I'm playing whack-a-mole in Siberia

Chapter 454: Burn a passage
There is no shortage of meat in Guandong, pheasants and roe deer are everywhere, but they are all in the mountains, and those around the towns have long been eaten up.

For farming people, cattle are not animals, but production tools. Killing cattle is illegal, so many people spend their entire lives not knowing the taste of beef.

There was food and drink, and the relationship between the military and the people in Siping gradually became harmonious.

The whole city also began to become orderly.

Unlike Siping, the situation in Arthur's Fortress is getting worse and worse.

It snowed heavily for three days, and the Russian offensive in Kwantung was forced to stop.

After the snow passed, the snow on the ground was as deep as 1 meter, making movement extremely difficult, which caused great difficulties for the Russian offensive in Kwantung.

In this situation, let alone people, even horses cannot run, and it is impossible to launch an attack.

The Japanese army used the defense line left by the Russian army to find a place that could protect them from the wind and snow.

The Russian army had no cover in the wilderness and could only retreat to Jinzhou and wait for the weather to improve.

On February 2, Brusinov arrived in Golden State and inspected the front line accompanied by Alexei.

The Japanese defense line was built against the mountains, and it was difficult to attack from the bottom up. The soldiers' legs were stuck in the snow and they could not pull them out, and they could not move at all.

The Japanese army was also aware of the Russian army's predicament, so they were extremely arrogant in the past few days. They had bonfire parties and sang songs to provoke the Russian army at the foot of the mountain.

Alexey was not fooled. If he attacked at this time, the Russian army, which had difficulty moving in the snow, would be a living target and would only increase casualties.

Brusinov was worthy of being a famous general. When he saw the Japanese troops jumping up and down on the top of the mountain and making all kinds of ugly appearances, he sneered at "the last carnival" and sent a telegram to the Siberian Fleet when he returned to Golden State.

The Jinzhou Isthmus is 60 kilometers away from Arthur's Fortress. It is impossible for the Japanese army to defend every 60 kilometers, and there must be gaps in defense.

The Siberian Fleet now has sea control and can land in any area of ​​the Liaodong Peninsula at any time to deliver a fatal blow to the Japanese army.

Brusinov chose the Poplar Valley between the Golden State Defense Line and Dalini as the landing point for the Russian troops.

The landing force was not the First Cavalry Division, but the Sakhalin Division that came to support after the Battle of Goryeo.

The Sakhalin Division suffered heavy losses in the battle to conquer Pusan. After a month of supplementary rest, it has regained its combat effectiveness and is worthy of a battle.

Colin, the commander of the Sa Division, took the initiative to request the battle. Of course, the most dangerous mission should be undertaken by the bravest troops.

Regarding this point, Sha Shi is indeed worthy of his reputation.

As a force composed mainly of Japanese descendants, the Sa Division participated in the entire Goryeo Campaign, from Jizhou to Busan, with a cumulative casualties of up to 4.5.

There are only 1.5 Sa divisions in total.

Calculated this way, each soldier of the Sa Division has died three times on average.

In order to better cooperate with the landing of the Sa Division, Peter dispatched all the battleships and armored cruisers of the Siberian Fleet to provide fire cover for the landing troops.

"Preparations for the landing operation will take at least half a month. Why bother? We can just use naval guns to cover the army and we can break through the Jinzhou defense line."

Rakitsky disagrees.

The Siberian Fleet had never conducted a landing operation before, nor had it conducted any drills in this area. If the landing failed, both Peter and Brusinov were responsible.

"Sooner or later we will have to conduct a landing operation——"

Peter means a lot.

After annihilating the Japanese army in Kwantung, George will definitely attack the Japanese mainland next.

Rather than starting from scratch when the time comes, it is better to take this opportunity to accumulate some experience.

Anyway, even if the landing fails, the Russians will not die.

While the Siberian fleet was preparing, Brusinov was not idle either.

The advantage of the Russian army in Kwantung was too great. Even if the temporary defense line built by the Japanese army could withstand air-explosion bombs, it would never be able to withstand incendiary bombs.

