Chapter 188 The Last Line of Defense

Hundreds of naval gun shells are enough to sink several heavily armored battleships, not to mention the physical island army.

The Russian Empire did not lose in the naval battle, which also caused a series of butterfly effects.

At least the original siege of Lushun in history did not happen. The leading troops sent by the island country to capture Lushun, the Second Army suffered heavy losses in the encounter with the 4th Infantry Division, with more than half of the casualties.

If it weren't for the samurai spirit of the island country, I'm afraid that half of the army with casualties would have been dispersed long ago, and it would be impossible for them to still be concentrated under Obo Gon's order.

However, General Obao Gong's current mood is not so good.

In this encounter, the Second Army's four divisions of 40,000 troops suffered more than 13,000 deaths and more than 21,000 minor or serious injuries.

The number of people who were slightly injured and still able to fight was only more than 22,000, or even less than half of the total number of Second Army.

In this war, when the Second Army was at its most successful, it was almost only a few dozen meters away from the position of the Fourth Infantry Division.

However, it was first hit by a large amount of concentrated artillery fire, and then by the naval gunfire of the Pacific Fleet at sea, making it almost impossible for the artillery unit of the Second Army to form any counterattack.

What's even more tragic is that a naval gun shell hit the largest artillery position of the Second Army. This shell not only caused the Second Army to lose more than ten artillery pieces, but the explosion of the shell caused by it also caused the entire artillery position to collapse. Turn into ashes.

After this war, the Second Army's more than 200 artillery pieces were reduced to just over 50, and they were all small-caliber artillery pieces that were easy to maneuver.

Using such artillery to tear apart the fortress at Port Arthur is like a daydream.

But no matter what, the battle reports must be reported. The island country's rear command must also grasp the latest battle results so that it can formulate updated plans based on these results.

Although he must admit the defeat of the war, General Aobao Gong, under the advice of his subordinates, changed his faulty command into an enemy ambush, claiming that the enemy had at least 50,000 troops north of Lushun, and the number of artillery exceeded Five hundred doors.

It was precisely because of more than twice the artillery suppression, coupled with the support of the enemy's navy, that led to General Obaogon's "defeat".

General Obogong also mentioned in his report to the rear headquarters that although his own troops suffered heavy losses, they also caused tens of thousands of casualties to the enemy.

General Aobao Gong said confidently that as long as he was given another 20,000 troops, he would be able to conquer the enemy's position and successfully reach the Lushun Fortress.

Although General Aobao Gong did not know whether the rear command believed his report, at least his position was not dismissed, and he also received a certain amount of additional troops.

A week after this encounter, the island country divided all landing forces into the Manchurian Army and established the Manchurian Army General Headquarters, with Marshal Oyama Iwa as the commander-in-chief.

After integrating all the landing forces, the island country once again dispatched an army of 30,000 people, and the First Army and Second Army that had already landed before, forming a total Manchurian Army of more than 60,000 people.

Moreover, these 30,000 new troops are all equipped with Gew98 rifles from Germany, and most of the machine guns and artillery are also produced in Australia.

In order to prevent the Pacific Fleet from providing artillery support to the Russian Army again, the navy was also dispatched for this island nation's army operation.

Of course, the purpose of the island nation's navy is not to fight another naval battle, but to contain the Pacific Fleet so that they have no time to worry about anything else.

In early June, the Manchurian Army's Second and Third Armies once again arrived in the north of Lushun and met the 4th Infantry Division again.

This time the Fourth Infantry Division has been strengthened. The Russian commander of the Liaodong Peninsula Stessel once again sent a division of 18,000 people to defend the northern part of Lushun.

It's just that this division does not have as advanced weapons and equipment as the Fourth Infantry Division. Most of their weapons and equipment are produced in Russia.

Although on the surface the ratio of the armies of the two sides was 36,000 to 60,000, in fact, half of the Russian army was deployed as a reserve force ten kilometers behind the position.

This also means that the Russian army on the frontal position has only one division, less than 20,000 people in size.

On the premise of ignoring the powerful firepower advantage of the CA-1 cannon, the Russian army on the battlefield is at an absolute disadvantage.

Moreover, the CA-1 cannon can only cause damage to relatively dense troops. Once the enemy is loosely distributed, the CA-1 cannon is more of a deterrent.

