As he put down the telegram in his hand, Witte smoked a cigar, his expression still tinged with anger, and Kurobatkin shamefully ordered the troops to withdraw from Mukden, and the battle of Mukden was as the envoy sent by the Chinese emperor had guessed, and failed!

It was a most shameful rout.

More than 100,000 Russian [***] troops retreated all the way to Tieling along the South Manchurian Railway that the Second Group Army had desperately preserved, and because the east and west lines were approaching, the retreat to the rear was very narrow, and the retreating Russian troops scrambled to retreat backwards, and they were not giving in, and the order was completely in chaos.

They dropped hundreds of cannons, tens of thousands of rifles, tens of thousands of tons of ammunition, hundreds of thousands of army spring clothes in Mukden, and they dropped more weapons and equipment along the way, which was an unprecedented defeat in Russian history, and all of this was caused by Kurobatkin.

"Kurobatkin must be sent to court, tried and hanged!"

But after a momentary impulse, Witte calmed down again, Kurobatkin, the former chief of staff of the Russian army, said to the commander-in-chief of operations, was his cronies, and it was he who worked with him to build Russia's strategy for the Far East, if it were not for the interference of others, how could Russia lose Manchuria.

Maybe someone else could blame Kurobatkin, but he couldn't, Kurobatkin was his cronies and supporters, and no matter how much resentment there was, he had to be saved!

"That Chinese!"

With a cigar in his right hand, Witte's mind conjured up the surprisingly young but always smiling Zhang Hao, who was still smiling even in the face of his own angry rebuke, and his words, or prophecies, kept echoing in their ears.

"Please do not doubt that the defeat of your army at Mukden is only a matter of time, and it will be a great rout!"

"One day, two days, well! In three days at most, it will all be over, and I can take my honor as a guarantee that there will be a great rout of your army! ”

"Perhaps, General Kurobatkin, can withdraw his troops to North Manchuria, but what will he lose?"

"Nearly 100,000 troops were killed or wounded, or captured, they will lose their rifles and cannons when they retreat, in order to save their lives, and when they retreat to North Manchuria, the heroic and warlike Russian army in your mouth, at that time, they will have to use their fists to face the enemy they need to face!"

"What? It is said that their logistical problems will not be able to continue their offensive towards North Manchuria! Honorable President, He said that he hit Fengtian across the sea and the entire Liaodong without any hindrance! ”

"I once again repeat the unshakable resolution of our country: the Chinese Empire will take the most resolute action to defend the territorial and sovereign integrity of the Chinese Empire!"

"What does that mean! Maybe we can acquiesce in the outside neutrality promulgated by the Manchus, or maybe we can identify the theater of war they demarcated, of course we do the same, but please believe that once our army, of course, including the Russian [***] team, crosses the theater of war, we will have to get involved in this war on Chinese soil in order to defend ourselves! ”

"A declaration of war on Russia? Of course not! Our enemy is not Russia! ”

"Your Excellency, we are engaged in a war of self-defense that we have no choice but to wag! This war is caused by your trampling on China's territory and sovereignty! We can acquiesce in the theater of war demarcated by the former Qing Dynasty, but when you cross it, we will have to use force to secure our country's rights and interests, or rather, to use force to ensure the status of a neutral country, and to isolate your army and the army by force, so as to end this war! ”

"We may not have the ability to defeat the two great powers, but Your Excellency, please do not doubt the sacrifices we are willing to make to protect our own rights and interests!"

"Anger, can it solve the problem? No! ”

"What kind of country is Ben, they are destined to be carried away by victory in the face of glorious victory, this country is greedy, petty, and warlike...... There is no more terrible or hateful enemy in the world! ”

"I think for Russia, what you need to think about is how to end this war, not lose it completely!"

"I think Your Excellency, Chairman, should consider my opinion, whether to completely lose the old book, or accept the proposal I put forward!"

"I guess Russia has to make its own choice, doesn't it?"

