The high sky was full of stars, but the dry and cold air froze the stars as if their eyes were stiff, and they shimmered dimly. Ivanov stared at the starry sky, exhaled a breath of cold air, and subconsciously pulled the cotton clothes wrapped around his body. The snow that had fallen a few days ago was under my feet, but it had not yet melted, and it had formed dry ice, and it made a noise. The dim starlight can only illuminate an area 2 or 30 meters away, and the distance is a misty.

In fact, although the climate in February is cold, Ivanov was born in Russia, which is extremely cold all year round, so such a cold climate is really nothing to him, but now Ivanov's heart, like the scenery in the distance, is full of mist.

Ivanov was born into a small merchant family in Russia, and because he did not want to inherit the family business and become a merchant again, he joined the army, hoping to establish meritorious service on the battlefield and thus be promoted to the nobility.

Before the Russo-Japanese War, Ivanov was just an ordinary soldier, and just one month ago, he was promoted to battalion commander, and even in wartime, such a promotion was extremely fast. However, Ivanov didn't have much joy about his rocket-like promotion speed, because his promotion was not due to his bravery in battle or his achievements, but because most of his original companions had died, and the only remaining Ivanov became a veteran and naturally got more opportunities for promotion. In addition, it is also due to the fact that the current situation in the Russian army is not optimistic.

Despite the fact that at Ivanov's level, it is impossible to know too much about the big situation, Since the start of the war, the Russian army has been losing the war, first by the Japanese to lose its armor, and then by the East China government, almost never won, and now it is trapped in the isolated city of Shenyang, the outer defense line is still constantly lost, that is, Ivanov himself, has also personally lost 2 positions, so this also makes Ivanov not see the hope of victory at all.

Thinking of this, Ivanov had no choice but to sigh, shook his head again, and put all these annoying things out of his mind, just wanted to end tonight's tour as soon as possible, return to his camp, drink the remaining bottle of Volga, sleep well, and wait until tomorrow if he has any troubles.

At this moment, out of sight, there was a faint sound of music, and Ivanov immediately stopped and listened, and in the silence of the night, the music and singing were very clear, and it was sung in Russian:

Watch the three sets of cars rush ahead

On the banks of the Volga in the cold winter

The driver lowered his head

Singing softly in sorrow

The rider asked the young driver

Why grieve alone

Why sigh deeply

The song is full of desolation

Good Samaritan, my love is tormented

I've loved her for almost a year

I hate the foreman for holding us back

Pain can only be hidden in the heart

Seeing that Christmas is coming

My sweetheart doesn't belong to me anymore

Wicked riches will take her away

She has no more joy in this life

The driver silently put away his whip

Stuck in his belt

Stop, tired horse

The coachman poured out his grief

Ma Eryo, we're going to break up

From now on, the heavens will be on their own

I can no longer drive a carriage

Galloping on the Volga

I can no longer drive a carriage

Running on the Volga River (Note 1)

After the song ended, Ivanov also exhaled softly, but soon the music began to sound again, and Ivanov couldn't help but hum softly along with it.

I don't know when it began, but every night sound, this song came from the positions of the People's Army. Ivanov was educated and had a certain knowledge of music, he knew that the name of this song was "Three Sets of Cars", written by the poet Leonid Trevelev in 1869, and later composed by the musician Pyotr Grupokki, because this song tells a sad love story, and the melodium of the song is poignant and desolate, so it has been widely circulated throughout Russia at the end of the 19th century, and many nobles also loved this folk song. It's just that I don't know why, this song will be released on the KPA positions.

And Ivanov listened to it, and couldn't help but think of a girl he had a crush on when he was in school, she had a tall figure, beautiful blonde hair and outstanding looks, but she was born in an upper-class aristocratic family, and Ivanov's family was very different, and she was already engaged, and the object was also a Russian nobleman, so Ivanov never mentioned this matter to others, and he did not want to inherit the family business, became a businessman, insisted on joining the army, and established meritorious service, this fruitless crush is also an important reason.

Suddenly, a crying voice woke Ivanov from fond memories,

"Elena, my Elena, was robbed by the Roman lord in the village......"

"Minova, Minova, how are you doing? Are you okay now?"

"Dad, Mom, I want to go home, I want to go home......"

...... ......

After a short time, there was already a crying voice in the position, and Ivanov couldn't help but be taken aback, because this kind of phenomenon seemed to be something that had never happened before, and he knew that it had a considerable impact on the morale of the army. But Ivanov hesitated for a moment, not knowing whether he should immediately report to his superiors or stop the crying soldiers.

And at this moment, the singing stopped, but then a beautiful female voice appeared, speaking in Russian, and Ivanov listened carefully.

