After reaching an agreement with General Mishuchenko, Song Biao stayed in Sujiatun at night to have dinner with General Mishuchenko and other senior generals of the Third Army, this is a new atmosphere and environment, he hardly knows several Russian generals here, because General Mishuchenko attaches great importance to him, and his previous achievements in the Battle of Heigoutai, including his superb Russian language and admiration for Pushkin, all the Russian generals and colonels are extremely respectful and friendly to him, and even love, Even if he is a cold, ruthless and overly sharp person.

The next day, Song Biao, accompanied by General Mishuchenko, again arrived at the General Headquarters of the Russian Far East Army in Wangjiazhen.

At this time, the commander-in-chief of Kuropatkin already knew that Song Biao had returned to Mukden, and specially held a small but polite welcome banquet at noon, and would visit the French military attache Ruiz at noon. Major Bellemani invited over.

After the banquet, knowing the goal of Song Biao's return this time, Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin invited Song Biao alone to accompany him for a walk in the soil forest on the north side of Wangjia Town.

Kuropatkin was actually a very honest man, and a more politically sensitive man, he was more suitable to be the Minister of War than the Commander-in-Chief of the Front, but fate was so embarrassing that he was promoted to the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Far Eastern Army, even though he was strongly opposed to the Russians who were at war with the Russian army before the outbreak of the Russo-Russian War.

Of course, this does not mean that he does not support the invasion of China by the Tsarist Empire.

From a Chinese point of view, Infantry General Kuropatkin is definitely not a good person.

Song Biao's mood at this time was also complicated, he just needed this war, hoping to use his special value in the Russian Far East Army to take the opportunity to annihilate many main divisions of the Yue Army and deal a heavy blow to the strength of the Yue Army.

After accompanying Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin for a while, Song Biao couldn't help but take the initiative to mention: "Your Excellency Commander-in-Chief, I personally think that the defense line of the First Army seems to be too long, and its ability to resist the attack of the Yue Army will be relatively weak. ”

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin pondered for a moment and said, "I know, but we can't give up the defensive line, that will further be criticized by Your Majesty and others in the Tsarist Empire, and that will be a very bad situation." ”

Song Biao replied simply: "You still have to shrink the defensive line, it is much better to shrink than to be defeated, because you don't want others to criticize, so you give up what you think is the right decision, and instead keep the situation that is unfavorable to Russia, I don't think this is a choice you will make." ”

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin stopped, took out his pipe, and stared at the city of Shenyang and the Manchu Dongling across the Hunhe River, and he paused for a moment before saying, "My other fear is that once we retreat, the army will take the opportunity to launch an all-out attack. We are not prepared for this, especially when you are very aware of all the shortcomings and shortcomings of the Russian army, and you will feel more and more pain. ”

Song Biao said: "Then quickly build more perfect fortifications in the rear, and once the army attacks, then retreat as quickly as possible, forcing the army to expand the depth of the attack, and give us the opportunity to raid his soft underbelly." ”

"Oh?"

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin was a little surprised, but he took out a folded simple military map and a sharpened pencil from his pocket very strangely, and said: "Since you are coming to war, then you must have your thoughts, let's talk about it carefully." ”

Song Biao didn't expect to say his thoughts here, his plan with General Mishuchenko was persuaded by two people together, and he was not sure of it alone.

Opportunities are always not to be missed.

Song Biao spread out the map on a flat stone, used a pencil to draw the possible gaps in the army, and explained in detail the battle plan he envisioned, and even did not hesitate to use the Battle of Wagram as an example to persuade Kuropatkin to shrink the defensive line and not make the mistake of Grand Duke Karl.

The Battle of Wagram is the most classic offensive and defensive battle in modern warfare, and in the early part of the 20th century, almost every European military academy has to analyze and dissect the classic battle example, and the situation is also the most similar to the Battle of Mukden, and Kuropatkin is naturally very clear.

After Song Biao finished speaking, Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin continued to stare at the northwest in silence, probably looking at Moscow and Tsar Nicholas II in his heart, and after being silent for a long time, he finally asked Song Biao softly: "How many troops do you need to complete the cutting of the left and right flanks of the army?" ”

Song Biao pondered for a moment and said: "It depends on the amount of time, the later the army launches a decisive general attack, the fewer people I need." We always say that we should use superior forces to attack the opponent violently and quickly, and I think that superiority does not mean that there are many people, if they are elite enough, and well-equipped, and have a tight command system up and down, a small number of troops can also occupy an advantage. To put it simply, elite is an advantage in itself. ”

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin suddenly replied: "The problem is here, although the empire has a lot of troops, the army facing it is the one that really has the advantage, and we have always underestimated them and overestimated us before. As for the timing, I think the army may have this consideration now, that is, since it has been delayed until today, it may as well wait until after the naval battle is over. If the navy continues to win, there is no need to fight this battle, and if the navy fails, they will desperately launch a final decisive battle. So...... I guess there's still time, but not too much. ”

Song Biao felt that Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin's conjecture was very correct, war was like throwing a gold coin into the sky, and before it fell, no one knew the head or back when it landed.

