It was snowing heavily outside the military tent, and the weather was so cold that dripping water turned into ice.
In the military tent, the situation was tense and divided into two groups, glaring at each other.
Fourth Army Chief of Staff Fu Xiucheng and Cavalry Division Representative Zhang Wansi disliked each other and their tone was cold.
Cai Gong Wu Jie looked at the performance of the two people, but he did not interfere in this matter.
The infantry and cavalry were divided into two groups due to different interests.
Fu Xiucheng's faction advocates uniting forces in Central Asia and continuously eliminating the effective strength of the Russian army through positional warfare.
Zhang Wansi's group advocates taking advantage of this opportunity to not only fight back the Russians, but also to have the empire take control of Central Asia.
Cai Gong and Wu Jie knew the views put forward by both parties, and the advantages and disadvantages were obvious.
Fu Xiucheng wanted to use positional warfare to continuously consume the strength of the Russian army and gain opportunities for the Fourth Army and the Nineteenth Army.
Positional warfare is beneficial to the performance of infantry, but it restricts cavalry and can only assist infantry in combat.
Zhang Wansi and other cavalry generals certainly did not want to be just auxiliary troops, they wanted to become the main offensive force.
They proposed spreading cavalry divisions over the vast steppe areas of Central Asia.
The cavalry division consumes the strength of the Russian army, the cavalry division encircles the Russian army, and the infantry does the final finishing work.
The military achievements achieved by these two tactics, infantry and cavalry, are vastly different.
The two arms of infantry and cavalry must have a main attack force.
The terrain in the northwest region and the complicated logistical supplies made it impossible to support the two armies, so they all chose to attack mainly.
At that time, the two armies were unable to coordinate their operations because they were concerned about one thing and not the other. This was also a taboo for military strategists.
As the commander-in-chief of the northwest battlefield, he cannot favor any side until the situation is clear.
Otherwise, once there is a gap between the two armies before the war.
Victory in this war will come at a huge price.
Cai Gong Wu Jie attaches great importance to this war. This is a hurdle for him to cross from a duke to a king.
Su Xiong and Li Dazhuang's results were indeed outstanding, but Wu Jie didn't think that he could even compare to Su Li.
It's just that Su Li got more opportunities than him.
Basically, these people are veterans who followed Emperor Su He to conquer the world.
He was born into a military family in the Ming Dynasty and joined the army halfway.
If you want to be crowned king as a general, you must show military merit that can be questioned by banquets and people.
The Great China Empire and Russia, a Western country, went to war for the first time.
If he fought well in the northwest battlefield, everyone would be able to shut up, and he would be crowned king smoothly.
Cai Gong Wu Jie has received the news that Qu Tian, the deputy chief of staff, has arrived at the camp as the emperor's special envoy.
Wu Jie was not prepared to play the role of a villain, so Qu Tian was more suitable.
He has sent Han Shuliang to meet Deputy Chief of Staff Qu Tian.
When the two men were arguing most intensely, Qu Tian would also arrive outside the door.
Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi saw Wu Jie had no reaction, and their attitude was the same as before.
They all believed that Wu Jie was asking the two of them to speculate first, and that he was supporting the one with the upper hand.
Fu Xiucheng said in a contemptuous tone: "Mr. Zhang, you have to recognize the reality clearly.
Your cavalry is now out of date. Our infantry only needs machine guns and barbed wire, and a few thousand troops can kill tens of thousands of cavalry.
The main function of cavalry on the battlefield is to do miscellaneous tasks.
You assist us in attacking, this is the best choice."
Zhang Wansi's face turned red and he yelled angrily: "You idiot Fu, you fart.
Russia still has a large number of Cossack cavalry, and now the cavalry is still the main force.
You think I don't understand the makeup of Western armies.
The musketeers, who were mainly infantry, used the tactic of lining up to kill.
Supplemented by cavalry and artillery, they formed the western military formation."
Fu Xiucheng immediately interrupted Zhang Wansi's words.
"Yes, yes, you are absolutely right.
You are also talking about Western-style cavalry and infantry.
That's what I asked for, no problem at all."
Zhang Wansi became even angrier and shouted loudly: "Fart! I haven't finished speaking yet.
This is a normal battle and needs to be adjusted according to the terrain.
Look at the terrain here in Central Asia, the vast grasslands.
This kind of terrain is most suitable for cavalry combat.
You infantrymen are slowly using trench digging tactics. How long will it take to end this war?
You must know that every day the war lasts, tens of thousands of taels of silver coins are spent to maintain it, so why spend such wasted money."
Fu Xiucheng was so angry that he slapped the table and said: "You useless cavalry are the only ones who spend money unjustly. Who can say that money is wrongly spent?"
Zhang Wansi was not surprised, he also banged the table.
