One hundred and twenty kilometers west of Orenburg, in a dense forest more than 10 kilometers outside the small town of Ilek on the south bank of the Ural River, Zhong Yi, a 24-year-old army captain and second-generation Wuzhen Gong, leaned his back against a tree trunk and lit a Kinhard cigarette with a silver background inlaid with gold dragon patterns.

In the dark night, the red light of the cigarette butt flashed one after another, illuminating the crescent-shaped scar on Zhong Yi's forehead.

Two and a half months ago, as the commander of the 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the Mixed Tank of the Praetorian Armored Cavalry Detachment, Zhong Yi was wounded in several places due to a bullet in his car during the battle of Sakmara, east of Orenburg.

With the special approval of the base camp, he was urgently airlifted to the Northwest Military Region General Hospital in Dihua, where he received treatment from top experts in the region.

After being discharged from the hospital, Zhong Yi soon returned to the front line, the original Praetorian Guards armored cavalry detachment had long been disbanded, and he was appointed as the commander of the 1st Company of the 1st Brigade Chariot Battalion of the Reorganized Praetorian Guards Armored Cavalry.

Fortunately, earlier, when Zhong Yi was still a platoon commander, he had commanded the early model of the "Flying Wolf" light combat vehicle, coupled with his outstanding learning adaptability, he understood the characteristics of the new equipment in a few days.

However, before he could get acquainted with all the crew members of the company, the entire 1st Brigade of the Praetorian Armored Cavalry was ordered to drive out overnight, galloping more than 100 kilometers westward, and after driving into the dense forest at present, it was in a state of second-level combat readiness and remained in concealment and standby until now.

Before Zhong Yi could savor the bits and pieces of the past two months, a figure suddenly flashed in front of him, and he took the cigarette from his mouth.

"Company Commander Zhong, now is not the time to smoke."

Although he couldn't see the other party's face clearly in the dark, Zhong Yi still heard the voice of his old boss Fu Liang at once.

"Battalion commander. I'm here to relieve the pain. ”

"Take painkillers for pain, and during the war, you can't smoke at night, this is discipline."

Fu Liang said, throwing the cigarette butt that was still burning in his hand to the ground in an arc. Extinguish with one foot.

Although Zhong Yi didn't feel sorry for the high-grade filter cigarette that was enough to change to a whole pack of rationed cigarettes, he couldn't help but complain: "Isn't the battle not started yet......?"

Fu Liang tilted his head: "Don't be wordy, come over for a meeting." ”

Zhong Yi still had to be poor: "I want you to invite you in person to hold a meeting, I can't afford it......"

A beam of electric light came over coldly, and Zhong Yi couldn't open his eyes.

"Don't think too much, I just came back from the brigade headquarters, Xiao Li I sent to inform Company Commander Wang and Company Commander Jin, you just happened to be on the way here, so I will go there myself."

Zhong Yi thought for a moment: "Yes...... The brigade headquarters called you this time. Are you going to strike? ”

Fu Liang turned on his flashlight, turned around and drove away, and replied as he walked: "The reaction is quite fast - that's right, tomorrow morning, our brigade will attack on the right, the 2nd Janissary Cavalry Brigade will be on the left, and the two brigades will advance in unison, and they will take Sorochinsk in one go." Cut off the retreat of hundreds of thousands of Russian troops on the Orenburg side. ”

Zhong Yi hurriedly followed, and he didn't forget to sigh with emotion: "Is it to repeat the miracle of Yablonovo......

The so-called miracle of Yablonovo. During the Asian-Russian War, Liu Yangbo, then the commander of the 4th Cavalry Regiment, turned off the radio station without authorization, led more than 1,000 people to go deep into the rear of the Russian battle line, and captured the Yablonovo Pass by surprise attack, cutting off the retreat of hundreds of thousands of Russian troops.

Subsequently, under the siege of tens of thousands of Russian troops in turn. The 4th Cavalry Regiment held out for 10 days without retreating, enabling the main force to encircle and annihilate more than 100,000 people of the Russian 5th Army, effectively advancing the course of the Chita Battle and even the entire Asian-Russian War, and attracting the attention of Chinese and foreign public opinion for a while.

Of course, it is impossible for Fu Liang not to know this history, but it is obvious that he lacks respect for it.

"Yablonovo? That's history. Liu Yangbo, the rampaging hero back then, can only follow us behind our butts and eat ashes. Sorochinsk is just the starting point, and our real goal is ......"

Zhong Yi casually answered: "Samara? ”

"You're smart - watch out for horse manure under your feet!"

