Liu Yang's Brigade cooperated with the armored assault regiment to successfully eliminate about three Russian regiments in less than three hours of launching the attack, and surrounded the remaining two regiments of the Russian army. The Russian troops stationed in Serihov were scared out of their courage. If nothing unexpected happens, the remaining Russian soldiers will have to die in battle or surrender.

However, after all, the Russian army still has more than 100,000 soldiers in Irkutsk, so it is natural to send reinforcements at this time.

Yang Yong judged that the Russian army should have more than 70,000 infantry left on the front line, and there would be at least 20,000 to 30,000 cavalry, and the rest were logistics and artillery. Today's losses mean that the Russian army lost one-eighth of its infantry force.

What Yang Yong really worried about was the Russian cavalry.

In the last war, the Guards suffered a lot from the Cossack cavalry, which is why Liu Shaoqing was determined to build an armored mobile unit like a fire assault vehicle. There were at least 20,000-30,000 Cossack cavalry among the defenders of Irkutsk. In comparison, he had only two cavalry brigades of more than 7,000 people. Moreover, his cavalry's combat quality on horseback was not comparable to that of the Cossacks.

So I have to try to consume the enemy's cavalry.

Now is the opportunity.

The Russian army mobilized about five cavalry regiments from each of the left and right wings, with a total force of about 16,000. Eating this reinforcement was extremely important for the tug-of-war with the Russian army in the future.

The 45-kilogram heavy artillery shells, like a heavy hammer, fell from the air with a breath of destruction. 18 heavy howitzers from the Heavy Artillery Brigade of the Third Army took the lead in attacking. The strong gunners kept pressing the shells onto the fuses, then loaded them into the barrel, and fired the medicine bag, locked them up and opened fire.

The powerful heavy artillery shell exploded in an unprotected cavalry formation. Once the shell went down, all living things within a radius of 50 meters would be torn to pieces. Whether it was a man or a horse, the result was the same.

Subsequently, the 155mm howitzers of three infantry divisions also began to show their power, and more than 100 large-caliber artillery began to attack the Cossack cavalry that broke into the position.

The dense artillery fire caught the Cossack cavalry off guard. However, the 20,000 Russian infantry advancing in the center took advantage of this gap to gradually approach the position of the 31st Brigade.

"Order each armored assault company to launch a counter-charge, repeat, all armored assault companies! Also, which jeeps and trucks are loaded with machine guns to launch a counter-charge. We must eat up this cavalry and win time for subsequent troops to enter the main position."

Yang Yong keenly seized this critical moment, took the lead and caught the Russian army off guard. Now he should take advantage of the chaos of the opponent's attack to launch a counterattack!

He also had two battalions of type 1 and type 2 assault vehicles, plus trucks and other vehicles equipped by each division. Yang Yong was confident that when the Russian reinforcements were not firm and confused, he would give this reinforcement a head-on attack!

The Russian troops who rushed to reinforce were completely confused. When they received the order, they only knew that the outer fortress was attacked by the enemy, but how fierce it was, how many enemy troops were, and what method they launched the attack. These reinforcements knew nothing. Therefore, when they were blown up by artillery fire, they were already well-trained before they could collapse.

Xiong Xiling soon discovered his first target - a team of Russian troops who were nervously sneaking in the cigarette sale. It seemed that due to the rumbling cannons and the obstruction of smoke on the battlefield, they did not find the two assault vehicles not far from them.

"Tell Car No. 3, let them cover my right rear, move forward at low speed, and keep a distance!"

Due to the lack of communication methods, Xiong Xiling could only rely on the accompanying infantry next to the chariot to convey messages. This is one of the reasons why each chariot platoon is equipped with a company of accompanying infantry.

"Open fire!"

Accompanied by Xiong Xiling's order, the gunner first shot a 37mm shell into the Russian army's marching queue. The vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun then shot a long shot, directly covering the width of about 50 meters on the front.

The Russian officers and soldiers who were marching even didn't know what they encountered, but their heads were cut off or torn to pieces by shrapnel. A bloody smell and the bright red thing from the smoke told Xiong Xiling that the attack just now was very successful.

Immediately afterwards, the No. 3 tank and the accompanying infantry also launched firepower. In just a few minutes, before the Russian army even had time to launch support firepower, Xiong Xiling and the infantry company that accompanied him to attack had already rushed over and began to use single-shot precise point shots and machine guns to clear the remaining Russian army.

