After a brief conversation, Leo and Von. Deftaav departed, and he was to go at once to General Bilgellinger for the latest news, and if the plan of attack had not been communicated to the Commander-in-Chief, he would give the Russians some news of the occupation of Arthur a few days later, in order to facilitate the approval of the plan. Before leaving, he once asked Yang Rui to recruit more soldiers, whether they had completed the training or not, whether there were enough officers, and whether they were individuals who would be pulled over. According to the current situation of the Russians, because the railway was bombed, there was an extreme shortage of soldiers, as long as it was a person, it would be paid to send weapons - the treatment that Russia gave Yang Rui was still very high, with twenty-five rubles per person per month, which was more than ten taels of silver, of course, in the northeast, these rubles were not worth this price at all, and everyone was unwilling to accept rubles (Qiang Ti), so Yang Rui couldn't help but think that if he collected all the rubles in the northeast and sent them to London to exchange huàn, it was estimated that he could earn a lot.

After Leo left, Yang Rui was thinking about Leo's suggestion, now there are more than 5,000 training soldiers, except for those who have enmity against the Russians on the Linjiang side, it is estimated that more than 3,000 people can be recruited, although these people have completed the training of recruits, but because there are not enough officers, they have not entered active duty, or pull them over first, and they will be logistics troops.

On the second day, when Yang Rui was transferring the last 3,000 recruits, Madlidov brought other news, and as soon as he entered the Temple of Literature, he said: "Dear Wang, it is really good news, our plan has been approved. ”

Yang Rui was not surprised by the approval of the plan, according to history, this battle was originally there, and in the midst of history, he also understood why there was only the Second Army in this battle, "Oh, this is really good news." Yang Rui said, "What about my troops?" Will it belong to the Second Army? ”

"Yes. Kuropatkin had agreed," Madrydov looked overjoyed, as if he had seen Kuropatkin step down, "but the coward did not add new troops to us. ”

"No new troops?" Yang Ruiqi said, "The Second Army now has only two armies plus the Dembowsky detachment, which is only about 60,000. This... There are too few troops. Yang Rui wanted to say that according to history, it should be 100,000, why is it only 60,000 now, but fortunately he endured.

"Yes, conspirators are always playing tricks, though. Right now...... Dear King, you have been appointed commander of the Kwantung Independence Army in Russia. Congratulations! Madlidov said, smiling but unable to hide his dissatisfaction.

Accidentally changed from a brigade commander to a military commander, Yang Rui laughed, "You're not drunk, are you?" Captain? Yang Rui's first reaction was that this guy was drunk again.

"No, it's true. Dear King. It's true. The appointment will come down tomorrow. Madlidov shook his head, proving that he was completely conscious, "The command doesn't know who came up with the idea, they say that since General Billy Gerlinger is so sure that the yellow race is also good soldiers, then in the event that the European troops cannot reach, they will merge you and another army into the Kwantung Independent Army." This army was then placed under the command of the Second Army, and the Deembowsky detachment, which had previously belonged to the Second Army, was to be transferred to the General Reserve. You know, the conspirators exchanged 24,000 yellow people for more than 15,000 Russian regular troops? Once again, the Second Army had been weakened, and last month he had replaced the Seventeenth Army, which had combat experience, with the new Eighth Army. ”

Yang Rui didn't care about the open and secret battle between Kuro Padrent and Billy Gellinger. He only asked: "Mr. Colonel, according to my report to the General Headquarters last time, I only have one division of 12,000 people at most (the establishment of the Russian army, two brigades and four regiments per division), according to the establishment of the Russian army, two divisions can be organized into one army, and where does the other division come from?" ”

Seeing Yang Rui's surprise, Madrydov said, "They will transfer the Kwantung detachment, this army was mainly in the rear to protect the railway line, but it turned out that they could not complete this task, so Kuropavanti was ready to send an additional regular army to protect the railway in the rear, and then this army was transferred." ”

Kwantung detachment?! Yang Rui knew a little about this team, it was the opposite of the Japanese Manchurian Volunteer Army, this army is said to have 20,000 people, the soldiers are all Chinese, most of the officers are Russians, but the leader is a beard. It usually protects the railway line in the rear, but it didn't expect to be moved to the front this time.

