The first thousand five hundred and eighty-nine chapters go to Hami
In August of the twenty-eighth year of Xuanping, it was the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On this day, people all over the Tang Dynasty were decorated with lanterns and colors to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.
On the Western Front, the officers and soldiers of the Fourteenth Army and more than 30,000 railway workers were still fighting on the railway front.
Because time is tight, the railway needs to be built to Hami before the winter temperature comes. It is best to leave time to attack the city, so that Hami City can be captured before winter comes, and then directly spend the winter in Hami City.
Therefore, since the launch of the Western Expedition, the soldiers and railway workers on the front line have never been idle, especially the railway workers who have undertaken the main construction tasks. They are actually more servants than the soldiers of the Fourteenth Army.
The officers and soldiers of the Fourteenth Army actually only helped to build roads, but their main task was to protect the railway lines. Therefore, with the construction of the railway, the Fourteenth Army began to gradually deploy troops to stay in the rear.
This kind of stay is not fixed, but will be rotated with the troops building roads in the front. Basically, one army will build roads in the front for half a month, and then be arranged to garrison in the rear to protect the railway.
This can prevent the soldiers from being too tired. On the other hand, it can prevent the soldiers from building roads for a long time and being unable to train, which will lead to the deterioration of tactical skills. Arranging garrison tasks at intervals can also allow the troops to restore their combat effectiveness.
This rotation strategy can allow the troops to maintain combat effectiveness and also allow the soldiers to become exhausted.
But the same cannot be said for the 20,000 to 30,000 railway workers. They are here to build roads, and time is tight. They often start working at dawn and only stop when night falls.
Although the workers employed by the Railway Corporation are all bodyworkers and hard-working farm men, and they can still maintain the same treatment as military officers in terms of food, they cannot withstand continuous months of hard work.
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Therefore, starting last month, the Railway Corporation also adopted a rotation policy, recruiting workers from the rear and sending them to the construction site, and then transferring the front-line workers back. Otherwise, if it continues like this, workers may die of exhaustion.
Case.
The task is urgent. Even though today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, the construction sites on the front lines are still busy. At most, they only provide food and snacks.
But for some troops of the Fourteenth Army stationed in the rear, this Mid-Autumn Festival is still somewhat interesting.
Bi Zhian led the troops for another rotation. After working on the frontline construction site for half a month, he was transferred back to the rear for rest and garrisoning in the early Mid-Autumn Festival.
Bi Zhi'an was naturally very busy in the days after he returned from the defense transfer. He had to deploy the defense of the train station and arrange a large number of soldiers to stand guard along the line.
His unit is in charge of Railway Station No. 18. As the name suggests, this is the eighteenth railway station on the extension line of the Northwest Railway.
However, the train stations on the Northwest Railway Extension Line are different from those in the mainland. The train stations here can be said to be train stations, but they are better to be said to be fortresses on the railway line.
They are basically built on difficult terrain or near bridges, but the surrounding areas are basically deserted.
Railway stations generally have train parking lots, platforms, various warehouses, and barracks.
Its size varies depending on the importance of the train station. For example, Train Station No. 26, which is only fifty kilometers away from the front line, is a first-class station with parking lots, platforms, warehouses, and barracks all in size.
It is very huge, because this place is a strategic support point determined by the military, and it is also the material transfer station closest to the front line.
A large amount of materials, ammunition, grain and other supplies are stored there, and the force is quite strong. There is an infantry regiment, an artillery battalion, a cavalry regiment, and a baggage battalion. It is also the headquarters of the Fourteenth Army. The current commander
The military strength reached nearly 10,000 people.
This is only a standing force, and there are still a large number of troops at the surrounding Zhongsyrian stations that can support them at any time.
The No. 18 railway station where Bi Zhian is located is naturally not a large railway station, but a medium-sized railway station. It is also considered to be far away from the front line, so there are not many troops stationed there, only his battalion.
Even Bi Zhian's infantry battalion is not only responsible for this train station. The nearby No. 19 Train Station is also his defense area. However, the No. 19 Train Station is a small train station with a very small scale. Its trains
The main function of the parking lot is for railway dispatching.
In addition to being responsible for the defense of the railway station, his troops also need to be responsible for a total of 30 kilometers of railway lines before and after. They deploy sentries several hundred meters apart. Each sentry is assigned six people to stand guard. They are on duty in three shifts every day. Their daily tasks are
Keep an eye on the railway line to prevent Tatar spies from sneaking in and destroying the railway line secretly.
This 30-kilometer railway line requires more than 300 soldiers to stand guard along the line. There is also a team stationed at the 19th railway station, so the number of troops left at the 18th railway station is only more than 400.
Just people.
However, Railway Station No. 18 is a medium-sized railway station. As usual, there is an armed train stationed there. The armed train has more than 200 troops and dozens of artillery pieces.
On the northwest extension line, every medium-sized or above railway station will be stationed with armed trains, and an entire regiment of armed trains has been deployed on the entire extension line.
