The Lena River, with a length of 4,400 km, flows from the source of the mountains on the western shore of Lake Baikal in South-East Siberia to the mouth of the delta on the Laptev coast of the Arctic Ocean. The name of the Lena River comes from the Old Evenki language, which means great river.

In 1689, when the Qing and Russia negotiated the demarcation of the eastern section of the border in the Treaty of Nebuchu, the Qing Dynasty proposed that the Lena River should be used as the national boundary, with the west to Russia and the east to the Qing Dynasty.

At a river beach at the mouth of the Vitim River, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Lena River, some officers and men of the engineer battalion directly under the Eastern Field Division of the Far Eastern Military Commission are busy here.

A few days ago, they landed here in an airship, and with them a large number of supplies, including modular standard components for several steam generators and a dozen inland steam deck barges, as well as a large number of tools, improvised processing equipment, and other engineering components.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of this battle, the Northeast Field Army transferred most of the engineering units and also borrowed some engineers from the Northwest Field Army to go all out to support the participating troops.

The Far Eastern engineering units were so strong that in just a few days a field camp was built with fenced barbed wire, as well as a quay along the river and a simple assembly slipway.

The neighborhood is full of dense forests, and there is no shortage of timber for shipbuilding. But the engineering units lacked sufficient personnel to cut wood. In the end, only a few local natives were expropriated in the vicinity.

In addition, the construction of airship take-off and landing grounds, logistics material warehouses, and the headquarters of the East Road Detachment has also been completed. They also built a long-range wireless communication receiving tower on a nearby mountain peak to ensure smooth communication for the troops.

The three areas selected by the Northeast Field Army have coal fields not far from the vicinity, which can ensure the fuel coal required by the steam deck barges of the participating troops. Transported to the dock at the forward base for stacking.

More than 1,000 Far Eastern engineers worked hard day and night, and they were so tired that they were about to collapse. But the superiors have already given a death order to resolutely complete the task at all costs. Strive to complete the infrastructure construction of the forward base before the arrival of the main forces.

In order to ensure the logistical supply of the northward sweeping troops, the Northeast Field Army built an advance base on the Lena River, the Angara River, a tributary of the Yeseni River, and the upper reaches of the Ob River.

Except for the Angara River. There is no waterway connection between the Lena and Ob rivers, and the troops had to trek on foot to the upper reaches of the two rivers. Because Siberia only has a six-month navigation period every year, and the time is relatively urgent, Higashino sent the engineer troops to the predetermined area to establish an advance base in advance.

In order to transport a large number of engineer troops and supplies, the Northeast Field Army mobilized almost all the airships, and the Central Military Commission also transferred the airship units of the Northwest Field Army and the Southern Field Army, totaling more than 200 airships, which were transported in a concentrated manner for more than 10 days. Finally, the airlift of personnel and supplies was completed.

The northward sweeping force was divided into three detachments, with the troops in the direction of the Ob River, and the two brigades of the Northeast Field Army stationed in the area along the Tomu River, a tributary of the Ob River in the northern part of the Altai Mountains, as the main force, formed the western detachment.

The Central Detachment was formed in the direction of the Yeseny River with a brigade of the Eastern Field Division, which was stationed in the area west of Lake Baikal, and the Eastern Detachment, which was stationed near Lake Baikal, in the direction of the Lena River, was formed as the main force of the Eastern Field Mountain Division, which was stationed near Lake Baikal.

The three detachments were equipped with a large number of war horses, all the officers and soldiers marched on horseback, and a large number of war horses were responsible for carrying the materials needed by the troops, all the way to the designated area and the starry night. The march was very fast.

The mouth of the Irkut River on the Angara River, because there is a waterway that leads directly to Lake Baikal. Therefore, the participating troops were the first to reach the forward base by water.

The Baikal Water Detachment was equipped with twenty river steam-deck barges, which carried the first assault troops of the Central Detachment, and a regiment set out first, aiming at the Russian Yeniseisk on the Yeseny River.

As early as 1618, the Russians came to the Angara River and founded the Yeniseisk Fortress at that time. They came here to collect a fur tax from the local Tunguska. The Russians at that time called the Nizhny Angara River the Upper Tunguska.

The Yeniseisk Fortress was one of the most important Russian strongholds in Central Siberia in the future, and it was also an important base for the Russians to advance into the Lena River valley and the Transbaikal region.

But now it was a fortress of a few rudimentary wooden cities, and it was usually inhabited only by a few hundred Cossacks, as well as a few hundred Russian fishermen and fur traders.

At that time, the tsarist regime was in the Mankazeya region. It monitors one of the most important inland rivers and the Yeniselian dry road that runs from the Taz River through the Turuhan River to the Yenisei River.

Russian merchants and fur makers from the Taz River region came to the Tulukhan River basin in order to avoid a tenth of the national tax, and in 1609 they established Novomankazeya, or Turukhansk wintering ground, in the mouth of the river that flows into the Yenisei River.

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, thousands of Russian merchants penetrated into the region, buying tens of thousands of sable skins every year, both legally and illegally. Many fur traders, in order to harvest more mink, came to the upper reaches of the Yesenyy River, that is, Yeniseissk.

In the early morning, on the wooden walls of the Yeniseisk fortress, several Cossacks were dozing off with arquebuses. The Russians in the fortress also got up, and smoke rose everywhere, and the dirty fortress looked bustling and chaotic.

At this time, the Yeseny River was filled with a light mist, and the morning sun in the east had just risen, and a ray of sunlight was sprinkled on the surface of the Yeseny River through the mist.

Suddenly, a violent roar woke up the Cossacks standing guard at the head of the city, and they searched everywhere for the source of the sound, and found that the sound came from the river in the distance.

At this time, the people in the fortress also heard the voice, and they all stopped what they were doing, and looked at the Cossacks on the fortress walls with puzzled faces.

Captain Shakhovsky had drunk a little too much last night, and he was sleeping soundly when he was savagely pushed awake.

Shakhovsky, who had a headache, was immediately enraged, he grabbed the Russian soldier by the collar, and shouted loudly: "Bastard, are you looking for death......

"Sir...... Sir...... There's a boat coming......"

"What are you panicking about when a ship is coming, you bastard, I ......" Shakhovsky, who was furious, suddenly stopped scolding, and he also faintly heard the roar in the distance.

Pushing the Russian soldier away, he grabbed a piece of clothing and draped it over his body, then rushed out of the house.

(To be continued.) )

PS: Thanks to my handsome shocked party, lost name annoyance, Tatap's monthly pass support