The Cossacks hiding behind the bunker were stunned by the explosion.
But when they reacted, they were greeted by sharp bayonets and Ming soldiers in cotton armors rushing forward.
Khamenkov was stunned by the sudden explosion. When he came to his senses, the black hole of the gun was already pressed against his head.
He subconsciously ducked to avoid it and rolled on the ground.
There was a loud bang, and the Ming army who pointed the gun at him instantly pulled the trigger. The fire exploded, and the lead bullet rubbed his body and shot into the snow, leaving a very obvious mark on his ribs.
bloodstains.
The skin is covered with blood, and the blood is flowing!
However, due to the rapid secretion of adrenaline, Khamenkov could not feel the pain in his ribs at all.
His body rushed forward like a dexterous wild wolf, and the dagger in his hand stabbed the throat of the Ming soldier in front of him.
The ferocity of the Cossacks is evident!
Even if a gun is pressed against his head, he still dares to fight.
Moreover, Khamenkov's move was not an isolated case, almost all Cossacks rose up to resist.
However, some people reacted quickly and dodged the Ming army's shooting and bayonet stabs at the moment of the outburst.
Then he launched a counterattack and fought hand to hand with the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty.
Some people were killed on the spot by lead bullets while resisting.
The Ming army was also caught off guard by the ferocity of these Cossacks.
They have never encountered such a fierce enemy in the past. As long as they aim their guns at the enemy, the enemy will no longer resist.
They really didn't expect these Cossacks to be so fearless of death!
The gun was pressed against his head, but he still dared to resist.
The battlefield instantly became chaotic, and both sides began to fight hand to hand.
Facing the dagger stabbed by Hamenkov, Zhao Hu reacted very quickly, retreated to avoid it, and then raised his gun to stab.
The sharp bayonet instantly cut open the leather robe on Khamenkov's body, and then pierced his chest, leaving a bloody hole in his body and blood oozing out.
At the same time, due to Zhao Hu's retreat, the dagger in Hamenkov's hand just stabbed Zhao Hu in the chest.
With a crash, the sharp dagger cut through the silk cotton layer outside the cotton armor, and was then blocked by the armor pieces inside.
Khamenkov felt the feel of the dagger missing, and the expression on his face was full of astonishment.
The enemy opposite seems to be wearing only a cotton-padded jacket. Why can the cotton-padded jacket block the dagger's thrust?
Before this, he had never seen anything like cotton armor.
Zhao Hu retreated again, then raised his gun and stabbed again.
This time, the sharp bayonet penetrated Khamenkov's heart without any accident, and Khamenkov's body fell heavily to the ground.
The battle at the scene was almost one-sided!
Although the Ming army was caught off guard by the ferocity of the Cossacks, they were not afraid of them when they actually fought.
These scouts who can be sent out are all the elites carefully selected by the Ming army, and many of them are extremely brave.
Not to mention that these Ming troops also had the advantage of having weapons and armor. The bayonets in their hands and the cotton armor on their bodies were not just decorations.
In hand-to-hand combat, the role of armor is greater than imagined.
Especially for a veteran like Zhao Hu, it is completely easy to kill a few Cossacks who only wear leather robes and have almost no protection.
With the armor on, they won't be hurt at all.
Besides, even regardless of combat experience, weapons and armor, the physical fitness of Ming soldiers is much higher than that of these Cossacks.
You know, the tallest and strongest people in the world in this era are Chinese.
These Cossacks also account for a wild nature!
It didn't take long for those Cossacks who resisted to be killed one by one.
The blood spread out, turning the surrounding snow red.
"Platoon leader, one of us is dead and three are injured!"
Zhao Hu reported to the platoon leader with a sad face.
Of course, these casualties did not occur in hand-to-hand combat, but occurred during the musket exchange.
In hand-to-hand combat, the cotton armor on the Ming army provided them with a lot of room for error. Even if they did something wrong, nothing would happen to them because of their armor and stomach.
But in the musket exchange just now, although these Cossack muskets fired slowly and had poor shooting accuracy, if they could hit someone, there would still be casualties.
The platoon leader nodded and said.
"Treat the injured brother with all your strength!"
"Brothers who died in the battle, prepare to be cremated. After cremation, you can take the bones back!"
Although it is winter now, there is no need to worry about corpses rotting in Siberia in winter.
However, their mission for this trip has not been completed yet, and they still have to go deeper into Siberia.
It would be too much trouble to carry another corpse.
After cremation, taking the ashes back is the best option!
Zhao Hu nodded and went to do it.
