"Da Da Da!" The heavy machine guns were roaring, and the red-hot bullets were fired out, leaving rows of bullet holes in the Russian trenches. A Russian soldier who had just emerged was a little unlucky and was shot directly in the head. Heavy machine gun bullets are so powerful that they can easily pierce the head, leaving a large fist-sized hole. Red and white spilled all over the floor, causing some of the newly recruited recruits to vomit.

In the offensive at this point, the first army of the squadron transferred one division, and the third army and the fourth army each transferred two divisions, a total of five divisions, to launch a fierce attack on the outer positions of the Russian army. However, the defense of the Russian army is also very strong. On the outlying positions of Irkutsk, the Russian army deployed twenty infantry divisions, which is already almost half of the infantry of the Irkutsk defenders. Grand Duke Nikolai has obviously learned his lesson, knowing that even if it is a street fight, the Russian army may not be able to take advantage, but will have a huge impact on morale. Therefore, he wants to do his best to keep the Russian army out of Irkutsk. On the outlying positions in Irkutsk, the Russian army built a large number of pillboxes and bunkers and permanent fire points, which supported the Russian army's perimeter defense system.

Although, before the attack, the artillery of the squadron launched a fierce artillery bombardment of the positions of the Russian army, and many positions were bombed to pieces. However, a large number of fortifications have survived. These fortifications caused very big trouble to the attack of the squadron.

"Da Da Da!" A half-hidden underground bunker kept pouring bullets, suppressing the squadron of a company attacking on the opposite side, unable to move.

"Machine gun cover, mortars, take out the enemy's bunker!" A captain company commander said with red eyes that during the attack, more than a dozen soldiers in his company died under the guns of this bunker.

Several machine gunners set up the machine guns and fired at the Russian bunker. Perhaps the bullet passed through the firing hole of the bunker and killed the Russian machine gunner inside, causing the Russian bunker to stop firing.

"Good! Charge, blow up that bunker for me! The captain said happily.

Several soldiers jumped up from the ground and rushed towards the bunker. However, before they could rush out a few steps, the heavy machine guns of the bunker began to fire again. Several soldiers who were charging, bearing the brunt of the bullets, fell to the ground.

"Alas!" The captain and company commander punched the ground hard, very disappointed.

"Boom!" A mortar shell accurately hit the Russian bunker. However, after the smoke cleared, the Russian army's bunker was safe and sound, still pouring firepower frantically, which made the attacking Chinese soldiers very frustrated.

Progress on almost all fronts has been very slow. In the sharp attack of the squadron, the Russian army suffered heavy casualties. But at the same time, the squadron on the attacking side suffered no light casualties. Grand Duke Nikolai's strict order made all the Russian generals have to weigh it, and even Lieutenant General Augusta was dismissed without hesitation after the defeat. Therefore, they were really afraid that after the defense line was broken, the Grand Guild of Nikolai would shoot them directly. Therefore, the generals on the front line also demanded that the officers and soldiers fight to the death and not retreat. Some troops even specifically stopped the overseers, and anyone who retreated without receiving an order would be severely punished. I have to admit that although such an order is cruel, it is indeed very effective at such a time.

The day's battle ended like this. The attacking squadron suffered thousands of casualties, but it failed to break through the Russian defense line, but there was a feeling of bleeding from the head. This made the original full morale of the squadron suddenly affected by Yan zhòng.

War Minister Cai Yun, who had already moved his headquarters to less than 10 kilometers from Riirkutsk, found out about this and urgently convened a military meeting that night.

"Today's battle was very unsmooth. Our defense of Irkutsk is seriously underestimated. The Russians were very strong in their will to resist, although we had received information that it was because Grand Duke Nikolai had given the order to die. Although, under this high-pressure order, although the fighting spirit of the Russian army will be very high for the initial period of time, it will become worse and worse as time goes by. However, this is not a good thing for us. Tell us what we should do in tomorrow's battle. War Minister Cai Yun asked with a stern expression. Originally, he had already expected that Irkutsk might not be so easy to fight. But now it seems that Irkutsk is more difficult to fight than he imagined!

"My lord, the Russians are very ready to charge, they are in Irkutsk

On the outlying positions, a large number of pillboxes, bunkers and permanent fire points were built, and even after heavy shelling, a very large number of fortifications survived. This caused a lot of problems for our attack. Now it seems that it will be very difficult to break through the defensive positions of the Russian army. I'm afraid we'll have to be prepared to pay a lot of casualties! Lieutenant General Yang Guoxing, commander of the First Group Army, said.

