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Soaring Front: The First World War Chapter 295 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, and it is the best way to deal with the aggressive Germany. The key question.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 the honor of Russia, they will fight to the death.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!

Soaring Front: World War I Chapter 296 Battle of Novosibirsk

On January 1896, 1, under the personal command of Grand Duke Nicholas, 6 troops attacked across the board. In a climate that was still capable of fighting, this was the last chance for a full-scale battle.After this time, the severe cold will take full control of the land, and only the most determined devils can move and attack the enemy in such a climate.Nicholas seems to have made up his final determination to hit the Chinese with the Russian iron fist in the face!

Grand Duke Nicholas sent 4000 troops to besiege the city. They wanted to defeat the two divisions of Novosibirsk with 7 people and Zhang Yu's headquarters. To the southwest of them was the headquarters of the Central Army, where there were 5 people. Army officers and soldiers.Therefore, the two sides fought fierce offensive and defensive battles around Novosibirsk.The Russians seem to be ashamed and courageous.Despite the repeated strangling of advanced machine guns and grenades, under the personal command of Grand Duke Nicholas, [-] troops took turns to attack, and finally tore a big hole in Novosibirsk's outer defense line.The successor troops of both sides also launched a strangling battle on the riverbed slope valley between the Orkhon River (Russian called the Selina River) and the hilly belt in the southwest, and the Russian cavalry formed an advantage in this terrain , At one point beat Zhang Yu's reinforcements to the point where they couldn't hold their heads up.

The offense and defense of the two sides hardly changed hands, and the strangling continued, and the sky over Novosibirsk was turned black by the smoke.Especially on the valley on the east side of the Orkhon River, the two sides launched a large-scale cavalry duel. The [-] Mongolian cavalry of Gunbuzabu acted as the vanguard, and then came reinforcements from various Mongolian ministries. With the support of artillery fire, the [-] cavalry on both sides rushed towards each other at full speed almost face to face, under such a large-scale confrontation.Almost no one used guns, and some of the elite guard cavalry equipped with rifles in the Russian cavalry also put away their rifles, and faced the Mongolian cavalry who also used sabers with their saber-wielding partners.In the dark cavalry duel on the Kulun Grassland, the Russian cavalry fully experienced the power of the Mongolian cavalry's sabers and bows. Facts have proved that only primitive weapons are the most terrifying weapons in the hands of cavalry on open highlands and plains.

Just like the previous Kulun War, Zhang Yu still put his trump card, the Prairie Wolf, behind him. It was still the silent cavalry with 5000 men, the shiny round saber, and the devil-like black attire. , It makes people feel cold from the bottom of their hearts when they see it!This time, Naenze has matured a lot, silently staying behind Zhang Yu, waiting for the final order at any time!

At this moment, the time on the battlefield seems to have flowed back to the era of Genghis Khan. Courage and morale are the decisive factors in this kind of duel of cold weapons. In the sound, accompanied by the neighing of horses, lives were taken away by the sword light, and war horses lost their masters.

At the same time as the cavalry duel that lasted nearly two hours, there was a scuffle between the infantry and artillery of both sides. For the Russians, as long as they supported this line of defense for one minute longer, they could give the siege troops behind them one more minute of decisive time. Once the line of defense is lost, not only himself but also others will die.The siege force commanded by Grand Duke Nicholas in the rear will also fall into a crisis of internal and external difficulties.It is also such a calculation that is placed in front of the Chinese reinforcements.In such a severe situation, there is no other choice but to fight the iron fist with an iron fist!

In this battle, Zhang Yu devoted almost all of his reserve troops, but no one expected that the 2 Russian troops and 1 cavalry infantry from the opposite Grand Duke Nicholas Jr., plus the troops from across the river from the west A division of more than 6000 people, adding up to only 6000 people, unexpectedly withstood the violent attacks of nearly [-] Chinese soldiers for nearly two hours.Although they have the advantage of the wind, and the Chinese soldiers have to brave the biting cold wind when attacking, and it is a bit difficult to open their eyes, but this situation also fully shows the determination of the other side. They are obviously determined to defend every inch of Russia. land.On the riverbed of the Orkhon River, where corpses are strewn across the field, almost everyone on the opposite side of the Russians is covered in blood, and some of them are still wearing thin single clothes. This battle allowed Ding Ruchang to truly see the bravery of the Russian Imperial Guard cavalry, and In a crisis, the Russians are not afraid of death.