He personally cleaned the blood on the body of Pao Ze who died in the battle, arranged his battle robe, and then took off the military badge from his neck.
He solemnly stuffed the military card that showed his identity into his arms!
On the side, other Ming soldiers were cleaning the battlefield and interrogating prisoners.
Originally, before taking action, the Ming army was a little worried that those black and white wolves would be fierce and attack them.
But after the battle, when they looked at those black and white wolves who looked majestic from a distance but had extremely wise eyes up close, they suddenly realized.
This is not a wolf. It is obviously a dog that looks like a wolf, okay?
The platoon leader began to interrogate the prisoners of war, hoping to learn from the prisoners how many settlements they had in Nuergandusi.
Those responsible for the execution were some Daur and Oroqen soldiers.
These soldiers were born in Nurgandusi, and the tribes they came from were often oppressed by the Rakshasa people.
Many of them even have a blood feud with the Rakshasa people.
Now, the imperial court is about to send troops to recapture Nuergandusi, and these people are even more excited than the Han people in the army.
For the Han people in the army, recovering Nurgandusi was a matter of merit.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! But for them, when the court regained Nuergandusi, it was regaining their homeland.
Under severe torture, the captured Cossacks quickly confessed.
The platoon leader took out a piece of land and spread it on the ground, and began to write and draw on the map based on the confessions of the Cossacks, and matched them one by one with the information he had learned before.
Soon, he roughly figured out the locations of several small strongholds of the Rakshasa people in the surrounding area.
After pondering for a while, the platoon leader spoke.
"I'll wait for a day to repair where I am, and then continue heading north!"
After hearing the words, everyone agreed in unison.
As for those prisoners of war, of course they were all disposed of.
This Ming army carried only limited food and grass, so how could they feed those prisoners of war?
Following the platoon leader's signal, several Ming soldiers dragged the prisoners of war into the woods and prepared to execute them.
As they were led into the woods, these Cossacks seemed to realize something, because they often did things like killing prisoners.
This familiar action is undoubtedly going to kill the prisoner.
The expressions on everyone's faces also looked a little distorted, as they were constantly struggling and cursing.
For a time, Sukabulie's voice was quite dense.
"Who are you? Why did you attack us?"
"Sukabule, are you not afraid of the wrath of His Majesty the Tsar?"
"Damn barbarians, the great Cossack will definitely make you pay the price!"
"..."
However, even now, these Cossacks have not figured out who attacked them.
Although they knew that there was a powerful China in the south, according to their intelligence, which was years behind, the Ming Dynasty in the south should still be at war with the barbarians in the north.
These Cossacks did not think that the Ming Dynasty, which was in chaos, had the ability to send troops to Siberia!
Phew! Phew!
The sound of a sharp knife penetrating flesh kept ringing.
One by one, the Cossacks were killed in the woods, and their bodies were left just there.
Presumably, carnivorous beasts will appear soon and clean up these corpses.
The Ming army camped on the spot and made a fire, roasted the prey that the Cossacks left on the sled, cooked a pot of hot soup, and had a good hot meal.
Get rid of the coldness in your bones.
Then, they continued northward the next day.
There is more than one scout like this in the vast Siberian snowfields.
In order to ensure that the army regained Nuergandusi smoothly, the Ming Dynasty sent dozens of elite reconnaissance teams to Nuergandusi to find out the specific situation of Nuergandusi.
As time went by, news continued to be reported back to Shenyang City, the center of Liaodong Dusi.
Then it will be forwarded to Nanjing through the telegraph line in Shenyang City.
As news continued to arrive, Zhu Hongyu was constantly discussing military arrangements with the Fifth Army Governor's Mansion.
…
France, Paris, Versailles!
The Palace of Versailles, which was just completed not long ago, looks splendid and majestic. Its architecture is magnificent yet exquisite, and it is extremely beautiful.
King Louis XIV of France, who dared to take over the power from Cardinal Mazarin and implement personal rule, was in the most energetic stage of his life.
He was sitting behind a table, with a face that was not very good-looking because of a close relative's marriage, but full of intoxication.
In front of Louis XIV, there was a bottle of perfume from the East.
The pure crystal bottle is hand-painted with beautiful colorful paintings by the most skilled craftsmen.
He took out a little perfume from the bottle and sprinkled it on himself.
Louis XIV once again took a deep breath full of intoxication, and then spoke.
"This smell smells like a fusion of roses and lavender, with some ambergris as the base note..."
"How many francs does a bottle of this perfume cost?"
Louis XIV asked the attendant in front of him.
Although Paris in this era has not yet turned into Black Paris, the stench and peculiar smell in the city are still the same.
