Forty-eight years of Qianlong

Chapter 489 Battle of Usolye ([-])
The Russians set the fire really hard.

Regardless of the fact that the northern naval forces are more than 20 kilometers away from the fire site, it is now autumn, when the sky is dry and the vegetation is withered. Kilometers of firewall, the advancing speed also reached several kilometers per hour.If it was a little later, Zhao Xin would have to take everyone and escape to the other side of the Angara River.

Following Zhao Xin's order, thousands of North Marines acted urgently. They first cleared a 100-meter-wide and two-kilometer-long circular isolation zone around the camp; Several new water pumps were brought out to divert water from the two wells in the village into the ditches.

Liu Sheng also received the news, so he ordered the troops on the west bank of the Angara River and the north bank of the Belaya River to retreat to the other side of the river.

In an open space in Mikhailovka Village, several small diesel generators and water pump motors roared, and dozens of engineering lights illuminated the inside and outside of the village as if it were daytime.While everyone was busy, Zhao Xin sent cavalry to report the progress of the fire to the headquarters at any time.

At this time, an Oroqen soldier found his company commander and said that it might not be enough to clean the firebreak.He had heard from an old man in the village that in such a fire, one must fight fire with fire.

"The northwest wind is blowing now, isn't it burning yourself? Such a wide isolation zone is enough!" The company commander is from Henan, and he has never seen a grassland fire.

"Company commander, no! The dry grass is very light, and it can float far away when it is blown by the wind. It can't stop it at all!"

After hearing the soldier's explanation, the company commander immediately took him to report to the regiment leader Chen Jishan.Not long after, Zhao Xin also knew.After listening to the soldier's explanation, he immediately understood, and immediately ordered the soldier to lead someone to light a fire in reverse from a position more than 300 meters away from the outer edge of the firebreak.As a result, the firebreak becomes more than 400 meters wide.

When it was almost nine o'clock in the evening, the fire finally came over.As far as the eye can see, the open field is like being poured with gasoline, and the flames are there in a blink of an eye.Thanks to the idea of ​​the Oroqen soldier, the fire line stopped more than 400 meters away from Mikhailovka village, and then swept away along the north and south sides of the firebreak.

"Success! What a success!" Zhao Xin looked angrily at the prairie fire outside the village, and said that he dared to "enjoy" Napoleon's treatment in advance.

The fire burned for days afterward, scorching the floodplain between the Belaya and Angara rivers.Although it had a certain impact on the military operations of the Beihai Navy, it made the new immigrants secretly happy. Now they don't even need to hoe the grass.Before the weather turns cold, I will immediately copy the guys and dig the land, and I will be able to plant crops in the spring of next year.

In the early morning of August 8, the Northern Navy set off from the village of Mikhailovka. More than 30 armored vehicles were responsible for opening the way. At the same time, the cavalry battalion sent out sentries to reconnaissance.When they arrived at Cheremhovo Village, they found that the center of the road and both sides were piled up with charred material debris, which had been discharged for a distance of one kilometer.Fortunately, there were armored vehicles clearing the way, knocking out those obstacles and clearing a path for the follow-up troops.

In the eighteenth century, the army marched for dozens of miles a day at most, and even if the road conditions were good, fifty miles was the limit.The tens of thousands of remnants of the Russian army were defeated, and the speed couldn't get up even faster.In order to allow tens of thousands of people to retreat to the west bank of the Oka River, Rumyantsev arranged a blocking position in Kutulik.

The problem is that the Russian military will never be able to correctly estimate the strength of the Northern Navy.For a distance of [-] kilometers, it would take at least two days for the infantry and cavalry to walk, but is that a big deal for an armored vehicle with a speed of [-] kilometers per hour?Even if you drive slowly, two or three hours will arrive.

At 10 o'clock in the morning, when the large Russian troops in Kutulik Village were still preparing to set off, the scouts came to report that the enemy was catching up!

However, when the Russian officers and soldiers who hastily organized defense saw 24 green monsters lined up roaring and driving towards them, the shock and fear in the hearts of the Russian army can be imagined.

It is only the end of the eighteenth century, and the industrial revolution of the British has just begun. Watt’s two-way steam engine has only been available for ten years, and its main use is the textile industry. The entire steam age has just begun to emerge.

The general in charge of the rear of the Russian army is Lieutenant General Ivan Vasilyevich Gudovich, who is not only the commander of the army, but also the governor of Ryazan Province and Tambov of the Russian Empire, and concurrently serves as the infantry and cavalry of the Russian Army Inspector.

By the way, Prince Bagration, who died honorably in the Russo-French war in another time and space, was now serving as an infantry captain under his command.

After hearing the news, Lieutenant General Gudovich, who came to the front line, led his officers to a temporary fort. When they held up their binoculars and saw more than 20 green monsters approaching in the distance, they all had expressions on their faces. Shock.

"Gentlemen, can anyone tell me what the Chinese have come up with this time?"

