Lin Moran watched his soldiers endure hard in the heavy artillery of the Russian army with heartache. The Russian army seemed to want to smash all the shells onto the position. Many of the fortifications built by the soldiers' trousers were destroyed by artillery fire. On the front line, the soldiers responsible for monitoring the Russian army walked through the rain of bullets and dodged flexibly. The overwhelming artillery fire quickly caused considerable casualties to the officers and soldiers of the 66th Division, and the wounded were constantly carried down.

After two hours of raging artillery fire, the Russian army began to extend the artillery fire. Through the telescope, Lin Moran was startled by the scene he saw. The dense Russian army swarmed up among the ruins of the city. Lin Moran made a brief estimate. The Russian army used at least two regiments of troops to launch an assault on the front position.

"Order the artillery to fire!" Lin Moran decisively ordered that the light mortar battalion of the 66th Division and the mortar troops equipped by each regiments launched artillery fire intercepts on the Russian offensive forces. The high-morning Russian army didn't care in front of the artillery interceptor and continued to advance. The Russian small-caliber artillery also began to suppress our mortar troops. After the Russian army advanced within 150 meters, the shooting on the frontier positions began, and a large number of Russian troops were defeated, but the Russian army still bravely moved forward, relying on the dilapidated buildings in the city as cover, our army launched a close-range gun battle.

The Russian army launched a crazy attack on the city of Elazade without regard for casualties. At noon, the Turkish army could no longer withstand the battle. The Russian army invested two divisions of troops on the left wing position for a turn of attacks. The relatively backward Turkish army positions were constantly broken through, becoming a gap in the entire defense line. The Turkish army, which had low morale, was boosted after receiving reinforcements from the 66th Division, but the remaining Turkish army could only barely piece together into one division, with a force of more than 6,000. Although the Turkish army also carried out desperate resistance, it still could not stop the Russian army's advance. The Turkish army even transferred all the reserves, but still failed to change the situation. In desperation, the Turkish army asked for reinforcements from the 66th Division.

At this time, Lin Moran was also complaining. After a morning of battle, although the Russian army failed to break through an inch of the position, the two regiments of 267 and 265 on our front positions had already suffered one-third of the casualties, and some companies were even exhausted, and more than a dozen platoon-level officers were sacrificed.

Faced with the Turkish army's request for reinforcement, Lin Moran wanted to refuse, but considering that the two sides were fighting in concert, once the Turkish army was defeated, the right wing of the Chinese army was completely exposed to the Russian army. Lin Moran was so cruel that he sent a regiment's reserve team over. After the 366th Regiment arrived at the Turkish army's defense line, he launched a counterattack at the request of the Turkish army. The counterattack effect was good. The decline of the Turkish army's continuous retreat was curbed, and the entire defense line was basically stabilized.

Street fighting is difficult for both sides. The soldiers on both sides often entangled in small areas to fight, so the power of the Russian heavy artillery is greatly restricted.

The most cruel part of the battle was the position defended by the 265th Regiment. In one day, the Russian army launched more than 40 attacks on the position of the 265th Regiment. At 4 pm, one-third of the position of the 364th Regiment had fallen into the hands of the Russian army, and the 265th Regiment was reduced by more than half. Liang Zheng, known as the commander of the scholar, also personally led the guard company to the front line and rushed to the front line many times, and his arms were also hung on his colour.

Liang Zheng graduated from the eighth class of Shanghai Army Academy at the age of 38. He was the top scorer in the unified examination in Zhejiang Province. He gave up the opportunity to study in famous universities such as Yanjing University and joined the army, which became a good story for a while. Liang Zheng was a scholar, but the soldiers he brought out were extremely brave. The 265th Regiment was also a unit known for his bravery in combat.

The battle is extremely cruel. The two sides often compete repeatedly for a small position. The Russian army's tenacious fighting will show has to amazed the Chinese soldiers. At present, Liang Zheng's hands no longer have a reserve team, and the guards have been sent to the front line, but that's the case. After a day of battle, the front-line positions are still in constant emergency.

Liang Zheng had not closed his eyes for several days. He marched from Mosul to Elazze. He only squinted in the car a few times on the way, and he had no chance to sleep when he arrived at Elazze. After a day of hard fighting, Liang Zheng and his 265th Regiment were gritting their teeth and persevering. Liang Zheng, who had a strong personality, did not speak up and asked the division commander Lin Moran for reinforcements.

