On the bank of the Heilongjiang River, under the city of Aihui.

After the declaration of war on August 1, the Beiyang Army immediately took action and relaunched an offensive against Aihui City.

At the same time, the number of Russian troops in Aihui City had increased to 25,000, which was roughly the same as the total strength of the first and second towns of the Beiyang Army.

Lieutenant General Stessel had not dared to attack the Beiyang Army because of insufficient troops, so he adopted the passive tactic of holding on to Aihui. With the increase in Aihui's troops, Stexel now has 25,000 troops in his hands, and Russian reinforcements from Central Asia have been stationed in Hamberforka, Jiangbei, and the strength of the Russian army in the Heilongjiang Theater has far exceeded that of the Beiyang Army.

Based on these advantages, Stessel also has the same idea as General Kurbertkin, that is, to fight a good battle with the Beiyang Army and find a place to go.

On September 3, Stexel deployed a large-scale military operation, codenamed "Revenge". He placed a reinforced regiment of about 5,000 troops on each of the east and west flanks of Aihui, and deployed 10,000 troops on the south front of Aihui City, leaving another 5,000 men as reserves.

"Are you crazy? With such a dense formation, are you waiting for the enemy's shells to be greeted? ”

Seeing that Stessel was about to fight a decisive battle with the Beiyang Army, Zasulic hurriedly stopped him. However, the defeated general had no right to speak in front of Stexel, and Stecel would not listen to him.

Stexel said disapprehantly: "They have cannons, I know that, don't we have them?" ”

Zasulic said worriedly: "But you can't think of them as civilized and gentlemanly Europeans, and you have a knightly duel with them?" I bet my wife, you made the wrong decision! ”

"Why don't you bet on your daughter?"

"Why should I bet on my daughter, she's my sweetheart?"

"Then why should I listen to you? Often-defeated generals! ”

Zasulic was dumbfounded, and there was no doubt that Stessel had stabbed him in the scar. For the Imperial Russian Army, defeat at the hands of the yellow race was really a shame.

Zasurić sighed: "You will regret it!" ”

Stessel snorted coldly and said, "Let me teach you how to fight!" ”

As he spoke, Stexel called an officer and ordered him to bring an invitation letter for the decisive battle to the Beiyang Army camp.

Stessel wants to fight a decisive battle with the Beiyang Army, except for the fact that he thinks that defensive warfare is a representative of cowardice, the Far Eastern Military District cannot support long-term operations, and a quick victory is one of the requirements of General Kurbertkin for him. At the same time, he still had a contemptuous attitude towards the Beiyang Army. Although Zasulic had already told him that the Beiyang Army was different from other Qing armies and had strong combat power, Stessel only laughed at Zasulich for being scared and did not take it to heart.

In fact, it was not only Stexel who thought so, but all the Russian officers and soldiers who had not fought with the Beiyang Army had more or less contempt for the Qing Army. This is all due to the fact that the Qing Empire has been bullied by the great powers for more than half a century, and the impression of the Qing army's weakness, [***] and incompetence has been deeply ingrained in the hearts of the Russian officers and soldiers, and it is really not easy to change it for a while.

Twenty miles south of Aihui City, it is the location of the Beiyang Army camp. Originally, the camp was stationed ten miles south of Aihui City, because the Russian reinforcements arrived, and the appearance of heavy weapons such as artillery forced Wang Shizhen and others to delay the camp for ten miles.

In the headquarters of the former enemy, Wang Shizhen, Wang Yingkai, Feng Guozhang, Jiang Guidi, Duan Qirui, and other major officers of various departments gathered together, and after learning the contents of the invitation letter for the decisive battle of the Russian commander Stessel, they looked at each other one by one.

Feng Guozhang was full of question marks on his face and said, "What is a knight decisive battle?" ”

Wang Yingkai immediately replied: "It's a cavalry decisive battle!" ”

Jiang Gui said happily: "Hey, Lao Maozi really looks up to us, and he wants to fight Lao Tzu?" Then Lao Tzu will meet their Cossack cavalry! ”

Duan Qirui said with a smile: "The knight decisive battle is not only a cavalry duel, but also all the arms of the warring sides!" The Europeans proclaimed themselves a civilized country, and their way of fighting was still stuck in a linear battle formation similar to that of the Spanish phalanx, where the two sides fought infantry, cavalry and artillery, and had a fair decisive battle, like a duel between knights. ”

Wang Shizhen nodded, and then Duan Qirui's words continued: "The knight war is also called the gentleman's war, as the name suggests, even if you fight a war, you have to be a gentleman. For example, before a battle begins, one of the belligerents will politely say to the other side, 'Please shoot or fire first', and the other side will respond with the same words. The side that fired first definitely took advantage, but was accused of shamelessness or cowardice afterwards, and it was very shameless. Sometimes, the warring parties, because they were good at face, did not want to fire first, and as a result, after more than an hour of confrontation between the two armies, the two sides shook hands and made peace, and the war ended. When everyone heard this, they burst into laughter, and it was really strange that there was such a thing.

