"General, I heard a rumor from the Americans that the Japanese monkeys are about to declare war on our empire, probably in the last month to two......"

"I also heard a rumor...... No, in fact it is not a rumor, it is a reliable source that has been confirmed. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 info Colonel Kontrachenko, St. Petersburg has decided to promote you to major general, and according to my estimates, the official appointment and your rank will be sent here in three weeks. ”

"General......

"Allow me to congratulate you in advance, Major General Kontrachenko."

"Thank you very much, General......"

"You should start thinking about the celebration, Major General. Put aside the Americans and the Japanese monkeys for a moment, get serious preparations, find a first-class band - I think General Makarov's naval band is very good, and then find some beautiful women. And, of course, most importantly, every officer here will be able to drink vodka all day long. You must not forget about this, Major General, vodka, otherwise you cannot be called Russian. ”

"General......

"I'm just kidding, Major General."

"That's not what I meant, General. Japanese Monkey ......"

"I said it, leave the Japanese monkeys alone, they're not something you should care about."

"But ......"

"Nothing but, Major General, Russia is a powerful empire with the largest army in the world. So those Japanese monkeys, even with just one finger, we can crush them to death, not a single one. You know, killing a swarm of Japanese monkeys is as easy as killing a swarm of ants? ”

"You're right, General, but I think ......"

"What you think doesn't make any sense, Major General - forgive me for my frankness. You are worried that the Japanese monkeys may attack us, and if we are not prepared for this war, it may be a serious problem, but we have been prepared, we have made a battle plan, we are replenishing our troops, weapons and ammunition, and we have brought in tens of thousands of Chinese monkeys to build fortifications for us - look over there. ”

Roman. Colonel Kondrachenko turned his head to the hill west of Arthur, which was 203 meters high and was therefore known as the "203 Heights", and his superior, the Supreme Commander of the Arthur Fortress, who had been appointed to Petersburg a month earlier, Anatoly. Mihainovich. Lieutenant General Stessel's right hand pointed in the direction. Even if they were two kilometers away, he could still see what was going on. The trees on the hill had been cut down, and tens of thousands of Chinese laborers were scattered like icing on a bagel of land, wielding rudimentary tools and working as hard as ants to dig and build trenches for the Russian army.

According to Stessel's plan, the Chinese laborers were to turn the fortress of Arthur into the largest and impregnable system of trenches ever in Asia, surpassing the one encountered by the German expeditionary forces in the heart of China, and to use it as a substitute for the permanent fortress of steel and concrete that the Imperial Army had planned to build, but could not build because of time and financial constraints.

At least that's what Stessel claims, alternative, temporary, but Kondrachenko doesn't see it that way.

He believed that the system of trench defenses he had ordered to be built by Stexel, the most stupid, incompetent and incompetent general he had ever met, was only a concrete manifestation of his stupidity, incompetence and incompetence.

He probably didn't really think about his plan at all—Stessel was asking for something like this, which would surround the Fort Arthur and include a core position, Heights 203, and seven trenches connected by communication trenches. All the trenches were designed in a complex zigzag shape, 2.4 m wide and 2.4 m deep, and were arranged with hundreds of reinforced and camouflaged firing bunkers, shelling shelters and artillery observation points constructed of logs with a diameter of more than 100 mm, and then in front of the first trench and between the two trenches, there was a dense barbed wire, and a very small number of rear-firing points learned from the Americans, Kondrachenko calculated that the length of the trench to be dug was close to eighty kilometers, The length of the barbed wire is twice that number.

This "replacement" is more complex and difficult to construct than the permanent fortress it replaces, except that it does not require as much steel and concrete - but it requires a lot of barbed wire and logs. It can be said that even with the sufficient time and funds of the Russian Empire, the construction of such a network of trenches would not be an easy task, but Stessel treated the officers' warnings with a nonchalant attitude.

Not only that, but he seemed to want to make his plan even more difficult, for his captain of the guard privately told some officers that the general intended to strengthen the trenches and bunkers to the extent that they were "sufficient to resist 280-millimeter shells."

It's just crazy.

Kontrachenko had only one comment and went crazy. The Japanese did have a heavy mortar of 280 mm caliber, and it was really possible for these despicable fellows to throw it into battle, so the Arthur fortress needed bunkers capable of withstanding the 220-kilogram grenades fired by such weapons...... Still, Stexel's vision is unrealistic and only comes across as ridiculous and insane, because the Russian army simply is not capable of achieving it.

