In the command of the Russian army, because the commander of the theater of operations, Kuropatkin, suddenly fainted and fell unconscious when he heard that the rear road was occupied by the Dingbei Army, the 30 commanders of the Russian infantry corps who attacked the city of Darkhan gathered together to study the current hundreds of thousands of Russian troops.

The new commander of the Second Siberian Front, that is, the commander of the 3rd Army, Antonovich, heard that the commander of the Third Front, Ivanov, had stopped attacking the city of Darkhan, and immediately retreated with the whole army, avoiding the Dingbei Army from encircling and annihilating his hundreds of thousands of troops, his brows furrowed, and the original idea in his heart was to send 1 army to defeat the Dingbei Army in Maitou City and Haktu City, leaving the remaining troops to stick to the mountain fortifications, but he thought about the Dingbei Army in Haktu City and Maitou City since they dared to cut off the back road of their army, The strength must not be weak, if the troops sent cannot recapture the city of Haktu and the city of trading, then their hundreds of thousands of troops will be miserable. And how many troops to send to recapture the 2 cities behind the army is also a matter of scratching people's heads.

At present, only his own 3rd Army is still fighting in the army here, and he doesn't mind personally leading the 3rd Army to recapture 2 cities and open up supply channels, but if his 3rd Army leaves here, and the commander Kuropatkin is unconscious, he is really afraid that more than half of the casualties will suddenly collapse.

So Antonovich hesitated, then nodded approvingly and said: "We really can't stay here for a long time, now that the supply is interrupted, it is impossible to capture Darkhan City, and the Dingbei Army is likely to have increased its troops, and Darkhan City doesn't know how many Dingbei troops will be eyeing our hundreds of thousands of people!" It's just a pity that we have worked so hard to capture the mountain fortifications outside Darkhan City! However, I am also in favor of an immediate retreat, what do you commanders have to say? ”

The other 28 commanders looked at each other and couldn't help but nod their heads. All agreed to evacuate the city of Darkhan, after all, supplies were cut off. In addition, most of the armies, except for the 3rd Army, suffered more than half of the casualties. The combat effectiveness is already extremely weak, if you don't evacuate as soon as possible, and wait for the Dingbei Army to launch a counteroffensive, then I don't know what will happen.

At this time, Ivanov heard that all the army commanders agreed with his retreat, his face did not change, and he still said gloomily: "Since everyone agrees, we must immediately withdraw our troops and advance to the city of Maimai and Maktu, recapture the two border cities, and then quickly retreat to Irkutsk!" I am afraid that the Dingbei Army may attack the base camp of our Siberian theater of operations! ”

As soon as Ivanov finished speaking. The other 29 army commanders in the command, including Antonovich, all showed a look of horror, if the Dingbei Army really attacked Irkutsk, it would be a real disaster.

Antonovich, in particular, completely left behind the idea of dividing his troops to attack the city of Maidu and the city of Darkhan, and said anxiously: "Since everyone agrees to retreat, we will begin to retreat to the city of Haktu and the city of Maidu tomorrow, defeat the Dingbei army there, and then we will immediately withdraw to the country." Back to Irkutsk. ”

After a pause, Antonovich continued: "In addition, we must leave a force behind, hold the mountain fortifications, and block the pursuit of the Northern Army, let's study which troops to leave behind!" ”

Antonovich's words just fell. The headquarters became silent in an instant, and no one wanted to stay and take on the task of interdiction, especially in the current situation where ammunition supplies were very difficult.

In the end, the 20 army commanders agreed. Instead of leaving a single army, some troops are drawn from each army. After using the mountain fortifications to block the Dingbei Army for a period of time, the blocking troops can withdraw to the cities of Maimai and Mai and Haktu. They gave the blocking force the task of holding the mountain fortifications for 7 days.

On the afternoon of May 14th, in a private house in the city of Darkhan, the division commanders of all divisions of the Dingbei Army were in this Lin Daxin's temporary headquarters, compared to the depressed atmosphere of the Russian command, Lin Daxin's command at this time The atmosphere was very relaxed, Lin Daxin smiled and said to the 13 division commanders present: "The first armored division and the thirty-eighth division called, they have arrived outside the city of Irkutsk, and are preparing to launch an attack on Irkutsk, probably not long after, This base camp in the Siberian theater of operations will fall into our hands! ”

After the Panzer Division, the 38th and 39th Divisions raided the cities of Haktu and Mamao, the Panzer Division was divided into two, half of which remained in Mayucheng and Haktu and guarded the two border cities captured with the 39th Division, cutting off the retreat of the Russian army from here back to Russia, and the other half of the Panzer Division and the 38th Division went to attack Irkutsk, the base camp of the Siberian theater of operations.

