In the biting cold wind, the soldiers of Xudong Fort, the northernmost point of Heilongjiang, encountered a swarm of White Russian soldiers.

At this time, it was the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, and according to the Gregorian calendar of later generations, it was already the middle of December, and Xudong Fort was covered with heavy snow and white everywhere. And those white Russians advancing in the snow are like black dots on a white background.

Bai Yi wore a thick animal fur coat, a fur hat on his head, and fur boots on his feet, which can be described as armed to the teeth. In comparison, the soldiers of Xudong Fort only had thick cotton clothes, and they could only fight indoors in such winters.

As soon as you go indoors and spend too much time outside, you will be frozen by the cold north wind.

However, outside the fortress, the soldiers had to walk to the edge of the fortress and hold their guns for defense.

Seeing the soldiers of Xudong Fort leaving the building inside the fortress, the Tsar's soldiers were in no hurry to attack. They stood in the cold wind and quietly confronted the soldiers of Tianjin.

The soldiers of Tianjin looked at the European Baiyi from the far north in amazement, helpless. The north wind howled above the fortress, and the cotton clothes on the soldiers' bodies could not protect against the pervasive cold air. Soon, the soldiers were shivering with cold.

"Move!"

"Move, don't stand still!"

However, even if the soldiers are exercising desperately, outdoors at minus 15 degrees, the howling north wind is not something that cotton clothes can resist for a long time. After two hours of confrontation, the soldiers born in the gate were frozen and couldn't stand it.

The platoon commander of Xudong Fort looked at his men who were shivering from the cold and knew that this fortress could not be defended.

If they continue to defend it, all the more than 30 soldiers will freeze to death.

And the Cossacks on the opposite side will not have the slightest problem.

Gritting his teeth, the platoon leader shouted, "Go!" ”

Dozens of soldiers were relieved, rushed to the stables to get their horses, and fled south.

Outside Xudong Fort, the White Russians who were waiting for work seemed to have expected this scene a long time ago. They gathered the warm thick fur on their bodies and walked unhurriedly into Xudong Fort, the northernmost part of the Heilongjiang River.

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In the palace of the king of Tianjin, everyone stood in front of a huge map of Asia, analyzing the current situation.

Zhong Feng and Zheng Kaicheng, as generals under Li Zhi, were both transferred back by Li Zhi. Now the Tiger Army can stay in Japan and Korea to suppress the rebellion, but the general who leads the army must return to lead the army.

Li Zhi looked at the map and held his chin in contemplation.

Thinking about it, Li Zhi deserted.

There were no razors in this era, and it was easy to hurt the skin by shaving directly with a sharp ordinary blade, so Li Zhi also had to grow a goatee like everyone else.

According to the words of Zhong Feng and others, Li Zhi, who has a beard, is even more majestic. However, at this time, his hand was on his beard, and there was a feeling of disadvantage, which made Li Zhi feel that it was time to invent the razor.

However, the razor seems simple, but in fact, the machining accuracy is very high. If you start the most sophisticated machine tool in Fanjiazhuang to produce razor blades, it is a bit uneconomical.

Li Zhizheng was outside the spirit, but was interrupted by Defense Minister Hong Chengchou's words.

At this time, the army at home and abroad was pressing, but the other officials were not as relaxed and calm as Li Zhi, and their faces were solemn, as if they might be attacked by the enemy at any time.

Hong Chengchou pointed to the map heavily and said, "Your Majesty, now that our steamers have transported the Tiger Ben army from all over the country back to China, we have 63,000 mobile troops in our hands. ”

"These 63,000 people are the main force we can rely on. We must mobilize these 60,000 people to defeat 20,000 White Russian soldiers, 60,000 Jiangbei Army, and more than 100,000 gentry rebels, and then use these 60,000 people to defeat 200,000 Indian soldiers with the Yizi Battalion and the Samurai Army commanded by Li Laosi. ”

Hearing Hong Chengchou's analysis, everyone's faces became more serious.

Today's shortage of troops can be described as stretched.

