At night, the command of the Northern Front in Baikalsk remained *** bright.

Putting down the telegram in his hand, Marshal Wang Zhi, the commander of the front army, stood up with a yawn, and habitually approached the huge combat map on the wall, which was already familiar to the point of being scorched.

"What's new?" Chief of Staff Xiang Lan rubbed his eyes and sat up from the sofa in the corner, since the battle began, he and Wang Zhi had only taken a nap on the sofa in the office, and had never slept well.

"Yuan Xu's detachment has just taken the second bridge, Jima...... Good guys, rushed two hundred kilometers in one go. Wang Zhi excitedly high-fived himself with his fist, amazed.

"How many cars have you broken down? You're running out of oil, right? Xiang Lan grabbed the enamel teapot on the table, poured two sips, lit another cigarette, and threw one to Wang Zhi.

"I didn't say it, but they have captured trains, and the supplies should not be able to keep up."

"That's not enough, isn't it?"

"I have already asked the base camp to send army aviation support, saying that it will be dispatched tonight to send airships to resupply, if it goes well, it can replenish 150 tons of fuel in one night, enough for them to use all day." Wang Zhi took a deep puff of his cigarette and turned back to his desk, which was piled high with telegrams and official documents.

"The 18th Army pushed from the Tangnu Ulianghai side for four days and four nights, and the advance team was also near Bakan, two hundred and fifty kilometers, not simple, and another three hundred kilometers will be pushed to Krasnoyarsk."

"Descendants of Genghis Khan." Xiang Lan proudly continued, "The 18 episodes are all cavalry, and they can rely on the Yenisei River to replenish supplies, and there are not many enemies on the opposite side, so it's strange not to rush fast." ”

"It's time for the enemy to react, I don't believe they will give up Kecheng easily. Huddled in Novosibirsk and waited to be beaten on both sides. ”

"That's right, Yuan Xu's detachment has to hurry. The reason why the enemy did not immediately blow up the dozen or so iron bridges between Angarsk and Kecheng after the fall of Angarsk should be that there is still hope for the enemy to break through in Irkutsk, and once the enemy finds that the Icheng side is hopeless, he will definitely try to destroy all the railway junction facilities east of the city, save the city to the death, and buy time for the Novosibirsk side to strengthen its defenses. Xiang Lan analyzed.

Wang Zhi nodded, and shook his head again: "You say, what are the enemies of Novosibirsk waiting for?" ”

"Wait for reinforcements."

"What about when reinforcements come in? What will they do? Waiting for us to attack from both sides. Pull them out of one of the last big fortresses in Siberia? ”

Xiang Lan sneered: "That will only kill faster, the only chance is to use the advantage of the inner line, concentrate forces, and break each one." ”

"Break us first? Or break the Northwest Army first? ”

"If the enemy concentrates his strength to attack our army, he will definitely be blocked and surrounded by the strong Northwest Army. If we concentrate our efforts on attacking the North-Western Army, there will be no such problem for the time being, and as long as Irkutsk is still in their hands, we will not be able to support the army to attack Novosibirsk in a short time. It is not impossible to build a new section of railway and a large iron bridge of hundreds of meters around the fire range of the fortress. But it takes time, a long time. ”

Wang Zhi sighed helplessly. "We have no choice, even if we can successfully conquer the fortress, the enemy will not be so kind, leave the surrounding railway facilities and the iron bridge of the new city of Irkutsk to us completely." ”

"Of course, no matter what, if there is trouble, the Northwest Army will take the lead first, and we can just cook and eat the wrapped dumplings with peace of mind."

Wang Zhi tried his best to control the upper and lower eyelids fighting and brawling and making revolutions, and his right hand subconsciously rummaged in the pile of paper: "Dumplings...... The dumplings in the south have been gnawed off a corner today. One-third, the other two-thirds, is fairly tightly wrapped, though. The dumpling wrappers in the north were not enough, and the Praetorian Cavalry Army was less than 10,000 to plug the gap of seventy or eighty kilometers. It's too thin. ”

"Didn't the First Army follow?"

"The First Army marches on the feet of the infantry, and it can't keep up, so I think we have to let the armored soldiers go up." After Wang Zhi finished speaking, he took out a telegram and placed it in the middle of the table, beckoning Xiang Lan to come and see.

According to the telegram, the 2nd Kamibelu Brigade, which was based on the 121st Reserve Infantry Division, had landed in the village of Baikal before nightfall and was scheduled to take over the defense between Shelikhov and Baikal the next day.

Xiang Lan glanced at it, probably understood, and patted the table lightly: "The 121st Division arrived at Shelikhov, and Xing Xiaoqiang's 4 can be liberated, so you plan to let the 4th Army go back to support the ~ Army?" ”

Wang Zhi crossed his arms and nodded, and shook his chin to the side of the map: "Well, I plan to let the troops cross the river again and directly attack the enemy Siberia from the east 4, and at the same time let the Forbidden Cavalry Army from the north, the main force of the cavalry from the west, and the main force of the 4 episodes from the south. In addition, the Forbidden Cavalry Army, the 2nd Cavalry Army, and the 4th Army each cooperated with the 1st Army advancing from the west to temporarily absorb the enemy's 2nd Siberian Army. ”

"This dumpling is just cooked, it shouldn't be hot," Xiang Lan smiled slightly, "It's the hard walnut in Irkutsk, it's a bit bothersome." ”

"There's nothing to worry about, when the cooked dumplings here are finished, the sappers will work hard to repair a railway line bypassing Irkutsk, so that the follow-up troops can rush to support the Kecheng side as soon as possible, and the rest of the things will be handed over to our local attack expert Commander Xiao to play. This time, it is possible to transport siege materials by water, and there are not many railway lines between Slyudyanka and Irkutsk that need to be rebuilt, and the progress should be much higher than that of Ulan-Ude. "Wang Zhizhi has a straight chest.

Xiang Lan tilted his head: "Hurry up to repair the railway line...... It's easy to say, but the people of the Railway Army are going to be miserable. ”

"For the great cause of the empire, sacrifice your life at all costs, a little skin labor, are you embarrassed to mention it? Besides, it's not them who work hardest, it's those white-haired people who really do the coolies, right? ”

"Prisoners of war and conscripted local civilians." Xiang Lan sneered, "If you don't work, you won't have anything to eat, if you want to blame their Tsar's Majesty, we are also very embarrassed to transport the local grain and burn it all, we can't ask us to use the precious grain we have transported all the way to raise a group of lazy people who eat white food, right?" The men worked hard to build roads, and the women accompanied the army to do laundry, cook, sew and clean up, and earn food by their own labor, which not only facilitated our army, but also gave them a way to live. ”

"Of course, okay, you have to work hard again, Your Royal Highness, just do what you just said, and make an order." Wang Zhi smiled evilly and yawned, sleepwalking towards the marching bed by the wall......