In the vast cold plains of Siberia, the cold winds are bitter, and the ice and snow cover thousands of miles, with an average depth of more than half a meter.

Under such harsh geographical and weather conditions, the war between the Chinese Empire and the Tsarist Russian Empire had to be suspended in the middle of the field, because the heavy weapons of both sides could not move in the ice and snow, and could only build defensive positions. And if one side tried to attack, his men and horses were quickly destroyed by the enemy's artillery fire and heavy machine guns because they could not move quickly.

Therefore, in this case, both the Chinese and Russian armies coincidentally chose defense.

Although neither side has resorted to large-scale offensives, neither side has given up sending harassment squads to strike at the other's reconnaissance units and supply lines.

At first, the reconnaissance units of both sides fought through encounters, ambushes, and counter-ambush warfare, and the number of troops projected would not exceed one battalion, and most of them were squad-platoon sizes, and there were very few first-class battles. Since the scouts on both sides were elite, they were evenly matched after the fight, and neither side took advantage of the absolute surname.

But as the situation entered February, the situation began to reverse.

When the new commander of the First Front Army, General Feng Guozhang, arrived in office, he brought with him a special force of 500 men. This unit is part of the Hunter Special Operations Brigade of the Imperial Chinese Guard. As a special forces, they were the personal bodyguards personally trained by the emperor Wang Chenhao of the Chinese Empire, they fought bravely, well-trained, and accurate marksmanship.

Due to the change in the functions of the Hunter Special Forces, his strong combat effectiveness has also changed from protecting the emperor's security to carrying out strategic and tactical tasks. Beginning in 1900, the size of the Hunter Special Forces expanded to more than 8,000 people, known to the outside world as the Royal Praetorian Guard Mountain Combat Reading Brigade, under the jurisdiction of 16 mountain battalions, from all over the country, their training tasks also differed due to regional relations. For example, the Bobcat Commando mainly trains to fight in the mountains and forests of the Central Plains, the Cheetah Commando mainly operates in the plains, the Shark Commando is composed of fighters from the Navy and the Jiangnan Water Town, specializing in fighting in the southern lakes and rivers, and the Jungle Commando specializes in fighting in the tropical rainforest.

The special forces that Feng Guozhang brought to the first war zone belonged to the Snow Wolf Commando, a special operation unit that carried out special operations against the icy and snowy geographical environment in the north.

The main feature that distinguishes the Snow Wolf Commandos from other special forces is that in order to adapt to fighting in the forest and snow fields, their combat uniforms are snow-white, which is convenient for hiding in the ice and snow. And their means of mobility are neither war horses nor cars, nor bicycles, but sleds and hounds towing skis.

The use of a sled allows the Snow Wolf Commandos to maneuver quickly on snowy ice skates without worrying about getting stuck in deep snow. In addition to transporting ammunition and supplies for the commandos, the trained hunting dogs can also quickly remove the wounded commandos from the battlefield on skis and return to the rear for rescue. Sometimes, when the commandos are tired from skiing, the hounds can also carry them forward, allowing them to rest.

Feng Guozhang, as Wang Chenhao's descendant general, has observed the Hunter Commando many times, but when he learned that he was transferred to the First War Zone as the commander, he didn't want to be unknown in the winter, he planned to launch a winter offensive, and the Snow Wolf Commando of the Hunter Special Operations Brigade just met the requirements of the Siberian winter operation, he knew the strong combat effectiveness of this army, so he asked Wang Chenhao to seconded this unit to him.

Immediately after being transferred to the 1st theater of operations, the Snow Wolf commandos entered the front line Hulumbuur, passed through the Erguna River from the direction of Bayanluk and entered the Yabrulanov Mountains, where the Nebuchu fortress was located.

The Snow Wolf Commando, under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Shen Haifeng, the captain, immediately launched a sniper operation against the Russian outposts and scouts around Nebuchu, shooting and killing a large number of Russian officers and soldiers.

Shen Haifeng led his snow wolf commando team, dressed in white camouflage suits, shuttling through the wilderness of the snow-covered mountains, hiding in the depths of the jungle, constantly shooting Russian soldiers along the way, posing a huge threat to them.

Since the Russian soldiers wore uniforms with red shirts and yellow pants, they became the most obvious targets of the Snow Wolf Commandos after their hard trek through the white snow.

