In view of the relative superiority of the Ming army in the home battle, this head-to-head duel ended in the victory of the Ming army.

Although the Russian army could not commit to a heavy group due to terrain and distance constraints, at the insistence of Catherine II, they still carefully organized an expeditionary force of 9,000 men.

It included more than 3,000 Cossack cavalry, two flintlock regiments, a grenadier battalion, a chasseur battalion, and a large number of artillery and baggage - in fact, this is not a small scale.

The news of the invasion of this expeditionary force was soon known to the Ming monarchs and ministers, because it involved the face of the emperor of the Celestial Empire, and at the same time, when the first assistant of the dynasty thought that sooner or later there would be a war, rather than temporarily avoiding the war and delaying it to the future, it was better to take this opportunity to wait for work and strive for a hundred years of peace and quiet.

Occupying the geographical advantage and people, there is no suspense in the victory of this "Battle of Hualin Valley", but there are inevitably certain bumps in the process.

In the middle of the eighteenth century, the steady development of science and the grinding of wars allowed Europeans to make rapid progress in military technology, which was also a critical period when the gap between Eastern and Western civilizations was widened.

Because of the geographical characteristics, Tsarist Russia can undoubtedly better absorb and learn from Western European civilization, in the army organization, system, equipment, training, the famous Peter I initiated many reforms, and it became more reasonable to follow the reform of the Western European army after the Russian army.

At the same time, the many wars waged by Tsarist Russia in the eighteenth century were a good tempering of the army, and the Russian army fought against all kinds of opponents in very different circumstances - Swedish army, Prussian army, Ottoman army, etc., and the combat power was considerable.

However, these advantages were largely offset by the enormous cost of the expedition, and the Russian generals mistakenly believed that the Ming army was no different from the Crimean Tatars, and the army was completely annihilated.

In fact, the leadership of the military system and organization and the ferocity of the Russian army also caused great trouble to the Ming army participating in the war - they thought that they could directly defeat the field battle in one go, but the attack was fruitless, and they had to turn to other tactics.

After the war, in order to maintain their own face, the captured Tsarist military officers boasted that the Russian army was also a first-class strong army in Europe that could defeat Sweden, Prussia, and the Ottomans; This is also confirmed by the gossip from missionaries and European merchants.

It can be said that the victory of this battle greatly confused the judgment of the Ming monarchs and ministers, and did not attach too much importance to it.

They mistakenly believe that the European armies are nothing more than this, even if they are fierce (advanced), but after all, they are unable to send a large army to come, and a large expedition of thousands or tens of thousands of men and divisions can be completely dealt with.

Although the European flintlock pistols and smoothbore guns of this era were improved in manufacturing technology, the structure did not change, while the Russian craftsmanship was crude...... As a result, the Ming people can laugh at one or two.

After that, the "struggle for a hundred years of peace" envisioned by the head of the dynasty was almost achieved.

It was not until the late nineteenth century that the Russians resumed their organized invasion of the frontiers, largely by careful encroachment.

During the time when the Ming Dynasty underwent drastic changes, the two sides experienced countless open and secret games on the borders of the northwest, northeast and other places, and the current situation was basically determined at that time.

The division of the North Sea Lake is particularly unique in that it is divided into two in the middle, with the northwestern half going to Russia and the southeastern half going to the center. However, an area of 10 kilometres on each side of the median line is a public fishing area.

The water surface is fine, but there are too many disputed points on land, with more than 40 points on the 100-kilometer border east of Beihai Lake.

The 141st Regiment of the 47th Division of the Army made the fastest move, and they rushed to the vicinity of Yaerling on 4 October.

The 93rd Frontier Battalion here is already under great pressure at the moment, because the two regiments of the Russian army on the other side of the border line are eyeing each other, and although they have not crossed the border, they are directly camped less than two kilometers from the border line.

"There are nearly 5,000 people in two regiments."

"Aircraft reconnaissance said that they brought an artillery team, and the visual inspection said that there were 30 75 field guns."

"This is clearly supporting the waist, what's the matter? Do you shout directly to expel you? ”

In the face of the concerns of the officers of the regiment headquarters, the regiment commander calmly ordered: "Don't come hard first, we don't have artillery at hand, and the heavy weapons are still behind. ”

Therefore, the Ming army did not rush forward to expel it, but divided its troops to occupy several surrounding heights and began to build field fortifications.

The two sides confronted each other across the border, and Yaerling and the nearly 100 Russian troops entrenched on it were caught in the middle.

