Petrovsk, where the forward command of the Western Front is located.

It is less than 100 kilometers away from Ulan-Ude, the central hub of the Russian army's Uda-Selenga River defense line, and roughly in the center of the current Sino-Russian army front.

At noon on 30 April 1904, two FJZL-5 "Gale" reconnaissance and liaison planes, which were only qualified to be carried by divisional commanders and above, landed at a field airfield outside Petrovsk, and two generals who played an important role on the Western Front -- General Liang Tianhe, commander of the Second Group Army and the Janissary Field Army, and his chief of staff, General Zhang Yiye, hurriedly jumped out of the cockpit and boarded a light carriage to greet them and rushed to the headquarters of the front army in the city.

As soon as he got into the car, Liang Tianhe pressed his chest and gasped, lit a Hademen cigarette that he had scavenged from Zhang Yiye, and Zhang Yiye hurriedly took out a handkerchief to wipe the oil smoke on his face.

"Damn convertible, when will I be able to get on something decent that won't be poisoned by engine exhaust and oil, I miss that straight nine."

Zhang Yiye complained, the originally snow-white handkerchief in his hand had been blackened a lot.

Liang Tianhe stretched out his fingers and stroked his face, and when he came to see it, it was oily and black, and he couldn't help but sigh briefly.

"I want to, just think about it. Our straight nine, I heard that it was dismantled, sealed somewhere, if you want to use it, you can reassemble it, but we have no spare parts, nor a complete set of maintenance and testing facilities, can't take care of it, the current industrial level can't make those circuit boards, turbine bearings or something, so it's sealed, so as not to keep it in trouble, other armored vehicles, drones, A-series communication machines and other advanced equipment have also been put away, hey, if I touch the computer now, I'm afraid I won't even be able to type. ”

Zhang Yiye changed a handkerchief and continued to rub his face that was not handsome at all: "Yes, I haven't been online for many years and haven't played computer games...... Damn, Morse code telegrams, hand-cranked telephones, horse-drawn carriages, Mauser canisters, Maxim machine guns, balloons, airships, and planes made of wood chips – it's ridiculous to think about! ”

Liang Tianhe shrugged: "What's ridiculous, it's already remarkable to be able to transform a decaying country into what it is now in more than ten years, and it's okay to feel a little proud." Besides, just because we only used the things you listed, we have already beaten Lao Maozi all over the ground to find teeth, which shows our ability, and then again, if the commander is idiotic, no matter how good the weapons equipped by the troops are, it is likely to be a life for the enemy...... Look outside, our Praetorian Guards boys have a lot of spirit. ”

Liang Tianhe shook the cigarette butt in his hand.

Outside the car window, groups of Praetorian Guard soldiers in black military hats, black uniforms, and black boots were practicing in the open space by the roadside, their feet on the tender green grass dotted with colorful wildflowers, the bright blue sky and snow-white soft clouds above their heads, and their rifles painted with anti-reflective black paint, their bodies moving neatly with the loud command, and at the same time, a forest of shining bayonets also mechanically rolled and swung.

Although dozens of yards away, Liang Tianhe could see the crystal beads of sweat on the foreheads of the soldiers, he could feel the heat of those beads of sweat, and he could even hear their sonorous heartbeats.

"This is the army we have created."

Liang Tianhe said.

"The army we created for this country."

Zhang Yiye added.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

Liang Tianhe lit the second Hardmen cigarette, the carriage was about to enter the city, and there was still time to finish this one.

"I don't know what happened to Lu Dao, he forced us back from the front line, and threatened to shoot us to death, what is that kid Zhong Xiahuo thinking......

Zhang Yiye stuffed the handkerchief back into his pocket, with an indifferent expression: "As long as we don't let us fight, it's okay if anything happens, Mom, I've been holding it for almost a month, seeing that Chita is fighting lively, and there is no result yet, I knew that Lu Dao should let us go to the Praetorian Guard, and after the big tumor was extinguished in one go, and after the rear traffic artery was opened, the whole army rushed across the Selenga River in one go, maybe there was a chance to hit the Ural Mountain." ”

Liang Tianhe smacked his lips: "Look at the map, man, where is the Ural Mountain, thousands of kilometers away, we have been fighting on the Western Front for eight months, and we have only advanced a few hundred kilometers, do we have to fight for another eight years?" ”

"If we fight for another eight years, we won't have to worry about not having a fight."

"Okay, fight for another eight years, when your wife gives birth to a white fat boy, you are happy, hold your head and think, oh no, I haven't been home for five or six hundred days, where did this child come from? See what you do! ”

"Then what else can I do, keep it."

"Isn't it, you can bear it?"

"It's a son, I don't have a son, it doesn't matter if it's not biological, I still raise it as my own, and when I raise it, I'll send it to the military academy...... I just wanted to see my son saluting me in his military uniform. ”

Liang Tianhe lowered his eyelids and spit out a string of smoke rings: "Just kidding......"

