A thousand-man Taidao team secretly gathered in front of the formation along the Huaihai Navy's trenches.
The Russians are digging tunnels forward, and the Huaihai Navy is also digging forward in the opposite direction. The distance between the two is getting closer and closer.
Both sides are waiting for the moment to meet.
Only heavy breathing could be heard in the trenches, coming from peasant soldiers wielding shovels and Japanese prisoners of war.
Those preparing to fight squatted down and leaned on both sides of the tunnel.
The Russians held flintlock guns with loaded ammunition and bayonets in their hands. They were calm and calm, and most of them had a little excitement in their hearts.
Sure enough, the blood of a fighting nation flows, and that desire for war seems to have been brought from the mother's womb.
The 1,000-strong Tai Sword team on Huai Haijun's side were also unusually silent and calm.
Huai Haijun has given them very generous conditions, enough for them to fight to the death.
No one doubted that Huai Haijun would deceive them. A big force must have some credibility.
Even in Japan, if you want to become a samurai with privileges, you have to risk your own life.
Those who don't have the courage to risk their lives can only be a humble farmer, bowing their heads to others, and hiding far away in the fields when they see a samurai.
The one thousand people selected this time were the most powerful among these prisoners. Some of them were originally samurai, so they were even more eager to become samurai again.
The Japanese are not tall and can hide themselves well in such tunnels without having to squat down completely.
They knew they were going to fight the Russians this time, but few of them had actually seen the Russians.
However, as long as the opponent's body is still fleshy, he can split them open with the sword in his hand.
Holding the long-awaited sword in their hands, they cheered themselves up in their hearts.
"I, Sakai Kogoro, also want to get ahead and build a family of my own!" Sakai Kogoro, who was born as a ronin, said to himself in his heart.
Killing one Russian would mean ten acres of land. He was thinking that he would need to kill several Russians before he could marry a wife and have children.
Of course, these Japanese were not alone. Behind them were 400 soldiers holding Huaihai Navy repeating shotguns.
At this time, all shotguns had been replaced with 17.3mm caliber single-point lead bullets.
Such a bullet can kill a bear when fired, but the amount of charge is reduced and the range is limited, otherwise ordinary people will not be able to withstand its recoil.
Many soldiers like this kind of gun because of its "wow" sound when manually changing ammunition. It also has the smoothness of being able to fire 6 bullets in a row (one of the bullets is placed directly in the magazine).
These Huai navy soldiers would approach and shoot the Russian soldiers who were fighting hand-to-hand with the Tachi team after they rushed forward.
Both sides were plotting against each other, and the Russians also sent an elite grenadier company.
After the 18th century, although throwing grenades was no longer the main task of grenadiers, they still represented the strongest soldiers in the army and carried out assaults on the battlefield.
Therefore, in European armies, the title of grenadier is used as an honorary title to commend soldiers for their heroic combat performance. It also shows that grenadiers are the elite and best among infantry.
There were only three such companies in the entire Siberian Division. Muravyov sent them out at this time, obviously having great expectations for this attack.
Of course, this grenadier company carried grenades this time. It's just that their grenades are different from Huai Haijun's. They look like a big iron ball.
The trenches on both sides have been extended to dozens of meters.
After entering the throwing range, both sides threw the grenades in their hands in unison.
One side is a large black iron ball with burning fuses visible on it. The other side is a smaller iron ball with a wooden handle.
"Boom, boom, boom..." A series of explosions erupted from the front of the tunnels on both sides.
The Japanese prisoners of war who were digging in the ground on the Huaihai Navy side and some of the Tachi teams at the front were instantly overwhelmed by the explosion.
The same was true for the Russians. Even though the Russians were stronger, they suffered heavy casualties under the explosion of grenades.
The explosion is the signal to charge.
The Russians who rushed out were all surprised, because what rushed out from the trench on the opposite side was a group of old-style troops wearing armor and holding swords.
Of course they can't tell the difference between Japanese and Chinese, nor can they hear the difference between "kill the chicken" and "charge."
At this time, there is no time to distinguish or think.
As soon as they met, these Russian soldiers fired the bullets from their flintlock rifles as quickly as possible.
The Tachi team that rushed at the front immediately fell to pieces.
However, the remaining people still rushed together without hesitation.
These Japanese swords are very long, which makes up for their short stature.
They have been trained to use tachi since they were young, so they naturally know how to deal with people much larger than themselves.
When the Russians thrust out their bayonets, they ducked and rolled, avoiding the Russian thrust.
Then, relying on the inertia of the body, he reversed and slashed at the back of the Russian's thigh. Often half of the Russian's thigh could be cut open with one slash.
Of course, not every Taito player can perform such movements smoothly.
There were also some Japanese who were obviously not as fast as the Russian soldiers and were impaled by the bayonets on their flintlock muskets.
Fortunately, these Taito members were able to tangle with the elite grenadiers of Tsarist Russia.
