Chapter Seventy-One: Peas! Open the door!

September 17, 1903, Boli (Russian name Khabarovsk).

Boli was one of the important towns in the northeast frontier in the early Qing Empire. It is located on the east bank of the confluence of the Heilongjiang River and the Ussuri River. It is also known as Boli, Caiali, Poli, Poli, Boheli, Boli, Boli, etc. They are all different Chinese transliterations of the same word in Jurchen, which originally meant "pea" (lovely name, lovely Jurchen people-). In the Tang Dynasty, it was the residence of the Heishui Governor's Office, and in the tenth year of Kaiyuan (772 AD), Boli Prefecture was set up here. During the Liao Dynasty, it was the location of one of the five national departments. The Jin Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of Huli Gailu (now Yilan). The Yuan Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of Shuida Road. The Ming Dynasty was under the jurisdiction of the Nuer Gandu Division, and there was Xishenwei in Xichantun near it. The Qing Dynasty was successively governed by the three surnamed Deputy Commanders, General Ningguta, and General Jilin.

In 1858, after Russia forced the Qing government to sign the "Aihun Treaty", the Governor of Eastern Siberia, Muravyov, led an army to arrive, and used this place as a cantonment camp of the 13th Russian Siberian Frontier Battalion, established a military outpost, and named Boli Khabarovka after Khabarov, the leader of the Tsarist Russia's invasion of the Heilongjiang River Valley in the mid-17th century.

In 1860, Tsarist Russia forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Peking, and Boli was ceded by Tsarist Russia. In 1893, Tsarist Russia renamed Khabarovka Khabarovsk.

After decades of development and construction, Khabarovsk has become a city with more than 70,000 inhabitants. Thanks to the Amur River and the Ussuri River, Khabarovsk took advantage of shipping, and the southern line of the Trans-Siberian Railway, which was completed in 1902, passed through the city, which greatly strengthened Khabarovsk's position as a commercial transit point in the Far Eastern Amur River Basin.

The reinforced concrete forts and fortresses on the high ground surrounding the city are a clear indication of the city's military significance since ancient times, and today it is a frontier town of the Russian Empire – from 45 years ago.

Through convenient water transportation and the newly opened Trans-Siberian Railway, Khabarovsk (Boli) has been able to closely connect with Vladivostok (Vladivostok) and Blagoveshchensk (Hailanpao) and other important cities in the Far East, and has become an important node in the entire defense system of the Russian army around Northeast China.

On that day, on Muravyov Square in the center of the city, several high-ranking officials were standing on the balcony on the second floor of the city government, inspecting the Russian officers and soldiers preparing to go to the front.

Among them, the strong, high-nosed, deep-eyed, shiny forehead, thick beard, and haughty general named Ivalov, the commander of the 1st Far Eastern Army stationed in the Khabarovsk Prefecture, was an artilleryman, and was good at the art of fortress engineering, and the second phase of the construction of the Khabarovsk Fortress was completed under his own auspices.

The gentleman standing to the right of Ivalov, with a slightly fat figure, a sparse gray beard, a wandering gaze, and a pretentious demeanor, was the head of the Khabarovsk Prefecture, named Lizergli, a merchant by birth, who had earned the position of governor of the prefecture by cunning, and had almost quadrupled his fortune in less than half a year after taking office.

Standing to the right of Ivalov was Colonel Lebemenkovich, chief of staff of the 1st Army in the Far East, in his thirties, energetic, generous, sharp-eyed, and experienced as a staff officer.

The others were the mayor of Khabarovsk, Major General Kalem, the commander of the 1st Infantry Division in the Far East, Major General Valostov, and the commander of the 2nd Infantry Division in the Far East, Major General Varostov.

The troops under the inspection in front of the balcony were none other than Major General Kalem's 1st and 2nd Far Eastern Infantry Regiments, which were to be led by Major General Sherelinsk, commander of the 1st Far Eastern Brigade, and were to Horo, 50 kilometers south of Khabarovsk, where they were to prevent the Chinese 7th Infantry Division from advancing north to Khabarovsk.

