Commander Ma Xianglin closed his eyes and rested his mind. He was transferred from the general of Dabai Pangbing to the emperor of Dahua Empire.
During his decades of military career, he had developed excellent Qi-nurturing skills.
He knew that the current situation between the two armies would determine the future direction of the Siberian battlefield.
But he didn't show any anxiety, he just didn't want to put pressure on his subordinates and let them perform normally.
Commander Song Qinghe came over with a stack of telegrams.
There was an unconcealable smile on his face. Before he could reach Ma Xianglin, he couldn't help but said: "Commander, we have won, we have won."
When Master Song Xinghe said these words, he felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted off him.
In the past few days, he had been under several times more pressure than before, and he was afraid that the Russian army's combat effectiveness would exceed their expectations.
Now the result is perfect. They have mastered the combat effectiveness of the Russian army and don't have to worry too much in future battles.
Ma Xianglin's expression didn't change much, but he was very happy in his heart.
He said calmly: "Our army's victory is just as I expected.
Our army relies on the fortifications built previously and a large amount of artillery support.
If our army fails in this way, then we can only retreat to the rear and hand over Tangnu Ulianghai to the Russians. "
Division Commander Song Xinghe handed the telegram to Commander Ma Xianglin and asked for instructions: "The Russian army could not withstand the bombardment of heavy artillery, and they retreated across the board.
Commander Ma Zhenfei and other frontline officers observed that the morale of the Russian military collapsed and they retreated to the rear in a disorderly manner instead of an organized retreat.
Now is the best time to pursue the Russian army. Our first division will take the opportunity to cover up and kill most of the Russian army's defeated troops. "
Commander Ma Xianglin waved his hand and said: "Inform the front line that there is no need to pursue the defeated Russian army. Wait until daybreak to pursue the defeated army.
The Russian army retreated too quickly, and the Second and Third Divisions had not yet moved to ambush positions.
An army of less than 10,000 people pursued a Russian army of at least 60,000 to 70,000 people, which affected the power of firearms at night.
Once a prestigious general of the Russian army leads an army to hold you back, other Russian troops will rush forward, and then the troops on the front line will be in great danger.
The Russian army cannot fight against the wind, but I think there is no problem for them to fight against the wind.
After daybreak, our army cooperated with the 9th Cavalry Division to pursue the Russian army. "
Commander Ma Xianglin directly rejected Commander Song Xinghe's suggestion.
The generals on the front line consider making meritorious deeds as much as possible and looking for opportunities to expand their merits.
However, Commander Ma Xianglin has to consider everything. His current approach is to prevent the 19th Army from making mistakes.
The 19th Army's combat power crushes the Russian army. As long as there are no major mistakes, it will definitely win this war.
After receiving the order, Commander Song Xinghe immediately sent a report to the front line to convey the army commander's order.
They waited for a while, and the roosters raised in the camp began to crow, and the sky was getting brighter.
Captain Ma Zhenfei ate preserved egg and sausage porridge and kept staring in the direction of the telegraph room.
He looked at his brothers. Some of them were full of energy and were eating breakfast sent from behind.
Some people were so tired that they didn't sleep all night.
Now he is sleeping against the trench with his gun in his arms.
The morning in Tangnu Ulianghai was a bit cold, but they all wore cotton-padded jackets, so they didn't have to worry about body temperature.
Commander Ma Zhenfei had just finished a bowl of hot porridge when he saw the signal soldiers running towards here quickly.
"Commander, the superiors have given orders and we can pursue the Russian army."
Captain Ma Zhenfei immediately grabbed it and ordered it to be read carefully.
He laughed twice and ordered: "Wake up all the sleeping brothers quickly, bring mortars and grenades, check the guns and ammunition, and we will set off immediately."
The officers of the third regiment received the order and immediately notified officers at all levels to start reorganizing the army.
"Report to the commander, the first battalion is ready."
"Report to the captain, the second battalion is ready."
"Report to the captain, the third battalion is ready."
When Captain Ma Zhenfei saw that the whole group was ready, he waved his hand and ordered the whole group to start setting off.
They crossed the defensive line and pursued the Russian army in the direction of retreat.
In the area closer to the position, the corpses of the Russian troops had been collected just after the war.
During this distance, the army moved faster.
They soon arrived at the area that was bombarded by heavy artillery.
There are artillery pits everywhere here, and a strong smell of gunpowder smoke lingers for a long time.
A large number of broken limbs covered the entire grassland.
As Ma Zhenfei walked on the road, his feet felt sticky.
The soil of this land has been soaked in blood.
He also saw some lucky and unfortunate wounded Russian soldiers grunting on the ground. These people didn't even have the strength to scream.
