At the time of Yang Rui's meeting with him, the headquarters of the Central Asian Renaissance Army, Almaty, the commander of the new Japanese Army, Masaki Terauchi, the chief of staff, Yoshiichi Tanaka, and Kazunari Ugaki, were discussing the combat strategy for entering Russia with Yang Zengxin, governor of the Western Regions, Peng Qingpeng, commander of the Central Asian Military Region, and Xu Jingxi, chief of staff.

After the Sino-Japanese War, the Japanese Army was reduced to seven divisions, which was basically a return to the size of the army before the First Sino-Japanese War. However, the good news to the army red deer is that because China and Japan want to jointly find trouble for Lucia in Central Asia, the army will be demobilized after half of the cut, not only demobilization, but also step up combat readiness, and spend a lot of money to build a national reserve like China.

Just when the people were at a loss and thought that the army was going to send troops to Europe, a news suddenly came out that Lucia had suspended the alliance with the Entente countries, imprisoned the tsar and defected to the Central Powers, and the Imperial Army went on this expedition to help Lucia Tsar restore the country, and the reward for the restoration was New Japan.

It has been the seventh year of Taisho since the term "new Japan" was coined by the Japanese press. At this time, the great powers had already recognized China's right to annex the Russian steppe governorate and the outer sea prefecture, and did not want China, the contractor, to sign a contract here, and as soon as they turned around, they subcontracted a small half of the land to Japan. After the loss of Korea and Taiwan, more than 500,000 square kilometers were gone, but now a new Japan of more than 400,000 square kilometers has suddenly appeared, and the previous psychological emptiness has suddenly been filled. The policemen and bureaucrats who had been repatriated to Japan from North Korea and Taiwan immediately had a new place to go.

The most important thing is that the new Japan is different from the Korean Taiwan. It is vast and sparsely populated, with just over a million indigenous people. After the removal of Russian immigrants, there was no problem at all in emigrating tens of millions of people. As a result, with the emperor's instructions, the cabinet's approval, the willingness of the warlords, and the support of the chaebols, plus those who only had a share of the land in their eyes, the entire Yamato nation was instantly united as one, and those who could fight lined up to sign up to join the army, and those who could not fight lined up to buy war bonds, which was much more active than during the Sino-Japanese war in those years -- winning that time was just a reparation, and this time without fighting got the benefits. It's really different.

The dog's eating appearance is so ugly, and there is even a tendency to swim across the sea with a bare ass to grab it, Yang Rui smiled at it and said nothing. In order to encourage Japanese immigrants, he asked the Western Regions Railway to secretly raise the price by 20% first, and then the ticket price was 20% off for the Japanese, and the little devils with a height of less than 1.2 meters were discounted at half price; At the same time, it was ordered that Japanese markings be added to each station along the railway line, so that little Japan could go all the way well and the robbery would be pleasant.

The agitation and propaganda of public opinion and the friendship and hospitality of China caused a carload of Japanese to cross the sea to the east and travel to the west in less than half a year. More than 100,000 devils have emerged in New Japan, which is more than the Japanese Army.

However, many of these hundreds of thousands of devils are ronins, and some are bankrupt farmers who can't survive, and it is said that once these people leave, the whole of Japan will be better than I don't know how many times. But in this way, the White Russians and Kazakhs in New Japan suffered, but this was already a domestic affair of Japan. It has nothing to do with China, they can toss as much as they like. Again. The plague of the ronin was not only extremely useful in purging White Russia. Fighting a war can also be used as cannon fodder, which is beneficial for ruling Central Asia.

After receiving the notice of the invitation of Yang Zengxin, the governor of the Western Regions, Major General Tanaka Yoshiichi, the chief of staff of the Japanese army, thought that with Japan's current strength, it was not enough to fight against Russia, and if he really wanted to fight, he must recruit those ronins and peasants, but when he arrived at the headquarters meeting, as soon as he saw Xu Jingxi open the curtain and show the situation map of the enemy and us, he found that the battle against Lu was completely different from what he imagined, this was not to attack Kazan, but to attack Tsaritsyn in the lower reaches of the Volga.