Regarding Lieutenant General Gudovich's question, a middle-aged officer who had been to England and seen a steam engine hesitated and said, "Your Excellency, according to the intelligence of the scouts, I think it may be a mechanically driven device. "

"Maybe there's a group behind it pushing it forward." It was a colonel of cavalry who spoke.

"No, the scouts said there were only cavalry behind those monsters, they didn't see infantry."

"Oh? Then Vasilyevich, what can you do to destroy it? This thing makes the soldiers below panic, and they must be stopped!"

While the officers were talking, the armored vehicles of the Northern Navy stopped 700 meters away from the Russian defense line.

"God, why didn't they stop? Why are they wasting time there?" Lieutenant General Gudovich turned his face to the artillery captain and said, "Hey, captain, fire a shot and test the enemy's reality."

"Gunners take their positions!" An officer gave the command, and after a while, the gunners quickly loaded the shells and raised the muzzle slightly.

There is a lot of knowledge in the shooting of solid bullets in the era of smoothbore guns.For example, if the muzzle elevation angle exceeds 12 degrees, it will not be able to bounce up after landing, but will be planted directly into the ground.Therefore, even if the enemy is still far away from where the solid bullet lands for the first time, the gunner will still shoot at a small elevation angle of not more than two to three degrees. The purpose is to hope that the solid bullet can land for the first time or the second time. Hit the target after bouncing.

"Number one, let it go!" The captain issued the password.

The artillerymen on the No. [-] battery quickly jumped away, the six-pound field cannon made a deafening roar, and a solid bullet weighing nearly three kilograms flew over the heads of the Russian officers and soldiers under the fort, making a buzzing whistling.

The "pound" mentioned by European artillery in this era refers to the "artillery pound", which is a completely different concept from the "trade pound" in commerce.For Russia, the so-called "artillery pound" refers to the weight of a solid cast iron ball with a diameter of 50.79 mm; an artillery pound is 487~488 grams, and a trade pound is 408.98 grams.

The Russian artillery fired quite accurately. The nearly three-kilogram solid bullet flew out 600 yards, bounced off the ground, and then hit the front right corner of an armored vehicle with huge kinetic energy, and then fired There was a loud bang with echo.

"Hit!"

"Ula~la~la!"

The soldiers on the Russian army's position have all looked around since the cannon fired, and when they saw the fort hit the enemy, they immediately cheered.At this time, the sun poked its head out from the clouds, and the sound of the cannon just now merged with the dazzling sunlight, giving the thousands of Russian troops present an illusion of being motivated.

But what happened a few minutes later left the Russian generals on the fort dumbfounded.The green-skinned monster that was hit by the solid bullet moved slowly twice, and at the same time, the oblate box with a long tube on it began to rotate slightly.Lieutenant General Gudovich, who was observing with a binoculars, instinctively felt bad, and he immediately shouted: "The artillery keeps firing!"

In fact, the fact that the first shot of the Russian army hit was purely pie in the sky. At a distance of 700 yards, the hit rate of the field cannon was only 40.00%, so the second shot didn't hit anything.

However, during this period of time, all the armored vehicles of the Northern Navy also completed their shooting and aiming.

Suddenly, the 30mm machine gun on the armored vehicle that was shot roared loudly, and the tracer bullets mixed with the shells turned the armored vehicle into a monster that spewed flames. Smoke from the explosion.

Just as the faces of the Russian army under the fort turned green and white, the other 23 armored vehicles also began to spit out flames. At this moment, the Russian army's frontline troops were killed and injured.When the armored vehicles fired in the wilderness, they roared loudly, almost covering up the sound of explosions on the ground and the screams of those who were shot.

24 armored vehicles, 24 rapid-fire guns, like 24 huge sickles, set off a bloodbath on the Russian army's position.

"My God! That's the devil! The devil in hell!"

"We're done! Run!"

The Russian army in the rear saw the continuous flames and explosions at the front, and the flesh and blood of the men and horses were flying.

When the 30mm rapid-fire gun is fired in bursts, the minimum rate of fire is 200 rounds per minute, and each vehicle has 500 rounds of ammunition, so the shelling of the North Navy armored vehicles only lasted for 1 minute and then stopped.However, in this 1 minute, it caused huge damage to the frontline troops of the Russian army.All the forts at the forefront were blown up, and the bodies of the dead filled the forts.

The 49-year-old Lieutenant General Gudovich was blinded in one eye by shrapnel. Fortunately, his deputies dragged him off the fort against the gunfire, and then helped him on the restless horse, and fled in panic.

Seeing that the Russian army had begun to be defeated across the board, Zhao Xin, who was sitting in the armored vehicle, opened the top cover, leaned out half of his body, waved his hand in a bully manner, and ordered all the vehicles to move forward. At the same time, he used the walkie-talkie to notify The troops followed.

Although the Russian infantry fled quickly, could it be faster than armored vehicles and cavalry?