Muravyov saw this scene with a telescope.
With his knowledge, he could naturally tell that those were Japanese troops. He knew that the group of strange-looking old-fashioned troops rushing out from the opposite side were Japanese, not Qing people.
"It seems that Britain and France have not only roped in the Chinese but also the Japanese." Muravyov sighed secretly in his heart.
This battle was not easy to fight. Britain and France were obviously well organized and prepared.
At the time when the Tachi team was entangled with the Russians.
The Huaihai navy commando team, which was following closely behind the Tai Sword team, rushed up with shotguns in hand.
They were like riot police dispersing two groups of thugs who were killing each other.
When I saw the tall figure of the Russian, I shot him.
The sound of shotguns, like small cannons, came one after another. Every Russian who was hit fell to the ground with one shot.
Some people even flew back a certain distance after being shot.
At this time, the Russians must have already cursed in their hearts!
"These Qing people are so ungrateful that they don't have martial ethics!"
Even the Tai Sword Team had some complaints in their hearts. The ten acres of land they originally received were reduced to five acres by Huai Haijun.
The rule set before going into the battle is that in this case, Tai Dao players can only count as assists, and their credit will be halved.
In desperation, these Japanese could only find another target.
Gradually, some Taida team members discovered that by cooperating with Huai Haijun, they could gain credit much more efficiently.
In this way, the Huai Haijun commandos and the Taito team formed a team with a tacit understanding. The Japanese acted as human shields in front to block the enemy, and the Huai Haijun followed behind to replenish their guns.
The Russians' personal combat power is very strong, but they cannot withstand Huai Haijun's shameless style of play.
The soldiers who rushed up fell down at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Shuang's follow-up forces are still concentrating on the battle group.
The close combat that was originally full of expectations has now become a meat grinder for the Russian army.
Finally, Muravyov was the first to give up.
Even the Cossacks in his hands were unprepared for him to throw out.
The Cossacks will definitely be bombarded by enemy artillery on the way to charge, and the losses will be huge.
"Blow the trumpet and tell the soldiers to move back!" Muravyov ordered.
The soldiers eliminated this time were all elites in the army. There are only a handful of such elites in Siberia and the Far East. Once the number is reduced, there is no way to replenish it.
Now Russia has assembled an army of 500,000 to 600,000 men in the west, fighting against the British and French forces. It is impossible to mobilize any more troops to the east.
Therefore, Muravyov has almost all of Russia's active forces in the east in his hands, and he simply cannot withstand such consumption.
So Muravyov got cold feet. He couldn't afford the gamble and wanted to retreat.
"Yes, Your Excellency the Governor." The messenger heard this order and hesitated before replying.
This time, the melee combat that had high hopes ended in failure.
It seems that I can only think of new ways.
Seeing that the Russians actually retreated, the Pu Dao team, who were still not satisfied, chased after them, but they followed the Russians and cut down several of them.
However, after chasing for a while, they encountered the Russian infantry line. After a volley of fire, another group of Pu Dao soldiers fell.
At this time, the Huai Haijun side also sounded the whistle for retreat. The pursuing Tai Sword team retreated.
The 1,000-strong Tai Sword team now had less than 500 people left.
But these Japanese were not affected at all by the sacrifice of their companions. On the contrary, they were very excited.
He chattered in Japanese and talked about how many Russians he had killed, how many Russians he had assisted, and how much land he could get back.
Although it is difficult to understand the thoughts of these Japanese, such a servant army is more useful. They fight for their own interests.
As long as they still have needs and as long as they are tied up with benefits, they will always be the most loyal lackeys under Huai Haijun.
A valuable lackey that bites!
The battle came to an end, and the two sides entered a stalemate stage again.
This is exactly what Lin Wei wants to see. Because the Huaihai Navy can afford it, but the Russians can't afford it.
So now Lin Wei is having dinner leisurely in the headquarters.
Muravyov, on the other hand, was like an ant on a hot pot in the headquarters, running around anxiously.
Suddenly he felt a little resentment in his heart, complaining that the people who had fled back before did not understand the information clearly.
So much so, that when he brought so many troops to Nikolayevsk, he was held back by a group of Eastern natives, unable to advance or retreat.
In the evening Muravyov summoned the generals for a meeting again.
No one has come up with new ideas. There is only one way to go now, and that is to attack by force.
Compete with the other party for consumption, since you have more people anyway.
In the afternoon battle, the Russians lost more than 2,000 people, while the opponent only lost more than 500 people.
Muravyov felt that spending money was not a good idea. Maybe in the end it would be his own side that would spend all the money first!
In this case, why must we fight hard?
Muravyov is a politician, and his mind is obviously more flexible than those of the generals.
The kind of person who hangs from a tree is a stick!
But Muravyov did not express his thoughts. He did not want these generals to think that he was a weak person.
This is what politicians are. Politicians are all hypocritical. They have their own political stance and their starting points for considering issues are always different from those of ordinary people.