"Qiqihar" came from the Daur language and meant "frontier" or "natural pasture." The city was located on the Songnen Plain, west of Inner Mongolia's Huanbeier region, and north of it was the Greater Khinganling region. The Russians passed through the Greater Khinganling to the south, and Qiqihar was their outpost as they continued south. If China wanted to continue to attack north, it was necessary to recapture Qiqihar.
Although Shenyang Military Region Political Commissar Ruan Xihao didn't convey it to the army, he was very clear about the military commission's plan. In the next few years after Qiqihar was recaptured, it was unlikely that there would be a large-scale war in the north. At least before the railway reached Qiqihar, the Liberation Army didn't have any plans to continue to move north on a large scale. Based on the current railway construction speed, a large-scale attack would be at least three to five years later.
Ruan Xihao also heard some rumors that he would be transferred back to Nanjing after this war. From the tradition of the Liberation Army, no one had the experience of dominating an area. Transferring back to Nanjing was also a very normal thing. As long as he could win, he basically couldn't run away from going to Jiangnan. In the battle for the position of general, Ruan Xihao would also have a very high ranking. Even with the radio, Ruan Xihao didn't stay in Shenyang, which was 130 li away from Qiqihar. Instead, he went to Elm Village, which was about 500 li away from Qiqihar.
Elm Village was the main road to Qiqihar, and the Songhua River directly connected the two places. If there was an inland river fleet, the army could directly take a boat to Qiqihar. At this time, this matter had already begun, but once the survey of the waterway was completed and enough shipping experience was accumulated, it was estimated that the railway would be built to Qiqihar. Here, Ruan Xihao only needed to be responsible for logistics. A large number of military supplies had already been sent to Elm Village. As long as these supplies could be sent to the front lines, the situation of the war would change a lot.
Major Seryozha led a Russian cavalry of more than 70 people to gallop on the Nenjiang Plain. Survival on the Nenjiang Plain was relatively easy. There were too many animals here. Those silly roe deers didn't even know how to hide when they saw people passing by. At first, the Russians used guns to shoot them, but later on, they were too lazy to waste bullets and just used sticks to hit them. A roasted roe deer could be eaten for several days, so every Russian cavalryman carried a few roasted roe deer in their leather pouches. The food was enough to sustain them for a week. Even if there wasn't enough food, they could easily hunt on the spot. In fact, when they set out, they had already planned to last for two months.
The Russian cavalry did not form into a large group. The opposing Chinese cavalry also had a large group of cavalry. These cavalry kept chasing after the Russian cavalry. The Russian army's objective was not to compete with the Chinese cavalry, but to cut off China's logistics. In July, Qiqihar would enter the rainy season, and the transportation line would be completely cut off. Until then, Major Seryozha's task was to find ways to prevent China's logistical forces from transporting supplies to the frontlines.
It was easy to track China's logistics. The Chinese used large trucks to transport supplies. Those large trucks had wide tires with patterns on them, and it was easy to distinguish them from the tracks they left behind. After half a month, Major Seryozha had seen at least twenty of these caravans, but he still found nothing.
Each caravan was equipped with about two hundred horses. The fifty Russian cavalry had no way to fight against them. Every thirty li, there was a huge relay station. These relay stations seemed to have sprung up overnight. Wooden stakes were hammered into the mud and connected with barbed wire. Between the two layers of walls were various kinds of caltrops and pits were dug.
What was even more terrifying was that on the outer layer of this defense system, there were human heads hanging on the barbed wire. The head of a Russian. After the Russians who attacked these outposts were killed or captured, their heads would be hung on the barbed wire. It was unknown whether it was to intimidate or provoke the Russian army. At least, when Major Seryozha saw these heads from afar, his fear and anger rose at the same time.
There were also people from other troops in his unit, and they described the horror of these barbed wire fences. It wasn't just ordinary barbed wire. On the main strand made up of three barbed wire, the barbed wire was wrapped in what looked like a flower. But it was a terrifying flower of death. The Russian cavalry had tried to cut the barbed wire in the middle of the night with their sabers and sneak in to destroy it. When they slashed with all their might, the bell hanging on the barbed wire rang. The Russians were brave. They hoped to destroy the two layers of barbed wire before the enemy guards rushed in and engage the enemy in close combat. But although the barbed wire looked taut, it was actually quite elastic. The Russians finally managed to cut through the two layers of barbed wire and opened up a tiny gap. But a beam of light appeared in the opposite camp. The beam of light swept randomly for a moment before finding the Russian breach. Bullets flew towards the Russians like a swarm of locusts.
This time, the Russians panicked, and a few of them were shot at once. But what the escapees would never forget for the rest of their lives was that several of the Russians were squeezed when they tried to escape. Their clothes got caught on the barbed wire's spikes. The more anxious they were, the more they couldn't break free. When the Russians lost their footing and fell on the barbed wire, they let out terrifying screams.
