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   Chapter 993 989 [Nerchinsk]

  The fort captured by Zhang Tingxun began to be built intermittently after the Datong Army captured Luzhou (Yakutsk).

  Zhang Tingxun and his former boss spent more than a year building a good relationship with the surrounding tribes. At the same time, they are still familiar with the terrain, climate and language, and they have to cut down trees to build ships, and the next step is to sweep the Cossack strongholds in the rear.

  According to his original intention, he will send dozens of people this year to go 1,300 miles away to inquire about news, and then choose a suitable time for the expedition next year.

  But the headquarters issued an order, he can only send troops this year.

This is to cooperate with the battle in Mobei, a battle of hundreds of thousands of people, Zhang Tingxun has nothing to say at all-Li Zheng is attacking Nerchinsk along the Heilongjiang River, fearing that the battle will take too long, the Cossack reinforcements in the north can go along the river and over the mountains to attack Yaksa, Zhang Tingxun The fight is the lair of reinforcements that may appear.

   If you want to fight, you have to do it by surprise, so you choose to do it after the snow melts. According to Khabarov, at this time, the Cossacks will allocate manpower to the various tribes to ask for furs, and will also allocate manpower to grab time for farming and fishing.

  As long as they are killed suddenly, there will not be many Cossacks in the castle.

  Adhering to this combat idea, I encountered Cossack robbers halfway, robbed the ship and immediately marched at high speed. For the remaining hundreds of miles, they may be exposed at any time. Therefore, it is impossible to send scouts to investigate first. They can only go by boat, and it is even more difficult to reveal their whereabouts.

  Night raids are also more risky. It is very likely that they hid more than ten miles away during the day, and the fleet was spotted by enemy fishing boats.

   In general, the plan went very well, there were not many Cossacks in the castle.

   It’s just that the battle damage data is a bit ugly, and this is really the only way to storm the bastion, even if it’s just the simplest bastion.

  In comparison, the castle of Nerchinsk is really hard to beat!

  After the Datong Army captured Yaksa, Nerchinsk was the first to bear the brunt. The Russians put all the manpower and materials around Lake Baikal into Nerchinsk to build the city wall.

  Nerchinsk Castle built a mother castle and a daughter castle.

  The mother castle is surrounded by water, and there are only narrow passages on land. The city wall is 5 meters high and 8 meters thick. There are four bastion buildings, and there are three wooden fences and moats on the outside. Every obstacle has to be broken through.

  Zibao is on the other side of the river from the mother castle. It is a Jiangxinzhou, also surrounded by water.

  The warships of the Datong Army wanted to pass through, but they were bound to be flanked by the mother fort and the sub-fort.

  If you want to go around, you have to land a few miles in advance, and then bypass the mountains along the river from the north, and you have to walk more than 20 miles on a winding mountain road. After the mountainous area is a swampy area, you have to cross a tributary first, and launch an attack on the other side of the river from the mother castle. This is too dangerous, and you can continue to circle around, cross a tributary, pass through a swamp, and then attack from a narrow land passage.

  Historically, the battle between Manchu Qing and Tsarist Russia was not fought in Nerchinsk, but in Yaksa, which is more conducive to attack.

  If the battle location is changed to Nerchinsk, the Qing army will definitely lose even worse. Because it is more difficult to supply here, and the terrain here is more complicated, the generals of the army don't even know which side to attack from.

Before leaving, Wang Fuchen, who was stationed at Yaksa, said: "We have been inquiring about news from each other for the past two years. The Yaksa castle is strong, and the Raksha ghost dare not attack. The Nerchinsk castle is getting thicker and thicker. I can’t fight through it either. This time it’s not a coincidence, we have to attack hard. This map of Nerchinsk City’s defense was drawn by the scouts who ventured up the mountain. It was discovered when we left. For this map, we folded two people Afterwards, the Rakshasa ghost built a beacon tower downstream, and any ship within twenty miles would be spotted."

  Glanced at the map, Li Zheng had a headache and said, "What kind of terrain is this? I have fought for half my life, but I have never encountered it before."

Wang Fuchen said: "There are only two options. One is to abandon the boat and go around the mountains in the north, pass through two swamps, and then cross two rivers, and launch an attack from the narrow land. The terrain is very narrow there. We don’t know how many lives will be filled with guns and cannons. Another solution is to forcibly pull out the sub-fort, and then attack the mother fort through the sub-fort.”

Li Zheng is still so stable in battle. He said: "The first plan has too many variables, and it is to go around the enemy's rear. Not only will we have to abandon the ship, but the food road back may be cut off, and it is easy to be surrounded by enemy reinforcements. .Choose the second one, and fight against Rakshasa ghosts!"

