afterglow

Chapter 403 The Battle of Sarapur; a seemingly unrealistic plan
"calm down!"

"Damn it, don't panic!"

More than two hundred soldiers were suppressed on the river beach by the continuous mortar shells. The shouts of the officers were covered up by the explosions one after another, and their voices became intermittent and distorted.

The Siberian Defense Forces had a good foundation and could almost be said to be well-trained. Before crossing the river, they had sent forward soldiers to establish a warning position in the woods a hundred meters away.

It's just that they didn't take it seriously yet, so they ended their lives like this.

There were at least three or four groups of enemy troops moving in the forest. The dozen or so soldiers on guard were immediately in a dilemma. They were quickly killed by flying bullets and falling grenades. Only a few of them rolled and crawled to the ground to escape. return.

The heavy machine gun teams among the enemy troops carried Maxim heavy machine guns, quickly deployed their weapons according to the terrain, and fired wildly at the empty river beach.

"Thump, thump, thump—"

Several heavy machine guns formed a crossfire on the left and right, sweeping across the entire river beach like a scythe, killing any soldiers who were accidentally exposed on the spot.

However, this one-sided suppression did not last long, and the follow-up troops preparing to cross the bridge rushed to provide support.

They also deployed heavy machine guns to fire violently into the forest on the other side, and pushed in two 37mm infantry cannons, aiming at the enemy heavy machine gun positions that seemed to have lost their way and firing.

Branches and leaves flew in all directions, and wood chips were scattered everywhere.After rounds of strafing and shelling, the machine gun fire that had been rampant for a while finally died down.

After the last 81mm mortar shell exploded, as the smoke dissipated, the entire battlefield became quiet, leaving only the cries and groans of the wounded soldiers.

"Your Excellency, 33 people are now dead and 60 others are injured..."

"What the hell! Bastard!"

The commander, Colonel Sergey, was very angry. What he thought was an easy and easy operation was actually hit in the head at this time.

In his opinion, those guys from the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the People's Liberal Party are just cowards and cowards. They can only talk loudly at the meeting. How can they build a decent army?
After suffering losses, the troops increased their vigilance, safely crossed the Kama River and established a solid position.

They immediately marched towards the city of Sarapur, a small city with a population of only tens of thousands, and thus ushered in wolf-like predators.

The soldiers of the Siberian Defense Forces have no sense of belonging or honor here. Everyone knows that they are purely here to take advantage of the situation, and the officers also condone various behaviors.

Although the Salapur Municipal Government has asked for help from Izhevsk Power Generation, there is no way to reach it at a distance of dozens of kilometers.

The National Republican Army stationed in Sarapur only had one infantry battalion and a self-defense regiment consisting of more than a thousand militiamen. The previous attack on the west bank of the Kama River was initiated by the infantry battalion.

Although they were outnumbered, they still wanted to try to resist for a while. Reinforcements arrived in the towns relying on the hope of holding on until Izhevsk.

The latter sent several telegrams one after another, promising to do everything possible to send reinforcements as soon as possible. There are about one infantry regiment and two artillery battalions. If everything goes well, they can arrive within 48 hours.

The soldiers and civilians of Sarapur were emboldened and determined to resist the enemy bravely. The old, weak, women and children began to evacuate to the north, but many people still refused to evacuate.

Under such circumstances, some of the cavalry who first rushed into the city were attacked head-on.

In an instant, the houses on the left and right seemed to have become fortresses. Bullets came from both sides, and six or seven people were shot and fell in the blink of an eye.

The crisp "bang bang" sound of the Mosin-Nagant rifle was intertwined with the loud "thump thump thump" sound of the Deggarev light machine gun, and also mixed with the roar of exploding grenades.

Realizing that this small city had not given up its resistance and allowed itself to be slaughtered, the dreams of these cavalrymen who were about to enter the city to have a good time disappeared and they quickly retreated.

"Your Excellency, we encountered organized resistance, not only from the regular army but also from the police and armed civilians."

After learning of the situation, Colonel Sergei looked at the map, then pointed to the church spire in the distance and ordered: "Surround Sarapur, establish strongholds in the west and east, send some cavalry patrols in the 280 direction, and then... Let Andre command his men to clear the city of any resisters."

Next, the Siberian Defense Forces formed a position, preparing to lay siege to this town, which they thought could be captured in about an afternoon.

Outflank the left and right, establish several strongholds on the west and east sides of the city, and then divide the 109th Infantry Regiment into three and launch an attack from three directions.

In order to facilitate rapid action, the force that came to the west of the Urals did not carry many heavy weapons. The team of more than 8000 people was only equipped with one artillery company, equipped with six M6 7909mm mountain guns.

