The Heroic Age of the Late Qing Dynasty

The Supreme Government's Acts on the Intentions of the Chinese Empire states: ....Once China

Even if a coup occurs, the new Chinese government should not be allowed to expand its power into Mongolia.

In this case, Mongolia should be protected by our country....

Later, when the British and French forces attacked the Chinese coast, Tsarist Russia had already laid out its troops on the border.

Tens of thousands of soldiers were dispatched, and two armies were prepared: "One army would capture Kulun, and the other would capture

Take Aihui". Muravyov also publicly clamored: "If we can gain a foothold in Manchuria,

Mongolia, thus separating Manchuria from China and becoming two principalities under the protection of Russia.

Even if I don’t immigrate for the time being, there will be no harm.”

Muravyov attempted to separate Northeast China and Outer Mongolia from China.

Becoming a protectorate of Tsarist Russia would also allow these two regions to separate from China, so that

Prepare to annex these two principalities instead of Chinese territory in the future.

In fact, the Russian Empire never stopped its efforts to occupy Outer Mongolia.

In the diplomatic field, the Qing government was forced to sign a series of unequal treaties.

The Treaty of Tianjin in 1860, the Treaty of Beijing in 1862,

The 1869th century saw the beginning of the 1881th century, the beginning of the ...

The Sino-Russian Revised Treaty and its annex to the Trade Regulations and the Russian Merchants' Trade with China

These unequal treaties all involved the Russian invasion of the country.

Regulations concerning politics and economy in the Occupied Mongolian region.

Economic alliance is one of the magic weapons to invade Mongolia, so the Russian government also sent

A large number of caravans were sent out to conduct commercial activities. Before the Russo-Japanese War, the

There were thousands of Russian merchants doing business in Kulun, and there were

The army was even larger than 10,000 people. Every year, the Russian Empire bought from Outer Mongolia at a low price through trade.

More than 300,000 heads of livestock were taken away, with a value of more than 3 million rubles.

During the war, Mongolia became a logistics base for Tsarist Russia, with a large number of

The livestock were purchased cheaply by Tsarist Russia and continuously transported to the front, causing great hardship to the Mongolian people.

It was a huge loss...

In addition to sending a large number of caravans, Tsarist Russia also used cultural aggression to

Politics, economy, military, religion and other aspects began to penetrate and influence each other subtly.

Let the Mongolian nobles and living Buddhas trust Russia and win over the hearts of the Mongolians.

Russia also opened a Mongolian translation school in Kulun, and a Mongolian translation school in St. Petersburg University and Kazan University.

Religious universities have set up a special Mongolian language research major to train students to study related

Experts on Mongolian issues...

Zhang Yinghao looked at the information and felt a chill in his heart.

It has always been said that if a person devotes himself to a task, forgetting to eat and sleep, he will

success....

It can be said that in order to invade Mongolia and separate Mongolia from China, the Russians also

It is deliberate, it is really the same for decades!

Couldn't this thing succeed? It was planned unintentionally, and given that the action was taken at a time when China's national strength had declined to its lowest point due to the Xinhai Revolution, it would have been impossible for it not to succeed.

"That's all. Soon the time for reckoning will come."

Zhang Yinghao looked up at the north and thought silently.

Chapter 483:

Just as Zhang Yinghao continued to train and lecture his comrades, Oyama Iwao's order to dispatch troops to reinforce Fengtian was also issued to the Japanese military camp. Upon receiving the order, the Japanese cavalry regiment immediately packed up and broke camp. At the order of the officer, they left the camp and headed towards Shenyang.

During the Russo-Japanese War, Hu Songhui and his comrades had always been paying close attention to the military deployment of both Japan and Russia. Therefore, the surveillance comrades lurking near the Japanese military camp saw the Japanese cavalrymen leaving the camp one after another and heading towards Shenyang. They immediately took a shortcut and reported the situation to their superiors at full speed.

