When Saveliev learned that there were no enemies on the positions ahead, he immediately issued an order for the entire army to attack, and then called Kravchenko to report the situation here to him.

"Comrade Commander," Saveliev immediately reported to him after hearing Kravchenko's voice: "Our army has successfully occupied the Kanto position."

Hearing Saveliev's report, Kravchenko said with some confusion: "I didn't hear any cannons at all, and the battle ended like this? Is your frontal Kanto army so vulnerable?"

"Comrade Commander," said Saveliev, "We took the position without fighting at all, because the enemy on the front had fled."

"What, the enemy ran away?" Kravchenko asked with some wonder after hearing this: "Where did they escape?"

"I don't know..." Before Saveliev finished speaking, bursts of explosions came from outside. He couldn't help but frown and asked his chief of staff: "What's going on? What's going on?"

Krafchenko on the other end of the phone also heard the explosion, and he asked quickly: "General Saveliev, what's the explosion coming from the phone?"

"Comrade Commander, I don't know either." Saveliev was confused at the moment, not sure what the explosion was going on outside was. He could only send someone out to check it while explaining to Krafchenko: "But I have sent someone to check it out. It won't take long to figure out what's going on."

Kravchenko knew very well that he wanted to investigate what was going on in an explosion, something that could not be completed in one or two minutes, so he said rationally: "Well, I understand. You can send someone to investigate first, and report to me when there is a result."

The staff officer sent by Saveliev quickly came back to report: "Report to the commander, the explosion came from the direction of the position occupied by our army, and there was smoke rising in that direction, as if something had been blown up."

Upon hearing the staff's report, Saveliev couldn't help frowning. He asked at the chief of staff who was calling, "Chief of staff, have you figured out what's exploded?"

"Please wait a moment, Comrade Commander." The Chief of Staff quickly covered the microphone with his hand and said to Saveliev: "I am calling the vanguard to find out what happened. With the news, I will report it to you immediately."

Seeing that he could not find anything useful from the Chief of Staff, Saveliev walked out of the command center and raised his telescope to look into the distance. Unfortunately, he could only see the rolling black smoke rising from behind the position occupied by his troops. But he still couldn't know what happened.

Just as he put down his telescope and was about to walk back into the command center, the Chief of Staff hurriedly came out from it and reported to him: "Comrade Commander, we all figured out that the explosion just now was created by the Kwantung Army. Although they gave up their positions, they blew up some infrastructure when they retreated. In other words, we originally wanted to get water and fuel supplies here, but because the water pump room and oil depot were blown up, our chances were completely disrupted."

Before the troops set off, Saveliev was worried about the accident that would not be able to seize the enemy's position for a long time and to replenish the water and fuel that the troops needed in the area they controlled. When he just learned that the frontier had successfully occupied the enemy's position, Saveliev was still secretly happy, but now the enemy has destroyed the water source and oil depot, causing his supply plan to fail, which made him feel extremely troubled.

Saveliev returned to the command center, picked up the phone on the table, answered the group army headquarters, and reported the information here to Krafchenko: "Comrade Commander, I have all figured out that it was the Kanto Army that blew up the water pump room and oil depot when it was retreating, which led to the failure of our plan to replenish water and oil sources here."

Krafchenko was also very uncomfortable when he learned that the water and oil depot were originally planned to be replenished by the Kanto Army. But since the incident had already happened, he could only find a way to remedy it. He said to the microphone: "General Saveryev, order your troops to speed up the march. We must control these areas before the Kanto Army blows up more infrastructure."

"I understand, comrade Commander." Saveliev replied loudly: "I will order the troops to speed up the advancement to prevent the Kanto Army from destroying more useful infrastructure."

After putting down the phone, Saveryev immediately said to his chief of staff: "Chief of staff, give orders to our troops to speed up their advancement, and be sure to push forward far enough before the fuel runs out to prevent the Kanto Army from destroying more infrastructure that is useful to us."

"Comrade Commander," the Chief of Staff reminded Saveliev, "according to the base of fuel we carry, we can advance up to a hundred kilometers. According to the map, these areas are deserted. If we cannot find a suitable supply point, our troops will have to stop on the unobstructed plain because of the fuel exhaustion, and wait for the air force's transport planes to airdrop us."

"Comrade Chief of Staff," Saveliyev said with a serious expression: "Under the current circumstances, we can only move forward and get some water and oil supplements before the Kanto Army destroys all infrastructure, so as to ensure that the troops have the ability to continue fighting."

"Okay, Comrade Commander." Seeing that Saveryev insisted on letting the troops continue to advance towards the enemy's defense depth at the risk of running out of water and fuel, the Chief of Staff was not good enough to say anything. He could only convey orders to the troops below according to the other party's instructions, so that they could advance forward as quickly as possible, and prevent more useful infrastructure from being destroyed by the Kanto Army.

The tank troops who received the order immediately advanced at full speed, trying to seize these places from the Japanese before they exploded the new infrastructure. But the man's calculations were not as good as the heaven's calculations. Soviet tanks and various vehicles advanced at the fastest speed, but the 63rd Division, which had begun to escape, had already placed explosives in the infrastructure everywhere. When the Soviet troops arrived, they immediately detonated without hesitation. As a result, when the Soviet troops arrived, they saw a burning ruin.

In the evening, the 5th Army of the Guards, which had been pushed forward by 120 kilometers, had to stop moving forward due to the exhaustion of fuel.

After learning about this, Saveryev immediately issued an order to the brigades to camp on the spot. It would not be too late to move forward after the superiors sent air force to airdrop supplies.

