Chapter 63 I will definitely fight back

  To conceal his strength, Kangfan kept the Jin 1st and Jin 2nd Divisions stationed in Huichun, while personally leading the Jin 1st Cavalry Division along with some of the Heilongjiang garrison troops to seal off the borders between Heilongjiang and Jilin, strengthening border defenses and preparing for refugee reception work. On June 23rd, a detachment from the Jin 1st Cavalry Division clashed in a large-scale melee with a group of Russian Cossack cavalry who had crossed the border, rescuing compatriots being pursued by the Russians, creating a sensational news event at the time.

  The new armored division replaced the three armored mechanized divisions of the Jin Army, and Kang Fan took the three cavalry divisions as the backbone, and reorganized three cavalry divisions from the inner guard cavalry units, namely the Jin Cavalry 1st Division, 2nd Division, and 3rd Division. They were all strong and well-trained officers and soldiers, with high-quality horses, steel-made sabers, and equipped with powerful firepower such as Type 96 general-purpose machine guns, Type 96 rifles, and Type 02 submachine guns. In every aspect, they were excellent, and their combat effectiveness was absolutely superior to that of the Russian Cossack cavalry.

  At that time, the Jin cavalry regiment was afraid of hurting their own country's refugees and did not use guns. The regiment commander, Maeda Kō, first drew his bright saber and charged towards the Russian army. The officers and soldiers beside him immediately urged their horses to gallop and followed closely behind. At the same time, the Russian army, perhaps too confident in their own combat skills or perhaps not taking the Qing cavalry in front of them seriously, also drew their swords and charged forward. Once the battle began, there was no chance to retreat. In an instant, the sabers shone brightly, people shouted, horses neighed, and blood and flesh flew everywhere! Under Kang Fan's gaze, the Jin Cavalry Regiment, with its superior combat skills and numbers, cleanly defeated these arrogant Russians and won a decisive victory.

  "The Cossack cavalry of Russia is nothing more than this." Ma Shilong said with a pleased expression to Kang Fan while wiping the blood off his horse knife with a cloth.

  Kang Fan smiled: "It's settled this time. If we fight again in the future, there's no need to engage them in close combat, we can just use our machine guns and artillery."

  Ma Shi Chang was very puzzled and looked at Kang Fan in a daze.

  Kang Fan said: "I know you are a cavalryman and will think that way of doing things is not chivalrous. But this is a life-and-death battle, whatever works is what we'll do, thinking too much about it would be foolish. If we use our troop advantage to separate the Russian army and refugees first, then directly sweep them away with machine guns and artillery, as for the casualties of so many brothers? Life is precious, if there's a chance to reduce casualties, we must seize it."

  Ma Shi Chang's expression turned serious as he bowed and said loudly: "Understood, Principal."

  Escorting these refugees back to the nearest refugee point, the Jin army received a warm welcome. Some emotional refugees hugged any Jin army officer and soldier next to them and burst into tears, and for a time, the crying shook the sky, how sad!

  "When can we go back?" someone finally asked this sensitive question.

  Everyone's eyes turned to Kang Fan riding on Chì Tù.

  "It will be fine. We'll definitely fight back." Kang Fan repeated this sentence over and over, but the crowd surrounding him was not satisfied with his response. They needed a specific timeline and implementation plan, not just this perfunctory answer.

  At this time, the officers and soldiers of the Inner Guard brought hot meals, hot water, quilts, clothes and other things to the refugees. The hungry and thirsty refugees were attracted by these things and swarmed to queue up for their own share. More and faster chapters please go to. Kang Fan finally got rid of the embarrassing situation of being surrounded and questioned, and slipped away.

  Among the large number of refugees pouring into Heilongjiang, there were many strong and healthy young men. Out of admiration for the Jin army and hatred for the Japanese and Russian armies, tens of thousands of young men enthusiastically signed up to join the military. The internal defense forces in both regions accepted most of them after screening and immediately dispersed them to various military camps for training, just filling the vacancies left by the regular army's mobilization of troops.

  At the same time, after Shanxi's industrial system entered a wartime regime, with the improvement of production technology and the continuous operation of new production lines, the production capacity of various weapons and equipment increased exponentially. Some large and complex weapon systems such as the "Tiger" and "Leopard" armored vehicles, 122mm rocket artillery, 130mm cannons, "Iron Horse" series military trucks, tracked tractors, etc. all achieved mass production, with quality and quantity exceeding Kang Fan's expectations. The output of military uniforms, military food, tents, medicines, fuels, lubricants, and other military supplies also increased exponentially, providing a steady supply to various combat troops.

  By then, by the first half of 1905, the Jin army's standing army was able to expand rapidly, reaching a scale of 3 armored mechanized divisions, 2 artillery divisions, 3 cavalry divisions and 5 mechanized infantry divisions, with a total strength of 200,000 men.

