Hu Chuyuan's first feeling was that the Tsarist army had officially intervened in the war.

He felt strange from the beginning, Wusu has always been a fortress personally garrisoned by Dong Fuxiang, the governor of Xinjiang Province, and the requirements for the construction of fortifications issued by the War Department are very high, and a lot of money is allocated every year.

Well, even if all the money was given to Dong Fuxiang for embezzlement, Wusu has not built a complete fortification in the past five years as everyone expected, so what about Dihua?

The Qing Zheng Axe has been operating hard in Dihua for nearly a hundred years, even if it is a street fight, it is impossible to lose it so quickly?

Gan Jun?

Because there were no reserves of young officers in the northwest region, in order to prevent the new Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Corps from being controlled by a late-Qing style military leader like Dong Fuxiang and by old-style generals such as Ma Anliang and Ma Haiyan, Hu Chuyuan only set up a divisional Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningbo Corps in Xi'an.

However, the Gan army is still the only old-fashioned training army in the country that enjoys the treatment of the new army corps, and the equipment is all of the latest type, and the supplies and salaries are also sufficient.

Gan's army was defeated so quickly?

Hu Chuyuan couldn't believe it, although Dong Fuxiang was a little older, he was still very capable of fighting tough battles, and in the Hehuang Incident two years ago, he won several big battles in a row.

…… Guardian City.

During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, the new city built in the Dabancheng mountain pass was used for the garrison of Tuntian, which is the throat of the western part of Xinjiang Province to the east, the mountains on both sides are towering, only there is a fracture mouth of more than 1,000 meters long in the middle, forming a valley, and the valley wind can reach the fifth level.

Flying sand and rocks.

The artillery roared incessantly, and the entire Jiade mouth was constantly bombarded, and the continuous artillery swept wildly, almost filling in the entire valley mouth, and the black smoke rolled in the strong wind, spreading out, and enveloping the entire valley.

The city of Guardian has long been bombed to the ground, and all that remains is countless ruins.

Li Kaiye was guarding here, and as soon as the green battalion soldiers who were originally stationed here heard that the Gan army had been defeated, they immediately fled frantically and took away everything that could be grabbed and smashed in Jiade City.

Li Kaiye arrived just in time, the train happened to pass by, and he immediately rushed down with people, set up machine guns and fired a burst of strafing, killing hundreds of people in a few minutes, and even the generals stationed in the garrison were also killed, which suppressed all those green battalion soldiers.

But it didn't take long for Dong Fuxiang to escape with the remnants of the defeated generals.

The artillery fire of the Yarkand Department continued to bombard the entire Jiade Pass, which had been razed to the ground, Li Kaiye had expected it, but he could only defend it, after all, there was an advantage in the valley mouth and the high ground, as long as the trenches and foxholes were reasonably excavated, it was not difficult to hold the mountain pass.

In an abandoned ancient city on flat land in the back mountain on the southeast side, Li Kaiye set up a temporary headquarters here and mobilized the first division of the Huguang Corps to defend the pass.

Dong Fuxiang suffered a series of large-scale routs, and the number of troops in his hands had plummeted from more than 30,000 to 7,000, and for the time being, he could only reorganize behind the valley, and some troops were transferred to be responsible for transporting materials.

Although there were more than 1,000 soldiers in the Green Battalion, they were even more useless, and could only be used as engineering troops, continuing to be responsible for digging cover pits and trenches, laying mines, and the like in the follow-up zone.

Li Kaiye was accustomed to the continuous sound of artillery fire, and compared to the Battle of Longchuan, this time the artillery fire power was not stronger.

He muttered a few things in his heart, how was the cable discovered, and it was cut again, and who blew up the railway?

It seems that the Yarkand Khanate had remnants and spies throughout the province.

In this way, Dong Fuxiang's continuous defeats seem to be reasonable.

The First Division of the Huguang Corps is a configuration of three regiments and one brigade, with nearly 20,000 people, and is equipped with an artillery brigade alone, with strong firepower.

It's a pity that Li Kaiye came too quickly, and the 155mm caliber howitzers equipped by the integrated brigade and the 122mm caliber howitzers of the artillery battalions under the three regiments did not bring it, and only the 75mm caliber howitzer light guns equipped with each battalion were equipped inside.

Such firepower is completely incomparable to that of the opponent.

Just by listening to his ears, Li Kaiye knew that his opponent had 122mm caliber and 150mm caliber howitzers, the latter kind of guns were rare, Krupp produced them, and France and Russia also equipped some of them, but they were all 20 years ago.

The 150mm and 155mm calibers are exactly at the point of difference in the two ballistic calculations, with the latter having a much greater range and greater power than the former.

So, howitzers of 150mm caliber were quickly phased out.

Li Kaiye was thinking about the situation in his mind, and it became more and more clear in his heart that the Russians and the French had given a lot of obsolete heavy equipment to the Yarkand Khanate.