In the north of the city of Novosibirsk, the assault team composed of three divisions faced the cavalry division of the Imperial Guards personally commanded by Grand Duke Nicholas. The battle between the two sides had reached a feverish level. Even more difficult, these dozens of kilometers turned out to be an impenetrable city wall!I'm afraid that in another hour, this assault team will have no other choice but to retreat!

At such a critical moment, the airship formation on the military base in the south is still loading ammunition, and he doesn't know when it will arrive. It is unrealistic to pin all his hopes on the airship, so he has no choice but to continue to attack. way to go.Looking at the withdrawn Gunbu Zhabu, he deliberately twisted his face and said, "Gunbu! Tell me the truth, can your tribe still fight?"

Gunbu Zhabu was covered in blood, and he was really exhausted, but after hearing Zhang Yu's words, he stubbornly tore off his shirt, spat hard on the ground, took off his helmet and threw it on the ground, and said to Zhang Yu : "General, no one in my tribe is afraid of death. Even if I risk my life today, I will open this way for you!"

After finishing speaking, he cupped his hands, tore off all the clothes on his upper body while walking, roared twice at the gray sky, mounted his equally exhausted war horse, raised his saber and yelled a few times in Mongolian , I saw that all the Mongolian cavalry quickly took off their coats and remained on the ground, raised their sabers and shouted the same words a few times, roaring a few times, and more than 6000 Mongolian cavalrymen who had just come down from the battlefield all turned their horses Head, amidst the neighing of the horses, roared and rushed to the north.

Looking at the backs of the cavalrymen, Zhang Yu smiled wryly. What he said just now was really forced by the situation.He has been in the frontier for a long time, and he can already understand Mongolian, and he knows that what Gunbu Zhabu was muttering just now is not to let General Zhang look down upon him.Seeing the Mongols and Russians being strangled into a mass on the battlefield, I felt a pang of pain in my heart, then I gritted my teeth, stood up and stepped on the horse, commanded the knife and turned around and shouted to the prairie wolves: "Listen up, all the army! Now is the time for you to attack, and you must wipe out the reinforcements of the Russian army in one fell swoop!"

"Fire! Fire! Fire!" The prairie wolves shouted together.

"Follow me!" Nuenze nodded to Zhang Yu, and with a wave of his saber, five thousand prairie wolves swept towards the Russian army on the icy frozen soil.

This confrontation of courage, determination and military strength was finally decided after nearly an hour of fierce fighting. The Russian army's 6000 reinforcement troops were almost wiped out, and the number of prisoners was very small, only more than 600 , the rest were either dead or injured, and Zhang Yu's 9 reinforcement troops also paid nearly 3 casualties, of which almost all the [-] Mongolian cavalrymen of Gunbuzabu died in battle, and the remaining [-] Yu Qi, a shirtless Mongol, looked at his companions and horses on the battlefield, weeping.Fortunately, although Gunbuzabu was wounded all over his body, he was still brave and good at fighting.

Zhang Yu came to his side, without saying a word, dismounting was just a bow with his right hand on his chest.Looking at the sad eyes of the Mongols, Zhang Yu was unwilling to let them take another step north anyway, and preached to the stick: "I will stop talking nonsense, and the prisoners will be handed over to you. The brothers in the north are still waiting. Look at me, you are all bloody men, I, Zhang Yu... admire you from the bottom of my heart!"

After finishing speaking, he got on his horse in a hurry and was about to leave, but Gunbu Zhabu said bluntly from behind: "General, tell your men to guard the prisoners, I will go with you!"

The group continued north to reinforce Novosibirsk, more than 30 kilometers away.

