With the cooperation of the town mayor Kasinacheyev, the French Empire naturally no longer had to waste the artillery shells on the ironclads to deter the town, so the two ironclads returned to Kalamita Bay.
The troop carrier sailed straight into the pier in the town of Yevpatoria and docked, and the wooden steps leading to the port pier were slowly lowered from the troop carrier.
The residents of the small town ran to the roofs of their homes and watched from the balconies the soldiers of the Joavregiment who were about to appear at the port. With the loud sound of pipes coming from the troop transport, the soldiers of the Joavregiment wearing blue and white traditional French army uniforms
The soldiers walked up and down the wooden stairs, led by their tent.
It took nearly an hour and a half for all the 2,900 people in the three battalions to disembark from the ship. Looking at this group of elite soldiers in front of him, Mayor Kasinacheyev couldn't help but feel lucky for his choice.
For a town with more than 9,000 villagers and more than 100 militiamen (including several wounded soldiers who had previously retired from the battlefield), surrender was undoubtedly a wise choice.
Just when Kasinacheyev was secretly rejoicing, the tall figure of Brigadier General McMahon appeared in front of them.
Upon seeing this, Kasinacheyev quickly introduced himself: "Dear Mr. Brigadier General, I am the mayor of this town, Kasinacheyev!"
"Mayor Kasinacheyev, your town will be occupied by the French Empire from now on! I hope you can cooperate with our work, so as not to make it difficult for both of us! I am straight-tempered,
If others treat me well, I will treat others twice as well! If I do it in disguise..." Brigadier General McMahon sneered at the corner of his mouth and said directly to Kasinacheyev.
"Natural cooperation! Natural cooperation!" Mayor Kasinacheyev nodded repeatedly.
Afterwards, Mayor Kasinacheyev introduced his son to Brigadier General McMahon and said: "Your Majesty, Brigadier General, this is my son Nikolai Ivankov Kasinacheyev.
Now serve as the military commander of this town!"
"Hello, Brigadier General!" Ivankov said with a nod and bow to Brigadier General McMahon.
After McMahon looked Ivankov up and down, he just said "Yes", then turned to ask Kasinacheyev through the translator: "How many households are there in your town now?"
When Mayor Kasinacheyev heard Brigadier General McMahon's words, his heart tightened. He knew that France's apportionment was coming.
When Kasinacheyev was in the Russian Imperial Army, he had already heard about the apportionment of the French Army.
Whenever the French army passed through a place, they would exchange their cheap coupons for all the goods they needed.
If the other party is unwilling to agree, then the churches in the occupied areas will be looted.
"Your Excellency, Brigadier General, there are more than 9,000 households in our town!" Kasinacheyev did not dare to hide anything and said to Brigadier General McMahon.
"More than 9,000 households? Approximately how many of them are well-off families?" Brigadier General McMahon asked again.
"About 1,000 people!" Kashinachev responded to McMahon.
"Your town is really secretive!" McMahon looked at the town of Kasinacheyev in surprise and said.
"Because our town is close to the sea, all the grains in the peninsula are processed here! Naturally, a large number of wealthy people gathered here!" Kasinacheyev answered truthfully.
"Very good! Let me tell you the truth! There are a total of 9,000 people in your town. Each civilian needs to pay us 100 francs for the town's ransom, and each rich person must pay 500 francs! In other words, your town needs
Give us 1.8 million francs!" Brigadier General McMahon said to Kasinacheyev.
When the translator translated Brigadier General McMahon's words into Russian for Kasinacheyev to listen to, Kasinacheyev suddenly fell to the bottom of his heart.
1.8 million francs is not a small number for a town with a population of more than 9,000. This is simply killing them.
"Your Excellency, Brigadier General, can you be more lenient!" Kasinacheyev begged Brigadier General McMahon: "This town really does not have that much money! A lot of money has been invested in this land!"
"This is not something I have to consider!" Brigadier General McMahon shook his head first, and then made a suggestion to Kasinacheyev: "If you really have no money, you can also spend part of your life on it.
Leave the necessities to us as collateral!”
McMahon's speech made Kasinacheyev more aware of the nature of this French army. Except that this army did not kill and torture at will, it was no different from the army of the Russian Empire.
It's just that when the Russian Empire robbed, they always went in swarm. The French army's plundering was more civilized and orderly.
"Even so, we can't get it together in a short time!" Kasinacheyev continued to cry to McMahon.
"Then what do you think we should do? We can't let my soldiers return without success!" Brigadier General McMahon said to Kasinacheyev in a somewhat stern tone: "Either you hand over the money yourself, or I will
Lead the army to search house to house! When I use the army, this is not what you will pay!"
"I know! I will collect 1.8 million francs as soon as possible." Kasinacheyev finally gave in.