The reason why Louis XIV wanted to live in the Palace of Versailles was because he couldn't stand the smell of Paris.
And he invented high heels to prevent himself from stepping on Ollie's shoes when traveling.
But, that's no use.
The smell of Paris is not because Paris has a smell, but because the "romantic" French people do not pay attention to hygiene and are used to urinating anywhere, so Paris has a smell.
Although the Palace of Versailles is located outside the city, it is relatively remote, has a large area and is sparsely populated, so it has a somewhat bland taste.
But people are still the same people, their habits are still unhygienic, and the smell in the Palace of Versailles is actually not much better.
Therefore, Louis XIV had no resistance to this kind of perfume that could emit a delicate fragrance and cover up the stench in the air.
When the attendant heard this, he shook his head to express that he did not know.
This bottle of perfume was presented to me by the merchants below, and he just passed it on for me.
"Your Majesty the King, this is a birthday gift from the merchants below!"
“I don’t know the exact value!”
"But if you think about a gift like this being transported from the distant East, the price shouldn't be low."
When Louis XIV heard this, he nodded with approval.
"Not bad, not bad, really good!"
Suddenly, Louis XIV's sharp eyes saw the inscription on the bottom of the perfume bottle.
Looking at the four square words "royal tribute", Louis XIV's eyes became brighter and brighter.
Unlike after the Opium War, the international image of the Chinese people fell directly from the altar and became the sick man of East Asia.
In this era, with the cultural exchange between the East and the West, many Western countries have set off a wave of Oriental fever.
The same goes for France!
Louis XIV, the Sun King, was a real fan of the East.
He didn't know many Chinese characters, but he could still recognize the two sensitive words "royalty".
As long as anything has something to do with the mysterious East, its value will soar.
And if it can be related to the royal family in the East, it will be even more valuable!
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Perhaps out of envy of the power of the Eastern kings, Louis XIV now yearns for the Eastern royal family very much.
France, also under the leadership of Louis XIV, highly respected the culture from the East.
While talking, Louis XIV ordered the merchants who presented the gift to be summoned to see him.
After the businessman saluted, he directly asked the price of the bottle of perfume.
"Your Majesty, this bottle of perfume is worth three thousand francs!"
The businessman heard this and said very respectfully.
The franc of this era was actually, to put it bluntly, a precious metal currency, not much different from the Spanish silver dollar.
After hearing this astonishing price, Louis XIV's eyes widened and he became a little embarrassed.
As we all know, although France’s national finances are stronger than those of Ming Dynasty, they have never been healthy.
Otherwise Louis XIV and his grandson would not have to go to the guillotine!
And now, after Louis XIV has completed the construction of the Palace of Versailles and fought the Heritage War, the French treasury is almost empty enough to run away with mice.
Three thousand francs was not a small number even for King Louis XIV.
However, as a king, Louis XIV's emotional management was relatively good.
After being slightly shocked, the expression on his face returned to normal.
But he couldn't hold it back and asked anyway.
"Why is it so expensive?"
The businessman heard this and spoke.
"Report to His Majesty the King, because this perfume is exclusively provided by the Ming Dynasty royal family."
"The annual production is only 500 bottles, of which 300 bottles are sent to the palace for the exclusive use of the royal family."
"Only two hundred bottles will reach the market for sale!"
"Actually, the official guide price is only one thousand silver dollars, which is about fifteen hundred francs."
"But the sales volume is really tight. If you want to buy the perfume, you have to increase the price!"
To put it bluntly, it was actually the Royal Chamber of Commerce of the Ming Dynasty that was using marketing tactics.
As long as you have the raw materials for perfume, you can produce as much or as little as you want.
However, if more of this thing is produced, its value will depreciate.
If it can no longer be sold at a high price in the future, it will be called a loss outweighing the gain.
Do those who buy perfume really think it’s the perfume itself?
What they buy is not perfume, but style!
If they really want to use perfume, ordinary perfume can also be used. Although the scent will be different, the difference is actually not as big as imagined.
Nowadays, there are actually many workshops in the Ming Dynasty that can produce perfumes. The technology and products of several perfume workshops are actually not much worse than the royal trading houses under the royal banner.
The selling price of their products is only one-fifth or even one-tenth of the products sold to the Royal Commercial House.
However, if there is a choice, the first choice of those real wealthy businessmen and powerful people will definitely be the products of the Royal Commercial House.
Nothing but the word royal!
Because as long as these two words are there, it is a strong style.
Imagine that at a banquet, two people of similar status both use perfume, although the smell is not much different.
