I

  Chapter 992 988 [One general succeeds and ten thousand bones die]

  Russia has set up four warlord regions in Siberia.

  First, Tobolsk. Jurisdiction: east of the Ural Mountains, north of Kazakhstan.

  Second, Tomsk. The jurisdiction area is: a large area in the north of Xinjiang, China.

   Third, Yeniseysk. The jurisdiction is: a large area in the north of Mongolia.

  Fourth, Yakutsk, the jurisdiction is: the vast area north of Heilongjiang, China.

  The four major warlord districts, Yakutsk was abolished, that is, Luzhou under the jurisdiction of Zhang Tingxun.

  In the past few years, Zhang Tingxun has not done nothing except cutting trees, building ships, and farming. Along the Lujiang River (Lena River) and its tributaries, attacked to the north and northeast, and pulled out Verkhoyansk and other strongholds.

   Those strongholds are very fragile. There are fifty or sixty Cossacks in the largest number, only a dozen Cossacks in the small number, and the rest are all natives who surrendered to Tsarist Russia. Not even a fortress was built, just some wooden walls, barely able to guard against wild animals.

  Take Verkhoyansk as an example, this **** is already in the Arctic Circle.

   Not to mention the Han immigrants, even the soldiers of the Datong Army were unwilling to stay. Anyway, they took down the Cossack stronghold, destroyed all the buildings and left.

  Those Cossacks were cut off, and the snatched furs could not be sold, nor could they get any supplies. The houses were destroyed by Zhang Tingxun, and even if there were groups fleeing, the Datong Army didn't bother to chase them down long distances. Either freeze to death or starve to death, or linger on. Without gunpowder supplies, their muskets are just fire sticks, and they will be killed by the local natives sooner or later.

  As for the more remote Cossacks, in the absence of supplies, the Chukchi aborigines will teach them how to behave.

  In history, Tsarist Russia launched many expeditions to the Chukchi people, most of which ended in failure. They fought until the eve of the Opium War and failed to win. The biggest victory was that Tsarist Russia seized more than 40,000 reindeer after fighting for more than eight months.

   However, the Chukchi people also developed and progressed in the war, and learned iron smelting technology and the use of firearms.

  The more you fight, the harder it is to deal with!

  In the end, they had to "coexist peacefully". The Chukchi people were nominally loyal to the Tsar, but maintained an independent state, did not undertake corvee, did not pay taxes, and those who voluntarily paid the fur tax had additional compensation.

  Zhang Tingxun has already contacted the Chukchi people, and the two sides reached a verbal agreement.

  The content of the covenant is: the Chukchi people obey the Chinese emperor and have independent autonomy, and everyone will fight against the Cossacks together. The Chukchi people’s walrus ivory, walrus skin, antlers, buckskin, mammoth ivory and other commodities, the Datong Army regularly rowed boats every year to buy them, and the two sides had an equal and voluntary trade relationship.

  The Chukchi people are willing to accept this kind of cooperation, because they also need materials such as ironware, cotton cloth, and salt.

  The reason why they fought with the Cossacks was because the bandits were too shameless, they only knew how to intimidate and plunder, and they were unwilling to exchange items.

  In comparison, the Chinese are so generous.

  In the eyes of the Chukchi people, the soldiers of the Datong Army are all cute. And it's a cutie with a bad brain, who actually exchanged a bunch of rare and expensive items with them for souvenirs that can be seen everywhere.

  Hai Lanpao's side is already bustling.

  Han Chinese merchants are like sharks smelling blood. They first traded in the city of Andong Duhufu. With the opening of post stations along the way, merchants continue to go north, just to obtain goods faster, because the competition is fiercer as they go south.

   Today, Hailanpao has eight trading posts.

   For the garrison along the Heilongjiang River, half of the food and grass can be obtained through commercial transportation. Merchants transported grain to the north, and returned with goods such as furs and pearls.

