A thick layer of ice has formed on the Okhota River.
It's snowing heavily and it's freezing cold.
Ivan, the general manager of Fort Okhotsk, was also completely relieved. It was impossible for the Khitan army to come here from Nurgan City in such weather.
When Boyarkov escaped from the Heilongjiang Estuary, he drifted on the sea for more than a month before reaching Okhotsk. Even though the Chinese boats were big, but now the river and sea were frozen, they had to come by sled, but that would not be possible.
Easy, almost impossible.
"Come, let's raise a glass together and wish the great monarch good health!"
Ivan raised his glass, and in the steward's house, the invited heads of various ministries, as well as the military nobles, Cossack chiefs, and secretaries in the castle all raised their glasses.
The stove is burning brightly and the room is very warm.
Various Ulus (indigenous villages) were invited and brought a lot of mink furs. Although this year's tax has not been paid in full, a lot of tax has been collected, which made Ivan very satisfied.
As a military noble, he came to distant Siberia. Didn't he work so hard just to make money? He finally became the castle manager. What he valued was the benefit behind being the military and political commander of the castle. His most important thing
His task was to collect taxes for the tsar, and as the steward, he could get a share of the taxes he received.
The specific hard work was left to the Cossacks, and they shared the tax revenue and a share of the pie.
In order to collect as much tax as possible, Ivan, like other Siberian governors, had a sword in one hand and wine in the other. The sword was a military service member who was mainly a Cossack, and the wine was rewarded for actively paying taxes.
The Cossacks would go to Ulus to arrest people who refused to actively pay taxes. They would capture the leader's wife, daughter or children and imprison them in the castle. They would release them after the taxes were paid. They would even imprison them in turns as hostages, changing the group every year. If they did not pay the taxes honestly, they would be released.
Punish the hostages.
And Ivan would come out to be a good person, often giving fish to the hostages. For the leaders who paid taxes, he would even introduce them to convert to Orthodox Christianity, and even let them be baptized. After baptism, he would recruit them as military personnel and directly pay them a salary every time.
After paying the fur tax, a banquet is held to thank them.
Drinking and mingling.
While drinking, Ivan even silently calculated in his mind how much he could earn this year. With his methods, the tax collection was very good. The fur tax of the Yakutsk Warlord's House was for married people aged sixteen to
An indigenous man who is fifty years old is entitled to ten mink skins a year, those who are not married are entitled to five furs, and those under sixteen are entitled to none.
But Ivan asked every man above 16 to pay 11 tickets, and those under 16 to pay 5 tickets. In order to prevent some people from refusing to pay or running away, they were allocated directly by township. Each Ulus village had to pay 5 tickets.
The counted population and the furs payable are all counted together, and the headman is responsible for collecting and turning them over. If someone fails to pay, other villagers will make up the amount.
He even asked the Golulus natives to give him a gift, which was actually a disguised form of levy: a mink skin for each person, regardless of gender.
If you can't pay them all, then take a family member and take them to the castle as a hostage. During the period of being a hostage, they will have to help with labor, build the castle, farm the fields, etc.
On the other hand, he was active in paying taxes, but he married them, recruited them as military personnel, paid them salaries, etc.
Seeing the cautious attitude of the tribal leaders, Ivan was very proud. The manager's income was very good.
After working for a few more years, I can return to Moscow to enjoy myself, or get a fiefdom in the Far East.
······
On the sea, floating ice flows.
The pioneer fleet approaches Okhotsk Fort.
On the ship, the soldiers were making preparations.
The gunner was checking the cannon, and the gunner was checking the musket.
The tribal warriors accompanying the expedition are also making preparations for the war.
The Feyaka people took out a bear skin and placed it on the deck. Then they took out a small bear skin bag, dug out bear oil from it, smeared it on their faces, jumped left and right against the bear skin, and muttered something to each other. Finally, the bear
Put the skin on your body.
The Prime Minister looked at these people while inspecting the gun.
"These are Feyaka bear warriors. These bears were raised by them from childhood and then killed by their own hands at the Bear Killing Festival when they reached adulthood."
The eggless Wang Dynasty Prime Minister is very fierce, and he has killed countless enemies with the ax and fire gun in his hand, but he has never raised a bear, let alone killed a bear. It was only after he came to Beihai that he learned about the fee at the mouth of the Heilongjiang River.
The Yaqa people actually raise bears and have a bear-killing festival.
