Major He Fengqi, commander of the guard battalion of the 4th Forbidden Brigade, drew the revolver on his waist after shooting all the bullets of the sniper rifle in his hands.

He Fengqi was a "trump card" sniper vigorously promoted by the imperial propaganda media during the First Sino-Japanese War, and by the end of the Battle of Sekigahara, his shooting record had reached 184, ranking second on the list of sniper aces.

After the Battle of Sekigahara, he was transferred back to China and served as a lieutenant instructor at the Sniper Academy of the Land University, but after the war, he was forced to suspend his post for reflection due to his involvement in the Ding Jieyun rebellion (that is, the Guangxingding case), and then he was quite coldly treated, and was only assigned to some miscellaneous idle positions, until 1900, when he was taken care of by a developed old boss, he was separated from the Guangxingding case and was able to enter the short-term training of the Lu University, and in 1902, he became the commander of the guard battalion of the 4th Forbidden Brigade.

Although he has experienced this ups and downs, He Fengqi's ability as a sniper has not decreased at all, he has not forgotten that he is an ace sniper, as long as conditions permit, almost every day he insists on training marksmanship and reviewing other skills of snipers, in the battle on October 5, his training results have been the most direct and practical test.

At about 11 o'clock, He Fengqi led two companies of the guard battalion to occupy a position on an earthen dam southwest of the brigade command post, preparing to intercept the Russian assault troops that came out of the secret path, he carried with him a domestically produced 1897-style sniper rifle equipped with an adjustable magnifying scope, and pinned two small bullet boxes of yellow cowhide on his belt, each box contained 20 rounds (four rows) of 7.92 mm rifle bullets, he believed that he not only had the strength of a commander, he was an ace sniper, That has never changed.

When two battalions of Russian infantry and five companies of Russian lancers approached the earthen dam, He Fengqi told his men to wait for the enemy to reach a distance of 400 yards before firing, at a distance at which he could almost guarantee that one bullet would be exchanged for one life.

The distance of 400 yards also gave the Chinese 6 light and heavy machine guns a terrible effect, but the Russians' 4 heavy machine guns and 8 guns were also able to exert even more formidable effectiveness at close range.

The fierce battle lasted less than twenty minutes, and He Fengqi quickly ran out of forty-five rifle bullets in his hand, and he thought that forty or so Russians should have been shot through the forehead or temple by his sniper rifle, and two or three others should have been shot in the chest.

The Russian cavalry artillery and mountain artillery dumbed out half of the Chinese machine guns, and forced the remaining machine guns to constantly shift positions, and the Russian infantry's rifle machine gun fire also gave a lot of losses to the Chinese infantry who were crawling behind the earthen dam and exposed their upper bodies to shoot, He Fengqi felt the need to retreat.

He dropped his sniper rifle, drew his revolver, and ordered a platoon of the 2 company to act as a rear guard to cover the withdrawal of the main forces to the perimeter of the brigade command post within the ring line.

As soon as the order was given, several Russian cavalrymen rushed from the side of the position with their spears, He Fengqi quickly raised his revolver, and with a few clicks of the feeling, four Russian soldiers fell from their horses, and the fifth Russian soldier rushed over excitedly, the tip of the spear pointed directly at He Fengqi's chest.

He Feng reflexively rolled on the ground, the war horse galloped past him, the spear picked up his military cap, and the Russian cavalry was about to turn the horse's head and stab again, but was knocked off the horse by two Chinese riflemen who had just reacted.

"The sniper manual doesn't say how to deal with a cavalryman with a spear when you run out of bullets, but I already know the truth, and that is to ask someone to save you."

He Feng thought about it, patted the dust on his uniform, loaded a circle of bullets into his revolver, and led the remaining subordinates to run back to the brigade command like rabbits, and behind them, a platoon of thirty or forty men who held their positions as the rearguard troops were killed by the swarming Russian infantry cavalry in a few minutes.

When He Fengqi saw Qian Zichen with a dusty face, he saw that the brigade elder was hanging a bullet box on his belt.

"Brigadier, you are ......"

"No way, if I only use a pistol, I won't be able to withstand even a single infantryman."

Qian Zichen said, seeing the bullet box on He Fengqi's waist, he added another sentence: "How about it, you have broken the original record of first place, how many have you killed?" ”

"No less than forty."

"Then you're the Empire's No. 1 sniper now, why, still won't you stop?"

He Fengqi shook his head and smiled: "I need a sniper rifle now, and a few rows of bullets, I won't stop until I am killed by the other party." ”

Qian Zichen immediately ordered the guards around him to find a sniper rifle, and pointed to a pile of rifle bullets on the map table: "Do it yourself, this kind of thing is a treasure if you give it, and if you give it to me, it can only be regarded as garbage." ”

He Fengqi stuffed bullets into the bullet box and trouser pockets and asked his boss, "How is the front line?" Can you send reinforcements? ”

"The telegraph communication with the three regimental headquarters on the front has just been cut off, and someone has been sent to investigate, and a herald has also been sent to ask each regiment to send at least two companies back to the defense, but I believe that the front line is also tightening, and we must be prepared to hold the position without reinforcements - not only to hold the support points around the brigade command, but also to protect the heavy artillery positions."