"Soldiers of the Russian army, you have been trapped in Shenyang for 3 months, and now there are no reinforcements to save you, in fact, you will never have reinforcements, so you should no longer have illusions about the war situation, it is doomed to failure. We hope that you will surrender to us, or refrain from resistance in the event of war, so that not only will you be able to save your lives, but we will also promise to guarantee your personal safety and dignity, and when the truce comes, you will be able to return home and reunite with your families. You are all poor peasants in Russia, you are a soldier to support your family, there is no need to work for the tsar, for the Russian aristocracy, think about your parents, your wives or lovers, and your children, for them, I hope you choose to live. ”

The broadcast was repeated 3 times, and then the song "Three Sets of Cars" was played, and so on.

And Ivanov was also stunned for a while, finally sighed and turned to leave. He was born in a small businessman's family, and he had a certain amount of contact with the people at the bottom, and after joining the army, he also started from ordinary soldiers at the grassroots level, so he has a considerable understanding of the mentality of ordinary soldiers, and knows that this passage does have a considerable influence on ordinary soldiers. And in the face of such a complicated situation, such a small person as Ivanov is really powerless to deal with it, and can only be out of sight and out of mind.

Just a few days later, the evil consequences finally began to be gradually revealed, at this time the morale of the Russian army was very low, and the morale of the people was disheartened, and they heard their own folk songs every night, and naturally they couldn't suppress their nostalgia for their hometown and relatives, and they were naturally more and more tired of the war, and some soldiers had more or less similar encounters with the content of the folk songs, and they were even more touched by the heart, had no intention of fighting, and complained a lot.

Although there is no theoretically sound psychological warfare in this era, the top brass of the Russian military is very clear that measures must be taken to prevent the development of the situation. At the beginning, the Russian army also took more active actions, when the song sounded, opened artillery and fired, or sent soldiers to attack, but in the dark night it was not accurate to judge the enemy's position, and the artillery could only be fired indiscriminately, but it exposed the position of its own artillery position, attracting the artillery fire of the People's Army to counterattack, and sending soldiers to attack was even more useless, because the morale of the Russian army was not high, and it was a very risky thing to attack at night, so the Russian troops who attacked were all blocked by the People's Army, and the troops were dismantled.

In desperation, the top brass of the Russian army could only strengthen the discipline of the soldiers, and sent an inspection team to strictly monitor the words and deeds of the soldiers, and severely punish the soldiers who made radical remarks, in an attempt to suppress the soldiers' emotions by high-pressure means.

If it is in peacetime, these methods may be useful, because among all countries, the patience and obedience of the Russian soldiers are quite strong, it can be said that they are second only to the Japanese soldiers, but the current situation is different, because of the continuous defeats, the prestige of the Russian army's top brass has dropped significantly, and the morale of the soldiers at this time is low, and there are many complaints, so the empty and meaningless preaching cannot be recognized by the soldiers at all, and the high-pressure means will not make the soldiers obey at this time. And the People's Army will not sit idly by and watch the Russian army calmly rectify the interior, although the People's Army did not launch a large-scale offensive after besieging Shenyang, but the small battles between the two sides have not been interrupted. At this time, most of the positions outside Shenyang were occupied by the People's Army, and the remaining positions were basically within 5 kilometers of Shenyang, and most of the Russian troops withdrew to the city.

As a result, under such double pressure, the Russian soldiers in two small peripheral positions did not resist at all when the KPA attacked, some surrendered, and some abandoned their positions and retreated; even a small number of Russian soldiers mainly surrendered to the KPA, and there were also several positions that were strongly resisted by the soldiers because the inspection team suppressed the soldiers too strictly, causing internal commotion among the Russian troops, and nearly 100 people were wounded, killed, and missing.

Lieutenant General Stagliburg, the chief general of the Russian army, was also at a loss in the face of such a chaotic situation, and had nothing to do, and held a military meeting for several days in a row, and the officers who participated were also speechless, and no one could come up with a good solution.

Just over two months ago, Shenyang's telegraph line was cut off by the People's Army, so Shenyang completely lost contact with the outside world and became a completely isolated city. It can be said that the only hope for Stagreburg now is that before the telegraph line is cut off, he learns that the East China government, Russia, and Japan, under the mediation of the United States, are ready to hold negotiations, and if this negotiation can be successful, he will have a chance to retreat. But now more than two months have passed, and I don't know how the negotiations are going, whether the three sides have reached the talks, and they don't even have the opportunity to send a telegram to ask, so they can only wait like this. Fortunately, the food and materials in Shenyang are still sufficient, which is also the main reason why the Russian army can still sustain itself.

However, after the Russian folk song and shouting incident, Stägriburg also understood that the negotiations were probably broken, and the KPA should be a prelude to an attack, but now Stägriburg could not do anything but resign himself to fate.

Note 1: [Three Sets of Cars] is one of the most familiar Russian folk songs among Chinese, but its song content is now "Old Horse Said" and "Girl Said". "Old Horse Says" is a lyric translated by Mr. Gao Shan in 1953, that is, it was the coachman's horse that was robbed by the rich man, which has been circulated in China for half a century, and "The Girl Said" is the lyrics translated by Mr. Zhang Ning in 1998, that is, the lyrics quoted in the text, and it was the coachman's lover who was robbed by the rich man. And in the text, "the girl said".