Twentieth Century Chronicle

Page 100

At the ensuing military conference, Cai E argued to the assembly: "Datong City is to the west, Datong County is in the middle, and Yanggao County is to the east. If the Russian army wants to attack Zhangjiakou, they will inevitably have to pass through Yanggao. Therefore, the Russian army's defenses in Yanggao must be quite strong."

If the Russian army in Datong did not plan to attack Zhangjiakou, then this Russian army would be essentially an isolated force, thus losing its strategic significance. Therefore, the Russian army in Datong was bound to attack Zhangjiakou; it was just that the Russian troops in the Chengde direction had not yet arrived in position, so they could not launch their attack.

The area between Datong City and Datong County is flat and suitable for cavalry to roam. However, Xisiliang Mountain and Cailiang Mountain separate Datong City, Datong County and Yanggao County. Although there is a low hilly passage between the two mountains, it is not conducive to cavalry rapid raids.

For the Russian army, Datong County was essentially meaningless, as it was neither a major transportation route nor a commercial center. Before capturing Zhangjiakou, the Russians occupied the city merely to prevent us from cutting off the passage between Datong and Yanggao. Only after the main Russian force captured Zhangjiakou would Datong County become a strong foothold for their southward advance to Taiyuan or eastward advance to Yangyuan.

However, things changed once the city fell into our hands. Not only was the connection between the Russian forces in Datong and Yanggao severed, but we also blocked the route through which the Russian forces in Datong could support the attack on Zhangjiakou. Therefore, once we occupied Datong County, the situation in Yanbei was completely reversed. The greatest strategic significance of the Russian forces in Datong was eliminated, and they became an isolated force.

Therefore, our primary task at present is to capture Datong County, and then prepare for an attack on the Russian army in Datong County. If necessary, we should engage in a decisive battle with the Russian cavalry force in Datong County…”

Yao Hongfa was shocked. He hadn't expected that these Hubei New Army soldiers, who had only been in Shanxi for a few days, would already be preparing for a decisive battle against the Russian army. Before he went north, the governor had repeatedly urged him to push these Hubei New Army soldiers to fight the Russian army as soon as possible and not to let them back down.

The governor had never seen an army that was willing to fight to the death on the battlefield, but they were all first-rate at wreaking havoc on the local areas. Therefore, the governor worried that if the Hubei New Army hesitated and instead focused on oppressing the people in the local areas, then Shanxi would not have received reinforcements, but rather a pack of wolves.

Of course, the governor did not expect that the Hubei New Army could defeat the Russians and force them to retreat from Shanxi. He thought that these Hubei people were already stronger than the imperial army. After all, the imperial army would usually plunder before the Russian army arrived and then retreat. Forcing the Russian army to retreat was out of the question.

Therefore, the governor's order for the Shanxi New Army to defend Yanmen Pass and Shuozhou essentially stemmed from his distrust of these soldiers' willingness to leave the protection of the city walls to engage the Russian army in open battle. Of course, his suspicions weren't entirely unfounded, as the Shanxi New Army indeed lacked the capability to fight the Russian army in the open field. The governor's arrangement, however, at least stabilized the Yanmen Pass and Shuozhou line, preventing the panic caused by the Russian army's presence from spreading throughout the province.

When Yao Hongfa followed the Hubei New Army northward, all he could think about was that recovering lost territory would be a great achievement; he didn't dare to even consider annihilating the Russian army. But now he suddenly realized that the Hubei New Army's desire for battle was even stronger than that of the Shanxi people, as if the Russian army was attacking Hubei rather than Shanxi.

Chapter 353 Yan Beisan

A month ago, Major General Pavel Ivanovich Mishinko was full of confidence; now he is just as overwhelmed with problems. With the annihilation of the Lebedev Detachment heading south, the news brought back by the fleeing Cossacks was enough to show that a Chinese army was launching a counterattack towards Datong. And those Chinese were clearly better informed; the Chinese who had previously been subservient to the Russian army were now starting to distance themselves from them.

When they occupied Dali, not only did the Chinese in the city submit to them, but even the surrounding villages and towns sent envoys to express their submission. This led Mishinko and his men to mistakenly believe that the people here were weak and easy to rule, and therefore that they had not penetrated into the enemy country alone, but had conquered the area like Khabarov.

But in reality, that's not the case at all. Since Emperor Guangxu ascended the throne, the north had been plagued by one natural disaster after another. The most severe drought was the one in the third and fourth years of Guangxu's reign. Zeng Guoquan, the then governor of Shanxi, called it "a disaster that had not been seen in more than two hundred years" and it was also known as the Dingwu Famine. It did not gradually subside until the ninth year of Guangxu's reign. This drought killed at least ten million people in the north and reduced the population of Shanxi by six million.

