The plan to integrate the Afghan resistance group was abandoned, but what should be supported is still to be supported, and the Russian army now needs these people to cause chaos for the British.

As for possible troubles in the future, they are after the victory in the war, and they cannot be taken care of in the short term.

Besides, there are so many resistance groups in Afghanistan, there will always be a few two or five boys, and it will be done by dividing and co-opting, and deep down Admiral Oginets despised the British.

With the support of the Russians, the Afghan resistance group became more and more active.

Destroying roads today, blowing up bridges tomorrow, occasionally firing cold guns, and attacking a wave of convoys made the British army miserable.

Andhouy, Colonel Macau, who guarded the city, now just wants to cry. The Russians did not fight at strategic points, but wanted to break through from here, which really made him speechless.

In the headquarters of the 9th Indian Colonial Division, Colonel Makau asked with a haggard face: "When will the reinforcements arrive?" ”

Without waiting for the young officer in front of him to answer, the sound of artillery fire sounded again, and the Russian army began to attack the city again.

Hearing the sound of artillery fire, Colonel Makau's face instantly turned gloomy. Only two days after the Battle of Andhouy began, the Ninth Division had already lost more than 1,000 men.

Soldier casualties Colonel Makau didn't care, as a pure Englishman, he never treated the Indian soldiers as his own, and no matter how heavy the losses were, he didn't feel distressed.

But the problem is that the morale of the army cannot afford to hurt, if it is replaced by the main force of the British army, the loss of 20 or 30 percent can be gritted and persevered.

It's a pity that this is an Indian colonial division, and the army is unstable after only a few hundred casualties.

If it weren't for the fortifications of the city, the fortifications gave everyone a sense of security, and the overseers were strong enough, the army would have collapsed long ago.

Sensing the division commander's ugly face, the young officer replied worriedly: "Division commander, we have sent out to ask for help from the signal troops, and we should be able to reach Magyar Sharif this afternoon."

Theoretically, reinforcements could arrive in as little as five days.

However, the headquarters is in Kabul, and without an order from the headquarters, the 5th Division stationed in Magyar Sharif may not send troops.

If the 5th Division does not send troops, then it can only wait for the order from the headquarters. It will take another week for the communications troops sent to the headquarters to arrive in Kabul, and it may take half a month for the reinforcements to arrive. ”

Without taking into account other factors, purely militarily, it was worthwhile for the tsarist government to start the war in advance.

Before the start of the war, the British army in Afghanistan had been busy exterminating the guerrillas, and the British troops guarding the front line were seriously undermanned.

Even the general headquarters was located in Kabul, and in the event of an unexpected situation, it was simply impossible to coordinate the joint operations of the British troops at the front.

According to the plan of the British army, the war broke out in the spring of next year. With such a long period of preparation, temporary telegraph and telephone lines were laid, and the headquarters could coordinate and command even if it was located in the rear.

It is a pity that the plan did not change quickly, and now the communication between the various units of the British army can only be run by the signal troops.

As for the Pigeon Biography, it only exists. Not to mention whether the carrier pigeon will encounter danger on the way, whether it can find a place is a problem, the most important thing is that the British army is not equipped with this thing.

Colonel Makau gave up the last bit of luck in his heart, not to mention waiting for half a month, even if it was five days, the Ninth Division might not be able to hold on.

Moreover, these are theoretical figures. Reinforcements must be sent as soon as they receive a letter for help, so that the reinforcements can arrive in five days.

In reality, this is not possible. According to the usual practice, everyone's first reaction to this kind of thing is to verify the accuracy of the information and then meet to discuss it.

When a decision can be made depends on the responsibility of the commander. If you encounter someone who is timid and afraid, you will not send troops at all without an order from the headquarters.

After hesitating for a moment, Colonel Makau said slowly: "Order the troops to hold out until the evening, and then withdraw to the second line of defense." ”

Colonel Makau had to congratulate himself on being cautious enough to set up a few more lines of defense, and now he could retreat and delay time.

It's a pity that there are too many enemies on the opposite side, and no matter how well prepared they are, they can't stop the enemy's absolute strength.

They can't even retreat, and when they defend the city, the Indian soldiers can still exert a certain combat effectiveness, and if they go out of the city and fight the enemy in the field, it is estimated that the ninth division of the Russian army will be scattered.

Whether it is for the sake of the overall situation of the war or for his own sake, Colonel Makau must continue to hold on. Even if you can't hold Andhouy in the end, you have to buy time for the main force.

As for the Ninth Division, which was originally cannon fodder, it naturally had to play the role of cannon fodder, and now was the time to sacrifice.