"Yes! My lord! Just the outlying positions of Irkutsk are so difficult to fight, which shows that the Russian army has turned the entire Irkutsk into a fortress. Unless we use artillery and blow up the whole of Irkutsk into ruins. Otherwise, if we take Irkutsk, I'm afraid we will have tens of thousands of casualties! Lieutenant General Chen Anguo, commander of the Third Army, also said with some concern.

"My lord, the Russians have also prepared a large number of heavy artillery in Irkutsk, and our artillery will not be able to achieve an overwhelming advantage in the artillery battle. It seems that while we were preparing for battle, Grand Duke Nikolai was not idle! He is clearly ready to fight us to the end in Irkutsk! Lieutenant General Chen Wenjun, commander of the Fourth Army, also said.

Cai Yun nodded, now it seems that it is indeed very troublesome to take Irkutsk and annihilate the more than 500,000 Russian troops. If you want to blow Irkutsk into ruins, you need shells, which are completely astronomical. Irkutsk, the seat of the Governor of Eastern Siberia, is more than twice the size of Ulan-Ude. In addition, the logistics supply line of the squadron is too far, and the logistical pressure is too great, and it will be very difficult to destroy Irkutsk with artillery shelling.

"Although the defense of the Russian army is strong, we cannot give up because of difficulties. Tomorrow the battle continues, I will ask the artillery to hide the time of the shelling, focus the shelling on the defensive positions of the Russian army, and destroy the Russian fortifications for the infantry as much as possible! Cai Yun said that there is no way now, if you don't want to fill it with human lives, you can only increase the intensity of the shelling.

"My lord, in this case, I am afraid that the shells we prepared will not last long. Our various supplies were mainly hit in Baikalsk, from which they detoured to Megat, and then to Irkutsk, which was a full distance of 100 kilometers. This is very logistically stressful for us! Lieutenant General Chen Wenjun, commander of the Fourth Army, reminded.

"This problem is not difficult to solve! On the Angara River, east of Irkutsk, there are quite a few ports. From now on, our transport ships, directly from Lake Baikal to the Angara River, will transport logistics directly to the front line. In this way, our supply lines can be effectively shortened. The 4th Army is responsible for the establishment and protection of this logistics base. Whether or not you can take Irkutsk smoothly, this logistics base is very important! Cai Yun said.

"Yes, my lord, the Fourth Army is guaranteed to complete the mission!" Lieutenant General Chen Wenjun, commander of the Fourth Army, assured.

On the first day, the attack of the squadron was repulsed, which made Grand Duke Nikolai very happy. He ordered a reward for several outstanding troops on the front line, and specially sent a large amount of meat and vodka, which made the Russian soldiers on the front line very satisfied. The soldiers who were not rewarded and could only nibble on black bread were also very envious. Many people also thought in their hearts whether they would be rewarded if they stood out in tomorrow's battle. This is really what Grand Duke Nicholas wanted to see. These methods successfully boosted the morale of the Russian soldiers. This can greatly strengthen the will of the Russian army to resist.

On June 11, after a night's rest, the squadron once again launched a fierce attack on Irkutsk. Moreover, this time the artillery fire was more intense, and the preparation time for the shelling was longer. It's as if the squadron is ready to plow the Russian defensive positions several times with artillery fire. The front-line positions of the Russian army were almost completely enveloped in gunsmoke. At the same time, a division of the Fourth Army, eight kilometers east of Irkutsk, chose a river bay with better hydrological conditions and began to build a simple port, which was to be used as a logistics base.

From the tactics of the squadron, Grand Duke Nicholas clearly felt the purpose of the squadron. He knew that no matter how strong the front-line positions of the Russian army were, no matter how strong the soldiers' will to resist was. But in the midst of such endless heavy shelling, there will still be a moment of collapse. At that time, the squadron will be able to break through the defenses of the Russian army lightly. Even so, such a tactic will consume a large number of shells, which will put huge pressure on the squadron's fragile logistics supply lines. But Grand Duke Nikolai did not dare to put hope that the logistics supply line of the squadron would collapse, in order to resist this tactic of the squadron, he could only order the Russian artillery to counterattack the Chinese artillery as much as possible, and conduct a tragic artillery battle with the Chinese artillery!