On May 10, 1904, in the Ili River valley of Xinjiang, artillery fire was raging.

Since the beginning of April, about 120,000 people of the Russian Kazakh Army Group Army began to advance towards the Ili side, while the First Army Corps of the Chinese Army stationed in the Ili side had only 61,000 troops. The frontal defense line of more than 40 kilometers is named "Kunlun Defense Line".

At the end of April, before the main force of the Russian Kazakh Army reached the Kunlun defense line, it began a tentative offensive, and suffered heavy losses under the intensive fire attack of the Chinese army and the cavalry counter-assault, and was forced to suspend the offensive in early May.

From May 8 to May 9, the Russian army concentrated artillery to bombard the positions of the Chinese army, and in the early morning of May 10, under the cover of blazing artillery fire, the Russian army concentrated 3 infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division of about 60,000 people (equipped with 180 artillery pieces and 50 machine guns) to launch an attack on the southern section of the defensive line.

In charge of the defense of the southern section of the defensive line were the 110th Infantry Brigade of the Chinese Reserve and the 23rd Infantry Brigade of the 8th Infantry Division - the former was mainly composed of locals, with less than 8,000 troops and weak combat strength, and the whole brigade was equipped with only 18 artillery pieces and 12 machine guns; The latter is a standing strength of the Wehrmacht, with a total strength of nearly 9,000 troops, equipped with 71 artillery mortars and 101 light and heavy machine guns.

The battle unfolded in the Ili River valley, which was once galloped by the light cavalry of the Huns, Turks, and Mongols, and trampled by the iron cavalry of the Han and Tang Dynasty, where the Qing Empire wrote victories and experienced humiliation, and now, what kind of drama will the new Chinese Empire play here?

Over the battlefield, a large, strange-looking bird caught the attention of Russian cavalrymen wearing Kazakh felt hats.

"What's that?"

"Eagles?"

"Have you ever seen an eagle with four wings?"

"Flew down...... It's down! ”

The FJZL-5 "Gale" reconnaissance liaison aircraft made a buzzing noise, dived at a small angle, swept over the heads of the Russian cavalry, and the strong wind blew away the felt hats of several of them, and the frightened horses raised their front hooves to overturn the steppe knights on their backs.

"Your Excellency, Commander, it's too risky!"

The young pilot in the front seat of the plane shouted into the mouth of the brass microphone in front of him.

"Damn, I forgot to bring a grenade, just drop two of them."

A hoarse male voice came from the microphone.

"Your Excellency, I am responsible for your life!" The pilot was in a bit of a hurry.

"I command you, circle a few more times." The passengers in the back seat clearly did not intend to be considerate of each other.

"But please don't order me to dive down again." The pilots tried to bargain.

"Obey orders, lieutenant." The passenger said unequivocally.

The planes circled in circles, and under the canvas-skinned wings, ant-like infantry and cavalry slowly moved along the long winding trench line, countless shells washed over trees, grass and ants, and smoke billowed into the sky, dancing with dazzling white clouds.

"Fly lower, Lieutenant." The passenger commanded.

"Your Excellency, it's too dangerous." The pilots didn't buy it.

"Then you climb into the back seat, and I'll take the driver." The passenger threatened.

The pilot succumbed.

The plane dived again at a small angle, grazing over the heads of a group of Russian infantrymen, who were annoyed by the fact that they raised their rifles and fired indiscriminately into the air.

"The wing has been shot!" The pilot exclaimed.

"It's just two holes, it's nothing, keep circling......" The passenger was unhurried.

At this time, behind their butts, the Russian infantry, who were busy shooting into the sky, were swept by a hurricane, and a large area of bullets was knocked down - the Chinese machine guns in the trenches opened fire.

Half a circle after the plane turned, the passengers in the back seat witnessed an even larger slaughter - hundreds of Russian cavalry caught in the crossfire of the Chinese army, most of them were instantly knocked down under the dense machine gun and artillery fire, their sabers and rifles streaked through the air in a series of metallic tracks, perfectly contrasting with the carcasses of animals wrapped in military uniforms and saddles......

An hour later, the plane landed on an airstrip east of the Ili fortress.

Located 460 kilometers west of Dihua, the capital of Xinjiang (670 kilometers by main road), on the Chinese side of the fertile Ili River Valley, Ili had become a border town with a population of 50,000 by 1902, and the fortress was self-contained in the west of the city, equipped with six permanent batteries and four core fortresses, equipped with 58 fortress guns, and the defenders were about 2,500 people in a special garrison regiment for the Eighth Infantry Division.

At the airport, several generals and colonels gathered nervously: "Commander Zhang, you have nothing to do." ”

General Zhang Yaoqian, the commander of the Northwest Front Army, who is now Chinese New Year's Eve eight, jumped off the plane lightly, first took out a handkerchief and wiped his face full of black oil smoke, and then glared at the generals and colonels without a piece: "Now that the war is so tense, how can you still have the strength to come here!" I'm fine, you don't have to worry about it, come back to the headquarters with me! ”

The officers were submissive, and then a groom took out a white Arabian horse, Zhang Yaoqian threw the flying cap to his entourage, jumped on the horse's back with an arrow, and spurred the horse to gallop away.

