At the beginning of the war between China and Russia, the whole world was one-sided and believed that the Russians would win, and even the Germans believed that China had no chance. Even later, when the Chinese troops inflicted heavy losses on the Russian Far East Army, Western countries believed that it was just that the Russians were not well prepared for the war and were exploited by Yang Dagui.

But as the war progressed, the situation of the Russians had changed from a good to a bad one, and China's performance really surprised the countries of the world, and they slowly reversed the passivity of the battlefield under the blockade of the British, as if God had favored this country that never feared him this time.

Britain and France are really not optimistic about this war in Russia now, and they have long advised the Russians to find a decent excuse to withdraw from the battle immediately. But Nicholas II, for the sake of his poor face, asked the soldiers at the front to continue the war.

When the guns rang out from both sides in Zhangjiakou, Western countries saw very clearly that the Chinese began to counterattack.

This is very risky, these gentlemen know very well that the situation facing the Chinese has only slightly improved, the Russians on the battlefield are still very strong, at this time Yang Dagui cut out the troops of the two Russian armies and put on a posture to be eaten, in case of failure, the little advantage that the Chinese have worked hard to create in recent months will immediately disappear.

But if Yang fights the ghost and does it, China will completely grasp the initiative on the battlefield.

On the third day of the war, when the Russian reinforcements were still fifty kilometers away from Zhangjiakou, the attack of the Second Front made some progress on the east, north, and west sides of the Russian encircled forces.

In the face of the onslaught of the Chinese day and night. The besieged Russian soldiers were exhausted, starved of ammunition, and many of the wounded lost their lives because they could not be treated. A sense of defeat and despair quickly spread among the besieged Russian troops, and surrender became a common occurrence under such circumstances.

On 7 October, the Chinese troops broke through the central defensive position of the Russian 39th Army, and the 3rd Division of the 1st Beiyang Army and the 113th Regiment of the Volunteer Army launched a pincer offensive on both sides of the Russian position from the north, and the 2nd Division of the 1st Army of the Volunteer Army from the south.

The Russian soldiers and generals were still very conscientious, and in this situation they continued to fight, and the encircled troops held their positions even though they had been divided. Waiting for the last hope.

And the Russian troops on the periphery were also desperate at this time, throwing all their forces into the attack. An attempt to tear a gap in the encirclement of the Chinese and rescue the besieged Russian army.

On the battlefield, Lao Maozi was like crazy, knowing that the Chinese were fierce, and they also launched a human wave charge. Frontal slamming the Chinese army's defensive line. The Russian army's successive waves of charges were like waves crashing against a reef. Smashed to pieces in front of the Chinese army's strong defensive lines and precision artillery fire.

In the early morning of October 8. The surrounded Russian army had fallen into a desperate situation, and after seeing that the troops outside could not break through the Chinese lines, the Russian commander made a final effort. Taking advantage of the cover of the sky, they discarded all their heavy weapons and broke through to the west.

However, because the Chinese side has firmly encircled the encirclement, it did not give them the slightest hope. With the exception of one battalion of Russian troops, who did not even know how to escape from the encirclement themselves, the rest of the troops were forced back to their positions at a heavy cost.

At 9:30 a.m., the encircled Russian troops, deprived of ammunition, food, and hopeless, handed over the instrument of surrender to the Chinese troops under the leadership of the commander of the 39th Army of the Caucasian Front. They put forward two conditions, the first is that the Chinese side must give them the treatment of prisoners of war, and the second is that if there is an exchange of prisoners of war in the future, China should consider them first.

Duan Qirui agreed to them, and the first Chinese counteroffensive achieved the expected victory. The 39th and 27th armies of the Caucasian Front, with a total of 32,000 troops, except for a small number that escaped from the encirclement, lost 12,000 killed and wounded more than 9,000, and nearly 20,000 Russian soldiers laid down their arms and walked into Chinese prisoner of war camps.

Just three hours after they entered the prisoner of war camp, Russian reinforcements arrived on the battlefield that evening, but unfortunately it was too late.

At 9 p.m. on 8 October, Duan Qirui sent a battle report to the Chinese Supreme Command for Operations, making a final conclusion on the war: "Looking at the overall battle, the combat capability of our soldiers has been greatly improved compared with that before the war, and they are not inferior to the Russian troops in terms of individual soldiers or cooperation. The Russian soldiers' combat is not tenacious, and they have never given up resistance until they run out of ammunition and food, which is the true nature of soldiers.

