In the twilight sunset, thousands of Turks, dressed in tattered military uniforms, marched in a scattered line along the avenue in the direction of Erzurum. On either side of them, hundreds of expeditionary force soldiers armed with Mauser rifles and even Madsen light machine guns were in charge of escorting them.

"Go, tell these guys, make their moves quicker..."

Sitting on horseback and looking at the slow-moving Turkish POWs, an army officer with the rank of major spoke to the interpreter on the side.

The translator on the side said with a smirk on his face after hearing the officer's words.

"I'll go right away..."

As he spoke, the interpreter ran to the captive, shouted the officer's words in Turkish, and in the eyes of outsiders, the smell of fox and tiger power could not be removed.

However, this manifestation is needless to say in the eyes of the Turks, but it is a normal expression in the eyes of the major and the officers and soldiers of the expedition around him.

Even, looking at this fake and powerful translator, none of the officers and soldiers present at the expedition had a feeling of disgust or contempt, there was only one reason for this, and that was... This translator is an Armenian ... The Armenians, the majority ethnic group of Armenia, call themselves Hai, also known as the Arminians. Others are scattered in Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Syria. It belongs to the West Asian type of Europa, speaks Armenian, is divided into many dialects, belongs to the Armenian language family of the Indo-European language family, believes in Christianity, and partly believes in Catholicism.

Believing in these two religions (of course, the top boss is one person), if it is in Europe, or in several other regions, maybe there will be no problem, after all, Catholicism and Christianity are still relatively wide, but in the Middle East... You know, this is the territory of Muslims, and there are two other religions in this area, and it is a religion that has a long-standing conflict with Islam, and it is obviously impossible to get any good treatment (the difference between Islam and Muslims is that Islam is a religion, while Muslims are people who believe in Islam).

Thus, under the Ottoman Empire, Armenians as Christians enjoyed limited freedoms, such as the right to profess their original religion, under the Islamic system of dhimmi, but were treated like second-class citizens. Christians and Jews are not considered equal to Muslims, and the confessions of the former two against Muslims will not be accepted in court. Christians and Jews were forbidden to carry weapons or ride horses, their houses were not higher than those of Muslims, and religious activities were subject to Muslim rules, among other legal restrictions. Those who oppose these decrees can be punished, ranging from fines to death.

At the same time, the Armenian massacre is more famous in later generations, but there have been many such massacres in history. For example, during the Sino-Japanese War, the Hamid massacre, according to European accounts, killed between 100,000 and 300,000 Armenians.

Later, in 1909, there was another Adana massacre, this time with 15,000 to 30,000 people slaughtered... Of course, this is nothing compared to the Armenian massacres that took place later in 1915-1916. In the normal massacres that lasted for more than a year, 100 to 1.5 million of the 2 million Armenians living in Turkey were slaughtered, and the rest either went into hiding or fled to other countries, and for a time the Armenians as indigenous people almost disappeared in the Armenian region.

This is also why the expeditionary force and the Russians in the Armenian region will have the full cooperation of the Armenians. And seeing the Armenians like this, the officers and soldiers of the expeditionary force will not have any abnormal psychology ... Of the 2 million people, only more than 500,000 remained, and the officers and men of the expedition present asked themselves if such a thing had happened, I am afraid that they would have run to the side and asked, "Can you borrow a machine gun to make an operation?"

"However, now that the war in the Caucasus has finally come to an end, the commander will probably have to focus on Mesopotamia..."

Saying this, the officer looked at the sunset in the distance, and in the distance, the slowly setting sun not only reflected the earth red, but even the clouds in the sky seemed to be burned..."It's been more than half a year..."

―――――――――― was the end of July 1916, more than half a year had passed since January.

In the past six months or so, a lot of things have happened, which has also added a few more blood debts to the already tragic war.

At the beginning of January, after a small defeat in front of the city of Mosul, the Germans who were moving north realized that they could not retake Mosul with their current forces alone. The Pasha sent a telegram hoping to get more reinforcements.

After receiving this telegram, it became clear that Baghdad was indeed unable to send more troops to Enver in Mosul. Pasha, after thinking about it, finally transferred more than 30,000 troops from other places to Mosul―――――― at this time the battle of the Dardanelles had ended, even if the nearly 300,000 troops on the Western Front were not used, Enver. The Pasha's forces were still rich.

