The 1903 Imperial Chinese Janissary Guard, the most elite armed force in the world, is not something that later historians braged about, but the weaponry in its establishment alone is enough to terrify all its potential opponents.

Let's start with a soldier.

In the early morning of September 9, 1903, Wu Jun, a private in the first squad of the third platoon of the seventh company of the second battalion of the first regiment of the first brigade of the first brigade of the first division of the janissary guard, was in the woods near Aihui with his comrades, waiting for orders from above.

Wu Jun was an ordinary rifleman, and all the equipment on his body at this time was: an 1897 magazine rifle of 7.92 mm caliber (a modification of the German Mauser 88 rifle), a bayonet, two ammunition bags of 50 rounds each, a backpack containing a multi-purpose waterproof military coat (which could be used as a raincoat, field bedding, and wrapping gear) and a pair of spare boots, a military kettle, a military lunch box, and rice that could be eaten for two days, which were cooked and eaten in a military lunch box if necessary.

His squad consisted of 12 men in three rifle groups of four men each, and the squad leader, who also carried a Mauser rifle, always stayed in one of the groups, each carrying a folding sapper shovel for the fortifications. According to the Infantry Tactical Regulations issued in 1898, when it was necessary to conduct a small defense, every 3 to 4 infantry men built and used a foxhole, which in practice means that 4 soldiers in each rifle group took turns digging the pit with the folding sapper shovel, and then 4 people squeezed into it together, and these 4 people breathed the same fate - if a shell fell from the pit, all four people would die - often became brothers in life and death.

Wu Jun is 20 years old this year, 18 years old when he graduated from junior high school, because he has no money to continue studying, so he joined the army, was selected to join the Praetorian Guard, with a high allowance of five yuan a month, and carried out the most arduous and complex training, in the past two years, he is muscular, his mind is not simple, and his shooting skills have reached the level of a special marksman in an ordinary infantry unit, and he has 100 shots at fixed targets from 800 meters away, and 9 shots from 10 shots at medium-speed moving targets from 400 meters away. And also the ability to lead an entire squad or even a platoon.

Wu Jun's squad leader's surname is Niu, the military rank is sergeant, twenty-four or five years old, he has been a soldier for four years, according to the Praetorian Guard service regulations, he will continue to serve for 8 years, his strength is great, the bayonet skills are excellent, and he can be invincible for half a squad alone during training.

Three such squads, together with a machine-gun group and a command group, formed a Praetorian infantry platoon with a total of 40 people. The machine gun crew is equipped with one Type 1899 7-point 92 mm light machine gun, using a 50-round metal drum, with the main machine gunner carrying a machine gun and a live ammunition drum, and the secondary machine gunner carrying two live ammunition drums and two 100-round ammunition bags each, for a total of 350 rounds. The command group consisted of the platoon commander and the communicator, both of whom carried 7.92mm rifles, but the platoon commander had an additional Model 1901 9mm revolver.

Wu Jun's platoon commander's surname is Li, and his military rank is sergeant, about twenty-six or seventeen years old, and like Sergeant Niu, he was promoted from the grassroots level. Platoon Commander Li is a person who is easily emotional, and he is very fierce to the soldiers, because the company commander is more fierce than him, but the reason why they are fierce is not because they like this, but so that the soldiers will not die early when they go to the battlefield.

A Praetorian Infantry Company consists of three Praetorian Infantry Platoons, a fire support platoon, a command group, and a service group.

The fire support platoon consisted of 2 mortar groups and 2 machine gun crews, each with 6 mortars, equipped with 1 1901 model 60 mm light mortar, the gun had a maximum range of 3,100 meters, a shell weight of 3 kg, and each gun group carried 30 shells. Each machine gun crew has 2 people, equipped with 2 Type 1899 light machine guns, and carries 350 rounds of ammunition.

The command group consisted of the company commander, his orderlies, the communications corps, and a lieutenant staff officer (and deputy company commander), and the service group included the cooks and medics.

The normal strength of the company is 145 officers and men.

Wu Jun's company commander's surname is Tie, the military rank is captain, Manchu, around 30 years old, and a young lieutenant from a military academy serves as a staff officer.

There were four such companies in a Janissaries battalion, as well as a battalion headquarters, a fire support company and a service platoon.

The battalion-level fire support company was equipped with two 80-mm mortars of the 1897 model, which had a range of 4,200 meters and a shell weight of about 5 kilograms, and was divided into two gun groups, each with 8 people, carrying 30 shells. In addition, there were two heavy machine gun crews, each with 8 men, each equipped with an 1896 7.92 mm Maxim heavy machine gun, carrying 12 standard canvas bullet bags and two ammunition boxes, and 1,600 rounds of ammunition.