In addition, there are cavalry troops stationed on the perimeter, and scout cavalry patrolling the perimeter to keep watch.
In order to protect this railway line, the Fourteenth Army deployed a lot of troops.
The reason for arranging so many troops to garrison is impossible. In the past few months, the Tatars have not stopped. There have been Tatar cavalry activities along the railway for a long time.
In the past few months, there have been countless small-scale battles involving a few or dozens of people on both sides, and there have even been three or four medium- and large-scale battles between the cavalry of both sides.
In this kind of small and medium-sized battle, it is difficult for both sides to say that they have taken advantage, because this kind of small and medium-sized battle is full of too many surprises, and it relies more on the personal qualities of the soldiers and grassroots officers.
So in the final analysis, both sides are evenly matched.
Cumulatively, the Tatars suffered at least one or two thousand casualties, while the Tang army actually suffered thousands of casualties.
If such losses were placed in overseas operations, they would be huge losses, but for the war with the Tatars in the Western Regions, they are not worth mentioning.
Thousands of people were killed and injured on the front line, and they were immediately replenished at the back. This also kept the 14th Army and other units at full strength. I heard that there were also many soldiers from the garrison waiting to be replenished at the back.
More importantly, this kind of harassment operation did not have any impact on the strategic plan of the Tang Dynasty's Western Expedition Army.
The speed of railway construction has not slowed down at all. The person in charge sent by the Railway Corporation is very optimistic that in another month and a half at most, that is, by October, they will be able to build the railway to the city of Hami.
In other words, they built hundreds of kilometers of railways in just a few months!
Such speed is inseparable from the great power of the Tang Dynasty.
The Railway Corporation almost does not consider any cost, and a large amount of mechanical equipment is transported up. When the mechanical equipment breaks down, new equipment is used without saying a word, and even repairs are not temporarily repaired, but are thrown away first.
On the side, I will slowly arrange for people to repair it later.
When people are tired, reserve personnel in good physical condition are directly mobilized from the rear to go to the front line to build roads.
In short, when mechanical equipment breaks down, it is replaced, and when people are tired, they are rotated.
Even the Railway Corporation has specially developed several large-scale equipment for rapid railway laying.
The military is also in charge, for example, providing direct support for food.
Then he personally mobilized troops to help build roads. Although the troops did not understand these technical things, the soldiers were all young and strong men, and there was nothing to say about earthmoving operations.
It also undertook blasting operations. When it came to the hillsides, the military was too lazy to dig, and directly buried large amounts of explosives and blew them up.
When you encounter some canyons, rivers and other places where bridges need to be built, the military's pontoon bridge troops will directly come to the scene and build a steel bridge for you in just a few days.
Simple, rough and fast, these are the characteristics of the military and the railway company when building the Northwest Railway Extension Line.
It is precisely because of this that we can cultivate so quickly.
And as time gradually passed, the Mid-Autumn Festival passed and the Double Ninth Festival also passed.
When Bi Zhian led the troops and completed the construction task again, he originally thought that he would be transferred to the rear as before, but this time he got the transfer order.
Continue west, where to go?
Go to Hami!
After receiving the news, Bi Zhian was very excited. After working as a contractor for so many days, he finally had the opportunity to fight on the front line.
In mid-September, the front end of the Northwest Railway Extension Line was only 60 kilometers away from Hami City. This distance could no longer stop the Tang Army from deploying troops outside Hami City!
Although this distance is still relatively far, the Western Expeditionary Forces are also well prepared. They have prepared a large number of heavy four-wheeled carriages early. These four-wheeled carriages are transported to the front line by train, and then take on the last part of the journey.
Supply transport mission.
After Bi Zhian led his troops to march for a day, he met Ying Yikang again.
Ying Yikang was also very happy at this time, and even had a very good attitude towards Bi Zhi'an and other subordinates. You must know that in the past few months, Ying Yikang's mentality had not been very good, and he often cursed others.
Ying Yikang was in a good mood, naturally because he argued hard at the military affairs meeting the day before yesterday, even issuing a military order, and finally persuaded Lu Yuzhi to give his 31st Infantry Division a chance.
An opportunity to go to Hami City and participate in the siege.
And his 31st Infantry Division will be the four infantry divisions participating in the siege. It will even be the only infantry division under the 14th Army to participate in the battle.
Even the Fourteenth Division didn't get this opportunity!
Of course, it cannot be said that the 14th Division does not have this opportunity, but that they have a more important task, which is to protect the logistics line.
Protecting the logistics line in the rear may seem impossible to fight, but its importance is actually more important than attacking fortified areas, because the Tatar cavalry is not a vegetarian and is forced to a dead end. If they organize a large number of cavalry to attack railway construction sites and even logistics supplies
Standing is not impossible.
At that time, the main force will inevitably be needed to resist.
The 14th Division undertakes such a task!
But Ying Yikang didn't care about this. He only knew that he could finally go to the front line.
After staying up for several months, he finally got the chance, so as soon as he received the order, he started to assemble his troops and headed towards Hami City!