Chapter 873 The Fall of Anderhui

Abandoned the plan to integrate the Afghan resistance group, but the support should still be supported, and the Russian army still needs these people to cause chaos for the British.

As for the possible troubles in the future, it will be after the victory of the war and will not be taken care of in the short term.

Moreover, there are so many Afghan resistance organizations, there will always be a few two or five young men, and they can be divided and won over.

With the support of the Russians, the Afghan resistance group became more active.

Destroying roads today, blowing up bridges tomorrow, occasionally firing cold guns, and attacking a wave of convoys made the British army miserable.

Andhuy, Colonel Makau, who guards the city, just wants to cry now. The Russians didn't want to hit strategic points, but they wanted to break through from here, which really left him speechless.

In the headquarters of the 9th Indian Colonial Division, Colonel Makau asked with a haggard expression, "When will the reinforcements arrive?"

Without waiting for the young officer in front of him to answer, the sound of artillery fire sounded again, and the Russian army began to attack the city again.

Hearing the sound of artillery fire, Colonel Makau's face darkened instantly. The defense of Andhuy had only started for two days, and the Ninth Division had already reduced more than 1,000 people.

Colonel Makau doesn't care about the casualties of soldiers. As a pure Englishman, he has never regarded Indian soldiers as his own, and he does not feel distressed no matter how heavy the loss is.

But the problem is that the morale of the army can't be hurt. If you change to the main force of the British army, you will be able to persevere even if you lose 20 to 30 percent.

It's a pity that this is an Indian colonial division, and the army is unstable after only a few hundred casualties.

If it wasn't for the city, the city defenses gave everyone a sense of security, and the supervising team was strong enough, the army would have collapsed long ago.

Aware of the unsightly face of the division commander, the young officer replied uneasily: "Senior commander, we sent out a signal trooper to ask for help, and we should be able to arrive at Mazar Sharif this afternoon.

In theory, reinforcements could arrive as soon as five days later.

However, the headquarters is in Kabul, and without an order from the headquarters, the Fifth Division stationed in Mazar-e-Sharif may not send troops.

If the Fifth Division does not send troops, it can only wait for the headquarters to order. It will take another week for the signal troops sent to the headquarters to arrive in Kabul, and it may take half a month for reinforcements to arrive. "

Without considering other factors, it is still valuable for the tsarist government to start a war in advance from a purely military point of view.

Before the war started, the British army in Afghanistan had been busy destroying the guerrillas, and the British army guarding the front line was seriously insufficient.

Even the general headquarters was placed in Kabul, and in the event of an emergency, it was impossible to coordinate the joint operations of the British troops on the front line.

According to the plan of the British army, the war will break out in the spring of next year. With such a long preparation time, the temporary telegraph and telephone lines have been laid, and even if the headquarters is located in the rear, it can coordinate and command.

It is a pity that the plan has not changed quickly. Now the communication between the various units of the British army can only be run by the communication troops.

As for the biography of flying pigeons, that only exists in novels. Not to mention whether the carrier pigeon will encounter danger in the middle, and whether it can find a place is a problem. The most important thing is that the British army is not equipped with this thing.

Colonel Makau gave up the last bit of luck in his heart, not to mention waiting for half a month, even the ninth division may not be able to hold on for five days.

Besides, these are theoretical numbers. It is necessary to send reinforcements immediately after receiving the letter for assistance, so that the reinforcements may arrive in five days.

Actually, this is impossible. By convention, everyone's first reaction when encountering such a thing is to verify the accuracy of the news, and then hold a meeting to discuss it.

When a decision can be made, it depends on the commander's responsibility. If you are timid and afraid, you will not send troops without the command of the headquarters.

After hesitating for a while, Colonel Makau said slowly: "Order the troops to hold on until the evening, and then withdraw to the second line of defense."

Colonel Makau had to be thankful that he was cautious enough and laid out a few more lines of defense, and now he can still step back and delay time.

It is a pity that there are too many enemies on the opposite side, and no matter how well prepared, it cannot stop the absolute strength of the enemy.

They can't even retreat. When they are defending the city, the Indian soldiers can still play a certain combat effectiveness. If they go out of the city and fight the enemy in the field, it is estimated that the ninth division of the Russian army will be scattered.

Whether it is for the overall situation of the war or for himself, Colonel Makau must continue to persevere. Even if you can't hold Andhuy in the end, you must buy time for the main force.

As for the ninth division, which was originally cannon fodder, it is natural to play the role of cannon fodder. Now is the time to sacrifice.

