Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 530 Preparing for Lake Baikal
"86. The strength of the Qing army assembled in Outer Mongolia is as follows: Khalkha has four 7800 alliance banners, including 6000 soldiers from the Tushetu Khan tribe, 3000 from the Chechen Khan tribe, and 4700 from the Zasaktu Khan tribe. There are 22500 Sanyinnuoyan tribes, 2000 in total; Uliasutai has 5000 Qing soldiers from Suiyuan City and Youwei; [-] Mongolian soldiers from the Eight Banners outside Zhangjiakou are stationed in Suiyuan City outside Shahukou.

16200. The Beihai Navy consists of three regiments, the newly organized [-]th and [-]th regiments to form the first division, and the sixth regiment and the newly formed [-]th and [-]th regiments to form the second division. The above-mentioned troops consist of [-] people in order to annihilate all or most of the above-mentioned The Qing army, occupying Kulun, Uliasutai, and Khobdo, with the aim of completely destroying the rule of the Manchu and Qing in Outer Mongolia, decided to start the campaign by crossing Qiaktu across the board before July [-]th.

[-]. After judging that our army launched an attack, the possible changes in the enemy army are as follows:
First, the Tushetu Khan Department and the Chechen Khan Department, in accordance with the order of Song Yun, the minister in charge of Kulun, withdrew their forces in the area south of Kulun, controlled the main points of the north and south of the Altai Army, and planned to assemble when our army's battle line was stretched. The troops and my troops rushed to the south of Kulun for a decisive battle.

Second, Hengrui, the left deputy general of Dingbian, shrank the Zasaktu Khan and Sanyin Nuoyan tribes to Uliasutai South Road to ensure their retreat to Khobduo.

Third, voluntarily abandon the section of the South Kulun Line, and merge with the Qing army going north from Suiyuan City, form a large mobile force of more than [-] cavalry to gather at the station line of Uliasu Tainan Road Station, and then wait for the opportunity when our army is on the line. The decisive battle in the south of Khalkha.

[-]. Our army's operational program: In the first stage of the campaign, capture Kulun, and implement the campaign in accordance with the requirements of the next stage; in the second stage, cut off the communication lines between Suiyuan and Khalkha stations, and capture Tarado Lantai Station, in order to achieve the task of splitting and encircling the enemy, and prevent the Suiyuan Qing army from going north to support; in the third stage, annihilate the encircled enemy respectively, and complete the whole campaign.

[-]. The preparation for the battle should be based on being able to cope with the first and second situations of the third item. It should be calculated that our eastern front troops may encounter serious battles after they capture Kulun, and the western front troops should give timely and powerful support. Support and attract Zasaktu Khan and Sanyin Nuoyan.

[-]. Two divisions and seven regiments on the Eastern Front were under the unified command of Liu and Fan.The troops on the western front were under the command of Zhao Xin, and the specific combat deployment of the two routes was stipulated in detailed orders by the Northern Navy Staff Headquarters. "

In the combat outline drawn up by Zhao Xin, all the information about the Manchu troops stationed in Inner and Inner Mongolia and station information was obtained by Fan Tong from two Shanxi merchants in Maimai City in the past two years, while the Beihai Navy paid for it. The price is [-] catties of ginseng and [-] animal skins per year.

The so-called "Military Station", also known as Taizhan, was an institution set up in the northwest frontier during the Manchu Qing Dynasty for defense, dispatch, and delivery of military reports. It had the functions of spare horses and accommodation, similar to military stations of later generations.

After Qianlong completely pacified Junggar, the mobilization of Qing troops stationed at Uliasu Station and Khobdo were all regulated by Suiyuan City. As for the inspection and garrison of Karen Station, they were handed over to Khalkha Mongol soldiers in the fourth year of Qianlong. , has not changed much.

The closed-door meeting was held for three consecutive days, and the spirits of Zhao Xin and the others were a bit overwhelmed. When having breakfast on April 4, Liu Sheng's wife Wu Xiha casually mentioned that it is better to go out and change your mind if you are tired.So Liu Sheng proposed to go to the Epiphany Cathedral in the city, and the other three readily agreed.

Built in 1693, this Orthodox church was completely destroyed in a fire in 1716.In 1718, the locals began to donate money to rebuild, and it took decades of construction to form a beautiful building piled up like white building blocks.