"And what about the Forbidden 1st Brigade on the other side? They should be able to get over soon. ”

"We have received a telegram from them that the pontoon bridge under construction has been disintegrated by a mill that the Russians have lowered from upstream, and that they are collecting the remnants of the ships and bringing in a few infantry companies to rescue them."

He Feng stared at his boss in confusion: "Mill? Hit by a mill? ”

Qian Zichen looked like "it's useless to look at me", and sighed: "That's what the telegram says, and I don't know what the specific situation is." ”

At this time, He Fengqi brought the sniper rifle he wanted, He Fengqi picked it up and gestured twice, and was about to say goodbye to Qian Zichen, when there was a sudden rumble on the top of the bunker, and a few locks of dust fell from the ceiling, which just choked He Fengqi and caused him to sneeze three times in a row.

"Raised by a son of a bitch, those guys are tired of life, and they are all looking forward to me sending them to see Hades."

He Fengqi wiped his nose and said, and before he could say goodbye, he went straight out of the bunker of the command post with his gun, and ran to a sniper position that he had just withdrawn to a sniper position, starting a new round of unpleasant and uneasy hunting.

Before the crisis of the brigade command passed, the positions of the two artillery battalions attached to the forbidden 4th brigade were attacked by the enemy, and a group of Cossack cavalry rushed into the field of a 105 cannon company, brandishing a saber and slashing, the Chinese gunners did not have many light weapons around them, and almost all the people of the entire company were hacked to death and stamped, and the Russian cavalry quickly planted the zha medicine, and after a series of loud noises, the six cannons and piles of ammunition were reduced to waste. Another 105th artillery company was also attacked by the Russian infantry cavalry, but it happened that there was a platoon of infantry from the guard battalion near this company, and the riflemen repelled the first onslaught of the small group of enemy cavalry, and the gunners quickly turned the muzzle of the gun with all their strength, filled it with shrapnel and bombarded the enemy several hundred yards away, and the Russian army fled, abandoning more than 100 corpses on the south side of the position. Two 90mm howitzer batteries deployed near the ammunition stockpile were attacked by several Russian infantry cavalry detachments, one of them blew up two guns, and the other company turned its artillery around in time to bombard the enemy, and with the support of the fat cavalry stationed at the ammunition stockpile, the enemy was repulsed, but the gunners of these two companies also suffered heavy casualties, and the rest of the men together could only operate five cannons.

The Russian army's attack on the artillery position of the forbidden 4th brigade made the artillery support of the Chinese army on the front line suddenly sparse, and Lieutenant General Shtakliberg, who was watching the battle on the front line, was keenly aware of this situation, and was about to give the order to put into the reserve to launch a general attack, when he saw the predetermined red, white, and blue signal flares rising behind the Chinese army's position, he proudly said to the left and right: "They succeeded, this is an opportunity, an opportunity given to us by God, and it is also God's punishment for the infidels. Concentrate on attacking the junction of the enemy's frontal position and the left flank position! ”

All 8 battalions of Russian reserves rushed out of their hiding places one after another, and with the close support of several rapid-fire artillery batteries, they formed a multi-layer skirmish line to launch a fierce attack on the first-line positions of the Chinese army, and the heavy artillery of the Russian army intensified the bombardment of the second-line positions of the Chinese army, so as to prevent the Chinese army from sending reinforcements to the first-line positions.

Lieutenant Colonel Wang Shouzhong's 11th Guards Infantry Regiment was responsible for defending the center of the frontal position, and the regiment's defensive line had not been loosened during the previous rounds of fierce Russian attacks. This time, the Russian army did not invest a large number of troops in front of the position of the 11th Regiment, but placed the spearhead of the attack on a gentle slope between the regiment and the defense line of the 12th Regiment, which was responsible for defending the left flank position. It is true that the 8th Company of the 3rd Battalion of the 12th Regiment, which defended this area, has not received any support since the beginning of the battle, because "the enemy has hardly attacked the position of the 8th Company in serious earnest."

The two battalions of the 4th Siberian Division concentrated on attacking the position of the 8th Company with the cooperation of the two reinforced companies of the 25th Infantry Division, and the Russian army covered the attacking troops with 8 76mm rapid-fire guns of the entire company, and the officers and soldiers of the 8th Company who could fight at this time were less than 80 people, and under the leadership of the company commander Captain Ma Mingsong, they relied on the broken fortifications to fight to the death with the enemy, and they were helplessly outnumbered, "The tide of enemies poured into the trenches, and a Russian soldier pierced the throat of the company commander, so many reservists who had just been replenished immediately threw away their guns and fled back, Almost all those who remained in the trenches were killed, and more than a dozen stabs were stabbed in each corpse......"

In the No. 2 observation post near the command post of the 11th Regiment, Wang Shouzhong witnessed the destruction of the Eighth Company, and he knew that he must immediately send two or three companies there to block the breach in the defensive line, but a few minutes ago, he had just sent the last three companies available at hand to the rescue brigade command post and artillery position, and his defense area was also under onslaught by the Russian army, he clenched his fists, and felt that he had nothing to do.