"So when will this Kwantung detachment reach Mukden?" Yang Rui asked, "The battle will start immediately, and I also received a notice from the headquarters this morning that it is ready to be deployed." ”

"They're coming from Jilin, and you'll see them soon." When Madelidov spoke, he took out the second pot head in his arms and took another sip, then opened his mouth and spit wine, "Wang, have your cavalry made any new discoveries in the past few days, and has there been any change in the defense of the Japanese?" ”

The cavalry of the Russian army basically belonged to the cavalry corps of General Misichchenko, and this unit was under the direct jurisdiction of Kuropatkin, so the task of reconnoitering the Japanese army was basically completed by the cavalry battalion of the second brigade Xiang Xiang, many of whom were from Liaodong and were familiar with the ground near Mukden.

"As before, nothing has changed, each reconnaissance report has been handed over to the staff officer of the Second Army." Yang Rui said, "Are you worried that with this little force, you won't be able to crush the left flank of the Japanese? ”

"Yes, I'm very worried about this, you know, in addition to the full strength of the Eighth Army, the Tenth Army suffered a lot of losses in the last battle, and they now have less than 20,000 people, plus the Eighth Army only has about 43,000 people." Seeing that Yang Rui was staring at him, Madrydov added, "Of course, there are also 24,000 independent troops led by you, but I am very worried about the combat effectiveness of the Kwantung detachment, really, I think they are only suitable for dealing with the Japanese volunteers in the rear." ”

Yes, his 10,000 people still have combat effectiveness, after all, many of them are the elite of the first brigade, but I don't know what the situation of the newly added 10,000 people is, according to the previous intelligence, it is only said that it is basically bearded and farmers who fled from the famine, maybe the ability to fight alone is not bad for many people, but when it comes to coordination and tactics, it can only be blind. Yang Rui suddenly had an indescribable hatred for Kuro Padant, grandma, what is this matter, to do such a big thing is to drag himself back, and then let himself drag the second army back. What kind of person is this, no wonder Madlidov would call him a conspirator.

On the second day of Madlidov's arrival, Yang Rui received a letter of appointment from the Russian General Headquarters, he was appointed commander of the Kwantung Independent Army, Colonel Madlidov was appointed chief of staff of the army, the original Second Brigade of the Baath Army was appointed as the first division of the Independent Army, and the Kwantung detachment, which had not yet arrived, was appointed as the second division, and the second division would arrive on January 28 according to the plan, but its actual arrival time was two days later than scheduled. On the 30th, Yang Rui saw his future subordinates. Groups of pigtailed troops in crooked queues drove up to the Weiwen Bunton, and it was obvious that the reason why this unit was able to keep the queue neat was because of the command of the Russian officers, but once they reached the camping area. The ranks immediately dispersed, and no matter how much the Russian officers shouted orders, it was useless. See this scenario. Yang Rui was covered in a cold sweat on his back. This is really a pig-like teammate, and the refreshment of being the commander of the army suddenly flew away in the chaos of the second division.

Although the troops of the Second Division were scattered, the leader of the unit was very understanding, and before the troops had settled down, the commander of the Second Division came to the headquarters to meet the commander.

I saw a tall Chinese dressed in a Russian military officer's uniform and an old Russian officer walking from the temple gate, and the tall Chinese knelt down on one knee according to the Manchu Qing style when they saw Yang Rui. Then he shouted, "The lowly Zhang Zongchang has seen the handsome, and the lowly deployment has no way to control it, so it's too late this time." Please also ask the marshal to forgive his sins. And the Russians who accompanied him just saluted.

Yang Rui was taken aback by his style, and then he was taken aback by this "big handsome", what is this, he had to return the salute to the Russian officer and said, "The army is not happy to bow down, you get up first." You... What do you say your name is? "I was so thundered by him just now that I didn't understand what his name was.

