Ili River, city of Alatau.

Located in the lower reaches of Ili, the confluence of two tributaries into the Ili River, it is also the front line of the Ili River's imminent entry into the desert. What was once a flat land has now become a strong fortress rising from the ground. It was China's only military fortress west of the Kurik River.

"Boom, boom, boom......"

The shelling of the artillery clusters of the Russian army began again. Countless shells streaked across the sky, drowning the forward lines of defense of the Chinese National Defense Forces in a sea of fire. In the eyes of Wang Guosheng, commander of the Xinjiang Military Region, Chen Bo, commander of the New 22nd Division, and Chen Jing, chief of staff of the Xinjiang Military Region, who had just arrived at the frontline battlefield, the campaign preparations of the Russian army on the opposite side were completely unscrupulous. They no longer try their best to maintain the suddenness of the battle, as they did in the last war, and do everything possible to cover up their combat intentions, in order to catch the enemy off guard.

The Russian army is very confident!

However, according to Chen Jing, the scale of the Sino-Russian war is much larger than the last time, and a war of this scale is more about strength, real strength! In the future, there will be no suddenness in the battles that will be fought one after another. The battle lines between the two sides are cohesive, and if any large-scale military operation is carried out without adequate preparation, it is the murder of soldiers. And once a large amount of ammunition and material reserves are assembled, the strategic intention cannot be concealed. What kind of surprise attack is simply impossible.

The build-up of troops, the concentration of artillery, and the movement of materials on both sides will be carried out more and more blatantly.

At most, it is a means of concealing the truth and revealing the false in terms of the size of the troops. It probably doesn't make much sense either.

On the battlefield of the Western Front between China and Russia, the fixed defensive lines of both sides have been in operation for a long time, and they are all very strong permanent fortifications. Equipped with a large number of heavy machine guns and artillery, if you want to break the position, you must rely on real skills!

At present, a battalion of the Xinjiang Military Region and a local garrison regiment with tens of thousands of troops are defending the city of Alataau. Behind them were two battalions of the new 22nd Division, and a battalion of the Combined Army. The combined forces of this battalion were predominantly Koreans.

Now there are 20,000 people in the new Korean army. 5,000 people guarded Seoul, 5,000 troops guarded the area, and the remaining 10,000 people were incorporated into the National Defense Force, most of whom served in the Northeast Military Region, and only the current battalion came to the Northwest Battlefield.

Arriving at about the same time as the three battalions of reservists, there were also tens of thousands of horse-drawn wagons that continuously transported a large number of military supplies from the Ili city along the road to the front. Clothing, ammunition, food, medicine, guns and equipment, these are all astronomical amounts.

Over the years, Xinjiang's preparations for war have been actively underway. The last six months. is to go all out to deal with this war. The amount of war material that can be gathered by the strength of a country is unimaginable to ordinary people. The various headquarters, warehouses, hospitals, and transportation networks were quickly built with the hard work of the sappers. All kinds of supplies are stored in different categories.

This war was the first war of the industrial age that China would face after its rise. What we are experiencing now is the best practical lesson in industrialized warfare. Such experience will be systematically summed up and become the basis for the new military reform, especially the logistics part.

And the various ways in which the war was organized and conducted in this war will also leave a strong mark on the history of world wars in the future. It's just that if we want to be sublimated and perfected, we may also need to have the fourth Sino-Russian war and the fifth Sino-Russian war. As long as the Russian Empire at that time was still willing to accompany you, it could still exist.

The sound of this war is a rehearsal of the future war model, and it will also herald the emergence of a completely different world pattern from the original time and space.

Cannon roared.

Wang Guosheng and Chen Bo stood on the watchtower of Alatau City, looking at the tumbling fires of the positions outside the city with binoculars. On the opposite side of the city of Alatau were the defensive positions of the Russian army. Now it is obscured by the thick smoke of gunpowder, and nothing can be seen.

It is clear that the artillery of the Russian army is beyond imagination! The exploding fireball is not a clump. Rather, it rises piece by piece, and the diameter is mostly 75mm and above. The explosion of some of these shells was particularly staggering, and the sound of the shells was earth-shattering. The flames that burst out directly engulfed the flames of the explosion of the shells on the side. This is definitely a heavy artillery, a 150mm heavy gun!

Among them, Wang Guosheng saw with his own eyes that a defensive wall made of reinforced concrete poured on the position was hit, and the ten-meter wall disappeared without a trace, as if it had never appeared in this world.

This scene, for the soldiers of this era, is really unthinkable - it is now 1889, not 1914, after all. Several officers of the subject countries who had just arrived from Japan, Korea, and Vietnam in the southwest, as well as many military cadets who had come with them for internships, all held their binoculars with their hands trembling slightly. With a pale face and a half-open mouth, he looked at the scene of a volcanic eruption in front of him.

