1635 Han style rises again

Chapter 746 Bohai Country?
On July 1658, 7, Boli (now the city of Boli, Russia).

Yakonka Kurakov was a brave Cossack and newly appointed Overseer of Fort Bli.

Two years ago, under the orders of Yakutsk Warlord Golovin, he explored the lower reaches of the Amur River (Heilongjiang) again, and led reinforcements to effectively support the establishment of the Daur Warlord District in Nerchinsk.

In order to support this expedition, the Yakutsk side has made careful deployment and is quite well prepared.

远征队准备了船帆、麻包等用的帆布4000多俄尺（1俄尺=0.711米），新制绳索300余俄丈（1俄丈长度=2.134米），旧绳索800俄丈，缆绳380俄丈。还配备了许多造船工具，如凿子、钉子、钻头等。为出征的哥萨克们配备了铠甲、头盔、盾牌和各种火绳枪、火炮、火药和弹丸。

In order to facilitate dealings with the aborigines, the expedition team also carried nearly 10 Russian feet of fine red woolen cloth and 10 Russian feet of sky blue woolen cloth.

At the same time, 6 large flat-bottomed wooden boats were specially built, each of which can accommodate 50 people.

Before setting off, Kulakov seized the time to collect information about the Amur River.He carefully studied the expedition materials of Kabelov (who arrived at the Outer Xing'an Mountains from the direction of the Lena River) who had explored the area, and asked in detail the colleagues of Moscow Viking (who arrived at the lower reaches of Heilongjiang by sea), and strived to achieve I know what I know.In order to be safe, Poyarkov also tried his best to invite Moskvikin's personnel to participate in the expedition.

All the preparations are in place. On July 1656, 7, Kulakov and his party left Yakutsk.

Considering the long distance and hardship of the journey, as well as the potential conflict with the Chinese army, the expedition team carried a lot of luggage and weapons this time.

The expedition consisted of 125 soldiers, 15 hunters, 2 tax collectors, 2 translators, and 1 blacksmith.This "big army" has a total of 145 people. Compared with the previous expeditions, which were often only a few dozen people, this team can be regarded as mighty.

Kulakov's party left Yakutsk, traveled down the Lena River, and reached the mouth of the Aldan River a few days later.Then he went up the Aldan River, reached the mouth of the Uchur River in 4 weeks, and sailed to the mouth of the Gornam River in another 10 days.

The expedition traveled more than 200 kilometers upwards from here, and it was not navigable any further, because many waterfalls and dangerous currents were formed there.Before each waterfall, Poyarkov and his team dragged the boat up to the river bank and then lowered it into the channel below the waterfall.Especially in this section of the Gornam River, there are more than 40 waterfalls, and there are not many small waterfalls.

In this way, the Cossacks overcame countless rapids and rapids on the way, crossed countless stone beams and shoals, and finally sailed to the mouth of the Niyamga River.

But at this time, severe winter was approaching, the river was frozen, the road was difficult to walk, and the team lost two wooden boats.Kulakov had to make a difficult decision, splitting the team in two.The remaining 40 people, led by the leader of 50 people, Patriek Ik Minin, stayed here to defend the ships, food and other property, and agreed to meet near the Jingqili River (Zeya River) in the spring of the following year.

The rest of the large force continued on, led by Kulakov.They followed the snow-covered roads on both sides of the Niyamga River and began to cross the majestic Stanov Mountains (Wai Xing'an Mountains) by sledging.After crossing one of the passes, these Cossacks had crossed the watershed between the Amur River and the Lena River before they knew it.

At last Kulakov broke into the upper reaches of the Bryanta, a tributary of the Chinchili.After more than ten days of travel, Kulakov reached the Umlekan River, a tributary of the Jingqili River, and built a small fort.Because there are many Daur people who have lived here for generations, and effective rule must be exercised over them.

Previously, when the Russians came here, they were surprised to find that the villages along the Jingqili River were all composed of spacious wooden houses, and the windows of the houses were covered with oiled paper.The local Daur villages are densely populated. They are engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry. A large amount of grain and beans are stored in the fort, and there are many livestock and poultry.The Daur people also generally wear silk and cotton clothes, which are obviously exchanged for their furs with the Tatars in the south.

Kulakov deployed his men to start taking hostages, extorting furs and food in order to replenish the supplies needed by the expedition.From the hostages, Kulakov obtained more information on the lower Amur River.

"Along the banks of the Zeya, Shilka, Songhua, Amur, and other tributaries, there are no deposits of silver or other minerals, nor blue dye for silk. All the silver, silk, bronze, and tin here are from It was shipped from the Khan and purchased with mink fur."

"We pay tribute to the Khan (Manchu Qing). If we don't pay tribute, the Khan will send troops to the Zeya River and the Shilka River for conquests. There are three conquests per year. Whenever a battle starts, there will be a large army of Khans. Up to a thousand, two thousand or even 5000 people."