Many tribes in the Heilongjiang area worship bears, just like most tribes on the grassland worship wolves, they worship those beasts.
But worshiping bears would actually snatch a bear cub from an early age, raise it, and then kill it, which is a bit unbelievable.
On the other side, the Hezhe people were also mobilizing before the war.
What they took out were fish skin clothes.
The Hezhe people are a fishing and hunting people. Most of them make a living by fishing. They raise dogs, make birch bark boats, catch fish, and eat fish. That seems to be all they have. They are good at fishing, and so are sturgeons weighing one or two thousand kilograms.
As their food, they are also good at processing fish skin into clothes and even fish skin armor.
Oroqen, Ewenki, Qiler, Hezhe, Sauron, these tribal warriors basically wear all kinds of leather clothing, including deerskin, dog skin, fish skin, bear skin, and tiger skin.
The weapons they held included bows and arrows, stone axes, bone knives, and bone spears, and each of them used homemade oil paint paste to paint their faces in a gaudy way.
"Fortunately, the Koryak people didn't come. Those people like to bury fish in the soil. After a while, they wait for the fish to become sour and smelly, and then cook it with stones in water. These people are just a few dozen steps away.
I can smell a strange smell.”
After checking the equipment, the dynasty minister didn't pay much attention to the various actions of those tribes.
Anyway, in the eyes of the Ming Dynasty, these people were all barbarians. The Ming Dynasty once collectively called the tribes outside the Xing'an Mountains in the north of Heilongjiang the Beishan Jurchens, or more directly divided them into the Shilu tribe and the Shigu tribe.
Basically from the Heilongjiang River Basin to the north of the Outer Khingan Mountains, from Sakhalin Island to Kamchatka Peninsula and Chukotka Peninsula, the indigenous people actually basically keep dogs. Dogs are their good assistants, pulling sleds in winter, and even
Helper when hunting.
Some tribes raise reindeer to pull carts, and some simply herd reindeer on the tundra and rely on deer for food.
"Confirm the battle plan again!"
The Prime Minister put the gun in his waist and took out the map.
A fish skin map showing the fort of Okhotsk.
"Captain, according to the information we have collected, it has been ten years since the establishment of a stronghold in Okhotsk Fort. It was officially upgraded from a winter camp to a castle three years ago. It is under the jurisdiction of the Siberian Yamen of Tsarist Russia and the jurisdiction of the Yakutsk Governor-General.
It belongs to Yakutsk County and has not yet been upgraded to a county. However, their coastal castle center and several other coastal small forts are all subordinate to him, and the surrounding tribes are also placed under his command as a physical tax township.
"Okhotsk Fort has two forts, the inner and the outer. The inner fort is twelve feet long and seven feet wide, and the outer fort is thirty feet long and twenty-seven feet wide. The northern city wall is shared by the inner and outer forts and is built along the river bend in the north.
There are eight towers in the castle, as well as a city wall made of logs. There is a moat outside the city wall, which is two feet wide and four feet deep. There are six rows of wooden piles in front of the moat and some thorns.
This year, an additional earthen wall was built, which is two feet high and two feet wide at the bottom."
"In the castle there is the general manager's office, tax office, lead bullet warehouse, gunpowder warehouse, fur warehouse, as well as residential areas, shops, workshops, etc. Outside the city there is farmland cultivated by them, and there is a dock by the river."
"There are seven or eight iron cannons and two to three hundred firecrackers in the city. It is winter now. Many Cossacks and hunters who are outside have returned to the castle to spend the winter. There will be at least three hundred military personnel, hunters, craftsmen, etc. inside. There will also be
There are about one to two hundred tribal hostages, slaves, immigrant family members, indigenous wives, etc."
"Ivan, the steward, is a minor nobleman."
The dynastic minister nodded. Although there are as many petty nobles as dogs everywhere in Moscow, in Siberia, especially in Yakutsk in the east, the petty nobles are still a privileged class, including castle stewards, commissioners, clerks, secretaries, etc.
Positions such as assistants and section chiefs are basically theirs.
"To be able to build the castle like this in just a few years, and still have five or six hundred people, this man is really capable. No wonder he was able to conquer all the indigenous people for hundreds of miles around here."
"It's a pity that he met us!"
Wang Chao looked at the horizon in the distance, "Since the castle is so well-defended, there is no possibility of a sneak attack. We can drive directly to the castle, land on the fort, and then bombard it with artillery."
