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

Chapter 656 Building the Wall High

The Ming army continued shelling for a day, and all the outer fortifications of the Cossacks' fort were cleared. Even the inner bastion wall is full of craters.

Even the city walls made of bluestone could not withstand such a close heavy artillery bombardment, let alone the sub-forts, which were simply built using local materials to defend the main fort.

Moreover, the area around Nerchinsk was full of nomads, and there were no artillery for siege. Most of the time, the Cossacks basically did not use bastions for defense, but relied on the bastion structure to lure nomadic tribes to attack the city, and then used this to kill and capture slaves in large numbers.

The current fortifications are still temporary additions to defend the Ming army. What kind of defense can you expect?

The next day.

The hot air balloon at the Ming army's position slowly rose into the sky, and the lookouts above cooperated with the gunners in the position.
Launched an artillery bombardment towards the dilapidated sub-fort on the other side of the river.

"Boom boom boom!"

The cannon fire roared, and the Cossacks in the fortress were powerless to resist.

The garrison strength of Zibao, including the Cossacks sent by the main castle, was only a little over a hundred in total, and there were almost more than 400 indigenous servants and slaves.

The artillery battle the day before had stunned these Cossacks. They were beaten unilaterally by various artillery pieces of the Ming army throughout the whole process, and they were unable to fire back even if they wanted to.

More than ten Cossacks died in the bastion fort alone. On the way, the Ming army's explosive shells kept falling on the city wall. Because they could not dodge, they were injured by the explosive shrapnel, or even killed altogether. .

After one day of fighting, the Cossack casualties reached more than 30 people, not including the indigenous vassal troops. No matter how many of them died, the Cossacks would not feel sorry. The worst that could happen was that they would just go to the various tribes to capture them again.

The casualties of thirty people were completely acceptable to the Ming army. After all, no one would die in a war.

But for the Cossacks, this was quite terrifying.

You know, there are only more than a hundred of them in total, and 30% of them went there in one day. What a fart!
The Ming army's artillery continued to bombard the east wall of Zibao. At the Ming army's position, many small ferries were carried from the rear to the river bank. They were preparing to formally cross the river to attack the city.

The Ming army only dispatched 5,000 regular soldiers, but there were many warriors from Sauron's tribes. Together with the Ming army, the total force could exceed tens of thousands.

A small ferry can only carry about ten people, so there are hundreds of ferries crossing the river to march.

The Jiangxinzhou where Zibao is located is only a dozen meters away from the Jiangxinzhou where the Ming army landed and camped. If it weren't for the need to conserve physical strength, and the cold water in the river, it would be inconvenient to swim while wearing armor.

The soldiers of the Ming army and the Sauron people didn't even need a ferry, they just jumped into the river and swam across.

After all, they are all troops stationed in Heilongjiang, and all of them have good water skills. The Ming army began to cross the river, and the distance of more than ten meters was no more than a stone's throw away.

"Hurry up and push the artillery over. Don't let these Khitans cross the river." The Cossack leader shouted loudly.

The rest of the Cossacks took courage and sent soldiers and servants and slaves to help adjust the artillery.

However, the Ming army had hot air balloons, and the situation of the Cossacks on the city wall could be clearly seen directly under the hot air balloons.

"boom!"

The Cossacks were just about to load the propellant, and the next second the Ming army's explosive shells flew over.

"Oh!"

The huge explosion directly shook the Cossack leader who was still urging orders not far away and almost lost his balance.

But it was the explosion of the explosive shells that detonated the gunpowder barrel next to the fort.

The few Cossack gunners who were responsible for adjusting the artillery were dead on the spot. The indigenous servants who were standing nearby were physically shattered to pieces. Those who were further away had better luck and just lay on the ground wailing.

On the river bank of Zibao, Sauron soldiers and Ming troops have landed one after another. They all form a team of several people and advance slowly against a huge lintel board.

This walking board is actually equivalent to a "miniature human-powered walking vehicle" without a body structure. The surface is covered with cowhide, the middle layer is a steel plate, and the inner layer is made of hard wood. It can withstand long-distance musket bullets, but it cannot stop artillery shells.

Some Cossacks led the indigenous servants and shot at the landing Ming troops and Saurons, but it was of no use at all. The bullets were all blocked by the board.

On the hot air balloon, a lookout saw the Cossack musketeers and immediately conveyed the message to the gunners in the position.

The Ming army's artillery was directly across the narrow river, aimed at the city wall with Cossack muskets, and bombed indiscriminately.

The accuracy of artillery in this era is insufficient, so concentrate fire and add shells to solve all problems.

"Boom boom boom!"

After a wave of bombings, most of the Cossack musketeers on the city wall were killed. A few lucky ones survived. Although they were fine and their ears were ringing, they opened their eyes and looked around and were frightened on the spot. The whole body was limp.

As far as the eye can see, there are stumps and broken arms everywhere, and a few are half dead, their limbs have been blown to pieces, their bodies are covered in blood and flesh, and they keep wailing in a low voice.

The native servant army could not bear it anymore and fled, leaving only the Cossacks to defend the city wall. This cannot be considered a war, it is just a unilateral massacre. Cossacks are also human beings, and as humans they will be afraid.

