Volgograd, located in the lower reaches of the Volga River. The Volga got here, made a turn of almost ninety degrees, and went from north to south to east to west. Volga Grad, also one of the largest cities in the lower reaches of the Volga. However, because of the outbreak of war, the Chinese* army approached the Volga, which made the Russians living here fearful. A large number of Russians, uprooted from their homeland, fled to the north. In the propaganda of the Russian government, the Chinese Army has become a heinous person. If you stay, it is estimated that there is only a dead end.

The whole of Volgograd has become a sea of soldiers. As an important node on the Volga defense line, the Russian army deployed a large number of troops in Volgograd. Together with the troops deployed in the area near Volgograd, the total strength of the Russian army here has exceeded 600,000 people. There was Russian Army General Ivan. Zarbakansky commanded. And on the other side of Volgograd, Volzhsky was more than 300,000 men of the 7th and 10th armies of the Imperial Army.

Originally, the Imperial Army was preparing to break through the Russian defense line in the middle reaches of the Volga River and destroy the Volga defense line in one fell swoop. However, because of the intervention of the Imperial Emperor Long Yufei, the Ottoman Turkish Empire agreed to cooperate with the Imperial Army to flank the Russian army. Therefore, General Sun Hao, commander of the Eastern European Theater of Operations, also decided to place the main attack point across the Volga River in Volgograd. After all, under the attack of the Chinese and Austrian armies, it is impossible for the Russian army to hold Volgograd. In this way, it will also effectively reduce the casualties of the Imperial Army.

After all, it is not so easy to cross the Volga, which is almost a kilometer wide. At the time of the army crossing the river. The most vulnerable to Russian troops on the other side of the river. As a result, there will be a large number of casualties. Although, with the strength of the Imperial Army. Enough to withstand such casualties. However, it was possible to break through the lines of the Russian army with fewer casualties. So why not?

On April 22, 1855, the Chief of the Imperial General Staff and Commander of the Eastern European Theater of Operations, General Sun Hao, rushed to Volzhsky to command this operation. According to the plan of the Imperial Army, after the 7th and 10th armies of the Imperial Army had crossed the Volga, the 6th Army would also cross the river here. At that time, the Imperial Army will advance north along the Volga River, and the Russian defense line will inevitably collapse.

There is no obstruction of the Volga. The Imperial Army would be able to penetrate deep into the heart of Russia and destroy Russia.

"Our allies, in three days, will cross the Don and launch an attack on Volgograd. Before that, we need to launch an offensive on Volgograd first, attract the attention of the Russian army, and create opportunities for our allies. Therefore, starting tomorrow morning, we will start launching a river crossing operation! Admiral Sun Hao ordered.

"Don't worry. Chief of staff. We've been ready for that. Even without the help of the Ottoman Empire, we were able to break through the Russian defenses with ease. However, with the help of the Ottoman Turkish Empire, our losses should be reduced a lot! Lieutenant General Zhou Hao, commander of the 7th Group Army, said with a smile. Come during this time. The 7th Army and the 10th Army have already collected thousands of small boats. In addition, they built thousands of small boats on their own. These small boats. Although each one can only hold a few people, it is necessary to cross the Volga River, where the water is gentle. There should still be no problem.

"That's good! The 6th Army, which will also arrive in three days. I hope. We were able to break through the Volga line in a week. Admiral Sun Hao said. Although the Chief of the General Staff, although he commanded the battle at the front, some very important information would still be communicated to him.

According to the Reich * Military Intelligence Agency, the Prussians were no longer very rest, they were moving troops to the Eastern Front. Now that the main forces of the Russians have been held back by the Chinese Empire and the Ottoman Turkish Empire, the Prussians are now intervening sideways, obviously to take advantage. Only by breaking through the Russian lines quickly will it be possible to occupy more territory and not fall into the disadvantage of the competition with the Prussians.

"Yes, Chief of Staff!" Lieutenant General Zhou Hao nodded.

The next day, on the morning of April 23, the 7th Army of the Imperial Army, the 10th Army, hit two brigades of 155-mm heavy artillery, 10 battalions of 105-mm light howitzers and 50 battalions of 75-mm field guns, a total of 240 155-mm heavy guns, 240 105-mm light howitzers and more than 1,000 75-mm field guns, and carried out a heavy shelling of Volgograd.

The roar of thousands of cannons turned the entire Volgograd into a sea of fire in an instant. Although the performance of the 75-mm field gun is not very strong, however, with a large number and a fast rate of fire, the Russian army simply cannot resist it. The heavy artillery of the 75-mm field gun was only more than 600 kilograms, which was much lighter than the howitzers and cannons of the 105-mm caliber and 155-mm caliber, which facilitated the march of the field troops. As a result, it has always been the main artillery of the Imperial Army, and each infantry brigade has an artillery battalion, armed with 24 75mm field guns.

