September 8, 1855: Anglo-French forces capture Sevastopol after a 349-day siege. The Russian army was defeated.

Russia has already expressed its intention to negotiate peace, but because China's war in the Far East is still ongoing, even though the allied forces of Britain and France have actually stopped their military operations, they are still waiting for the war in the Far East to end. Britain and France are not fools in the face of a powerful China, once China occupies the whole of Siberia, China will become the largest country in the world in terms of territory, especially since China is still a powerful industrialized country.

For this, Lin Hong is very clear that China is too powerful, and it can be said that it has threatened the situation in the world and the dominance of Europe, but it is a pity that they simply have no ability to confront the empire. It is even more unlikely that Russia, even if Britain and France give Russia economic loans and military help—

Irkutsk is an important Russian base in the Far East, where the office of the Governor of Eastern Siberia is located. It is 66 kilometers away from Lake Daze, where the rivers Irkut and Angara rivers meet and flow to Lake Daze.

Irkutsk is green in July, the nearby forests are lush, and in the wheat fields at the edge of the forest, endless wheat fields are neatly arranged like large green squares. A gust of wind blew, and the wheat waves rose and fell, rippling in the green sea.

The infantrymen each had a military shovel in their hands and immediately went to work, and in a short time the first infantry trench on the front line was dug.

The artillery in the rear was also busy, and the commander of the artillery town arranged the artillery positions according to the distance of the fire.

The siege artillery of Cannon Town is the main weapon of this attack, and Shi Dakai personally came here to watch.

The huge artillery carriage pulled by eight oxen moved slowly over the artillery position. The four wide rubber wheels of the gun carriage made a deep indentation on the ground.

Under the driver's control, the ox cart turned around and pulled the gun cart to the gun position.

At this time, the artillerymen quickly stepped forward to direct the ox cart to adjust the gun position, and when the ox cart and the gun cart were separated, the siege artillery was also firmly parked on the position. The soldiers in charge of camouflage artillery spread the anti-counterfeiting net painted with green spots on the siege guns, and the freshly picked branches were inserted in the gaps in the anti-counterfeiting net, and even some of the black barrels were wrapped around them.

It took about two hours on the positions of the artillery divisions attached to the army group. 10 siege artillery guns aimed at the Russian positions outside the Irkutsk fortress.

Lei Xiao, the commander of the artillery division, was about 30 years old. He said a little proudly beside Shi Dakai: "Commander, the power of our army's artillery is not below that of the Russian army, it is all rifled artillery, and the British have heard the color of the cannon on the Indian battlefield. ”

"Yes, the artillery technology of the Reich is something that even Europeans can only dream of." Shi Dakai nodded.

The morning fog on the outskirts of Irkutsk gradually lifted, and the position of the huge squadron* outside the city slowly appeared in Muravyov's eyes.

A few days ago, it was a wheat field. Many tunnels have been excavated there, and the vertical and horizontal tunnels have turned it into a death trap like a dense cobweb.

After a loud bang, the ground suddenly trembled, as if it were an earthquake, and Muravyov almost fell to the ground, but fortunately the sturdy Major Karl helped him.

Before Muravyov could say thank you, there was another loud bang, and a cannon shot was fired in the church in the city.

Muravyov, who was standing on the city wall, watched the cross on the top of the church fall with his own eyes. The crowd on the ground scattered and fled, and the hapless priest sat on the ground howling, his foot hit by a wooden post.

"Damn it!" Muravyov scolded fiercely, these days, the shells of the * squadron will occasionally come to one. The whole city was terrified.

Major Karl said indignantly: "General, let our artillery return fire. ”

"No, we can't let the Chinese show up our artillery positions." Muravyov replied as he searched with his binoculars for the artillery positions in the distance in the middle * position.

The central position outside the city was green, and there was thick black smoke everywhere, and these black smoke, combined with the squadron's green bunkers, made it impossible for Muravyov to find the location of the artillery.

Muravyov put down his binoculars in disappointment and asked Major Karl: "When the artillery was fired just now, did you show the artillery position of the squadron?" ”

Major Karl shrugged his shoulders and pouted, "No, it's hard, I guess their panties are all green." ”

Muravyov's brow furrowed tightly, and he had a premonition that the Chinese would soon attack.

Muravyov turned and walked down the city, and he said to Colonel Karl, who remained on the city wall: "Karl, you send someone to keep an eye on the Chinese's artillery, and as soon as their artillery is there, come and tell me immediately." ”

"Yes, General."

Muravyov walked down the city walls, and the panic in the city had passed, and people were clearing the streets of buildings destroyed by bombs.

Walking near the church, Muravyov was in shambles, the entire wooden church was burning, and most of the roof had disappeared. The howling priest's entire lower body was smashed to pieces like ketchup that had fallen to the ground. His screams, which grew weaker and weaker, were like the call of hell, and it was very disheartening.

This demoralizing voice irritated Muravyov, who gave a look to one of the Cossacks behind him.