However, for the Yanbei region, the worst disaster was yet to come. In the winter of the eighteenth year of the Guangxu Emperor's reign and the spring of the previous year, there was almost no rain or snow in the Datong region, and the land was extremely dry. By summer, not to mention rice seedlings, there were hardly any grasses to be seen. As a result, an even more severe famine broke out that autumn, and the urban population of Datong decreased from more than 6 to half.

It was under the threat of such natural disasters that venturing west to the Hetao region of Inner Mongolia to make a living became a means of survival for the people of Shanxi. The trade routes to Inner Mongolia naturally became the lifeline for the people of Datong. When the Russian army occupied Datong, for the local people, it was merely a change of emperor. What difference was there between the Tsar and the Guangxu Emperor? Didn't they both still have to pay taxes to the emperor?

Therefore, as long as the Russian army showed a willingness to maintain order, the local people were naturally able to accept Russian rule, because the Russian rule did not disrupt their lives. However, when the Cossacks began to plunder and cut off trade routes between Inner Mongolia and Shanxi, the presence of the Russian army posed a great threat to the local people.

Especially this spring, there was no rain, and it looked like another year of drought. At this time, the Datong trade route became particularly important. The people of Datong needed to transport grain from Inner Mongolia and export various living supplies to the grasslands in order to get through this year's drought. Otherwise, everyone would starve to death.

Before the Hubei New Army marched north, resistance had already emerged at the village and town level in the Yanbei region. After the Hubei New Army launched a counterattack outside Yanmen Pass, villages and towns near Datong immediately began to take hostile actions against the Russian army. They began to contact the imperial army to drive away the Russians so as to restore trade routes.

Major General Mishinko suddenly realized that the originally weak and obedient Chinese had suddenly become unruly, and incidents of lone Russian troops being attacked began to occur one after another. Even when the Russian army took retaliatory action and burned the villages in the attacked areas to ashes, it only resulted in a more violent counterattack.

Meanwhile, the Chinese army in the south was becoming increasingly cautious and flexible in its operations, making it increasingly difficult for the Cossacks to contain the Chinese with a small force. Judging from the actions of the Chinese, they were becoming increasingly aware of the Cossacks' whereabouts, and it was clear that local people were passing intelligence to these Chinese troops.

Although his subordinates believed that they should not linger here with the Chinese, but rather launch an attack on Zhangjiakou or retreat from the Great Wall, it was not a good thing for a group of cavalry to be trapped in the city by infantry.

However, Major General Misinko rejected his subordinates' proposal, arguing that launching an attack on Zhangjiakou now would only allow the Chinese in Zhangjiakou to concentrate their forces and annihilate them, since General Starkelberg's troops had not yet reached their designated positions.

Withdrawing from beyond the Great Wall would be tantamount to admitting the war had lost its meaning, because launching an attack on Zhangjiakou from outside the Great Wall would be nothing more than engaging in a defensive battle with the Chinese, which would not achieve the goal of flanking them or shaking their will. After several battles at Shanhaiguan, even Misinko, who was unwilling to acknowledge the capabilities of the Chinese army, believed that the Chinese still possessed a tenacious will to resist on a well-fortified position.

If a positional war were to break out in Zhangjiakou, similar to that at Shanhaiguan, the Russian army would clearly be at a significant disadvantage, as their supply lines were much farther away than the Chinese's. In that case, his proposed strategy would become a joke, and Mishinko believed the governor would not let this opportunity pass and would shift the blame for any failure onto himself.

The fact that the war with the Chinese has reached this point has actually overturned the boasts made by some people before the war, such as the statement that "it is only necessary to use a few thousand people to subdue the Chinese and then bring Manchuria and Outer Mongolia under the rule of the empire."

Although the British defeat in India allowed some Russian generals to shirk some of their responsibility, saying, "Since the British couldn't even defeat a few hundred Chinese in India, we have already done quite well by occupying the entire Manchuria region and a small part of Outer Mongolia."

However, these statements all avoid the crucial question of how to end the war. At this point, Russia clearly could not expect a ceasefire and a return to the pre-war status quo with China, namely, the continued Russian occupation of Manchuria and the Kulun region. Even if the Qing government in Beijing were willing, the army below would obviously not.

The Russian army certainly cannot make a show of voluntary withdrawal; if it were to withdraw without gaining anything, the domestic population would likely launch a revolution. Therefore, someone must be held responsible for this war and bear the brunt of public anger. However, it's unlikely anyone will be willing to step forward and take on this responsibility, so the war will continue until one side collapses.

