The sound of gunfire and artillery rang out in the early hours of the morning, and did not stop until the sun came out, but intensified. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

On the frozen Suifen River, thousands of officers and soldiers carried rifles and crossed the frozen river, and the sound of artillery in the distance did not seem to have much impact on them, just behind them, on the other side of the river, a 75-mm field rapid-fire gun, constantly waving shells at targets several kilometers away.

Standing on the top of a mountain with an altitude of just over 100 meters, Zhang Huaizhi, commander of the 12th Mixed Brigade, observed the battle situation with a telescope; unlike other units that advanced along the railway, the 12th Mixed Brigade he led was advancing over dozens of kilometers of mountains, all the way to the east, and advancing in a straight line almost in a straight line toward Vladivostok.

However, in spite of this, he did not waste time, as he judged after many staff trips, that he would not meet the resistance of the Russian army until he crossed the Suifen River, and unlike the Russians who set up fortifications along the railway line in Shuangchengzi and other places, he completely ignored the defense of the western flank mountain, which in the Russians' opinion would hold back the attack of the large army.

Yes, large forces cannot attack, but there is no problem with passing a mixed brigade!

As one of the 64 officers from the Martial Arts Academy, Zhang Huaizhi was not a character who was good at fighting tough battles, in fact, as early as the "Battle of Renchen", as the commander of the first battalion, he did not have much outstanding performance, so he was able to be promoted to brigade commander, more by virtue of seniority - he defected to the marshal in Tianjin that year.

It is precisely because of this that he has been given the task of penetrating the soft underbelly of the Russians - his old friends, old friends, will always give him some care. They know it very well. After mass mobilization. There will inevitably be large-scale layoffs. When the time comes, whether or not you will perform well in wartime will inevitably have a bearing on your future prospects, and at this time, you will naturally be psychologically biased towards your friends.

It is precisely because of this that Zhang Huaizhi will attach importance to this mission, as an old man in the army, he naturally knows that Yu Dashuai's subordinates are not only impossible to get promoted by Yingfeng Patting. On the contrary, he may be kicked out of the army, and if he wants to be promoted, he can only rely on real skills, and this is his last chance.

Because there were not many people in the brigade headquarters, and all of them were sent to various units to convey orders, there was only one major staff officer Li Chun, two heralds and one telephone soldier by Zhang Huaizhi's side.

The more the battle continued, the more anxious Zhang Huaizhi's expression became, and as early as three hours earlier, the 23rd Regiment had launched an attack on the Russian army. Despite the hasty deployment of the Russian defenses - they only had a few hours to deploy their positions, the Russian army was twice as strong. And there were coastal batteries in Tavrichanka for cover, so until now, until noon, the offensive has not worked.

From the telescope, Zhang Huaizhi could see that although the Russian artillery had already been suppressed and almost completely silent, and its trenches were also very badly damaged, the soldiers not only could not approach the enemy's position, but retreated slightly on the whole line, and began to hastily build fortifications in the ice and snow to block the Russian rifle fire.

On the other side, the Russian artillery battery relied on the advantage of the heavy artillery on the remote coast, and constantly hit the shells on the heads of the attacking troops, fortunately, the Russian army did not have many coastal heavy artillery, and the rate of fire was extremely slow, but even so, it was an obstacle for the attacking troops.

"Damn, can't you take this Tavrichanka yourself?"

At this moment, a signal soldier ran over and handed a report to Zhang Huaizhi.

"Whose report?"

Zhang Huaizhi's brows furrowed slightly, and paper reports are often not good news, which is to avoid news leaking from the phone.

"It's the artillery commander!"

In the words of the signal soldier, Zhang Huaizhi impatiently folded the envelope, only glanced at it slightly, and his face immediately showed a solemn color.

"Sir?"

"There are only a minimum of shells left in the artillery batteries, and they are required to replenish their ammunition immediately!"

Zhang Huaizhi's voice was a little low.

"Sir, I'm afraid it won't be possible until dark, our shells will have to be transported over the mountains by mules from the mountain roads,"

Li Chun looked at the chief with a serious expression and said.

"As for the main forces......"