Seeing the unambiguous introduction of the enemy situation in the battle plan, he, Terauchi Masatsuki, and Ugaki Kazunari were extremely surprised, because there was no more detailed information than this, and this was simply ...... Did the Ba'ath Army ever be stationed there?

The surprise of the Japanese fell in the eyes of Xu Jingxi and Yang Zengxin, but neither of them gave any explanation, Xu Jingxi said: "This is the situation, if you and we want to achieve our goal at the lowest cost, we must occupy Tsaritsyn this winter, otherwise when Red Russia recovers next year, it will not be on this scale." ”

"Do you have any more definite information about next year?" Hearing that the Red Russia will recover next year, the temple is in question.

"The plague is raging in Europe, and although the war has ceased for the time being, it will not be won for another year, and the German and Austrian countries will surely be defeated by internal collapse. Once Germany and Austria collapse, then Red Russia can not only abolish the Brest Treaty, but also eliminate the threat from the west, and Ukrainian grain can be continuously transported into Russia, and it will be meaningless for us to occupy Tsaritsyn again. Xu Jingxi said. The purpose of our operation this time was very clear, that is, to control the grain and oil routes of Red Russia, so that it could not supply the country, and at the same time, it was impossible to fulfill the Brest contract, and finally had to sue us for peace under the pressure of Germany and Austria. ”

"What if they hold out until the collapse of Germany and Austria and the defeat without suing for peace?" Yoshiichi Tanaka asked. Russia is too big, and even if it hits Kazan, it will only be the geographical center of Russia, and it is really difficult to interfere and destroy Red Russia.

"If that's the case, then we'll see if there is any possibility of joint operations with several other White and Intervention armies. If there is, then we will unite these white armies and intervention armies, and fight a decisive battle with the Red Russia, and the problem of defeating them will be solved naturally. Xu Jingxi said, "If there is no possibility of unity, or if there is no possibility of victory in unity, then we can only withdraw from Tsaritsyn and wait here for a decisive battle with Red Russia." If we win, then everything is fine, if we lose, then ......"

If the war is defeated, there will naturally be nothing, but in fact, this is not a big loss for Japan, if the mountain of corpses and blood comes down, those chaebols may shout halfway to stop retreating, but for Emperor Taisho, the army, and the Japanese people, two consecutive defeats will completely lose hope for the revitalization of Japan, which is unacceptable.

"Then do it!" Tanaka Yoshiichi said a little pretentiously, making the temple next to him frown.

"Your Excellency. Our army will have to wait for the approval of the domestic cabinet to enter the country of Lu,......" Terauchi Masayi said kindly, although he was a quasi-ally. However, the joint Sino-Japanese large-scale invasion of Russia always has to be reported to the cabinet. So the temple as the commander had to be reminded.

Of course, Xu Jingxi knew this procedure, and when he was smiling and silent, Governor Yang Zengxin said: "Your Excellency in the temple does not need to be embarrassed, our prime minister has informed your country's ambassador to China at this time, and a brief battle plan will arrive in your cabinet today. What we mean by this is that the soldiers are very fast, since the Russians do not agree to our demands. If they refuse to negotiate, then this battle should be fought as soon as possible. ”

After Yang Zengxin finished speaking, Commander Peng Qingpeng said again: "Your Excellency in the temple, our army has been mobilized, and the troops will get on the train and go to the harbor tonight; The cavalry corps had already crossed the South Ural and marched towards Astrakhan. I believe that your army can now be mobilized immediately to bring it to the first level of combat readiness. While waiting for news from your cabinet, the troops could even go to Krasnovodsk first. After all, it can be withdrawn before it is on board. ”

Peng Qingpeng's suggestion was understandable, but after briefly looking at the battle plan, Ugaki Issei was still a little worried: "Your Excellency, has Lucia really reached this point?" He then emphasized: "I don't doubt your army's intelligence search ability, I just ...... under the rule of Red Russia."

"Inhumane, isn't it?" Xu Jingxi smiled. He was also surprised to see the report from the Intelligence Bureau.

"Yes, it's unbelievable, the Bolsheviks were also revolutionaries. They....... Ugaki Kazunari shook his head.

