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Even at the end of June, the nights in Eastern Siberia are still somewhat cold, with temperatures usually only a few degrees Celsius. This is a great test for the soldiers on the march and fighting. Fortunately, for this battle, the Imperial Logistics Department was well prepared, and each soldier brought a thick blanket. Wrap your whole body in a blanket so that you don't get frozen when you sleep. The soldiers standing guard also usually wear blankets over their bodies to keep warm. Such preparations prevented too much non-combat attrition in the Imperial* army.

Of course, the Russians don't seem to need it, and compared to the Chinese, the Russians are already a little more resistant to cold. Such temperatures have almost no effect on them.

On June 24, at 0:00 a.m., the Russian army, which had already been prepared, walked out of the barracks. Even though the weather was a little cold, the Russian officers and soldiers wearing single clothes didn't seem to feel it at all. Everyone was silent, and by the faint light of the stars, they began to enter the attack position. They all knew that this night attack was undoubtedly their last chance. If they don't succeed, they have no hope of winning this battle. Therefore, almost all the Russian officers and soldiers have made the final preparations.

On the artillery position of the Russian army, the remaining artillery pushed the last remaining nearly 200 cannons onto the artillery position. These two hundred cannons were concentrated and used, and they were to focus on bombarding a certain section of the line of defense of the Chinese* army. And then. The Russian army will also focus on attacking this area, hoping to tear a hole in the defense line of the Chinese* army.

When the hour hand on the pocket watch pointed to 12, the artillery positions of the Russian army opened fire.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "More than two hundred cannons. Fire at the same time. The flames of the muzzles of the guns reflected the sky red. Dense shells whizzed towards the lines of the Imperial* army. Then there was a violent explosion on the line of defense of the Reich* army.

The Imperial soldiers, who were standing guard on duty, hurriedly hid in the trenches, holding their heads in their hands, and pressed their bodies tightly against the bottom of the trenches to avoid being affected by the shock wave of the shell explosion. Sudden shelling by Russian troops. As a result, the officers and soldiers on the defense line of the Imperial Army woke up from their sleep one after another and entered the position as soon as possible. Prepare to fight back.

The Russian infantry, as soon as the shelling began, also attacked. The remnants of the 7th Infantry Corps of the Russian army of more than 20,000 people were all thrown into the battle. Other than that. The 9th Army of the Russian Army also sent more than 20,000 people over. They're all the way. It will be the main attack, and the 15th and 18th armies of the Russian army will be responsible for assisting and pinning down the other Chinese* troops on the defensive line.

"What's going on?" The moment the cannon sounded, the commander of the Imperial Army, Major General Liu Zhongming, was immediately awakened.

"General, the line of defense of the 1st Brigade of the 19th Army was attacked. General Zhang Wei has already arrived at the front line and is arranging defenses. The staff officer reported.

Major General Liu Zhongming listened attentively. Frowning and asked, "What about our artillery?" Why hasn't the enemy's artillery fire been suppressed yet! ”

"General, it's too dark right now. The artillery is still estimating the position of the artillery of the Russian army. The staff officer said.

"Regardless of this for now, order the artillery, all the 75mm field artillery battalions, to provide artillery support for the defense line of the 19th Brigade, and the Russians must have regarded the defense area of the 19th Brigade as a breakthrough point. Let the light howitzer battalion do their best to suppress the enemy's artillery fire. Otherwise, the 19th Brigade will lose no small amount. Major General Liu Zhongming said. Although he had long guessed that the Russians would definitely launch a counterattack tonight. But I didn't expect that the Russian army's counterattack would be so sharp. There is no doubt that this battle will also be a test for the Imperial Army. If it can't be resisted, the Imperial Army's defenses will be crushed. Once the defensive line is breached, the four corps deployed west of the Kitoi River are in danger.

"Yes, General!" The staff officer nodded, and immediately went to deliver the order.

Subsequently, Major General Liu Zhongming ordered that several other armies must also be ready for battle. As soon as the front line is in need, they need to immediately reinforce the front line.

On the defensive line of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army, artillery fire was continuous. As the key target of the Russian army, it almost single-handedly withstood the fire of more than 200 artillery pieces of the Russian army. If it had stayed in the anti-artillery hole, the losses of the 19th Brigade would not have been too great. However, the key problem is that the Russian infantry also launched an attack on their positions, which made the officers and men of the 19th Brigade have to brave the Russian artillery fire to hold their positions.

"Dog's day, those old hairy people treat Lao Tzu as a soft persimmon, thinking that they can be bullied at will? Order all battalions to enter the position immediately, even if it is to fight to the last person, you have to nail Lao Tzu to the position! Brigadier General Ma Xiangming, commander of the 19th Brigade, said viciously.

