Night, Novosibirsk, the command of the Russian post-Ural Front.

In front of Commander Brusilov, who was holding a vodka bottle, telegrams were piled up on the table, and none of them were good news.

On this day, the attack on Aleysk was called a success, to put it honestly, and it was called stealing chickens and rice. The well-organized and powerful assault team passed through the gap opened by the heavy artillery, and finally got into the enemy's ring defense line, but before it had time to expand the results of the battle, it was blocked by the enemy's skillfully organized machine gun and artillery fire, and then was intercepted by the enemy's tank troops, and the cavalry troops attacked head-on, 30,000 elite soldiers, nearly half of which were lost, and the only armored car company was also lost in this battle.

Today is the fourth day of the general assault on the Aleysk encirclement, and in just four days, the attacking troops, together with the blocking troops on the southern front, have reported a total reduction of more than 50,000 men, especially the blocking troops on the southern front, which suffered heavy losses in the "almost successful" operation of the enemy's armored forces on 2 August, losing most of the special anti-tank guns equipped by the front. The siege of only four days had also exhausted all the heavy artillery shells that the Front had reserved for the attacking troops, and if the offensive continued tomorrow, the troops would not be able to receive any heavy artillery support.

In particular, the 1st Tank Brigade and the 11th Armored Vehicle Brigade, the only two armored units of Russia that the army is most proud of, were ambushed by the Chinese army's antitank artillery in the past two days, losing 90 percent of its tanks and 60 percent of its armored vehicles, and basically losing its mobile assault capability.

The ground aviation units, which had once regained air supremacy in the local battlefield for the Front, were dealt a devastating blow in the fierce fighting of the past few days. According to the report of the commander of the aviation unit, Kamenev, in the next three days, he will have no more than 25 combat planes and no more than 15 complete crews in his hands -- the foreign volunteer crews, frightened by the terrible losses of the day, even refused to participate in the war!

According to the report of the commander of the Krasnoyarsk garrison, Pedilov, the Chinese armored forces had broken through the Iyar defense line less than 100 kilometers east of Kecheng in the early morning of the same day, and the 18th Chinese Army south of Kecheng broke through the Anash defense line in the afternoon of the same day, and it was estimated that it was moving rapidly northward along the Yenisei River. Pedilov admits that, with his current forces, "it is evident that he is no longer able to prevent these two superior forces of the enemy from joining forces under Krasnoyarsk in three to five days." ”

An even heavier blow came from the place that was destined to give up, but did not expect to give up so soon - Irkutsk.

On the afternoon of the same day, General Balreev, the commander of the "East Siberian Front," who was in name only, led the remnants of more than 10,000 people to surrender to General Zhao Feixue, commander of the Chinese army's siege force, and handed over all the fortress facilities, weapons and equipment, and government property in the area under his control. This big nail stuck in the logistics line of the Chinese Army's Northern Front has finally been completely removed.

What does this mean?

Brusilov was well aware. This means that an elite army of 500,000 to 600,000 men, armed with a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and heavy artillery, and equipped with powerful aviation, will be able to exert all its strength from today to attack his isolated and badly attritional post-Urals from the flank

The battle has been lost, and there is no point in continuing to hold on.

The heavy oak door was pushed open with great difficulty, and the chief of staff, Nacasidze, shuffled in with tired footsteps.

"Commander, have you decided?"

Brusilov smiled wryly and rolled the empty bottle to the ground. He got up and crossed his waist and said, "Please help me prepare three telegrams." ”

"Willing to help." Nakasidze shrugged. Light your pipe and spread pen and paper on the table.

"The first, to the base camp, was about the huge casualties of the troops, the depletion of technical equipment and shells, the inability to continue the offensive, and the surrender of the Irkutsk fortress exposed the flanks of the Front. The Front could be encircled at any time. So...... I propose to suspend this operation. The whole army, while carrying out a scorched earth policy, retreated to the line of the Ural Mountains. Rebuild a defensive line that can be maintained for a long time, trading space for time and waiting for further Allied support. ”

"The second copy is sent to all the armies on the southern front, ordering that from tomorrow onwards, the offensive will be suspended on all fronts for three days, and all units will seize the time to regroup their forces and do their best to maintain the existing front for backup."

"The third copy was sent to Pedilov on the Eastern Front, asking him to prepare for the abandonment and transfer of the city within three days, especially to make arrangements for the complete destruction of the transportation facilities along the line during the retreat, and to ensure that the transfer could be carried out as soon as he received the order after three days."

With a long sigh, Brusilov walked to the bedroom with his hands behind his back.

"Going to go tonight?" Nakasidze asked behind his back.

"The sooner the better." On the bank of the river south of the city of Ske, Marshal Liang Tianhe, commander of the Northwest Front of the Chinese Army, and General Yan Canglong, chief of staff, were inspecting the newly arrived reinforcements.

The dozens of small boats and flat-bottomed barges neatly arranged on the river belonged to the "forehead" unit of the Navy's Balkhash Lake Detachment transferred by rail, and the commander was Major Wang Zhaoming with a handsome face - here and now, only Liang Tianhe knew that this high-achieving student of the Naval Academy, who had been awarded the Emperor's sword, would be thrown to serve on the Harkhash Lake in the harsh inland climate.

In the railway yard on the shore, the brand-new chariots that are being unloaded from the flatbed - the flying wolf with long barrels, and the iron leopard with a slippery appearance, belong to the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the Praetorian Armored Cavalry, these two brand-new armored brigades converted from the Praetorian Cavalry Brigade, are not only equipped with the latest combat vehicles, but also equipped with rare goods such as half-track armored transport vehicles, self-propelled guns, and semi-automatic rifles that the Northwest Front does not have, which makes Liang Tianhe covet.