After kindly reminding Zhong Yi, Fu Liang complained: "I really don't understand, the dignified armored mobile unit still has to rely on mules and horses to share the supply and transportation ......."

……

On September 14, 1916, at the Xinhua Palace in Beijing, at half past 9 a.m., Liu Ping, the regent dressed as a generalissimo, stepped into the No. 1 real-time situation demonstration hall of the base camp with leather boots sonorously under the guidance of five or six male and female officers of different uniforms.

Marshal Liang Tianhe, chief of the General Staff, who was waiting in the accusation platform, did not dare to slack off, and led the new Lieutenant General Wu Peifu, chief of the Operations Division of the General Staff, to greet him, and stood from a distance and saluted: "Greetings to His Royal Highness the Regent." ”

Liu Ping returned the salute, took off the feather cap on his head, threw it behind him, and nodded at Liang Tianhe expressionlessly: "Have you started?" ”

Liang Tianhe raised his hand and looked at his watch: "At 8:30, that is, at 4:30 local time in the theater, 3,003 cannons on the entire Sino-Russian front opened fire at the same time, and it has been an hour and two minutes so far. ”

Liu Ping hummed casually, walked to the railing in front of the accusation table, looked down at the huge sand table below with his back hand through a layer of bulletproof glass, and the uniformed girls around the sand table, and opened his mouth to get straight to the topic: "On the side of the Central Second Army, has the 1st Panzer Army on the left flank begun to cross the river?" ”

Liang Tianhe turned his head to give Wu Peifu behind him, and this "Xiucai General", who was five years older than Liang Tianhe and had performed outstanding in the Malayan War, hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully answered the regent's question: "According to the plan, the advance commando of the group army should cross the river by rubber boat and assault boat at the same time as the shelling begins, so as to clear the obstacles for the boat bridge troops to build a pontoon bridge. ”

Liu Ping tilted his head and glanced at Wu Peifu, and asked again: "How's the progress?" ”

"There are no latest reports, but the 1st and 2nd Panzer armies in the center, as well as the 5th Army on the right flank, did not meet the expected resistance when crossing the river."

"That doesn't sound like a good thing."

Liang Tianhe heard what the regent said, but he didn't take it seriously, and interjected to himself: "It is not yet dawn over there, and the artillery fire preparation will last for about 20 minutes, after which the Zhouqiao troops and the main assault team will cross the river one after another, complete the construction of the pontoon bridge before dark, and consolidate the bridgehead position, so that the main forces of the various group armies can cross the river at night -- the real general attack of the Central Asian Army will not begin until after dawn tomorrow." ”

Liu Ping jumped away from the topic without raising his eyes: "What about the special operations troops airborne behind enemy lines?" Is the action still smooth? ”

Wu Peifu glanced at Liang Tianhe and took over the conversation: "The main force of the Ninth Wing of the Army Air Corps, which is scheduled to be airborne around Sorochinsk, took an airship to attack in advance last night, and sent a report of 'successful landing' at about 2 o'clock in the morning of the theater time. In order to ensure the secrecy of the operation, for the next 24 hours, the division will remain in the vicinity of the intended target under the premise of maintaining radio silence until the main force of the 1st Panzer Army crosses the Ural River and then seize the target in one fell swoop, so as to ensure the continuous advance of the armored forces. ”

Liu Ping sighed absentmindedly, and then asked, "Is there any news from Berlin?" Was the Germans willing to accommodate our army and launch a general offensive a day earlier? ”

"It is a pity that the German side has stated that the battle plan drawn up by its General Staff Headquarters does not allow any revision, and it is very dissatisfied with the unauthorized actions of our army......"

Leaving aside Wu Peifu, who was seriously returning, Liu Ping turned to Liang Tianhe with his back: "The battle situation in the Eastern European theater, this king will first understand here, and then go to the demonstration hall of other theaters to have a look." ”

Liang Tianhe didn't care, and lowered his hand and asked, "Which war zone to go to first?" ”

Liu Ping squinted his eyes and said, "Which war zone is there a battle?" ”

Liang Tianhe also replied neatly: "The South Pacific Theater is conducting an air war in the Solomon Islands, the West Asia Theater is conducting a Syrian strategy operation, and the East Africa Theater is conducting a Somalia strategy operation. ”

Liu Ping groaned slightly, reached out and took the hat presented by his entourage Lin Ying, and clamped it under his armpit.

"The Solomon air war was piecemeal and difficult to achieve. The Somali strategy war is a corner of the division, which only increases the burden. On the Syrian side, although the transportation is not smooth and there are many difficulties, it is still in line with the main purpose of the Sino-German meeting -- let's go to the West Asia theater. ”

…… (To be continued......)