"But if you just let the enemy pass through the position of the Eighth Company...... We already have no reserves left in the second-line positions, and the enemy must be stopped here! ”

Time was pressing, the situation was critical, and the fighter plane was fleeting, Wang Shouzhong immediately made a decision: "The guard company will come with me and take back the position of the 12th Regiment and 8th Company!" ”

Xiao Nianfeng, the commander of the guard company, complained: "Regiment commander, there is a defense area of the 12th Regiment, and it should be taken back by the 12th Regiment, so there is no need for our regiment to interfere." ”

Wang Shouzhong was annoyed, raised his hand and slapped Xiao Nianfeng: "When is it, you're still tinkering with your little chicken belly, get down, don't let me see you again!" From now on, the guard company is under my personal command, brethren, follow me! ”

More than 100 members of the guard company shouted and followed, and in the smoke of gunpowder, Wang Shouzhong was bareheaded, waving the revolver in his hand, and behind him were rows of bright bayonets, advancing into the wind.

Xiao Nianfeng, who was left behind, rubbed his reddened cheeks, spat fiercely, and chased after him with a rifle.

A few minutes later, the 11th Regiment Guard Company, which was running forward, entered the Russian troops entrenched in the position of the 12th Regiment and the 8th Company from the side.

Wang Shouzhong originally rushed to the front, but when he was close to the enemy, he slammed the trigger of the revolver, shot down three enemy soldiers, and then stuck the pistol in his waist, pulled out his saber and slashed at the enemy soldiers in front.

The Russian soldiers saw Wang Shouzhong holding a beautiful dragon saber, knowing that he was a senior officer, gathering many people to attack him, Wang Shouzhong dodged left and right, the knife danced like the wind, and slashed three or four Russian soldiers in a row, but attracted more Russian soldiers, one of the Russian soldiers suddenly raised his hand and released a shot, which hit Wang Shouzhong in the abdomen, and the rest of the Russian soldiers took the opportunity to hold the bayonet forward, and they were about to pierce the lieutenant colonel commander full of holes.

Wang Shouzhong only felt that a figure suddenly passed in front of him, blocking between him and the bright bayonets.

Four bayonets, piercing four blood holes, blood gushed out, Xiao Nianfeng's hand spasmed, the rifle in his hand pointed at the head of a Russian soldier, and the bayonet on the gun pierced deeply into the opponent's right eye.

"Company Commander Xiao......"

Wang Shouzhong called out weakly, and another bullet came, shattering the kneecap of his right leg, Wang Shouzhong felt that in an instant, his right leg was completely numb, and he couldn't support it for a while, and fell backwards heavily.

The three Russian soldiers were about to completely dispose of the prey in front of them when two Chinese Janissaries in black uniforms jumped over and killed them with a few spurts.

"Commander......"

"Hurry up and bring the regiment commander back!"

"Retreat! Fall back! ”

Wang Shouzhong's consciousness gradually blurred, and he struggled to spit out a few words before his eyes were completely dark: "Don't withdraw!" Resist! ”

The two or three soldiers beside Wang Shouzhong heard his order, but no one planned to carry it out, and they wanted to save the regimental commander's life, except for the consideration of being outnumbered.

The counteroffensive led by Wang Shouzhong failed, the guard company suffered more than half of the casualties, and retreated to its own position, and the Russian army penetrated the position of the eighth company, began to break through the second line position of the Chinese army, and organized troops to make a detour to the rear of the left flank position held by the 12th regiment.

Due to the attack of the brigade command and artillery positions by the enemy, the reserves were gone, at this time the forces on the second line position were empty, there were only seven companies on the six-kilometer front, the Russian army concentrated on attacking the position held by the 11th company of the 10th regiment with one and a half battalion troops, and soon broke through the place, Captain Bosolavich's company rushed to the front, and soon joined up with the Cossack cavalry of the 27th regiment that was attacking the artillery position of the Chinese army, and the position of the forbidden 4th brigade was thus divided into two parts.

It was now about 12 o'clock in the afternoon, and the commander of the Fourth Forbidden Brigade, Colonel Qian Zichen, had completely lost contact with the front line, and the battle was unfolding within a few hundred yards around his command post.

"You dare not obey my orders!"

Qian Zichen threatened, but the guards didn't buy it: "Battalion Commander He said, whoever dares to release you out of the gang, he will pierce someone's temple with a bullet when he turns back." ”

"So is he Ying old or am I old?"

"No matter who is old, I don't want to die so soon."

With that, the guard stepped back and blocked the doorway to the bunker.

Qian Zichen was helpless, waved his hand, turned to the telegraph room, and asked the operator: "Is there any news from the forbidden brigade?" ”

"Not yet."

"Power generation, just eight words: the situation is critical, send rescue troops quickly!"

"Understood."

After a while, Qian Zichen was still not at ease, and asked the operator to resend it again.

"Hey, I don't know what the situation is on the front line of the road, can anyone check it out for me."

Qian Zichen muttered to himself, looked left and right, and his eyes fell on He Weining, the brigade intelligence staff officer.

"What a staff officer!"

"Here!"

"I'll give you a task, take two people, get on horseback, and go around the front-line positions, mainly to the command posts of each regiment to see, I need to know whether the positions in various parts of the road are lost, and how many mobile troops each regiment still has, understand?"

"Yes!"

He Weining obeyed the order, this 27-year-old young man, who only graduated from Lu University four years ago, because of his excellent grades and outstanding performance, he quickly became the intelligence staff officer of the brigade headquarters, Qian Zichen attached special importance to him, and naturally thought of him at this time, and asked him to observe the battlefield situation instead of himself.

