Before Li Liezu gave the order to open artillery, the generals of the Russian Far Eastern Army were completely unprepared for the Chinese attack. Although the former minister to Russia, Kupenschi, resisted his arrogance and sent the 24-hour withdrawal ultimatum submitted by Xie Yitai to Petersburg, the Tsar and the National Defense Committee did not take it seriously, and they were angry that the Chinese dared to reneg on their previous promises, and were thinking that they should order the Far Eastern Army to teach the yellow-skinned monkeys some lessons, so the Far Eastern Army finally got the order to attack immediately, not defend on the spot.

The Great War in Europe had begun, and Admiral Samsolov, who was a little glad that he was about to take down Mukden, suddenly hesitated, he did not know when Petersburg would order his troops to return to Europe to participate in the war, but while he was watching Tieling, Petersburg's telegram ordered him to attack as always, and demanded that he take Mukden as much as possible, which immediately dispelled his previous concerns. In fact, according to his thoughts, he still hoped to continue the war in Manchuria, after all, Mukden was just around the corner. Nine years ago, under the command of the cowardly Kuropatkin, the Russian army retreated all the way from Andong to Siping, and was ridiculed by all countries in the world, and today, in order to save the honor of the Russian army, he vows to fight back Mukden and even Liaoyang.

Admiral Samsolov's idea was very simple, and in fact it was exactly what he did, and for more than a month the weakened Chinese were simply unable to resist his ferocious attack, just like the cowardly Russian army commanded by Kuropatkin ten years ago, who retreated from the banks of the Songhua River to outside Mukden. And the prediction that the Chinese would have a conspiracy suggested by the Japanese staff officers was shattered again and again, and was finally ridiculed by all the officers, until last month when the Russian army occupied Tieling. The Japanese have completely shut up.

During lunch, Admiral Samsolov was cutting the steak thinking about the prophecies of the Japanese staff officers. A smile burst into his face. He thought it was the Japanese who were jealous of themselves, compared to their inability to defeat the Chinese. The Far Eastern Army led by himself is about to occupy Mukden, and they must be very unhappy.

"Mr. Yamamoto, when will your army be able to occupy Beijing?" Looking at the Japanese liaison officer, who was laboriously cutting beef, Admiral Samsolov suddenly asked. He knew that this problem would embarrass the Japanese, but he was about to occupy Mukden, and he had to know the plans of the friendly forces.

Yamamoto Ritsuzo was a liaison officer sent by the Manchurian Army to the Russian army, and he originally wanted to provide some information about the Chinese army to the Lucia army, so that friendly forces could attract more Chinese troops. The Chinese army, which did not want to resist from the north, seemed to be another army, and they had to retreat or retreat. This qiē made him hard to believe. Watching Lucia's army march south step by step to the outside of Mukden City, while the Japanese army was still stagnant in the mountains of Liaodong, this really made him extremely discouraged.

When Yamamoto Ryuzo was thinking about what the Japanese army would do after the Lucian army occupied Mukden, Samsolov asked himself, and he had to put down his knife and fork and say: "The headquarters has not ...... yet"

As Yamamoto said, he suddenly heard the sound of a whistling train, and then listened carefully and realized that it was not a train, but a cannonball. After the rumbling explosion, the generals who were having dinner in the room were all startled. They are not worried about the Chinese firing, but are surprised at why China has so many artillery.

The more Admiral Samsolov listened, the more wrong he became, and after a few minutes of shelling, he finally put down his knife and fork. After wiping his mouth with a napkin, he ordered his adjutant, "Immediately ask the front, what do the Chinese want to do?" ”

The call from the command went to the front command. However, after a short time after the call, the phone line seemed to be broken. The headquarters was located in a village on the south bank of the Pan River, eighteen versts from the front line. Staff officers who did not know the situation at the front immediately sent signal corps to the front to inquire about the state of the battle. On the other end of the telephone line, in the town of Waist Fort, the front-line headquarters, Lieutenant General Misichenko, who had a premonition that the Chinese were going to attack in a big way, put down the lifeless phone. shouted: "Send a herald to tell the officers on the front line, never take a step back!" ”

