Chapter 81 The copy of the soldier

"Beep..."

The sad and regretful heavy shells kept cutting through the sky, and the roar of steam locomotives shocked the sky. The violent explosion brought waves of mountain shaking, accompanied by black smoke clouds up to hundreds of meters high. This is the legal 1885 270mm-line siege mortar transferred by the Russian army from the fortress of Vladivostok. In order to conquer the Tumen River defense line of the Japanese army, Russia has mobilized all the resources that can be mobilized, and Russia needs this victory.

38 220/270mm siege mortars transferred from the fortress of Vladivostok, and 18 used 1885 270mm siege mortars imported from France. These heavy guns, together with hundreds of field guns, continue to wave deadly shells towards the west bank of the Tumen River.

On the Tumen River, white columns of water kept blowing up one by one. The river was dyed yellow by bitter acid explosives. The grenades exploded in the sky kept blowing out black and yellow explosives. The hot and deodorized lead pills pushed by the bitter sour explosives and TNT bombs scattered in the air, and a person was blue The colored and white figure was hit by the projectile and flew into a mass of blood fog, but the attack continued.

On the Tumen River, on more than 20 iron shell steam ships weighing more than ten tons, the black smoke column spewed out by the chimney and the white smoke from the bow and stern of the ship. "Bang, bang, bang" dull and violent cannons kept ringing. The body of the 37mm bang bang gun purchased from Germany flashed with dazzling copper light in the sun. The Russian shooter, who made a bang, shouted "kill the yellow monkey" and kept firing a pound of small shells at the Japanese army's defensive position. They hit a whole 25-gun belt at a time to cover the entire target area, causing a fatal blow to the defensive Japanese army's artillery position.

Although the Japanese gunners on the position were skilled, they could not suppress the bang cannons on the steam ships under the attack of 270mm heavy guns. Although one gun after another were spared under the bombardment of heavy guns, they were destroyed under the unconventional blow of bang bang guns.

A bang cannon consumes up to 1,000 rubles worth of ammunition in a minute. At such a speed, the money consumed by bangs in a battle will be quite amazing, but now, the Russian shooters have not considered this at all. Twenty-six Mark Qin bang cannons waved a 4.5-ruple shell at the Japanese army on the other side of the river at a maximum rate of fire of 400 rounds per minute.

The fierce shelling is effective. In the fierce shelling, the Japanese army in the defensive position could not organize effective resistance at all. At the same time, the Russian soldiers on the other side of the river, carrying a few meters of sampan on their shoulders, carrying a 1.3-meter-long Mosinagan rifles, waded into the cold river. When the sumplings were searched in the port of Vladivostok, ten or more Russian soldiers jumped on the boat and rowed to the other side with wooden pulp.

Compar with the Russian artillery, the Japanese artillery is becoming more and more scattered and completely passive. Even when the Russian troops landed across the river, their counterattack on the river was limited. A small number of shells fell on the river, except for the occasional trouble for the Russian army that paddled desperately on the sounce or life-saving wooden ships. It's just to dye the river yellow.

"This is the largest landing battle in human history!"

"This is really a great battle!"

When more than 5,000 Russian soldiers rowed the samba and rushed to the other side, and the Russian [***] officials and soldiers on the shore marveled at the spectacular scene in front of them, on the river, dozens of unpowered shell ships rowed slowly on the river under the movement of Russian soldiers. At this time, the quality of Russian engineering officers got Fully reflected, they used the obstacles they set up on the opposite bank as a landmark, and carried out the measurement of the bridge and river surface. The iron boat dragged to the upstream by the carriage went straight down the river. Under the cover of artillery fire, they began to build an engineering pontoon bridge.

When the engineers built the pontoon bridge, in the face of the desperate counterattack of the Japanese army, the Russian soldiers who had just robbed the beach shouted "Ula", carried a rifle, and drove the Japanese army back to their trenches with a bayonet. The river, which was originally dyed yellow by explosives, was stained red by blood in a short battle.

