Red Mansion: I am Jia Lian

Chapter 687 Retreat and Holding Firm
The cavalry suffered over ten casualties but managed to ascertain the enemy's situation. The opposing force consisted not only of a single Imperial Guard cavalry unit but also local tribal troops; the total strength was unclear, but it was estimated to be tens of thousands. While these tribal troops might not be particularly strong in combat, their sheer numbers were a significant advantage. The Royal Mixed Forces, operating as a lone, forward-deployed army, were most concerned about securing food and ammunition supplies.

To ensure the supply of this isolated army, the Ministry of War established supply depots at key points along the route from Lanzhou to Yumenguan and then to Dihua. Even so, the mixed brigade headquarters in Bishkek had only accumulated a little over a thousand guns and cannons, and fifteen basic loads of ammunition. The reason for such low efficiency was simply the great distance and the terrible roads.

This means the rifles used by the Mixed Brigade are 11mm caliber, and the ammunition is black powder paper cartridges. In Bishkek, ammunition can be produced locally by recruiting craftsmen. If they were to be equipped with the latest rifles, but the bullets couldn't be produced locally, then every bullet fired would be one less available.

After gaining a general understanding of the enemy situation, the first and cavalry units that had advanced immediately decided that they could not stay and had to retreat. The reason was simple: they could not afford to consume more ammunition.

After the meeting, a messenger was immediately sent back to inform the Second Battalion and the Artillery Battalion not to come any further, but to wait in place to rendezvous with the advancing troops before retreating together. It wasn't that the Mixed Brigade was cowardly; it was simply that the local tribes had poor relations with the Anxi army. Staying in place meant they would likely face not only the Russian army, but also a much larger force of local tribes. Forget about a rabble; they could overwhelm you as cannon fodder.

Five days later, the Bishkek headquarters received news that Commander Jiang Ping also believed that fighting was not advisable and that an immediate retreat was necessary. At the same time, they immediately met with the Anxi army in the same city to brief them on the military situation.

If they hadn't notified them, it would have been fine. But after the notification, the "friendly forces" that had been renamed from the Xining Army to the Anxi Army were constantly worried about being annexed by the troops sent from the mainland, and they always regarded the Mixed Brigade as a potential enemy.

A general (using the old military system) stationed in Bishkek, part of the Anxi army, outwardly agreed to cooperate fully with the Royal Independent Mixed Cooperative War to repel the Russian invasion. However, he secretly ordered his men to pack their belongings and leave the city in the dead of night without a word, fleeing back to the Anxi capital.

When the brigade commander, Jiang Pingren, discovered that his "friendly forces" had vanished, he was dumbfounded. This place was thousands of miles from home; they were truly isolated. The crucial point was that he couldn't retreat yet. Firstly, he couldn't trust the Anxi army anymore; being ambushed by "friendly forces" on the way back would have even more serious consequences. Secondly, the forward-deployed troops hadn't returned yet. Did he really believe that his officers would simply shoot him if he fled with the brigade headquarters and the 3rd Infantry Battalion?
Left with no other choice, they found a merchant who frequently traveled between Anxi and Dihua and asked him to send a message to Dihua, promising a generous reward if the message could be delivered.

The merchant, willing to take the risk, said to keep it quiet and that he would secretly send someone to handle the matter. Jiang Ping thanked him repeatedly and then sent a message to the forward troops, ordering them to immediately withdraw to Bishkek. He didn't give a specific reason, fearing it would undermine morale.

The remaining troops immediately took over the city's defenses, and Jiang Ping also ordered martial law to be imposed within the city to prevent any leaks.

The situation in Anxi Royal City is also complicated. The old King of Anxi is dying, and his three sons are vying for the throne.

Each of the three princes had their own faction and local supporting tribes, and these local tribes were mostly opportunistic.

Just as the Russian army was advancing, the King of Anxi died of illness, and a fierce battle immediately broke out in the capital city of Anxi.

With the support of the old King Anxi's core group, the Crown Prince of Anxi defeated the other two crown princes, but failed to capture them, and they escaped.

From the Crown Prince of Anseong's perspective, he definitely needs to find two brothers from the same father and mother to secure his throne before he can think about anything else.

Therefore, the message brought back by the general who withdrew from Bishkek was of little use. The most important thing now was to find and kill his two younger brothers. Subsequently, Jiang Ping's messenger arrived, but this did not distract the Crown Prince of Anxi. Instead, the messenger replied, instructing Jiang Ping to hold Bishkek, assuring him that the Anxi army would send reinforcements as soon as possible.

When Jiang Ping saw that the messenger he had sent to the capital of Anxi had not returned, and that the King of Anxi had sent another messenger to reply, he immediately knew that something was wrong.