"First battalion commander, lead your people to clear the war zone. These injured Russian soldiers are hopeless. Send them on their way.
Now that the weather is getting warmer, the plague will soon break out among the corpses, and we will be the unlucky ones then.
Let's use kerosene to cremate all these corpses. "
Commander Ma Zhenfei sent some troops to clear the battlefield, and he led his men to continue the pursuit north.
He heard a few occasional gunshots nearby, which should be other brother troops also chasing the defeated Russian army.
Captain Ma Zhenfei led the troops on a trot. The Royal Army of Great China had three meals a day, and basically had meat for every meal.
The soldiers were in good physical condition and could run fast and long distances.
They quickly caught up with the slower Russian troops who broke out.
Most of these Russian troops suffered some injuries, and they fell at the back.
Commander Ma Zhenfei issued an order: "The whole regiment attacks. If the Russian army surrenders, they can keep prisoners."
He led his army to immediately attack the Russian army, which was several times their size.
Most of these Russian troops were wounded, and they were frightened by the powerful strength of the Dahua army.
Many of them threw their swords and guns on the battlefield.
Seeing the Dahua army attacking them again, they could no longer run and many people chose to surrender.
Commander Ma Zhenfei led his men to capture these Russian troops. He continued to pursue the Russian troops, but found the Ninth Cavalry Division.
They have arrived on the battlefield and are chasing the retreating Russian army.
The commander of the 9th Cavalry Division was Gao Dasheng. He was riding a spotless white horse and was sitting on the horse cursing.
"Ma Xianglin is an idiot compared to me.
He vowed to tell me that he would be able to delay the Russian army for three days and allow me to get to the battlefield as soon as possible.
Fortunately, I was smart and rushed to the battlefield at full speed, which almost caused the Russian army to escape.
In order to catch the Russian army in time, my whole body fell apart. "
After Commander Gao Dasheng finished cursing, he kept gasping for air. The horse he sat on also snored constantly, looking very tired.
The cavalry officers and soldiers around him all looked tired.
But when they looked at the fleeing Russian army, their eyes seemed to be shining with light.
The 9th Cavalry Division encountered the retreating cavalry and immediately rushed over to intercept the Russian army, preparing to divide and encircle it.
They are not heavy cavalry, but light cavalry. In ancient times, they used bows and arrows to kill the enemy. Now they use rifles to kill the enemy, and then use pistols at close range.
Only in a decisive battle will he pick up his saber and charge into the enemy army.
Now Gao Dasheng used the light cavalry as heavy cavalry and sent cavalry directly to the battle.
He had made up his mind to keep most of the Russian troops on the battlefield, even if he had to pay some casualties.
The 9th Cavalry Division assumed the task that should belong to the 19th Army and was responsible for holding back the Russian army.
Gao Dasheng believed that after waiting for a while, the main force of the 19th Army would definitely arrive.
These demoralized Russian troops were defeated. They just wanted to escape back to Kuznetsk and did not cooperate at all.
…………………………
Count Alexander Onukovych was half lying on his horse, coughing blood from his mouth.
He originally thought that it was 12 kilometers away from the Russian camp and the artillery of the Dahua army could not hit that far.
He didn't expect that a shell would land more than 50 meters away from him.
Count Alexander Onukovych was directly wounded by the shell and fell into a coma.
This is also the reason why the Russian army retreated so quickly.
The Russian army has lost its unified command, and the various armies have no cooperation, and they will collapse when encountering setbacks.
Count Alexander Onukovych also learned that his confidant General Luke had been killed by a cannonball.
As long as people in the artillery bombardment zone are equal, whether they are generals or soldiers, death will be waiting for them.
Count Alexander Onukovych received a report that the troops in the rear encountered the Chinese cavalry and they were surrounded by the Chinese cavalry.
He summoned the generals around him and saw the gray faces on these people's faces.
Count Alexander Onukovych asked about organizing an army to resist the attack of the Chinese cavalry.
The eyes of these generals were evasive. No one wanted to take on this task for fear of being treated as an outcast.
Count Alexander Onukovych first appointed several generals who were not direct lineage, but these people immediately found reasons to postpone, that is, they did not undertake the task.
Only then did he realize that because of this defeat, his authority had been damaged and many generals no longer obeyed his orders.
Count Alexander Onukovych could only choose to let his direct relatives lead the troops to prepare to save the surrounded Russian army.
It was precisely because of the long delay in dispatching the army that Count Alexander Onukovych quickly received the report that the Dahua army had caught up.
They are cooperating with the cavalry to annihilate the surrounded Russian army.
Count Alexander Onukovich sighed, knowing that the situation had deteriorated.