The sky gradually darkened, and the Russian army's fierce attack gradually eased a lot, slowly stopped. Elazer, filled with smoke, rarely appeared in the West for a moment of tranquility. The powerless setting sun swept through the ruins all over the ground, and the curling smoke floated in the sunset.

Liang Zheng picked up the phone, dialed and said, "Teacher Commander? I am Liang Zheng."

Lin Moran didn't know how many phone calls he made to inquire about the situation in one day, but Liang Zheng always answered: "No problem!" The more he answered like this, the more Lin Moran knew that the pressure faced by the 265th Regiment was so great that the Turkish army had asked for help, and the 267th Regiment on the right wing was also constantly in a hurry. However, Lin Moran believed in Liang Zheng, and he said that there was no problem, so there was no problem.

Lin Moran said: "What's the situation? Can you still hold on?"]

Liang Zheng thought for a while and said, "Please give me a reinforcement from the company. I want to launch a counterattack at night. Always being passively beaten is not the style of our army."

Liang Zheng received reinforcements. That night, the Russian army, who had been fighting hard for a day, was still resting. Liang Zheng organized a suicide squad to launch a sudden attack on the Russian army and regained three positions in one fell swoop.

The 66th Division of China was struggling to support it, and the Russian army was not having a good time. After a day of fierce fighting, the Russian army suffered even more casualties. One of the two regiments responsible for attacking the front positions basically disappeared. One of them could only barely gather the strength of one battalion, and the other regiment suffered more than half of the casualties. The losses on other positions were not small, and the two divisions attacking the Turkish army were also constantly reporting. The Turks were like crazy, and they refused to give up any position easily, and often fought to the last one. After a day of battle, the Russian army lost nearly 5,000 people, but they only advanced 200 meters. The only thing that was said was that the Chinese army also appeared on the positions of the Turkish army, which showed that the Turkish army had basically been destroyed and could no longer support its own line independently. This also showed that the Chinese army had fewer Chinese soldiers to defend.

After three days and two nights of march, Chen Yang and his troops finally walked out of the desert. In the small town of Holmes, Chen Yang stopped moving forward and rested for three hours. After the convoy replenished freshwater and food, the troops continued to move forward. After asking the guide, Chen Yang realized that there were at least a thousand kilometers from Holmes to Elazze, and Chen Yang's heart sank suddenly. Just half an hour ago, he received a telegram from Chen Yucheng that the 66th Division was in a tough battle in Elazze, facing at least two Russian troops. According to the Russian army's organization, the Russian army should have 6 divisions, each with 13,000 people, so the 66th Division and The Turkish army faced 80,000 Russian troops in Elazze. Chen Yucheng also informed Chenyang in the telegram that the number of Turkish troops was less than 7,000 when the 66th Division arrived. This means that the current defensive forces in Elazze should be 18,000 of the 66th Division and 6,000 of the Turkish Army, 24,000 to 80,000, almost 4:1. Chenyang is not optimistic about the future of the 66th Division. The only thing he can do now is to ask his own troops to advance as fast as possible. Fortunately, he has walked out of the desert and the road to Elazze is said to be easy to walk.

Another day of battle began. Under the supervision of Grand Duke Nun Laevich, the Russian army launched a desperate attack on Elazade. 80,000 to 20,000 yuan, and it took one day to advance 200 meters. For Nun Laevich, compared with the previous record, this was simply a shame. Nun Laevich had to sigh that the combat effectiveness of the Chinese army is worthy of being one of the strongest countries in the world.

The Russian army's crazy attacks lasted for another day. During this day, Lin Moran used all the reserves, and even his own guard battalion reinforced the positions of the 265th Regiment. But even so, the Russian army advanced more than 800 meters in overall. Now only one-quarter of the entire Elazade is still controlled by the Middle-Turkey Army. However, the nearest reinforcements, the Mixed Brigade of Chenyang and the International Allied Army of a Division, are still far away in Gaziantep, and it will take one day to arrive at this point. However, Lin Moran's 66th Division has reduced its personnel by more than half, and the Turkish army has only 2,000 people.

