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

Chapter 664 Beihai Dusi
Chebuden Banjul still could not escape.

This guy led thousands of Mongolian cavalry to successfully break out of the Ming army's encirclement, preparing to cross the Altai Mountains and defect to Galdan Celing to the west.

Only halfway, he bumped into the Mongolian cavalry of Zasak Tuhan's tribe, and then he was caught.

In the Battle of Mobei, the coalition forces of the two major Khan tribes were defeated. Tushetu Khan died in the battle, the Chechen Khan fled in panic, and the Ming army completely occupied the Selenge grassland.

Upon hearing the news, Zhasak Tukhan Gedokyan Pile was frightened and hurriedly summoned the nobles Taiji from various ministries to discuss it. Finally, it was agreed that they would send envoys to Nanjing when the snow melted in the coming spring. As long as the aristocratic throne can be retained, even if the Han people want to garrison and build cities in their territory, it is not out of the question.

By the way, Chebuden Banjul, who happened to be caught, can be used as a meeting gift to the Han emperor.

In the winter of this year, Yang Gong led the main force back south after sweeping a round of the mountainous areas south of Beihai.

The cost of food and fodder for hundreds of thousands of troops is too great. Since there is nothing to fight here in Mobei, and even Le Shi Yanran's achievement has been achieved, there is no need to stay in Mobei grassland anymore.

All civilians, infantry, and Mongolian cavalry from the Monan Grassland were brought back.

However, all the tens of thousands of Ming army dragoons were left behind.

In the future, the Mobei Dusi will be established. Infantry will not be used here. The main force of the garrison will definitely be cavalry.

Ning Nanhui was appointed as the temporary commander-in-chief by Yang Gong, taking over the overall command and dispatch power of these dragoons.

This guy is really good at fighting, and he also has a knighthood. When the battle report is delivered to Nanjing, it is estimated that the knighthood will have to be raised to another level, so the prestige, qualifications and abilities are all enough to suppress him.

It started to snow in the Mobei grassland in winter, so Ning Nanhui led his army to spend the winter in Aoergao. Yang Gong left him sufficient food and grass supplies.

This is the territory of prairie monks, not a vast swath of yurts. Many large and small temples have also been built. When the three Khans of the Mobei Grassland stood side by side, each Khan tribe was ordered to build temples for Dala Lala in the grassland, and many, many temples were built.

In the middle and late Qing Dynasty, the Mongols in Mobei were even ordered to have at least one male monk from each family to serve the Buddha on this basis.

To put it bluntly, it was a variant of the Jurchen "reduction policy" of the Jin Dynasty, and because of this, all the Mongols in Mobei hated the Manchus.

Although the winter on the grassland is difficult, the Ming army is well prepared and will not die of cold or starvation.

When the snow melted in the spring of the next year, Ning Nanhui immediately organized his "Han people" to prioritize the construction of Yanran City around Aoergao. The building materials came from those prairie temples.

But he only touched other illegal temples that had not been canonized by the Ming Emperor. He did not touch the Erdenizhao (Guangxian Temple) where the Great Lama of the Prairie lived.

Not only was it left untouched, but it was also repaired and declared to the outside world as His Majesty the Emperor's gracious will.

In fact, as long as the Erdenizhao is not moved, the Mongolian nobles will not care too much. The Ming army is now helping to repair the Erdenizhao temple, which instantly wins the favor of the Mongolians in the grassland.

To control the Mongols on the grasslands, Lamaism is indeed a necessary means.

While demolishing illegal temples on the grasslands and building cities, the Ming army also began to quickly divide its troops and move northward, continuing deep along the Selenge River to the north, integrating and subduing the Buryat tribes they saw along the way.

The general who led the troops north was named Zhuang Hong. His rank was similar to that of Ning Nanhui, but he did not have a title. He was a newcomer among the cavalry generals.

It doesn't matter if they are new or not, they are just a little more junior and their abilities are not much worse than others.

The Ming cavalry went north along the Selenga River and soon encountered the first Cossack stronghold established here. It is said to be a stronghold, but it is actually a wooden palisade rammed earth structure without even a bastion. If the Ming army came over, it could be captured with just two hits.

This is indeed the case. By the time the Ming cavalry arrived, the entire stronghold had long been in ruins, with charcoal left over from burning everywhere.

The Cossacks here had been mobilized by the Yenisei Warlord to support the Nerchinsk campaign. The nearby Buryat tribe heard the news and took the opportunity to come over and pull out the stronghold.

Zhuang Hong didn't pay attention, and just marked it on the map. There were no Cossacks here, and then continued to lead his army north to attack Beihai Lake where Su Wu was herding sheep.

There are finally Cossacks here, and even a bastion, built on the shore of Beihai Lake, but the overall situation is not as tall and strong as Chita or Nerchinsk Castle.

After all, it was only built along the lakeside, and its main function was to serve as a supply point for Cossack ships. Naturally, there was no need to build it so tall and strong.

Zhuang Hong looked around the castle and nodded with satisfaction: "It's such a good place. There is so much farmland around it, which is perfect for building Beihai New City here."

Surrounding the Cossack Castle are lakeside alluvial plains, which are very suitable for Han people to cultivate and cultivate here.

Moreover, the castle is built on the lake and has good water transportation advantages. It can trade with other areas through waterways. If there is a local rebellion, you can also take a boat to suppress it.

The Cossacks here were also transferred to Nerchinsk to be killed. Now there are less than 30 Cossacks left, and the servant army is less than a hundred.

Seeing thousands of Ming army cavalry coming, these Cossacks were all frightened, knowing that Nerchinsk and Chita were finished, and even the two governors might have died in the east.

