Chelyabinsk, the former city hall, but now it has become the headquarters of the Russian army. After the start of the war, almost all the Russians living here had fled, leaving only a handful of old and sick people to die here. The only thing they could do was probably pray to God that they would survive this catastrophe.

The whole of Chelyabinsk was already surrounded by the Imperial Army. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese* troops, who built a defensive line in Chelyabinsk, surrounded the entire city. More than 200,000 Russian troops are trapped in this and cannot escape.

The command of the commander of the Russian army, Colonel-General Alexei, is located in one of the basements of the city hall. At the time when the Chinese Army launched artillery strikes on Chelyabinsk from time to time, it was undoubtedly too threatening to put the headquarters on the ground. Only the headquarters, which was converted from a basement, was able to give Admiral Alexei a sense of security.

Before the start of the war, the Russian army under the command of General Alexei amounted to 400,000 people. However, in the fierce offensive of the 2nd Army of the Imperial Army, the troops stationed at the front line were almost completely lost. The total number of people who returned to Chelyabinsk was only 250,000. Relying on these 250,000 to resist the attack of hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops, Admiral Alexei also had no confidence. All he could do now was arm Chelyabinsk as much as he could. In addition to the construction of defensive lines on the outskirts of the city, barricades were built on every street in the city, as well as fixed fire points for heavy machine guns. Admiral Alexei hoped that this would create an obstacle for the Chinese army attacking Chelyabinsk. It would be great if it could inflict huge casualties on the Chinese Army, or even stop the Chinese Army's offensive.

"General. This is a telegram from St. Petersburg! "A staff officer handed the telegram to General Alexei.

After reading the telegram, Admiral Alexei's brows furrowed tightly. The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Duke Gorchakov, ordered General Alexei to hold out in Chelyabinsk for at least half a month. But. Earlier, Admiral Alexei had received an order from Field Marshal Wirtgenstein, and His Excellency the Marshal had ordered him to hold out for at least a month. But even if you persist for so long, what can you do after that? Outside of the heavy encirclement of the Chinese, it is almost impossible to break through. This battle was almost a life-and-death battle for General Alexei and the Russian army he led. Of course, he also hoped that he would be able to hold out until the time when reinforcements arrived. At that time. He's a hero.

"Order the troops, get ready for battle! The attack of the Chinese is about to begin, we are going to let those damned Chinese shed clean blood in Chelyabinsk! Admiral Alexei ordered viciously. Now, it seems that you can only work hard, at least, and you need to persist for more than half a month. Otherwise, even if he can break through successfully, he will not end well.

"Yes, General!" The staff officer nodded. Turned around and left the command and went to deliver the order.

Now there are still 250,000 Russian troops in Chelyabinsk, including 6 infantry corps and 4 cavalry corps. In the previous battles. Every army has paid heavy losses, and not a single army is full. Some infantry corps even suffered heavy losses. 4 cavalry corps. There were 100,000 people, but now there are less than 50,000 left. Before. They were besieged by the 3rd Cavalry Corps, the 4th Cavalry Corps and 8 Frontier Cavalry Brigades under the command of the 2nd Army of the Imperial Army. Heavy losses.

After the order of General Alexei was given, the Russian troops guarding Chelyabinsk also moved. They also felt the tension of the impending big war. For them, they are now isolated and helpless, and if they don't want to die, they can only hold on and wait for reinforcements to arrive. Otherwise, they will be dead.

On the morning of August 5, 1854, the 2nd, 8th and 10th armies of the Imperial Army launched a fierce attack on Chelyabinsk from three directions. Three armies, concentrating thousands of artillery pieces, carried out a fierce artillery bombardment of Chelyabinsk. In addition to the artillery of the various armies themselves, the Reich General Staff reinforced the 2nd Army with two heavy artillery brigades, totaling more than 200 155-mm heavy howitzers and 155-mm heavy cannons.

"Fire!" With the order of the artillery commander, thousands of cannons began to roar.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "Orange-red flames flashed in the muzzles, and shells flew towards Chelyabinsk with a whistling eye.

With a sharp whistle, the shells fell on the positions of the Russian army, violent explosions sounded, fires splashed everywhere, and large craters were blown out of the Russian defense line. The trenches and pillboxes built by the Russian army were constantly blown up in the dense artillery fire.

