October 15, 1918, Heilongjiang, Manchuria.

The officers and men of the White Russian army poured down from the train one after another and came to Manchuria, a small city on the border between China and Russia. Most of these soldiers recruited from the Trans-Baikal province of Siberia, Russia, were going abroad for the first time, and when they got off the train, they were all curious to see the small exotic city in front of them.

In Manzhouli, a small city located on the Hulunbuir steppe, there is almost no shadow of the Chinese people now, and the city is full of White Russian refugees from Harbin. This small city is the last stronghold of Belarus in China, Xu Shuzheng, Wu Peifu after they seized Harbin and most of the Eastern Railway, did not hit Manchuria in one go, but stopped at more than 200 kilometers away from Manchuria in the sea No. 210 north to resist Russia, the three cards let people know Ral.

After Xu Shuzheng took over the errand of supervising the Eastern Railway, he convened a meeting of the Russian trade union leaders (Bolsheviks) on the railway, and told them that the "China" ** team had taken back the Eastern Railway in accordance with the "Sino-Russian New Treaty" signed with the Bolshevik government, and it was not an infringement of Russia's sovereignty. All Russian employees who are willing to stay and continue to work will be retained by the Chinese side in their original positions and benefits. So the Russian working class on the Eastern Railway basically continued their work, and the railway remained in normal operation (historically, the trade unions of the Eastern Railway often boycotted the workers of the White Russians). However, for the time being, it can only be connected from Mudanjiang Railway Station to Hailar (Mudanjiang has been damaged by the Red Brigade and has not been repaired).

At present, the White Russian refugees in Manchuria took the train of the China Eastern Railway to Hailar after the "China" team took over Harbin, and then evacuated to Manchuria on foot. But that was the end of their retreat. Horvat, the commander-in-chief of the White Russian Road Guard, immediately issued a conscription order after returning to Manchuria from Chita, announcing the conscription of all Russian men over the age of 16 and under the age of 60.

By mid-October, the tiny city of Manchuria had become a sea of soldiers, full of White Russian officers and soldiers in dark green uniforms, and the open space in the city was piled up with baggage brought from Chita, and Semenov did not hesitate to withhold supplies destined for Ufa for the Russian Provisional Government in order to support his "private war".

Semenov himself. and his military adviser Sadao Araki also arrived in Manchuria today. When they got off the train, they saw Horvat and Livyev waiting on the platform with some soldiers in Tsarist Russian uniforms, with Horvat and the others. There is also a Japanese soldier in his thirties with a pair of attractive ears, probably Horvat's military adviser, right?

Semenov glanced at the young man of the day. With a smile on his face, he strode towards Horvat, and the two Russians hugged him on the platform and kissed him a few times. Horvat smiled and said, "Dear Gregory. Mihainovic, it's good that you're here, and I'm relieved to see that your army is strong...... Do you know that the Chinese people have also assembled two divisions in Hailar, their third and eleventh divisions, and the commander-in-chief is Wu Peifu! The general of the [China] country who drove me out of Harbin is said to be the best general in the "China" country! ”

Semenov smiled coldly. An arrogant expression appeared: "Dimitri. Leonidevich, please rest assured, I will soon be able to catch this [Chinese] general in front of you and leave it at your disposal!" The "Chinese" of only two divisions are definitely no match for our 40,000 Russian warriors! As he spoke, he put on a humble smile again, and nodded to the short Araki Osa beside him: "What's more, we still have the help of our friends!" ”

What he said was not without reason. Now his White Russian Army and his opponent, the Beiyang Army of China, have a lot of Japanese military advisers! The battle plans of both sides are well known. It's even the handiwork of the consultants, who they want to win, who will definitely win, right?

Sadao Araki smiled and nodded, and raised his hand to the [Japanese] adviser beside Horvat: "This is Toshiro Obata Shaozuo, he just came from Xu Shuzheng, the border supervisor of the [China] country, why don't he introduce the combat strategy of the [China] people to General Semenov." ”

This Japanese soldier named Toshiro Obata is also very famous in history. He is the leader of the "Japan" army control faction alongside Nagata Tetsuyama and Okamura Ninji! He has served as a military attaché in Russia and an observer in the Russian army, so he is also fluent in Russian.