The high priest who heard the news bowed to Zhao Xin and others, and enthusiastically wanted to be a tour guide.For this 60-year-old high priest of the Orthodox Church, Baiber City has been occupied by the Chinese for more than two years, but this is the first time their high officials have visited here.Perhaps this was a good start, the high priest obviously hoped to hold a separate mass for Zhao Xin and the others.

But to his disappointment, Zhao Xin and the others just planned to look around and didn't want to pray.Except for Zhang Jingxuan who is busy with civil affairs, the others know little about the Orthodox Church.

Walking into the door of the church is like walking into another space.The Orthodox Church worships portraits, so there are no sculptures in the church, but rich and exquisite murals on the surrounding walls and even the dome.The exquisite lighting and patterns on the door eaves are extremely detailed from a close look.Everything here is definitely devoted to a lifetime of thought.

Zhao Xin looked at it for a while, and found that most of the portraits were the same, and he lost interest after seeing too many, so he went outside the church and lit a cigarette.After a while, Liu Sheng, Fan Tong and Zhang Jingxuan also came out and joined the ranks of puffing clouds.

Zhao Xin walked slowly, and suddenly said: "Liu, this time you send troops to Outer Mongolia, you have to fight for a few big battles. Those princes and Taiji have seen our strength, and the follow-up work of civil affairs will go much smoother. "

Liu Sheng withdrew his gaze into the distance, and said decisively: "Kulun, Uliasutai, and Kebuduo traveled [-] kilometers from east to west, and the logistical pressure is not small. My opinion is that if Suiyuan and When Dihua's Qing army goes northward, they will attack these two groups of troops first."

Zhao Xin let out a "huh" and said again: "The three generations of Kang, Yong, and Qianlong have put a lot of effort into Khalkha Mongolia from the time they pacified Junggar to now, and they will never give up lightly. I guess Qianlong left the line from Xi'an to Dihua for himself. He will not take the most elite Tianshan Banner Battalion to take risks in Kobdo.

Fighting opportunities are fleeting, and when the time comes, you can make a decision on the fly, without asking for instructions on everything.As for Tangnu Ulianghai, I will draw two battalions down the Yenisei River to try to attract the seventeen leaders of the Sanyin Nuoyan tribe from Kemukmqik and Shabinida Bahan. troops. "

At this time Zhang Jingxuan said with emotion: "Three-way attack, Khalkha IV, Tangnu Wulianghai, Khobdo, 180 million square kilometers; plus the Heilongjiang general area, this is more than 200 million square kilometers."

Zhao Xin patted Zhang Jingxuan on the shoulder, and sighed: "There is no shortage of gold and jade, and the mountains and rivers are unified. It is not so easy to do. Xiao Zhang, you have stayed in Lake Baikal for more than two years. This time, you can move to the south if you take down Kulun. Now, prepare to go to Outer Mongolia to be a prince for a few years."

"Okay, although the task is arduous, I like more challenging work." Zhang Jingxuan smiled slightly, and did not ask who the successor was.After two years of hard work in the wind and snow in Irkutsk, I finally entered the inner circle of Beihai Town today.

Fan Tong came over to Zhao Xin again and said, "I said Mr. Zhao, why can't you give me more armored vehicles? Fifty vehicles are not enough!"

"I'd like to take out a hundred cars at once. The problem is that there must be so many people who can drive! The two cavalry battalions have been transferred to you."

In fact, Zhao Xin still has 3000 Cossack servants in his hands, all of whom are cavalry.But he didn't want these foreigners to meddle in China's own internal affairs at all. It was the mission of the Cossacks to make trouble for Tsarist Russia.

Zhao Xin almost vomited from looking at the map these days. All the roads and stations in the northwestern border of the Manchu and Qing Dynasties have been put into his mind, and he said with a smile: "Fatty Fan, it is 480 kilometers from Chaketu to Kulun. It is 240 kilometers from Kulun to Taradolan Station, and 1248 kilometers from Taradolan Station to Uliasu Station. The road of nearly [-] kilometers does not include the road of Khobdo. You should first think about how to solve the logistics supply."

Fan Tong roughly summed it up, thinking that it was bad, this time the rich man Zhao didn't act with the troops, and the fuel supply would be really a big trouble.

