Ben Hiroshima, Vladivostok Dispatch Army Headquarters.

Seaplane photographs of the Vladivostok fortress after the artillery battle have been sent to Muto Nobuyoshi's desk. In the photo, the entire fortified area in the southern part of Russky Island is in ruins, and there are huge bomb craters everywhere. That was the damage caused by the bombardment of the battleship's main guns. As an army officer, Muto couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine when he saw this kind of scene...... Claimed to be the strongest fortress in the world, it became like this after several hours of close bombardment by the main guns of eight battleships! I really don't know what weapons in this world can defeat such a behemoth as a battleship?

“…… Your Excellency, Commander, I have just received information that the infantry of the two infantry divisions of the Soviet Red Army, assembled in Boli, without artillery and baggage, marched in a hurry to the east. ”

Major General Toshiichi Terauchi, Chief of Staff of the Dispatch Army, hurriedly crashed into Muto Nobuyoshi's office without even knocking on the door. Before he could stand still, he shouted and waved a copy of the telegram, his face full of indescribable excitement.

"I didn't carry cannons and baggage...... A hurried march to the east? These Soviets are going to ......" Muto Nobuyoshi seemed to suddenly realize something, hurriedly took out a military map from the drawer, searched for it for a while, and then stretched out his finger, pointed to a small port called Port Soviet, and laughed:

"They were going to the port of Sovets, and then they were going by boat to the island of Huatai (Sakhalin). Sure enough, that's good news! Please sit down and tell us what you think. ”

Terauchi Shouichi only remembered his faux pas at this time, and hurriedly saluted Muto Nobuyoshi, and then pulled a chair and sat down opposite Muto.

"Your Excellency, Commander." Picking up the red and blue pencils inserted in the pen holder, the temple drew the location of the Second Fleet of the Navy on the military map, and said with a smile:

"The flotilla of the 2nd Fleet and the 2nd Transport Division and the 8th Division are now sailing to the seas south of Katai Island (Sakhalin...... The lowly proposal was to change the original plan for landing at the mouth of the Amur River and to shift the direction of operations to the Soviet port. Taking advantage of the firepower of the armored cruisers attached to the Second Fleet, plus the superiority of the 2nd and 8th Divisions, the two Soviet infantry divisions without heavy weapons were annihilated in one fell swoop. Then quickly advance along the road from Sovetskaya Port to Boli in an effort to capture Boli before Soviet reinforcements arrive and cut off the back road to Vladivostok! If possible...... We can also take the first fortress in the Far East for the Empire! ”

"Take Vladivostok?" A smug smile suddenly slipped across Muto Nobuyoshi's face, and the honor of defeating the first fortress in the Far East would almost certainly earn him the rank of marshal...... And a knighthood bestowed upon him by His Majesty the Emperor! Just like the father of Shouichi Terauchi in front of him, Masaki Terauchi, he also got an earl or something to leave for his children and grandchildren to do?

Terauchi Shouichi took out another telegram like a trick, and handed it to Muto with a smile: "The Kwantung Army has sent a secret telegram, they have found a way to enter the Soviet border and destroy the railway line. It is through the border near the Great Khing'an Mountains, and there is certainly no problem with friends from the Chinese side leading the way. In this battle, I said that this empire has won a complete victory after all! Perhaps the Primorsky region of the Soviet Far East would also be part of the empire!! ”

Muto Nobuyoshi frowned, and glanced at Terauchi Shouichi with a complicated expression: "But...... Neither His Excellency the Prime Minister nor the Ministry of War want to escalate the situation...... What they meant was to teach the USSR a hard lesson, and then get some reparations...... At most, it is the North Island of Huatai Island (Sakhalin Island). ”

The temple waved his hand indifferently and said with a smile: "It is within the duty of His Majesty the Emperor to open up territory for the empire and establish immortal deeds, as long as His Majesty the Emperor knows our merits...... That's all right! ”

…… At the foot of the Great Khing'an Mountains in the northeast, on the Sino-Soviet border on the bank of the Heilongjiang River.