It's just that although the number of troops has reached more than 50,000, because of the lack of heavy weapon support, in the end, the German-Turkish coalition still has no way to take the South Yuan Chao in Mosul.

In the southern city of Kut, although the Southern Yuan Chao in Mosul attracted more than 20,000 troops of the Turkish Sixth Army and more than 30,000 troops from other directions, the British had already arrived at the periphery with two Indian divisions and began to relieve the British Townsend Division trapped in Kut.

In January, British General F.J. Aylmer led two newly arrived Indian divisions in vain to attack the Turkish fortifications. Later, as Aylmer failed to relieve the siege of Townsend, General G.F. Golinch succeeded Ellmer and attacked the south bank of the Tigris River on the night of 7 March, but was repulsed by the 6th Army Corps of the Turkish Army, commanded by the shrewd 73-year-old veteran German General K. von der Gorz. Then the British army made a breakthrough but failed, the food supply to Coote was gone, and starvation was approaching. By this time, the less aggressive Russian advance from Persia to Baghdad had also come to a halt (at that time, the Russian general N.N. Baratov commanded about 20,000 Russian troops with 38 artillery pieces in Persia. On 12 March, he arrived in Kalind and declared his aim to march on Baghdad. On April 29, the day he departed, Coote fell... Eventually, Townsend surrendered to the Turkish army with 2,070 British troops and 6,000 Indian colonial troops.

The British who failed to break the siege suffered heavy losses, and although Nan Yuanchao shared some of the pressure on him in Mosul, these ultimately failed to save the fate of Townsend. However, it was not only the British who suffered heavy losses, because during the siege, before the surrender of the Townsend division trapped in Cotte, the German veteran K. von der Goerz, who commanded the Turkish Sixth Army, had already died of cholera, and was replaced by a Turk named Khalil Pasha.

The British in London were frustrated when they received the news of the surrender, for there were very few cases in which the entire fighting force had surrendered in this war. Still, the British praised Townsend for the 196 days he had been with Coult.

Although the British troops in Kut have been completely settled, Khalil. The Pasha did not dare to send troops north to deal with the coalition forces in Mosul, because although Townsend had surrendered at Kut, the British threat in the Persian Gulf still existed, and Basra, the second largest city in Mesopotamia, was still in British hands.

In any case, the war in southern Mesopotamia has finally come to an end, and whether the Turks and the British are satisfied with the outcome or not, both sides will have to wait for some time if they want to launch the next phase of the campaign... And at this time, in Erzurum on the Western Front of Armenia.

After a long period of preparation, in June, Enver. The two-way assault planned by the Pasha was finally realized. In Enville. Under the orders of the Pasha, Vishipp. Pasha led the 3rd Army to attack along the Black Sea coast, Ahmed Izm. The Pasha led the newly formed Second Army to advance towards Bitlis and detour to Yudenrich's left flank.

In the face of the offensive launched by the Turks, after a series of reflections and analyses, Chiang Baili finally began to maneuver on July 2, with his characteristic speed and judgment, and divided the Turkish Third Army at Ezin, and completely routed it on July 25, with the Turkish army losing 34,000 men. Yudenrich then turned and attacked the 2nd Turkish Army.

The whole battle has been going smoothly, but there is only one person that Jiang Baili did not expect, and that is Kemal, the hero of Dardanelles and the future father of Turkey. At that time, Kemal was already a commander at the army level, and won a certain victory for Turkey throughout the campaign.

On August 15, Kemal led the army to capture Mush and Bitlis, and Jiang Baili, who learned that the two places were lost, was surprised, and then let Zhang Shaozeng lead the army to attack back, and after nearly ten days of fierce fighting, because the overall situation has been irretrievable, on August 24, Zhang Shaozeng finally recaptured the lost two places.

The battle finally came to an end at this point, and in this battle by Enver. In the battle launched by Pasha, the Turks suffered heavy losses, but the Caucasian coalition army led by Jiang Baili was not necessarily unscathed, so after the battle, the two sides also entered a truce early, ready to survive this winter.

Of course, in this battle, Jiang Baili also gained a lot of benefits, that is, to capture the Erzurum region. The capture of Erzurum is obviously a matter worth celebrating, because the capture of Erzurum is equivalent to Jiang Baili being in a state of comparative advantage in future battles.

"Come on, come on, have a drink!"

