Muravyov now floated a black dot in the sky, this black dot looked very abrupt against the white clouds, and the telescope in his hand was aimed at the black dot and slowly adjusted the focus.

Muravyov exclaimed: "Airship, that's a Chinese airship." "He knew about it, the Chinese built the world's first airship, this is what he still knows, even Russia thought about buying a few at that time, but the price is really unacceptable."

There is no doubt that this is a signal that the squadron has arrived in Irkutsk.

The Russian positions outside Irkutsk suddenly became busy, the Russian soldiers rushed to their respective posts under the command of the officers, the Cossack cavalry in the city began to gather, and even the Russian residents who had taken refuge in the fortress were divided into many small groups to prepare for the work of carrying supplies.

The black-pressed crowd emerged from the edge of the taiga forest, a Russian officer and soldier on the city wall on the lookout waved his flag to the city, the 15 Russian eight-pounder guns on the artillery position also began to adjust the elevation angle, the Cossacks coldly wiped the slightly bent saber in their hands, and the war horses around them neighed impatiently.

"They are their own people, they are Russians." The cavalry of the scouting brought back information about the crowd.

"Don't let it in." A Russian major officer, standing above the tunnel, roared loudly.

Muravyov himself came out of the front command post, he walked to the front of the somewhat noisy and observed, this panicked crowd of about 3oo people, all of them in dirty clothes and gray faces. However, judging by their appearance, they are indeed Russians.

Sure enough, the group elected an older man who cautiously walked to the front of the position and said, "We escaped from Ulan-Ude, where we have been attacked by the Chinese. The Buryats in the city have rebelled. They attacked us with the Chinese. ”

Sure enough, it was another group of Russian refugees, Muravyov's heart became embarrassed, the city had already received more than 3,000 refugees, if there were too many refugees in the city, once the fortress was besieged, food would be a huge problem. However, if these refugees are not accepted, it will have some impact on the morale of the soldiers.

"Your Excellency the Governor. At this time, it is not appropriate for us to let these untouchables and criminals in, if there are Chinese spies in them. Not good for our army. ”

It was Muravyov's chief of internal affairs who spoke, and he understood that it was not wrong for the chief of internal affairs to call these people untouchables and criminals, and how could they have come to this cold and barren land of Siberia if they were not untouchables and criminals.

Muravyov thought for a moment, strengthened his thoughts, and asked the adjutant to give an order that no one should be allowed in. If they continued to approach the position, they were shot away.

More than 300 hungry Russian refugees heard that the city was not accepting them, and immediately became confused, there were cries, some scolding, some desperately rushed to the city, only to hear a burst of gunfire in the tunnels of the front line, several people fell in pools of blood. The fleeing Russian population was shocked. In frustration, they turned around and headed west.

In the afternoon of the same day.

The Cossack cavalry under the command of Muravyov spotted the shadow of the squadron, which was stationed dozens of kilometers outside Irkutsk, and strangely enough, the squadron had no intention of attacking, they were just quietly stationed there, as if they had come to Irkutsk to see the dark forest.

Muravyov, of course, knew that this was not the case, and he ordered the investigation to be intensified. But there is still no news of the new land.

On the contrary, in the past few days, refugees who have been appearing outside Irkutsk have given Muravyov Qi, could it be that the Chinese are dividing their forces to capture nearby towns, so why are they letting these people go, instead of quietly hiding their own attempts? The more Muravyov thought about it, the more he couldn't guess what the middle team thought.

Nevertheless, Muravyov decided that Irkutsk could no longer add refugees. These people poured in, and the food in Irkutsk could not last long. Therefore, Muravyov ordered all these men to be driven away.

The refugees were driven away, but Muravyov's heart sank. These people brought panic and frustration to Irkutsk, and where the refugees came. It shows that the towns in Eastern Siberia have fallen. Recently, a group of refugees turned out to be from Nebuchu. The more certain he was that the squadron* had dispersed its forces, and that they did not attack because they were waiting for the scattered forces to return. What upsets Muravyov is. Which squadron* stationed outside the city still has a huge number, and through the news that the scouts have returned, Muravyov estimates that there are more than tens of thousands, and this number makes Muravyov lose the courage to attack.

He guessed that the total number of Chinese troops attacking the Far East must be very large. This thought made him anxious and made him desperate for the support of the Tsar. But the message sent by Muravyov to St. Petersburg has not been heard back to this day. This makes Muravyov almost crazy, the situation in Okhotsk, the situation in Yakutsk? This is all the news that Muravyov wants to get, but there is nothing around Muravyov except for the constant news of the attack of the squadron and the fall of the town brought by the refugees.

While Muravyov was anxiously waiting for news from the Russian army everywhere, the squadron's offensive finally began.

The reason why the Second Army did not directly attack Irkutsk at the beginning this time was that Qin Han accepted a suggestion from Li Chao: "Send a small force to divide the troops into several ways to sweep away the surrounding Russian towns and villages." ”

If the Russian army thought that the forces of the Eastern Route Army were scattered and went out of the city to meet the battle, it was just the right time to mobilize the Russian army and make it a decisive battle with the Second Army in the field. If the Russian army cannot hold out, then the 14th and 15th armies of the Second Army will take advantage of the situation to sweep the Russian strongholds on the periphery, so as to hit the morale of the Russian army and let the refugees concentrate in Irkutsk to increase the burden of food supply in the city.

After the operation began, Qin Han led more than 20,000 people to be stationed in the wilderness 50 kilometers away from Irkutsk.

The location of this garrison was chosen for Qin Han by the Buryat guide in the Jinyi Guard. They not only chose this dangerous position for the army, but also assisted the 23rd Cavalry Division to surrender the Buryats of Ulan-Ude, and with the help of the Buryats, the 23rd Cavalry Division easily took Ulan-Ude.

The Buryats' familiarity with the terrain and the monitoring of the airships greatly strengthened the reconnaissance force of the Eastern Route Army, and the movements of the Russian troops in Irkutsk were well known by the command system of the Eastern Route Army, so that the initiative in the war was always firmly grasped in the hands of the Eastern Route Army.

Now that the Russian army has no intention of taking the initiative to attack, after the Eastern Route Army easily swept all the surrounding Russian strongholds, the various units of the Second Army reunited and marched towards Irkutsk