Zhang Yiye glanced at the shaking carriage canopy: "Of course ...... then"

Sometimes, a person's wishes can really be as simple as that.

The carriage stopped in the square in the center of the town, and the three-story western-style building on the north side of the square, surrounded by barbed wire and sandbag bunkers, was the headquarters of the Western Front. Facing the bright and mild sunshine, a dragon flag raised by a tall tree on the roof of the building is waving in the wind.

As soon as the two generals got out of the car, a young lieutenant colonel greeted them: "Commander Liang, Chief of Staff Zhang, you are here, Commander Zhong is waiting above, please come with me." ”

Liang Tianhe and Zhang Yiye are already familiar with this lieutenant colonel, he is Zhong Xiahuo's adjutant Jiang Zichang, with a little white face - almost completely opposite to the image of the commander Zhong Xiahuo.

Jiang Zichang respectfully led Liang and Zhang to a room on the third floor, and after knocking on the door with two long and three short codes, the unique roar of Zhong Xiahuo's human bell came from inside the door: "Come in." “

The door opened, and there was only a square table, four chairs, and two four-star generals in the room, on which were maps, hand-cranked telephones, and Mauser pistols, and the only window was open, and the sunlight that came in obliquely was like an angular pillar of light, in which the reflected dust flew or swam.

"Adjutant Jiang, close the door, then go to the duty room on the second floor, call me if there is anything, and tell the guards outside by the way that no one is allowed to go up to the third floor without my permission."

"Yes!"

Jiang Zichang's code of conduct is to obey his boss unconditionally, even if his boss will put on a face of distrust from time to time.

The door was closed, Liang Tianhe and Zhang Yiye consciously sat on the vacant two chairs at the square table, Liang Tianhe faced Zhong Xiahuo, the commander of the front army, and Zhang Yiye faced Deng Jian, chief of staff of the front army.

"Now that everyone is here, I'll stop talking nonsense and get straight to the point."

Zhong Xiahuo held his hands and said with a serious face, his angular face was even more solid and tough, like granite carved with a knife and axe.

"About three hours ago, I received a direct Grade A secret telegram from the Ministry of National Defense, which roughly stated that a space-time task force claiming to be from 2039 appeared near our previous arrival point, claiming to arrest us fugitives, and extorted more than 13 million Chinese dollars worth of gold and precious stones from us, and at nine o'clock this morning, they also launched more than 20 heavy rockets equipped with incendiary submunitions into Beijing City under the pretext that Captain Liu refused to hand over our comrades as hostages. caused a great deal of confusion......"

Liang Tianhe clenched his fists, and Zhang Yiye opened his mouth wide.

The telegram also said that although the incident came suddenly, the situation was still under control, and the comrades in Beijing would try to find a way to resolve the incident as soon as possible, and that the families of the comrades on the front line in Beijing had arranged for Xiao Ruhai to be sent to Shanghai for protection, and that the comrades on the front line should perform their current duties with peace of mind, and that no one should act without the order of the Supreme Commander Liu Yun. The base camp will be transferred to Tianjin tomorrow, and until the base camp issues new instructions, the comrades at the front should continue to carry out the latest instructions issued by the base camp before 29 April. ”

After Zhong Xiahuo finished speaking, he looked at Liang Tianhe: "Commander Liang, what do you think." ”

Liang Tianhe lit a cigarette, groaning and slightly revealing his yellowed teeth, his emaciated and slightly pale face was covered with a large piece of thick and hard stubble.

"Since that's what the above says, then we'll just obey the order."

Zhong Xiahuo turned to Zhang Yiye again: "Chief of Staff Zhang, what about you?" ”

Only then did Zhang Yiye remember that he should close his mouth slightly, otherwise the current appearance seemed to be to swallow the top boss in front of him in one gulp, his face was already relatively complete, and his mouth was ridiculously large, and it still had a great future to devour humans.

"I think it's safer to obey the orders from above, this is also what Wu Weigong meant."

Zhong Xiahuo sighed in disappointment, and turned to Deng Jian again: "What about you?" Do you still want to stick to what you just said? ”

Deng Jian, who was thin and weak, habitually lifted the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose and nodded: "Yes, I still think that we should not act rashly until things become clear." ”

The volcano above Zhong Xiahuo's head erupted instantly: "What bullshit is clear!" You conscienceless! Do we have to wait for the comrades in Beijing to be killed by the task force before thinking about what to do? Fuck you, how dare you fire on our sacred imperial capital! The war has begun! The capital is dangerous! Our leader is in danger! Comrades in our rear are dangerous! The danger of the empire we have built for more than a decade! Since you don't have the guts, I'll take my troops back and destroy them!" ”