On January 10, 1915, at the Coulomb Railway Station, a striking white special train slowly approached the West Platform.

"Playing music!"

At the sound of the music, a general, with eagle eyes and eyebrows, arranged the leather gloves on his hands and walked slowly off the train, followed by a large number of entourage.

"Salute—"

There was a neat "click" sound, and the team raised their shiny rifles to their chests, ready to be reviewed.

"Commander Wang, you're finally here, welcome."

A general in a mink coat with a broad forehead stepped forward and warmly shook the hand of the visitor.

"His Royal Highness the Prince has been polite, Wang has just arrived, and I ask His Royal Highness to give advice."

Because of the complicated affairs between the DPRK and China, and the empress repeatedly inquired about it, Wang Zhi was unable to take up his post before the start of the war, and the post of commander of the front army was temporarily concurrently held by General Xiang Lan, chief of staff.

Admiral Xiang Lan, who was known as His Royal Highness the Prince, looked up humbly and smiled: "Where and where, you are the commander, I am the chief of staff, I don't dare to give advice, it's good to answer all questions." ”

His Royal Highness Xiang Lan, one of the "Five Tiger Generals" commonly known in Liu Yunxin's lineage, has made many meritorious contributions in the First Sino-Japanese War and the Asian-Russian War, and was awarded the title of Prince Horqin for his merits as early as the former Qing Dynasty. After Emperor Taizuwu of this dynasty ascended the throne, he was awarded the title of Prince of Mongolia because of his meritorious service, and he was hereditary and replaced, and served as the commander of the Mongolian Military Region, the director of the cavalry, and the dean of the Cavalry Academy.

The two exchanged a few polite words, gave a rough introduction to the important personnel behind them, and then inspected the team together, and then took a "Wang Hu" brand car together, all the way to the front military command department.

"Tell me about the battle first, and we'll talk about it later."

As soon as he got out of the car, Wang Zhi couldn't wait to understand the situation.

Xiang Lan raised his hand and smiled: "I knew that Commander Dao Wang would say this, please go this way." ”

The headquarters of the front army is located in the compound of the former Mongolian Military Region Headquarters, and the commander's office and the staff office are in the same red-walled small western-style building.

On the side wall of the staff room, a huge battle situation map is hung, and in the middle of the circular conference table is a well-made sand table, the map and the sand table, the two are contrasted, and the battle process is clear at a glance.

Xiang Lan personally took the whip and explained to Wang Zhi.

"The two assault clusters under the unified command of our Mongolian Front have not encountered strong enemy resistance since the two battles of Kyakhta and Novoselenginsk, and the left flank group yesterday crossed the frozen Selenga River, cut off the railway line from Ulan-Ude to the Irkutsk side, and went around to the northern outskirts of Ulan-Ude. The right-wing group also captured Onohoi, an important town on the south bank of the Uda River and the eastern gate of Ulan-Ude, yesterday, cutting off the railway traffic between Ulan-Ude and Chita. ”

Wang Zhi looked at the map with his arms crossed, nodded happily and said, "Good job, two or three days ahead of the plan of the base camp." ”

A few days ago, Wang Zhi, who was still in the commander's center and participated in the overall situation, was naturally very clear about the details of the plans for the Baikal breakthrough operation.

The purpose of the operation was to tear the enemy forces east of Lake Baikal out of the battle line, that is, to cut off the enemy forces on the Chita and Ulan-Ude sides from the rear bases in Irkutsk, and then to encircle and annihilate them with an overwhelmingly superior heavy group.

To achieve such an aim, it is necessary to advance 250-400 kilometers in a very short time with a lightning-fast assault, cut off the railway line between Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude and Chita, as well as other major roads, and complete the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy's main group east of Lake Baikal in coordination with the attacking forces of the Northeast Front.

Infantry units with low mobility were clearly unsuitable for such tasks, and cavalry units alone could not break through infantry lines equipped with machine guns and rapid-fire guns, as had been well demonstrated in the European theater.

In this way, the base camp was specially allocated to the 4th Army of the Mongolian Front and the 3rd Army of the Northeast Front, which included 13 armored brigades, one motorized infantry division (1st Janissary Division) and 10 motor transport battalions, equipped with 700 armored vehicles and 6,000 vehicles and tractors - out of a total of 6,000 cars and tractors, 2,000 were assigned to armored brigades and 3,000 to the fully motorized 1st Praetorian Division. The remaining 1,000 belong to the various automobile battalions.

In the operational plan that was finally implemented, two assault groups were formed with the above-mentioned mechanized and motorized units as the core.

The troops that formed the Left Assault Group were mainly drawn from the 4th Group Army, and the armored forces included Major General Yintian's 1st Army, Major General Wen Yu's 2nd Army, and Major General Liu Yangbo's 3rd Army, the cavalry strength included the Praetorian Cavalry Corps of Lieutenant General Sutadelentai and the 1st Cavalry Army of Major General Mao Tianji, and the infantry strength was mainly the 1st Praetorian Guard Army of Lieutenant General Xu Soul (under the jurisdiction of the 1st Janissary Infantry Division, the 2nd Praetorian Guard Division carrying carriages and sleds, and the 1st Janissary Cavalry Brigade). The commander of the Left Assault Group was concurrently served by Lieutenant General Xu Soul.

The right assault group was organized by the 3rd Group Army, with the armored strength of the 4th Army of Lieutenant General Xing Xiaoqiang, the cavalry strength of the 3rd Cavalry Army of Major General Luo Jianqiu, and the infantry strength of the 7th Infantry Division (from the 5th Army) carrying carriages and sleds. The commander of the right assault group was concurrently served by Lieutenant General Xing Xiaoqiang.

The two assault groups on the left and right advanced along both sides of the Selenga River, resolutely broke through the enemy's blockade, and were scheduled to cross the Selenga River and the Uda River, a tributary of the Selenga River, respectively on the 16th day after the start of the battle, and complete the encirclement of Ulan-Ude, a strategic hub at the confluence of the two rivers.

After the two assault groups, there were the main groups of the left and right as the second echelon.

The main left group also came from the 4th Army, including Lieutenant General Zheng Hong's 2nd Praetorian Corps, the 1st and 2nd Infantry Corps, plus a cavalry brigade. It was led by the commander of the 4th Army, General Zhao Minhe.

The main right group was mainly the remnants of the 3rd Army: the remnants of the 5th Infantry Army - mainly the 10th Infantry Division, the 7th Infantry Army and the main forces of the 4th Cavalry Army. This part of the force was personally commanded by the commander of the 3rd Army, General Zhao Feixue.