However, He Weining had only been out of the army for more than half an hour before he was carried back by two entourage soldiers, who had been shot in the head, covered in dust, and had already swallowed his breath.

Qian Zichen hurriedly asked the soldiers: "What's the matter?" ”

One of the soldiers responded to the elder one: "Staff Officer He took us around the 11th Regiment from the small road, and before we could get out of a mile, Staff Officer He was shot, and we grabbed him on the horse and drove him back, and he ran out of gas halfway." ”

Qian Zichen sighed regretfully, shook his head, and asked the soldier again: "Why are you taking the path?" Has the road been blocked? ”

"Staff Officer He showed us that the roads to the regiments were full of Russians, and the traffic trenches could not be crossed, and he said at the time, not good, the brigade commanders have been surrounded."

Qian Zichen was taken aback, and hurriedly asked people to find He Fengqi, the commander of the guard battalion, and Mao Tianji, the commander of the 3rd Fat Cavalry Regiment.

He Fengqi strode in with his sniper rifle first, and Mao Tianji then followed with the saber on his waist, and the two of them stared at Qian Zichen with questioning eyes, one left and one right.

"You two have worked hard, there is a situation I must let you know, in fact, just now the brigade headquarters staff officer He went to the front line to reconnoitre, and found that the enemy has cut off the connection between the brigade commander and the front line, that is, we have been surrounded by the enemy."

Qian Zichen paused, seeing that He Fengqi just shrugged his shoulders indifferently, and Mao Tianji just rubbed his riding boots on the ground.

"I hope you two can tell me how many people are left to fight around the brigade commander."

"I'm not very clear about this question."

Mao Tianji rubbed the hair on the back of his head and responded.

"My troops have been assigned to various places, and I only know that the battalion under my direct command still has about 200 men left who can shoot guns, and as for those who can fight on horseback, I am afraid that there are less than 100."

Qian Zichen turned to He Fengqi, and He Fengqi's report was not much better: "The three companies of the guard battalion responsible for defending the brigade have all suffered heavy losses, and now there are about 300 people who can stay in the trenches and shoot, and as for the people who can run and charge, there are only more than 100." ”

"What about the reinforcements sent back from the front? Didn't the three companies of the Eleventh Regiment be transferred to your command? ”

"These three companies were raided by the Russian cavalry during the movement, and when they entered the brigade command position, only half of the people were still intact, and they had lost a lot of money after fighting for a while just now, and now it seems that there are almost a hundred people intact."

Qian Zichen groaned for a moment, and then asked He Fengqi: "Where is the ammunition?" Is there enough ammo? Is the ammunition hoarding field still in our hands? ”

"I don't know what to do, the fourth company is stationed there, but it has been an hour since contact with them has been lost, and the communication trench leading there has been blocked by the enemy. We no longer have enough ammunition in our hands, there are only seven or eight shells left for each artillery, and only two hundred rounds for each machine gun, so it has been ordered that no long bursts of fire are allowed, and rifle bullets are also given priority to snipers and special marksmen, and even then, I am afraid it will not last long...... It's just that the stock of grenades is quite sufficient......"

"Then use more grenades, put the enemy closer to fight, and hold on a little longer, the forbidden brigade is just across the river, their reinforcements should have gone ashore, we will wait here, and when the reinforcements arrive, the enemy will definitely be repulsed, and it is not a big deal to be surrounded."

Mao Tianji smiled, and then Qian Zichen's words: "Yes, yes, we are the Praetorian Guard, invincible in the world, even if we are surrounded by 100,000 people, it is nothing, don't worry, even if we persist until the evening, we will definitely be able to do it, it's no big deal!" ”

He Fengqi was not as optimistic as him, he put down the rifle in his hand against the wall, grabbed the kettle on the table and poured a few large mouthfuls of water, wiped his mouth with his hand, turned to Qian Zichen and said: "Brigade commander, let's break through, gather all the people who can move, go east, rush to the Jieya River, the people of the forbidden brigade may be there, after meeting with them, it is not too late for us to counterattack back." You may say that I am cowardly, but I have just turned around the defensive line, sniping all the way, and also observing all the way with the new high-powered telescope you gave me, from the analysis of the military flags and insignia that appeared in the enemy camp, the enemy forces that appeared around the brigade command should have belonged to more than six different regiments, and the routes of attack were different, and the coordination was not close enough, my analysis is that these enemies did not come from one direction, that is, not all of them penetrated from the rear, and the most likely explanation is that the enemy has broken through the frontal line of defense, divided our camp into two halves, and at the same time converged on the north and south, encircling the brigade commander. In this way, the enemy's forces are pooled into one place, and the situation of our army is even more critical, so it is better to take advantage of the fact that the enemy has just converged, the foothold is not stable, and the coordination is undecided, and the elite is simply selected to rush out of the army, at least the brigade headquarters can be saved. ”

※※※

Qian Zichen nodded to He Fengqi: "Battalion Commander He, I have always trusted you very much, and I will not doubt the conclusions you draw from field observations, but in this situation, the regiments on the front line are still fighting, and there are still so many wounded people here who can't leave, I can't leave them and run for my life." ”

"But ......"

"Needless to say, you can go back to the position, Commander Mao, you can go back too."

