On June 1, 1877, the Tsar's grey cattle marched in a neat formation towards the city of Plevin.

Ten days earlier, on May 21, the Russian army had suffered a defeat in the city of Plevin. Pleven is in the north of Bulgaria and is a traffic point. After the Russian army, which declared war on Turkey, broke through the Danube defense line at a great cost under the slogan of "liberating the Slavic brothers", 300,000 Russian troops crossed the Danube and entered Bulgaria in April.

The Bulgarians welcomed the Russian troops, and along the way, gongs and drums were noisy, firecrackers were heard, and red flags were displayed. That scene ~~~ is really quite spectacular. The Russian army has gone through military reforms, and even if they don't think that the city of Plelo, which is occupied by Turkey, can really put up any fierce resistance, they do not underestimate the enemy. The troops of a brigade entered the town of Pleven in a mighty way.

As the brigade entered the town along the main road, rifles protruded from the open windows of the houses, from behind the courtyard walls, and from the depths of the grass. At the other end of the main street, Gatling guns mounted on small gun trucks were also pushed out. The Ottomans fired a storm of bullets at the Russian troops.

In addition to the roar of the Gatling gun, the Chinese modified magazine-type swing bolt-action rifle showed great firepower in close combat. In less than 20 minutes, a brigade of the Russian army lost more than 3,000 people, the brigade commander was killed, two regiment commanders were killed and one wounded, the defeated soldiers fled from the city of Plevin, and brought the news of the appearance of the main Turkish force in the city of Pleven to the Russian command.

After the crossing of the Danube by 300,000 Russian troops, the city of Pleven threatened the flanks of the Russian advance and the Danube bridges. A few years after the end of the Franco-Prussian War, the lessons of the Tsar's personal expedition and the defeat of Sedan were very clear. The Russian army, which was preparing to break through all the way, had to turn to the city of Pleven and solve the city first. The strategy of the Russian army to achieve a quick victory was bankrupt because of the sudden capture of the city of Pleven by the Ottoman army.

The garrison of the city consisted of thirty thousand men, and the commander was Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha. This sortie was his own initiative, and he suddenly appeared in Pleven City in the form of a rapid march. Along with the 30,000 combat troops, 25,000 heavy baggage troops were able to transport more than 13,000 tons of supplies into the city of Pleven with the help of 5,000 modern flatbed carts with bearings purchased from China, other means of transport, and the almost extreme loads of all the troops.

The slow movement of the Russian army gave the Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha ten days. In the first five days, 25,000 heavy troops also joined the construction of the defensive system, and after the Russian army began to outflank the city of Plevin, the Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha would let the baggage troops leave the city of Pleven and withdraw to the rear. He personally led his troops to complete the construction of the city's defenses.

In the hidden command post on the front line, Osman 61 Nuri Pasha put down his binoculars and said to a young Chinese officer beside him: "Lieutenant Colonel Li, why do you want to stay here?" ”

The Chinese soldier standing next to Osman 61 Nuri Pasha is named Li Weiren, who is 27 years old and a distant cousin of Li Yifang's cousin Levi. If it is far-fetched, he is also a "national uncle" in a certain sense, and in fact, some people have used this to joke about Li Weiren.

Hearing this question, "Uncle Li Guo" put down his binoculars and said confidently: "There is a chance to build a fortress, there is a chance to fight with the Russians, I don't want to go." ”

Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha didn't say much, this young Chinese "nobleman" did show an unusual level of fortress defense, and Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha actually didn't want Li Weiren, who designed the defense system, to go like this.

The horizontal formation of the Tsar's gray cattle was getting closer and closer, and the corners of Li Weiren's mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly, revealing a mocking smile. In 1856, Li Weiren was only 6 years old, and he was not yet qualified to go to war. He could only learn from the military academy that both the armies of the European powers and the Chinese Liberation Army adopted this mode of horizontal attack. At that time, the Liberation Army was on the rise and fought a tragic Battle of Foshan with the British. And in Europe, in the Crimean War, the Anglo-French forces also used this tactic to defeat the Russians in Crimea. After the end of the Crimean War, the Russians learned from the hard way and carried out military reforms. I didn't expect it to be changed back and forth with this tactic. Soon, the sound of shells piercing the air was heard, and the shelling of the Russians began.

