Count Vladimir Sergeyev, commander of the Russian Cossack cavalry, is listening to the report of his subordinates.
After hearing this, he became very angry and cut off a corner of the wooden table with his knife.
"How can you losers fight?
We were infiltrated into the defense line by small groups of Chinese troops.
You actually achieved a battle loss ratio of fifteen to one.
We suffered more than 3,000 casualties, but the Chinese army only suffered more than 200 casualties.
Not to mention three thousand Cossack cavalry, even three thousand wild boars, the Chinese on the opposite side suffered more than two hundred casualties."
When Count Vladimir Sergeyev heard the battle losses of the army, he was so angry that his lungs almost exploded.
This battle loss ratio is too outrageous. This battle loss ratio can only be achieved by a fully armed army beating unarmed civilians.
This shows that the Cossack cavalry is vulnerable to a fight against the cavalry of the Great China Empire.
The Cossack cavalry general, with a bitter look on his face, introduced the situation on the battlefield in detail.
He finally said with a horrified look: "Your Majesty, there is nothing we can do.
The rate of fire of Chinese muskets is extremely fast, but the range of the muskets is still far.
The tactics they used were not the common European tactic of queuing up and shooting.
The Chinese army feels that it is everywhere, and enemies are attacking us from all directions.
The cavalry could not carry large-caliber artillery, and the army did not have many muskets.
In this environment, we were unable to charge on horseback, and we gave up the greatest advantage of the cavalry.
If you suddenly encounter a Chinese army with a special fighting style, if the army does not collapse, it will be considered an elite soldier."
Count Vladimir Sergeyev learned about the real conditions of the battlefield.
He can serve as the commander of the Cossack cavalry and manage this famous cavalry.
He was also a veteran on the battlefield, so he was sent to the Far East by the Tsar.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev immediately recognized the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army.
With the situation in which he commanded this cavalry, it would be difficult to fight against the Chinese.
He realized that this opponent of the empire was stronger than all the opponents he had encountered before.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev believed that since the reinforcements had not arrived, they could not break through the Chinese Tumfu defense line with just the troops in their hands.
But he cannot allow small groups of Chinese troops to continue to operate within his defense lines.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev ordered: "The Chinese can move quickly and hide themselves using sleds and white cloaks.
Both of these supplies are easy to obtain, and we do the same.
Convey my order and have all armies equip these two items and begin to encircle and suppress the Chinese troops surrounding the camp."
Count Vladimir Sergeyev saw the general taking orders and went to the military camp to raise troops.
His main purpose of doing this was to scare away the Chinese army.
He has already seen that this is a small Chinese force, and its main task should be to detect intelligence.
This kind of army will never fight to the death without retreating.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev used encirclement to force the Chinese army to leave their defense lines.
He did not want a large-scale war between the frontline troops and the Chinese.
Now that the army is obviously at a disadvantage, Count Vladimir Sergeyev does not want his soldiers to make unnecessary sacrifices.
But the Chinese army really refused to retreat, so Count Vladimir Sergeyev prepared to surround the Chinese army and use artillery to bombard them indiscriminately.
He did not believe that these Chinese troops, who were also made of flesh and blood, could survive being hit by artillery shells.
The Cossack cavalry imitated the practices of the Chinese army. They also wore white cloaks and traveled on sleds.
The winter in Russia is extremely long, and most soldiers are no strangers to skiing.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev has been in the camp, waiting for news from the front.
While he was waiting, he received two different letters.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev first opened the letter from Kuznetsk.
This is a reply written to him by the commander-in-chief of this war, Margrave Oleg Ivanov.
The commander-in-chief stated that he was aware of the situation reported by him, and asked Count Vladimir Sergeyev to increase the offensive as much as possible, creating a sign that Russia had chosen Central Asia as its general offensive.
When Count Vladimir Sergeyev saw this request, he felt a headache.
The examples shown by the Chinese army would definitely not be able to show the main attack in Central Asia with the same number of troops.
To achieve this requirement, the empire must send more troops to Central Asia.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev once again wrote a reply, explaining the difficulties he encountered and requesting Marquis Oleg Ivanov to send more troops to Central Asia.
After writing this reply, he immediately asked the courier to send it back to Kuznetsk as quickly as possible.
When Count Vladimir Sergeyev opened the second letter, he immediately couldn't help but curse.
This was a letter written to him by his friends at the rear. All the supplies that the empire was supposed to transport to the front line were taken over by the nobles in the army and most of them were eaten.
