Chapter 134: "Chao" Cloud Dance (2)

On May 10, 1904, artillery fire was fierce in the Yili River Valley, Xinjiang.

Since early April, about 120,000 Russian-Kazakh army has begun to advance towards Ili, and the First Chinese Army stationed in Ili only has 61,000 troops. In order to implement the 16-character policy of "avoiding its edge, firming its walls and clearing its fields, sticking to key points, and disturbing its retreat" issued by General Zhang Yaoqian, commander of the Northwest Front, Lieutenant General Yan Meng, led the main force of the army to fight and retreat while fighting, and completed the reassembly at the Yili Fortress, which was about 50 kilometers away from the border line, and built a cross-river valley with the fortress as the core of defense, with more than 40 kilometers on the front, named the "Kunlun Defense Line".

At the end of April, before the main force of the Russian Kazakh Army arrived at the Kunlun defense line, it began to tentatively attack. It suffered heavy losses under the intensive fire strikes of the Chinese army and the cavalry counterattack. By early May, it was forced to suspend the attack.

From May 8 to May 9, the e-E Army concentrated artillery to bombard the Chinese military positions. Early in the morning of May 10, under the cover of fierce artillery fire, the e-E Army concentrated about 60,000 infantry divisions and one cavalry division (equipped with 180 artillery pieces and 50 machine guns) to attack the southern section of the defense line.

The defense of the southern section of the defense line was the 23rd Infantry Brigade of the 110th Infantry Brigade and the 8th Infantry Division of the Chinese Army. The former was mainly composed of locals, with less than 8,000 troops and weak combat power. The entire brigade was only equipped with 18 artillery and 12 machine guns; the latter was a standing arrangement for the National Defense Forces, with a total strength of nearly 9,000, equipped with 71 artillery and mortars and 101 light and heavy machine guns.

The battle unfolded on the Yili River Valley, which was dyed with spring green. The light cavalry of the Huns, Turks, and Mongols were galloping here, and they were also trampled by the iron cavalry of the Han and Tang dynasties. The Qing Empire wrote victory and experienced shame here. Now, what kind of play will the brand new Chinese Empire be staged here?

Above the battlefield, a big bird with a strange appearance attracted the attention of the E-country cavalry wearing a Kazakh felt hat.

"What's that?"

"Eagle?"

"Have you ever seen a four-winged eagle?"

"Flying down...down!"

The fjzl-5 "High Wind" reconnaissance contact plane made a buzzing noise, dived at a small angle, passing over the heads of the cavalry of the country. The strong wind brought out blew away the felt hats of several of them, and the frightened war horses raised their front hooves and threw them over the grassland knights on their backs.

"Your Excellency Commander, it's so risky!"

The young pilot in the front seat of the plane shouted at the brass sound tube in front of him.

"Damn it, I forgot to bring the grenades. I'd just throw it away two of them."

A hoarse male voice came from the sound tube.

"Your Excellency, I am responsible for your life!" The pilot was a little anxious.

"I order you to circle a few more laps." The passenger in the back seat obviously did not intend to understand the other party.

"But please stop ordering me to dive anymore." The pilot tried to bargain.

"Abide by the orders, Lieutenant." The passenger said unequivocally.

The planes hovered in circles, and under the canvas-skinned wings, the ant-like infantry and cavalry were slowly moving towards the long winding line of trenches. Countless shells washed over the trees, grass and ants, and thick smoke rolled into the sky, walking with dazzling white clouds and dancing together.

"Fly lower, lieutenant." The passenger ordered.

"Your Excellency, it's too dangerous." The pilot didn't buy it.

"Then you climb to the back seat and I'll drive it myself." The passenger threatened.

The pilot surrendered.

The plane dived again at a small angle, passing over the heads of a team of e-country infantry soldiers. The annoyed e-country infantry raised their rifles in their hands and shot at the sky.

"The wing was shot!" the pilot exclaimed.

"It's just a break of two holes, it's nothing, continue to circle..." The passenger was calm.

At this time, behind their butts, the e-army infantry who were busy shooting into the sky were swept across the bullets like a hurricane and knocked down a large area - the Chinese army machine guns in the trenches opened fire.

After the plane turned halfway, the passengers in the back seat witnessed a larger massacre - hundreds of E-E cavalry were trapped in the crossfire of the Chinese army, and were instantly knocked down under dense machine guns and artillery fire. Their sabers and rifles drew a trace of metallic texture in the air, forming a perfect contrast with the corpses of animals wrapped in military uniforms and saddles...

One hour later, the plane landed on a simple airport east of the Yili Fortress.

Ili is located 460 kilometers west of Dihua, the capital of Xinjiang (the main road mileage is 670 kilometers), tightly ties with the middle side of the fertile Ili River Valley. By 1902, it had become a major border town with a population of 50,000. The fortress was integrated in the west of the city, equipped with six permanent forts and four core fortresses, equipped with 58 fortress artillery, and the defenders set up about 2,500 garrisons for the Eighth Infantry Division.

