In front of Nicholas II, General Ivan and General Jilinsky, the chief of staff of the Russian Army, blindly emphasized that the Russian army had a total of 500,000 troops in the Far East, which was enough to defend important Far East such as Boli and Vladivostok, so that Nicholas II could rest assured.

However, in fact, General Yijijilinsky hid a lot.[]

Since the day China and Russia declared war, the total strength of the ten fronts of the Chinese Empire, 300,000 troops entered the Ergun River, Heilongjiang, and the south bank of the Ussuri River, and fought against the river with the opposite Russian army.

From November 4, 1901 to December 28, the Chinese Empire Army always adopted a defensive posture. The two sides only broke out more than a dozen artillery battles and water battles between the inland fleets on the river surface, and no large-scale offensive and defensive operations occurred.

During this period, the Chinese Empire's army suffered a great loss in the artillery battle with its absolute advantage in the number of artillery wars. In addition to the total of 1,080 cannons provided by each army, the First Front Army of the Chinese Empire also directly under the jurisdiction of an independent artillery division with 300 155mm heavy howitzers. In contrast, the Russian army's infantry artillery in the Far East was only 450, and the maximum caliber of the artillery was only 120mm. After two months of artillery battle between the two sides, the Russian artillery suffered heavy casualties, and the number of artillery dropped sharply to 240. The Chinese Empire only lost less than 22 artillery pieces, with a war loss ratio of 11:1. The Russian artillery suffered a great loss.

Because the Russian army pursued a defensive strategy, Alekseyev used most of the funds to defend the fortresses against Berli, Nibchu and Vladivostok. The number of Russian fortress artillery reached 660, of which Vladivostok Fortress artillery was the largest, up to 375, which was the sum of the number of artillery artillery in the other two fortress artillery.

These three fortress artillery are powerful and close to the border. The First Front Army of the Chinese Empire once tried to send a small group of troops to cross the river to infiltrate, but was soon fired back by fierce artillery fire and all the operations failed.

It is precisely because of the existence of these three powerful fortresses that the Chinese Imperial Army dare not cross the river and launch an attack, which makes Russia's Far East not too much threat for the time being.

However, this situation changed with the victory of the Korean Peninsula Battle and the Imperial Empire's Second Front Army and the Third Front Army, and the Imperial Empire's Navy wiped out the Russian Far East Fleet.

The General Staff of the Chinese Empire quickly drew the Second Front Army and the Third Front Army from the Korean Peninsula to prepare for a reactionary attack on Russia's Amur Prefecture and the coastal Krai.

Among them, the Fourth Army, the 19th Army, the 22nd Army and the 25th Army of the Chinese Empire had more than 120,000 people moved to the direction of Nebchu. On January 2, 1902, the Battle of Gilalin was launched, defeated the Russian Caucasus Third Corps and successfully passed through the Ergun River. Since the Third Corps of the Caucasus had just been transferred from Europe to the Far East, there were too few people and horses and insufficient preparations. Under the raid of the Chinese Empire, it collapsed for hundreds of miles and lost a large amount of supplies. In the end, it had to retreat into the Nebchu Fortress and nearby areas, relying on the artillery fire of the Nibchu Fortress.

It is considered to be stable. However, the railway lines from Nebchu to Boli and Vladivostok were all destroyed by the Chinese army, making it impossible for the Russian army to take trains to Vladivostok and Boli. In this way, more than 200,000 Russian Caucasus Third Corps were blocked in the direction of Nebchu, and they failed to break through the blockade of the Imperial Army in a short time and failed to move forward. The two sides confronted the military line on the front line of the Nebchu Zhurkan River. Most of the Russian Caucasus Third Corps lost their supplies and could not be supplemented in a short time, and the Imperial Army on the opposite side did not intend to attack the Fortress of Nebchu.

A part of the Second Front Army of the Chinese Empire broke away from the Korean battlefield and entered the Linjiang area of ​​Jilin Province from North Hamkyung, North Korea. On January 5, he launched the Linjiangkou Battle with the Third Army, the Ninth Army and the 33rd Army of the First Front Army, and the Northeast Jiang Defense Fleet. The Northeast Jiang Defense Fleet launched the Linjiangkou Battle for the first large-scale inland river battle since the outbreak of war with the Russian Amur Fleet. After three days of war, the Amur River Fleet was defeated and retreated to Vladivostok in the lower reaches of the Ussuri River. In this battle, the Amur River Fleet lost fifteen gunboats and more than 30 torpedo boats. It can be said that the main force was lost more than half, and other ships were injured, and they could not recover their vitality in a short period of time. The Northeast Jiang Defense Fleet lost seven artillery destroyers, four lightning-striking hunting ships, and three gunboats, seizing the right to control the inland river in the upstream of Boli.