White and blue corpses were scattered on the beach. The Russian soldiers who robbed the beach used corpses as sandbags to desperately protect the head of the pontoon bridge without trenches and cover.

"Maybe they can accuse their generals of incompetence, but it can't be denied that Russian soldiers are indeed the best soldiers!"

In the observation center in Jiangbei, several middle-aged [***] officers in tea-green military uniforms different from those of the Russian army talked about each other in Chinese.

"It's a pity that the front-line commander is too conservative,"

An officer used a slightly "cont mindful" to the side, instead of using his heart to mutter incompetence.

"In this kind of battle, we must attack and keep attacking. When they repel the Japanese army for the first time, they should take advantage of the chaos to expand the beach head. Only in this way can it be possible to consolidate the beach head. In the current way of fighting, if the defensive side has sufficient strength, they can completely drive them down! There is only a depth of less than 100 meters, and every second is exchanged for life!"

"At least they can do it! This kind of play can't be done by every army. The courage is admirable!"

Although others do not object to his point of view, at this time, they can't help but admire the bravery of these Russian soldiers.

While the officers in the bunker were whispering comments on the Russian [***] team in Chinese, the Russian soldiers on the river were working hard there. Nearly a hundred iron boats were connected into a pontoon bridge composed of iron beams and wooden boards in an hour. When the pontoon bridge was built, a steady stream of Russian soldiers still passed through The sangpan kept losing to the west bank. Under the desperate counterattack of the Japanese army and the desperate resistance of the Russian army, the river was dyed red, and the bodies were piled up on the shore, but the Russian army was still hard-working.

"Go and fight and get back the honor of the Russians!"

Perhaps it is in the face of the victory of the Chinese people that these Russian soldiers can't accept it in any way. They were defeated by themselves, while the Chinese easily defeated themselves. Now they must save a little face. It is this kind of thought that makes them struggle to support them.

"The bridge is connected!"

A shout sounded in the shelter. The next second, the deafening sound of horses' hoofs sounded. While the horses' hoofs roared in the air, observers from various countries in the shelter saw a cavalry force rushing towards the pontoon with a knife. This was the most proud Cossack cavalry of the Russians, although On the battlefield of Manchuria, they were defeated by Akiyama's ancient cavalry with machine guns, but it did not prevent them from still being the cornerstone of the Russian Empire.

"Okay! Gentlemen, the Russians have succeeded!"

As the cavalry rushed through the ten-meter-wide engineering iron bridge, a German lieutenant colonel in the shelter put down his telescope in his hand and said affirmatively. Then he turned around and looked at the [***] observers in the shelter and asked with a smile.

"Gentlemen, would anyone like to join me in congratulating Commander Kuropatkin on his victory?"

"The Lujun crossed the Tumen River!"

In a shelter in Pyongyang, hundreds of kilometers away, accompanied by the rumble of cannons, a telegram slowly fell from the hands of Kodama Gentaro to the wet soil.

Kodama Gentaro, the chief of staff of the Manchurian Army, who has commanded the defense of Pyongyang in the past few days, has been under pressure beyond people's imagination, and a look of panic appeared on his face for the first time.

"Are you sure? Didn't the Third Preparatory Division stop them?

Even after the telegram drifted from his hand, he asked several times to confirm the exact last name of the news.

But the answer of Kubo Haruno, the head of the Sixth Division, completely dispelled his last glimmer of hope.

"Mr. Chief of Staff, according to the telegram sent back by the Third Reserve Division, Kuropatkin commanded at least 150,000 troops to attack the defense line of the Tumen River from six directions. He had no way to stop their attack in six directions at the same time, so..."

Leaning softly on the back of the chair, Kodama Gentaro didn't even hear it clearly. Okubo Haruno finally said something. Now he only knows one thing. What he didn't want to happen happened at the most inappropriate time. Although all this was already doomed, the time is the time is the most Inappropriate.