At this time, the defense of Novosibirsk was also at the last juncture. Relying on the strong fortifications, after a division system was destroyed, there were still less than 5000 people left to make the final resistance.Those who continued to attack on the periphery were two dissatisfied guards with more than 4000 people supervised by Nicholas himself.

Nicholas was just making the last effort. When the resistance battle in the southwest failed, the momentum of the attacking Russian army dropped to the bottom.This day's battle lasted for four hours, and the troops on both sides were all exhausted, especially his troops, who had no ability to fight any longer.When he saw the flag of Zhang Yu's reinforcements in the southwest, Nicholas sighed and had no choice but to order the withdrawal of troops, preparing to return to Tomsk and Krasno, more than 200 kilometers north of Novosibirsk.

On this day, the 15 Russian troops attacked across the board, but did not receive the desired results. Except for a small victory on the western front, the eastern front was basically a complete defeat. regain lost ground.In the battle that day, the casualties and prisoners of the Russian army exceeded [-], while the opponent's losses were less than half of this number, which made Grand Duke Nicholas extremely depressed!

But on the second night after this battle, Zhang Yu's further military actions turned Nicholas from depression into despair.

At the same time, good news also came from the battlefield on the western front. Liu Jintang's bombing airship finally found the Russians' logistics center. After a night of bombing, more than 30 tons of explosives were all poured into the logistics warehouse area. Before the Russians responded Come over, the 4 cavalry sent by Liu Jintang in advance divided into four groups to launch a crazy attack on the Russian defense line. After breaking through several lines of defense, the 20 infantry group charge began. Grand Duke Nicholas couldn't find a way to defend at all. The three main positions fell into the enemy's hands one after another. The army of 2 people fell in groups under the fire of Chinese artillery and heavy machine guns. Finally, Nicholas Gula fled to Yekaterinaburg in embarrassment with only more than [-] officers and soldiers around him.So far, the obstacles on the Western Front have been completely cleared.

Soaring Heads: The First World War Chapter 297 Bloody World

With the advent of Christmas and the invasion of Siberia's cold current, both sides urgently need time to heal their wounds, and it is inevitable that the war will enter a buffer period.

Since it is the beginning of the second year, the Chinese people always have the habit of calculating the income and expenditure of the past year's success or failure. It is not unknown, but Li Zhen and other important officials of the Ministry of Finance were taken aback by the calculation. Last year, more than 1000 million The financial revenue of RMB 2000 and several major expenditures have already exceeded the income. In fact, most of them have no money left over the past year, and the financial balance of many regions has gradually shrunk.The war consumption of the navy is shocking. Except for the lost eight cruisers, there are more than 2 million yuan of direct expenses waiting to be paid and settled, such as the consumption and maintenance costs of various artillery shells, the logistics costs of the navy, and those used in support The money from the insurgents in the Philippines was directly allocated to North Korea and Japan. These items add up to a huge 1 million yuan.The Sino-Russian war on land is a big spender, the consumption of baggage, soldiers’ rewards, pensions, the purchase of various medicines, the calculation of transportation costs, the money for hiring private merchants, the consumption of clothing to keep out the cold, and the consumption of airships And so on, it reached more than 8000 million yuan.These are the direct expenses of the war, how much more than this amount is spent on the army?The military expenditure in the past year has been [-] million yuan if not [-] million yuan.

Of course, fiscal revenue cannot all be used for the military.Educational infrastructure across the country is all piled up with money. These are hardware.The software also includes hiring teachers, lunch fees for schoolchildren across the country and evening meals for some boarding students, and literacy subsidies for private school teachers everywhere. The cost is also close to 2 million yuan.Counting this year's military and education alone, the two ends have almost spent their annual income.

The industrial infrastructure is still laying the groundwork. The oil mines in Shaanxi have begun to expand, the construction of the Luhan Railway, the iron works in Shanghai, the shipyards and overhaul yards in Dalian. These are all national engineering projects, each of which is sponsored by the Ministry of Industry If the money was transferred directly, it was nearly 3000 million yuan.

In the upper study room, Li Zhen was sweating coldly while reporting to the emperor. He told him that this year’s fiscal deficit would reach at least 5000 million yuan. He stayed in the seat of the Ministry.

