November 8, Chita, the headquarters of the Russian Far Eastern Army.

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Far East, Colonel-General Kuropatkin, a former Chancellor of the Exchequer and current Chairman of the Council of Ministers Witte, dismissed as "absurd and incompetent", was snarling at the generals sitting around the long table with a stinking face.

“…… The Second Army must not take a step back from Olovianaya! Without that bridgehead, we would not have been able to launch a winter offensive smoothly! Lieutenant General Billy Gerlinger, how many times do I have to repeat it to make you understand, hold on to Oloviyanaya, hold on, for the sake of His Majesty the Tsar, you must not be allowed to retreat! ”

The commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Billy Gellinger, a man with a wrinkled forehead, a round belly, and a gray beard, defended in a low voice: "But Commander, Olovianaya is already surrounded by the enemy on three sides, and it may be lost at any time, and we cannot bring in reinforcements from other fronts. Moreover, it would not be long before the Onon River would freeze, and the significance of Oloviyannaya as a bridgehead would no longer exist. ”

Kuropatkin knocked on the table and shook his head: "We can't wait until the Onon River freezes before launching an attack, the Fifth Army has been assembled, we already have 500,000 troops north of the west of the Onen River, and reinforcements are still arriving, now is a good time for a counteroffensive." The enemy's Janissaries have just captured Blagoveshchensk at a heavy cost and need time to recuperate, and the enemy's reserves should have been affected by the heavy snowfall, and it is too late to reach the front line of the Onon, and my intelligence staff estimate that the enemy on the front line of the Onon is now at most 300,000 men. This is the time, to take advantage of the superiority of our forces, to destroy the enemy in front of us, to attack the enemy's territory in one fell swoop, to sweep through Manchuria, to cut off the enemy's supply lines, and then to annihilate the enemy forces that are attacking Khabarovsk (Boli) and Vladivostok (Vladivostok), and then, if the situation so requires, we will also march into the capital of China and capture the Tatar emperor (the Russians often think that the Manchurians are Tatars)......"

The generals were accustomed to Kuropatkin's clichéd dreams, and no one was going to jump out to cheer them on.

By 6 November, however, Kuropatkin had assembled four group armies, a total of 10 corps, under his command 22 infantry divisions and nine cavalry divisions, a number of group armies and units directly under the army, and the total strength of the field troops reached 546,000 according to the establishment, and the actual strength was about 500,000.

The First Group Army, formed by the Chinese Army on 30 September, had three standing infantry divisions, four reserve infantry divisions, three cavalry brigades, and one artillery brigade, with a total strength of 287,000 troops.

The First Army of the Chinese Army launched the October Offensive on October 12, and within a week, the Far Eastern Army Group, with a total strength of 360,000 troops, was continuously repelled for 80 kilometers and annihilated more than 48,000 enemies, but then the Russian army invested a new division that had just been transferred from the European part of Russia, and the Chinese army was forced to suspend the offensive due to the lack of support, and the two sides faced off on the front line of the Onen River, and the battle line stretched from Hapcheranga on the Russian-Mongolian border to the northeast to Nerchensk (Nebuchu), stretching for nearly 400 kilometers.

Because the Chinese army's secrecy work is very tight, Russian intelligence officers can often only detect some insignificant or extremely vague information, and Kuropatkin's intelligence staff officers deduced the distribution of Chinese troops on various fronts on the basis of this extremely unreliable information.

According to the report of Major General Sobolev, chief of staff of the Far Eastern Army, on November 6, the First Army of the Chinese Army on the front line of the Onon River had 8 infantry divisions, 4 cavalry brigades and 2 artillery brigades, totaling 300,000 men. In addition, more than 100,000 members of the main force of the Chinese Praetorian Guard are resting in Blagoveshchensk (Hailan Pao), and a small number of reconnaissance units are moving between the Stanov Mountains (Trans-Khingan Mountains) and the Amur River (Heilongjiang). The 100,000 men of the 2nd Chinese Army were still attacking the Khabarovsk fortress, and the commander of the garrison of the fortress, Lieutenant General Ivalov, claimed that it could hold out for half a year. About 300,000 servants of the Third Army of the Chinese Army and Japanese and Korean troops were besieging the fortress of Vladivostok, and the commander of the garrison of the fortress, Lieutenant General Stessel, claimed that it could hold on for more than a year.

The strategic reserve of the Chinese army consisted of about six divisions and about 200,000 men. The Mongol Legion (Front) had 4 cavalry brigades and 4 mounted infantry brigades, about 60,000 men. The above 1,060,000 men are the normal forces that China and its client states can commit to fighting against Russia.

After hearing this report, Kuropatkin immediately recovered from the shadow of his previous defeat and confidently shouted: "The Russian Empire has three and a half million army forces, even if only half of them are used, it is enough to drive all the yellow races in East Asia into the sea, now, let's prepare for a counteroffensive." ”

Immediately, Kuropatkin ordered Major General Sobolev to draw up an offensive and operational plan, codenamed "Saint".

On this day, Kuropatkin was about to announce the battle plan to the generals, and before he had even begun, he heard the request of the commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Biljerlinger, to withdraw his troops from Oloviyanaya.

"In short, we must not abandon Oloviana in three days, because, in three days, we will launch a major counteroffensive on all fronts."

Kuropatkin looked around triumphantly, expecting that everyone would cheer, but the generals remained indifferent.

"What's wrong? You, generals of the Russian Empire? Don't you like to attack? Where has the tradition of the offensive of our army since Suvorov gone? Don't you feel the slightest bit of excitement? ”

Kuropatkin waved his hands to the sky, hoping to increase the momentum of the barrage of questions, but apparently no one had eaten his own.