The Russian army suffered shocking casualties on this day, with the number of casualties reaching a whole division, and the Russian army can be said to be exhausted. However, what made Nun Laevich confident was that the reinforcements from the two divisions he drew from Sivas had arrived. Tomorrow will be the last day, and maybe it will take Elazer to half a day.

What shocked the nun Laevich still happened. The 66th Division, which had already lost most of the losses, organized a full-scale counterattack overnight. Lin Moran organized all the civilian personnel and the logistics personnel of the agency, pieced together a unit, and allowed all personnel on various positions to fight to join the battle. Although the Russian army was prepared for the night attack by the Chinese army, it still failed to resist the fierce counterattack of the 66th Division. After a night of battle, the Russian army was defeated more than 300 meters.

On the third day, the Russian army launched a crazy attack again, and the morale of the reinforcements was greatly boosted, while the Chinese army could only rely on tenacious will to support it. According to the war report reported by the German army, the German-Turkish coalition forces fell into a more passive state in the Battle of Dardanelles, and the Russian army in Sivas was also attacking fiercely, but the Turkish army could barely resist it. This is the situation now. Elazze must defend it, otherwise once the Russian army occupied Elazze and then turned back to reinforce Sivas, the consequences for the entire Near East battlefield would be unimaginable.

Lin Moran also knew clearly that the 66th Division must stick to the day at least. Chen Yang repeatedly asked that the 66th Division must stick to the darkness no matter what, even if there is only a small foothold in the city.

The Turkish army has been completely impressed by the fighting spirit of the Chinese soldiers in the past two days. Inspired by the tenacious fighting will of the Chinese soldiers, they also tried their best and devoted themselves to the battle. After two days of fighting, the Turkish army had only 1,500 troops left, and the 266th Regiment, which cooperated with the Turkish army's defense, also reduced its personnel by three quarters.

On March 20, 1895, on the third day of the 66th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force's defense against Elazade, the division commander Lin Moran issued an order known as a classic in the history of our army: "I inform all troops that there will be no reinforcements, the position is our grave. Whoever retreats, kill!"

It was difficult for the entire Erazhe to find a decent building in the Russian army's artillery fire for three consecutive days. After half a day of hard support, the 66th Division now only controls one-fifth of Erazhe's place, and the division headquarters has moved to the mosque to the west.

Another round of heavy artillery bombing. Ten minutes later, the Russian army launched an attack on the position of the 265th Regiment. Liang Zheng had only one guard next to him. All the personnel of the regiment headquarters were sent out, and the political commissar also went to the position of the Third Battalion to supervise the battle. Liang Zheng now has less than 300 soldiers, and it is 2:10 pm, and there are about 4 hours left before dark.

The phone rang, Liang Zheng picked up the phone and a sentence came from it: "Report to the regiment commander, the political commissar died, the third battalion commander also died, and there are only eight of us on the position."

Liang Zheng answered for a long time: "I understand!" But at this time, only the rumbling explosion was heard on the phone, and another round of attack from the Russian army began. 20 minutes later, Liang Zheng's guard shouted loudly: "Captain, the enemy is here." Liang Zheng picked up the Chinese Type 1 semi-automatic rifle beside him and rushed out of his command post with the guard. Half an hour ago, a bullet penetrated Liang Zheng's abdomen. After Liang Zheng urgently bandaged the guard, he picked up the gun and fired. After another 10 minutes, a bullet hit Liang Zheng's head. The splashed blood turned into a strange color under the oblique sun. Liang Zheng fell back, and the eyes on the bridge of his nose flew out. The lenses hit the rubble and fell into pieces, refracting colorful light in the sun.

The sky finally got along. Lin Moran looked at the darkening sky and silently told himself that another day had passed. Now Lin Moran's division headquarters is at the forefront, and 50 meters ahead is the last position of the 66th Division. The 18,000-man 66th Division, except for the heavy artillery regiment and heavy mortar regiment, had not arrived, and there were only more than 500 left in all the troops, including more than 30 Turkish officers and soldiers.

The Chinese soldiers resolutely implemented Lin Moran's order. The position was his own grave. No one retreated or surrendered. All the positions had reached the last one. Now it was dark, but the Russian army was still attacking. After Lin Moran sent the last telegram to Chen Yucheng, he also took out his pistol and walked out of the command post. Behind him were his chief of staff and two staff members. The political commissar of the division had already fought on the front position.
Chapter completed!