"General, your soldiers look scrappy, may God bless them in victory over the ferocious yellow barbarians."

District Mayor Lizurgli said, smiling flatteringly at Ivalov. After the outbreak of the war, Lizarg, who knew only corruption and did not know political affairs, realized that his property and life were all protected by Ivalov, so he greatly encircled the commander-in-chief, treated him with respect, and secretly stuffed him with a lot of rubles and jewelry. The district governor had only one purpose - to be able to rely on Ivalov's army to escort his family and his valuable property from corruption to safety in the event of a crisis in the city of Khabarovsk.

Ivalov, who had a short man, nodded kindly to Litelg: "District Commander, the heroic and warlike Russian army will never let the barbarians take advantage of it. ”

Ivalov did not believe that his meager forces could stop the advance of the Chinese Second Field Army, which had absolute superiority in quantity and quality, to the city of Khabarovsk, but as a veteran general of the Russian Empire, his pride did not allow him to make any decision to let the enemy advance.

"Mayor, there is one thing that you must step up to implement."

Ivalov said, Litelg was taken aback, thinking that Ivalov thought that he had given too little money and wanted to knock him more, and his heart couldn't help but ache secretly.

On the surface, Litelg was still smiling.

"General, your request is an order."

"District Commander, please speed up the process of conscripting militia and civilian laborers, we need more manpower to seize the time to strengthen the defense of the fortress."

"But, General, haven't we already sent our troops to stop the enemy?"

"We're going to just in case."

Litelg thought for a moment, and felt that this matter would not cause any damage to his property, so he said firmly: "Don't worry, General, I will do my best, then, how many militiamen and laborers do you need?" ”

"Please find a way to organize four regiments of militia and 20,000 migrant workers before the end of the month, and tell the people of the whole district that this is a life-and-death duel to defend the homeland, and all families must fully sponsor it, and some people will contribute people, guns and guns, and money will contribute ......."

"General, we can't afford to pay the four militia groups."

"Participating in the great battle to defend the homeland and the country, are you embarrassed to ask for a salary?"

Litelg looked embarrassed, but seeing Ivalov's resolute attitude, he had to agree first, thinking to himself, even coaxing and scare, just get enough people, as long as I can escape from this hellish place with the money then, it doesn't matter if I do something bothersome once in a while.

The clergy holding portraits of the tsars and statues of saints were sandwiched between the army and passed through the review stand, and the high-ranking officials on the review stand could not help but draw crosses on their chests, God bless Russia, of course God will not bless the Chinese Empire, because the vast majority of people in the Chinese Empire do not believe in God, so what do the Chinese believe? Chinese, generally speaking, can believe in everyone, gods, and things other than themselves as long as they need it, and if they don't need it, they can believe nothing. Therefore, it is meaningless to pray that God will bless Russia to defeat China, because God has no control over China, and it is equally pointless to pray for some other god to punish China, because the vast majority of Chinese are faith speculators, and as long as there is a need, they can change their faith at any time - hey, poor foreigners, how can they practice a religion for hundreds of thousands of years.

On the Chinese side, which did not believe in God, the 7th Infantry Division of the 2nd Field Army of the Chinese Army crossed the Ussuri River on September 9 and launched an attack on the town of Bijin on the south bank of the Bijin River, and fought fiercely until the evening of September 11, driving the 34th Eastern Siberian Regiment of the Russian army stationed there out of its position and cutting off the railway link between Boli and Vladivostok. The 34th Regiment of the Russian Army was defeated and retreated to the south, and the 7th Division of the Chinese Army was stationed in the town with two regiments, and the rest of the troops crossed the Birgin River to the north and advanced to the Boli attack, occupying Lermontokaf 40 km north of Bikin on 13 September, and on 15 September, occupying Vyazemsky, 75 km northeast of Bikin, and by 17 September, the advance of the 7th Division had advanced to the vicinity of the town of Holuo, 120 km north of Bikin and 50 km south of Boli.

