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

Chapter 659: Nerchinsk captured

"boom!"

The Ming army was firing again, and not only the heavy artillery from the other side, but also some tiger squat artillery brought across the river on ships.

There were torches held high everywhere outside the city. A rough count showed that thousands of people were gathering, including Sauron people and Ming army soldiers.

The Cossacks of Nerchinsk had become accustomed to this. Since the night attack failed, the Ming army outside the city would launch a feint night attack every few nights.

At first, the Cossacks were still very nervous and pulled the native servants together to prepare for the attack.

As a result, after coming a few more times, these Cossacks learned their lesson and went back to sleep when it was time, leaving only some manpower to patrol and watch.

Shcherbabov had not been able to sleep well for several nights. He lived in the tower of the bastion.

Every time the Ming army feigned a night attack, he had to get up and personally climb the city wall to observe the enemy's situation, for fear that the feint would turn into a real attack.

Sherbabov looked tiredly outside the city. The Ming army's position was dark, and there were large torches wandering around. Although he couldn't see how many people there were, there were definitely more people than in the castle.

Thinking it was another feint night attack, the Cossacks paid no attention.

"Boom! Bang!"

Suddenly, in the darkness, there was a dull sound underfoot, which was very similar to the explosion of the Ming army's explosive bombs before.

Before Shcherbabov could react, the entire city wall began to shake violently. Fortunately, there was a female wall next to it, so he did not fall down.

I turned around and followed the sound, but I couldn't see anything in the dark night, and I couldn't see the condition of the city wall. I only saw that the original torches had flown outside the city, and seemed to have fallen.

Outside the city, a large number of torches immediately moved closer to the city wall.

"The city wall has collapsed! The city wall has collapsed!"

"Run!"

Finally, the Cossacks who knew the situation shouted in terror, and while shouting back, they tried their best to escape under the city wall.

Countless Ming troops outside, as well as Sauron warriors who had defected to the castle, swarmed into the castle through the gap created by the explosion, and some simply carried wooden ladders to attack the city.

After digging tunnels for so many days and struggling with these Cossacks for so long, tonight is the time to launch a general attack.

The Cossacks and native servants were all awakened.

After all, such a huge explosion caused the entire city wall to collapse, and it was difficult not to hear the loud noise.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Ming army rushed into Nerchinsk Castle along the gap, and ran into a group of indigenous servants who had been driven out to fight in a daze.

The Ming army's flintlock guns fired a volley, and the servants who ran out of the darkness fell instantly.

"Kill me!"

The officer leading the team shouted orders. In the dark, it was not good to shoot at close range with a musket, so it was better to just draw a sword and charge in quickly.

The indigenous servant army on the opposite side did not know the situation, and many people were killed as soon as they came out.

Although they could not clearly see the tragic situation of the friendly forces, the regular gunshots and falling torches still plunged these servants into chaos.

An army that falls into chaos in the dark will only die.

The Ming army drew their swords and rushed forward, chopping melons and vegetables against these servants.

I don't know how many people were killed. Anyway, these servants were killed in a short time and collapsed. They shouted "Help (in dialect)" and "Run" and other words, and ran away.

The Ming army didn't bother to pursue it. Anyway, the castle had been surrounded from the outside, and the Ming army's warships were also blocking the river.

In other directions of the castle, many impatient Sauron people stopped squeezing the gap and simply followed the wooden ladder to attack the city wall.

The Cossacks on the city wall had almost run away, leaving only a few native servants who had been driven up and rushed forward without knowing the situation.

Seeing these servants, the eyes of the Sauron people who had defected to help the Ming army fight were all filled with hatred.

Many Cossack servants were actually local Saurons. They were defeated by the Cossacks and the tribe was destroyed by the Cossacks.

But unlike other Sauron people, they would rather die than surrender. Instead, they turned around and became the lackeys of the Cossacks, helping the Cossacks to oppress and massacre their own compatriots.

These Saurons rushed to the city wall, not even paying attention to the Cossacks who were escaping sporadically, and chased and killed large groups of servants. Sauron's traitors made them hate them much more than the Cossacks.

In the northwest of the castle, Shcherbabov was protected by a group of Cossacks, breaking out of the castle along the dark passage and escaping.

There is a Cossack boat outside the city. If he escapes in the boat in the dark, the Ming army may not be able to catch him.

He couldn't care less about the responsibility for the loss of Nerchinsk. Anyway, even the city wall was blown down. At worst, he would blame Nerchinsk Warlord Vlasov. He was rich and a nobleman, so even a little bribery would not help him. Can't save my life.

Unfortunately, Shcherbabov wanted to run away, but the Ming army chased him faster.

"Shoot quickly and stop these Khitans!" Shcherbabov ordered hurriedly.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Both sides fired almost simultaneously, and the accuracy of the flintlock guns in the darkness could only be described as touching.

Three Cossacks fell, and two Ming troops fell. The next second, there was a close fight.

There were only more than 20 Cossacks beside Shcherbabov, but the Ming army that was catching up had more than a hundred people. There were more Saurons and Ming troops behind them. They were attracted by the gunfire and torches here and quickly surrounded them. .

With a strength gap of several times, no matter how brave the Cossacks were, they could not turn the tide of the war.

The so-called personal martial prowess can still be demonstrated when one is equal to ten, but when one is equal to a hundred, it is simply giving away one's life.

Changshan Zhao Zilong? They were riding war horses.

The more than 20 Cossacks collapsed at the first touch, and were directly scattered by the Ming army who had formed a formation.