The Janissaries Infantry Battalion has a normal strength of about 700 people, and the battalion commander is a major.

A Janissary Infantry Regiment has three such infantry battalions.

In addition to the battalion units, the regimental headquarters, the regimental headquarters guard company, the baggage company, and the service company, the Praetorian Infantry Regiment also has a mixed artillery battalion, under the jurisdiction of one mountain artillery company and one mortar platoon, equipped with six Type 1892 75-mm light mountain guns and three Type 1900 100-mm heavy mortars. The 75-mm mountain shell weighs 7 kg and has a range of 6 km, and the 100-mm mortar shell weighs 13 kg and has a range of 4700 m. The mountain guns and heavy mortars in the mixed artillery battalions were towed by two-wheeled artillery trucks and ammunition trucks, with a base ammunition of 120 rounds per 75-mm mountain gun and 60 rounds per 100-mm mortar.

The strength of each infantry regiment reached 2,400.

A Janissary Infantry Brigade has three such infantry regiments under its command, with an establishment of more than 9,000 troops.

The brigade has a brigade headquarters, a brigade headquarters guard battalion, a baggage battalion, a service battalion, an engineer battalion, a (cavalry) reconnaissance battalion, and a brigade-affiliated artillery battalion, which is equipped with 18 Type 1901 90mm light howitzers with a shell weight of 10 kg and a firing range of 10.5 km. The 90-mm light howitzer is equipped with a special four-gun truck and ammunition cart with a base ammunition of 120 rounds.

The Praetorian Guards Division has three Janissary Infantry Brigades, including a division headquarters, a divisional guard regiment, a baggage regiment, a service regiment, an engineer regiment, a cavalry regiment, and a huge five-battalion artillery regiment.

The first and second battalions of the artillery regiment of the Praetorian Guard Division are equipped with Type 1899 150 mm heavy howitzers, which weigh 45 kilograms, have a firing range of 9.8 kilometers, and are equipped with special gun trucks and ammunition trucks, with a base ammunition of 60 rounds, and their performance is overwhelming all the same type of artillery in the world. The 3rd, 4th and 5th battalions were armed with Type 1898 105-mm field cannons, which weighed 20 kg, had a range of 13 kilometers and an ammunition base of 120 rounds. A total of 36 150-mm heavy guns and 54 105-mm cannons.

The division has a total of 36,000 personnel, full of personnel all year round, and a brigade is always on combat readiness and on duty, and the brigade on duty can be dispatched within 12 hours and the whole division within 24 hours after receiving the order. If there is enough time to mobilize, each division can also have 10,000 coolies to provide continuous supplies.

Of course, the economic cost of equipping and training such elite troops, while keeping them on such a high level of alert, is heavy. Of course, ordinary soldiers would not think of this, every young man who joined the army hoped to join the Praetorian Guard, wear that unique and handsome black uniform, receive an allowance two or three times higher than that of the Wehrmacht, use the best weapons, learn a lot of knowledge, and countless opportunities for promotion, joining the Praetorian Guard, which means that the future as a soldier is already bright.

In September 1903, the Empire's only two standing Praetorian Divisions, the 1st and 2nd Praetorian Guard Divisions, were deployed along the right bank of the Heilongjiang River from Mohe to Yichun, both of which belonged to the Praetorian Field Army with General Liang Tianhe as commander and Lieutenant General Zhang Yiye as chief of staff. The two standing Praetorian Divisions were supported by the Praetorian Hussar Brigade (6,500 men), the 1st Janissaries Artillery Brigade, and the 3rd Reserve Praetorian Division. The total strength of the Janissary Field Army at that time was 120,000.

It is worth mentioning that the 1st Janissaries Artillery Brigade, which is the only independent field artillery brigade in the Praetorian Guard, has three three-battalion artillery regiments, of which the 1st Janissaries Heavy Artillery Regiment is equipped with 9 305 mm heavy siege guns, its shells weigh 350 kilograms, the range is 8 kilometers, and can cause devastating damage to the enemy's fortifications. The 2nd Janissaries Heavy Artillery Regiment is armed with 54 150mm howitzers, and the 3rd Heavy Artillery Regiment is armed with 54 105mm cannons, both of which can be reinforced to the Janissaries brigades and even regiments in a separate battalion formation to provide high-intensity artillery support for the main attacking forces.

In contrast, in the Russian army in 1903, the highest tactical unit of the regular army was the army, which had two infantry divisions, one cavalry division, one engineer battalion and one mobile baggage brigade under one corps. The infantry division consists of 2 infantry brigades (2 regiments each) and 1 artillery brigade. Each regiment has 4 battalions (4 companies per battalion) and 1 service company. The cavalry division has 2 brigades, each of which has 2 regiments (each regiment has 6 cavalry companies).

