At about 10 o'clock in the evening of August 20, 1908, in a hill to the west outside Omsk, in the joint headquarters of the 14th Army and the 15th Army of the Russian Army, the commander of the 14th Army, Milonushka, said with a wry smile: "The attack at night still has no effect, so far, we have not even touched the first line of defense established by the Chinese Imperial Army, but the casualties are getting bigger and bigger. The 2 armies of the 12th Army in the city don't know how long they can hold out? ”

The commander of the 15th Army, Rostislav, sighed and said: "The fierce fighting in the city has not stopped, and their telegrams for help have been sent one after another, and we can only continue to attack the defense line outside the city of the Chinese Imperial Army at any cost, hoping that God can bless us to break through as soon as possible, otherwise the troops of the two armies in the city should not last long." ”

These two commanders of the Russian army did not know that the sound of fierce fighting in the city of Omsk was completely made up by the Ninth Field Army itself, and it was to fool them, and the telegrams sent to them asking for help were also the telegraphers of the captured Russian army.

The commander of the 14th Army, Milonushka, said: "The War Department in St. Petersburg has sent a telegram that more than 400,000 troops defeated from the border line will begin to arrive at us tomorrow, but according to the current situation of the war, it is impossible to break through the defense line set up by the Chinese Imperial Army outside Omsk by relying on numbers alone!" The warplanes and artillery of the Chinese Empire can bomb and shell our attacking troops with impunity, so that no matter how large our attacking forces are. It is impossible to get close to the defense line of the Chinese Imperial Army under the blow of such firepower, even if more than 400,000 demoralized troops come over, what is the use! ”

Rostislav sighed and said: "His Excellency Korrosky of the War Department, as well as His Majesty the Tsar of St. Petersburg, were not present on the battlefield. They simply can't understand the strength of the firepower of the Chinese Empire, this kind of strength is desperate, they think that relying on the superiority in numbers, they can make up for the disadvantage in equipment, but they don't know that in the army of the Chinese Empire, it can't be made up at all! Milonushka, in fact, I have a not very good premonition! ”

Milonushka asked, "What?" Are you saying that the city of Omsk will definitely be lost? I think the loss of Omsk is almost certain, with our existing strength. It was impossible to break through the barrier of the Chinese Empire outside Omsk. ”

Rostislav shook his head and said: "It's not Omsk City, it's that I feel that our 2 armies may not be too easy to leave here." ”

Milonushka frowned and said, "You mean, if we continue to fight like this, we may be entangled here in Omsk by the army of the Chinese Empire?" ”

Rostislav said: "There are concerns about this, if our two army groups are entangled here, and the rest of the Chinese Empire's troops rush here, then the situation of our two army groups will be difficult!" In fact, that's how hard it goes. The casualties of our 2 armies will also make us unbearable. ”

Milonushka nodded with a sigh and said, "Yes! Until now. Our 2 group armies have lost more than 120,000, but they haven't even broken through the first line of defense outside the city, even if they really break through the defense line of the 2 Chinese Imperial Army outside the city, how many people can be left of our 2 group armies! ”

At this moment, a staff officer of a colonel of the Russian army sent a telegram from St. Petersburg to the two commanders, and after Rostislav first took the telegram and read it, he handed it to Mironushka with a helpless face and said: "His Majesty the Tsar personally sent a telegram to the two of us. Saying that the city of Omsk is in danger, let us send more troops to attack the defense line of the Chinese Empire outside the city, but we did not say anything about breaking through the defense line of the Chinese Empire and joining the troops in the city before 12 o'clock tonight. ”

Mironushka then took the telegram and read it again. Then he sighed and said: "Dozens of telegrams were sent to our 2 group armies a day, as if our 2 group armies were not desperate, and in only 2 days, the losses of our 2 group armies exceeded 120,000, is there anything more desperate than this?" ”

Rostislav said helplessly: "Forget it, let's continue to fight hard!" In the next round of attack, the troops of the 1st division of my 15th Army will launch an attack, and we will fill it with human lives! ”

The Russian 14th Army and the 15th Army sent troops to launch a non-stop attack on the Ninth Field Army's defense line outside Omsk City, but unfortunately in addition to leaving a place of corpses, it still did not achieve any results.

In the two days of August 21 and 22, 1908, more than 350,000 men of the 9th Army and the 10th Army, which retreated from the border area to the rear, and more than 80,000 men of the 7th Army and the 8th Army, which were routed from the periphery of Novosibirsk on the first day of the war, arrived at the periphery of Omsk City one after another, and joined the Russian 14th Army and the 15th Army, which were attacking the defense line outside the city of the Chinese Imperial Army, making the maximum strength of the Russian army outside the city nearly 900,000.

However, this number has been decreasing, because after the Russian army outside the city converged, it still continued to attack the defense line outside the city of the Chinese Imperial Army, and in the city of Omsk, the fierce battle of the Chinese Imperial Army was still composed, making the Russians think that the troops of the two armies in the city were still holding on, and Tsar Nicholas II of St. Petersburg also said to the Minister of War Gorrosky that the heroic troops in the city of Omsk must be rescued.

But the Russians don't know that a huge crisis is looming over their heads.

On the evening of August 22, in the middle of a hill in the south outside Omsk, in the temporary headquarters of the Ninth Field Army of the Imperial Chinese Army, Yu Lichen, commander of the Ninth Field Army, and Xie Jun, commander of the Tenth Field Army, welcomed a comrade-in-arms who had arrived in a hurry.