But one of them used the same model as Tianhuang Guiwei, a special tribute from the royal family, while the other used just an ordinary off-brand.
Invisibly, the person who uses ordinary miscellaneous brands will be inferior to the person who uses Royal Tribute.
Now, isn’t it time to become more assertive?
Because of this high quality, even if the price is several times higher, there are still many people rushing to pay for it.
It can be said that doing business in the Ming Dynasty Royal Commercial House is almost like picking up money.
But even so, the Royal Trading Company was quite picky when releasing goods.
A very small amount is released every time!
Act like you don't care about money at all.
What for?
To put it bluntly, just maintain your style!
With such marketing methods, it was not easy for this French businessman to buy the perfume specially produced by the Ming Dynasty Royal Family.
As for whether he used fakes or imitations to deceive Louis XIV...
How should I put it, although the status of merchants in the West is higher than that in the East, if you offend the king, the king is also capable of making you miserable.
Louis XIV was once again very addicted and took a deep breath of the fragrance of the perfume.
The expression on his face became more and more intoxicated.
However, he still spoke.
"Sir, I wonder what you want in return for giving me such a precious gift?"
There is no free lunch in this world, even if Louis XIV is the king.
Hearing this, Frion bowed slightly and saluted, and then spoke.
"Your Majesty the King, I am sending you a gift just to express my respect and admiration for you!"
"If my gift satisfies you, please display it in public..."
Friant's intention was obvious, he wanted Louis XIV to promote him.
The goods he bought from the East were of high value and not something ordinary people could afford.
Only France's top dignitaries and nobles can afford it!
If there is no person with enough weight to stand up and lead the trend, it will not be that easy to sell the goods that Frion purchased from the East.
It's in demand, but not many people can afford it.
Therefore, he set his sights on Louis XIV.
After all, in his opinion, is there anyone more suitable to carry goods than His Majesty the King?!
When Louis XIV heard this, he had his own thoughts in mind.
After pondering for a while, he spoke.
"Very good, you can discuss it with the royal family's personal butler!"
After that, Louis XIV stood up and left.
To be honest, Louis XIV saw business opportunities here.
Since these businessmen want to use him for advertising, then Louis XIV’s share of the points shouldn’t be excessive, right?
However, as a king, Louis XIV still needed to be so strong. Of course, he would not choose to bargain with merchants in person.
At this time, it’s time for the royal family’s personal butler to come forward!
…
Louis XIV left the room and went for a walk in the garden.
Since there are many flowers and plants planted in the garden, the air is quite fresh and there is no stinky smell that can be seen everywhere in Paris.
At this time, someone came to report.
"Your Majesty the King, the Minister of Finance is outside asking for an audience!"
When Louis XIV heard this, he nodded and said.
"Bring people in!"
Louis XVI didn't have to wait long before Doron, the French Finance Minister, came to him.
After saluting, Duolun spoke.
"Dear His Majesty the King, France's finances are now facing great challenges. The imbalance of financial revenue and expenditure is the biggest problem in France at present."
"If this continues, France will have to borrow money to survive!"
"Before the country's financial problems arise, we must find a solution."
Duolun said in a very serious tone.
During the reign of Louis XIV, although France dominated the European continent, its strength was at its peak and it earned itself the title of Sun King.
But it was at this time that France became a loan sharking empire.
The collapse of the Bourbon dynasty was also caused by this time!
When Doron stood in front of Louis XIV to speak, a body odor common among Westerners hit his face.
It made Louis XIV miss that bottle of perfume from the Ming Dynasty.
Faced with the problems raised by Doron, Louis XIV had no good solution.
After thinking for a while, he spoke.
"To solve France's current financial difficulties, strengthening east-west trade may be a good way."
Although trade between the East and the West has been increasing, most of it is eaten up by maritime countries such as the Netherlands, Britain, and Portugal.
The reason why there is no Spain is because the Spaniards once massacred the people of the Ming Dynasty in Nanyang, so the Ming Dynasty now unilaterally sanctions Spain and refuses to do business with the Spaniards.
The waters controlled by the Ming Dynasty prohibited Spanish merchant ships from sailing, and they would be sunk if found.
Over the past few years, the Spaniards' share of East-West trade has plummeted, and their interests have been severely damaged.
However, Spain has no corresponding countermeasures at all.
And, more importantly, the Spanish sent people to actively show weakness and wanted to negotiate peace with the Ming Dynasty, but the Ming Dynasty refused to negotiate.
It looks like I am going to fight you to the death in Spain!
The whole of Spain was helpless and at the same time full of regrets.
I regret that I should not have started massacring the Chinese in Manila!