After much deliberation, Misinko said to his subordinates, "General Starklberg has arrived in Chengde. He's at most eight days' journey from Zhangjiakou. I've arranged with the general to launch an attack on Zhangjiakou precisely ten days from now. We only need to hold off the Chinese to the south for a week, then we can launch a full-scale attack on Zhangjiakou to the east. Those Chinese are all infantry; they certainly can't catch us. If we return now along the same route, we'll have gained nothing..."

Misinko's proposal was eventually accepted by his subordinates. Defeating the Chinese to the south might be difficult, but containing them was not a big problem. This was the Cossacks' forte. Although this was not the familiar steppe, the flat terrain of the region was still advantageous to the cavalry.

Meanwhile, Misinko also mobilized all his mobile forces, laying out a cavalry guerrilla line about 30 kilometers long between the mountains to the west and the river to the east of the Huai Ren region. In addition to the small cavalry units used to contain the Chinese army at the front, Misinko also assembled eight cavalry companies. If the Chinese dared to risk launching an attack on Datong, he planned to launch a rear attack on the Chinese army to destroy the attacking Chinese forces.

In such terrain, if the infantry's logistics are destroyed, they will be caught in a dilemma. If any weakness is exposed, then Misinko can achieve another merit.

To Misinko's surprise, once the Cossack cavalry spread their wings, the Chinese army to the south suddenly quieted down and ceased its aggressive advance on Datong. This made him think that perhaps the Chinese army heading north wasn't as large as he had imagined. He guessed that the Chinese had put on a show of force earlier to discourage him, and his failure to order a retreat had left them helpless.

This caused Misinko some regret. Had he known the Chinese army was small in number, he wouldn't have deployed his troops so early. He could have lured the Chinese north and defeated them near Datong, which would have been much safer. However, he soon had no more regrets, because the garrison in Datong returned, and the Chinese bypassed the area to attack.

This news surprised Mishinko greatly. Datong County was indeed not an important city for the Russian army, because Datong City and Yanggao County were much more important. The latter was the entrance for the Russian army to enter the Great Wall, while the former blocked the passage from the Chinese interior to Inner Mongolia. If the Russian army in Kulun could move south, then Datong would be the only way to enter the Chinese interior.

Therefore, Mishinko did not deploy many troops in Datong County. In order to resist the northward advance of the Chinese army, he also transferred some of the troops from Datong County, leaving only a little over half a company of troops in Datong County. Mishinko believed that Datong County was only about 20 versts away from Datong City, and if the Chinese wanted to attack here, he could send troops from Datong City in time.

However, after the Chinese occupied the area, he realized something: if the Chinese occupied Datong County, it would sever their connection with Yanggao County. Although they could find other routes to exit the Great Wall, their plan to launch a surprise attack on Zhangjiakou would be ruined. This was clearly unacceptable.

Misinko immediately decided to lead his assembled troops in a surprise attack on Datong County and recapture the county seat. The force, originally intended for attacking Chinese troops, could now be used immediately.

The attack on Datong County was led by Zhao Changlin's regiment of the First Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. Zhao Changlin was originally the captain of the security team at the Hanyang Ironworks, but after the mutiny, he was incorporated into the regular army. Following Cai E's orders, he led the Third Battalion of his regiment, along with another reinforced battalion and a company of Shanxi New Army soldiers who were leading the way, through Ying County and Hunyuan, then northward across the mountains and the Sanggan River, and finally through the volcanic remains east of Datong County to approach the county seat.

These volcanic remains resembled large bowls protruding from the ground, with flat river valleys lying between them. Taking advantage of the volcanoes' obscuring view, Zhao Changlin's regiment easily approached the county town. With directions from local villagers, they learned the town's layout and the Russian army's positions. After resting at a volcanic crater northeast of the town until nightfall, they launched an attack. The Russian army, with only one company stationed there, was naturally unable to withstand such a superior force's surprise attack.

Chapter 354 Yanbei IV

The main road from Datong City to Datong County is located at the foot of Haotian Mountain in the northeast of Datong County. This extinct volcano, about 1.5 kilometers from the county seat, overlooks the main road below and Datong County to the south, making it a strategic high ground that Datong County must defend.

The crater of this extinct volcano is not empty; there is a temple built during the Ming Dynasty, which still has incense burning today. One kilometer west of Haotian Mountain is the Fangcheng River, a seasonal river that originates from the southern foot of Cailiang Mountain in the north. Several streams converge to form the river, which winds around the west of Datong County and flows into the Sanggan River.

The reason why Datong County was built here is precisely because it is where rivers converge. It not only has large areas of flat valleys, but also abundant water resources for irrigation. Yanbei is a place with little rainfall, so places with rivers become the most suitable places for people to live.

Although there was almost no rain this spring, the snow from last year had melted, so the Fangcheng River was now full of water and not suitable for cavalry to cross directly. Major General Misinko only sent three cavalry companies south along the west side of the Fangcheng River to bypass and attack the west of Datong County, while he himself led nearly eight cavalry companies across the Fangcheng River and directly rushed towards Haotian Mountain and the north of Datong County.

