On May 25, 1915, in the middle of a vast flat area surrounded by barbed wire, on the outskirts of Ulan-Ude, a four-engine command transport plane modified from the heavy bombing of "Yan Lei" slowly stopped its wheels.

The hatch opened, the gangway was lowered, and two rows of officers lined up like telephone poles were already lined up in front of them.

Marshal Wang Zhi, the sturdy and eagle-eyed commander of the Northern Front, slowly walked down the gangway, smiled and waved to the crowd who came to greet him.

"Your Excellency Marshal is still in Ulan-Ude for the first time."

General Xiao Lieri, the military and political chief of the East Siberian Theater who was the first to greet him, greeted with a smile

"Well, it's not a coincidence, it's time to visit Commander Xiao a month ago, who wants to call from the base camp suddenly, asking me to go back to Beijing to discuss matters, no, when I go back, it will still be the Mongolian Front, and when I come back, it will become the Northern Front, during the war, I can't help it." Having said that, His Majesty was very pleased that Commander Xiao captured the city of Ulan Ude as scheduled, and praised it greatly-please stand upright. ”

Xiao Lieri was stunned for a moment, and hurriedly straightened his waist.

Wang Zhi respectfully picked up a first-class Blue Dragon Medal with gold dragon's eye and diamonds from the tray presented by the adjutant, and pinned it to Xiao Lieri's chest as carefully and steadily as Mount Tai.

Then he raised his tail and preached: "Spread the decree of His Majesty—"

As soon as they heard the edict of His Majesty, all the generals knelt down on one knee and served as a ritual.

"Count Xiao Liege, the army general, has been loyal and meritorious in the First Sino-Japanese War since the Restoration for more than 20 years, and has been loyal and frequent. Today, with his glorious new achievements in leading the army to break through the fortress of Ulan-Ude, he was specially awarded the Blue Dragon Medal, one of the highest ranks of officers, and was promoted to the Marquis of Pingjian and enjoyed double annuity. Chin this. ”

After the decree was announced, Wang Zhi handed over the oracle document to Xiao Lieri, and said with a smile: "From now on, I will change my name to Pingjian Marquis." ”

"Don't dare, don't dare, contemptible and talented, how dare you rank as a prince with His Excellency the Marshal......"

"Your Majesty's reward, if you don't dare, you have to dare, and if you don't accept it, you have to accept it."

So he helped Xiao Lieri up, ordered the generals to get up, and shook hands one by one to greet each other. In the end, he took two or three cronies and staff officers in a car, and there were seven or eight cars and trucks in front and behind to open the road, and there were cavalry guards on both sides, so they drove mightily towards the city of Ulan-Ude.

After the Battle of Ulan-Ude, due to heavy snow and supply difficulties, the Chinese army stopped the pursuit of the Russian army on the Baikal side, and in the following months, the land front remained roughly at Slyudyanka at the southern tip of Lake Baikal and along the Irkut River to the Eastern Sayan Mountains. Less than 160 miles on the limited front.

And to the east of Lake Baikal, after the Mongolian Front defeated the Russian troops from Irkutsk. The strong fortress of Ulan-Ude was temporarily encircled without attacking, and waited for the Northeast Front to open Chita.

At the beginning of the 2nd, the 1st Army of the Northeast Front Army was from the east, the 2nd Regiment Army from the southeast, and the 3rd Army from the west, encircling Chita on three sides, and the Chita defenders were about 15,000 remnants of the 6th Army of Russia and Siberia.

In order to open the railway line from the mainland to Ulan-Ude as soon as possible. In order to lay the foundation for the attack on the Ulan-Ude fortress and the area west of Baikal, the commander of the front army, General Zhang Yiye, ordered the use of a large number of special smoke bombs in siege operations.

In the early morning of 214, 500 cannons of more than 75 meters around Chita opened fire at the same time. In the past, high-explosive shells were used to strafe the barbed wire, deer and other obstacles in front of the Russian position, and completely suppressed the counterattack of the Russian artillery, an hour before the infantry charged. Instead of firing a mixture of ordinary smoke grenades and special smoke grenades, the yellow-gray smoke enveloped the entire Chita City......

The front army took the two main standing divisions of the 11th Infantry Army of the 1st Group Army as the main attacking force, equipped with smoke masks, and attacked from the east and north of the city at the same time, and the 1 division of the 2nd Regiment > itself+ The armored cavalry units of the 3rd Regiment were on standby in their positions in the west of the city, ready to pursue and destroy the fleeing enemy.

The Russian army is not equipped with smoke masks, and more than half of the officers and soldiers on the front-line positions were stunned by the poisonous smoke, and most of those who did not faint were in tears, with snot constantly sneezing and sneezing for a long time, almost losing their combat effectiveness.

The vanguard of the 11th Army, reinforced with tank and armored car units, broke into the center of the city at the launch of the charge, captured Major General Yushchenko alive, and by noon of 215, the whole city of Chita was pacified, more than 13,000 Russian troops were captured, and most of the city's railway facilities were captured intact.

Unfortunately, at the entrance ceremony held the next day, Commander Zhang Yiye, who was riding into the city on horseback, was suddenly shot, hit his mount, and Commander Zhang fell from his horse and was injured, and was immediately recalled to the base camp to serve as Minister of War of the National Defense Headquarters and Commander of the Praetorian Guard, and the post of Commander of the Front Army was replaced by General Xiao Lieri, the former commander of the Praetorian Guard.

It was later found out that the person who shot Commander Zhang was a Russian non-commissioned officer who took off his military uniform and hid in a nearby cellar, this person was half-dazed by poisonous smoke on the position outside the city, fled back to the city with a gun, fell asleep, and was awakened by the sound of gongs and drums after dawn the next day, so he poked out of his hiding place, and saw a high-ranking officer riding a white horse and wearing a fur coat with a large retinue proudly inspecting the soldiers standing like a forest on both sides, and he didn't know where he got the courage (or simply smoked), he raised his gun and fired, and fell down when he shot it, and then he was surrounded by the Chinese regiments who came to hear the sound. After hesitating, he raised his gun and surrendered.

After the murderer was caught, some people said that they would kill him, some people said that he should be hanged in the central square, and some people said that he could be shot publicly, but General Zhang Yiye said after the most reckless: "He has fulfilled the obligations of a soldier, what's wrong?" Now that he has been captured, it is necessary to abide by the Geneva Conventions and the regulations on the disposal of prisoners of war by our army. Remember, we are here to liberate them, not to create hatred. ”

This sentence was written down by a dedicated reporter accompanying the army, and then added oil and vinegar to write a general draft of the main theme, which was telegraphed to China, and reprinted by major newspapers and periodicals.

Chita decided to reorganize the Northeast Front in order to give the Mongol Front, which had experienced a vicious battle some time ago, time to recuperate and prepare for an attack west of Lake Baikal after the beginning of spring: the main force of the 1st Army was merged into the Mongol Front; The main force of the 1st Army was reinforced by 6 divisions to attack the fortress of Ulan-Ude; The main force of the 2nd Regiment was reduced from 6 divisions to 3 divisions, which were responsible for garrisoning the railway line from Ulan-Ude to the mainland; In addition, it was organized into a Far North detachment with 104 infantry as the backbone, and prepared to go north to pacify Irkutsk, Magadan and other frontier areas close to the Arctic Circle after the beginning of spring.

The reorganized Northeast Front Army is as follows:

* The 1st Army (Ulan-Ude Raiders), led by Xiao Lieri and General Zhao Feixue, Chief of Staff.

Jurisdiction

11th Army (Infantry 20, 22)

19th Army (37th Division, 38th Division)

20th Army (39th Pre-Infantry Division 40)

23rd Army (45th Pre-46th Division)

* 2nd Regiment (Chita Garrison Army, Line of Communication), Commander General Li Xuedong, Chief of Staff General Qin Feiye

22nd Army (43rd Division, 44th Division)

step

10th Cavalry Brigade

23rd Cavalry Brigade

* Northern detachment: Step-104 as the backbone, after the beginning of the spring to the Yakutsk side to search for raiders

- The front army has a total of 12 infantry divisions, 2 cavalry brigades, 300,000 people.