Turning to his accuser, he went on the offensive.
“The Division needs my attention as you may notice. Tell Comrade General Sakovnin that I will send my report as quickly as I can, but I must get my regiments reorganised.”
The NKVD officer remained unmoved.
“You are dismissed, Comrade Mayor, and I want no more of your nonsense.”
He sat down, making great play of reading a sketchy report on the engagement, all the time concentrating on every sound from the man on the other side of the desk.
He never heard the shots that killed him, dying instantly, executed on the orders of the Chief of Staff of the 15th Air Army. His plan had been good, anticipating an enemy bomber attack and utilising the strengths of his aircraft, but intelligence had failed to notify him of the possibility of enemy jet fighters. A simple, but costly, error. None the less, a scapegoat was needed and Colonel Garinov, Commander of the decimated 315th Fighter Division, was an appropriate choice to save General Sakovnin’s neck.
Chapter 58 – THE SAMURAI
By the Way of the warrior is meant death. The Way of the warrior is death. This means choosing death whenever there is a choice between life and death. It means nothing more than this. It means to see things through, being resolved.”
Marshall Vassilevsky was in high spirits. The plan was proceeding pretty much as planned, with the newly strengthened Japanese Army making big inroads into the Chinese defences centrally and to the south.
His own ground forces were driving deep into Northern China, courtesy of an agreement with the Chinese Communist forces, who stepped adroitly aside, exposing the Nationalist forces to a series of lightning flank attacks.
However, the planned paratrooper deployments had been cancelled. The heavy losses in valuable aircraft were only partially to blame, the success of the ground offensives actually meaning that the majority of the airborne operations were made redundant.
The Chinese and American air forces, possibly lulled into a sense of false security by the decline in Japanese air power, had been dealt significant blows. Main amongst these being the wholesale destruction of the base at Chengtu, along with heavy losses inflicted on the 58th Bomb Wing, recently returned from the Marianas, the 312th Fighter Wing and the 426th Night Fighter Squadron, all of which had called Chengdu home.
Vassilevsky, warmed by the fresh coffee he was consuming, observed his CoS and frowned. Colonel-General Lomov, his briefings normally easy and pain free, was preparing the daily delivery but seemed unduly concerned for the first time. The normally calm officer was in animated discussion with the senior Japanese Liaison officer, Major General Yamaoka.
The Marshall cleared his throat to attract their attention, and both men advanced, one holding a map, the other a newly arrived report from General Yasuji Okamura, commander of the China Expeditionary Army.
“Well, Nikolai Andreevich, what’s causing you such concern?”
“Comrade Marshall, General Yamaoka has received information regarding the US tank force that went missing.”
The map was spread on the large table, the corners held down with pencils, and, in the absence of anything more suitable, Vassilevsky’s pipe and cap.
The area of concern lay in one of the most important areas entrusted to the Japanese Army; the southern assault towards Nanning and Qinzhou, subsequently angled towards the Indo-Chinese border.
Up to now, progress had been spectacularly good, but that had changed.
Lomov’s morning report would have indicated that the enemy resistance had stiffened, and that the advance had come to an abrupt halt.
With the arrival of the new information, it seemed clear that there was a definite possibility of an enemy counter-attack, supported by the US Tank brigade that had so mysteriously dropped out of sight a few days beforehand.
“So, what does Okamura propose to do about it?”
Whilst he mused openly, the question was really a challenge to him, a spur to read the situation and the response.
Yamaoka grabbed a pencil.
“Sir, the 63rd Special Army is now further forward than indicated on the main map,” he gesticulated at the wall behind him, both Soviet officers checking out the last recorded position of the newly-formed and extremely powerful 63rd.
The sound of a pencil on paper drew them back, Yamaoka circling the general area of concern before notating the map with ‘Suwabe’ and ‘Minamori’, the two sub-commands of the 63rd.
“Oh that’s good. That’s very, very good.”
Vassilevsky could see that the enemy would, most likely, run straight into ‘Suwabe’.
‘Unless?’
Standing up straight and loading his pipe, the Marshall descended into silent thought, a process his senior men knew well not to interrupt.
Striking a match, Vassilevsky pulled on the pipe, puffing out the rich smoke that still bothered Yamaoka’s eyes to the point of tears.
“They will come there I think, to the north of the assault forces and the 63rd.”
The tapping finger drew both Generals down again, taking in the details that had stimulated their commander, finding the same reasons that had made him convinced.
‘Wuzhou?’
Yamaoka turned and clicked his fingers to an aide, the folder he required made immediately available.
“Sir, at Wuzhou are…”
He tailed off as the shaking head indicated he had missed something vital, the tapping finger returning, this time to a more specific point where the finger waited, ready to describe a route east and then south, bringing the enemy into the flank of the attacking bottleneck.
“I would concern myself more about who is at Gulping than Wuzhou, General Yamaoka, for I think it is they who will have to fight like the devil.”
Both officers could see it clearly now.
The blocking force, causing the attackers to build-up in one area, the mobile tank force smashing hard into the flank of the stacked-up formations.
Add probable enemy aircraft attacks into the mix, and there was a serious problem for the 6th Area Army.
“Do you have anything that can stop them apart from,” Vassilevsky looked at the notations, “The 85th Infantry brigade?”
‘Not that one of your infantry brigades would stop a determined armoured force at any time!’
“Sir, the 85th Brigade has not progressed beyond Tianpingzhen, there being a high sickness rate, some sort of stomach problem, hospitalising many of the men.”
Keen to show that the Japanese Army had its own house in order, Yamaoka quickly spoke again.
“Kempai-tai units are already with the 85th resolving the problem.”
No-one needed any illumination on how the problem was being solved.
“However, Major-General Suwabe sent part of his detachment ahead to the area as a cover, which will now prove very useful to us.”
‘I suppose Gulping is too much to hope for?’
Both Russians shared identical thoughts.
“Here, from Gulping to Mulezhen. Suwabe has positioned his 3rd Brigade.”
Neither Soviet officer was any the wiser.
“3rd Special Obligation Brigade is partially armoured Sir.”
Something broke through the haze in Lomov’s mind.