Beiyang 1917

() Xue Juru commanded the captured Ukrainian gunners. From the positions of the three destroyed field artillery battalions in the north, they picked up five usable 3mm Krupp field artillery. A while later, Lu Huanyan obviously planned to directly expand the artillery company of his regiment into the 5st Battalion of Artillery with 75 guns, and the 12 1mm Krupp howitzers were organized into the 12nd Battalion of the Regimental Artillery. In most of the battle for half a day, he was the one who achieved the greatest results and benefited the most.

1918年7月30ri14：20哈尔科夫西北五公里处ri本步兵第5旅团旅团部..

"Reporting to the head of the brigade, the former enemy command received a call. The command requested our department to blockade the right bank of the North Donets River and build field fortifications in time to hold the position. It is estimated that in 20 minutes, a FR18 fighter-bomber brigade of the coalition air force will attack Harbin Carry out air strikes on the northern circular defense line of Corfu City, and then, the 13th Federal Infantry Division in the center will launch an attack!" Chief of Staff Kasumi Ogawa of the 5th Infantry Brigade was on the sidelines reporting with a telegram just sent by his confidential staff.

"Sogar...how did the Federal Infantry Division launch the main attack? How could these ex-Russian Red Army prisoners who had just left the prisoner-of-war camp not long ago take on this important task? The Kikuchi Brigade should do their part to win the mission of Kharkov! What is the idea of ​​the commander of the Oba Division?" Shinnosuke Kikuchi, the commander of the 5th Brigade of the Infantry of the Japanese Third Division, is 52 years old, and now he is looking at a young man who is getting angry with a burning mouth It's no different.

The feat of defeating the 18st Ukrainian Infantry Division in one fell swoop by commanding the 1th Infantry Regiment under the command of Masaki Masaki, a member of the Kikuchi Brigade, made Major General Shinnosuke Kikuchi, the head of the 5th Infantry Brigade, overjoyed. , Let the brigade commander His Excellency and the soldiers of the 6th Infantry Regiment under his personal command be filled with envy, jealousy and hatred. ..

Because the Japanese Third Division itself was formed in Nagoya, it is also called the Nagoya Division, so among the two infantry regiments under the jurisdiction of the 5th Infantry Brigade of the Third Division, the 2th Infantry Regiment from Nagoya has always been As the main force of the 6th Infantry Brigade, the 5th Infantry Regiment of the second-line infantry from Kanazawa has taken the lead at this moment. Too heart is a little sour and quite tasty.

At this moment, the city of Kharkov is less than five kilometers southeast. Across the wide North Donets River, you can even see the 4th Japanese Cavalry Regiment led by Yonezawa Kogoro on the opposite bank galloping back and forth. Majestic, this made Major General Kikuchi, head of the 5th Infantry Brigade, very anxious.

The Ukrainians sang an empty city plan on the first line of defense, and the two main infantry divisions of the Ukrainian National Army that retreated to the forest were simply vulnerable. The regiment was cleaned up, which made the head of the Kikuchi brigade burn more and more flames, and he was going to lead the 2th infantry regiment to take Kharkov in one fell swoop after a rest!

"Your Excellency, Commander of the Brigade, I think that the former enemy headquarters must be worried about our lack of troops. When we conquered the first line of defense, our 6th Infantry Regiment was the vanguard of the whole army, and then weaved along the right bank of the North Donets River. Advance, dragged by swamps and puddles along the way, the retreating troops are exhausted, it is obviously unrealistic for us to launch an attack from the northwest at this moment, so the command asked the 13th Federal Infantry, which marched along the railway in the middle, The division took the lead in attacking, maybe it was just to test the reality of the opponent's defenders?"

As the chief of staff of the 5th Infantry Brigade, the 46-year-old Kasumi Ogawa certainly knew that the brigade commander beside him had long regarded the glory of taking the lead in attacking Kharkov as the 5th Infantry Brigade's pocket Sugimoto, the captain of the 6th Infantry Regiment, would be too estimating, screaming anxiously at this moment, looking at his colleague Chief Masaki, who had never been in his eyes, leading the 18th Infantry Regiment, who was born in Kanazawa bumpkins. The alliance made the first contribution to the Japanese army since the start of the war, which made the Japanese troops who turned around on the left scream and couldn't wait to take down Kharkov, the capital of Ukraine, as the next inevitable goal. .

"A tentative attack? That won't work either. The ghost knows what the Ukrainians and Germans are up to. Didn't the pre-war reconnaissance say that the opponent's two main infantry divisions were sticking to the first trench-style defense line? The result was a heavy punch and nothing. It took tens of thousands of troops to capture the strength of 2 battalions!

What's more, the headquarters made a lot of hype about the Ukrainian infantry division, what kind of German equipment, what artillery regiment and so on. As a result, the two main divisions still couldn't withstand the thunderous blow of the Kanazawa boys from the 18th Infantry Regiment. In my opinion, this Maybe there are some Ukrainian militia volunteers left guarding Kharkov. Didn’t the enemy report in front of the headquarters say that the main force of the German Reserve Infantry Division stationed in the southern suburbs of Kharkov has disappeared?It must have been withdrawn! "

Shinnosuke Kikuchi was running around in the brigade headquarters with his hands behind his back, he was so anxious that he couldn't calm down. Although he wanted to grab the first victory of the first army that invaded Kharkov, the troops have been fighting since the morning. I drove at least 50 kilometers on the road, and spent a lot of energy and physical strength in the swampy area on the banks of the North Donets River. The so-called end of the crossbow can't wear Lu Jin. If you don't take a rest now, you can't go into the siege anyway. Unless Kharkov is really an empty city, but it definitely doesn't look like it. The cavalry reconnaissance squadron under the direct control of the brigade headquarter tentatively approached the opponent's position before, but was beaten back by random shots.

Fortunately, the enemy guarding Kharkov did not fire. The reason is, of course, that the coalition air force, which is always on duty and circling overhead, has been watching. Conversely, Kikuchi Shinnosuke was surprised that the German-Ukrainian coalition forces guarding Kharkov could hold their breath and not fire. Obviously, the enemy may not be as unbearable as he expected and imagined. One blow, that's why Kikuchi-dono was so impatient and furious.

This is a bit like a group of urchins trying to grab a hot potato. If you act quickly, you are afraid of burning yourself. If you act slowly, you will be taken the lead by others, especially the Federal Infantry Division in the middle. That old man half a month ago He was still wearing the torn military uniform of the Soviet Red Army and received preferential treatment in the coalition prisoner-of-war camp. After swearing allegiance to the Volga Federation, he turned into a well-equipped Bundeswehr. How could the protagonist of the Ukrainian campaign be sung by the federal troops?