The Snow Wolf commandos used Guanghua Yuannian sniper rifles equipped with 2.5x scopes, and the 7.92 rifle rounds could effectively shoot the enemy within 800 meters when aiming with the scope open. Of course, the accuracy of shooting varies from person to person, the best sniper, Lieutenant Colonel Shen Haifeng, can accurately hit the head within 350 meters and kill the target within 700 meters, and other commandos generally shoot accurately within 150 to 300 meters, and can shoot the enemy within 300 to 500 meters on average.

Since the concept of snipers did not exist in this era, the average Russian soldier could only fight at a distance of 50 to 120 meters, and the best Russian gunners could not shoot accurately from a distance of 200 meters due to their limited eyesight. In addition, the snow wolf commando has a good concealed surname, the all-white military uniform is difficult to find in the snowdrift, and the use of sleds to quickly move and transfer, so when the Russian soldiers encounter the snow wolf commandos, it is almost a one-sided slaughter.

In just one month, 75 outposts on the periphery of the Russian army's Nebuchu fortress have been knocked out, more than 120 reconnaissance teams have been attacked, and the number of Russian casualties has soared from 230 last month to more than 7,300, including 129 officers, the highest being a major.

The Snow Wolf Commando launched the polar operation in the first month and achieved amazing results, with an average of more than a dozen Russian officers and soldiers shot by each commando, of which the first record was the commando captain Shen Haifeng, who shot 275 Russian officers and soldiers in the first month, becoming the first ace sniper of the Chinese Empire.

However, while the Snow Wolf commandos achieved impressive results, they also paid a slight price. Because the Snow Wolf Commando sniped the enemy in the snow, the snow reflected very seriously during the day, and sometimes when encountering the elite shooters of the Russian army, the other party would find a hidden position. In the initial engagement, twelve snipers of the Snow Wolf commando were killed and eight were wounded. However, as the excellent shooters of the Russian army were killed by the excellent snipers of the commandos one after another, the elite soldiers of the Russian reconnaissance unit were eliminated, and from the middle and late stages, there were no more casualties reported by the commandos, but the number of casualties among the Russian soldiers increased exponentially.

It was precisely because the Snow Wolf Commando led by Shen Haifeng caused huge casualties to the Russian army, and the Russian soldiers soon called the Snow Wolf Commandos 'White Death' in horror.

"Mobilize the elite troops immediately and kill them for me!"

The huge casualties made the commander of the Russian Nebuchu Fortress, General Paulnev, crazy, and he immediately ordered Major General Bildorf to lead more than 20,000 elite infantry of the Ninth Army into the Yablonov Mountains to clear the Chinese Emperor [***] Snow Wolf Commando.

The Ninth Army is one of the three trump card main forces of the Russian Transcaucasian Corps, with a total strength of more than 50,000 people, and the officers and soldiers are the elite of the elite who have come from the Russian-Turkish war for several centuries. Now half of the troops were sent out at once, just to eliminate the snow wolf commando of less than five hundred people.

Shen Haifeng immediately reported the situation to Feng Guozhang, the commander of the First Theater of Operations, and Feng Guozhang was immediately overjoyed, he knew that this was a good opportunity to annihilate the enemy's elite.

So Feng Guozhang ordered Shen Haifeng to lead the Snow Wolf Commando to lure the Russian army deeper, and Feng Guozhang led four divisions with a total of 60,000 troops to ambush in the area near Sretensk.

Because the Snow Wolf Commando had eliminated all the outposts and reconnaissance units placed by the Russian army near the Nebuchu Fortress in the operation of the previous month, the Russian army did not know about such a large-scale military operation of 60,000 people dispatched by the Chinese Emperor [***].

Major General Bildov led 20,000 elite Russian troops into Mount Yablonov to find the White Grim Reaper Snow Wolf Commando that terrified the Russian army.

Shen Haifeng led the Snow Wolf Commando to continuously attack the Russian forward scouts, which soon aroused Bildorf's anger. Since Bildorf believed that he had 20,000 handpicked elite Russian soldiers in his hands, and the Snow Wolf Commando was less than 500 people, he was not too worried about being ambushed by the other side. At the same time, his troops were very close to the fortress of Nebuchu, and they were not worried about being surrounded and ambushed by the Chinese Emperor [***].

With this mentality, Bildorf ordered the forward troops to bite the Snow Wolf Commando so that his large force could complete the encirclement.