Originating in the northern section of the Sikhote Mountains, the Heluo River zigzags from east to west, flows into the Ussuri River, about 20 kilometers east from the confluence of the two rivers, on the north bank of the Heluo River, Russian immigrants established the town of Heluo on the basis of a destroyed Chinese village, after decades of development, the town has hundreds of residents, dozens of workshops, after 1902, the Trans-Siberian Railway passed through the town from north to south, which added a lot of civilized atmosphere to the town.

However, with the outbreak of the war, the Russian army was losing and retreating, and in a few days, the town had become the front line, and more than 3,000 Russian troops who had retreated from Lermontovka and Vyazemki gathered in the town, under the command of Colonel Radovinsky, the highest rank, relying on the buildings of the town to build fortifications, arrange artillery positions, and confront the Chinese troops on the south bank across the river. Since the engineering troops had not yet arrived, the Chinese army was unable to carry out a large-scale operation to cross the river, so it had to bombard it with scattered artillery fire first, and sent a small group of troops to cross the river on rafts at a hidden place in order to carry out reconnaissance of the Russian position.

On the night of the 17th, in the headquarters of the Second Field Army, which was advancing with the Seventh Division, Lieutenant General Xiao Lieri, commander of the Field Army, personally met with a task force that was preparing to cross the river to the north bank to carry out reconnaissance missions.

The commander of this task force is Captain Huang Yongchun, the commander of the second company of the first battalion of the 59th regiment of the 20th brigade of the 7th division, and the first battalion is under the command of Major Su Dingfang, Xiao Lieri's old unit, so he also receives special attention from time to time in terms of combat missions - but it seems that this cannot be blamed for the selfishness of the affectionate and righteous Commander Xiao, after all, carrying out combat missions is not as fortunate as eating a free meal, which may just be a matter of getting drunk and then vomiting all the things he has eaten. On combat missions, you may lose three fingers, two arms, one thigh, and even half of your body.

Xiao Lieri, who is the name of the brave warrior and the champion of the whole army, saw the soldiers of the task force, and couldn't help but take a closer look, although the officers and soldiers were different in height, but everyone was vigorous and strong, and the spirit of bravery was no less than that of Xiao Gong back then.

This contingent was all selected from each company of the 1st Battalion of the 59th Regiment, with a total of more than 30 people, carrying two light machine guns, more than 20 rifles, and telescopes and tools for drawing and measuring.

"What a team of strong men." Xiao Lieri praised, Major Su Dingfang next to him showed joy, and Captain Huang Yongchun opposite him also did not hide his joy, and he was even more energetic.

Xiao Lieri called people to bring wine pots and pottery bowls, personally poured them for the soldiers, and filled them with a bowl himself, and looked around at everyone: "You warriors are the essence of our army, you should do your best, and you must complete the task successfully. ”

Xiao Lieri drank it all in one gulp, smashed the wine bowl to the ground, and all the officers and soldiers followed suit, only to pity the innocent wine bowl and shatter it to the ground.

The captain Huang Yongchun, encouraged by the praise of the lieutenant general, boldly led the soldiers out of the camp, ran to the river, in a dense place of reeds, took the three rafts prepared in advance, and rowed to the north bank together.

The commander of the Russian army, Colonel Radovinsky, did not dare to sleep early because of the approach of the enemy's army, so he personally brought a few guards and came out to check the sentry, and when he paced to a sentry post in the west of the town, he suddenly saw a figure rising and falling in the distance, so he ordered a nearby group of Cossacks to go to check, and the Cossack cavalry rode over, searching, and suddenly the gunfire in the bushes suddenly broke out, and there was a burst of strafing, three or four Cossacks fell from their horses, and the rest fled in a hurry.

