The morning of May 26, 1872, came earlier than in the south. Qiqihar was closer to the Arctic Circle than most parts of China. At such a latitude, it was impossible for the sun to shine directly above their heads. The sun slowly moved closer to the horizon, rising in the east and setting in the west. It was already the beginning of summer, and there were only a few hours left in the night.
Under the morning light, on the defensive positions interwoven with barbed wire, the thick muzzles slowly rose and adjusted to the best angle. The observation balloons dragging long ropes in the air also reached the predetermined altitude. The observers used binoculars to look at the heavily besieged Qiqihar city.
Four 200mm howitzers had been sent to the front line. Today was the time for this heavy artillery to show its power. In order to transport these four 200mm howitzers, the troops used special trucks. It was not yet time for the infantry to go into battle. They had to destroy the Russian fortresses one by one before they could attack the city. It was estimated that this process would take several days. A large number of infantrymen wanted to get close and watch the excitement when they had no combat mission. However, the commanders drove the infantrymen far away. Qiqihar's terrain was flat, and the cannons were camouflaged. They didn't even have a chance to watch from a distance, which made the comrades very unhappy.
Even if the siege cannons played the leading role, the proper configuration of the troops was not neglected. The troops were not sure about the level of the Russians' artillery. Everyone was only worried about one thing, and that was whether the Russians' artillery was dense enough and fierce enough. In the Liberation Army's siege exercises, nearly half of the "casualties" were caused by artillery. In the actual battle of the Liberation Army, artillery truly showed the style of the king of war. All the troops had already made preparations. This war was not like the past. Because of the transportation, the supply of artillery was not very sufficient. Moreover, the Russians were not weak soldiers like the Manchu Qing. In addition, the Russians were surrounded here, like cornered beasts fighting, the battle would not be easy.
At seven o 'clock in the morning, China's heavy artillery began to fire. Hearing the roar of the heavy artillery, the infantrymen's first impression was that the sound of the artillery was far less loud than they had imagined. Compared with the crisp sound of the small-caliber artillery, the sound of the heavy artillery was more dull, somewhat like the faint sound of thunder coming from the horizon. After the artillery shells landed, everyone clearly felt a clear tremor from under their feet. Then came the sound of a violent explosion. That feeling was hard to describe. The impact that his body felt was far more intense than the sound of an explosion. The more sensitive warriors felt as if an electric current was quickly passing through their skin. Their chests felt a little stuffy.
On the third shot, the shell finally hit the Russian fortress. Everyone saw a flower of stone debris burst out from the middle and lower part of the Russians' wooden and stone fortress. Just as the cheers sounded, the inside of the fortress exploded violently. The tall fortress exploded from the inside. Smoke and flame poured from every orifice and from the inside of the small window. The fortress exploded from the inside like it was made of paper. The upper half of the fortress lost its support and shook for a while before gradually stabilizing. Just when everyone thought that the fortress would be able to hold on, the upper half of it collapsed.
The troops watching the result of the bombardment from afar were stunned. It took a long time for the Russian fortress to finally collapse to the ground, causing a large cloud of dust to rise. Deafening cheers rang out in China's camp. The artillery troops were naturally incomparably foul, while the army was particularly excited. As long as they didn't have to personally use their flesh and blood to deal with the enemy's sturdy fortress, who would the China army be afraid of?
After one day, 200 artillery shells had destroyed nine Russian fortresses. The Russians had lost more than half of the project that they had worked hard for two years. In addition to the two fortresses across the river, only the three fortresses near the city of Qiqihar were still intact. Anyone could see that these three fortresses would not be able to see the sun the day after tomorrow.
The long day was very advantageous for the defense of the attackers. China's defensive position didn't need to hold their breath for seven or eight hours. Four or five hours was enough.
The long day was very disadvantageous for the defense. Russia only had four or five hours of breathing time before they would soon welcome a new cruel day. The commander of Qiqihar's garrison felt that he had made a huge mistake. He shouldn't have put so many people in this beautiful city of Qiqihar.
Russia's supplies in the Far East were basically transported by sea. Last year, the Chinese Navy swept along the coast like a mad dog during the time outside the frozen period. Russia lost several hundred ships, and their strongholds along the Pacific coast were also swept clean. This directly led to the situation of a shortage of supplies.
Of course, it wasn't that the Russians didn't have a road back to Europe. Their strongholds were distributed along the road. However, the warm city of Qiqihar was much better than the land north of the Greater Khingan Mountains. The strongholds along the coast began to retreat. They didn't retreat west, but gathered near Qiqihar.
