I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 438 Sorry, but I did it on purpose
The sound of gunfire is actually normal in the forward position. If the machine gun shooter finds something abnormal, he usually fires two bursts first.

The sound of explosions is also normal. Sometimes animals stray into minefields and cause explosions. Frontline officers and soldiers have long practiced the ability to sleep in the cold air, and they cannot be woken up by thunder.

Dashanyan was fully prepared for this attack. After nightfall, the Japanese troops crawled over the ice of Qinghe River in batches and hid near the barbed wire fence of the Russian position.

In the previous stage of the battle, barbed wire played an important role in position defense. Both the Japanese and Russian troops paid more attention to barbed wire, and tools for destroying barbed wire were also distributed to front-line troops.

What puzzled George was that although heavy machine guns and mortars also played an important role, they did not attract the attention of various countries.

This has a lot to do with the poor logistics of both sides and the general reliance on fighting will in combat.

The Russian army has many logistical problems. Water-cooled heavy machine guns are difficult to move. Heavy machine guns often jam when canvas bullet belts become wet and freeze.

Due to technical reasons, the Japanese imitation Haqi Keisi bullets will jam every 300 rounds on average.

The Japanese army upholds the spirit of Bushido and often initiates hand-to-hand combat.

The Cossacks admired Suvorov. When fighting, they lowered their heads and rushed into the enemy's formation, slashing with the left and right——

Therefore, the Russo-Japanese War did not bring new enlightenment to the world. In essence, it was still a fight between rookies.

The Russian army at Fortress Arthur used the mortar as a mortar to deal with the Japanese army's civil engineering work and accidentally hit it.

The Amur Military District is equipped with mortars as standard equipment. As soon as the Japanese army launched their attack, the mortars began to fire illumination bombs, illuminating the front of the position as bright as day.

Without any orders from the officers, the heavy machine gunners began to fire wildly.

The Japanese army moved very quickly, and the first barbed wire fence was quickly destroyed, and the Japanese army swarmed in along the gap.

Russian machine gunners do not need to fire bursts, they just hold the trigger and use a 150-round magazine to fire all the ammunition in 15 seconds.

At this time, the cooling water in the barrel of the heavy machine gun began to evaporate, and the entire bunker was shrouded in clouds and fog, as if in a fairyland, and the shooter's sight was seriously affected.

The ammunition feeder turned on the exhaust fan to discharge the steam from the bunker to the outside. All the Russian troops on the entire defense line moved, not giving the Japanese troops the slightest chance.

The Japanese army was indeed brave. The minefield did not stop the Japanese army. The Japanese army quickly reached the second barbed wire fence.

The second barbed wire fence was only 100 meters away from the front line. The casualties of the Japanese army were rising in a straight line. The Japanese corpses on the ground were already covered with a thick layer. In some key areas, the piles of Japanese corpses were about one meter high. The blood pooled into small holes along the ground. The stream flows to Qinghe River, and the sound of killing along the Qinghe River is loud.

In the Battle of Liaoyang and the Battle of Fengtian, due to the poor organization of the Russian army, the defense line was broken through by the Japanese army many times. This created an illusion for Dashanyan that the Russian army was nothing more than that.

Flesh and blood cannot compete with steel.

While the heavy machine guns were firing wildly, the mortars deployed behind the position were also firing rapidly.

The Japanese army had no mortars.

Therefore, even if the artillery artillery deployed by the Russian army on the anti-slope position is found by the Japanese army, the Japanese army will not be able to counterattack with fire.

The battle lasted only a quarter of an hour, and the Japanese attack came to an abrupt end.

It was not that the Japanese army had exhausted its forces, but that the airship troops flew across the Qinghe River and dropped a wall of fire on the other side of the Qinghe River, cutting off the attacking Japanese army from the front and back, and the Japanese army had to stop the attack.

The incendiary bombs were so powerful that the snow accumulated on the ground melted, revealing charred soil.

In order to camouflage, the Japanese troops all wore white cloaks. These white cloaks were extremely conspicuous on the charred ground, and were harvested again by heavy machine gunners.

"Continue the attack!"

Dashanyan made a desperate move, and the empire prospered and fell in one fell swoop.

Another Japanese army was ready to go and plunged into the huge meat grinder of Qinghe.

Dashanyan was not reckless. While the Japanese army was attacking Siping from the front to contain the Russian army, the two divisions of the Second Army were detouring to the left wing of the Russian army in Siping, trying to break through the Russian defense line from the left wing and then surround Siping from the rear.

In the Battle of Liaoyang and the Battle of Fengtian, the Russian army in Kwantung suffered heavy losses in detours many times.

In frontal combat, the Russian army could withstand the Japanese attack.

But as long as Dashanyan uses the killer weapon of roundabout, the Russian army can only retreat immediately in order to avoid being surrounded. This trick has been tried and tested repeatedly.

In fact, when it comes to detours, the Russian army has an advantage over the Japanese army.

The Japanese army was limited by conditions. Only some scouts were equipped with military horses, and the vast majority of the Japanese army were infantry.

Cossacks are natural cavalry. The Kwantung Russian army has 10 horses, and its detour ability is much better than that of the Japanese army. As long as Kuropatkin does not stick to the rules and uses his brain a little, the Russian army will not be defeated so miserably.