These artillery pieces, together with more than a dozen 81mm mortars, bombarded the previously exposed defenders' firepower points. Amidst the rumble of the cannons, the brick buildings collapsed one after another, and dust flew into the sky.

However, after the fierce shelling, although these places seemed to have been reduced to ruins on the surface, the ruins and rubble fragments all over the place made the terrain more complex, making it easier for the defenders to use them as bunkers.

"Get rid of these idiots! We're celebrating and drinking in the city tonight!"

A few days ago, a group of people crowded into a stuffy, smelly, rickety can, and after getting off the train, they marched hundreds of kilometers on two legs.

At the thought of liquor, barbecue, and women, the soldiers started shouting and excitedly entered the assault starting position.

They didn't come under any attack during these hundreds of meters. Could it be that all those stubborn guys were killed by the previous shelling?

After just a few steps, their doubts and uneasiness were broken.

I saw that the street corner dozens of meters away had turned into ruins. Further away, as far as the eye could see, the first-floor windows and doors of the houses along the street were all blocked.

The whole street was quiet, with only wisps of green smoke, and a sense of uneasiness filled the hearts of these soldiers.

Suddenly, a gunshot broke the silence, causing ripples like a stone thrown into a lake, and countless muzzle flashes suddenly appeared!
"Bang! Bang!"

"ambush!"

The few soldiers at the front were shot to death on the spot, and the rest quickly fell down, rolling and crawling to hide on both sides...

I don't know where the bullets came from. It seemed like there were defenders ambushing me at every corner.

A sergeant was hit in the chest by a 7.62×54mm rifle bullet and soon fell to the ground dead. He couldn't believe his eyes - it was obviously a pile of rubble, but why was there flashing muzzle flash? !

After paying the price of more than 30 casualties, the company involved in the attack retreated in panic.

"Sir, we can't do this...the whole street is an enemy!"

"You useless fools, don't you have any courage now? Attack, attack now!"

Facing the feedback from his subordinates, the battalion commander ignored it and just ordered to continue the attack.People these days are not generally aware of the cruelty and difficulty of street fighting, and the Tsarist Russian army stationed in Siberia all year round in the wilderness lacks such concepts.

But their opponents were different. An old officer with good military qualities took over the command and laid a dragnet in a short period of time.

Georg von Boehme was a German Imperial Army captain who refused to stay in the German Society and fled abroad.During the Battle of Nuremberg, he led his troops to fight hard for two weeks with the German Army, from the suburbs to the city.

At that time, many imperial and German nobles in exile went their separate ways. Some went to England, some to France, some to Russia, and some even crossed the ocean to the Ming Dynasty.

Although there are many Junkers who are idle, most of them have good military qualities and have personally experienced the tragic European war.Objectively speaking, those imperial and German officers who traveled thousands of miles to the Ming Dynasty injected a bit of fresh blood into the Ming army. They made certain contributions to the construction of the Ming army with their practical experience of blood and fire.

Georg rose to the rank of colonel in the Imperial Russian Army, then retired from active service and came to Izhevsk as an instructor and advisor to the Arsenal Committee.

After Tsarist Russia fell into civil strife, Izhevsk fell under the control of the Socialist Revolutionary Party and the People's Liberal Party. Georg agreed with them, so he was entrusted with important responsibilities.

It is conceivable that the proud and complacent Siberian Defense Forces will stumble in the face of such a terrifyingly experienced old guy.

The officers' brutal command led to serious consequences. Faced with complex and intertwined defense lines, the soldiers faced rifle and machine gun fire in an attempt to force a breakthrough.

The four companies of the 109th Infantry Regiment participating in the attack paid a heavy price. Groups of infantrymen were knocked down on the road by bullets, or were injured by falling mortar shells and grenades.

And the soldiers who were lucky enough to survive through the killing area had to face the ubiquitous defenders. Many of them didn't know where the bullets came from until they were knocked down. They seemed to be firing from the front, left, right, left front, and right front. ?
Even so, the bloodthirsty soldiers continued to attack like crazy under the urging of the officers, leaving corpses littering the streets along the way.

"This is crazy, Your Excellency... Your Excellency, we should suspend the attack."

"Idiot! The boys have broken through the enemy's defense lines."

Just as Colonel Sergei was about to order the reserve troops to be deployed to crush the resistance in the city, a short burst of trumpet sound floated in, followed by mortar shells raining down.

The major next to him trembled, his hands shook, and even the telescope fell to the ground.

