"My lord, the supplies on the front line are in an emergency, if we can't increase the security of the materials on the front line, I'm afraid we can only reduce the attack on the front line!" A brigadier general officer reported to War Minister Cai Yun that he was Chen Wei, the commander of the baggage unit, who was responsible for the logistical supply of hundreds of thousands of troops on the Ulan-Ude front.

"What's going on? How could such a problem arise! We already have the win in our hands, and we will be able to win Ulan-Ude in five days at most. If there is not enough material support, it will inevitably affect our offensive against Ulan-Ude, and even affect the situation in the entire East Siberia! Cai Yun, the Minister of War who was in charge of commanding the Northern Battlefield, said with a frown.

"My lord, the logistics department has transported a large amount of supplies to the trading city by guò train. However, the entry into Russia from the trading city required us to be transported by car and pack horse. Ammunition previously stockpiled, as planned, was sufficient. However, during the two days of fighting, the troops intensified their shelling of Ulan-Ude, and the consumption of all kinds of ammunition was very large. Therefore, the supply of materials is somewhat unable to keep up! Brigadier General Chen Wei said.

Cai Yun was silent, and used artillery shells to destroy the Russians and reduce the losses of the troops, which was an order given by Wang Yuze himself. Both he and the commander of the front must obey. Frankly, he was also very supportive of such a strategy, after all, after the shells opened the way, the casualties of the troops were significantly reduced. It's just that the logistical supply is a little unsupportable.

"Reducing the losses of the troops as much as possible is an order given by His Majesty himself, and we must obey it. Then, we can only find a way from logistics and transportation. General Chen, what do you have to build yì? Cai Yun asked.

"My lord, the staff officer of the logistics department has proposed two methods, one is that we can use a boat to transfer the ship, load it from the Selenga River, and transport it to Ulan-Ude. It can be used not only in Ulan-Ude, but even in the later attack on Irkutsk. It's just that we can only use small carriers of a few tens of tons, and these carriers need to be deployed from the country and then loaded onto trucks, which takes a while. It will take a week at the earliest. Another option is to ask for the support of the Mongolian province. The herdsmen in Mongolia Province have a lot of horses and wagons in every household, and asking for their help can effectively alleviate our current difficulties! Brigadier General Chen Wei said.

Cai Yun nodded, and then said, "With shipping, this can be enabled." Even if it is not used in Ulan-Ude, it can be used in the big battle in Irkutsk when the time comes. As for mobilizing herders in Mongolian provinces to support the front line, I immediately contacted the Mongolian provincial government. ”

Cai Yun then sent a telegram to Xu Shichang, the governor of Mongolia Province and the former minister of the government in Kulun. After receiving the telegram, Xu Shichang immediately issued an order to the governments at all levels in Mongolian Province, asking all localities to organize herdsmen and bring carriages and pack horses to support the front line. After the Mongol rebellion was put down, the empire was quickly reformed in Mongolia. The power of many Mongolian princes was abolished, and ordinary herdsmen were no longer slaves of the princes, which made the herdsmen grateful to the empire, and the imperial emperor Wang Yuze was even more respected by the herdsmen in Mongolia than the living Buddha. After the herdsmen knew that the emperor ** team on the front line needed help, they didn't say a word, put on the carriage, rode on their horses and rushed to the front line. Even though it was grazing season, there was no hesitation. The herdsmen were able to have such a good life as they are now, all because of the empire. The empire needs help now, and of course they will not hesitate to do so.

In a short period of time, thousands of wagons and more than 20,000 pack horses were gathered in the northern part of the Mongolian province to transport a large amount of weapons and ammunition from the trading city to Ulan-Ude. The distance of the 180th Highway can be walked back and forth in two days, and it is the help of these simple herdsmen that the great battle in Ulan-Ude can go on as originally planned.

On April 19, the two armies of the squadron continued to launch a fierce attack on Ulan-Ude, and after a day of fierce fighting, they once again occupied a large part of the urban area of Ulan-Ude. Up to now, 30 percent of the entire urban area of Ulan-Ude has fallen under the control of the squadron. Moreover, with the input of a large number of troops, the Russian army suffered heavy losses in the fierce attack of the squadron, and their resistance became weaker and weaker. If we continue like this, we will soon be able to occupy the whole of Ulan-Ude and completely wipe out the Russian army here.