He listened to the sound of artillery on the mountain pass and estimated that the opponent had more than 200 150mm howitzers and more than 140 120mm howitzers.

In this way, the opponent has at least four artillery divisions, such a large scale...... The only explanation for rushing over so quickly is that the railroad was used, or that at least two divisions had been deployed towards Dabancheng in advance, and the result was ...... Dong Fuxiang withdrew too quickly, and actually escaped the blockade before the other party took the Jiade Pass.

Li Kaiye also believed that the opponent secretly also had a set of telegraph lines directing the entire operation.

This is not something that a nomadic army like the Yarkand can do, and the people who really command the whole situation will certainly not be Kazakhs and Uyghurs, either Russians or Yu himself.

Li Kaiye has another question in his heart, artillery is easy to get his hands on, no matter how many there are, there is no problem, the question is where do these gunners who are quite good come from?

He flatly denied that it was impossible for him and the Russians to send their own gunners...... The ten** is the result of the cultivation and support of the three countries in Central Asia.

He took out a pocket watch and kept calculating the speed between the two rounds of his opponent's guns, and with his knowledge of 150mm guns, after several consecutive calculations, he became more and more convinced that these gunners were mediocre.

By extrapolation, most of the gunners were trained only for a few months, not more than a year.

In this way, it should have happened after the Yarkand Khanate split and established itself, then it is easy to explain, most likely because France saw that it was profitable and began to vigorously support and fund the Yarkand Khanate.

In the Franco-Russian Triple Alliance, it seems that only France can easily do this.

Oh yes.

After calculating these things, Li Kaiye couldn't help but scold, he only regretted that he was too young...... Wrong, I was too young to participate in the Sino-French War, so I couldn't beat those beasts well.

Thinking about this, he suddenly shouted: "Xiao Cui! ”

"Here!"

Immediately a young herald ran in, hurrying, as if in a hurry to eat meat.

Li Kaiye glanced at him and asked, "Have the phone lines been pulled up?" ”

"Not yet...... But it's also fast, and the afternoon will be good! ”

The herald looked a little frightened, and hurriedly added.

Li Kaiye did not have any unhappy expression, he has always been an indifferent person, and what kind of emotions are buried deep in his heart, it is precisely like this, the commanders of the entire Huguang Corps are afraid of him, afraid of him, but also in awe of him.

Li Kaiye coldly and unhurriedly ordered: "Then you can let the heralds all run, convey my words to all regiments, battalions and companies, and tell them that if you say what I said, our first division will definitely be able to hold it, and the opponent's firepower is flawed, and the training is not very good." As long as the follow-up artillery brigade and baggage arrive, we can counterattack, let everyone be steady, don't worry, don't worry, Lord Shoufu is in Hami, there will definitely be no shortage of equipment supplies, and several other divisions will also arrive. When the time comes, we will wait for us to pacify Xinjiang Province. ”

The herald Xiao Cui was overjoyed, and he paused excitedly and saluted: "Yes, I will arrange for someone to pass the order." ”

Li Kaiye closed his eyes slightly, and then ordered: "By the way, invite Dong Laojunmen over, and say that I have something important to discuss." ”

"Yes!"

The herald Xiao Cui agreed with full anger.

"Go ahead!"

Li Kaiye waved his hand indifferently, did not raise his eyes, continued to look at the map on the table, held the pocket watch in his hand, and continued to listen to the sound of cannons.

After a while, several of the staff officers around him returned, and each seemed to have done something.

For Li Kaiye, the staff officer is not important, he only needs to sort out all kinds of intelligence and data, and help him do the things of logistics and equipment, calculation and planning, these are what he is best at.

In fact, this kind of thing is not complicated to fight a war; first, it is necessary to clearly calculate the opponent's equipment, personnel, quality, and supply situation; second, it is necessary to find out the habits and characteristics of the opponent; and third, it is necessary to find out who the opponent's commander is, and this person is his opponent.

After half an hour, Dong Fuxiang hurriedly walked in, at this time he was already a sixty-year-old man, tall, with long beard and silver eyebrows, sharp eyes, solemn and majestic expression, looking quite extraordinary, but also very embarrassed, his eyebrows were a little trance and apprehension.

Fleeing all the way, Dong Fuxiang's first-class military attache uniform was full of tears and dirty, and there were a few black spots on the hat, which should be scorched marks.

Unlike him, Li Kaiye wore a new army uniform modified on the basis of the German style, and the training and rules of the army were basically realized in Germanization, and the equipment was mainly provided by the Auckland Arsenal.

As soon as he entered the door, Dong Fuxiang handed over his hand to Li Kaiye and said: "Li Dujun, I haven't seen you for a long time, I really want to thank you for appearing in time this time, otherwise the old man will die without a place to be buried." ”

"It's nothing, don't take it to heart the old military gate!"

Li Kaiye said quite plainly, poured a glass of boiled water for Dong Fuxiang, and poured a cup himself.