  Zhang Tingxun is responsible for collecting goods in Luzhou. The supply team brings supplies every year and brings them back to Hailanpao. These gadgets from the north of the Outer Xing'an Mountains soon became part of the trade, and mammoth ivory was very popular among merchants.

  After the cooperation with the Chukchi people, walrus ivory and walrus skin became upstarts.

   No one has seen these things, because walruses only live in the North Pole. The merchants don't know how to set the price. The one with the highest price in the first year wins, and the second year they grab it like crazy. Rare things are more expensive, the price of walrus skin is even comparable to that of sable skin.

  Just last year, two pieces of walrus skins were shipped to Nanjing and became the most sought-after items at the auction.

  The transaction price of the first one was 650 taels of silver, and the transaction price of the second one soared to 980 taels. To put it bluntly, it is fighting for wealth and fame. I have what no one else has, and Bel has face!

  The northern merchants were ecstatic. These merchants hoarded goods crazily, and then squeezed toothpaste in the southern cities.

   Moreover, it was also agreed in private that the total number of walrus skins shipped by each trading company in major cities per year should not exceed five. As for walrus ivory, it is being hyped wildly, and the price of this thing is estimated to be even more terrifying.

  The imperial court is happy to see the success of this. The more the goods in the north are fried, the more attention the people will pay to the north!

  By the way, all the above Cossack strongholds are provided by Khabarov. This guy is a humanoid precise locator.

  Because of Khabarov's many evil deeds, the soldiers of the Datong Army didn't like him, so they wanted to find a chance to kill him directly. But he continued to show his role, and became so obedient that everyone was reluctant to kill him. Even because of his many meritorious service, this **** has become a low-level officer.

   Khabarov is still the guide for this expedition.

   However, the information provided by Khabarov is a bit outdated. The target they were about to attack was not a wooden stronghold, but a rammed earth castle—a castle built specifically to defend against the Datong army.

  And the Cossacks there have already equipped a small number of flintlock guns.

  Flintlock guns were invented a long time ago, but they only became popular in Europe in the early years of Chongzhen. However, it is limited to the popular flintlock pistols, which belong to the stuff of nobles. However, the flintlock rifle has many problems, and it is often disgusted by soldiers.

   By now, European flintlock rifles have been improved. Although the army has not yet changed its equipment on a large scale, its use has become more common, and it has even spread to Siberia in the past two years.

  There seems to be no difference in gun technology between the East and the West.

   And rifled guns?

  Europe has long had it, and it still belongs to the noble collection.

  Zhao Han is also asking the military factory to develop rifled guns, and he has two ideas. One is breech loading, leaking air, and has a very short range; the other is front loading, and the rate of fire is extremely slow.

  No matter what kind, there are serious flaws, and a large-scale replacement is impossible.

  Finally, Zhao Han went off in person and tried to make mini bombs.

   It is true that Emperor Zhao was a soldier in his previous life, but he is not a military fan. Serious conscripts, who would study Minie bombs from 200 years ago? Zhao Han had only heard of this name.

  But it must be reasonable for later generations to use conical bullets, so Zhao Han followed this line of thinking.

   After nearly ten years of tossing and continuous improvement, it can finally go to the battlefield.

   There are a number of rifled guns available today, but the cost of spirally rifled barrels is too high and difficult to manufacture. So far, only more than a thousand have been built, some of which were installed by the guards of the imperial city, and some were thrown into the northern areas where the land is vast and the soldiers are few.

   Zhang Tingxun holds a rifled gun with a long range and high accuracy, and the reloading speed is slightly slower than that of a smoothbore gun.

   Thirty of his soldiers were equipped with rifled guns.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

   It was hundreds of miles away from Olyok Minsk when Zhang Tingxun heard gunshots coming from the front.

  Mostly, after the snow melted, the Cossacks came out and forced the Saha natives to hand over their furs, and those who did not cooperate would use force to plunder them.

  Zhang Tingxun said: "If you encounter Cossack robbers along the way, ignore them all, and head towards Olyok at full speed, and only destroy Cossack ships when you encounter them!"

