Sherlovayagora, Command of the Western Front.

In the center of the chapel is a large sand table, and between the blue river, the dark mountains and the green plains, there are red and blue signs with the number of the troops, and several red arrows made of thick cardboard are deeply embedded in the dense area of the blue signs.

General Deng Jian, chief of staff of the Western Front, was holding a long bamboo whip in his hand, and talked to the generals gathered around the sand table.

Since the disastrous defeat of the Russian army's offensive on the front line of the Onon River in November last year (the Onon Winter Offensive), due to bad weather and poor supplies, both sides have stopped large-scale military operations, and the million-strong army has confronted each other along the line of the Onon River, a state of affairs that has been maintained for almost three months.

It is now February 20, 1904, the fifth day of the first lunar month, and the temperature has gradually warmed up, although the Onen River is still frozen, but just like the terrifying low temperature of minus 30 or 40 degrees Celsius in December last year, it has already become a not very beautiful memory of the officers and men on both sides. The aviation units that had gone south before December last year to avoid the cold and wind have also returned to the front line and have been stationed on the front line.

Major General Guo Zhifei, commander of the aviation floating cluster of the Western Front, and Brigadier General You Zhuan, chief of staff, were standing on the left hand side of the marshal at this time, talking with the marshal in a low voice from time to time.

“…… Yes, a group of new recruits were received, and in addition to replenishing the losses, a new squadron of liaison aircraft and a bombardment group were formed, and the current establishment is one hundred and ninety-eight aircraft and thirty-six airships, and there are also twenty-six aircraft and four airships as a loss reserve......"

"Please rest assured, with the support of the cluster directly under the headquarters camp, as soon as the battle begins, not only will the enemy's movement be clearly exposed to the surveillance of our army, but its rear will also be effectively cut off from the air......"

"Anyone can just talk about it, but I'm sure you can do your best."

Liu Yun, the generalissimo of the empire, the minister of national defense, and the Duke of Wuwei, said so, and the two generals of the army aviation floating corps, who were mentally short and did not know how many heads, nodded hurriedly and thanked them again and again.

Deng Jian's sonorous words irrepressibly reverberated through the church, burrowing into the depths of everyone's brain, and for the generals here, the battle plan for the offensive was infinitely more important than all the teachings of the Bible.

“…… The enemy's main forces spread along the line of the Nercha River and the Onen River, from south to north, with the 5th, 2nd, 3rd and 4th armies deployed, and about two armies were assembled in the vicinity of Akinskoye to Dalasun, which was preliminarily judged to be the enemy's reserve army, and a separate corps was deployed near Chita......"

“…… The strength of the armies of the enemy front was as follows: the 5th Army deployed six infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions west of the Nercha River and north of the Shilka River...... The 2nd Army deployed four infantry divisions and one cavalry division from the south of the Shilka River to the line of Oloviyannaya...... The 3rd Army deployed four infantry divisions and one cavalry division from the Oloviyannaya to the Nizhny Tsasuchey line...... The 4th Army deployed six infantry divisions and three cavalry divisions from the line of Nizhny Chasuchei to Hapcheranga, which was close to Outer Mongolia...... A total of 20 infantry divisions and 8 cavalry divisions, plus the artillery units of various armies and group armies, should have 530,000 men according to their establishment...... The second-line troops assembled in the area from Akinskoye to Chita, consisting of three corps, plus the garrison of the Chita fortress, should have 160,000 men according to the establishment......"

Deng Jian's whip shifted from the blue side to the red side, east and south of the Nercha and Onen rivers, indicating that the three small red flags of the group army headquarters were shining in the light.

“…… By the 18th of this month, the Second Army, the Korean Army, and the First Army of the Front Army had been deployed from north to south.

On the side of the 2nd Army: four divisions of the Praetorian Guard, attached to a cavalry brigade, spread out north of the Shilka River and east of the Nercha River, facing the enemy 5th Army; Three divisions of the Second Army with one cavalry brigade spread out on the south bank of the Shilka River on the left flank of the Janissaries, connecting with the right flank of the enemy's 5th Army and opposite the left flank of the enemy's 2nd Army across the Onon River; Three divisions of the Fifth Army with one cavalry brigade spread out on the left flank of the Fifth Army, along the Onon River, facing the enemy 2nd Army.

On the Korean Army side: three divisions of the First Army of the DPRK with one cavalry brigade were deployed on the left flank of the Second Army, from Undinoposhelya to Oloviyannaya, facing the right flank of the enemy's 2nd Army and the left flank of the 3rd Army; Three divisions of the 2nd Army were deployed on the left flank of the 1st Army, from Oloviyannaya to Nizhnetsukhey, facing the enemy's 3rd Army.