Although Northeast China is a vast plain, it is best for large armies to take the main roads to reach Shenyang in a short period of time. In fact, it is not that there are no shortcuts or that the Japanese army is unwilling to take shortcuts. Instead, for large armies, the shortcut may be a narrow path. Small units such as scouts may use it for marching. However, for large armies, with more people and more baggage, it is better to take the main road. Covering a longer distance will actually make it faster.

Moreover, the vast plains of Northeast China are still underdeveloped and even very rough, with dense forests everywhere. At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, many railways were built, and many of them used Northeast timber as sleepers; Northeast timber was used to make desks in the sound of reading; and Northeast timber was used to make floors, doors, windows, tables, chairs, and beams in every household. The Northeast once provided more than half of the country's log resources. The Northeast was the backbone of New China, so you can imagine how rich the Northeast's forestry resources are. So, generally speaking, taking shortcuts during marches is not much shorter, which gave the Japanese army an opportunity to ambush.

Hu Songhui and Liu Wenxiu naturally knew how to deal with the cavalry units. This was the focus of Chairman Zhang Yinghao's teaching in the military academy class.

In fact, during the Russo-Japanese War, the Japanese army also used heavy firepower to massacre the old Russian cavalry, causing heavy losses to the old Russian cavalry. However, the funny thing is that the old Russians did not admit their losses, and they only remembered the loss but not the fight. When attacking Germany in World War I, they still foolishly used large-scale cavalry to attack the German positions. Their haste was no different from committing suicide. I don’t know why. Perhaps this is a common problem at the end of the dynasty, feudal conservatism, and rigid system. Of course, it is also because the officers of this era have not yet realized the inevitable decline of cavalry.

Since they had anticipated Japanese reinforcements, and naturally anticipated any potential problems with the Japanese cavalry, Liu Wenxiu and his men had already set up ambushes along the routes from Liaoyang and other places to Shenyang, surrounding and attacking the reinforcements, aiming to eliminate as many enemy forces as possible. However, Liu Wenxiu and his men did not know the specific methods of the Japanese reinforcements, so they could only wait and see.

Although the situation in Shenyang is unclear at present, the soldiers of the Empire of Japan believe that the imperial army is brave and fearless and invincible.

Of course, the Japanese army of this era did have something to be proud of. The shooting skills of the army infantry were very strong, and they were definitely not as incompetent and funny as portrayed in anti-Japanese dramas. Most of the old devils were basically able to charge, aim, shoot, and reload their guns at the same time, and their hit rate was still frighteningly high. Although Japan had recruited a large number of new soldiers during the Russo-Japanese War, resulting in a slight decline in the quality of its current soldiers, in this era where guns and spirit are equally important, the new army that has been influenced by Bushido is still considered a strong army.

Of course, soldiers who had undergone modern education, had a sense of national identity, were enlightened, and knew why they were fighting. Even after a brief training period, they were far superior to the feudal army. They did have reason to look down on the weak Qing army, the corrupt upper class, and the ignorant Qing people. The cavalry, on the other hand, valued chivalry and was a proud and arrogant force. Therefore, the Japanese cavalry at this time naturally did not care much about this armed force attacking Shenyang, and naturally did not even take it seriously. Who would have thought that someone would be so bold as to ambush them?

The order was urgent. Two cavalry regiments, numbering less than a thousand men, rode lightly and at top speed. Before long, the clatter of hooves echoed across the earth, a relentless rumble that, from afar, resembled an unstoppable torrent, seemingly unstoppable. Finally, the Japanese cavalry appeared twelve kilometers from Shenyang.

"The devils have finally arrived."

The commander of the front line clenched his fist fiercely, turned around and ordered: "Inform everyone to prepare for battle. No one is allowed to expose themselves or open fire without a signal."

"Yes!"