  The fleet sailed forward mightily, and soon arrived at the tribe plundered by the Cossacks.

   Several boats are docked on the shore, tied to trees with ropes.

  Three Cossack robbers were guarding the ship there, and more robbers plundered the village. Seeing the Datong army approaching, the three guys immediately jumped out of the boat and fled, shouting in horror: "The Khitan people are coming, the Khitan people are coming!"

  The soldiers of the Datong Army rowed over, squatted on the boat and aimed at the woods on the bank.

  The native auxiliary soldiers rowed birch bark boats, cut the ropes of the Cossack ships, and snatched all the Cossack boats. There were hundreds of furs on board, which were probably obtained from nearby tribes, as well as the Cossacks' marching rations.

   "Don't go ashore to chase, speed up!" Zhang Tingxun ordered.

  The fleet of the Datong Army quickly left here.

   Not long after, more than a dozen Cossack robbers rushed back with more than 30 indigenous servants. They looked at the severed mooring ropes, at the empty river bank, and for a moment didn't know what to do.

   It will be too late to go back to report the letter, and this place is several hundred miles away from the castle.

  They can only rob the birch bark boat of the Saha natives, and row back slowly, can they row back to die?

  Zhang Tingxun asked the soldiers and auxiliary soldiers to divide into two groups and row the boats in rotation.

   Those who do not row must sleep during their shifts. No matter whether they can sleep or not, they must close their eyes and rest. I stopped fishing with nets, and I didn’t even go ashore anymore. Let alone eating, **** was all settled on the boat.

   In this way, the march is very fast.

  Meeted another group of Cossack robbers on the way, still quickly grabbed the boat and left.

  A few days later, we arrived in Minsk, Olyok.

   "You told me this is the wooden wall?" Zhang Tingxun put down the binoculars, turned around and asked.

  Khabarov was stunned: "It used to be a wooden wall, and I don't know when it became a rammed earth castle."

   "Accelerate the landing!" Zhang Tingxun shouted.

  The castle is located at the confluence of the Lu River (Lena River) and the Olyokma River. At this time, the Cossacks also saw the Chinese fleet and shouted frantically into the city to defend.

  Because of the sudden attack, the gunners in the city were not in place yet, and some were even drunk and sleeping in broad daylight.

  They definitely didn’t have any surplus food to make wine, but after the snow melted for more than a month, they snatched or bought a lot of goat’s milk wine from the nearby natives. Except for a few who stayed for the winter, the rest of the sheep's milk wine was drunk openly, for fear that it would be stolen if it was drunk too slowly.

  When the drunken gunners were in place, the Chinese fleet had already docked, and only some of the native auxiliary soldiers in birch bark boats were still within range of the artillery.

   "Boom boom boom!"

  The sound of the cannon sounded, the two birch bark boats were overturned by the waves, and the native auxiliary soldiers frantically swam to the shore with the shells.

  Zhang Tingxun led his army to land from the north of the city, and Khabarov shouted: "The west coast of the city is the cultivated land of the Cossack robbers!"

   "You don't need to remind me!" Zhang Tingxun said angrily.

   More than a dozen Cossacks are supervising hundreds of slaves farming. The snow has melted for a period of time, and the surface of the permafrost has also melted away. It is a critical period for planting potatoes and other crops.

   There are also some Cossacks, as well as the indigenous servants, who are fishing in the nearby river.

  Seeing the Chinese army attacking, the Cossacks in the cultivated fields fled frantically, while the native slaves stood still and were at a loss.

  As for the ones on the river, they have already sailed away.

  Zhang Tingxun didn't care about the enemy in the west of the city at all, and led the soldiers to attack the city with ladders on their shoulders.

  The rammed-earth castle is very short, and given the conditions of Siberia, it is impossible to build it higher. Under a surprise attack, they might be able to break through in one fell swoop, otherwise they would have to slowly siege the city until it was almost winter and retreated in desperation.

   "Bang bang bang bang!"

  Just when they approached the bastion, gunshots rang out, and two Datong soldiers fell down.