Only a small amount of supplies and a large number of empty boxes were transported to the frontline troops.
Vladimir Sergeyev cooperated with the big nobles in the army, and he had a share of these supplies.
As long as he agrees, the reinforcements will set off immediately.
He smiled wryly and wrote a reply to his friend, promising to cooperate with the actions of the nobles in the army.
If he doesn't cooperate, his seniors have already given the answer to his fate.
Reinforcements that were supposed to arrive would be delayed for various excuses.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev now has no reinforcements or supplies, and there is no way he can launch a full-scale war in winter.
He only hoped that encircling and suppressing the Chinese army would not cause the outbreak of war between the two countries.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev soon received the news.
After the Russian army prepared to encircle the Chinese army, the Chinese army did not want to fight, and they all withdrew.
When Count Vladimir Sergeyev received the news, a smile appeared on his face.
He originally wanted to take advantage of winter to fight, as northerners were more adaptable to winter than those in the warmer south.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev did not expect that even in winter, the Chinese people would have such strong combat capabilities.
He had seen the corpses of Chinese soldiers, all of whom had been wrapped in cotton-padded clothes several times.
They cope with winter by wearing thick cotton-padded clothes. The only disadvantage is that it is too expensive.
The imperial army was temporarily frustrated, which was not a big problem.
The Imperial Army has never been known for its combat effectiveness.
England and France support the empire. The Czar and the great nobles have already received so many benefits, and they will definitely send a large number of troops to East Asia.
Count Vladimir Sergeyev will command a large number of troops to break through the Tumu Mansion-Balkhash Lake defense line of the Chinese army.
…………………………
Outside the city of Tumufu, a fast horse was galloping.
The horse stepped into a muddy puddle ahead and immediately threw the signal soldier off the horse.
He rolled and immediately took away the force of the collision, but rolled into a puddle of mud and turned into a clay figure.
The snow on the ground turned into water, and the winter animation also melted, forming a large mud area.
This also means that the severe cold winter here in Tumu Mansion has passed.
The signal soldier immediately trotted towards the warehouse area ahead.
This is where a large amount of military supplies are stored.
Cai Gong Wu Jie saw that the snow had melted, and he realized that the war was not far away.
How about him coming to inspect the stored supplies?
When the communications soldier saw the guard protecting Cai Gong Wu Jie, he stated his intention to verify his identity and waited for Cai Gong Wu Jie to summon him.
Cai Gong and Wu Jie just finished inspecting the warehouse. The military supplies were all stacked in the warehouse with guaranteed quality and quantity.
As the war approaches, most of the empire's eyes are focused here.
The Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Military Justice Department, and the Xuanwu Guard offices all focused their full attention on everyone.
Someone who has the ability to embezzle military supplies can make more profits by opening several factories.
Officials at the grassroots level don't have the guts to tamper with military supplies.
Cai Gong Wu Jie said with satisfaction: "You have done a good job. These supplies are the confidence of frontline soldiers.
In the firearms war, what is fought is ammunition, and what is fought is silver coins.
Without so much ammunition, it would be difficult for us to win this war."
After he praised him, he looked at the officials of the Logistics Department and asked: "Your Logistics Department is well-informed. Is the road to Tangnu Ulianghai open or not?"
The materials in Tumu Mansion and the products produced by the empire's major factories were transported to the northwest by train, and then transported to Tumu Mansion by horse-drawn carriages.
Cai Gong Wu Jie is not worried about the situation here in Tumu Mansion.
There is an elite Fourth Army with so many weapons and ammunition.
Even if they approach the city, with these weapons and ammunition, they can kill the invading Russian army.
He was worried about Tangnu Ulianghai, which was very far away from the empire and the roads were rugged and difficult to navigate.
The imperial court gave Tumu Mansion this place to transport a large amount of supplies, and at the same time, it was also building a road to Tanglu Ulianghai.
One of the roads goes north from Yili, and the other goes northwest from Lanzhou.
The official from the Logistics Department smiled and said: "Mr. Cai, you probably haven't paid attention to the notifications from the Logistics Department recently.
The road from Yili to Tangnu Ulianghai needs to cross too many mountains, and it has not yet been opened.
Many of the roads from Lanzhou to Tangnu Ulianghai are rugged mountain roads or the endless Gobi Desert.
This is a long stretch of road that doesn't require anything to be built.
Now that this road has been opened, a large amount of materials can be transported to Tangnu Wulianghai through this road."
