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

Chapter 566 Garrison in Yakutsk

The reason why Yakutsk was so easily captured by the Ming army was not because the Ming army was too strong, but simply because the combat effectiveness of these Tsarist Russian Cossacks was too weak.

Decades ago, the Qing army was able to win the Battle of Yaksa between Qing and Russia because the Eight Banners in the early Kangxi period were not strong enough, but because the Cossacks in Yaksa were too weak.

At that time, the Yaksa Castle had only 450 Cossacks, 3 small cannons, and 300 matchlocks. The city walls were also made of wooden fences, so there was no danger to defend them. The surrounding Daur tribes were all informing the Qing army during the fighting, but the Cossacks of Yaksa did not realize that they could not escape until the Qing army surrounded them.

In this way, the Qing army fought extremely ugly. 2000 Eight Banners Army and 500 Fujian Tengpai Navy were nearly six times the force advantage. However, they suffered heavy losses from the Cossacks. In the end, the Cossack commander Tolbuzin realized that he could not hold on, so he surrendered and asked for an armed withdrawal with food.

Such an outrageous request...well, Emperor Kangxi agreed.

Moreover, after the Cossacks withdrew from Yaksa, they did not destroy the Castle of Yaksa, and not even a single soldier was left in the garrison.

Then, the more than 400 Cossacks who retreated with these armed forces brought 500 reinforcements supported by Nerchinsk the next year, and the expeditionary force of nearly a thousand people came back again.

Sun Ruhai promised that the military pay of the soldiers who stayed behind voluntarily would be doubled. This was also a benefit given to him by the emperor.

Staff officer Jiang Yang made a round and came over and said: "General, no one is willing to stay, even if the military pay is doubled. It is too cold here, even colder than Heishuitun Port."

You can’t say that birds don’t poop in this wretched place like Yakutsk. Even if there were birds to survive here, they would have to be frozen into ice sculptures.

Sun Ruhai had a headache. He also felt that this poor place was cold, remote, and useless. But now that it had been conquered, it was the territory of the Ming Dynasty, and it was definitely impossible to let it go. After thinking for a while, he said: "Since no one is willing to stay, let's draw lots to decide! Two thousand people were drawn by lot to select 100 people to stay and garrison. However, those left by lot will still have their military pay doubled, but they can only enjoy it during the garrison period. It is rotated every three years and returned to Heilongjiang before returning to its original state."

Jiang Yang added: "According to the Besikov Rakshasa man, the cold here is even worse than that of Heishuitun. Even if the Cossacks stay here, people may freeze to death every year. So you can't change your defenses once." If you want to replace all the sexes, you can change half and keep half, using the old to bring in the new. This can increase the survival rate of the local garrison."

Sun Ruhai nodded: "You are right, we can't all be replaced. We have to cooperate with the local indigenous people in Heishui Village to survive, and we need veterans to lead us here. Let's do it! There is no need for a three-year rotation, just 50 people are rotated every other year, and a batch can be rotated every two years, allowing veterans to lead the rotation of new recruits and teach them survival experience. Also keep Besikov as the translator here, and he can also Guide the survival experience of the first batch of troops stationed here."

Jiang Yang said: "It should be so. We should also contact the indigenous people here. I asked Besikov about it along the way. Although the bitter cold here is worse than the Heilongjiang Basin, there are still many indigenous people surviving. These indigenous people are good at making Reindeer sleigh. I specifically asked what reindeer were, and he said that they are a special kind of deer that can survive in the cold snow and frozen soil. Their fur is very thick and they are very large, comparable to war horses.”

From Heilongjiang to Yakutsk, the territory of three thousand miles in the middle is not without people. There are a large number of Siberian indigenous tribes living here. Because they are good at domesticating and driving reindeer, they are also called the Deer Department in China.

The Cossacks mainly relied on these indigenous tribes to obtain their furs, or even sent troops to rob them. Not only did they rob furs, but they also robbed people as slaves for farming and digging potatoes, which could also be used as food reserves at critical moments.

Sun Ruhai was quite surprised: "There are actually such a herd of deer, which are as big as war horses and can run in the cold snow. Can we use this to train a reindeer cavalry?"

