In today's Ili Valley, the Qing army and the Tsarist Russian army are in a state of war. The Qing army is afraid that it will not be able to survive when reinforcements arrive in the spring, while the Tsarist Russian army has received twelve emergency telegrams from the rear.
Ulan Geli has already conveyed the news of the secret agreement to Moscow, and the entire high-level officials of Tsarist Russia were shocked. Some wanted to kill Ulan Geli to calm down their anger, while others clamored to launch another army to teach the Chinese a lesson.
However, the Tsar has always been silent, has not expressed his position, and has ordered a blockade of information from the public. At this time, the people in the European half of Tsarist Russia did not know the news from the Far East at all.
Many ordinary people did not know that the Far Eastern Kingdom had been established, and thought that Vladivostok was still in the hands of the empire.
However, this news can be blocked among the people, but the high-level officials cannot block it life and death. More and more nobles express their dissatisfaction to the tsar, and the calls for revenge against China are getting louder and louder.
The Tsar has not expressed his position, but privately he has been sending telegrams to the garrison in the Ili Valley, demanding that they must regain the Yining area this winter.
The Tsar is still calm. He knows that the overall situation is like this. It is no longer possible to overturn the situation in Xiao Letian's hands. Now he can only try to gain some initiative at the negotiation table!
The loss of Yining made the Tsar very angry, and most of this anger came from the pressure within the empire!
Even if these Cossacks in the Ili Valley recapture Yining County, they cannot actually change the outcome of the secret treaty negotiations, but the Tsar still wants them to attack, because only a victory can quell the opposition within the empire and allow these nobles to vent their anger.
This is like a football match. The Chinese have already lost 3-0, but they still have to work hard before the end.
Change the score to three to one so that domestic fans will stop causing trouble!
The Cossacks in the Ili Valley did not expect that the Tsar would personally give them orders. In the past, the nobles from the military headquarters sent telegrams. Now they did not dare to neglect and could only bite the bullet and attack Ningyuan City.
Fighting in winter is really cruel. Even though these Rakshasa ghosts are a people who live in the cold zone, they can't stand the weather of 30 to 40 degrees below zero!
That is to say, the Tsar's imperial decree cannot be disobeyed. If it were the order of the ordinary military department, they would have ignored it long ago!
The Qing army's artillery has frightened these Rakshasa ghosts. They simply don't dare to attack the city and can only choose to continue to harass!
They keenly discovered the weakness of the Qing army. The forage scattered outside the city was the fatal flaw of the Chinese. The wolf-like Cossacks began to secretly keep an eye on the forage. As long as the Chinese dared to leave the city, they would immediately harass and attack.
I just want to drag you to death, cut your flesh with a knife and bleed bit by bit, destroy the morale of the Chinese people, and finally starve all your horses to death!
When all the Qing troops in this city turned into infantry, they were not just left to be massacred by cavalry!
There is really nothing wrong with the tactics and they are very correct, but in order to achieve such strategic goals, the sacrifices made by the Cossacks were also extremely huge.
This year's Ili Valley is colder than in previous years, and it is very dry and cold. There is not much snow, and the snow on the ground is far less thick than in previous years.
However, the temperature is low and the wind is strong. Basically, the night temperature is between 35 and 40 degrees below zero, and the highest temperature during the day is more than 10 degrees below zero!
Even Daluo Jinxian couldn't bear such severe cold weather, let alone these mortals. There were a large number of non-combat attrition within the Cossacks.
When ambushed outside Ningyuan County at night, people can only rely on single-layer cowhide tents to keep warm. Fires cannot be lit inside the tents in the small space. The fires are placed outside, and sometimes they are even blown away by strong winds.
Many soldiers froze to death in their sleep, zombies could not be buried, and the tundra could not be dug up.
These frozen soldiers could only be temporarily piled up in the snow. From a distance, they looked like piles of Jingguan!
Food is even more scarce. The Ili Valley has long been devoured by these locust-like Cossacks. All the local herdsmen have fled. Some of the remaining herdsmen have taken refuge with General Rongquan in Ningyuan City, and some are beyond grabs!
At this moment, the Cossacks could only send cavalry teams to attack other Central Asian khanates. They had to plunder the people of other Central Asian khanates in this icy and snowy winter to maintain the fight.
Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, the areas east of the Aral Sea, and north of Afghanistan have suffered completely. I thought that by relying on Tsarist Russia, we could take advantage of the Chinese together. Unexpectedly, in the end they became Lamb under the razor.
Although these Cossacks struggled to defeat the Qing army, they were invincible against the backward khanates in Central Asia. A large number of cattle, sheep and livestock were plundered, and grain and fodder were continuously transported to the Ili Valley.
But just like this, these Cossacks who attacked Ningyuan City still froze and starved to death in large numbers!
The reason is very simple. These Central Asian countries are too poor and backward. They have no industry and their primitive handicrafts are also very backward!
What the Russian army needs most at the moment is not food, but a large amount of thermal equipment, high-quality tents and the best thermal equipment.
What is needed is charcoal and kerosene, and what is needed are furs, cotton, woolen and other materials to keep out the cold.
But these things are not available in Central Asia. What the herdsmen burn is cow dung, not to mention kerosene, and there is not much coal. Except for the Khans who can burn charcoal, the other herdsmen and people have to endure the cold winter.
The winter of 1873 was too difficult. People throughout Central Asia were troubled by the harassment war in the Ili Valley, and all countries were involved.
The red-bearded brigade commander from the east of Ningyuan City knocked on his frozen head to disperse all the random thoughts in his head. Looking at the two thousand brothers under his command, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh.
But at this moment, intelligence came back from the front. Today, the Chinese appeared directly opposite his defense line, and the target was the fodder in the pasture!
"Prepare for battle! Warriors of the Tsar! Cossacks polish their sabers... prepare to charge!"
"There are only three cannons on the opposite side. Just like before, there must be only one or two shells. It's not scary at all... rush up and kill all these Chinese!"
Having a fight to fight and keeping warm is much better than curling up in the snow and blowing the cold wind. The soldiers who were frozen like zombies, covered with hoarfrost and ice ballast, launched a charge towards the Qing army!
At this moment, General Rong Quan at the top of Ningyuan City was suddenly shocked. He put down his telescope and shouted, "It's broken! The enemy has deployed a brigade of troops in front..."
"There is support from the north and the south... They are going to fight a big battle... Order the forwards to stay where they are immediately, and send another 3,000 people to support them!"
"No more horse material, let the brothers come back alive..."