Of course, the main disadvantage of the 75mm field gun is that it is too powerful, and as the Imperial artillery more and more uses trucks to tow the artillery, the Imperial Army also plans to eliminate some of the 75mm field guns and replace them with 105mm light howitzers. In this way, the artillery fire of the Imperial Army will be further improved. In many previous wars, it has been proved that the reason why the Imperial Army was able to defeat the enemy with ease was undoubtedly played a great role in the powerful artillery fire.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The artillery door was bare-chested, and one shell after another was carried over, stuffed into the chamber, and fired. This was their task, to hit as many shells as possible into the enemy's positions, and to kill one more Russian might reduce the losses of one infantry brother.

At the time of heavy fire from the artillery of the Imperial Army, numerous small boats were hidden in the reeds on the eastern bank of the Volga. The 7th Infantry Brigade of the 31st Infantry Corps under the 154th Army of the Imperial Army was ready. Once the order to attack was given, they would rush across the river in thousands of small boats. If possible, they will create a beachhead on the other side of the river. Sappers would also try to erect pontoon bridges so that the Imperial Army could quickly cross the river.

"General! The Chinese shelled too fiercely, and the troops at the front suffered heavy losses. Some of the anti-artillery holes were destroyed by the heavy artillery of the Chinese, and the commanders of the front hoped that our artillery would be able to counterattack! "A staff officer asked Ivan. Colonel-General Zarbakansky reported.

Ivan. Admiral Zarbakansky frowned, the Chinese attack allowed such a heavy shelling at the beginning, which was somewhat unexpected to him. Although, he knew, the Chinese would definitely launch a fierce attack on the Volga defense line, and their footsteps would not stop only on the east bank of the Volga. However, Volgograd, where it was stationed, became the target of the key attack of the Chinese army, which was still out of 10,000. The order of Colonel-General Zarbakansky.

"Ordering the troops on the front line to temporarily withdraw from their positions only requires a small part of the army to hold on to the defensive line. As for artillery, our artillery is too small in number, and it needs to be used in critical places! "Ivan. Colonel-General Zarbakansky said.

With the cut off of aid from Britain and France, there was a big problem with the supply of equipment for the Russian army. The fall of the Ural industrial zone has made Russia's heavy industry even worse. Now the Russian army is not even able to fully equip every soldier with rifles, let alone artillery. The current American infantry division of the Russian army has only more than a dozen artillery pieces. Ivan. All the artillery in the hands of Admiral Zarbakansky was added together, and there were less than five hundred, and they were all small-caliber guns, lacking large-caliber heavy guns.

Ivan. Admiral Zarbakansky is confident that the Chinese heavy artillery must be waiting for the Russian artillery to fire, and as soon as the Russian artillery fires, the Chinese heavy artillery will suppress the Russian artillery. In the end, the artillery of the Russian army suffered heavy losses. In the end, if the Russian army wants to block the Chinese army from crossing the river, it will be unlikely.

Therefore, Ivan. Admiral Zarbakansky decided that the artillery should be saved for the Chinese army to launch a river-crossing operation, and the focus would be on the Chinese army that crossed the river, not on the artillery battle with the Chinese artillery. In that case, it's all about hitting the stone with an egg.

"Yes, General!" The staff officer nodded and walked out quickly.

The heavy shelling by the Chinese army lasted for an hour before it ended. The heavy shelling made the defense line built by the Russian army on the banks of the Volga River a mess, many trenches were blown up, and pillboxes and machine-gun fire points were blown into the sky. There were also many casualties, because the 155-mm heavy artillery joined the shelling, and some of the Russian army's anti-artillery holes that were not of good quality were directly destroyed, and the Russian troops inside were also buried alive inside.

However, in general, the losses are still within the range that the Russian army can end.

"These old hairy people have also learned to be obedient, do you want to be a turtle with a shrunken head? Artillery, heavy artillery were ordered to stop firing, light howitzers and field guns, to begin the extension of fire. The infantry is ready to cross the river to attack! Admiral Sun Hao gave the order.

Obviously, after being fooled many times, these Russians have also learned a lot of experience, that is, they will definitely not fight with the artillery of the Imperial Chinese Army. In the end, they are always the ones who lose.

"Yes, Chief of Staff!" Lieutenant General Zhou Hao, commander of the 7th Army, nodded.

Thousands of artillery pieces began to extend into the depth of the Russian army's defense. Thousands of small boats hidden in the reeds rushed out quickly and mightily towards the west bank of the Volga. (To be continued......)

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