At this moment, Li Shan was watching from afar through a telescope. The vanguard of the long Japanese cavalry column, without stopping, quickly plunged into the encirclement set by the soldiers. He breathed a sigh of relief, pursed his lips, and suddenly hummed twice. Then he put down the telescope and chuckled softly, "The Japanese must have been very bumpy along the way. Since they are so anxious to send us war horses and equipment, we can't help but appreciate it. Let's send them to their death soon."

"Haha, Commander, the Japs are in big trouble this time. These 1,000 cavalrymen, well... what do you call it? They're throwing meat buns at dogs. They're gone, but never come back."

When Li Shan heard the saying "a meat bun hitting a dog", the smile on his face froze. Doesn't this mean that people like him are dogs? He has been studying for quite a while now and thinks he is a cultured person. He often nitpicks about words and is quite sensitive about this.

"Well, it's not like throwing meat buns at a dog, it can only be said that it's like delivering meat to the door. It's like delivering meat to the door."

Then he turned to his comrades and said, "However, the Japanese army's current actions also teach us a very profound truth. It is very important to know yourself and the enemy. Therefore, we must always be cautious and prudent. Otherwise, we will suffer great losses if we are not careful. This is especially true for the military."

The political commissar nodded and said, "Yes, especially for cavalry. Rapid mobility is very good. If they are on the grassland, they can move in any way they want. But in places covered by dense jungles, it is not so good. They are easily ambushed and become sitting ducks. Moreover, what cavalry fear most is a dense fire network. Once caught in a fire network, cavalry have no way out. That's why the Chairman said long ago when we were training the cavalry that our cavalry are mounted infantry, and horses are just a tool for rapid mobility. Only when we are sure that the enemy has been defeated or that they have no heavy firepower can we use cavalry to charge."

"Yes, now that these cavalrymen have entered the encirclement, they have lost their advantage in mobility and are like cooked ducks. If we let these ducks fly away, it won't be like delivering meat to our door, but the commander-in-chief will eat our meat, haha."

Chapter 484:

Li Shan glanced around the encirclement from a distance. If he hadn't known that so many people were ambushed here, he wouldn't have noticed anything unusual about this pre-set battlefield. The only thing that was unusual was perhaps that it was too quiet!

This encirclement was not based on the existing terrain, but was painstakingly laid out by our comrades. This type of ambush wasn't the first time Li Shan had used it; he had used it many times before against the Russians, and it was always a surprise attack, often resulting in victory.

This ambush course was a special lesson taught by Zhang Yinghao in the military training course. Ambushes were set in unexpected places, in places familiar to the enemy, and the cases used were basically the same as those in front of him. Every time an ambush was set, Li Shan felt inexplicably familiar and like he had seen it before.

Of course, the professor's battle examples were not something Zhang Yinghao came up with out of thin air, but something he had learned from anti-Japanese dramas in his previous life, where he had seen cases of ambushing Japanese army's marching columns and convoys. For example, the Pingxingguan Victory was an ambush in a place familiar to the enemy, which was intended to be unexpected and surprising.

At this moment, the official road resembled a long dragon. Over 900 Japanese cavalrymen formed a torrent over two kilometers long, rapidly advancing towards Shenyang. On both sides of the road lay tens of thousands of soldiers in ambush. With such a long column of cavalry, any unexpected incident during the battle could allow these cavalrymen to break through the encirclement. Therefore, a method must be found to compress these cavalrymen as closely as possible. This would not only limit the cavalry's mobility but also increase the accuracy of their bullets.

The troops ahead racked their brains but couldn't come up with a foolproof solution. The truth was, the comrades simply didn't have enough experience. Ultimately, it was the comrades from the special forces who came up with a solution that barely solved the problem.

Soon, the vanguard of the Japanese cavalry galloped into the ambush from the location, and the other cavalry units also entered the ambush circle one after another. Whether all the cavalry could enter the ambush circle was the key to whether this ambush could achieve a perfect victory.

Suddenly, a "Herod" sound was heard, which was the sound made by the horses when the Japanese soldiers pulled the reins hard.

