Chapter 555 The Lifeblood of the Russians

The Central Plains in May is already quite hot, but in Lake Baikal in May, people still need to cover themselves with a thin blanket at night.

For the Torghut tribe living in the lower reaches of the Volga River, such a temperature is not a problem for them at all, and the heat is what they hate. However, no matter how comfortable the climate is, it cannot cover up the huge casualties of the Torghut people.

The Torghut people, with a total force of only 3,000 people, have lost 400 people due to various reasons.

"The war horses are already skin and bones. If we obey the orders of the Irkutsk Governor [Alex Igna], by the time we run to Irkutsk, all the Torghut people will become two-legged infantry." Aslen slapped the pine table angrily, and the blue veins on his forehead were like the roots of an old tree.

He is the second in command of this Torghut army. Now the Torghuts are located at the northern end of Lake Baikal. They are also on the shore of Lake Baikal, but from the northern end of Lake Baikal to Irkutsk in the southwest of the lake, they have to walk more than a thousand miles. This is the vast Lake Baikal. Otherwise, how could Lake Baikal be called the North Sea in the past?

In front of Asleng is Tsebokdorji, the supreme commander of the Torghut cavalry. Tsebokdorji's face is so gloomy that water can drip out. They had a little contact with the Fu Han army on the east side of Lake Baikal in the summer and autumn of last year. There was no real war, and the Chinese withdrew from the war zone. But then they were transferred to Outer Northeast, where, in Xinjiangkou, they did not suffer any major losses on the battlefield.

The Qing army and the Russian army were the main ones fighting with the Han people. After several contacts, they suffered losses and chose to retreat, especially the Russian army. Because the Mongolian Fu Han army was about to launch an attack on Lake Baikal again, not only did the Russians in the Amur River choose to retreat, but the reinforcements from Western Siberia were also heading towards Irkutsk. As for the Torghuts, the main force withdrew from the Greater Khingan Range before the snow melted. At that time, Tsebekdorji's excuse was that the horses were exhausted and the soldiers were no longer able to fight. Only a small number of the 400 Torghuts who fell now died or were injured in the fighting and on the battlefield. More of them were killed by fatigue and difficult environment. Health, and even their lives.

A large number of Torghuts took dried meat, dry milk powder, cheese and bread, which were provided by the Russians, and retreated all the way to the northern end of Lake Baikal and settled down in a place with abundant water and grass. But a short period of time could not make the war horses under their crotch grow fat again and replenish their vitality. Alex Igna now issued another tough order, limiting the Torghuts to reach Irkutsk before June.

"If Alex Igna was right in front of me, I would also want to strangle him to death. But our food and weapons are all supplied by the Russians. If Alex Igna cuts off our supplies..." The only fate waiting for this Torghut is death.

There is not even a Buryat here. There is not even a Tatar tribe in hundreds of miles!

The Russians were able to conquer the entire Siberia in a hundred years. Their own bravery and enterprising spirit were put aside for the time being. The sparse population of Siberia's indigenous people was also a major reason.

If the Russians were not responsible for providing supplies, the Torghuts would not have been able to get here with 3,000 cavalry. The local Tatar tribes, or a single Russian stronghold, were completely unable to provide food and clothing for such a large army.

No matter how ugly Tsebokdorji's face was, or how furious Asleng was, the Torghuts had no choice but to obey the Russians' orders if they didn't want to die.

"It's impossible for all of us to reach Irkutsk before June, unless you can make the God you believe in appear and restore all our horses to their strongest state." Tsebokdorji had to obey the Russians' orders, but how to obey them was another matter. "I will lead a thousand people, each with three horses, to Irkutsk as quickly as possible. I think the respected Governor Igna asked us to rush there to fight for the defense of Irkutsk, not to make us a burden to Irkutsk and add more burden to Irkutsk." In Siberia, food has never been abundant. "And the remaining Torghuts will be led by my deputy, Aslen. They can only rush to Irkutsk slowly, otherwise they will become worse than women." Without war horses, the Torghuts lost their greatest fighting power.

The envoys from Irkutsk could only give in to the tough and polite Tsebekdorji, "I will convey your words to Governor Alex Igna." As for what kind of reaction the Governor of Irkutsk would have, the envoy said he didn't want to know, that was a matter between big men. All he could do now was to confirm the 1,000 Torghut cavalry. "I hope you can quickly lead your deployment to Irkutsk."

"Don't worry about that. The Torghut tribe has always been the loyal fierce dog of Her Majesty the Queen." In the recently concluded Russo-Turkish War, the Torghut cavalry suffered heavy losses for the victory of the Tsarist Russia, but from another perspective, this also confirmed their loyalty to the Tsarist Russia.

The envoy of Irkutsk immediately bowed to show his respect for the sacrifice made by the Torghut tribe, "Of course, the brave and wise Ubashi Khan is one of the most respected heroes of the Russians."