"Mr. Chief of Staff, maybe we still have a way to stop them! They just show [***]!"

Okubo Haruno's words were with a trace of contempt. In Manchuria, he commanded troops to fight against Lu [***] again and again.

"Lu[***] people may be very brave, but their officers are extremely incompetent!"

His words were exchanged for Kodama Gentaro's shaking head and bitter smile.

"Da Jiujun, as you said, we all know that the roots of the entire Russian [***] team have completely rotted. The only thing we can rely on is the soldiers who are despised as "Russian devout gray animals" by noble officers... Everyone has long known that the Russian [***] team lacks excellence. The commanders, the vast majority of officers are mediocre and incompetent... On the contrary, Russian soldiers are one of the best soldiers in the world. Their absolute obedience, perseverance and death-like spirit are regarded as extremely valuable qualities... However, Kuropatkin is still a competent commander, I There are no troops to stop him in the north and south of Xianjing. He has 150,000 troops!"

When he said this, Kodama Gentaro closed his eyes in pain. The reason why he dragged his sick body to command the 6th Division in Pyongyang for defensive operations was to be able to let the Chinese army retreat, but now he realized that he had ignored one point. Lan Tianwei, the commander of the Chinese Korean Army, was more eager to pass this. What did the battle prove to his emperor?

The Chinese army did not retreat because they used the favorable terrain of Pyongyang to organize defense. Instead, they adjusted their tactics and surrounded Pyongyang regardless of the safety of the back road. Their two divisions crossed the river from the mountainous areas of the upper reaches of the Datong River, cut off the contact between Pyongyang and the south, and on the north bank of the Datong River. , and mobilized field artillery to attack the river transport ship.

I prepared a dead ground for the blue sky to guard the river and hold the gunboat. However, Lan Tianwei boldly adjusted his tactics. At the cost of the cost that the two divisions may be completely annihised at any time because of logistics problems, he formed a siege of Pyongyang. He harassed his logistics with artillery on the river. If he could drag himself ten days and detoured the two divisions on the south bank, he would fall into a poor logistics situation. At that time, it would not be difficult for him to lighten. Song broke their siege, and at the same time, it was possible to completely annihilated the two divisions.

Time!

In the end, time changed everything. Lu [***] didn't have enough time for himself. Now he has only two choices. One is to continue to fight in Pyongyang and Lan Tianwei, and the other is to end the war with China and free up his hand to transfer back the main force of the Manchurian army to repel the Lu [***] team that invaded North Korea.

"Mr. Chief of Staff, do we continue to attack the southern wing of the Chinese army?"

Haruno Okubo raised his own question. The north line defended along the river and the south line continued to attack the Chinese army. This is a tactic formulated by the chief of staff after the siege in Pyongyang. The purpose is to consume the ammunition of the Chinese army on the south bank and create an opportunity to cooperate with the reinforcement of the 6th and 7th reserve divisions from Incheon to completely annihle the Chinese army.

"It's too late!"

Kodama Gentaro shook his head helplessly and sighed.

"In the past few days, the reason for the continuous attack is to consume the ammunition and strength of the Chinese army on the southern front, annihire them before Lu [***] intervenes, and create a negotiation opportunity for President Ito in Nanjing. But now, if we can't transfer the Manchurian army to North Korea as soon as possible, every time we drag one God, the Lu army, which will hardly be blocked, can march dozens of kilometers. In a month, the whole North Korea is bound to be under the control of Lu. At that time, even if the navy defeats the Lu army in the naval battle, the deterioration of the strategic situation cannot be changed..."

At this moment, with an explosion, the shelter shook several times, and some ash fell between the cracks in the top logs. This was the shelling of the main force of the Chinese army on the north bank of the Datong River. The Chinese army on the south bank would not fire unless necessary. In most cases, he relied on the other side of the river to provide artillery cover.

Kodama Gentaro sat on his real body, patted the dust between the collars with his hands, and then continued to say.