  The Datong Army sent 6,000 troops, and nearly 10,000 native and Han people.

  From the Songhua River to the Heilongjiang River Basin, young men and ships from various tribes were transferred to accompany the army, and the ships and manpower of the post stations and trading companies along the way were also transferred.

   There are more than 3,000 large and small ships.

   There are warships of the Anton Navy, posting express boats, merchant cargo ships, and even indigenous canoes and birch bark boats.

  The fleet approached the enemy beacon tower mightily, and the Cossacks on the watchtower were dumbfounded. I lit the beacon in a panic, then abandoned the beacon tower, rowed a boat and fled.

   Beacon towers ignited smoke one after another, and Nerchinsk Castle quickly got the news, ringing the bell to summon all the Cossacks outside the city to return. At the same time, they sent people to the west, summoned all the troops around Lake Baikal, and rushed to rescue Nerchinsk.

  Li Zhengxuan landed on Jiangxin Island downstream of Zibao. The area of ​​this Jiangxin Island is three times that of Zibao Jiangxin Island. Between the two Jiangxin Islands, there is only a river surface of more than ten meters wide.

  The first thing to do when going ashore is to cut down trees, and the entire Jiangxin Island is covered by forests.

   It took two days to cut down trees and set up camp. The wood obtained from cutting down trees was just used to make siege equipment and more wooden boats for crossing the river.

"Worn out!"

   Qiao Guang sat on the ground with his buttocks, his arms were shaking.

  His family belongs to Shanxi merchants, but he has been doing business in Yangzhou for a long time, earning a lot of money by selling salt, and has no leisure to collude with foreign enemies and collude with the Tartars. But Emperor Zhao won the world, Jiangxi and Huizhou merchants trembled, and Qiao Guangyong's father was forced to go north to get a license for the Changlu Salt Field.

   Within a few years, the imperial court checked the fields again, and the Qiao family was suspected of embezzling farmers' land. They were supposed to be exiled, but the local officials interceded, saying that those places were all saline-alkali land, and renting and building salt farms could actually increase farmers' income.

  The imperial court specially sent a censor to investigate, and the situation is true.

   It is true to occupy land, and it is also true to increase the income of the people. After repeated calculations, there is no need to be exiled, or even revoked the salt industry license, but a large fine must be paid, because this is indeed a violation.

  The Qiao family suffered repeated losses and had to expand their business scope.

  Qiao Guangyong, as the eldest son of a concubine, was thrown to Heilongjiang to start a trading company. The competition in the Songhua River Basin was fierce, and the competition in the lower reaches of Heilongjiang was also fierce. Qiao Guangyong simply took the risk to go to Hailan Pao.

   This choice really paid off.

   Then, he was conscripted by people and boats, let alone a businessman, he even became a civilian husband himself.

   "Master, let me rub it for you." Qiao Nian, the second shopkeeper of the trading company, came over.

  Qiao Guangyong sat paralyzed on the ground: "It's fine to knead, but if I cut down the tree for another two days, I'm afraid my life will be gone."

   There are also a few guys who also ran over to serve, and the second shopkeeper finally didn't have to do it himself.

  Some beat their legs, some rubbed their shoulders, some slapped their arms.

   "Oh, oh, oh... Shu Tan, Shu Tan." Qiao Guangyong looked intoxicated.

  A military officer came over suddenly and angrily said, "Are you here to relax and enjoy yourself, or to be a civilian husband?"

  Qiao Guangyong stood up quickly: "Master Jun, I have never done hard work since I was a child. If I don't exercise my muscles and bones, I won't be able to get up tomorrow."

  The goods winked, and the second shopkeeper immediately took out silver dollars.

  The officer scolded angrily: "Give it to me, and bribe the general on the battlefield. Do you think your life is too long?"

  Qiao Guang shrank his neck, a little at a loss.

   Datong soldiers in the Heilongjiang River Basin would occasionally collect money. The sky is high and the emperor is far away, and it is nothing to make money in a bitter and cold place, as long as you don't make principled mistakes. In many cases, even the missionary officers turned a blind eye, because the soldiers here are really hard.

   But this is a battlefield, anyone who dares to collect money will be killed.

   Landing on the third day.

   Waking up from sleep, Qiao Guang had a sore back and back, and was called to dig a trench again.

  Thousands of civilians digging forward from several directions at the same time in a Z shape, this is to guard against the artillery of the Zibao on the other side.

   Qiao Guangyong didn't know what he was digging for. His palms were already blistered, and the ligaments in his legs were throbbing. I feel sorry for myself, a young master from a rich family, who actually has to do this kind of job. Although the army is paid by the day, who the **** cares about the money.