It turned out that Huang Yongchun's team was peeping dozens of yards away from the Russian position, and unexpectedly a soldier touched a new tree when he moved low, and the delicate young tree shook a few times, just when Radovinsky saw it, he sent a horse team to search, Huang Yongchun hurriedly secretly told the soldiers not to shoot without authorization, and he pulled a light machine gun and climbed to the front of everyone. Seeing that the Cossacks were approaching, the horseshoe generals stepped on their heads, Huang Yongchun picked up the machine gun and fired a shot, and the team members behind also fired a row of guns to repel the small group of Cossacks.

Huang Yongchun expected that the Russian soldiers would kill a large number of troops, so he ordered his subordinates to retreat, and all the team members were divided into two groups, each group was equipped with a machine gun, one group was covered, and the other group retreated two or three hundred yards to the original road, and then set up a covering position to cover the withdrawal of the previous group, and so on alternately until all withdrew to the opposite bank.

Radovinsky refused to give up, and ordered the guards on the sentry to shoot into the bushes, and ordered the heralds around him to summon a company of infantry cavalry, and search the place where the gun had just been fired with great vigour.

The Russian army took dozens of cavalry as the first, waved the knife and rushed forward, and a burst of bullets came unexpectedly, the front row of people all fell from their horses, and the cavalry behind raised their carbines to shoot back, but the Chinese soldiers were hidden in the dark, and after a burst of guns, they changed their positions, making it difficult for the Russian soldiers to find a trace, and under the strafing of the guns, the Russian cavalry suffered a lot of casualties, and scattered to both sides.

The Russian infantry behind fired a burst of guns indiscriminately, and then they came to search with bayonets, and were shot down by the other side.

Seeing that his subordinates were ineffective and angry, Radovinsky personally rode forward, hit the Russian soldiers hidden behind the bushes with a horsewhip, and scolded the commander of the leading company.

Radovinsky refused to give up, and led two companies of men and horses to chase after him, and rushed to a small dirt slope, and suddenly a burst of marbles, one of which hit Rasz's throat, and Radovinowski immediately flew down from his horse, fell into a mess, and immediately rushed to God.

The Russian soldiers hurriedly wrapped the body of the main general, fired a burst of bullets on the dirt slope, and quickly retreated to the town, the troops saw that the Lashi had been killed, and they couldn't help but be a little chaotic, but they heard the whistle of the northern train, and the officers rushed to the station to greet them, it turned out that the commander of the 1st Far East Brigade, Major General Sherelinsk, led his 1st and 2nd Infantry Regiments in the Far East to support and Luo defenders.

However, it was said that the task force led by Huang Yongchun only reconnoitred the west side of the Russian position, so it had to withdraw, although only one of his own side was wounded, and dozens of enemies were killed and wounded, but this task was not successfully completed.

Lieutenant General Xiao did not blame, and stroked his shoulder and said: "There is almost no perfect thing in the world, since you have detected the situation on the west side of the enemy's position, you have already made meritorious service, and you will lead the troops to rest first, and then I will send a reconnaissance team to investigate." ”

Yong Chun said: "Please send me and others again, you must understand all the conditions." ”

Lieutenant General Xiao just didn't allow it, only about reconnaissance and operation, and it could not go smoothly without precise planning, and after the completion of a mission, he had to make proper arrangements before he could carry out the next mission, and only ordered Yongchun to lead the team members to eat and rest first, and then assign another task.

Yongchun took the order and left, and Lieutenant General Xiao immediately summoned Major General Chu Qing, commander of the Seventh Division, and ordered him to organize a reconnaissance team again and send it to the north bank to inspect the situation.

Chu Qing received the order, passed the order, sent another reconnaissance team from the 59th Regiment, smuggled across the north bank, and reconnoitred again, this time, the reconnaissance team caught a Russian deserter, and learned from him that Radovinsky was killed and that Sherelinsk led the troops to come to help, and hurriedly returned to report to Xiao Lieri, Lieutenant General Xiao deduced that the killing of Radovinosky must have been done by Huang Yongchun's reconnaissance team, so he called Yongchun and Dingfang, and did not mention the good life reward.