Brusinov has a tendency to become Li Mei. After Fengtian used incendiary bombs on a large scale for the first time, he couldn't stop it and completely fell in love with the excellent combination of airships and incendiary bombs.

On February 2, the airship arrived in Jinzhou.

On February 2, Brusinov dispatched two airships to bomb the Golden State defense line.

The Japanese troops in Fengtian who had seen the power of incendiary bombs had all been burned to cokes.

The Japanese army in Jinzhou was unprepared for the incendiary bombs. When 4 tons of incendiary bombs were thrown, the Japanese army's first line of defense collapsed instantly.

The Jinzhou Isthmus is only 4 kilometers wide in total. A 50-kilogram incendiary bomb can basically cover half a football field.

The best thing is that after the incendiary bombs burned, all the snow that gave the Russian army a headache melted, revealing the charred ground.

Brusinov suddenly discovered that even without the cooperation of the Siberian fleet, it seemed that using incendiary bombs could burn a passage for the Russian army.

Peter was very angry. Before the staff of the Siberian Fleet completed the landing plan, Brusinov found a way to defeat the Japanese army.

The soldiers of Sa Division were lucky enough to escape.

Didn't escape either.

Because in the next attack, Sa Shi will take the lead.

"Burn! Burn all the way! Burn all the Japanese to death!"

Brusinov became ferocious. Thinking of the villages burned by the Japanese army, Brusinov became furious.

Since you don't want to go to heaven, then I will send you to hell.

The person responsible for guarding the Kinshu Isthmus is Lieutenant General Okubo Haruno of the Sixth Division.

The Sixth Division suffered heavy losses on the banks of the Daqing River, and two infantry regiments were wiped out. Therefore, Okubo Haruno hoped that Oyamayan would allow the Sixth Division to retreat to the rear to rest and replenish its forces.

Oyamayan ordered Okubo Haruno to defend the Kinshu Isthmus.

retreat!

Where to retreat?

The Japanese army in Kwantung not only has no retreat, but also has no reinforcements, and the British Princess is not easy to use.

George is well aware of the importance of propaganda work, so the crimes committed by the Japanese army in the Kanto region have been exposed around the world through the lenses of war reporters.

After Princess Maria arrived in St. Petersburg, a reporter asked Princess Maria how, as a Russian, she viewed the ongoing war in the Far East.

Maria was speechless.

Although Maria is married to Prince Alfred, she is Russian after all.

If the Russian Empire and Britain went to war, it's hard to say where Princess Maria would stand.

In the Russo-Japanese War, Maria could only choose the Russian Empire.

Therefore, when the Russian Empire was at a disadvantage, Maria did not go to Japan to persuade Japan to cease the war.

But when the Russian Empire had the upper hand, he persuaded the Russian Empire to cease the war.

If this matter comes out, Princess Maria's annual salary of 15 rubles will be gone.

Yes, Princess Maria still enjoys an annual salary of 15 rubles after marrying Prince Alfred——

After Nicholas succeeded to the throne, he repeatedly improved the treatment of the grand dukes and princesses, and it should be even higher now.

George's current salary is only Grand Duke Yuriev's, which has reached 40 per year.

This does not include George's salary from his position.

Okubo Haruno endured huge pressure and held on to the Kinshu Isthmus for three days.

On the night of the 24th, Okubo Haruno committed suicide by committing seppuku.

If he didn't commit seppuku, he would either be captured, burned to death, or be a deserter and return to Arthur's Fortress and be shot by Oyamayan.

The Russian army suffered more than 27 casualties in the Russo-Japanese War.

If Okubo Haruno is captured by the Russian army, the most likely outcome is that he will die in humiliation.

On the 25th, the Sa Division launched an attack on the Japanese positions in the Jinzhou Isthmus.

The Japanese army's position was empty. After Okubo Haruno committed seppuku, Oyamayan finally ordered the abandonment of the Kinshu Isthmus. The defenders withdrew to Dalini and prepared for a city offensive and defensive battle with the Russian army.

The Japanese troops in Arthur's Fortress also began to evacuate to the mountains near Arthur's Fortress.

It's impossible not to evacuate. It's most dangerous to stay in Arthur's Fortress now.

(End of this chapter)