When Zhang Xinyu, commander of the 29th Cavalry Brigade, received the order to attack, he was handing the last bunch of hay in the stable to the mouth of his beloved horse "Electric Dragon".

After being reinstated, the first problem Zhang Xinyu faced was to find food for the war horses in the brigade, however, Acheng was besieged for many days, and people's food became a problem, not to mention the war horses that ate several times or even ten times the amount of people.

Although it is the height of summer, the grass is luxuriant, but the war horses that are used to feeding the dry grass of the Jinggu are not suitable to eat the green seedlings directly, and the area in the encirclement is narrow, and the shells may fall at any time, and it is impossible to scatter wild grazing.

Seeing that the carefully selected, strong and tame war horses were losing weight day by day, Zhang Xinyu was heartbroken and anxious, but there was no good way, so he had to organize the officers and soldiers to go to the open field to cut the grass, and after drying it, mix it with a small amount of grain saved from people's mouths to feed the horses. Within two days, in the slightly safer open space, the grass that was originally knee-high had already been cut clean, leaving only pieces of stubble sticking to the ground.

However, the little hay that the officers and men had cut and dried in the stray shells was quickly eaten up by the hungry horses, and now, even the mount of his brigade commander, after eating this bundle of hay, could only wait to starve.

Rather than starve to death, it is better to die in battle!

The order to strike came at the right time.

Before dawn, the Russian army's crazy offensive began again, under the heavy artillery bombardment and the impact of human waves for several days, the defense line in the north of the city finally cracked a big hole, thousands of enemy troops like the water of the embankment, surging in, as the reserve of the whole army Cavalry 29 Brigade, of course, to rush to the front line immediately, plugging the gap. Saving the day.

"Sir, can you give me a horse, I want to ...... too"

Guard Zhang Yu stroked the forehead of the "electric dragon", and asked with obvious lack of confidence.

Zhang Xinyu patted the grass foam on his hand, shook his head and smiled: "I don't think you can ride a horse." ”

"I'm learning ......"

Zhang's rebuttal was unconvincing.

"Then I'll talk about it when I learn it."

Zhang Xinyu pulled out the saber on his waist, and took out a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and wiped it.

"Wait until you learn...... Is there still a horse for me to ride? ”

"Not necessarily, I've heard that the Janissary cavalry brigade has been converted into an armored brigade, and maybe after a while, my electric dragon will have to be replaced with a chariot or something—anyway, young man. You are still young, as long as you can survive this time, whether it is riding a horse or driving, there will always be time to learn slowly, listen to your old brother Zhang, and stay here to watch the family. I'll talk about it when I go back. ”

Between words. The knife has been wiped, immediately return the knife into the sheath, untie the reins across the horse, and whip away.

Half an hour later, with the exception of the 3rd Cavalry Battalion, which had been transferred to the front line to fill the trenches as dismounted infantry, all combat units of the brigade had been assembled, and more than 1,800 officers and men and nearly 2,000 horses had been put on their loads. Ready.

The situation is urgent. Zhang Xinyu didn't have time to sprinkle dog blood on the parade and lecture like a dog, so he simply summoned the officers and commanders of various units, arranged the tasks in three to five minutes, and "set off" with a "go", and each of them got on his horse and rushed to the headquarters to carry out the execution.

After experiencing the twists and turns of dismissal and reinstatement, after personally tasting the torment of life and death in the front-line trenches. Zhang Xinyu firmly believes. If you don't die in a great calamity, you will have a blessing in the future. A more brilliant future awaits him, and this first battle after reinstatement must be made famous.

The legs are clamped, the horsewhip is drawn, the "electric dragon" pouts and neighses, and the cavalry brigade - attack!

Semipalatinsk, forward command of the North-Western Front.

Marshal Liang Tianhe, commander of the front army, held a cigarette in his right hand and bent his left hand behind his back, standing solemnly in front of the map like a pillar, not so much thinking as in a daze.

On the table was a telegram sent early in the morning by General Lu Kaiping, commander of the Second Outfit Group, which requested that the time for the counterattack on Acheng be extended to wait for the subsequent gathering and integration of troops, "After the troops are gathered, they can join forces with the advancing troops in one go, break the enemy around Acheng, and then take Barnaul in the north, as far as Novosibirsk and Tomsk, and cut off the enemy's rear road in Kecheng......."

The staff officers outside had already discussed this, and some were in favor and some against, but the conclusion was not reached, and the chief of staff, Yan Canglong, rushed to inspect the defense line west of the city before dawn, and Liang Tianhe wanted to wait for him to come back, listen to his opinions, and then make a decision.

Lu Kai's flat suggestion seems quite tempting at first glance, but the risk is also extremely high, if it is lenient for time, resulting in the annihilation of the advancing troops as bait by the enemy, this is not only stealing chickens and rice, not to mention the heavy setback of the army, as the commander of Liang Tianhe's reputation will inevitably be humiliated. Furthermore, since Liang Tianhe was saddled with the suspicion of having an ambiguous relationship with Liu Bailiang and Zhang Yao, who had just been purged, and against the background of the imperial army's undefeated victory since the start of the war, if the Northwest Army, which he had built and cultivated, really suffered such a humiliating defeat, it would inevitably make others have all kinds of associations, and some central officials who had just stood in the right position and were eager to show their loyalty would inevitably not be impeached and sacrifice him Liang Tianhe to his master.

