Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1691 Albazin ([-])

Peter Yugovich hurried to Fort Nerchensk, where he had just received a supply convoy arriving from Ustyuk.

Ustyuk is located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yugo Rivers and has always been one of the richest trading points in Russia.The thoroughfare leading to the capital Moscow, to the White Sea port of Arkhangelsk, and to Siberia on the other side of the Ural Mountains all intersect here, which can be described as one of the most important trade nodes.

Every summer, the "whole bag" fur from the East (a bag is a Russian high-grade fur measurement unit, such as mink, a bag of 40 pieces, just enough to sew a coat) fur along the Pechora River, Vicheg The Dahe River arrived here for trade, and then the local merchants passed the Dvina River, and before the British and Dutch merchants arrived, they were transported to Arkhangelsk in exchange for Western cloth, weapons, metals, groceries and some luxury goods. Then it was transported back to Ustyuk.

After these commodities were sold in the Ustyuk market, together with local specialties and goods from cities along the Volga River, a convoy consisting of hundreds of carts and a large number of mules and horses was transported across the Ural Mountains to In exchange for a new batch of oriental goods such as furs, tea, and silk.

This kind of trade attracted many people from nearby to come and participate.For example, many free farmers living along the Dvina River were attracted.Many of them often leave their family business to their relatives or younger generations to take care of, while they follow the transport team across the Ural Mountains to make a living.Some of them settled in new and suitable places and became residents of His Majesty's Asian territories; Capable people (such as Yerofi Pavlovich Khabarov-Sviaditsky, who made a fortune growing grain in Yakutsk, is a rural farmer in Ustyuk County), Take the goods you have acquired in the East to Arkhangelsk, exchange them for foreign goods, and then transport them to the big cities to sell them at a profit.

Today, the transport team that departed from Ustyuk and arrived in Nerchensk after going through hardships and hardships, in addition to loading a lot of daily necessities and handicrafts, there are also about [-] flintlock rifles made in England, which are being exported to the Far East. It is not common in the goods of the region, let alone entrusted to private caravans for transportation.

The leader of the caravan was Khabarov's fellow countryman, and he was also a senior hunter. His family and relatives stayed in Ustyuk County, which is probably the main reason why he was able to receive the commission from the Moscow treasury.You know, many government transport teams rarely transport these advanced equipment. Yugovich remembered that the last batch of national transport teams from Tobolsk only sent some military uniforms, saddles, sabers and leather armor. There was not a musket or a cannon, which showed that His Majesty the Tsar was extremely worried about the situation in the Far East, and could not wait a few months before sending a transport team to set off.

As the supreme officer of the entire Yakutsk Warlord District, Yugovich received the precious flintlock rifles on behalf of the Nerchensk treasury, and at the same time ordered that in the next few months, the defenders of Nerchensk will gradually After changing clothes, the matchlock guns that were replaced were transferred to other fortresses, kept as reserve ordnance, and could be distributed to men in the city if something happened.

Naturally, the leader of the caravan has nothing to do with this. In fact, he only needs someone who is willing to accept the signature, and then he will take his subordinates out to buy furs or even go hunting.The forests around Nerchensk produce fur beasts (sable, lynx, red fox, black fox, etc.), and the Tunguskas often hunt them. It is said that a qualified hunter can bring back ten or more mink furs a day. It is no wonder that Poyarkov regarded the place where the Tungusic people lived as a place of abundance and abundance.

Peter Yugovich, who was a military officer, was not very interested in hunting for exotic furs (but everyone who hunted furs would never forget to pay tribute to Lord Warlord). In his opinion, the areas of Nerchensk and Albazin The richest thing is actually not high-grade fur, but land and population!