If he were Daiyama Rock, he would rather carry out a decisive battle after the end of the naval battle, and whether the sea won or lost, it could actually be of a good effect on the army. If the navy wins, it takes the opportunity to annihilate its demoralized opponents, and when the navy loses, it bravely rises to the top, sacrificing everything for the sake of its own national fortunes.

Thinking of this, Song Biao made a clear proposal to Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin: "Give me eight regiments of troops, and I will equip myself with four more regiments, these are enough, but the retreat defense line of the three group armies on the front line must be built in advance, and let the three group armies take turns to retreat the defense line before the decisive battle as much as possible, so that the army will open the offensive in depth and force them to attack farther targets with fewer troops." ”

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin was hesitant, knowing that retreat was the best option to defeat his opponent, but the bureaucrats in Russia did not think so, and once he chose to retreat, all sorts of voices would erupt.

He'd love to gamble his luck and maybe win without having to retreat.

After a brief moment of thought, Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin and Song Biao asked, "If we use more superior forces as a reserve force and rely on traditional superiority to defeat our opponents, how many of these possibilities do you think?" ”

Song Biao replied simply: "Hard." The morale of the Russian army is now even worse than before the Battle of Heigoutai, I really don't know how to fight a frontal Armageddon, Clausewitz said, a curved attack is usually more effective than a straight line attack, if you can win with a small number of troops, then you must not use a large number of troops, because the more troops increase, the more uncontrollable factors. ”

Kuropatkin suddenly replied very cleverly: "This German always said very correctly, but sometimes the war is not constrained by us, and we cannot be deployed according to our own ideas, especially in the Tsarist Empire. ”

Song Biao looked very helpless, and thought for a moment before saying: "Then take out all the honor and credit to gamble once, it is much better than letting others shirk all the responsibility on you after being defeated." I really can't make any other proposals for such a question. As soldiers, we have the obligation to defend our country and nation and defeat our opponents by all means and at all costs. That's all. ”

Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin nodded appreciatively and said, "Although it will take me a while to weigh these issues and explain them in more detail with Your Majesty, before that, I think you can work on this first. I will sign a formal order authorizing you to form a new Manchurian Infantry Division, to organize ten to twelve regiments under the command authority of a division, to train quietly, and to exert the most rapid value at the most critical moments. ”

The result seems to be pretty good.

Song Biao could only nod in agreement.

The two returned to the headquarters together and returned to the operational staff room, and Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin signed the order to form the 1st Manchurian Cavalry Brigade and the 1st and 1st Manchurian Artillery Regiment from the 2nd Army and the 5th Army.

Song Biao's plan was to use five infantry regiments as the main force, with two cavalry regiments, an artillery regiment, two transport regiments, and two engineer regiments, to raid the gaps in the Yue army with 40,000 to 50,000 elite troops.

The 4th, 5th, and 7th Siberian Infantry Regiments are actually the 2nd Siberian Infantry Division, and the two infantry regiments of Seudinsk and Song Biao also cooperated many times in the Battle of Heigoutai.

The 1st Manchurian Cavalry Brigade was drawn from the Kuban Cossack cavalry, and only the 1st Manchurian Artillery Regiment was drawn from the Fifth Army, and all the elite artillery companies selected were senior formations.

When he got this order, Song Biao happened to meet Madenidorff, who rushed back urgently, and at this time, Madenidorff had just been promoted to major general of the infantry, which can be said to have officially stepped into the ranks of senior generals of the Tsarist Russian Empire.

The two briefly talked for a while, on the one hand, Major General Madenidov understood Song Biao's decision, and on the other hand, he also expressed his full support for Song Biao's plan, on the issue of the First Army's defensive line being too long, there was actually too much debate in the General Staff, almost every staff officer could realize this, and General Linevich emphasized the importance of shrinking the defensive line several times.

As we all know, Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin has always been more jealous of the opinions of the upper echelons and has not made any adjustments for a long time, while Song Biao happens to play the role of the last straw that crushes the camel.

Perhaps for Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin, if even a foreigner like Song Biao could see it, the Yue army would probably have seen it earlier, which meant that if he delayed any longer, he would only be attacked by the Yue army.

After saying goodbye to Major General Madenidov, Song Biao took Jiang Fangzhen and Li Dayun's team to leave Wangjia Town, and then headed towards the Yangguantun station.

Out of the town, Jiang Fangzhen couldn't help but exclaim to Song Biao, who was thinking about it on horseback: "Master, I really didn't expect that you would have such a high courtesy in the Russian Far East Army Headquarters, their commander-in-chief not only personally held a welcome banquet for you, but also personally appointed you as the commander, such a thing will probably surprise everyone, it is really incredible." It's only now that I really understand what a great boss you are. ”

Song Biao has always been very indifferent to such flattery, and his strong national conscience even makes him feel extremely ashamed, and leading the Russians to victory on this battlefield is actually an achievement that he hates.

