Chapter 496: The Capture of Vladivostok (5)
In fact, there is no need for Qingdao to remind him, Luo Yue also knows that after capturing Vladivostok, he must immediately capture Shuangchengzi to ensure that this raid on Vladivostok will achieve the real strategic goal.
However, although there are not many Russian troops guarding Shuangchengzi, it is a tough battle after all, and it must be fully prepared, and Shuangchengzi is about 100 kilometers away from Vladivostok, and the naval artillery is definitely not counted on, although the range of Eagle Strike 100 * is enough, but it is used to fight a small city like Shuangchengzi, it is really overkill, and now the People's Army has a total of 4 Eagle Strike 100 *, which must be used when it is most built.
And the fire support for the attack on Shuangchengzi relied on the two 200-mm self-propelled guns that were transported with the fleet this time. However, despite the well-developed port facilities in Vladivostok, it was quite cumbersome to unload self-propelled guns from ships.
Fortunately, the East China government was prepared for this, and specially designed a set of structural facilities for self-propelled guns to get on and off the ship, simply put, a ramp was assembled with a steel structure to let two self-propelled guns drive down the ship.
Nearly 100 engineers were busy working until more than 10 o'clock in the evening, when the ramp for the self-propelled guns to be disembarked was assembled, and the two self-propelled guns slowly drove down the transport.
At this time, it was already late at night, and the People's Army was not familiar with the terrain, so it naturally did not set off, but fortunately, Vladivostok had a railway that could lead directly to Shuangchengzi, and there was a ready-made train, so the army could set off by train early tomorrow morning to attack Shuangchengzi.
And that night, Luo Yue got in touch with Zhou Xinghan, the captain of the special forces who stayed here.
Although Zhou Xinghan had already raised an army of 1,500 people among the local minority tribes at this time, Luo Yue considered that the training time of the army was not long, and the weapons assembled were not many, only 500 rifles and 200 pistols, and there were no fire support weapons such as machine guns and mortars, and the location of these tribes was also far away from Vladivostok, so Luo Yue did not use this force when attacking Vladivostok. But in the attack on Shuangchengzi, it will be the turn of this force to play its role.
So Luo Yue and Zhou Xinghan agreed that the two sides would work together to attack Shuangchengzi tomorrow morning.
At 6 a.m. on the second day, two regiments of troops, plus two self-propelled guns, departed from Vladivostok by train and headed straight for Twin Cities. And in order to prevent the Russian army from sabotaging the railway, or setting up ambushes on the way, before the train, there is also a locomotive with two carriages, loaded with a company as the vanguard, about 1000 meters apart.
After more than 3 hours of driving, nothing happened along the way, and the KPA reached a place only about 6 kilometers away from Shuangchengzi very smoothly. The train stopped, and the soldiers and two self-propelled guns got out of the car and launched an attack on Shuangchengzi.
Yesterday, the defenders of Shuangchengzi received an order from Linnevich to reinforce Vladivostok, but the commander of the Russian battalion guarding Shuangchengzi was not confused, knowing that it was useless to know that he had rushed to Vladivostok, because if Vladivostok really could not be defended, the army would not be able to play a role on its own; if Vladivostok could be defended, there would be no need for him to go, so although he led the army from Shuangchengzi, he did not take the train, but marched slowly, and at the same time sent scouts to Vladivostok to fight the situation, and as a result, after walking more than 30 kilometers, he received the news that Vladivostok was lost, so the Russian army immediately turned around and fled back to ShuangchengziOn the one hand, he sent a telegram to Linnevich asking for support, and on the other hand, he also stepped up his defense and prepared to meet the offensive of the People's Army.
However, the People's Army launched an attack on Shuangchengzi on the second day after occupying Vladivostok, which was indeed somewhat unexpected by the Russian army, because in the eyes of the Russian army, even if the People's Army captured Vladivostok, it must have paid a lot of price, so it is necessary to rest for a few days before launching an attack.
And even if the People's Army does not rest, but Shuangchengzi is about 100 kilometers away from Vladivostok, this distance is not far away, but it is really not close, the People's Army should at least set up a transit station or temporary camp in the middle, so that in case Shuangchengzi cannot be captured in a short time, there is still a room for retreat and adjustment, so that it will take at least 2 days, then the People's Army will dispense with these and take the train directly from Vladivostok to Shuangchengzi.
There were no twists and turns in the battle process, two self-propelled guns were enough for the Russian army to drink a pot, and the temporarily organized defense line was suddenly broken by the People's Army, and at this moment, Zhou Xinghan led the local tribal coalition to kill from behind the Russian army.