Cai Gong Wu Jie asked in surprise: "I heard that during the severe cold in winter, cement roads are not allowed to be built.
I didn’t expect that this road would be successfully built in winter.”
"Mr. Cai misunderstood. There is no need for a high-standard cement road to go straight to some heavy-duty carriages.
All it takes is to open mountains and build bridges over rivers.
Building a gravel road will ensure that supplies can be delivered as quickly as possible.
The technology for building gravel roads is very simple, and even when construction is not suitable in winter, the laying of gravel roads will not be delayed."
Cai Gong Wu Jie suddenly realized: "It turns out to be a gravel road, no wonder it can be built so quickly.
In vast areas such as the Gobi, you only need to put in road signs and don’t even need to build roads.”
He believed that he had fallen into a fixed mindset. Concrete roads were indeed better. There was no need to worry about wind or rain, and trucks could run faster on them.
But considering the situation in Tangnu Ulianghai, the road problem must be solved in a short time, and gravel roads are the most suitable choice.
In the process of opening up mountain roads, the rocks blown down by the blast can be considered as waste when used for road paving.
The guard walked to Cai Gong Wu Jie and whispered: "The Signal Corps has urgent military information to report."
Cai Gong Wu Jie's expression immediately changed. If his guess was correct, Russia could not help but launch an attack on the imperial defense line.
In the winter that just passed, the Russian army conducted several tests. They left some corpses and realized the gap between the two armies.
The Russian army did not launch a large-scale attack in winter. They seemed to be waiting for something.
Cai Gong and Wu Jie previously predicted that in the spring, after a winter of accumulation, the Russian army would have enough supplies to carry out several large-scale wars.
When he saw the clay figure-like signal soldier, he smiled and said, "Xiao Wang, how did you end up like this?"
"Mr. Cai, he was too anxious to see the road clearly and fell off his horse. Fortunately, he was not injured.
This is an urgent telegram from General Zhang Wansi of the 1st Cavalry Division."
Cai Gong Wu Jie opened the telegram and immediately ordered: "Inform the officers near Tumu Mansion to come to the Chinese Army Camp to hold a military meeting."
He rode towards the camp, looking a little anxious.
This telegram was that the Cavalry Division sent out scouts and discovered that there were about 30,000 to 50,000 Russian troops coming.
The Russian army came with a large number of reinforcements, and they obviously wanted to launch an attack.
Otherwise, if these people feed horses every day, it would be a huge amount of silver coins.
Cai Gong and Wu Jie soon arrived at the Chinese army's tent. All the officers had arrived, and he was the last one.
He cupped his hands to the side and said, "Hello, Chief of Staff Qu."
Qu Tian cupped his hands and responded: "Cai Gong was in a hurry and convened an emergency military meeting. This is because of some special circumstances."
Cai Gong Wu Jie handed Zhang Wansi's telegram to everyone.
"Russia continues to increase its troops near the Kazakh tribe by nearly 50,000 people.
The cavalry division observed signs that Russian army reinforcements were still arriving.
On the line between Tumfu and Lake Balkhash, only the Fourth Army was responsible for the defense, and the number was still somewhat small.
I am even more worried now that Tumufu is not the main direction of attack by the Russian army.
I think Tangnu Wulianghai is more likely.
The reason has been mentioned before. It is closer to the Russian mainland and is more convenient to mobilize troops and transfer supplies.
Once the Russian army breaks through the Tangnu Uliang Sea, they can enter the Mongolian steppe.
By bewitching some Mongolian tribes who have not sincerely surrendered, it is very likely that the two forces will merge and have a great impact.
Now I just hope that General Ma Xianglin will perform better.
This time is not like before, I can already smell the smoke, and a war may break out at any time."
Chief of Staff Qu Tian said with a smile: "Cai Gong is still too cautious and wants to protect the bottles and jars in Tumu Mansion.
I asked His Majesty the Emperor for instructions, but His Majesty the Emperor only gave me one reply.
'You hit yours, I'll hit mine.'
This sentence is very insightful, so why should we care about the Russian's main attack direction.
As long as the Russian teammates cannot break through our defense line in a short period of time.
As long as the rear army can provide timely support, we only need to consider our own appetite.
This is a war between two major powers, and we should not be led by the nose.
In war, passive defense is always the last option."
Cai Gong Wu Jie followed the good advice and said: "What Chief of Staff Qu said makes sense. We really shouldn't be led away by the enemy."
He brainstormed with his officers and once again designed a combat plan to prepare for the upcoming war.