"Who says that the revolutionary party is better than the one it overthrows?" The reason that the Japanese came up with made Xu Jingxi feel very funny, "History is not who is the most merciful, although he can win." On the contrary, whoever is the most brutal will win. The Bolsheviks were able to stand out in the Russian Revolutionary Party. In addition to the fact that they are good at taking advantage of public opinion, the rest of the reason is that they are the most brutal. ”

After Xu Jingxi finished speaking, he looked at Terauchi Masayi and Tanaka Yoshi: "The three of you must keep in mind: there is no need to talk about gentlemanly manners and civilized habits about the Bolshevik war, although there are old Russian military officers in their army, but the commander is not interested in this set of things; At the same time, it is not necessarily necessary to follow any international law, everything depends on the actions of the other side, and if the other side has a practice of following international law, then it is not too late for us to follow it. ”

After the situation of the Battle of Tsaritsyn was submitted by Colonel Zhu Jiande's report, the intensity of the war shook the entire Central Asia Command greatly, so Xu Jingxi took the lead to lower the shame of the war, which can basically be said to be desperate for victory. Although the Japanese are brutal in their bones, they are still allies of the United Kingdom, and they have been Westernized for so many years, and they still wear suits and follow the rules, so Xu Jingxi has to be reminded.

After explaining what was to be explained, the pre-war meeting was over. After the Japanese left, Governor Yang Zengxin looked at Xu Jingxi and said, "Is the situation really as good as the intelligence says?" ”

"Well, even if it's bad, it's not bad." Xu Jingxi said. Although it was an expedition, he was confident of victory.

But Yang Zengxin has always been in charge of government affairs, and he doesn't know much about military affairs, so he asked again, "It's a pity that we can't connect the railway in that place in Tsarizin, otherwise the war will be much easier." ”

"Isn't there a canal if the railway can't be connected?" Xu Jingxi said. "The Volga Canal is equivalent to four or five railways, and there is no problem at all in supporting an army of half a million to fight."

"But the canal is not afraid of enemy destruction? Although the water transportation is good, we are not familiar with the situation over there, and once it freezes, it will be troublesome. Yang Zengxin frowned, and he said again, "It's a pity that this place is thousands of miles away from Tsaritsyn, and the army is not afraid of the Russians." ”

The food that came to Comrade Stalin's aid had always been transported in the name of aid to Persia, and only a few people in the Intelligence Bureau and the General Staff really knew about it. This time, when he received a telegram from the Prime Minister that he had decided to do something, Yang Zengxin strategically agreed, but when it came to a real fight, he had an indescribable worry.

"Lord Yang, a lot of the grain that was transported to Persia some time ago was temporarily transferred to Russia." Xu Jingxi unveiled the mystery.

"Is there such a thing?!" Yang Zengxin twisted his beard, almost tearing it off in surprise, he suddenly came to his senses and said, "Could it be that the grain ship in the Caspian Sea has sailed to Tsaritsyn before?" ”

"Exactly." Xu Jingxi nodded, he glanced at Peng Qingpeng, who was listening, and said, "Some things in the Intelligence Bureau are relatively secret. They only informed me some time ago when they moved the grain ship. After the Russians bought grain, the grain ships carried their flags from Astrakhan to the north to Tsaritsyn. The Intelligence Directorate provided detailed information on what was going on along the entire route and what was happening in Tsaritsyn. Now Russia is in the most difficult period. We have the least resistance to our troops at this time. ”

Although Peng Qingpeng knew that the situation in Russia came from the Intelligence Bureau, he didn't want to get it in this way, he thought that this was the information he got in exchange for the last time he transferred active arms from the army, but he didn't want it to be food. "It seems that our food is not so easy to buy." He said with some self-deprecation, and then asked, "Now that the Turks have taken Baku, they have driven the British away." As soon as we send troops, the British will come up and ask us to send troops to Baku, how do you say we should refuse? ”

After Peng Qingpeng finished speaking, he said: "I mean that it is not possible to rely on the canal alone, if you can occupy Baku." Then open the railway from Baku to Astrakhan and Tsaritsyn, and the logistics supply will be much better. ”

"No!" Xu Jingxi immediately objected, "Considering ...... Given the mood of the Muslims in Central Asia, we cannot fight with Turkey. ”