The fleet advances.
The Cossack on the castle finally discovered the fleet. Seeing so many large ships approaching, he rang the big bell on the north tower in panic.
The clanging bells were much muffled by the wind and snow, but the noise in the steward's house still woke up.
"How to sound the alarm?"
He grabbed his mink coat, put on his hat, grabbed a blunderbuss, and rushed to the bell tower outside. The infantry Cossack leader behind him also picked up his matchlock gun to follow.
The captain of the shooting army grabbed his bright red military coat and put it on, picked up the shooting ax with a huge axe, and rushed out.
alarm.
The urgent bells were still ringing.
"The enemy is attacking, the sea fleet is attacking!"
When Ivan finally rushed up to the ten-foot-high bell tower, the fleet had already rushed into the harbor.
Looking at those big ships, Ivan panicked. He counted them several times but still couldn't figure out whether they were thirteen, fifteen, or eighteen.
But he saw clearly that there were several cannons on each sailboat.
The trumpet sounded, and the battle horn sounded in the fleet.
The fleet braved the wind and snow, broke through the ice floes, and reached the Sea of Okhotsk before it was about to freeze completely.
"Are we going to send someone to the dock to stop them from landing?" the clerk asked in a panic.
The Cossack Centurion and the Captain of the Shooting Army did not say anything. When they saw the fleet, they all panicked. With so many large sailing ships, each one must have at least a hundred people, and each ship has a company, so this is at least
The size of a shooting regiment is at least two to three thousand people.
Ten times their military strength.
Ivan calmed down, gritted his teeth and said, "Hurry up and distribute ammunition to the military personnel, and stand guard on the tower. If they approach, shoot them with a musket behind the shooting hole. Don't go out."
Ivan had served as a soldier. Tsarist Russian law stipulated that all nobles must serve as soldiers. Those who had not served as guards could not become officers.
In comparison, the Cossacks are at best mercenaries. Although the Shooting Army has been established for many years, there are tens of thousands of people. Even the most elite ones are the Tsarist Guards. However, they are recruited by urban citizens. Compared with the traditional free attendants of palace nobles and free attendants,
The monarch's military staff composed of palace servants also had no advantages.
After Ivan came to his senses, he quickly made a judgment. The enemy had many ships and cannons. It was not yet clear whether there were many soldiers, but he still had to be cautious and secure the fort for safety.
He looked at the sky, the snow was still falling, and the breath turned to ice. He hoped that it would be colder and these intruders would freeze to death.
The cold howls and the battle flags wave.
Hunting for the red flag, the sun and moon are hanging high.
On the deck of the flagship Pioneer, the armored Prime Minister commanded the fleet to land in two places, the north and the south.
"First build a beachhead on the shore to prevent the Rakshasa devils from burning the ship."
"The naval guns cooperated with the landing troops to suppress the firepower of the castle. The Marines pulled the rifles ashore and put the shield vehicles in front. The infantry followed them. Don't rush forward. The tribal soldiers were on standby at the beach."
"Everyone obeys the order. First use the artillery bombardment, then use the shield truck to cover the blasters when possible, and place the blasting packs under the city gate."
The other officers also gathered around to listen to the order.
They all agreed with the Prime Minister's deployment. First use artillery bombardment. If the firepower on the castle can be suppressed, use shield vehicles to cover several trenches, cut off several sharp stakes, and then bury gunpowder under the city gate.
, blowing open the city gate.
"Although this castle is not a bastion, since there are artillery and guns guarding the city, you still have to be careful and don't rush."
Although the pioneering fleet is not a regular army of the Ming Dynasty, but it bears the name of the royal family, but is it in vain? Many of them are from the imperial camp, and many of the navy from the imperial camp are from the royal camp. Their military quality is comparable to those of the homeless bandits.
The Cossacks are much stronger.
Ivan is a small nobleman. In the past, nobles like him were probably equivalent to scholar-bureaucrats or Japanese samurai.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After all, Tsarist Russia used to be called the Principality of Moscow, and earlier it was called the Principality of Rus. It used to be the tax collector of the Golden Horde. Principalities like him, in the past
Dozens in Eastern Europe.
Later, the Principality of Muscovy eliminated all the surrounding principalities one by one, and even grabbed a lot of territory from Poland and Sweden. They continued to maintain their aristocratic title status for the previous grand dukes like themselves.