Russia's serfdom system was also quickly used in the East. The Russians hunted themselves and enslaved the subordinates of the Heilongjiang general to farm and hand over grain. It was also very easy to settle down in Qiqihar. In the Russians' idea, China would launch a probing attack, and if it failed, they would launch a large-scale attack. This just happened to give the Russians a chance. If they discovered that they really had no way to win against China in the future, they could still choose to retreat. However, China unexpectedly sent more than a hundred thousand troops to besiege Qiqihar. The wishful thinking of the Russians was completely ruined. Seeing that the fortress didn't even have a chance to display its power and was turned into ruins, the Russian commander almost went crazy.
After some discussion, the Russians made a decision. Since the fortress was unreliable, the Russians could only rely on their own land to solve the problem. The next day, the Russians took the initiative to attack and had a decisive battle with the Chinese team. As long as they defeated the Chinese team head-on, everything would not be a problem.
On May 27, the Chinese team was delighted to find that the Russian team actually attacked. The artillery stabilized their position first, the infantry lined up in a square formation, and the cavalry brought up the rear. It was a very standard European military formation. This kind of military formation had begun to take shape since the Napoleonic era. After all, the times had progressed. It was estimated that the Russian team in front of them was probably at the level of the Russian army that entered Paris in 1815.
Regardless of whether the Russians had changed or not, the Chinese people had already undergone tremendous changes. When the Russians appeared on the battlefield with their flags fluttering, they were not able to see the opposite Chinese team. The only thing that the Russians could see was the barbed wire. Behind the barbed wire, someone had built a small slope of earth. Other than that, there was the shadowy Chinese camp further away. There were no signs of the Chinese running in the camp, as if there was no one outside the city.
The Chinese people must be hiding in a corner on the opposite side. They were hiding like cowards, but as soon as the Russian team attacked, the Chinese people would have no choice but to appear.
Next to the military flag was the flag of the Orthodox Church. The priests began to pray. The soldiers knelt down on one knee, raised two fingers, or three fingers. This kind of action could easily cause internal strife, but no one cared about it at this time. After a long and tedious prayer, the Russians finally stood up and crossed themselves. Some of the pious soldiers even kissed the corner of the priest's robe. Feeling that they were blessed by God, the Russians finally began to attack with peace of mind.
In the trenches, the Chinese people had waited for a long time and began to whisper among themselves.
"Are those people going to cut the barbed wire with their axes?"
"What's that long pole with the hook for?"
"Isn't it easier to cut the barbed wire straight?"
"Didn't we teach them to cut it with pliers?"
"The military of the Russians is backward. They don't understand this at all."
"They're so backward. Are they primitive people?"
"What primitive people! Our troops only stopped training to line up and shoot a few years ago after they changed their uniforms. If you say that, we were primitive people too! "
"Didn't the teachers say that we were all primitive people?"
"Bah! You continue to be a primitive person. I'm not a f * cking primitive! "
…
"The battle is about to begin! Don't talk! "
Following the orders of the commanders, the troops quieted down again. At this time, the Russian team had begun to approach the Chinese position in a more orderly square formation.
The Russian soldiers also saw some subtle movements. After all, the Chinese troops were not afraid of death. According to the rules, before the commander gave the order, everyone was to hide in the trenches and not show their heads. But without the cruel baptism of war, no one understood the meaning of this order. Everyone felt as if a cat was scratching their hearts. Some soldiers couldn't help but lie on the edge of the trenches to peek. Those green military hats were very conspicuous on the edge of the trenches.
After discovering the enemy, the Russian troops slightly adjusted their direction and advanced towards the trenches.
The hidden observation post quickly reported the situation to the company commander. The company commander angrily ordered in a low voice: "Pass on one by one, no one is allowed to show their heads. Squad leader, deputy squad leader, in charge of the combat team, keep an eye on the comrades. "
After that, the company commander ran to the observation post with practiced military movements. The Russian troops didn't stop and continued to advance. "Damn it!" The Sichuanese company commander cursed in his heart. No matter how angry the company commander was, he didn't dare to curse out loud after being reprimanded several times. He thought that after this battle, he would definitely give these guys a good scolding. They had been trained many times in military training, but when it came to the real battlefield, they still couldn't help it!
Just as he was thinking, the sound of cannons came from the Russian artillery position. It sounded like a 12-pound smoothbore cannon. The Liberation Army hadn't used this kind of weapon for many years. Even the iron three-inch rifled cannon had been retired. The troops were now equipped with field cannons and mountain cannons with the same caliber of 75mm. Of course, it wasn't that the troops hadn't seen this kind of weapon before. During training, they had used this kind of weapon as a demonstration. But the purpose was to let everyone know how to deal with an enemy with this kind of equipment.
At that time, the Sichuanese company commander thought that this weapon was usable, but it was really outdated. But now that he heard the enemy's cannons, he couldn't help but shiver. No matter how outdated the cannon was, when hit by this kind of cannon, the human body couldn't withstand it no matter what.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
