On the front between the Dedelev River and the Transnistria River, the Southwest Front under General Brouchilov had confronted the German-Austrian coalition forces for a winter. {At the request of Britain and France, the Southwest Front of Russia began preparations for the spring attack in late December.

Brushilov had a very slight remark on the attack plan of the Supreme Command. In his opinion, the Russian army lacked enough troops. If he faced the Austro-Hungarian or the German East Prussian Legion alone, he could still have some counterattack power. However, under the strong oppression of the German and Austrian coalition, it was a blessing to be able to defend Kiev. If an attack was launched rashly, it would intensify the losses of troops. Under the enemy's counterattack, it was very likely that even Ukraine would be unable to save it.

But the Tsar, who had regained military command, insisted on fulfilling his promise to the British.

The order for the attack has been issued, and the focus of the battle is on the front lines of Zhitomir to Vinnica. On this line, the Russian army concentrated the 3rd, 4, 5, 9th and the Turkestan Army transferred from Central Asia, a total of 750,000 troops. The 8th and 11th armies were reserves. The Special Legion (the 13th Army, because the generals thought the name was unlucky, so they were renamed "Special Legion") to defend a large area from Uman to Odessa, located in a large and vast area between the Nanbuge River and the Transnistr River.

On February 23, the attack began.

Thousands of cannons were placed on the front line. In the next three days, hundreds of thousands of shells were thrown towards the enemy's positions, turning the two trenches dug by the German and Austro-Hungarian troops on the front line upside down. After the first day of the artillery attack, the Germans and Austrians gave up the first trenches and left only some surveillance posts in front. After the Russian army began the attack, they gave up the second trenches and retreated to the third line of defense two kilometers away.

On February 26, the Russian army first launched a full-scale attack on the Austrian positions on the Vinnica line. The soldiers of the 3rd Army jumped out of the trenches and lined up in a series of people, and launched a charge towards several barbed wire mesh that had been broken in front of the Austro-Hungarian position. The Russians still adopted the outdated French-style sea of ​​people-sea attack tactics, but on the Austro-Hungarian position, dense rain of bullets was fired from behind the trenches and from the bushes in the distance. The cut-off artillery fire prevented subsequent Russian reinforcements.

The gunshots were bursting, the sound of cannons rumbling, and the smoke of shells exploding over the enemy's frontiers. The flames soared into the sky, and the scattered shrapnel were splashed on the attackers with a harsh whistle. The machine gun fire close to the ground was scattered and frantically scattered, preventing the attackers from approaching their positions. The attacking Russian army was already very little left when they charged in front of the barbed wire in front of the enemy's positions. The rolling waves were smashed and then dissipated, leaving only the casualties and wounded everywhere.

The 17th Cavalry Army, mainly composed of Kuban Cossack cavalry, launched an assault on the right wing of Austro-Hungary, Jimelinka, and the defense of the Austro-Hungary 30th Army, mainly composed of Galician Ukrainians. The Ukrainians fought each other in blood on the battlefield, which was a tragedy of the nation.

The brave Cossack cavalry broke through the defense line of the Austro-Hungarian army, but a greater tragedy occurred. The Austro-Hungarian 3rd Armored Brigade, located behind the position, launched a counter-assault in order to block the gap in the defense line. The torrent of steel composed of tanks and armored vehicles rushed towards the attacking Cossack cavalry units, which soon turned into a unilateral massacre. The Cossack cavalrymen helped cut at these steel monsters with sabers, without any effect. They were soon torn into pieces by gun bullets fired from the chariots, or died under tracks or wheels.

The enemy tanks and armored cars were chasing the Cossack cavalry fleeing from all over the world. The gap on the front was blocked. The 17th Cavalry Army, an elite Russian army composed of more than 30,000 Cossack cavalry, suffered heavy casualties in front of the armored forces, losing half of its strength, and lost its combat effectiveness on the first day of the battle.

As the war progressed, the British, French, German and Austrians were all engaged in the research and development and equipment of new weapons, but Russia, which was backward in industry, was unable to provide enough infantry weapons for its army. By 1917, more and more tanks and aircraft were used on the battlefield. Britain and France had equipped nearly 6,000 tanks and 8,000 aircraft on the Western Front. On the Allies, the German army had equipped nearly 3,500 tanks and 6,000 aircraft, and the Austro-Hungarian army also equipped 3,000 tanks and 4,500 combat aircraft.

More and more technical weapons were equipped with the army, but backward Russia was increasingly difficult to adapt to this industrial war. From 1914 to the first half of 1915, the Russian army was basically able to compete with the Austro-Hungarian army, but with the large number of tanks and armored vehicles, the Russian army now needed more than twice the strength to fight against them.

This situation made Brushilov pessimistic about the prospects of the entire war.

Surprisingly, the Austrian gave up Vinnica the next day, which gave him an ominous premonition.

Zhang Weicheng's company and more than 2,000 Chinese workers got off the train in Hrnovka, met with battalion commander Su Bingwen, and then walked to the front line of the Nanbuge River. The severe cold in winter gradually subsided, and the ice on the river surface began to melt, becoming riddled with holes, and the banks were covered with gray-white floating ice.

Although it will still freeze at night, the ice and snow begin to melt by noon, the soil and hay are exposed, and the ground becomes muddy.

The Russians sent a liaison officer and several soldiers, who needed to get these people to transport supplies to the front line, carry the wounded, and bury the bodies of the dead soldiers. The group passed through a large black birch forest by the river, and bursts of cannons came from afar, which was very close to the front line. These workers and soldiers walked while telling jokes to relieve their inner tension and fear.

In a small open space in the forest, the Chinese workers saw a long list of dead officers and soldiers, placed side by side on the ground, in different postures. Some people had half of their heads cut off by shrapnel, and some people's internal organs flowed out, which looked very terrible. Several Russian soldiers who were resisting rifles were walking back and forth next to them.

The corpses were covered with footprints that could be rolled by wheels. It seemed that they were transported from other battlefields and were placed here.

The Russian official in charge of contact muttered to the translator for a while, "What are he talking about?" Su Bingwen asked.

"He said we should send someone to dig a hole and bury these people," the translator said.

"But there is no shovel." Su Bingwen said.

"He said that it was their logistics base and our camp, where there were tools. We went to the camp first and then sent people to work," the translator said.

"Okay, okay, these guys should also see more blood." Su Bingwen glanced at the workers not far away, and some people couldn't help but run to the edge of the woods and vomited.

The team continued to move forward, and the workers were silent and no one spoke for a long time. They hurried through this narrow clearing in the forest, trying to forget everything they had just witnessed. Not far outside the woods, there was an abandoned village where the Russians set up a logistics station, and the Chinese workers were settled into more than 30 dirt houses, occupying almost half of the territory.

"You lead a squad to lead the 6th Company to bury those Russians." Su Bingwen said to Zhang Weicheng.
Chapter completed!