I'm sure of the prosperous age of Kangxi and Qianlong!

Chapter 564: Vulnerable Yakutsk

(Gan, the latest layout cannot be sent out, it is said that I violated the rules, and the illustrations cannot pass the review)

"Boom boom boom!"

Sun Ruhai did not order the camp to be set up, but directly ordered the gunners to fire.

In order to facilitate transportation and land routes, the Ming army did not carry many artillery, but only some mortars and small-caliber Tiger Crouching Cannons.

More than a dozen Tiger Crouching Cannons were lined up on the river bank and concentrated on shelling the fragile city wall of Yakutsk.

The city walls of Yakutsk are very fragile. How fragile are they?

Just say it! This place was probably captured by the indigenous people a few decades ago, and they directly destroyed the city wall and killed the city of Yakutsk.

The city wall here is basically an earth wall combined with a wooden village. It is difficult to face the attack of the indigenous people, let alone artillery. There is also a bastion structure inside the castle, but the overall structure is so fragile that it cannot be seen at all. It can only serve as a defense against the attack of the natives.

It's not that the Cossacks didn't want to build a fortified city. The problem was that it was too cold here. It was freezing to death most of the year, and the soil was also semi-frozen.

During the short one or two months every year when the temperature warms up, all the indigenous slaves have to be driven out, and as many potatoes as possible are dug while the soil is soft, and they also have to grow food and the furs of the indigenous tribes.

Otherwise, not to mention those indigenous tribes, even the Cossacks themselves may starve to death in the following winter. How can there be any spare time to organize manpower to build the city?

The entire Yakutsk Castle is said to be the central core of the Eastern Siberian Warlord District, but except for one with its back to the Lena River, it is not even as good as the county seat of Ming Dynasty China.

Decades ago, these Cossacks crossed the Waixing'an Mountains and came to Ninggu Pagoda, which was used by the Qing Dynasty to exile criminals. They all lamented that it was too rich, and then they came up with the idea of ​​​​grabbing land in Heilongjiang, which directly triggered the subsequent Battle of Yaksa.

Sun Ruhai had no intention of sparing artillery shells. Under the continuous bombardment, Yakutsk's city wall soon became unable to withstand it.

"No, the wall on the north bank is going to be blown open!"

Some Cossacks exclaimed that in the section of the earthen and wooden city wall on the north bank that was bombarded, in just over ten minutes, the surface earth and stone layers began to collapse, and the entire city wall structure became shaky.

The Yakutsk warlord who had climbed onto the city wall was irritated: "Where did these enemies come from? They brought so many artillery and troops. Don't they know that this is the territory of the great Russian Empire?"

After careful identification, the secretary said: "Your Majesty the Governor, these troops seem to have come by boat from the south. Could they be Khitans from the south? I heard that the Khitan Empire has now had a new emperor, and the original Manchus have been replaced by Khitans. People were driven away.”

The Yakutsk warlord roared: "Those damn Khitans, the great Russian Empire and the Manchu Khitans fought in Yaksa decades ago. If our supply logistics hadn't been unable to keep up, the entire Amur River (Heilongjiang) basin would have been destroyed long ago. This is our Russian land. These Khitans actually dare to go north to attack the Russian Empire’s governor’s castle.”

The secretary reminded: "The Manchus and the Khitans do not seem to be the same nation. They have been driven away by the Khitans, so it is the Khitans who want the Yakutsk Castle now. Moreover, there is simply not enough food in Yakutsk. The city wall will never be able to withstand the Khitan artillery for too long. Either abandon the city and break out of the siege, or defend the castle...or surrender to these Khitan people, just like what happened in the battle of Yaksa decades ago."

Abandon the city and break out? None of the people here, including those Cossacks, are fools. Summer is about to end, and with the temperature plummeting, a hasty breakout will definitely not take away much food and fur.

The Yakutsk warlord shook his head: "We can't break out. If we break out now, we won't be able to escape Lake Baikal at all. We will all starve to death and freeze to death on the way. Surrender is even more impossible. It's too cold here. Even if we feed the Khitans outside, There are not enough troops. If we surrender, we will definitely be killed by the Khitans and we will have to defend the castle."