While the Japanese troops were attacking from the front, the reconnaissance cavalry of the Japanese Fourth Division encountered the Second Group Army led by Ye Luoxin near the Liaohe River, about 40 kilometers west of Siping.

Yeluoxin and George were both cavalrymen. After serving as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Army in the Far East, George's rank was quietly promoted to cavalry general, becoming one of the only six remaining cavalry generals in the Russian Empire.

Except for George, the other five cavalry generals are all over 5 years old. They are all retired and unable to lead troops in combat.

George is the only royal member of the Russian Empire who has been promoted to the rank of general in the past 30 years. The last royal general was Nicholas Sr. who died in 1891.

Although the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry is cavalry in name, it is actually mounted infantry and does not have the ability to fight in a mounted state.

Cossacks are real cavalry. They are not only required to be proficient in using sabers while riding, but also have the ability to shoot and ensure a certain hit rate while riding.

Excellent Cossacks can even stand on the back of a galloping horse and keep their hit rate above 70%. As soon as he discovered the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry, the Cossack company commander who led the team ordered the cavalry to charge.

The Japanese reconnaissance cavalry were in chaos. Some dismounted and raised their guns to fight, some drew their sabers and charged, and some actually turned around and ran away, hoping to escape.

This is what dreaming is.

The Japanese cavalry encounters the Cossacks, and a desperate fight may still have a chance of survival.

Showing your back to the Cossacks will result in death.

Although it was still night at this time, due to the reflection of the snow, the lighting conditions were not bad, and the two sides were about 50 meters apart.

Although the Murata-style rifle equipped by the Japanese army was a repeating rifle, the propellant still used black powder. It had a complex structure, backward performance, and poor accuracy and power.

In order to improve the Murata rifle, Japan developed the Thirty-year-old rifle in 1897. The performance of this rifle was pretty good, but the quantity was seriously insufficient. When the Russo-Japanese War broke out, the Japanese army was equipped with only 300 rifles.

It took a full 10 years for the Russian army to change its uniform.

After the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan opened new arsenals, recruited workers, and began mass production of 30-year-old rifles.

The factory is easy to run, and the machinery and equipment can be purchased externally.

Skilled workers are not so easy to develop.

So so far, the most numerous rifles equipped by the Japanese army are still Murata rifles.

The reconnaissance cavalry of the Fourth Division is equipped with Yuriev rifles issued by the Russian army.

Needless to say, these rifles were captured from Arthur's Fortress or Fengtian.

At a distance of 50 meters, it was only enough to fire a bolt-action rifle. The Cossacks, who reached their maximum speed, had already rushed in front of the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry.

It is impossible to hit someone. Cossacks who are skilled in riding skills will not sit upright on horseback and let the Japanese army take aim easily.

Their sabers were not raised, but were dragged beside them. When the horses passed by the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry at high speed, they used their inertia to use their sabers to cause damage.

Bah!
A Japanese cavalryman shot a galloping horse.

The war horse screamed sadly and fell to the ground.

At the moment when the horse fell to the ground, the Cossack on horseback suddenly rose into the air, like a god descending, and jumped into the formation of the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry. The bright saber flashed past, and the big head rose into the sky.

The other Japanese reconnaissance cavalry had no time to react, and were either directly knocked away by their horses, or had their necks cut off by sabers, instantly losing their combat effectiveness.

The cavalry who escaped could not escape.

The cavalry is equipped with the short-barreled Yuriev rifle produced specifically for the cavalry, which is lighter and more convenient to use.

Several Cossacks raised their guns at the same time. After a burst of gunfire, the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry who had just ran less than 20 meters fell off his horse.

That's the speed!

That's it!

Still want to play roundabout with the Cossacks?
I'll kill you!
Thanks to Kuropatkin for giving courage to the Japanese army.

If the Russian army's performance in the early stage hadn't been too embarrassing, causing Dashanyan to misjudge the strength of the Russian army, then George would have really had to work hard to defeat Dashanyan.

The Cossacks were measured and did not kill all the Japanese reconnaissance cavalry. A young Japanese reconnaissance cavalry was captured by the Cossacks. Since his arm was cut off at the elbow, the Cossacks interrogated him on the spot.

The scouts of the Second Army received emergency field treatment.

The Japanese cavalryman whose arm was cut off was bleeding profusely. If the bleeding was not stopped in time, he would die soon.

A Cossack wrapped a rope around the Japanese cavalry's arm to stop the bleeding.

Another Cossack opened the bullet belt he carried, took out a few bullets, bit off the warheads, and poured the propellant on the wounds of the Japanese cavalry.

"Don't move, we are treating you, otherwise you will bleed to death."

The only Japanese translator in the investigation team was seconded from Sa Shi and was originally of Japanese descent.

"Kill me, I won't tell you anything!"

The Japanese cavalry struggled desperately and did not want to be treated by the Cossacks.

The cavalry company commander controlled the horse and came to the injured cavalry. He looked down condescendingly, and his contemptuous eyes once again stung the pride of the Japanese cavalry.

"Kill me! You bastards!"

The cavalry company commander's horse suddenly rose into the air, its front hooves fell, and stepped directly on the Japanese cavalry's injured leg.

The Japanese cavalry looked at his twisted legs, his eyes were dull, and he didn't even feel pain.

"Sorry - but I did it on purpose!"

(End of this chapter)