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Piaotian Literature of the Fourth Empire of China www.piaotia.com Chapter 438 Cutting off the escape route

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    "Da da da! Bang bang bang!" The roar of the light machine gun was mixed with the crisp sound of the carbine. The fleeing Cossack cavalry kept falling off their horses, not knowing whether they were alive or dead.  The Russian army ran away desperately, whipping the horse's buttocks hard with the riding crop in his hand.  The war horses were in pain and ran more and more wildly. Slowly, they finally escaped the effective range of the lances or light machine guns in the hands of the pursuing cavalrymen of the Third Cavalry Corps of the Chinese Army.

    The pursuit speed of the Chinese Army's Third Cavalry Corps was not fast, and was far unable to keep up with the speed at which all the Russian Cossacks fled.  This was to prepare for the counterattack of the Russian Cossack cavalry.  If you can solve the battle with the lance and light machine gun in your hand, there is no need to use the saber.  Once the saber is used, it is very likely that one thousand enemies will be killed and one will suffer eight hundred losses.  This is very disadvantageous for the Third Cavalry Army.

    Behind the three brigades in front are the artillery and heavy machine guns of the Cavalry Corps and the 12th Cavalry Brigade that protects these artillery.  This part of the force is also moving forward, but at a slower pace.  However, this can ensure that once the Russian Cossack cavalry uses the carbine strategy, they can quickly provide fire support to the cavalry in front.

    "Damn it, these Chinese actually dare to pursue us! However, at this speed, can they catch up with us?" the commander of the 5th Cossack Corps cursed bitterly.  In the previous battle, his 5th Cossack Legion suffered heavy losses. The entire legion originally had more than 20,000 elite Cossack cavalry, but now there are less than 10,000 left.

    The commander of the 2nd Cossack Corps, Major General Dimitri, had a gloomy face that looked like it could drip water.  Although the losses of his 2nd Cossack Legion were smaller, they still lost at least five to six thousand people. Such heavy losses had never happened since the establishment of the 2nd Cossack Legion.  And, most importantly, the mission that Grand Duke Nicholas asked them to defeat the Chinese cavalry and ensure the safety of the Selenga River channel also completely failed.  After they retreat to the north of the Selenge River, the Chinese will definitely deploy artillery along the Selenge River to block the entire waterway.  In this case, Ulan-Ude's logistics supply line will be completely cut off.  Although, it is also possible to pass through the Verkhovna Baikal region.  However, the roads in the Upper Baikal region are very bad, and it is very difficult to transport materials from Irkutsk to Ulan-Ude by going around hundreds of kilometers.  This will exacerbate the difficulty of supplying Ulan-Ude.

    Originally, Grand Duke Nicholas wanted to hold on to Ulan-Ude for two or three months, but if supplies were completely cut off, it might not be so easy.  Therefore, Major General Dimitri can believe what kind of punishment he will receive after the mission fails.

    "Although the Chinese are chasing very slowly, their formation is very neat. If we fight back, we will definitely be hit by their fierce firepower again!" Major General Dimitri said.  The intensive firepower of the Chinese Army's Third Cavalry Corps had already given him a taste of its power, and he no longer dared to take risks.  His 2nd Cossack Legion has already suffered heavy losses. If it suffers further heavy losses, it may fall into the same situation as the 9th Cossack Legion.  However, when he thought that the people of the 9th Cossack Legion did not remind them, this made Dimitri itchy with hatred.  Otherwise, the 2nd Cossack Legion and the 5th Cossack Legion would not have suffered such heavy losses.  Major General Dimitri has already thought about it. After returning to Ulan-Ude, he can shift the responsibility to Major General Anatoly of the 9th Cossack Corps. This may reduce their responsibility.

    At this time, more than 20 kilometers to the north, a bridge spanned the Selenge River, connecting both sides of the river.  After the bridge in Ulan-Ude was blown up, if you don't want to take a detour, this has become the only bridge across the river in the lower reaches of the Selenga River.

    The 2nd Cossack Regiment dispatched a company of troops to garrison here to prevent the bridge from being occupied by the squadron.  Grand Duke Nicholas's order to them was to blow up the bridge if they could not hold it.  In this way, the Russian army's retreat in Ulan-Ude may be preserved.

    When the 2nd Cossack Corps and the 5th Cossack Corps were fighting the Third Cavalry Corps of the Chinese Army.  Two battalions of Chinese cavalry spared a large circle and took the opportunity to detour towards the bridge.  Their mission was to capture the bridge, then block the Russian army's retreat path, and ensure the safety of the bridge.  In this case, the Third Cavalry Army can cross the Selenge River in one fell swoop, advance into the rear of Ulan-Ude, and completely cut off their retreat.

    At 10 a.m., two battalions of the Chinese Army¡¯s Third Cavalry Corps appeared two kilometers south of the bridge.  The arrival of a large number of enemy troops was discovered by the Russian troops guarding here.  When they saw more than two thousand cavalry charging toward the bridge, the Russian troops guarding the bridge were frightened.  They only have one company with more than a hundred people, so how can they be the opponent of more than two thousand Chinese cavalry.