The European part of the Russian army, which had 300,000 troops, sent 30,000 troops and more than 400 artillery pieces into battle. The artillery smashed into the fortress of Pleven like a storm, the city of Pleven was not big, the buildings were not high, under the attack of thousands of shells, the buildings in the fortress were constantly blown up by shells, the houses collapsed, and the smoke and dust billowed out.

Before the end of this dark shelling, the temporarily halted horizontal column of the Russian army began to move on. At a distance of 2,000 meters, the Ottomans began firing. The low density, but the non-stop firing did not cause much damage at first, and it was not until after the Russian army entered 500 meters that people began to be hit by bullets. However, the fragmentary casualties had no effect on the entire column.

The dilapidated fortress, the not dense gunfire, the Russian commander felt that this was a desperate return fire from the remnants of the Ottoman army, which suffered heavy casualties under heavy Russian artillery fire. The Ottomans may have retreated after the battle ten days earlier, leaving only a handful of troops to garrison here. It is also very easy to imagine that Pleven is in the north of Bulgaria and can threaten the position of the flank of the Russian army and the bridge over the Danube, which is easily surrounded by the Russian army. In the face of 300,000 Russian troops, what is the little Plevin.

The Russians continued to advance and began to return fire with platoon guns. Smoke soon filled the array of Russian troops. In accordance with the rules of platoon shooting, the Russian army continued to advance, walked out of this smoke zone, and then continued to shoot.

The artillery bombardment was very powerful, but the actual results were very small. Li Weiren knew that his "fortress defense system" was actually Wei Ze's tooth wisdom. The Li family, represented by Levi and Li Yuchang, is all in the direction of taking the road of civil officials and then going to government departments. Li Weiren's health is not particularly good, and he can only be called a sick seedling. But his ideal is to be in the army and make contributions on the battlefield.

After being admitted to the military academy, Li Weiren's various examinations and evaluations can only be called low-altitude passes. After graduating from the military academy, his military career has not been smooth. Li Weiren paid more attention to defense, and everyone thought that he was more suitable to be a sapper, but Li Weiren was arrogant and sneered at the sappers who were slow to be promoted. In the Guangfu Army, which advocates attack, Li Weiren is not very good.

Later, Li Weiren took the opportunity to follow his cousin Levi to meet Wei Ze once, and he told Wei Ze about his thoughts on the defense of the fortress. That was two years ago, and Li Weiren can still clearly remember the faint smile on Wei Ze's face, which was the soothing smile that an elder and strong person would show to a junior with limited ability.

Li Weiren's first feeling at that time was that if he couldn't get Wei Ze's guidance at this time, he would have no direction in his life. So Li Weiren anxiously shouted: "Governor, please tell me your opinion on the defense of the fortress." ”

The plea seemed to work, and Weeser said, "I haven't studied fortified defenses, so I can only tell you a few bits and pieces. In the past, the defense of the fortress was about standing high and seeing far away. Now that artillery technology is advancing rapidly, and with such a high turret, the enemy will reach your shooting corner, and the fortress will be finished as soon as the cannon hits you. Now the fortress defense war, what is needed is a low word, I will buckle a bunch of turtle shells on the ground, and the enemy will not fire if it is not within the range of what we will definitely be able to kill. This requires us to have firepower points, which must be distributed in echelons and be able to support each other......"

That consultation benefited Li Weiren a lot, and it also made him understand why those big people who Li Weiren could only look up to always respect Wei Ze from the bottom of their hearts. Originally, Li Weiren thought that this was the authority that the emperor should have, but now he understood that those bigwigs were in awe of Wei Ze's ability. Over the next two years, Li Weiren began to digest and learn Weeser's fortress concept.

However, the personnel department of the army probably did not have the idea of cultivating Li Weiren, and this large-scale sale of weapons and equipment to the Ottoman Empire, the personnel department promoted Li Weiren to the rank of lieutenant colonel, and sent this "uncle of the thorn country" to the Ottoman Empire. At least that's what Li Weiren thinks.

Now, Li Weiren's knowledge finally has a place to use. The Pleven Fortress was a "low" fortress, and during the ten days of construction, tens of thousands of troops desperately dug tunnels, using the limited iron plates they carried, and built strong fire points and command points. The tunnels connected the various positions, the anti-artillery holes, the hidden soldiers' holes, dug one after another.

Russian artillery fire did destroy many buildings, and those buildings were just a trick left by the Ottoman army to confuse the Russian army, and the wood and masonry that could be used in those buildings have long been emptied.