This is the territory of Wang Zhongyi's department, which hung the sign of the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Now this very complex force has expanded to nearly 30,000 people, and almost the entire Daxinganling area is under its control. The situation is even better than Luo Yaoguo's original plan, mainly because the 18th Division of the National Revolutionary Army is now stationed in the Songbei camp in Harbin. The Joint Logistics Command of the National Revolutionary Army can justifiably transport weapons and ammunition to the northeast in a steady stream. The logistics department of the 18th Division can also purchase grain and materials in the northeast in an open and honest manner, and no one will meddle in the matter even if the amount of procurement is particularly huge. After all, in this era, what soldier's head doesn't do business at home? It's normal to catch up with the army's baggage troops and do some grain trading...... Therefore, under Luo Yaoguo's continuous transportation of the "Soviet area" of the Great Xing'an Mountains, it is difficult for Wang Zhongyi's team not to expand.

Because this army was labeled as the "Red Army", it did not do the serious work of the Red Army, but was keen to do some miscellaneous business with the Soviet Union opposite. It is often possible to get some light industrial products from South China to trade with Soviet merchants on the other side of the Heilongjiang River, so now there is a small trade transit station on the edge of the Heilongjiang River. A large number of simple wooden houses and a small temporary wharf are built on the banks of the Heilongjiang River. Merchants from the Soviet Union and outside the Great Khing'an Mountains set up countless stalls on this town that suddenly appeared, trading all kinds of goods, which made the people who had just arrived a little stunned.

This biao people and horses, even in the warm spring, wear leather jackets, which is a must-have dress for people in the Northeast all year round. There is a large temperature difference between day and night here, and it is very easy to catch a cold if you don't sleep at night, and it is not easy to do it without medical treatment in the wild. At this time, many people took off the sleeves of their leather jackets and put them on their waists, revealing the long daggers inserted in their waists. These people are all riding Liaodong horses, with long manes that are not trimmed, and they can't stop shaving hooves and squirting there, and they don't know how long they have been waiting. Each man carried a Min-12 submachine gun made by the Guangdong Shijing Arsenal, and a shell gun with the Mauser trademark produced by the Hanyang Arsenal in his waist. At first glance, you can see that it has a great background, but no one dares to come forward to talk to you.

The first one was actually a very short middle-aged man, with relatively fair skin, a neatly trimmed mustache, and two bright eyes, revealing a little fierce light. Beside him was a slender young man, dressed in a cotton robe and a melon-skin hat, who looked like a young master of a landlord's family.

"Mr. Yan, here...... Is it really the Soviet zone? The short middle-aged man looked at the young man next to him with a surprised expression on his face.

The young man surnamed Yan smiled: "Itagaki-kun has been to other Soviet districts in the past? Do you think this place is different from theirs? ”

That short middle-aged man is actually Seishiro Itagaki! And the team he was carrying...... Naturally, it is a special attack team directly under the Kwantung Army! As the fattest villain in the army, Itagaki is in charge of a mission to sabotage the Trans-Siberian railway line in the Soviet Union this time! And that young man who is always happy is the "Han Jian" who is responsible for leading the way for the imperial army, and Wan Yanhao, a big Kuomintang spy under the pseudonym Mr. Yan!!

"Itagaki-kun is a Chinese expert, so I'm afraid he doesn't know the Soviet Union very well, right? At present, the Soviet Union is engaged in a new economic movement...... It is to restore capitalism and take the capitalist road...... Yours, understand? Wan Yanhao still looked like he was giggling, and used some new terms wholesaled from Luo Yaoguo to fool Itagaki Seishiro.