On January 9, the First Front and Second Front Army concentrated a thousand cannons to bombard the Russian army's river defense positions upstream of Boli, and defeated four Russian artillery battalions and destroyed the 13-kilometer river defense fortifications in the northern section of Wuyun Hei. On that day and night, the First Front Army and the Second Front Army, under the cooperation and cover of the Northeast River Defense Fleet, crossed the Heilongjiang River and captured Birobizhan on the north bank of Wuyun River at dawn on the 10th.

General Alekseev adhered to the principle of conservative combat and did not dare to fight the Chinese Imperial Army on a large scale in the field. Therefore, he ordered the Russian army in the Far East and the Second Caucasus Corps to retreat, build fortifications near the Boli Fortress, and use the firepower of the Fortress to carry out defensive operations.

In this way, the Russian army abandoned most of the western part of Amur Prefecture and retreated to Boli.

On January 15, five Chinese Imperial Army troops, more than 150,000 people crossed Heilongjiang, and then went south to surround Boli Fortress, besieging 120,000 Russian troops in Boli Fortress and more than a dozen surrounding towns.

At the same time, the other three armies of the Second Front Army were transferred to Hunchun, Jilin Province, and mainly attacked the Vladivostok fortress.

On January 9, the 16th Army of the Second Front defeated the Russian Yuanji First Army on Suifenhe and won the victory of the Suifenhe Battle. Subsequently, the Russian First Army retreated to Ussurisk (Shuangchengzi).

On January 13, the Second Front Army crossed the river from the upper reaches of Suifenhe River. Three armies planned to surround Shuangchengzi and annihilate the Russian First Far East Army. Alekseyev learned about the plans of the Chinese Imperial Army, so he ordered the First Army to abandon Shuangchengzi and retreat to Vladivostok. In the past, the Second Front Army occupied Shuangchengzi and sent the 16th Army to advance to Vladivostok the next day.

On January 18, the 16th Army of the Second Front was stubbornly blocked by the Russian army when attacking the No. 5 and E fortresses outside the Vladivostok Fortresses on the south bank of the lower reaches of Suifenhe. The 16th Army took three days to attack fiercely and sacrificed more than 1,000 people but failed to break the No. 5 and E fortresses of the Russian Army.

The Russian army's Vladivostok's defense system is very large. Since the Lushun Fortress, it has been known as the number one fortress in the Far East and Constantinople in Asia. Its main fortifications was completed as early as 1895. The subsequent improved fortifications are expected to be completed in 1904. At this time, after the outbreak of the Sino-Russian War, the Russian army has completed 70% of the emergency repairs.

Faced with the Russian army's strong fortress and fierce fortress artillery, the Second Front's siege fortress artillery had not yet been transported across the river. Although the artillery regiments of each division had 155mm heavy howitzers, they did not have much effect on the main fortifications of the Russian army. Obviously, the Russian army learned the lessons of the 152mm heavy howitzers at that time in the last Sino-Russian War, and the Russian soldiers in the fortifications were prepared.

The Second Front Army then suspended its fierce attack on the Vladivostok fortress, and only carried out artillery bombardment on the fortress every day, adopting exhausted tactics, which made the Russian army unable to eat well and sleep well. The real killer weapon was still in the Third Front Army.

After the Third Front Army captured Ulsan, the General Staff believed that the Third Front Army had valuable experience in the fortress offensive and defensive war. In addition, the Third Front Army could detour Russia's rear from the sea to carry out landing operations, and the Air Force Airship Force was also assigned to the Third Front Army. Under various conditions, Liang Huadian and his Third Front Army became the main attacking troops of the Vladivostok fortress designated by the General Staff.

On January 5, the Fourth Navy of the Imperial Chinese Navy sent a surveying ship to conduct reconnaissance on the waters near Nahodeka. On the 12th, after the survey of the naval surveying ship, the water depth in the waters near the eastern part of Nahodeka Bay met the requirements of the landing ship and the beach area was moderate, so landing could be carried out. Subsequently, the main ship of the Pacific Fleet launched a bombardment on the Russian guards of Nahodeka. In three days, fifty tons of shells hit Nahodeka, razing the entire Nahodeka to the ground.

After the scorched earth battle was completed, the Third Front Army of the Chinese Empire began to land in Nakhodka in the old days. General Alekseyev, the commander of the Russian army, was shocked when he learned about the situation. Once Nakhodka was lost, the Chinese army would surround Vladivostok from the back and cut the connection between Vladivostok and the Russian hinterland, so he immediately sent the Third Far East Army to reinforce Nakhodka.

