The 6th Far Eastern Infantry Division, which had been deployed in Ussuriysk as a reserve, had occupied the area between the fortresses and batteries of the Ussuriysk fortress, dug trenches, laid out barbed wire and minefields, and greatly strengthened the fortress's defenses.

On this day, Lieutenant General Stessel, commander of the First Army in the Far East, rushed to Ussuriysk and decided to set up the headquarters of the army group here, so as to command more than 100,000 Russian troops distributed on the 150-kilometer front from Spasskdanili to the mouth of the Suifen River, and concurrently serve as the commander of the Ussuriysk fortress.

At this time, in the meeting room of the city hall in Ussuriysk, Lieutenant General Stessel was convening his staff officers to discuss the battle.

Major General Kondrachenko, chief of staff of the group army, proposed that the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division were scattered on the 95-kilometer-long front between Novoshakhtinsky and Spassodanili, and even if mobile defensive means were adopted, they would not be able to stop the breakthrough of the Chinese army's superior forces, and that the two divisions should also be retreated to the area around Novoshakhtinsky, so that the 4th Infantry Division stationed in Novoshakhtinsky could move closer to the fortress and further strengthen the defense of the fortress.

Lieutenant General Stessel muttered at the colorful map and hesitated: "In this way, the enemy can return to the rear of our army from Spasske Danelli without hindrance...... It would be safer to transfer these two divisions to the line from Sibirtsevo to Arsenyev to protect the right flank of the whole army. ”

Twenty-five kilometres northeast of Novoshakhtinsky, the Trans-Siberian Railway runs through it, from which another railway branch line branches off to the Arsenyev mining area in the east. The distance between the two places is about 50 kilometers, and there is a small town in the middle of Tikhovka, forming a three-point situation.

A 50-kilometer front with an infantry division and a cavalry division was still frighteningly strong, but Stessel was helpless due to the lack of troops.

Kontrachenko pondered carefully, and then said: "I am afraid that this line cannot be defended, I think, it is better to concentrate these two divisions in Novoshakhtinsky, the east of Ussuriysk is full of swamps and dense forests, the passage is narrow, only a small number of troops need to be sent to hold the road, it is difficult for the Chinese army to break through for a while, and it is not too late for us to send troops to support." ”

After some deliberation and a little consultation with the staff officers, Stessel also agreed, and as a result, the 3rd Infantry Division and the 2nd Cavalry Division were ordered to retreat nearly 100 kilometers south by train and assemble around Novoshakhtinsky, so that the Russian frontal front line was shortened to 60 kilometers, and the density of troops on the front line was greatly increased, but the protection of the flanks and rear was slightly weak, and the Russian command tried to make up for this deficiency by means of mobile defense by reserves.

In addition, when the Russian army retreated, it was ordered to load all the local grain, grass and livestock into trucks and transport them, and the residents immediately fell into starvation, which General Stessel explained after the war: "...... It is believed that the Chinese army will treat civilians according to humanitarian principles, and of course will provide food to the hungry local residents, so that the logistics supply of the Chinese army will inevitably become tight, the supplies will also give priority to food, and the supply of ammunition will slow down, which is of certain significance for the defense of the fortress......"

The news of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Spasskdalini soon reached the headquarters of the 3rd Field Army of the Chinese Army, which was stationed in Kopovchi at this time, more than 40 kilometers north-northwest of Ussuriysk.

"Where will these troops be gathered if they are withdrawn from Spassel Dalini?"

Lieutenant General Chen Xingyun, the 38-year-old commander of the field army, stared at the map, holding tea in one hand and a ruler in the other, while Lieutenant General Zhao Minhe, the 35-year-old chief of staff of the field army, was busy with the staff officers buried in a pile of scraps of paper.

