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

Chapter 658 Crossing the River “Project”

The Ming army began to cross the river.

First, all the Cossack captives were shown their heads in a conspicuous place in Zibao, and then Catcher ordered the vanguard troops to cross the river.

Before Shcherbabov recovered from his panic, he saw Ming army ferries appearing on the river. There were very many ferries, one after another, seemingly countless.

Each ferry carried six to ten people, including not only the vanguard of the Ming army, but also the accompanying warriors of the Sauron tribe and the strong laborers of the people.

"Quickly push out our artillery. The Khitans are trying to cross the river. Don't let them succeed." Sherbabuv said to the artillery officer.

The Cossacks ignored the threat of Ming army artillery fire and pushed out all the artillery hidden in the castle. The tonnage of these artillery was obviously much smaller, but there was nothing they could do.

The fort's fort has long been out of use, and even if it could be used, no one would dare to go up there. After all, the Ming army's artillery is all focused on this side, and whoever goes will die.

When the Cossacks pushed the artillery up the city wall, the observers on the hot air balloon also saw it and quickly sent signals to their own positions to send messages.

"Boom boom boom!"

The Cossacks didn't even have time to load the propellant, and the next second the Ming army's artillery fire was aimed at this place.

Since the bastion's fort had been dealt with, dozens of heavy artillery were directed towards this direction.

The heavy artillery fired all solid bullets, and the cone-shaped explosive bullets were not far enough away to effectively hit Nerchinsk's city wall, but even if they were just solid bullets, their power was not insignificant.

Moreover, so many cannonballs concentratedly covered a city wall, and the initial launch alone was enough for these Cossacks to drink a pot.

The effective killing effect may not be much, after all, there are not many Cossacks, but it is scary enough.

A large piece of solid artillery shells came over. When they hit the city wall, they ricocheted off. The huge kinetic energy hit them, and even the barrel of the artillery could not bear it.

Too bully.

Whenever Nerchinsk's Cossacks made any move, as long as they dared to climb the city wall, they would be discovered by the Ming army's hot air balloon immediately. This was a gap in battlefield intelligence collection capabilities.

Shcherbabov really wanted to shoot down these hot air balloons in the sky, but not to mention whether their artillery could shoot so high, the heavy artillery of the Ming army was not a vegetarian either.

Both the range and power were much more powerful than the European artillery of the same period. Military technology was completely crushed, and even the ammunition reserves were beaten by the Ming army.

Nerchinsk was blockaded and besieged in Jiangxinzhou, with insufficient ammunition and food, and no external support. However, the Ming army could use Heilongjiang to continuously transfer supplies from the military warehouse at Yaksa's post station.

Ammunition and salted fish have been stored here for almost two years, which can completely consume the Cossacks who have been cut off from outside traffic.

The Cossack gunners on the city wall were scattered by heavy artillery, and the survivors could only flee down the castle in a hurry. They didn't even have time to pull back the artillery, so they had to wait until dark.

Shcherbabov had no choice but to watch the Ming army cross the river in large numbers.

Not long after, the first batch of Ming troops landed, and then more Sauron troops followed. Behind them were a large number of young and strong indigenous people.

The Han people in Heilongjiang are precious. In such a dangerous cross-river battle, the Han people must not be allowed to fight first.

Anyway, those local indigenous tribes hated the Cossacks deeply and were very willing to help the Ming army fight the war.

The Cossacks wanted to block the attack, but the artillery was useless. As soon as they got close, they would be bombarded. They could only use fire systems and bows and arrows.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Shhhhhhh!"

A hail of bullets and arrows were fired towards the shore in turn.

The Ming troops who landed were not unprepared. They held up cowhide lintel boards and jumped onto the shore. Behind them were the indigenous people carrying digging tools.

A large group of landed soldiers and civilians directly withstood the Cossacks' muskets and arrows and began to dig trenches on the river bank.

Sherbabov was shocked to realize that something was wrong, but he had no choice. He could not solve the problem as the Ming army crossed the river. After crossing the river, they could use firecrackers, bows and arrows, but the Ming army also brought cowhide walking boards.

At such a long distance, even a flintlock gun could not penetrate the protection of the cowhide board. If they wanted to stop the Ming army from digging trenches on the river bank, they could only go out of the city to make a surprise attack and drive them all down the river.

Just think about it, there are only more than a thousand people in the entire castle, of which there are more than 400 Cossacks and more than 700 indigenous servants and slaves.

Even if all Chita's reinforcements came to Nerchinsk, Sherbabuf would not dare to go out of the city to fight with the Ming army in the field.

The Cossacks raised their muskets and fired for a while, but found that it had no effect at all and could not penetrate the circulation board at all. They had to give up and no longer waste bullets.

Of course, this was also due to the fact that the Ming army's heavy artillery spared no effort in ammunition and would fire two shots from time to time. Although it could not hit these scattered Cossack musketeers, it was still possible to scare people.

The Ming army dug siege trenches on the river bank, and there were more and more ferries on the river, carrying soldiers and civilians across the river.

With the addition of these new civilians, the Ming army dug trenches faster, and the entire river bank was widened in a short time.

The Ming army simply put the walking boards to the edge of the trench and assembled them into a walking wall, while the Sauron soldiers simply followed the civilians and dug trench tunnels there.