In the following days, waiting for reinforcements from the Ming army, the two sides continued to send small groups of people to negotiate, but to no avail.

By the time things reached the last day, in fact, they had already turned into scolding when they met, and the officers and men no longer had the heart to reason with these Russians.

On October 7th, it was a crisp and pleasant evening.

The 47th Infantry Division arrived, and all kinds of heavy weapons arrived that night. The only drawback was that they did not have enough ammunition, except for the barrel suppression artillery, which had two bases, and the rest of the small arms had only one base.

Division commander Dong Daizhou has just reached 50 this year, and he is inconspicuous among the dozens of division commanders in the north and south of the river, and his appearance and ability are mediocre, and his successful promotion to brigadier general can even be called extraordinary luck.

At the same time, there is also his own "speculation" success, like hundreds of colonels, he has been in this rank for many years, but Dong Daizhou is unwilling to waste the years, so he did everything possible to make connections, and was finally transferred to Anxi.

During that period, he directly participated in two border conflicts, one in one middle school and one in one small school, barely saved up enough practical experience, and finally succeeded in "crossing the catastrophe and soaring".

It can be said that the officers in peacetime are also very helpless, many people are stuck in a certain rank for half their lives and cannot be promoted, and going to the northern Xinjiang, where there are often conflicts, has become their last hope.

"The Governor's order is to drive him out as soon as possible, and if the other party does not cooperate, then immediately expel him by force."

"If the thousands of enemy troops on the opposite side are also to be mixed in, then they should be cleaned up with them, and they must be fast and ruthless."

"But don't seek to wipe them all out, unless you are absolutely sure, you only need to sharpen one of them."

In the tent that had just been erected, the chief of staff repeated the requirements of the operation to the officers in attendance, and then began to announce the planned deployment.

The chief of staff took two pencils, one blue and one red, from a staff officer, and said while drawing circles on the map:

"At seven o'clock tomorrow morning, the 141st Regiment will carry out fire reconnaissance on the front of the 089 Heights, and after a quarter of an hour it will turn to cover the main body of the Heights. At 7:40 minutes, two infantry teams were selected to advance and recapture the high ground. ”

"The 140th Regiment and the 139th Regiment are on standby, and if most of the enemy forces on the opposite side move, they will make a detour from the southwest and due east respectively, allowing the enemy to advance and only attack after forming a pocket formation.

"Eat a portion of it first, depending on the situation, and if the enemy in front of you is fiercely resistant, then eat half a regiment of it first; On the contrary, it is possible to consider encircling and annihilating a whole regiment. This time, there is no need to consider the border, and you can cross the border at will. ”

Everyone nodded and pondered, or exchanged heads, and the commander of the mountain artillery regiment asked with some concern: "Maybe the enemy will have planes to help, what about your own air force?" Have you discussed it? ”

"The Air Force will arrive at noon today, two groups of planes, dozens of planes, don't worry about it." Dong Daizhou waved his hand and ordered: "The tactical strategy map will be issued later, so let's go back and prepare." ”

In the early hours of the next morning.

The cool autumn breeze blows, so that people who are still a little confused when they first wake up suddenly wake up.

On the left-hand side is the endless Beihai Lake, the light blue of which is as clear as crystal clear. The tranquil surface of the lake ripples in the autumn wind, and the soft morning sun shines on it.

Autumn and October are the most delicious season for whitefish, and the fresh whitefish caught by the fishermen on the lakeside were purchased by the logistics units of the 47th Division.

So the soldiers' breakfast became a unique biscuit with fish soup, although the sturdy salty biscuits were not easy to swallow, but fortunately, the whitefish soup was delicious, and the combination of the two was a good meal.

"Boom, boom—"

At 7:00 a.m., the 80mm mortars belonging to the 3rd Battalion of the 141st Regiment fired two rounds of volleys into the field in front of Yaerling very punctually, and more than a dozen mortar shells exploded and kicked up clouds of smoke and dust.

The wind blows and the smoke disperses.

Lying, squatting, sitting, and lying down, the officers and soldiers of the Ming Dynasty in the field fortifications were very comfortable, and they were chatting with great interest.

Some people bet that those Russian troops must have evacuated with each other, and some people thought that the other party would definitely not cry when they saw the coffin, so everyone began to bet on the spot.

Ten minutes after the final warning of the shelling, at 7:29 a.m., regimental 128mm heavy mortars and battalion 80mm mortars began to directly bombard the main body of Yaerling.

The flash of the explosion flickered on and off, and the rumbling sound of the explosion came slowly, like the two kicks set off during the New Year, and the dust that rolled up almost obscured the small mound.