Thinking of the first contact between the three little ones and the first two unhappy, Witte couldn't help but sigh, is there still a possibility of victory for Russia in this war?

Perhaps there is another possibility, and for the bleak reality of the army, Russia can only hope for Robertinsky's Second Pacific Fleet, but the question now is ...... Suddenly, Werther's eyes lit up, the original sadness suddenly dissipated, and even a smile appeared on his face, and he found that those stupid Chinese actually gave Russia a big gift at the most critical time.

"Fervisky, prepare the carriage, I'm going to the Tsarskoye to meet Your Majesty!"

A few minutes later, when he got into the carriage, Werther, who looked light, couldn't help but learn Zhang Hao's tone and talk to himself in German.

"Yes, Russia has a choice, why shouldn't they?"

It is not only the Russians who are faced with a choice, China and Ben also have to face a choice.

At noon on March 9, the 1st Group Army of the Imperial Army captured the old station of Fengtian and formed a situation with the 3rd Group Army approaching the city of Fengtian to encircle the Russian army under the city of Fengtian. At this time, the Russian army was already under siege, and almost at the same time as the 1st Army, the commander-in-chief of the Russian army ordered the 2nd Army of the Manchurian Army to counterattack with all its might. At the same time, Kuropatkin ordered a retreat to the north and retreated to the Tieling line. The Russian army fell into chaos in the retreat, abandoning a large number of military supplies and thousands of Russian soldiers who did not retreat in Mukden.

During the fierce battle in Shenyang, Russia suffered heavy losses in the war zone, where crops were destroyed, houses were burned, people were slaughtered, property was looted, and heavy losses were taken. In the city, street battles took place in Chang'an Temple, Bawang Temple, Wanshou Temple, the Forbidden City and other places.

Chen Xiangtun Tashan Pagoda in Sujiatun District, Baitapu White Pagoda in Tanglin District, etc., were all suspected by the army that they might become lookout points for the Russian army and were destroyed; The Nanta Guangci Temple complex was completely destroyed by the Russian army as an artillery position; At that time, the vast area of Hachioji Temple, the gold ornaments of the Great Buddha were stripped off, and the doors and windows were burned; Wanshou Temple and Chang'an Temple were burned and the hall was smashed; The Russian army destroyed the academy; The Forbidden City became the headquarters of the Russian army, and the Russian army also stocked war horses in the Shenyang Forbidden City.

After the First World War, countless houses were destroyed in the city of Shenyang, and people were displaced. Shenyang, which has only more than 100,000 residents, has been flooded with more than 50,000 homeless refugees.

At 9 o'clock in the morning of March 10, after a night of fierce fighting between the siege troops and the Russian army, the army held a ceremony to enter the city, as the commander of the battle, Dashan Yan rode on a tall horse, inspecting the troops, the army was about to enter Mukden, reporters from various countries took pictures for him and the army, and the officers of the army talked triumphantly with the observers of the surrounding countries, and they won the victory again, and won the largest battle since Lushun in just ten days.

Riding on the horse, although Dashanyan said that his face was full of pride, but he felt a little emotion in his heart, this battle did not appear in the "Sedang" type of encirclement and annihilation battle he hoped for, and in fact, this was also the original purpose of his command of 5 armies to carry out this campaign across almost the entire South Manchuria, he hoped to rely on the battle of Mukden to form an encirclement of the Lucia Manchurian Army, so as to settle the battle in one battle, but in the end, although Kurobatkin was slow to react, but in the end he withdrew from Mukden under the desperate cover of the Second Army of the Lu Army. The siege and annihilation battle came to naught.

"Marshal Oyama, are you satisfied with the results of the army's actions?"

British observer Ian, also on horseback? Hamilton asked Dashan Yan beside him, he remembered that Dashan hoped for a victory like Sedang, and now the army was desperately pursuing the Russian army, and the Russian Second Army was covering the retreat of the main force, and the victory of Sedang had come to naught.

"But Erl! The retreat of the Lu army is too skillful! ”

Big Mountain Rock didn't show any emotion in front of Hamilton.

