Section 1304 Reorganization of the Military Department
After finally surviving the long winter, the Tsarist Russian Empire High Command immediately launched a spring counterattack plan.
In the past five months, the Tsarist Russian Empire has been in a passive situation since the beginning of the war due to insufficient preparations for the early war. It has lost more than 3 million square kilometers of land in the seven states of the Far East, not to mention the strong fortress Vladivostok. After several large-scale battles, nearly 600,000 troops were lost, and the material factor of hundreds of millions of dollars was used by the enemy, which can be described as a disastrous defeat.
The war entered the sixth month. Although the spring in the north came very late, the warmer weather expanded the scope of activities of the Russian army, and it was possible to launch a spring counterattack plan.
At this time, the Tsarist Russian Empire had opened up the Lake Baikal section of the Siberian Railway. After emergency preparations in winter, the previously lost materials were replenished, and subsequent supplies were not a problem.
The Tsarist Russian Imperial Command mobilized 1.5 million troops to assemble in Central Siberia and the Outer Mongolia Plateau area, pointing their swords at the Chinese Imperial Army in the Far East, with a murderous look.
The Russian High Command’s spring counter-offensive war plan was formulated by Chief of Staff Ivan Jilinsky. Its core is to concentrate a strong force on the northern front and enter the Khabarovsk border through the defenseless Sakha State’s Upper Yansk Mountains. Lou Li, who surrounded the Far East from the flanks, defeated the Imperial Chinese Army quickly and regained Vladivostok and the seven states of the Far East. Then he sent his troops southward, crossed the Heilongjiang and Wusuli Rivers, and cooperated with the navy transferred from afar to attack the mainland of the Chinese Empire.
Originally, Russian Minister of War Sukhomlinov planned to attack Inner Mongolia first, using Mongolia as a bargaining chip to exchange with the Chinese Empire for the seven states in the Far East. However, most people in the Russian military have illusions about not reporting the long-term war with the Chinese Empire. They hope that they can recover the seven states in the Far East and end the war quickly, because Russia's finances have been emptied, and it will not last long.
As a result, the Tsarist Russian Empire abandoned its plan for a decisive battle in Inner Mongolia and turned to the Far Eastern border area.
After the formulation of Plan 1, Ivan Jilinsky placed only 9 divisions in the Kulun and Uliasutai areas on the southern front, mainly the Cossack cavalry regiment, and went out to monitor the Fourth Army of the Chinese Empire in the direction of Inner Mongolia. On the northern front, the main force of 7 group armies, 78 divisions in total, and 1.3 million troops were divided into left and right wings with Tuomo as the axis. The two armies on the right, with a total of 23 divisions and a total of 380,000 people, guarded the Nerchinsk fortress and launched attacks on the two important towns of Tenda and Skovorodino, with the aim of opening up the Siberian Railway and the main traffic route to the Amur region. strategic purpose. The 5 armies of the left wing consisted of 55 divisions, with a total of 920,000 people. They bypassed the Outer Xing'an Mountains, crossed the Lena River, crossed the Zhugjul Mountains, recovered the Khabarovsk Krai, and then went south along the plain to attack from the rear of the Outer Xing'an Mountains. Tenda and Skovorodino. After winning the two places, the line of communication was opened, and the two major armies then attacked the Khabarovsk fortress and the Vladivostok fortress respectively, and recovered the Amur and Primorsky Krai.
Since the Winter Offensive, the Imperial Chinese Army has achieved brilliant results. The General Staff and the First Theater Command believed that they were about to face crazy retaliation by the Russian army.
When the enemy is crazy in the art of war, when you retreat to avoid his sharp edge, consume his energy, and then counterattack, you will hit it with one blow.
From the establishment of the Imperial Chinese Army, from the Yongping Qiucao to the Queshan Military Exercise, the Chinese Imperial Army is good at fighting defensive counterattacks, playing pigs and eating tigers tactics.
Therefore, among the seven combat plans formulated by the General Staff, the No. 3 combat plan, which focuses on defensive counterattacks, finally passed the demonstration and began to be implemented.