"Now that the battle has been going on for several hours, the 23rd Regiment has suffered great losses, and the Russian reinforcements will soon be coming, although the 7th Battalion, which has just been put in, can barely help them maintain the front, so it is necessary to immediately take the most resolute attack and destroy the Russian resistance!"

Without waiting for Li Chun to finish speaking, Zhang Huaizhi's eyes narrowed slightly, waiting for the main force to come? That couldn't be, he didn't want to end the fight like that.

"Then the only way to do this is to transfer the 24th Regiment as a reserve to attack!"

The 24th Regiment is the only reserve in Zhang Huaizhi's hands, even if the main mixed brigade has only two infantry regiments, the so-called 7th Battalion is just a reinforced battalion temporarily arranged before the war, pressing the only reserve, which is equivalent to Zhang Huaizhi's determination to gamble everything.

"Then where to attack? There is not yet a breakthrough in the Russians' positions. ”

Hurriedly unfolding the map, Li Chun stared at the map and asked, he was the chief's staff officer, and he had to provide a suitable suggestion.

"The left flank of the Russian army protrudes far forward, and it is still outside the firing range of its coastal cover, sir, in my opinion, there is the soft underbelly of the Russians, and the reserves should be transferred there!"

"But without the support of artillery, the attack of the 24th Regiment may not be effective, not to mention that we have no extra shells now, if the attack of the 24th Regiment fails, the reinforcements of the Russian army arrive, and it turns into a counteroffensive, then our situation will be passive......"

It was not just passive, it was a catastrophic situation - the artillery had no shells, the regiments suffered heavy losses, and it can be said that whether or not the battle line could be maintained at that time would be questionable.

"Sir, there's nothing to be afraid of, there were only a few people in the Western Regions back then! We Chinese have sunk for hundreds of years, and our ancestors have long been unable to stand it, and they will definitely bless us in heaven! ”

Li Chun's words made Zhang Huaizhi smile.

The handsome man often said, "Rely on the sky." It's better to rely on yourself". So don't point to our ancestors to help us. If the old ancestor was useful, how could we let the Manchurians rule for more than 250 years? It's better to think about how to replenish the shells, even if it is to replenish a base! Xiushan, I'll leave this matter to you! ”

"Sir...... This, I'm afraid it will take time! ”

"It will also take time to transfer the reserves to the starting point of the battle, I will give you two hours to carry out this order, and I will transfer the 24th regiment over now. And, I'll oversee the battle myself! ”

"Please be careful, sir!"

Saluted, Li Chun immediately jumped on a Northeast horse and left, ten years of horse breeding, so that the current Northeast horse changed from the past short, although there is still a gap compared with the Don Hippo and other famous horses, but at least it has begun to have some qualities of modern military horses, especially the body shape, speed is more suitable for the needs of modern cavalry,.

After the staff officer jumped on the military horse and left quickly, Zhang Huaizhi's expression became more and more solemn. He knew that Russian reinforcements were heading here, and he had to rush before they arrived. Finish the battle here, then advance all the way to Uglovoye, join the main army, and then launch a fierce assault on Vladivostok.

Time was very tight, and the reason for the tension was very simple - for every hour of delay, the Russians would have an extra hour to strengthen their positions and strengthen the defense of Vladivostok, which was not what the General Staff wanted to see, and likewise not what they wanted to see.

In order to gain time, the attacking troops attacked on multiple fronts, dispersing the Russians as well as their own.

In front of him was the 4th Division of Eastern Siberia, a force of more than 12,000 men, whose resistance was particularly stubborn, far more than the Qing army, which had been defeated by guns.

"10,000 against 12,000, 163 against 48, few soldiers, more artillery but less ammunition, for three whole hours, there is no effect at all......"

Zhang Huaizhi muttered with a worried face.

"What's more, there's a Fifth Division over there that could be reinforced at any time, if they press over from their flanks......"

Depressed, he paced in the observation post at the top of the mountain, and then he gave an order to the heralds, ordering the 23rd Regiment on the west bank of the Suifen River to immediately cross the river and prepare to attack the left flank of the Russian army.

The roaring sound of artillery reverberated in the air, and the soldiers on the other side of the Suifen River, with the order, immediately finished repairing and walked to the other side of the river, the ice on the river was very slippery, and when he looked into the distance, Li Long could see the ice surface that had been blown up by the Russian cannons—an ice cave as wide as 100 meters.

