Ma Xianglin was on the front line, and he knew better than Cai Gong Wu Jie and the court princes when it was appropriate to launch a general offensive.
But he sent an inquiry to make Cai Gong Wu Jie and His Majesty the Emperor feel involved in this war.
In doing so, he also showed the attitude of all the officers and men of the 19th Army.
After Ma Xianglin sent the telegram, he went to inspect each division and asked the guards to stay in the telegraph room to wait for a reply from Tumu Prefecture and Beijing.
The army has set up camp south of the city of Kuznetsk, beyond the range of the Russian artillery.
Each division left a regiment of troops to guard against Russian troops that might come out of the city.
Most of the troops were eating and resting. They traveled a long distance to the city of Kuznetsk, and what followed was another high-intensity war.
Every experienced veteran uses the free time before the war to seize the time to rest.
Ma Xianglin finally walked to the artillery regiment's station. Other troops had rested, but the artillery regiment was still busy.
He saw Su Cheng's chief of staff discussing matters with Liu Song, commander of the artillery regiment.
When Captain Liu Song saw Ma Xianglin arriving, he immediately took the initiative to greet him.
"Hello, Commander, you don't want to worry about our artillery regiment. You are here to inspect the work of the artillery regiment."
Ma Xianglin looked at the busy artillery regiment and said with a serious expression: "The artillery regiment plays a decisive role in whether our army can capture the strong city of Kuznetsk.
The entire army will definitely give priority to meeting the needs of the artillery regiment."
When Commander Liu Song heard Commander Ma Xianglin's assurance, he smiled happily.
"Commander, you are so polite. Our artillery regiment will never disappoint the commander's approval, and we will definitely be able to break the turtle shell of Kuznetsk.
I just observed the cannons on the Russian city wall and the forts outside the city with the chief of staff.
The fort outside the city is made of huge rocks. The fort is relatively strong, but it cannot withstand the bombardment of the artillery regiment's 155 mm caliber heavy artillery.
The artillery of the Russian army are all old front-loading smoothbore guns.
The technical level of many artillery pieces is comparable to that of artillery made in the Ming Dynasty.
Both in terms of power and range, they are far from our army.
As long as the enemy cannot attack the artillery camp.
The enemy could only withstand the bombardment from the artillery battalion, but they were unable to fight back and dropped the artillery shells on top of our troops."
Commander Ma Xianglin listened to the confident words of Artillery Regiment Commander Liu Song, and the smile on his face never disappeared.
He likes to fight this kind of battle with the wind the most, crushing the enemy with strong strength. Only in this way can the risk of war be minimized.
Ma Xianglin asked: "Your artillery regiment hasn't set up artillery positions yet, so what's missing?
Do you need me to mobilize troops to help your artillery regiment and set up the artillery positions quickly?"
Liu Song, commander of the artillery regiment, waved his hand and said: "Commander, don't bother me. If you need to mobilize troops, I just asked the chief of staff.
The artillery carriages produced by the Empire are very advanced and have a tube withdrawal mechanism. The artillery carriages do not choose the location where they are deployed. As long as the road is hard, it will not affect the accuracy of the artillery.
We are now adjusting the position of each cannon based on the enemy's strength, determining the parameters of each cannon, and calculating the firing elements of each cannon.
The artillery staff will soon have the artillery deployed."
Chief of Staff Su Cheng heard the hidden meaning in Commander Ma Xianglin's words.
He immediately added: "There is no need to send troops to help. This is not manual work. Those soldiers in the army who do not understand artillery technology will not be helpful if they come to the artillery regiment.
In the evening, the artillery regiment can set up artillery positions.
The artillery staff calculated the condition of each cannon overnight.
If nothing happens to the artillery regiment, it will be able to join the war tomorrow without delaying our army's launch of a general offensive."
When Commander Ma Xianglin heard what Chief of Staff Su Cheng said, he was completely relieved. The Chief of Staff understood his concerns.
"Commander, His Majesty the Emperor has sent a reply."
Ma Xianglin also wanted to know about the situation of the artillery regiment, and he heard the guards trotting over to tell him the news.
He looked at Liu Song, the commander of the artillery regiment, and praised: "Your artillery regiment has done a good job. I look forward to the artillery regiment's performance in the future.
I have to go back beforehand."
Chief of Staff Su Cheng was also concerned about the telegram sent by His Majesty the Emperor.
He also said: "I have also understood the general situation of our army and the enemy's army. Let's go back to camp to discuss the details of the decisive battle."
Ma Xianglin and Su Cheng came to the telegraph room. The telegram they had just sent out soon received a reply.
Not only the call back from Emperor Su He, but also the call back from the Governor's Office, and the call back from Cai Gong Wu Jie.
It can be seen that these big shots are paying attention to the war between the Great China Empire and Russia in the northwest border area.