Xiao Lieri discussed with the chief of staff, the "Artillery King" Hu Jing, and immediately after dawn summoned all the commanders and staff officers of the 7th Infantry Division and the 30th Reserve Division (lacking the 90th Reserve Brigade) to discuss the enemy situation and the war.

The commander of the seventh division, Chu Qing, said first: "The enemy's reinforcements have just arrived, and they are not familiar with the situation of the position, so it is better to select elite soldiers, concentrate all the rafts at hand, and cross the river secretly tonight, and kill the enemy by surprise." ”

Hu shook his head in horror and said: "If the terrain is familiar, the Russians have lived here for a long time, and I am afraid that they are more proficient than us." The equipment for crossing the river and building bridges for our army's engineering corps has not yet arrived, and the boats at hand can only send two or three battalions of infantry at a time, and if they cross the river at night, I am afraid that the terrain of the troops and soldiers is not familiar, it will be difficult for the officers and men to communicate with each other, and they will not be able to get the support of the artillery army and air force. ”

Chu Qing said: "The equipment for crossing the river and building bridges will be ready for about the day after tomorrow, and the enemy's defense will be consolidated at that time, and I am afraid that it will be difficult to overcome it for a while." ”

Hu said in horror: "Otherwise, our army's heavy artillery, due to the difficulty of transportation, will not be ready until the day after tomorrow, there will be heavy artillery support, and the enemy's position is not a cement fortress, and there are only some civil fortifications, so that it can withstand the heavy attack of our army's 305 mm and 150 mm heavy artillery." And the railway line between Heluo and Boli is still unimpeded, and the enemy army can send troops from Boli to help at any time, and our army must send a special force to destroy and block this railway line, and now our army has just arrived here to camp, the situation is not clear, and it must not be acted against, and it must be properly arranged and carefully planned to ensure the success of the battle. ”

Xiao Lieri immediately said: "What the chief of staff said is very true, the operation to sabotage the railway line must be immediately planned, and it is necessary to effectively block the reinforcement of Boli when the operation is launched. ”

Everyone said that this was indeed the case, and immediately the discussion began, and it was decided to assign the 7th Regiment of the 3rd Cavalry Brigade to carry out the task of sabotaging the railway, and the 59th Regiment of the 7th Infantry Division was responsible for taking over.

In a short time, the sky was already bright, the buzz of the aircraft engine was heard in the south, everyone came out to watch, two planes flew low over the Heluo River, hovering over the town of Heluo, the pilot threw a number of grenades, a few faint puffs of green smoke rose into the sky, here the Chinese soldiers raised their hats and applauded, morale was greatly boosted, the Russian soldiers over there held their heads and scurried, dodged around, shocked and angry, shocked that the Chinese actually had such things, angry that the Tang Tang starved to death (sorry, even spoke with a little accent) The Great Empire did not have such things. In a short time, two more planes and an airship arrived, reconnoitering and mapping and throwing bombs at the same time. After some panic, the Russian soldiers found that those planes and airships had failed to kill and wound a few people, and they were not as powerful as the shells. I don't know if the Chinese pilots were too careless, or the Russians took shit luck, an FJZ-2 "Whirlwind" single-seat reconnaissance plane was hit so that its engine burst into flames, and it slid crookedly into the area occupied by the Russian army. The remaining Chinese planes and airships hurriedly climbed into the air, not daring to despise the Russian soldiers' guns and bullets.

The Chinese troops on the other side were dumbfounded, never expecting that their planes would be shot down, and they hung their heads and went back to the camp.

Originally, the air floating group directly under the Second Field Army consisted of only 18 planes and 4 airships, and most of them were old equipment, which was much thinner than other field armies. Since the beginning of the war, 2 Whirlwind aircraft have crashed due to malfunctions, and with the addition of the one shot down on this day, the total number of aircraft in the air group has been reduced to 15 aircraft.