Looking at the two stainless steel cups in Li Kaiye's hands, Dong Fuxiang was inevitably a little curious, silver-colored, like it was made of silver, but it didn't look like it was made of silver...... These foreign things, Dong Fuxiang can only think so.

Dong Fuxiang probably didn't expect that this kind of stainless steel cup can be produced in several factories in Shanghai, and even more nationwide.

Li Kaiye took a sip of hot water, and then asked Dong Fuxiang: "Old Junmen, I want to ask you about it...... It may sound disrespectful to you, but now that the war is imminent, I have to ask lest my brothers of more than 10,000 people die here. ”

Dong Fuxiang hurriedly said: "Don't worry, the old man can understand, it's okay to ask the overseer!" ”

Li Kaiye bowed slightly, and asked: "Then I'll ask you, where do you think you are defeated, how many opponents are there, who are they composed of, and how is the heavy firepower equipped?" ”

"This ......!"

Dong Fuxiang was inevitably a little embarrassed, every question was like rubbing salt on his wounds, but he knew that these problems had to be explained, and with an explanation, he could at least keep his official position and the Gan army in his hands.

Otherwise, according to the surname of Hu Chuyuan, the first assistant, the tenth ** will cut his officials and remove his Gan army.

This kind of thing, Hu Chuyuan can definitely do it.

Dong Fuxiang thought about it for a while, and then said to Li Kaiye: "It's a shame to say, although it has been fought so far, the old man has not been able to figure out who the main force of the Yarkand Department is, and only roughly knows that there are more Kazakhs, and then there are Uygurs in Xinjiang Province, and there are Hui people and other Hui people. The total number was not much at first, it was only a few thousand at this time last year, and then it was more and more, and gradually it reached tens of thousands of people, and after the Ili was defeated, the number suddenly increased to sixty or seventy thousand, and the cavalry was the most, accounting for more than half of the total, so I could only defend to the death. Originally, they could also hold it, and they held it for half a year, but two months ago, the number of opponent's artillery suddenly increased to more than 100, and there were several large and heavy artillery, which bombed Wusu to the ground at once, and the old man retreated to Dihua, just after half a month, the opponent's artillery tripled, and the old man was embarrassed, and the brothers suffered heavy casualties. ”

Li Kaiye still nodded coldly, snorted, and said: "It's troublesome now, fighting ground battles outside, our cavalry is too small, Xinjiang Province is too large, there is barren land everywhere, and it can't be fought without cavalry." If it's a tough battle, or a stubborn pass, it doesn't seem to be able to hold on. ”

"yes!"

Dong Fuxiang was very happy, and this was what he was waiting for.

Li Kaiye is the first general of Hu Chuyuan's lineage, if even he said so, Dong Fuxiang's guilt would be reduced by more than half.

In short, it's not that he Dong Fuxiang is incompetent, it's that the opponent is too powerful, rushing out to fight is death, and defending and fighting is also death.

Dong Fuxiang suddenly remembered another thing, and hurriedly said to Li Kaiye: "It's not good, Li Dujun, there is another road from Ili to Turpan, although it is a little difficult to walk, and the heavy artillery can't be transported, but the cavalry can still walk." If the Yarkand tribe sends cavalry from Ili to attack our back, then we will be miserable...... What's more, Lord Shoufu is afraid that he is also in Turpan! ”

Li Kaiye sighed indifferently and said: "Don't worry about the old army, I have already sent the only few cavalry companies in my hand, and now I should have reached the pass, although it adds up to only one column, it is not a problem to hold on for a day or two." There is also an infantry regiment that is on the way by the stars and will arrive this afternoon. As for the safety of Lord Shoufu, you don't have to worry, before others destroy the cable, I have already sent a telegram to Shoufu, asking him to stay in Hami for the time being, and urgently transfer the 24th Division of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ning Corps to come up, and then draw the 3rd and 5th Divisions of the Huguang Corps over, so the problem will not be too big. ”

As soon as he heard this, Dong Fuxiang was secretly surprised in his heart, and said in his heart, this person is so powerful, he really deserves to be the personal general of the prime minister!

In the final analysis, it was Hu Chuyuan's luck, he originally wanted to draw Duan Qirui's Jianghuai Corps out and continue to let Li Kaiye guard Jinzhou, but temporarily felt that Duan Qirui was inferior to Li Kaiye in terms of experience, and finally chose Li Kaiye.

Li Kaiye has a talent that others can't match.

He has a strong memory, and he can memorize the topographic maps of the whole country by heart as long as the War Department has completed the basic drawing and surveying.

He didn't need to bring a map at all, as soon as he arrived at Jiade Pass, he knew where the best position was, where it was the easiest place to get into trouble, and where the enemy could take a shortcut.

If it weren't for him and someone else, even if he could hold on for a while now, it wouldn't last a few days.

However, it is precisely because Li Kaiye is so powerful that he knows it very well in his heart...... There is one problem at hand that cannot be solved at all.

In the end, he couldn't defeat the Yarkand tribe.

(To be continued)