But at this time, the Second Front launched another fierce attack. As a last resort, Alekseyev had to send the 5th Division of the Third Army to reinforce, and other units of the Third Army remained in Vladivostok.

The Fifth Division of the Russian Army left Vladivostok to reinforce Nahodka, but due to the geographical conditions of the coastal harbor, the troops could only advance along the seaside side of the Sikhot Mountains. After the demise of the Russian Far East Fleet, the sea control power had been completed and controlled by the Imperial Chinese Navy. In order to cover the successful landing of the Third Front, the Imperial Chinese Navy had already expected the Russian reinforcements, so they waited on the sea surface of the Voikino Bay near the narrow coastal highway east of Fokino.

In the past, when the Russian Fifth Division arrived in Fokino, more than 30 warships of the Chinese Empire Pacific Fleet immediately fired shells at Fokino. As each ship had already corrected the shooting elements at the highway location, most of the shells during the volley landed on the highway and near both sides of the highway, causing heavy casualties from the Russian army.

The Russian Fifth Division tried many times to pass quickly during the interruption of artillery fire in the Pacific Fleet, but they all failed. In the end, the Russian Fifth Division gave up reinforcements to Nakhodka after paying the price of more than 3,000 people.

The Fifth Division of the Russian Army tried to hold on to Fokino and block the Chinese Empire's army from approaching Vladivostok, but soon the Pacific Fleet began to adjust its muzzle and smash the shells at Fokino. Two days later, Fokino was razed to the ground. At this time, the Fifty-second Army of the Third Front of the Chinese Empire had completed its landing and began to attack Fokino.

With the cooperation of the Pacific Fleet, the Fifty-Two Army launched a fierce attack on the Russian Fifth Division, which was defending Fokino. The Chinese Empire army seemed generally optimistic about the tactic of charging as the artillery fire just extended. The artillery fire on the frontier positions of the Russian Fifth Division had just extended, and before the Russian army could enter the position, the Chinese Empire army rushed up. After a tragic hand-to-hand battle, more than a thousand Russian troops guarding the frontier positions were wiped out and the position was lost.

The Fifty-two Army continued to launch a fierce attack with the remaining power of breaking through the position, and the Russian Fifth Division lost the second and third lines of defense one after another.

On the afternoon of the 21st, the headquarters of the Russian Fifth Division was shelled by the Imperial Chinese Navy. As a result, more than 20 officers below the division commander were killed and the Fifth Division lost command. That night, the Imperial Chinese Army launched a fierce attack, and the Russian army was in chaos because of lack of command and began to be defeated from the second half of the night.

At dawn on the 22nd, the Chinese Imperial Army occupied Fokino. The Russian Fifth Division paid a price of more than 12,000 people, but ultimately failed to defend Fokino. Thousands of remaining Russian troops fled back to Vladivostok.

On February 1, 1902, on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month of the Chinese Empire, the 150,000 troops of the Third Front Army of the Chinese Empire arrived at the rear of Vladivostok after completing their landing in Nakhodka Bay, with 30 343mm siege cannons and 15 airships of the Air Force.

At this time, one week before the Lunar New Year of the first year of the Chinese Empire, the General Staff issued an order to take down Vladivostok before New Year's Eve.

After the Second Front Army Commander Duan Qirui and the Third Front Army Commander Liang Huadian met, they decided to cooperate again, and the two major fronts jointly seized the Vladivostok Fortress like capturing Ulsan Fortress.

However, Vladivostok is much stronger than Ulsan Fortress. Ulsan Fortress was built later and was captured by the Imperial Chinese Army before the main project was completed. For Vladivostok, its main project had been completed long ago, and the accompanying upgrade project has been completed. Most of the firepower is much stronger than Ulsan Fortress.

On February 1, Duan Qirui once again took an airship to fly over the Vladivostok for reconnaissance.

On the same day, the two major fronts of the Chinese Empire concentrated more than 2,000 infantry artillery and 30 large-caliber fortress siege artillery teams. The Vladivostok fortress carried out violent bombardment. The main ships of the Second Navy Pacific Fleet entered Peter the Great Bay, Ussuri Bay, and Amur Bay respectively to carry out maritime artillery bombardment on Vladivostok and cooperate with the army's operations.

The sound of cannons roared and the smoke filled the gun.

