The sun never sets

"Yes!"

On the mountain, Guo Songling was cheering up the soldiers, and the Russian army gathered again. This time, the Russian artillery only fired two rounds because they didn't have many shells. In order to run faster, the Russian army did not bring heavy howitzers, and the number of shells for field artillery was not much. If they could not capture Zhima Ridge again this time, Grand Duke Nicholas was ready to let the Russian army use their best hand-to-hand charge.

First the Russians fired artillery fire, and when they launched an attack under the cover of heavy machine guns, it was the turn of the People's Army to counterattack with mortars. The shells flew out of the trenches and fell into the Russian ranks in a high-angle parabola trajectory, blowing the gray animals to pieces.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

The blast knocked over the surrounding Russian soldiers, and the flying shrapnel knocked down the Russian soldiers farther away. A dozen mortar shells failed to kill or injure many Russians, but it dampened the morale of the Russian army. Their fighting will was not very firm to begin with, and they immediately stopped after being bombarded. Some of them looked back, and if there was no supervision team behind them, they would have retreated.

The Russian officer next to the heavy machine gun had a livid face, waved his pistol and shouted: "Stand up and attack! You..."

"boom!"

The officer was shocked, a bullet hole appeared on his forehead, and his body fell limply to the ground. The shooter and ammunition handler of the heavy machine gun group curled up behind their shields and shouted, "Jäger! Chinese Jäger!"

The bullets did not fly towards them again, but landed on the Russian soldiers who were lying down and shooting. The gunshots on the mountain became sparse, but extremely accurate. Many Russian soldiers hid behind rocks, with only their calves or arms exposed, and were shot.

"boom!"

The bullet flew over and hit the left arm of a Russian soldier. The man threw away his weapon, hugged his arm and rolled on the ground screaming. On the mountain, Guo Songling stopped Li Chengxi who wanted to shoot again, "Leave him alive, change the target!"

Li Chengxi hid back in the trench and asked, "Captain, why?"

Guo Songling explained: "If the enemy is dead, then he is dead. But if he is not dead, someone needs to rescue him. This is equivalent to getting rid of two enemies."

Li Chengxi even ran to the other side of the trench, poked his head out to take a look, and then came back crouching, "Battalion Commander, no one rescued him, the old Russian is still on the ground."

".......", Guo Songling said, "When he was injured and wailed on the ground, it could also dampen the morale of the enemy. Others would be terrified to see him screaming so miserably."

"Oh, then I won't beat anyone to death in the future."

"No, kill them if you can. Only dead Russians are good Russians."

Li Chengxi was confused. Should he kill the enemy? He scratched his head and said, "Captain, you know a lot. Um, I mean the only good Russians are the dead ones."

"I read it in the newspaper. Don't you read the newspaper? Let's go to another place. It's not safe here."

Guo Songling lowered his head and went through the communication trench to the second trench. Li Chengxi followed behind him and said, "I... I don't know how to read, and I can't understand the newspaper."

"How can you survive if you can't read? Spend half an hour every day learning to read!"

"Oh."

"Oh what? This is an order!"

"Yes!"

Chapter 292 Counterattack

The offensive organized by the Russian army failed again. The damn Chinese had no moral principles and shot many Russian officers from a distance. Without the control of the officers, the Russian soldiers had no idea what to do. Their weaknesses of low quality were exposed. They often wandered around like headless flies.

Some continued to charge, some stood still, and some retreated. When they saw someone running away, the others quickly followed suit. Seeing their own officers being shot and killed one after another, the morale of the Russian army dropped rapidly, and the subsequent attacks were worse and worse.

"Sir, we have no shells!"

"The heavy machine gun bullets are all used up!"

Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov Nicholas looked at the generals in front of him speechlessly. The Chinese had run out of artillery shells and heavy machine gun bullets, so why were they still able to fight?

"Sir..." The colonel hesitated for a moment and said, "Let's take a detour."

"There is only one enemy regiment on the hill over there, and we have three divisions!" Archduke Nicholas asked, "If we can't rush through here...are there no enemies on other roads?"

"this........"

"For the last time! If we still can't win, then we don't need to go around anymore and just surrender to the Chinese right here! What are you still standing here for? Why don't you organize an army?"

"But it's getting dark soon. How about we wait until tomorrow?"