Hearing Chen Xingyun's words that seemed to be asking himself, Zhao Minhe raised his head from the pile of papers, and without looking at the map, he replied: "There are three possibilities. ”

Chen Xingyun said: "I know the first and second ways, one is just to withdraw to Novoshakhtinsky to cover the right flank of the Shuangchengzi fortress, and the second is of course to withdraw to the line from Sibirtsevo to Arsenyev to cover the rear of the entire front, as for the third possibility, I would like to hear in detail." ”

"The third possibility is that even Novoshakhtinsky does not want to be wanted, and directly retreats to Shuangchengzi as a mobile reserve, because there are large swamps and dense forests east of the Shuangchengzi fortress, and the other side only needs to block a small number of troops on a few narrow roads, which is enough to protect the flanks and rear, and if necessary, it can also send reserves to support. Moreover, if our troops were to make a detour through swamps and dense forests with poor road conditions, the detour troops would easily be cut off by the enemy's supply lines, and they might even be besieged. ”

Chen Xingyun tapped the table with a ruler: "If we withdraw to Novoshakhtinsky, it will have a similar effect, but if we only withdraw to Novoshakhtinsky, we still have the opportunity to insert between Shuangchengzi and Novoshakhtinsky, and divide the enemy army of Novoshakhtinsky and annihilate it." ”

Zhao Minhe reminded: "If you insert it between Shuangchengzi and Novoshakhtinsky, the interspersed troops will be attacked from both sides." ”

"At the same time, it is common sense to attack the enemy forces in Shuangchengzi and Novoshakhtinsky at the same time with strong forces."

"Where is the mighty force? At present, there is a general shortage of artillery in the reserve divisions, and we can only enter the front line after taking over the artillery units of the main divisions when the main divisions need to recuperate, that is to say, we have only two main divisions at our disposal at the same time, and it is too reluctant to have two divisions to carry out operations on three fronts at the same time, while the opponent has a strong fortress and three field divisions. ”

Chen Xingyun put down the teacup, shook his head slightly, and said, "Don't we still have the First Army of North Korea on the right flank to support?" The 1st Korean Division has already entered the front of the Shuangchengzi Fortress, and it is enough to let the 1st Korean Division be responsible for containing the enemy forces in the fortress. The Japanese 2nd Division had advanced to the west bank of the Suifen River, and of course it could contain the enemy forces on the east bank. ”

"Do you think Asahi's troops will do their best for us? Although they have the name of vassal allies, from their standpoint, they should preserve their strength as much as possible, otherwise, why would the Korean army put the most elite Praetorian Guard division in the back as a reserve? ”

"Letting the Korean Praetorian Guard Division be a reserve is something that the base camp agrees with."

"However, it should also be thought that this may be the result of the efforts of the Koreans, and from the standpoint of the base camp, of course, the allies and vassals are required to send as many elite troops as possible."

Chen Xingyun took out a Hardman and lit it, spit out a cigarette and said: "Brother Lan Bo, such an idea is beyond the scope of the thinking of the chief of staff of the field army, it doesn't matter what position we have, we only have one position, that is, to follow orders." ”

Zhao Minhe smiled and shook his head: "I can't help you think so, I just said my true opinion, those divisions of Asahi are only covering troops at most, and our army is the only main force in Vladivostok today, if you want to rely on it, you can only rely on yourself." ”

"It's right to rely on yourself, but with the strength of our army, is it really not enough to fight such a war of annihilation?"

"There will be danger, because our army carries a large number of heavy artillery and has no available trains at hand, the mobility is very low, while the enemy has a favorable location, has a large number of available wagons and locomotives, and the mobility is stronger than our army, and they can take care of each other's support, so if our army is divided into joint attacks, it only gives the enemy a chance to break through."

Chen Xingyun drew a ruler on the map: "Then destroy the railway and cut off the enemy's support from each other." ”

"It's not easy to say, Shuangchengzi and Vladivostok are the center of defense of the Russian army, and the railway lines between the two places and the surrounding important strongholds are arranged with strict defensive means, with many sentry posts, many patrol posts, and some key points are also guarded by barbed wire and pillboxes, and there are many Russian cavalry, which can be mobile at any time to support. In addition, Shuangchengzi and Vladivostok both have a large number of railway construction equipment stored, and Shuangchengzi also has a large number of railway workers, so if the other party's railway is damaged, it will be repaired quickly. "In this case, don't companies have to attack head-on?"