After an awkward silence, the commander of the Third Army, Lieutenant General Gripinberg, finally responded politely: "Your Excellency, Commander, it's not that we don't like to attack, it's that we simply can't attack. ”

Kuropatkin became annoyed: "What? 500,000 against 300,000 people, still saying that they are not capable of launching an attack? Do you think my intelligence staff are deceiving me? ”

Grypinberg bowed his head to him and explained, "Even if the intelligence is correct, we still don't have the ability to launch a large-scale offensive. It is true that our army now has 500,000 men, but we do not have the supplies for 500,000 men to fight continuously. Troops and artillery arrived in Chita very quickly, but ammunition, clothing and food did not arrive in such a timely manner, and the supplies that arrived in Chita often carried items that were very different from the delivery lists, which meant that many of the supplies must have been intercepted or embezzled by someone during transit. As far as our Third Army is concerned, it has 120,000 men and 330 artillery pieces, but so far only 60,000 pairs of warm boots have been distributed, and only 40,000 shells have been left in stock. ”

The commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Billy Gerlinger, also chimed in: "There are only 30,000 rounds of artillery shells left in the stock of my army, and yesterday our army consumed 6,000 rounds of artillery shells in Olovinaya alone, and if we fight the enemy for three or four days, we will be defeated because of the lack of shells." ”

When Kuropatkin heard the word "failure", he was even more furious, and stomped his feet and said: "Don't spread the emotion of failure!" This is treason! Listen, we must attack, the General Staff has drawn up an operational plan, and a general offensive will be launched on the 12th, which cannot be changed, not a single word can be changed! Boots and shells can be supplied in a certain way, but no one is allowed to say defeat, and I will never allow him to stay in the position of senior commander any longer if he does not have the belief in victory, no, not a single company will be handed over to him, never! I'm going to let him roll into the stable and feed the horses!" ”

After saying that, there was no room for others to interject, and Kuropatkin turned to his chief of staff, Major General Sobolev: "Now we can announce the battle plan. ”

Sobolev looked around the crowd from the top of his glasses that had slid to the tip of his nose, and then picked up a few documents and announced: "Operational plan, Far Eastern Army, November 8, code name 'Saint'." ”

"First, our army intends to launch a full-scale attack on the enemy forces on the front line of the Onon River, annihilate or crush the enemy's vital forces, advance to the line of the Ergun River, and then advance to Manchuria as appropriate."

"Second, the offensive strength of our army is the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th armies, and the 18th Army is a strategic reserve, with a total of 500,000 men, 1,500 artillery pieces and 520 machine guns. The enemy's defensive strength was the First Army, which consisted of 300,000 men and an estimated 1,000 artillery pieces and 600 machine guns. ”

"Thirdly, from north to south, the sequence of attacks was the Fifth, Second, Third and Fourth Armies. Focus on striking at the enemy's Fourth Army. The Fifth Army made a sortie from Nerchensk (Nebuchu) to Shilka and attacked the right flank of the enemy's Fourth Army; The 2nd Army attacked from Shilka to Vintinoposeleye on the front line and attacked the center of the enemy's 4th Army; The 3rd Army struck from Undinoposheleye to Oloviyannaya and attacked the left flank of the enemy's Fourth Army and the right flank of the 1st Army. The Fourth Army attacked from Oloviyanaya to Nizhnetsukhei and attacked the center and left flank of the enemy's First Army. The reserve 18th Army was assembled at Akinskoye for standby. The 16th Cavalry Division and the Trans-Baikal Border Cavalry Regiment were to open a cordon northeast of Nerchensk (Nebuchu) and on both banks of the Shilka River at a depth of at least 150 km. ”

"Fourth, the axis of attack of the various group armies should be directed to the line from Krasnokamensk to Manchuria, and the main purpose of the offensive should be to annihilate the enemy's vital forces, and the commanders of the various group armies and corps should give full play to the initiative in this regard in order to smoothly achieve the operational objectives."

"Fifth, the time of the general attack is set at 7 a.m. on 12 November."

On the same day, in the town of Sherlovayagora, 80 kilometers southeast of Oloviyanaya, a small church was affixed with a blank piece of paper on the door: Advance Command Post of the Western Front Command.

Two middle-aged men strode into the door, only to hear an order from inside the house, and the people inside all stood up with a "swish", one by one like telephone poles.

"You may be seated."

The tall, muscular man with an angular face replied in a bell-like voice, and when the bell struck it, everyone returned to their seats in order.

Another urbane man with thin glasses on his nose sat down on the right side of the long table with a black leather bag in his hand.

General Zhong Xiahuo, commander of the Western Front, and General Deng Jian, chief of staff, began their third military meeting after their arrival.

Present at the meeting were all the commanders and chiefs of staff of the group armies and field armies, including: Lieutenant General Zhao Feixue, commander of the First Group Army, and Major General Qin Feiye, chief of staff (concurrently in charge of the First Army); General Liang Tianhe, commander of the Second Army, and Lieutenant General Zhang Yiye, chief of staff (concurrently in charge of the Praetorian Guard); Commander of the Korean Army, Senior General Kim Yong-nyeong, Chief of Staff, Lieutenant General Roh Seung-bo, etc.

The theme of the conference was: Defense, or Offense.

To put it simply, defense is the status quo, offense is the future, and the key to the question is how far the future is.

Deng Jian gave the answer: "The army of this front plans to launch an offensive on all fronts later this month. ”

Liang Tianhe immediately geared up: "It's time to do this now, the brothers can't wait." ”

On the other side, Zhao Feixue held the teacup in both hands, shook his head leisurely and said, "You have to wait a little longer, if you rush forward without adequate preparation, you can only repeat the mistakes of the past." ”

In late September, Zhao Feixue's First Army was repelled by the Russian army's carefully planned counteroffensive of nearly 200 kilometers in one fell swoop because it advanced too fast, the supply line was too long, and there was no follow-up.

Liang Tianhe stretched his neck and said proudly: "Ha, with our Praetorian Guards here, there's nothing to worry about." ”

Zhao Feixue shook the teacup and looked up in surprise: "Really?" Aren't the Praetorian Guards made of meat? ”

The muscles on Liang Tianhe's mouth jumped twice: "Yes, it's all iron, how about it?" ”

Zhao Feixue blinked: "Then I have nothing to say." ”

Zhong Xiahuo immediately jumped out and rang the bell: "Hey, what the hell are the two of you talking about, put your ears up and listen well, Chief of Staff Deng has something to say." ”

The sight of Liang Zhao and the others struck a faint lightning bolt in the air, fleeting.