In order to deal with the upcoming war, the Russians chose to gather all their strength. The Torghut people in the east, the Torghut people in the west...

At this time, the main force of the cavalry brigade stationed in Kyakhta had also embarked on the journey to attack Irkutsk. Before the 3,000 main forces were dispatched, the 2,000-man cavalry brigade officers and soldiers, together with the Outer Mongolian + Buryats of similar number, had cleared the entire southern part of Lake Baikal.

The Russians once again chose to retreat, and the reinforcements they received from Western Siberia also entered Lake Baikal by 600 to 700 people, all of whom retreated to Irkutsk.

With their forces at a disadvantage, they could only rely on the city defense of Irkutsk. A hundred years have passed, and the war has once again returned Irkutsk to the definition of a "fortress".

All Russian men, women, young and old were mobilized to build breastworks around Irkutsk, as well as wide trenches that were difficult for war horses to cross. On the grasslands lacking heavy weapons, the Cossacks of the past relied on defense and the muskets in their hands to frustrate the Mongols, who outnumbered them by a large margin.

More than a hundred years ago, the war between the Buryats and the Russians was fought around wooden castles. Not to mention the advantage of three or five times the force, the Buryats also had an advantage of ten or twenty times the force. But with only simple bows and scimitars in their hands, they could only give up their lives in vain in the face of the Cossacks with castles and muskets.

Now the Russians can still rely on this set, but the defense of Irkutsk is much greater than a hundred years ago.

The Russians no longer hold matchlock guns, but more advanced flintlock guns, and they also have bronze cannons around them.

It's just that the asymmetry of bilateral information doomed the Russians to tragedy this time. Although the current Irkutsk Governor Alex Igna is still confident, because the combined forces of the Chinese and Mongolians, who have an absolute advantage in military strength, can no longer approach Irkutsk, even if they surround the city of Irkutsk tightly, they cannot threaten the safety of Irkutsk at all.

As long as the reinforcements from outside arrive, let the Torghuts consume these hateful barbarians severely, and then the Russians who return from the Outer Northeast will join the second batch of reinforcements from Western Siberia, and these barbaric and backward Eastern barbarians will know what modern civilization and war are.

In the previous battle between the Irkutsk Provincial Army and the Chinese Army in Kyakhta, the latter was well-equipped, with so many cuirassiers, and all equipped with muskets, but there were not many cannons with the army. Alex Igna also thought that the Chinese cavalry would not have too much artillery fire, because the distance between China and Lake Baikal was too far, too far.

To ensure the supply of a 5,000-man army with hot weapons, the burden is too heavy.

Now the performance of the Chinese has also confirmed that Alex Igna's previous conjecture is not wrong, and their friends in Outer Mongolia have reported that this Chinese army was originally equipped with a strong artillery force, with as many as 30 cavalry guns, but only 12 reached Kulun, and the other was a few mortars.

Compared with the Russian power in Lake Baikal, the long and distant supply line is the biggest enemy of this army and the best friend of the Russians. Alex Igna is very confident that he can defend Irkutsk, which has deployed 20 artillery pieces, and gunpowder and shells are relatively abundant. Although many of these artillery pieces are older than the grandfather who is about to be buried in Alex Igna's hometown, this does not affect the power of these artillery pieces. This is the artillery power accumulated by the Russians over the past hundred years, because Irkutsk is absolutely important to Russia.

The whistling wind blew on Chen Kaishan's face, just like the Spring and Autumn Period in the Central Plains. The long team behind him was slowly advancing towards the northwest. He didn't know how many days it would take him to reach Irkutsk, but he had to win this battle.

He had sent a report to Nanjing half a month ago. If he couldn't take Irkutsk in this battle, Chen Ming didn't need to say anything, and he would stay in his current position. Although Chen Kaishan was leading a cavalry brigade, he was also the front army governor of the Fu Han Army!

After Chen Ming became emperor, the Grand Governor's Office also ushered in a reform. In addition to the Grand Governor who was concurrently the emperor, there were also the four military governors of the front, back, left and right. This was not a copy of Zhu Yuanzhang's Five Military Governors' Office, because the five governors of the Fu Han Army, one chief and four deputy governors, were completely different from Zhu Ming's Five Military Governors.

Chen Han's Grand Commander's Office, the Grand Commander commands all military power, the Left Army Commander is the first deputy, and commands the national army; the Right Army Commander is the second deputy, commanding the military logistics, military engineering, military academy, recruit camps, etc.; the Front Army Commander is the third deputy, commanding the national cavalry affairs; the Rear Army Commander is the fourth deputy, commanding the national navy affairs.

Because the four military commanders all have voting rights, when it comes to the interests of each other's military branches, it is very difficult to calmly compromise with each other, and in the end it will be handed over to Chen Ming, who will not relax the military power at all.

Now the Fu Han Army is not only at war with the remnant Qing Dynasty, but also China and Russia have entered a state of war after Potemkin led the cavalry to intervene in the war. Moreover, there is too long a bilateral border between China and Russia. Not only Mongolia, but also the Northeast and Northwest.