Zhao Minhe nodded: "No way, but fortunately, the defense system of Shuangchengzi Fortress is divided into two by Suifenhe, the Korean army is responsible for the south bank, and our army is responsible for the north bank. On the other hand, if the enemy army has a heavy force in Novoshakhtinsky, it must also send a certain number of troops to contain it, make a detour posture from the enemy's flank, and use cavalry detachments to carry out a breakthrough operation to make it difficult for the enemy to move. ”

Chen Xingyun pondered for a long time, but was still reluctant: "If you have the opportunity to fight a war of annihilation, even if you take a little risk, you should try it, as Lan Bo said, it is too conservative tactics." ”

Zhao Minhe said: "Relying on fortresses, strongholds and railway lines, the enemy army can implement effective mobile defense, but our side has no railway to connect with the enemy's railway for the time being, and it is impossible to use trains to move quickly, and the road conditions in Russia are particularly bad, and it is extremely difficult to transport heavy artillery. ”

Since the commander and chief of staff of the field army had different opinions, an operational meeting was held, and the division commanders, chiefs of staff, and senior staff officers of the field army all attended and discussed, but the majority of people supported Chen Xingyun, and later the intelligence came back to report that the Russian Third Infantry Division was assembling in Novoshakhtinsky. Most of the high-ranking officials of the field army supported Chen Xingyun, but Zhao Minhe had nothing to say, so he had to send a telegram to the General Staff Headquarters to explain his views and declare that he did not agree with such a combat plan.

The next morning, the General Staff called back, not supporting Zhao Minhe, but telling him to follow the commander's initiative and do his best to assist him. Zhao Minhe was angry in his heart, but it was inconvenient to have a seizure, so he only entrusted the work to the senior staff, and took the guard team to inspect the battlefield in person.

Thirty kilometers southeast of the town of Kopovchi, where the headquarters of the field army is located, there is a small Russian village called Kovillavka, which is only more than 10 kilometers southeast to Shuangchengzi and more than 10 kilometers east to Novoshakhtinsky, which was occupied by the 32nd Brigade of the 11th Infantry Division of the Chinese Army on the 17th, and the next day it was changed to the headquarters of the 11th Infantry Division.

Zhao Minhe rode a white horse and led a platoon of horseback guards, and arrived in Koviravka at four or five o'clock in the afternoon. At this time, a large number of Russian villagers lined up in the open space in front of the village, several military carriages were parked in the middle of the open space, and some Chinese officers and soldiers were distributing flour and salt to the villagers. Zhao Minhe rode forward and stopped a lieutenant for questioning.

"Why?"

"When the Russian army retreated, they looted the food and livestock of the residents, and now most of the households in the village have run out of food, and after the division commander consulted the commander, he ordered us to come and distribute food and relieve the people."

The lieutenant agreed.

Zhao Minhe asked again: "How much food is distributed to each family?" ”

"According to the capitation distribution, temporarily under the age of 16 and over 60 people make six catties of noodles and one tael of salt, and each person over 16 years old and under 60 years old makes ten catties of noodles and two taels of salt."

"Just distribute food, but don't let them work?"

"The local people have not been requisitioned, and the division commander said that I am afraid that there will be mixed spies and secrets to reveal the military intelligence......"

"What a fool!"

Zhao Minhe said, without waiting for the lieutenant to finish speaking, he took a selfie and went to the headquarters of the 11th Division.

When I arrived at the big tent at the division headquarters, I heard people neighing and horses, and a group of people were carrying many things to the car.

Zhao Minhe got off his horse, called an officer, and asked him where Division Commander Zheng was, the officer pointed to the tent, and Zhao Minhe went in alone, just colliding with Major General Zheng Hong, the commander of the 11th Division.

"Yo, Chief of Staff, you're here so early."

Master Zheng shouted and hurriedly saluted.

Zhao Minhe returned the salute, climbed his shoulder to the outside of the tent, and asked, "Senior Commander Zheng, when did you ask the headquarters to distribute food to the villagers?" ”

"Last night."

"When will I hear back?"

"An hour later."

"Did the headquarters teach you how to distribute it?"

"Just tell me to do it cheaply."