Deng Jian had already taken out a few pieces of paper from his black leather bag and began to speak: "First of all, there is information about the enemy army. According to the latest information provided by our army's intelligence department and reports on aerial reconnaissance and forward reconnaissance, it is estimated that by 7 November, the enemy forces on the Chita side would have four group armies and one independent army, a total of 10 corps, under the jurisdiction of 22-24 infantry divisions and 10-12 cavalry divisions, as well as 6 to 8 independent artillery brigades, which should have 55 to 600,000 men according to their establishment, assembled between Chita and the Onen and Shilka rivers. Since the Mongol Front had just finished a new round of operations to break the diplomatic relations two days earlier, and the results were remarkable, it is estimated that the enemy will not receive more reinforcements than three infantry divisions in the next two weeks. ”

"By the middle of this month, the army on this front will be organized into three group armies, a total of six field armies, with 16 divisions, six cavalry brigades, five artillery brigades, and a provisional artillery group (regimental scale), which should have 637,000 men according to the establishment. However, according to the analysis of the current situation, it may be difficult to realize this plan on schedule. ”

"Due to the tight railway transport, the Korean Army Group was unable to assemble in Manchuria as planned, and as of yesterday, only the Praetorian Division and the First Cavalry Brigade of the First Army had completed their assembly in Manchuria. The rest of the First Army is expected to be assembled in the next week, while the Second Army is likely to be delayed until the end of the month. ”

"Although the vanguard of the Janissary Field Army, which is the main force of the Second Army in the plan, has advanced to Batakan, 160 kilometers east of Nebuchu (Nerchensk), the main force is still stranded in the area from Amazar to Mohe, 450 kilometers northeast of Nebuchu, and even if it marches normally without being blocked, it will not be possible to approach the theater of operations until a week later."

"As of yesterday, only two infantry divisions of the Second Army, the Fifth Field Army of Lieutenant General Zhao Minhe, were in place, and the other division, as well as the cavalry brigade and the temporary artillery group, were still stranded in Manchuria, and it would take almost a week to complete the deployment."

"The disposition of our troops along the line of the Onon River until yesterday was as follows: the Fourth Army of the First Army was on the right flank, controlling the positions of the Baley-Undinoposheleyye-Kalangwe line; The 1st Army was in the center, controlling the Kalangui-Oloviyannaya-Nizhny Chasuchey front-line positions; The 95th Infantry Brigade, the 107th Reserve Cavalry Infantry Brigade and the 108th Reserve Cavalry Infantry Brigade of the Mongol Front, temporarily assigned to the First Army, were on the left flank and controlled the Tsasuchey-Ust-Khapchelanga front-line positions. In addition, two reserve infantry divisions of the Fifth Army were assembled at Sherlovayagora, 80 kilometers southeast of Oloviana, for the time being as reserves for the First Army. Obviously, such a deployment is not enough to launch an offensive in the near future, and Commander Chung and I both believe that we should wait until all three army groups have completed their scheduled deployments before starting an offensive on all fronts. What is your opinion on this? ”

General Kim Yong-ning, commander of the Korean Group Army, was the first to shake his head, Zhao Feixue was the second, and Liang Tianhe did not do the third, raising his hand to ask to speak.

"I don't think we can sit back and wait for the enemy to attack, since according to comprehensive intelligence, the enemy has already assembled an army of almost 600,000 troops, and our army has only two armies of the First Army with a total of seven divisions and two divisions of the Fifth Army deployed on the front line, and even if the three brigades of the Mongolian Front Army temporarily attached to it are also added, it will only be about 380,000 men. No matter how the enemy is, he will also find out from frequent forward reconnaissance that our army has only deployed seven divisions and three brigades on the front line of the Onon River, and in addition, the opponent's railway line has just been destroyed, and reinforcements cannot be transported in time. ”

Zhong Xiahuo asked, "Then does Commander Liang think that our army should strike first and launch an attack with a disadvantage in troops?" ”

"Yes, I think it is possible to launch a limited offensive on the one hand, disrupting the enemy's offensive deployment, and at the same time gather follow-up troops and choose the right time to launch a further large-scale offensive."

Zhao Feixue immediately jumped out to criticize: "This is impossible, launching an attack on the superior enemy can only be self-inflicted." The officers and men of the First Army were all made of meat, unlike the Janissaries, who were all fought with iron, and even if it was a limited offensive, it would have to take the risk of paying a huge price, and the so-called limited offensive would actually be very difficult to control, and it would easily turn into a rotten battle in which troops were gradually added and gradually attritioned, and it was very likely that it would not achieve any goal in the end. ”

Liang Tianhe glanced at Zhao Feixue dissatisfiedly: "So, Commander Zhao seems to be more insightful?" ”

Zhao Feixue made a humble statement: "Don't dare to be, I think that now the entire front army is really engaged in the battle, only the First Army, the troops of the other two group armies are being assembled, in view of the fact that the enemy in front of the First Army has a numerical advantage, and has a solid Chita fortress defense system as the backing, our army should wait for the completion of the assembly of all troops before preparing to launch a full-line attack, to carry out the operation for the purpose of annihilating or defeating the enemy in front of you, and capturing Chita." Prior to this, preparations for defensive warfare should be carried out with the First Army as the core, and of course, in defensive warfare, defense and offensive should be combined, and in the absence of the cover of a solid fortified defense system, a purely static defense is doomed to failure. ”

Deng Jian immediately pronounced the verdict: "That's exactly what Commander Zhong and I think. ”

Liang Tianhe was not convinced, and was about to come to a counter-criticism, but was stopped by Zhang Yiye, the chief of staff next to him.

"Since it's something that has already been decided above, don't dwell on it anymore."

Zhang Yiye said, with a sophisticated face.

Liang Tianhe did not speak again.

In fact, Liang Tianhe just felt that his face was a little unbearable, as a soldier in the 21st century, his insight was not as good as that of people more than a hundred years ago, how could people be willing.

One of the manifestations of ignorance of some human beings is the belief that the back waves of the Yangtze River push the front waves, and the future generations will definitely defeat their predecessors.

Idiots in the 21st century remain idiots even into the 1st century AD.

A genius of the first century may not be a good eater in the 21st century, but he must be a genius in some ways.

If the mediocrity of the 21st century is given a similar education to the genius of the first century, the result is of course undoubted.

Liang Tianhe did not think that he had never attended a military school in the 21st century, and was just a special forces corporal with intensive technical and tactical training, while Zhao Feixue was born in the old martial arts, and received two years of cavalry education at the Army University, and then served as the commander of the Second Cavalry Brigade for four years, and then spent two years in the mid-term training course of the Army University. has a wealth of education and employment experience, and it is not the same thing as Liang Tianhe, a person who has risen to prominence by virtue of his relationship with Liu Yun's descendants.