Xiao Lieri saw the gloomy scene, and also held his breath, so he took off his military uniform, and ordered the guards to take his sixty-eight pounds of Qinglong Yanyue Knife and take it, and practiced in the open space in front of the tent. However, Xiao Lieri is known for his bravery, at this time the sword is dancing in front of the tent, the sword is not old, the tiger general is especially fierce, the soldiers are amazed when they see this scene, and they are proud to serve under the command of this fierce general.

After the practice, Xiao Lieri threw the knife to the guards, and the two guards stepped forward to pick it up at the same time, but they almost fell.

The orderly next to him put on a basin and towel, waited for the general to wash off his sweat and put on his military uniform, and the chief of staff Hu came over at the right time and said with a smile: "Old Xiao, let the brothers take care of their eyes again." ”

Xiao Lieri fastened the first button on the front of his shirt, rubbed his hands and said: "If this bone is not moved, it will definitely grow rust, and if this martial art is not practiced, it will have to be abandoned sooner or later." ”

Hu was horrified and said: "If it is wasted, it will be wasted, and now you don't need this martial art, as for strengthening your body, it is another matter." ”

"That's not the case, how do you know that I don't need this martial art? The world is an ingredient, and it is better to have more skills than less. ”

Hu smiled and waved his hand: "Don't talk about this, I think you must have seen the scene just now, a plane of our army fell, which made everyone unhappy, even for the sake of boosting morale, I want to organize artillery bombardment and Luo Zhen." ”

"But the heavy artillery hasn't arrived yet, so it's appropriate to start bombarding now?"

"Bombard the buildings in the town first, so that the Russian soldiers cannot use the buildings to build fortifications, and also save the trouble in the future, and when the heavy artillery comes, you can concentrate on dealing with trench bunkers and the like."

Xiao Lieri snorted his shiny eight-character nonsense and said: "It makes sense, summon the commanders of the artillery above the brigade to discuss and discuss." ”

A total of 26 artillery batteries were included in the plan, totaling 48 105-mm cannons, 36 90-mm howitzers, 54 75-mm field guns, and 18 100-mm mortars, and four floating balloons, a number of airplanes and airships responsible for aerial observation and calibration, and each company received three base numbers of ammunition.

In order to determine the target in advance, Hu was frightened by telegram and ordered the air floating group directly under his command to send a number of airships to carry out uninterrupted reconnaissance and monitoring of Heluo Town, and the information obtained was either conveyed in a timely manner by telegram, or the intelligence map was sent to the military headquarters by flying horses.

By the time the artillery batteries were arranged, it was nearly dusk, and the actual battle had to be carried out the next day.

On the night of the same day, the 7th Cavalry Regiment carried a large amount of ZHA medicine, and with the support of the 59th Infantry Regiment, smuggled across the Heluo River 10 kilometers west of Heluo Town, launched a sabotage operation on the railway line, blew up many places on the railway, cut the telegraph line along the road, and destroyed another train. The Russian army sent a large cavalry team to search, and the two sides engaged in a short engagement, and the Chinese army did not want to fight, so they retreated to the Heluo River, which was met by infantry and withdrew to the south bank.

This surprise attack, a big surprise to the Russian army, and the Russian army did not have a radio station, all by the telegraph line and Boli rapid communication, the telegraph line was broken, and the contact with Luo and Boli had to be delivered by messenger fast horse, although both sides also sent maintenance teams to repair the railway and wires, I don't want the Chinese cavalry not only blew up the road, cut the line, but also laid a lot of mines on the scene, the repair workers were killed and injured as soon as they approached, and the rest of the people cowered and did not dare to move forward, and the repair work was almost impossible to carry out.

After dawn, four floating balloons were leisurely raised on the south bank of the Heluo River, and two planes and an airship also ran to the town of Heluo in a circle, and the Russian army commander General Sherelinsk knew that things were not good when he saw this, but he had no means of aerial observation, and the Chinese army on the south bank was well guarded, and the reconnaissance team sent out in the past two days was either defeated or simply disappeared, and did not bring back a trace of useful information.