Zhao Minhe said suspiciously: "That's weird, why don't I know about this?" ”

Zheng Hong said: "This subordinate is not clear. ”

Zhao Minhe clapped his fist and said indignantly: "Good Yuqing (Yuqing is Chen Xingyun's expression), that's it, Master Zheng, you listen to me, the Russians have no food, it is caused by the plundering of their army, it is not my fault, if they want to live, they should work for me to eat." I had a conversation with Wu Weigong, and I heard that Europe and the United States believe that they cannot eat or survive without work, and only those who are unable to work and have no relatives to support can rely on the support of the state. I have heard that Europe has been fighting since ancient times, most of them eat on the spot, and there are few trips to help the inhabitants of the enemy territory, and I have civilized the ancient country, we should pay attention to benevolence and righteousness, but we must not harm ourselves and go to the inhabitants of the enemy country to give benevolence and righteousness, the transportation here is inconvenient, the transportation is all by horse-drawn carriages, and the transfer of food and ammunition is not easy, so it should not be easily dispersed to the residents. If I can't bear to let him starve, let him build roads, dig trenches, build fortifications, and open airfields for me in exchange for food for his life, then he will be able to live, and I will have the best of both worlds. Otherwise, blindly giving alms will only increase the logistical difficulties of our baggage, and I am afraid that the war will be greatly disadvantaged. ”

Zheng Hong patted his forehead and said: "I see, what the chief of staff said is very true, the kindness of our women almost delayed the military, I am really ashamed, but a lot of food has been distributed, and I am afraid it is not appropriate to take it back." ”

Zhao Minhe said: "Fortunately, there are not many issues, so I won't care about it this time, but when we need to help residents in the future, we should follow the principle of exchanging labor for food, even if they are old and young, pregnant women, etc., they should be ordered to wash the clothes and bandages of the soldiers, or to make stretchers, and they must always assign him to do some work to reduce the burden of our army, so that they can be paid food according to their workload." ”

"The lower official understands, it's just that if I gather the Russians to work for me, I'm afraid there will be spies mixed up......"

"Then it depends on how you organize, if you want to govern the Russian people, you still need to rely on the Russians, and you order your subordinates to collect Russian citizens who are willing to be loyal to our Chinese empire, form a monitoring team, mix among the workers, report and expose the treacherous rules, and then kill a hundred people. You can assign your subordinates to do what they want to do, no matter what, you always need to use both grace and power. ”

"The lower official understands, so let's do it."

"Also, I want to go to the front line, can you send someone to lead the way?"

"Chief of Staff, why don't you come with me, I'll leave immediately."

Zhao Minhe nodded: "That's it." ”

At dusk, Zhao Minhe and Zheng Hong had arrived at an observation post on the front line, which was located on a slope and had a distant view of the front of the northern section of the Shuangchengzi Fortress.

Zhao Minhe raised the telescope to watch, and saw that the Russian army's position was tightly arranged, with many pillboxes, trenches, iron nets, and the fortress slope and chest wall could be seen in the distance, which should be very strong.

"Senior Commander Zheng, have you ever sent someone to reconnoiter closely?"

"Not yet, but I've received a lot of information from aerial reconnaissance."

"Send a reconnaissance team as soon as possible, and tonight we should find out the situation of the enemy's front."

"Understood—Chief of Staff, why don't you have dinner here?"

Zhao Minhe patted the horsewhip in his hand: "It's okay." ”

Dinner was a simple stew of beef jerky with rice and potatoes, and the generals and officers of the division headquarters ate the same stove, and even if the chief of staff of the army came, he did not prepare too much for one person, and there was no special hospitality.

Zhao Minhe had something in his heart, he didn't say much, he just cared about the rice, and everyone didn't dare to say much when they saw this, and soon ended the dinner, and when they were drinking tea, an order came from the field army headquarters.

Zheng Hong took the order and unfolded it, it turned out to be an offensive plan, asking the 32nd Brigade of the 11th Division to feint an attack on the Shuangchengzi fortress on the 21st, and the 33rd Brigade would insert between Shuangchengzi and Novoshakhtinsky on the same day to block traffic, the 31st Brigade was the reserve, and the 13th Division was to attack Novoshakhtinsky in the north, trying to completely annihilate the 3rd Infantry Division of the Russian army assembled there.

Zhao Minhe took the order from Zheng Hong's hand and saw that his opinion had been completely rejected, and he was unhappy, so he planned not to return to the military headquarters at all, and stayed in the 11th Division to watch the feint attack of the 32nd Brigade. Chen Xingyun knew that Zhao Minhe was here, so he didn't ask much, and only sent an order to Zheng Hong, asking him to take care of the chief of staff.