".............", Grand Duke Nicholas was about to get angry, and a cry came from a distance, "Lieutenant Colonel Lyudmila was killed!"

Lyudmi

Lieutenant Colonel La was also shot dead, and the officers and soldiers here were a little agitated. Lyudmila had a good reputation in the army and was relatively kind to the soldiers, unlike other officers who treated the soldiers as talking animals. Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov Nicholas felt a pain in his heart and could not say anything else. He just waved his hands repeatedly, signaling the colonel to hurry up and do his business.

"Sir, are you okay?"

"I'm fine... Let the soldiers cut down trees and light a bonfire. If we can't get through tonight..."

"Your Mightiness?"

Grand Duke Nicholas sat on the ground and rested for a while, then stood up and looked around, "Give me a rifle!"

The people around him were horrified, "What are you going to do, sir?"

"If I cannot capture the enemy's true essence this time, then let me die here in battle!"

The Archduke reached for his rifle, but was stopped by the guards and officers around him. "Your Excellency, just watch from here and see how we defeat the enemy!"

The morale of the Russian army was slightly boosted. The darkening sky provided them with cover, making their attack, which was the first of many, much smoother. They only suffered more than a hundred casualties before they reached the front of the People's Army. The fires a few kilometers away illuminated some places, but a large area was still shrouded in darkness. The moonlight tonight was not very bright, and the Russian army's figures were dim in the darkness. If they did not shoot, it would be difficult to find them.

Li Chengxi had good eyesight, but it was too dark, and he couldn't see anything two hundred meters away. Even at a distance of one hundred meters, he had to open his eyes wide and try his best to distinguish, so that he could see roughly. Sometimes the wind blowing the weeds could be mistaken for enemies.

Guo Songling looked through the telescope at the bottom of the forest. He seemed to see the enemy, but he also seemed not to see them. "Damn it! The Russians actually used this trick of night fighting!"

Two years ago, when the People's Army was at a disadvantage in terms of equipment, night fighting was a tactic they often used. Darkness could largely reduce the Russian army's equipment advantage. In close-range hand-to-hand combat, there was no difference between rifles and long guns, and long guns even had an advantage in length. Someone in the Russian army once shouted "Night is a friend of the Chinese."

Who could have imagined that the Russians would also be forced to launch an attack at night?

Yang Yuting's face was burnt black, it was the dirt and gunpowder that stained his face. He was not injured, but he was still full of dissatisfaction with Guo Songling. "Captain, what should we do now? There are too many Russians! It's too dark to see, otherwise..."

Guo Songling said coldly: "We can't fight after dark? Pass the order, let the soldiers put on their bayonets! Officers should take the lead in the charge!"

Yang Yuting: “..........”

Damn Guo Guizi! I must have owed him in my previous life! If I had known earlier, I would have found a way to assign him to another battalion... No, I should assign him to another regiment! If I were in the same regiment with this damn guy, he would kill me sooner or later!

"Fire!"

"shooting!"

"Throw a grenade!"

The People's Army on the mountain fired fiercely and threw grenades. The Russians also fired and threw grenades. After several years of fighting, the Russians' weapons and the People's Army had many similarities, and their tactics were also getting closer. One side had trenches and suffered few casualties; the other side was in the dark and suffered few casualties either.

The grenades were soon thrown out, and the two sides exchanged fire for a few minutes. A shout was heard from the bottom of the mountain, followed by the sound of "Ura" shouted all over the mountain. In the darkness, the Russian army launched a bayonet charge.

Hearing the shouts from not far away, Guo Songling felt a chill rushing to his head. How come there are so many enemies nearby? The enemy's large number is not a problem in normal times. If there are still artillery shells and machine gun bullets, they can just blast them down. Even a few more grenades can be of great use, but no, there are no artillery shells and ammunition belts, and the grenades are all used up. Now the only thing left is the last option.

"Fix your bayonets!" Guo Songling was the first to jump out of the trench and shouted, "Follow me!"

"Ula!"

"Ula!"

The Russians had a long tradition of hand-to-hand combat. When they first rushed to the Chinese position, their confidence increased a lot and their slogans became louder. The People's Army was also good at close combat. At the beginning, there were not many guns and cannons, so they could only practice hand-to-hand combat skills, right?

