Relying on the compass and sextant to guide the way, the sleigh avoided the large stronghold of the Rakshasa people on the edge of the Heilongjiang River, bypassed the largest castle of the Rakshasa people, passed through the frozen Heilongjiang River, and entered the south bank of the Heilongjiang River. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

During these days, the sled team marched during the day and rested in the primeval forest at night. Every day at night, the people formed a fence with sleds, and the men and horses were in it, covered the horses with blankets, lit bonfires around them, and removed canvas from the sleds to protect them from the wind and snow.

Camp at night, hear the howling of the wind and snow every night, you can't see anything in the thousands of miles of snowfield, and occasionally you can hear bursts of wolf howls. However, the wolves were afraid of fire, and there were so many people gathered that even if there were one or two hundred wolves, they did not dare to attack the Ming army's sledders.

There were a few days when the snow was so heavy that the sledding team could not march, so they rested on the spot for three days, and built a simple wooden castle on the edge of the Heilongjiang River. It will be a stronghold for the future.

After the sky cleared, a sleigh sent by the rear for contact arrived, and Xiao Gongchen asked the messenger to send a letter to Zheng Xi in the rear, saying that he had delayed his trip for three days, and that the grain and grass might be a little insufficient and needed to be replenished, so he had no choice but to wait in the simple castle for three days.

The wind and snow delayed for three days, and he waited in the castle for another three days, adding up to a total of six days.

But it was okay, six days later, Zheng Xi sent the supplementary grain and grass, and also sent an additional hundred transport sleds, sending a large amount of grain and forage and war horse feed.

After a six-day delay, the sledding team continued to set off. In the next few days, the weather was very good, and the sled team crossed the Heilongjiang River during the New Year, entered the south bank of the Heilongjiang River, and arrived at the jurisdiction of the Qing army General Heilongjiang.

Because it was very close to Yaksa, the Eight Banners cavalry were afraid of the Rakshasas and generally did not operate on the north bank of the river. But after crossing the Heilongjiang River, the south bank is the activity area of the Eight Banners. Although it was a winter that was frozen for thousands of miles, Xiao Gongchen felt that it was better to be careful.

"Be careful, we've already crossed the river, and there may be a full Tartar activity ahead! Pause to move forward! A short trim! Xiao Gongchen ordered a pause in advance.

The south bank of the Heilongjiang River is a lush primeval forest. In the frozen winter, the leaves of the trees have fallen off, leaving only bare trunks, and the dead branches and leaves on the ground have long been covered with snow.

The sled team temporarily camped in the woods and sent a few sleds to serve as scouts.

"Let's go find the way! I'm a sharpshooter! Cai Zhichao volunteered to stand up.

The Mongolian Kharbara stood up: "I've been here before, and I'm familiar with the terrain here!" I'm going to find the way! ”

Rakshasa Valentin stood up: "I came here to reconnoiter before, and the Tatars were frightened when they saw us Russians, or I'm going to explore the way!" ”

The Oroqen and Evenks also stood up one after another: "We are locals, let's explore the way!" ”

In the end, Xiao Gongchen sent five sleds, namely Cai Zhichao, Halbara, Valentin, Unaji and Emohe, to explore the way.

"Unload all the food and forage from our sleds and set off on the car!" Cai Zhichao beckoned Cao Yong and Zhang paparazzi, unloaded all the goods transported on his sleigh and placed them in the camp.

Five sleds set off one after another to explore the southwest direction. After emptying the cargo, the sleds can run very fast, but in order to save horsepower, they only walk at a slightly faster pace than the usual march.

"There's cavalry ahead!" The first car of the sled scouts abruptly stopped.

The five sleds all stopped, and I saw a group of cavalry rushing in front of them, about 20 people, dressed from a distance, not like the Eight Banners cavalry, but like the cavalry of the local Evenki Jurchen.

"It's our people!" "I'll go find them." ”

The tentacles of the Ming army have long penetrated into the tribes of the Evenks, and many Evenks have been relocated by Zheng and moved to the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River. With the increase of the Evenks in the area of Temple Street, they lived a good life, and with a fairly good meal, many people returned to the places where the Evenks gathered and persuaded them to come to the Ming army.

Zheng Zheng's movements in the area of Xing'anling outside the country were not small, but the Qing army outside the Guanxi did not notice it at all. It would be strange if the Eight Banners outside the Guanwai were aware of it, in fact, the actual control of the Heilongjiang generals was very poor, otherwise they would not have been killed and looted by hundreds of Maozi who broke into their territory and built a castle, all of which were helpless.

For those Evenks and Oroqen who were willing to come to join the Ming army, the entire tribe forcibly migrated and took everyone to the lower reaches of the Heilongjiang River.

When some locals or Eight Banners arrived at these tribes that were already empty, their first reaction was that these tribes had been looted by the Rakshasas, and they would not have thought that the Ming army was active here.