The fuel tank volume of a BMP2 is 460 liters, and it can run 2.3 kilometers at a time, and 1968 vehicles are 7.5 liters.According to what Zhao Xin said, the [-]-kilometer journey from Kyakhta to Uliasutai would consume [-] liters of fuel alone, assuming he ran non-stop.

In fact, this is impossible at all, and it's not running a rally, you have to fight.If calculated according to 2.5 times, at least 18 liters of diesel oil must be prepared.A tin oil drum is 159 liters, which is 1200 barrels of diesel oil.Okay, two hundred tons!

Oil Zhao Xin was prepared, and they were all stored in the logistics warehouse of the Northern Navy outside Baiber City. The problem was that Fan Tong had to find a way to take them away this time.

Zhao Xin said with a serious face: "Since you want to use armored vehicles to deal with the Mongolian cavalry, you have to consider the issue of fuel supply. There are 12 stations from Qiaktu to Kulun, and the seventh station is Tashaer. Taiwan must build a supply station, from there to Huqigantai is 60 kilometers away, the location is very critical, and we must not think about it until Kulun.”

Fan Tong and Zhang Jingxuan cast their eyes on Zhao Xin's admiration at the moment.Not to mention anything else, the two of them felt inferior to each other just because of their memorization of maps.

Zhao Xin said worriedly: "When fighting Outer Mongolia, what you fight is supply. As long as the supply line is continuous and the supply of ammunition and fuel does not go wrong, everything is a foregone conclusion. Xiao Fan, you are Liu's deputy. You should consider these matters more. .”

When everyone walked to the carriage outside the church yard, Liu Sheng said casually, "Go back now?"

Zhao Xindao: "No, go to the regiment headquarters of the third regiment to see, don't they have a drill at night?"

In the middle of April in the Gregorian calendar, Lake Baikal in Eastern Siberia is still a boundless white ice sheet.The noon sun passed through the thick ice surface like a mirror. Among the countless air bubbles, the sapphire-like light and shadow refracted by the sun revealed a calm, clear and extremely beautiful.

The never-freezing Angara River and the frozen lake stand out like bluebottle flies, and the first flowers of spring have quietly emerged from the ground on the hills still covered by snow on the bank.Purple cream-like petals, golden spherical stamens, covered with soft silver fleece, dotted the mountains and fields here and there.

Pan Xiucheng jumped off the horse, handed the reins to the guard beside him, then picked up the binoculars, and observed the training ground and the exercise position.

"What are you doing today?" Pan Xiucheng asked.

"Live ammunition!" Zhou Monk, the commander of the Second Battalion, replied.

"Are you ready for the night drill?"

"It's almost there. You can watch it when the time comes!"

"Don't brag!"

"Leader, go and have a look!"

Pan Xiucheng and Monk Zhou walked towards the shooting range in the valley while talking.

The Mongolian recruit Batu was aiming at the half-length target erected under the cliff at this time. Pan Xiucheng walked to Batu's side and watched intently.

Batu stood upright, with his cheeks pressed against the gun stock, holding his breath, and with two small movements in succession, he pulled the trigger, and the bullets shot out.Then a red flag was raised behind the target, which meant that the middle part of the head was hit a little lower.

"Let's show the leader another shot!" Monk Zhou said triumphantly.

Batu was about to shoot again, and was about to pull the trigger when Pan Xiucheng suddenly ordered, "Shoot the heart!"

Batu moved the aiming angle, then aimed at a shot, and the bullet was fired.Then, without a pause, another bullet was fired.Pan Xiucheng could see clearly through the telescope, and the wooden target trembled twice in succession.The semaphore reported that he was hit in two places to the right of the chest.

Pan Xiucheng pulled Batu in front of him, looked at Batu's body and face carefully for a moment with surprised eyes, and asked, "Have you shot a shotgun before?"

"Stationed in Karen, hunting, hunting, bows and arrows, birds, shotguns are all used." Batu saluted, he had never spoken to such an official as the head of the regiment.I used to be an arrow in Karen, and I had to kneel down to answer when I saw a Xiaoqi school.

Pan Xiucheng understood that the opponent should have a talent in shooting, and this ordinary person can't compare without hard training. He asked kindly: "How did you become a soldier?"

"The errands were too heavy, and I owed Qili five or five taels of silver. If I couldn't survive, I ran away. I escaped. Last year, Qiaktu recruited troops, so I signed up."

"How old is this year?"

"nineteen."

"Have you married a wife yet?"