   There is no way, the population of Heilongjiang is too small, even the boss of a business company has to be recruited as a civilian husband.

   After a few more days, the trench was dug.

  Li Zheng was standing at the forefront of a trench: "Is it really possible to hit here? Did you make a mistake?"

  The artillery surveyor stood at attention and saluted: "After repeated calculations more than ten times, there are two locations in Jiangxinzhou where we are located that can be used as artillery positions."

  When the Datong Army attacked Batavia, the geometric siege method they came up with had already been extended to the entire army, but it has not yet achieved any results in actual combat.

  More than 20 artillery pieces were pulled out along the Z-shaped trench.

  The gun body is completely hidden in the trench, and in front of it is a sack filled with soil, only half of the gun barrel is exposed. Even if the artillery of the two sides fired at each other, the artillery of the Datong Army was relatively safe, and the sacks could buffer the kinetic energy of the incoming shells.

   Qiao Guangyong leaned against the pit wall to rest, and an officer beckoned them to pass.

   Many places where the artillery is placed still need to be excavated and repaired. Qiao Guang was in charge of transporting some clods away, while the stronger-looking civilian husband adjusted the position slightly with the cannon.

  The surveyor carefully calculated one door after another, and constantly made angle adjustments.

  Qiao Guangyong can't understand it at all, but he thinks it's amazing. It was the first time he knew that he had to do problems in war, and he actually did arithmetic temporarily on the battlefield.

   "This gun is ready."

   "Boom! Boom! Boom!"

  The gunfire came from the opposite bank, and Qiao Guangyong shrank his neck in fright.

   Fortunately, they have adapted. When they were digging in the trenches, the opposite side often fired artillery. Most of the enemy's shells flew over the trench, only a few shells rolled into the trench, and one shell hit the wall of the trench.

   So far, there is only one unlucky guy whose leg was broken by a shell that rolled in while digging a trench.

  Li Zheng waited for the enemy's shelling to end, and said angrily: "Test the cannon!"

   "Boom!"

  The artillery shells of the Datong Army returned fire. The trajectory of the shells was almost parallel to the wall of the Zibao, and then hit the corner of the wall.

   "Error, a small error." The surveyor quickly explained.

   "Do you want to adjust?" asked the artillery battalion commander.

  The surveyor said: "There is no need to adjust, it has been calculated, and some errors are normal."

  Li Zheng said: "Fire again."

   "Boom!"

  The shells flew very accurately this time. With a very small angle of parabola, they barely passed the bastion in front and landed on the side wall of the fortress.

   Then, the shell bounced and rolled along the city wall, and four Cossacks were hit along the way. One person was killed on the spot, and the other three were knocked off their legs.

  The watchman of the hot air balloon waved a flag to indicate that the cannon had been successful.

  Li Zheng praised: "That's right, go and transfer to the next one."

  As more and more shells did not bombard the city wall, but bombarded the soldiers on the city in parallel at a small angle, the Cossack officer in the sub-fort finally felt something was wrong.

   What kind of play is this?

   Those Cossacks did not dare to stand in the middle of the top of the wall, and all huddled close to the parapet. The same is true for the Cossacks on the bastion, they leaned against the parapet to avoid collectively, because occasionally shells just fell on the bastion.

  Li Zheng looked at the enemy's castle, thinking about how to attack with a headache.

  The two Jiangxin Islands, the water in the middle is only more than ten meters wide. It is close at hand, but it is like a moat, because it is impossible to dig trenches across the river, and it is necessary to land and attack by boat. The citizens and peasants who land are all exposed to the enemy's firepower.

   "Guardian, the wind is blowing from the southeast these few days." The officer in charge of hot air balloons came over and said.

  Li Zheng said: "It's not summer yet, so the southeast wind must be blowing."

  The officer said: "We are just to the east, and we are very close to the enemy's castle. Raise a hot air balloon at the southern end of Jiangxinzhou. As long as the rope is long enough, the hot air balloon will float over the castle. How about throwing ten thousand enemies down?"

Li Zheng thought for a while: "You can try it, but I guess it won't be very effective. Besides, you are very dangerous in the hot air balloon. If the enemy's shells break the rope, or the enemy shoots the hot air balloon with a gun, the soldiers in the hot air balloon There is no doubt about death."

"All the ropes in the whole army are connected into one piece. As long as it is high enough, the firecrackers can't hit it," the officer said with a smile. "If the rope is broken by a shell, it will be considered unlucky for us. And it doesn't necessarily mean that we will die. where to land."

   (Recommend a new book by an old author: "I go out to read the almanac every day", this is a historical text, haha.)

  (end of this chapter)