"Marshal, this battle is decisive for the whole situation of the war, and any foreign military attaché will say that Russia has lost this war!"

Da Shanyan nodded with satisfaction, pointed at the rifle on his shoulder with his horsewhip, and said the officers and soldiers who were about to accept the drill and prepare to enter the city.

"Ben has the best soldiers in the world, and they can crush any enemy!"

When his words fell, a war horse rushed out of the Great North Gate, and on the back of the horse was a signal soldier, but it was only ten minutes of work, and the news brought by the signal soldier was brought to Dashan Yan through other officers.

"Your Excellency Marshal, Xie Cheng'an, Mayor of Shenyang City, China, demands that our troops immediately stop entering the city, and that the troops have been immediately withdrawn from Mukden, and now our troops have confronted the Chinese army outside the Fengtian Office!"

"What, how did the Chinese army enter the city!"

Da Shanyan almost fell off his horse without being surprised by the news, he glared at the officer in front of him, the Chinese army appeared in Fengtian City, aren't they in the west of the Liaohe River?

"Marshal, this is the official document of the Chinese political axe forwarded by Xie Cheng'an!"

While they're talking, Ian? When Hamilton learned the news through an interpreter, he was surprised at the same time, but he was more of a schadenfreude, because the previous pride of Dashan Yan made him feel a little unwilling, which would naturally be happy to see this Dashan Marshal in trouble.

"Any army ......"

Smile at heart, Ian? Hamilton couldn't help but wonder, would this Marshal of the Mountain still order the troops to attack so proudly?

Fengtian General's Office - No, it should be the municipal axe of Shenyang City now, although 2 years ago, the Russians broke the contract and did not fulfill the withdrawal agreement, but they still agreed to the Manchu Qing to restore the civil governance of Manchuria, but because the Manchus did not establish a province in the northeast, before the Gengzi year, it was the Fengtian general, the Heilongjiang general, and the Jilin general to govern the military and civilian affairs of the three places, but the Russians occupied this place, obviously they would not agree to the Manchu Qing appointing generals, so in the past two years, the Manchus only appointed local officials, after the recovery of Guannai, because the Russians controlled the northeast, The ruling axe has not been able to appoint officials from the three places.

Until the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Russia, China and Russia reached an agreement, and the anti-Russian volunteers were "recruited" by the Chinese political axe to strictly restrain and reorganize, and in return, Russia agreed to return the civil affairs of the three places to China, and it is precisely because of this that local officials have been sent to take over the civil affairs of various places, and it is because of this that the Shenyang municipal axe was born.

Unlike the previous Fengtian prefect who stayed in the abandoned and dilapidated yamen of the Russians after taking office, according to the agreement, the Russians handed over the Fengtian General's Office to the mayor of Shenyang Xie Zi'an a month ago, that is, after the establishment of Shenyang Municipal Axe City, Xie Zi'an used the relief of the disaster victims in the city to repair the dilapidated general's office with work for relief, and even built more than a dozen refugee camps in the city. Those refugees were confined to the camp to avoid spies from spoying around the city, so they also gave support.

Perhaps Kurobatkin never dreamed that it was in the sixteen refugee camps in Shenyang that Xie Zi'an built the "battalion police" on the grounds of maintaining order, and when the Russian army retreated, it turned into an imperial guard army, although when the Russian army retreated, it failed to control the whole city, but it controlled many key areas in the city, at least these more than 800 Guards soldiers and more than 5,000 temporarily conscripted refugees showed the existence of the [***] team in Mukden.

And now, these temporary soldiers are confronting the Yue soldiers entering the city at many places in the city, some are separated by broken walls, looking like they are ready to open at any time, and some are to the point that their noses are sticking to bayonets, and the most fierce is only more than 200 meters away from the Great North Gate, and the Chinese [***] people in brown military uniforms and the Tibetan blue military uniforms are facing each other with bayonets on this street, and the only obstacle between them is a barbed wire.