Misinko's plan was that even if he couldn't take Datong County, he must control Haotian Mountain. This would still prevent the Chinese from controlling Cailiang Mountain, thus ensuring transportation between Datong City and Yanggao County.

The reason the Russian army didn't garrison Haotian Mountain initially was because the volcano was too steep for cavalry to navigate. They only stationed a small detachment at Hedian Village at the foot of the mountain, which was quickly captured by the Chinese. Otherwise, Mishinko wouldn't have been so nervous, because the Chinese army's inability to control Haotian Mountain meant they couldn't directly enter Cailiang Mountain.

Hedian Village is located beside the main road. It is a village that prospered by hosting merchants and travelers, and is therefore much larger than those agricultural villages. The entire village has a population of over 2000, making it a large town. Although the Russian army arrived quickly, Wu Xinghan's camp, stationed here, quickly repelled the attack of the Russian vanguard thanks to the earthen walls surrounding the village.

Misinko wasn't overly worried upon receiving news of the vanguard's setback. He didn't pin his hopes on a single surprise attack by the vanguard, as cavalry rarely managed to rout infantry that had already established a position in one fell swoop, unless they were infantry on the march. However, he had also brought artillery, believing that the Chinese wouldn't be able to withstand artillery fire. He recalled how the Chinese soldiers they had encountered on this campaign, hiding in earthen bunkers, had surrendered after being bombarded once.

After repelling the first Russian attack in Hedian Village, Wu Xinghan summoned his men for a discussion. He said to them, "The Third Company is stationed on Haotian Mountain behind us. This is the highest point in the area. As long as we hold this high point, the Russian army will not be able to get around to our rear to attack us. Therefore, the Third Company cannot move."

Zhangjia Village, located southwest of the main road west of Hedian Village, is a small village, but it happens to be blocking this road along with our side, so the Second Company must also hold that position. However, Zhangjia Village is too small and easily targeted by Russian artillery, so it can only serve as a secondary firing point. Therefore, we need to deploy the machine gun platoon and mortar platoon in Hedian Village to concentrate fire on the attacking Russian forces…”

The Battle of Shanhaiguan actually gave the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army a lot of valuable experience. For example, some officers of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army did not quite understand the combat rule that concentrated firepower would replace concentrated manpower. In their view, in battle, having more people always had the advantage, and emphasizing concentrated firepower seemed redundant.

However, the Russian artillery fire quickly taught the Red Army that relying solely on manpower advantage was clearly ineffective in fighting against the great powers. Under the concentrated firepower of the great powers, a single shell could wipe out half a company. Therefore, it was necessary to increase the density of firepower while dispersing manpower in order to stop the attack of the great powers' armies.

Having received such direct education, the officers and soldiers of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, upon returning to Wuhan, continuously demanded an increase in the number of machine guns and mortars in their troops. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army stationed at Shanhaiguan had already begun a rotation combat mode. Initially, it involved the exchange of wounded officers and soldiers with new recruits, but later it was changed to a regular rotation of personnel, meaning that they could be withdrawn after being stationed at Shanhaiguan for 3 months. However, as these experienced officers and soldiers were transferred back to the rear to strengthen the combat training of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, the rotation of entire battalions has now begun.

At first, the Beiyang Army thought that Wuhan was just making a fuss, or some people secretly speculated that Wuhan was worried that its troops would be taken over by the Beiyang Army. This was not a wild idea, after all, Yuan Shikai did do just that.

However, the Beiyang Army now believes that the rotation of frontline troops is indeed a good system because it is fair enough. War inevitably results in death; even the bravest soldiers will die on the battlefield. Therefore, reducing the time spent on the battlefield increases each soldier's chances of survival, and this rotation system is naturally welcomed by the soldiers.

If the Beiyang Army were to operate in the same way, only a few units would do the hard and arduous tasks, while their own elite troops would always be left to the rear. Naturally, the soldiers on the front lines would lack morale, and the soldiers in the rear would become increasingly afraid of fighting. As long as there were ways for the army to avoid war, then don't expect everyone to be brave enough to go to the front lines, because such deaths would be too unwise.

Without the example set by the Wuhan army, the Beiyang Army soldiers could only passively resist their superiors' orders. However, with the Wuhan army as an example, the Beiyang Army generals immediately heard the discontent from the lower-ranking soldiers. Even Yuan Shikai would not use strict military law to suppress the soldiers' discontent during wartime, after all, they were now holding real guns and ammunition.

Therefore, the Beiyang Army had to follow the example of the Wuhan Army and make some changes, such as establishing soldiers' committees to participate in the trial of soldiers who violated military orders, supervising soldiers' food expenses, and starting a system of rotation of front-line troops.