"I dare to issue a military order to deal with the Russian army in five months.
Do you dare to issue a military order?"
Cai Gong Wu Jie saw that the two parties were obviously getting angry, and he thought why Qu Tian hadn't arrived yet.
Now that he has stopped trying to break up the fight, his anger will dissipate and it will not have the desired effect.
The sound of leather boots hitting the ground could be heard outside the door.
A serious voice sounded.
"I thought you were preparing for war, but I didn't expect you to be quarreling here.
It's late December now, half way through winter.
You don't organize and prepare for war, but you have quarrels over your own worries.
If you don’t want to fight, I will transfer it back to you and replace it with a strong army."
Cai Gong Wu Jie saw Qu Tian walking in wearing a woolen coat and a dog-skin hat.
He finally let go of the thought he had been thinking about.
"I was disappointed when the Chief of Staff came to the front line. I will personally apologize later."
When Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi saw that Qu Tian, the deputy chief of staff, was arriving, they immediately shut up.
Step forward to welcome Qu Tian, who is the deputy chief of staff of the General Staff Department of the Metropolitan Governor's Office and has the power to mobilize troops.
It would be really unlucky to make Chief of Staff Qu dissatisfied and transfer them away from the battlefield.
Seeing the warm reception of these people, Qu Tian waved his hands and said: "I came to the northwest front line on the emperor's order to solve the problem for you.
I see that you have a big problem here, so you don’t need to think about entertaining me first.
Let me help you analyze the problem first and try to solve it as best as possible.
If it cannot be solved, I will ask His Majesty and Governor Feng to help you solve the problem."
Wu Jie immediately came over and smoothed things over: "Chief of Staff Qu, this is just a minor disagreement between us. There is no need to alarm His Majesty."
Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi had fine sweat on their faces in the cold winter months.
"Small differences, we all have small differences." The two said in unison.
Qu Tian walked to the upper hand position, pulled over a stool and sat down.
He folded his arms and asked condescendingly: "What kind of small differences could make the two counts have such a fierce quarrel regardless of their feelings."
Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi looked at each other. They knew that after the arrival of Chief of Staff Qu Tian, the balance they had maintained before had been broken.
If Chief of Staff Qu Tian supports one side, Commander Wu Jie, who is hesitating, will not object.
After all, the two sides have almost the same chips, so Commander Wu Jie does not favor any side. Commander Wu Jie can accept whoever has the upper hand.
Fu Xiucheng was the first to react, and he immediately said: "The two of us mainly have differences in tactics for fighting the Russian army.
Our infantry's opinion is to focus on trench warfare, using our army's powerful firepower to continuously consume the Russian army's effective strength.
After the Russian army was exhausted, our army was launching a counterattack.
In order to achieve this tactic perfectly, we need to unite Kazakh and other tribes, cooperate with the cavalry division on the grassland, and drive the Russian army into our army's pocket formation."
Zhang Wansi followed up and said: "Trench warfare is suitable for the defenders, but it seems too cumbersome.
The border of Tumu Prefecture is long and narrow, and the Russian army may not invade at the border of Tumu Prefecture.
Our army should turn from passivity into initiative and use powerful cavalry divisions to continuously reduce the Russian army's combat scope.
The cavalry division surrounded the Russian army in a dangerous area, and the infantry took advantage of its firepower to encircle and suppress the length of the Russian army.
In order to prevent Kazakh and other tribes from surrendering to the Russian army, we should first clean up this third party and drive them out of the battlefield."
Chief of Staff Qu Tian listened to what Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi had to say.
He immediately saw through the meaning hidden in their words.
The two of them represent the infantry and the cavalry, competing for the task of the main attack.
When Qu Tian learned about this situation, he smiled.
In the military, it is normal for two armies to compete for tasks, even if they yell at each other.
When he was at the grassroots level and competing for tasks with his superiors, he would blush and bang the table constantly.
Qu Tian's tone became softer and asked: "Tell me about your respective advantages."
This time Zhang Wansi was the quickest to speak, and he said: "Chief of Staff Qu, Commander Wu. We all know the advantages of the two armies, so there is no need to say more.
Let me tell you a piece of history.
During the Tang Dynasty, the Tang army was so powerful that they also fought here in Tumufu to compete with the Dashi army at that time for Central Asia.
In the crucial battle, the local tribes counterattacked, causing chaos in the Tang army's formation and directly ruining the Tang army.
As a result, the Tang Dynasty lost the Western Region forever, and it was not until the empire sent troops that it took over this area again.
Non-my family, its heart must be different.
In this crucial war, we cannot let foreigners act as a weight for victory.
These alien races will serve our army because the empire is powerful and provides them with certain benefits.
The Russian army can also take out these benefits, and these aliens will inevitably rebel.
They cannot mess up our army, but they will also leak our army's intelligence and make the Russian army more vigilant."
