Yekaterinburg is located in the eastern foothills of the Ural Mountains, and the Isett River runs through the city from northwest to southeast. It was built in 1723 in honor of Tsarine Catherine, wife of Peter the Great, in honor of Tsar Catherine I. After losing the war with China, the Russian army made Yekaterinburg a key construction city. In addition to the increasingly rapid development of metallurgy, the whole city is the dense bunkers and trenches outside the city. The whole city has almost become a fortress. A large amount of food, weapons and ammunition were stored in the city, so that the Russian army could hold out in the event of a surroundment.

On August 12, 1854, the 1st, 2nd, 8th, 9th, and 10th armies of the Imperial Army had surrounded the whole of Yekaterinburg. Inside the city, 500,000 Russian troops led by Field Marshal Wittgenstein defended the city.

On a hillside in Yekaterinburg, Lieutenant General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army of the Imperial Army, Lieutenant General Zhou Laosi, chief of staff, Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, commander of the 2nd Army, and Lieutenant General Liu Wu, chief of staff, gathered here and observed Yekaterinburg with binoculars. However, the continuous fortifications of Yekaterinburg shocked the battle-hardened generals. They knew how powerful these fortifications were, and if they were to fill them with human lives, they would not be able to fight all these armies before they could capture Yekaterinburg. In that case, even if you win, there is no point in it.

"Holy shit, these Russians don't seem to have done anything else in the past few years, except to build fortifications here. There are so many fortresses, pillboxes and trenches, and there is absolutely no way to complete them in a few years! Lieutenant General Zhou Laosi, chief of staff of the 1st Group Army, said hatefully.

"Yes! Compare here. Chelyabinsk is a soft persimmon, and here is a hard bone! "The face of Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu, commander of the 2nd Army, is also not very good-looking. In the battle for the capture of Chelyabinsk. The Imperial Army lost as many as 50,000 killed and seriously wounded. Now it seems that if Yekaterinburg is to be conquered. This number will be doubled if it is not good.

"Will our heavy artillery be able to destroy all those Russian pillbox fortresses?" Lieutenant General Zhang Wei, commander of the 1st Army, asked.

"I'm afraid it's a little difficult! Even if we have 4 brigades of heavy artillery with 480 155-mm heavy howitzers and 155-mm heavy cannons, it is estimated that it will be difficult to destroy all these fortifications. Especially those forts made of reinforced concrete, which are very strong, and 155 mm shells are estimated to not be able to gnaw! When the time comes, maybe you can only organize sappers to carry out blasting! Lieutenant General Liu Wu, chief of staff of the 2nd Army, said.

The faces of several lieutenant generals are not quite right, if it is to organize a blast with sappers, it is equivalent to filling it with human lives. Every commander. I don't want to come this far. However, the Russians actually turned the whole of Yekaterinburg into a fortress, and it may be difficult to capture it without human lives. This is a big trouble for the Imperial Army!

"Otherwise, let's ask for support from home! Perhaps, there is a solution in the country. I heard that the General Staff is planning to create a super-heavy artillery brigade with the 210-mm naval guns of the Navy. If it was a 210mm heavy gun, it might be able to destroy these fortresses of the Russians! Lieutenant General Liu Wu said. After all. Bombarding these Russian fortifications with super-large caliber heavy artillery is undoubtedly the safest way.

"It's not going to work. Let's not talk about whether a super-heavy artillery brigade was created or not. Even if it is established, it will take a long time to transfer it from the country. Besides. And even if it was transported by rail to Central Asia, from Central Asia to Yekaterinburg? That thing must weigh at least a few tons. It's hard to drag! Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu shook his head.

"If we just besiege and not attack, I don't believe it. The grain stored by these Russians in Yekaterinburg was really enough for them to eat for as long as they could. Hundreds of thousands of troops. Add hundreds of thousands of civilians, that's a million mouths! At most, they can starve to death in half a year to a year! Lieutenant General Zhou Laosi said.

"Save it! When the time comes, before the Russians are starved to death, they will freeze us to death first! Winter in Siberia is not so good. Especially in the unprotected wilderness, it can freeze people to death. What's more, if we besiege Yekaterinburg without attacking it, then this will undoubtedly give the Russians enough time to prepare. When the time comes, the Russians have completed their mobilization, millions of Russian troops have been killed from the Ural Mountains, and the Russian troops in Yekaterinburg will be flanked by the Russians. Whether you can win or not when the time comes, it's hard to say! Lieutenant General Zhang Wei said.

