In the biting cold wind, soldiers at Xudong Fort in the northernmost part of Heilongjiang encountered a swarm of White Russian soldiers.
It was the eleventh month of the lunar calendar, which was already mid-December according to the Gregorian calendar of later generations. Xudong Fort was covered with thick snow, and everything was white. And those White Russians advancing in the snow were like a white background.
The black spots in it.
Bai Yi wore a thick animal fur coat, a fur hat on his head, and fur boots on his feet. He was armed to the teeth. In comparison, the soldiers in Xudong Fort only had thick cotton coats, and in such a winter they only had
Can fight indoors.
Once you get out of the room or stay outside for too long, your hands and feet will be frozen by the cold north wind.
However, the Baiyi soldiers were pressing down outside the bastion, and the soldiers had to go to the edge of the bastion and defend themselves with guns raised.
Seeing the soldiers of Xudong Fort leaving the buildings inside the fortress, the Tsar's soldiers were not in a hurry to launch an attack. They stood in the cold wind and quietly confronted the soldiers of Tianjin.
The soldiers in Tianjin stared at the European white barbarians from the far north, helpless. The north wind whistled above the fortress, and the cotton-padded clothes on the soldiers could not protect themselves from the pervasive cold air. Soon, the soldiers were
Trembling with cold.
"Move!"
"Move, don't stand still!"
However, even if the soldiers exercised desperately, the howling north wind outside at minus 15 degrees Celsius could not be resisted for a long time by cotton-padded clothes. After two hours of confrontation, the soldiers who were born in the pass were unable to bear the cold.
The platoon leader of Xudong Fort looked at his men shivering with cold and knew that the fortress could not be defended.
If we hold on any longer, more than thirty soldiers will freeze to death.
The Cossacks on the opposite side had no problem at all.
Gritting his teeth, the platoon leader shouted: "Let's go!"
Dozens of soldiers were relieved, rushed to the stables to get their horses, and fled south.
Outside Xudong Fort, the white Russians waiting for work seemed to have expected this scene. They gathered their warm and thick furs and walked slowly into Xudong Fort in the northernmost part of Heilongjiang.
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In the Tianjin Prince's Mansion, everyone stood in front of a huge map of Asia, analyzing the current situation.
As generals under Li Zhi, Zhong Feng and Zheng Kaicheng were both transferred back by Li Zhi. Now the Huben army can stay in Japan and North Korea to suppress the rebellion, but the generals who led the troops must come back to lead the army.
Li Zhi looked at the map, holding his chin in thought.
After thinking about it, Li Zhi took off on a mission.
There were no razors in this era, and shaving directly with a sharp ordinary blade would easily damage the skin, so Li Zhi had to grow a goatee like everyone else.
According to Zhong Feng and others, Li Zhi looked more majestic with a beard. However, with his hand on his beard, there was an uncomfortable feeling, which made Li Zhi think it was time to invent the razor.
However, a razor may seem simple, but in fact the processing accuracy is very high. It would be uneconomical to use the most sophisticated machine tools in Fanjiazhuang to produce razor blades.
Li Zhizheng was distracted, but was interrupted by the words of Defense Minister Hong Chengchou.
At this time, troops from home and abroad were pressing on the border, but other officials were not as relaxed and calm as Li Zhi. They all looked solemn, as if they might be invaded by the enemy at any time.
Hong Chengchou pointed heavily at the map and said: "Your Majesty, our ships have now transported the Tiger and Ben troops from various places back to the country. We have a mobile force of 63,000 people."
"These 63,000 people are the main force we can rely on. We must mobilize these 60,000 people to defeat 20,000 White Russian soldiers, 60,000 Jiangbei Army, and hundreds of thousands of gentry rebels, and then use these 60,000 people to cooperate with Mr. Li
The Yizi Battalion and the Samurai Army under the command of Four defeated 200,000 Indian soldiers."
After hearing Hong Chengchou's analysis, everyone's faces became more serious.
Today's military strength is insufficient and it can be said that it is stretched thin.
Gao Ligong suddenly stepped forward and said: "Your Majesty, I think the most urgent issue now is to defeat Belarus in the north."
"Jiangbei's army is still in southern Shaanxi. It is a four-thousand-mile road from there to the capital. Jiangbei's army drags its heavy artillery and can travel up to thirty miles a day. It will take Jiangbei's army four months to travel this four-thousand-mile road."
"Although the Mughal Humayun was powerful, it was five thousand miles from Delhi, India to Myanmar. Humayun's 200,000-strong army faced various supply problems. It would be good if he could reach Myanmar in five months. I think
Humayun needs half a year.”