Jiang Yang didn't know how to answer, so he had to say: "In short, these indigenous people in the frozen soil of the North can communicate with each other. They are afraid of the Cossacks because the Cossacks slaughtered them and robbed their furs. But my Ming army will not do this. At that time, you can cooperate with these indigenous people and ask them for their survival experience. You can even provide salt, tea, ironware and other supplies in exchange for purchasing some furs and meat. This will also ensure the supply of meat for the troops stationed here. Otherwise, it will all depend on Heilongjiang. The annual transportation by river will bring enough food, but the meat may be insufficient, and the consumption will be too large."

Sun Ruhai said: "That's true. It's still too troublesome to transport grain and grass from Heilongjiang. We can let the garrison here cooperate and communicate with the indigenous tribes. But the grain that should be transported every year still has to be transported. The exchanges with the indigenous tribes can only be said to be Additional reserves. We also need to collect as much information as possible about Cossack castles. Although we now have maps, these maps are not necessarily correct. We still need to verify with the indigenous tribes. Even if these castles are captured and pulled out, the local people can The indigenous tribes instigated rebellion and appeasement.”

Jiang Yang drew inferences and said: "We should also petition the imperial court to exile some serious criminals to Yakutsk. Those death row criminals who were originally going to be beheaded can be exiled to Yakutsk. They are all capital crimes anyway. No. There are too many exiles needed, as long as hundreds of Han people can be maintained here. It doesn't matter even if some of them die. They are all death row prisoners and it is impossible to go back to the south." Sun Ruhai nodded in agreement: "This is feasible. Let them intermarry with the local indigenous tribes and multiply, and within a few decades, there will be thousands of Han people here, and the rule will gradually become more stable."

To put it bluntly, it was the same routine used to exile and colonize Australia. However, those exiled were all criminals, not all death row inmates, and even the criminals were caught at random.

Anyway, under the Industrial Revolution, Britain's small mainland island country could provide a large number of unemployed people, and these unemployed people could be used to become "criminals"!

Sun Ruhai and Jiang Yang talked to each other and quickly perfected the strategic plan here. It was really that this poor place was too cold and remote. Not only can it not support much of the population, but the people who stay here are, to put it bluntly, tantamount to exile.

Letting the Ming army station a hundred people here, and they have to rotate every three years, is already the limit. If more troops are stationed, not only will there be insufficient food, but the soldiers will not be willing.

As for the castles further north that the Cossacks built, they still have to go back and report to the court to see how they can be defeated?

It’s already so cold in Yakutsk, and further north it’s almost close to the Arctic Circle. Most of the land is permafrost, which cannot be exploded with explosives. I don’t know how the Cossacks and local indigenous people survive. down.

However, even if the Ming court wants to fight, it must consider the reality. It is definitely impossible to send another three thousand troops to attack thousands of miles. This time it is purely due to lack of experience and the Ming army is too cautious.

As a result, the combat effectiveness of these Cossacks was so poor that Sun Ruhai even felt that if he gave himself a battalion of troops, he could finish off all these Cossacks.

More than half of the three thousand soldiers of the Ming Dynasty Expeditionary Force were solely focused on participating.

If we continue to move north to remove the Cossack castle strongholds next year, it will most likely be led by the Yakutsk garrison, with the Heilongjiang Navy providing support.

The main force of the Navy will also be stationed in Heilongjiang for a long time in the future, acting as a mobile force. By the way, it is also a transport and supply fleet, transporting food and baggage to Yakutsk every year.

On that day, the Ming army drew lots and determined the 100 men who would stay in the garrison.

Sun Ruhai personally promoted one of the selected team officers as the temporary garrison officer of Yakutsk City, and waited until he returned to Heilongjiang to report for formal appointment.

The team officer was feeling quite uncomfortable at first, but now that he heard that he had been promoted, he didn't know whether to be happy or cry.

Sun Ruhai arranged everything and left behind a large amount of food and baggage, as well as the fur grain originally stored in Yakutsk Castle.

These supplies are enough for the remaining garrison to survive the cold winter and wait for the Ming army's warships to go north to transport food next year.

Sun Ruhai led the remaining troops and took a boat back south to Heilongjiang while the river was still frozen.

(End of this chapter)