The next morning, when the sun crossed the vast forest sea of Xing'an Mountains and shone on the fertile land composed of grasslands and hills to the east of Yuehu Lake.
Outside the city of Ulan-Ude, the whistles of the entire army and the cheers of officers sounded.
The artillerymen of Tsarist Russia moved the ammunition along the trench into the large pit dug next to the artillery position.
The soldiers who had just put on their military uniforms received their share of big ribs and a small piece of butter from the logistics officer. Some even received a small piece of dry salted fish.
This is the breakfast of the Russian army. There is no broth in the morning.
This kind of breakfast is considered good for the Tsarist Russian army. If it were the conscripted peasant soldiers, the food would be even worse.
Only forward-thinking people like Dong Shuheng would pay attention to the diet of soldiers.
At present, the armies of major countries are considered good if they are well fed. The British and French armies provide special supplies such as tea, tobacco, etc. to the soldiers, which is considered very advanced behavior.
The Fuxing Army is a little richer. Not only the soldiers, but also the families of the regular Fuxing Army soldiers can get some things during the holidays. Moreover, there will be a sign like "Military Home" on the door of the military family members.
When the Huaihai Navy was founded, it began to pay attention to cultivating the sense of honor of soldiers and implemented the military-first policy.
Dong Shuheng even included the crime of destroying military marriages when he formulated the Chinese criminal law.
At this time, outside the city of Ulan-Ude, it was very noisy due to the military operations, but further away, there was deathly silence.
The livestock that could be seen everywhere on the grasslands have long since disappeared.
These livestock and herdsmen were temporarily moved to the rear by Lin Wei.
Even the herds of yellow sheep and wild donkeys that had often appeared before were nowhere to be found. These timid guys had already hid far away.
This land with lush water and grass near the river is no longer as vibrant as it once was.
The war brought nothing but noise here.
Lu Guoyi came to the city wall early in the morning to investigate the situation outside the city. The Russian troops outside basically did not stop last night.
Lu Guoyi knew that they must be setting up positions. But he did not expect that the efficiency of the Russian army was so high.
Another position appeared outside the original position outside the city. The engineering ability of the Russians was no weaker than that of the Renaissance Army.
Among the current armies of various countries, Tsarist Russia’s army is also known for being particularly hard-working and hard-working.
The Tsarist Russian army built camps and trenches outside Ulan-Ude. Even artillery positions have been prepared.
"Captain Zhou, come and see the enemy's artillery position. Can we defeat it?" Lu Guoyi called to the artillery regiment commander Zhou Bin.
Zhou Bin's artillery regiment played a very important role in this city defense battle.
Zhou Bin took the telescope from Lu Guoyi's hand and looked at it and said: "Commander Lu, the enemy's artillery is about 800 meters away. The range of Tsarist Russian muzzleloaders generally does not exceed 1,000 meters, so they can only set up their positions at this distance.
.This distance can be reached not to mention our artillery, even mortars."
Zhou Bin is obviously very confident in what he has in hand.
"You see the enemy has set up artillery positions. I took a look and found that there are already more than a hundred artillery pieces, which far exceeds the number of our artillery pieces. This should be the majority of their artillery pieces. You see
Should we strike first and take advantage?" Lu Guoyi asked.
The original plan was to kill the enemy's artillery through artillery battle first.
"Division Commander, I have a suggestion. The enemy's smoothbore cannons are very strong. If you blow them up directly, they may not be able to destroy their artillery. Their gunpowder hasn't been brought up yet. I guess they have put the gunpowder aside.
."
"We'd better wait until they are ready to fire, and then fire at them first. Firstly, at that time, part of their gunpowder will definitely be moved out, which can trigger an explosion; secondly, their artillery will be on the position at that time.
, we can kill and injure their artillery in large numbers."
Zhou Bin obviously knows more about artillery than Lu Guoyi.
"Well, Captain Zhou, you are right. When it comes to sex, I am not as good as you." Lu Guoyi agreed very much with Zhou Bin's suggestion.
Immediately, Zhou Bin returned to the artillery position and began to prepare. The Renaissance Army's artillery position was divided into two parts. One part of the cannon was deployed on the tower for direct shooting.
There are also some howitzers and mortars set up behind the infantry trenches outside the city. The front of the position is blocked by a slope and cannot be seen from the front.
The Russian army's main attack direction was in the east. In the morning, the sun rose from the east and just illuminated the city wall. This would affect the aiming of the Renaissance soldiers, but it was beneficial to the Tsarist Russian army.
Behind the Tsarist Russian position, Governor Khristenko and Lieutenant General Vladimir stood in a hidden semi-underground observation post and watched the scene on the battlefield.
Now close to the front of the battlefield is the artillery of the Tsarist Russian army. The infantry regiment is still preparing, and the artillery only deployed the artillery last night, but the ammunition and personnel are not yet in place.