However, the Beiyang Army could only do some superficial work to ease the soldiers' discontent. Although this helped boost morale, it was far from addressing any substantial changes in the army. On the other hand, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army had already begun a reform movement to establish a new military system.

If the changes in the Wuhan army the previous year were mainly political and organizational, then in the winter of 1905 and the spring of 1906, these military changes began to adjust the military thinking learned from Europe and Japan.

For example, according to the army doctrines of Germany and Japan, the Maxim machine gun was a defensive weapon, so a regiment was lucky to have two or three, and machine guns, like artillery, were controlled by the regimental headquarters. However, after fighting the Russians, frontline officers and soldiers believed that machine guns should at least be devolved to the battalion headquarters; after a while, this view was corrected, and it was believed that each company should have at least one machine gun as a point of fire support; the latest view is that, in addition to each company having one machine gun for fire support, the battalion headquarters should also control a machine gun unit for mobile fire support.

In other words, in less than six months of fighting, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army had revised its view of the Maxim machine gun from a defensive weapon to an offensive weapon for battalion and company-level combat units, and had also delegated mortars to battalion-level units. In this respect, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army was sparing no effort to strengthen the firepower of its battalion-level units, a stark contrast to the continuous strengthening of the firepower of division and corps-level units in Europe.

European military theory, developed based on offensive thinking, advocated large-scale clashes, thus artillery capable of crushing large units gained increasing importance among European military strategists. The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, based on defensive thinking and the concept of people's war, believed that agricultural and industrial countries could not afford such large-scale warfare. The goal of people's war was to confine invaders near their lines of communication with small, elite armed forces in conjunction with militia, ultimately forcing them to withdraw from their borders.

Of course, although the Wuhan Military Commission considered itself an agricultural country, its military equipment was entirely industrialized. To meet the army's needs, Wuhan ordered 350 Maxim machine guns (costing 3800 marks each) from the German Spindle factory in three separate orders. In return, Wuhan obtained optimized design drawings from Spindle, which reduced the weight of the machine gun from 65 kilograms to 8 kilograms.

After obtaining new blueprints and technology transfer from the Spindle Factory, the Hanyang Arsenal not only completed the standardization of parts for its Maxim machine guns, but also increased its monthly output to 24 guns in 1906, while the cost was less than half that of imported machine guns. According to the latest military equipment regulations issued by the Military Commission, the main force divisions (the 1st to 5th Divisions) were equipped with 144 machine guns, ordinary divisions with 72, and garrison divisions with 24.

Xie Yuankai's company, stationed in the northwest corner of Hedian, was equipped with four machine guns. In addition to one from his own company, another was transferred from another company, and the remaining two were allocated to him by the battalion headquarters. The four machine guns formed a fan-shaped attack area, covering the main road to the west of Hedian and the fields to the northwest and north.

A cavalry charge looks much more imposing than an infantry charge. The front of a single cavalry company can exceed that of an infantry regiment. After the first probing attack, the Russian army believed that it had figured out the Chinese army's deployment in Hedian. Therefore, after Mishinko ordered the artillery to bombard the machine gun positions north of Hedian, three cavalry companies immediately rushed into the village and drove the Chinese out of Hedian.

Mishinko mistakenly assumed that the two machine guns represented the entirety of the Chinese army's firepower. While this wasn't entirely wrong, given that the entire Russian army in the Far East possessed only eight machine guns, Russia's industrial capacity, though far superior to that of the Qing Dynasty, was entirely controlled by Britain and France because it wasn't Russia's own. Naturally, Britain and France were unwilling to allow Russia to develop a complete industrial system.

For example, regarding the Vickers machine guns purchased by the Russians, although Russian arms manufacturers had already achieved the capability to manufacture complete guns by 1905, the Russian military was unwilling to purchase them in large quantities, believing the weapon to be too expensive, and that it would be cheaper to buy British ones directly for smaller quantities. As late as 1906, the Russians were still debating whether or not to produce the Maxim machine gun themselves.

With this mindset, Mishinko certainly wouldn't have believed that the Chinese army, numbering at most a battalion, in this Chinese village could possibly outnumber the Russian Far East machine guns. Thus, when the Russian cavalry carelessly charged towards Hedian Village, they suffered a devastating defeat. Three cavalry companies, nearly 500 men, were annihilated by the combined fire of machine gun positions on the east, central, and west sides; fewer than 50 cavalrymen escaped.

Chapter 355 Yan Beiwu

The heavy losses suffered during this charge dealt a heavy blow to the Cossacks' morale, even though the Maxim machine gun was well-known in Europe because of the British war against the Zulus in Africa.