After Qian Zichen finished speaking, he lifted the curtain of the telegraph room, and was about to send a telegram asking for help, behind him, several staff officers whispered: "Battalion Commander He said 'at least you can keep the brigade headquarters', but it doesn't mean that you can at least save the brigade commander's life, he doesn't want to go, and he doesn't ask us if we want to go, isn't it just a breakthrough, who told him that breaking through the siege is equivalent to running for his life......"

After a few minutes, the staff officers had to arm themselves with rifles, ready to fight the enemy who might break into the brigade command at any time.

At this time, in an observation post in the starting position of the Russian army, Lieutenant General Shtakliberge, commander of the First Siberian Army, was eating bacon and bread while listening to the report of the battle situation by the staff officer next to him, and his face was quite proud.

"The Zarumenko Brigade of the 25th Division has successfully penetrated deep into the enemy's position, and now our army has divided the enemy into three parts: the enemy's eastern group, which is close to the Jieya River, the western group, which is on the left flank of the enemy, and the southern group, which is around the enemy's brigade command. At present, we are pooling our forces and planning to destroy the enemy's western and southern blocs first, and then destroy the enemy's eastern bloc in one fell swoop. ”

"The detachment of General Svalov, the right flank of our army, together with the 98 regiment of the Zarumenko brigade and the 100 regiment of the Kosykin brigade, has divided the enemy's western group into three isolated small clusters, ready to concentrate forces and break them individually."

"Colonel Barisoyev's roundabout detachment has successfully surrounded the enemy brigade command post, destroyed most of the enemy's heavy artillery positions, and joined the 97 regiment of the Zarumenko brigade near the enemy brigade and is now besieging the enemy brigade command post and ammunition hoarding field with the 97 regiment......"

"Our army's attack on the enemy's pontoon bridge over the Jieya River achieved obvious results, according to the suggestion of Lieutenant Colonel Valansonev, a whole lit mill was put into the water and went down the river, as a result of which the enemy's pontoon bridge was smashed to pieces, and in addition, heavy artillery fire was organized to bombard the crossing of the Jieya River, which made it difficult for the enemy's 1st Brigade on the opposite bank to cross the river to support, so far, only two or three companies of the 1st Brigade of the Forbidden Brigade were found to have crossed the Jieya River to the west bank, but these troops were quickly compressed to the shore by our army's strong force fire, unable to move ... …”

For this combat operation, the Russian army has made careful arrangements, and Lieutenant General Shtakliberg has also made up his mind in public that he must kick out the forbidden 4th Brigade that is blocking the front, and for this reason, with the superiority in manpower and firepower and the use of exquisite strategies, the Russian army is climbing to the peak of victory step by step.

"This time, eat clean!"

Shtakli Berg muttered to himself, swallowing the remaining small piece of bread in one gulp.

In Weiyuan City, 140 kilometers away from where Shtakliberg is located, General Liang Tianhe, commander of the Chinese Janissary Field Army, had no intention of eating, and he paced up and down in the Qingwa Hall of the military headquarters, sucking in the Hardmen cigarettes of Chief of Staff Zhang Yiye one after another, until Zhang Yiye felt heartache - his heart ached.

Liang Tianhe finished pumping the last Harder gate in the iron box, strode over the high threshold, came to the center of the courtyard, raised his hand into the air, opened his palm, waved it twice, and then turned to an officer wearing a blue-bottom epaulette who was squatting in the corner of the courtyard and staring at the anemometer: "Commander You, I think the wind seems to be a little lighter, do you see if the plane can go to the sky?" ”

The officer was none other than Colonel You Zhuan, commander of the Janissary Field Army's aviation floating group, and he turned around slowly, and replied categorically: "No, the wind speed is still too high, and even if you barely fly into the sky, you can't effectively attack the enemy." ”

"It doesn't matter if you can't attack effectively, you can just play a psychological role."

"Is it possible to risk losing half of the plane in order to play a little psychological role?"

"Then forget it."

Liang Tianhe said stupidly, turned back into the lobby, and walked straight to Zhang Yiye.

"My good chief of staff—"

When Zhang Yiye heard this overly affectionate call, he shouted in his heart, and hurriedly put his hand in his pants pocket to cover the remaining half of the box of Hademen cigarettes.

"The smoke is gone."

Liang Tianhe blinked, and immediately made a stern statement: "You really look down on me, can I tell you only for cigarettes?" How can I say that I am also an imperial general, is it good to give some face, because you have worked with me for so long, don't you still know me as a person? ”

"Understood, understood."

Zhang Yiye responded, grabbed the cigarette case in his pocket, of course, this subtle action could not escape Liang Tianhe's eyes, so he leaned closer to Zhang Yiye and said: "Actually, you should look farther, I am now the commander of an army, commanding hundreds of thousands of elite divisions, and now I am facing such an urgent situation, you must be very sober-minded, as the chief of staff, you need to do your best to assist me, give me help, give me support, if possible, also give me two or three Hardmen, Because that's what keeps me clear-headed, and if you say that, you don't think I'm a strong man, right, but it's not just two or three Hardmen? Money is something outside of the body, let alone cigarettes......"