A "snap" of a gunshot rang out, and the priest's voice immediately stopped.

All eyes were focused on the gunshots, and a Cossack in a felt hat blew a smoke-emitting revolver. He calmly put the gun back in his holster, then removed his felt hat and bowed to the priest lying in a pool of blood.

The shocking scar on the Cossack's face made it clear who he was the personal bodyguard of Governor Muravyov.

Muravyov shouted to the attracted crowd: "Now we need courage, not cowardly yelling." God taught us to be courageous in the face of the infidels. Tens of thousands of squadrons* outside the city invaded our homes and turned our wheat fields into battlefields. Now is the time for us to take up arms to defend our homeland, not to lie on the ground and wail. If the infidels invade the city, all of us earthlings will be treated with the most cruelty by the infidels. The men will be turned into slaves, the rebels will be killed, and the women will become their tools for venting*. Are you willing to do this? ”

Muravyov was giving an incendiary speech when black dots suddenly flashed over the Irkutsk fortress. The black dots fell into the city very quickly, turning into explosions with heat waves rushing into the sky. Pedestrians on the street hurried to their homes. At this time, the cellar of the family became the safest place for them. Explosions continued to fall, and artillery shells fell one after another on the city walls, birch houses, city halls, and of course, the Russian positions outside the city, quickly turning everywhere into a sea of fire.

Muravyov ran to the governor's palace in the city under the cover of the guards, and his hunch became a reality, and the squadron began to attack.

Take refuge in the basement of the Doge's Palace. Muravyov still felt the ground tremble from time to time. The mud and sand shook the ground and covered the table with a layer of dust, and the dim oil lamp shook, turning the basement into light and darkness.

Muravyov's face changed in the flickering light, and his eyes resembled those of a wolf in the snow.

"Go and inform Major Karl immediately and let them pay attention, the Chinese are definitely going to attack."

Muravyov's voice rang in Kabavsky's ears, and the herald bowed his head in fear, subconsciously avoiding Muravyov's gaze. He answered and hurried out.

The streets were very depressed, and the bombardment had been concentrated near the city walls. Some daring landmen ran out of the cellar and extinguished the burning house.

Out of the oppressive basement, Kabavsky took a deep breath, the thick smell of gunpowder wafting through the air made him cough.

He trotted all the way to the Russian front-line command post outside the city. The corpses on the road made his heart heavy. One of them, a balding middle-aged man who is the owner of the Birch Grove Bar, was drinking vodka in the bar last night and joked with the owner: "The wine sells for the price of gold, be careful of being killed by the yellow man's cannon." Kabawski didn't expect his joke to come true, and when he passed by the boss's side, he deliberately picked up the boss's legs across the street.

Kabafsky drew a cross on his chest and meditated in his heart, hoping that an angel would lead him to God's Garden of Eden.

As he was about to reach the city gates, Kabavsky heard the rumbling of cannons on the city walls, a loud noise that he felt hissing in his ears. He covered his ears and looked at the sound, and it turned out that his own artillery had begun to return fire. Kabavsky was clever enough to realize that it would be unsafe. He went around and ran out of the city.

Sure enough, Kabavsky was around the battery where he had not long left. The fire flickered and the noise was loud. The red light of the explosion could not even hide the thick smoke like a dark cloud. In Kabavsky's eyes, it rose and tumbled upwards, forming a jet-black cloud in the sky.

Kabavsky went around a long circle to find a bombed city wall and drilled out, the Russian positions outside the city were still shelling, he drilled into a nearby tunnel, bent over.

The enemy seemed to have a never-ending supply of ammunition, and the bombardment continued for an hour. While Kabavsky was rejoicing in finding the front-line command post, a shell exploded near Kabavsky, and the loud noise made Kabavsky's ears temporarily deaf, and the air wave cut his bare skin like a knife, making him unsteady on his feet, and he instinctively threw himself to the ground.

For a long time, Kabavsky felt his body, he tried to move, and there seemed to be no problem.

Kabavsky's hanging heart gradually relaxed, and it was only at this moment that he felt afraid.

A pair of hands suddenly grabbed Kabavsky's arm and helped him to his feet.

Kabawski looked back and saw the Major Karl he was looking for.

The Major's arm was wrapped in a bandage, and red blood seeped through the wound, staining the bandage red.

Major Karl brought Kabavsky to the command post at the front, he seemed to have become accustomed to this kind of life, and casually asked Kabavsky, who was still a little dazed: "How is it, is there any news of Lord Governor-General?" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor asked me to bring you a letter. Note that the Chinese are about to charge. ”

Major Karl replied, "Can we not pay attention?" The artillery of the Chinese is so fierce. ”

Kabavsky looked at the flashing light outside the lookout and asked, "Why does the squadron have so many artillery, and our brothers have many casualties?" ”

Major Karl said, "It's not too much, anyway, all the people who didn't die are hiding in the tunnel." ”