Xu Jingxi's pause made Yang Zengxin and Peng Qingpeng feel a little strange, and he said, "Just because of this? ”

"There are other reasons." Seo Kyung-hee does not deny that "Germany is now mass-producing combat vehicles, that is, they will need more fuel next year." The oil that the Turks had taken from Baku was actually shipped to Europe for delivery to Germany. If we want the war to last longer, we should get enough oil for Germany so that they can maintain a pressure on Russia in the west, and we need that pressure to make Russia compromise. ”

"And what do the British do?" When Yang Zengxin wanted to ask. Peng Qingpeng opened his mouth first. After the British were driven away by the Turkish army, they came to Almaty one after another, and even the Russian Socialist-Revolutionaries and Armenian national independents came to intercede. They wanted China to help them, and the Russian Socialists and Armenians were well dismissed. But the British are not easy to fool. It has always been said that China cannot fight on two fronts, but now the revival army has actually gone north to occupy Tsaritsyn. The previous excuse was bankrupt, and how to deal with Britain and the Entente was a big problem.

"Didn't they support the Bolsheviks against Turkey before?" Xu Jingxi also knew the plans of the British, they wanted to establish a colony from Iraq to cover Persia all the way to India, but the British wanted everything and were willing to pay money, but they were unwilling to send troops, at first they wanted to instigate Afghanistan, then instigated Persia, and finally had no choice but to turn to China. "Let them go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this matter. The scope of operations of our army is limited to the Central Asian region, excluding the Caucasus, and now the attack on Tsaritsyn is only because of the border dispute between the two countries, which has nothing to do with the war in Europe. ”

Xu Jingxi said this, before receiving a new order from the capital, Yang Zengxin and Peng Qingpeng had to nod. After the British were driven out by the Turks, they relied on China for many things in Central and West Asia, not to mention the fact that their food and ammunition in Arabia were the Western Regions Railway and the Trans-Caspian Railway. Once, the British suspected that the supply of goods was insufficient, and Yang Zengxin immediately suggested that a railway from Persia should be built directly to Iraq, but the British were shocked and immediately vetoed it.

On the evening of the meeting with the Japanese, the cavalry corps of the Baath Army, led by the Kalmyks and Kazakhs, took advantage of the night to bypass the Ochèn gorge and appeared on the right bank of the South Ural River, aiming at Astrakhan, 300 kilometers away.

Since Astrakhan was a city founded by the Mongols, its name naturally derives from the Tatar language, which means 'exempt from taxes.' However, this is only a superficial understanding, and according to the Kazakh Belt and Road Party, the old name of the city was actually Hajdarhan, because once upon a time there was a pious Khar who lived in the place, for which the princes exempted the place from all taxes.

After the Kazakhs had finished speaking, the Kalmyks, who considered themselves pure-blooded Mongols, immediately corrected themselves, saying that the word Durhan, in Mongolian, means a person with great privileges, who are exempt from paying taxes, who are not called to appear at any time, who are not punished until the ninth time when they are convicted, and so on. To be precise, Durhan is any Mongol, no matter which tribe he belongs to, as long as he makes meritorious service, he will be crowned as Darhan, and his true meaning is 'meritorious minister'.

The introduction of the Japanese into the Western Regions meant to win over and bind Japan, and the other meant to divide Mongolia. If the Japanese had not occupied such a large area north of Lake Balkhash, then Eastern and Western Mongolia would have become one. At that time, the Mongols will not be able to lose their tails, and it will be a trouble to make noise about independence. Wedging Japan between East and West Mongolia will surely make the Mongol independence elements in the future bigger.

Mongolia is so divided. In Western Mongolia, that is, in the western part of Kazakhstan, the Kalmyks and the native Kazakhs were used to contain each other. Because it is not good to oppress the Kazakhs too much, the pastures of the Kalmyks are only on the Trans-Caspian side. Now that the army is being sent to Russia, the discerning people see that this is to expand the territory, and the Kazakhs and Kalmyks are more active than the other, because it involves fiefs and pastures. And for the city of Astrakhan, the Kazakhs say that it is 'pious Hajha', while the Kalmyks say that it is 'Darhan'. Anyway, one is more reasonable than the other, and I wish the city had been laid down and belonged to them.