Ni Fan, the commander of the Third Division, said: "Headmaster, our Russian troops outside Darkhan may have received the news that Haktu City and Maimao City have been occupied by our army, and they may retreat to Haktu City and Maimao City at any time, should we be ready to pursue the Russian army!" ”

Lin Daxin nodded and said: "It's really time to prepare, the Russian army's supplies have been cut off by us, and retreat has become the only way out for the Russian army, but it is not so easy for them to retreat, there are half an armored division and the thirty-eighth division in Maimaicheng and Haktu City, so it is basically impossible for the Russian army to reoccupy the two border cities there and withdraw to Russia." And even if the Russian army arrives in Irkutsk, it is already too late, Irkutsk is already in our hands, and they don't want to get any supplies in Irkutsk, so our troops in Darkutsk, as long as the Russian army attacking Darkhan retreats, we will follow the Russian army, and when they run out of ammunition and food, they can completely defeat the main force in the Siberian theater without much effort, at least they can annihilate most of it, and then I will see how Russia will fight me! ”

When Lin Daxin was making an impassioned speech, the adjutant of the Governor's Palace, who was with him, reported that the Russian army attacking Darkhan City had begun to retreat, but the Russian army had left a rear army in the mountain fortifications outside the city, so that the Dingbei Army could not lightly pursue their main force.

Lin Daxin didn't care about the blocking troops left by the Russian army, you must know that the mountain fortification group was built by the Dingbei Army itself, although in the end, the Dingbei Army guarding the mountain fortification group did not fight to the death with the Russian army in order to reduce casualties, and gave the mountain fortifications to the Russian army little by little. Most of the intact pillboxes and bunkers fell into the hands of the Russians, even the tunnels inside the mountain fortifications. In addition to the active destruction of the Dingbei Army, it was also left to the Russian army.

But since Lin Daxin has calculated, he will launch a counterattack. Why don't you leave some back-ups, otherwise it doesn't mean that the Dingbei Army has to pay a very big price to capture the mountain fortifications built by the Dingbei Army outside the city of Lower Darhan, then it will be sad, and the mountain fortifications built by the Dingbei Army themselves know how difficult it is to overcome.

Therefore, as early as when the Dingbei Army was built, a secret tunnel was reserved under each mountain fortification, and the place where it wanted to connect with other tunnels was not dug up. Leaving a layer of soil dozens of centimeters thick, as long as it is blown open with explosives, this secret tunnel will be connected to other tunnels. In order to conceal this secret tunnel, its entrance is 1 kilometer away from the mountain fortification group, and the officers and soldiers of the Dingbei Army can suddenly appear in the tunnel inside the mountain fortifications without the knowledge of the Russian army and launch a surprise attack on the Russian army.

Lin Daxin turned his head to Ni Fan and the other six division commanders who had been in Darkhan City and said: "Since the Russian army has begun to escape, then we are ready to recapture the mountain fortifications outside Darkhan City, and use the secret tunnels we have reserved to carry out a surprise attack." Your 6 divisions are familiar with the situation in the tunnel, so forget it today, and your 6 divisions will be responsible for recapturing the sneak attack of the mountain fortification group early tomorrow morning. ”

Ni Fan, Hu Desheng and other six division commanders stood up almost at the same time and said, "Yes! Headmaster! ”

Lin Daxin paused for a moment and then said: "After recapturing the mountain fortification group tomorrow, except for Ni Fan, each of their six divisions will leave a part to guard Darkhan City and the mountain fortification group outside the city. All the other troops pursued the Russian army with us, and tried to encircle and annihilate the Russian army attacking the city of Darkhan near the city of Maimei. ”

"Yes! Headmaster! The 13 division commanders of the Dingbei Army received the order in unison.

The Russian army, which attacked the city of Darkhan, began to retreat on the morning of the 14th. The troops left to guard the mountain fortifications were all drawn from various armies, and the total number of troops was only more than 20,000. There are 2 unlucky division commanders who lead, and the reason why these 2 division commanders are said to be unlucky. It was because no high-ranking officer was willing to stay in charge of the blocking mission, but there must be an officer of sufficient rank to stay and lead the more than 20,000 Russian blocking troops, so the commanders of the two Russian fronts, Antonovich and Ivanov, discussed it and decided to leave the two division commanders to command more than 20,000 blocking troops and guard the mountain fortification group.