Under the boundless sound of artillery, even if Lieutenant General Misichchenko did not give the order, the officers at the front could not retreat. After he gave the order, Chief of Staff Ivanov immediately said, "General, the Chinese are shelling the mountains on the east side, considering that they have so many artillery, it seems that the troops defending the Japanese on the southern front should be transferred over, and we should transfer the reserves to the direction of the mountains." ”

According to the law of attack, the point of shelling is the point of attack, and since the Chinese are crazy about shelling there, they must want to break through from that side, but why should they choose the mountainous area? Lieutenant General Misichenko hesitated, and when the chief of staff saw him like this, he guessed: "General, maybe you can attack from the mountainous side or not cross the Wanquan River." ”

The sound of artillery outside was earth-shattering, and for a long time, Missichko grabbed the cup that was about to be shaken off the table by the shelling, and finally nodded: "Okay." The 2nd Division was ordered to go to the mountainous side and be sure to stop the Chinese attack. ”

"Yes!" When the chief of staff heard this, he immediately began to make phone calls.

According to the law of the offensive, the artillery point is the attack point, but for the 1st Armored Division, too much artillery will make the ground uneven, and at the same time, the Russian artillery is far more cunning than the Japanese, and they are also the same as the Renaissance Army, there are several artillery positions, so it is not appropriate to clear the Russian artillery with artillery shelling, and now there are dive bombers in the sky, and the work of the artillery will be handed over to them, and their own artillery only needs to draw the attention of the Russian army.

Under the gloomy sky, Major General Li Yinpei, the commander of the 1st Armored Brigade, who had moved to his own trench, stood on the chariot, leaning out of the command tower and looking at the side of the Russian army with a telescope. Like their own, the Russian trenches have no beauty at all, and the hideous barbed wire fence is already as yellow as mud because of the rain, and because it has been on the attacking side, these barbed wire fences are only two to three meters thick, which is very thin; The barbed wire fence is the first trench of the Russian army in the past more than 50 meters, because of the experience of the Russo-Japanese War, the Russians used the wood and tile beams collected from everywhere to build a roof on the trench to keep out the rain, this roof is not high, but flush with the top of the trench.

Imagining the frightened expressions of those Russian Maozi who were cowering in the hole under the roof when they first saw the chariot when they charged for a while, Li Yinpei had a rare smile on his face. He put down his binoculars and took out his pocket watch, and when he saw that there were still ten minutes before the attack, he immediately said into the wired microphone: "Start the engine." ”

"Yes. Start the engine! The driver in the car pressed the button while repeating the command, and the motor driven by the battery turned hard for a while. Only then did the diesel engine start. As two sixty-horsepower diesel engines came into operation, the body of the chariot and the human body trembled to their rhythm. Ordinary people may find it difficult to endure the noise and vibration. However, Li Yinpei liked the chariot that was in motion, and only at this time could he feel that this chariot with a length of 5.3 meters and a width of 2.6 meters was alive.

The engine of the command vehicle was activated, and the communication corps in the vehicle also sent the command to start the engine to the commanders at all levels via guò radio, and soon, the combat vehicles behind them were started, and the cavalry and tank cavalry following the advance of the armored brigade were also ready to attack. At twelve thirty o'clock, with the start of the command vehicle. The entire assault corps rushed to the Russian trench a kilometer away under the astonished gaze of the trench infantry.

At the forefront were more than 80 Wolf Type 1 chariots with the most thick armor, followed by more than 130 Jackal light chariots, and more than 200 chariots forming a box-shaped assault formation with a frontal width of 2.5 kilometers. According to the previous training experience, the combat vehicle did not assault at the highest speed, but approached the Russian trench at a low speed to create panic, and only when it approached the Russian trench for more than 100 meters, the driver would accelerate to ensure that the combat vehicle could rush through the wide trenches.