The Russians do not have any advantage in the Outer Northeast, but they have a great advantage in the Northwest.

Although the Russians have not yet conquered Kazakhstan, in the spring of the first year of Yongzheng (1732), when the Kazakh grassland was hit by heavy snow, the Junggar army suddenly attacked the Kazakh grassland. The attack on the Kazakh grassland suffered heavy losses. The Great Yuz, which was geographically closest to China, was completely defeated, and part of the Middle Yuz tribe chose to surrender under the knife of the Junggar. The Small Yuz of the Three Kazakhs fled west to the Ural River and the lower reaches of the Volga River to roam, and their territory was bordering the Torghut tribe. It turned out that part of the Middle Yuz tribe had hooked up with the Russians. In the fifth year of Emperor Qianlong's reign (1740), the Dzungars went on an expedition to the Middle Juz. The Mongolian army advanced directly to the Ural River area. The Middle Juz suffered a heavy blow. Some tribes returned to the Dzungars, and some tribes formally surrendered to Russia together with the Small Juz.

From the 20th to the 22nd year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, the Qing army destroyed the Dzungar Mongols. It can be said that while eliminating the threat of the Kazakhs from the Dzungars, it also made Russia have ambitions for the Kazakhs.

To be honest, although the Dzungar Mongols had fought with the Qing Dynasty for a hundred years, they were also the backbone of the Russians' southward advance to Central Asia. In its heyday, the Dzungar Mongols were a behemoth that the Russians were unwilling to provoke, with an army of 200,000 to 300,000. The demise of this powerful force not only ruined the dominant position of the Buddhist Tantric Sect in Xinjiang, but also removed the biggest stumbling block for the Russians' southward advance.

Of course, for the Qing Dynasty, this was just the elimination of its biggest enemy. After the war, the three Yuz of the Kazakhs successively expressed their allegiance to the Qing Dynasty, especially the Middle Yuz and the Great Yuz, which had closer relations with the Qing Dynasty. However, the Khan of the Middle Yuz of this era, Abulai, also swore allegiance to the Russian Empire in Orenburg and obtained a certificate.

Now that the Qing Dynasty was destroyed by Chen Han, the Russians stood with the Qing Dynasty. These two forces have great influence in Central Asia. If the forces of the Fu Han Army entered Central Asia, Chen Ming was not sure that Abulai Khan would surrender immediately. Chen Ming did not dare to guarantee whether Abulai would know the story of the false road to destroy the Guo!

If the Kazakhs opened the passage to the Russian army in Orenburg, perhaps only the easternmost Great Yuz among the three Kazakhs would be closer to China because of its proximity to Lake Balkhash, but the final consequence would still cause great trouble to the Fu Han Army's control over the entire Xinjiang.

"Your Majesty is not ready for a full-scale war with Russia yet. The power of the court in the north and northwest is still too weak and the foundation is too shallow. That's why Your Majesty ordered the 1st Cavalry Brigade to attack Lake Baikal."

Just as Chen Kaishan led his army step by step to Irkutsk, Zhangjia III was also meeting with Chechen Khan Chebudenzab, who had arrived in Chengde earlier.

Obviously, Outer Mongolia maintained a certain degree of fear of the powerful and armed 1st Cavalry Brigade. Compared with the simple nomadic cavalry of Outer Mongolia, the 1st Cavalry Brigade was fully armed to the teeth in the eyes of the Khalkha Mongols.

Everyone of them had a musket, and many people had more than one, and many people were equipped with short guns, and they also had so many cannons. In terms of firepower, they crushed the Khalkha Mongols by ten streets. However, what shocked the Khalkha people the most was that all of them were equipped with breastplates. Although many people's breastplates were only half-armor covering the front, every time the army lined up, the shining breastplates and the array advancing like a wall made all the Khalkha Mongolian princes tremble with fear.

"You should know the importance of Lake Baikal to the Russians. It is Russia's transit station in the frozen land of northern Outer Mongolia, connecting the east and the west. As long as Your Majesty can hold on to this place, you will hold on to the lifeblood of the Russians. Unless the Russians are willing to give up all the land east of Lake Baikal, they must sit down and negotiate."

The Emperor of Nanjing wants to hold Lake Baikal and then let the Russians withdraw from this war, so if he wants to see that powerful force withdraw from the territory of Outer Mongolia, he must at least wait until the Russians surrender.

Otherwise, it means that Outer Mongolia is not on the right track.

"Contact Tushetu, Zasaktu and the Noyan tribe as soon as possible, and ask them [Khan] to come to Chengde as soon as possible. His Majesty the Emperor has already approved the reincarnation of Jebtsundamba IV. The Central Plains at least has no ambitions for the Khalkha at present. Ask them to come to Chengde as soon as possible. Also, you must do your best to contact the Torghut people..."