The commander of the cavalry corps of the Baxing Army was the Mongol Tauktahu, and he was naturally inclined to Astrakhan to be the Mongol 'Darhan', but according to the principle of proximity, it was not his to defeat this place, so he naturally had no interest in the dispute between the two groups, while the political commissar Wen Yongyu was more concerned about the current situation of Astrakhan. It is reported that this is a seaside city with 130,000 people, when it was first established. The city is right next to the Caspian Sea, which receded after a few hundred years and is now 200 meters from the Caspian Sea.

And the city, at the beginning of its existence, was on the left bank of the Volga. After being occupied by the Russians and annexed to Muscovy, the city was moved to the right bank of the Volga for defense. Whether it is the left bank of the Volga. Or the right bank of the Volga, all belong to Astrakhan. The city not only controlled Vol to join Haikou. Also controls the Russian railways that connect the entire Caucasus, so to speak. For the Caucasus alone, the capture of Astrakhan would be able to jam Russia's neck, but to control the Don valley and gain a foothold in the middle reaches of the Volga, it would be necessary to control Tsaritsyn.

Wen Yongyu, who has always been a political commissar and chief of staff, has been thinking about how to occupy this coastal city across the Volga River since he received the order. As far as intelligence is concerned, now the Bolshevik army has withdrawn all the troops that can be drawn from this side in order to prevent Krasnov from attacking Tsaritsyn again; And to the south of the Caucasus, the Bolshevik Eleventh Army was fighting against Denikin's White Army, as well as the Turks, in Vladik Okz and Grozny. Although the fighting was unfavorable, they did not seem to have any intention of withdrawing to Astrakhan. This is also to say that this time the attack hit the waist of the Bolsheviks, and it was the waist eye of the weak defense.

The waist is easy to fight, but it is not so easy to attack Tsaritsyn more than 400 kilometers north from Astrakhan. Because when Astrakhan was attacked, the defenders of the city had already sent telegrams to Tsaritsyn in the north and the 11th Army in the south. The enemy's deployment of troops is not a problem, but the key is that according to previous intelligence, the other side has a fleet in the Volga region, although it is incomplete, but the fleet is the fleet.

Thinking of this, when he set up camp the next day, Wen Yongyu called Hu Wenyao from the Intelligence Bureau, and he asked the fleet without asking anything else: "Xiao Hu, you say, how many ships does the Russian Volga fleet have?" "When he was in the Patriotic Society, Wen Yongyu and Hu Wenyao had met, so he called him by his name, not because he didn't believe the information submitted by Hu Wenyao, but because of his inner uneasiness, he had to ask for some important information again and again until he was relieved.

"Volga flotilla?" Hu Wenyao thought it was something else, but when he heard this, he thought for a while and said, "As far as I saw at the time, the Volga fleet has been exhausted. He recalled the scene of the defense of Tsaritsyn, and added: "At that time, the White Army had crossed the river on the left bank of the Volga, and they captured some merchant ships to attack from the opposite bank, and the torpedo boats of the fleet immediately went to intercept them, and the final result was that the White Army was driven to the right bank, and the torpedo boats were sunk by the White artillery. ”

"I know that." Wen Yongyu nodded, and he said again: "I just want to know if there are any ships in other parts of the Volga fleet?" ”

"This ......," Hu Wenyao thought for a moment, "yes, yes, but in September in Kazan, when Trotsky and the Czechs were fighting, all the torpedo boats and gunboats over there were sunk." After recalling this message, he said, "In fact, the Volga River is the main water transport route of Russia, and even if there are no boats in the river, there may be a few ships in the shipyard, in that corner, but whether these ships can sail to Tsaritsyn is a question." But I think as long as we can take Astrakhan quickly and go north sooner, those will not be a problem. ”

"Hey, don't make drafts when you talk big." Seeing that Hu Wenyao was so optimistic, Wen Yongyu immediately smiled. "I have a cavalry corps and an armored division on my side, twenty or thirty thousand people, you think you can be fast if you want to. It may be possible to fight Astrakhan quickly, but it will not be so easy to go north to Tsaritsyn. General Staff, we really should move the Navy to the Caspian Sea, and all the work we are doing now is done by the Marines. (To be continued......)