The military artillery is a heavy howitzer battalion or light artillery battalion with 24 guns. The artillery brigade of the infantry division has 2 or 3 artillery battalions, of which the 1st and 2nd battalions each have 3 companies, and the 3rd battalion has 2 companies, each company has 8 guns, and the whole brigade has 48 or * guns. The cavalry division was equipped with a cavalry artillery battalion with 2 companies and a total of 12 light artillery pieces.

Each infantry battalion is armed with 1 or 2 Maxim heavy machine guns, and each infantry division is armed with no more than 32 heavy machine guns. Each cavalry division was armed with only 2 to 4 Maxim heavy machine guns, while each Chinese Praetorian Cavalry regiment had 6 heavy machine guns and 18 light machine guns.

The number of infantry divisions of the Russian army is about 18,000, the number of cavalry divisions is 3,500, and the total number of troops is about 48,000, with 13,000 horses and 3,700 carriages.

The artillery of the Russian army includes 76-mm field guns with a range of 8.5 km, 87-mm light field guns with a range of 6 km, 76-mm mountain guns with a range of 4.3 km, 152-mm mortars with a range of 3.7 km, and 152-mm heavy field guns with a range of 8.8 km.

All kinds of light mountain artillery are equipped in the artillery brigades of infantry divisions and artillery battalions of cavalry divisions, and heavy mortar guns and heavy field artillery are only equipped with artillery attached to military artillery.

In September 1903, the immediate enemy of the Imperial Janissary Field Army was the Siberian First Army of Lieutenant General Shktakliberg of the Russian Army, under the jurisdiction of the First Siberian Army, the Second Siberian Army, as well as three independent brigades and a number of independent artillery, with a total strength of 125,000 troops, along the left bank of the Amur River (Heilongjiang River), of which the First Army was assembled in the area of Blagoveshensk (Hailanpao), relying on this local fortress group to carry out defense. Blagoveshchensk is located at the confluence of the Jieya River and the Amur River (Heilongjiang), with a population of more than 100,000, is an important hub for Russia to control the Heilongjiang River Basin, here, the Russian army built a defensive line around the city, built 3 fortresses, 2 batteries and a number of support points, equipped with more than 100 large and small fortress guns, the 1st Siberian Division is responsible for the defense of the city, and the 11th Baikal Cossack Brigade and the 2nd Siberian Division cover the left and right flanks of the division respectively.

Svobodny is located in the middle reaches of the Jieya River, with a population of 60,000, is an important supply station on the southern line of the eastern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, the city has a coal yard, a locomotive maintenance station and a spare carriage, because it is close to the Jieya River, the water transportation is convenient, in order to defend the city, the Russian army relied on the terrain to build a fortress and a number of support points, equipped with 50 fortress guns, and later the 10th Baikal Cossack Brigade defended the city. In September, the headquarters of the First Siberian Army was stationed here, and the Second Siberian Army was assembled here as the mobile striking force of the group army, and the independent artillery brigade of the group army was also on standby, which could quickly maneuver on the east-west side by means of the railway line, and could also provide support to Hailan Pao, 140 kilometers to the south, by virtue of the convenient water communication on the Jieya River.

Located at the southern foot of the Trans-Khingan Mountains, hundreds of kilometers northwest of Hailanpao, Tengda is an important supply point for the eastern section of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and from July of that year, fortresses and defensive positions were set up near the city, equipped with 30 to 40 artillery pieces, and defended by the 9th Transbaikal Cossack Brigade.

Except for the situation below the Janissary Infantry Battalion of the Chinese Army, none of the above is something that a small first-class soldier can and needs to understand. Wu Jun was holding his rifle at this time, sitting back to back with his comrade-in-arms Wang Yiyang in the same group, the sun was shining outside the woods, and the light and shadow in the woods were barrage, everyone was waiting, and everyone was trying to find a way to pass the time.

Someone drank water, someone wiped a gun, someone sang quietly, someone whispered chatter, someone checked bullets over and over again, someone wrote a letter to someone word for word, someone carved something with a knife, someone soaked and peed under the roots of a tree.

"Wang Yiyang, are you afraid?"

Wu Jun suddenly asked his partner, Wang Yiyang paused for a moment and nodded: "Afraid, afraid of death." But if I think about it carefully, if it's really my turn to die, I'm afraid of death, I'm not afraid of death, then I'm afraid of a bird. ”

"That's right."

Wu Jun nodded thoughtfully, but he still couldn't control his nervousness, carried the gun, reported to the squad leader, and ran to pull a soak of urine as fine as silk.