Unexpectedly, after Li Zhen said these words, Guan Xuqing was not only not angry, but laughed out loud. Li Zhen didn't know what the emperor meant, so he knelt down in fright, not even daring to lift his head.

"It's really hard for you, get up." Guan Xuqing put away his smile and asked Li Zhen to get up, and then said: "There is nothing wrong with what you reported, but that's not how the account is calculated."

Li Zhen was slightly taken aback, and thought that he had been in the finance department for ten years or so, and the annual financial revenue and expenditure statistics had never been wrong. Why did the emperor say that the accounts were not calculated in this way?Immediately said: "The minister is dull, please make it clear to the emperor."

"The money spent did not go abroad as in previous years. It was all spent in the country. The money spent on logistics, didn't it create a large number of industrial and commercial enterprises in the north? There are also various infrastructure projects. The investment of these costs will always be recovered in the future, and it will also drive the prosperity of the surrounding private enterprises. In terms of education, let alone, a nation without education has no future, and education should lose money. If a country relies on education to earn the little money of the common people, it is really unreasonable. As for the money spent on the Sino-Russian War, I will return it to you in double one day. Generally speaking, these are still good things. I owed too much in the past. If there is too much, I have to make up for it slowly, so I have expected to spend a little more this year." Guan Xuqing said word by word.

"Your Majesty, I heard that in the second half of last year alone, the empire's arms business in the world earned 7000 million yuan in revenue. I would like to ask the emperor whether this money can be allocated to the Ministry of Finance to develop the economy." Li Zhen obviously heard some rumors and believed in the news.

"This money must be earmarked for its own use, and no one can misappropriate it without my consent." Guan Xuqing's face eased a little, and he said, "I once said that wars should be supported by wars, and military matters should be left to Feng Xianghua and the others. It's better to deal with it."

"The minister obeys the order."

After Li Zhen and others retreated, Guan Xuqing's eyes fell on the Western sword placed on the table in the corner. This was a gift from Wilhelm II to China at the German National Day Ceremony. The meaning of the Kaiser is self-evident. , he seems to use the huge military power of China and Germany to sweep the world with the sword of militarism.But the clever Guan Xuqing was very close to the Kaiser on the surface, but he never thought of embarking on the road of no return to militarism.War is only a means of development, but it is not the only one. If a country embarks on the road of militarism, it will one day become incurable, such as Germany now.Guan Xuqing is a pragmatist. As long as it can make the country stronger, the national prestige pursued by previous Chinese rulers can be ignored.National interests are the coordinates of his actions, but national dignity is the absolute criterion he pursues.The present war against the Russians is a war to grab benefits and dignity from the Russians.

On the other side of the world, the German Legation in Prague notified the Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs that President Hacha was asked to meet Kaiser Wilhelm II in Berlin.At one o'clock in the morning, the Germans chose this moment when human resistance was weakest, and took the old President Hacha to the streets of Berlin by train.

At the beginning of the meeting, Kaiser Wilhelm II delivered a long speech with his aggressive spirit. He first rebuked former President Benes for his disrespect to the great German Empire, and then talked about it in a naked and arrogant tone. To the point: "Czechsia" was extremely lukewarm in cooperating with the German army, which he could not tolerate.He now decided to declare the provinces of Bohemia and Moravisia a German protectorate.In order to carry out this decision, German troops will cross the border of "Czech Asia" in 5 hours and occupy the capital Prague at 9 o'clock.So there are two paths for Hacha to choose: Either the Czechs resist the German advance, at which point they will be trampled mercilessly; or they accept their fate peacefully, making the German occupation a little easier .

Having said that, the Kaiser signed his name on the pre-prepared documents and walked away.It was about two o'clock in the morning.

After a period of silence, President Hacha said with grief and indignation: "If I sign this document, I will be reviled by my people forever."

But the chief of the German general staff, Maoqi, had no mercy. He forced the pen into Hacha's hand, threw the document in front of him, and kept threatening: "If you want to be a hero, "Czechsia" will be punished." unforeseen danger."