Now, the trade share that originally belonged to the Spanish was divided up by countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal, and France also took some.
But not much!
If France wants to solve its financial problems and expand east-west trade, it may be a good way.
After hearing this, Finance Minister Doron nodded and said.
"What His Majesty the King said is reasonable, but if France wants to expand its trade volume with the East in a short period of time, I am afraid it will not be easy."
After Spain was kicked out of the East-West trade circle, most of the current East-West trade is monopolized by countries such as Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugal.
France wants to bite off a piece of meat from them, but it is not easy!
After pondering for a while, Louis XIV spoke.
"Perhaps we can send people to contact the Ming Dynasty to form an alliance..."
Louis XIV had an idea sprouting in his mind.
Who is the most powerful country in Europe now?
No doubt, it is the UK.
In other words, from now on until the end of World War II, Europe will be the stage for the British.
Although France, Germany, Tsarist Russia and other countries could occasionally rise up and compete with Britain for a while.
But no surprise, it was the British who won in the end.
Even Napoleon, the pride of France, overturned in front of the anti-French alliance organized by the British.
Louis XIV knew this, but was unwilling to accept it.
At present, if France wants to break the situation, it can only attract external forces to enter the game.
For example, that ancient empire dominating the east...
Because Spain offended the Ming Dynasty, it has now lost almost 99% of its share of East-West trade.
Even though the Habsburg dynasty still had income from the Americas to make up for it, it is a well-known fact that its national power was severely damaged.
In the past, Spain's annual income in the East was no less than its income in the Americas.
If France can complete an alliance with the Ming Dynasty, and the Ming Dynasty can also target Britain like it targets Spain, then Britain will be greatly weakened.
By then, France may be able to counterattack and truly seize the dominance of the European continent.
Faced with Louis XIV's idea, Doron did not object, but spoke.
"What your Majesty said makes sense!"
"However, if we want to strengthen East-West trade, the most important thing is shipbuilding, and shipbuilding requires a lot of financial investment..."
In this era, ships that can carry out ocean-going trade are big money devourers.
Whether you make it or buy it, the price is not cheap!
When Louis XIV heard this, he scratched his head in distress.
However, his eyes suddenly lit up and he spoke.
"Why don't we borrow money from the Netherlands?"
The Netherlands is a merchant country and is well known throughout Europe as a wealthy country.
If France is willing to offer very high interest terms and borrow money from the Dutch for shipbuilding, the Dutch probably will not refuse.
Duolun fell into deep thought after hearing this. The beard on his lips curled up and down, looking a little funny.
"Your Majesty the King, if we borrow money from the Netherlands, we can temporarily solve the financial problem."
"But if you pay back the money later, the pressure will only be greater."
As chancellor of the treasury, Doron is far-sighted.
He knows that you can't borrow money you can't pay back.
However, as a king, Louis XIV knew how to borrow money.
Because he knows, why should he pay back the money he borrowed based on his ability?
"Who said we have to pay back the money?"
"A few days ago, Charles II sent someone to deliver a personal letter to me."
"The British are very upset about their defeat at the hands of the Dutch and are ready to invite us, France, to attack the Netherlands together."
"After I borrow the money from the Netherlands, I will send someone to contact the British and agree to their request to attack the Netherlands."
"When the war is over, we will naturally not have to pay back the money we owe the Dutch!"
Louis XIV's calculations were making a snap.
Just the year before last, when the Second Anglo-Dutch War ended, the Dutch took advantage of the changes in the British political situation and the restoration of the Stuart dynasty to give the British a powerful blow.
The British are very upset about this!
No, within a few years, they were preparing to contact France and attack the Netherlands by sea and land.
Well, the reason why Britain wants to contact France is because the reason why Britain was defeated in the last Anglo-Dutch War had something to do with the French.
In 1667, Britain intervened in France's War of Return of Heritage and captured Spanish lands after France's victory.
Then in the same year, the Netherlands won a naval battle against Britain.
If you say that there are no French people involved, even a dog won’t believe it!
Now that the British want to retaliate and teach the Netherlands a lesson, the first thing they must do is to ensure that France does not end up in the end.
It was precisely because Louis XIV knew this that he prepared to borrow money from the Netherlands.
Last time France supported the Netherlands, but it gained absolutely nothing.
Now that they are going to borrow some money from the Netherlands, the Netherlands can't say they won't borrow it, right?
Hearing this, Duolun showed a look of understanding on his face and spoke.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty, I will send people to contact the Dutch!"
Louis XIV nodded to indicate that he understood, and Doron resigned and left.