Although the strength of the tribal alliance is indeed not very good, and even more than half of the people use cold weapons, but there are not many Russian troops in Shuangchengzi, at this time, all the attention is on the direction of the people's army's attack, and there is no spare strength to defend their backs, and the tribal alliance has suffered more or less from the Russian army in the past, and at this time they have all gathered enough strength to breathe a sigh of relief, so the morale is quite high, everyone is brave to take the lead, and the Russian army is caught off guard, so the Russian army is disrupted all of a sudden. The KPA also took the opportunity to launch an offensive, and the two sides attacked from both sides, completely defeating the Russian army. The whole battle took only about 40 minutes, and by the time the battle ended, it was not yet 11 noon.
After the KPA and the tribal coalition converged, both sides were very happy that the KPA had finally found a local person to help, although the KPA had a map, but after all, it was not as convenient as having a local guide to do so, not to mention that the local people were familiar with these environments and customs, which was indispensable, and the tribal alliance finally got the opportunity to get rid of Russian oppression. First, Zhou Xinghan and others have indeed won the trust of many tribes in the past six months or so, with their sincere attitude and careful work; second, these tribes still have a strong sense of belonging to China, and basically agree that they are Chinese, at least not exclusive, of course, this also has a lot to do with the brutal suppression of minority tribes after Russian rule.
But at this moment, the People's Army received another order from Luo Yue, asking them to leave only one battalion to guard Shuangchengzi, and the rest of the troops continued to advance by train and directly attack the Suifen River.
Suifenhe is a border city located in the southeast of Heilongjiang Province, bordering the Primorsky Krai of Russia in the east of the old time and space, and is the terminus of the Hasui Line of the Middle East Railway, where the Middle East Railway runs out of China, joins the Trans-Siberian Railway in Shuangchengzi, and then reaches Vladivostok, so Suifenhe is an important node city on the Northeast China Railway Line at this time.
The capture of the Suifen River by the People's Army means that it will return to China from the Russian border, and not only will the People's Army's front be pushed forward 200 kilometers from Vladivostok and a very considerable depth of space will be obtained, but it will also directly threaten Harbin, the Russian stronghold in the Far East at this time.
Of course, it is indeed a bit risky to just capture Shuangchengzi and immediately attack Suifenhe, even if the Russian army does not have many guards in Suifenhe, but after all, the People's Army now has only two divisions in Vladivostok, and all of a sudden the battle line is more than 200 kilometers long, just like a long snake formation along the railway line, and it is still in the territory of Russia, if there is a small number of Russian troops at this time, even if only one regiment of troops attacks the middle part of this long snake formation, there is a danger that the People's Army will be cut off and the People's Army will be difficult to take care of。
However, after careful consideration, Luo Yue believes that this risk is still worth taking, because now most of the Russian army's forces are concentrated in the Shenyang line and the People's Army, and the troops in the rear are seriously insufficient, and they are mainly deployed on the line from Harbin to Changchun, and the number of troops on the line from Vladivostok to Suifenhe is very small, which can be seen from the fact that the Russian army has only one battalion of troops in Shuangchengzi, so not only is the People's Army in one go, and the probability of capturing Suifenhe is extremely high, but also the possibility that the Russian army can have enough troops to attack the middle part of the People's Army。
Taking a step back, even if the Russian army launches an attack on the central part of the People's Army and cuts off the People's Army, Luo Yue also believes that this is not without room for recovery, because as long as the People's Army occupies the Suifen River, then in three days at most, the follow-up army of the People's Army will reach Vladivostok, and then the People's Army's strength will be much more sufficient, and it is completely possible to attack from Vladivostok again, defeat the Russian army, and restore the connection of the People's Army. At that time, the People's Army not only formed a line again and had enough troops to protect the railway line, but also occupied the Suifen River and maintained a threat to Harbin.
Of course, some people suggested to Luo Yue that it would be better to wait for the follow-up troops to arrive at Vladivostok before attacking Suifenhe, so that it would be much safer, and it would only take 2 or 3 days to do so, with the efficiency of the Russian army, 2 or 3 days may not be able to send many additional troops to Suifenhe.
But Luo Yue also vetoed this suggestion, because at this time, the Russian army in Harbin must know the news of the loss of Vladivostok, and will definitely increase troops to the cities along the Hasui line to block the road of the People's Army, you must know that the Russian army is also marching along the railway, from Harbin to Suihe, it will take a day and a night by train, so now the People's Army is running in a race with the Russian army, it depends on who can take the first step, and if the follow-up troops arrive, the Russian army will definitely reach Suifenhe first, and even if the People's Army still captures Suifenhe, it will inevitably pay a heavy price and time, and the Russian army can also make full use of this time, Arrange the garrison of Harbin, and the two sides will start a dramatic battle, and no one is absolutely sure what the outcome will be.