According to the records of Peter Petrovich Golovin, the first warlord of Yakutsk, the Daur people living in Nerchensk, Albazin and the Zeya River were "people who cultivated the land".When the first expedition arrived in the Shilka River Basin in 1643, Manchurians often came to this area to collect tribute from the Daurs and extract young men (the so-called Manchurian white armored soldiers and fish skin Tartars are also the Eight Banners soldiers). The most valiant part of the war usually acts as cannon fodder to attack the Ming army), and at the same time, it also brings them silk, tea and other goods, and sometimes gives them some silver as a reward.

And because of frequent contact with the Manchurians, their civilization level is also relatively high. Boyarkov discovered that the Daur people lived in well-built wooden houses, and the windows were pasted with homemade paper (they can make paper...), The appearance is no different from that of the Manchurians, both of whom have braids.They live in their own Ulus and engage in agriculture and animal husbandry. The farmland around the village grows barley, oats, rye, millet, buckwheat, and peas, and the vegetable gardens have soybeans, garlic, cucumbers, melons, and watermelons. Fruits include apples, pears, walnuts, and oil extraction. It is true that the living habits of other Tunguska people are very different from those of other Tunguska people—the Tunguska people are semi-farming and semi-nomadic, some are nomadic, some are fishing and hunting, and some are nomadic. There are great differences in ethnic habits, and it is unscientific for Russians to generally classify them as Tungusians.

Such a kind of Tungus people who can cultivate land and the area where they live are naturally highly valued by the Russians.The conquests of Cossacks one after another in the early years were based on this guiding ideology. The Russians in the outer northeast wanted to acquire a large amount of food production!Therefore, it is understandable how angry they were when they learned that the soldiers from the east bank entered the Zeya River and took the area inhabited by a large number of Daur people into their pockets!

Now, the Daur residents in the Albazin area have long been moved to the rear, where it has become a piece of white land.If the people on the east coast want to gain a firm foothold, they can only immigrate from the outside world. Otherwise, there will be no food production in the local area, and if they rely entirely on outside imports, the price will be too high, although they have the transportation capacity.

"Are there enough grain reserves in Nerchensk?" Yugovich called his subordinate, Nerchensk military and political chief Tolbuzin as soon as he arrived, and only heard him ask: "The people on the east bank may continue to send troops. , to launch an attack on Nerchensk, we have to be prepared for this."

"The Yakutsk treasury borrowed [-] poods of rye, plus Nelchensk's original reserves, enough for us to last for more than a year. Moreover, if some cattle and sheep are forcibly recruited from the Tungus If it is made into cured meat, it should last longer." Alexei Tolbuzin was not worried about the food, but what he was most worried about was the lack of ammunition.When he failed in the Albazin battle, the reason was naturally not that the Russian soldiers were not brave enough and refused to fight to the death, but that their weapons and equipment were too poor and their ammunition was seriously insufficient, so the failure was natural.But he also knew that Warlord Yugovic had actually done his best to collect ammunition for him, but the overall reserves were limited, so they could only use them sparingly. .

Yugovic nodded after hearing this.Now Yakutsk is a solid logistics base and there is no enemy threat, so it is common to borrow some food and ammunition to other places.And speaking of the food in Yakutsk, I really have to thank Khabarov, who has now returned to the hinterland of Russia as a nobleman. He made a lot of money with this, but in the end he offended the first warlord Golovin because he couldn’t be a human being (when Golovin first came to Yakutsk to take office, he borrowed [-] poods of grain from Khabarov because of difficulties. , As a result, he "forgot to return it", and this guy spread it everywhere, obviously ignorant, and he was cleaned up later...), which led to the seizure of his family property and his imprisonment.However, after the hard work of two or three generations of the foundation he laid back then, the scale is now quite large, and Yakutsk, a cold northern city, has become the richest town in the entire Warlord Region.