If this can be achieved, then why build semi-permanent fortifications made of trees and earth instead of permanent fortresses made of steel and concrete?

Without so much time, without so much supplies, his plan could never be realized, and there was no point in making the Russian servicemen involved in the project complain a lot.

But Stessel didn't care. The supreme military commander of the fortress of Arthur had only one basic logic: because he felt that the plan was good, it was good, there were no mistakes, there were no problems that could not be solved, so it could be carried out, and it would definitely be able to get the desired result.

To make this logic seem correct, he even ordered the sappers to use explosives to blow up a pit in the ground if the ground in an area was so hard that it was difficult to excavate.

"Don't skimp on explosives," his order included a phrase that gave the impression that Lushun's troops had so many explosives that the ammunition depots were so full that they could not be used up under normal circumstances, so they could be consumed in such a way that it was not at all the case.

Soldiers, weapons and ammunition were all things that the fortress lacked in Arthur, and of course explosives were too.

Unfortunately, there was no one to persuade Stexel. Maybe the commander-in-chief of the Manchurian Front could, but Stessel threatened that if someone reported the actual situation here to the people above, he would send the guy to the Arctic Circle before he was dismissed, and let him deal with polar bears and seals for the rest of his life.

He would, he wouldn't, no one could be sure, so the officers chose the wisest thing to do: never ask Stessel for the answer to the question.

As a new officer, Kondrachenko hated this, even though he himself had no intention of seeking the answer himself.

Trying to persuade and warn, this was the only thing he wanted to do, despite every unsuccessful attempt.

Kontrachenko is not a give-up. Every time he encounters failure, he will be silent for a while, and then come again.

The time seems to have come.

He turned his head, took a deep breath, and then said to Stexel: "General, I have to remind you that the Arthur fortress has only twenty thousand soldiers, one hundred and thirty artillery pieces and eight machine guns, and the ammunition reserve is not very large. He paused and waited for a while, but Stessel, uncharacteristically, had no intention of stopping him, so he continued: "Based on the current situation, even if we were able to complete the fortifications, we would still have no soldiers, weapons, and ammunition to resist the Japanese monkey attack. According to my estimates, they will probably throw at least fifty thousand troops in Lushun. ”

"You're thinking too much, Major General." Stessel finally spoke, and his tone was very relaxed, "I believe that one Russian warrior can defeat at least ten Japanese monkeys. ”

If that were the case, you wouldn't have ordered that damn network of trenches to be built, and demanded that it be strengthened to the point where it could withstand 280mm shells, unless you were a coward who was too timid to feel nervous and restless without a strong fortress to withstand the bullets. Kondrachenko thought disdainfully, and it took a lot of effort to keep his expression and eyes from abnormal.

"One Russian warrior can defeat ten Japanese monkeys, I trust your judgment, General." "But we still need to be prepared so that we can address the unexpected as soon as it happens." ”

"What accident?"

"An accident is an accident."

"You're explaining what it means with the definition of a noun, Major General." Stessel had a "don't take me for a fool" look.

"I beg your pardon, General, I just don't know what the hell is going to happen, but the battlefield is always full of all kinds of accidents." After a pause, Kondrachenko insisted on "We must ask for reinforcements." ”

"If you are only asking for reinforcements, Major General, I must say that the first thing I did when I became the commander of the fortress was to send a telegram to the Manchurian Front Command asking if there were any plans to send reinforcements. The command replied that a maximum of 24,000 men, 362 artillery pieces and 84 machine guns could be reinforced, and that it would take three weeks for these reinforcements to depart, if all went well. ”

"Didn't you ask the Manchurian Front Command to send reinforcements as soon as possible?" Kontrachenko was so anxious that he forgot the correct tone.

But Stessel deliberately ignored the issue - he was in a good mood. "Frankly, I don't think we need reinforcements. Like I said, we're ready, we're building fortifications, and there's a naval fleet here. If the Japanese monkeys dare to attack, we will let them know how powerful Russia is. ”

"General......

"It looks like we still don't have the advantage to reassure you." Sighing regretfully, and shaking his head—his actions made Kontrachenko furious, but there was nothing he could do—and continued: "I can give you one more good news, Major General, that in a week an American cargo ship will send us ninety-six new mortars of one hundred and twenty millimeters and thirty-two new mortars of one hundred and sixty millimeters, as well as 190,000 shells, and some new gadgets that are said to be half sold and half given away. ”

"What's new?"

"New gadgets are new gadgets."

After saying that, Stessel turned his head and continued to watch the majestic work scene on the 203 Heights. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )