On September 15, 1903, Weiyuan City, the sixty-fourth Tun Township Mansion in Jiangdong, woke up in the morning.

Through the thin mist, you can see the heads of people in the lobby of the township government, one after another under the light of kerosene lamps.

On the table of the Eight Immortals was a map marked with colorful symbols, and human heads floated around the map.

There are compass signs on the map, which makes it easy to tell the direction.

A thick, winding, thick blue line roughly runs northwest-southeast through the center of the map, and the text next to the blue line reads: "Heilongjiang."

To the northeast of this thick blue line, another thinner blue line is roughly parallel to it, and then, after converging with a thinner northeast-southwest trending blue line, it suddenly turns south-southwest and joins the thick blue line.

The text next to the thinner blue line is "Jieya River", and the text next to the thinner blue line is "Sheremja River".

At the confluence of the Jieya River and the Heilongjiang River, on the left bank (east bank) of the Heilongjiang River and the right bank (west bank) of the Jieya River, there is a double-layered circular circle representing the city, and the text next to it is marked "Hailan Bubble" (Blagoveshchensk).

Six centimeters north of the city, there is also a circle on the right bank of the Jieya River, but it is smaller than the Hailan Bubble, and the text next to it reads "Svobodne". The scale of the map is 1:2 million, so the length of six centimeters measured with a ruler translates to 120 kilometers.

Now that we imagine the map in our eyes as the real world, we can see that a railway, a railway running roughly northwest-southeast through the small city of 60,000 people, Svobodne, crosses the Jieya River from a low railway bridge, and continues southeast for about sixty kilometers before encountering another city. The name of the city is Belogorsk, and it has a population of about 30,000, and from here, the railway branch line leads to Hailanpao in the southwest, which is about 90 kilometers long, and enters the city of Hailanpao through a railway bridge over the Jieya River near Hailanpao. Next to this railway spur, about 30 kilometers from Hailan Pao, there is a village called Beryozovka, which is being lit by the tip of a thin bamboo strip.

"We can't delay any longer, we must take this place before it gets dark tomorrow!"

The person who spoke had a domineering face, his black uniform was decorated with a golden dragon pattern, and there were three bright golden six-pointed stars on each side of the epaulettes, which was none other than General Liang Tianhe, the commander of the Imperial Chinese Guard Field Army.

"The 1st Brigade is stepping up its attack, but the enemy is also constantly increasing its troops there, and our army has suffered considerable losses, and since the attack was launched in the afternoon of the day before yesterday, the 1st Brigade has suffered more than 500 casualties......

"It's only five hundred casualties, it's a fart, back then in Sekihara, there were more than five thousand deaths on our side in a one-day battle, so don't fight if you're afraid of casualties!"

Liang Tianhe, who was the commander of the Sixth Battalion of the Praetorian Guards during the First Sino-Japanese War, led his troops from Pyongyang to Tokyo, and personally experienced the tragic battle of the mountains of corpses and a sea of blood in the Battle of Sekigahara, in which nearly 100,000 people were killed and wounded in a one-day decisive battle.

Major General Luo Kun, commander of the 1st Praetorian Guard Division, replied in a low voice: "The 1st Brigade has been advancing as the vanguard of this division since the beginning of the war, and there are many losses every day......

"Don't talk to me about losses! My request is that the 1st Brigade must take Beryozovka for me before dark tomorrow, and after dawn the day after tomorrow, I will go there to inspect it, and that's it! ”

"Your Excellency, the 1st Brigade needs reinforcements, the enemy forces in Bereozovka are too strong, and aerial reconnaissance has found that a large number of enemy troops are rushing there, and the 1st Brigade may be subjected to a fierce counterattack."

Luo Kun was neither humble nor arrogant, and continued to patiently explain that he was born in the famous 10th "Golden Lion" Regiment of the Praetorian Guards, and was the commander of the guard company of the regiment during the First Sino-Japanese War, and was the right-hand man of Lieutenant General Xiao Lieri, who was the commander of the "Golden Lion" Regiment at the time and is now the commander of the Second Field Army.

Liang Tianhe stared at him dissatisfiedly: "How many enemies are there?" The report of the night before yesterday said that there was only one regiment of the Russian army with two artillery batteries there, wasn't it? ”

"Yesterday evening the intelligence staff of the 1st Brigade reported that it was learned from the prisoners that another complete regiment of the enemy had been stationed in Beryozovka, and in addition, the intelligence officer of the division headquarters reported last night that the headquarters of the enemy's 3rd Siberian Division had been transferred to Belogorsk."

"Why didn't this information be reported to the field army headquarters in time?"

"I got the information yesterday when it was close to midnight, and I was going to hand it over to the Intelligence Section of the Headquarters before noon today......

"No matter how late it is in the future, you must report the situation in time, only this once, not an example!"

Luo Kun nodded hurriedly yes.

Zhang Yiye, chief of staff of the field army, calmly interjected: "In this way, it seems that the enemy is going to take out the reserves originally assembled in Svobod to launch a counterattack. ”

"This is a matter of course, they can't watch Hailan Bubble being surrounded, come and see, the situation seems to be not as optimistic as expected."

Liang Tianhe said, and a cluster of human heads approached the map again and pointed.

The headquarters of the field army only moved into Weiyuan City, 35 kilometers south of Hailanpao, on September 10, before that, on September 9, three regiments of the Russian army, under the leadership of Major General Glasco, had launched an attack on Weiyuan City, but were repelled by the First Janissary Regiment in coordination with the border defense and civil defense troops, and the First Praetorian Guard Division of the Praetorian Field Army crossed the Heilongjiang River overnight. After that, the engineering troops attached to the Praetorian Field Army successfully erected a pontoon bridge over the Heilongjiang River between Aihui and Weiyuan, and supplies were continuously sent to Jiangzuo, and the 7th Brigade of the 3rd Reserve Janissary Division also arrived in Weiyuan on September 11.

On September 11, the 2nd Praetorian Division, with the support of the Heilongjiang Fleet, began to cross the river and land in the vicinity of Sergeyevka, 40 kilometers north of Hailanpao, and repelled the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Siberian Division stationed in the village of Sergeyevka. At this point, the operation of crossing the river was successfully completed, and the two main divisions of the Praetorian Field Army formed a flanking attack on Hailan Pao in the north and south directions.

On September 12, the field army command issued an order for the 1st Praetorian Guards Division to attack and advance northward with the 1st Janissary Brigade and the 1st Regiment of the Praetorian Cavalry Brigade to seize Belyozovka and cut off the railway line from Hailanpo to Belogorsk, and the rest of the 1st Praetorian Guards Division and the Janissary Cavalry Brigade to advance towards Hailanpao. The 2nd Praetorian Guard Division advanced with one brigade towards Svobodny, 25 km south-southwest of Svobodny, in the area of Moscovitino on the right bank (west bank) of the Jieya River, to prevent the Russian army from moving southward in Svobodny, and the rest of the 2nd Praetorian Division advanced towards Hailanpao. The capture of Beryozovka on September 16 and the capture of Moscow Vitino on September 17 is planned.

To the east of the Jieya River, on September 13, after a rapid march of 80 kilometers, the 1st Janissary Brigade arrived at Beryozovka and launched an attack, but the other two artillery batteries of the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Russian Siberian Division had already been stationed there. In the next day's re-battle, the brigade commander Xu Soul attacked from the south with a regiment, and a regiment copied from the east of the town, supplemented by heavy artillery support, and seized a number of outlying strongholds, but was counterattacked by the Russian reinforcements and drove back, but failed to do so.

The 2nd and 3rd Brigades of the 1st Praetorian Guard Division spread out from north to south, advancing side by side towards Hailanpao, repelling the 11th Baikal Cossack Brigade of the Russian Army, and driving the brigade to the right bank (west bank) of the Jieya River, but by the night of the 14th, the Russian army still occupied the railway bridge over the Jieya River, and the railway connection between Hailanpao and Belogorsk was not completely interrupted.

To the west of the Jieya River, on 13 September, the 4th Forbidden Brigade of the 2nd Praetorian Division rushed to Moscowvitino, 60 kilometers northeast of Sergeyevka, and in the hilly terrain south of the village, the brigade was heavily attacked by the 4th Russian Siberian Division and forced to go on the defensive. The 5th and 6th Brigades of the 2nd Praetorian Division advanced southward and engaged the troops of the 2nd Siberian Division frequently, but did not meet strong resistance, and on the night of the 14th, the two brigades approached the outlying positions of the fortress of Hailanpao.

On September 14, 15 Chinese airships bombed the barracks and warehouses of Hailan Pao Fortress, causing more than 200 casualties and destroying a large number of supplies.

September 15, seven days after the start of the war. The dead don't have to bother, the undead and the dying still have to play this play, when the machine of war rumbles, the fate of the people in the lower position is like the morning dew on the leaves, the future cannot be predicted, life is fleeting, the body can be hurt at any time, and the spirit is the same, but in the spiritual aspect, there are many more parts that can be controlled by man.

At least on the seventh day of the battle, the morale of the highly trained Praetorian Guard officers and men was generally high, and the enthusiasm of the soldiers for the battle was even more intense than before the battle, but the generals at the top knew that this was only temporary, and that this enthusiasm might last for two to three months, and that if the fighting dragged on, the casualties continued to grow, and the weather conditions became bad, the morale of the officers and men at the front would inevitably decline. No one can beat their chests and promise that the war will be over in two or three months, but for the time being no one will think about the morale of the officers and men in two or three months, and now most of the officers and men of the 1st Brigade of the Imperial Guard are thinking mainly about how to capture the small town of Beryozovka, which has only a hundred inhabitants, as soon as possible.

Xu Soul, the commander of the 1st Forbidden Brigade, known as the "Thousand Head Chop", was a news figure during the First Sino-Japanese War (see Chapter 62 for details), and at this time he was standing on the dirt slope of his own position, looking at the town in the north that had been destroyed by artillery fire into ruins, and his brows were furrowed.

Since 9 September, the 1st Brigade has suffered nearly 900 casualties, in other words, a tenth of its strength or a sixth of its combat infantry.

It can be confirmed that the 1st Forbidden Brigade also inflicted heavy losses on the other side, on the day of September 14, no less than 600 Russian troops were killed and no less than 800 wounded in Belyozovka, but by September 15, about 5,500 troops (excluding the wounded) of two Russian infantry regiments and another artillery battalion had been gathered around Beryozovka. Defeating the Russian army to capture Beryozovka is not as simple as drinking water and eating.

"Brigade commander, our planes, planes are coming!"

A herald shouted excitedly, Xu Soul turned around and raised his eyes, and nine "Qingfeng" light bombers with large double-layered wings were forming a long snake formation, buzzing and noisily flying towards Beryozovka.

"It's going to lay eggs, okay, we are also preparing for artillery bombardment, order, after the plane bombardment, immediately start artillery preparations, and at 12:30 all units will launch a general attack according to the plan!"

Xu Soul ordered, but his eyes followed the figure of the group, but he saw that those planes first lowered their altitude slightly, swept past the Russian army position in Beryozovka from south to north, and then turned around half a circle, and made a low-angle dive towards the Russian position from north to south, and dropped a few bombs ranging from five kilograms to fifty kilograms towards the intended target, and then circled twice to find the target, and after finding a new target, they continued to drop bombs and strafe, and the Russian army, which had no experience in air combat, was frightened, and a few brave people returned fire with rifles, but did not shoot down a "magic bird". After 20 minutes, the group reluctantly left, the Russian positions were already full of smoke, and many Russian artillery pieces placed behind the inclined bunkers and without any shelter above were blown up.

As soon as the air raids stopped, 18 1901-mm howitzers of the 1st Brigade Artillery Battalion, a total of 18 1892-type 75-mm light mountain guns and 9 1900-mm heavy mortars of the 1900 Type were banned from the 1st Brigade Artillery Battalion, and a total of 63 75-mm guns of more than 63 cannons of the 75-mm cannon belonging to the 4th Battalion of the Divisional Artillery Regiment, which arrived that morning, began to carry out heavy artillery preparations for Beryozovka. A reconnaissance balloon and a school-firing balloon from the first platoon of the division's buoyancy balloon company, which had arrived with the fourth battalion of the division's artillery regiment, had opened the gas burning gate one after another and rose into the sky to provide calibration data for the artillery group.

The Russian army, which was hit by unusually accurate artillery fire, fought back stubbornly at the beginning, firing at the 75-mm mountain artillery positions arranged by the Chinese army to carry out direct fire at a relatively close range, and once suppressed two 75-mm mountain artillery batteries, but the Chinese 105-mm cannons and 90-mm howitzers that carried out indirect aiming fire from a long distance quickly completely suppressed the Russian artillery battery, causing a large number of Russian gunner casualties and destroying many Russian artillery.

While the artillery fire was being prepared, the assault echelons of the Chinese regiments entered the attack starting position about 1,500 yards away from the enemy position, and Xu Soul threw all three regiments into the attack this time, the first regiment attacked from the south to the north from the front, the second regiment attacked from southeast to northwest on the right flank, and the third regiment attacked from southwest to northeast on the left flank.

According to the tactical doctrine of the Praetorian Guard, when the regimental troops attacked, two battalions were deployed in the first line, and one battalion followed as a reserve; When the battalion unit launches an attack, a vanguard company of reinforced engineers and assault infantry is deployed on the front line, followed by two companies as the main attacking force, and then one company is left behind as a reserve to follow up, and the battalion's fire support company should promptly carry out suppressive fire on the enemy position in front of it during the attack; When the company troops carried out the attack mission, all three infantry platoons were deployed into a skirmish line to advance, and the machine gunners attached to the fire support platoon and the infantry platoon used machine guns and mortars to suppress the enemy positions in front of them, and moved forward in time to move forward with the advance of the infantry to fire at the position.

After one hour of artillery preparation, the three regiments of the 1st Forbidden Brigade launched a simultaneous attack from three directions, and at this time, the artillery of the Chinese army did not stop firing.

The bugle was loud, the battle flag was flying, and a stream of infantry poured out of the trench, and the platoon that was the first to drill out of the trench immediately spread out into a skirmish line, with a distance of more than 5 meters between individual soldiers or groups of weapons, and the platoon commander or company commander commanded in the middle and rear positions of his troops.

In addition to the original personnel, the vanguard company of each battalion was reinforced with a squad of sappers and a platoon of assault infantry drawn from other companies, the main armament of the engineers was 3 to 10 kg of *zha kits, the main armament of the assault infantry was 0.5 and 1 kg of assault grenades, of course, they were also armed with rifles and a small amount of ammunition for self-defense.

While the infantry and light machine gunners of the vanguard company advanced forward, the heavy machine gunners and mortars who remained in the trenches began to suppress fire from the designated firing positions to the enemy positions, leaving a gap of 50 to 100 meters wide between the deployment areas of the battalions to prevent accidental injury, and the standard name was "battalion attack dividing line and fire separation zone", commonly known as "bullet tunnels".

Bullets fired from the rear whizzed past the soldiers, sloping towards the enemy positions in waves, and in the distance on the enemy positions, the flashes of shell explosions pierced the eyes of the attackers, and the soldiers who had just come out of the trenches could hear the sound of mortar fire behind them and the * explosion of the enemy positions 1,500 yards away.

The vanguard company continued to advance, with the two main attacking companies unfurling into a denser skirmish, followed by the battalion's reserve company, which was temporarily followed in columns.

Soon, the two battalions of the regiments placed on the front line left the departure position, and the third battalion, as a reserve, entered the departure position along the communication trench at this time.

Of course, the Russian army will not sit still, at the same time that the Chinese army has just poured out of the trenches, the machine guns arranged by the Russian army in the front-line trenches began to shoot sporadically at the Chinese army's skirmish line, but the overwhelming artillery fire of the Chinese army stopped the use of firepower of the Russian army, and the light and medium mortars of the Chinese army with a quick response quickly opened fire on the exposed Russian machine gun firing positions, eliminating or suppressing them.

The Russian artillery batteries, which had been suppressed, were resurrected one after another after adding personnel and replenishing ammunition, and the Russian rapid-fire guns fired fiercely at the Chinese straggler line at the rate of fire of rifles, causing considerable casualties to the Chinese troops advancing at a marching pace. Naturally, such a situation would not last, and the reconnaissance and school-firing balloons of the Chinese army immediately reported the position of the resurrected Russian artillery battery to the artillery group headquarters, and after a while, the accurate artillery fire once again covered the Russian artillery positions, and the three Russian artillery batteries were all suppressed within a few minutes.

When the Chinese straggler line advanced to about 800 yards away from the Russian position, it began to be subjected to accurate rifle fire from the Russian army, at this time, the light machine gunners of each company selected the firing position one after another, set up machine guns and opened heavy fire on the enemy, each Janissary infantry company was equipped with five 7.92 mm light machine guns, which was enough to effectively suppress the enemy positions that had been severely weakened by artillery fire at medium distances. At the same time, the infantry of the Chinese army was also organized by the officers, while shooting at the enemy with rifles in their hands, while speeding up the pace of advance, casualties were of course unavoidable, bullets flew everywhere on the battlefield, and people in the attacking company were constantly shot, but the entire company did not slow down the speed of attack, especially the officers and men of the vanguard companies used the cover of terrain and features to quickly approach the Russian positions with the help of the cover of terrain and features, and quickly approached the Russian positions with the tactics of concealment, short advance, and concealment.

When the infantry broke through to about 400 yards away from the Russian position, the artillery fire of the Chinese artillery group began to extend to the enemy's second and third line positions, so as not to accidentally damage their own troops. Even so, the numerically superior machine guns of the Chinese army were still able to effectively suppress the weak infantry machine gun fire of the Russian army from medium and long distances, and the 60mm mortars attached to the Chinese army's Praetorian Infantry Company were able to provide effective fire support for the infantry getting closer and closer to the enemy position with their relatively accurate firepower.

The vanguard company of the first battalion of the Chinese army forbidden regiment braved the gradually dense Russian firepower at this time, launched the most rear-end charge, and when it rushed to less than 20 yards away from the trench, the strong infantry threw grenades, and the smoke from the grenade explosion just rose, and the vanguard company immediately jumped into the enemy trench with a rifle with a bayonet, regardless of whether there were living people in the trench, first put a row of guns, and then stab the guns indiscriminately, and the wounded did not let go, they had to stab several times in a row, and then smash the skull with the butt of the gun - in the battle two days ago, A company commander of the 1st Forbidden Regiment was killed by a wounded Russian soldier with a bayonet in the neck from behind after attacking the enemy's position.

In some sections, the Russian army relied on housing facilities or special terrain to build relatively solid civil fortifications, artillery fire could not be directly hit, grenades alone were not enough to suppress it, at this time, the sappers equipped with the vanguard company were brilliant, only to see two or three sappers sometimes prostrate, sometimes jumping, a few lying down, then magically moved close to the enemy's fortifications, placed a large or small zha medicine bag near the weak part of the fortifications or near the firing port, lit the fuse and quickly ran away, flashed, broken wood and rotten flesh flew in all directions, the enemy fortifications collapsed.

The two companies of each battalion as the main attack took advantage of the momentum to advance and rushed into the trenches, and after a rapid white-knuckle battle, the enemy troops in the first-line trenches were cleared, and the vanguard continued to infiltrate the enemy's second-line positions along the communication trenches, opening the way with grenades and zha medicine packs, and then fighting with bayonets and pistols to fight closely, all the way into the enemy's second-line positions, but there they were counterattacked by the reserves of the Russian army's third-line positions, and the vanguard company of the first battalion was driven out of the second-line positions, and the two main attack companies that followed up were also suppressed by the Russian army's firepower and could not move for a while. The vanguard company of the second battalion did not attack the second-line position at all, and was being overwhelmed by the fire of the enemy's second-line position.

The Russian army took advantage of the situation to launch an attack on the front-line position, trying to recapture the position that had just been lost, but at this time, the machine gunners of each company had already caught up with the troops, set up machine guns on the captured positions, and fiercely strafed the Russian troops who counterattacked, and the pioneer companies of each battalion also threw grenades and zha medicine packs at the approaching Russian troops, repelling the counterattack of the Russian army.

Then, the company's 60-mm mortars also determined a new firing position not far behind the position, and began to fire continuously at the second line of the Russian army, with the close support of light machine guns and mortar fire, the two battalions of the forbidden regiment launched a fierce attack on the enemy's second-line position again, and finally seized the enemy's second-line position in front of them after a desperate battle, and the vanguard companies of each battalion continued to advance along the communication trench, trying to take the most rear first-line position with all their might, capture the enemy's core position, and finally defeat the enemy. At the same time, the 2nd Forbidden Regiment on the right flank of the 1st Forbidden Regiment and the 3rd Forbidden Regiment on the left flank were still engaged in melee with the enemy on the enemy's front-line positions, and were unable to protect the exposed flanks of the 1st Forbidden Regiment assault force in time.

The two vanguard companies of the Chinese army, which had already suffered certain losses, were defeated in the bayonet melee, and the main attack companies of the subsequent battalions were attacked by the Russian army from the flanks, and were forced to withdraw to the second-line positions that had been captured, and with the assistance of the reserve companies that followed, they rushed along the trenches and communication trenches to both flanks to support the forbidden 2nd and 3rd regiments that were attacking the enemy's second-line positions.

By 14:30 - two hours after the start of the general attack, the three regiments of the 1st Forbidden Brigade had broken through to the enemy's second-line positions, and each regiment was adjusting its forces and preparing to launch a general assault on the enemy's third-line positions in a coordinated manner.

Brigade Commander Xu Soul issued an order: "Reserve follow-up!" ”

The third battalion of the regiments, which had remained in the starting position, poured out of the trench and moved rapidly in column formation towards the enemy's first-line position that had been captured, and there was no longer any threat of enemy fire in front, and the reserve battalions passed through the open area of 1,500 yards almost unscathed and entered the trench of the enemy's first-line position.

At 14:50, the brigade commander Xu Soul led the brigade headquarters into their own starting position, where they played the signal flare of "the start of the general assault", the officers and men of each regiment shouted long live, jumped out of the trench with dead bodies everywhere, and rushed to the enemy's third-line position, at this time, there were still only two battalions in front of each regiment, and the vanguard companies of the assault battalions of the second and third regiments were still fighting power, so they were still opening the way in front, and the two vanguard companies of the first regiment had been defeated when they had previously assaulted the enemy's third-line position, so the assault battalions had to directly put the two companies of the main attack in front and forcibly break through.

Seeing that a large number of Chinese infantry approached the position, the Russian soldiers jumped out of the trench with bayonets and launched a counterattack on the advancing Chinese army, the soldiers on both sides met each other with white knives and killed each other, and the officers fired indiscriminately with pistols. Retreated into the most solid core position.

The Chinese regiments did not immediately follow up the pursuit, but arranged machine-gun firing positions on the enemy's third-line positions that had been captured, 60-mm mortar firing positions on the second-line positions, and 80-mm mortar firing positions on the first-line positions, so as to give full play to their own firepower superiority and effectively suppress and weaken the firepower of the enemy's core positions.

At this time, the 75-mm mountain guns and 100-mm heavy mortars of the artillery battalions of the Chinese regiments had advanced to the front of their own attack starting positions and opened fire on the rear of the core positions of the Russian army in order to destroy the combat materials that the enemy might have stored there and the reserves that were being assembled. However, the shell, which did not have long eyes, landed in a field bandaging station in the woods behind the enemy's core position, killing a large number of wounded and medical personnel.

At 15:30, the brigade commander Xu Soul was about to issue the order to "start the assault" when a Praetorian Guard cavalryman wearing a feathered military hat hurried outside the brigade headquarters, jumped off his horse, gave the password, and rushed into the brigade headquarters set up in a sheltered observation post, and handed Xu Soul a report handwritten by Lieutenant Colonel Feng Shaofu, commander of the First Janissaries Fat Cavalry Regiment. Since September 12, the 1st Janissary Cavalry Regiment has been attached to the 1st Forbidden Brigade, deployed on both flanks of the brigade as cover, and reconnoiters the movement of nearby enemy troops for the 1st Forbidden Brigade at any time, but according to the requirements of the field army command, the cavalry should not be used as dismounted infantry, that is, the frontal blocking and attacking combat tasks should not be undertaken by the cavalry.

Xu Soul glanced at the report and couldn't help frowning again.

"What's going on?"

Lieutenant Colonel Wen Yu, a staff officer of the brigade commander, asked, and Xu Soul handed him the briefing.

"Two infantry regiments, plus two cavalry regiments! Make no mistake! ”

"Commander Feng will not be mistaken, he may not have found out yet, what he found should be all the remaining strength of the enemy's 3rd Infantry Division, as well as at least one brigade of the 2nd Cossack Cavalry Division. In this way, we have to deal with more than 20,000 enemies, and the enemy's reinforcements are rapidly advancing from our left flank, and the cavalry can only contain but not really stop it, and if measures are not taken, our army may be routed from the flank. ”

Wen Yu turned to the map and moved his fingers back and forth: "Then I have to be on the left flank...... Blocking positions have been set up between Heights 205 and 193, but we have no troops at our disposal. ”

Xu Soul gritted his teeth, clapped his fist high-fives, and said: "There is no time, we must immediately withdraw from the enemy position and transfer a regiment to the flank to establish a blocking position."

"But the assault on the enemy's core position is about to begin, as long as we launch an attack now and seize the enemy's core position, we will complete the task......"

Xu Soul shook his head and said: "No, it's too late, even if we can successfully seize the enemy's position, but the enemy's main fortifications are all in the direction of our side, and we can't use it effectively for a while, and the position situation on our side is very favorable, and the artillery and service troops can be well protected." Although it is a pity, there is no way, time is limited, a decision must be made immediately, it is impossible to continue the offensive without further reinforcements, and now it is necessary to prepare for a defensive battle. ”

Although Xu Soul made up his mind, he was also angry, and he had to let go of the victory that was about to be won, but on the other hand, if he hadn't received a report from the fat cavalry, the Russian army would suddenly launch a surprise attack from the flank of the unsuspecting Chinese army, and the consequences would be even more unimaginable.

Of course, the situation did not allow this general, who commanded nearly 10,000 troops and horses, to think about it, and Xu Soul decisively issued an order: Because a large number of enemy troops were approaching from the flank of the brigade, each regiment organized subordinate units to cover alternately, withdraw from the enemy positions that had been occupied, and move to the position designated by the brigade headquarters. The 2nd Forbidden Regiment retreated to the starting position of the attack and prepared for defensive operations. Forbid the 1st Regiment to retreat to its own second-line positions as a brigade reserve. The 3rd Forbidden Regiment will construct a blocking position on the line from Heights 205 to 193 to the east, and the brigade's engineering unit will assist the Forbidden 3rd Regiment in carrying out the position construction operation.

Xu Soul then handed another order to the fat cavalry who came to give the order, and the order required the 1st Fat Cavalry Regiment to use its main strength to harass the enemy troops approaching the 1st Forbidden Brigade, so as to buy time for the 3rd Forbidden Regiment to build a blocking position.

When the order to retreat reached the front line, the officers and men of the Praetorian Guard, who had finally captured the enemy's third-line positions after a brutal and bloody battle, complained. However, the military order was like a mountain, and the commanders of each regiment immediately assigned tasks to their subordinates, with several companies of troops as the rear guard of the whole regiment, and each battalion and company took turns to cover and slowly retreat. At the same time as the front-line troops retreated, the Chinese artillery group launched a fierce bombardment of the enemy's core position, although the commander of the Russian army, the commander of the 5th Brigade of the 3rd Siberian Division of the Russian army, Major General Habasayev, learned by radio that reinforcements were about to arrive, and also observed the retreat of the main force of the Chinese army, but in view of the fact that most of the subordinate battalions were incomplete, and the Chinese artillery shells continued to fall on the position, the superior machine gun fire of the Chinese rearguard unit continued to suppress the Russian fire point, so he did not order the pursuit of the retreating Chinese army.

At 16:50, the three regiments of the Chinese army withdrew from the enemy position with all the wounded, and the Russian army cautiously returned to the position, but the Russian soldiers who entered the trenches first were blown up by the pressure mines laid by the Chinese army engineers before retreating, but due to the rush of time, the number of mines laid by the Chinese army was not much, after experiencing the initial fear, the Russian soldiers entered the trenches with layers of dead bodies under the orders of the officers, and quickly restored the position situation before the start of the battle that day.

At about 17 o'clock, the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Cavalry Division of the Baikal Cossack Division of Russia advanced to the area from Heights 205 to Heights 193 to the east of the main position of the 1st Forbidden Brigade.

At 18:30, under the cover of twilight, the 11th Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Russian Army attempted to seize the 205 Heights in one fell swoop with the strength of two battalions. In the face of the attack of the Russian army, the Chinese army first remained silent, and when the enemy entered the front line of the position 300 to 400 yards, machine guns, rifles, and mortars opened fire together, and the Russian company that was in the forefront suddenly collapsed, and the main attack company of the Russian army that followed up returned fire with rifle fire on the one hand, and launched a charge on the other hand, but the rain of bullets from more than ten machine guns and nearly 200 rifles of the Chinese army caused the Russian troops in dense formation to be killed and wounded, and the 60 mm and 80 mm mortar shells fell like hail, and the Russian army could not support it, and collapsed in an uproar, and the attack failed.

After nightfall, Major General Selenov, commander of the 3rd Russian Siberian Division, believed that since the Chinese army had arranged a solid position between the 205 and 193 heights, the plan of attacking the 1st Brigade of the Chinese Army from the flank could no longer be carried out, so he ordered the 11th Regiment to build a field position overnight on the favorable terrain opposite the position of the 3rd Regiment of the Chinese Army, so as to contain the 3rd Regiment of the Chinese Army. The 6th Cossack Cavalry Regiment was deployed on the left flank (south) of the 11th Regiment's position to cover the regiment and prevent the penetration of the Chinese cavalry. The 5th Cossack Cavalry Regiment moved to the right flank (west) of the Russian position in Beryozovka to maintain contact with the Hylando. The 12th Regiment, the last infantry regiment of the 3rd Division, entered Beryozovka overnight to strengthen the defense of the original positions of the Russian army. After Major General Selenov set up the division headquarters at the core position of Beryozovka, the accompanying five divisional artillery batteries (including three 76-mm rapid-fire field artillery batteries and two 87-mm light field artillery batteries), two corps and 152-mm heavy field artillery batteries belonging to the group army, and other support units also started the construction of firing position bunkers that night.

Just as the 3rd Siberian Infantry Division of the Russian Army was busy attacking the Chinese army's position the next day while taking advantage of the darkness of the night, Xu Soul was pacing around the rear command post that had retreated to the front line three kilometers away, and from time to time he remembered something and immediately explained to the heralds around him.

"The field army headquarters was telegraphed that the brigade's attack on the enemy's position in Beryozovka today was almost successful, and that the assault battalions had advanced to the enemy's third-line defensive position, but because the enemy's reinforcements suddenly appeared on the flank of the brigade, they had to abandon the attack on the enemy's core position. Reconnaisance showed that the enemy in front of the brigade was all of the 3rd Siberian Division and two cavalry regiments, which were twice as strong as the brigade and probably equipped with more heavy artillery. Under these circumstances, it is no longer possible for the brigade to complete the task of seizing Beryozovka before the 16th given by the command, and the brigade now has to go on the defensive, and the enemy is likely to launch a large-scale offensive tomorrow, and the situation is critical, so I request the command to quickly transfer reinforcements and give more air support......"

As soon as this report was sent to the headquarters of the Janissary Field Army, it caused a roar from the commander of the Field Army, General Liang Tianhe.

"Support, what can I do to support him! The above wants me to take Hailan Bubble at the end of the month, and the reserves will be left behind for the general attack on the fortress, and if I want reinforcements, there is no one! Don't forget if you can't take it, it doesn't matter if you defend on the spot, but don't try to ask for reinforcements from me! The situation is critical, I think it's his black gauze hat that is in danger! ”

Zhang Yiye, chief of staff of the field army, handed him a cup of tea: "It's useless to be excited about these guys, after all, they are not people from time and space, and sometimes they really can't communicate." ”

Liang Tianhe swallowed two sips of tea, and Zhang Yiye said: "You can tell Brigade Commander Xu that he cannot send reinforcements for the time being, so that he can hold the current position with his troops, but the headquarters can send more air troops to support the battlefield at its discretion." ”

Liang Tianhe shook his hand: "Air troops? The air force cluster in our hands has only 10 planes that can carry out real bombing missions, and the rest are used for reconnaissance and school shooting, and the air force cluster of the front army has transferred the main force to bomb Vladivostok, and the remaining combat forces will also be used to deal with the Hailan Pao Fortress, and there will be no more troops to send Lu to support the 1st Brigade. ”

"Then use all the 10 bombers available to support the 1st Brigade, and send a few more reconnaissance airships or planes that can drop bombs, even if the attack effect is limited, to boost the morale of the troops."

Zhang Yiye said reasonably, Liang Tianhe couldn't help nodding yes, and then called Colonel You Huan, commander of the aviation floating group of the Praetorian Guard Field Army, and asked: "We still have a few planes and airships that can drop bombs. ”

Colonel You Chuan was dressed in the black uniform of the Praetorian Infantry Officer, but the background color of the epaulettes was light blue, and he calmly replied: "At present, the 9 Qingfeng Light Bombardment Boats of the 2nd Aviation Reconnaissance Group, the 8 Fire Wind Land Reconnaissance Boats, and the 4 Shengyun Reconnaissance Boats of the 10th Floating Reconnaissance School Brigade can all carry bombs. The Qingfeng Light Bomb can carry 250 kg bombs, the Fire Wind Land Reconnaissance can carry 16 2 kg grenades, and the Shengyun Reconnaissance Boat can carry 200 kg bombs. ”

"I order, after dawn tomorrow, send all the troops you mentioned to Belyozovka - here," Liang Tianhe picked up a bamboo stick and pointed at the map, "Our forbidden brigade is fighting hard against the Russian army there, you personally organize it, whether it is flying overtime or in shifts, in short, let those pilots do a little more and drop as many bombs on the heads of the Russians as possible, and at the same time be careful not to injure your own people by mistake, understand?" ”

"Yes! I'm going to make a plan! ”

"Come on, you can go back."

You slowly saluted and retreated.

Liang Tianhe turned to Zhang Yiye: "How about it, I have already done my best to Brigade Commander Xu, let's prepare a telegram now to appease him." ”

"Leave this little thing to me."

Liang Tianhe glanced at the map on the table and sighed lowly: "This is the case on the Belyozovka side, and the Moscow Vidino side can't relax, the Forbidden Fourth Brigade was also attacked by a whole Russian division there, but the Forbidden Fourth Brigade was transferred to the defense as early as two days ago, and the terrain was more favorable, and the positions built were stronger." However, we still can't underestimate the attack power of the Russian army, and then transfer a 105 artillery battalion from the artillery directly under the field army to support the forbidden fourth brigade. ”

"They should be able to hold it, one of the goals of the Praetorian Guard restructuring is to be able to use an infantry brigade to resist a frontal attack by an infantry division of the Russian army."

"I hope so."

Liang Tianhe said, lit a cigarette with a big front door brand, and handed Zhang Yiye another one.

"Quit it."

"Don't pretend, take it, your wife won't come with you."

Zhang Yiye's face was horizontal: "What does this have to do with my wife." ”

"Cut, don't think I don't know the way - hey, I don't understand you, what era is this now, why are you not civilized at all? Look at our brothers, Wuding has nine aunts, Zhang Yaoqian has eight wives and seven nationalities, two Han people, Manchuria, Mongolia, Korea, Yamato, Kazakhstan, Russia, really eat everything, Zhong Xiahuo originally learned that our boss only married one, and recently he couldn't help but get into three or four sixteen seventy-eight water spirit girls, just an honest person like me, in addition to the main wife, there are also three concubines with different tastes waiting for me......"

Zhang Yiye was drinking water, and when he heard this, he sprayed the ground: "Are you still an honest person?" ”

Liang Tianhe said with a smile: "As long as you are loyal to our boss, you can be honest, in this sense, you and I are the same." But there is a little bit of Lao Tzu who is not convinced, like me, Zhong Xiahuo, Zhang Yaoqian, although there are many wives, they also live in the same house, and sometimes it is too crowded when there are too many people. Wu Dingguo's kid is different, inside and outside the capital, more than a dozen mansions have been placed, and each wife has put one outside, and he still dangles into the eight alleys from time to time, pulling a few Oiran or something, and putting it in one of his mansions to enjoy it slowly, I don't understand, where did he get so much money? You said that although our brothers have a lot of salaries, and they still hold shares in this and that land company, with annual dividends of tens of thousands, the expenses of just maintaining the big house in Ren are a little tight, and if you raise a few more wives, you can't make ends meet, and this kid can fuck Wu Dingguo so arrogant! That's what Lao Tzu thinks, he, the head of the logistics department of the General Staff, must be a fucking big moth. ”

Zhang Yiye waved his hand and said: "This kind of thing, you can't say it casually, besides, whether he is a moth or not, we don't count if we say it, just let him be arrogant first, I don't believe it, our boss is blind, and he still lets the fat man do whatever he wants." ”

Liang Tianhe shook the cigarette in his hand: "Forget it, don't talk about this, Lao Tzu is just a fucking scumbag who can't get used to digging everyone's corners in this life - hey, do you want this cigarette?" ”

Zhang Yiye took the cigarette and put it behind his ear: "How dare you not want the cigarette given by my brother." ”

Half an hour later, a euphemistically worded order was sent to the headquarters of the Ban 1st Brigade, and the brigade commander Xu Soul read the order and handed it to Wen Yu, the staff officer of the brigade commander.

"Tomorrow we're going to be alone."

"As long as there are planes in the sky all the time, the brethren will be greatly encouraged, not to mention that our army is much better armed, and ammunition is being delivered in a steady stream, and we will be able to survive tomorrow."

Xu Soul nodded noncommittally, shook his head again, and suddenly asked, "Haven't today's casualty statistics been made yet?" ”

"Our army retreated from the enemy position in a hurry today, and it was too late to take the corpses, so it was a little difficult to count......"

"Anyone who can't be found in the company or in the nursing home for the wounded is put in the order of death, and I believe that not a single person in the uniform of the Praetorian Guard has surrendered or become a deserter today!"

"Yes!"

After Wen Yu received the instructions, he immediately rushed to the intelligence department to guide the statistics of casualties, Xu Soul suddenly felt a little tightness in his chest, so he took a guard and walked out of the lumberjack's hut that had been requisitioned as a command post only three days ago, and strolled on the forest path in front of the hut.

There were piles of bonfires in the clearing in the woods, iron pots hung on the bonfires, and aluminum lunch boxes, and the soldiers' rifles were set up in a circle, and the firelight jumped out from the cracks in the gun racks, dancing faintly in the forest, and the shadows of the trees were in a trance, like an illusion.

Xu Soul walked unhurriedly past a bonfire, and a captain next to the bonfire recognized him and hurriedly ordered the soldiers around him to stand upright.

Xu Soul pressed his hands down: "Sit down, which part are you from?" ”

The captain straightened his chest and replied: "Report to the brigade commander, the people here are all from the 1st Regiment, 2nd Battalion, 7th Company, and I am the company commander Tiequn." ”

"Sit down, I'll sit down too, let's talk together."

Everyone sat down as ordered, but the commander of the first brigade suddenly sat down beside him, and the soldiers looked a little nervous.

"Today I saw it in the back, everyone fought very bravely, and they deserve to be the soldiers of the first regiment in the world."

Xu Soul paused, lit his Ruiren brand cigarettes in the bonfire, and took out a handful of cigarettes from the cigarette case and distributed them to the surrounding officers and soldiers.

Swallowing clouds and spitting fog, the atmosphere immediately became harmonious.

"I know that today everyone is angry, and finally peeled the enemy's three layers of skin, and it is about to be disemboweled, and the enemy is dismantled, but they have to retreat from the place where many brothers are stained with blood, but there is no way, I am also angry, why did the enemy's reinforcements come so quickly? Why don't we have reinforcements coming? Now the situation is already such that we are attacked on three sides, and tomorrow the enemy may attack, with about twice as many troops and more artillery than us. But we are not completely without help, and Commander Liang of the Field Army has assured me that tomorrow, the air units of the Field Army will fully support the operation on our side, and the planes and airships will constantly lay eggs on the enemy's head. However, I believe that even without the support of the air forces, we can stop the enemy with our own strength. ”

Everyone replied, "Of course there is!" ”

"We are the Praetorian Guard, the strongest force on the whole planet, how can there be a reason why we can't defeat the Russian old Maozi!"