"This commander is not easy to serve."

"It's not the first day to stay at the headquarters again, so much nonsense."

"Hurry up, the Commander will lose his temper."

The officers whispered a few words, and each mounted his horse to follow the past.

As one of Liu Yun's old descendants, Zhang Yaoqian served as the commander of the Fourth Janissary Brigade during the First Sino-Japanese War, and belonged to Zhong Xiahuo's Second Praetorian Division, and led his troops into Korea on August 10, 1894, after many major battles, he was transferred back to China to serve as the commander of the newly formed Fifth Praetorian Guard Division before the start of the landing operation against Japan, so he failed to participate in the war against Japan, and after the war, he successively served as the chief of the General Staff, the director of artillery, the commander of the infantry corps, and the chief of staff of the military region, and became the commander of the Northwest Military Region in 1900, and directly assumed the post of commander of the Northwest Front Army after the Sino-Russian war.

Just yesterday, after learning that the entire Kunlun defense line had been bombarded by the Russian army on a large scale, Zhang Yaoqian decided to personally take a plane to the front line to inspect, and after arriving last night, he first learned about the basic situation, and then took a plane early that morning and went straight to the battlefield, so that a group of accompanying officers was really worried.

After returning to the headquarters of the First Army Corps in Ili City, Zhang Yaoqian convened everyone to discuss the battle situation, and at this time the front line had sent a report: The first wave of the enemy's attack was repelled by us, and our army's losses were also heavy, and the specific losses were being counted.

"Pass my order, all departments should hold their positions and not take a step back! If you have the effort to count the losses, you might as well hurry up and repair the fortifications! Zhang Yaoqian ordered without hesitation.

Seeing the heralds leave as ordered, Lieutenant General Yan Meng, commander of the First Army Corps, cautiously leaned over and asked, "Commander Zhang, when will the reinforcements from the front army arrive?" ”

"The 95th Brigade should leave today, and it will arrive in ten days." Zhang Yaoqian replied succinctly.

"Is there only one brigade?" Yan Meng was absolutely not satisfied.

"The Alashankou side has already sent the 94th Brigade, and now I only have the 96th Infantry Brigade and the 9th Cavalry Brigade left, and until the reinforcements from the interior arrive, the reserves must not move until the critical moment. Now Kashgar is also being oppressed by the Russian army, Major General Qian Lan's Second Army is much weaker than your army, and those * troops are not very reliable, and if you want to reinforce, you must give priority to reinforcing the Second Army! Zhang Yaoqian explained unceremoniously.

"Has the mainland sent reinforcements?" Yan Meng heard the news for the first time.

"Yes, yesterday the base camp sent a telegram to me, saying that the infantry instructor and the Ninth Infantry Division had been organized into the Third Army Corps in the Northwest, and they would board the bus and set off before May 20."

"I didn't count on it for a few months......" Yan Meng muttered in a low voice.

From Peking to Ili had to cross the whole of China, and the length of the main roads exceeded 6,000 kilometers, of which more than 1,800 kilometers had to be trekked by feet, horses, and wagons.

Zhang Yaoqian glanced at him disdainfully: "The base camp also said that this batch of reinforcements will be used for counteroffensive operations against the Russian army, and at that time, our army will advance to the Issyk-Kul Lake, Lake Balkhash to the Zaisangpo line as the combat goal, and recover the western territory forcibly occupied by the Russian army since the last century!" ”

"However, with the fragile logistical support of our army, it is really difficult to achieve such a task, unless the Yudi (Yumen-Dihua) railway can be opened to traffic in the near future...... Yan Meng, who is known for his prudence, always gives priority to practical difficulties.

Of course, the base camp also took into account, the telegram said that the military improvised railway from Yumen to Hami has been laid, and the military improvised railway from Hami to Dihua is also under emergency construction, and the plan is to open to traffic by the end of the year - but depending on the meaning of the base camp, it should be to solve the problem within the year. Well, without further ado, today the Russian army launched an onslaught, I looked at it from the plane, it's nothing remarkable, we can withstand it completely. As he spoke, Zhang Yaoqian glanced at the officers in a circle, and said in an accentuated tone: "What everyone has to do now is to go to the front line more often, boost morale, guide the renovation of fortifications and the deployment of troops, and firmly grasp the reserves, and must not be used casually until the most dangerous moment...... We will hold back the enemy on this preset line of defense, and consume the enemy's forces to the maximum, and everyone will be patient for a while, and when the new forces in the interior arrive, we will see how we can drink the Horse Balkhash Pool! ”

Balkhash Pool, Balkhash Lake, in Zhang Yaoqian's view, the difference between the two is really limited and boring.