"Huh? Lieutenant General, why haven't the opponent's artillery fired yet?" The intelligence sent back before said that the artillery of this army is very powerful. Logically speaking, the opponent should have seen the situation outside at dawn. At this time, our artillery
The position should be under attack from the opponent.
The reason why the Tsarist Russian army arranged artillery positions and built strong artillery bunkers at night was because they thought that the opponent would be able to attack their own artillery positions from a commanding position.
But the cannons on the other side's tower have not been fired yet. Are all the cannons on the other side fake?
"Your Excellency Governor, there is no need to worry. The opponent's artillery may be stronger, but after all, they only have a dozen artillery pieces. You must know that we have nearly two hundred artillery pieces."
At first, they were worried about being attacked by the other side, so Tsarist Russia deliberately left some artillery behind and deployed it to the riverside. On the one hand, it prevented the enemy from possible reinforcements coming from the river, and on the other hand, it prevented the artillery on the position from being attacked.
No guns available.
However, what they saw from the Renaissance Army was the dozen cannons. There were also more than twenty howitzers and a larger number of mortars hidden under the city wall.
With a trumpet sound, the Russian attack began.
From the top of the city, you can clearly see what's going on below.
Two Russian infantry regiments approached the positions outside the city from the east and north directions.
The Russian artillerymen also came out of the trenches and came to their respective gun emplacements.
The artillerymen of the Renaissance Army were waiting for the regimental commander's order.
Zhou Bin calmly watched the Tsarist Russian artillery at work. A smoothbore cannon could not go from preparation to firing that fast.
The last ammunition soldier who came up carried the gunpowder and finally got into position.
This is the time.
Zhou Bin's order was issued. The messenger waved the little red flag. The artillerymen who had been prepared for a long time activated their artillery positions one after another.
The advantage of a city defense battle is that the defending party can correct the parameters of artillery firing in advance.
Which area I want to shoot at and how high the artillery elevation should be can be calculated in advance.
Although there may be certain errors during actual shooting, this error is within an acceptable range for artillery.
The Tsarist Russian artillery under the city was preparing for the first round of test firing.
At this time, the sound of cannons sounded in advance.
Khristenko, who was hiding in the command post, saw green smoke coming out of the artillery muzzles on the city.
Finally, shots were fired from the top of the city. He was still comforting himself in his heart that it didn't matter. The opponent only had a dozen artillery pieces, while his own side had more than a hundred.
Moreover, the artillery position is protected by bunkers in front of it, so the losses will not be too great.
However, when he projected his telescope onto his own artillery position, Khristenko was dumbfounded.
"Good fight!" Lu Guoyi couldn't help shouting loudly from the top of the city.
He saw one after another explosions erupting from the Tsarist Russian artillery positions. The dust mixed with the remains of the Tsarist Russian artillerymen danced in the sky.
Although artillery forts were built on Tsarist Russia's positions, they were not very effective against howitzers and mortars that could fire in a straight direction. Such artillery forts surrounded by sandbags would actually increase the power of explosive bombs after they exploded.
Khristenko's telescope had just looked around when the opponent's artillery fired again.
"Oh my God, the other side must have artillery with direct fire. We were all deceived. The cannon with direct fire hidden under the city wall is the main force of their artillery." Lieutenant General Vladimir couldn't help but said.
"Your Majesty the Governor, I have to say that the opponent's artillery is indeed much more powerful than ours. The rate of fire of those artillery seems to be faster than that of a flintlock gun."
"It seems that we are also going to start developing breech technology. The opponent's artillery also uses breech loading. I really don't know how they solved the air tightness problem."
After all, Lieutenant General Vladimir was an experienced general and an expert in weapons. They expected that the artillery positions would suffer from the beginning, but they did not expect that the artillery gap between the two sides would be so big.
"When did the Chinese have such advanced equipment? It actually surpasses our great Tsarist Russia." A major general muttered.
"I will write a report on this matter to St. Petersburg. We obviously knew too little about our enemies before."
Khristenko interrupted the man. The key issue now is how to fight this battle, instead of complaining that the enemy's weapons are more advanced than his own.
"Your Majesty the Governor, the tactics of using skirmishers you mentioned yesterday are correct. Now we can only let the infantry attack without the cover of artillery." Lieutenant General Vladimir said.
Just now, Lieutenant General Vladimir had ordered the artillery in front to withdraw.
Of course, how much you can withdraw depends on God’s will.
After the final head count, Lieutenant General Vladimir almost spit out a mouthful of blood.
The shelling just now destroyed more than a hundred of their guns. The most serious losses were in the artillery. The number of artillerymen who could come back alive was less than one-tenth of the original number.
It turns out that many artillery pieces of the Renaissance Army were fired into the middle of the position, blocked by surrounding sandbags. Sometimes a single artillery shell could kill all the soldiers on an artillery position.
Coupled with the explosion of gunpowder on the position, few soldiers could survive in such circumstances.
Under the leadership of the commander, two Russian infantry regiments also began to attack.