He is extremely lucky to be able to escape back to Kuznetsk with the 30,000 people under his command who were not surrounded.
Count Alexander Onukovych immediately ordered that all the baggage be thrown away, and only a small amount of food and weapons be taken with him to withdraw to Kuznetsk at full speed.
The order to retreat was supported by all generals.
The Russian army, which was still hesitating at first, immediately gave up the surrounded army and withdrew from the battlefield lightly.
Count Alexander Onukovych saw the city gate of Kuznetsk again, and he felt unhappy.
Half a month ago, he brought 80,000 troops and confidently attacked the Dahua army.
He did not expect that the strength gap between the two armies was so huge, and they returned with less than 30,000 people in disastrous defeat.
If the place of retreat was not in an area where the two armies were fighting, the deserters would not be able to survive here.
A retreating army will definitely have a large number of deserters.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov was in a bad mood during this time.
The outcome of the Sino-Russian War gradually slid towards the outcome he least wanted to see.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev, the cavalry commander in the Central Asian battlefield, wrote to him.
The cavalry forwards clashed with the Dahua army. Due to the gap in weapons and tactics, the Cossack cavalry was defeated miserably.
The cavalry of the Dahua Army is gradually advancing, and at the same time it is attacking the indigenous tribes that have surrendered to the Russian army, compressing the Russian army's living space.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev was pessimistic in his letter.
He did not believe that the Russian cavalry could break through the defense line of Lake Balkhash, the Tumu Mansion of the Great China Empire.
It is God's blessing that they can hold back the cavalry of the Great China Empire on the Central Asian steppes.
This letter from Count Vladimir Sergeyev directly puts all the pressure on the Siberian battlefield.
The Russian army wanted to achieve what the Tsar wanted to achieve before the war started.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov must lead his troops to attack Tangnu Ulianghai, follow the mountain corridor of the Qilian Mountains, and directly attack the major inland cities of the Great China Empire.
This difficulty is too high and beyond his ability.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov was also worried about a disastrous defeat in the Central Asian battlefield. Even if he could break through the Tannu Ulianghai defense line, he would be surrounded by the free-handed Dahua army.
He received news of the disastrous defeat in the Central Asian battlefield and was thinking about how to adjust his plan to achieve victory.
Margrave Oleg Ivanov received bad news from the front.
Count Alexander Onukovych led 80,000 men to attack the Dahua army.
He launched a surprise attack at night and returned with a disastrous defeat before daylight.
The Russian soldier who returned was unclear. He didn't even know the specific losses of the Russian army.
Some people say that most of the army fled back, others say that at least half of them were lost.
Margrave Oleg Ivanov only made one point clear: Count Alexander Onukovych did return in defeat.
He originally wanted to express himself, use his military exploits to give a satisfactory answer, and face the new king coming to power.
This time the Russian army suffered a disastrous defeat, and his fate would certainly not be too good, but most of the blame can be placed on Count Alexander Onukovych.
This was also the reason why he had asked Count Alexander Onukovych to lead the army before.
The first task now is to defend Kuznetsk before the arrival of the Tsarist envoy.
If he took the important town in the Far East, Kuznetsk would be lost.
Then we cannot put all the responsibility for the defeat on Count Alexander Onukovych, and he will definitely bear all the responsibility for the two defeats.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov only hoped that the losses of the Russian troops on the front line would be less.
In this way, he will have more troops to defend Kuznetsk, and he will be more confident.
In the anxious waiting of Marquis Oleg Ivanov.
Count Alexander Onukovych led the defeated army back to Kuznetsk.
Margrave Oleg Ivanov wanted to hear a report from Count Alexander Onukovych on the situation of the war.
However, he heard that Count Alexander Onukovych was seriously injured and dying, and was now in a coma.
He immediately sent his best doctors to treat Count Alexander Onukovych.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov asked doctors to use penicillin, which was smuggled from the Chinese Empire and was comparable to gold.
He just didn't want Count Alexander Onukovych to die. After all, he could not bear responsibility for a private death.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov learned about the horror of the Chinese army and the situation of the Russian army from other generals.
There are now less than 30,000 Russian troops who have escaped. This is not a loss of half, but a loss of more than half.
The performance of the Russian army on the battlefield also made him angry.
But he no longer had the energy to deal with the defeated Russian generals.
The strength of Dahua's army was stronger than he expected.
He has received news that the Dahua army is exploring in the direction of Kuznetsk.
They waited for the weather to be suitable and then launched a massive attack on Kuznetsk.
Time is running out for Marquis Oleg Ivanov.
He must try his best to keep the city of Kuznetsk.
Otherwise, when the new tsar comes to power, his family will inevitably be liquidated.
(End of chapter)