Zhang Yiye smiled bitterly and muttered: "Two or three or three hundred packs, it's better to make it clear." ”

After all, he had no choice but to hand over the half box of Hade Gate, Liang Tianhe fortunately still had some conscience, so he took out one of them and put it on Zhang Yiye's ear, and stuffed the rest into his pocket for later use.

At this time, an adjutant came to report again, handing over the eighth call for help sent by the Fourth Brigade that day.

Liang Tianhe took out his pocket watch and looked at it, shook his head and said: "Four copies were sent in less than an hour, it seems that the Fourth Brigade is really not good, what is the First Brigade doing?" Is there any news from Brigadier Xu? ”

"Nope."

"Send another telegram to Brigade Commander Xu of the 1st Brigade, asking him to organize heavy troops to cross the Jieya River to support the 4th Brigade at all costs, and also send a telegram to Brigade Commander Xie of the 10th Brigade, asking him if he has carried out the order I ordered him to personally lead two regiments to support the 4th Brigade two hours ago."

"Understood!"

The adjutant had to give the order to go, Liang Tianhe casually took out half a box of cigarettes that he had just plundered, lit one, and put another one on his ear, then came to the map table and beckoned Zhang Yiye to come over.

"Although reinforcements have been sent, but we must also prepare for the worst, once the fourth brigade completely collapses, there will be a huge gap in our front, and the enemy's strength is far above our original estimate, we must draw troops to organize a new defense line in a position south of the fourth brigade, the action must be fast, and the number of troops cannot be too small, where do you think the new defense line is better arranged?"

Zhang Yiye pondered for a moment, then drew a straight line with his finger between Sergeyevka and the Jieya River: "Only a defensive line can be opened between the two rivers, and we must not allow the enemy to penetrate into the rear of the siege troops, so we must maintain a continuous battle line, if it is laid out here, the battle line is about twenty kilometers long, and there are some low hills that can be used as support points, and at least two brigades must be sent to control it." Sergeyevka's 10th Brigade can be used on the spot, and another brigade needs to be added, and now is the critical moment for the capture of the Hailanpo Fortress, and it is unrealistic to transfer an entire formed brigade out, I think it is possible to draw three battalions from each of the four brigades of the main attack, and form a mixed brigade, led by a certain deputy division commander or the chief staff officer of a certain brigade, and form a new defense line together with the 10th Brigade. ”

Liang Tianhe nodded and said, "Well, just do it, and draw up an order immediately." ”

"So who should be the commander of the mixed brigade?"

"Just send Long Xiaotian, the deputy commander of the 2nd Division, to do it, he still had a set when he was the commander of the 2nd Brigade."

As he spoke, Liang Tianhe let out a long puff of green smoke, which made his face look illusory, which was probably part of the "sober" realm he wanted.

Now in the hands of Xu Soul, the commander of the First Forbidden Brigade, more than a dozen telegrams with similar content have been accumulated, the subject matter is about the reinforcement of the Forbidden Fourth Brigade, but the more time passes, the more miserable the wording of the telegram sent by the Forbidden Fourth Brigade becomes, and it is only one step away from the destruction of the whole army, while the wording of the telegram sent by the field army headquarters is even more intense - it is simply to point at his nose and scold him for being incompetent and kick his ass again to let him move forward.

Xu Soul didn't want the troops to cross the river quickly, but he never expected that the Russian army would use unprecedented perverted means, put down a huge mill downstream, and crashed and destroyed most of the pontoon bridge in one fell swoop, and even sank more than a dozen small boats used for pontoons, and many other boats lost control and drifted downstream with the current, and then the ferry area was bombarded by Russian artillery fire, and many ships were destroyed, losing these many ships, Xu Soul could not let the heavily armed soldiers fly across the river.

"I really doubt that they are human, and this method is also used!"

Xu Soul said indignantly, grabbed the white bread filled with carrot meat sent by the cook, and nibbled on it, and Wen Yu, the staff officer of the brigade commander next to him, obviously read a lot, and immediately gave him a make-up lesson: "In fact, this strategy is not their first creation, as early as the era of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, when the French army crossed the Danube River in 1809 to attack the Austrian army, the Austrian army used this means to destroy the main pontoon bridge on the Danube, which isolated the French army that had crossed the river, and led to the defeat of the Battle of Aisling-Aspeen......"

"It doesn't matter if he loves the necromancer or Ah Ship, the most important thing now is to find a way to cross the river, hasn't the brigade artillery been arranged yet?"

"We haven't received a report yet."

"If this continues, not only will the Fourth Brigade be finished, but I'm afraid it will be finished soon, you go and urge the artillery battalion, no, you better draft a telegram first, explain our situation to the military department, phew, old Maozi of the dog day."

Xu Soul said, viciously ravaging the bun in his hand.

※※※

Time passed minute by minute, it was now 15:30 on October 5, the brigade command post of the Fourth Janissary Brigade was still surrounded by the Russian army, and the circular defense line around the brigade command was constantly attacked by waves of Russian infantry cavalry, the defenders were not defeated, and the defense line was not broken through, but the brigade commander Qian Zichen knew that these tenacious soldiers around him no longer had much ammunition.

"I don't know if the ammunition storage yard on the north side of the road is still in our hands, if we can break through there......

Qian Zichen thought, looking east and west, the underground bunker of the brigade commander was crowded with wounded, and there were no officers and soldiers who could be used to "break through".