However, this widely known claim refers to 50 British soldiers killing 3000 Zulus, not the Maxim machine gun killing 3000 people. In the eyes of officers from various European countries, only the Zulus would be foolish enough to let the British mow them down with Maxim machine guns; they would never be defeated by a single machine gun.

Russian society was more closed off than Western European society, and these Cossacks were even less interested in keeping up with news about machine guns and airplanes. They believed that as long as they remained devout to God, God would protect them from harm on the battlefield, and that a Cossack's saber was all they needed to deal with the enemy; the Cossack's saber could crush any enemy.

But what they saw before them told the Cossacks that in the face of machine guns, they were no different from the Zulus. Watching his men fall like stalks of wheat, Misinko clutched his chest, overwhelmed with anguish. In just a few minutes, hundreds of young men had lost their lives—far more than the losses his troops had suffered in the past few years.

Looking at the haphazardly lying corpses of men and horses in the field, and hearing their mournful cries, Misinko shouted to his men, "I'm going to kill these Chinese! I swear, not a single one of them will survive... Go tell Captain Milian to open fire on those machine guns..."

Wu Xinghan's battalion had received training in artillery fire protection. For the Chinese army, the most threatening element in the Battle of Shanhai Pass was artillery, as their firepower was consistently stronger at close and medium ranges, while at long range, the combined firepower of the Beiyang Army and the Wuhan New Army was inferior to that of the Russians. Although the Russian artillery lacked training, their artillery officers were clearly well-educated, and under constant bombardment, they quickly improved the accuracy of their artillery fire.

Therefore, the Wuhan army conducted special training on how to defend against artillery fire and machine gun fire on the battlefield. Misinko's troops carried small-caliber cannons for easy movement. Although these cannons were easy to move, they did not have high damage and were difficult to destroy well-defended infantry positions.

Encouraged by Misinko, the Cossacks quickly launched a second attack fueled by vengeful anger. The reason for this hasty and repeated attacks was that Misinko knew very well that if he didn't capitalize on the Cossacks' anger towards their fallen comrades, his men would soon be overwhelmed by fear and unable to continue fighting.

However, such a gamble-like attack is unlikely to produce any miracles against a well-positioned infantry position with well-placed firing points. Although Mishinko abandoned the frontal assault, concentrated his forces on the flanks, and reduced the number of cavalry to avoid being targeted by machine gun fire, the two auxiliary positions on the flanks and rear of Hedian Village effectively prevented the Russian cavalry from finding a suitable attack route and intersected with the firing points at Hedian Village.

The Russian cavalry quickly retreated, suffering only minor losses of over fifty men. However, the Cossacks' morale was completely shattered; they believed that Hedian Village was beyond their capabilities. Faced with these dejected Cossacks, Major General Mishinko could no longer offer any encouragement. Even he felt uneasy seeing the corpses of men and horses lying in the fields directly in front of Hedian Village.

He could only regroup his troops and hope that the other unit would bring him good news. If the western detachment could capture Datong County and form a pincer movement with him, there might still be a chance to turn the tide of the battle; otherwise, he would have to prepare for withdrawal. In the afternoon, as the sun began to set, the western detachment delivered a letter via a detour. The major leading the detachment said that he could not cross the wooden bridge west of the county town, as the Chinese had built defensive positions on it.

Misinko could only order the major to retreat and rendezvous with him, and he himself retreated seven or eight versts, setting up camp in a village. Misinko considered the situation all night and concluded that continuing the standoff with the superior Chinese army here was clearly disadvantageous. Therefore, at dawn, he decided to move the supplies from Datong to Yanggao, hoping that if he could delay the arrival of General Starkerberg's troops there, there might still be a chance to launch a surprise attack on Zhangjiakou.

However, early the next morning, before Misinko's messenger could even be dispatched, a group of people rushed over from the direction of Datong, frantically informing him that Datong had been recaptured by the Chinese. This wasn't the last piece of bad news of the day; the troops tasked with containing the Chinese forces to the south also sent word that the southern Chinese army had suddenly launched an attack, and Huai'ren had been captured by the Chinese.

Now, the Russian army was a unit without supplies. Even Mishinko, who had hesitated before, had no choice but to order a full retreat towards Yanggao. However, as the Russian army retreated, Cai E ordered all units to actively engage the enemy in front of them and do their best to prevent the Russian army from escaping.

The previous silence of the Chinese army was precisely to await this moment for a full-scale counterattack. Previously, Lan Tianwei had traveled from Shuozhou through mountain paths to Shahu Pass, then infiltrated eastward to the outskirts of Datong City. After making contact with the city's inhabitants, he launched a night attack on the undefended city. When Lan Tianwei sent back a message via radio, Cai E, stationed in Shanyin, immediately launched a northward offensive, decisively defeating the panicked Russian army and capturing Huai'ren.