   Fortunately, the enemy was not prepared, some went out to plunder, some went out to farm and fish, and not many stayed in the castle. And under the panic, the castle defenders were not fully in place yet.

   This is a very short-lived fighter opportunity. If you miss it, this expedition will definitely return without success.

  Rush from the river bank to the bastion, and there are wooden fences and trenches in between. At the bastion to the south, the cannons also rang out, and one of the shells killed and wounded two Datong troops and five native auxiliaries.

  The wooden fence is two-layered, and the middle is filled with soil, so it cannot collapse at all.

  Zhang Tingxun led people to climb over the ladder, stood on the wooden fence again, and took the ladder behind to cross the ditch.

   Until they rushed below the bastion, the Datong Army and the indigenous auxiliary soldiers had suffered heavy casualties.

  Zhang Tingxun was completely overwhelmed. He only had dozens of soldiers in total, and he needed a supply team to make up a hundred. Every time a soldier died, his heart was bleeding.

   "Shhhhhh!"

   This is the native servants of the Cossacks shooting arrows. An arrow hit Zhang Tingxun's chest and was blocked by the cotton armor.

  The Cossack in the castle, only two meters away from Zhang Tingxun, was reloading in a panic at the moment. Because his hand was shaking so much, he failed to stab the gun barrel several times. Seeing that Zhang Tingxun had climbed up, he quickly swung his knife and slashed down.

  Zhang Tingxun held down the ladder with one hand, and swung a knife with the other hand to slash out, parrying the enemy's weapon, and then suddenly pounced on his mouth.

  The bastion here is not only simple, but also has no top, similar to ordinary city walls.

   "Boom!"

   On the other side of the bastion, some strong man unexpectedly threw an enemy of ten thousand people.

  Zhang Tingxun, who had just climbed up the bastion, was about to fight bloody, when he heard a loud noise. The enemies at the explosion site were all down, only a few standing around Zhang Tingxun.

  More and more Datong army and indigenous auxiliary soldiers boarded the bastion, and the ensuing battles were almost all confrontations of cold weapons.

   According to post-war statistics, 100 Datong troops were killed, 24 were killed, 26 were slightly injured, and 7 were seriously injured. Of the two hundred native auxiliary soldiers, 35 were killed, 19 were slightly injured, and 13 were seriously injured.

  The casualty rate is extremely high.

   And their enemies are pitifully small in number.

  Including the gunners, there are only 45 Cossacks in the castle, more than half of them have no muskets, and there are only 18 real Cossack musketeers. There are 52 indigenous servants, all of whom use earth bows.

  The rest of the Cossacks and native servants never returned to the city.

  Zhang Tingxun was so angry that his lungs exploded. Only 18 Cossack musketeers, plus a few artillery pieces, actually caused more than half of his own casualties. I am a sudden attack!

   This kind of bastion is really disgusting!

   I have to say that the Saha indigenous soldiers who fought with Zhang Tingxun are extremely brave today. They were either from Zhang Tingxun's rule, or from the tribe with the best relationship, and they had a deep hatred with the Cossacks, and they were all fearless in battle.

  Looking at the corpses of the soldiers under his command, Zhang Tingxun had no joy of victory. In the first battle of his life he personally commanded, the casualty rate exceeded 50%.

   As for the Saha indigenous soldiers who died in battle, Zhang Tingxun decided to reward his family generously.

   "Boss, do you still want to hunt down?" the adjutant asked.

  Zhang Tingxun shook his head: "No need. The warship guards the mouth of the river, prohibits any ships from coming and going, and blocks all the Cossacks in the east. I will starve to death if I am hungry!"

  As for the Cossacks outside the city, they all fled westward the moment the Datong army captured the bastion. Hundreds of miles to the west, there is another Cossack stronghold, and if you go after it now, you will definitely not be able to catch up.

   Zhang Tingxun, with a low level of education, stood on the top of the blood-stained city, looked at the vast forest and sighed: "One will succeed... Ten thousand bones will wither."

  (end of this chapter)