"The battle plan of the Chinese people was drawn up by Lieutenant General Wu Peifu, who is said to be the best in the Chinese country. In fact, there is nothing new, but it is just to use the Eastern Railway to quickly mobilize troops to concentrate the main force to break the Russian army on the east and west routes...... Now they have concentrated two divisions in Hailar to attract you to attack, and once they find that the main Russian army is advancing eastward from Manchuria, they will transport the other three divisions deployed near Harbin and Mudanjiang to Hailar, leaving only one independent cavalry regiment on the eastern front to maneuver with the Russian troops of the two divisions coming from the direction of Vladivostok......"

Speaking of this, Toshiro Kobata glanced at Semenov, who had a somewhat ugly face, and said coldly: "In all fairness, this battle plan of the Chinese people is still good, but it is a pity that they have many internal contradictions, and there is no way to mobilize the troops of the entire Manchuria, otherwise instead of concentrating the strength of five divisions, four more local divisions of Manchuria will be added...... More than 100,000 people are besieging your 40,000! ”

"That, that, what should we do?" Semenov took a deep breath, and a layer of sweat was already oozing from his forehead. He and Horvat's 40,000-strong army are of sorts, he couldn't be clearer, the vast majority of those people are just recruits who have just joined the army, and many of them are Tatar herdsmen who have been forcibly recruited. Not to mention nine divisions, even if it is five divisions, your own team may not be able to win! If I knew that the opponent was so difficult, I shouldn't have listened to the Japanese himself and brought the team to Manchuria......

Toshiro Kobata snorted coldly and laughed, "General Semenov." Now that we've seen our opponent's hole cards, what's the wrong thing to do? ”

……

"Report to the second regiment leader, the line we released has touched the mountains of dozens of miles north and south of Suifenhe Railway Station, and there is no eastward direction of Lao Maozi's main force. It seems that they won't fight Suifenhe! ”

Zhao Er, the commander of the Independent Cavalry Regiment of the Middle East Road Escort Army, uh, is Chang Ruiqing's bandit sister-in-law, Zhao Sanmei, riding on a horse, playing with a calfskin whip. Several wore gray Beiyang Army uniforms. But the junior officer, who was holding his sleeves and unbuttoned his style and buttons, and was wearing a big-brimmed hat crookedly, was reporting to her the results of the cavalry reconnaissance. From time to time, some black words popped out of their mouths, and it seemed that these people had just changed from bandits.

According to Xu Shuzheng and Wu Peifu's military deployment, the defense of the Middle East Railway from Suifenhe to Mudanjiang was carried out by the road guard division under the Middle East Road Guard. There is also the responsibility of this independent cavalry regiment, that is, the "Red Brigade Northeast Revolution Army" incorporated by Wu Peifu. The division commander of the road guard division was Guo Songling, and there was originally a political committee member who was concurrently served by Wu Shi, but a few days ago, Wu Shi received a telegram from Chang Ruiqing, and happily went to Guangdong to become the deputy commander of the army and the principal of the Whampoa Military Academy, and threw a mess to Guo Songling.

And Guo Songling's behavior is quite strict, and the former bandits in the road guard division are now unlucky, trapped in the barracks rebuilt from the Mudanjiang Railway Station, training day and night, and all kinds of military discipline that is so strict that it is not close to people! As for the garrison here on the Sino-Russian border in Suifenhe. was thrown by Guo Songling to the independent cavalry regiment of the Zhao family's mother and daughter.

Originally, the commander of this cavalry regiment was Zhao Xiang'er, but her mind had already flown to Chang Ruiqing, and she didn't have the heart to lead the troops at all, and everything on the team was lost to her sister Zhao Sanmei. In the end, she simply lost the position of regiment commander to her seventeen-year-old bandit sister and the bandit mother. I took my younger brothers Zhao Hu and Wu Shi all the way back to Guangzhou.

And neither Mama Zhao nor Zhao Sanmei have ever been in the regular army, and there are no talents in this area under their hands...... Even if you have them, you won't use them! Therefore, although the entire cavalry regiment hung the sign of the regular army, wore the clothes of the regular army, and still had a brand-new rifle in the hand, anyone who knew a little about military affairs would know that they were a gang of bandits at a glance from a distance!