At this moment, Ivankov, who was standing next to Kasinacheyev, said: "Your Excellency, Brigadier General, I think it is better for you to plunder the money of the truly rich than to plunder the money of the poor!"
"Oh? Are there richer people in this town?" Brigadier General McMahon looked at Ivankov with interest.
"Yes!" Ivankov said provocatively to Brigadier General McMahon, not knowing where he got the courage: "It depends on whether you dare to take action!"
"Ivankov, why are you talking to Brigadier General!" Mayor Kasinacheyev quickly reprimanded his son, and then apologized to Brigadier General McMahon: "Brigadier General, please don't take it to heart!
"
"I have no voice!" McMahon said in his usual tone, and then asked Ivankov again: "Tell me who is the richest here, and why should I do it?"
"Your Excellency, Brigadier General!" Ivankov straightened his body and spoke to Brigadier General McMahon: "Actually, the richest people on this peninsula are not us, but the Tatar bandits entrenched near our town!
"
"Why are they so rich?" Brigadier General McMahon asked.
"Because they will rob goods! Four out of ten times the goods shipped to us from the interior will be robbed by them! Think about how much profit there can be!" Ivankov said to Brigadier General McMahon.
"Then why don't you go for encirclement and suppression?" Brigadier General McMahon asked again.
"We are basically no match for them!" Ivankov responded in frustration to Brigadier General McMahon: "Their equipment is much better than ours!"
"I think there should be a large number of regular troops on this island! Why haven't they been dispatched?" Brigadier General McMahon asked in confusion.
"Because those bandits will send part of the profits from the robbery to the Sevastopol Fortress, so..." Ivankov explained the reason.
"It turns out they are a group of bandits with a background!" Brigadier General McMahon said to Ivankov with a smile.
"Yes!" Ivankov encouraged McMahon: "Brigadier General, if you can lead your troops to destroy this bandit, then all the property of the bandit will be yours."
"If I defeat them, then the spoils will naturally be ours. It has nothing to do with the town!" McMahon replied to Ivankov.
"Brigadier General!" Ivankov gritted his teeth and said to Brigadier General McMahon: "If I can lead you to find the bandit's lair, I hope you can reduce the ransom of the town by 1 million francs! I don't know about this deal.
Do you agree?"
"You are not qualified to make a deal with me!" Brigadier General McMahon said in a cold tone.
"I know I'm not qualified, but I hope you can be more magnanimous, Brigadier General!" Ivankov said to Brigadier General McMahon with a sincere expression.
After McMahon thought for a long time, he took out his pocket watch. It was already 5:42 in the afternoon, and the sun in the distance was gradually approaching the sea level. He said, "I agree to your terms!"
"Thank you very much!" Ivankov bowed to Brigadier General McMahon.
Early the next morning, a Zhuav battalion, led by Brigadier General McMahon, set off at 6 a.m. and jogged all the way to the foot of a high mountain 6 kilometers away from the town.
"Just... come right here!" Ivankov gasped and pointed to the simple camp on the high ground and said to McMahon.
McMahon, who still had a calm expression after running for a long time, picked up his telescope and looked at the camp on the high ground. The camp was surrounded by wooden fences and trenches, which looked a bit like a military camp.
However, compared to the standardized layout of the military camp, it is still a little too crude.
"It's interesting!" McMahon murmured to himself with a half-smile.
Under McMahon's order, a Zhuav squad quietly bypassed the trench and entered the camp. When the bandits responsible for keeping watch in the camp discovered them, the Zhuav soldiers had already cut their necks with daggers.
The Zhua team who silently killed the guards immediately opened the gate of the camp. Seeing this, McMahon, who was under the high ground, immediately ordered the battalion commander to lead two companies to kill them.
Then dozens of gunshots were heard in the camp, and the French tricolor flag was hoisted over the camp.
"You can go up!" Brigadier McMahon said to the stunned Ivankov.
When Ivankov entered the camp, the scene in front of him made Ivankov almost vomit out all the food he had eaten last night. The corpses of the bandits in the entire camp were placed in front of Ivankov by the Zhuav camp. A total of about
About 300 people.
"You killed the entire camp?" Ivankov asked McMahon in a trembling voice.
"Of course!" Brigadier General McMahon responded with a normal expression: "These people are role models who dare to resist our French Empire!"
After dealing with all the bandits (and stripping them of all their belongings), Brigadier General McMahon counted the casualties and results of his troops.
Except for five soldiers who were slightly wounded, there were no other casualties in the entire unit.
The total value of the materials and money they received, including flour, honey, fruit wine, and rubles, exceeded 100,000 francs.
This is just a bandit den, there are dozens of bandit dens nearby.
If you clean them all, the income will be much greater than looting the town.