Commander Ma Xianglin was the first to watch the reply from Emperor Su He.
Emperor Su He commended the 19th Army for its recent performance in a telegram.
He expressed his approval for the 19th Army's ability to lead troops to Kuznetsk within a short period of time.
Emperor Su He asked the generals of the 19th Army not to have too much ideological baggage and to command the war with a normal mind.
The generals of the 19th Army must choose the appropriate time and determine the date of the general offensive based on the situation on the front line.
After reading it, Commander Ma Xianglin found that Emperor Su He's reply was in line with his perception of Emperor Su He's performance.
Emperor Su He generally would not interfere with the command of frontline generals unless he thought the frontline generals had made major mistakes.
Ma Xianglin gave Emperor Su He's telegram to Chief of Staff Su Cheng to read.
He continued to read the telegram sent by Cai Gong Wu Jie.
In the telegram, Cai Gong and Wu Jie showed respect for the command authority of the generals of the 19th Army.
He just warned the 19th Army in the telegram to pay attention to the consumption of weapons and ammunition.
Cai Gong and Wu Jie also mentioned a piece of information: the Central Asian battlefield is about to usher in a decisive battle.
They have surrounded the main force of the Russian army. When the main force of the Russian army is eliminated, they will drop the troops from the Central Asian battlefield and move north to support them.
When Commander Ma Xianglin saw the news, he frowned involuntarily.
This is extremely important good news for the entire northwest battlefield.
Cai Gong Wu Jie said bluntly in the telegram that they were about to achieve a great victory in the Central Asian battlefield.
It can be seen that everything has been prepared there, and we are ready to finally close the net.
But this is not good news for the 19th Army in the Siberian battlefield.
Ma Xianglin could read from this telegram that a great victory would be achieved in the Central Asian battlefield in the near future.
Now they must speed up preparations for the war, capture Kuznetsk in a short time, and win this most critical battle successfully.
My greatest contribution to the 19th Army must not be taken away by other friendly forces.
Otherwise, as a military commander, he would have no choice but to find a way to be transferred to other places, and he would really have no shame in continuing to stay.
After Chief of Staff Su Cheng read the telegram from Emperor Su He, his face was very happy.
As a fellow clansman and student of Emperor Su He, he knew something about Emperor Su He.
As long as their 19th Army fights this battle well, the officers in charge will definitely receive awards.
When Chief of Staff Su Cheng saw the telegram from Cai Gong and Wu Jie, a look of anxiety flashed across his face.
Now the 19th Army cannot focus on stability, and must speed up preparations that should be accelerated.
The 19th Army attacked Kuznetsk, and the most important combat unit was the artillery regiment.
Chief of Staff Su Cheng suggested: "I think the artillery regiment's progress is a bit slow, and the artillery regiment should increase its preparation progress."
Commander Ma Xianglin has just inspected the entire army. He knows that the unit that is the slowest to prepare is the artillery regiment.
The other troops have basically entered a state of war.
Commander Ma Xianglin asked in surprise: "Chief of Staff, is there any way you can speed up the artillery regiment's preparations?
Please tell me this method quickly, and I will analyze it with the chief of staff to see if this method is feasible."
Chief of Staff Su Cheng said: "This method is very simple and there is no need to discuss the feasibility. The only disadvantage is that it costs money.
The artillery regiment is slow to prepare now because it relies entirely on empirical calculations.
If you want to speed up the preparation of the artillery regiment, the only solution is to test it with live ammunition.
There is already a shortage of artillery shells in the army, and the cost of testing with live ammunition is too high, so I have not considered it before."
After thinking about the pros and cons, Commander Ma Xianglin said: "I think the Chief of Staff's idea is a good one.
Even if precious artillery shells are used for testing, as long as it can speed up the artillery regiment's entry into actual combat, I think it is worth it."
Ma Xianglin has not forgotten what Liu Song, the commander of the artillery regiment, said.
According to the current preparations, the artillery regiment will be able to join the war tomorrow.
However, the artillery regiment's combat method is mixed with some water.
If a war starts tomorrow, the artillery regiment must first conduct actual combat tests before the artillery can fire accurately.
Now, in order to speed up the victory, the 19th Army will advance some actions.
In fact, Ma Xianglin also knew that doing so would have little impact on the progress of the war.
But he can relieve the anxiety in his heart.
Let yourself be fully immersed in the decisive battle with the Russian army in Kuznetsk, and no longer think about things thousands of miles away.
The two of them reached an agreement and went to the artillery regiment again.
They saw that the positions of the artillery regiment were basically not set up, and most of the artillerymen were sitting outside their tents, eating hot dinner.
Liu Song, commander of the artillery regiment, was eating mutton stewed with potatoes, which is the most common dish in the northwest. He was eating mutton in a different way.