Zheng Xi's people pulled people nearby, and every time the scouts sent out were under the banner of the Rakshasa people, wearing the clothes of the Rakshasa people, sometimes meeting the Qing army and the Mongols, a short exchange of fire, using the advantage of the long range of rifled guns, killed a lot of Eight Banners, and then retreated. Every time there was a firefight, the report that General Heilongjiang got naturally thought of the Rakshasas.

When the whole tribe moved the locals, it was also the Rakshasa musketeers and Cossack cavalry who patrolled the perimeter, and when they met the Eight Banners Qing army, they used the Rakshasas and Cossacks to drive them away, preventing them from approaching them.

As for the area around Temple Street at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, the Qing army had no way to control that there at all, and most of the people who happened to pass were Rakshasa and Cossack cavalry. Of course, in the past, the Russian soldiers basically couldn't escape, they were either killed or taken prisoner by Zheng Zheng, and after transformation, these Russian soldiers were used by Zheng Zheng.

In fact, Zheng Xi had trade with Russia, and the Ming army did not care at all about the Russians who were operating in the Yaksa area, except that the Russians were not allowed to continue to expand to the northeast. Invisibly, the Russians are also allies without contracts, and Zheng Xi also wants to use them to contain the Qing army.

Unaji stopped Emohe: "Now we are running for a long distance, not here to pull people!" Leave them alone, and bring them back when we get back. ”

After reconnaissance by the scouts, it was determined that there were no Qing army activities, and the Ming army sled team continued to set off on the road.

The sled team walked in the snow and ice for another five days and entered the confines of the Zarat Division.

"There's a small tribe of Mongols ahead! The population is not large, about five or six hundred people. "On this day, the scouts who were exploring the way in front came back to report.

"How?" Xiao Gongchen turned his head to look at the Mongolian Harbar, "This is also your Mongolian tribe, should we bypass it, or end it?" ”

Harbar snorted coldly: "These people are all branches of the Zarat Division, and the Zarat Department is the same as the Korqin Division!" It's all the lackeys of the Jurchens! There are few people in this tribe, so why don't we take the sheep and destroy them? ”

"Good!" Xiao Gongchen nodded, "Then let's prepare, and launch an attack when it's dark!" ”

The snow-capped snowfields and the blue sky are so beautiful for those who like to travel and enjoy the beautiful scenery in later generations. However, such a heavy snowfall was called the White Plague for the Mongols back then, and their cattle and sheep had nothing to eat, so they could only kill a batch; Heavy snow blocked the roads, and the Mongols were unable to carry out nomadic activities and had to settle behind the more sheltered hills.

Throughout the winter, the Mongols here basically can't go anywhere, only to stay in one place honestly, in short, it is difficult to move an inch.

The Mongols of this branch of the Zarat tribe nested in yurts, baking stoves, cursing the cold and ghostly weather. There are many elderly people complaining that decades ago, they followed Huang Taiji into the customs to loot, how good life was at that time! Every time you enter the customs, you can rob a lot of gold and silver treasures, and you can also rob women.

However, the days became more and more difficult later, some warriors who had made military achievements entered the banner, and later followed the Qing army into the customs, and the Han women and slaves they robbed also became clothed and followed into the customs.

The people who remained on the grassland were all women, children, old and weak.

Now those children have grown up, but the Qing Dynasty occupied the great rivers and mountains of the Central Plains, and the Han people who were once plundered became the people of the Qing Dynasty, and the current Mongols naturally cannot enter the customs and plunder.

However, compared to other Mongol tribes, the Zarat tribes were better, and they could expand the population and increase the number of males. And some of the Mongolian tribes that had not dealt with Huang Taiji before, although they have now surrendered to the Jurchens, the Jurchens have demanded that they all believe in Buddhism! Moreover, in the family, only one man can get married and have children, and the others have to go to the lama temple. If you don't want to enter the lama temple, you can only go to the army and fight the Han people in the south.

The Mongols had no idea that a catastrophe would befall them tonight.

The sun goes down and night falls. However, in this icy and snowy land, the visibility at night is also very high, and the surrounding snow is covered with snow, reflecting the starlight and moonlight, and in the absence of firelight, you can clearly see the target a hundred paces away.

Launching a surprise attack on such a small tribe with 1,500 sledders is simply a knife killing.

Xiao Gongchen's battle plan was: instead of bombarding the artillery on the sleigh, he directly charged the small tribe with six hundred sleds, and after rushing into the tribe, the soldiers on the sled threw torches.

The Don hippopotamus with the sled had the same power as the cavalry ramming, and the soldiers on the sled could also shoot the escaped Mongols one by one with a broadsword, a thunderbolt and a double-barreled gun.

After formulating a battle plan, the Ming army set up a temporary camp, dropped forage, food and other supplies in the camp, and drove empty sleds to quietly approach the small tribe.

In the dead of night, the Mongols had no idea that someone would attack them on a snowy night. At this time, the Mongols had already fallen asleep.

"Ready, kill!" Xiao Gongchen roared. (To be continued.) )