"Take the capitalist road? Wasn't Stalin the one in power who took the capitalist road? Why, then, does he support the GC-ists in our own country against capitalism? Itagaki shook his head in confusion and asked again, "Mr. Yan, when can we cross the river?" ”

Wan Yanhao took out a pocket watch from his arms and looked at it, and said with a smile: "It's five o'clock in the afternoon, and when it gets dark at seven o'clock, a boat will send you over...... Twenty kilometers from the river is the railway line, and if you return from the same route halfway through, I will arrange for a boat to meet you. ”

"Then please Mr. Yan." Itagaki Seishiro solemnly bowed down to Wan Yanhao, and then sighed softly, looking at the wide river surface of the Heilongjiang River to the north. I silently prayed in my heart that I could complete this bombing mission and do my part to win this war for the Great Empire! He knew that only by winning the war against the Soviet Union could he force them to give up their ambitions for Manchuria, and then he could join forces with them to carve up China!

…… It was late at night on May 8, 1927.

The Soviet port, on the west coast of the Tatar Strait, has now become a huge barracks. Beginning this morning, more than 20,000 Soviet workers' and peasants' Red Army troops arrived one after another. However, these heroic Bolshevik fighters, when they arrived at the Soviet port, looked like a disarray. One by one was panting, and the military uniforms were mostly soaked with sweat. These lads now have nothing on them except rifle bullets and a somewhat wet military uniform! But considering that they came here from Khabarovsk (Boly), 400 kilometers away, they ran on two legs...... This embarrassment is understandable.

Thousands of residents of Port Sovetskaya were also mobilized in the past two days, laying down their livelihoods to prepare food and camps for the soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army who had come from afar. So that these tired young men can have a fragrant hot meal, and then Meimei can sleep well, regain her strength and spirit, and go to Sakhalin Island across the strait to teach the devil a lesson!

But these Soviet boys, who slept soundly, never dreamed that they would not need to take a boat to Sakhalin to teach the devils a lesson...... Because thousands of them had secretly landed in the village of Vanino in the north of Soviets Harbor last night. Killed every Russian he saw along the way, and quietly approached the port of Soviets. Now these devils have taken control of the mountains northwest of Soviets Harbor and have set up a secret artillery observation post on it!

The residential area of the port of Sovetskaya was built right next to the Tatar Strait, and to the north of the residential area was a small bay, on the southern shore of which the port was built. Now more than 20,000 Soviet Red officers and soldiers are sleeping in thousands of tents set up in the open space above the residential area of Sovietport, and even the sentry in charge of the sentry is a little groggy. No one noticed that a large fleet was sailing slowly in the sea east of Sovetskaya Port.

This fleet was the Second Fleet of the Navy, which was commanded by Vice Admiral Yasuhei Yoshikawa. Their original mission was to land at the mouth of the Amur River and occupy Temple Street as a base. Then, with several first-class coastal defense ships as the main force, together with the 2nd and 8th Divisions of the Army, they advanced along the Amur River in the direction of Boli.

To carry out this mission, the Second Fleet brought a total of eight so-called "first-class coastal defense ships". These old-fashioned warships were all armored cruisers built before the Russo-Russian War, and most of them also participated in the Battle of Tsushima. Although this kind of warship is completely outdated in terms of surname, they have large-caliber guns of more than 200mm and thick armor protection, and their displacement is mostly around 10,000 tons.

Now these eight "first-class coastal defense ships" are slowly forming an artillery formation under the cover of night. Like the battleships of the four days when they bombarded the fortress of Vladivostok, they also discharged two columns. The turret slowly turned, and more than a hundred naval guns of 203mm caliber and 152mm caliber raised their barrels and pointed their muzzles at the residential area of Port Sovet several kilometers away! A thick high-explosive round was loaded into the chamber, and the gunners were eager to wait for the order to fire.

The flagship of the Second Fleet was the Izumo "First Class Coastal Defense Ship", and the commander of the fleet, Vice Admiral Yoshikawa Yasuhei, was standing solemnly in the command tower, holding a telescope in his hand, pretending to look at the dark night sky.