Colonel Sergei didn't believe that they could launch a counterattack with the remaining strength of the defenders on the opposite side, not to mention that they were already retreating steadily!

So he gave a categorical order: "Tell Major Oleg that his battalion has stopped its preparation mission and is now fully engaged in battle from the west and south. If he cannot capture the enemy's position, then he will not come back!"

Ten minutes later, in the erected artillery mirror, one could see that the battle suddenly reached a fever pitch.

The bodies of soldiers from both sides collided fiercely like a torrent, and explosions, gunshots, and screams blended together and shot into the sky.

Amid Ula's shouts, both sides cursed and shouted to kill in the same language. The fierce close-range shooting then evolved into a tragic hand-to-hand battle!

In terms of psychological shock, hand-to-hand combat is far more cruel than firepower. In actual combat, the winner can often be decided within minutes or even dozens of seconds - one side's morale will eventually collapse.

Unexpectedly, the hand-to-hand battle that broke out in the small city of Sarapur lasted for a full 10 minutes.In the end, police and civilians even appeared on the defender's side.

Due to the superior strength of the Siberian Defense Forces and their crazy and reckless attack without any rush to lose, the balance of victory eventually tipped in their favor.

Colonel Sergey's plan was really achieved, and Sarapur was indeed captured that day. There were only a few hundred defenders left, and they took advantage of the sunset to retreat to the northwest.

The brutality of the street fighting was unimaginable. The corpses of soldiers from both sides could be seen scattered in several streets of Sarapur. The outer walls of every building were riddled with large and small bullet holes.

Chaplains prayed for dying or dead soldiers, and nuns from local churches were called in to care for the wounded.

"God bless, his sins will be redeemed, and his soul will ascend to heaven..."

"Someone come on! We need help here!"

"No, he can't, stop, go help others!"

Although the fierce attack of seven and a half hours quickly captured this small city, it also left this limited force with severe injuries.

There were more than 100 injured, and the number of more than 500 killed was still rising slowly.

Next, can we really capture Izhevsk and loot it as we expected when we set out?

The Ming court has always been paying attention to the power of Lieutenant General Ilya in Yekaterinburg, believing that he has the value of support, and the two sides are already in friendly and efficient communication.

However, Akito did not know that the Siberian Defense Forces had attempted to send an expeditionary force west of the Urals.

When the fierce battle in this distant place came to an end, Zhou Changfeng, who was far away in the hinterland of the Ming Dynasty, took a train with his wife and daughter to the thoroughfare of nine provinces.

Wuhan in June has already lived up to its reputation as a furnace. The scorching sun frightened Xia Xiaoshi, and she quickly asked Lin Xi to hold an umbrella.

"The sun is too big, Huguang in summer really deserves its reputation." Xia Xiaoshi muttered while holding Jian Jian in her arms.

“This is Wuhan’s specialty and you must try it.”

Zhou Changfeng originally wanted to come to Yangyue Automobile Company to inspect the production line alone, but Xia Xiaoshi was reluctant, so he applied to the emperor, who was not embarrassed at all.

The son of her sister Zhou Roujia and her brother-in-law has now reached school age, so she came back from Shanghai and went to the Hankou County Government to apply for student status. She happened to be at home these days.

After the small family dinner, his wife and daughter stayed behind to continue chatting, while Zhou, who was in high spirits, rushed to the headquarters of Yangyue Company without stopping.

Rather than assessing the situation of the factory production line, he is now more interested in the wheeled assault gun tendered by the Ming Dynasty Army.

Shanghai Junda withdrew from the competition from the beginning because it was busy with other projects, so Yangyue Company actually only had Yanjing Xunjie as its only competitor.

The project bidding requirements issued by the Ordnance Bureau seemed to Zhou to be difficult and even a bit contradictory.

4. The layout is 4×6 or 6×[-];

300. The maximum stroke is not less than [-]km;
10. The tire can still travel [-] kilometers after being hit by a medium-caliber rifle bullet;
80. The turret must be compatible with two firepower configurations, an 20.8mm short-barreled cannon or a [-]mm machine gun;
[-]. Both frontal armor and side armor can resist large-caliber machine gun bullets;
26000. The purchase price cannot be higher than [-] yuan.

For comparison, the current purchase price of a Type 65600 medium tank is 43500 yuan, a Type 112 light tank is 23000 yuan, and a Type [-] [-]mm howitzer is [-] yuan.

It can be said that the Ming Army has seemingly unrealistic extravagant expectations for wheeled assault guns-it must be cheap and have excellent performance.

　ah!I'm suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. I forgot to delete a few words, but it actually exceeded 4200 words. This chapter is worth 21 points!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)