But he had no better solution, so he immediately found the merchant again and asked him to send another letter to Dihua, informing him of the latest situation.

The merchant was of mixed Han and non-Han descent; his father was Han, but he was still pro-China at heart. So he risked it again and agreed to Jiang Ping's offer, and personally set off for Dihua, ostensibly to deliver a message under the pretense of trading horses.

The forward troops were lucky. On a whim, Jia Shi had the newly arrived artillerymen fire a few shots, which frightened the Cossacks on the other side. They didn't dare to make any rash moves and patiently waited for the main force.

This bought time for the advancing troops to retreat, although the retreat process was not so smooth.

After the First Battalion decided to retreat, they immediately arranged for Jia Shi's Third Battalion to set off first as the vanguard, a convenient task to clear the way for the following troops.

This is a retreat, not an attack. Wouldn't it be a great job for the first to leave?
Jia Shi knew it was her boss's kindness, so she didn't make a fuss. After accepting her boss's good intentions, she immediately packed her bags overnight and set off in the early morning.

Around 11:00 AM, the advance company of the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Regiment encountered enemy activity and withdrew after a brief exchange of fire.

The vanguard immediately halted its advance, established defensive positions, and notified Jia Shi.

Upon hearing this news, Jia Shi panicked for a moment, but quickly calmed down and immediately sent someone to report back while leading the main force of his camp to catch up.

The vanguard was only five kilometers away from the main force. It would normally take an hour to march, but they heard gunfire while they were still on the road. Jia Shi immediately ordered them to run.

Half an hour later, when they arrived at the battlefield, they found that the enemy had already retreated. After meeting with the company commander of the vanguard company, they learned that about two hundred cavalrymen had launched an attack on them but had been repelled.

The enemy who launched the surprise attack left behind more than fifty corpses and more than thirty warhorses.

After surveying the terrain, Jia Shi was relieved to find that the road ran alongside a river valley with hillsides on both sides, making it difficult for the cavalry to maneuver. Jia Shi immediately ordered the entire battalion to attack and advance.

After advancing for about two kilometers, they spotted enemy activity on a hillside ahead. About five hundred cavalrymen occupied the pass and blocked the only road.

Through the binoculars, I could see the enemy was rushing to complete their work, intending to block the road entirely. Judging by their attire, they were all local tribal people, presumably having defected to Tsarist Russia.

Jia She immediately ordered an attack to be launched while the enemy was unprepared.

At a critical moment, the two mortars played a crucial role, relentlessly firing off a full load of ammunition before the vanguard company captured the position in a single charge. The battle resulted in 103 enemy casualties and the capture of 55 horses. Three prisoners were captured, and after urgent interrogation, it was learned that they came from a nearby tribe. Their chief had accepted 500 smoothbore muskets from the Russians and dispatched 500 elite troops, intending to use their mobility to harass the enemy along the way, avoiding a direct confrontation. However, they hadn't anticipated that Jia Shi's battalion was equipped with mortars; a barrage of fire completely stunned the enemy.

Jia Shi ordered the vanguard to ride the captured horses and speed up their reconnaissance. If they found the enemy to be strong, they would retreat; if they were weak, they would attack.

The vanguard, armed with two cannons, set off and destroyed three enemy forces attempting to harass them along the way, proving Jia Shi's judgment that more than one tribe had accepted benefits from the Tsarist Russians and were only planning to conduct token harassment attacks. However, these tribes hadn't expected the presence of mortars, and the attack was swift and decisive. Before they could even escape, the vanguard was already upon them.

The three enemy forces were small, numbering only two or three hundred men each. The local tribes weren't stupid; they certainly wouldn't send their entire forces—it was just a token effort. However, none of the tribal leaders expected that at most half of the men they sent would return, with some returning only single digits.

The Second and Artillery Battalions were also busy, sending troops forward to support the retreating forces. The First Battalion, upon receiving Jia Shi's follow-up report, was also alarmed. Its commander ordered all supplies unrelated to the battle to be abandoned and a full-speed retreat commenced. The following day, after nightfall, the Cavalry Battalion and the First Battalion joined forces with the Second and Artillery Battalions.

The four battalion commanders held a meeting overnight to discuss the matter and decided to leave the cavalry battalion behind to cover the rear. The first battalion would go first as the vanguard, followed by the artillery battalion, and then the second battalion would follow.

Jia Shi was once again tasked with leading the way, setting off at five in the morning the following day. This time it went relatively smoothly; they encountered no attacks along the way. The local tribes, probably having been frightened by the attacks, decided to wait and see how the winds developed before making a decision. This was quite normal; these were tribes of all sizes, operating on the law of the jungle, and no one wanted to lose strength and be swallowed up by other tribes.