And the artillery attack range of the Second Army and the Third Army is much farther than the CA-1 machine gun.

With advance preparations, the island country's artillery can easily suppress the Russian artillery, and the war is no longer like the last time, where the island country's army was ruthlessly crushed.

General Fokker was instantly startled by the superior firepower, and he quickly contacted the troops in the rear to come for support.

But the reserve troops are stationed ten kilometers away, and it will take at least two hours to arrive.

Could the Russian army successfully hold out for two hours? Especially when both firepower and numbers are at a disadvantage.

The actual answer is no. Because the Combined Fleet restrained the Pacific Fleet, the Russian army did not receive any fire support.

This also made some Russian soldiers who were still hopeful suddenly despair. Facing the enemy's menacing offensive, the Russian soldiers once again felt the long-lost panic.

By the time the reserve troops ten kilometers away successfully arrived, most of the Fourth Infantry Division had been damaged and was evacuating toward the rear.

The current position has been lost, and it is naturally impossible to counterattack back. The Russian army could only evacuate the northern part of Lushun with a disappointed look on its face, and evacuated in the direction of the Lushun Fortress.

Marshal Dashanyan was very satisfied with the results. Although the Manchurian Army also lost more than 6,000 people, and thousands more were slightly or seriously injured.

But at present, the forward positions in the northern part of Lushun have been eliminated by the island country, and they can finally see the strong Lushun fortress.

At this time, within the Lushun Fortress, the Russian side was divided into two groups on how to solve the island country's offensive.

Led by Stessel, the commander of the Russian army in the Liaodong Peninsula, he hoped to regard the Lushun Fortress as the final defensive position.

Only an army of about 50,000 people was needed to hold the Lushun Fortress for more than two years.

This is Stessel's confidence, and it is also the most conservative method at present. Judging from the strong fortress of Lushun, it is not a problem to hold on for two years.

As long as the Pacific Fleet does not lose its advantage, the Lushun Fortress will be able to receive continuous material support from the Port of Lushun, and it will not be difficult to hold on for longer.

So the question is, can the Pacific Fleet maintain its advantage?

At least Kondrachenko, commander of the Port Arthur Ground Forces, doesn’t think so. It's not that he doesn't believe in the Pacific Fleet and Vice Admiral Makarov, but Kondrachenko feels that rather than leaving the fate of Port Arthur in the hands of the navy, it is better to let the army personally defend and control it.

Kondrachenko insisted on using the favorable terrain outside Lushun to establish a strong line of defense outside Lushun.

This will not only ensure that the Lushun fortress and port will not fall into the hands of the islanders, but also eliminate the need to risk everything like holding on to the Lushun fortress.

If the Lushun Fortress is held fast, the Russian army's purpose is really to hold on. But if the purpose is to hold the outer defense line, the Russian army will still have the opportunity to counterattack, and it can also ensure that no logistics supply lines are cut off.

As the saying goes, county officials are not as good as the current ones. Although Steser, the commander of the Russian army in the Liaodong Peninsula, apparently has a greater official position and power, in fact, the person responsible for commanding Lushun is still Kondrachenko, the commander of the Lushun ground forces.

Under the command of Kondrachenko, the Russian army used the terrain to form a relatively solid defense line about 20 to 30 kilometers outside the Lushun Fortress.

The two northern divisions that retreated, as well as the original garrison division of Lushun Fortress, totaled three divisions of 54,000 people. More than 40,000 people were deployed on the defense line outside Lushun, forming a relatively solid defense line, which was also the main force of Lushun Fortress. The last line of defense.

After this line of defense, except for the Lushun Fortress itself, there is basically no line of defense to stop the island country's army from encircling the Lushun Fortress.

The Russians seem to understand this and understand the importance of the Port Arthur Fortress and Port Arthur to the situation in the Far East.

In addition, there is indeed no retreat, and behind them is the crucial Lushun Fortress. The Russians burst out with a sense of belief and successfully blocked the island country's army at a line of defense thirty kilometers north of Lushun.

The island country's offensive was also temporarily stopped. Apart from the offensive and defensive defense of this line of defense, the Far East seemed to have fallen into a brief period of tranquility.

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