Central Asia, Imperial Province of Western Frontier. After the empire destroyed the three khanates of Central Asia, the empire had already occupied most of Central Asia. Russia occupied only the northwestern part of the Kazakh steppe, under the rule of the Russian governor of Orenburg. With the establishment of the two major military alliances, the Chinese Empire and Russia have deployed heavy troops in Central Asia and Siberia.

The 1st and 2nd armies of the Imperial Chinese Army, totaling more than 500,000 men, were deployed on the Western Siberian Plain and the Western Xinjiang Province, while Russia deployed millions of troops from Omsk to the western Kazakh steppe. Perhaps because of the last crushing defeat, the Russians were already frightened by the Chinese Empire. So, this time they deployed twice as many troops as the Imperial Chinese Army. But even then, the Russians do not have enough self-confidence. After all, the last fiasco is still vivid.

The Imminent War of the Reich against Russia had already been decided at the beginning of July 1854. Lieutenant General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army, and Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, commander of the 2nd Army, both received orders from the General Staff. The armies of the two armies, which were originally deployed in the rear, also secretly moved forward. In order to avoid the surveillance of the Russians, these troops adopted a day and night approach, and all of them reached the front line. War materials in the rear are also being transported to the front in large quantities. However, both sides were preparing for war, so Russia did not care about this.

The commander of the Russian army, who commanded an army of more than a million, was Marshal Wittgenstein, one of the few remaining famous generals in the Russian army. The last war because of health problems. Field Marshal Wittgenstein did not go to war. This time, he was finally able to get his wish.

The command of the Russian army is located in Yekaterinburg. An army of more than a million is spread across a front that stretches for more than 2,000 kilometers. With such a defense, Marshal Wittgenstein was very dissatisfied. However, Russia's territory is too vast, even if it is captured by the Chinese Empire, the remaining territory area has exceeded that of the whole of Europe. And there are too many places on the border between Russia and the Chinese Empire, any place. are all at risk of being invaded by the Chinese Empire. So. Field Marshal Wittgenstein had to throw out all his limited forces.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency's Telegram from Your Excellency the Duke. Your Excellency the Duke has asked us to step up our guards! "A middle-aged general said to Field Marshal Wittgenstein, whose name was Nevelskoy, a lieutenant general. That's right. This guy is the guy who participated in the war that invaded China in the first place. Merely. In that war. Russia suffered a crushing defeat. In the ensuing battle of Eastern Siberia, he was again defeated. However, he was lucky. Instead of being captured by the Chinese Empire, he fled back to Russia. Later, he was appreciated by Marshal Wittgenstein, not only was he not held accountable, but he was promoted, and now he has the rank of lieutenant general, a senior general in the Russian army.

"Well, pass the telegram of His Excellency the Duke directly to the armies below!" Marshal Wirtgenstein said. This time, there were sixteen infantry corps under his command, as well as eight cavalry corps. It's just that in Yekaterinburg there were only two infantry corps and two cavalry corps. The remaining fourteen infantry corps and six cavalry corps were deployed to the front.

"Yes, Your Excellency. However, those generals at the front, will they pay attention? This is the fifth time in this week that such a telegram has been forwarded! "Lieutenant General Nevelskoy is a little worried. When the first telegram is sent, the generals below will definitely pay attention. But when the second and third telegrams followed, it was likely that the generals below would not take it seriously. After all, it is said that war is about to break out, but after so long, the army of the Chinese Empire is still holding its ground, and everyone has gradually relaxed their vigilance.

Lieutenant General Nevelskoy had suffered defeats in front of the Imperial Chinese Army many times, and he also knew the Chinese Army best, knowing that their attacks were often accompanied by great suddenness. Often, attacks are launched unexpectedly by the Russian army. Lieutenant General Nevelskoy also had a premonition this time, perhaps, the attack of the Chinese was just around the corner. If the Russian army is not ready, I am afraid it will suffer a crushing defeat.

"Lieutenant General, I know what you're worried about. This time, though, we're negotiating with the Chinese. Even if the Chinese want to attack us, they will do so after the declaration of war! Marshal Wittgenstein said.

Lieutenant General Nevelskoy nodded, but he was still a little uneasy. He can only hope that the generals who are on the front line can pay more attention.

Time passed slowly, and on the evening of July 22, both the headquarters of the 1st Imperial Army in Omsk and the headquarters of the 2nd Imperial Army in Kostanay received telegrams from the General Staff. At this moment, Russia once again attacked the imperial consulate in Russia, and the imperial emperor Long Yufei was already determined to start a war against Russia. The Reich General Staff officially gave orders to the two army groups at the front to fight. The attack was launched at seven o'clock the next morning. That is, the time when the emperor of the Chinese Empire, Long Yufei, made a radio speech and declared war on Russia.