In the darkness, Russian soldiers emerged one after another, and in a blink of an eye, they entered into a hand-to-hand combat with the soldiers of the People's Army. They originally thought that as long as they rushed into the Chinese position, victory would be in their grasp. However, the People's Army did not flee in front of their bayonets, but launched a counterattack.

Fierce hand-to-hand combat unfolded at every point on the front line. Three minutes later, the Russian troops that had rushed forward retreated one after another. The darkness provided them with cover, allowing the Russian army to approach the distance of launching a hand-to-hand charge with relatively few casualties. But the darkness also provided cover for the Chinese. After the Russian army was counterattacked, they overestimated the number of the People's Army. They only felt that there were Chinese bayonets everywhere, and they retreated quickly in fear.

Chapter 293: Reality and Falsehood

"Sir...the attack has failed."

Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov was silent for a moment and then said, "I understand.

. "

The Russian army has always been barbaric and brave. Grand Duke Nicholas had expected to be defeated by the Chinese in the shooting and artillery battle. However, this time, even after rushing to the Chinese positions and entering the stage of bayonet fighting, the Russian army was still driven out. This was something the Grand Duke could not have expected.

Did the Chinese reinforcements arrive? Or did the Russian army's combat effectiveness decline too much? An army in retreat is always prone to collapse. Why are things in Russia always so difficult?

"Your Mightiness?"

Seeing that Grand Duke Nicholas was lost in thought, the colonel asked, "What should we do?"

"............", the Grand Duke was silent again for a while. When the colonel was worried, the Grand Duke's voice rang out in the darkness, "Let the soldiers rest, and the rest will be dealt with in the morning."

".........yes!"

The end of the battle does not mean that everything is over. There are still many things to do after the war, but those things are the responsibility of the officers and generals. Grand Duke Nicholas can rest. But he did not rest well. The wailing and groaning of the wounded sounded all night. These were what Nicholas was used to, but this time was different.

When the day dawned, the situation on Zhima Ridge became tense again. Yang Yuting looked at the gradually brightening sky in despair, with a terrible thought in his mind. There were less than 40 men left in the army who could still fight, and the artillery shells and machine gun bullets were all used up. With only a few men and guns, how could they stop the next Russian attack?

Am I going to die in this place where there is no village in front of me, no land behind me, and no one lives?

Or, shoot Guo Guizi in the back?

Yang Yuting was very tired yesterday and didn't sleep well at night, but he finally had a good sleep and felt much better when he woke up in the morning. As long as he turned the gun to shoot Guo, he could escape from this deadly place. Yang Yuting thought of Ma Su. When he was reading history books, he saw that after Ma Su was defeated in Jieting, he changed his name and fled. At that time, he ridiculed Ma Su for being irresponsible, but when it was his turn, he realized that he was no different from Ma Su.

No, I am not Ma Su. If I were leading the troops, how could I have defended such a small mound? Ma Su is that bastard Guo Songling! If he hadn't insisted on his own way, how could he have ended up like this?

Yang Yuting wanted to shoot Guo Songling, but he didn't dare to act alone. He wanted to find some helpers, but looking left and right, they all looked like they were ready to die bravely, and they didn't feel uneasy about dying in this hellish place. Yang Yuting knew very well that if he dared to shoot Guo Songling, these idiots around him would tear him to pieces.

Damn it! I am such a smart person, but I am going to die here!

"Russian devils!"

Someone nearby shouted, and Yang Yuting's heart shuddered. He trembled while holding the rifle, and then he heard the voice continue to shout: "The devils are waving a white flag!"

"what?"

Yang Yuting turned around, poked his head out of the trench, and looked down the mountain. Sure enough, it was a Russian devil with a white flag. This... He was stunned for a long time, and then he realized that the Russians couldn't fight anymore! Hahaha, no need to die! We won!

"The Russians are surrendering!"

Yang Yuting blurted out: "They can't fight anymore!"

The soldiers also started talking, but Guo Songling shouted, "Why are you in such a hurry? Get ready for battle! The enemy has not surrendered yet!" So everyone suppressed their excitement, but the atmosphere was different from before and seemed much more relaxed.

After fighting the Russians for several years, many people in the Northeast could speak a few words of Russian. Guo Songling did not need an interpreter. He climbed out of the trench with his hands and feet and shouted to the Russian messenger who came to the front of the position: "Stop! What are you doing?"