Now that the battle order was issued, all units of the 3rd Field Army began to assemble in the area where the offensive started, and all three brigades of the 13th Division were dispatched, with the 37th Brigade deployed north of Novoshakhtinsky, the 38th Brigade northwest of Novoshakhtinsky, the 39th Brigade west of Novoshakhtinsky, the 33rd Brigade of the 11th Division assembled southwest of Novoshakhtinsky, the 32nd Brigade west of Shuangchengzi, and the 31st Brigade assembled behind the 32nd Brigade as a reserve. The two regiments of the 5th Cavalry Brigade formed a detachment to cooperate with the 33rd Brigade to carry out the interdiction operation and cut off the connection between Novoshakhtinsky and Shuangchengzi.

While the Chinese army was planning the attack, the Russian army did not just sleep in the bed, the Russian cavalry frequently dispatched, from time to time to engage in exchanges of fire with the Chinese avant-garde, and more quietly watched the Chinese army's marching column behind the forest slope, and then transmitted the information back to General Stessel's army group headquarters in Shuangchengzi (Ussuriysk).

"The other side is planning a large-scale operation."

In the conference room of the Ussuriysk City Hall, Lieutenant General Stessel, commander of the First Army in the Far East, walked back and forth with his hands crossed, occasionally glancing at the colorful maps marked by the staff officers on the table.

"What is the purpose? Storm the fortress, or ......"

The latest information came, and a staff officer wrote on the map again.

The chief of staff, Major General Kontrachenko, took a closer look and patted the table: "Your Excellency, there is no problem, the enemy's target is the 3rd Division, the enemy to the west of the fortress is simply not enough to pose a substantial threat to the fortress, and the Korean 1st Division in the southwest of the fortress is moving slowly, so there is no need to worry for the time being." ”

Stessel glanced at the map again suspiciously: "Are you sure?" ”

"It is becoming more and more obvious that the enemy has 13 to 16 regiments (14 regiments - including 2 cavalry regiments) gathered around Novoshakhtinsky, and an unknown number of cavalry units, while only 3 to 4 regiments (7 regiments - including reserves and 1 cavalry regiment) are deployed near the fortress, which is completely telling, the 3rd Division is in danger and could be eaten by the enemy at any time."

"In this way, the 3rd Division must be withdrawn as soon as possible......"

Kontrachenko pondered on the map, nodded slightly, and said: "We should withdraw immediately and send three regiments of cavalry to meet - in addition, if we launch an attack on the enemy army with weak strength on the west side of the fortress, we can not only distract the opponent's attention, but also disrupt the opponent's offensive deployment, and it is also very promising to annihilate a large number of enemy troops, because the opponent is concentrating on the 3rd Division, as long as we move quickly, the opponent is on the outside line, and we cannot use the railway to transport troops, I'm afraid it's too late if you want support......"

When Stessel heard the word "annihilation", his eyes lit up: "Yes, annihilation!" We had two divisions at hand, a total of eight reasonably complete infantry regiments, leaving one regiment to assist in the defense of the fortress, and organizing seven infantry regiments and four cavalry regiments to attack the enemy on the west side of the fortress, which should be more than enough to achieve victory. ”

Kontrachenko flipped through a pile of scraps of paper on the side of the map and added: "We have a lot of artillery available at hand, if we add the artillery of the second and third armies and the artillery brigades belonging to the group army, we can use * * 152 mm field guns and 16 152 mm mortar guns in terms of heavy artillery, and in terms of light artillery, there are two divisional artillery brigades available, in addition to the losses in the outpost operation, there are 81 76 mm field guns and 30 87 mm howitzers available, The defenders of the fortress can also provide 18 76mm field guns and 18 87mm howitzers, and the cavalry units have 12 47mm guns at their disposal, which is calculated as 239 guns, and some of the fortified batteries can also provide additional heavy artillery fire support, which should be enough in terms of artillery firepower. ”

"Then what are you waiting for, make a plan quickly, we can't sit still, we must not miss any opportunity to strike at the enemy!"

"Yes, right away."