Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Chapter 301 Russia's Iron Fist

Recently, Liu Jintang often has such thoughts. It seems that the holy family has been lowered. He feels more and more that Zhang Yu and Zhang Zuolin, the two young generals, are becoming more and more prominent in the military. He is not afraid of anything, but just a little bit insecure.

Therefore, he quickly organized a sudden large-scale attack, with a total force of 15, and sent an airship formation, one of which was used as a command boat, one as a motor boat, and seven bombers. The boat mastered the air power, and the three artillery regiments on the ground deployed nearly 200 large and small artillery pieces, and launched a full-line attack on the long front of more than [-] kilometers long on the opposite side.

Under the air command of an airship, the Russian defense line is used to fighting every day. The attack on Irkutsk made Grand Duke Nicholas spend most of his energy on defending the logistics base. Facing such a large-scale attack, the young little Nicholas suddenly fell into a daze.

In just one day, all the artillery positions of the Russian army on the western front were blown up, and the fortifications were also destroyed by intensive artillery fire.In the face of the Chinese infantry's mass charge, almost all the regiments with less than 8000 men in the seven divisions of the entire defense line were disrupted. The destruction rate of heavy firepower reached more than [-]%, and it was almost impossible to organize an effective defense.Since the infantry battle in the morning, the death toll of the Russian army exceeded [-], more than [-] were injured, and more than [-] were captured.Liu Jintang also taught the Russians a lesson, which is what Chinese military strategists have said a long time ago, and the siege should not be encircled.

The Western Expeditionary Army and the Central Army seemed to be engaged in some kind of contest. Just as Liu Jintang destroyed the Russians' western defense line, Zhang Yu launched a large-scale offensive against Novosibirsk. After more than three hours of fierce fighting, he finally won Down from this southern Russian fortress.Afterwards, Zhang Yu moved the headquarters to the newly recovered Novosibirsk city, turning the original Russian line of defense into the oblique line of defense of the Central Army. A field hospital was built, and Sun Wen, who came with reinforcements, took care of the wounded. The large-scale fighting stopped, but the sporadic fighting every day never stopped.The Russians who are good at large-scale cavalry combat on the opposite side are also helpless in front of such a line of defense. In addition to the increasingly cold weather, the Russians' winter clothes and supplies have disappeared, and their morale has dropped. Grand Duke Nicholas frequently made pre-war mobilizations to no avail.

On the other hand, the Russians on the western front had winter clothes to wear. This was because it was the closest to St. Petersburg and Ekaterinaburg, and it was also the most likely to attract the attention of the Tsar.However, since Liu Jintang launched a large-scale attack across the board, the Russians suffered heavy losses. Although both sides needed a few days of rest after this large-scale attack, the tens of thousands of casualties and captures in one day still made Grand Duke Nicholas Jr. Unable to bear such consequences, they had to withdraw the line of defense.

After receiving reports that the entire Baltic Fleet was annihilated and that the two armies lost troops and generals, Nicholas II almost went mad. After getting a negative suggestion, the tsar's anger was even more irresistible.At this moment, he suddenly thought of the French. As an ally of the Allied Powers, he believed that France had an obligation to attack China at his own request.He ordered his diplomatic service to send a request from France as soon as possible, asking him to fulfill the obligation of common defense.

The French's calculations are even more precise. From the perspective of jointly dealing with Germany, the strength of Russia is very beneficial to the security of France. If the Germans keep one more division on the Eastern Front, they will have one less division to deal with on the Western Front. France, so the French still hope to help the Russians at this critical moment. Although there are still some small conflicts between the two countries on the African issue, they are all minor issues. The most important thing is to deal with the aggressive Germany The problem.Therefore, France intends to increase its troops to Vietnam. On the one hand, it is used to deal with the increasingly unstable situation in Vietnam. On the other hand, it is also to express a strong country's position to the Chinese.

However, after consulting the British, the French quickly saw the ambiguous position of the British in this war. In fact, adding one or two divisions to the French army is not as effective as a sentence spoken by the British. , but France soon received an official reply from the British Empire: The British Empire adopts a neutral stance on the conflict between the two countries, but out of consideration for maintaining peace, it is hoped that the two countries can return to the negotiating table as soon as possible. This move is something that the British Empire does not like to see.

Therefore, France also stopped sending troops, and expressed its helplessness to the Russians tactfully.After that, France officially declared its neutrality in the Sino-Russian conflict.Facing the weakness of the British and French allies, Nicholas II lost his temper at all.

This diplomatic episode did not have a real impact on the battle situation. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses from both sides are still shooting at each other frequently every day. Occasionally there are more intense firefights, but for the Russians, it is only the consumption of accumulated bullets. .The Russian army is dealing with errands, while their opponents are accumulating strength.Due to the underdevelopment of Russia's communication lines, the transportation of large-scale artillery shells, supplies, luggage and other logistical materials on both sides has basically relied on manpower and animal power since they got off the railway line. It's not something that can be done every day.

Of course, what was even more distressing was Grand Duke Nicholas, the commander of the central battlefield. As the uncle of the Tsar and the person with the highest title on the front line, he could not accept a defeat.Therefore, in addition to furiously asking the rear for supplementary supplies every day, he was still planning a big counterattack. The guard cavalry unit he personally commanded was also sent to the city of Gusinushsk (now Ulan-Ude), He himself insisted on moving the headquarters here, and made a strong confrontation with Zhang Yu in the southeast.

Ammunition is one aspect, and there is more important winter clothing.The Russian soldiers in single clothes did not have the pride of the commander. Under the cold day by day, the soldiers became more and more immobile, and the clamor to go home became louder and louder. Next, Grand Duke Nicholas made a promise to the soldiers on the front line for the last battle.

In this battle, Grand Duke Nicholas mobilized nearly 15 troops. The troops under his personal command alone reached 5, and the remaining 10 people will also respond to the call on the long front. For honor, they will make a final desperate struggle.As a reward to the soldiers, a large amount of wintering supplies also began to gather in Yekaterinaburg, across the long ice and snow, and transported to the southern front.

The situation is also not very good for the Central Army. Although the soldiers don’t have to worry about winter clothing, apart from the local Mongolian soldiers, even the troops transferred from Manchuria show signs of dissatisfaction. In addition, a large number of sick soldiers were sent to medical care centers, and the field ambulance centers were almost overcrowded.

Without exception, the soldiers on both sides hope that this hateful war will end as soon as possible!
(End of this chapter)