Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

"Bang!" Prince Konstantin Shcherbatov, the governor of Yeniseysk, slammed his fist on the governor's desk in anger, making a loud thud. Born into a high-ranking noble family, he was extremely cultured and rarely lost his temper in public. When he did, it was like a thunderbolt, silencing all the officials in Yeniseysk, high and low, who dared not utter a sound.

"Golovin and Kornitsky, those two fools! They said the Great Emperor of the Defence only wanted to recapture Yaksa and Agonkhba, and would stop the war after achieving his goals. They've ruined the country! Ruined the country!" the Duke roared. His anger was not unfounded. If the Russian envoys hadn't fallen for the Lotus Khan's trap during negotiations in Beijing, misleading the Tsarist leadership and preventing the nation from mobilizing and deploying its defenses in time, how could the war situation have turned so unfavorable?

"Your Excellency, the most important thing now is to send troops to rescue Bratsk and arm the Russian people of Yeniseysk," said Goretin, the cavalry commander of the Boye Cavalry in Yeniseysk.

Prince Sherbatov, showing some respect to this fellow Boye nobleman, nodded slightly upon hearing the order and commanded his general, Slavich, to immediately conscript all adult Russian men from Yeniseysk and the surrounding cities of Tomsk, Rybinsk, Kuznetsk, and Krasnoyarsk into the army. However, he was troubled about who to send and from which direction to rescue Bratsk. To rescue Nerchinsk, he had twice dispatched 3,500 troops, including 700 of his elite Boye cavalry. Yeniseysk's total military strength was now less than 4,000; even conscripting Russian civilians would only add a maximum of 3,000 men, and their fighting strength would be incomparable to the regular army. But Bratsk was the southeastern gateway to Yeniseysk and could not be ignored. After much deliberation, he decided to send his general, Yalov, with 1,200 Cossacks from Krasnoyarsk eastward to Bratsk.

This reinforcement was intercepted by two thousand men under the command of Siddhi Batur, the commander of the Imperial Guard, about a hundred miles from Blatsk. As the third son of Tushetu Khan Gunb, Siddhi Batur had always wanted to revive his family, which had declined due to his father's defeat, and only the military could achieve this. Although his army outnumbered the Russians, he ordered his men to hold their ground behind makeshift earthen walls. He had been ordered to construct fortifications on the west bank of the Angara River, intending to use these fortifications to shed the blood of the Russians.

"Forward! Brave Cossacks! Hurrah!" Seeing that the guards dared not fight, Yalov felt that the enemy was afraid of him. He drew his chashik saber and howled as he charged toward the earthen wall where the guards were holding, like a war wolf howling in the snow.

"Hurrah~ Hurrah~ Hurrah~"

The general is the courage of the soldiers! Seeing the commander-in-chief so brave, the Cossacks followed their commander, braving the wind and snow, brandishing their sabers, and charging forward with roars, like a surging tide, an epic scene!

"Shoot!" Siddhi Batur gritted his teeth and gave the order.

"Bang~ Bang~ Bang~"

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh~"

A deluge of gunfire and arrows rained down on the charging Russian wolves, felling them one after another. The heavy losses forced the Russian army to retreat.

"Damn it!" Yalov rushed toward the earthen wall, only to be blocked by a long trench. After finally managing to fill in a section of the trench, many of his men fell.

"Hurrah!" the Cossacks howled as they charged toward the earthen wall, exhausted and hungry. The gate of the earthen wall opened, and the guards poured out in formation.

"Warriors, those who are heroes, follow me to slay the Rakshasa demon!" Xidi Xilibatu shouted, leaping onto his horse and charging forward with his sword.

"Haorui! Haorui! Haorui!" the guards roared as they charged towards the enemy. Outnumbered and well-rested, they routed the Russian army with a single charge. "Don't retreat! Form ranks! Form ranks now!" Yalov desperately tried to restrain his fleeing men. A guard archer drew his powerful bow, nocked an arrow, and fired, the arrow whistling sharply as it pierced the warrior's forehead.

In this battle, the Guards annihilated 800 Russian soldiers at the cost of 200 casualties, leaving Bratsk Castle isolated and helpless.

However, Gonzado, the military governor of Bratsk in Tsarist Russia, though cowardly, was not entirely useless; at least in terms of defense and self-preservation, he was quite capable. He divided the 1,100 Cossack soldiers and 900 civilians who were assisting in the defense of the city into two groups, taking turns to defend the city. He also positioned skilled marksmen on each side of the city wall specifically to kill the guardsmen, arranged crossfire on the bastion-like walls, and the distribution of firepower from the artillery emplacements was also very organized. He also sent men to patrol at night to search for possible spies. This strategy caused the guardsmen considerable trouble; after more than ten days of siege, they lost more than 300 soldiers but gained no advantage.

Seeing Saihan's solemn expression, Panika quickly offered a suggestion: "Brazk Fortress is located on the west bank of the Angara River. The eastern city wall is being eroded by the river, and the foundation is unstable. Why don't you concentrate all the artillery to bombard the eastern city?"

"Yes, tell the artillery battalion to bombard us day and night!" Saihan said fiercely. Under his supervision, wave after wave of shells roared towards the east city wall, finally collapsing a large section of the wall eleven days later.

"Kill! Kill!" Tilinikov led six hundred surrendered Russian soldiers to charge towards the breach. Using surrendered soldiers as the vanguard was a tradition of the State of David, and also their destiny.

The Russian army had already deduced the main direction of the garrison's attack from the dense artillery fire. Gonzado had already ordered wooden palisades to be planted on the inner side of the eastern city wall, and musketeers stood behind the palisades to fire. The continuous rain of bullets felled the surrendered soldiers in droves. Tilinikov wanted to retreat, but was pushed forward by those behind him.

"Bang!" A bullet exploded in his chest, ending his tumultuous life.

Soon, most of the six hundred surrendered soldiers fell. Their bodies piled up beside the breach, forming steps for scaling the city walls. The guards behind them used these "steps" to ascend, quickly gaining control of half the wall. Saihan ordered his men to mount lightweight cannons on the wall and fire inwards, a tactic that inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders.

Three days later, with no other options, Gonzado sent Pastor Maximov out of the city to surrender, thus ending the Battle of Bratsk.

Standing atop the scarred city walls, Saihan felt a surge of pride. The Great Khan had ordered him to capture the major fortresses from Chukuphin to Yeniseisk, and to control the Yenisei River basin to Lake Baikal. Now, the vast land from Chukuphin to Bratsk was under his control; only Yeniseisk remained. He must muster his remaining strength and continue the pursuit!

Courage is commendable, but the difficulties are immense. The Battle of Bratsk cost him a thousand warriors, and he left another thousand to garrison the rear, reducing the army available to attack Yeniseysk to twelve thousand. In addition, the consumption of various supplies, especially artillery shells, was enormous and needed to be replenished.

Even so, he ordered his men to continue advancing. First-Class Chechen Marquis Babu successfully captured Krasnoyarsk, which had few defenders left. The Russian troops in Kuznetsk, fearing encirclement by the SS, retreated to Tomsk. Prince Sherbatov personally led his army to defend Yeniseysk and Rybinsk, holding off the SS forces. (End of Chapter)