Shock is shock, fear is fear.

Kodama Gentaro and Lynevich knew that without the support from Shengjing, the combined army of Jinzhou and Jinxi, which was only 120,000, would not be able to resist the attack of hundreds of thousands of Chinese Dragon and Tiger Army.

Retreat is the only way to survive.

While arranging the retreat, Gentaro Kodama as the supreme commander of the Japanese army stationed in Northeast China immediately sent a telegram to the local area, briefly explaining the news that the Chinese Dragon and Tiger Army had been incorporated into the Northeast Army and had attacked the northeast, and also explained all the critical situation in the northeast now, and asked for reinforcements from the local area.

After receiving a telegram from Gentaro Kodama, Emperor Meiji could not sit still, and immediately summoned Prime Minister Katsura Taro, Minister of War Masashi Terauchi, Chief of Staff Oyama Iwa, and Navy Minister Gonbei Yamamoto to the Imperial Palace.

Emperor Meiji glanced at everyone and said, "Tell me, what should we do now?" ”

As soon as Emperor Meiji's words fell, the newly appointed Minister of War Terauchi Masatoshi said: "Your Majesty, the war has reached this point, and we cannot retreat, and if we are defeated and retreat, we will not be able to face the people of Japan, and it will be even more difficult to wage war against foreign countries in the future, so I propose to increase the number of troops." ”

Emperor Meiji frowned, and his already wrinkled face looked even older at this time: "Now that we have invested 200,000 troops in China and Korea, we say that the army in our homeland is less than 200,000, and we can only guard the security of our homeland, how can we increase our troops?" ”

At this time, Chief of Staff Oyama Yan said loudly: "Your Majesty, as long as you give the order, I can guarantee that millions of troops will be mobilized within three months. ”

Emperor Meiji pondered, and Prime Minister Katsura Taro, who was one of the three great men of the army, said: "Your Majesty, although cholera has been over for more than a year, the economy of the company has not yet recovered, and we need a lot of resources to develop the industry, and we need wealth like the reparations received in the Treaty of Shimonoseki to develop the economy, so we must win this war." ”

Emperor Meiji said with a gloomy face: "But now that the finances are already in deficit, the treasury is empty, and even the wealth of the imperial family has been used a lot, how can we still afford a huge war?" ”

Katsura Taro suggested: "Your Majesty, mobilize the whole country, halve all the officials' salaries, mobilize businessmen and workers to donate money and materials, increase the issuance of national bonds, and borrow from major consortia, and we must buy weapons, especially heavy machine guns, from the United States, from Britain, and from Germany, and now there are only more than 1,000 machine guns in the entire army, which is far from enough, as long as we can buy another 1,000 heavy machine guns and arm these machine guns with new recruits, we can win this war, as long as we win this war and get through this difficult period, It is said that this will usher in a new tomorrow, otherwise it will fall into a catastrophe. ”

Emperor Meiji was silent for a long time, and sighed: "Alas, this can only be the case, from tomorrow, the mobilization of the whole country will begin, I will see the newly formed twenty divisions in three months...... No, thirty divisions, and also, in the next three months, I will send at least ten divisions to China, and you must do all the logistical work. ”

Katsura Taro and the others said in unison, "Yes, Your Majesty." ”

……

At a time when the Russian Emperor Nicholas II, after receiving the advice of the Minister of War and Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Far East Army Kuropatkin, also decided to organize another 150,000 army in the Far East, and in addition to the 100,000 standing troops already in the Far East, it was imperative to ensure that more than 150,000 troops would be added to Northeast China within three months.

At the same time, Nicholas II ordered the 1st Siberian Army in the Baikal region to urgently support the northeast.

After receiving this news, Kuropatkin, the commander-in-chief of the Russian Far East in Shengjing, finally breathed a sigh of relief, because he knew that the First Siberian Army had three corps and more than 90,000 men, two of which were Cossack cavalry corps, adding up to nearly 60,000 elite cavalry.

Although the Russian army has lost more than 80,000 troops since the Battle of the Daling River was launched, Russia still has 160,000 troops in northeast China.

At this time, Bilderlinger, chief of staff of the Russian Far East Army, walked into the headquarters, and Kuropatkin hurriedly asked: "How is the situation in the south?" ”

Bill Delinger said with a bitter face: "It's not good, the Chinese army has already occupied Jinxi County, because their speed is too fast, we are stationed in Jinxi County, and the troops as a cover have suffered heavy casualties, and a division has suffered more than 5,000 casualties. ”

Kuropatkin scolded angrily: "Damn Chinese, just laid down Xingcheng, and so quickly laid down Jinxi, don't they know that they are tired?" ”

Beardlinger said with a bitter smile: "They didn't waste much physical strength at all by the Xingcheng River, the telegram sent by Linievich said that the Chinese gathered at least five hundred powerful cannons and launched artillery shells on our positions, and the power of their shell explosion was nearly twice as great as ours, a large shell exploded, and the surrounding area of more than ten meters was razed to the ground, and they also had a shell that would make the soil burn, once the soldiers were ignited, they could not extinguish the fire on their bodies no matter what, only the end of being burned, It is said that the flames from the explosion of this shell can burn on the surface of the water. ”

