Snowfield. White mountains and black waters. Count nine in the middle of winter. If it was in ancient times, the season would have been silent, but now, the hustle and bustle of industry has broken the silence of this ice and snow world.

In the vast snowy field, is a fairly modern railway station, now, a train is spewing billowing black smoke into this railway station, the steam of the locomotive permeates the platform, obscuring the vision, the steel wheels run over the cold rails, out of the sonorous contention, heavy and solid, this is a microcosm of the China Industrial Exhibition in this era.

This is Manchuria, a city located on the border, because the famous Eastern Railway passes through here, the city has also become an important transit point for Sino-Russian international trade, and together with Kyakhta in the west, it plays the role of a transportation hub for Sino-Russian trade.

Usually the trains passing through Manchuria are mostly freight cars, but now, the train that is entering the station is a passenger car, and it is hung with the number of a military train, which is actually a special train, and the most prominent passenger on the train is the army chief Wu Zhenhan.

On his visit to Manchuria, Wu Zhenhan was entrusted by the central government to inspect the defense work, and he was accompanied by several heavyweight officers of the General Staff, among whom Jiang Fangzhen and Zhang Xiaozhun were the most prominent. Now that China has officially participated in the Allied military operations to intervene in Russia, has sent not only naval fleets but also army combat units, and has carried out combat missions deep into Russia's borders, the significance of China's army commander's sudden visit to Manchuria is self-evident

After the special train carrying the commander-in-chief of the Chinese Army entered the station, it soon stopped on the platform under the command of the dispatch room, and several staff officers got off the train first, and at the same time, the sound of military music also sounded on the platform, hundreds of salute soldiers have lined up on the platform, as soon as the command sounded, they immediately saluted with guns, and the movements were neat, and then matched with the military backpack carried behind them, this spirit was also quite vigorous, and the military appearance was even more mighty.

After the sound of the military curtain sounded for more than ten seconds, Wu Zhenhan got out of the car with his entourage, dressed in a new military uniform. The pair of long military boots on his feet are polished shiny, the right side of the armed belt is hung with a holster, a small revolver is installed in it, and a short sword is hung on the left side of the armed belt, which is called "The general's sword is personally given by the president, which is an honor, and the hilt of the sword is engraved with the words "Pillow and Wait for the Emperor to be loyal to the country", which is to promote the professional spirit of professional soldiers.

The entourage behind Wu Zhenhan was also dressed in the same way, but the short swords worn at his waist were not necessarily "general's swords", and officers with insufficient level could only hang bayonets.

"All the officers and men of the 1st Battalion of the Manzhouli Border Guard Corps of the National Defense Force, welcome to Chief Wu and all the commanders to come and inspect!"

After Wu Zhenhan got out of the car, the commander of the Wehrmacht who commanded the line to welcome him caught up a few steps, stood up and saluted, and the pair of long military boots on his feet were also polished.

"The military looks good. Morale is not the purpose. ”

Wu Zhenhan nodded to the commander, and then began to review the troops, accompanied by the commander of the border guards.

The parade ceremony lasted less than two minutes, and then, with the command of "salute finished," the hundreds of officers and men present immediately put down the rifles they were holding, and the butts of the rifles were lightly knocked on the concrete ground under their feet, making a neat sound of collision.

Since it was a military commander inspecting the border defense work, the welcoming ceremony at the railway station did not use civilian forces, and Wu Zhenhan did not have to make a false deal with the local celebrities, and immediately left the railway station with his entourage after the review.

Since the snow on the roads outside the city had not been completely cleared, the car only traveled a short distance, and after entering the city defense headquarters, Wu Zhenhan and his entourage took several improved "Yellow Dog" armored vehicles, left the city from the west of the city, and headed west along the patrol road on the south side of the national border.

On this road, Wu Zhenhan ordered the armored car to stop from time to time, and then stood on the roof of the car, holding a telescope to look north, Jiang Fangzhen, Zhang Xiaozhun and others are also doing the same, and they are now very concerned about the situation on the other side of the northern border.

Across the border, to the north is the Russian city of Transbaikalsk, which is a city, but because of the neighboring Manchuria, it is a transit point for trade between the two countries, so the business is relatively prosperous, but since the Russian Revolution, the small city has gradually deserted, some days ago, some Russian nobles and merchants have fled from Transbaikalsk to Manchuria, and then, the red flag of the Russian Bolsheviks is flying in the city of Transbaikalsk, there is no doubt that the border town is now controlled by the Russian Soviet government.

But the current situation was very unfavorable for the Bolshevik government in the Russian Far East. On the one hand, there was the military intervention of the British, American, Chinese, and Japanese forces in the eastern part of the Ussuri River, which left the Russian Bolshevik regime in the Far East in chaos and deprived it of its only reliable outlet to the sea, and on the other hand, military pressure from the west, since the Russian Tsarist government currently controlled Central Siberia, effectively cut the Bolshevik power in the whole of Russia into two parts. One in Europe, one in Asia, and now, stimulated by the joint military intervention of the four powers, the tsarist government is desperately launching a military offensive to the east, and the tsarist army has now reached Solovievsk and Bolchia, and these two cities, one is located west of Transbaikalsk and the other is located north of Transbaikalsk, in fact, the current Transbaikalsk is already under the semi-encirclement of the tsarist army, if the Bolshevik army in the city intends to break through, Maybe it's time to prepare.