Soon, according to Feng Guozhang's order, Shen Haifeng led the Snow Wolf Commando to retreat to the 237 Heights in the Slevensk ambush area, and the officers and soldiers of the 25th Regiment on the high ground held their positions and shot the Russian forward troops from a long distance.

When Bildorf learned of the situation, he was overjoyed, and urgently transferred more than 7,000 troops from 15 battalions to storm the 237 heights, and at the same time mobilized the main force to surround the 237 heights, intending to eliminate the snow wolf commandos in one go and eat the Chinese Imperial garrison on the 237 heights.

The 25th Regiment had already taken precautions and built a large area of fortifications on the 237 heights, and the fortifications built of pine wood were quite strong after being cooled and frozen. At the same time, six 75-mm and three 105-mm infantry guns of the artillery company of the regiment on the 237 heights, plus the mine guns attached to each company and platoon, carried out fierce artillery bombardment on the Russian army to block the offensive of the Russian army. The Russian army did not carry artillery because of the heavy snow, and the Russian army's attack, which lacked artillery support, was seriously hindered.

At the same time, the Snow Wolf Commando was assigned to each squad and platoon of the 25th Regiment to form three echelons of firepower in the distance, middle and near, and used the long-range shooting ability to attack the Russian commander, causing serious damage to the Russian command system. And the heavy machine gun company of the 25th Regiment was even more flaming, causing heavy losses to the attacking Russian army.

From the morning of March 9 to the night of 11, the Russian army carried out more than a dozen large-scale attacks, resulting in huge casualties of more than 6,000 people, but failed to shake the 237 heights.

From the 12th, Bildorf transferred the remaining troops of the Ninth Army from the fortress of Nebuchu, and brought over with more than sixty cannons to bombard the 237 heights. The Russian army amassed nearly 50,000 troops near the 237 heights, attacking in turns every day, causing a sharp increase in casualties among the 25 regiments of the Chinese Empire guarding the 237 heights.

At the same time, the four divisions mobilized by Feng Guozhang also gradually approached the periphery of the 237 heights. Feng Guozhang is ready to pull out his teeth and eat the 50,000 elite troops of the Russian army in one go.

On the 13th, Feng Guozhang ordered the 13th, 21st and 31st Divisions to surround Bildorf's main force from three directions, and sent the reorganized 74th Division to advance into Abagh to prepare to block the Russian troops coming to reinforce from the direction of Nebuchu, and strive to completely annihilate Bildorf's ace Ninth Army.

Bildorf was very arrogant, when he found that the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] was encircling the Ninth Army, not only was he not afraid, but he was even more happy, he said in his report to General Paul Nev that he wanted to destroy the "White Death" troops, and planned to use the Ninth Army as a bait to lure the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] to take the bait, attract the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] in the Slevensk region, and asked General Paul Nev to quickly mobilize heavy troops to counter-encircle the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***]. Bildorf was determined to use the Ninth Army as a bait to flank the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] inside and out.

When General Paul Nev learned about it, he immediately scolded Bildorf for being arrogant, and it was unforgivable for a small major general to dare to transfer him. General Paulnev demanded that Bildorf immediately abandon the 237 heights and return to the fortress of Nebuchu, but Bildorf firmly objected, saying that he was too late to retreat, and asked for reinforcements from Paulnev.

Paulonev knew that this was Bildorf's deliberate doing, but he didn't want the ace Ninth Army to be eaten by the Chinese Emperor [***], even if Bildorf was shot, he had to shoot him after winning the battle of "encirclement and counter-encirclement", "encirclement and anti-encirclement".

Therefore, General Paulnev quickly ordered the 18th Army and the 22nd Army to quickly drive out of the Nebuchu Fortress and move in the direction of the Chinese Emperor [***] from the two directions of Bar and Bibilok, intending to cooperate with the Ninth Army to encircle and annihilate the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] in Sredensk.

As soon as the Russian army in the direction of Nebuchu was dispatched, it was detected by the airship of the Chinese Imperial Air Force in the sky nearby, Feng Guozhang was surprised when he learned about it, but he did not expect to bring out the Russian reinforcements with a total strength of 100,000 troops in two armies at once.

The pressure on the 74th Division, which was responsible for blocking the reinforcements of the Russian army, in the encirclement and reinforcement plan, was unprecedented, on the one hand, it blocked the onslaught of the Russian 18th Army head-on, and on the other hand, it also allocated half of its troops to Bibilok to block the Russian 22nd Army. It is equivalent to using the strength of two regiments to block the strength of one army of the Russian army. The establishment of the Russian army was originally larger than that of the Emperor of China [***], so that the ratio of troops between the two sides reached the level of 1:10.