"Our first regiment in the world was not blown out, it was all done with real guns and knives in North Korea and Japan......"

"Look at us beating Lao Maozi back into his grandmother's tits and crying tomorrow!"

"Lao Tzu picked and killed six under Weiyuan City, picked and killed two yesterday, picked and killed five today, and added seven more tomorrow, and made up twenty to ......"

Xu Soul patted the first-class soldier who was boasting about his achievements: "Young man, you have already picked thirteen deaths?" It won't be bragging. ”

The first-class soldier was anxious: "Really, it's true, I don't believe you asked the company commander." ”

The company commander, Captain Tie Qun, immediately continued: "Brigade commander, what he said is true, his bayonet skills are very powerful, and he must have killed more enemies with his bayonet than he killed with bullets." ”

Xu Soul nodded appreciatively: "It's really amazing, I should give you the Medal of Loyalty and Bravery, what is your name?" ”

"Wu Jun", the first-class soldier hurriedly responded, "The deputy squad leader of the 1st squad of the 2nd Battalion, 7th Company, 3rd Platoon, 1st Class of the First Guard Regiment, First Class Private Wu Jun." ”

"We have already applied for the Order of Loyalty and Courage for him, and we only promoted him to be the deputy squad leader of Class 1 last night."

The Iron Company Commander added.

"Actually, there is a more powerful bayonet in our class, named Wang Yiyang, on the 9th day under Weiyuan City, he fought with me, and I saw with my own eyes that he overturned at least seven or eight Russian soldiers...... Unfortunately, on that day, his palm was pierced by a bullet and he was sent to the rear. ”

Wu Jun said.

"Well, the Medal of Loyalty and Courage should also be awarded to such a person."

"We applied for him too."

Iron Company Commander said.

Xu Soul asked a few more questions from the other soldiers, and they all received responses full of fighting spirit.

Xu Soul patted his knees with satisfaction and stood up, and everyone stood up one after another when they saw this.

"You go on, but rest early, there will be a bad battle to be fought tomorrow, and I hope that after the battle is over tomorrow, I can talk to you again by the campfire."

"Yes, sir, go slowly."

The Iron Company Commander leaned over to send a few steps, but was stopped by Xu Soul with a gesture: "Go back to your company, that's where you should stay." ”

Xu Soul walked in the woods for a while, his heart was a little more relaxed, and he returned to the headquarters with the guards, where Wen Yu was already waiting.

"The stats are out."

Wen Yu handed Xu Soul a piece of paper.

"Three hundred and sixty-one killed...... 247 were seriously injured and 683 were lightly injured...... That's a lot......"

"It is estimated that one in two of the lightly wounded can stay in the trenches and shoot normally."

"Well, that's pretty much the same—I don't know how big the enemy's losses are......"

According to the Russian side's records after the battle, on September 15, 991 people were killed and 376 were seriously wounded in the 9th Regiment of the 3rd Russian Siberian Division, 785 were killed and 434 were seriously wounded in the 10th Regiment, 87 were killed and 96 were seriously wounded in the 11th Regiment, and 51 were killed and 27 were seriously wounded in the 6th Regiment of the 2nd Baikal Cossack Cavalry Division. In other words, more than 1,900 Russian troops were killed in direct battles with the troops under the jurisdiction of the 1st Forbidden Brigade (including the 1st Cavalry Regiment), and no less than 900 were seriously wounded. After taking into account the losses in the battles on the 13th and 14th, the 3rd Russian Siberian Division actually had more than 5,500 casualties, and only about 12,500 able-bodied officers and men of the division remained, and since the vast majority of the losses were front-line combat infantry, it was estimated that in the three days of fighting, the division's actual combat strength in terms of infantry should have been weakened to about 60 percent of its original strength.

In the case of the 1st Janissary Brigade, the cost of about 1,300 casualties was devastating, but half of the nearly 700 lightly wounded were able to operate their weapons and fire normally in defensive battles. If the losses from 9 to 14 September are taken into account, the 9,000-strong troops suffered 2,200 casualties, and if we take into account the lightly wounded who could take part in defensive operations, the actual attrition is only about 1,500, or 17 percent of the total strength of the brigade and about a quarter of the number of combat infantry in the brigade. In other words, the brigade retains three-quarters of its actual combat strength in terms of infantry, which can be used for defensive operations.

On September 15, the Forbidden 1st Brigade of the Janissary Army, which was not only Xu Soul, was fighting a bloody battle, and in Moscow Vitino, 25 kilometers south-southwest of Svobadne, where the headquarters of the 1st Russian Siberian Army was stationed, the 4th Brigade of the Chinese Army stubbornly resisted the ferocious attack of the 4th Siberian Division of the Russian Army, which reinforced the heavy artillery and cavalry units, and repelled three attacks of more than 1 regiment by the enemy in one day, killing and wounding no less than 4,000 Russian troops in front of the battle, forcing the Russian army to stop the offensive. The Forbidden Fourth Brigade paid the price of 471 casualties.

As the commander of the Janissary Field Army, General Liang Tianhe, said, the Forbidden Fourth Brigade occupies a very favorable terrain, they have been on the defensive for a relatively long time, and their positions are relatively strong, so they can repel the large-scale attack of the Russian army at a relatively small cost.

The situation of the 1st Forbidden Brigade was completely different, and by the end of the battle on the 15th, the 1st Brigade had only built a first-line field position, and although the second-line position was built overnight, it was still very weak on the whole, mainly because the 1st Forbidden Brigade was on the offensive until the 15th and did not spend much energy on defense.

As the daylight broke through the cage of the night, thousands of officers and soldiers of the 1st Guard Brigade were crashing head-on with the scythe of death, and I wonder how many of them would be the lucky ones who escaped the spirit blade......