At the airport, several generals and officers surrounded him nervously: "Commander Zhang, are you okay?"

General Zhang Yaoqian, the commander of the Northwest Front Army, jumped off the plane lightly, took out his handkerchief and wiped his face covered with black smoke, and glared at the generals and schoolmen in abrupt manner: "The war is so tense now, why do you have time to come here! I'm fine, don't worry about it, come back to the headquarters with me!"

The officers were submissive, and then a groom took out a white Arabian horse. Zhang Yaoqian threw the flying hat to his followers, jumped onto the horse's back, and whipped the horse away.

"This commander is not easy to serve."

"It's not the first day of the headquarters, so much nonsense."

"Come on, the commander will lose his temper later."

The officers whispered a few words, and each got on his horse and followed the past.

Zhang Yaoqian, one of Liu Yun's direct descendants, served as the commander of the 4th Imperial Guard Brigade during the Sino-Japanese War of 1895. The Second Imperial Guard Division, which was affiliated with Zhong Xiahuo, led his troops to North Korea on August 10, 1894. After many major battles, he was transferred back to China before the start of the landing operations against Japan, so he failed to participate in the war against Japan. After the war, he served as the commander of the General Staff, artillery director, infantry commander, and military district chief. He served as commander of the Northwest Military Region since 1900. After the war, China and Russia directly took office as commander of the Northwest Front Army.

Just yesterday, after learning that the entire Kunlun defense line was bombarded by the E-E army, Zhang Yaoqian decided to take a plane to the front line to inspect. After arriving last night, he first learned about the basic situation. He took the plane and headed straight to the battlefield early that morning, making a squad of accompanying officers really worried about it.

After returning to the First Corps Command located in Yili City, Zhang Yaoqian summoned everyone to discuss the situation of the war. At this time, the front line had already generated a power report: the first wave of the enemy's impact was repelled by me, and our army suffered heavy losses, and the specific losses are under statistics.

"Transfer my order. All departments should defend their positions and not take a step back! If you have time to count losses, it is better to hurry up and repair the fortifications!" Zhang Yaoqian ordered without hesitation.

Seeing the messenger leaving by order, Lieutenant General Yan Meng, the commander of the First Legion, came over carefully and asked, "Commander Zhang, when will the reinforcements of the front army arrive?"

"The 95th Brigade should have set out today and can arrive within ten days." Zhang Yaoqian replied concisely.

"Is there only one brigade?" Yan Meng was absolutely unsatisfied.

"Alashankou has sent 94th Brigades. Now I only have the 96th Infantry Brigade and the 9th Cavalry Brigade. Before the reinforcements from the mainland arrived, the reserve team must not be moved until the critical moment. Now Kashgar is also being oppressed by the e-E Army. Major General Qian Lan's second legion is much weaker than your legion. Those Hui Muslim troops are not very reliable. If you want reinforcements, you must give priority to reinforcements!" Zhang Yaoqian explained bluntly.

"Have reinforcements sent from the mainland?" Yan Meng heard the news for the first time.

"Yes, yesterday the base camp specially sent me a telegram, saying that it had already organized the infantry instructor and the 9th Infantry Division into the Northwest Third Corps and boarded the bus before May 20th."

"Then I have no hope in the past few months..." Yan Meng murmured in a low voice.

From Beijing to Yili, it spans the entire China. The mileage of the main roads exceeds 6,000 kilometers, of which more than 1,800 kilometers are trekked by feet, horses and carriages. Even if the troops of these two divisions and a large number of baggage have obtained priority use of the railway, they will still not be able to reach the front line in a month or two.

Zhang Yaoqian glanced at him disdainfully: "The base camp also said that this batch of reinforcements will be used for counterattack against the E-E. At that time, our army will aim to advance to Lake Isek, Lake Balkash and Jaisanbo as the combat goal, and regain the western territory occupied by the E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-

"But with our army's fragile logistics support, it is really difficult to achieve such a task, unless the Yudi (Yumen-Dihua) railway can be opened to traffic in the near future..." Yan Meng, known for his prudence, always give priority to practical difficulties.

"Of course, the base camp also considered it. The telegram said that the military simple railway from Yumen to Hami has been laid and is planned to be opened to traffic by the end of June. The military simple railway roadbed from Hami to Dihua is also under emergency construction and is planned to be opened to traffic by the end of the year. However, depending on the meaning of the base camp, it should be to solve the problem within the year. Okay, let's not talk about it. Today, the e-army launched a fierce attack. I looked on the plane. It's nothing great, we can withstand it."

Then, Zhang Yaoqian glanced at the officers and said in a more intense tone: "What everyone needs to do now is to go to the front line more to boost morale, guide the renovation of fortifications and the deployment of troops. We must firmly grasp the reserve team. We must not use it casually until the most dangerous moment... We must hold the enemy tightly on this preset defense line and consume the enemy's troops to the greatest extent. We will persevere for a while, and when the new forces in the mainland arrive, we will see how we drink the Mabalkash Pool!"
Chapter completed!