In fact, among the 25 soldiers brought by Liu Yun from the 21st century, including Liu Yun, only six have received regular military academy education, only Liu Yun has entered the Army University once, and the rest are all petty soldiers and non-commissioned officers promoted by petty soldiers. After more than ten years of changes, only 14 of the original 25 people are still in the world, and they have become Liu Yun's most relied on "old descendants", all of whom have the rank of lieutenant general or above, hold important positions, and receive knighthoods, and also have shares of the national land company. But are all of these fourteen really qualified to sit in their present positions? The ghost knows the way, maybe as the saying goes: "Praise it a few words, and the sow can go up the tree." ”

The logic of "say you can do it, you can do it" is afraid that it can only be normal between human beings.

Three days later, in Olovianaya, over the position of the 7th Division of the Russian Second Army, a Chinese plane circled.

The Russian soldiers on the ground glared angrily at the sky.

"Damn, buzzing in the head all day long."

"What's the spirit, I'll knock you down one day."

"If you have the ability to come down and fight, watch me stab you with a bayonet."

Suddenly, the plane's double-layered wings shook violently a few times, and it began to fall rapidly towards the white ground.

"Down, down, beat it."

The Russian soldier noisily grabbed his rifle and ran in the direction where the plane fell.

Several Russian soldiers made their way through the snowy woods and found the plane, apparently having made a forced landing, in a glade.

"Over there, there's two people, grab them."

The Russian soldier rushed over with his rifle in hand, and coldly swept a long shuttle of bullets from the plane, knocking out all six Russian soldiers.

"Please, sir, hurry up."

A sergeant lying in the back seat of the plane shouted as he pulled the bolt of his machine gun and changed the drum with his hand.

"Wordy, I don't know what's wrong with the road, you just give me a stand."

The lieutenant, who was busy standing next to the engine, replied unceremoniously, his leather-gloved hands stiffly gripping the wrench and tightening the nuts on the hood.

After the sergeant's machine gun went off for the third time, the lieutenant finally spoke: "Damn, it turns out that the left oil pipe is cracked, quickly bring me the rubber mat and wire, in the box behind your seat." ”

The sergeant hurriedly put down the machine gun, turned around and rummaged through the box behind the seat, and as soon as he found half a rubber pad, he heard the lieutenant shouting anxiously from below, "Be careful!" Someone is coming from behind! ”

"I'm here, don't worry."

The sergeant quickly grabbed the Type 99 7.92 mm light machine gun mounted on the swing gun carriage, held the body of the gun with his left hand, and pressed the butt of the gun with his right shoulder, aimed at the four or five enemy soldiers in bloated overcoats who were jumping out of the woods, and gently pulled the trigger, only to see a circle of white snow pillars around the enemy soldiers, and as the snow pillars fell one after another, the people also fell into the snow.

"Bad luck, we're pilots, but we're going to fight on the ground."

The sergeant grumbled, put down the machine gun and handed over the items that the lieutenant had requested.

The lieutenant took off his gloves and began to repair the engine, and replied angrily: "Go back and beat up those new ground crews, no, it's useless to beat them, you have to knock them a few times, let them eat shark fin, hmph, see if they live or die!" ”

A few minutes later, the lieutenant jumped on the plane and breathed into his hands - the daytime maximum temperature was minus three degrees Celsius.

The sergeant turned his head and asked, "Okay?" ”

"Okay, let's go, I don't want to be caught cooking broth yet."

I don't know when the Russian army began to circulate among the floating units of the Chinese army's aviation about the torture and killing of captured pilots, the most sensational of which was the legend that the Russian army cut two captured pilots into pieces of meat and boiled them into several large pots of broth for the officers and men of a company to enjoy. The pilots preferred to believe this kind of legend, which was too close to the rumors, rather than believe it, because they always felt in their hearts that the Russian officers and soldiers who were almost powerless to fight against the Chinese army's air strikes must hate them from the bottom of their hearts.

The 100-horsepower engine of the Beiyang Heavy Industry HK-8C type spewed out bursts of black smoke, the lieutenant put on his gloves, pushed down the accelerator, and the wooden three-bladed propeller rolled out a strong wind with snowflakes, and the FJZ-4 "Huofeng" reconnaissance plane equipped with a special sled began to glide on the flat snow, plowing out three clear snow marks.

"Sixty-five, seventy, seventy-five...... Get up! ”

The lieutenant pulled the joystick as he called, and the nose of the plane was raised, and at that moment, the sergeant in the back seat shouted in the microphone: "What is that!" ”

"What is what! Make it clear! ”

The lieutenant answered, grabbed the lever, and the plane was ascending steadily.

"At seven o'clock, I saw a lot of people, and cannons."

"Did you just record it?"

"No, it was above the forest just now, and I couldn't see it clearly."

"I'll go around it, you can show me clearly."

The lieutenant said, pressing the flaps and rudder pedals, and the fuselage, painted black with the number "13", leaned slightly to the right and began to turn.

"You can see clearly, there are a lot of people, and tents and cannons, there are too many, turn a little more to the right, and there seems to be more in the direction of eight o'clock."

Suddenly, a summer galactic fire flashed on the ground, and the sergeant shouted in a panic in the microphone: "Pull up, pull up, the enemy is firing...... Hey—there are three holes in the wings underneath! Quick, sir, let's go back, and we'll have to finish the game any longer. ”

"Wordy, I'm working on it, the oil pipe is cracking, I can't do it soon."

The lieutenant said, whistling, the tune of the recently popular ditty "Resignation to Fate."

An hour later, the plane landed at the Sherlovayagora airstrip, eighty kilometers away.

A few young ground workers with flutes and brains greeted them.

"Squadron Leader, why did you come back so late?"

"By the way, flew to some village to steal Russian women, right?"

"With the style of our squadron leader, do you still need to steal? As soon as he descended, he stopped at the entrance of the village, and naturally a large number of women rushed over to deal with him. ”

The lieutenant pilot, known as the squadron leader, stuck out his head and shouted: "It's noisy, the left oil pipe is cracked, there are four holes in the left lower wing, two holes in the right lower wing, the rest is not clear, get it right away!" The matter of the oil pipeline, I will settle accounts with you when I go back, and now I am going to see Commander Guo, I am too lazy to pay attention to you little ghosts! ”

With that, the lieutenant and the sergeant in the back seat jumped out of the plane and walked briskly to the Eastern Air Suspension Cluster Command at the west end of town.