Feng Guozhang laughed heartily and said: "To paraphrase the words of our handsome, I think this group of foreign devils must have entered the water in their brains, or they were caught by the door." ”

The crowd laughed again.

Wang Shizhen stretched out her hands and motioned for everyone to be quiet.

"Ladies and gentlemen, under the training of the commander, we have long given up this ridiculous tactical move. Because our rifles have become magazine-type rifles, which can fire continuously; We also have the Maxim heavy machine gun, which fires 600 rounds per minute, and 150 heavy howitzers. If the enemy were to form this decisive formation, our firepower would have destroyed them in half an hour. But if we don't agree, tomorrow the Russians will certainly not come out to fight in this foolish formation, and then we will lose this good opportunity. ”

Wang Yingkai asked: "But if we also line up in this fool formation, isn't that also equivalent to death?" ”

Wang Shizhen said: "So we have to study it and come up with a plan that can not only induce the Russian army to come out for a decisive battle, but also reduce our losses as much as possible." ”

Duan Qirui said: "Judging from the current military deployment situation of the Russian army, the new commander of the Russian army has deployed troops on the east and west flanks of Aihui and built fortifications. If we can fight the Russian army head-on, I think it will be beneficial to us. ”

Everyone nodded, and it looked like they were really going to have a knightly decisive battle with the Russian army. So, everyone gathered in front of the battle map, and you and I gave advice.

At the same time as the ××××××××××××××××××××××××× Aihui Russian army threw out the knight decisive battle, the large-scale battle of Liaoyang was also ushered in on the land of southern Liaoning.

The Russian army originally planned to capture Lushun, because the Russian army was worried that the Lushun direction would send troops to attack the flank and rear flank of the Russian army. However, Major General Kendrachev had less than two divisions and less than 30,000 men. Moreover, there was no heavy artillery to attack the fortress of Arthur, and it was too difficult to attack Arthur, so he gave up attacking Arthur. Because the intelligence shows that the Qing army in Lushun could not avoid the battle, and the Qing army in the direction of Dalian also retreated into Lushun, and the third and fourth towns of the Beiyang Army were still far away in Shanhaiguan, and the flank of the Russian army was very safe in the short term, so Major General Kendrachev decided to attack Liaoyang with all his might, and it was necessary to make a quick decision before the arrival of Qing reinforcements, and first win the victory in the battle of Liaoyang, and open up the last channel for attacking Shengjing.

Kurbertkin approved Major General Kendrachev's plan, knowing that postponing the battle of Liaoyang would be detrimental to the overall situation, because as time went on, Qing reinforcements would arrive from the hinterland of Guannai. To this end, it is necessary to seize the opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Qing army assembled in the Liaoyang area in one fell swoop with the existing strength of the 2nd Binhai Division and the Amur Reading Brigade. Although the Qing army had an advantage in strength and more artillery than the Russian army, Major General Kendrachev had already found out the bottom of the Qing army in the previous stage of the battle, and the vulnerable state of the Qing army strengthened his confidence in winning more with less.

In the First Sino-Japanese War, the Shengjing army led by Yi Ketanga was defeated again and again in front of the Yue army, and the Qing Dynasty said that the Battle of Liaoyang ended in a crushing defeat for the Qing army. Now, more than two years later, Iktanga has rearmament to win a major military victory in the Liaoyang region. After a long period of preparation after the war, Iktanga stockpiled a large amount of war materials, and the conditions were relatively favorable. Iktanga threatened to "rather die than retreat from Liaoyang", and he decided to rely on the forward fortifications to resist and exhaust the attacking Russian army, and then turn to a counterattack. That is to say, Iktanga, having superior forces and firepower, adopted a passive and wait-and-see approach, giving the initiative to the enemy from the outset.

The Qing army in the Liaoyang area was defended into three positions. The first position (forward position) is 55 kilometers long and is located about 26 kilometers south and southeast of Liaoyang. The second position is 22 kilometers long and about 8 kilometers away from Liaoyang. The third position is close to Liaoyang City. The total length is 15 km. However, because the Russian army marched too fast, the three positions of the Qing army, especially the first position, were small in depth and exposed on the flanks, and even the fortification construction plan was not completed, so they could not resist the attack of the Russian army.

By September 13, the Qing army entered the position as planned, and the deployment was as follows: the right flank was Nie Shicheng's headquarters and 8 battalions, with a total of 13,000 troops. On the left flank is the 19th battalion of the Mabu Army under the Lingge Division of the Shengjing Training Army, with a total of 15,000 troops, and there are two more battalions east of Liaoyang as a peripheral attack. Iktanga didn't dare to block all his forces on the Battle of Liaoyang, he was worried about the safety of Shengjing, so half of the Qing troops on each position were set aside as reserves, which was actually an arrangement of running away if he couldn't fight.

