Karsakov and Kohl did not consider retreating in the direction of Temple Street, where the Russian Pacific Fleet was located, but the Manchurian Army must have launched an attack on Hailan at the same time as it was attacking. They were ready to lead their troops to withdraw to Udiskoye, the last stronghold of the Russian army south of Trans-Khingan, where they were going to fortify.

Udiskoye is not the main stronghold, but it is the last fortress, if the three major towns of Hailanpao, Boli, and Temple Street are lost, Udiskoye will be the last support of the Russian army in the outer northeast. If Udiskoye were to be lost, North Manchuria would have regained their lost territory once and for all, and Russia would have lost their only warm agricultural region in the Far East, and the war would be over. Therefore, the Russian army must hold on to Udiskoye and keep their base area south of the Trans-Khingan Mountains, otherwise the Russian army can only retreat to the cold north or to the Baikal region, where there is only pasture, and the Far East will no longer belong to Russia.

"I think I heard gunshots!" On the way to retreat, both Kohl and Karsakov were dejected, they lost their chance, and the start of the war was very unfavorable for the Russians. As the two sat in the carriage, Cole seemed to hear some strange noises.

"The Manchurians have caught up with those poor children!" Karsakov thought that some defeated troops who had not been collected by him had been overtaken by the Manchurian army.

"No, it seems to be ahead of us!" Cole listened intently for a while, and realized that the voice was not coming from behind him.

"Report, there is an ambush of the Manchurian army on the high ground ahead, and the outpost exploring the road has exchanged fire with them!" A Russian officer ran over in a panic.

The officer's report of the exchange of fire was true, but he still played a trick. The Russian army did not send outposts, and the outposts in the mouths of the officers were nothing more than defeated soldiers who had just been gathered. Although the defeated soldiers were contained, their organization was completely chaotic, and they completely lost their organization, and they just followed the large army in confusion. The commanders of the two Cossack cavalry regiments, taking great care of their comrades, intentionally or unintentionally put these defeated soldiers in front and let them explore the way for their troops.

"God, damn it, how many of them are there?" As soon as Cole heard that there was an ambush, he felt a little chill in his body, and the British were deeply impressed by the haunting of the Manchurian army.

"There aren't many troops, about five or six hundred, this is an encounter, and they seem to have just arrived here!" The officer also went to the front line to see it himself, and his judgment was basically accurate.

"Concentrate our forces to defeat them immediately, we have to rush over quickly, we will be in trouble if they hold us back!" There were only five or six hundred men on the other side, and both of them were much more relieved, but Karsakov hurriedly ordered his troops to attack with all their might.

As the carriage moved forward a little bit, the gunshots and explosions got closer, and both Cole and Karsakov's brows furrowed. 5,000 people attacked 500 people, how could they have fought for so long and not taken down, and this dense gunfire showed that the battle was very fierce, how could 500 people have such strong firepower.

"Your Excellency the Governor, I'll go to the front line and have a look!" Although there were some worries, Kohl and Karsakov did not expect a defeat, so the two were not particularly nervous. Kohl said hello to Karsakov and got out of the carriage, he wanted to go to the front line to see the development of the Manchurian Army over the years.

Under the protection of a dozen guards, he reached the front line, and without even raising the binoculars, Cole was stupid, and he seemed to be back in the Malay Peninsula. The battlefield was on a slightly undulating hill, and the Manchurian Army was indeed on the march, as the Russian officers said, they encountered the Russian army on the march, and they did not have a chance to block the road, but only occupied a commanding height on the side of the road. However, the situation was very different from what the officer said, the Manchurian army was indeed small in number, only about one battalion, but after they occupied the high ground, they had already built a ring of fortifications.

If the Russian army rushes forward with one mind, the Manchurian army will definitely not be able to stop everyone, but they occupy the commanding heights and can block the road with dense bullets and small-caliber artillery, and the cavalry and infantry of the Russian army can endure casualties and can rush over, but they can't pass the baggage. No matter how strong the Russian army is, there is no way to go to Udiskoye without carrying a baggage, and hunger can starve them to death on the road. So the Russian army had to conquer the ring fortifications of the Manchurian army, drive them away, and open the way for the baggage convoys. But the situation on the battlefield reminded Cole of the time when he was besieging Wong Chung Min in the Malay Peninsula, because he saw one after another corpses lying on the battlefield on the road. Cole silently watched the Russian attack, and then he concluded that he was in big trouble this time.

The Manchurian infantry battalion was equipped with only two 70-mm infantry guns, but this also gave the Manchurian army an advantage. The Russian artillery, which was dominated by Cossack cavalry, was very little equipped, and even after receiving British assistance, it could only be assigned to the regimental level. The two cavalry regiments of the Russian army really had more than ten artillery pieces, but they could only be beaten. The range of Armstrong's twelve-pound run was only about 2,000 meters, while the range of the Manchurian infantry could reach more than 2,800 meters, so the Russian artillery would be hit by the Manchurian army as soon as it appeared. The power of nearly four kilograms of high-explosive shells is still very impressive, so after only a few rounds, half of the Russian army's Armstrong artillery has been scrapped.

The Russian army, which is backward in military thinking, is still playing with a three-hundred-yard bayonet charge. The dense woolly bears shouted "Ula" to charge, which was indeed very imposing, but in the face of twelve water-cooled heavy machine guns with a rate of fire of 600 rounds per minute, they were simply looking for death, and the result was really death one by one. Moreover, while the woolly bears were charging, the Manchurian Army was still bombarding them with a small artillery with a very high rate of fire, and Cole searched for a long time with a telescope, but did not find this small artillery. The power of this artillery is probably a little greater than that of the Manchurian Army*, but the rate of fire is very fast, almost the same as that of a Schneider rifle. Cole, of course, didn't understand these things that Goxinga had made up for the time, after all, it was a small toy that only existed during the Vietnam War - a forty mm* transmitter.

The mid-range rifle that is basically copied from *K has a high rate of fire, high accuracy, and good stability, and can completely beat Schneider. What's worse is that all the Manchurian troops have received long-term and rigorous training, and almost all of them are sharpshooters, but the Russian army all rely on luck to shoot. Even if a few fish slipped through the net and escaped the blockade of heavy machine guns and artillery fire, they would not have a chance to touch the Manchurian fortifications at all.

"Rush hard! We can't delay any longer, these remnants will definitely not be able to break through the fortifications of the Manchurian Army even if they are exhausted, and when the Manchurian Army's backup comes up, we can't rush if we want to! Kohl resolutely put forward his opinion to Karsakov, and Karsakov had no choice but to let the Russian army begin to rush through the Manchurian army's firepower network.

Cole and his party finally rushed over, but less than 1,500 of the 5,000 men remained, and 80 percent of their baggage was lost. It was also their luck that the Manchurian army did not know that they had caught the big fish, otherwise it would be difficult for them to have a chance to escape.