From this point of view, Lieutenant General Patrick's decision to split the main force to serve as the supervising team is undoubtedly correct.

If it wasn't for a British main force, Colonel Makau would have no way to make the Indians desperate.

...

The British Army Command in Kabul, Lieutenant General Patrick was in a very bad mood. The Anglo-Russian war broke out, and he was the last commander to know.

Whether it was the front-line troops or the London government thousands of miles away, they all received the news before him.

Major General Howell suggested: "Your Excellency Commander, the Russians are coming, we may not have enough troops on the front line, send reinforcements to the front line!"

Although there is no specific battle report from the front line, but everyone knows with their toes that the situation will not be optimistic.

Major General Lawrence, who is directly opposite, objected: "It is not so simple, and now the battle situation is unclear, we simply do not know where the enemy's main attack direction is, and we can't

Send reinforcements in both directions at the same time?

We don't have that many troops in our hands. The reinforcements promised in the country have not yet set off. It will be two months before they arrive.

Although the reinforcements from the Indian region have come, we have brought over the elite troops from the Indian colonies. Most of the reinforcements now are newly formed troops, and there is no hope for their combat effectiveness.

Moreover, the operation of encircling and suppressing the guerrillas has also reached a critical moment. Recently, the frequency of exchange of fire between the enemy and us has been significantly higher, and now the withdrawal of troops is all for naught.

If this opportunity is missed, then we will face the dual threat of Russians and Afghan guerrillas, and future wars will only be more unfavorable to us. "

Because of the relationship between the guerrillas and the guerrillas, nearly half of the British troops in Afghanistan drilled into the ravines. Except for a few strategically important places on the front line, the troops in other areas are insufficient.

Such a deployment of troops can not be wrong, after all, the threat of the Afghan guerrillas to the British army is also very great. The most rampant period can bring hundreds of casualties to the British army every day.

It can only be said that the British army was unlucky. When they were encircling and suppressing the guerrillas, they encountered the attack of the Russian army, which made them unable to care for each other.

Howell shook his head: "Now we can't take care of that much, the guerrillas can only disgust us, but the Russians have the ability to take Afghanistan away from us.

Reinforcement is not the best option, but we have no choice right now. Once the Russians are killed, it will be difficult to drive them out.

I propose to leave one division to keep an eye on the guerrillas so they don't make a big mess, and the rest of the troops immediately reinforce the front.

Due to the uncertainty of the enemy's main attack direction, I think it is possible to set up several front-line headquarters to coordinate the operations of the troops on the front line.

Before the communication problem is resolved, it is inappropriate for the headquarters to be located in Kabul, and we will not be able to catch up when we receive the news and go to the front line to collect the corpses. "

...

The two deputies quarreled, and Lieutenant General Patrick felt more and more headaches. Everyone has a point, which makes the problem even more complicated.

Deep in his heart, he still hopes to destroy the guerrillas first, and then have a decisive battle with the Russians. Unfortunately, the reality left him no choice. No matter how big the threat of the guerrillas was, he had to first ensure that the front line would not be defeated.

After much consideration, Lieutenant General Patrick made a decision: "Howell is right, the command headquarters in Kabul is just a decoration, and it can't function at all.

From now on, we will set up three front enemy headquarters, left, center, and right, and the three of us will be the commanders.

The Left Army was composed of the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 6th Infantry Divisions, the 5th, 6th, and 7th Artillery Regiments, and the 1st Cavalry Division. I personally served as the commander and went to reinforce the Hetra area.

The Central Route Army is the first..."

The plan did not change quickly. Just when the British army gave up the encirclement and suppression of the guerrillas and divided troops to reinforce the front line, the Andhuy battlefield also entered a critical moment.

After a week of hard support, the 9th Infantry Division guarding Andhuy collapsed, and the reinforcements from the 5th Division, which Colonel Makau had been expecting, never showed up.

It's not that the commander of the 5th division has no big picture, the problem is that the Russians have already appeared in the Mazar-e-Sharif area, and the battle is about to break out.

How could the 5th Division dare to deploy troops to reinforce Andhuy when the prospects were unclear?

With the last line of defense broken, the Russian army has broken through all the city defenses in Andhui, and if they continue to hold on, they can only fight in the streets.

Counting on the demoralized Indian colonial divisions and the Russians to fight in the streets, Colonel Makau is not crazy yet.

Looking at the hundreds of people gathered around him, Colonel Makau knew that the situation was over, and reluctantly ordered: "Withdraw!"

...