This left the Russian army surrounded in a small area by the three cities of Datong, Huai'ren, and Datong. Cai E believed that the Russian army had now lost all its supplies and had no other option but to retreat towards Yanggao; any other direction would be a dead end. Therefore, their only concern now was to pursue them.

However, at this time, the Yi Army cavalry stationed in Fengzhen also came to make contact. When Lan Tianwei arrived at Shahu Pass, he immediately sent someone to inform the Guihua region of his arrival. The Qing troops who had previously gone from Datong to Fengzhen and the Yi Army that had been transferred from Guihua City to prepare for the recapture of Datong were all staying in Fengzhen. After receiving the news, they sent someone to make contact.

Originally, they wanted to join forces with the mainland army to recapture Datong, but they did not expect Lan Tianwei's actions to be so swift. By the time their messengers arrived near Datong, the city had already been recaptured.

After speaking with these messengers, Lan Tianwei suggested to Cai E that a force should be dispatched along the Great Wall with the Yi Army of Fengzhen Hall. Taking advantage of their familiarity with the terrain, they could set up defenses near Yanggao and perhaps inflict heavy losses on the retreating Russian army.

Cai E quickly agreed to the suggestion, and during their correspondence, the victories of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army shocked the local people, who turned to the Red Army and provided them with intelligence on the Russian army. Under these circumstances, the movements of the Russian army began to become clear to the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.

As Cai E predicted, the Russian army, having lost its supplies, had no choice but to retreat. After the battle of Hedian Village, the Russian army's mentality had changed. They realized that they could not overpower the Chinese with force here, and if they were surrounded by the Chinese, they would likely perish on this foreign land.

The Cossacks' unique habits were then revealed. In victory, a single Cossack would dare challenge hundreds of enemy soldiers, but in defeat, hundreds of Cossacks would not be willing to turn back to fight ten enemies. Before, they had roamed freely here, and even knowing they were in enemy territory, no one was afraid, because they thought the Chinese could not possibly fight against so many cavalry.

But now, the Cossacks suddenly realized that they were surrounded by enemies, even the honest villagers, who would turn into fierce enemies if they were alone. This made them no longer want to stay here.

Faced with the relentless attacks of the Chinese army, the Cossacks, who were cavalry, retreated step by step without any intention of counterattacking. Even though Misinko tried to reorganize his troops before withdrawing, it was no longer possible. Everyone was thinking of leaving first, and no one was willing to stay behind to cover the retreat.

Faced with the approaching Chinese army, infantry could not fight cavalry on flat ground, but a cavalry unit surrounded by infantry could not possibly engage them in a prolonged battle. Now, these Chinese troops were constantly compressing the Russian army into a very narrow area. Mishinko finally gave up reorganizing his troops and ordered the entire army to retreat towards Yanggao. At this time, there were still 5 days left until the date he had agreed with General Starkerberg.

However, lacking proper formation, the Cossacks were indeed intercepted by Chinese troops as they passed through the hilly region north of Cailiang Mountain. Mishinko was unable to organize a counterattack and had to proceed quickly, forcing him to abandon his remaining cannons and some empty wagons. By the time he joined up with the Russian troops in Yanggao, his forces had dwindled to half their original size.

Having lost all their cannons and supplies, a surprise attack on Zhangjiakou had become impossible, as cavalry alone was clearly no match for the Chinese city walls. Misinko realized he couldn't even hold Yanggao City; if the Chinese army got bogged down in their defenses, they would be trapped in the small city, which was obviously the worst possible outcome.

After much deliberation, Misinko decided to abandon Yanggao City, withdraw from the Great Wall, and head to join General Starkerberg. He felt that as long as he joined forces with the follow-up troops, there would still be a chance to capture Zhangjiakou or somewhere else.

On April 13, Russian troops emerged from Shoukoubao, northwest of Yanggao City. As they crossed the Heishigou River, Lin Yi's forces launched a surprise attack. Mishinko's cavalry was caught in a hail of fire from two Maxim machine guns, killing Major General Mishinko instantly. The Cossack cavalry was thrown into chaos. Apart from the three companies of Cossacks that had already crossed the Heishigou River and fled, four of the remaining seven companies surrendered, while the rest were killed.

On April 15, Cai E arrived in Zhangjiakou and met with Ma Yukun and other Yi Army generals. Ma Yukun and the other Yi Army generals were quite surprised that the Wuhan army had resolved the threat to their flank so quickly.

When news of the Russian invasion of Shanxi being defeated reached Taiyuan, the Shanxi governor, Zhang Renjun, initially refused to believe it, fearing it was a false report. However, the continuous stream of reports of the recapture of lost territory forced him to believe it, as a false report would not have made the Russian army so cooperative.