The Russian army has been completely dispersed.

The intense fire raid just now completely destroyed the opponent's formation. The panicked Russian infantry were everywhere on the battlefield despite the commander's curse and intimidation. The officers standing and trying to stabilize the chaos army undoubtedly became the most conspicuous targets - the infantry brothers only aimed in the direction they were in, and then they could send these guys who were still shouting a second ago to hell.

The same scene continued to happen on a battlefield more than ten kilometers wide. The firepower of the fire assault vehicles and trucks used fine shootings to sweep the bullets over the heads of the Russian army like a storm.

The Russian infantry on the middle line began to retreat first, and they planned to avoid these giant steel beasts that spit out death. Then, the Cossack cavalry could no longer support it. After all, no matter how sharp the sabers were, they could not cut the 9mm thick armor. The infantry loaded on the truck could use bayonets to penetrate their chests condescendingly.

The Russian army finally collapsed and began to flee in all directions. As for how far they could run, they were completely left to fate. Some might be caught up by the bullets behind just a few steps, and some might escape from the sky, but one situation is certain, that is, their troops have lost their combat effectiveness. Even if they can gather together by chance in the end, they are just a group of defeated soldiers!

Yi generals are brave enough to chase the enemy. Xiong Xiling, who is about to beat the dog in the water, suddenly finds that his chariot has broken down.

"Planer leader, mechanical failure, we can't move!"

"Grandma' Xiong Xiling secretly hated that this armored assault vehicle is good, but it's too inexplicable. It took less than five hours to break down.

Xiong Xiling drilled out of the turret and looked around. There were no more Russians in the battlefield beside her. Looking up, there were seven or eight chariots parked in scattered areas. Xiong Xiling estimated that it would be nice to have two of them destroyed by the Russian army. Most of them should be mechanically malfunctioning like him.

Yang Yong looked at the battlefield through a telescope, "Order the second and third chariot battalions and the third and 3rd and the 11th Division's vehicle-mounted mobile troops continued to pursue the enemy, and the rest of the troops cleaned the battlefield on the spot. The infantry quickly built defensive positions and simple rooms. Let the artillery move forward five thousand meters to build a position."

It is now winter in Siberia, and the land is as frozen as steel. There are two benefits: The third type of track of the "Charleman" will not sink into the mud, and the bombing effect of the artillery fire will also be enhanced - do you believe that the splattered pieces of earth that are blown by shells can kill people.

However, if you want to build a defensive position, it will become a huge challenge. Fortunately, Udinov laid a good foundation for Yang Yong.

Yang Yong sometimes thought that if there were no "staff team" of the nobles, or Udinov had dozens of tons of concrete, even if he had given him a division's strength, perhaps he would have to pay three times the price to conquer Serihov.

It was almost dark, and the soldiers needed to replenish the heat. Otherwise, no one could withstand the temperature in Siberia at night at minus 20 degrees Celsius! The soldiers quickly cleared out the trenches and collapsed bunkers that the Russians had dug before. Then, a tent unfolded behind the defensive position. As bowls of hot broth were distributed to each soldier, the first day of the Irkutsk battle ended like this.

In Wuying Palace, Liu Shaoqing held a long sect pole and explained the current situation of the two armies to Zai Tian on a giant sand table.

"The main force of the Russian army is divided into two clusters, one is located in three important military cities in southern Central Siberia, and the other is in Central Asia. In terms of Siberia, the Russian army deployed 400,000 troops in Irkutsk, Ulginsk and Chita, one of which is a cavalry. From the perspective of force configuration, Chita is the main direction of the Russian army's assault. Here, the Russian army gathered about 200,000 troops. In addition, Irkutsk, one of the main industrial centers in Siberia, also gathered more than 100,000 troops."

"The person responsible for the direction of Irkutsk is Yang Yong's Third Army. His main goal is to capture the city. If it cannot be achieved, at least it must prevent the Russian army from reinforcing forces eastward along the Siberian Railway. The Sixth and Seventh Army are responsible for defending the Russian attack from Chita."

Zai Tian is now mainly concerned about the direction of Chita, because it is the core of the East-West Siberian War Zone. If it is broken through by the Russian army in Manchuria, then the situation in Heilongjiang will be extremely difficult. Similarly, if the Guards can take Chita, then the entire East-West Siberia will be basically controlled by the Qing Dynasty.