After besieging the city for several days, the Cossacks could not withstand the pressure and abandoned the city and fled north by boat. The Ming army successfully captured the bastion.

Zhuang Hong immediately ordered ships to be built and prepared to continue northward by waterway, uprooting and clearing out all the Cossack castles in the north.

If the Cossack locusts are not completely wiped out, how can we build a city and immigrate to the shores of Beihai Lake?

The Ming army in Chita in the east learned that the friendly forces in the south were heading north for support, and sent people to contact them. The two sides invited them to work together to sweep the remaining Cossack castles in the eastern part of the Beihai.

Many Cossack castles gradually received news that Nerchinsk was gone and Chita was gone. They will no longer have reinforcements, and even if they do, they will not be able to support the arrival of reinforcements.

The Ming army attacked from the east and west, and the Cossacks knew they could not defeat them, so they simply abandoned all the castle strongholds along the coast.

The Ming army fought all the way, and all they saw were empty city strongholds.

It can't be said that it was all an empty city, because the women, children, and slaves were all left behind, and only the servants who were able to fight were taken away.

These Cossacks were so ruthless. In order to run away for their own lives, they even gave up their wives and children here. They were not even willing to leave food and supplies for them. All the food and fur were taken away, and those that could not be taken away were burned on the spot. , all the warehouses were burned down.

The Ming army fleet has joined forces and continues to fight all the way north, passing by Barguzin Castle. This castle is built along the Barguzin River (the second largest river in Beihai Lake).

Zhuang Hong could see the strategic value of this place at a glance. As long as the troops were stationed here and the castle was firmly under control, all the Cossack strongholds along the Barguzin River would be blocked here.

"The Rakshasa ghost can even abandon such a strategic point. It is really suicidal. Immediately divide a hundred people and stay to guard the city."

Zhuang Hong issued a military order, and beside him, the military recorder sent by Yu Kecheng wrote down the location of the castle.

The Ming fleet continued to sail north, and almost all the Cossack strongholds along the way were gone. It must be that the Cossacks were too few in number and knew they could not hold it, so they all fled north to gather.

In the northeast of Beihai Lake, there is a large river called the Upper Angara River, and the Cossacks built a bastion stronghold at the mouth of the river.

The Cossacks in various stronghold castles gathered while fleeing, and finally gathered at the bastion of Upper Angara. There must have been at least a thousand Cossacks and servants, all of whom were holed up in this castle for defense.

The Ming army divided its troops and garrisoned them along the road. When they arrived at the Upper Angara Bastion, less than two-thirds of the troops were left, but they still had an overwhelming advantage over the Cossacks, and Yu Kecheng also sent heavy artillery and hot-air balloons.

Zhuang Hong led his troops to land at the mouth of the river. Thousands of Ming troops surrounded the castle and began to set up heavy artillery.

"Boom boom boom!"

The bombardment begins!
The Ming army gunners completely relied on their advantages in the range and power of the artillery to face the Cossacks' bastion.

But the Cossacks in the castle were completely helpless. In order to run fast, they even left their wives and children behind, not to mention the artillery in the castle.

The current bastion is completely inferior to the Ming army in terms of the number and power of its artillery.

Even the food stored in the castle cannot survive this year's winter.

Because the Ming army marched too fast, they did not bring many civilians with them. They were all "gifted" by the local Buryat people on their own initiative.

These Buryat civilian husbands, together with the soldiers of the Ming army who did not participate in the war, dug siege trenches and tunnels on the position, and the city-breaking cannons were always carried on the ship.

Obviously, this was Yu Kecheng's suggestion. He was responsible for the previous blasting of Nerchinsk Castle. These Cossack bastions were so strong that even shelling might not be able to knock them down quickly.

It's better to blast directly into the cave, which can directly blow open the city wall. Why slowly surround the city and attack it?

Moreover, Cossack castles are generally built along river banks, and the soil is soft, making it easier to dig tunnels.

After shelling the castle for two consecutive days, the Cossacks were completely bombarded and lost their temper.

During the day, the Ming army's artillery fired volleys, and the civilians dug siege trenches and tunnels.

They even lit torches at night, worked a night shift to continue digging tunnels, and also lured the Cossacks out of the city to attack at night.

It's a pity that the Cossacks were not fooled. After all, the Ming army had too many troops, several times their number, and their combat effectiveness was also stronger than theirs.

Nerchinsk Castle is gone, as is Chita. I heard that even the warlord died in Nerchinsk. They will not have any more reinforcements, and they will not be able to wait for reinforcements if they do.

They can neither defeat nor defend. Although the Cossacks are brave, they are not fools.

They knew they were going to die, so they still defended the castle. If they did, they would probably be punished by the new warlord. Because they lost the city and the territory, they simply fled at night.

On the third night, the Cossacks sneaked out of the city and ran away.

They left by boat, so they were quickly discovered by Ming army sentries.

A night battle broke out. The Ming army's camp was built on the river bank and they quickly dispatched to intercept.

The war was quite uncomfortable, because the Cossacks did not light torches at all in order to escape, and the Ming army's artillery and muskets were blindly firing towards the river the whole time.

After hunting down one night, at dawn the next day, there were corpses floating everywhere on the river, and there were also overturned boats.

It is impossible to count how many Cossacks died and how many escaped.

At this point, all the Cossack strongholds on the Beihai Lake were uprooted. Even if the remaining ones survived, they were blocked, unable to move, and could not get food supplies.

Those Buryats who were miserably bullied by the Cossacks were able to deal with these small and helpless groups of Cossacks themselves.

(End of this chapter)