A Russian general pulled over a Chinese general, and after giving the wine glass to the general, the Russian general said in stammering Chinese.

At this time, the headquarters of the coalition forces was completely immersed in a festive atmosphere. Because after thwarting the attack of the two legions of Enver, Enver was unable to launch an offensive in a short time. And all of you present can finally have a stable time for a while.

To be honest, although they just won a victory in Erzurum, in fact, the coalition has not had a good time in recent times.

Because on the Eastern Front, although generals such as Nikolai and Yudenrich have taken office and are working the situation, because the Russian army is too far away from Germany, and the relationship between the Russian emperor and Nikolai is too much, in the end, the Russian army is still defeated in successive battles on the Eastern Front, and the whole scene can only be said to be stronger than in history... Successive defeats were obviously a bit intolerable for the Russians. Therefore, while the Russian army suffered a crushing defeat on the Eastern Front, riots in Russia also occurred one after another, and behind the scenes, the Russian Scythe and Hammer Party, which was funded by Yan Guang, obviously contributed a lot... Of course, there will be a price to be paid for this, such as logistical supplies... Originally, the Russian side could still provide some assistance to the Caucasian coalition forces, but since the frequent riots in Russia, the Russians' support for the coalition forces has been extremely small. Not only the supply of ammunition, but even the supply of general daily necessities was much less, and in the end, the Russian army in the Caucasus even shared some living supplies with the expeditionary force.

It's just a Siberian railway, and both sides have a very tight life... And in order to prevent attacks on the supplies transported on the Trans-Siberian Railway, it was really miserable to carry at least one battalion of soldiers on each train for defense... This is also the reason why the Russian general just stepped forward and toasted a Chinese general.

In the past, when there was no problem with Russia's supply, these Russian generals drank vodka, but since there was a problem with domestic production, a small number of vodka was supplied to the Russian generals on the Eastern Front, and they, the second-tier ones, could only drink Chinese wine shipped from China with the generals of the expeditionary force... In any case, the atmosphere in the headquarters is still very good, after all, they have just won a battle, not only captured a lot of Turkish prisoners of war, but also captured a lot of supplies, and also made their lives richer... However, just as the Chinese and Russian generals in the headquarters were toasting each other and enjoying this rare festive day, a general of the expeditionary force suddenly walked in with a telegram with an excited face.

"Commander!"

In the corner of the headquarters, Jiang Baili was drinking with several other generals of the expeditionary force.

It's not that he doesn't want to celebrate with the soldiers, it's just that Jiang Baili is usually quiet, so he took a few subordinates who were also quiet to drink on the side.

And the other generals of the headquarters, because they also knew Jiang Baili's habit of being quiet, so they were also very interested in not getting up to toast Jiang Baili, but gathered together one by one to have a drink―――――― you must know that Jiang Baili is very opposed to excessive drinking, if you really get up, if you are trained, you will not only lose face, but also lose your surname, it is really a thankless thing.

However, although they didn't get up, it didn't mean that they didn't pay attention to Jiang Baili's side, after all, Jiang Baili was their boss, so after seeing an expeditionary force general walking over with a telegram with an excited face, almost all the coalition generals in the audience looked over.

Then they saw a very surprising scene..."Good! ”

In the corner, Jiang Baili, who was drinking with his colleagues and subordinates, whispered in the ear of the expeditionary force general for a moment and handed the telegram to Jiang Baili. Just glanced at it casually, Jiang Baili was already slapping the table with excitement and shouting loudly.

“？！”

Seeing this scene, almost all the coalition generals present were curious, you know, in the past, Jiang Baili has always been quite calm, even if Enver. When the two legions sent by Pasha, nearly 200,000 people attacked, Jiang Baili was as calm as ever.

But now, it's all too rare for a single telegram to make him so excited... Jiang Baili didn't pay attention to the curiosity in the hearts of the other generals, but he took the telegram and turned around excitedly for a long time, and waited until almost all the generals in the headquarters surrounded him, and then Jiang Baili made the contents of the telegram public.

"The news just sent from China that the Dilan Railway has been opened to traffic with the Central Asian Railway..."

When he said this, Jiang Baili, who had never shown his mood in the future, was also excited, and the telegram in his hand was about to be clenched into a ball by him.

And hearing Jiang Baili's words, the other generals present were also excited.

"Really!"

"Is the railroad really open?!"