The core of Plan 1 is that the real purpose of the Tsarist Russian Imperial Army's concentration of the main force in the direction of Yakutsk is to capture the strong fortifications of Tenda and Skovorodino, and to open up the strategic transportation line between the two places as the top priority. Because if the line of communication here cannot be opened, ammunition and material supplies will be restricted, and the Russian army will be unable to launch an offensive against Vladivostok and Khabarovsk in the Far East. Therefore, the Imperial Chinese Army will launch an active defense here, and use these two places as bait to lure the enemy into another defensive counterattack.
The Chinese Empire’s General Staff Plan 1 took the initiative to make a strategic retreat in the Khabarovsk border area in order to lure the main force of the Russian army to cross the Zhugzhul Mountains and enter the plain area, and then wait for an opportunity to launch a strategic counterattack to wipe out the Russian left-wing corps in one fell swoop. The General Staff ordered about 200,000 troops from the First Front,
The third army group was established to hold Tengda and Skovorodino. The Second Front Army and the Third Front Army, as well as the newly established Fifth Front Army, established the First and Second Army Groups with a total strength of 1.02 million. The main forces of the First Army Group were gathered on the front line of Jieya Lake and Zeya River behind the Tengda strategy. , and build strong fortifications and various machine gun bunkers, as well as artillery positions. The Second Army Group left a small group of troops in the Khabarovsk Territory as a blocking force, while the main force quietly moved northwards, has been withdrawing from the Khabarovsk Krai, and secretly assembled in Magadan, Kamchatka. Supplies at Magadan Port.
The Imperial Chinese Army laid down a big bag again, waiting for the Russian army to drill into it. And the Russian army has been abused for a whole winter, it can be said to be very violent, and it can't wait to wipe out all the Imperial Chinese Army in one go.
This irritable mentality has become the consistent mentality of almost all commanders in the Russian military from top to bottom, so the Imperial Chinese Army is not worried that the Russian army will not get into their pockets.
In terms of Ménggu, the General Staff of the Chinese Empire did not choose the battlefield of the decisive battle in the northern border (Russia's Far East Border Region) at the beginning, but chose the border area between Outer Mongolia and Inner Mongolia. Because the Russian army drove more than 600,000 troops into Outer Mongolia at that time, the Chinese Empire had to respond.
In April, Emperor Wang Chenhao of the Chinese Empire had decreed that Borzigit-Sarina, princess of Horqin League of Shao Uda, be Concubine Li, and Princess Ulanqiqige of Erut, Alxa League, Concubine Zhuang.
In this way, Horqin League and Alxa League, the two largest tribes in Inner Mongolia, became relatives of the emperor. The Thirty-six Banners of Inner Mongolia led by them once again expressed their loyalty to the Emperor of China, Wang Chenhao, and formed a total force of 350,000 méng ancient cavalry troops.
With such a large cavalry unit, even if they are not sure about defeating the Russian Cossack cavalry regiment, at least they can maintain the cavalry control in the Méng area, allowing the infantry of the Imperial Chinese Army to safely advance out of Méng, and finally rely on infantry to defeat the Russian army and recover Outer Mongolia is ancient.
In order to further win over the Horqin and Alxa tribes, Wang Chenhao issued several imperial decrees one after another, promoting Concubine Li's Daji Hadan Battelle (interpreted as a resolute hero) to the cavalry general of the Royal First Cavalry Corps, and promoted Concubine Zhuang's younger brother Ge Genhas (Zewei Mingyu) is the cavalry lieutenant general of the Royal Second Cavalry Regiment.
And naming the word "Royal" is only out of the meaning of win over. Of course, at the same time, officers from other Mongolian ministries were also promoted as a win over.
The equipment of the Royal First Cavalry Corps and the Second Cavalry Corps was directly allocated by the General Logistics Department, equipped with all Browning Type 97 cavalry guns, swords and various fighting equipment.
As relatives of the royal family, Hardan Battelle and Gegenhas also actively stepped up the training of cavalry troops, and began to expel the invading Russian Cossack cavalry. They fought several battles, although they did not win, but they did not Let the Russian cavalry get a bargain.
With these 350,000 cavalry troops, the strategic situation of the Imperial Chinese Army in Méngu was suddenly reversed. They were no longer passively beaten, and sometimes they could carry out appropriate counterattacks.