Seeing that Yang Rui had no intention of punishing the crime, he said again, "Zhang Zongchang, a person from Ye County, Shandong. ”

Hearing his name again, Yang Rui let out a long "oh...", he finally remembered who Zhang Zongchang was, although it was a little strange how he met here, but this kind of thing couldn't be asked, so he had to let him get up and sit down, and after being polite, he asked Zhang Zongchang to introduce the specific situation of the second division.

"Report to the marshal," Zhang Zongchang also seemed to have received some military education, after learning that Yang Rui was not a Manchu school at all, he acted according to the Russian army, he stood straight like a schoolboy who memorized texts, looked ahead and said loudly, "The second division has a total of 12,000 soldiers and 537 people, but on the way to the march, due to injuries and illnesses, more than 1,00......0 people were reduced, and there are 10,000 soldiers" I don't know if it is a count or there is no exact number, Zhang Zongchang suddenly stopped when he came here, and saw Yang Rui looking at himself, I was in a hurry and knew what to say, so I just said, "Subordinate...... The subordinates do not know how many people there are in the second division now. ”

Yang Rui couldn't help laughing when he heard what he said, this Zhang Zongchang was said to be a "general who doesn't know three things" in later generations, and now he already has such a habit, but he immediately felt that this was too lazy, so he pretended to drink tea and covered his face with his hands. After calming down, Yang Rui said, "You sit down." To know is to know, not to know is not to know, not to know is better than to know, tomorrow I will ask the chief of staff to take someone to verify the situation of the second division. And I wonder, how long were the soldiers of the 2nd Division trained? Are there artillery, machine-gun units, how many mules and horses are there in logistics? ”

Yang Rui's question was more profound than the number of the whole division, Zhang Zongchang didn't know anything about it, and only said, "The second division under the command has no artillery, so train a few...... Month, I ...... "I can't answer on my own, he immediately said it in Russian to the Russian officer next to him, and then I saw that the Russian officer spoke a bunch of Russian, and he immediately translated, "The second division has only received ten days of shooting training and queue training, and the others are gone, and there are more than 2,000 logistics mules and horses." As for the artillery machine guns, all the time there was none. "What Zhang Zongchang said is from Lieutenant Colonel Fedorovsky, chief of staff of the Second Division, who is a retired officer of the Russian army, and this time he is rehired.

Knowing that the situation of the second division was very bad, but he didn't expect it to be so bad at the front, it is estimated that the Russians did not intend to let him be of any use, but just taught them to shoot a few bullets and march in line and it was over. Yang Rui asked again: "Then how many people in this team are born with beards?" ”

There is no need to ask the chief of staff this question, Zhang Zongchang said, "Dashuai, there are more than 2,000 beards in it, and the others are all ordinary people who have broken through the eastern part of the country." When I heard that the recruits were paid, they all came. ”

No wonder this boneless look, Yang Rui knows it in his heart. It seems that this second division can only be used as a logistics unit of the logistics unit, and it did not speak again, and sent Zhang Zongchang and the two away after a while.

After Zhang Zongchang left, Yang Rui brought Lei Yizhen over, "You take some people to the Second Division tomorrow to find out how this team is, the number, skills, morale, non-commissioned officers, officers, discipline, etc. must be inspected." ”

The day before the Spring Festival, Yang Rui received a formal transfer order, and the General Headquarters ordered that from February 6, the independent army under his command would be under the command of the Second Army. The required materials and ammunition will also be fully replenished in the near future, and the war is about to start, Yang Rui has completely given up on the second division, and through a few days of investigation, he has fully understood that this team is the one that Kuropatkin used to pit Billy Gerlinger. General Nabili Gellinger. With only 55,000 people, how do you land a right hook?

On the day of the Spring Festival. Several groups of people came to pay New Year's greetings. First, Zhang Zongchang brought a lot of gifts here, if it were not for the strict discipline in the army, he would probably have to get Sister Yao'er over, and the other is that the Russian General Staff ordered logistics to send some pigs and sheep over in accordance with the customs of the Chinese, and finally Colonel Madlidov, in order to establish good relations with the independent army, got next month's military salary in advance. Yang Rui was thinking about the battle ahead. Having no interest in gifting pigs, sheep, and money, he called Leo and pulled him over to discuss the arrangements for the war.