  Three armored mechanized divisions, namely the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions of Shanxi Province, each increased their armored regiments to two, with "Tiger" and "Leopard" tanks reaching 120 and 240 vehicles respectively. Two artillery divisions were equipped with 130mm cannons and 122mm rocket launchers, totaling 72 guns and 36 vehicles. Cavalry and mechanized infantry divisions also added division-level armored battalions, and artillery regiments increased to two. All participating Shanxi military units, including command, communication, logistics, engineering and other departments, were fully mechanized, equipped with a large number of wheeled and tracked military vehicles.

  Before the war, Heilongjiang region gathered 2 armored mechanized divisions, 2 artillery divisions, 1 cavalry division, 3 mechanized infantry divisions and other troops of the Jin army. The 24 "Pursuit of Wind" reconnaissance planes from the four military aviation bases in the two places all gathered at Huachuan, and organized front-line reconnaissance based on several simple front-line airports that were urgently built, familiarizing themselves with the combat area situation, closely monitoring the enemy's movements in Heilongjiang and Jilin border areas, Jilin Province, and Shengjing Province.

  Large-scale mechanized equipment was put into use in various troops, and the demand for diesel, gasoline and other fuel oils and lubricating oils increased sharply. The production of various types of oil in Tianjin Oilfield has been greatly increased, not only meeting the needs of the troops but also meeting the urgent needs of Shanxi and Heilongjiang provinces' civilian sectors. After the original coal chemical enterprises in Shanxi got sufficient crude oil supply, some enterprises changed their original coal-to-oil production method to direct refining of crude oil, which further increased the production of various finished oils. Thus, the most important energy problem in the era of internal combustion engines was smoothly solved.

  This operation, if successful, will truly unite Shanxi, Zhili and the vast Northeast region under stable control, rather than the current situation where Shengjing and Jilin are intervened by Russia and Japan, with bandits roaming between Shanxi and Heilongjiang, creating a huge uncertain factor. In addition, the security bureau's intelligence work and the general staff's operational deployment, logistics support and other work organizations have shown extremely high working capabilities. That is to say, everything is ready, waiting for Kang Youwei to issue the order to start the operation.

  At that time, Britain was vigorously supporting Japan to contain Russia's expansion in Asia. As a staunch ally of Britain, the Japanese Navy had obtained six first-class armored battleships with a displacement of over 10,000 tons manufactured by Britain within less than 10 years, which were extremely powerful. Therefore, at the beginning of the war, it destroyed the main force of the Russian Pacific Fleet and gained control of the Bohai Sea and the Yellow Sea, providing strong support for the army's operations.

  January 2, 1905, after several months of fierce fighting and over 100,000 casualties on both sides, the Russian garrison at Port Arthur surrendered to the Japanese.

  On March 10, the Japanese army won the Battle of Mukden and occupied Mukden, and advanced to Tieling and Kaiyuan in Fengtian Province. The Russian army retreated to the Sipingjie area, struggling to survive.

  On May 27, the Russian naval reinforcement fleet departing from the Baltic Sea could not take a shortcut to Asia through the Suez Canal controlled by Britain, and had to go around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa to the Indian Ocean and then to the Pacific Ocean. After a grueling sea voyage of up to 220 days, they finally arrived at the Japanese waters, exhausted, low morale, with the hulls below the waterline covered with marine life, greatly reducing their speed, weakening their ability to perform tactical maneuvers, and were annihilated by the Japanese Combined Fleet in the Tsushima Strait, which had been carefully preparing for battle at home for a long time.

  At that time, the 1905 Russian Revolution broke out in Russia, and it was unwilling to fight again. Japan also exhausted its domestic resources due to this war and had no power to fight again. At this point, both sides' large-scale military actions had to be stopped.

  "Our time has come!" Kang Fan excitedly said to Hui Feng.

  Huifeng was also excited. At present, the two men divided their work: Huifeng sat in town, unified command and coordination of combat security matters and troops responsible for the defense task of Heilongjiang border, while Kang Fan led the Jin army and Heilongjiang's mobile forces with a total of 1.2 million people to launch an offensive campaign.

  On June 2, 1905, Kang Fan ordered the Jin 1st Division to be on the left wing and the Jin 2nd Division to be on the right wing. He himself led other troops of the Jin Army, two cavalry divisions, four infantry divisions, and two artillery divisions from the Heilongjiang mobile detachment to garrison the central route, advancing southward without declaring war against the Russian army, with the main force of the Russian army retreating to the Siping Street area in Fengtian Province.

  The 1st and 2nd Armored Mechanized Strike Groups of the Jin Army acted swiftly, completing a pincer movement against the Russian army from both east and west within one week. After the vanguard units of the two armies met, this "pincer" immediately began to close in, like two iron walls squeezing in on the Russian army from both sides, tearing apart its defense lines, destroying its fortified defensive areas, artillery positions, ammunition depots, command and communication organs, logistical supply points, transportation hubs, etc. This caused the Russian army to lose unified command and combat organization before it could react effectively, falling into a disadvantageous situation of small units fighting on their own and being cut off from supplies.

  Kangfan led a large army from the northern pincer-shaped opening surrounded by these two divisions to launch an attack and implement encirclement.