On the side of the First Army: three divisions of the Fourth Army and one cavalry brigade were deployed towards the left flank of the Second Army, facing the left flank of the enemy Fourth Army; Five divisions and five cavalry brigades of the First Army spread out on the left flank of the Fourth Army, facing the enemy 4th Army......

In terms of reserves: The reserves of the front army were reorganized from the first and second reserve armies of the general reserve of the base camp, that is, the sixth and seventh armies, with a total of five reserve divisions...... The Sixth Army had three divisions and one cavalry brigade to be deployed behind the First Army, and the Seventh Army had two divisions and one cavalry brigade behind the Second Army......"

Hearing this, the generalissimo Liu Yun below had already smiled, climbed the broad shoulders of General Liang Tianhe, the old descendant on the right, the commander of the Second Group Army and the Praetorian Guard, and whispered: "Show your hand well, insert it into the Chita from the front, the Praetorian Guard exists for this, what do you think?" ”

Liang Tianhe was flattered and nodded busily: "Please rest assured that Duke Wu Wei will wrap it up on me......"

“…… The campaign intention of the Front Army was as follows: to force a breakthrough through the defenses of the enemy's 5th Army with the powerful Janissaries attached to the Second Army, and to rush westward to Chita, the enemy's transportation hub and supply center, to encircle and even capture it, so as to cut off the supply sources of the enemy's front army groups and close the retreat of the enemy front army groups from the north. At the same time, the Fifth Army and the First Korean Army attempted to inflict heavy losses and annihilate the enemy's 2nd Army with a powerful pincer offensive, while the Second and Fourth Korean armies pinned down the enemy's 3rd Army with a steady advance. In the southern part of the front, the main forces of the Fourth Army and the First Army should break through the defenses of the enemy's 4th Army with a strong offensive, after which the First Army should concentrate its mobile forces and quickly advance along the axis of Aksha-Dulidur-Ilya-Kurol Dalasun-Dalasun, outflank the enemy's heavy army group on the front line, and then, together with friendly forces, try to encircle and annihilate several enemy armies between the Inda and Onon rivers......"

There was a moment of excitement - if this plan could be realized, the Russian army in the Far East would be almost wiped out, and the Russians would either have to whisper and sue for peace, or they would have to watch the whole of Siberia fall into Chinese hands.

The center is contained, the wings are outflanked, it's that simple?

At this time, the total strength of the Russian army is estimated at 700,000, and the total strength of the Chinese army and the servant army is 900,000 (including reserves), of which the first-line troops of the Russian army are 530,000, and the first-line troops of the Chinese army and the servant army are 740,000.

The front stretched for nearly 500 kilometers, and after nearly three months of winter confrontation, both sides built solid support points and trench lines on the front line, and deployed reserves and reserve positions in the deep area.

Although the Western Front of the Chinese Army has been preparing for the spring offensive, the General Staff of the Front has not relaxed its preparations for defensive operations. Only when we are fully prepared for defense can we ensure the smooth development of offensive preparations, and this is what Deng Jian and others realized.

In addition, for the sake of secrecy, until today, the reserves left in depth by the front army have not advanced to the front line, but careful planning has been made for the movement of various troops, and the necessary preparations such as repairing and expanding the road to the front line and allocating vehicles, cattle, coachmen, and coolies have also been arranged in advance.

The most critical and painful problem was the supply, which was extremely large in quantities of 900,000 soldiers, 300,000 men, millions of horses and cattle, and grain, grass, and charcoal. Manchuria, the main supply center of the Front, was more than 300 kilometers away from the farthest front-line troops, and the road conditions along the way were very harsh; in addition, the railway transportation between Manchuria and the interior had already reached full capacity......

Although material distribution centers and field warehouses have been set up in the rear areas of various group armies and armies since the battle front was stabilized in December last year, due to the need to prepare for offensive operations, the supply of materials has gradually been dominated by ammunition, and the reserves of grain and grass are very insufficient, with only 15 days at the division level, 30 days at the army level, and 10 days at the group army level.

The planning period for this campaign was set from 24 February to the end of March, on the one hand, for the sake of grain and forage, and on the other hand, it was also envisaged that after the end of March, the roads would become muddy due to the melting snow and rain, and the problem of supplies would become more prominent......

“…… 24 February is the day of the general offensive on the whole front, and for the next three days, the rear reserves of the various army groups should quickly assemble in the offensive positions of the front...... The battle is scheduled to last until the end of March, at which point the outer front should be moved to the area west of the Inda River and to the area west of the Yablonov Mountains, and the Chita fortress should be captured or encircled......"

The commanders and chiefs of staff of the armies and group armies in their notebooks kept recording their records, but the subtle sound of the fountain pen did not seem to be able to hide the sound of their heartbeats, and one of the largest battles in Asia against Europe in modern times was about to burst into their hands with incomparably brilliant brilliance.