However, because the 18th and 22nd armies of the Russian army were dissatisfied with Bildorf's arrogance, they could have stayed in the house and drank and had fun in the winter, but now they were mobilized and fought with the Chinese emperor [***] in the cold and freezing, and they were naturally unhappy. Therefore, the two armies did not work very hard in the reinforcement, and the speed of reinforcement was not fast, and it was not until noon on the 15th that they encountered the 74th Division of the Chinese Emperor [***] head-on. The 74th Division spent three days building a relatively strong blocking position, using the advanced weapons and equipment of the Chinese Emperor [***] to suppress the Russian offensive.

After the 18th Army and the 22nd Army were blocked by the Chinese Emperor, their attack operations were not hard, and they sent at most one brigade to attack every day, so that although the 74th Division had only one brigade to defend, it could completely block the attack of the Russian army, so that the Russian army could not move forward.

In front of the 237 heights, Bildorf attacked the fortified positions with all his might, intending to take the high ground as his own defensive position, and was ready to use himself as a bait to attract the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***], so as to achieve the goal of completely annihilating the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***].

However, to his sorrow, a small 237 heights could not be captured. The machine-gun bunkers built by the 25th Regiment of the Chinese Emperor [***] formed a network of crossfire, like an impenetrable line of fire, which made it impossible for the Russian soldiers of the Ninth Army to attack. At the same time, the snipers on the 237th Heights continued to shoot the commander of the Ninth Army's attack echelon, causing the attack to be chaotic and repulsed because of the death of the commander.

But what made Bildorf most angry was that as the main force of the Chinese Emperor [***] surrounded Sredensk, the Ninth Army began to suffer from the enemy, and the Chinese Emperor [***] officers were attacking fiercely, obviously to destroy the Ninth Army before Russian reinforcements arrived.

Bildorf's Ninth Army was attacked by three divisions of the Chinese Emperor [***] outside, and there were 237 heights inside that were not taken, and the situation was critical. However, the reinforcements he was waiting for were blocked and could not be reached by Baal and Bibi Lok.

By the 16th of the battle, Billdorf had become frightened, and his Ninth Army was almost crippled by the Chinese Emperor, with more than half of its casualties. The reinforcements of the 18th and 22nd armies still did not move forward, which made Bildorf start to go crazy.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the commander of the Nebuchu Fortress, General Paulnev, immediately ordered the 22nd and 18th armies to break through Bar and Bibilok before the 18th and rush to Sredensk to join the 9th Army.

At this time, the 18th and 22nd armies of the Russian army also knew that the situation was urgent, but the Chinese emperor [***] in front of them stubbornly resisted. In the attack of the Russian army at any cost, extremely tragic battles broke out between the two sides, and the 74th Division of the Chinese Emperor [***] lost nearly half, but the Russian army was still unable to move forward.

On the morning of the 18th, the 13th, 21st and 31st Divisions of the Chinese Emperor [***] Russian Ninth Army launched the final attack, and at 9 o'clock in the morning, the Chinese Emperor [***] used airships to assist in bad weather, broke through the outer defense line of the Ninth Army at 11 o'clock, and opened up the connection with the 237 Heights. Then, the Russian defense line was routed on all fronts, and the battle lasted until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when the 9th Army, the most elite of the Russian Transcaucasian Corps, was completely annihilated.

After the total annihilation of the 9th Army of the Russian Army, Feng Guozhang mobilized a large army to turn back and reinforce the 74th Division, and surrounded the Russian 18th Army in Barr, and the Russian 22nd Army on the Bibilok Line saw that the situation was not good, and immediately chose to retreat.

At noon on the 20th, the Russian 18th Army was surrounded and annihilated by the Chinese Emperor [***], and finally the whole army was annihilated.

In this battle, the 9th Army, the most elite ace of the Russian army, and the 18th Army were completely annihilated, the 22nd Army was disabled, and the Russian army lost more than 127,000 people. The Chinese Emperor [***] captured a large amount of ordnance and materials, but also paid the price of up to 5,000 killed, and the reorganized 74th Division suffered the greatest losses, which was reduced to a regiment after the war.

(To be continued)