    Many cavalrymen immediately got on their horses, but they were not preparing to fight, but preparing to escape.?.  Although the Cossack cavalry are very brave, they are still very self-aware when facing twenty times the enemy force.

    The company commander responsible for guarding here has some hesitation.  Logically speaking, he should have immediately ordered the bridge to be blown up.  However, if the bridge is blown up, the two Cossack regiments south of the Selenga River will be cut off from their way back to Ulan-Ude, and they will only be destroyed by the Chinese cavalry.  It was this hesitation that caused them to lose the opportunity to blow up the bridge.

    The distance of two kilometers only takes four or five minutes for the cavalry charging at high speed.  When the Russian company commander guarding here made up his mind to blow up the bridge.  The Chinese cavalry had already rushed less than 500 meters away from the bridge.  At the same time, the Chinese cavalry had opened fire.

    "Click, click, click! Bang, bang, bang!" The light machine guns and lances poured out firepower crazily at the Russian troops guarding the bridge.  The dense bullets hit the bridge, making a ping-ping-pong-pong sound.  Many Russian troops on the bridge were killed at once.  The remaining Russian troops immediately ran away without looking back.

    "Damn it, blow up the bridge first!" the Russian company commander ordered loudly.  However, everyone wanted to escape, and no one listened to the company commander's orders.  A few seconds later, the company commander looked at the Chinese cavalry getting closer and ran away immediately.  As for blowing up the bridge, let¡¯s save your own life first!

    The two battalions of the Chinese Third Cavalry Army successfully occupied the bridge.  This bridge is six meters wide and is supported by steel and is very strong.  After the Chinese cavalry occupied this place, they immediately began to build fortifications. Fortifications were built at both ends of the bridge, and simple heavy machine gun and mortar firepower points were deployed.  At the same time, people were also sent to dismantle the bombs placed by the Russian army on the bridge to eliminate this safety hazard.

    At 11 o'clock in the morning, the Russian 2nd Cossack Corps and the 5th Cossack Corps, which failed in the attack, fled to the bridge.  However, they found that the bridge had fallen into the hands of the Chinese cavalry, which made them stunned and shocked.  There was an interception in front and a pursuit behind, which immediately put the two Cossack regiments into an extremely critical situation.

    "Damn it, how could the bridge be occupied by the Chinese?" the commander of the 5th Cossack Garnet roared.

    "Launch an attack immediately and retake the bridge! We must retake the bridge before the main force of the Chinese arrives, and blow up the bridge after crossing. Otherwise, Grand Duke Nicholas will not let us go!" 2nd Cossack Regiment  Commander Major General Dimitri said viciously.  If they were defeated before, the Russian army in Ulan-Ude would lose their supply line. Now that the bridge is captured, it will directly cut off the Ulan-Ude army's retreat.  Such a crime would make Archduke Nicholas shoot them directly.

    The commander of the 5th Cossack Legion also understood, and a trace of panic suddenly flashed in his eyes.

    "Come on, charge! Charge! Take back the bridge, otherwise we will be dead!" the commander of the 5th Cossack Regiment yelled.

    Soon, thousands of Cossack cavalry launched an attack on the bridge.  They roared like wild beasts and launched an attack on the Chinese cavalry occupying the bridge.  The way back was cut off. If they didn't want to die, they had to take back the bridge.  This caused these Cossack cavalry to burst out with a will to survive like wild beasts.

    "Send a telegram to the commander, we have occupied the bridge, and Lao Maozi is launching a fierce attack on us!" ordered the deputy commander of the 12th Cavalry Brigade of the Chinese Army's Third Cavalry Corps, who was responsible for commanding the operation to capture the bridge.

    Soon, the Signal Corps immediately reported the situation here to the Third Cavalry Corps.  At the same time, a fierce bridge offensive and defensive battle also began.

    On the south side of the bridge, the Chinese cavalry deployed twelve heavy machine guns and more than a dozen mortars of various types.  Although this kind of firepower is not powerful, it is enough to guard the bridge.  The bridge is only a few meters wide, and the Chinese cavalry only built an arc-shaped defense line thirty or forty meters long on the south side of the bridge.  These light and heavy machine guns and mortars are enough to make this defense line impregnable.

    "Fight!" After the Russian army approached, the commander on the defense line ordered a fierce fire.

    "Ta-ta-ta!" A series of light and heavy machine guns fired intensive firepower and fired wildly at the attacking Russian army!  One by one, the Cossack cavalry fell to the ground like wheat. Although their attack was very fierce, they encountered intensive firepower. At the same time, because the battle line was too narrow, their charge was limited.  Under the constraints of these factors, the charge of the Russian Cossack cavalry was more like sending death!  (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature, the novels will be better and updated faster!)
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