Kulakov took several well-known Daur leaders as hostages and forced their people to pay more taxes in kind.Cossacks chained them up and tortured them cruelly.

After interrogation, Kulakov obtained first-hand information on the middle and lower reaches of the Jingqili River and the adjacent land in Manchuria, and also collected accurate information on a large tributary on the left bank of the Jingqili River, the Seremja River.

Kulakov also collected a lot of information about the Juchers (the general name of the Russians for the Jurchens of the East China Sea).The Jiuqier people live in the Jingqili River and Niuman River (Bulieya River) basins, and are closely related to the Daur people, belonging to the Sauron tribe.Their language was the same as that of Manchuria, but they had not yet been incorporated into the Manchurian Community.After the Qing army entered the customs and took away most of the population, the "marginalized" Jiuqier people were left behind.

The Juqier people are rich in products, raising many horses, cows, sheep and pigs, and there are also many lynxes and foxes in the forest.They went into the mountains to hunt sables, and when they came out of their tents, they could hunt more than 10 sables a day.They hunt mink in the same way as the indigenous people in the great Siberian forest, mainly using bows and arrows, but some people also use hunting nets and traps to catch them.

Going downstream from the Jingqili River, there are settled Jiuqier people.They grow food and raise livestock.The Jingqili River has plenty of water and is rich in all kinds of fish. There are sables and other rare birds and animals on both sides of the river.

The Cossack also found out that if you go down the Jingqili River and enter Heilongjiang, there will be Natki people (today's Hezhen people) living near the sea.They are also a sedentary ethnic group, do not grow food, but live by fishing.

In March last year, Kulakov and his expedition team went through untold hardships and finally arrived in Nerchinsk.

After resting in Nerchinsk for several months, Bashkov, the "Amur River Overseer in the Daur Region of China", ordered Yakonka Kulakov to lead more than fifty Cossacks to Fort Bli at the confluence of the Amur River and the Ussuri River. Support this stronghold that was established a few years ago, and continue to complete the task of exploring the lower reaches of the Amur River by the way.I heard that there was an attack by the local aborigines, and more than 30 people were lost in less than two years.

Before leaving, Bashkov appointed Kulakov as the new Overseer of Fort Bli to replace the incompetent and cowardly predecessor "Coward".

After three months of trekking, Kulakov finally arrived in Boli before the onset of winter. After a brief handover with the former "cowardly" warlord, Kulakov became the capital of this city with more than 120 people. The supreme commander of the stronghold.

In this severe winter, Kulakov ordered more than a hundred Cossack armed men in Fort Bli to sweep up the surrounding villages and tribes in batches.What is gratifying is that their harvest was very rich, and they broke through more than ten tribes, large and small, and seized a large amount of fur.

What surprised them even more was that in these tribes, the Cossacks also found many iron pots and pottery, and even sharp steel knives.The former allowed Bliberg, which was poor in supplies, to collect rare and valuable ironware and utensils, while the latter caused the Cossacks to suffer a little, causing more than [-] deaths and injuries.

From the leaders of these captured Nateki tribes, they learned that in the south near the Great Lake (now Xingkai Lake) and the sea, there are many towns and villages established by the Ming people.The ironware, pottery, and swords they owned were purchased with furs from the Ming people there.

This news shocked Kulakov.I thought this barren area, except for the ignorant and backward savage tribes, was just endless mountains and streams.However, they did not expect that a relatively civilized country would expand its influence there near the Great Lake more than 1000 kilometers away.

Kulakov immediately sent ten Cossacks back to Nerchinsk immediately to report this very important information to Bashkov, the "Amur River Warden in the Daur Region".At the same time, he planned to send a capable expedition team to the Great Lakes in the south after the weather warmed up to investigate the situation there.

He was very suspicious. A few years ago, the few ships they sent to explore the lower reaches of the Amur River were sunk by the Ming people there, killing and capturing most of the Cossacks.The Cossacks who escaped by chance once said that the opponent had three [-]-ton galleys equipped with several cannons, and the crew of the opponent also had a large number of muskets. .

However, after the weather gradually warmed up in May, before Kulakov could send an expedition team in the future, the Tatars who had besieged Bliburg twice came again.This time, more people came, more than 800 people.In a dark night, these Tatars tried to use the cover of night to secretly climb the fort with several wooden ladders.

Fortunately, several clever Cossack guards discovered the enemy's night attack attempt in time, and the deafening gunshots woke up all the Cossack armed personnel and servants.Under heavy musket fire and the bombardment of two artillery pieces, the Tatars fled in embarrassment, leaving behind dozens of corpses.

The next day, the generous Kurakov Warlord heavily rewarded the guards who discovered the enemy's attack in advance, and also rewarded them with several beautiful Natki women.