"Report! Lieutenant Acting Captain Cai Yi of the 88th Aviation Reconnaissance Squadron completed the designated reconnaissance mission and came to report. ”

"It's Xiao Cai, come here."

Major General Guo Zhifei, commander of the Eastern Airlines Floating Cluster, is 37 years old, with a big round face and the appearance of a good old man.

"What did you find today?"

"Ask him."

Cai Yi pointed to the sergeant behind him, the sergeant bit his lip, bent his chest, and saluted: "Commander, Lu Kai, the flight sergeant of the 88th Aviation Reconnaissance Squadron, reported to you that when flying at a low altitude in the woods twelve kilometers west of the town of Oloviana, I saw a large number of troops that had not been recorded in the previous few days, and according to the rough estimate of the number of tents and artillery, the size of this group of troops should be more than one brigade. ”

Guo Zhifei turned to Cai Yi: "Xiao Cai, have you seen it too?" ”

Cai Yi nodded and said: "Yes, but in my experience, I always feel that the size of that batch of troops should not be less than a division." ”

Guo Zhi flew up, walked to a large map of the war zone on the left hand side of the office, and beckoned to the two of them: "Come over here and mark the troops you found on the map." ”

Cai Ye strode forward, picked up a blue pencil, and drew a circle on the map that had been densely smeared.

Guo Zhifei got close to the map, looked at the bottom left from the upper right, and couldn't help nodding and said, "Well, that's the case...... As of today, it is already the newly discovered eighth division and brigade-sized unit, and it seems that the enemy is not small...... You go back and rest first, I'll get Commander Zhong to take a trip." ”

"Yes!"

Cai Ye saluted and withdrew from the cluster headquarters with Lu Kai.

As soon as they walked down the stairs, the two of them met a middle-aged man with the rank of four-star general on his coat.

"Salute!"

Cai Ye and Lu Kai reflexively jumped to the side of the stairs and stood up, raising their hands to salute the general.

The admiral casually raised his hand to his forehead and saluted back, but suddenly found something, and asked Cai E suspiciously: "Lieutenant, report your name." ”

"Lieutenant Acting Squadron Leader of the 88th Aviation Reconnaissance Squadron, Cai Ye."

"Age."

"Twenty-four."

The admiral put away his puzzled look, lowered his hand, and raised his chin to him: "You can go." ”

Cai Ye and Lu Kai looked at each other at a loss, and after glancing at each other, they strode away.

The general, Deng Jian, chief of staff of the front army, clasped his hands in front of his chest and muttered: "Cai Yi - the Cai Yi who recreated the republic?" It's really similar to the photos in the history books, and the age is fine, but I don't know if Lu Dao will die young - whatever, maybe in another seven or eight years, I can see the appearance of * and the like somewhere, and if one day I am given an adjutant named * or Chiang Kai-shek, I may not be surprised at all, maybe in a few years I will have a grandson named *...... Ha Lu Ha, outrageous. ”

Shaking his head and shrugging his shoulders, Deng Jian pushed open the wooden door of the cluster headquarters.

"Commander Guo, I went to a meeting, and I stopped by, so I came to call you."

"It turned out to be Chief of Staff Deng, why are you embarrassed to call me, wouldn't it be good to send a communications soldier, I have a situation to report."

"Don't worry about the trivial things that don't matter, let's come together, hurry up."

The two hurried to the small church at the entrance of the town and rushed straight in, which was already full of commanders and chiefs of staff of all armies and above.

The two hurriedly took their places, and as soon as their buttocks were on the stool, Zhong Xiahuo rang his human bell: "Okay, it's all here, now the meeting is held, first of all, please ask Chief of Staff Deng to summarize the movements of the enemy army in the past three days." ”

Deng Jian immediately turned to Guo Zhifei: "Didn't Commander Guo just say that there is a situation to report?" ”

"Yes, I just received a few new reconnaissance reports today, and I brought the marked map with me by the way."

As he spoke, Guo Zhifei took out the big map that Cai Yi had just marked on from his coat, unfolded it on the long table, and gestured: "According to the analysis of the aerial reconnaissance report in the past few days, the enemy is constantly gathering troops to the front line, and so far, the eight brigades or divisions originally deployed on the second line have been moved to the first line and hidden in the woods near the first line. ”

Liang Tianhe immediately shouted: "So I said, you should strike first, waiting for the enemy to attack is not a way!" ”

Zhao Feixue retorted: "Your troops are not on the front line, of course you can say that. The First Army's existing strength and firepower were simply not enough to launch a meaningful attack, and if it did not do so, it might be able to push the enemy back some distance, but it would certainly not be able to annihilate or inflict heavy damage on the enemy's main forces. ”

"Do you want to sit back and wait?"

"Of course not! In my opinion, even if the enemy attacks now, our army can retreat to Sherlovayagora with alternate cover of the front-line troops, reduce the enemy's offensive vigor and gain time, while the follow-up troops move towards the enemy's flanks and wait for the enemy to lose the offensive momentum and at the same time lengthen the supply line, and then launch a major counteroffensive on the whole line, striving to annihilate the enemy's main forces between Sherlovayagora and Oloviyanaya. ”

Liang Tianhe said disdainfully: "I thought it was a good way, it turned out to be a retreat, with the current bad road conditions, organizing the retreat of 300,000 troops is not just a matter of talking, any mistake may lead to the division and encirclement of the troops, and then the army will be defeated, who will be responsible!" ”

Zhao Feixue spread her hands: "I am the chief officer of the First Group Army, of course I am responsible for everything!" ”

Liang Tianhe glanced at him contemptuously: "Can you afford this responsibility!?" 300,000 troops, even if they lose a third, will fundamentally change the situation on the entire battlefield, the initiative will be transferred to the other side, how many soldiers' lives can you take on your head alone? How much is it worth? ”

"Don't quarrel with the two of you, I didn't ask you to speak in the first place, give me the report of Chief of Staff Deng!"