When the first cavalry battalion, located 200 meters behind the armored vehicle, received the order to attack, battalion commander Samu Suxin said that the day had finally come!He drew out his sharp saber, turned around and shouted loudly to his subordinates: "Cavalry Battalion, attack!"

So, five hundred cavalry marched forward in a platoon. After bypassing the armored convoy, they formed an arrow. After walking more than 200 meters at a fast pace, they began to run and accelerate.

Don't be misled by the film and television drama, the distance of nearly one kilometer, the lunatic let the horse speed up and charge!

The speed of a war horse is about 5.2-6.5 kilometers per hour when walking, 12-15 kilometers per hour when trotting, and 18-24 kilometers per hour when running.The speed of cavalry can reach more than 30 kilometers per hour when marching on foot, but this high speed cannot be maintained for a long time, because it will cause the horses to be exhausted quickly, and the speed will drop sharply.Therefore, cavalry usually approach the enemy at a fast pace, and then change to a charge. Basically, they can run up to three kilometers, and then they must slow down, otherwise the horse will be exhausted.

Samusu led the 500st Cavalry Battalion to the village of Kutulik, five kilometers away.During the attack, if the Russian cavalry organized a counterattack, they would stop their horses and shoot with rifles at a long distance, and then began to kill the remnants of the Russian cavalry with pistols, or hacked with sabers, until finally they were exhausted and exhausted. But mentally, he was very excited.The 4000 of them alone blocked more than [-] Russian army routs.

Zhao Xin took 24 armored vehicles in pursuit all the way, and when the rapid-fire shells were exhausted, he used the vehicle-mounted machine gun to kill the Russian army's corpses all over the field, and blood flowed into rivers.By 12:10 noon, the armored convoy had advanced to a distance of 8000 kilometers north of Kutulik Village. When the infantry behind arrived panting, Kutulik Village and the field outside were full of people who had given up and fled. After an afternoon of counting by the Russian army, the number of prisoners reached more than [-]; in addition, many defeated soldiers fled into the dense forests on both sides of the post road.

For the armored fleet that achieved such a great result, the price was that the tracks of two vehicles were broken, including the one hit by solid bullets.The broken armored vehicle cannot be repaired at present, so Zhao Liang and the others can only wait for Zhao Xin to bring it back to Beihai Town.So the few armored soldiers of the guard battalion who had just been excited for two days had no choice but to go back to become infantry in dejection.

On the other hand, on the Russian side, Rumyantsev, who set off early in the morning, couldn't help being surprised when he learned that Gudovich's troops had collapsed across the board.At this time, the vanguard of the Russian army has marched to a position [-] kilometers northwest of Kutulik Village, and there are no settlements on the [-]-kilometer road from Kutulik to Zima, only a few logistical supplies built before stand.

In the crowded marching ranks, shoulders meet shoulders, bayonets hang on bayonets, densely packed.Under the caps were the frightened and tired faces of the soldiers.

Suddenly, a cavalry officer shouted: "What's the matter? There are still a herd of sheep! Get out of the way!... Get out of the way! Damn it! I'm going to cut it with a saber!" Next, he really He pulled out the saber from the scabbard and waved it at the sheep under him.

"My lord! My lord! Don't, please! These sheep are my only possessions." A settler who fled with him from Kutulik village pulled the reins of his war horse and begged bitterly.The surrounding soldiers looked blank, and no one cared about these bad things anymore.

Rumyantsev got off his horse and stood there blankly, his chubby body leaning tightly against a big tree, with a bitter expression on his face.And the officers under him are all confused, and they don't know how to deal with the current chaotic situation.

After learning that the pursuing Northern Navy stopped at Kutulik again to collect the prisoners, the commander-in-chief ordered everyone to speed up and must arrive at Zima early the next morning.

However, at around eight o'clock in the evening, the Cossack cavalry in charge of reconnaissance came back and reported a piece of news that made everyone feel desperate. An enemy who came out of nowhere had captured Zima, and the number was about 2000.

Rumyantsev finally panicked this time, he knew that he had been caught in the enemy's front and back attack.If this is in the area west of the Ural Mountains, the Russian army will have many options for retreating routes.But this is East Siberia, and there is only one postal route from Moscow to Irkutsk.

After these two rapid defeats, Rumyantsev knew that he was facing a formidable opponent. The courage of the Russian army and his well-planned strategy stood out in front of the opponent's various strange and powerful weapons. So powerless.

"The enemy has already opened his pockets, and is waiting for us to ram him head-on." Rumyantsev was silent for a moment, and asked the generals present: "Gentlemen, do you have any good ideas?"

No one answered, the tent was lifeless, and the others were either lowering their heads to smoke, or were in a daze.

"Okay," the 65-year-old commander-in-chief rubbed his gray temples, shook his head helplessly, and said with a wry smile, "then let the fighting stop. Next, it's time to end this war with dignity."

(End of this chapter)