This crossing of the river to attack the city suddenly turned into a "project" of crossing the river. After besieging the Solitary Castle, reinforcements were cut off, and food and grass were insufficient. Now the Ming army began to cross the river in large numbers again, and began to forcibly dig siege trenches and tunnels under the eyes of Nerchinsk Castle.

In such a desperate situation, although the Cossacks were terrified, no one surrendered or escaped from the castle.

Not only because the Ming army killed prisoners and shocked them, but also because the main fort had not yet been conquered, so in the eyes of these desperate Cossacks, everything was not yet a desperate situation.

The sky was getting dark, and torches had been lit in the trenches dug by the Ming army along the shore.

There were fires all along the river bank, and many Cossacks couldn't sleep. Even Shcherbabov stretched his tired body and looked into the distance with a telescope.

It was so dark that even with a torch, it was impossible to see clearly.

"boom!"

It didn't matter that he couldn't see clearly, the Cossacks fired anyway.

The night not only protected the Ming army, but also the Cossacks of Nerchinsk. The Ming army's hot air balloon had been lowered. It was so dark that even Nerchinsk could only vaguely see its outline.

The Cossack artillery chose a general direction and fired towards the shore.

The Ming army's artillery also followed the Cossacks' artillery fire, and there were also vague artillery fire, firing.

Both sides are playing blindly, and whether they can hit the target depends on luck.

The people on the shore lit torches and braved Cossack artillery fire to quickly dig tunnels in the dark.

After digging at night, the tunnel advanced a lot, and most of the Cossack cannonballs were empty.

However, a few were unlucky and fell into the ditch, killing and injuring eight civilians, six civilians, and two Han civilians.

The Ming army's artillery shells missed once. It was too dark and there were too few Cossacks. Even if they followed the torch light, it would be difficult for the gunners to hit the target.

Eight people died, and two were precious Han civilians. The Ming army was enraged and began to bombard Nerchinsk directly the next day.

"Boom! Boom!"

The Cossacks were suppressed by the firepower and did not dare to show their heads. The entire buildings in the Nerchinsk Castle had been almost destroyed by the Ming army's artillery.

The Cossacks and indigenous servants could only huddle in the corner near the city wall. With so many people gathered together, it is understandable that the living conditions quickly deteriorated.

The Ming army, with its civilian husbands, continued to work day and night, taking turns to dig siege tunnels. Sherbabov was now in a dilemma.

There was no way to stop the attack during the day. Only at night when it was dark could one venture to use artillery, and it was useless. The hit rate of artillery at night was extremely low. Even the Ming army's condescending and experienced gunners could not accurately hit the Cossacks.

What's more, amateur gunners like the Cossacks, and the power of their artillery is generally not very strong, and they can't kill a few people even if they hit.

After several nights in a row, the Cossacks couldn't stand it anymore. One night, they actually took the risk to launch a night attack, intending to kill the Ming army digging trenches outside.

As expected, all the Cossacks who left the city for a night attack were left behind.

When the sun rose during the day, these Cossacks were pulled directly by the river by the Ming army. Their heads were all displayed to the public, and their heads were thrown into the Nerchinsk Castle to build a simple Beijing temple.

But Shcherbabov was not angry at all, he just felt cold in his heart.

I'm going to be finished!

The Cossacks who went out to attack at night accounted for half of the Cossacks in the castle. Now they were all left behind, and their heads were piled outside the castle, further affecting the morale of the troops in the castle.

Fortunately for the Cossacks, they were brave enough and knew that they would die if they didn't resist, but the native servants didn't think so.

Especially now that more than half of the Cossacks' strength has been lost, it's hard to say whether the remaining Cossacks can still suppress the indigenous servant army.

After all, if these native servants could betray their own tribe, how could they be devoted to the Cossacks?
"Dusi, the siege tunnel has almost been excavated. We will be able to dig under the Cossack's castle the day after tomorrow at the latest."

"Let the demolition team be prepared, and the city-breaking cannons will be transported directly across the river tonight. You can bring a few more to ensure nothing goes wrong."

From the beginning to the end, Yu Kecheng never thought about using artillery to storm Nerchinsk's castle. The cone-shaped explosive shells were indeed powerful enough, but the range and coverage were insufficient, making it difficult to destroy the solid main castle wall.

Even if it is a sub-fort, it is not easy to destroy it concentratedly, and if you fight like this, it will really be a stupid battle, and it will be a waste of time.

If it is delayed for too long, in winter, even if the Cossacks suffer heavy losses, the Ming army will be forced to retreat.

Because Heilongjiang is prone to freezing in winter, and ships will be unable to move by then, but the Ming army will be out of food.

Use artillery from a high position to attract the attention of the Cossacks, and then use civilians to cross the river to dig trenches and tunnels, and blast directly into the cave. No matter how strong the bastion is, it cannot withstand underground blasting.

As for the time spent here, most of the land in Jiangxin Continent, where Nerchinsk's main fortress is located, is river-impacted plains. The soil is extremely soft and can be dug out with just a few digs.

The city-breaking cannon is a standard equipment of the Ming army. Heilongjiang Dusi also has a lot of stocks in his military warehouse. It can be said to be easy to blow up one or two Cossack castles.

(End of this chapter)