Kravchenko learned that Saveliev's troops had stopped moving forward. Although he was unwilling to accept it, he had no choice. Tanks, armored vehicles and cars without fuel were just a pile of scrap iron. If they were air strikes, they would be a living target.

The idea that the vanguard troops might be subjected to air strikes was extinguished by Krafchenko as soon as they emerged. If they were fighting against the German army at this moment, then the mechanized troops would run out of all their fuel and parked on the open plains, which would be a target for enemy planes to practice dropping bombs. But now they are facing the Kanto Army. Although they have millions, judging from the battle situation in the past two days, these little guys have no ability to resist in the face of the powerful offensive of the Soviet army. As for the Air Force, if they had one, they would have probably dispatched to attack their own troops long ago, but so far, they have not seen even an airplane appear in the sky. So, it is impossible to be subjected to air strikes.

Considering that the 5th Army of the Mechanized Guards, who served as the vanguard, had to stop on the plains and wait for supplies from the rear because of exhaustion of fuel, Kravchenko called the Front Commander Malinovsky and reported to him about the situation here.

Kravchenko's 6th Guard Tank Army came from the Second Ukrainian Front, and Marshal Malinovsky happened to be the commander of the Front. The two were not only in superiors and subordinates, but also had good personal relationships. Therefore, when Malinovsky learned that it was Kravchenko's call to him, he took the microphone from his adjutant's hand, put it in his ear, called Kravchenko's name and said with a smile: "Andre, call me, are there any good news to tell me?"

"Yes, comrade Marshal." Kravchenko said with a smile: "My troops advanced southward for 120 kilometers today, and within two days at most, they can reach the outer periphery of the enemy-controlled big city."

"Good job, Andrei," Malinovsky said approvingly: "At the speed of your current advancement, I think this goal can be achieved."

"But we are in a little trouble now and need your help."

"What trouble?" asked Malinovsky.

Kravchenko quickly retreated without fighting, but during the retreat, he blew up all the infrastructure along the way, causing the troops to be unable to replenish water and fuel in these areas. He reported to Malinovsky in detail and finally said: "Comrade Marshal, if we do not get timely supplies, we will not be able to advance to the big cities controlled by the Kwantung Army as planned according to the original plan."

"Well, the troops have no fuel." After listening to Kravchenko's report, Malinovsky turned his head to Zaharov, who was sitting next to him, and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Andre told me that his troops were unable to continue to advance because of exhaustion of fuel. Look, have they sent a transport convoy directly under the Front to transport them fuel?"

"Comrade Marshal, I think it is very unrealistic to use a transport team to transport oil to them." Zaharov immediately put forward the opposite opinion, "Let a huge convoy passes through a mountainous area with complex terrain like the Greater Khingan Mountains, which may cause great losses and will also affect the normal march of subsequent troops."

Seeing that Zaharov rejected his plan, Malinovsky couldn't help but frown and asked back: "Comrade Chief of Staff, what can you do to solve the problem of fuel shortage of the 6th Army of the Guards Tank?"

"This is not a problem," Zaharov replied, "I immediately contacted Marshal Hudakov and asked him to dispatch the air force to provide fuel for the 6th Army of the Guards Tank. Using transport aircraft to airdrop supplies is not only fast, but also without worrying about terrain restrictions. This is undoubtedly the best solution."

After Zaharov finished speaking, Malinovsky said to the microphone: "Andre, you have heard it all. My chief of staff told me that the fastest way to replenish you is to ask the Air Force to send transport planes to airdrop fuel and various supplies to the front-line troops."

Kravchenko called Malinovsky in the hope of contacting the Air Force through him and airdropping his own troops. He heard Malinovsky say this at this moment and quickly said, "That's great, Comrade Marshal. With the fuel supply, we can quickly push to the enemy's hinterland and occupy more areas. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire army, I would like to express my gratitude to you."

"Andre, please tell the officers and soldiers on the front line that the supplies they provide will be airdropped early tomorrow morning, so that they will not worry."

"I understand, Comrade Marshal, I will convey your meaning to the officers and soldiers below."

After finishing his call with Malinovsky, Kravchenko called Saviliev and told him that the Air Force would airdrop the troops tomorrow morning. Saviliev was excited and raised his concerns to Kravchenko: "Comrade Commander, now our army's tanks, armored vehicles and various vehicles are exposed to the open ground. If they are air strikes by enemy planes, they may cause considerable casualties."

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, Krafchenko said disapprovingly: "General Saveliev, you are too worried. Judging from the battles over the past few days, the Kanto Army has no air force that can be put into battle, otherwise how could they not be seen in the sky?"

Saveliev, who was originally worried that the troops would be camped on the open plains and might be airstrikes by the Kanto Army, completely put his heart back on his stomach. Since the commander said that the enemy would not dispatch the air force, he would definitely not dispatch the air force, and he would not have to worry about it anymore.

It was precisely because of underestimating the enemy that Saveliev did not place air defense firepower around the camp, which caused him to suffer a great loss soon after.

The brigade commanders of the brigades under the Mechanized Army, seeing that the commander did not speak, let him arrange air defense forces, naturally would not make him feel uncomfortable. After all, pushing forward 120 kilometers a day is also a very tiring thing. Instead of spending the effort to deploy thankless air defense firepower and unable to send out purpose, it is better to let the commanders and fighters rest early, and after obtaining fuel supplies tomorrow, you can continue to rush to the enemy's defense depth.

At eight o'clock in the evening, it was already dark, and the roar of the plane engine suddenly came from the sky.

Saveliev, who was talking to the Chief of Staff in the tent, heard the voice and said with some confusion: "Didn't you say that you will airdrop supplies to us tomorrow morning? Why will you come tonight?"
Chapter completed!