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"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The rumbling of artillery came, and on the artillery positions of the Russian army, hundreds of artillery pieces began to carry out fierce shelling of the defense line of the Imperial Army. One after another, shells whistled towards the positions of the Imperial Army.

"Shelling! Dodge! The officers on the front line shouted loudly.

Amid the screeching sound of shells piercing the air, the officers and men of the Imperial Army rushed into the anti-artillery holes that had been dug long ago. Or lie on your stomach at the bottom of a half-man-deep trench. It is not easy to build fortifications on the frozen soil of Eastern Siberia. Fortunately, it's late June, and the frozen ground is no longer as hard as iron. However, even so, the artillery holes and trenches reinforced with wood were flooded with water. The soldiers fought in such trenches, and it was very difficult. Of course, the conditions, although a little harder, were better than being killed by Russian shells.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The shells exploded on the positions of the Imperial Army, and there was a puff of sand and rocks. Trenches were constantly blown up, and some of the fire points built were also blown up into the sky during the Russian artillery bombardment. The barbed wire fence in front of the position is also crooked.

"Good, well done lads. With such a fierce shelling, those Chinese must have suffered a lot of losses, and under such heavy shelling, will they still be able to withstand our shelling? "Ivan. Marshal Paskovich nodded with satisfaction. He's an attacking guy who thinks the best defense is offense. Therefore. The defensive operations adopted by the Imperial Army have always been unaffordable.

"Your Excellency, I believe. Those Chinese have been frightened by our heavy shelling, and their positions must be full of corpses. This battle was simply too easy for us. I can't even say that this is a battle, our soldiers, like an outing, were able to break through the Chinese lines. Lieutenant General Bryus, commander of the 7th Infantry Corps of the Russian Army, said proudly.

"Haha!" Ivan. Marshal Paskovich burst out laughing. The other generals of the Russian army also looked like they were winning.

As a matter of fact. Although the Russian artillery shells were fierce, the casualties inflicted on the Imperial Army were not large. The solid anti-artillery holes effectively resisted the shelling of the Russian army. Russian artillery shells filled with gunpowder. It's still black powder. How could such a shell be so powerful? Unless the shells fell directly into the trenches, they could not harm the officers and men of the Imperial Army.

After five minutes of Russian artillery, the artillery of the Imperial Army launched a counterattack. 8 battalions of 105-mm light howitzers. Heavy fire began on the artillery positions of the Russian army. Artillery, Russian troops. The maximum range is only five kilometers. In order to increase the accuracy of the shelling, they placed artillery positions at a distance of about four kilometers from the front line. And this, too, was completely within the range of the artillery of the Imperial Army, located on the east bank of the Kitoi River. According to the pre-calibrated firing elements, the Imperial artillery was able to lightly hit the artillery positions of the Russians.

"Fire!" With the order of the artillery commander, 8 battalions, a total of more than 300 105-mm light howitzers, roared.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! Clusters of crimson flames flashed in the muzzle of the cannon, and one after another shells roared into the sky. Towards the positions of the Russian troops. The artillery of the Imperial Army used a new type of propellant. The range of artillery is far above that of the Russian army. The explosives filled in the shells are also new gunpowder, and the power is very different from that of black powder shells.

"Whew! Shout! There was a sharp whisper in the sky, and a Russian artilleryman who was carrying artillery shells raised his head and looked at the sky in surprise. Small black dots are flying towards the artillery positions of the Russian army. These small black dots, from far to near, from small to large, soon turned into a series of spiky cannonballs.

"Damn! Shelling! Chinese shells came over. "On the artillery positions of the Russian army, there was a panic.

"Boom!" A shell accurately landed on the Russian artillery position, blowing up the nearby Russian artillery into the air.

Subsequently, more and more shells fell on the artillery positions of the Russian army, and the entire artillery positions were completely shrouded in gunsmoke. Those Russian artillerymen, like headless flies, fled in all directions. It was constantly torn to shreds by the heavy shelling of the Imperial artillery. One shell after another, the bombs were blown up in all directions, and even the barrels were twisted into twists.

The shelling of the Russian army came to an abrupt end at this moment. Their shelling of the positions of the Imperial Army was curbed by Yanzhòng.

"Haha! Dog's old hair, this time you have tasted our awesomeness! On the positions of the Imperial Army, the officers and soldiers of the Imperial Army, who had escaped the shelling, cheered when they saw the artillery positions of the Russian army falling into a sea of fire.