Gao Ligong suddenly stepped forward and said, "Lord Wang, I think that the most urgent problem now is to defeat the White Russia in the north. ”

"The Jiangbei Army is still in the south of Shaanxi, and there is a 4,000-mile road from there to the capital. The Jiangbei Army dragged heavy artillery and traveled up to 30 miles a day. This 4,000-mile road will take four months for the Jiangbei Army to walk. ”

"And Humayun in the Mughals, although powerful, is 5,000 miles from Delhi in India to Burma. Humayun's 200,000-strong army is facing various supply problems, and it would be good to be able to reach Burma in five months. I see Humayun in half a year. ”

"And the White Russia in the north was originally stationed north of the Heilongjiang River, and the offensive was very fast when it crossed the river. The people who have now reclaimed the northeast have begun to settle in Jilin Province, which is only 1,500 miles away from the Xudong area where the White Russians crossed the river, and the White Russians will only need a month and a half to attack Jilin, and the situation is very urgent. ”

Hong Chengchou nodded and said: "If the White Russians are allowed to enter Jilin, I am afraid that our people will be killed by the White Russians." All buildings and facilities will be destroyed. Northeast China, which we have worked so hard to build for nearly six or seven years, will be completely destroyed in one fell swoop. This is the number one threat we face. ”

Cao Yu, the head of the arsenal, said: "Then we will first wave our division to the north, defeat the White Russians, and then return to the division to rescue the capital!" ”

When the generals and staff officers in front of the map heard this, they were silent.

Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "It's November now, and the temperature in the Northeast, especially in Heilongjiang Province, has dropped to minus 10 degrees, and the temperature at night is even minus 20 degrees. If we send troops to Heilongjiang, it will already be the end of November when we get there. When the time comes, our worst enemy will be the bitter cold. ”

After Li Zhi made a thermometer, he collected climate data in various places. As defense minister, Hong Chengchou has complete information in his hands and is very familiar with the situation in the northeast.

Hong Chengchou said heavily: "Most of our soldiers are from Tianjin, and even some from Shandong. Our cotton clothes can allow soldiers to go out occasionally, but if they are exposed to temperatures of minus 10 degrees or lower for a long time, and fight against the cold wind, I am afraid that our cotton jackets will not be able to keep the soldiers warm. ”

"At night, you will freeze to death."

"And according to our experience in fighting with Belarus in previous years, these European soldiers have thick fur coats and thermal equipment that is far stronger than ours. Moreover, the Belarusian race is very hardy, far more able to withstand the bitter cold than our Han people. So the soldiers of the White Russians can fight in the northeast in winter, but our soldiers cannot. ”

After listening to Hong Chengchou's analysis, everyone was silent.

If the White Russians cannot be repelled this winter, all the migrants in Jilin can only be evacuated. The farmhouses, granaries and even the railway stations, which took years to prune, will be destroyed by the White Russians.

Cao Yu slapped the table angrily and scolded: "Abominable White Russia! How can these Europeans be so greedy that they have hit our northeast? ”

Gao Ligong took a breath and said, "The enemy we face this time is more powerful and more ferocious than before. I'm afraid that we really have to evacuate the people in Jilin and Liaodong this time. ”

Liaodong and Jilin were built for six or seven years, and now they have become Li Zhi's big granary. If the three northeastern provinces are destroyed, the losses will be the most painful. When everyone said this, they were all very sad, and they were all speechless.

However, Li Zhi did not worry and despair like everyone else.

To deal with 20,000 White Russians, Li Zhi had 10,000 ways.

Seeing that everyone stopped talking, Li Zhi smiled and went to think about the razor again.

However, Li Zhi's spirit was quickly interrupted by Zhong Feng.

Zhenbei Bo Zhongfeng arched his hand to Li Zhi and said: "Lord, I went hunting in Laoshan during the Chinese New Year last year, didn't the prince say that he would make a batch of the most powerful warm clothes this winter?" At that time, the prince said that this new style of clothing was extremely powerful and could make a lot of money. It's November now, so it's already ready. ”

When everyone heard Zhong Feng's words, they all looked at Li Zhi.

If they had warm clothing, the soldiers of Tianjin would be able to fight their way into the northeast by railroad and defeat the arrogant and domineering White Russians who took advantage of the cold weather.

Li Zhi looked at everyone and smiled.

Waving his hand, Li Zhi said, "Don't worry, this extremely cold weather is nothing. ”

Everyone's eyes lit up, staring at the king of Tianjin, waiting for the king of the county to take out the treasure.

The king of the county is the star descending to earth, which has formed a public opinion in one town and nine provinces. No matter what the difficulty, the king of the county can come up with a restraint method. The king of the county can go to the sky and enter the sea, and he can do what mortals cannot. Maybe this cold of minus ten degrees, or even twenty degrees, is really nothing in the eyes of the county king.

Li Zhi waved his hand and asked the guards to take out a piece of clothing.

The dress was bulging, and it looked like a big cotton coat.

Everyone opened their eyes wide and looked up and down at the garment, and even touched it with their hands, but in the end they couldn't get the point.

Gao Ligong asked curiously: "Your Highness, is this a cotton coat?" ”

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Director Gao, this is a down jacket invented by a widow!" With this down jacket, not to mention the Northeast, you can go to the Antarctic and the North Pole! ”