"Yes, Brigadier General!" The herald quickly conveyed the order of Brigadier General Ma Xiangming. Of the 19 infantry battalions under the 6th brigade, 4 of them have already entered positions and braved the artillery counterattack of the Russian army. The other two infantry battalions were used as reserves. During the daytime fighting, the 19th Brigade's defensive line was not the target of the Russian army's main attack, so their losses were very light.

"Boom!" A shell fell into the trench of the 2nd Battalion of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army, and the shell exploded, and an infantry squad in the entire section of the trench was immediately reimbursed. A hole more than ten meters long was left.

"Dog's day, 3 rows, send a squad to make up!" A captain company commander asked with a dark face. Although the trenches effectively protected the soldiers, if the shells fell into the trenches, they would undoubtedly cause huge casualties. It can only be said that luck is too weak.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Imperial artillery, located on the east bank of the Kitoy River, also launched a counterattack. The artillery of the 75-mm field artillery battalion, which began to roar, poured shells into the area in front of the position. It's just that the night affected the accuracy of the shelling, and although a lot of shells were consumed, the losses caused to the Russian army were not large.

Light howitzers, the position of the artillery of the Russian army is being calculated according to the ballistics of the Russian army. However, only an approximate location can be derived. Also because of the night, the accuracy of the artillery bombardment was greatly affected, and for a time it was impossible to suppress the Russian artillery, so that the officers and men of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army had to brave the Russian artillery fire to fight desperately, which caused a lot of losses!

"Boom!" The Russian troops, who were secretly touching the line of defense of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army, accidentally stepped on a mine. After the mine exploded, even the surrounding Russian troops fell into bad luck.

These mines were planted by the Imperial Army after dark, in order to prevent a sneak attack by the Russian army.

"Whew! Shout! Shout! One after another, flares were launched into the air, and the figures of the Russian troops appeared one after another under the illumination of the strong light of the flares.

The mortars of the Imperial Army, immediately opened fire on these Russian troops. Dense shells exploded in the ranks of the Russian troops, harvesting the lives of the Russian troops.

"Charge! Hurry up! Just rush through the lines of those Chinese! The front-line commander of the Russian army, commanded loudly.

"Ulla! Ulla! "Kill all those Chinese!"

The officers and soldiers of the Russian army, no longer hiding their traces, straightened their waists and charged quickly. Taking advantage of the darkness of the night, they managed to reach a position less than a kilometer away from the line of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army.

"Dada! Dada! Soon, heavy machine guns on the positions also rang out. The tongues of fire spewed out from the muzzle of the gun, which were particularly eye-catching under the night sky. Dense bullets loomed over the Russian troops, knocking those Russian troops to the ground.

"Boom!" A shell landed near the point of fire of a heavy machine gun, and after the shell exploded, the entire point of fire was blown away. The heavy machine gun was directly destroyed, and the two heavy machine gunners were torn to pieces by shrapnel.

The tragic battle unfolded on the defensive line of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army, and tens of thousands of Russian troops used this as a breakthrough to launch a fierce attack. Coupled with the need to brave the artillery fire of the Russian army to hold the position, the losses of the 19th Brigade can be imagined.

"Order the reserves, go into battle! Also, ask for help from the military department! Brigadier General Ma Xiangming, commander of the 19th Brigade, gritted his teeth and said.

Within an hour of the battle, the front-line troops of the 19th Brigade had suffered heavy losses, which forced him to use the head of the reserve and at the same time request support from armaments.

Fortunately, at this time, the artillery of the Russian army has been gradually suppressed by the imperial artillery. Without the threat of Russian artillery, the casualties of the Imperial Army would be much smaller. At the critical moment, Major General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army, transferred a brigade to strengthen the defense line of the 19th Brigade. With the addition of the new force, this section of the 19th Brigade of the Imperial Army was strengthened. Even if the Russian army had advanced to a distance of only more than a hundred meters from the defense line of the Imperial Army, it could not cross the last distance.

The last 100-odd meters were like a natural danger in front of the Russian army, no matter how many troops the Russian army invested, they could not break through, but instead left corpses on the ground.

"Damn, why are those Chinese so tenacious? Order the front, launch an offensive at any cost, and be sure to break through the defense line of the Chinese! Lieutenant General Bryus, commander of the 7th Infantry Corps of the Russian Army, said through gritted teeth. There is no doubt that in this attack, the Russian 7th Army once again paid heavy losses. After this night's fighting, the 7th Army could almost be removed from formation. However, if the defense line of the Chinese* army can be broken, these sacrifices will be worth it.

However, the development of the war situation backfired, and no matter how hard the Russian army tried, the defense line of the Chinese* army remained as stable as Mount Tai. (To be continued......)