"Report, the Yueyang ship came to inform you that the large force of the Russian army has arrived near Qianwei Town, and the vanguard force has arrived at Gaoling Town. Eight and one Chinese ??? .?8 (viii)"

Zhu Yaping nodded and said, "Okay, immediately notify the regimental headquarters, as well as the Shanhaiguan side to come here for a meeting." ”

Qianwei Town is located in Suizhong County, Huludao City, Liaoning Province, about 3o kilometers away from Shanhaiguan, and only 23 kilometers away from the Shanhaiguan defense line arranged by the People's Army. When a large number of Russian troops arrived at Qianwei Town, it meant that they had entered the range of Shanhaiguan, and it could be said that the war could start at any time.

At this time, 15 days have passed since the People's Army was stationed in Shanhai, and the People's Army has also made full use of the 15 days to transfer troops, and at this time it has gathered three regiments of the Second Regiment, the Fifth Regiment, and the Ninth Regiment in Shanhaiguan, as well as a field artillery battalion of the first regiment and an independent light howitzer battalion, with a total strength of more than 9ooo people, 36 77-mm field guns, 12 1o5-mm light howitzers, and 6 warrior vehicles and 3 off-road vehicles, which are mainly used for reconnaissance by the troops.

The headquarters of the People's Army is located in the area of the Nine Gates outside the Shanhai Pass, there is a section of the Great Wall tunnel here, it is the thirteenth year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, when the famous general Xu Da presided over the construction of the Great Wall at the Nine Gates, he dug out a secret passage in the mountains that go straight to the outside of the Great Wall from the inside of the Great Wall, and can not only station troops but also attack from the rear of the enemy station attacking the city by the surprise troops in the inner city. The total length of the tunnel is 1,27 meters, and there are 29 large and small caves in the cave, and the drainage system and ventilation holes are designed, and the wells are dug, so that a total of about 2ooo people can be stationed.

After the commander of the 6th Army, Zhu Yaping, arrived at Shanhaiguan, he set up his headquarters here, and the other caves in the road were partly used as warehouses and partly as field hospitals.

The People's Army's defense line did not rely on the Great Wall to arrange, this is because in the era of thermal weapons, the defensive role of the Great Wall has been greatly reduced, just as the city wall has been unable to block the artillery bombardment, on the contrary, the goal of the Great Wall is obvious, and it is not conducive to the concealment of soldiers, so the People's Army's defense line is arranged in an area of 2-3 kilometers outside the Great Wall, and the Great Wall is only used as a large rear. The defensive line was dominated by irregularly shaped trench fronts, and barbed wire fences were pulled up on the sides of the trenches, and various artillery pieces were arranged. In terms of the distribution of troops, the troops of the 2nd and 5th regiments were mainly stationed in various parts of the defensive line, and the 9th regiment was the general reserve.

On the sea, a passing warship is maintained in the Shanhaiguan sea area at any time, and the battleship Brandenburg, the ironclad ship of Saxony and two torpedo boat destroyers form a mixed formation, and now the Yueyang ship is on duty, and it has been going out to the waters of Jinzhou, crossing the warship to reconnoiter the movements of the Russian army with drones, and informing the Shanhaiguan command every day It can be said that the Russian army sent troops from Jinzhou, and its movements have been mastered by the traversers. The battleship Brandenburg and the ironclad ship of Saxony were equipped with four 28o mm guns, and the maximum firing range exceeded 2o kilometers, which could not only provide fire support to the People's Army, but also monitor the movements of Shanhaiguan.

After a short time, the members of the 2nd, 5th, and 9th regiments, as well as the guards of Shanhaiguan Zheng Caisheng, Fushun, Song Qing, and Ma Yukun, together with Zhang Peilun and Li Jingfang, rushed to the Great Wall at the Nine Gates to attend this pre-war meeting.

Everyone sat down in the passage, and Zhu Yaping said: "Everyone, the command has just received information that the Russian army's brigade has arrived at Qianwei Town, and the vanguard army has arrived at Gaoling Town, and it is estimated that the battle will start in one or two days, so I order all positions to immediately enter the combat state, and all troops are arranged according to the arrangement, all of them have entered the positions and are ready to meet the attack of the Russian army at any time." ”

The members of the regimental headquarters of the three regiments immediately stood up and saluted as a sign of respect.

At this time, Zheng Caisheng said: "Generals, you are really grateful to come to help us guard Shanhaiguan, but we are the defenders of Shanhaiguan, and we have the responsibility to defend the land, I don't know what we can do?"

Song Qing also said: "Yes, generals, your righteousness is thin and cloudy, and the old man is also deeply admired, but we can't just watch you and the Russian army fight, so if there is anything we can do, please ask the generals to do just as they are told." ”

In fact, during this period of time, the Qing army in Shanhaiguan cooperated quite well with the actions of the People's Army, helping the People's Army dig trenches, build fortifications, transport supplies, etc., which really helped the People's Army a lot. However, from Zheng Caisheng's heart, it is enough to do this step, as for fighting with the Russian army, it is the business of the People's Army, and it has nothing to do with itself, if the People's Army wins, he might as well follow up and pick up some cheapness, if the People's Army loses, he will slip away as soon as possible. The People's Army was not stationed in Shanhaiguan City, but arranged a defensive line outside the Nine Gates, which also made Zheng Caisheng completely relieved, because this shows that the People's Army does not have the ambition of annexing Shanhaiguan against the guest, and the Nine Gates are more than 2o miles away from Shanhaiguan, once the People's Army is defeated, he also has plenty of time to escape, Zheng Caisheng has prepared two steamers at the Shanhaiguan Wharf, and transported part of his family wealth to the ship, and can escape from Shanhaiguan at any time.

