Chapter 423: Zheng Raids the Mission

Finding that the army defending the city actually had rifled guns, the Russian commander Fyodor ordered to stop the tentative attack, abandoned the attack on the castle, and continued to walk downstream along the Heilongjiang River with the expedition. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. biquge。 info But along the way, there are all difficult cities along the way, and the Russian army does not carry artillery, so it cannot be attacked at all. When they arrived at one of the castles, the Ming army at the head of the city even bombarded the Russian army with three-pounder guns.

In the end, Fyodor had no choice but to return to Yaksa in vain, and retreated to the city of Yaksa.

Three days later, the news of the Russian army's dispatch reached Temple Street Castle, and a group of Ming army generals led by Zheng Xian had a different opinion on the actions of the Russian army in the Far East.

Cao Conglong said: "Lord Wang, there is cooperation between us and the Rakshasas, our war horses are bought by the Rakshasas, they buy silk, ceramics and tea from us, we buy war horses from them, and both sides benefit." For the Rakshasas, we should focus on peace talks. ”

Li Yingqing retorted: "General Cao, the Rakshasas are also divided into different Rakshasas, the Cossacks who cooperate with us, and the other group of Rakshasas are called Russians, and these two kinds of Rakshasas are not the same kind of people. The Cossacks traded privately with us, but the Russians burned, killed, and plundered in the Heilongjiang area, and did absolutely bad things! And the Tartars are always looking to cooperate with them! With the virtue of the Russians, nine times out of ten they will cooperate with the Tartars! If they join forces, we are in danger! Now that the Russians have come to us, it is better for us to strike first! ”

Xiao Gongchen said: "It's freezing and it's inconvenient to carry heavy artillery, should we use a delaying tactic to stabilize the Rakshasas first, and then seek cooperation with them, let them fight to the death with the Tartars, and then we will find a chance to seize their castle?" ”

Zheng Xi thought for a moment, nodded and said, "Let's send someone to the Rakshasa people first to see what their attitude is!" It would be great if they were willing to cooperate! If we refuse to cooperate, it will not be too late for us to send troops. ”

Xiao Gongchen said: "Lord Wang, do you want to let the lowly leave?" How many people to bring along? ”

Zheng said: "Don't worry! It's almost the New Year, and when the New Year is over, send a few people to Yaksa City to meet with the Rakshasa people and see what they mean! ”

The New Year soon arrived, and although it was a land of the far north, from Temple Street to Sakhalin Island to the castles along the Heilongjiang River, the Ming army and the locals were busy preparing for the New Year.

The Spring Festival is the most important festival of the Han people, and the Japanese from the east have not yet left Asia and entered Europe in that era, let alone the Meiji Restoration, and the Spring Festival of that year is also a Japanese festival. As for the Evenks, originally their Agnebe was their grandest festival, and this festival coincided with the Spring Festival of the Han people. The Mongolian White Festival also coincides with the Spring Festival of the Han people. The Evenks and other ethnic groups, influenced by the Han Chinese, have also begun to attach importance to the Spring Festival in recent years.

On the occasion of the New Year, there are a variety of New Year's goods prepared at Temple Street Castle with fish caught from the river, beef and mutton from Sakhalin Livestock Farm, pork from Ezo Island, dried goods from the mountains prepared before the arrival of winter, and seafood from the Sea of Japan.

The large ships from the south could not reach the shore, so they docked on the open sea ice, transferred their goods in small boats, and after a period of thin ice, they reached the surface of the sea with thick ice, and were carried to Temple Street by sleigh.

Peanuts, melon seeds, candies, candied fruits, salt, cloth, and other goods from the south were sent to castles and local settlements, bringing joy to the locals.

The New Year was soon coming, and just after the fifth day of the first lunar month, Xiao Gongchen took the mission, rode a horse, pulled a sleigh full of goods, and went to Yaksa Castle to meet the Russian troops stationed there. The Ming legation consisted of more than a hundred men, carrying elite muskets and two lightweight, three-pounder cannons that could be pulled by sleds.

The members of the Ming legation wore fine armor, the outermost layer of silver-white shiny plate armor, a layer of cotton armor inside, a layer of rhinoceros leather armor inside, and then a layer of vest-style cotton armor inside, and a silk lining on the inside. With such four layers of protective armor, it can block the fire of muskets. Ordinary Ming sergeants carried flintlock pistols on their shoulders, a short sword that could be used as a bayonet hanging from their waists, and a double-barreled short gun and two grenades.

There were also five skirmishers armed with rifled guns, each carrying a rifled gun, a six-shot Thunderbolt with a six-shot bolt, two grenades, and a saber stuck in his waist.

Two three-pounder guns, operated by six gunners, each armed with a double-barreled spurt and a dagger.

After the Ming army set out from Temple Street, it took about a month to reach Yaksa Castle. The journey took a long time, and the mission encountered many snowstorms, but fortunately there were residential areas along the way to take shelter from the wind and snow, and in the bad weather of the blizzard, the mission entered the settlement for the night.

In the city of Yaksa, the Russian army in the city can be said to be living like a year for more than a month, and the local ethnic minorities have gathered the Ming army and sent them to live in a fixed settlement protected by the city wall, and the Russian army has not grabbed anything, so they have to venture deep into the territory of Heilongjiang to grab the things of the Eight Banners. As a result, they encountered the elite Eight Banners outside the Guan, and the two sides fought a battle, although the Russian army won, but the losses were not small.

Peng Chun, the general of the Eight Banners, had received a decree from the imperial court asking them to send people to contact the Russians and strive to cooperate with the Russians. However, Peng Chun sent envoys to the Russians many times, but there was no news, and the envoy was like a mud cow into the sea, and all the people who went there disappeared. You must know that many of the members of the mission are Catholics brought out by Nan Huairen, and they know Russian. None of these people returned, and there was no one in Peng Chun's hands who knew Russian.

Peng Chun, who was stationed in Heilongjiang, received a report from the spies that the Rakshasas had entered Heilongjiang and plundered several tribes. After hearing these news, the short-tempered Peng Chun was furious, thinking of the disappearance of the mission, he decided that the Russian army refused to cooperate, and sent troops to rob, so he took a group of Eight Banners soldiers to meet the Russian army.

In this battle, Peng Chun said that the Qing army had won, but the Russian army said that it had won the battle, and both sides had their own arguments. In fact, the losses of the Qing army far exceeded that of the Russian army, and the Russian army also ransacked several tribes and returned to Yaksa with the looted grain. But for the Qing army, the success of driving away the Russian army can be regarded as Peng Chun's contribution.

The Russian army fought this battle and lost another 79 people, which made the Russian army in the Far East, which was already small in number, even more insufficient. So Fyodor prepared to wait for the beginning of spring before sending someone back to Moscow to report that he would send more troops to the Far East.