In this respect, Lieutenant General Patrick's decision to split the main force to act as a warlord was undoubtedly correct.

If it weren't for the fact that one of the main British regiments was in formation, Colonel Makau would not have been able to make the Indians desperate.

……

The British command in Kabul, Lieutenant General Patrick, was in a very bad mood, the Anglo-Russian war broke out, and he, the commander, was actually the last to know.

Whether it was the troops on the front line, or the London government thousands of miles away, they all received the news before him.

Major General Howell proposed: "Your Excellency, the Russians are menacing, and we may not have enough troops deployed on the front line, so send reinforcements to reinforce the front line!" ”

Although we have not received a specific battle report from the front, we know on our toes that the situation will not be optimistic.

Major General Lawrence, who was directly opposite, objected: "It's not that simple, now the battle situation is unknown, we don't know where the enemy's main attack direction is, we can't send reinforcements from all directions at the same time, right?"

We don't have that many troops at our disposal, and the promised reinforcements haven't left yet, and it won't be until two months before they arrive.

Although reinforcements from the Indian region came, the elite troops of the Indian colonies were all brought by us, and most of the current reinforcements were newly formed troops, and there was no hope for combat effectiveness at all.

Moreover, the operation to encircle and suppress the guerrillas has also reached a critical moment. The frequency of exchanges of fire between the enemy and us has been noticeably much higher in recent times, and now the withdrawal of troops has been completely abandoned.

If we miss this opportunity, we will face the dual threat of Russians and Afghan guerrillas, and future wars will only be more unfavorable to us. ”

Because of the encirclement and suppression of the guerrillas, nearly half of the British troops in Afghanistan were drilled into the ravines. Except for a few strategically important points on the front, there are insufficient troops in other areas.

Such a deployment of troops cannot be miscalculated, after all, the Afghan guerrillas are also very much of a threat to the British army. During the most rampant period, hundreds of casualties were inflicted on the British army every day, and it was impossible to do without encirclement and suppression.

It can only be said that the British army was unlucky, and when it was encircling and suppressing the guerrillas, it encountered the attack of the Russian army, and it was impossible to take care of each other.

Howell shook his head: "Now we can't care so much, the guerrillas can only disgust us, but the Russians have the ability to take away the Afghan region from us."

Sending reinforcements is not the best option, but at the moment we have no choice, and once the Russians are killed, it will be difficult to drive them out.

I proposed to leave a division of troops to keep an eye on the partisans and prevent them from tossing into a big mess, and the remaining troops immediately reinforced the front.

Since I was not sure of the direction of the enemy's main attack, I thought that we could set up several enemy front headquarters to coordinate the operations of the troops on the front line, and it was best for a few of us to personally send down the troops.

It was inopportune for the headquarters to be in Kabul until the communication problem was resolved, and we could not wait until we received the news to go to the front to collect the bodies. ”

……

The two deputies argued, and Lieutenant General Patrick felt more and more headaches. Everyone has a point, which makes the problem even more complicated.

Deep down, he still hoped to exterminate the guerrillas first, and then fight a decisive battle with the Russians. It's a pity that the reality makes him have no choice, no matter how big the threat of the guerrillas is, they must first ensure that the front line is not defeated.

After much consideration, Lieutenant General Patrick decided: "Howell is right, the command in Kabul is just an ornament, and it will not work at all.

From now on, three enemy front headquarters will be set up, left, center, and right, with the three of us serving as commanders.

The Left Army consisted of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th Infantry Divisions, the 5th, 6th, and 7th Artillery Regiments, and the 1st Cavalry Division, of which I was personally commander, and went to reinforce the Hetra area.

The Middle Route Army was formed by the ......"

The plan did not change quickly, and just when the British army gave up encircling and suppressing the guerrillas and divided troops to reinforce the front line, the battlefield of Anderhooy also entered a critical moment.

After a week of hard support, the 9th Infantry Division guarding Andejuy collapsed, and the reinforcements of the 5th Division, which Colonel Makau had hoped for, never appeared.

It's not that the commander of the 5th Division doesn't have a big picture, the problem is that the Russians have already appeared in the Magyar Sharif area, and the battle is on the verge of breaking out.

With an uncertain future, how could the Fifth Division dare to send troops to reinforce Andehui?

With the last line of defense broken, the Russian army has broken through all the fortifications of Andhui, and if it continues to hold on, it can only fight street fighting.

Counting on the demoralized Indian colonial division and the Russians to fight in the streets, Colonel Makau has not gone mad.

Looking at the hundreds of people gathered around him, Colonel Macau knew that the general trend was gone, and he reluctantly ordered: "Withdraw!" ”

……