Finally surviving the long winter, the Russian Imperial High Command immediately launched a spring counteroffensive operational plan.

In the past five months, the Tsarist Russian Empire has been in a passive situation since the beginning of the war because of its inadequate preparation for the early war, losing more than 3 million square kilometers of land in the seven states of the Far East, not to mention the strong fortresses of Vladivostok and Boli, and losing nearly 600,000 troops and hundreds of millions of dollars in materials to the enemy after several large-scale battles, which can be described as a fiasco.

In the sixth month of the war, although spring came very late in the north, the warmer weather allowed the Russian army to expand its range of activities and launch a spring counteroffensive plan.

At this time, the Tsarist Empire had opened up the Baikal section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and after emergency preparations in winter, the previously lost materials were replenished, and subsequent supplies were not a problem.

The Russian Empire's High Command mobilized 1.5 million troops to gather in the Central Siberian and Outer Mongolian Plateaus, aiming at the Chinese Emperor in the Far East.

The plan of the spring counteroffensive of the Russian High Command was formulated by the Chief of the General Staff Ivan Jilinsky, the core of which was: to concentrate strong forces on the northern front, through the Upper Yansk Mountains in Sakha Oblast, where the defense is empty, to enter the Khabarovsk Territory, to encircle the main forces of the Chinese Emperor [***] in the Far East from the flank, to defeat the Chinese Emperor [***] in a quick battle, and to recover Vladivostok and the seven states of the Far East. Then he waved his army south, crossed the Heilongjiang River and the Ussuri River, and cooperated with the navy transferred from afar to attack the Chinese Empire itself.

Originally, Russian War Minister Sukhomlinov was planning to attack Inner Mongolia first, using Mongolia as a bargaining chip to exchange with the Chinese Empire for the seven states of the Far East. However, most of the Russians had illusions about fighting the Chinese Empire for a long time, hoping to end the war as soon as they could recover the seven states of the Far East, because Russia's finances had been hollowed out and could not be supported for long.

As a result, the Russian Empire abandoned its plans for a decisive battle in Inner Mongolia and turned to the Far Eastern Frontier.

After the plan was formulated, Ivangelinsky used only 9 divisions to place them in the Kulen and Uriya Sutai areas of the southern front, with the Cossack cavalry regiment as the main force, and went out to monitor the movements of the fourth theater of the Chinese Empire in the direction of Inner Mongolia, while on the northern front, the main force of 7 group armies, a total of 78 divisions, and 1.3 million troops were divided into left and right flanks with the model as the axis. Two armies on the right flank, with a total of 23 divisions and a total of 380,000 men, defended the Nebuchu fortress and launched attacks on the two important towns of Tengda and Skovorodino, with the strategic purpose of opening up the Trans-Siberian Railway and the main communication route to the Amur Region. Five armies on the left flank, with a total of 55 divisions and a total of 920,000 men, bypassed the Trans-Khingan Mountains, crossed the Lena River, crossed the Zhugzhur Mountains, recovered the Khabarovsk Territory, and then moved south along the plain to attack Tengda and Skovorodino from the rear of the Trans-Khingan Ridge. After taking the two places, the lines of communication were opened, and the two armies attacked the fortresses of Boli and Vladivostok respectively, recovering the Amur region and Primorsky Krai.

Since the Winter Offensive, the Chinese Emperor [***] has achieved brilliant results. The General Staff and the 1st Theater Command believed that a frenzied retaliatory action by the Russian army was imminent. When the enemy is crazy, when he retreats, avoids his edge, consumes his sharpness, and then counterattacks, he hits with one blow.

From the founding of the Chinese Emperor [***], from the Yongping Autumn Festival to the Queshan Military Exercise, the Chinese Emperor [***] is good at playing defensive counterattacks, pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger.

Therefore, among the seven operational plans drawn up by the General Staff, the No. 3 operational plan, which mainly focuses on defensive and counterattack operations, was finally demonstrated and began to be implemented.

The core of the plan was that the real purpose of the Russian Emperor [***] in gathering the main forces in the Yakutsk direction was to capture the well-fortified Tengda and Skovorodino, with the opening of strategic transport routes between the two places as the first priority. Because if the lines of communication here cannot be opened, the supply of ammunition and supplies will be restricted, and the Russian army will not be able to launch an offensive against Vladivostok and Boli in the Far East. Therefore, the Chinese Emperor [***] wanted to launch an active defense here, and used these two places as bait to lure the enemy deep again to defend and counterattack.

