open sea

Chapter 1388 Disappearing
The leader of the troops who arrived in Isker was named Balkhovsky, a loyal and brave earl under the tsar.

He wanted to enter the city of Isker, cut off Yermak's head with the battle ax of the shooting army, and stuck it in the top of the city to freeze it as a handicraft.

Last year, Yermak captured the city of Isker, and presented [-] sable furs to Tsar Ivan the Terrible after looting, which pleased the Tsar and lifted the haze caused by the defeat in the country.

Seeing that the expansion of the southwest was not going well, the empire focused on the more barren and cold east, and ordered Balkhovsky to lead a shooting army of [-] to support Yermak along the way. Their first stop will be the city of Isker.

Carrying sufficient luggage, they set off from the land of the Stroganov family, crossed the fortress chain of the Silva and Yaiva rivers, and entered the Siberian Khanate all the way.

This march should have been smooth. According to Balkhovsky, they are the most elite regular army in Tsarist Russia. The Cossacks of Yermak were once defeated by the regular army. Now they come to the Siberian Khanate to deal with the defeated Cossacks. , should be easily solved.

But they underestimated the tragic environment here.

Natural environment and man-made environment.

The raids of the Cossacks created a large number of no-man's lands between Moscow and Isker.

No one is unimportant, the Tsar has prepared sufficient luggage for them, but no house...is a big problem.

When the weather turned cold, they didn't even have a stable, and all the ruins they could find were burned by the Cossacks, and in these places, there were still sporadic tribal rebels.

In other words, they are actually bandits gathered in private by the homeless Khanate tribe. With inferior weapons, they are not the enemy of the shooting army at all, but they can harass the regular army through guerrilla methods.

People always have to sleep and rest. When the shooting army is resting, the robbers will sneak into the camp and let the horses run away. They will shoot the sled dogs to death with bows and arrows. They will even light a fire in the place where the luggage is piled up. .

The shooting army carried enough baggage for two full years. They had a considerable number of horses and sled dogs, but once the number of horses and sled dogs was insufficient, the large amount of baggage became a burden.

By the time the Shooting Army had figured out a mature counter-harassment and counter-attack, their two-year-old luggage had been burned and not much was left. After calculation, it was only enough to last until winter came.

They had no choice but to quicken their pace.

But the baggage was not enough.

A large number of thick winter clothes were burned during the raid, and the remaining clothes could not protect them from the cold wind of the Siberian plain in winter, and most of the food was destroyed on the road.

They worked hard to build a small boat, but the river was frozen before the boat was built, and they arrived near the city of Iscal one and a half months later than expected.

God knows how they spent this month and a half.

In short, when they arrived at the city of Iscal, everyone was hungry, lacking fruits and vegetables, and suffering from severe scurvy.

But at least they still saw hope. As long as they entered the city of Iscal, they could kill the last horses and dogs and feed everyone a few meals.

As long as they can eat enough and sleep in a warm room, their combat effectiveness will soon be well restored.

There should always be enough food in Yermak.

The only thing they overlooked was the Mingzi dragon flag hanging from the top of the city of Iscal.

A troop of [-] people holding high the double-headed eagle flag appeared before the city of Iscal. What does it mean to the long live army who have been fed and drunk in the city for a month?
These long-lived army men who are so boring that four or fifty people surround a prisoner every day, listen to his stories, and wrestle with themselves when they have nothing to do, have already lined up completely in units of banner troops before Dong Yiyuan gave the order. up.

first time.

This is the first time since the Long Live Army was trained by Wanli, there is no need for drums, officers, or orders. Everyone can accurately find their position in the team as quickly as possible.

Dong Yiyuan was frightened.

After hearing the shouts of the scouts, he climbed to the top of the city wearing a bearskin hat, and stared at the resin binoculars for a long time, carefully observing the army's strength, marching speed, equipment, flags and other matters.

After calculating these things in my heart, when I turned around, the troops had already assembled under the city, and there was no sound.

Five or six hundred pairs of eyes stared at him under the city, full of longing to get out of the city.

Even the Mongolian armored cavalry were busy putting on their backs, so Dong Yiyuan quickly stopped: "Chechen Khan, this battle has nothing to do with you, the snow outside is too deep, and the horses can't run when they go out and they are easy to fall. Just stay in the city well."

Then appease the Long Live Army lined up in the whole army and let them go to the city to set up artillery, but it's fine to go out of the city to fight.

Obviously, this enemy army is at the end of its strength, and it has exhausted all their strength to make them travel long distances to the city of Iscal.

It would be fine if Iscal City was a city in the core area of ​​Ming Dynasty. It was surrounded by villages, and it was easy to supply everywhere. Weary troops like this still needed to be dispatched to wipe them out.

But now the city of Isker is located in the great winter plain of Siberia, and no one can be seen in a radius of a hundred miles. Even if more than 400 people go hunting, it is impossible to rely on those prey for a living.

In Dong Yiyuan's eyes, it is not necessary to go out of the city to fight in the field, and it is possible to chase after the battle and fall down.

He just let the gatekeeper open the city gate without saying a word.

Maybe it was the desolate scene and exhaustion along the way that made Balkhovsky relax his vigilance, maybe he didn't expect that the city had been recaptured by the enemy. In short, his troops saw the city gate opened, and they stood on the snow field without saying a word. They lined up in a long line and tried their best to walk towards the gate of the city without even carrying their luggage.

As soon as he got to the bottom of the city, Balkhovsky looked up at the cannon muzzle protruding from the top of the city, feeling a sense of alarm in his heart.

The appearance of the muzzle did not look like the cannon they handed over to Yermak.

And how could Yermak's guns be aimed at them?
The next moment, the seemingly empty city gate was filled with well-armored and well-equipped Ming troops. Several cannons exploded at the same time, and countless scatterers rained down on the shooting troops outside the city. .

With such a close distance and strong artillery fire, many shooting troops were shot down by the scatter that pierced the air in an instant before they even had time to raise their muskets.

Even the shooting army, who was lucky enough not to be hit, lay on the snow in embarrassment.

And such a scene, from the perspective of the shooting army farther from the city gate behind, it seemed that the artillery on the city shot everyone to death in an instant.

Fear filled their hearts. Hundreds of people desperately ran westward at a faster speed than when they came. When they crossed the luggage, some people still wanted to take the luggage. When they turned around, they saw the enemy marching out of the city shouting. When they came out, there was no need to care about the luggage for a while, and they all ran away with their heads in their hands and disappeared on the snowy field.

(End of this chapter)