On July 2, 915, across the turbulent Irtysh River, General Lu Kaiping, commander of the Western Panzer Army, was looking through a telescope at the city of Semipalatinsk on the opposite bank.

In 1718, Russian explorers built the Semipalatinsk fortress 18 miles downstream of its current site (it was supposed to be just an earthen enclosure), and in 1778 it was relocated to it due to the flooding of the river. Russia's in-depth conquest of Central Asia gradually developed into a prosperous urban area around the fortress, and by the time of the Russo-Asian War, there were nearly 50,000 inhabitants. After the Asian-Russian War, China restored a large area of land east and south of Lake Balkhash in accordance with the New York Peace Treaty, and Russia's rule in Central Asia was seriously threatened, and the strategic position of Semipalatinsk suddenly became prominent. By the outbreak of World War I, Semipalatinsk had been built around Semipalatinsk with a considerable scale of reinforced concrete fortifications, equipped with field artillery, mortars, machine guns, and a regimental permanent garrison, and although it was far less large and well-equipped than the three major fortresses that were the core of Siberia's defense, Ulan-Ude, Irkutsk, and Novosibirsk, it was the second most modern fortress in Central Asia after Almaty. Now, relying on the fortress and the danger of the Irtysh River, the two Russian divisions have choked the choke points leading to Barnaul and Novosibirsk, blocking the two Chinese armies that were rushing in a fierce manner in front of the surging river hundreds of meters wide.

The railway bridge leading south to Ayaguz had long since been blown up, but the careful Lu Kaiping found that it was only the bridge deck that was completely destroyed, and the piers did not look much damaged.

There was a sudden sound of horses' hooves behind him, and Lu Kaiping turned his head. A young staff officer hurriedly rushed forward to report: "Commander Qian is here. ”

As early as 1894, just after the end of the Sino-Japanese War, he was assigned by the General Staff to the Northwest Military Region to participate in/effect, and served as the commander of the Second Army of the Northwest Front during the Asian-Russian War. He repeatedly thwarted attempts by the Russian army to invade southern Xinjiang (Xinjiang south of the Tianshan Mountains is commonly known as Southern Xinjiang) and was awarded the Order of the Blue Dragon of the third class.

Lu Kaiping, who was also from the General Staff Department, was slightly shorter, had a Chinese face, and had a shaved chin; although he came to the northwest ten years later than Qian Lan, his experience in commanding large-scale field corps was above Qian Lan. During the Asian-Russian War, he served as the commander of the 1st Reserve Army (later reorganized into the 6th Army) directly under the base camp, and participated in the famous Battle of Four Rivers under the command of Xiao Lieri, commander of the 3rd Regiment Army. After the war, it was supported by the old governor Liang Tianhe. He followed him to the Northwest Military Region and was ordered to form an armored mobile unit in the Northwest. Overcoming numerous difficulties, starting from scratch and from weak to strong, he spent 10 years of painstaking efforts to build seven armored brigades, and after the start of the war, he became the commander of the 2nd A Army, which gathered most of the armored mobile forces.

"Zizhi, why are you still here?" Qian Lan kicked on her shiny riding boots, jumped off the horse, and greeted Lu Kaiping with a loud voice.

Lu Kaiping greeted him with a smile and shook hands: "Brother Ji Yun, you are here." ”

"What? Another idea. Trouble with me? ”

Lu Kaiping waved his hand again and again, and pointed to the bridge pier in the river without the bridge deck with a smile: "I don't dare to look for trouble, I just saw this broken bridge and had some ideas." ”

Qian Lan took off the leather gloves he used to ride his horse. The whip was clamped under the armpit, and with a "snap", it magically unfolded a half-circle folding fan. Fan up on the sweaty forehead.

"Sure enough, you have a high opinion, let's hear it?"

Lu Kaiping lowered his hand, but his eyes were firmly welded on the broken bridge: "Brother Ji Yun, don't you think this bridge is too completely damaged?" ”

Qian Lan tilted his head: "Not to mention that the bridge was not completely destroyed, judging from the aerial reconnaissance in the past few days, Mao Zi doesn't seem to have any intention of defending here at all." ”

"Feeling...... It's kind of weird. Lu Kaiping frowned slightly, and took out a small silver-plated cigarette case from his pocket, "Get one?" ”

"No, quit smoking today."

"Today?"

Qian Lan sneered, put away the folding fan, snatched Lu Kaiping's cigarette case, opened it, picked up two, threw one to the guard behind him, and stuffed one into his mouth.

"It's hard to be warm, and it doesn't hurt to break the vows occasionally, at most I'll quit tomorrow."

"You, that's all you have to ...... What do you think? What do you think of what I just said? "Old classmates, old friends, old colleagues, Lu Kaiping is too lazy to go around *** again.

Qian Lan threw the cigarette case back into Lu Kaiping's hand and took out a lighter: "There is nothing to think about, our task is to take the city in front, and then advance to Barnaul, and cooperate with the Northern Army to attack Novosibirsk, before the new order is sent, we have no choice." ”

"We don't have a choice, but we have this." Lu Kaiping tapped his temples.

Qian Lan squinted, lit the cigarette on his and the guard's lips, and threw the lighter to Lu Kaiping.

"How do you want to report it? Because the enemy did not withdraw all the trains, because the enemy did not blow up the bridge completely, so I think that the enemy is luring the enemy deeper, and our army should stop advancing and wait for reinforcements? ”

Lu Kaiping pursed his face, lit a cigarette, handed back Qian Lan with the lighter, and looked back at the bridge, looking at those bare bridge piers, as if there was some big secret hidden under the bridge piers, something dangerous and mysterious, and the next moment it could rush through the water and sweep over, swallowing him and his group army......

"The soldiers are coming, the water is coming to cover the earth, Zizhi, you won't be, you are starting to doubt yourself, right?" Qian Lan was unceremonious and hit the nail on the head.

Lu Kaiping stretched out his fingers and twisted his forehead, shook his head and sighed: "Brother Ji Yun, in the past few days, I always feel that something is wrong, but I don't know how to report it to Lu Shang, I thought, Commander Liang should know it in his heart, but he can't wait for the commander's instructions, his mind is uncertain, and it is difficult to sleep and eat." ”

Qian Lan shook her head slightly, stretched out her hand to clasp the shoulders of her old classmate, and comforted her softly: "I think the commander should have his troubles." ”

"What kind of hardship will it be, you say?"

Seeing Lu Kaiping's anxious appearance, Qian Lan may have looked around out of unbearability: "I want to talk to Commander Lu alone." ”

Several people nearby, including the guards, quickly and consciously retreated dozens of meters away, and Qian Lan approached Lu Kaiping and whispered in his ear: "This is my guess, not to mention the commander, the base camp should also have noticed something, but it's just ......"