The General Staff of the Chinese Empire planned to take the initiative to make a strategic retreat in the Khabarovsk Territory, in order to lure the main Russian army to cross the Zhugzhur Mountains and enter the plains, and then wait for an opportunity to carry out a strategic counteroffensive and destroy the Russian army's left flank corps in one fell swoop. The General Staff ordered the First Front to form the Third Army Group with about 200,000 men and hold the two places of Tenda and Skovorodino. The Second Front Army and the Third Front Army, as well as the newly supplemented Fifth Front Army, formed the First and Second Army Groups, with a total strength of 1.02 million, and the main forces of the First Army Group were assembled on the line of Jieya Lake and Jieya River in the strategic rear of Tengda, and built strong fortifications and various machine-gun bunkers, as well as artillery positions. The 2nd Army Group left a small force in the Khabarovsk Territory as a blocking force, while the main main force quietly moved north, withdrew from the Khabarovsk Territory, secretly assembled in Magadan, Kamchatka, and supplied the port of Magadan by sea.

The Emperor of China [***] once again laid out a big pocket, waiting for the Russian army to drill in. And the Russian army was abused for a winter, which can be described as very violent, and I can't wait to wipe out all the Chinese emperors [***] in one go. This kind of irritable psychology has become the unanimous mentality of almost all commanders on the Russian side from top to bottom, so the Chinese emperor [***] is not worried that the Russian army will not drill into the pocket.

On the Mongolian side, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire initially chose the decisive battle not in Northern Xinjiang (the Russian Far Eastern Frontier), but in the border area between Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Because the Russian army drove more than 600,000 troops into Outer Mongolia at that time, the Chinese Empire had to respond.

In April, the Emperor of the Chinese Empire, Wang Chenhao, had decreed that the princess of the Shao Wuda Korqin League, Borzigit-Shalina, should be canonized as Concubine Li, and the princess of Erut of the Alxa League, Ulan Qiqige, should be canonized as Concubine Zhuang.

In this way, the Horqin League and the Alxa League, the two largest tribes in Inner Mongolia, became relatives of the imperial state, and the 36 Banners of Inner Mongolia led by them once again showed their loyalty to the Chinese Emperor Wang Chenhao, and formed a total of 350,000 Mongol cavalry troops.

With such a large cavalry force, even if it was not sure to defeat the Russian Cossack cavalry regiment, it could at least retain the right to control the cavalry in Mongolia, so that the infantry of the Chinese Emperor's [***] army could safely advance to Outer Mongolia, and finally rely on the infantry to defeat the Russian army and recover Outer Mongolia.

In order to further encircle the Horqin Department and the Alxa Department, Wang Chenhao issued several holy decrees one after another, promoting Concubine Li's eldest brother Hadan Batel (translated as a resolute hero) to the commander of the Royal First Cavalry Legion Cavalry General, and promoting Concubine Zhuang's younger brother Gegenhasz (translated as Mingyu) to the commander of the Royal Second Cavalry Legion Cavalry Lieutenant General. And the name royal is only out of the meaning of enveloping. Of course, at the same time, officers from other Mongolian ministries were also promoted as a cage.

The equipment of the Royal 1st Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Cavalry Regiment was allocated directly by the General Logistics Department, and was equipped with a full range of Browning Type 97 cavalry rifles, combat knives and various combat equipment.

As relatives of the emperor, Hadanbatel and Gegenhaas were also very active in stepping up the training of cavalry units, and began to expel the invading Russian Cossack cavalry.

With these 350,000 cavalry troops, the strategic situation of the Chinese Emperor [***] in Mongolia was suddenly reversed, and he was no longer passively beaten, and sometimes he could carry out appropriate counterattacks.

However, as the General Staff shifted its strategic focus to northern Xinjiang, the combat mission of the Mongolian Fourth Theater was only defense, so the Fourth Theater immediately intensified the training of the Royal First Cavalry Regiment and the Second Cavalry Corps, and carried out appropriate reorganization to make them conform to the establishment of the Imperial Chinese Army.