But Song Qing, Ma Yukun and Zheng Caisheng's mentality is different, both of them are battle-hardened generals, and they have all participated in the suppression of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the Twist Army, and the pacification of the Shaanxi-Gansu Rebellion, the First Sino-Japanese War and many other major battles, and have fought with the Eight-Nation Alliance, and there are some martial arts and bravery. Of course, if they want to fight against the Russian army alone, they will definitely not dare, but the current situation is different, because there are overseas Chinese behind them.

With the increase of the People's Army in Shanhaiguan, the strong self-confidence shown by the soldiers of the People's Army has also greatly infected Song Qing and Ma Yukun, both of whom are experienced in a hundred battles, although the external battle is defeated and won less, but the vision is very different from Zheng Caisheng, looking at the soldiers of the People's Army full of spirit and vigor, and the order is prohibited, the military discipline and military style are excellent, and the Qing Army is not the same day at all, and it is also based on the previous achievements of the People's Army, so the two are also quite confident in the People's Army. Moreover, the two of them are not willing to be lonely, hoping to follow the People's Army and win a few battles, so that one is to justify their own name, and the other is to accumulate some military exploits, and when the situation in the future stabilizes, it will also be their own capital.

However, the two are not the guards of Shanhaiguan, but because after the defeat of Beijing, they retreated to Shanhaiguan to be temporarily stationed, because they are both old men, Ma Yukun is over sixty years old, and Song Qing is nearly eighty years old, and Zhu Yaping, the main general of overseas Chinese, seems to be less than forty, this age contrast is too great, so it is not good to take the initiative to mention it to overseas Chinese, so I had to let Zheng Caisheng come forward.

Although Zheng Caisheng is the governor of Shanhaiguan, Song Qing's official position is to lead the Wuwei Left Army and the Sichuan Governor, and at the same time he also leads an army called the Yi Army; Ma Yukun's official position is to run the Wuzheng Left Army and the Governor of Zhili, both in terms of official position and seniority are far stronger than Zheng Caisheng, and the total number of troops of the two is nearly 10,000 people, which is far more than the defenders of Shanhaiguan, so Zheng Caisheng did not dare to refute the face of the two, so he had to put forward to Zhu Yaping that he hoped that there was something to do.

Zhu Yaping nodded, he had done enough work before coming to Shanhaiguan, knew who Song Qing and Ma Yukun were, nodded, and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, please rest assured, this war with the Russian army will never be missing you, and we are all after Yan Huang, only by working together can we protect China from being bullied by foreign enemies." However, now that the Russian army has just arrived, its morale is sharp, and we have already laid out a defensive line and are ready for battle, so if we don't visit, let the Russian army suffer a few big losses, and frustrate the spirit of the Russian army, and wait for them to break the blood flow in front of our defense line, and after the division veterans are tired, we will counterattack, so that we can break the Russian army in one fell swoop, and at that time, it is time for you to show your skills. ”

Song Qing and Ma Yukun also nodded again and again, they are all experienced in battle formations, and they are well versed in the art of war, so they naturally know that the battle plan mentioned by Zhu Yaping is a deep combination of the art of war, in Chinese history, there are many examples of using this tactic, and it is also very effective, usually when the weak defeat the strong, and the less wins the more. Moreover, during this period of time, the People's Army has been building fortifications at the Nine Gates, and it is also a stubborn posture, so this is not unexpected by Song Qing and Ma Yukun.

However, this tactic can only be done by withstanding the enemy's attack, and when defending against the enemy's attack, it often has to pay relatively large casualties, and the People's Army has taken the initiative to undertake this most difficult combat task, so it can be said that it has gnawed all the bones that are difficult to gnaw, and the opportunity to make meritorious service left behind has been given to itself. Song Qing and Ma Yukun are also people who have been in the officialdom for decades, so they don't understand this. Of course, neither of them knew that in the hands of the People's Army, there was actually a huge trump card.

At this time, Zhu Yaping said again: "But after the war, we must go all out to guard the defense line of the Nine Gates, and the Russian army may send an army to bypass the Nine Gates and attack the Shanhaiguan by surprise, so the defense of the Shanhaiguan still needs to be paid more attention to the commanders." ”

Song Qing hurriedly said: "Rest assured, generals, after we go back, we will immediately arrange manpower to strictly guard the city, and we will never let the Russian army take advantage of it." ”

In fact, it is not easy for the Russian army to make a detour through the nine gates and make a surprise attack on Shanhaiguan, first, it cannot dispatch too many troops; second, it cannot carry heavy weapons, otherwise it will lose the effect of the surprise attack, but in this way, it will not be able to storm Shanhaiguan, so as long as Shanhaiguan is strictly defended and the Russian army is not allowed to take advantage of it, it can basically ensure that the city is not lost, which is much easier than the People's Army guarding the defense line at the nine gates.

What's more, there is also the ability of the traverser to fully control the entire battlefield, which can grasp the movements of the Russian army at the first time, provide early warning to Shanhaiguan, and the warships of the People's Army can also provide fire support for Shanhaiguan, so it can also be said that Shanhaiguan is actually as stable as Mount Tai, and there will be no loss at all.