"It's time to go! Good job...... Avenge His Majesty the Emperor! Yoshikawa nodded heavily at the staff officers around him, shouted the slogan of revenge for the emperor, and also kicked off the night attack on Soviet Port.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ……”

More than 100 heavy guns on the eight "first-class coastal defense ships" on the sea suddenly began to roar. Although it is not as good as the scene when the battleship's main guns fire. But after all, these are 203mm and 152mm cannons! If it is placed in the army, it is almost equivalent to the total number of heavy artillery owned by four field heavy artillery wings! And it also has 203mm caliber heavy guns that the field heavy artillery wing does not have!

Bursts of dazzling firelight suddenly appeared on the surface of the sea, and then there were bursts of deafening loud noises! Almost instantly, more than a hundred giant shells dragging orange-red tail flames flew over a short distance of kilometers, all of them slamming down on the ground of Port Sovet like Thor's hammer!

Explosions began to pound the ground violently, and this time more than 20,000 Soviet infantry and thousands of innocent Soviet people were directly exposed to the huge shells spewed out by the huge cannons of the warships! There is no cover, no cover, and no means to fight back! The boys, who had been forced on march for four days, had no weapons other than rifles and machine guns.

But fortunately, the pain of being hit by a 203mm shell is not ...... Very long. Often before you have time to feel the pain, it is already reduced to pieces!! At this moment, the residential area on the south bank of Sovetskaya Harbour is hell on earth, oh, hell, there is no human ...... The huge 203mm cannonball exploded into a violent wave of air, sweeping through countless high-speed rotating shell fragments, scattering and splashing at elusive angles, all of which is a scene that can only be found in hell, how can it appear on earth? The Port of Sovets seemed to be experiencing a powerful earthquake, and the earth shook violently, as if the whole world had been distorted. All the houses have either collapsed or are falling. The people who survived for the time being, as if they did not know that they were dead, held their heads in their hands, their bodies pressed against the ground, and shouted the names of God, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and Marx and Lenin, praying that these gods could send down miracles to save their souls and **. But what waits for is often a huge cannonball that ends the suffering!

I don't know how long it took? The sound of the landslide and tsunami finally faded away, and after a few more minutes, with the last dull roar, the nightmarish shelling finally ended. However, the survivors did not have time to mourn the dead, bandage the wounded, and rejoice in their luck. A new catastrophe is about to strike!

Syllable! Syllable! Click...... Gunshots rang out one after another. This is...... After the artillery bombardment, from the hill northwest of the port of Soviets, a detachment of the Japanese army, under the personal command of the commander of the second division, Lieutenant General Inoue, launched the first and only onslaught with the determination of 5,000 men to attack at a time!

The last time Inoue himself witnessed the entire process of the shelling just now. Now he was standing on the high ground outside Sovietport, surrounded by a staff officer, waiting quietly for the plaster flag, a symbol of the Empire, to be raised over Sovietport. He didn't have the slightest doubt about the victory of tonight's raid, the only regret was that it was so easy! How could an enemy, completely exposed to the fire of the huge guns of armored cruisers, without any fortifications and cover, and bombarded by more than a hundred huge guns for a whole hour, still be able to fight? If the Second Division even loses this kind of battle, he, the division commander, will simply commit suicide by seppuku.

…… Almost at the same time as the cannon fire in the Soviet Port was fired, a violent explosion was also heard on a railway bridge about 20 kilometers northeast of the Amur River (Heilongjiang). As a huge fireball rises, the Siberian railway bridge connecting the Primorsky region of the Soviet Far East has finally been cut off by the special agents! Within a few days of the start of the war, the balance of victory or defeat in the Second Russo-Russian War quickly tipped to the side of the imperialists! Another unprecedented victory of militarism seems to be within reach......

(To be continued)