After a while, Wang Guosheng put down the binoculars and said loudly to Chen Bo: "How is it?" You've been the commander of coastal defense for so many years, and you've never seen such a scene, right? ”

Chen Bo chose the coastal defense battalion at the beginning, but when Liu Xian raised the army, he was trapped in his duties and did not get any credit at all. After Cao Huailiang became the commander of the artillery, Chen Bo successfully took over the command of coastal defense, with the rank of lieutenant general, which is also reasonable. Before he retires, Liu Xian will give him a 'general' appeasement. However, after Chen Bo served as the commander of coastal defense for four years, he chose to join the army and chose to become a lieutenant general and division commander of a newly established unit.

The rumbling cannon sound tore Wang Guosheng's voice into staccato sound. But Chen Bo still heard it clearly, turned his head to look at him, and said with a wry smile: "It's not that I haven't seen it." I can't even think of it! No matter how powerful the artillery fire of the coastal defense fortress is, no matter how thick the barrel is, how can the current fierce fight be fought without the enemy? ”

The army's 150mm heavy artillery is simply a little brother in coastal defense. However, the mood is different, this is the real battlefield of actual combat, Chen Bo feels that these 150mm heavy guns are much sharper than the 260mm heavy guns under his command in the past.

However, Chen's perception was overturned by the Russian army in the afternoon of the same day. In the afternoon, shells with a power greater than 150mm heavy artillery shells appeared in the Russian artillery shelling. With heavy artillery above 200mm, the Russian army really used the Navy's fortress guns on the positional battlefield on land. And they had quite a few fortress guns.

"Originally, I thought that barbed wire and trenches, heavy machine guns and artillery were insurmountable barriers. But now it seems that under such powerful firepower, there is no moat at all! And what about 10 years, 20 years from now? How many times more powerful cannons are than they are now? Think about it 20 years ago, when Lao Tzu fought Lao Maozi in Xinjiang, the cannon was a little stronger. ”

Wang Guosheng and Chen Bo are both high-level leaders of the National Defense Force, especially Chen Bo, the former commander of coastal defense, but he is aware of the hydraulic tube withdrawal gun that the Chinese military is studying. What kind of power is this thing? If the research is successful, the firepower and accuracy of the cannon will be improved by leaps and bounds.

"Defense is never everything!" Chen Bo has been in the coastal defense army for so many years, but he looks at this problem very thoroughly. He is very disdainful of the theory of 'winning by defense' that has been developed in European military theory. In his words - the shore defense artillery is never a real threat to the enemy ship, what can really make the enemy afraid is the own warship behind the shore defense gun!

"It should be an eight-inch fortress cannon!" Chen Jing frowned and climbed the watchtower, glanced at the battlefield, and his brows tightened for three points, "We're not afraid." The Alatau line also had heavy artillery of more than 200mm caliber. I just wanted to hide it and give Lao Maozi a blow. Now I can't hide it anymore. However, the number of Russians is indeed larger, I wonder how many such heavy artillery pieces will be deployed around Almaty? ”

Chen Jing's heart was full of victory confidence. Liu Xian's personal expedition this time was simply boiling across the country. The morale of the troops in Xinjiang is even more high, and boiling blood can be seen in every eye.

The emperor is the Chinese god of war and a symbol of the victory of the whole country. Even though Liu Xian had not been on the battlefield for quite some time, no one would doubt or waver about him.

"Or twenty of them!" Wang Guosheng smiled bitterly. The Xinjiang Military Region's assessment of Russia is low, and the Russians have absolutely invested enough money in this battle. "It seems that we are underestimating the industrial power of the Russians! With so many large-caliber heavy artillery deployed in just one position, the Russians are well prepared. ”

"But ......, we're not badly prepared!" Wang Guosheng lifted his spirits. Looking at Chen Jing, "Chief of Staff, order the heavy artillery to fire." You can't just let the Russians show their face, we are no worse than it. ”

"Yes, Commander!"

Another reason why Chen Jing came to the tower was that he wanted to discuss with Wang Guosheng whether he would also light up his own cannon. Otherwise, if the Russians keep bombarding like this, it will lose morale for the soldiers guarding the position.

Wang Guosheng now gave the order directly, and Chen Jing naturally obeyed. The messenger quickly raised the signal flag indicating the order, while the telegraph operator in the watchtower dialed the phone number of the bunker fort. Chen Jing personally issued the order to open fire.

Phone! Yes, phone!

Since Alexander. Graham. Bell invented the telephone, and since Edison reformed the telephone, it has had a basis for spreading. Liu Xian has always been extremely concerned about the development of communication equipment. So in China, the telephone also quickly found its way into the military, the government, and the homes of the wealthy.

In particular, Stella invented the automatic telephone in one year on the basis of Edison's invention of the common telephone set. It has made a great contribution to the development of 'China Electric'.

As for some invention patents involved in the middle, Liu Xian is not messing around, and will buy them with money. When Edison's bamboo charcoal incandescent lamp and direct current business suffered a heavy setback due to the emergence of tungsten incandescent lamps and alternating current, Edison also bought it at a high price. Although it was mainly Morgan, the American tycoon behind Edison, who paid the money. (To be continued......)