However, the strength of this gang of bandits is still quite impressive. This independent cavalry regiment is a large regiment with a battalion establishment (the average cavalry regiment does not have a battalion rank). Under the jurisdiction of four battalions and sixteen companies, each company has four platoons of more than 100 people, and the regiment headquarters also directly governs a **** company and a female soldier company (the personal soldiers of the Zhao family's mother and daughter), there are more than 2,000 people! Of course, that was on the books, and the mother and daughter of the Zhao family asked Wu Peifu for salary this month according to the full quota of 2,200 people...... In fact, there are only 1,500 people in the sky.

Fortunately, Wu Peifu got a lot of cash from the treasury of the Russian Eastern Railway Administration when he captured Harbin, and now he has the money of the Eastern Railway that can be withheld (it should be given to the Ministry of Communications), so he has money in hand, and he is not as knowledgeable as the female streamers.

However, apart from the fact that this group of bandits has no discipline and probably has no rules when they start a war, they can still get together in other aspects. Most of these people are bandits in Changbai Mountain, and they don't have to say anything about equestrian marksmanship! Their equipment is also very good, each of them has a Type 38 rifle or a self-made ****, and they are also equipped with a lot of Type 38 heavy machine guns imitating Haqikai - in addition to the self-****, they are all trophies of the "Middle East Road Robbery". As for the artillery, they don't have it, and these bandits have no problem shooting, but if they give them a cannon, they will probably be able to hear a sound, and they will definitely not hit the target.

After listening to the report of her subordinates, a bunch of question marks popped up in Zhao Sanmei's mind. Since the "Harbin Incident", Lao Maozi's cavalry and infantry have crossed the border almost every day to harass, and all the villages on the border have been subjected to seedlings! His own team also fought with them several times, and there were casualties on each other. But in the past two days, why did Lao Maozi suddenly not move? It's unlikely that you'll be scared by your brothers, right?

"Send a few brothers in disguise and go to Lao Maozi's side to find out the truth." Zhao Sanmei thought for a while, then raised her horsewhip and pointed at the officer who looked more excited in front of her and ordered.

The officer was originally a bandit from Changbai Mountain, and he had a little natural fear of the Russians, and when he heard that he was going to reconnoiter in Russia, he hesitated and reminded: "Second Regiment Commander, Division Commander Guo's order is to let our regiment guard the border line, and report if you find the people of Lao Maozi's brigade." You didn't let us step on the line......"

Zhao Sanmei snorted softly. Xing'er glared: "We are an independent group, do you know?" Don't listen to that Guo devil. Besides, what's wrong with going over and looking into it? Only by knowing oneself and knowing one's opponent can one win a hundred battles...... Look at you bear-like, when I heard that Lao Maozi even had a weak leg and stomach, he played a ball! You don't have to go! As he spoke, he turned over and dismounted, and nodded a few times at the group of bandits who were not like bandits and soldiers were not soldiers: "You, you, you, and you." All follow me. Just run it by yourself! ”

The few guys who were ordered all got off their horses reluctantly, and glared at the officer who was unwilling to risk crossing the border to reconnoitre, and with a gloomy face, he followed the little girl who didn't know the height of the sky and the second regiment commander to cross the border to Lao Maozi's land and step on it.

……

"Superintendent. The Eastern Railway Escort Division reported that the main forces of the Russian army in Russia east of the Suifenhe railway station had withdrawn, and only about one company of troops was currently stationed in Pogranich. ”

Xu Shuzheng was in the room of the former Commander-in-Chief of the Middle East Road Road Guard, Horvat's Mansion, looking at the accounts sent below. It's all about the revenue and expenditure of the China Eastern Railway and the tax revenue of the "Harbin Autonomous City". Hearing this incident reported by his adjutant, his brows suddenly wrinkled: "Middle Eastern Railway Road Guard? Isn't it the original Red Brigade? How did they know that there was an emptiness of troops in Russia? ”

"According to Guo Songling's report, it was people from the Independent Cavalry Regiment of the Road Guard Army who crossed the border to reconnoiter in Russia."