The Russians are so powerful!

Just as Li Long sighed, his comrade-in-arms Xu Fatzi next to him looked at the ice cave and sighed.

"Hey, if you don't fight, at this time, you will sprinkle a net into that ice hole, I dare say, at least a few thousand catties of fish can be brought from the net......"

"Oh, in that case, you won't be able to eat all the fish......"

Jin Xianzhong muttered as he said in a stiff official dialect.

"Hey, it would be nice if you brought a net......

The words of the two of you, and the words of me, made Li Long's originally nervous mood relaxed, at least if he talked nonsense like this, his mood would be more relaxed.

"I said you two are typical farmers!"

The deputy squad leader suddenly shouted loudly:

"Who are we? Still using the net? That's all farmers, not fishermen, but we carry guns, according to me, we should use grenades, not one, at least a five-bundle, pull the line of fire, and throw it into the ice cave......"

"You just wait to die!"

Squad leader Wang Shan snorted on the side,

"Hey, squad leader, don't say it, this thing is really good, we have a big lake in our house, open an ice hole in winter, and there are all fish in it to breathe, if you throw a grenade at this time, it will definitely ......"

"It's going to kill you, but it won't kill you, and if it cracks the ice, it will drown you......"

The soldiers continued to walk forward with their guns in hand, and after about an hour the troops were ordered to rest in place - which meant that they had reached the front line.

The fighters quickly unloaded their knapsacks and landed heavily on the ground. Many of them were looking into the distance, listening to the faint sound of artillery, as if they wanted to see the battlefield several kilometers away, but each of them knew very well that their battlefield was waiting for them in front of them. Perhaps, it is precisely because of this realization, that this place seems extremely calm.

"Dalong, are you afraid?"

In that strange calm, Xu Fatzi looked at Li Long beside him and asked.

"Are you afraid?"

After asking rhetorically, Li Long turned his attention to Kim Hyun-chung, unlike them, he is a North Korean, but according to the words of the commanders, North Koreans are also Chinese, well, Oriental people are also Chinese. Compared with the solemnity in the expressions of others, Jin Xianzhong's expression at this time was extremely excited, and he looked completely impatient.

"Hey, Xianzhong, are you scared?"

"Scared?"

Jin Xianzhong's eyes widened, looked at Li Long, and asked in surprise.

"Scared? Why be afraid, I, I'm just waiting for this day! ”

Hearing his words, several warriors looked at him.

"You don't know ......"

Shaking his head, Jin Xianzhong's expression became solemn and said.

"I am a concubine, when I am at home, no one looks down on me, they can beat me casually, and even bully my mother, but after becoming a soldier, my big brothers no longer dare to fail my mother, because I am a soldier, my mother is a military family, and when they see me again, they must bow to me first! All the respect is given to me by the army, I am a soldier, so it is my duty to fight wars......"

Jin Xianzhong's answer made the soldiers around him stunned, perhaps, the instructors had told them too much about the duties of soldiers, but no one had ever had such an idea as Jin Xianzhong,

Just when everyone looked at Kim Hyun-chung in surprise, this low-headed North Korean who was sometimes angry in the army, and felt ashamed of his timidity, the platoon commander over there shouted and ordered the troops to set off again.

"The 24th Regiment has entered the starting point of the attack!"

After the herald left, Zhang Huaizhi picked up the binoculars again, but to his disappointment, there was still no progress on the front - the troops were still stopped in front of the Russian trenches. The Russian army is still shelling the positions of the 23rd Regiment with heavy coastal artillery. It seems that only the 24th regiment has been attacked!

At this moment, the phone rang, it was Li Chun calling, and a base number of shells had been delivered.

Well, the shells have been replenished, and the troops have moved into sortie positions.

"Give me the artillery regiment!"

When he picked up the phone, Zhang Huaizhi commanded loudly to the other end of the phone in a calm voice.

"I order you to attack the left flank of the Russian army with the heaviest artillery fire at twelve o'clock in the afternoon, and the shelling must not be stopped unless the last shell is fired!"

For Zhang Huaizhi, he knows very well that this is his last chance, and only by seizing this opportunity can he have his own place in the future Chinese Army, and even whether he can be a minister of the dragon is all today! (To be continued.) )