When he was buttoning his crotch, Wu Jun heard someone shouting "assemble" behind him, and hurriedly turned around and ran back, and even the people in the team had already stood up and started to line up.

The iron company commander had an angry face on his face, as if everyone in the company had a grudge against him, shouted the password, and kicked the slow subordinate from time to time, Wu Jun was kicked in the ass, and he got into the team and stood in his position.

"Squad leader, what's the matter with such a panic?"

The cow squad leader with a full face looked straight ahead and replied in a low voice: "The big man is here, at least one regiment leader." ”

Before the words could be spoken, a group of cavalry rushed in front of the team with kicks and feet, but fortunately there were a lot of fallen leaves on the ground, and only a small puff of dust was raised.

Then someone shouted in a voice that was so excited that he wanted to ascend to heaven: "The commander of the corps and the chief of staff have arrived!" ”

There was a commotion in the team, and Wu Jun's platoon took the opportunity to mutter.

"Damn, the commanders of the legions are here, I didn't expect us to be so valued."

"The first people to die, if you don't pay attention to it, you won't be able to see it."

"Sew up your stinky crow's mouth, you want to die and bury you now."

"Be quiet, the company commander will be over when he hears it."

"He's a fart, I'm the first to crash him when he rushes to the battlefield."

"Save it, I didn't wait for you to collapse him, let the cannon break you ......"

"Shut up, the commander is here, look at the golden dragon pine leaves, the six-pointed star, what a young commander, fuck, when will Lao Tzu get to that step......"

General Liang Tianhe, commander of the Praetorian Guards Field Corps, rode a corn-colored horse, held his head high, and crossed his waist with one hand, and slowly passed in front of the neatly arranged companies of the First "Yunlong" Regiment of the Janissacracy.

Keeping alongside him was Lieutenant General Zhang Yiye, the chief of staff, riding a dark horse with a serene complexion, not as domineering as Liang Tianhe.

Thirty-four-year-old Liang Tianhe and Zhang Yiye, who is one year younger than him, are Liu Yun's descendants, when the time machine was just teleported to this time, Liang Tianhe and Zhang Yiye were in Hook's support team, failed to participate in the operation of breaking into the Forbidden City, and then the two successively served as the commanders of the Praetorian Guard platoon, company, battalion, regiment, brigade, and division, after the Ding Jieyun Rebellion, the two were promoted all the way, and successively transferred to the commander of a military region, the director of a certain division of the General Staff, the commander of a certain corps, etc., until 1902, when they took over as the commander and chief of staff of the Praetorian Guard, and the war began. The two were naturally appointed commanders and chiefs of staff of the Praetorian Field Army.

On the green clouds, the red ground military flag flying over the sky stretched diagonally forward, and Liang Tianhe reined in his horse in front of the military flag and turned to the officers and soldiers.

"Brothers of the Imperial Guard."

Liang Tianhe said firmly and forcefully, and everyone quieted down like death.

"Commander Ben has something for you."

Liang Tianhe looked around left and right.

"Which country does the fertile land on the left bank of the Heilongjiang River belong to?"

The officers and soldiers in black uniforms shouted in unison: "I belong to my Chinese empire!" ”

"Yes, it belongs to my Chinese empire, but now, that land is full of red-haired Russian devils, who wantonly slaughter our compatriots, and claim that this matter has nothing to do with our empire! It's tolerable, it's unbearable, brothers, should we drive those red-haired devils out of the city! ”

"Expel the foreign captives and restore our land! Long live the Empire! Praetorian Guard, forward! ”

After a warm and hateful slogan, Liang Tianhe raised his right hand to signal everyone to be quiet.

"Brothers, the First Janissary Regiment you belong to was in the First Sino-Japanese War nine years ago, breaking the neutralization, defending Pingkang, ascending Kyushu, going down to the Ishikawa, and guarding the Guanyuan Tianmanfeng Peak, and made outstanding achievements, so the title of Yunlong was awarded to the current saint, which is the supreme glory of the first regiment. Now, as the vanguard of our army, you will cross the Heilongjiang River, set foot on the left bank of the river, and launch the magnificent operation of recovering the great rivers and mountains. Ladies and gentlemen, I think that back then, Zong Zesan, a famous general of the Great Song Dynasty, crossed the river and could not fulfill his wish, and now, what mountains and rivers can stop the iron hooves of our imperial Praetorian Guard? Brethren, cross the river! ”

"Cross the river! Cross the river! Cross the river! ”

The shouts of the sergeants were like a tide, and their morale was like a rainbow.

Suddenly, the cannon rang out.

The earth trembled.