It wasn't until the dense shells exploded in the town that Sherelinsk woke up, not to what the Chinese army was going to do, but to what he should do.

A good General Xie, holding a knife in his left hand, holding his clothes in his right hand, stepping with his left foot, kicking the door with his right foot, breaking out of the gate, rushing to the backyard, lifting the cover, and drilling into the cellar.

General Xie escaped into the cellar, the soldiers were at a loss, and in a panic, the zha medicine exploded, shrapnel flew, houses collapsed, grain piles caught fire, corpses flew blood, thick smoke billowed out, and a scene of doomsday.

Fortunately, there were a few capable officers who acted as commanders, and a group of people were called here to guard the front-line trenches, and a group of people were invited there to fight the fire and save people, and they found the fast-moving General Xie in the cellar, and asked him to give a decisive order.

Sherelinsk was invited out by everyone, but he did not make any decisions, but according to the opinions of everyone, he assigned each battalion to hold the position to strictly prevent the Chinese army from taking the opportunity to cross the river to attack, and ordered a total of 40 artillery pieces of five artillery companies attached to it to carry out suppressive fire on the Chinese artillery position.

On the Chinese side, 156 artillery pieces bombarded the town in a row, and suddenly Russian artillery fire hit the positions of several 75-mm field artillery batteries deployed in front of the Chinese army, and at least two companies were immediately suppressed.

However, the Chinese airship immediately discovered the fire and smoke of the Russian artillery firing, so it reported the general direction of the Russian artillery position to the school-fired balloon with colored signal flares and large signal flags, and then the floating balloon carefully observed, measured various data, and transmitted these data to the artillery headquarters through telegraph lines, and then the headquarters sent a herald to carry the order with the firing elements to the designated artillery company, and the artillery company fired a certain number of shells at the target according to the order, and then stopped and waited for a new order.

Through more advanced means of calibration, the 105-mm cannon of the Chinese army quickly suppressed the Russian artillery battery by means of long-range indirect aiming and shooting, and as a result of 48 105-mm cannons against 40 76-mm rapid-fire guns, the Russian army was powerless to resist, lost 6 cannons and a large number of gunners, and was forced to stop firing and hide. In the artillery battle, only one 75-mm field gun was destroyed.

The Chinese artillery ravaged Ho Luo town for almost the whole day, firing nearly 40,000 shells, destroying all the houses in Ho Luo town - including some buildings that have been converted into firing points and fortresses by the Russian army, and the Russian army suffered more than 1,600 casualties (including artillery) and hundreds of civilian casualties. Major General Hu Jingwei, chief of staff of the Second Field Army, who personally commanded the artillery bombardment operation, took up with a floating balloon that afternoon to observe the effects of the artillery bombardment with a high-powered telescope. ”

Xiao Lieri was not very happy: "It would be better if the enemy soldiers were not on the ground." ”

Hu was frightened: "Although the cannon is powerful, it is impossible to cover everything, otherwise what is the use of infantry and cavalry." ”

"Having said that, if the heavy artillery has arrived, I'm afraid the Russian army will not be able to bear it, and our army should be able to cross the river immediately."

"It's not too late to wait until tomorrow, the town is flat, and tomorrow you just have to concentrate on dealing with the enemy's trenches. I have urged the heavy artillery team to step up its movements, and when it arrives tomorrow morning, we will make arrangements to launch a general attack on the enemy by the 20th. Well, if one or two Russian trains can be captured, and the Russian railways can be used to mobilize troops, now they can only rely on mules and horses to pull along the road, which is really worrying. ”

Xiao Lieri also bowed his head and sighed: "This is also helpless." ”

By September 19, Xiao Lieri and others were still 50 kilometers south of Boli, waiting to open the gateway to the City of Peas.