"Your Highness, Chinese launched an attack from the Northern Theater to the second line of defense......"

"Your Highness, the front-line troops of the Southern Theater were bitten by the Chinese and retreated with difficulty. General Kanchelsky asks for reinforcements! ”

"Your Highness, the artillery fire of the Chinese is approaching the headquarters, and it needs to be diverted here......"

……

The command of the Russian army was in a mess, Mikhail . Grand Duke Nikolayevich was helpless. Not only was he helpless, but the generals and staff officers of the Russian army in the entire command headquarters couldn't think of any way to curb the situation and continue to be bad.

Mikhail. Nikolayevich sat in his chair in frustration, watching the Russian guards and staff officers of the command, going in and out, and packing up various items in a panic. His heart was pressed by a mountain, and his eyes were closed, and he wanted to give up this impossible battle.

But he couldn't. "Yuri, tell Kanchersky to retreat at all costs, retreat. I didn't have reinforcements to reinforce him. The Southern Theater should work on its own. "Mikhail. Nikolayevich looked at his personal adjutant and said in a bitter voice: "Remember, to tell him, time is running out. Maybe three hours, maybe half a day, maybe a day. I'm going to tighten my defenses and abandon my position on the southern flank. ”

Mikhail. Nikolayevich's biggest concern now is the second line of defense, and holding the second line of defense is the line of fate that holds the remnants of the Russian army. In comparison, the two divisions of the Russian army in the Southern Theater of Operations are really in a secondary position. If it comes to the most critical moment, both sides will have to give up one of them, Mikhail. Nikolayevich is, of course, the second line of defense.

……

Liu Xian stands on an observation balloon. Looking high at the opposite position. The Wehrmacht is moving really fast. The Russian army in the northern theater has been completely wiped out, and the Russian army in the southern theater is desperate to survive. But less than half of the total number of troops were out of combat.

At present, the 4th and 15th Divisions are already making pre-war preparations for the offensive battle of the second line of defense. The muzzles of the cannons shook the sky, and countless shells exploded on the Russian positions.

Liu Xian did not interfere with the troops' attack on the second line of defense of the Russian army. Zhang Zhongkui served as the commander-in-chief of the front. If this difficulty is not settled, he will really be blind to rolling on the battlefield for so many years.

Anyway, at two o'clock in the morning on the second day of the big counterattack, the remaining Russian troops on the front line of the Southern Theater surrendered, and the count ended an hour and a half later, with about 5,200 people. Then Liu Xian released the first brigade of the Praetorian Guard Division, which had been recuperating for a long time......

The war was still going on, but Liu Xian's eyes had shifted from the battlefield to Lake Balkhash, to Jaisangpo, to Kazakhstan, and even farther away to Orenburg.

He didn't know that 100,000 Russian reinforcements were advancing towards the battlefield. Because these 100,000 people have not yet appeared in his alert range. What Liu Xian is thinking about now is how to sweep away thousands of armies like a sweep, and the horse will be in the smoke and dust.

The main battlefield of the third Sino-Russian war - Xinjiang ~ Central Asia will come to an end at an unexpected speed. This big battle, with a total strength of more than 500,000 troops, took only two months, which seemed to be really too short. Although the Mongolian Military Region and the Northeast Military Region have been winning successive battles, they are still far from achieving the ultimate strategic goal.

Liu Xian didn't care about this. Because in Siberia, the Russians are too different from the strength of the Mongolian Military District and the Northeast Military District. The latter is completely flat on the battlefield. It's just that the territory of Siberia is too big, and the flat push will have to work hard for a while.

So. Liu Xian set his sights on St. Petersburg. I wonder what the attitude of Tsar Alexander III after receiving the news of the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Tacheng will be?!!

The cannon is blazing, and the battlefield is still fighting fiercely. The Russian army is desperately resisting, and the Wehrmacht is like a rainbow. On the crude second line of defense, the two armies engaged in white-knuckle battles again and again. The fighters on both sides have a tenacious will to fight, but the mood of the fighters with a tenacious will to fight on both sides is completely different. The Russians only despair, the Chinese see that the door to victory is open to them!

At this time outside St. Petersburg the Gatchina Palace.

The Russian ministers in front of Alexander III and his close courtiers. There was a noisy, flustered and gloomy atmosphere. Those dignitaries and officers who were still in high spirits a few days ago are all wearing a straight face. Or blushing and arguing around the map.

The map was a schematic diagram of the Battle of Tacheng, on which a large red arrow symbolizing the colors of the Wehrmacht had penetrated the Russian positions.

Mikhail. Grand Duke Nikolayevich had already requested a retreat on all fronts, and the telegram was sent to St. Petersburg in the early morning of that day, and the entire Tsarist court was in mourning. Even the government is in a state of panic.

Everyone knows what that means!

And if Russia loses this war, it is impossible to imagine how great their losses will be.

Alexander III did not want to be a sinner in the history of Russia, and threw away the accusation of the achievements of Russia's three hundred years of development. Just thinking about this crime makes his whole person sensitive and irritable.