"Haha, that's great! I've been waiting for so long, and it's finally here. Let a few army commanders come to Lao Tzu immediately. Lieutenant General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army, laughed.

Soon, the commanders of the 1st Infantry Corps, the 3rd Infantry Corps, the 20th Infantry Corps, the 26th Infantry Corps, the 5th Cavalry Corps and the 6th Cavalry Corps under the 1st Army rushed to the headquarters. Lieutenant General Zhang Wei read out the orders of the General Staff Headquarters and assigned combat tasks to everyone in public.

The battle plan for the attack of the Russian army has long been drawn up. It would be good to wait for the start of the war and the troops to attack according to the plan. Although the 1st Army had only 6 corps and more than 210,000 men. The enemy they faced was more than 300,000 men, including six infantry corps and two cavalry corps of the Russian army.

Similarly, Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, commander of the 2nd Army of the Imperial Army, also issued combat orders to the commanders of the subordinate armies and border reserve units. The 2nd Army of the Imperial Army has 3 infantry corps, 2 cavalry corps, 8 border cavalry brigades and 12 border infantry brigades, with a total strength of more than 300,000 troops. The main direction of attack of the 2nd Army was Chelyabinsk, and two hundred kilometers north of Chelyabinsk was the location of Yekaterinburg, the headquarters of the Russian army.

However, the Russian army also knew the importance of Chelyabinsk, and deployed a full 6 infantry corps and 4 cavalry corps around Chelyabinsk, with a total strength of 400,000 troops, 100,000 more than the 2nd Army of the Imperial Army.

At 7 o'clock in the morning on July 23, 1854, Emperor Long Yufei arrived at the Imperial Radio Station in full costume and with the important ministers of the Cabinet and the General Staff of the military. Here, Emperor Long Yufei officially announced to the people of the whole country that the empire would declare war on Russia.

At the same time, the Imperial Minister in St. Petersburg also officially submitted a declaration of war to the Russian Foreign Minister, Count Nesherrody.

This undoubtedly means that the war has begun.

Although the time in St. Petersburg was still 4 o'clock in the morning, Count Neschel Rodie, despite the fact that it was late at night, immediately rushed to the Winter Palace to report to Tsar Alexander II.

Unbeknownst to Nesherrody, when he received the declaration of war, the Imperial Army's attack on the Russian army had already begun.

Omsk, Western Siberia, is 5 a.m. when it is still 7 a.m. in Imperial Chinese time. Because it was summer, it was just dawning. On the positions of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army in Omsk, the soldiers had already gotten up.

On the artillery position, the artillery of the empire was making preparations before the battle, and the cannons were pulled closer to the gun position. The artillerymen were carrying the shells back and forth. In order to ensure the smooth attack, the Imperial Army deliberately transferred two heavy artillery brigades from the country to reinforce the 1st Army. With the improvement of transportation facilities, especially the domestic transportation compared with the late Qing Dynasty, the heavy artillery brigade of the Imperial Army was equipped with artillery, mainly 155 mm heavy howitzers and 155 mm heavy cannons.

Each heavy artillery brigade is subordinate to five artillery battalions, a logistics support battalion, an infantry battalion and a brigade headquarters. Five heavy artillery battalions, four battalions of 155-mm medium howitzers and one battalion of 155-mm medium cannons. There was not a single heavy artillery battalion, a total of 24 cannons were equipped. The brigade has a total of 96 155-mm heavy howitzers and 24 155-mm heavy cannons.

The heavy howitzers of the Imperial Army, with a firing range of ten kilometers, and the maximum range of heavy cannons reached 13 kilometers. Once on the battlefield, it is enough to provide the most effective fire support for the Imperial Army.

Now, there are ten heavy artillery brigades of the Imperial Army. For this surprise attack on Russia, the Imperial General Staff reinforced the 1st Army and the 2nd Army with two heavy artillery brigades each.

At 6 o'clock in the morning of July 23, the officers and men of the 1st and 2nd armies of the Imperial Army had already begun to eat breakfast, then distribute weapons and ammunition, and secretly entered the forward position. Infantry and cavalry, after the end of the artillery shelling, will attack the Russian troops on the opposite side.

When the hands on the watch were pointing to 7 o'clock, Lieutenant General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army, gave the order to open fire. On the positions of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army, a total of thousands of artillery pieces began to roar, pouring shells one after another on the positions of the Russian army.

The 2nd Army of the Imperial Army, which also attacked at the same time. The Imperial Army's raid on the Russian army began here! (To be continued......)

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