The forward troops, after regrouping, took eighteen days to return to Bishkek, mainly because the artillery could not move quickly enough, which hampered the mobility of the entire army.

Jiang Ping breathed a sigh of relief and immediately convened a meeting of officers of rank 10 and above. After the situation was reported, all the officers of the brigade (hereafter referred to as the brigade for ease of reading) were furious and cursed the Anxi Army for being inhuman.

After venting, we still have to face reality. The situation is very bad. Because of the Anxi army, the relationship between the local tribes and the Zhou army is not bad, but it is very bad.

The fate of the Independent Mixed Brigade has now become crucial. Should they remain in place to defend and wait for the unreliable Anxi army reinforcements, or should they retreat directly?

All the officers in the brigade spoke freely, and the majority of them agreed that they should stay and fight another battle.

Jiang Ping specifically asked Jia Shi for his opinion, and the answer he received was also firm: it cannot be withdrawn.

The reasons are simple. First, the mixed brigade was surrounded by enemies on all sides, including the Anxi army, which was also a potential threat. Retreating to the Anxi capital would likely result in them being used as cannon fodder, or even being surrounded and annihilated. Second, although the mixed brigade was in a bad situation, the Russian army was not much better off; according to current intelligence, only a single Imperial Guard cavalry corps had arrived.

Despite having many coerced soldiers, they certainly won't put in the effort in actual combat. If the mixed corps can hold out for a while, the Russian army's logistics will run into problems, and they will definitely raid local tribes, inevitably causing the local tribes to become disloyal or even flee.

Finally, and most importantly, with so many artillery pieces in the Mixed Brigade, a retreat would inevitably lead to being overtaken. It would be better to utilize the city's buildings for defense, fully leveraging their superior firepower. If they could force the Russian army into battle, they could concentrate their firepower to inflict heavy casualties, forcing the Russians to retreat and thus breaking the siege.

Jia Shi hadn't even mentioned reinforcements yet. The Anxi army was unreliable, but the Russian army dared not count on them. A prolonged siege without eliminating the enemy would have serious consequences. It's important to understand that in Tsarist Russia's eyes, the Anxi army was not a weak force, but a formidable adversary with well-equipped, professional soldiers and a total strength exceeding 50,000.

Jiang Ping immediately decided that the entire army should remain to defend the city. At the same time, he announced several wartime decrees to drive out all the foreign tribes from the city and to leave behind food supplies.

Once the strategy is set, the well-trained army will naturally execute it resolutely.

The Mixed Forces issued a notice to the entire city, giving them three days to evacuate. They could take their personal belongings and dry rations, but the grain in the warehouses could not be taken.

Because it was mandatory, some friction was inevitable, but there was no other way; it was necessary to protect the city.

To be clear, the Mixed Association did not know who the enemy was, and was unwilling to indiscriminately kill innocent people, so it could only drive them away.

With food supplies secured and water sources protected, the remaining task was to quickly construct fortifications and stockpile ammunition. Of course, the messenger from the King of Anxi was also released, carrying with him the latest situation report.

In any case, the Mixed Brigade would not and could not regard the Anxi Army as an enemy.

After all this was done, twenty-five days had passed since the first encounter with the enemy, demonstrating how slow the Russian army's movements were.

The Russian army certainly has basic military knowledge; the reason they are slow is because the local tribes, having suffered losses from mortar attacks, are all dawdling.

Some wanted more benefits, others wanted to send others to their deaths first. In short, they dragged it out until the Russian army got impatient and simply wiped out a tribe. Only then did these tribes realize that these Russians weren't good people either. Not only were they not good people, they were even more ruthless than the Zhou people.

Fearing annihilation, the tribes accelerated their actions.

The outer fortifications of Bishkek were basically completed before the mixed brigade's soldiers saw the late-arriving tribesmen, who were even herding cattle and sheep.

The Imperial Guard Cavalry, which was the main force of the southward expedition to attack the Zhou Empire's army, fell behind.

In fact, there were also conflicts within the Russian army. When they set out, their mission was to strike as many of the Zhou Empire's troops as possible and try not to cross the ambiguous border between the two sides.

However, to put it another way, the Imperial Guard Cavalry suffered losses and failed to capture Zhou's troops on the border. The officers below them were demoralized, and the order not to cross the border became meaningless. Readers familiar with Tsarist Russia know that insubordination was not unique to the Japanese army; the Russian army during the Tsarist era also frequently engaged in this practice.

(End of this chapter)