The deployment of the Russian army is different, it puts all its forces into the battlefield and does not leave any reserves, so it is inferior in the comparison of total forces, but it creates a local advantage in the positions of the Qing army on both flanks. The plan of the Russian army was to encircle and annihilate the Qing army. The Amur Reading Brigade attacked from the front and pinned down the main force of the Qing army; At the same time, the 1st and 2nd brigades of the Binhai Division detoured the left and right flanks of the Qing army from the east and west sides, with the right flank as the main direction of attack. This is a bold plan to surround the majority with a minority.

I have to say that Major General Kendrachev dared to brag that it was not unintentional to defeat all the Qing troops in Shengjing within a month, and he still had the ability.

On September 15, the Battle of Liaoyang broke out, and the Russian Second Coastal Division carried out a two-wing detour on the right wing of the Qing army, Nie Shicheng's department, in an attempt to attract the attention of the Qing army to the right flank, forcing Iktanga to transfer his reserves to the right flank, thereby weakening its left flank and creating a favorable situation for the Russian Reading Brigade to attack the Qing army's right wing Linger Division.

The battle on the right flank of the Qing army was fierce from the beginning, and the Russian army, taking advantage of the exposed flanks of the Qing army, decided to implement a two-wing detour on the Qing army. For this reason, a regiment of the Russian army drove a wedge in the deployment of the Qing army and appeared on the flank of Nie Shicheng's department. In order to reinforce Nie Shicheng's department, Iktang immediately threw in nearby reserves.

On September 18, an infantry regiment of the Russian army broke into the inner line of the Qing army's position and fired its bow left and right, disrupting the overall military deployment of the Qing army. At the same time, the two flanks of the Russian army made a roundabout situation. Fearing that the Qing army was in danger of being completely surrounded, Iktanga ordered the entire line to withdraw to the second line of positions.

After the Qing army withdrew to the second position, it still maintained its original deployment, most of the troops were used as reserves, and only 40% of the troops deployed on the front line were deployed, and the fighting method was still waiting for the Russian army to attack. The deployment of the Russian army's forces is also roughly the same as before, and the attempt is still to encircle and annihilate the Qing army.

On September 20, the Russian Reading Brigade launched an attack at the same time with the full strength of three regiments. The Qing army withstood the attacks of the Russian army from all walks of life with artillery and bayonets, and Nie Shi took the lead and led his troops to fight to the death in the Russian army, and the two sides fought fiercely for 1 day, and the Russian army was forced to retreat.

The Russian army's frontal attack was blocked, but at night, the third regiment of the Reading Brigade was sent to smuggle across the Manhe River to the right bank, and on the morning of the 21st, it detoured to the left flank of the Qing army, and at the same time intensified the attack on the right flank of the Qing army.

Nie Shicheng planned to counterattack the Russian army, so he gathered 3,000 people on the left flank, trying to press the Russian Reading Brigade to the Barbarian River to annihilate it in a roundabout move. The counterattack is scheduled to begin the next day. However, on the night of the 21st, the Russian army attacked the Qing army's Linge Division, and most of the Linge Division's headquarters fled without a fight, resulting in the Russian army occupying a series of important tactical points in this direction, including Shiguantun and the small highland Mantou Mountain to the north.

In this case, Iktanga decided to first recapture Mantou Mountain before implementing a full-scale counterattack. For this purpose, 2,000 elite men and 16 guns were drawn from each battalion. But the improvised patchwork force lacked a strong unified command, and the battle began at night and continued in darkness, with fierce battles between the two sides. The Qing army once regained Mantou Mountain, but under the counterattack of the Russian army, it fell into chaos and fled in a hurry.

The next time, after the defeat in the battles of Shiguantun and Mantou Mountain, Yiketang's troops had lost one-third, and there were less than 300 people left in the most capable Nie Shicheng's department. Iktanga then ordered the Qing army to abandon Liaoyang and retreat to Mukden, losing nearly 15,000 men in vain in the Battle of Liaoyang.

However, when the Qing army retreated to Mukden on September 28, the Russian army was also unable to organize the pursuit, after the battle of Liaoyang, the Russian army also lost more than 4,000 people, nearly 10,000 wounded, at the same time, the Russian army has been advancing rapidly, the pressure on logistics and supply is huge, and the troops urgently need to rest.

While the Russian army was resting, the third and fourth towns of the Beiyang Army marched into Mukden one after another. Although the Qing army lost Liaoyang tactically, it successfully thwarted the arrogance of the Russian army strategically and won valuable time for the Beiyang Army to reinforce Fengtian.

(To be continued)