"Whether North Korea is controlled by China or Russia, it is absolutely unacceptable, so..."

"But what the Chinese want is Taiwan! Sir, you have said that Taiwan is a barrier to the south. It has great military value and cannot return Taiwan to China. At the beginning, in order to get Taiwan, we took so much effort to kill so many people. If we return it to them, it will be harmful to our country in the long run.

Okubo Haruno looked at the silent chief of staff. After the occupation of Taiwan, the first three governors of Taiwan, Ziji Huashan, Taro Katsura and Nogi Yoshinori, could not control Taiwan. In Nogi Yoshinori's view, the gains of the rulers were not worth the Taiwan, and the military expenditure was as high as 7 million yuan per year, except for Taiwan's taxes. In addition, Japan also took out 12 million yuan from China's compensation in the First Sino-Japanese War to subsidize Taiwan's military expenses.

The huge expenditure not only did not get practical benefits from Taiwan's cession, but became a heavy burden for Japan. He came up with the idea of selling Taiwan and moved the then Prime Minister Masayoshi Matsukata. After a series of behind-the-scenes activities, it was initially decided to sell Taiwan to France for 15 million francs.

But in the end, it was the strong opposition of Eryu and accused the management officials of incompetence. They recommended themselves as the governor of Taiwan. After taking office, they implemented a series of new measures in Taiwan and a series of colonial policies in Taiwan, which made the Japanese authorities taste the benefits, and no one mentioned the sale of Taiwan to other countries. Even now, as the chief of staff of the Manchurian Army, he is still the governor of Taiwan. "Yes,"

Kodama Gentaro nodded. How could he not know what Haruno Okubo said as the governor of Taiwan? When he knew that the Chinese had made the condition of "Taiwan exchange", the first thing he said was that the Chinese were crazy.

"Taiwan spent hundreds of millions of yuan on war money, and nearly 20,000 people were killed and injured. If China wants to recover Taiwan, it must bleed."

This is the answer given by Gentaro Kodama when the Prime Minister asked him what he meant, but what about now? If the Chinese want to take over Taiwan, they may not need to bleed in Taiwan. They just need to... "Long, do you know that the Lu Guo Fleet has been frequent near Taiwan recently!"

"I saw the news in the newspaper that thirteen merchant ships were sunk and lost more than 35,000 tons of merchant ships. I really don't know what the navy eats for. Do those fools have to wait until the Lu Guo Fleet sinks our merchant ships before going to sea to fight?"

Haruno Okubo's words contain serious dissatisfaction with the navy. In fact, he is the only one who is dissatisfied with the navy. Now the whole Japanese is quite criticizing the navy and the joint fleet, but the problem is that the navy simply pretends to be deaf and dumb, and they are still training in the town bay of South Korea. .

"The navy is waiting for a decisive battle!"

As the chief of staff of the Manchurian army, Kodama Gentaro rarely said a fair word for the navy. He understands that whether the navy can win or not will be directly related to the end of the war. The Lu people must lose to the last hope before they can face defeat.

"Now, there are many rumors, but there are the most rumors. It is also very likely that the Chinese fleet will help the Chinese army to land in Taiwan. At that time, there will be no exchange between South Korea and Taiwan, only..."

"Mr. Chief of Staff, this is just a guess!"

When he retorted, Haruno Okubo looked at the sick Kodama Gentaro in surprise.

"Do you also agree with the cession of Taiwan?"

Kodama Gentaro shook his head.

"If I can, I will never agree to cede Taiwan. As for now... it depends on Tokyo's decision! As soldiers, it is difficult for us to oppose Tokyo's decision! So we have to fulfill the duty of the soldiers and obey the orders!"

In fact, when Kodama Gentaro said this, although he did not show his attitude, anyone could understand the meaning in his words and give up Taiwan!

For Kodama, in Taiwan and North Korea, for the direct security of the empire, he knew that he could only make this choice.

"But... we must understand that many things are temporary!"

(to be continued)