As soon as the huge array of chariots rushed out of their trenches, they were discovered by the lookout posts of the Russian army on the opposite side, and they saw such a black pressure on a group of approaching monsters. The animals were shocked and could only shout. As the tanks approached, the Russian troops in the first trench and the second trench all came out to look at the ugly and strange monsters suspiciously, while the machine guns in the trenches were 'bang-......bang-bang' under the command of the officer. But when they saw that the machine gun bullets could only tickle these monsters, the soldiers began to stand on their legs, and the rifles in their hands became extremely heavy.

Russian machine-gun fire continued. The several vehicles that rushed forward were impatiently aimed at it with a single shot, although the 37mm shells were not very powerful. But the Russian soldiers who saw that the monster was both invulnerable and could fire and bombard were all in chaos. Several soldiers shouted that the 'devil' threw down his rifles, crawled out of the trenches, and fled. One man ran away with a group of people, especially when he saw that these devils were not afraid of the mines in front of the barbed wire, and they uprooted the barbed wire without much effort, and all the gray animals in the trenches that could move swarmed out like ants.

The enemy finally fled, and Li Yinpei wanted this effect, and when he saw this, he ordered loudly: "Speed up!" Hasten! Strafing! Strafing! As soon as he finished speaking, under the driver's action, the gears clicked a few times, and the battlefield body suddenly slammed, and the speed had been raised to the maximum. The driver, who had finished accelerating, stepped on the accelerator, but his hand pulled the trigger of the machine gun, and the sound of the machine gun suddenly drowned out the sound of the engine.

The chariots that are constantly smoking are advancing, and the chariots that are constantly firing furiously are advancing. Mines are not obstacles, barbed wire is not an obstacle, and the trenches that are more than three meters wide are not obstacles, this qiē obstacle is at most to make the brave assault chariot jolt a few times, and in the blink of an eye, the chariot rushed through the first trench and rushed towards the second trench of the Russian army.

The speed of the chariot was twenty kilometers, and the Russian army in the second trench a few hundred meters away from the rapid assault did not wait for the monster to advance and retreated frantically, Li Yinpei, who saw this scene, said loudly: "Hurry up, hurry up!" ”

When the Russian army was running desperately, the chariot assault phalanx rear chariot engineers, self-propelled artillery, and mounted infantry rushed forward from the road along their opening, and behind these troops, there were three divisions of the 6th Army, because there were not enough horses, these infantry would accompany them in simple clothes, and the task was to occupy Tieling County in the rear of the Russian General Headquarters, as long as the movement reached here, then the door for the retreat of the 200,000 Russian troops was completely closed.

The speed of the infantry march is ten kilometers per hour, and the speed of the cavalry in order to maintain horsepower is only fifteen kilometers, which is not enough to keep up with the chariot troops, as a response, more than 200 chariots are specially equipped with handles and pedals to carry six to eight infantry, but this more than 1,000 infantry is not enough, fortunately, the rivers in southern Liaoning are dense, five kilometers behind the Russian trench is the Wanquan River, and fifteen kilometers behind the Wanquan River is the Fanhe, and the past ten kilometers of the Panhe River is the Tieling County on the north side of the county. It was the chariot unit that had just broken through the Russian trench and stopped by the Xinwanquan River, which was more than ten meters wide because it was too deep and could only be opened after the engineer troops had built a bridge.

While waiting for the bridge to be built, Li Yinpei opened the roof and saw bombers flying in the sky, and they were all circling around the Russian artillery on the other side of the river like vultures. There were also planes that dived again, as the bombs exploded. There was a lot of black smoke on the ground.

The earth is its own people, and the heavens are its own people. Li Yinpei didn't know why he suddenly became excited, he ordered the command vehicle to rush to the river where the bridge was being built, and watched the sappers pound the top cover and shouted: "Hurry up!" Hurry up! Don't let the Russian Maozi run, don't let the Russian Maozi run. ”

The brigade commander was urging, the engineer battalion commander was also urging, and the boat bridge troops were indeed well-trained, and as soon as the pontoons were pushed into the river, the sappers hurriedly connected them, and in less than ten minutes, the two iron pontoon bridges were built. A puff of black smoke from the command vehicle was the first to rush across the pontoon. The first to rush to the Russian command headquarters. Fifteen kilometers past the Wanquan River is the Pan River, and on the south bank of the Pan River is the General Headquarters of the Russian Army, where General Samsolov of the Russian Far East Army Corps is located.