However, as the General Staff shifted its strategic focus to northern Xinjiang, the combat mission of the Ménggu Fourth War Zone was only defensive. Therefore, the Fourth War Zone immediately conducted intensive training for the Royal First Cavalry Corps and the Second Cavalry Corps, and carried out appropriate reorganization , making it conform to the establishment of the Imperial Chinese Army.
On May 4, 1902, the right-wing Tsarist Russian Imperial Army launched a fierce attack on the front line of Tengda, but was stubbornly resisted by the Chinese Imperial Army. The Russian army hadn't planned to capture Tengda quickly, so after a short period of time they couldn't attack by force, they started a stalemate, waiting for the left-wing army to turn around and outflank.
However, the Russian army sent a powerful airship force to bomb Tenda and Skovorodino.
The day was sunny and sunny, suitable for the airship to carry out tactical bombing and bombing. General Paul Nev, the right-wing commander of the Russian army, immediately ordered the airship troops to dispatch.
In the early morning of May 8, 30 Russian Zeppelins set off from the Nerchinsk Fortress and arrived in the air about 70 kilometers away from Tengda at 11:00 am.
At this time, the Russian observers on the flagship airship suddenly noticed a humming sound coming from the air ahead, and the sound became louder and louder. The Russian soldiers on each airship leaned on the edge of the pod to watch.
At about twelve o'clock, an Imperial Chinese Air Force J-1 reconnaissance plane flew over the left wing of the Russian airship formation. The sudden appearance of the plane stunned the Russian airship crew.
What is this?
The first time they saw a plane, everyone was confused, and some even shouted that it was a flying dragon or a beast.
Only the commander could see through the binoculars that the opponent was the dragon flag of the Imperial Chinese Army.
"It's the enemy!"
With a loud shout, the Russian army on the airship suddenly panicked and took out their pistols to shoot at the planes circling around.
There are two people sitting on this reconnaissance plane, the pilot in the front, and the observer in the back are recording the number of Russian airships and airship personnel.
The plane cruised at a speed of 35 knots, circled the Russian airship unit, and flew away after a few laps.
The sudden appearance of the plane made the Russian airship troops panic. Unknown events are always the most terrifying. The commander, Lieutenant Colonel Shilov, had a row of cold sweat on his forehead. If it was the secret weapon of the Imperial Chinese Air Force, then what should we do.
Bending down to have a bird's-eye view of the earth, thousands of meters above the sky, if there is danger, if you fall.
Shilov couldn't help but gasped, feeling goosebumps all over his body.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, when the Russian airship unit was flying over the sky less than fifteen kilometers away from Tengda, six planes similar to those just now suddenly appeared on the opposite side.
Shilov couldn't help but shuddered, and immediately became worried.
After the Eighth Flying Battalion of the Imperial Chinese Air Force received information about the incoming Russian airship, the fighter squadron immediately took off. Captain Gao Peng led six J-1 fighter jets into the air to meet them.
In the cockpit of pilot 001, Gao Peng observed the Russian airship troops through a telescope.
A huge monster, without any defense capabilities. It only needs to break down the airbag of the airship, which is enough to make the airship crash. The airship's huge body and slow moving speed are really a piece of cake for the J-1 fighter jets, and simple aiming is enough to hit.
Gao Peng shot deep and interspersed, divided and combined, with his own shooting gestures. Then step on the accelerator, and the fighter plane climbs upwards.
The other five fighter planes quickly received the order and followed the lead plane to take action.
"attack!"
Gao Peng yelled loudly, stepped on the accelerator again, and the fighter plane roared and dived, heading straight for the Russian airship. The other five planes followed suit and also began a dive.
The distance was getting closer and closer. At three or four hundred meters, Gao Peng possessed himself in the direction of the nose, aimed at the difficult target through the large front sight on the heavy machine gun, and pulled the trigger.
"Tat-tat-tat!"
The machine gun fired suddenly, and a dozen bullets were fired in an instant.
When the ear-piercing sound of piercing the air sounded, Shirov suddenly raised his heart in his throat. When he saw the flames flickering on the plane, he knew something was wrong.
"Enemy attack!"
Before the words fell, the machine gun bullets had already fired over.
"Puff puff!" The bullet pierced through the hydrogen in the airbag and began to leak out. Although the Zeppelin airship has strong airbag management and damage control measures, the penetrating power of the bullet is too strong. A single bullet basically pierces the airship, and even destroyed more than a dozen small airbags inside.