"The White Russians in the north were originally stationed north of the Heilongjiang River, and their offensive across the river was very fast. Our people who have reclaimed the Northeast have begun to settle in Jilin Province. Jilin Province is only 1,500 kilometers away from the Xudong area where the White Russians cross the river.
Miles away, it only takes Belarus one and a half months to invade Jilin, so the situation is very urgent."
Hong Chengchou nodded and said: "If the White Russians are allowed to invade Jilin, I am afraid that all our people will be killed by the White Russians. All buildings and facilities will be destroyed. The Northeast we have worked hard to build for nearly six or seven years will be completely destroyed in one day. This
It’s the number one threat we face.”
Cao Yu, the general manager of the arsenal, said: "Then we will send our troops north first, defeat the White Russians, and then return to rescue the capital!"
The generals and staff in front of the map fell silent when they heard this.
Hong Chengchou shook his head and said: "It's already November now. The temperature in the Northeast, especially in Heilongjiang Province, has dropped to minus ten degrees, and the temperature at night is even minus twenty degrees. If we send troops to Heilongjiang, it will already be eleven by the time we get there.
At the end of the month, our biggest enemy will be the severe cold."
After Li Zhi invented the thermometer, he collected climate data in various places. As the Minister of Defense, Hong Chengchou had complete information and knew the situation in Northeast China very well.
Hong Chengchou said solemnly: "Most of our soldiers are from Tianjin, and even some from Shandong. Our cotton-padded clothes can allow the soldiers to go out occasionally, but if they are exposed to temperatures of minus ten degrees or lower for a long time, they will have to endure the cold wind.
In battle, I'm afraid our cotton-padded jackets won't be able to keep the soldiers warm."
"At night, you will freeze to death."
"Based on our experience fighting the White Russians in previous years, these European soldiers all have thick fur coats, and their thermal equipment is far better than ours. Moreover, the White Russian race is very cold-resistant and can withstand the cold far better than us Han people. So.
Belarusian soldiers can fight in the Northeast in winter, but our soldiers cannot."
Everyone was silent after listening to Hong Chengchou's analysis.
If the White Russians cannot be beaten back this winter, all the immigrants in Jilin will have to be evacuated. Those farmhouses, granaries and even train stations that took several years to trim will be destroyed by the White Russians.
Cao Yu slammed the table angrily and cursed: "Damn White Russians! Why are these Europeans so greedy that they come to our northeast?"
Gao Ligong took a breath and said: "The enemies we face this time are more powerful and more ferocious than before. I'm afraid we really have to evacuate people in Jilin and Liaodong this time."
After six or seven years of construction, Liaodong and Jilin have now become Li Zhi's big granaries. If the three northeastern provinces are destroyed, the losses will definitely be the most painful. When everyone said this, everyone was very sad, and some of them could not express their feelings.
Words come.
However, Li Zhi was not as worried and desperate as everyone else.
Li Zhi had ten thousand ways to deal with 20,000 White Russians.
Seeing that everyone was silent, Li Zhi smiled and went back to thinking about the razor.
However, Li Zhi's wandering mind was quickly interrupted by Zhong Feng.
Zhong Feng, the uncle of Zhenbei, raised his hands and said to Li Zhi: "My lord, last year I went hunting in Laoshan during the Chinese New Year. Didn't my lord say that I would make a batch of the most powerful cold-proof clothes this winter? My lord said at that time that these new clothes were extremely powerful and could make a lot of money."
It’s a big piece of silver. It’s already November, so it must have been finished.”
When everyone heard Zhong Feng's words, they all looked at Li Zhi.
If they had warm clothing, Tianjin's soldiers would be able to march into the Northeast with the transportation of railways and defeat the White Russians who took advantage of the cold weather to become arrogant.
Li Zhi looked at everyone and smiled.
Waving his hand, Li Zhi said: "Don't worry, everyone, this extremely cold weather is nothing."
Everyone's eyes lit up and they stared at the Tianjin Prince, waiting for the Prince to take out the treasure.
It has been established in one town and nine provinces that the prince descends from the stars. No matter what the difficulty is, the prince can find ways to overcome it. The prince can go up to the sky and into the sea, and can do things that ordinary people cannot. Maybe it is ten degrees below zero, or even twenty degrees.
The severe cold was nothing in the eyes of the prince.
Li Zhi waved his hand and asked the bodyguard to take out a piece of clothing.
The clothes were bulging and looked like a big cotton coat.
Everyone opened their eyes and looked at the clothes, and even touched them with their hands, but in the end they couldn't figure it out.
Gao Ligong asked curiously: "Your Highness, is this a cotton coat?"
Li Zhi smiled and said: "Director Gao, this is the down jacket invented by me! With this down jacket, you can go to both the Antarctic and the North Pole, not to mention the Northeast!"
