combat missions for several months.

This is obviously not a good thing for the already exhausted frontline officers and soldiers.

Of course, the biggest problem is the lack of troops.

On the Far East battlefield, the 65th Army, which was advancing north, has stopped advancing and will not move forward until winter passes. The 54th Army, behind the 39th Army, is responsible for sweeping the remaining Russian troops and controlling the main railway lines. The newly added 154th Army is deployed on the west coast of the Tatar Strait, responsible for controlling the southern part of the Khabarovsk Krai, and plans to board Kuye Island after spring. The 139th Army is heading west from the north of the 39th Army, from the north of the Baikal. The 165th Army is advancing in Yakutsk, preparing to enter the Siberian Plateau from the Sakha Republic to the west after winter passes.

It can be seen that the Chinese army's stalls on the Far East battlefield are very open.

Although most battlefields are remote and there are not many Russian guards, the harsh climate has caused great trouble for the offensive troops.

In a sense, the biggest enemy of the Chinese army is Russia's winter.

The result is that the Chinese army's offensive operations in winter have reached its peak, and it is possible to expand the offensive range only when spring comes, that is, at the end of April.

No matter what I think, Qi Kaiwei must accept this objective reality.

Of course, Qi Kaiwei did not forget the most important thing: he asked Mu Haoyang for three armies so that the 38th Army and the 15th Airborne Army could be withdrawn and rested.

On March 30, Mu Haoyang approved the military transfer report and asked the 42nd Army to replace the 38th Army.

However, the 42nd Army has not yet received the cold winter combat uniforms, so the defense change is scheduled to be held at the end of April. Before that, it will go to northern Xinjiang for adaptive training. Although the winter in Fusang is also very cold, it is nothing compared to the winter in Russia.

This time, Mu Haoyang fulfilled his promise very readily, which has a lot to do with the combat operations he is planning.

By the end of March, the Chinese troops stationed in Fusang had reached 500,000. After the 42nd Army, there were two reserve armies, three marine divisions and two Fusang Guard Divisions, and the total strength of the ground troops was more than 200,000, which was enough for Mu Haoyang to launch a large-scale amphibious landing campaign.

More importantly, the Pacific Fleet has restored its combat capabilities.

Four aircraft carriers and sixteen anti-submarine warships were modified on March 24 and arrived at Zhoushan Port on March 28. Two days later, on the day Mu Haoyang decided to hand over the 42nd Army to Qi Kaiwei's command, four large-scale integrated warships that had been modified and eight newly built large-scale integrated warships also arrived at Zhoushan Port and were incorporated into the Pacific Fleet.

Before this, Zhou Yusheng had sent forty-eight fully electric submarines to Naha and Osaka.

According to his orders, the submarines will leave the port on the night of March 30 and head to the Mariana Islands to act as pioneers of the Pacific Fleet.

In the early morning of March 31, the Pacific Fleet started anchoring from Zhoushan.

Early that morning, after handing over the work of the General Staff to Zhou Yusheng, Mu Haoyang boarded the special plane, and Ma Mingtao was also walking with him.

Before the war broke out, Ma Mingtao was the essential supervisor of the Military Intelligence Bureau, but after the war broke out, Li Mingyang returned to the Military Intelligence Bureau. In the previous few months, Ma Mingtao was mainly responsible for assisting Li Mingyang and adjusting the intelligence network. After completing this work, Ma Mingtao was also freed and took the initiative to apply for intelligence liaison. Although he was more valuable in the General Staff, after learning that Mu Haoyang would command the fleet to fight, Ma Mingtao insisted on going together to provide assistance to Mu Haoyang.

Mu Haoyang did not refuse because he really needed an outstanding intelligence consultant.

The second naval battle of Digo Garcia has proved that intelligence is the most important decisive factor, and the value of an accurate and timely intelligence exceeds that of an aircraft carrier battle group.

In the morning, Mu Haoyang and Ma Mingtao boarded the "Taishan" aircraft carrier.

Opposite the battlefield, the US Pacific Fleet commanded by France also left Pearl Harbor on the night of March 30 (Hawaii time, equivalent to the early morning of Beijing time on the 31st). Although France received a message from the Pentagon a few hours after leaving the port, it was learned that the Chinese Pacific Fleet had left Zhoushan and was likely to go to the Western Pacific. The four landing fleets of the Chinese Navy were all deployed in Fusang, that is, the Chinese Navy had a great possibility to attack the Mariana Islands in April, but before that, France made a similar judgment because the Chinese Navy assembled the fleet and landing fleet, which was definitely not for the purpose of military parade.

However, French didn't know that Mu Haoyang had already gone to the fleet.

At that time, the General Staff and the Military Intelligence Bureau spent a lot of effort on confidentiality work. Mu Haoyang left the General Staff after breakfast, and usually at this time, he would return to the office to rest for an hour. By 8:30 in the morning, when he was supposed to work, an intelligence officer pretending to be his had sat behind his desk and strictly followed his daily rules.

In fact, even Mu Haoyang's secretary didn't know the truth at that time.

You should know that the intelligence personnel who played Mu Haoyang underwent three months of secret training, mainly imitating Mu Haoyang's behavior.

At that time, only Zhou Yusheng and Li Mingyang knew the truth, and even Huang Hanlin believed that Mu Haoyang was still in the General Staff.

Such strict confidentiality measures are to create an illusion for the enemy, making the enemy think that Major General Gong Jifei is the one who commands the Chinese Pacific Fleet to fight.

It was also true that French Wizards decided to lead the fleet to the Western Pacific.

In his opinion, if Major General Gong Jifei is commanding the Chinese Pacific Fleet, this is a great opportunity to achieve a decisive victory on the Western Pacific battlefield.

But French was a little skeptical.

In such an important combat operation, will Mu Haoyang trust Major General Gong Jifei who is not yet experienced enough?
Chapter completed!