In two days, almost half of the Cossacks were dead, and the native servant army was also destroyed. Even if the Cossacks slashed and killed them, it was of no avail.

Seeing more and more Ming and Sauron troops landing on the river, the Ming army's artillery on the other side of the river even pushed out from their positions and suppressed fire at the bastion at close range.

The defense line collapsed, and the Cossack leader in the fort was unwilling to defend any longer.

While the Ming army was still gathering and did not attack the city immediately, this guy took the remaining dozens of Cossacks and abandoned the castle and fled north, where there was a ferry they left behind.

Shcherbabov watched the battle on the city wall throughout the whole process. He thought he could hold on for at least ten days, but on the second day, Zibao was captured by the Ming army.

Looking at the small boat rowing quickly on the river, he said to Vlasov: "Immediately send someone to take the boat back to Chita and urge the reinforcements there to come quickly. Don't be slow anymore, let alone divide the troops. The Khitans will not It is easy to deal with, and all superior forces must be concentrated to fight the Khitans. Also, Zibao has been captured by the Khitans. They will definitely cut off the upper river and let the reinforcements come directly overland and bring our artillery and muskets. "

Although Zibao was captured by the Ming army within two days, Shcherbabov did not mess up his position, and he could not abandon the city and escape.

Nerchinsk cannot be thrown away. There are silver mines and precious furs here. If he just gives up, Her Majesty the Queen will kill him.

The sub-fort was captured as soon as it was captured. It was only used to defend the main fort and block the river channels. No matter the scale of the bastion or the fortifications built on the outside, it was not as complete as the main fort.

Moreover, the main castle's troops and artillery must be more sufficient.

Shcherbabov planned to rely on the castle to fight a protracted war with the Ming army coming from afar. As long as it was delayed until winter, he should be able to make the opponent retreat.

The Ming army was not easy to mess with. Once the battle was won, he immediately applied for transfer back. Anyway, he had made enough money in Siberia over the years, and it was time to go back and enjoy the life of a noble.

Whoever wants to come to this cold and remote place can come.

Serbabov of Nerchinsk is preparing to hold on to the castle and wait for reinforcements, but what is Yu Kecheng doing?

On the one hand, he divided his troops to ferry to the upper reaches, set up camps and ambush, and cut off Nerchinsk's retreat and reinforcement routes. On the other hand, he asked the civilians to continue to build forts and new forts on the basis of the fort.

To put it bluntly, it means continuing to build a stronghold and fight stupidly.

Kang Mazi did not have as good artillery as the Ming army at that time, nor did it have cone-shaped explosive shells, so the expeditionary force sent out had no way to deal with Yaksa's bastion.

As a result, these Qing troops were so idle that the Cossacks did not go out of the city to fight, so they simply built a city wall on the outside, surrounded the city three times, and bombarded the inside of Yaksa Castle with artillery from a high position.

The whole war process was not only boring, but also time-consuming. The Qing army built the city and the Cossacks fired artillery to block it. The two sides spent more than half a year.

Of the more than 800 Cossacks, only about 100 died, most of them starving to death.

Why didn’t the more than 100 people who survived didn’t die? Of course you can eat dead bodies.

By the way, the 45 Cossacks of Kang Mazi's Eight Banners were forced to fight in the city because of this battle, but they surrendered after being ambushed.

The Qing army also suffered heavy casualties. Due to the incompatibility of the soil and climate, the cold climate, and the inability to keep up with supplies, even most of the Eight Banners elite soldiers who came here died.

The Ming army did not have the problem of acclimatization. After all, everyone from civilians to regular soldiers had lived here in Heilongjiang for several years, and there were many local Sauron soldiers who helped build the city wall fortifications.

The shopkeeper named Liu De, after working these past few days, looked a little shabby, and his chest was pressed against his back from exhaustion every day.

However, visible to the naked eye, his body has become stronger, there are no injuries or illnesses, and his immunity has been significantly enhanced.

"Hoo~ho~~!"

During the shift break, Liu De leaned directly against a slope of the city wall: "I'm exhausted. It's been almost half a month since I came here. When will this battle be over? And the city has been defeated, why should we continue? Build a city wall?"

Xu Zhenglian next to him didn't move, just closed his eyes and rested: "The officers and soldiers built high walls. They are preparing for a big battle..."

Besieging the city three times and bombarding it with artillery from a high position was not the exclusive domain of the Qing army.

As early as hundreds of years ago, Lao Zhu defeated Zhang Shicheng in the Battle of Pingjiang, which was also played in this way.

First, a long siege was built outside, then a wooden tower was built, and a three-story enemy tower was built to overlook the city. Each floor was equipped with powerful crossbows, fire muskets, and Xiangyang cannons, so as to continuously attack the city defenders day and night.

The battle lasted for eight months. Zhang Shicheng was short of food and soldiers, and was unable to break out twice. Finally, Xu Da and Chang Yuchun broke through the city gate.

On the European battlefield, there was a French general Vauban who was not good at fighting but good at commanding a few decades ago. This guy even created a unique method of attacking bastions, building fortifications under siege, and combining them with serpentine trenches to attack castles. Tactical skills.

This is almost the only feasible tactical method to break the bastion on the current European battlefield.

This guy was the first to establish the grenadier sequence of the Ming Army in France.

(End of this chapter)