"Tat-tat-tat!"
Gao Peng pulled the trigger again, another short burst of bullets came.
This time, the bullet hit the steel frame, and the fire huā burst and ignited the hydrogen in the airbag.
"Boom! Boom boom!"
The airbags in the Zeppelin exploded one after another, bursting into flames in an instant. Then there was a huge explosion, and the entire airship instantly disintegrated, and the flames and smoke flew hundreds of meters away.
"Tat-tat-tat!"
The other five fighter jets following Gao Peng also opened fire one after another, attacking the Russian airship unscrupulously like a pack of wolves rushing into the sheepfold.
"Boom boom boom!" The Russian airships were hit one after another, caught fire, and exploded and disintegrated a few seconds later.
The Russian troops on the pods of the airship were thrown into the air one after another in the violent shaking, doing [free] falling [〖movement〗].
They wailed like heart-piercing, because they all knew that what awaited them would be one of the cruelest ways of death, being smashed into meat paste alive.
Gao Peng led the fighter squadron, interspersed back and forth, divided into joint attacks, and shot down all thirty airships in less than half an hour.
Although the Russian troops on the airship shot at them, this kind of shooting was almost negligible for the fast-flying fighter jets.
Complete victory! That is a tactical victory, but also a strategic victory.
After the fighter squadron of the Imperial Chinese Air Force wiped out the Russian airship unit, it returned immediately and hid in the hangar.
The soldiers of the Russian army who were fighting in Tengda were all looking forward to their own airships coming to help in the battle, so that the Imperial Chinese Army could also taste the taste of being bombed and grilled.
However, they waited for no news, waited for no news, and finally saw a series of violent explosions in the sky in the distance, and the flames as bright as the sun, their hearts sank to the bottom of the valley.
When the bad news came, the offensive of the Russian army's front line suddenly weakened and morale was low. Similarly, Paul Nev was dumbfounded when he learned that the entire army of airships he sent was wiped out.
how come?
Paul Nev didn't understand that thirty airships were reimbursed in the blink of an eye, but there was some reason.
Paulnev had no way of knowing why, because the airship was wiped out and no one came back alive to tell him what the hell had happened.
Paul Nev couldn't find the reason, but he hoped that Tengda could be captured on the front line as soon as possible to wash away the great shame he had been humiliated by the Imperial Chinese Army this winter.
The next day, Paul Nev dispatched the remaining twenty-five airships to the front line of Tengda again.
However, soon Paul Nev was again reported that the twenty-five hi-boats were wiped out again. Witnesses said that the airship had a big explosion in the air and seemed to be attacked by some birds, but the reason was not known.
Paul Nev completely collapsed, and fifty-five airships were ruined by him in two days. This was a luxury bought with a huge sum of money, and it was reimbursed before seeing the results of the battle, which really made him ashamed.
Soon, the Russian High Command learned of this, and it was inevitable to scold Paul Nev. However, the Russian High Command was not simple. They quickly obtained the information they needed from the Russian civilians near Tengda, and knew that the Imperial Chinese Air Force suddenly had a new weapon, but they still didn't know what it was.
Subsequently, the Russian High Command intensified its intelligence gathering efforts on the Imperial Chinese Army. After paying huge manpower, material resources and financial resources, it is considered to find out some useful news.
"airplane?"
"What it is?"
These two sentences immediately became buzzwords among people who read newspapers all over the world.
After the Tengda air battle, the news that the entire Russian airship unit was annihilated spread like wildfire, which immediately attracted the attention of military strategists all over the world. Why a powerful airship force of fifty-five ships was wiped out in the blink of an eye is a question that everyone cares about. As for what the plane is, they only learned that it is a kind of aircraft through intelligence, and combined with the information provided by current scientific research personnel in various countries in this field, they finally understood that the plane is similar to the water dragonfly aircraft that they had ignored earlier. thing.
The countries immediately put people into the research of aircraft, but because they were misled by the Chinese Empire, they continued to develop airships, so that there were very few aircraft projects in their country. Even if there were civilian researchers, the aircraft they built could only fly a dozen meters.
However, since then, there has been a new term in the world, airplane. And the aircraft of the Chinese Empire finally became famous because of the Tengda air battle, and became the world's super aviation power sought after by people in the international aviation industry in the future. ! .