The repelled Tatars did not evacuate, but instead established a temporary camp near Fort Bli, posing a long-term siege.They sent sporadic small groups of troops to expropriate fur and food from the surrounding tribes and natives.Even, by virtue of their similar appearance and language advantages, they engulfed the Natki of those indigenous tribes into the army and became their supplementary source of soldiers.

This move gave Kulakov a headache.These Tatars seem to be determined to drive them out of the Amur River Valley, and then replace them, occupying this "rich land" that can produce countless furs.

Now he can only count on the envoy who sent the return letter to report the information of this place to Lord Overseer Bashkov, and then he can get some reinforcements to ease the defensive pressure here.

I thought that these Tatars would continue this siege mode to the end, but unexpectedly, early this morning, the guards hurriedly reported to him that the Tatars seemed to be preparing to attack Fort Bli.

Put on your clothes and come to the wooden tower to look out.Sure enough, the Tatars outside the city had gathered all their troops under the castle and formed an offensive formation.

"Don't worry, they don't have artillery, so they can't get in." Kulakov loudly encouraged the Cossacks, "If these Tatars want to attack the city with their superior numbers, they are simply killing us. Be brave. Soldiers, take up your muskets and teach those ignorant Tartars a lesson. God bless us! . . . Ulla!"

"Ula!"

"Ulla!..."

The Cossacks shouted loudly, and they were not too worried about the Tatar attack.As long as we continue to fire muskets on the city wall, the opponent will not be able to get close to us at all.What's more, we also have two 3-pound guns.As long as they dare to approach the fortress, they will definitely experience what a metal storm is.

In the camp of the Qing rebels under the city of Fort Bli, Sharhuda, who proclaimed himself a general, watched the three soldiers from the Qi State from Zhenzhou fiddling with a few rocket tubes on the ground while discussing in a low voice Topics like wind direction, distance, elevation angle, etc.

"Is that okay? Everyone is watching us." You Daqi, the captain (lieutenant) of the black-clothed Wei Renyong asked in a low voice.

"I don't know if it will work." Niu Mandun muttered, "Although I am an artilleryman, I am really not good at operating this thing. The Rocket Battalion is the best at this thing, and it can be hit every time."

"This fortress of the Raksha people has such a big target, it should be possible to shoot rockets into it accurately." Hong Zhongyi looked back at Fort Bli, "Anyway, the Raksha people dare not rush out, so let's try slowly. "

"Okay. It's better to throw all these cannonballs into the fortress, and burn the Raksha people inside into roast pigs, so that these tartars can see our methods!" You Daqi said.

"Whoa!...Boom!"

After preparing for about half an hour, a rocket was ignited and roared towards Fort Bli, but its direction was slightly shifted, and it crashed into the open space on the south side of the fort.

When the rocket took off and exploded on the south side of the fortress, Kulakov was taken aback by this long-range attack weapon, and a feeling of unease suddenly rose in his heart.

The entire Fort Bli is almost built by felling the surrounding giant trees, supplemented by a small amount of rammed earth to cover, and most of the buildings in the city are also wooden houses.If this flying "flame" falls into the city, it will inevitably cause a fire, and then destroy the entire fortress.

"Solovsky, immediately bring fifty soldiers to prepare water sources, and extinguish any possible flames at any time!"

"Rikitov, fire immediately!... Disrupt the enemy's attack deployment!"

"Whoa!...Boom!"

"Whoa!...Boom!"

"..."

With the continuous correction of the launch position and distance, when the fourth rocket was finally launched, it was accurately shot into Fort Boli.So, with the assistance of a dozen Qing rebel soldiers, more than a dozen rockets fell into the city one after another, and then sparked several flames.

Seeing the fire in the city gradually start a prairie fire and continue to rise, Sarhuda's heart was full of ups and downs.At that time, the Qi army used this thing to burn the logistics and supplies of their conquest army in Yizhou (now Sinuiju, North Korea), forcing them to forcibly attack the north bank of the Yalu River. In the end, the coach Yue Le was killed and the army collapsed.And he, with the only remaining [-] remnants of the Eight Banners of Manchuria, traveled to North Korea, and then fled back to Liaodong. Fearing military law, he had to part ways with the Aixinjueluo family and became king on his own.

"General, the Raksha people have rushed out!" A personal guard reminded in a low voice.

"Archer ready!"

"Sauron Camp is ready!"

"The armored soldiers are ready!"

"attack!……"

You Daqi looked at the Qing rebels attacking in an array, and instantly drowned the rushing Raksha people, then turned around, walked slowly to Sarhuda's side, and looked at him with a smile.

"You rebelled against the Qing Dynasty, have you ever thought about building your own kingdom?"

"Huh?" Sarhuda was stunned, and looked at You Daqi puzzled.

"I remember thousands of years ago, there seemed to be a Bohai Kingdom on the northeast land." You Daqi said, "I think you might as well inherit it."

(End of this chapter)