"Second team, third team, pack your things and get ready to go!" An officer was shouting hello.

While preparing for firepower, more than 200 infantry of the two teams immediately left the second-line position and came to the offensive starting positions in the southwest and southeast directions of Yaerling.

The officers and men strictly followed the predetermined plan, and when the time came to 7:40, the officer leading the team immediately gave the order to go out.

Mortars and heavy machine guns were deployed on the left and right flanks of the attacking starting position to directly cover the infantry; The infantry of the three platoons spread out in formation in half a cup of tea, and more than 100 people were scattered in the vast field with a radius of more than 20,000 square meters.

At nearly 400 meters wide from the front of the attack, the Ming infantry who launched the attack on foot moved with great speed - as long as they were not blocked by enemy fire, they had to close the distance as soon as possible.

"Bang! Bang! ”

On the high ground, the dazzling muzzle flame suddenly flickered, and the sound of rifle and machine gun fire also rang out immediately, and it was obvious that some people had lost the bet this time.

The infantrymen in the charge took advantage of the situation to lie down, then lie prone on the ground and shoot back, and the two sides began to fire each other.

Such resistance is undoubtedly symbolic, and since the regimental firepower is not enough to bring it to its knees, what about the divisional ranks?

The silent Mountain Artillery Regiment was finally given permission to open fire, because of the limited ammunition it carried, the division headquarters did not want them to open fire at first, so as not to run out of ammunition in the subsequent engagement.

"Knock knock—"

A deafening roar in unison sounded like the beating of war drums, and fifty-four 112mm howitzers fired three rapid fires, followed by five more equal rapid-fire shots.

More than 400 rounds of 112mm anti-explosive bombs were poured into the small 089 heights, and the feeling of the ground shaking made the Ming infantry on the front line rejoice.

A blue flare is lifted into the air from your position, indicating that your artillery has stopped firing and can continue to attack without worrying about accidental damage.

The battle to capture Yaerling was very short-lived—most of the field fortifications built by the Russian soldiers were destroyed by heavy artillery bombardment, and they were attacked from two directions, and they quickly collapsed.

More than two dozen corpses were scattered across the high ground, and more than a dozen people broke through in a panic under the leadership of a lieutenant, and the rest were taken prisoner.

The few shrubs and trees here have been almost destroyed by the previous shelling, and most of them are burning.

Thousands of Russian troops across the border remained silent, as if watching a fire from the other side, as if the dozens of soldiers here were not their own.

The two sides continued to confront each other like this, and the progress of this conflict seemed to exceed everyone's expectations - beaten or not? The task ordered by the higher authorities will be done, and the battle exploits will be said goodbye.

The strange situation continued until the afternoon of the same day.

When the roar of the engine came from the distant sky, the Ming army roughly realized that something was not quite right.

Eighteen SB-2 light bombers and eight I-16 fighters came slowly from the west, flew straight across the national border, and dropped 100kg bombs on the Ming army's positions.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

"Knock knock—"

Fortunately, the divisional anti-aircraft artillery battalion was prepared...... At least with a little preparation, the four Type 34 anti-aircraft guns that were on alert were not afraid of danger and immediately opened fire and returned fire.

Strings of 20.8×112mm shells shot diagonally into the sky, and the trajectory of tracer shells was like a spear of light thrown into the blue sky!

The damaged bomber burst out countless metal fragments, gray or black smoke poured out, dragging a long tail of smoke in the sky.

At this time, the Russian army on the other side of the border also began to act, as if it did not take the entire division of the Ming army here in mind.

Most of the more than 100 aerial bombs fell on the second-line positions, and thanks to the timely return fire of the air defense battalions, the artillery positions would inevitably suffer a catastrophe.

"Let's just say they won't give up."

"Tsk, I thought that these old hairy people were humiliating themselves, but it seems that they really want to make a big move."

"Junza, what are our planes doing? Didn't those people in the Air Force take this as a joke?! ”

The disgraced officers were blown out of anger, and Dong Daizhou was naturally the same.

He immediately sent a telegram to the field airfield to question, but the latter replied in a very blank manner that the plane formation had already taken off on time.

At the same time, 200 km west of the 089 Heights, over Kilensk.

Twelve twin-engine light bombers of the 7th Light Bombardment Detachment of the Air Force, escorted by fighters, flew here, and according to intelligence, the field airfield of the Russian army was here.

"Chief, seeing that there is no fleet on the ground, they should all take off, and the army is going to be unlucky."

Army? Whatever they do!

(End of chapter)