On May 4, 1902, the right-wing Tsarist Emperor [***] launched a fierce attack on the Tengda line, but was met with stubborn resistance from the Chinese Emperor's [***] team. The Russian army did not intend to be able to capture Tengda quickly, so after a short period of strong attack, they began to hold each other, waiting for the left flank army to outflank it in a roundabout way.

However, the Russian army sent a powerful force of airships to bomb Tenda and Skovorodino.

On this day, the wind was mild and beautiful, which was suitable for the airship to carry out tactical bombing bombing, and the commander of the Russian right wing, General Paulnev, immediately ordered the airship troops to be dispatched.

In the early morning of 8 May, 30 Russian zeppelins departed from the Nebuchu fortress and arrived in the air about 70 kilometers away from Tengda at 11 a.m.

At this time, the Russian observers on the flagship airship suddenly noticed that there was a buzzing sound in the air in front of them, and the sound was getting louder and louder, and the Russian soldiers on the airships were crouching on the edge of the pods and watching.

At about 12 o'clock, a Jian-1C reconnaissance plane of the Imperial Chinese Air Force flew over the left flank of the Russian airship formation. The sudden appearance of the plane stunned the Russian airship personnel.

What is this?

The first time they saw a plane, everyone didn't know why, and some even shouted that it was a flying dragon beast. Only the commander could clearly see through the telescope that the other party was the symbol of the dragon flag of the Emperor of China [***].

"It's the enemy!"

With a loud shout, the Russian troops on the airship suddenly panicked, and they took out their pistols one after another to shoot at the planes that were circling around.

There were two people sitting on the reconnaissance plane, the pilot in front and the observer in the back recording the number of Russian airships and the personnel of the airships.

The plane cruised at a speed of 35 knots, circled around the Russian airship unit, and after a few turns, it flew away.

The sudden appearance of the plane made the people of the Russian airship unit panic, and the affairs they did not know were always the most terrifying. The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Shilov, was even more lined with cold sweat on his forehead, if that was the secret weapon of the Imperial Chinese Air Force, then what would it be.

Lean over to take a bird's-eye view of the earth, thousands of meters in the air, and if there is danger, fall down.

Shilov couldn't help but gasp, only to feel goosebumps all over his body.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, just as the Russian airship unit was flying over the sky less than 15 kilometers away from Tengda, six planes that were similar to those just now suddenly appeared on the opposite side.

Shilov shuddered, and suddenly became worried.

After receiving the information that the Russian airship was attacking, the fighter squadron immediately took off. Captain Gao Peng led six J-1A fighters to the skies.

In the cockpit of the lead plane 001, Gao Peng observed the Russian airship unit through the telescope. Behemoths with no defenses. All it takes is to penetrate the airship's airbags and it will be enough to crash the airship. And the huge body of the airship and the slow movement speed are really a piece of cake for the J-1 fighter, and simple aiming is enough to hit.

Gao Peng played a gesture of penetrating in depth, combining shots, and shooting at his own. Then with a slap on the accelerator, the fighter climbed upward.

The other five fighters soon received the order and followed the lead plane to make movements.

"Attack!"

Gao Peng shouted, stepped on the accelerator again, and the fighter plane swooped down with a roar, and rushed straight towards the Russian airship. Five other planes followed, also doing dive maneuvers.

The distance was getting closer and closer, and at three or four hundred meters, Gao Peng attached himself to the direction of the nose of the aircraft, passed through the big crosshair on the heavy machine gun, aimed at the target, and pulled the trigger.

"Dada-da-da!"

The machine gun opened fire violently, and in an instant more than a dozen bullets were fired.

When the piercing sound of breaking the air sounded, Shilov's heart suddenly rose to his throat. When he saw the flickering fire on the plane, he knew something was wrong.

"Enemy attack!"

Before he could finish speaking, the machine-gun bullets had already strafed over.

"Puff puff!"

The bullet suddenly pierced the air bag, and the hydrogen inside began to leak out. Although the Zeppelin has strong airbag management and damage management measures, the penetration of the bullet is too strong, and a single bullet can basically penetrate the airship, and more than a dozen small airbags are destroyed inside at once.

"Dada-da-da!"