Zhong Xiahuo rang the bell at the right time, diluting some of the fire smell that had just risen, but it still failed to prevent the sight between Liang and Zhao from colliding with sparks again.

Deng Jian was finally able to speak: "Commander Guo has just said that through aerial reconnaissance, it was found that the enemy had gathered a large number of troops to the front line, which was consistent with the results of the ground reconnaissance of our army's frontline troops. All kinds of intelligence show that the enemy's attack is imminent, maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow, the attack will be launched on the entire front, and we must be prepared not to be passively beaten. Intelligence from all quarters shows that the enemy's main direction of attack is likely to be on the defensive line of the Fourth Army, specifically, the 2nd Division, which is deployed in the center of the Fourth Army, will be hit the hardest, and the enemy is likely to launch a continuous assault on its positions with 5 to 6 divisions in order to cut off the defensive line of the Fourth Army and then tear through the entire front of the First Army. ”

Zhong Xiahuo continued: "From this, I think Commander Zhao's opinion just now is very far-sighted, but Commander Liang's consideration is not unreasonable. My idea is to organize aviation floats and artillery before the enemy launches an offensive to launch a large-scale counter-preparation of fire against the enemy's forward positions and the areas where the attacking forces are concentrated, in order to disrupt the enemy's offensive deployment and cover the gradual retreat of our front-line troops towards Sherlovayagora. At the same time, we will urge the follow-up troops to assemble in the theater as quickly as possible......"

As he spoke, Zhong Xiahuo stood up, picked up the small bamboo strip on the table and pointed to the large theater map hanging behind him: "The Praetorian Guard should advance along the Shilka River to Nebuchu (Nerchensk) as soon as possible to outflank the left flank of the enemy's Fifth Army; The 1st Korean Army was to move from Chasuchei to Ust-Ilya in order to strike at the right flank of the enemy's Fourth Army. If the situation permits, the Janissaries and the First Korean Army should each send detachments to outflank the enemy's rear and cause the enemy to collapse or choose one of them to encircle them. The frontal battlefield was held by the main forces of the First Army and the Fifth Army on the line of Nizhny Chasuchey-Sherlovayagora-Karangwe-Balai, in short, the central indentation, the two flanks protruding, and the Kanni tactics of encircling the enemy. ”

At the end, the small bamboo strip in Zhong Xiahuo's hand knocked heavily on the map a few times: "The important thing is that the annihilation of the enemy has vitality, if you can eat half of the enemy on the current Chita side, the enemy will not be able to gain a foothold east of Baikal, this will be a key battle that will determine the direction of this war, please do your best!" ”

Liang Tianhe and Zhao Feixue hurriedly shouted: "We must live up to our mission!" ”

The two of them finished calling, looked at each other, and smiled as if they did not mean anything.

Zhong Xiahuo didn't bother to pay attention to them, and continued to wave the small bamboo strip and dot around on the map: "In view of the urgency of the situation, the artillery firepower counter-preparation should start at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning and last all day. The artillery counter-preparation for firepower shall be guided by the military headquarters of each army, and the specific arrangements shall be made by each division. The key strikes of the aviation floating troops shall be planned in a unified manner by the aviation floating cluster command directly under the front army. The arrangements for the retreat will be made by the front army headquarters to issue guidelines and instructions, and the group army headquarters will organize and plan for the specific situation. Time is running out, we must start preparations as soon as possible, now Commander Guo and Chief of Staff You stay, the others go back first, according to the instructions just now, send orders to the subordinate troops of Lu by telegram, and then rush back to their own troops, I will inform you again if there is any situation. ”

"Yes!"

The generals shouted, and they all left their seats and ran to the telegraph room next door.

At the conference table were only General Zhong Xiahuo, commander of the Western Front, General Deng Jian, chief of staff, Major General Guo Zhifei, commander of the Western Aviation Floating Cluster, Colonel You Zhuan, chief of staff, and Lieutenant Colonel Jiang Zichang, Zhong Xiahuo's chief adjutant.

Zhong Xiahuo spoke first: "Don't say anything else, Commander Guo should be very clear about my decision just now, so please tell me first, how many combat forces are available to the Hangfu Group now?" ”

Guo Zhifei responded: "Report to the commander, the cluster should have 158 planes and 36 airships according to its establishment, and as of yesterday, there were 141 planes and 30 airships on normal duty, including 38 'Qingfeng' light bombers and 7 'Qingyun' light attack airships. In addition, 27 'Fire Wind' reconnaissance planes with machine guns and grenade mounts are still available, 9 Gale W-type aircraft with machine guns and bomb racks are available, and 11 of the 14 'Shengyun' and 'Pingyun' reconnaissance airships capable of carrying 200-kilogram bombs are still available. In total, 74 aircraft and 18 airships were available for ground attack. ”

"In addition to these aircraft and boats that can be used for ground attack, will the remaining aircraft and boats be able to ensure the fire calibration needs of artillery and the real-time monitoring of the battlefield during the day?"

"There is no problem with the artillery firepower calibration, because in addition to our school-firing aircraft and boats, there are also balloon companies in the army divisions, and as for the problem of battlefield monitoring, if 36 reconnaissance planes and 11 reconnaissance airships are transferred to the ground attack mission, the effectiveness of battlefield monitoring will naturally be reduced, and it is estimated that it will be reduced to about 60 percent of the original."

Zhong Xiahuo thought about it, studied the map brought by Guo Zhifei again, and his fingers wandered over the more than a dozen enemy assembly place symbols marked on the map.

"It is necessary to focus on striking at the enemy's Fifth and Second Armies and reduce the pressure on the right flank of the Fourth Army to the center!"

Zhong Xiahuo made a decision, he looked at Deng Jian inquiringly, and Deng Jian nodded in agreement.

"So, Commander Guo, let me ask you the third question, how many troops do you think should be used to attack the troop concentration areas of the Fifth and Second Armies in order to achieve the maximum blocking effect?"

Guo Zhifei pointed to the map and said: "I think that we can concentrate firepower and focus on hitting several divisional and brigade-level assembly areas arranged by the enemy's various group armies on the flanks of our army's positions; specifically, I plan to use all bombers tomorrow to repeatedly bomb the No. 1 assembly area of the Fifth Group Army, and at the same time, use all airships to repeatedly bombard the No. 5 assembly area of the enemy's Second Army, and scatter other attack forces to launch harassing attacks on other assembly areas of the enemy." ”

"This is far from enough, the strike force is too weak, if I transfer 36 large airships and 20 bombers directly under the base camp to you, what are you going to use?"