With a snap, Xu Shuzheng slammed the ledger in his hand on the table: "Nonsense!" Who let them cross the border? A bunch of guys who don't succeed enough and have more than enough to lose...... You go and send a telegram to Guo Songling and order him to restrain his troops and not cross the border to provoke the Russians! ”

In fact, what has calmed down in the past two days is not only the Sino-Russian border on the Suifen River, but the entire border area between Manchuria and Russia! The Russian army seems to have stopped the border raids after the "Harbin incident", and Wu Peifu, who is sitting in Hailar, also reported it. It is said that the Russian army on the front line in Manchuria also shows signs of retreat!

In this regard, Xu Shuzheng's military adviser to the northeast, Kenji Tohihara, explained: "A few days ago, the imperial military adviser in Ufa reported that the 'South Russian Volunteer Army' commanded by the famous Russian general Denikin was defeated by the Red Army commanded by Trotsky under the city of Moscow! Now that the Provisional Government is in a tight position, it is estimated that the Russians are ready to transfer the forces they deployed on the Eastern Front to the Western Front to stabilize the situation, right? General Xu, now may be a good opportunity for a peaceful resolution of the Sino-Russian conflict! The Japanese side can come forward to mediate......"

For mediation or something. Of course, Xu Shuzheng couldn't ask for it. Now that the Middle Eastern Railway and Harbin are firmly under their own control, and the Russian Provisional Government is in an unfavorable situation in the civil war, it is definitely beneficial for China and Beiyang to carry out peace talks in this situation! Dingtian is to give way to each other, he has already thought about the bottom line, the Eastern Railway must be recovered...... Beiyang also wants to use it to mortgage it to the Japanese himself in exchange for the military expenses of the crusade against the Nationalist Government! However, the Russian concession in Harbin can be returned to the Russians, which should be attractive to the Russians. In case they are defeated in the civil war, their noble lords will also have a place to stay.

Therefore, he has already sent a telegram to Duan Qirui, and the central government has formally submitted a request to the Japanese side to mediate the Sino-Russian conflict. Unexpectedly, before the mediation of the "Day" himself began, this group of Red Brigade bandits with the sign of the Road Escort Army came to make trouble for themselves! It seems that it is always a scourge for this gang of bandits to stay!

He squinted his eyes and pondered there, whether he wanted to find some name to invite several leaders of the road guards to Harbin to participate in the Hongmen banquet! At the same time, send troops to raid the garrison of the road protection division and eliminate this group of red brigade bandits? The great powers hate them very much, and if they can remove this thorn in their side for the great powers, it must also help the peaceful resolution of the Sino-Russian conflict, right? And there must be someone among the leaders of the road guards who knows who the real Zuo Min is!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but laugh.

There was a sound of riding boots at the door, and when Xu Shuzheng looked up, he saw Kenji Dohihara, an adviser to the Japanese company, and a diplomat in a tuxedo and a top hat walking in under the guidance of his adjutant. The faces of the two "Day" devils are surprisingly dignified! Could it be that the Russian side rejected Japan's mediation?

Xu Shuzheng hurriedly waved his hand to let his adjutant retreat, and asked in a deep voice, "Tufei Yuanjun, what's going on?" Is there trouble with mediation? ”

Kenji Dohihara smiled bitterly and nodded: "Is there some trouble...... On the Russian side, Horvat and Semyonov put forward the prerequisites for a peaceful settlement of the incident. ”

"On what terms?" Xu Shuzheng frowned and asked.

Kenji Dohihara said loudly: "The Russian side demands that the terrorists of the Red Brigade who caused the Middle East Road robbery be severely punished!" That is, the road guards of the Eastern Railway who have just been incorporated! This force must be disarmed, and their leader must be handed over to the Russian side! ”

Hearing this news, Xu Shuzheng breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Tu Feiyuan: "Tu Feiyuan-kun, this request can be considered." By the way, is there anything else? At this time, he saw that the diplomat who had arrived with Tohihara was still frowning tightly, as if he had something on his mind.

Tu Feiyuan glanced at the man, and the man smiled at Xu Shuzheng, and introduced himself: "Next is the Consul General of the Japanese in Mukden, Yata Shiataro!" There are some important things in Fengtian that I would like to tell General Sù Xu...... It's about the conspiracy between General Zhang Zuolin and the Nationalist Government in Guangzhou! ”！！！