Yang Yuting thought to himself: Isn't this nonsense? The Russians came here with a white flag, what else can they force?

He watched with jealousy and envy as Guo Songling negotiated with the Russians with a stern face, thinking that if he were to go up, he would definitely not make things so rigid like Guo Guizi. Negotiations are not about fighting and killing, but about the ways of the world!

Yang Yuting believed that Guo Songling was stubborn and did not understand negotiation at all. However, the Russian envoy seemed very respectful. After hearing the condition of "must lay down arms and surrender unconditionally", he did not get angry or show any other expression. He just said that he could not make the decision and needed to take the conditions back for discussion.

"Then go back and discuss it."

Guo Songling stood in front of the position, looking majestic like an iron tower. The Russian envoy agreed with a humble look, then turned and left. When the Russians walked away, Yang Yuting couldn't help but say, "Captain, are the conditions too harsh? It's best to give the Russians some hope and keep them hanging!"

"Why are you keeping them hanging? Huh? If you're not convinced, let's fight again!"

"We have to buy time and wait for reinforcements to arrive..."

"Whether the reinforcements come or not is their business! Fighting is our business! If there are no reinforcements, we won't fight?"

Guo Songling snorted, ignored Yang Yuting, and went to inspect the position. He was just that kind of person, not that he couldn't speak, but that he didn't like to speak. Yang Yuting felt that Guo Guizi was too arrogant, relying on his ability to fight, and he didn't take others seriously. So what if he had the ability? If you don't know how to behave, you will be in trouble sooner or later!

Russian Envoy

They came and went, and soon came again with a white flag, bringing the news that the Russian army was willing to surrender unconditionally. "Yes, we are willing to lay down our arms and surrender unconditionally." The messenger said expressionlessly: "I hope your army can send someone to accept the surrender."

Yang Yuting was still mumbling in his heart, but he felt terrible after hearing what the Russians said. He has a strong learning ability and has learned a lot of Russian, so he can understand what the Russians said. But did the Russian army surrender unconditionally?

This......this......

When Yang Yuting was in a mess in the wind, Guo Songling said with a straight face: "Let your people clear the road and pile up the weapons on the roadside. We don't have that many people to watch over you, you have to watch over yourselves."

"........"

The Russian envoy quickly glanced at the trench, then looked at Guo Songling's expression, and said simply, "Yes, we will do that."

After the Russian envoy left again, Yang Yuting couldn't help complaining again, "Battalion Commander, aren't you revealing our strengths and weaknesses to the enemy? You are capable but pretend you can't, and you are using something but pretend you won't use it!"

"Hey, I never play these tricks! So what if they know we don't have many people? If the Russians have the guts, just keep fighting!"

Chapter 294: Stand Out

The Russians surrendered sincerely. They piled their weapons on the side of the road and sent people to the forest to ask Guo Songling and others to take them. Yang Yuting couldn't figure it out. There were less than 50 people left on his side, and there were tens of thousands of Russians on the opposite side. Why did they surrender?

But the facts are here. The Russian army honestly laid down their weapons and surrendered without any tricks. Not long after, Yang Yuting learned something else. When they were blocking the Russian army on Zhima Ridge, the brother troops launched fierce attacks and blocking the Russian army in other places. Grand Duke Nicholas Romanov was also attacked along the way. The Chinese army was surrounded on all sides, and the Russian army suffered heavy losses. In addition, the return route to Vladivostok, Shuangchengzi and other places had been surrounded by the Japanese. It was understandable that the Russians chose to surrender under such circumstances.

Tsarist Russia was a great power spanning the European continent, but its center of gravity was in Europe. Successive tsars had always wanted to join the European family and had served as the "European gendarme" several times. The Russian Empire was both brave and civilized, and the generals and officers who led the troops did not think that surrender was unacceptable.

On this point, the Russian Empire had different views from the Eastern cultural circle.

After the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, China lost the tradition of "generals becoming ministers", and civil and military became separate, gradually forming a trend of civil being more important than military being less important. In the new China, the situation has changed a bit, but the traditions of the old era have not completely disappeared. Guo Songling did not think as much as Yang Yuting. Since the Russians surrendered, he was ready to accept the surrender. He had a military-style linear thinking. Although Yang Yuting was also a soldier, his thinking was more like that of a literati.

"Be careful, don't let the boat capsize in the ditch!"