But will this war continue?

11 divisions were defeated. Such a big defeat made all the Russian top brass think about it - the Crimean War.

If the Third Sino-Russian War continues, will it become the Second 'Crimean War'?

Therefore, the high-ranking generals of the Russian court and government military circles were silent in front of Alexander III, and only in the absence of Alexander III did their mouths talk loudly.

"It's not defeated yet! We haven't lost yet! It only takes ten days, it only takes ten days, and a hundred thousand troops can reach Hohan. Your Majesty, the Cossack cavalry has gathered thirty thousand people, and they have already set out from the Caucasus. As long as we can hold out on to Lake Ala, Lake Balkhash, for a little longer, the situation will be reversed. Although it is impossible to beat the Chinese, at least there can be a draw. ”

"Otherwise, Russia will lose the gains of the empire's 300 years of eastward expansion."

"Your Majesty, please think carefully, think carefully, and make your next decision carefully." The fifty-nine-year-old Field Marshal Duke Stalshey was firmly on the side of the main battle faction. He was the first in the Russian Army to be clear about Alexander III. Although this occasion was Alexander III with his tea time.

Alexander III smiled and sent the army general, who was not very well, out of the living room. It's a lot of courtesy. It's like at the imperial banquet, the emperor personally distributes vegetables to a person, which is completely to give the greatest face.

Then Alexander III met with Joseph, a famous imperial general of the Suvorov school. Vladimirovich. Gurko, former Governor of the Vistula Krai and Commander of the Warsaw Military District, is currently the Minister of the Russian Army.

Gurko was also a Russian field marshal. During the 10th Russo-Turkish War, he led an advance team of 12,000 Russian troops to cross two impassable passes in the Balkan Mountains, Khankyi and Shipka Pass, and occupied most of the territory of southern Bulgaria.

In the last Battle of Plevna, Gurko successively commanded the cavalry of the Western Detachment and a force composed of Janissaries to capture the important Turkish strongholds of Gorny Dubnyak and Telis, and completed the siege of Plevna. Cut off the Ottomans. The rear supply line of the trapped army of Nuri Pasha. He also led an offensive against Etropoli-Orhaniye, driving the Turkish army to the Balkans. In December of that year, he led 70,000 men to cross the Balkan Mountains, which were considered impassable in winter, occupied Sofia, and defeated the Turkish army at Tashkissen and Philippolis with the coordination of the Bulgarian and Serbian allies, and conquered Adrianople without a fight.

Gurko, whether it is true war wisdom, or military merit and qualifications, is not Mikhail. Grand Duke Nikolaevich can compare. He carries a lot of weight in military circles!

"Your Majesty, I think that the decision of Grand Duke Nikolaevich is quite correct. It is true that the Alahu Front is no longer able to hold out, and if we don't retreat immediately, we may lose the entire Alahu Front! We can't afford to lose them, absolutely not.

Great Russia was completely annihilated by the Chinese in the East, and this will be a shame and black spot that our army will never be able to wash away.

Moreover, they are Russia's hope to keep Kazakhstan! ”

"My marshal, victory is the key to preserving interests. Once retreated, the Chinese are likely to pursue with all their might. At that time, the entire Front Army will still be destroyed! And make the sacrifice worthless. ”

"No, no, Your Majesty. As long as they were decisive and quick enough, the troops in the hands of Grand Duke Nikolaevich could still hold on to most of them. Even if there are quite a few cavalry in China, it is the same result. ”

"And the empire has built fortifications in both the north and south of Alahu Lake, and has a strong defense line in the west of Alahu. We will lose Lake Balkhash, lose the lands previously seized from the Chinese, but Central Asia will be able to keep it. ”

Gulko and the Duke of Starshey have an opinion completely to the left. One thought that if the battle continued, the result would still be defeat, and in particular demanded an immediate retreat from Lake Ala. The other coincided with Alexander III's thoughts and insisted on fighting. Use time and life to let the Chinese take the initiative to sit at the negotiating table. Thereby preserving Russia's interests in Central Asia and Siberia.

"Your Majesty. Grand Duke Nikolayevich could not hold out on the battlefield for long. We don't have artillery, and the Chinese will crush the entire front army with as many shells as raindrops. If you continue to stay in a crude and simple position. ”

"Only an immediate retreat can save part of the forces."

"It doesn't take much. Thirty or forty thousand people will do. Relying on the line of defense of Alahu, Grand Duke Nikolayevich could hold out until the arrival of reinforcements. In this way, the Chinese can retreat in the face of difficulties, and at the same time let them be at the negotiating table, and do not open their mouths widely. ”

Alexander III's face was like a dense cloud before a storm. Gurko continued:

"Your Majesty, the Alahu Front has 11 divisions and 430 artillery pieces of various types, all of which cannot withstand the attack of the Chinese. Relying on the newly reinforced 100,000 soldiers and less than 100 small artillery, they rushed to the Alahu battlefield, can they really resist the Chinese as they wish? (To be continued......)