"What the hell is going on? Order the artillery, counter the artillery of the Chinese! "Ivan. The smile on Marshal Paskovich's face quickly faded. Unexpectedly, in such a short period of time, the artillery of the Russian army was contained, which made him feel as if he had been slapped hard. Ivan. Marshal Paskovich, who only felt that his majesty had been provoked, was somewhat embarrassed.

Lieutenant General Bryus, commander of the 7th Infantry Corps of the Russian Army, was also pale. He had previously sworn that his troops would be able to break through the Imperial Army's defensive positions with ease. But now it seems that the firepower of the Chinese* army is indeed very strong, and if it attacks, his troops may not be so easy to win. This made him regret it a little, and he shouldn't have said such a big thing if he had known it earlier.

The rest of the generals did not look very good. They seem to realize that this battle may not be as easy as expected!

"Your Excellency, the artillery commander replied that the artillery positions of the Chinese are outside our range and we cannot counterattack them." A staff officer to Ivan. Marshal Paskovich said.

"What? The artillery positions of the Chinese are outside our firing range? How is this possible? "Ivan. Marshal Paskovich was stunned. As a veteran, he certainly knew what that meant. This undoubtedly shows that the range of Chinese artillery is far above that of Russian artillery.

"Your Excellency, the commander of the artillery requests to withdraw from the battle. If we continue like this, our artillery will be lost. The staff officer continued.

"No! Let the artillery continue to hold out. Since it is not possible to shell the enemy's artillery positions, then pour all the shells on the defensive positions of the Chinese. Until all the shells are gone! "Ivan. Marshal Paskovich said with a black face. Anyway, after the Russian army loses its logistical supplies, the shells will not be supplied, and it is better to smash them all into the defensive positions of the Chinese * army. In this case, it can be regarded as making the best use of everything.

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!" The staff officer nodded. Ivan. Marshal Paskovich's order was clear, that is, to sacrifice the artillery, in order to give the infantry a chance to break through the lines of the Chinese* army.

"General Bruce, the situation with the artillery, you also saw it. I will order them to create as many opportunities as possible for you. Twenty minutes later, the attack begins, so go down and get ready! "Ivan. Marshal Paskovich said.

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!" Lieutenant General Bryuce knew that it was time to fight hard.

Twenty minutes later, the Russian attack began. 4 corps of the Russian army, launched an attack on the defensive positions of the Imperial Army from four directions. It's just that the 9th, 15th and 18th armies of the Russian army all sent only one infantry division to participate in the attack. Only the 7th Infantry Corps of the Russian Army invested 3 infantry divisions at one time, more than 30,000 people, focusing on attacking a section of defense line about three kilometers long. The Russian army quickly rushed towards the defensive position of the Imperial Army in a sparse formation, and a large area of black pressure was like a swarm of ants.

In view of the characteristics of the Imperial Army's strong firepower, the Russian army has also summed up a set of tactics, that is, to attack in a sparse formation as much as possible. In this way, casualties can be effectively reduced. But at the same time, because there is no special training in attack formations, this makes the attack of the Russian army appear somewhat chaotic.

"Quick! Fast! The old hairy man is up, ready to fight! The officers at the front ordered. Although the intensity of the artillery bombardment of the Russian army is getting smaller and smaller due to the suppression of the imperial artillery, there are still shells that fall on the positions from time to time. But this situation is no longer so much to care about. If you continue to hide in the anti-artillery holes, you can reduce casualties, but the position may also be broken by the Russian army. In that case, the Imperial Army would have to pay an even greater price.

The soldiers drilled out of the anti-artillery hole and entered the position in the face of the Russian artillery fire, preparing to block the Russian attack.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! "The 40 battalions of 75-mm field artillery deployed on the east bank of the Kitoi River also began heavy shelling because of the large-scale offensive of the Russian army. Dense shells flew towards the ranks of the Russian troops, and the Russian soldiers who were blown up turned on their backs.

"Oh God! How did those Chinese artillery fire become so fierce? "As soon as the Chinese Army's 75mm field guns opened fire, they immediately showed more powerful firepower.

"Damn, those Chinese actually hid their strength, it's really too despicable!" Ivan. Marshal Paskovich said through gritted teeth.

"Ulla! Ulla! At the request of the officers, the soldiers of the Russian army, shouting slogans, quickly rushed towards the positions of the Imperial Army. People were constantly killed by falling shells, and the Russian soldiers could only charge quickly with their heads down, while praying to God in their hearts that the shells would not fall on their heads. The bloody battle of the Kitoi River has officially begun. (To be continued......)