Yu Lichen, the commander of the Ninth Field Army, said with a smile on his face: "Brother Ni, you are finally here, these days I am afraid that the Russians outside the city will see through the drama we sang and withdraw directly." Then our big plan will be in vain. ”

This comrade-in-arms who came was Ni Fan, the commander of the Third Guards, and at this moment Ni Fan said with a little tiredness on his face: "In order to speed up the march, our Third Guards Army traveled day and night, and it was not in vain, and the Russians did not evacuate outside Omsk. ”

Xie Jun, the commander of the 10th Field Army, said with a smile: "Thanks to Lao Yu's good performance, he bluffed the Russians." Until now, the Russian army outside the city is still constantly attacking our defense line outside the city, preparing to rescue the Russian troops in Omsk City, but how do they know that Omsk City has been completely occupied by us a few days ago, and the gunfire in the city in the past few days has been made by us. ”

After Xie Jun finished speaking, Yu Lichen and Ni Fan both laughed.

Then Yu Lichen asked, "Brother Ni, how many troops did your Third Guards come over this time?" ”

Ni Fan said: "Originally, Li Kai, the commander of the Andong Provincial Garrison. I was also going to lead part of the troops of the Andong Provincial Garrison to rush here, but before we set off from Novosibirsk City, Li Kai received an order from the Ministry of Defense, appointing him as the commander of the 11th Field Army, and immediately set off for Beihai Province to take up his post, so I asked the troops of the Andong Provincial Garrison to continue to stay in Novosibirsk City, and at the same time repair the railway destroyed by the Russians, and I brought the main force of the Third Guards Army over. ”

Yu Lichen said: "Qu Chengyi, the commander of the Anxi Provincial Garrison, also received an order from the Ministry of National Defense. He was promoted to the commander of the 12th Field Army, and Qu Chengyi also left just a few days ago. Now that Brother Ni has brought the Third Guards here. Then let's study how to annihilate the Russian army outside Omsk! ”

In the end, the three agreed to use the powerful armored forces of the Third Guards Army to secretly go around the north of the Russian army outside the city, and use the plain to the north to launch a blitzkrieg against the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops outside the city. The Ninth Field Army has a military tank brigade composed of 60 heavy Black Panther tanks and 120 light Black Wolf tanks, and will also wait for the opportunity to attack the Russian army from the defensive line outside the city.

When the armored forces of the 3rd Guards Army and the 9th Field Army crushed the Russian army. The infantry of the three armies will follow closely to launch an offensive to destroy the Russian army that has been disorganized, and the garrison in Ansi Province in the city of Omsk will serve as the general reserve for the campaign.

At the same time, in the temporary headquarters of the Russian army in the west outside Omsk, the commander of the 14th Army of the Russian Army, Milonushka, the commander of the 15th Army, Rostislav, the commander of the 9th Army, and the commander of the 10th Army, Yaroslavovich, all sat here with solemn faces, and the four of them had not spoken for several minutes.

The commander of the 14th Army, Milonushka, first broke the calm and said: "Let's think about it again!" If we continue to fight so hard, let alone rescue the city of Omsk, these troops outside our city may not be able to protect themselves, after all, such an attack is too many casualties, and it is desperate. ”

The commander of the 15th Army, Rostislav, said with a wry smile: "We have truthfully reported the situation here to St. Petersburg, but His Majesty the Tsar and the War Department still ask us to overcome all difficulties and rescue the city of Omsk." ”

The commander of the 9th Army, Sarrochka, sighed and said: "The firepower of the Chinese Imperial Army is too strong, otherwise my 9th Army would not be on the border line, allowing the Chinese Imperial Army to be defeated in one blow. ”

The commander of the 10th Army, Yaroslavovich, sighed: "However, the two armies of the 12th Army in the city of Omsk are very heroic, and they have been attacked by the troops of the Chinese Empire for several days, and they can still hold on to the city of Omsk, which is really admirable." ”

It may be that the Ninth Field Army did too realistically, in order to confuse the Russians, spared no ammunition, and even carried out a long round of artillery bombardment of the ruins in Omsk every once in a while, so that the commanders of the four Russian army groups did not have the slightest suspicion, and still believed that the troops in the city, although they were in an extremely difficult situation, were still holding on and waiting for rescue.

The commander of the 15th Army, Rostislav, said: "A large number of tunnels have been dug in the city of Omsk, almost all over the city, which is also the reason why the strength of the two armies can be under the attack of the Chinese Imperial Army, the entire city is in ruins, and it can hold out for so long." ”

The commander of the 14th Army, Milonushka, said angrily at this time: "What should we do now? Or do you follow the orders of St. Petersburg and continue to let our officers and soldiers launch this attack to the death? ”

The commander of the 9th Army, Sarrochka, said helplessly: "His Majesty's order from the Tsar is very harsh, what else can we do if we don't continue to attack like this?" It would be nice if we could have some tanks, at least we could use them to storm the positions outside the city of the Chinese Empire, perhaps with unexpected effects, but unfortunately the tanks of our 9th Army were all lost in the rout of the border line. ”

The commander of the 10th Army, Yaroslavovich, said with a wry smile: "The tanks of our 10th Army were also lost in the rout, and the retreating troops of the 7th Army and the 8th Army were not brought over by tanks. ”

The commander of the 15th Army, Rostislav, shook his head and said: "Our 14th Army and the 15th Army have just been formed, and we are not even equipped with a single tank, so we don't have to expect to use tanks to attack the defense line outside the Chinese Empire." ”

The commander of the 10th Army, Yaroslavovich, hesitated for a moment and said: "It is not a way to go on like this, although His Majesty the Tsar ordered us to continue to attack the defense line outside the city of the Chinese Empire and rescue the city of Omsk. But can we reduce the size of the attacking force and reduce some of our losses? ”

Listening to Yaroslavovich's words, the commanders of the other three armies couldn't help but light up their eyes at the same time, looked at each other, and then nodded in unison, continue to attack, we obey orders, but how to continue the offensive is up to us. (To be continued......)