He Fengqi, the commander of the brigade guard battalion, walked in, ignored the brigade commander, and only looked for bullets everywhere.

"Camp Commander He, how is the situation outside?"

"My riflemen have only five rounds of ammunition left each, and if the enemy attacks again, they will have to fight with bayonets. There were still seven or eight shells in total, and each machine gun could only evenly carry a few dozen rounds, and two or three long shots would be over. ”

He Fengqi said, shaking the sniper rifle in his hand, which was already loaded with a bright bayonet.

Qian Zichen handed him the kettle, unloaded the bullet from the rifle beside him and handed it to him, patted him on the shoulder and said, "It's hard work, if you hold it up for a while, the reinforcements will definitely arrive." ”

He Fengqi thanked the brigade commander, drank a few sips of water, glanced at the bullet in his hand, looked up and said to Qian Zichen: "Brigade commander, it's not a way to go on like this, it's better for me to lead a team of people to the ammunition hoarding yard to have a look, maybe it's still in our hands, if that's the case, we can replenish the ammunition, and if the situation is not good, then order the defenders to blow up the remaining ammunition and withdraw here together to hold on." ”

Qian Zichen hesitated: "It's too dangerous, besides, our troops are already insufficient, if we send troops over there, what if the enemy suddenly attacks?" ”

"I will take thirty people over, it will not have much impact on the entire defense line, before the operation, first launch a feint attack with a company of troops on the east side of the defense line, so that the enemy thinks that we are going to break through to the river, to attract their attention, and then I will lead the selected squad to attack suddenly, I have thought about it, as long as we move fast enough and luck enough, it is still very possible to break through to the ammunition hoarding field within ten minutes"

"Luck ...... such a thing"

"At least it's a little bit more of a chance to do that."

He Fengqi's expression was completely non-negotiable, which made Qian Zichen almost think that He Fengqi had become his boss.

"Just do what you want, just be safe."

"Understood."

He Feng put his legs together, saluted respectfully, and went out with his rifle.

"If this kind of person dies, it will be a great loss for the empire."

Qian Zichen thought and paced into the telegraph room again.

"What's new?"

The operator replied as he copied on the paper, "Please wait a minute, I'm translating." ”

After a while, the translated telegram was sent to Qian Zichen: "Our department has arranged artillery on the east bank, please let the artillery staff send the location parameters of the enemy's position, and order the officers and men to do a good job of concealment, our department will first carry out a rapid fire of ten rounds with all long-range artillery, and then correct the artillery fire according to the parameters provided by your department." In addition, our unit is crossing the river with all its might to help, so please continue to hold your ground. Praetorian 1st Brigade, Xu, October 5 at 15:20. ”

"Haven't you crossed over yet? This thousand-headed chop is too grinding, and it doesn't look like his style at all. Forget it, at least there is artillery support, and he has his difficulties. ”

Qian Zichen thought, so he called the artillery staff officer, asked him to write down the parameters of the enemy's position, sent it to the command post of the forbidden 1st brigade, and asked the adjutant to pass on the order, so that the officers and soldiers on the position could pay attention to concealment, and there would be their own artillery fire.

Ten minutes later, just as the Russian troops around the brigade command were regrouping, and with the support of artillery and machine guns, they were preparing to launch a new round of impact on the positions of the Chinese army, when suddenly a burst of blazing artillery fire overwhelmed the sky, and clusters of bright flesh and blood flowers were shot in the Russian camp, killing Colonel Barisoyev, the commander of the Russian detachment who was supervising the formation, on the spot.

Qian Zichen, who saw this scene in the brigade command post, applauded loudly, causing the staff officers to surround and rush to use the artillery mirror, but Qian Zichen only gave the artillery mirror to the artillery staff officer and asked him to correct the artillery firing parameters.

Since then, every ten minutes or so, there has been a burst of accurate artillery fire in front of the starting positions of the Russian troops around the brigade command, and the Russian troops have no trenches to hide, and they have suffered heavy casualties, and they are forced to retreat again and again, until they retreat out of the sight of the artillery staff of the forbidden fourth brigade.

However, he said that the small detachment led by He Fengqi also successfully broke through to the hoarding field with the effect of this artillery fire, and was pleasantly surprised to find that the defenders still firmly controlled the trench blockhouse system around the hoarding field, but the casualties were too large, and I was afraid that it would not be able to withstand the more powerful impact of the enemy, so He Fengqi ordered the defenders to retreat with him, carry as much ammunition as possible, blow up all the ammunition that could not be moved, and leave the seriously wounded who were difficult to move in the field bandaging station.

This order aroused the displeasure of the commander of the defenders, Major Luo Gansun, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Cavalry Regiment.

"You can't leave your wounded brother behind! It's like we're killing them with our own hands! ”

The cavalrymen also shouted: "That's right! How can you do this, you would rather take people away without ammunition! ”

He Fengqi eagerly explained: "The battle situation is critical, the guards of the brigade command have no ammunition, the reinforcements are delayed, we need to stock up on ammunition as much as possible, if there is a constant shortage of ammunition, the brigade commander will be captured, everyone has to be taken prisoners, it is better to leave the seriously wounded here, I believe that the Russian army will play a humanitarian spirit and take proper care of them, even if they become prisoners, they can be released back after the end of the war......"