The three most common animals on the Mongolian grasslands are horses, sheep and cattle.
Horses and cattle are both very valuable, and generally do not enter the diet. The vast majority of meat is mutton.
He heard some noise outside the camp, put down the dishes and went out, and saw the army commander and chief of staff coming to the artillery regiment again.
Chief of Staff Su Cheng asked straight to the point: "We want to see the reaction of the Russian army on the opposite side under artillery fire.
Your artillery regiment can also take this opportunity to adjust the parameters of the artillery."
Liu Song, commander of the artillery regiment, said excitedly: "Chief of Staff, this is really good news for us.
If the artillery has actual shooting data, we can adjust the parameters of the artillery regiment more accurately, allowing the artillery regiment to get into actual combat faster."
Commander Liu Song had wanted to do this before, but he had not made up his mind considering the reserves of artillery shells in the regiment.
Now the commander is helping him make up his mind, which is good news for the whole group.
Commander Liu Song immediately organized the artillery and began preparations for the test firing.
They used 120 mm caliber artillery to attack the forts outside the city.
They used 155mm artillery with a longer range to try to attack the Russian artillery on the Kuznetsk city wall.
Commander Ma Xianglin looked at the performance of the artillery regiment and selected two artillery pieces of each type. Only four artillery pieces were fired in total.
The artillery regiment seemed to be firing thousands of cannons.
He was shocked again when he saw the latest artillery.
The artillery regiment was all elite, and it only took more than two minutes from loading to firing.
Only when adjusting the parameters of the artillery is complicated will the interval between firings be lengthened.
Commander Ma Xianglin looked at the copper casings that the artillery kept spitting out. This was a waste of money.
But the results achieved by the artillery are also consistent with its expensive status.
For the forts outside the Russian army's city, if they were hit by three or four artillery shells in a row, they would be destroyed by the artillery shells.
If it is a 155mm caliber artillery, it may only take one shell to destroy the seemingly solid fort.
The 155mm caliber artillery has a really powerful range.
Commander Ma Xianglin saw through the telescope that a cannonball happened to land on the city wall.
This section of the city wall was crumbling, and all the people on the wall disappeared.
The distance is still too far, and the cannonballs have lost their accuracy when flying such a long distance.
Commander Ma Xianglin looked at the artillery test and was very happy. The performance of the artillery regiment was outstanding.
…………………………
The commander-in-chief of the Russian army, Marquis Oleg Ivanov, listened to the report from his men. He couldn't believe it.
"You read that right, the Dahua army is only stationed in the Nancheng area.
I have never seen this kind of fighting method."
"My Lord Marquis, I have confirmed this many times."
Marquis Oleg Ivanov is very strange. He has read many European war books since he was a child.
The Tsar sent him to deal with the Chinese Empire, and he obtained many military documents from the Chinese Empire from various channels.
He must understand his opponent so that he can have any hope of victory.
But in military literature, there has never been a method of sieging a city for only one side.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov quickly figured it out, and he was so angry that he slammed his hand on the table.
"The Chinese general opposite looks down on me, Oleg Ivanov.
They are not afraid that I will attack from the other three gates and fight the Dahua army in the south of the city.
They are not afraid that all Russian troops will withdraw directly from Kuznetsk, leaving them an empty city."
Marquis Oleg Ivanov thought of this, and his already pale face turned even paler.
"This is too much bullying. The Chinese general is provoking me.
Alexander Onukovych is a loser who made the Dahua army so arrogant."
80,000 Russian troops attacked, but they were defeated and returned within less than a full day.
If he were a general of Dahua's army, he would not think highly of this opponent.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov was wondering whether he could take advantage of the proud attitude of the Chinese army to defeat the Chinese army by surprise.
He thought hard about many methods, but in the end he rejected them all.
The gap in strength between the two armies is too great to be bridged by a little strategy.
As for Oleg Ivanov's second concern, he soon figured it out.
The main target of the Dahua army is the city of Kuznetsk.
They didn't pay much attention to the fact that there were more than 100,000 Russian troops in the city, including the newly joined young men.
They care about Kuznetsk, a city in Siberia that has coal and iron mines and can smelt iron on its own.
The Great China Empire only needs to capture the city of Kuznetsk.
They can use this as a base to continuously encroach on Russian territory.
Marquis Oleg Ivanov determined the strategic goals of the Great China Empire.
His most important task now is to find ways to protect the city of Kuznetsk.
A huge cannon shot interrupted Marquis Oleg Ivanov's thinking.
His expression changed, he grabbed the clothes next to him and rushed out immediately.
"Immediately investigate the situation of the southern city wall and confirm the casualties of our army.
The Dahua army moved very quickly. They just arrived here today and they didn't even take a break before launching an attack on us."
Marquis Oleg Ivanov knew that the battle to defend Kuznetsk had officially begun.