"Baga, there's an obstacle ahead, stop, stop quickly."

It was not easy for the cavalry to stop. The cavalry in front stopped, but the cavalry behind continued to charge forward, and the cavalry continued to compress forward. At this time, no Japanese army thought that they had entered the enemy's encirclement.

More than a hundred vanguard troops were blocked in front of the obstacle, and the main cavalry began to stop densely on the official road. The cavalry behind had not received the order in time and continued to advance along the official road.

Some cavalrymen had already stopped their horses, but the horses behind them continued to push forward, forcing them to spur their horses forward again, moving as far as possible to make more space for the cavalrymen coming from behind. Some cavalrymen were even pushed off the official road. In the end, the cavalry formation, originally stretching for two or three kilometers, was reduced to half its original length.

The vanguard troops immediately dismounted and began to clear the obstacles, and some cavalry also dismounted and habitually stood guard. The captain ran to the front and found out the reason for the road blockage. He easily saw that the obstacles on the official road were actually several horse-drawn carts carrying wood. The rope on one of the carts broke, and the wood rolled all over the ground. The other carts also tilted and fell to the ground, blocking the road. He even saw a few Qing people fleeing from a distance. Seeing that those Qing people were about to disappear from his sight, he knew that he could not call them back. He glared at them fiercely and immediately said: "Damn it, there are so many pieces of wood. Move them to the side of the road quickly. We need to advance quickly."

The remaining Japanese soldiers also immediately joined the moving procession, quickly moving the items to the roadside. Strength lies in numbers, especially since they were all young soldiers. It only took seven or eight minutes to clear the middle of the road. Although the road narrowed a bit, it was no problem for horses to pass through.

This place was too close to Shenyang. Now, the sound of gunfire could be faintly heard from inside the city. No one thought why these things appeared on the road. Everyone was looking forward to Shenyang. Since there was no one to harass them along the way, except for a few Japanese soldiers who were habitually on guard, the rest of the Japanese army was basically unprepared at this time. So many cavalrymen were parked on the road. They did not expect to be ambushed by this unknown armed force, nor did they expect that they would be ambushed so close to Fengtian.

Because the cleanup was so quick, the commander didn't ask the troops to rest. When he saw the cleanup was complete, he shouted, "Forward!"

Hearing the order, everyone mounted their horses again and urged them to speed up slowly. The Japanese soldiers on guard also immediately mounted their horses and prepared to advance. At this time, the Japanese troops had been compressed into a radius of one kilometer, and it was completely impossible to escape.

Li Shan saw this and laughed, "Haha, with such a dense crowd, you can probably hit it even with your eyes closed."

Li Shan had barely finished his words when a gunshot rang out. The regimental commander who had ordered the removal of the obstacle collapsed from his horse, unable to move. Immediately afterwards, the other soldiers, already in ambush, opened fire almost simultaneously. Rifle, machine gun, grenade, and mortar fire poured down in a sudden and ferocious attack. The unsuspecting Japanese cavalrymen were thrown to the ground, their horses and men thrown to the ground in a cloud of smoke and dust. Chaos reigned.

The Japanese army, caught off guard, suffered over half its casualties in a short period of time. The Japanese cavalry was completely dislocated, with many soldiers still clinging to their horses, still dazed and bewildered. Even worse, the captain of another cavalry regiment was not spared, falling to the ground after being blasted by his comrades. The remaining cavalry, caught in the smoke and dust, were unable to find their men, and the soldiers were unable to find their officers, leading to panic. Had it not been for the smoke and dust from the exploding shells, the attack would have been far more successful.

However, the Japanese army had experienced the Russo-Japanese War after all, and the remaining Japanese troops quickly loaded bullets into their carbines and started shooting at the soldiers.