The spikes on the "iron flower" pierced their bodies from all angles. The more they struggled, the deeper they pierced. Their clothes were still fine. Under the bright light, only blood could be seen gurgling out. But some of their faces were stabbed on the "iron flower". The sharp iron spikes cut open their skin and hooked onto it. The pain made them try to break free from the iron thorns, but the pain made them instinctively lean their faces back. Breaking free or not, the pain was excruciating. These fellows were like fish on the barbed wire.
The escapees didn't say what happened next. They were already scared out of their wits by the bloody faces of their companions, and they ran away with all their might.
In the next few days, the Russian cavalry didn't even have the chance to break through the barbed wire. The Chinese troops marched towards Qiqihar in large numbers. These troops marched during the day and rested outside the stronghold. At night, they were stationed inside the stronghold. Each unit had several thousand people. Dozens or even hundreds of Russian cavalry didn't dare to approach.
"Let's go back to Qiqihar!" Major Sergei finally gave the order the day before. Cavalry admittedly had their own mobility advantage, but this advantage was nothing in the face of a large-scale army with a stable stronghold. Dozens of cavalry defeated an army of thousands through a surprise attack. That was in the era of cold weapons. Now, let alone dozens of cavalry, even if thousands of cavalry suddenly attacked, they would still be courting death in front of a volley of guns.
Just when the cavalry was about to reach the periphery of Qiqihar in half a day, three horses ran towards them. Sergei's cavalry stopped. From a distance, the three people could be seen to be Russian. When they got closer, they recognized them as the army's outpost. The three people arrived in front of Sergei and nervously shouted, "Major! The Chinese have already surrounded Qiqihar! "
"What?" Sergei was very puzzled by this information. The total area of the fortress defense system around Qiqihar was at least a dozen square kilometers. How could the Chinese dare to disperse their forces? Weren't they afraid of being defeated one by one? And even if the Chinese troops dispersed, they still wouldn't be able to surround Qiqihar.
"The Chinese have built a lot of positions with barbed wire. They have already surrounded the entire Qiqihar. We have gone around in a big circle, but we still haven't seen a place to enter Qiqihar. "The outpost anxiously said.
Major Sergei still didn't believe it. He personally led the troops over. After walking forward for less than two hours, they saw familiar wooden stakes on the distant horizon. On the vast plain, the wooden stakes seemed to have no end. In the extreme distance, the top of the Russian fortress could be faintly seen. But if they wanted to return to Qiqihar, which was occupied by the Russians, they would have to break through layer after layer of defense. With the troops in Major Sergei's hands, breaking through was completely suicidal.
After watching for a while, Major Sergei shouted to the dumbfounded Russian soldiers behind him, "We will cross the river from downstream and see if we can return to Qiqihar from the other side of the river."
On May 24th, the Chinese troops used barbed wire to complete the encirclement of Qiqihar. Russia sent cavalry to try to cut off China's transport lines. After these people were captured, they became China's source of intelligence. China didn't care which Russia troops were in the city, what their designation was, or who their commander was. After this battle, the troops didn't plan to leave any survivors in Qiqihar. In the war with Russia, China also didn't plan to leave any survivors for Russia.
Strategically speaking, it was already so difficult for China to go north, so it would be even more difficult for the Russians to reach here. If Russia, which currently had a population of less than 100 million, was really willing to transport tens of millions of strong men to the Far East at all costs, China would also do its utmost to kill these tens of millions of people. Of course, the result of this would be the destruction of Russia. Vézé didn't think that the Russians would do such a thing. He estimated that as long as a million Russians were killed, the Far East would be clean. Russia couldn't afford this kind of loss. They had no other choice but to admit defeat.
From a political point of view, since China didn't invite Russia to China, China certainly had the right to execute illegal stowaways on Chinese soil who took weapons against the Chinese troops. This was the basic work of protecting the country.
Based on the population of Russia before they were beaten to death, the garrison in Qiqihar was between 50,000 and 100,000. The troops were lenient in estimating the enemy and basically set the number at more than 60,000 and less than 150,000. This was very good news. According to the estimate that there were one million Russians in the Far East, this guy could take care of one-tenth of the Russians, and they were well-armed Russians. Compared with the arduous pursuit of the Russians everywhere, this kind of encirclement and annihilation was too easy.
The Russians also came out once, but they didn't dare to leave the defense range of the fortress. The Liberation Army also calmly faced the enemy. The seemingly meaningless long-range battle between the two sides gave China a little understanding of the range of Russia's ordinary artillery. At most, it was a 12-pound smoothbore cannon. The troops quickly used barbed wire to form a siege outside the range of Russia's artillery. The siege was very thorough. The Liberation Army crossed the Nenjiang River and surrounded the Russian stronghold on the other side of the river.
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