"Quick! Duck into the bomb holes! A Russian captain yelled at his troops. The anti-artillery hole is humid and stuffy, and under normal circumstances, the Russian army is reluctant to hide in it. However, now in the face of heavy shelling by the Chinese army, if you don't hide in it, you will be dead. Even if the environment in the anti-artillery shelter is not good and the smell is too bad, it is better than being blown up!

"Boom!" A shell fell into the trench and exploded not far from the Russian captain.

The shock wave from the explosion of the shell blew up this section of the trench in an instant. The Russian captain was immediately lifted away, he only felt that he was flying higher and higher, and finally fell to the ground fiercely, and he was no longer conscious.

The scattered shrapnel wantonly harvested the lives of the Russian army. Dense shells fell, and the Russian defense line was completely enveloped in gunsmoke.

"General, the Chinese began a fierce shelling. The positions of the front line are under great pressure, and the attack of the Chinese is probably about to begin! A staff officer said in horror.

"Hell! Order the front, be ready for battle. Once the Chinese attack, be sure to resist! Admiral Alexei said with a gloomy face.

"Yes, General!"

Admiral Alexei knew that now, it was time to test them. If they can't hold it, then they may have to die.

"Boom! Rumble! "An artillery shell exploded next to one of the Russian pillboxes, and the entire pillbox was lifted off at once. The Russian troops hiding inside were killed one after another.

Some heavy machine gun fire points were also hit, and the fire points of civil structures could not withstand the bombardment of heavy artillery at all. Not only was the firing point completely destroyed, but even the heavy machine gun was directly blown into parts.

The heavy shelling of the Imperial Army began to extend into the city of Chelyabinsk after half an hour. The Imperial Army needed heavy artillery bombardment to block the support of the Russian troops inside the city to the defensive lines outside the city. The first step is to break through the defense line of the Russian army located outside the city, and then the next step is to launch an attack on the inside of Chelyabinsk.

When the artillery fire began to extend, the soldiers of the Imperial Army, who had already been prepared, immediately jumped out of the advancing positions and launched an attack on the Russian positions.

The 2nd Army, the 8th Army and the 10th Army of the Imperial Army, in total, invested more than ten infantry brigades, totaling more than 60,000 people, on a line of defense of tens of kilometers, launched a fierce assault on the Russian army.

"Quick! Give me access to the position, the Chinese are on the offensive! "The junior officers of the Russian army punched and kicked the Russian soldiers who were hiding in the anti-artillery holes, drove them out of the anti-artillery holes, and let them resist the attack of the Chinese army.

"Sir, I don't want to die, I want to go back!" A seventeen or eighteen-year-old Russian soldier cried. The heavy shelling of the Chinese army before scared him out.

"Bastard, you coward! Pick up a gun and fight like a man! A Russian second lieutenant slapped the soldier hard, grabbed him by the collar and dragged him to the position. The soldier kept resisting, but he was no match for the tall Russian officer, and he was dragged into the position.

The Imperial Army launched an attack on the Russian defense line in a skirmish line, and in order to reduce casualties, they were very separated from each other.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The artillery positions hidden by the Russian army in the city opened fire, and in order to preserve their strength, they had not fired before. Now that the Chinese Army has attacked, they can no longer care about preserving their strength.

"Boom!" A shell exploded in the ranks of the Imperial Army, sending shrapnel in all directions, killing several Imperial soldiers on the spot.

More and more shells fell into the ranks of the Imperial Army, causing a number of casualties to the Imperial Army. The attacking Imperial Army, which had to lie on the ground, stopped the attack.

"Suppress enemy fire!" Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, commander of the 2nd Army of the Imperial Army, ordered with a cold face.

In fact, without the order of Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, the artillery is already doing it. A high-altitude observation balloon is calculating the position of the Russian artillery positions according to the trajectory. The 155-mm heavy howitzer and the 155-mm heavy cannon of the Imperial Army, were ready. As soon as they get the position of the Russian artillery, they will immediately suppress the Russian artillery.

Just five minutes after the Russian shelling, the heavy artillery of the Imperial Army opened fire. The target of the shelling is the Russian artillery positions that are constantly firing. In particular, the 155-mm heavy cannon, which has an extremely long range, is capable of directly posing a threat to the artillery positions deployed by the Russian army in the rear.

"Boom! Rumble! "Shells continued to explode around the Russian artillery positions, and some shells fell into the positions of the Russian army, and the shrapnel fired in all directions, harvesting the lives of the Russian artillerymen.

A cannon was even blown off in the explosion of a shell. As the heavy artillery of the Imperial Army opened fire, the artillery of the Russian army was quickly suppressed. (To be continued......)

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