Located in northern Asia, the Yenisei River is the boundary between the West Siberian Plain and the Central Siberian Plateau, with the plain to the west and the plateau to the east, and is the most abundant river in Siberia and the largest river flowing into the Arctic Ocean. The ice period ranges from north to south, from more than 200 days to more than 100 days.

Together with the Ob and Lena rivers, they are known as the three major rivers in Siberia, originating in Mongolia and flowing north to the Kara Sea, and their basin covers most of central Siberia. If the Selenga-Angara River is calculated as the source, it has a total length of 5,539 kilometers, making it the fifth longest river in the world.

A fleet carrying hundreds of Cossacks came all the way south from the lower Yesenny River to the Angara River and headed for Lake Baikal.

Last year, Yuri and Sergei escaped from the nomadic detachment in the Far East by snatching a boat, and then went north along the Angara River into the Yeniseisk on the Yesenyy.

Yuri and Sergey, who came to the Yeniseisk, immediately told about the Tatar tribe on Lake Baikal, which immediately caused a sensation in the Yeniseisk, but because the weather was already autumn at that time, the expedition was not immediately organized.

In the spring of this year, a fur merchant named Leonid Russia in Yeniseisk learned of the news, and found Yuri and Sergei, and hired several Cossack chiefs to form an expedition of more than 500 people.

Armed with hundreds of arquebuses and several light front-loading guns, as well as a large number of cold weapons, the expedition made its way to the Baikal region with murderous vigour.

In their opinion, the expedition, with its powerful firearms, was more than enough to deal with a Tatar tribe of several thousand people, after all, the Tatars did not have firearms and could not withstand the attack of the Cossacks.

Yuri and Sergey made it clear to the tribe at the mouth of the river on the southern shore of Lake Baikal. There were herds of cattle, sheep and horses, golden sand gems and all kinds of precious furs, and there were also a large number of women.

This is also the reason why Leonid was willing to finance the formation of an expedition, not to mention a few Cossack chiefs and hundreds of Cossacks. They fought bravely, and in Siberia they did this kind of work, and the local natives were spoiled by them.

Siberia is a vast country with a cold climate. The environment is very harsh and the winter is very long. The Cossacks who came to the Siberian region simply did not have enough food for wintering, so they survived only by plundering.

Leonid was also very confident in leading an expedition to capture the Tatar tribes. He knew that these Cossacks were still very strong in combat.

Several times he called the Cossacks to organize expeditions, and many times expeditions of more than a hundred people, relying on arquebuses and front-loading light artillery, defeated several times the Tatars, and that was not a problem at all.

The indigenous and Tatar people of the Siberian region did not have firearms. Only rudimentary bows and scimitars, and even arrows were bone, and although they were very brave, they could not defeat the Cossack warriors who had firearms.

They all fantasized about conquering the Tatar tribe, plundering their herds of cattle, sheep and horses, golden sand gems and precious furs, and women who had taken over them. All the people of the expedition will also make a fortune.

But what they didn't know was that the Cossack expedition had not yet reached half of the Angara River. It was discovered by an airship unit patrolling the airspace in this area.

Because the North-Western Field Army gradually moved westward, the Baikal region was defended. It was also temporarily handed over to Dongye, consisting of two main cavalry divisions of the indigenous people in the Outer Northeast and a number of reserve militia brigades, as well as part of the nomadic detachment.

Qiang Quansheng received the news from the airship and hurriedly mobilized the troops stationed in the Angara River. And a dozen airships were sent to that area to provide air support to the troops there.

The Eastern Field Force stationed along the Angara River. There is only one mountain company, and there is also a nomadic detachment and a dozen indigenous villages in the outer northeast that have migrated north.

Because of the urgency of time, the commander of the Northeast Field Army, Qiang Quansheng, did not send additional support troops. And just a few hundred Cossacks with arquebuses, he really didn't pay much attention to them.

The Mountain Low Company of the Northeast Field Army is equipped with three combat platoons as standard. A cannon platoon with a full complement of more than 130 people. Armed with Type 28 rifles, forty-mm grenade launchers and double-barreled hunting guns, as well as two water-cooled heavy machine guns and two sixty-mm mortar guns. Neither in terms of firepower, nor in terms of the quality of the troops, it was no problem at all to deal with a couple of hundred Cossacks.

The mountain company stationed here also mobilized the surrounding indigenous tribes and nomadic detachments in the northeast, and gathered 200 old hunters and 500 herdsman cavalry to form a special task force.

The main reason for mobilizing these young men was to completely annihilate the Cossacks and prevent the enemy from scattering and fleeing when the enemy was defeated.

The Baikal Water Guard also sent more than a dozen river steam-deck barges to support. The Baikal Water Garrison, which has been in existence for a year, is equipped with 20 river steam deck barges assembled locally and is responsible for patrolling and guarding Lake Baikal and the Angara River basin.

The task force was ready to ambush the Cossack expedition and try to annihilate them all. Because the enemy, before entering Lake Baikal, will definitely stop and recuperate.

And the place where the enemy rests should be in the area of the mouth of the Irkut River on the Angara River. Because the river is winding, the water flow is slow, and many parts of the coastal area are very suitable for hidden beaches.

Yuri and Sergey sat on the first boat of the fleet, and Leonid next to him looked at the river in front of him, frowned and said: "How far is the place you are talking about?" ”

"It's not far ahead at the mouth of the river, where we camped the last time we came. There are no indigenous villages and no Tatars around. Yuri said, pointing ahead.

Sergei also said: "A lot further on, the last time the Tatars attacked us, it was not far from the Great Lake. This is the best camping spot before we enter the big lake. ”

Leonid nodded after listening to the words of the two, and then said to the Cossack leaders next to him: "Then we will camp here today, and after the fleet docks, you will send people to go ashore first to search around." We must not be discovered by the Tatars, and if we are exposed, we will not be able to attack the Tatar tribes. ”

The leader of several Cossacks nodded, and then directed the fleet to land on a hidden river beach not far ahead, and dozens of Cossacks were the first to go ashore, and then carried out a careful search around with arquebuses. It was not until nothing was discovered that the Cossack expeditions came ashore one after another, set up camp on the river beach, and prepared to camp here. (To be continued.) )