"Our combat plan is to attract the enemy's attack first. Duan Qirui and Zhang Xiluan will use the fortifications built in Manzhouli to consume the enemy's offensive spirit as much as possible, and then concentrate their forces to annihilate the exhausted Russian heavy troops in the area east of Baikalsk. Subsequently, the two armies will attack Chita in a clamp-shaped attack. At the same time, the cavalry troops will also advance west from Nebchu and cut off the retreat for Chita defenders to flee north."

Zai Tian asked, "Where is the West Road?"

Liu Shaoqing said: "To the west of Chita is the Yabnorov Mountains, which is our Daxingan Mountains (note that it is not the Daxingan Mountains). When crossing this mountain range, it is Shangwujinsk. Here, the Russian army's defense is relatively weak. The 12th Army of Dong Fuxiang is responsible for seizing Shangwujinsk. However, after Dong Fuxiang took Shangwujinsk, the General Staff's opinion was to turn west and reinforce Yang Yong."

Zai Tian said: "What, do you think Yang Yong cannot take over Irkutsk with the Third Army? His army is a heavy army? No less than 80,000 people, is it difficult to deal with the Russian army's 160,000 troops?"

Liu Shaoqing said: "This is not. It's just that Irkutsk has guarded the throat of Central Siberia to Eastern Siberia. If the Russian army fails in Chita's military operations, Nicholas II will inevitably increase troops from West Siberia and even Europe and Russia to the east. By then, Irkutsk will face hundreds of thousands of troops in the entire West Siberia."

The entire Russian Empire spans the Eurasian continent and covers an area of ​​more than 20 million square kilometers. The Asian part is bounded by the Lena River and Yenisei River, and is divided into three parts. The area east of the Lena River is mostly mountainous, called East and West Siberia; the area between the Lena River and Yenisei River is the Central Siberian Plateau; and to the west of the Yenisei River and between the Ural Mountains - that is, the Ob River Basin, is the Western Siberian Plain.

Compared with Eastern and Central Siberia, Western Siberia has significantly more developed industries and a larger population.

Russia had a total population of about 140 million in the early 20th century, of which 90% were in the European and Russian regions, that is, to the west of the Ural Mountains. The other 10%, more than half were in Western Siberia.

"Aren't you keeping a backhand in the west of Mongolia?"

Liu Shaoqing laughed: "Master, that's for staying at critical moments. Think about it, if Nicholas II transfers the main force of the Western Siberian army to the eastern line and the inland is empty, then we will give him a solid left hook. It's sour..."

Zai Tian curled his lips: "Awkward."

Liu Shaoqing said aggrievedly: "Soldiers are the devil. What the ancestors said..."

Zai Tian ignored him, "What about the northwest direction?"

Liu Shaoqing immediately changed his serious expression: "The situation in West Asia is quite troublesome, there are many ethnic groups here and the relationship is complicated. Moreover, the Russians confronted the British here for many years and established a relatively complete defense system and transportation system. There are as numerous fortresses. If our army attacks rashly, it is easy to fall into the quagmire. Even if we win a certain victory in the early stage, the Russians can quickly transport new troops from Europe through railways. Once it becomes a war of attrition, the French and even the British will have the opportunity to interfere or intervene in the war. Therefore, the General Staff's strategic deployment is to let the Russians come in and then wipe them out one by one."

"Xinjiang seems to be vast, but in fact, most areas of southern Xinjiang are deserts and cannot survive at all. Only the two foothills of the Tianshan Mountains can be used. Therefore, I will let the Russians first advance into the Junggar Basin and the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, and then eat up this part of the troops. After the Russian army's troops are empty, they will march into Central Asia."

Zai Tian stared at Liu Shaoqing with wide eyes: "It's so unintentional. Do you want to use the Russian butcher knife to solve the Uyghurs who are always difficult to suppress, right?"

Liu Shaoqing's head shook like a wave drum: "I swear to the sky, I have no intention. My military strength is indeed insufficient. The Russians are so powerful that they can attack Xinjiang. It is inevitable that they will be able to attack Xinjiang."

Zai Tian said: "When you first entered the palace twenty years ago, you said that in order to win, I will sacrifice even if I sacrifice it. So I have always farted on your vow!"

Liu Shaoqing's face was full of innocentness: "Have you said that?"
Chapter completed!