General Samsolov did not know that he was already the target of a certain Baath Army officer, and the shelling of the Baxing Army stopped after half an hour, and the attack that was supposed to be launched was not reported by the front command, and just when everyone in the command thought that this was just a bluff of the Chinese, the staff officer who rushed in outside shouted: "General." Plane! Lots of planes! ”

Samsolov looked at the frightened staff officers, and wanted to show a fearless composure, but as the staff officers who rushed out also shouted loudly, he had to walk outside the house. in the telescope. He saw countless black dots in the southern sky, some hovering, some swooping like seabirds. While he was thinking about what they were doing there, Ivanovo, the chief of staff next to him, exclaimed, "Oh. God, there are artillery positions! ”

"Really? Ivan. Are they dropping bombs there? Samsolov was shocked but still forced to compose, "I don't think they can do this task, the plane is too weak, it can carry pilots except ......"

While the commander was commenting on the plane, several staff officers pointed to the sky and shouted: "Here it is!" Here it comes! They flew over! Following the direction pointed by several staff officers, several black dots were getting closer and closer, and the military insignia of the Baath Army on these planes was clearly visible in the telescope.

"Hide now!" The other party did not come with good intentions, and some staff officers shouted a concealment slogan, but in the face of the sudden air killer, no one knew how to hide. Just when everyone was stunned, the plane flying in front flashed and suddenly shot a shuttle of bullets. A few planes strafed, others were raised, and when they reached the right height, the nose of the plane sank sharply, and while it dived rapidly, a piercing and strange scream sounded. No one could describe the horror of this scream except for being there, and there was no scream that could make people tremble so much, and just as everyone was trembling with fright, smaller black dots fell from the plane, and with a 'boom', the bomb exploded in the crowd.

A plane dropped a bomb, a group of planes dropped bombs, in less than five minutes, the village where the headquarters was located was razed to the ground, looking at the enemy headquarters that had become ruins and was constantly smoking, the god of death in the sky was still hovering in the air uneasily, and they would repeatedly strafe any suspicious place with airborne machine guns, in order to completely destroy the command center of the Russian army.

The General Command was bombed, the Front Command was occupied, most of the telephones were cut off, and the entire Russian Far Eastern Corps did not know what was happening. When Li Yinpei assaulted the bank of the Pan River, a trench somewhere on the front line was broken through by the Chinese, and the news of the Revival Army's advance in depth reached the division commander of the front and Lieutenant General Camfu of the 2nd Army Corps. His headquarters had just been swept away by dive bombers, but it was made of logs and earth, and those tens of kilograms of small bombs could not completely blow it up.

"The troops must retreat immediately." Lieutenant General Kamfu gave orders for many years, and while he was thinking about the map in his head, he finally affirmed: "Tieling must be occupied to ensure the safety of the whole army!" Order the cavalry troops to rush to Tieling County immediately! ”

"Yes! Checkmate! The captain of the guards, who had been temporarily captured by the lieutenant general, shouted loudly. He fully understood the current situation, once the rear was occupied by the Chinese, then his army would be surrounded in this small area cut by the river.

"General, maybe we should erect a pontoon bridge over the Liao River." A staff officer prompted.

"See the bomb-throwing birds, are you sure we can put the pontoon bridge?" The lieutenant general retorted loudly. "The only way now is to retreat to Tieling, where there is a strong railway bridge. To the north of the river is the mountains, where we can only build a defensive line and gather the routed troops. The lieutenant general finished his plan. Thinking of Samsolov, who had set up his headquarters extremely high for bravery, he prayed sincerely: "I hope that damned Samsolov can also know the importance of Tieling County." ”

Once again, cross the Pan. The sun had already set in the west, and it was already two o'clock in the afternoon—though the chariot could have been faster. But in order to coordinate with the mounted infantry, Li Yinpei could only order the assault corps to drive at a moderate speed. After crossing the river without transitioning, he finally couldn't see the panicked Russian soldiers who had nowhere to escape, in front, ten kilometers away in Tieling County, is the back door of the entire Russian Far East Army, occupy here, and all Russian troops will be locked in the encirclement.