Now the Russian army, under a rain of bullets that is not too dense, has finally entered a distance of 200 meters with small losses. In the unscathed front-line command post, the Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha gave the order, "All front-line troops are replaced with guns!" ”

The Russian army felt that the fire of the Ottoman army on the opposite side stopped instantly, and they thought that the Ottoman army was ready to give up resistance. The Tsar's grey cattle let out an earth-shattering cry: "Ulla! Ulla! With his rifle in hand, he rushed towards the fortress.

The Russian troops were greeted by the non-stop fire of the Gatling guns in the separate fire points, and the Russian troops in the anti-artillery holes also poured into some broken positions, using five-way magazine rifles to shoot fiercely at the Russian troops who were less than 200 meters away and kept advancing.

Even in the face of unexpected head-on blows, the Tsar's gray cattle did not break down, and they reloaded and raised their guns to shoot according to the instinct cultivated through brutal training. This bravery is really commendable, but the speed of fire between the two sides is too far apart, and the Ottoman army's firepower is almost three times that of the Russian army.

In the binoculars, Li Weiren saw that the Russian troops were being knocked down piece by piece, and the Russian troops who were still standing on the battlefield by the goddess of luck stood alone in the pile of dead and wounded, crying while continuing to shoot. Until they were knocked to the ground by the Ottomans with a barrage of bullets.

The battlefield was full of dead and wounded, and just when the Ottoman 61 Nuri Pasha was overjoyed, Li Weiren put down his binoculars and said calmly: "Immediately let the troops on the position withdraw, the Russian army is afraid that it will be shelled again!" ”

Li Weiren guessed correctly, as soon as the excited Ottoman army withdrew into the anti-artillery hole, the Russian artillery began to fire fiercely. Li Weiren didn't know if it was his own delusion, this round of artillery fire not only did not make him feel as frightened as the previous round, but made Li Weiren feel the hysteria of the Russian commander on the opposite side.

After the long artillery bombardment, the Russian army launched another attack, and the second attack was just a copy of the first attack, the only difference was that the Russian army was more tenacious this time and held out longer. It also caused even more damage.

After the war, the Russian army itself counted that there were more than 290 officers and more than 11,500 soldiers killed and wounded in the battle, accounting for 4% of the total strength. And during the whole day of fighting, the Russian army simply did not have the ability to take the wounded off the position, so the total number of dead soldiers exceeded 4,400.

In the post-war statistics of the Ottoman army, they lost 110 killed and 410 wounded, and the casualties of 500 did have a little impact on the 30,000 Ottoman army. But it is still far from completely incapacitating this army.

After the Russian army retreated the next day with a white flag, the Ottomans did not celebrate at all, and they began to further transform the fortified city of Pleven according to Li Weiren's instructions. This victory was far from turning the tide of the war, and it would not be long before the Pleven fortress would have faced the onslaught of the main forces of the Russian European Front. That's the real test.

The tunnels that had been barely excavated were dug deeper, and the tunnels that had not had time to be excavated were excavated. After the experience accumulated in this battle, the outer positions have been expanded somewhat, and the firepower has been arranged in a more layered manner. This includes water sources, toilets, and burial places to avoid plague outbreaks. These details need to be carefully refined.

"You have to save food and eat it, now hurry up and collect food." Li Weiren put forward his own views.

"Suleiman Pasha has come back to reinforce us." Osman 61 Nuri Pasha was very confident in his comrades.

Li Weiren wanted to say something, but he held back again. Today's battle fully demonstrated the strength of the Ottoman army, and if the Liberation Army were to fight this battle, the casualties of the Ottoman army would only be doubled. Whether in training or command, the Ottoman army was too far from the Liberation Army. The victory relied on the new fortress and the fast guns provided by China. In terms of the combat effectiveness shown by the Russian army, if it is a field battle on the plains, the Ottoman army may not be able to easily overwhelm the Russian army.

After personally confirming the power of the new fortress tactics, Li Weiren suddenly understood why he was an outlier in the Liberation Army. Even if you can't conquer the fortress, you can besiege it. If you want to defeat the enemy, you can't rely on simple defense. The verification of what he pursues and desires certainly makes Li Weiren feel happy. But after leaving behind his old demons, Li Weiren found that his obsession was indeed problematic. This feeling made him unhappy in his heart, very unhappy.