Li Shan knew that it was unrealistic to eliminate all the Japanese troops with bullets and artillery shells. He saw that the Japanese troops were almost killed and they did not reorganize to counterattack, and no other unexpected situations occurred. His expression relaxed. He knew that this ambush was perfect.

Moreover, the military plan has just begun, and there will be battles to be fought in the future. Moreover, there will inevitably be big and tough battles to be fought, and certain sacrifices will surely occur. There is no war without casualties. Therefore, in order to save ammunition, it is expected that the bugle will sound after the rifle has fired three to four bullets.

Taking advantage of the confusion among the Japanese cavalry, the soldiers immediately raised their guns, ready to divide and surround the chaotic Japanese army and engage in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy.

The Japanese cavalry had lost their mobility at this time, and they did not take many weapons with them when they left the barracks. The scene of their capture was not suitable for defense, so the remaining Japanese cavalry could only be slaughtered.

Seeing the soldiers rushing up with guns drawn, the remaining Japanese officers were furious. Many surviving officers shouted: "Bagayalo! The Qing army is going too far! Warriors, put on your bayonets and fight them. Let them know what a true warrior is."

"Since the horses are no longer effective, let the Qing army see the bayonet skills of the Imperial Japanese Army."

.…West..

When these Japanese soldiers saw that the people rushing out were of the yellow race, they thought they had been attacked by the Qing army in a despicable sneak attack and felt humiliated. In anger and shame, they mustered up their last bit of courage and prepared for a final resistance.

A strange thing happened again on the Japanese side. When they saw that they were going to fight with bayonets, many cavalrymen immediately pulled out all the bullets from their rifles according to the content of infantry drill training. Then they rushed forward with their guns in hand. It was really heroic!

The field army also rushed forward after hearing the bugle call. The soldiers of the fifth battalion took up their guns and dived into the smoke. Some ran forward, some lay down and crawled forward, and some rolled forward. When the soldiers rushed onto the official road, they engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Japanese army. Bayonets were flying, sabers were flashing, and there were shouts of killing and explosions.

One of the Japanese squad leaders raised his sword and rushed towards a field army soldier. At this time, an officer in the field army immediately raised his pistol. Another gunshot rang out. The squad leader only had time to say: "You, the warriors are wrong..." before he fell to the ground.

Chapter 485:

By this time, the sound of exploding shells had ceased, and the smoke of gunpowder had gradually dissipated, leaving only the most primitive form of human conflict. When the enemy's retreat was cut off and they were surrounded, it was time for a desperate charge, a desperate struggle between the enemy and us.

While the Japanese army's bayonet tactics were exceptional, Zhang Yinghao, a visionary who, through his anti-Japanese dramas, had learned the essence of both PLA and Japanese bayonet tactics, pursued scientific research and refinement. Furthermore, these Northeastern soldiers were trained by special forces, and the comrades in the field army had diligently practiced bayonet tactics from the outset. Furthermore, carbines and sabers were not designed for bayonet combat, so a one-on-one fight was evenly matched. However, facing ten times their number and pistols, the Japanese were no longer able to rely solely on individual prowess to resolve the situation or reverse the defeat.

After only about ten minutes of fierce fighting, the battlefield gradually began to quiet down. The enemy could no longer hold on and fell to the ground. At this time, many soldiers began to shout to the Japanese army: "Surrender your weapons and we will not kill you! Treat the prisoners well!"

However, the Japanese cavalry, most of whom did not speak Chinese, yet, possessing the pride of cavalrymen, continued to put up a desperate resistance. Many soldiers, lacking experience in combat against the Japanese, or perhaps harboring a lingering sense of pity, forgot the lesson their instructors and trainers repeatedly emphasized during training: only a dead enemy is a good enemy; only an enemy who has surrendered can be spared from death; otherwise, unilaterally persuading an enemy to surrender is a cruel punishment for oneself and one's comrades. Consequently, many soldiers were ambushed and killed by the dying enemy, and the wounded fought with our soldiers until they died.