"The food must be sufficient. Not only Nerchensk, but also the food and ammunition of some other small forts nearby must be maintained above a certain level. Otherwise, once the people from the east bank attack, you may face difficulties." Yugovich said : "In addition, the part of the firearms allocated to you should be carefully preserved, as well as the ammunition. You know, how difficult it is to snatch hundreds of flintlock rifles from the proud shooting army. You know, now The ambitions of the Turks in Ukraine began to expand rapidly. The traitor Doroshenko repeatedly led his troops to attack the right bank of the Dnieper River. His Majesty the Tsar was very angry and ordered to dispatch [-] infantry into Ukraine to stabilize the local situation. If necessary, they may also Go to war with the lackeys of the Turks! The situation is so tense, we are lucky to be able to get these new weapons."

"The Turks haven't made peace with the Poles yet, and they want to meddle in the affairs of Eastern Ukraine again. How can they be so arrogant." Tolbuzin suddenly felt a sense of uneasiness, and he frowned Said: "And once we are tense with the Turks, or even fall into war, will His Majesty the Tsar change his policy and turn to seek reconciliation with the people on the east coast?"

What Tolbuzin said was exactly what Yugovich was worried about. In fact, is there really any unresolved hatred between the East Bank and Russia?In fact, there is no such thing!The incident of Stepan Razin's uprising back then, and the current military operation to attack the Yakutsk Warlord District, are not a big deal. As long as the two sides are willing to reconcile, it is actually not a problem.Given the importance of Ukraine to the Russian Empire, Yugovich was not confident that the Tsar would not sacrifice the interests of the Far East in favor of seeking a comprehensive rapprochement with the East Coasters in order to resume trade between the two countries - especially in arms - —In that case, they will be embarrassed. All the things they fought with the people on the east coast before will look like a joke. How can this not make people feel ridiculous, depressed, wronged and even angry?

Therefore, when Tolbuzin suddenly mentioned this matter, Yugovich could only be silent, because he couldn't say how this matter would go in the future.Between people on the east coast, there may be peace, war, or a temporary truce. These are all things that are hard to say.However, at present, without receiving further orders from the tsar, they still need to prepare for war against the people on the east bank. Taking back the Albazin Castle is not considered for the time being, and the key is to hold Nerchensk and other places.

"I heard that East Ukraine has assembled more than 4 Cossacks, intending to fight Doroshenko's West Ukraine Cossacks. God, what a huge armed force, if these 4 people can be transferred to Nerchensk, I will Guarantee that all the people on the east coast can be wiped out now, and the war will be fought to the seaside.” Tolbuzin was a little discouraged when he said this, because he knew it was impossible, but the news that his country might break out with the Turks, It still frustrates him a little.

"Don't be so arrogant, Alexei. In fact, the fighting power of the regular army of the people on the east bank is still very strong. The fighting power of the earliest ones wearing blue clothes is comparable to that of the most elite Cossacks, or even better; The clothes are much worse, but the weapons and training are also very good, and sometimes we can compete with us; even those who are stationed in Albazin Castle at the moment (many of them don’t even have yellow clothes), fighting Although the skills are not as good as our Cossacks, good weapons and equipment are enough to make up for everything. We must respect such opponents, otherwise we will suffer a lot." Yugovich first taught Thor a little Bujin then changed the subject and said: "We must prepare well for the war, and we must also contact the Tungus people. Pavel (Katanai) has promised me that he will recruit more than [-] Tungus cavalry to help the battle. They will not be deployed in Nerchensk, but will be eaten by the Tungus in the wild. Once the army of the people from the east bank rushes over, they can cut off their logistics supply line and completely wipe them out in the forest and grassland Between. Remember, this is our home field, we must have confidence, the boats of people from the east coast will not be able to come to land.”

"Of course, I will be ready. If the people from the east bank don't come, we can't do anything about them, but as long as they dare to kill Benerchensk, then the situation will not be under their control." Tolbuzin responded.When he said this, his brows were still furrowed, as if he was still worried about the possible increase in tension between Russia and Turkey.

After only a few days without wearing the wrist brace, the back of the left wrist arched a little again, speechless, the recurrence was so fast!

(End of this chapter)