Guo Zhifei's eyes lit up: "I will use 18 large airships to attack the No. 1 assembly area, and the other 18 to attack the No. 5 assembly area, half of the bombers will attack the No. 4 assembly area of the Fifth Army, and the other half will attack the No. 7 assembly area of the Second Army, and the remaining airships and planes will carry out harassing attacks on other assembly areas of the enemy." ”

Zhong Xiahuo turned to Jiang Zichang, who was sitting on his left: "Adjutant Jiang!" ”

"In!"

"Send power to the base camp, and in view of the urgency of the situation on the front line, I request that all the combat aircraft and boats of the floating cluster directly under the base camp be transferred to the use of this front army."

"Understood!"

Zhong Xiahuo turned his head and raised his chin to Guo Zhifei: "Don't worry, the base camp will definitely agree, and the rest is up to you!" ”

"Please rest assured, commander, I will go back and draw up the battle plan and submit it here before noon."

"No need, implement it as soon as it's formulated, and then leave me a backup here, I always feel that the situation is urgent, and don't worry about trivial things first."

"Understood!"

Guo Zhifei and You Chu also got up and left, leaving Zhong Xiahuo and Deng Jian at the conference table.

"What do you think? Engage in a battle of encirclement and annihilation, eat half of the enemy's troops, Lao Maozi will definitely not be able to resist and run to the west of Baikal, right? ”

Zhong Xiahuo said, called the orderly outside the door, and asked him to get two cups of coffee.

Deng Jian lifted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, crossed his hands, shook his head lightly, and said, "I may not be able to eat it." ”

Zhong Xiahuo was a little dissatisfied: "Too unconfident, right?" ”

"It's not a matter of confidence, I just think that things won't go too well, you look at the snow outside, I've been in the Northeast Military Region for a while, the winter here is not as good as the capital, when the snow is the deepest, it can sink to the waist, and when the temperature is the lowest, the steel is as brittle as a twist, and it will break after a few knocks."

"What do you want to say?"

"Hurry up and finish this battle, and then find a way to survive the winter, the winter in Siberia is not easy to mess with."

Zhong Xiahuo stretched out two fingers and touched the stubble on his chin: "In winter, we have to think about it, but the base camp must have thought about it too, we don't need to worry so much, right?" ”

"How can the old men in the base camp sitting by the fire, feel the terrible Siberian winter?"

"That makes a lot of sense......"

"In short, make arrangements in advance to avoid meaningless losses of troops due to the cold weather as much as possible."

"That's right...... Well, the coffee is here, let's warm up our stomachs first...... I really don't understand why I want to fight at this time......"

At six o'clock in the morning of November 12, before dawn, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of the First Army of the Chinese Army roared along the line of the Onon River, and several Russian divisions advancing to the starting positions were attacked by a storm of artillery fire, and some of the teams fell into confusion.

The news reached the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army in Chita by cable telegram, and Kuropatkin ordered: "All units should attack according to the original plan, and there shall be no delay or retreat without authorization!" ”

Major General Sobolev, chief of staff of the Far Eastern Army on the side, was a little worried: "Commander-in-chief, it seems that the enemy has gained insight into our army's operational plan and is ready to deal with it......

"It's too late, our army has already attacked on all fronts, and we can't stop and wait for a new plan, we must fight it in one go, drive the enemy back to Manchuria and make further plans."

As a result, the Russian troops continued to advance according to the original plan, and by 7 o'clock, more than 1,000 artillery pieces of the Russian army began to prepare for fire before the attack in the faint morning light. However, an hour later, nearly 100 planes and dozens of airships were draped in the dazzling morning light over the positions of the main attacking divisions and regiments of the various group armies, dropping hail shells and scattering bullets like raindrops.

At the same time, a snowflake telegram flew into the office of Zhong Xiahuo, commander of the Western Front.

"Hit the shit luck, the enemy actually launched an attack today!"

Zhong Xiahuo muttered and called his adjutant Jiang Zichang: "Send a telegram to Commander Zhao, asking him to stabilize the battle line during the day today, and retreat at night, I will order the Fifth Army to march towards the junction of the First Army and the Fourth Army as cover." ”

"Understood!"

Deng Jian wiped his glasses and came over: "I'm really sleepy, I couldn't sleep last night - did the enemy come over?" ”

"That's right, it's an all-front attack, right today!"

"What are you going to do?"

"During the day today, let the First Army hold the front line under the cover of artillery fire and aircraft, so that the enemy thinks that our army will hold on to the whole line, and then quickly retreat to the second line of defense eight kilometers away in the evening, and then retreat to the reserve positions selected by the various military forces in order in the next few days, and slowly lure the enemy into the depths."

Deng Jian nodded: "In any case, according to the scheduled policy, there will be no problems for the time being." ”

Zhong Xiahuo suddenly thought of something, patted his neck and shouted, "By the way, didn't we just have a large command airship?" I heard that the radio station above is quite useful, and now at such a critical time, it is a good time to sit down and inspect the front line and direct the battle at the same time. ”

"You have to go to heaven to command......"

"There shouldn't be any problem, gather the staff officers, move the map too, and it's settled!"

"But ......"

"Are you airsick?"

"It's a bit ......"

"It doesn't matter, it's comfortable on the airship, hurry up and prepare, I'll send someone to find Commander Guo in charge......"

Before lunch, Zhong Xiahuo took his command airship to the position of the Second Division of the Fourth Army, which was a command boat converted from the FTG-3 "Qiangyun" large attack airship, equipped with medium-sized radio, compass, high-powered telescope, map table, simple kitchen and toilet and other necessary equipment, in addition to the six crew members, it can also carry eight command and staff personnel to carry out tasks.

Zhong Xiahuo's eyes were on the eyepiece of the telescope, observing the enemy's movements.

In the field of view of the telescope, the brigade of Russian troops was raising their flags and launching an assault, leaving countless footprints, craters and mutilated corpses in the snow behind them, and the further they advanced, the more sparse the ranks became, and at the end of the day, they all disappeared in front of a winding trench and a few low pillboxes.

"Well played! Here it should be ......"