"Boom~bang~~!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the section of the earthen and wooden city wall close to the north bank, facing the Ming army's artillery fire, was finally overwhelmed and collapsed.

The Ming army's artillery fire still continued. Only one gap was not enough to launch a general attack, and the artillery shells brought by the navy had not been finished yet. The Cossacks on the city wall were frightened and fired back with all their strength, but their artillery was even less than what the Ming army brought. There are only a few of them, and their caliber, power and range are all inferior to the Ming army artillery. It is simply used to deter surrendering indigenous tribes, and sometimes it may not necessarily be a deterrent.

Sun Ruhai was so high in the rear, looking at the distant city wall with a telescope. The Cossacks were panicked under the bombardment and unable to fight back: "With such poor quality, this can be regarded as an army, and it can still be in the north." The land has expanded thousands of miles. Doesn’t it matter that the king of you Rakshasa people doesn’t care about it?”

Besikov was smart and did not correct the statement that the king should be the emperor (the emperor of the tsar is not the same concept as the emperor of China), but explained along the way: "The Cossacks were not originally an army, but serfs who escaped from the kingdom. . In order to evade taxes, these serfs went to the Far East to explore and explore. Because it was too remote and cold, it was not valued by the domestic nobles and kings. They only valued it for transporting domestic furs. These Cossacks opened up land in the Far East. They can also launder their identity in the country. The country also needs these Cossacks to look after the land here and continue to plunder and transport furs to the country."

Sun Ruhai said: "Are they just bandits and bandits who have been recruited? No wonder their fighting ability is so poor. Your Rakshasa king really doesn't know what is good and what is good. Now that we have opened up territory and expanded our territory, we naturally have to send troops and officials to garrison and govern. , but let the bandits who were recruited to stay continue to be in charge."

Although the Ming Dynasty's army does not yet have the concept of a military academy, it has already begun to carry out literacy campaigns in the army.

It is certainly impossible for the entire army to be able to read and write, and this is simply not possible at present, but those who can become officers must be able to read and write. They are not all required to be scholars, but they must at least be able to read military order documents and issue military transfer orders on their own.

Besikov actually wanted to say that if it hadn't been for the failure of the Battle of Yaksa and the Tsar no longer investing too much energy in the Far East, I'm afraid the Far East might have changed.

Besikov smiled apologetically and said: "The general is right, but it is also because this place is too cold and remote, so it cannot support too many people. And there are no valuable resources here. Letting the Cossacks manage this place is a waste of time." Cost-effective idea.”

This is the difference in concept. Tsarist Russia only regarded Siberia as a colony to obtain fur, and it could also stabilize the domestic serf resistance.

Even though Tsarist Russia dared to fight the Manchu Qing in the Battle of Yaksa, from the beginning to the end Tsarist Russia never thought of ruling this place as its territory. The trigger of the Battle of Yaksa was even the Cossacks' fancy for the "richness" of Heilongjiang. ".

Sun Ruhai did not argue with the other party. Only these Rakshasa barbarians could calculate the short-term economic value and benefits brought by the land.

"Boom~bang~bang~~!"

While the two were talking, they saw that large sections of the Yakutsk city wall collapsed under the constant bombardment.

Many Cossacks on the city wall could no longer hold on and began to flee. Even the Yakutsk warlord saw that the situation was not good and hurriedly ran down the city wall.

Because he saw with his own eyes that a Cossack who wanted to run away was suddenly crushed to death by a lump of soil that was frozen and harder than stone, and his head was dented.

The outer civil and wooden city wall could no longer be defended. Even the bastion was bombarded by Ming artillery and was damaged beyond recognition by the shells. The Cossack artillery had long been abandoned.

Seeing that the city wall was almost destroyed, the Ming army's artillery shells were also almost consumed.

Sun Ruhai put down his telescope, drew his sword and ordered: "The whole army attacks the city!"

The Ming army was still in formation, but the thousand-man Sauron army had already launched a charge, completely forgetting about discipline and military formation.

They hated those Cossacks so much. In the Battle of Yaksa decades ago, countless Sauron tribes were burned and looted by the Cossacks. Regardless of the Daur people, the Sauron people, the Oroqen people, etc., they all have a blood feud with the Cossacks.

(End of this chapter)