Li Shan saw this situation and immediately ordered: "Order it out, those who don't voluntarily raise their hands to surrender will not be taken as prisoners."

The order was quickly passed down, but by then, only a few wounded soldiers remained on the battlefield, howling in agony. Faced with the enemy's stubborn resistance and the casualties of their comrades, the attacking soldiers were enraged. Once they realized what was happening, they immediately followed the strict rules established during their training. They continued to fight back, either with their weapons or their guns. Then they began to clean up the battlefield, collecting the bodies of their comrades, carrying the wounded away for treatment, and all the while taking stock of the results of the battle.

After the battle, many soldiers looked pale and even bent over to vomit on the roadside after seeing the bodies of Japanese soldiers scattered on the ground. The veterans were used to this and knew it was a necessary process for the new recruits. After two battles, they would get used to it.

At this time, most of the soldiers were as happy as if it were a holiday. They were busy searching for weapons and ammunition, identifying and escorting prisoners, and they also asked each other how many bullets they had fired, how many grenades they had thrown, and how many enemies they had killed.

The happiest ones were the cavalry soldiers. Each of them was comforting the surviving warhorses, and from time to time they looked at the muskets and sabers piled on the ground, with their mouths grinning from ear to ear, because they all knew that most of these equipment would eventually fall into the hands of their cavalry troops.

Soon, the statistics came out. This battle wiped out two Japanese cavalry regiments, killed 835 enemy soldiers, injured and captured 142 people, and 100 people were intact.

There are more than 600 muskets and more than 900 sabers. There are only 106 intact war horses left. Some guns were blown up. If they are pieced together, they should be able to repair a lot.

A complete count is not available, but it is estimated that they carried a basic amount of ammunition. Their entire army suffered 25 killed and 58 slightly wounded, though many of the soldiers sprained their ankles or were injured by rocks and thorns during the charge.

"Commander, we won. All nine hundred Japanese cavalrymen who entered the ambush, including their two regiment commanders, were either eliminated or captured. Not a single one escaped. As for the Japanese war horses, alas, many were seriously injured. Not many survived. If these horses hadn't been able to run on their own, they would have all been killed."

After hearing the results of the battle, the chief of staff jokingly said: "Hey! These prodigals, why don't the comrades in the front take it easy..."

Before he could finish, Li Shan felt that this joke was inappropriate. If this got out and some soldiers took it seriously, and were timid before the battle, it would inevitably cause unnecessary losses. He immediately waved his hand and said, "I still remember what the Chairman said when he trained me: the army is the most violent machine, and the more violent the better, so that it can destroy all enemies that stand in its way and win. This is what we require of the army, and this is also what the enemy country requires of the army. If you think about how much you can gain before the battle and think about staying behind, you will suffer a great loss sooner or later. The battlefield is a life-and-death struggle, and life and death are in a split second. You can't hold back at all. It's unacceptable to put your comrades in danger for a little bit of spoils."

The chief of staff immediately said: "Yes, yes, I was wrong."

The political commissar then tried to smooth things over, saying, "Both the Chairman and the Commander are right. We can't relax until the final result is achieved. Furthermore, we have the best timing, location, and people for this battle, and it also serves as a training exercise. Heavy casualties would be detrimental to our morale."

"Well, using less than a hundred casualties in exchange for more than 900 Japanese troops, this deal is worth it."

"Haha, many of the soldiers who died in battle were caused by complacency. I hope we can learn from our mistakes. We were able to fight like this because we were outnumbered and took advantage of the enemy's surprise. Perhaps we won't be able to take advantage of this again in the future."

"Different situations call for different ways of fighting. Just thinking about setting an ambush won't work."

Just as Li Shan and his men were discussing the gains and losses of this battle, a scout ran in, saluted, and said, "Report, the Japanese army has left the city behind them. There are nearly 4,000 Japanese infantry regiments, carrying only light weapons, and they are marching towards Shenyang."