But who will be kept? Antonovich and Ivanov had no choice but to come up with a way to draw lots, and as a result, 2 unlucky division commanders were retained.

In addition, in the Russian battalion north of the mountain fortification group, there are more than 40,000 seriously wounded Russian soldiers who have been abandoned, and the commanders of the two fronts, Antonovich and Ivanov, have no choice, if they take these more than 40,000 wounded soldiers, the speed of the march will be greatly affected, and now the commanders of the two fronts are very worried about Irkutsk, the base camp of the entire Siberian theater, and they must withdraw to Irkutsk as soon as possible.

And beg God not to let the troops of the Dingbei Army occupy Irkutsk, otherwise the situation of their hundreds of thousands of troops will become very unfavorable.

Therefore, the more than 40,000 wounded Russian soldiers who couldn't even walk on their own were ruthlessly abandoned, but not all of the wounded soldiers were abandoned, and some Russian officers were unable to move themselves, and they would also be carried on stretchers to retreat in the direction of Haktu City and Maimai City, including the unconscious theater commander Kuropatkin.

Before evacuating, Ivanov found the two remaining division commanders to his side, and said to the two division commanders with depressed faces: "Your task is to hold the mountain fortification group for 7 days, and then you can withdraw to Russian territory." ”

These two division commanders nodded helplessly, leaving them only more than 20,000 people, that is, the mountain fortifications outside Darkhan City were built by the Dingbei Army, but in the face of the attack of hundreds of thousands of Dingbei Army, their two division commanders did not have the bottom in their hearts to rely on the demoralized more than 20,000 people, and dragged the Dingbei Army here for 7 days.

And what these two division commanders felt desperate in their hearts was that they took more than 20,000 people to drag the Dingbei Army in Darkhan City for 7 days, and then they could evacuate the mountain fortifications and return to the territory of the Russian army? The odds of success are just too slim.

That is to say, the two division commanders and the other more than 20,000 Russian officers and soldiers who stayed behind are the outcasts who stayed, and the result is basically doomed.

Ivanov knew the mood of the two division commanders in front of him, and continued to say encouragingly: "You know very well that the situation of our remaining more than 400,000 troops is also a last resort to leave you, and I hope that you will bravely assume this responsibility for the sake of the Russian Empire." ”

The two division commanders continued to nod helplessly, who made them unlucky, hundreds of division commanders drew lots, but only the two of them drew the next lot, and they were left to guard the mountain fortifications outside Darkhan City.

At this time, a gleam flashed in Ivanov's eyes, and he said with a solemn face: "Now I have a very important task to you!" It's more important than guarding the mountain fortifications here! ”

And the task, what task, is even more important than guarding the mountain fortifications here?

The two unlucky division commanders looked at Ivanov with puzzled eyes, waiting for Ivanov to solve their doubts.

Ivanov said: "The strength of the Dingbei Army in Darkhan City may reach the scale of hundreds of thousands, and I hope that you will be here to consume a lot of the strength of the Dingbei Army, so that the Dingbei Army cannot continue to attack our Russian territory." ”

These 2 division commanders are even more puzzled, since they want to use the mountain fortifications here to consume a large number of the strength of the Dingbei Army, you should leave some more troops to guard the mountain fortifications here, relying on more than 20,000 people to be able to hold the Dingbei Army for a few days is a great luck, how can you have the energy to consider how to consume a large amount of the strength of the Dingbei Army, the 2 division commanders did not squeak and continued to wait for Ivanov to continue.

However, Ivanov's next words made the two division commanders show a shocked expression, they didn't expect Ivanov to be so ruthless, not only to use the mountain fortification group, but also to use the lives of tens of thousands of wounded soldiers in exchange for some losses of the Dingbei Army, but according to Ivanov's plan, the losses of the Dingbei Army cannot be small, it is really a vicious strategy.

The Russian army that finally evacuated the front line of Darkhan City had 450,000 troops, as well as about 40,000 Russian civilians, most of whom helped the Russian artillery units transport artillery, and the Russian army also had more than 1,100 artillery pieces with a caliber of more than 75 mm were withdrawn with the army, and the Russian army was located in the camp north of the mountain fortification group, leaving only more than 40,000 wounded soldiers who were full of mourning. (To be continued......)