Kuropatkin's heart was filled with deep horror, and his face was full of solemnity, and he said, "Where did they get these shells?" As far as I know, even the United States, Russia, and Britain could not have such shells, could it be that they invented them themselves? ”

Bilderlinger said helplessly: "I'm afraid that they invented it themselves, it's hard to imagine that China, which used to be backward in weapons and training, has become so powerful now, general, with all due respect, our chances of winning this war are really not great." ”

Hearing this, Kuropatkin's face was gloomy and terrifying, for China, from beginning to end, he was the same as Nicholas II, resolutely fighting the main war, resolutely advocating aggression and occupying China's territory to the greatest extent, just like the signing of the "Aihun Treaty" a few decades ago, as long as he can completely occupy Northeast China, then he will be written into history and become a great hero for Russia's territorial expansion.

At this time, hearing Beardlinger say such things was tantamount to trampling on his dreams, and he couldn't help but shout: "Shut up, we are now engaged in a war with China, and if you say this kind of unfavorable words in the future, I will remove you from your post as chief of staff." ”

Beardlinger was silent in an instant, he understood the truth that if he said too much, he would lose, not to mention that he knew that even if he said too much, it would be useless, it was better not to say it, which would save him unpleasantness.

In contrast to the dullness of the Russian headquarters, at the temporary headquarters in Jinxi, Nie Yuanzheng, commander-in-chief of the First Front Army, Xiang Zilong, deputy commander-in-chief, Pang Wei, chief of the general staff, and Guo Meng, deputy chief of the general staff, were listening to the reports of field commander Sun Chuanfang and field chief of staff Xiao Changcheng.

First of all, Sun Chuanfang's detailed description and summary of the Jinxi offensive and defensive battle, and then Xiao Changcheng's report on the results of the battle: "Commander-in-chief, deputy commander-in-chief, chief of general staff, in this battle of Jinxi, our army dispatched the 64th, 65th, and 66th divisions, destroying a total of 5,637 enemies, occupying an arsenal of the enemy, and the weapons in the arsenal can arm a 15,000-strong integrated division, which is equivalent to an army's supply of weapons and ammunition, as well as enough food for 100,000 people to eat for a month, as well as countless other strategic materials. ”

When the words fell, Guo Meng smiled and said: "It seems that the enemy is running too fast, and he didn't have time to transport all the ammunition, grain and grass." ”

Sun Chuanfang glanced at his lips and said with a smile: "Isn't it?" You didn't see the desperate appearance of the Russian army when they fled, and you just wished that your parents had two fewer legs. ”

Sun Chuanfang's words immediately caused everyone to laugh, and after the laughter stopped, Pang Wei asked: "What are the casualties of the 64th Division, the 65th Division, and the 66th Division?" ”

Xiao Changcheng said: "The 64th Division sacrificed one hundred and six people and seriously injured ninety-eight people, the 65th Division suffered one hundred and thirteen casualties and one hundred and one seriously wounded, the 66th Division sacrificed one hundred and twenty-nine people and seriously injured one hundred and eight people, and the commander of the 66th Division, Ye Jianlan, was wounded. ”

Liao Guanyin, commander of the 64th Division, Qiu Jin, commander of the 65th Division, and Ye Jianlan, commander of the 66th Division, are the only three female generals in the Chinese Dragon and Tiger Army.

Now that they heard that Ye Jianlan was injured, everyone's hearts couldn't help but pinch up, and even a calm Nie Yuanzheng was a little nervous.

Xiao Changcheng glanced at everyone and said with a smile: "Don't worry, it's just that my arm was grazed by a bullet and I was slightly injured, so it's not in the way." ”

Nie Yuanzheng frowned: "Hit by a bullet?" A dignified division commander, whose duty is to command the battle, until the last moment, it is not her turn to charge, it seems that the stubborn temper has been committed again, according to military regulations, she will be confined for a month, and she will write a profound review of 100,000 words! ”

Xiao Changcheng smiled bitterly and said, "Commander-in-chief, then let's wait until the war is over, now she has already rushed to Jinzhou with her troops." ”

Nie Yuanzheng glanced at him and said, "Naturally, we have to wait for the war to end." ”

Xiao Changcheng didn't expect Nie Yuanzheng to change his iron-faced selflessness, so reasonable, after thinking about it slightly, he understood that it must be Nie Yuanzheng who wanted Ye Jianlan to make more meritorious contributions on the battlefield, he couldn't help but say: "Actually, she didn't charge into battle, she just went to the front line to serve as the front-line commander, and accidentally grazed her arm with a stray bullet." ”

Nie Yuanzheng's eyes widened, and he was not angry but mighty: "That's not good, if you have merit, you will be rewarded, and if you have a fault, you will be punished." ”

Xiao Changcheng dared to talk nonsense, and hurriedly should be.

At this moment, the communications officer took a telegram from the telegraph room next to the headquarters to report to Nie Yuanzheng: "Commander-in-chief, Jinzhou urgently reports that the Russian coalition forces have withdrawn from Jinzhou, and their main force is rushing north to the Daling River. (To be continued.) )