The entire Vladivostok was filled with the whistling of artillery shells and the sound of explosions. The Russian army's strong fortifications were immediately blasted to pieces, and many places with poor quality and cutting corners were immediately blown up. The Russian army also had a very tenacious resistance, with more than 300 fortress artillery fired and counterattacked, and a great battle of artillery began.

Considering the fierce problem of the Russian fortress artillery, Duan Qirui and Liang Huadian agreed that it would not be easy to send large-scale ground troops first because a large-caliber fortress shell was enough to destroy a company's scattered line.

After research, the two decided to use army artillery and naval artillery to suppress the artillery fire of the Russian army fortress to dispatch small units of company-level platoon-level scattered troops, open up brigade-level scattered troops, and attract and consume Russian ammunition reserves.

Therefore, the Chinese Empire's army was in a company and platoon, and the situation was similar when chasing the Russian army on the Korean Peninsula. A company's troops pulled out a brigade's front line and straggler line to attack the Russian fortress.

The defenders in Vladivostok were afraid that the Chinese Empire's army would rush into the fortress, so they had to risk artillery fire to come out of the underground fortress shelter and enter the fortifications to defend in the fortifications.

The artillery fire of the Chinese Empire's Navy and Army was extremely fierce, causing heavy casualties and injuries to the Russian army. Especially the large-caliber 305mm main gun of the Pacific Fleet, one shell fell into anger within a radius of 100 meters.

The artillery battle lasted throughout the day. At night, the Chinese Empire sent airships from the air to throw bombs and gasoline incendiary bombs at the Vladivostok fortress. As in the battle at Ulsan fortress, the entire Vladivostok was suddenly trapped in a sea of ​​fire and smoke, with fire burning and burning the sky and thick smoke covering the sky.

The Chinese Empire army increased its troops at night, from company platoons to regiment battalion level, but the scattered troops were still very large, reaching the division level scattered troops, in order to reduce shock casualties and attract and consume more Russian troops and ammunition.

After the Vladivostok fortress fire was fired at night, its gun position quickly became loud, and the thick smoke of the fortress guns when they fired was very clear, which made it easy for the Chinese Empire's navy, army and air forces to correct the bounce points, allowing more shells to fall accurately into the Russian fortress gun positions, paralyzing the Russian fortress gun fire. At the same time, the gun positions of the Imperial Chinese Army often changed, making it difficult for the Russian fortress guns to be aimed at. Naval warships have been sailing and have changed their navigation at any time, so the Russian army's fortress guns are even more difficult to capture. For the airship airship, the Russian army is simply helpless. In the dark sky, even if the Russian army removes the rapid-fire cannon and changes it to air-to-air anti-aircraft cannons, they cannot see the target position. Moreover, because they do not have the sights and shooting experience in air shooting, the huge airship can still avoid it freely.

From the day Vladivostok was surrounded, General Alekseyev's contact with the outside world was interrupted. The Chinese Empire's military shook Vladivostok's communication telephone lines and cables, while the Russian radio system had limited transmission distance. In addition, the cold climate in Siberia in winter, the contact signals with Moscow were sometimes good and sometimes bad, and sometimes interrupted for up to 28 hours.

Faced with the fierce offensive of the Chinese Empire's army, Alekseev knew very well that judging from the current military deployment of the Chinese Empire, a typical tactic of blocking and rescuing the Russian reinforcements in the direction of Nibuthu and Boli, and landed from the hinterland behind Vladivostok, hoping to capture the Vladivostok fortress before more Russian reinforcements arrived.

Alekseyev knew very well that once the Vladivostok fortress was lost, the Russian army would lose its support point in the Far East, and the coastal harbor, Amur Prefecture, and the northbound states would all fall. And the second naval reinforcement fleet planned by the Russian government would also lose its foothold in the Far East and would not be able to come. In that case, the Russian army would lose its advantage in Far East combat.

Of course, victory or defeat is only a line of separation. In Alekseev's view, the Chinese Empire's army dispatched more than half of its elite troops to attack Russia, and is now being restricted near Nebchu, Boli and Vladivostok. If these three fortresses cannot be captured in a short period of time, then after the arrival of the Russian Hundred Sons reinforcements, the Chinese Empire's army will be trapped in a counter-encirclement. At that time, the Ergun River, Heilongjiang, Ussuri River and the eastern seas would put the Chinese Empire's army in a passive situation of fighting against the water. Therefore, Alekseev did not blindly choose to defend. He seemed to have learned a move from the Yongping Military Exercise of the Chinese Empire and the Queshan Military Exercise, defensive counterattack. Of course, the classic battle examples of Napoleon's defeat in Russia were always an example for Russian generals...
Chapter completed!