Zhong Xiahuo glanced at the operational deployment map full of contours on the table, and then referred to the scenery outside the window, nodded and said: "It's the position of the 4th Brigade and the 10th Regiment, it's done so well, I want to reward them well in the future!" ”

At this time, a group of FJQH-1 "Sunny Wind" light bombers rumbled out the window, and the pilot aircraft among them obviously recognized that the big airship painted with the eye-catching words "Western Division Zhiyi Finger" was the command boat directly under the Front Command, so he waved his wings and greeted the chief above, and the rest of the planes followed suit, like a line of dancing dragonflies.

"Good view, good view."

Zhong Xiahuo sighed boredly, watching the planes dive towards the Russian artillery position not far away.

Turning his head, Zhong Xiahuo found that his chief of staff had disappeared, and asked his adjutant Jiang Zichang, only to find out that Deng Jian had squatted in the toilet.

"This kid, he really even dizzy with an airship, he has nothing to say."

Zhong Xiahuo complained, and immediately threw back a sentence in the toilet: "Who said that I was faint from the airship, I was refreshed and relaxed after I sat up, and I had to pull a few bubbles of on the heads of the Russians." ”

"It turns out that there is still such a saying, then you move quickly, and I will throw a few bubbles on their heads later."

A few staff officers next to him became excited: "I want it too, I want it too, I want it too, ...... too"

"I ate a lot of half-eaten sweet potatoes yesterday......"

"Stinky old hairy ......"

"Hey, just don't stink your own people!"

On the same day, the Chinese army dispatched more than 600 sorties and more than 100 airships to launch fierce air strikes against the Russian army, dropping hundreds of tons of bombs, destroying at least 50 artillery pieces and killing and wounding a large number of Russian soldiers.

On that day, the Russian army paid the price of more than 27,000 casualties, and only captured some Chinese outposts around Olovianaya, with less than 6,000 casualties, 4 aircraft, and 10 artillery pieces.

On that day, the airship roamed the sky for seven or eight hours, and at least half of the time the simple toilets on board the boat were "occupied."

On the same day, a Russian officer and soldier reported to Lu's superiors that the enemy's airship had thrown many strange objects with unpleasant smells at their positions, and attached samples for identification—the results were predictable.

That night, inside the headquarters of the Far Eastern Army in Chita, several bears were roaring at each other.

"Such a heavy loss is unbearable! The offensive must be stopped immediately! ”

The commander of the Second Army, Lieutenant General Billy Gellinger, exclaimed excitedly, and Kuropatkin slapped the table with the same excitement and retorted: "What do you know, we have detoured the enemy's right flank on the north side of the battlefield, and the enemy's Fourth Army is unable to draw forces to protect the flank under the continuous blows of our army, and now the situation is very favorable to us, as long as we hold on, the enemy will definitely be crushed!" ”

"Our army is short of ammunition, my group army consumes a quarter of the ammunition in stock in one day, and if it continues to fight like this, it will not last for a few days at all."

The commander of the Third Army, Lieutenant General Gripinberg, also launched a complaint.

"General, what are you talking about! Ammunition, naturally there will be trains for us......"

"But the railroad has been destroyed!"

"The railroad will always be repaired!"

Gribin Berg still refuses to give up: "When?" ”

Kuropatkin raised the key: "Someday! Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the day God wants the railroad to be repaired! Don't make excuses, you're just scared, but I don't know what you're afraid of. You should know that the yellow race is lowly and ignorant, one Russian soldier is against two Chinese soldiers, so our 500,000 people should be equivalent to one million Chinese soldiers, and there are only 300,000 enemies in front of us! Don't be intimidated by a little loss! Believe me, we are the first-class generals of Russia, and our soldiers are the strongest and bravest in the world, cowardice is betrayal, shameless and cowardly! Please cherish your honor as a general of the Russian Empire! Well, let's make no more excuses, let's unite, tomorrow, urge our troops to continue to advance, the left flank of the Fifth Army continues to detour to the flank and rear of the enemy's Fourth Army, and soon, we will destroy the enemy's Fourth Army, and then concentrate on destroying the other army, so that the enemy will be powerless to stop our advance on Manchuria! Tell your men to fight bravely for His Majesty the Tsar, and a glorious victory is not far ahead! ”

Billy Gerlinger secretly turned to Grypinberg: "What the hell is this man talking about?" ”

Grypinberg shrugged slightly: "He wants us to die, along the glorious path he imagined." ”

The next day, the Russian army launched another full-front attack, but found that the Chinese army had withdrawn cleanly overnight, and there was not a single soldier left on the forward position.

The excited Russian army quickly advanced, but only advanced a few kilometers, and fell into a blazing artillery and air raid similar to yesterday, and the Chinese army also launched local counterattacks from time to time with brigade and regimental detachments, and only one counterattack launched by the 2nd division and 10th regiment crushed 2 battalions of the Russian army and captured more than 400 people.

Because the Chinese army took the initiative to retreat and shortened the front, the two divisions of the Russian Fifth Army, which were scheduled to make a detour to the rear of the right flank of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Army, had to face the new front of the Fourth Army of the Chinese Army and could not complete the original task.

In the following days, the First Army of the Chinese Army steadily retreated, and always maintained a continuous front with dense air support, although the Russian army threw in cavalry detachments several times in an attempt to cut off the connection between the First Army and the Fourth Army, but due to the timely response of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Army, the Russian army failed to achieve its goal.

By 18 November, the Russian Second Army had advanced 60 kilometers to the southeast, only 20 kilometers from the town of Sherlovayagora, the supply center of the Chinese First Army and the former headquarters of the Western Front, and facing the center and left flank of the Chinese Fourth Army.

The vanguard of the Russian Third Army had also reached 15 kilometers west of Sherlovayagora and was directly facing the two reserve divisions of the Fifth Army of the Chinese Army and the right flank of the First Army.

On the left flank of the Russian front, due to the fierce resistance and concentrated air attacks of the Chinese army, the Fifth Army advanced only more than 30 kilometers on average, facing the right flank of the Chinese Fourth Army.

The Fourth Army, which was on the right flank of the Russian front, had to face the main force of the First Army of the Chinese Army and a mixed Mongolian division, and only advanced more than 20 kilometers in a week.

Now, on Zhong Xiahuo's map, an irregular line protruding in the center and dragging the wings behind.