As they marched, they gradually distanced themselves, changing from a horizontal formation to a skirmish line. From the perspective of the city wall, it seemed that there were more enemies and they were everywhere.
The artillerymen only fired a few shots when the opponent did not disperse. Then they stopped shooting. They had no logistical supplies these days, so they had to save their shells.
If you give me enough artillery shells, I can almost consume these Russian troops with artillery alone.
Zhou Bin thought in his mind, of course he knew this was impossible. China's current military industrial production capacity is not enough to support such a style of play.
In fact, in modern warfare, artillery consumes the most. How many bullets can one shell carry? Whether the shell will explode and kill people depends on luck. To be truly effective, the shot must be covered, so the cost is endless.
Already.
After being shelled, the Tsarist Russian army dispersed without the need for officers to urge them. They were also in teams of three or five, each with their waists bent, holding guns in both hands, and strode forward.
"Hey, these Tsarist Russians have learned their lesson and don't line up to charge now!" Lu Guoyi on the city wall was so shocked when he saw this scene that he opened his mouth wide. He had never fought against the Tsarist Russians, but he heard it from the mouths of these Far Eastern troops.
I have seen how the Russians fought.
Brave is really brave, and he is big. He rushes up in a queue, waiting for the Renaissance Army to shoot him. The previous battle was a great experience.
Now these Russians have actually changed their tactics. However, it can still be seen from their formation that they are very unskilled in skirmishing.
However, this had no impact on the defense of the Renaissance Army.
The position in front of Ulan-Ude City is to disperse the enemy so that the enemy cannot charge quickly.
Because there were more people in Tsarist Russia and fewer people in the Renaissance Army, the enemies rushed over at once, and the Renaissance Army might not be able to resist them.
Some people may say, aren't the artillery of the Renaissance Army powerful? If they all rush up, wouldn't you use artillery to bombard them?
The key is how many times the Renaissance Army's ammunition can be fired in volleys. If they taste the power of artillery, the Russian army will also change tactics, such as making continuous small group charges towards a point, which will consume your artillery shells.
Light.
On the battlefield, artillery is not omnipotent, otherwise why would artillery have always been an auxiliary arm?
The soldiers of Tsarist Russia did not charge empty-handed. Some of them charged forward carrying wooden planks, which were used to build passages in the trenches.
At this time, the soldiers of the Renaissance Army were lying on the opposite side of the slope behind the trench.
This is the first line of defense. If it cannot be defended here, the Renaissance Army will retreat to the trenches behind the wooden fence.
The Renaissance troops lying behind the slope opened fire one after another after the enemy entered two hundred yards.
The gunfire was bang bang bang bang, not very dense. But every shot of the soldiers of the Baath Army was trying to take away the life of a Tsarist Russian soldier.
If we look at efficiency and cost alone, it seems that the rifle is the most efficient killing weapon.
But the change happened exactly at this time.
The soldiers of the Renaissance Army always felt that the Tsarist Russians still used flintlock guns, so in order to improve accuracy when shooting, the soldiers leaned out half of their bodies and adopted a half-kneeling posture.
Do they think that the enemy has not entered a hundred yards, and the flintlock gun is not a threat to them?
This kind of shooting posture was extremely non-standard in the positional warfare of later generations. It only appeared in divine dramas.
A normal shooter must hide himself as much as possible.
The Tsarist Russian soldiers behind suddenly stopped charging and took aim with their guns.
After making such an action, it stands to reason that the soldiers of the Renaissance Army should have noticed that something was wrong.
However, the soldiers were so excited that they paid no attention to these details. It was the commanders at the front line who discovered the problem first.
"Get down, take cover!" an officer shouted loudly.
As his voice sounded, many Tsarist Russian troops on the opposite side had already taken aim and started shooting.
"Damn it, the Tsarist Russians used rifled guns, everyone should be careful about concealed shooting." Dozens of soldiers lost their lives just because of a small oversight.
Now, everyone was honest, even burying their heads behind the mound when loading.
The advantage of the Renaissance Army is still great, at least the soldiers of the Renaissance Army do not need to stand up to change bullets.
The wave of shooting by the Tsarist Russian soldiers just now really caught the Renaissance Army by surprise.
But then when these Tsarist Russian soldiers were changing bullets, they were knocked to the ground by the soldiers of the Renaissance Army.
The battle once again entered a state of one-sided massacre. Gradually, there were fewer and fewer Tsarist Russian soldiers in front.
More and more Tsarist Russian soldiers are hiding at the maximum range and shooting at the Baath Army. At such a distance, the accuracy of both sides is not good.
The Renaissance Army still has an advantage because they have bunkers in front of them and they have a rate of fire nearly six times that of the enemy.
The battle suddenly entered a slow pace.
In the headquarters, Lieutenant General Vladimir was a little impatient. He was quite dissatisfied with the performance of his soldiers at this time, which was not what a brave Tsarist Russian soldier should be like.