No matter how brave the Cossacks are, they are still human beings, and they are afraid of death.

But they did not dare to surrender. The Ming army made it clear that they did not want to be left alive. The Cossacks desperately wanted to break out and escape.

At this time, there was no distinction between nobles and Cossacks. Everyone was crowded with each other. Shcherbabov stood behind and was chopped down to the ground by a Cossack with a knife.

This guy didn't die immediately. He endured the pain and struggled to get up: "I... I am a noble, I am the Yenisei Warlord. Don't kill me! I can pay the ransom, and I can be your spy!"

What he answered was a knife that cut his throat. The owner of the knife was still muttering: "What kind of bird language is this Rakshasa ghost talking about?"

One of Tsarist Russia's four major military governors in Far Eastern Siberia, the Yeniseisk military governor died in Nerchinsk Castle.

His head was cut off centrally the next day and sent to the surrounding Sauron tribe as a meeting gift.

The battle in Nerchinsk lasted all night, and the entire castle was completely emptied. Even the slaves who were imprisoned were all killed by the hateful Surun people.

The Ming army did not stop them during the whole process. Nerchinsk Castle lacked food and could not feed too many irrelevant people. Moreover, they had to go to Chita City next, so they did not need these unstable factors to stay in the castle.

Nerchinsk was captured by the Ming army. Although it seemed easy to fight, the early preparations alone cost the Ming army more than two months, as well as a lot of civilian labor.

Yu Kecheng was directing the civilians throughout the whole process, cutting down trees and setting up camps everywhere, digging siege trenches, and building various wall fortifications... Even the final siege was directed by frontline officers, while he sat firmly in the rear and coordinated from the center.

Nerchinsk is difficult to defeat, not because it is difficult to defeat the Cossacks, but because the terrain here is too time-consuming.

We can only form a stronghold and fight a stupid war.

The Ming army's hole blasting was considered a trick.

After Nerchinsk was captured, going south is Kureng Lake (Hulun Lake), and surrounding this area is the Hulunbuir Prairie.

This place nominally belongs to the jurisdiction of Heilongjiang Dusi Yu Kecheng, but since the imperial court entrusted the Chechen Khan tribe, Hulunbuir has been privately annexed by the Chechen Khan.

In order to keep Mobei at constant internal strife and busy building Heilongjiang and opening up river transport stations, the Ming Dynasty deliberately pretended not to know.

Now, just as the old and new accounts are being settled together, the rest of Mobei can be ignored, but Hulunbuir must be won, otherwise Liaodong will be unstable.

One of the reasons for this year's Northern Expedition is that the Mobei Mongols invaded the Hulunbuir Grassland of the Celestial Dynasty.

Yu Kecheng's troops are too small, so he does not need to worry about the war in Hulunbuir. He only needs to block the Mongols in Hulunbuir from escaping north.

The Ming army rested briefly in Nerchinsk for two days, and Yu Kecheng directly detached 1000 men and took the waterway to occupy Chita City farther west.

The prisoners of the Cossack reinforcements who had been beheaded before had all been accounted for. Due to the order of the governor, the Cossacks of Chita Castle came out to support Nerchinsk Castle.

Today, there are only 50 Cossacks left in Chita Castle, and the rest are women, children, many slaves and an army of 80 indigenous servants.

Counting the time spent on the march, the most the Ming army could do this year was to capture Chita City in the west.

If there are more, time will not be enough. When Heilongjiang freezes in winter, logistical supplies will be a big problem.

After several days of traveling westwards by water, the Ming army finally arrived at Chita City.

When they arrived, they discovered that the place had been surrounded in advance, and they were all Buryat Mongols who took the opportunity to raise their troops to resist.

Buryat Mongolia has a very early history. It was established in the Baikal region as early as the Ming Dynasty. It was divided into ten tribes. In its heyday, it controlled the entire Baikal region. Even the Sauron people here were willing to listen to them. .

However, with the arrival of the Cossacks, the pastures of Buryatia were continuously encroached on. Today, almost most of the pastures have been occupied by the Cossacks.

But it would not be a complete conquest. With the Cossacks' mode of rule, it was impossible for them to conquer any tribe.

Even if they surrender now, they will have to rebel within a few years, because the Cossacks have no way to survive.

"Ta-ta-ta-ta!"

The Buryat Mongolian cavalry that besieged Chita City also discovered the Ming army fleet arriving here, and hurried over to prepare for the battle.

Yu Kecheng didn't know Mongolian, but among the officers he brought over, there were some who knew a little bit, and there were Sauron people who acted as intermediary translators.

The two landed together, took off their weapons, and stepped forward to negotiate.

A Mongolian nobleman rode forward and said, "I am Ji Tielechi, the tribe of Ba Yegu (Barhu). Are you the Khitans who attacked the Nerchinsk Cossacks?"

The Barhu tribe not only lives in the Lake Baikal area, but also has their branch tribes in the Outer Xing'an Mountains and Hulunbuir in Heilongjiang.

The Barhu Tribe is also the Barguzin of the Ten Tribes of Buryatia, and was also a "folk in the forest" during the Yuan Dynasty.

The Ming army officer who came forward was called Deng Bin and said: "We are not Khitans, but Han people. We came here from the Ming Dynasty in the south. His Majesty, the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, knew that you were being oppressed by the Rakshasa ghosts, so he sent us to help You guys, attack these brutal Rakshasa ghosts."

The title of Khitan people is not a patent of the Russians. The Mobei Khalkha Mongols also called China Khitan, and the Chinese emperor was called Black Khitan Khan.

(End of this chapter)