  In the modern world, powerful countries are still in the steam engine era, and their armies can only stay in the gun battle era, mainly equipped with manpower, animal power, firearms and a small amount of artillery. The main means of causing casualties on both sides on the battlefield is various bullets, and the main weapon is the manual single-shot bolt-action rifle held by infantrymen. The number of machine guns is very small, and the number of various artillery equipment is even smaller. Taking the Battle of Shaho from October 1904 as an example, the Russian army with a strength of 210,000 people was only equipped with 32 Maxim machine guns, while the Japanese army with a strength of 170,000 people was equipped with 12 Hotchkiss machine guns.

  Shanxi has entered the era of internal combustion engines, and its weapons equipment manufacturing capabilities based on heavy industry, military technology, etc. have undergone revolutionary development, so the Shanxi army can cross the era of gun battles and artillery battles and enter a brand new mechanized warfare era, various mechanical equipment powered by internal combustion engines and large numbers of various artillery pieces become the main combat equipment.

  The huge gap between the two eras made it impossible for the Japanese and Russian armies to be on the same level as the Jin army, making them incomparable. Furthermore, after a long period of massive war consumption, both Japan and Russia were already at their last gasp. All these preconditions made the Jin army's offensive operations as easy as playing a game: The suddenly participating Jin army, under the support of powerful artillery fire, opened up with the fierce firepower of "Tiger"-style tanks carrying 82 field guns and machine guns, followed by "Leopard"-style armored vehicles carrying infantry armed with rapid-firing 02-style assault rifles, launching a one-sided bloody massacre against the Russian army! These armor monsters that were impervious to knives and guns, traversing mountains and plains like flat ground, spewing out deadly flames, quickly advanced across the landscape. Where had the Russian army ever seen such a scene?! Already battered by the Japanese "human wave" tactics, they faced the Jin army's terrifying "iron fire" assault, their fragile fighting will crumbling instantly.

  In the Battle of Siping Street, the Jin army and its allies annihilated nearly 100,000 Russian troops, more than half of whom were prisoners who surrendered voluntarily. In this battle, Commander Zhou of the Jin First Division led a charge with 16 "Tiger"-style armored vehicles, breaking through layers of Russian defenses in just six hours and covering over 200 kilometers. They crushed the Russian command center set up at the Siping Street train station into rubble, killing hundreds of defenseless Russian personnel inside, leading to the collapse of the Russian army and sending shockwaves throughout the military!

  In the following half month, the Jin army launched a large-scale mechanized long-range raid campaign, and carried out a ruthless sweep of the remaining Russian troops scattered in Shengjing and Jilin. The Russian army that had been entrenched in the northeastern border of the Qing Empire for nearly half a century was thoroughly annihilated. Hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers who abandoned resistance and surrendered were escorted by the Jin army, forming a long queue of several kilometers on their way to the prisoner-of-war camp. They were shabby, disheveled, and desperate, and were constantly attacked by the Qing civilians along the way, with casualties occurring at any time. The Jin army officers and men in charge of escorting them tried their best to persuade them, but still many angry civilians broke through the blockade and attacked these Russian prisoners of war, which the Jin army officers and men could not effectively stop.

  In sharp contrast, the Jin army and the Heilongjiang mobile troops continued to march south, and every time they passed through a city or village, the local people welcomed them with open arms, offering tea, water, and slaughtered pigs and sheep to reward these brave soldiers. At night, when camping, the local people would again offer their best houses and most comfortable beds to the soldiers. However, this army had strict discipline and would not harass the civilians without orders from superiors, instead choosing to camp in the wilderness, which made the people feel the kindness and respect of this troop. As a result, countless volunteers joined the army's ranks, guiding them on paths, providing various intelligence, participating in rescue work for the wounded or collecting the bodies of fallen soldiers, and the food and supplies provided by the people along the way were countless, greatly alleviating the pressure on the Jin army's logistics. In this environment where they had the advantage of heaven, earth, and man, the fate of the invaders was predictable.

  After solving the Russian army, Kangfan led a large army to continue southward and attack the Japanese army occupying Shengjing Province.

  Huifeng personally led a part of the Heilongjiang garrison from Siping Street railway station, taking over a Russian train and heading west along the Chinese Eastern Railway through Harbin, Manzhouli, etc., deep into western Russia, destroying hundreds of kilometers of the Trans-Siberian Railway and damaging all facilities along the line. Not only did it cut off the connection between the Russian army in the Far East and the central European region, but also immediately carried out emergency repairs on all facilities along the Chinese Eastern Railway, utilizing all captured Russian steam locomotives, carriages, etc., quickly turning this railway that spans across Northeast China and reaches the coastal city of Vladivostok (formerly known as Haishenwei in the Qing Empire) into a logistics supply line for the Jin army, providing strong support for the Jin army's subsequent combat actions against Japan.

  The situation of the Russo-Japanese War changed suddenly, but neither the Qing court nor various Western powers could do anything about it. The Jin army was now like a runaway wild horse, and no matter how hard they tried to rein it in, they couldn't stop it!