"Great, so that there can be more reinforcements from the country!"

"Materials, and materials, during this time, Lao Tzu's mouth is about to fade out of the bird, the railway is open, it can be regarded as a reward for Lao Tzu's mouth!"

Not only the generals of the expeditionary force, after more than a year of contact, in fact, many Russian generals have a little Chinese, so after the generals who Chinese met in the field relayed the words of Jiang Baili, the Russian generals in the field were also excited―――――― no one knows better than them that the Central Asian Railway and the Dilan Railway are important surnames.

Since the Dardanelles Strait was blocked by Turkey, the blood transfusion lines of Britain and France to Russia have been cut off, and the supply of materials to Russia has also been stopped, which has also put Russia's overall economy in trouble, and it is also one of the reasons for the frequent riots in Russia.

Now, since the Dilan Railway and the Central Asian Railway have been opened to traffic, it means that in addition to the Trans-Siberian Railway that opened the Strait of Danelles and Vladivostok, Russia finally has a third important material supply line, and unlike the Trans-Siberian Railway, which runs through the entire Siberia, the Trans-Siberian Railway that has been opened to traffic not only has more lanes than the Siberian Railway, but most importantly, the distance is much closer.

Although railway transportation is certainly not comparable to sea transportation, the opening of the Dilan Railway can still relieve the pressure on Russia to a large extent. Moreover, the opening of the Dilan Railway and the Central Asian Railway will also allow China to send more expeditionary forces to the Caucasus and share the pressure of the Russians in the Caucasus.

You know, in the beginning, China promised to send at least 300,000 and at most 500,000 expeditionary forces to the Caucasus. And the battle that took place in Erzurum some time ago also shows that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese [***] team is much higher than that of the Turkish army, and it is not inferior or even more than the Russian army, if China can really send 500,000 expeditionary troops to the Caucasus, then it is not impossible to cooperate with the British army in Basra to seize the whole of Mesopotamia, and as long as Mesopotamia is occupied, then there can be one more blood transfusion line against Russia, after all, the Tigris River is also a very good blood transfusion line―――――― In the past, because there was only one Trans-Siberian Railway, although China would send an infantry division to the Caucasus every month, but after the troops exceeded 150,000, the logistics of the Expeditionary Force was already very tight, but now the opening of the Dilan Railway and the Central Asian Railway represents the complete end of this problem... However, in fact, it was impossible for the Dilan Railway to be opened to traffic so quickly, after all, the distance of the Dilan Railway is not only long, but also the terrain along the way makes this railway not easy to build.

There are three main reasons why the Dilan Railway and the Central Asia Railway will be opened to traffic so quickly.

First, since China decided to enter the war and expressed its intention to continue to build the Dilan Railway to Russia and Central Asia, until the opening of the Central Asian Railway, not only China began to work hard to build the Dilan Railway, but the Russians also began to work hard to extend the Central Asian Railway to Xinjiang Province, and because Russia had a lot of Turkish prisoners of war, the construction progress was not slower than that of China at all.

After the incident, China also arrested a large number of rebels in Xinjiang Province, Outer Mongolia and other regions, and spared no human lives to let these rebels engage in extremely dangerous activities, at least 100,000 rebels, after the opening of the railway, there are only more than 20,000 left, this is the second point... As for the third point, it is the financial support of the British for this railway.

The British still have a very keen sense, and they also have a very clear understanding of some of the conditions in Russia, and after discovering the frequent riots in Russia, the British have been keenly aware that Russia is probably about to die.

And if Russia fails, then Germany may draw a large number of troops from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and in this situation of stalemate between the two sides on the Western Front, if the Germans can draw a large number of troops back, then even if the Entente can hold on to the Western Front, I am afraid that they will pay an extremely tragic price.

Therefore, it was very important to add a new blood transfusion line to Russia, so after perceiving Russia's internal problems, Britain not only provided China with a war loan of 20 million pounds, but also provided 10 million pounds of funds for China to build the Dylan Railway―――――― which did not have to be repaid... It is precisely because of these three points that the Dilan Railway can be opened to traffic so quickly, of course, the most important thing is that the author's golden finger is at work... In any case, the opening of the Dylan Railway has always been of great significance, and it is the kind that can change the world. Even in the eyes of some countries, the significance of the Dilan Railway is greater than China's entry into the war itself...

(To be continued)