After Zhang Wansi finished speaking, he immediately relaxed when he saw Chief of Staff Qu nodding his head.
Fu Xiucheng saw that the situation was not right, and he immediately said: "Our army should use our own strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses.
Our army is good at firearms, so this war should be fought around firearms.
The foreign races are afraid of threats but not moral. As long as our army maintains a strong deterrent force, these foreign races will never dare to be half-hearted."
Deputy Chief of Staff Qu Tian looked at Cai Gong Wu Jie and asked: "Master Wu, have the Kazakh tribes surrendered to the empire?"
Cai Gong Wu Jie shook his head and said: "The Kazakh tribe did not submit to the empire.
We support a force of the Kazakh tribe and become the chief of the Kazakh tribe.
After supporting Chief Asha to ascend to power, he sold them some firearms so that the Kazakh tribe could resist the threat from Russian Cossack cavalry.
The Kazakh tribe has always served as a buffer zone between the empire and Russia.
Neither the Empire nor Russia had the motivation to break the status quo before."
Qu Tian looked at Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi with a smile and said: "The tactics you are currently arguing about are still missing an important piece of the puzzle.
The empire does not yet know the situation of the Kazakh tribe.
We will take advantage of this winter to find out the attitude of the Kazakh tribe so that we can choose which direction."
When Cai Gong Wu Jie heard what Chief of Staff Qu Tian said, he knew that Chief Qu Tian chose which army to attack based on the choice of the Kazakh tribe.
Qu Tian is more suitable to be this judge, but he is not suitable. After all, he is the commander of the Fourth Army.
No matter what the result is, he will bear great infamy and affect the command of the army in the subsequent war.
Chief of General Staff Qu Tian has no such concerns. He can make arrangements for the army based on the best situation.
Qu Tian saw these people understood what he meant.
He ordered: "We cannot decide on such an important matter with just a few words.
Call a meeting of all officers at division level and above to jointly decide on this important matter in the northwest theater."
When Cai Gong Wu Jie heard that Qu Tian was going to do this, he said helplessly: "We don't have the conditions to hold a general military meeting here.
The Tumfu-Balkhash Lake defense line is thousands of kilometers long, and officers are distributed everywhere.
The 19th Army is even further away from Wulianghai. They are even further away from Tumu Mansion. There are also huge mountains like the Kunlun Mountains in between, making the road extremely difficult to travel.
By the time they get here, winter will have already passed, and there is no point in discussing the results."
Qu Tian, deputy chief of staff, pointed to the telegraph machine in the room.
"Everyone needs to be flexible. Nowadays, there are abundant communication methods. Why do we need interviews?
We sent a report to all the troops and asked for their opinions."
When Cai Gong and Wu Jie heard that there was another way, he immediately ordered the guards to call the director of the telegraph office and asked him to make arrangements according to the instructions of the Chief of Staff.
The telegraph operator was ready, and Chief of Staff Qu Tian first conveyed Emperor Su He's will via telegram.
Encouraging the frontline soldiers to fight bravely against the enemy, he promised that when the war was over, the court would give him huge rewards.
During this time, Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi had written a brief tactical arrangement and sent it via telegram.
The telegraph machine was ticking. This method of holding a meeting was slower, but it also allowed people from far away to join the meeting through telegraph lines.
Qu Tian first received telegrams from various branches expressing their determination.
They swore to defend the glory of the Royal Army of China and the dignity of the Empire of China.
Then came the opinions of the garrison troops in various places on these two plans.
Qu Tian read telegrams from various places and found that, not surprisingly, the attitudes of infantry and cavalry were completely different.
The infantry supported Fu Xiucheng's plan, which focused on stability.
The cavalry supported Zhang Wansi's plan and chose to take the initiative to attack.
Military merit touches people's hearts, and these plans chosen by Advent are all plans that make it easier for them to obtain military merit during the war.
Deputy Chief of Staff Qu Tian looked at Fu Xiucheng and Zhang Wansi and ordered: "All armies in the northwest battlefield generally support your two tactics.
The empire's tactical arrangements depend on the attitude of the Kazakh tribe.
You send envoys to the Kazakh tribe to inquire about the opinions of the tribal chief."
Qu Tian directly cut the knot with a sharp knife. He suggested sending an envoy to find out the attitude of the Kazakh tribe first.
Get the attitude of the Hasak tribe and support infantry or cavalry according to the actual situation.
After Deputy Chief of General Staff Qu Tian finished this matter, he went to the telegraph room and sent a telegram to the capital through the telegraph operator he brought.
He summarized the issues that came to mind along the way and asked the court for supplies, such as putting cotton jackets on the war horses to prevent them from being harmed by the cold.
At the same time, he reported to the court the situation of the army in the northwest battlefield.