"Commander, Uechu has crossed the Panhe. Rushed to Tieling County. "The chief of staff received a telegram from the front and hurriedly reported the news to Li Liezu, who had been waiting for a long time.

"Good!" Li Liezu, who was silent for a long time at the map, finally spoke up. His hand slapped heavily on Tieling and said, "It seems that there is a division of the Russian army stationed here." ”

"Yes! But judging by the resistance encountered by the armored division to break through the two trenches in front of the Russian army, the infantry division could not do much for them. The chief of staff shook his head, if it weren't for the black and white letters on the telegram, he couldn't believe that the armored division could advance to Tieling County so quickly.

"Send it to the theater command. Transferring the situation of the war to the public, it is estimated that the prime minister has been waiting. Li Liezu stood up and said, only then did he feel hungry.

Telegrams were sent from the headquarters of the 6th Army to the theater of operations. After the communications officer read the telegram, Chief of Staff Huang Fujin said with a smile: "The day before the army was raised, it was used for a while, and this time the 1st Armored Division is in the limelight. ”

He said so. Qi Qingyuan, who looked at the staff officer's latest markings on the map, said: "Inform the Meihekou side, and immediately launch an attack on Siping, even if you can't destroy the Russian army." Drag it too. Also, the gentleman will send a report immediately. Sue sù He Our army broke through to Shun lì and was about to occupy the county seat of Tieling. Completely block the retreat of the Russian army. ”

"Yes!" The communications officer replied, saluted, and went out.

Looking at the staff officer who turned away, Huang Fujin asked, "Qingyuan, what do you say will happen next?" Will we attack North Korea first, or will Beijing annihilate the Zhili Dispatch Army first? ”

"Of course, we first defeated the Japanese army in front of us, and then entered Korea." Although he did not receive an order for further action, Qi Qingyuan still believed that the next big battle would be in the Northeast.

"Why?" Huang Fujin asked, "Wouldn't it be that both sides are at war at the same time?" If we defeat the Manchurian army, isn't that tantamount to telling the Japanese army in Gyeonggi that we want to encircle and annihilate them? ”

"This is true from a military point of view, but not from a political point of view." Qi Qingyuan said with a smile. "We don't dare to talk about the annihilation of the Russian army, and no one can see the defeat of the Japanese army in Liaodong, maybe some people think that the Japanese army took the initiative to retreat. But Gyeonggi is in full view, do you think, if the Japanese army on the other side of Zhili heard that the Japanese army in the northeast was completely defeated, how low would the morale of the occupied Korea be? Obviously, the Japanese army wants to capture Beijing, but now we have surrounded and annihilated them, what will the foreigners think of us after this battle? What will the great powers think of us?

The ancients said that killing chickens and monkeys is to make an example of monkeys, when Japan fought Russia in the end, there was only a sue for peace, and all the foreign legations in Japan became embassies overnight, and now we are encircling and annihilating the Japanese who once defeated Russia under the noses of foreigners. In the first afternoon, the Japanese stepped on the head of the Manchu Qing Dynasty to ascend to the throne, and now we are stepping on their bones to rise. ”

Qi Qingyuan shouted happily, while the Germans in Yang Rui's mansion in Beijing were very entangled, seeing that it was almost half past two, but they had not yet waited for the so-called good news. Xin Ci muttered in his heart, you must know that the return of Qingdao and the various concessions and the attack on the Russian army are interrelated, if the revival army does not attack the Russian army, then Qingdao and several concessions will not be so easy to return.

Are the Chinese deceiving? When Xin Ci was thinking about this question, Li Zilong outside the door suddenly shouted a report and came in with a telegram, because there were outsiders present, he didn't read it, but just handed the telegram to Yang Rui.

In the expectant eyes of the Germans, Yang Rui gently scanned the telegram and handed it to Rutte with a smile. (To be continued......)