He then inquired with the messenger returning from Yanbei about the attitude of the Wuhan army towards the local people. The messenger told him, "Those southerners say that the north has little rain and that water conservancy projects should be built. They are busy working with the local people to measure the terrain and prepare to build a reservoir..."

After hearing this, Zhang Renjun silently waved for him to leave, and then sighed to his staff, "The Qing Dynasty is doomed."

Chapter 356 Make Way

When the Yi Army generals sat together with Cai E and other Red Army generals, a stark contrast was formed between the two sides: on one side were old men dressed in Qing Dynasty attire, while on the other side were young men wearing well-fitting new-style military uniforms. The distinction between the old and the new was immediately apparent.

Ma Yukun glanced at the people on both sides and sighed inwardly. He was not the kind of stubborn old-fashioned person. Although he advocated loyalty to the Qing Dynasty to the end, that is, to remain loyal to the dynasty until the end, he was not the kind of rigid general who was unwilling to accept new things in military affairs.

Therefore, after fighting against the Eight-Nation Alliance, he wrote to the court, saying, "Among the soldiers of the various nations, those who are wise and disciplined, and who can command freely even when facing death, are the best in Germany and France, followed by Britain and Japan, with Russia being the worst. The Russian soldiers are no match for ours in terms of ability, except that their officers are slightly better. When they are ambushed in a hurry, their officers are killed, and their ranks fall into disarray. Moreover, after capturing a city, they often go out to plunder, leaving the general's main camp empty and unattended. If they are attacked unexpectedly, they often turn defeat into victory."

…The Russians are outmaneuvered by their own intellect, and their generals are often thrown into disarray; they are not invincible. Although our army is not particularly elite today, it is still capable of defeating the Russians. However, the Russians have a large army and convenient railways; they come with superior numbers while we are outnumbered. This is what they should hesitate about.”

Ma Yukun recognized the convenience that railways offered for army mobilization and, after the Boxer Rebellion, sent his eldest son to Japan to study military affairs, attempting to reform the Yi Army's training methods. However, the Qing court was already on its last legs, merely lying on its deathbed awaiting its demise, and naturally would not heed Ma Yukun's advice to undertake any national defense railway construction. As for the construction of a modern army, it was controlled by Yuan Shikai, who completely disagreed with the establishment of any military academy for the Yi Army.

Although Empress Dowager Cixi supported the Yi Army to contain the Beiyang Army, she did not understand the fundamental differences between the new and old armies. She seemed to think that as long as the army was equipped with foreign guns and cannons, it would be a new army. Therefore, although she allocated funds to the Yi Army to replace its weapons, she did not approve of any reforms to the Yi Army's military system because it was too expensive.

The Yi Army, equivalent to a division of the Imperial Guard, only needed 70 to 90 taels of silver per year. However, the military expenditure of a single division of the Beiyang Army never fell below 150 million taels of silver, and the First Division of the Beiyang Army, which was reorganized from the Imperial Guard, even cost nearly 200 million taels of silver per year. Therefore, Empress Dowager Cixi could not support two Beiyang Armies, and could only provide preferential treatment to the generals and commanders of the Yi Army in terms of personal treatment.

The battle against the Wuhan New Army in the south greatly shocked the Yi Army. The old combat model that emphasized bravery and equipment over tactics could no longer be sustained. In fact, they were also outmatched by the Wuhan New Army in both bravery and equipment. The Yi Army realized that they could not even protect themselves on the domestic battlefield, and at this point, loyalty to the imperial court became extremely risky.

The relationship between the Qing army and the imperial court was essentially a semi-mercenary one. During peacetime, they received a fixed military salary, while in wartime, they could use the spoils of war and the looting of civilians to pay themselves bonuses—this was standard practice for the Qing army. The British Indian army behaved similarly, because neither the British nor the Manchus considered Indians and Han Chinese as a core group, but rather as a source of wealth to be exploited.

The biggest difference between the British and the Manchus was that India was far from the British mainland, so the British Royal Navy had to maintain its military strength in order to reap wealth from India. The Manchus, on the other hand, migrated their people to Han Chinese land and relied on Han Chinese landlords to suppress Han Chinese people, thus weakening their own armed forces.

When the resistance of the lower classes in India and China was weak, both the British Indian Army and the Qing Army were loyal to their respective governments because they could gain additional benefits from the suppression of rebellions. Indian soldiers, like the Qing army, considered looting after victory a legitimate act; they didn't care who they looted, only that they had the right to plunder.

However, when the strength of popular resistance outweighed the benefits of looting, their loyalty to the government began to wane. For example, the lower and middle-ranking officers of the Yi Army were initially elated when they marched south to quell the rebellion, believing that punishing those rebels who had betrayed the Qing Dynasty was their way of being loyal to the country.