In fact, when Liang Tianhe first saw the telegram, he had already made up his mind in his heart, but it was difficult to explain the personal feelings, and among the staff officers, he was afraid that there would be other people's eyes and ears, so he had to let go of the public opinion first, and then wait to listen to the chief of staff's opinion as a trust, and divide the responsibility for the final decision to Yan Canglong.

At this time, it is not as good as before, after the coup d'état on August 2, Liang Tianhe was still a little unimpressed at first, only saying that he had a clear conscience, and single-handedly created the Northwest Army, but no one dared to move, until he gradually understood the inside situation through private channels, and only then did he know that the situation was serious, and the empress seized power and changed the government.

"Report, Commander Xiao is calling."

A new telegram from Ah Cheng interrupted Liang Tianhe's shameful thoughts, and at the same time, the burning sensation from his fingers reminded him: The cigarette you pinched burned to the buttocks.

Reflexively shook off the cigarette butt, quickly copied the stainless steel thermos cup on the table with his left hand, and poured half a cup of cold tea on the scalded finger.

"Sir, you're all right...... the little lieutenant who sent the telegram asked with concern.

Liang Tianhe waved his hand and put back the teacup: "It's okay, it's a trivial matter, read it quickly." ”

"Yes...... The enemy began to storm the western end of the northern front at 5 a.m., and by 1 o'clock in the afternoon, the position changed hands, and the enemy infantry and cavalry poured in...... Reserves have been mobilized and other lines of defenders have been drawn, and it is bound to be the last fight...... It is hoped that the commander will realize the difficulties of the defenders, and quickly send reinforcements with land chariots, and send more air reinforcements to block them...... Xiao Bin of the Ministry of Duties wept blood on behalf of all the defenders and thanked ......"

After listening to the message, Liang Tianhe's originally frowning brows were even more wrinkled.

"Call back: Brother don't panic, the enemy has been frustrated day after day, and has become the end of a strong crossbow, brother should be calm and respond, with chariot cavalry to fight back against the enemy who broke through, quickly fill the gap, and stabilize the defense line. The Army Panzer Group will attack on time, and the air support will increase day by day, and if it holds out for another three days, the overall situation will inevitably be reversed......"

Speaking of this, after a pause, he rubbed his fingers that had just been burned out of the bubbles, and suddenly said categorically: "The overall situation against Russia, this war, leaving you there, not to listen to your grievances, don't let me down, and I will never let the soldiers I cultivated single-handedly die in vain!" ”

After the little adjutant finished recording, he looked up and wondered: "Sir, the last sentence, do you want to send it according to the original words?" Do you want to ......?"

"Don't do it, just do what I say." Liang Tianhe sank and said.

"Yes—"

The adjutant turned to leave, but met Yan Canglong, who had just returned from inspection.

"What's the telegram again?" Yan Canglong, who had a dusty face, intercepted the adjutant and asked Liang Tianhe again.

"The northern defense line of Acheng was broken, and Xiao Bin said that he was going to make the last fight and urged us to reinforce

"What did the chief say?"

"I want him to stay for another three days no matter what-Xiao Li, show the chief of staff the draft just now."

Yan Canglong glanced at the telegram, picked up the telegram sent by Xiao Bin on the table and browsed it slightly, shook his head and said: "Xiao Bin has always been calm and composed, and when he undertook the task of guarding Acheng, he was also the one who did not give in, but now from his telegram, it seems that he has messed up, and he only thinks about fighting for his life to die, which shows that the situation has been extremely bad." At this time, we insisted on launching a general attack after three days, I am afraid that we will force him to break the jar and make a reckless move with the belief that he will die. ”

Liang Tianhe smacked his lips, stretched out his hand and pinched the slag on his chin, and sighed: "Hey, the more urgent the more the problem, why didn't I expect this layer, fortunately, you came in time, you have to be a few steps slower, as soon as the telegram is sent, don't I just drive Xiao Bin to death......

"The chief doesn't have to blame himself, the top priority is to appease Xiao Bin as much as possible, and promise to immediately send Lu Kaiping's troops back to reinforce him, so that he can be calm and composed, and don't do stupid things. At the same time, he could first order Lu Kaiping to attack with a small number of troops, with great fanfare, and attack in multiple ways, giving the Russian army the impression that the whole army was killed by two outfits, and dispersing its troops, which can also be regarded as an explanation to Xiao Bin. The Army Aviation Group should also do its best to help the defenders of Acheng tide over this difficulty at any cost. ”

Liang Tianhe said approvingly: "It's better for the chief of staff to think clearly, so let's do it, you can prepare the telegram to Xiao Bin and Lu Kaiping, and I will solve it on Lu Hang's side - Xiao Li, you go and make a call and ask Fang Yongyang to come to see me." ”

As soon as the order was properly ordered, it was reported from outside, and Major Wang Zhaoming of the Navy's Karbash Lake Detachment came to report for duty.

Liang Tianhe stroked his hands and smiled: "The navy's gunboat team has finally arrived, and there is hope for a counteroffensive to the west of the city - quick, invite him in." "Climb ^ book ^ net, this chapter is first published by "".