Others laughed and complimented him, but his heart was dripping blood, angry, and insulting himself.

He is an awakened modern person, so he suffers, which is where he and Zhang Zuolin are decidedly different.

At this moment, Song Biao's face was iron-blue.

Jiang Fangzhen realized that Song Biao was not happy because of this, and he couldn't help but be a little sneering, and he was also very scared in his heart, the closer he got to Song Biao, the more he found that this was an unfathomable soldier, very terrifying.

The two of them were speechless for a long time, Song Biao suddenly pulled the reins of the horse to stop the march, stopped and looked at Jiang Fangzhen before he said very seriously: "Baili, you have to understand that this world has never been fair. The earth is round, so even people are round, when you prove your worth, success and fame, the nonsense you say is regarded as a classic saying, and people will give you the best treatment and gifts without hesitation. If you fail to prove your worth, no matter how talented you are, no matter how hard you work, you may not be able to get a fair result. This is true between peoples, as well as between nations, and a small gap can lead two peoples to live in completely different environments. The military system of the Russians is very bad, its aristocracy and bureaucracy are rigid and rotten, the high-ranking generals are greedy for life and death, greedy for their surnames, and corruption and bribery are serious. Russia is actually not much stronger than us, and it has a lot of domestic problems, but it is regarded as a great power in the world, and few countries have dared to fight it head-on before, and we are regarded as a sub-nation and a country, and all the powers are happy to bully us. Our problem in China now is not to face a wolf, but to face the problem of a group of wolves, all countries and nationalities are herd mentality, everyone sees you as a bully, so they have to bully you. ”

After a slight pause, Song Biao said even more angrily: "I'll just say a big disrespectful word, if I am the emperor and give me three years to prepare, I will fight a battle for the survival of the country with Russia, I will definitely not lose." After I finish this battle, do you believe that the other powers will immediately change their attitudes and no longer dare to bully us casually? But do you think about why we are where we are today? The reason is very simple, we can't even beat ourselves? If others don't bully you anymore, it's unreasonable. This world is like this, there is never fairness at all, the stronger the stronger, the weaker the weaker. ”

Song Biao had no outsiders around him at this time, and Li Dayun, the brother of the guard company, was his own, so Song Biao could talk openly about his dissatisfaction.

He now looks like he wants to kill people in anger, and he wants to kill Guang Yue himself, and he is full of murderous energy.

Jiang Fangzhen is not a very clever military theorist now, he is a foreign student who has just graduated from a non-commissioned officer school with a secondary school degree, and he does not have much experience and ink in his chest, listening to Song Biao's words, he also feels aggrieved and angry for the nation in his heart.

Pain is an emotion that spreads easily.

Jiang Fangzhen and Li Dayun, everyone is as painful as Song Biao.

Song Biao could only sigh and said to Jiang Fangzhen: "If you want to strengthen the country first, China's government and military are controlled by the Manchus, we don't even have a chance to interject a sentence, instead of being a dog slave to the Manchus, I might as well accumulate my strength here and find another way to strengthen the country." Now there is an opportunity to fight Xiao Yueben, so naturally it cannot be missed, if Xiao Yueben becomes a new power in this battle, we will face the two evil wolf neighbors of Russia at the same time, and the rest of the day will not be able to pass. As for Russia, I honestly don't think Russia is very difficult to deal with. Fourth, it is a close neighbor of Asia, and it is well aware of the depth and weakness of our country, and fifth, it is separated from us by a long sea and borders, and we cannot hit its own territory. Once the first day is defeated, it is really difficult to deal with it again. ”

Jiang Fangzhen immediately said: "What the master said is very true, but it's a pity that the people of the country have not been aware of this matter, and we even supported the army to defeat Tsarist Russia before, but now it is too short-sighted." As the division said, the Russians are not difficult to deal with, the difficult thing is that our national politics are controlled by the waste of the Manchurians, and the difficult thing to deal with is the book. At the expense of the Kanto region, it is the long-term strategy to take the opportunity to weaken the capital. ”

Song Biao sneered with a sad expression and said, "Forget it, let's not talk about such feelings, doing practical things is the most important thing, let's go!" ”

After saying this, he continued to hide the entanglement in his heart, rode forward without hesitation, and went in the direction of Yang Guantun and the war, as a soldier, the war was imminent, and he couldn't let himself continue to hesitate.

Since he has chosen this path, he can only do it to the end without hesitation, and he also has the consciousness to bear and clean up the consequences of all this, and he believes that one day he will make the Russians pay a terrible price again, and everything they occupy in China will be repaid at twice or even ten times the blood price.

(To be continued)