"I don't have enough food, and I owe so much debt, who wants to marry someone like me."

"Who else is in the family?"

"My mother and younger brother."

Pan Xiucheng stretched out his thick hand and patted Batu's shoulder violently. Batu's short and stocky body hardly trembled at all, and his eyes were fixed on Pan Xiucheng's bearded face.

"Good job, boy! Who's your squad leader?"

Kang Youcai who was standing aside hurriedly said, "It's me!"

"It's called Kang Youcai." Monk Zhou added.

"Shandong Rongcheng, I remember you. How is your marksmanship?" Pan Xiucheng asked.

"I'm not as good as him." Kang Youcai's face flushed immediately.

Pan Xiucheng stared into Kang Youcai's eyes and said seriously: "You must learn from him! You are not as good as a veteran."

"I see."

"what do you know?"

"Learn from him! Captain!" Kang Youcai replied loudly.Monk Zhou glared at him bitterly.

Pan Xiucheng looked at the shooting range for a while, and asked Monk Zhou about the camp's preparations for the night offensive and defensive combat exercises, and then got on his horse and returned to the regiment headquarters.He heard that Zhao Xin had been here for several days and had been in meetings with Liu Sheng. He estimated that the troops would make another big move.

Just after entering the gate of the regiment headquarters, a group of people surrounded by two carriages rushed towards the regiment headquarters on the main road hundreds of meters away.Pan Xiucheng raised his binoculars and saw the carriages of Liu Sheng and Zhang Jingxuan, as well as a group of guards.

Everyone entered Pan Xiucheng's residence and office, and Zhao Xin asked straight to the point: "How is the team training? Can they play or not?"

"Can fight! Guaranteed to complete the task." Pan Xiucheng replied.

"Tell me, how is the training going?" Zhao Xin continued to ask.

"Grenade throwing, old and new fighters have an average of 38 meters, and the hit rate of rifles and machine guns is also good." When Pan Xiucheng said this, he saw the situation of the new soldier Batu hitting three out of three shots on the shooting range of the Second Battalion, and said vividly described it.

"Is there an offensive and defensive exercise tonight?" Fan Tong asked.

Cao Chao, deputy head of the regiment, replied: "At night, the second battalion confronts the cavalry battalion, the cavalry battalion attacks, and the second battalion defends. We have agreed with the cavalry battalion that the three battalions will conduct confrontation exercises for three days."

"The second camp is Monk Zhou's camp, right?" When Zhao Xin spoke, he looked out of the window, and he was very impressed by Monk Zhou.

At this time Liu Sheng said: "Don't tell the following that we are here to observe the exercise, so as not to affect their fighting psychology."

The arrival of Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng and others made Pan Xiucheng and his deputy more tense immediately. The two had a premonition that Zhao Xin would go to the Three Treasure Hall for nothing, and that there might be a mission soon.

At night, the cold wind howled on the hills, and the bright stars danced with cold light.All the lights in the barracks were extinguished, and the offensive and defensive exercises began on the plain in the dark.

Zhao Xin, Liu Sheng, and Fan Tong were sitting in the regiment command post, observing the progress of the exercise through the footage sent back by the drone.The sound of explosions, shouts of killing, and horns echoed in the valley.The atmosphere of battle filled the plains of the Angara River and the shores of Lake Baikal in early spring.

The current combat exercises of the Beihai Navy are almost exactly the same as real battles, except that the bullets are blank.Because there has been no night exercise for a long time, accidents of all sizes have continued.

The waist of the deputy head Cao Chao flashed, so in the second half of the exercise, this man had to put one hand on his waist and eyes when he walked. It was an embarrassing and painful expression, grinning.

Monk Zhou, the commander of the Second Battalion, had his right ear cut by the thorny weeds on the hillside and was bandaged around. There were still two thin bloodstains on his face.The squad leader under him, Kang Youcai, had his calf rubbed by a cavalry horse's hoof, and a large piece of blood was bruised. The red and swollen area was as big as a steamed bun.

The most unfortunate thing is that Baiyin, a new Mongolian soldier from Kang Youcai's squad, saw the cavalry retreating. This kid knew it was a drill, so he didn't take it seriously at all. He fell, hit the back of his head against a hard rock, and died.

Monk Zhou and monitor Kang, who became one-eared, were severely scolded by Pan Xiucheng the next morning.

(End of this chapter)