"Now there are only three armies in the Second Army, how the hell are we arranged?" Leo has the trust of General Billy Gellinger. Because Yang Rui was a yellow race, he was not treated by the upper echelons of the Russian army at all, so he had to catch Leo and ask.

Leo pointed to the map of the left flank of the Japanese army, "There are more than three armies in the Second Army, and Missichchenko's cavalry corps will also be transferred to the command of the Second Army, but it will not be rebuilt until it has attacked the Japanese logistics line." This unit was already very tired from chasing the Japanese cavalry in the rear, and I guess that his attack on the rear of the Japanese army was not very effective. Lining up the cavalry, on the army side, His Excellency the Commander is ready to use the Tenth Army as a reserve, this army has participated in the Battle of Shahe, has experience in fighting against Japan, and they can deal with some unexpected situations, he will arrange it near Ertaizi to suppress the Japanese garrisons near Li Datun and Hanshantai; As for the Eighth Army, it will be the main force of the offensive, and its breakthrough points are Heigoutai, where the Hunhe and Leek rivers meet, as well as Shendanbao. ”

The layout of the Japanese army on the left flank is very similar to a parabola from east to west, the easternmost is the top is Li Darentun, a little lower to the west is Hanshantai, and then a little lower to the west is Shendanbao, and then the west is located in the position of half a waist is Heigoutai, and the last landing point is the area of the three-tip bubble, the head bubble, and the eight wastelands, so that a front of about ten kilometers protects the left wing of the Japanese army, it only has the first cavalry brigade of the Japanese army and some engineers and reserves, and these people add up to about 8,000 people. The three rivers of the Red River could strengthen the Japanese defenses, but as soon as winter came, these rivers froze.

Seeing that Leo didn't mention the Independence Army for a long time, Yang Rui was a little anxious, and asked: "How do we arrange it, is it also a reserve?" ”

Leo laughed, "You're in a hurry." In fact, Your Excellency the General also has an arrangement, he knows Kuropatkin's intentions, but he also wants to fight back against Kuropagent. According to the General's thinking, the most unreliable arrangement is in the farthest place, and you, no, it should be us," Leo corrected, "Our target is the Three-Tip Bubble, the Head Bubble, and the Badlands. ”

After Leo finished speaking, Yang Rui looked at the map a little stupidly, "How is this possible, are we the second group to launch an offensive?" ”

"Yes, we are the second group to launch the offensive." Leo affirmed, "Only after the Eighth Army occupies Heigoutai can we launch an offensive, the specific arrangement is that the 14th Division of the Eighth Army will attack Heigoutai, the 15th Division will attack Shendanbao, and we will attack Sanjianpao, Toubao, and Bahuangdi to the south. ”

"This arrangement basically used the Eighth Army to the extreme, the Sanjianbao and other places we attacked were just to cover the right flank of the Eighth Army, 24,000 people plus 12,000 on our side, 35,000 or so Japanese troops against Shendanbao, Heigoutai, and Sanjianbao still have a chance of winning against the 4,000 or so Japanese troops in Shendanbao, Heigoutai, and Sanjianbao, but there is a premise that the pre-war preparations must be fast, and the capture must be fast, otherwise the battle will be lost immediately when the reinforcements from the diary come." Just talking about the layout of the Russian army, suddenly, Yang Rui asked again: "The Tenth Army suppressed the Japanese troops at the top of Li Datun and Hanshantai, the Eighth Army occupied Heigoutai and Shendanbao, we occupied the vicinity of Sanjianbao, the strength of the three armies was used, after the mouth was torn open, who broke in and stabbed the Japanese?" ”

Looking at Yang Rui with a smile, Leo expected Yang Rui to become a commander, since he was a commander, then what he was thinking about was the entire battle situation, he said with a smile, "Guess what? ”

Seeing Leo laughing, Yang Rui also laughed, and he said, "I know." Cavalry, Missichchenko's cavalry corps. ”

In winter, all the rivers in the Northeast Heath have frozen, and the more than 20,000 cavalry with artillery and machine guns under the command of Misichchenko is indeed a formidable force, invincible, and will destroy anything that stands in its way. (To be continued......)