In addition to the military offensive, the squadron also took other approaches. For example, pieces of paper written in Russian with the news that Ulan-Ude has been surrounded by the squadron, and the rear roads of the Russian army have been cut off are scattered in the city of Ulan-Ude. This caused panic among the Russian army. The reason why these Russian troops are so stubbornly resisting the squadron is that they believe that they can retreat from Ulan-Ude at any time, and as long as the war is not going well, they can get out lightly. Now, however, the back road has been cut off

Finish. How can they escape? Many Russian troops panicked all of a sudden, and when they were fighting, the resistance was not so fierce.

In addition, because the channel of the Selenga River was cut off, there were big problems with the logistics supply of the Russian army. At the same time, several of the warehouses where they stored supplies were blown up, and Grand Duke Nicholas had to once again reduce the supply of food to the soldiers in order to preserve food. While the Russian soldiers were eating cold water and nibbling on black bread, the Chinese soldiers were eating hot meals, and there were a lot of luncheon meats and canned beef. Why can Chinese soldiers eat so many good things, but they can only eat this junk food, which makes them feel very unbalanced. On the side of the squadron, they even used food to yin* some Russian troops surrendered, but I didn't expect it to be really successful. Quite a few Russian soldiers, for a few canned beef, surrendered. If it weren't for the fact that Grand Duke Nikolai had found out about this situation and taken drastic measures, I am afraid that many of the Russian troops would have surrendered.

Under the blow of the squadron's various tactics, the situation of the Russian army is becoming more and more difficult. By April 21, half of Ulan-Ude had been occupied by the squadron. The Russian army was suppressed in the city northeast of the Selenga River. Moreover, the casualties for several days have also reduced the number of Russian troops from the initial 200,000 to less than 100,000.

On the night of April 21, Ulan-Ude, inside the underground headquarters of Grand Duke Nikolai. In view of the current state of war, Grand Duke Nicholas had to convene an urgent military council. Prior to this, in order to strengthen the combat effectiveness of various divisions, he had reorganized the remaining Russian army and reorganized it into ten divisions for better command. Now, the commanders of these ten divisions have all appeared in the underground headquarters.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the situation in Ulan-Ude is very critical now, and we have lost half of Ulan-Ude's control. Half of the troops have also been lost, and the entire Ulan-Ude has fallen into the encirclement of the Chinese. What do we do now? Grand Duke Nikolai asked.

Everyone was silent, and no one was able to answer Grand Duke Nicholas. They are also confused and don't know what to do. Before the start of the war, they were still full of confidence, thinking that they could hold out for more than three months with the help of Ulan-Ude. However, it has only been a few days, and the battle situation has developed into what it is now.

Seeing that no one spoke, Grand Duke Nicholas continued: "I have reported the situation in Ulan-Ude to His Majesty the Tsar. His Majesty the Tsar has delegated the decision to me. ”

"Your Excellency, judging from the current situation, Ulan-Ude can't hold it. We are already surrounded, and the longer it drags on, the worse it will be for us. At this time, a division commander said that he was the commander of the newly formed 121st Division, Major General Alexandra.

"So, what do you think we should do? Give up Ulan-Ude? But what do we do now? The Chinese have already surrounded Ulan-Ude, and according to the latest information we have received, an infantry division appeared northwest of Ulan-Ude yesterday. In addition, the cavalry of the Chinese is still wandering northwest of Ulan-Ude, and if we want to break through, it is almost impossible! Grand Duke Nikolai said. If they had relied on the strong fortifications of Ulan-Ude, perhaps they would have been able to hold out for a while. If you break through now, you will be looking for death!

"Your Excellency, I think General Alexandra is absolutely right in his opinion. Although the breakout is very risky, there are always some opportunities. If you stay in Ulan-Ude, you don't have any chance. At the current speed of the Chinese's attack, it will take them at most five days to completely wipe us out. We should now break through as soon as we have enough troops! Another division commander mentioned yì, he was the commander of the 122nd Division, Major General Valenjing.

"Breakout? So how do we break through the blockade of the Chinese and get rid of the pursuit of the Chinese cavalry? Grand Duke Nikolai asked. Immediately, if Ulan-Ude's strong defense entered the field, then they would lose, and there was no chance of victory.

"Your Excellency, now the Chinese have only one infantry division and tens of thousands of cavalry in the northwest direction of Ulan-Ude, and the situation is not the worst. Their infantry divisions, with a lot of holes, we can break through at night and go along the Selenga River. As for their cavalry, if we had brought more heavy machine guns, we should be able to withstand them! Major General Valengin said.

"But we can't answer Irkutsk safely! Baikalsk has already been occupied by the Chinese, and if you go around the Baikal region, you will not be able to escape the pursuit of the Chinese! Grand Duke Nikolai said.