Luo Gansun said sharply: "Fart! What kind of humanitarian spirit does Lao Maozi have, he killed thousands of Chinese in one day in Hailan, a large number of corpses floating on the Heilongjiang River, they are still so cruel to innocent people, not to mention the soldiers who fight against them! ”

The fat cavalry screamed again, and let He Fengqi explain again and again, resolutely not allowing the seriously wounded to be left behind.

Since he said that he could not move the cavalry, He Fengqi had no choice but to let the 3rd Company of the guards subordinate to the guard battalion in the defenders immediately carry out his order, and the 32 seriously wounded of the 3rd Company stayed in the field bandaging station, and the others carried ammunition to the brigade commander, while the cavalry took matters into their own hands under the command of Luo Gansun, carrying on their backs seventy or eighty seriously wounded soldiers belonging to the Fat Cavalry Unit on the road, each with only a base bullet of the horse pistol in his hand, and did not take any more ammunition.

With a series of violent explosions, piles of ammunition hidden in anti-artillery bunkers turned into brilliant fireworks, which of course attracted the attention of the Russian army, a company of Russian infantry cautiously entered the ammunition hoarding field that had been withdrawn for defense, and soon found 32 seriously wounded soldiers left by the 3rd company of guards in a large tent, and the Russian soldiers quickly carried forward their humanitarian spirit and killed the seriously wounded in pain with bayonets one by one.

(After the war, He Fengqi was prosecuted by the Supreme Military Procuratorate for this, but due to the interference of the military upper echelons, the Military Procuratorate eventually withdrew the prosecution.)

The crisis of the 4th Forbidden Brigade was saved by the artillery support of the 1st Forbidden Brigade and the successful return of ammunition from He Fengqi, and the Russian troops surrounding the brigade launched the largest assault of the day at about 16:30, only to be crushed by blazing artillery fire and dense bullet rain, suffering heavy losses and having to suspend the attack.

The three battalions of the 12th Regiment of the Chinese Army, which were divided into three support points on the left flank position, were not so lucky; under the repeated bombardment of the enemy's heavy artillery fire and the repeated impact of superior forces, the three support points fell one after another, and the commander of the 12th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Liu Songmu, was killed, and only 73 people of the whole regiment broke out of the encirclement and fled to the position of the 11th Regiment.

Although the Forbidden 12th Regiment was tragically destroyed, due to the tenacious operation of the officers and men of the regiment, the Russian army also paid a heavy price, 4 battalion commanders of the Svalov detachment responsible for the main attack were killed, and 2 battalion commanders were seriously injured, in addition, the Russian army also spent precious time and failed to transfer its forces in time to attack the remnants of the 11th and 10th Forbidden Regiment of the Chinese Army that were divided on the west bank of the Jieya River, so that these two regiments got a chance to breathe, and the 11th Forbidden Regiment organized a new defensive line along the dividing line under the command of the chief staff officer Huo Yingqun, And together with the Forbidden Tenth Regiment, he constantly launched many counterattacks against the enemy, hoping to rescue the Forbidden Twelfth Regiment, although it failed to achieve its goal, it also distracted the attention of the Russian army, and at the same time reduced the pressure on the Forbidden Twelfth Regiment and the brigade commander.

It was close to eighteen o'clock when Lieutenant General Shtakliberg, commander of the 1st Russian Siberian Army, who was in front of the command, began to become agitated, and the reports he received became more and more irritating to him, that Svalov's detachment had suffered most of the casualties after the annihilation of the 12th Forbidden Regiment and was no longer able to launch an offensive again, and that Barisoyev's roundabout detachment was also heavily damaged around the command post of the 4th Forbidden Brigade. The eastern group of the 4th Forbidden Brigade of the divided Chinese Army had organized a new defensive line and was supported by the long-range artillery of the 1st Forbidden Brigade on the east bank of the Jieya River, and the Kosykin Brigade of the 25th Division and the Teshkin Brigade of the 4th Siberian Division repeatedly attacked it and paid a huge price, compressing the Chinese positions by less than a kilometer to the bank of the river. In addition, reinforcements from the 1st Forbidden Brigade continued to transport troops to the west bank with the few small boats left and urgently constructed rafts. By 17:50 a.m., the detachments of the Barisoyev and Zarumenko detachments, which were in charge of monitoring the blockade of the river bank, reported that three battalions of Chinese troops had crossed the Jieya River and were firmly in control of a beachhead, and that the follow-up troops were still going ashore. Just when the Russian herald was riding on horseback to transmit this report, Colonel Xu Soul, the commander of the 1st Forbidden Brigade, had already crossed the Jieya River with some staff officers with a radio station, and as soon as he set foot on the land on the west bank, Xu Soul gave an order to the adjutant: "The herald, all battalions of the 1st Regiment, except for one company to defend the beachhead, march west with all their forces, destroy all enemy troops along the way, and rescue the command post of the 4th Brigade for the purpose of rescuing the command post of the 4th Brigade." In the battle sequence, the first battalion was on the right flank, the second was in the center, and the third battalion was on the left flank. Fifteen minutes of artillery preparations began at 18:30 a.m., and the attack was launched at 18:45 p.m. ”

The Janissory Fourth Brigade was crippled, but not yet destroyed, and in a sense, the myth of the undefeated Praetorian Guard seems to have not been completely shattered.