"We can't delay it too long, we have to take Yekaterinburg in a few days. In this way, we will have a place to spend the winter. After a winter's rest, a new attack on the Russians is underway next spring. Report the difficulties we are experiencing to the General Staff and ask for their instructions! Lieutenant General Zhao Mingfu also said.

Although everyone thought that it was humiliating to complain to the General Staff, they had to do it for the sake of the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers under their command. After all, soldiers' lives are precious, and the lives of soldiers cannot be used to fill these strong fortifications. They all believed that the General Staff, or the wise Emperor, would have a way to solve this problem.

In Yekaterinburg, the Russian army has entered the highest state of combat readiness. More than half of the 500,000 Russian troops were deployed in the endless mass of fortifications outside Yekaterinburg. This was the success of the Russian army in recent years, and they built two strong lines of defense outside the city with a large number of trenches, pillboxes and fortresses. The Russian generals in the city were fully convinced that if the Chinese army wanted to capture Yekaterinburg, it would have to pay at least twice as much as the defenders. That is, with the fortifications of Yekaterinburg, they were enough for the Chinese army to shed blood here.

Field Marshal Wittgenstein made daily rounds of the fortifications outside the city, which were the strongest barrier in Yekaterinburg. If these two lines of defense are broken through by the Chinese Army, then the Russian army will only have to fight street battles with the Chinese Army. That was the last resort of the Russian army, which meant that the defense of Yekaterinburg was at the last moment.

Field Marshal Wittgenstein was very confident in the defense of Yekaterinburg, believing that the strong fortifications outside the city would be able to withstand the attack of the Chinese army. Besides, it's already August, and in two months, the cold winter is coming. At that time, without them launching an attack, the cold weather will be able to freeze all the Chinese army to death.

"Lieutenant General, I am already desperate to see the Chinese attack our fortress. They're going to hit their heads and bleed in front of our defenses. These despicable Chinese will shed all their blood in Yekaterinburg. Field Marshal Wittgenstein said confidently. In this battle, there is no doubt that Russia was attacked by the Chinese army, which has lost 500,000 men so far. Now Russia is completely at a disadvantage. However, Field Marshal Wittgenstein was convinced that the Battle of Yekaterinburg would be a turning point in the war. The Russian army will use Kokaterinburg to eliminate the living forces of the Chinese army. Once these millions of Chinese troops are wiped out, then Russia will regain the upper hand.

"Yes, Your Excellency. I think the Chinese would definitely not have thought that we would have built such a well-developed fortification in Yekaterinburg! Lieutenant General Nevelskoy said. Although, the fall of Chelyabinsk added a shadow to their hearts. However, they were quite confident in the defense of Yekaterinburg.

"We will use Yekaterinburg to drag the Chinese. So that there is enough time for the country to mobilize the army. If in winter, the Chinese will have to retreat in order to avoid losses. In this case, their previous efforts will be in vain. By next winter, we will no longer have a shortage of troops. At that time, we will be able to have a final decisive battle with the Chinese. Victory must belong to great Russia! Marshal Wittgenstein said. This time, he thought he had taken advantage of the right time. If none of this is possible, then God has abandoned Russia.

Lieutenant General Nevelskoy nodded repeatedly. Although, after the outbreak of the war, Russia has been in a state of defeat, and has lost half a million men so far. However, the defeat of the Russian army will end here. The Russian army will gradually reverse the situation and win this war!

Huaxia City, the capital of the Chinese Empire, thousands of miles away in the east, was not greatly affected by the war. Although, the war has been raging for more than twenty days. However, the people of the empire do not seem to have been affected much, and there are no problems with the supply of goods in the market. Therefore, it was as if the imperial population did not feel the beginning of the war.

Of course, the long queues at the recruiting offices throughout the Empire, as well as the newspaper reports of the victories of the Imperial Army and Navy, let the people of the Empire know that there is now a large-scale war going on in the Empire. A war for the future of the Empire. According to the newspapers, if the empire wins, then the empire will be the overlord of the world outside the city, and every citizen of the empire will be able to enjoy the benefits of the empire when it becomes stronger. If the empire fails, then Yiqiē will go back to the past, and everyone will live the hard life of being oppressed again.

Therefore, the people of the empire want the empire to win, and they do everything they can to support the empire to win this war! (To be continued......)

PS: The second update arrives, asking for subscriptions, monthly passes and recommended tickets! Thank you book friends丨, the monthly pass of lying on the grass and basking in the sun!