As a matter of fact

Zhenhan, Chiang Fangzhen, Zhang Hsiao-joon, and others saw a retreating silent image, and in the northern city of Zabaikalsk, rising black smoke could be seen everywhere, and sporadic gunfire could be heard, indicating that the city's troops were apparently destroying documents and executing Russians, whom they saw as enemies of the revolution.

The Russian civil war has been fought so far, and both sides have been killed, and now not only the revolutionary government is executing prisoners, but the tsarist government is executing all Russians suspected of revolution with the same madness.

It must be admitted that, judging from the information obtained from various sources, this civil war in Russia is very cruel and cannot be compared with the civil wars of other countries, and considering the current cold climate. No Russian can guarantee that he will live to see the end of the civil war.

Therefore, many Russian nobles and merchants fled to neighboring countries to escape the war, and China is obviously one of the most ideal refuge in the Far East, and Manchuria has also become the main border port for Russian war refugees to enter China, in order to cope with this refugee flow, the Chinese central government had to establish several refugee camps in the suburbs of Manchuria to accommodate Russian refugees, and considering the stability of the border situation, the central government also decided to send Wu Zhenhan to visit on behalf of the president to inspect the situation on the Russian border. See if it is necessary to open a "second battlefield" for coalition intervention on the territory of Russia

As the presidential plenipotentiary, Wu Zhenhan is resolutely advocating the opening of a "second battlefield" for coalition intervention in Russia, but the purpose is not to stabilize the border situation, but to occupy more territory.

Therefore, when inspecting the border posts, Wu Zhenhan had been thinking about how to march into the army, and now that the troops of the Russian tsarist government were approaching Transbaikalsk, if they wanted to send troops from Manchuria, the Chinese defense forces would have to hurry up, because once the Russian tsarist army occupied Transbaikalsk, there would be no reason to cross the border.

"Baili, in your opinion, has the president's mind been decided?

Standing on the roof of the armored car, Wu Zhenhan asked Jiang Fangzhen, who was standing beside him.

Jiang Fangzhen groaned: "In my opinion, the so-called "opening up of a second battlefield" proposed by the President to the Entente countries. On the one hand, Britain and the United States are worried that China will take advantage of the time when China sends troops to interfere in Russia to seize the territory of the Russian Far East, and on the other hand, the center does not seem to be at ease with the Japanese, after all, no one wants anyone to sleep soundly on the side of the couch, and Japan cannot continue to expand its power in Northeast Asia, but can only expand in the Pacific direction, which is also the established policy of the center. ”

"Oh? So, the president called me over just to show the others? Wu Zhenhan was stunned. Perhaps that's what it intended. Now that the negotiations between the center and the Soviet Union and Russia are still deadlocked, the president sent you to inspect the border, and before leaving, he reported the inspection work through the newspapers with great fanfare, which can only be intended to put pressure on the Soviet and Russian sides to force them to make concessions as soon as possible. It seems to me that the president's strategic arrangement is very organized, first Central Asia. In the Far East, even if we cannot gain enough benefits in the Far East this time, at least, our country can restore its power in Central Asia

Jiang Fangzhen analyzed it like this, Zhang Xiaozhun, who was standing on the side, also nodded again and again, seeing the expressions of the two, Wu Zhenhan finally understood, and it was no wonder that Wu Zhenhan was dull, as an army commander who had only studied privately for a few years, he had worked hard to learn strategy.

"So, it won't open up a second battlefield at all,? Wu Zhenhan asked.

"Probably not. This is not only for the Soviet Union and Russia, but also for Britain and the United States, so that the two countries can make some concessions on the Far East issue, and now Zhou Daowang wants to continue to command the army to advance in depth, but Britain and the United States are unwilling, and this stalemate is not conducive to negotiations with Russia, so the president seems to be intending to show Britain and the United States China's determination to go it alone through this move

"I see."

Wu Zhenhan sighed, and then he understood that no matter how his inspection report was written, the Commander's Hall would not approve any military action that crossed the border in the direction of Manyuanli.

Knowing the true purpose of this inspection of the border work, Wu Zhenhan's interest immediately dissipated, but since this was the president's order, he could only complete this task, and in the following days, he either rode a horse or rode in an armored car, and led his entourage to inspect along the border line, at each outpost. He had to say a few words to the officers and men stationed at the outpost, and he specially asked the reporters accompanying the army to take photographs and publish them in the newspapers; after he had finished all the inspection work, it was already the fifth day, and he tentatively took a telegram to the commander-in-chief asking for battle, but the result was basically the same as Chiang Fangzhen's analysis, and the president did not approve military action in Manchuria.

Wu Zhenhan was a little discouraged, but a later telegram from the Commander's Hall revived his mood a little, in which the president told Wu Zhenhan that the Soviet and Russian sides had been greatly shocked by the arrangements for his inspection in Manchuria, and had reached a preliminary agreement with the Chinese diplomatic envoy on the redrawing of the Central Asian border, and had also sent a diplomatic envoy to Beijing to meet with the president, and perhaps in a few days, Wu Zhenhan would be able to hear the news of the return of the northwest to the motherland.

With this news, even if Wu Zhenhan's trip to Manchuria was not in vain, it also enabled him to further understand some secrets of diplomatic work.