The soldiers who were temporarily recruited could not be compared with the soldiers who had undergone rigorous training, and the soldiers selected from among the young refugees, although they had in their hands the Mosin Nagant rifles abandoned by the Russians, could be forced by both sides with bayonets, there were always people who trembled from time to time, and even some of them had wet between their trousers, and there were thirty officers and men in a row, only a few soldiers in military uniforms, standing there motionless, pointing their bayonets at the soldiers who had ordered them to retreat.

"Hold on!"

The officer standing behind the soldier shouted loudly, not far from him, there were several corpses, which were the bodies of deserters, in the previous confrontation, several young men tried to escape, and were directly shot by him, and in front of the door of the municipal axe, Xie Zi'an, who was wearing a new black uniform, stood there, with a weapon belt around his waist, and the canvas holster of the Type 02 pistol hung on the canvas armed belt, all looking ready to fight at any time.

"Mayor Xie, you can withdraw! No one will say you are cowardly! ”

Through the barbed wire, a middle-aged man wearing a melon skin hat and a dog skin wallet shouted there, he was the boss of the city, and his relationship with Yue himself was really good, and he was also a character with a head and a face in Shenyang City. No, there is a stalemate here, and someone over there asked him to come out to persuade Xie Zi'an, after all, he is also a member of the preparatory committee of the Shenyang Municipal Consultative Bureau.

But he never thought that Xie Zi'an didn't even show him face, and this barbed wire fence didn't allow him to pass, because in the wartime place, civilians are forbidden to enter, and he is entrusted with loyalty.

"Mr. Sheng, although Zi'an is a civil affairs official, but since ancient times officials have the responsibility of defending the land, although Zi'an has no soldiers to block the army outside the city, but also knows the responsibility of defending the land, and knows that the ministers need to have the heart of loyalty to the monarch and the country, Mr. Sheng can have no country and no monarch, a certain is used by people, Zi'an eats the king's Lu, and receives the people's money! Have the determination to defend the land and become benevolent! If Zi An was martyred, he should be the first civil servant of the empire, and please ask Mr. Sheng not to be the first Han annihilation of the Chinese Jianyuan! ”

"Good! Thank you, Mayor for a good job! ”

There was a burst of applause from men and women between the buildings on both sides of the street, although most of them were hiding at home, but Xie Zi'an's shouts still reached their ears, it was a Chinese man with a blood surname! Almost everyone said this in their hearts, and naturally cheered for him.

With the applause of the people, Sheng Yaxun's face was blue and white, and he almost didn't spit out a mouthful of blood in annoyance.

"Yaga!"

Yamashita Takejiro Osa looked at this scene and took a cold look at the second lieutenant Heiji Yamaguchi who took the initiative to come to offer advice, he is a member of the special squad behind enemy lines, and has been collecting intelligence in Mukden City, didn't he have information about the Chinese before?

When he walked to the barbed wire, on the other side of the barbed wire, the Chinese major with a pistol also walked to the barbed wire fence and gave each other a military salute.

"Battalion Commander Song, now inside and outside Fengtian City, there are hundreds of thousands of imperial troops of this empire, but your army is only a few hundred people, and the others are innocent young and strong, Battalion Commander Song and his subordinates are unyielding in the face of tens of thousands of imperial troops, which has proved the martial courage of your army, and please don't miss a thought, trapping the lives of your subordinates, and even more affecting thousands of innocent people!"

"Yamashita Daisa, what is the responsibility of a soldier?"

Song Weicai asked calmly, and then smiled faintly.

"Your army has dispersed the Russian army and won this battle, so why do you need to take this city to show your army's bravery?"

"That's different, our army paid tens of thousands of casualties and entered Mukden, which is the fundamental proof that our army won this battle!"

Takejiro Yamashita shook his head.

"Dazuo under the mountain, Song is standing here today, which is also the proof that Shenyang is my country's territory, if your army is entering the city, there is only one possibility, that is, stepping on Song's corpse to enter Shenyang, can die in the national war, although Song is still honored!"

(To be continued)