At the other end of the shunting yard, black-uniformed Praetorian soldiers streamed down from the black-skinned stuffy tankers, the vanguard of the 2nd and 5th Praetorian Divisions, as if to correspond to the luxury of the Janissary cavalry. The baggage and artillery of these two Praetorian Infantry Divisions were all towed by trucks!

As for the wagons of the adjacent rows of neighing horses and the strong smell of horse dung, they should be loaded with the war horses of the 12th Infantry Corps and the 4th Cavalry Corps, but for Liang Tianhe, the biggest problem is how to raise enough fodder to feed these creatures that eat ten times the amount of humans......

"The unloading of the naval force was completed last night, counting 4 armored gunboats, 6 armed speedboats, 6 armed barges, and 24 transport barges......"

"The vehicles of the 1st Guards Cavalry Brigade were unloaded last night, and the personnel were assembled the day before yesterday. The 2nd Guards Cavalry Brigade still owes vehicle personnel to the tank battalion and the motorized infantry battalion...... It is expected that the Janissary Cavalry Brigade will be available by August 10. ”

"The 2nd Praetorian Guard Division has arrived at the division headquarters, one battalion each of field artillery and howitzers, all of the reconnaissance battalion, the 1st battalion of the engineer regiment, the 3rd battalion of the baggage regiment, and the 6th regiment of the Praetorian Infantry; The 5th Janissaries Division has arrived at the division headquarters, the headquarters of the 9th Brigade, the two field artillery battalions, the entire reconnaissance battalion, the 1st and 2nd battalions of the Engineer Regiment, the 1st and 3rd battalions of the Baggage Regiment, and the 17th and 18th Guards Infantry Regiments...... It is expected that by 11 August, the 1st Praetorian Army, including the 2nd and 5th Praetorian Divisions, will be able to complete its assembly, and the 2nd Praetorian Corps, which has the 3rd and 4th Praetorian Divisions, will not arrive at the assembly area until 15 August. ”

"The 12th Infantry Corps has arrived at the military headquarters, the two battalions of the army's subordinate baggage brigade and the army's subordinate heavy artillery, all of the 23rd Infantry Division and the 24th Infantry Regiment of the 95th Infantry Division...... The 4th Cavalry Corps has reached all of the 27th Cavalry Brigade and the 1st Cavalry Battalion of the 30th Cavalry Brigade...... It is expected that the 12th Infantry Corps will be able to complete the assembly by the 12th of the month, and the 4th Cavalry Corps will be able to complete the assembly by the 14th of August. ”

After listening to Yan Canglong's report, Liang Tianhe habitually lit a cigarette. With a gloomy face, he paced along the riverbank.

"Is the commander thinking about Lu Kaiping's proposal?" Yan Canglong guessed with confidence.

Liang Tianhe took a long puff of smoke. Shaking his head slightly, he nodded slightly: "I'm thinking, the situation has changed, we shouldn't hold on to the old yellow calendar, wishful thinking and wait for the enemy to walk into our trap step by step...... I ask you, if you were Brusilov, what would you think when you heard the news of the surrender of Irkutsk? ”

Yan Canglong lowered his head and thought: "I will feel that the wall behind me has collapsed, and someone has raised his gun to me from behind to aim." ”

Liang Tianhe raised his cigarette butt and waved: "Yes." That's how it feels! I think. Brusilov can't survive for a few days, he must escape, and he finally gets to his mouth, can he let him go like this? ”

"Of course not, then, what does the commander mean?"

Liang Tianhe took a big puff of the remaining cigarette butt and flicked it into the river. Clap your hands. Yu Qi explained slightly: "Lu Kaiping's proposal is reasonable for him. Just don't make any small moves anymore, the siege battle is a war of annihilation, and it will be done in one go. However, the situation in Acheng is very bad, and we are not allowed to wait until the reinforcements arrive before attacking, and we can throw as much as we have on hand, so we can only do so. Also, after the first siege battle on August 2nd, I am more and more confident in the second outfit, and now the problem is that Lu Kaiping lacks confidence in the troops under his own control, what do you say? ”

Yan Canglong immediately stroked his palm and said: "What the chief said is that Xiao Bin and his advancing troops have done their best, and now, the most important thing to challenge is Lu Kaiping's second outfit." Now that the commander has agreed with Lu Kaiping's idea of solving the problem in one go, the Qian Lan group, which is still digging trenches in Rubtsovsk, should be liberated, placed under Lu Kaiping's command, and attack Acheng with a dignified formation composed of two group armies. In this way, with the reinforcements that have been assembled, Lu Kaiping has no reason to be less confident. ”

"That's it, and you'll be up to you."

Facing the faint mist that gradually dissipated on the water, Liang Tianhe stretched his waist for a long time, tilted his head, and took out the copper cigarette box that had been worn off the patent leather.

"There are also two telegrams, please also ask the chief of staff to draw them up together......"

"I know that one is to cheer up Xiao Bin, and the other is to the base camp, urging them to find a way to speed up the transportation of troops."

Liang Tianhe nodded and smiled: "Lao Yan, thanks to you...... I'll leave it to you first, I haven't closed my eyes for a few days, just now I just felt that in the next two days, I can finally be lazy and sleep to death, right? "Climb ^ book ^ net, this chapter is first published by "".