Gao Peng pulled the trigger again, and it was another row of bullets fired after a short shot.

This time, the bullet grazed the steel frame, and the spark cracked, igniting the hydrogen in the airbag.

"Boom! Boom! ”

The airbags in the Zeppelin exploded one after another, and in an instant, a large fire burst into flames. Then there was a huge explosion, and the entire airship disintegrated in an instant, and the smoke of the fire flew hundreds of meters.

"Dada-da-da!"

The other five fighters immediately following Gao Peng also opened fire one after another, like wolves rushing into a sheepfold, recklessly attacking the Russian airship.

"Boom!"

One after another, the Russian airships were hit, caught fire, and exploded and disintegrated a few seconds later.

The Russian troops on the airship pod were thrown into the air one after another in the violent shaking and did a free fall movement.

They wailed and heartbroken, for they all knew that one of the most cruel ways of death awaited them, to be smashed alive into meat sauce.

Gao Peng led a squadron of fighters, interspersed back and forth, divided into joint attacks, and shot down all 30 airships in less than half an hour.

Despite the fact that the Russian troops on the airship fired at them, this kind of shooting was almost negligible for a fast-flying fighter.

Thumped! It is a tactical victory, but also a strategic victory.

After the fighter squadron of the Imperial Chinese Air Force eliminated the Russian airship unit, it immediately returned home and hid in the hangar.

And the Russian soldiers who are carrying out the offensive operation in Tengda are looking forward to their own airships coming to help in the war, so that the Chinese emperor [***] can also taste the taste of being bombed and barbecued.

However, they waited left and right for no news, and finally saw a series of violent explosions in the distant sky, and the light of a fire as bright as the sun, their hearts sank to the bottom.

When the bad news came, the offensive of the Russian army on the front line suddenly weakened and morale was low. Similarly, when Paulnev learned that the airship unit he sent out had been wiped out, he was dumbfounded.

How so?

Paulnev didn't understand the thirty airships, and the effort was reimbursed in the blink of an eye, but for what reason.

Paulnev had no way of knowing why, because the airship was completely destroyed, and no one came back alive to tell him what terrible things had happened.

Paulnev couldn't find the reason, but he hoped that Tengda could be captured on the front line as soon as possible, so as to wash away the great humiliation caused by the wisps of humiliation caused by the Chinese emperor [***] this winter.

The next day, Paulnev again sent all the remaining twenty-five airships out to the Tenda front.

However, soon Paulnev was again reported that twenty-five airships had been completely destroyed again, and eyewitnesses said that the airships had exploded in the air and appeared to have been attacked by some birds, but the reason was unknown.

Paulnev was completely devastated, and fifty-five airships were cut off by him in two days' work, which was a luxury that he had spent a huge amount of money and was reimbursed before he saw the results of the battle, which really made him ashamed.

Soon, the Russian high command learned about this and inevitably scolded Paulnev. However, the Russian high command was not simple, and they quickly obtained the information they needed from the Russian civilians near Tengda, and they knew that the Imperial Chinese Air Force suddenly had a new weapon, but they did not know what it was.

Subsequently, the Russian High Command intensified its intelligence collection on the Chinese Imperial [***] team. After spending a huge amount of manpower, material and financial resources, I can only get some useful news.

"Airplanes?"

"What's that?"

These two sentences suddenly became a buzzword among people all over the world who read the newspaper.

After the Tengda air battle, the news of the total annihilation of the Russian airship unit spread far and wide, which immediately aroused the great attention of military experts all over the world. Why a powerful airship force of fifty-five ships was wiped out in the blink of an eye is a question that everyone is concerned about. As for what an airplane is, they only know through intelligence that it is a flying machine, and combined with the information provided by the current scientific researchers in this area in various countries, they finally understand that the airplane is something similar to a water dragonfly aircraft that they ignored earlier.

Countries immediately invested personnel in the study of airplanes, but because they were misled by the Chinese Empire, they have been developing airships, so that there are very few aircraft projects in their country, and even if there are civilian researchers, the planes they build can only fly more than ten meters.

However, since then, there has been a new term in the world, airplane. The aircraft of the Chinese Empire finally became famous because of the Tengda air battle, and became the world's aviation superpower sought after by people in the international aviation community in the future.

(To be continued)