The Russian commanders were inexperienced in the face of our tactics, and although they showed great skill and adaptability in the initiation and initial implementation phases of the campaign, they again showed a series of ills as the offensive progressed. The contempt for our army for the Russians did not change, and the initial ambition was great, but once they encountered accidents and casualties, they immediately lost their minds and frantically and futile stormed our strong defensive lines. As a result, our army achieved great results in the blockade while annihilating the besieged troops, and preliminary estimates showed that the Russians had more than 10,000 casualties in the attack. In the whole battle, our army killed more than 20,000 enemies and captured more than 21,000 with 14,000 dead and wounded. ”

"Although the Russian reinforcements came later, but did not dare to speak lightly of force, after the arrival of Shanxi reinforcements, the Russians retreated a hundred and fifty miles, the siege of Zhangjiakou has been lifted, so far we should dare to report to Yuan Gong and the commander, and tell the country's fathers and villagers, our army has won a great victory."

In the early morning of 9 October, firecrackers were set off again in Beijing.

Although Yang Dagui said many times that he would definitely be able to defeat the Russians, Yuan Shikai also said that he stayed in Beijing to fight with the people, which did give the people hope, but it was far less reassuring than a real victory in Zhangjiakou.

Although Zhangjiakou is not the city of Beijing, Lao Maozi's soldiers are still firing artillery outside, but the common people believe what Commander Yang said at this moment, the victory must be ours, as long as we unite and work hard with Lao Maozi, they can't!

The major newspapers published Duan Qirui's war report as a front-page headline, and even the British and French newspapers did not pour cold water on the enthusiasm of the Chinese as before, and the peddlers and pawns who had paid a lot to support the front line during this period of time on the street were all overjoyed, and the question they discussed the most today was when to launch a counteroffensive in Beijing and when to recover the lost territory.

Such a question is something they couldn't even think of a few years ago in the Qing Dynasty, to win against the foreign lords? At that time, when they saw foreigners, they had to hide and go.

In short, they really feel that their chests can stand up in front of foreigners. The newspaper said that General Duan Qirui would return to Beijing with his troops on 18 October, and that Commander Yang would hold a grand military parade at that time to show off the Chinese's current weapons and equipment and soldiers' demeanor.

Lao Yuan's whole face is now also filled with that confident smile, Yuan Shikai really feels very happy, this time the battle was fought by Duan Qirui, and it was very good, which made the Beiyang Army more prestigious, which not only reversed the current battle situation, but also won capital for what he was about to do.

Yang beat the ghost that guy said that he would lead the troops to the north, whether it was true or false, Lao Yuan would not disrupt his plan, he had already thought about it, if Yang Xiaolin was really so good, if he gave him a daughter, he would obediently not fight with him, so he had to be merciful.

If he didn't want to go, and the words he said were all fooling himself, then it would be no wonder that he was ruthless.

Yuan Shikai really feels that he is very sure now!

Politically, his prestige has reached its peak because of the war. Militarily, the Beiyang Army has really been reborn after this period of training, and even if he fights with the Volunteers, he feels that he also has a chance. Not to mention diplomacy, if he engages Yang Xiaolin, I believe that many countries will support him.

I just met with Mr. Conger in the morning, and the Americans' reaction was really fast, this battle only ended yesterday, and Conger looked for Yuan Shikai this morning. The first is that the United States believes that the time is almost now, and the two sides can start a dialogue on some diplomatic issues left over from the Manchu Qing Dynasty, and at the same time, the United States wants China to open its market to it and is willing to restore normal diplomatic relations with China.

The second thing is that Conger asked Yuan Shikai if he had any idea of stopping this war. Conger made it very clear that if Lao Yuan meant this, the United States could come forward to build a suitable dialogue channel for China and Russia.

Yuan Shikai is sure that this mediation was not proposed by the Americans, but may have been proposed by the British, or even Lao Maozi himself! The first thing Yuan Shikai agreed, and he agreed very happily. As for the matter of mediating the war, Lao Yuan did not give an answer to the Americans.

After living for decades and being bullied for half a lifetime, I finally fought this high-brow war, not to mention how much I have ideas, Lao Yuan thinks that at least you Russians should come out and tell me in person to have this possibility! Punched me in the face with a fierce blow, and then casually found a third party to come out and thought it would be okay? Yang Dagui is at least right on this point, if the Russians don't cut off a few fingers, he doesn't know that it will hurt to hit China, and he will definitely come back next time!

Lao Yuan was in a really good mood, and after sending Conger away, he returned home and ate two large bowls of rice! When eating, they were smiling slightly, and even had an urge to hum a little song.

"Zhenchun, how is today's itinerary arranged?"

Lei Zhenchun has been a housekeeper for many years, and for the first time he felt a little embarrassed: "President, the schedule of the day is very tight, and it is all important matters. But this morning the German Minister Mümmer called and asked you to find time to meet him anyway, saying that there was something important to discuss. ”

Lao Yuan nodded: "Then take some time." ”

"Also, the former Japanese minister Abe Shotaro has returned, and he also said that you must meet him this morning." (To be continued......)