Anyway, as of now, even if the Grand Duke is renamed Tsar, they are not qualified to make him a Grand Duke.
The great nobles owned land and population, had their own army, and were only loyal to the tsar.
And they used to have many small nobles under their command, similar to the old Western knights. Later, during the Czar's campaigns in the east and west, many military personnel were granted land, etc., and they became small nobles with land. Many big nobles
The petty nobles under their command even broke away from them and paid direct allegiance to the tsar, becoming petty lords or local military and political officials.
Of course, there are also some minor nobles who have lost their territories, some have become bureaucrats or simple military officers, and some have ventured to the Far East, trying to obtain land here or even make a fortune.
Ivan's military qualities are good, but his military personnel are originally composed of Cossacks, shooting corps, and even some exiled criminals, enemy prisoners, local recruitment leaders, etc.
Although they were generally equipped with matchlocks, and some were even equipped with flintlock muskets, they lacked cannons and even more gunpowder.
In order for generals like Ivan and even the governors to control the Cossacks and other armies in the Far East, the only way is to restrict the supply of gunpowder to them. Gunpowder is limited to the castle and the governors. Even if these Cossacks are domineering and arrogant,
When they faced the natives who were ten times as many as them outside, although gunpowder was a crushing advantage, if the gunpowder was limited, they could only rely on and obey the governor's orders, otherwise the natives' bone arrows could defeat them.
Although this method of gunpowder control was effective, it also left the Cossacks and other military servicemen with little ammunition, and there was not much ammunition stored in the small castle.
It is certainly enough to deal with the natives in normal times, but now it is undoubtedly not enough to face such a large fleet.
The Prime Minister was very cautious and traveled thousands of miles north and across the sea on an expedition. Faced with such a fortress, he did not trust it.
The fleet landed in two parts, the north and the south, and finally divided into two landings on each side, forming four landing points. The ship approached the shore, and the two long cannons on the bow began to fire at the castle.
Eighteen clipper sailing ships, with thirty-six bow guns firing powerful salvos, bombarded four targets at once, with nine shots per target.
Shoot for three rounds and then log in.
Here they are landing to seize the beach, and over there the bow cannon continues to fire fiercely.
The Prime Minister doesn't care whether the castle will come out to intercept, he will shoot first.
With the shells whizzing over their heads, the Marine Corps was the first group to land ashore. When they arrived on the shore, they first established a line of defense. They did not rush forward and received the follow-up troops on the spot.
When the tribesmen finally got off the boat, they were all frightened by the thunderous artillery array and turned pale. Some even peed. Even those tough tribesmen who hunted bears and tigers couldn't withstand the power of God.
The Marine Corps was preparing the shield truck, but before the shield truck was ready, the gunners cheered from the ship over there, and the ten-foot-high bell tower was actually blown down.
This is the landmark building of Okhotskburg. It is the highest point in the city. You can see the clock tower from a distance. It is also the warning lookout post of the whole city.
But now it was hit by several consecutive shells, and the wooden clock tower collapsed.
The tower was still built on the north entrance. As the tower collapsed, the gunners became more excited.
A large hole was broken into the outer earthen wall, followed immediately by the inner wooden fence.
Fort Okhotsk is already considered a good one among the castles in the Far East, but they did not expect that they originally liked it because it is close to the sea. There is a small bay next to the sea and the river. The transportation is convenient, but it also leaves behind defenses.
Loophole, who would have thought that the Ming army would come from the sea all at once, with so many ships and so many cannons?
The naval guns directly bombarded the castle.
There is no safe distance at all. Originally, the bone arrows and bone guns of the indigenous people were more than enough. Standing on the ten-foot-high Bell and Drum Tower and facing the shooting hole, firing the gun downwards, it was safe and lethal.
But now dozens of cannons are bombarding them non-stop, and the infantry has not yet begun to go ashore, and the city's towers have collapsed.
When the Cossacks used fire blunderbuss to attack the natives holding bone arrows, they were complacent, but they did not expect that their fortress would now be bombarded by dozens of cannons from the Ming fleet.
The Cossacks also wanted to wait for the enemy troops to come down from the city before firing their artillery to counterattack, but in the end, none of their artillery fire was fired, and their artillery and even the gunners were blown away.
Ivan looked at the large gap that collapsed in front of him, his face turned gray and pale.
"Surrender, raise the white flag and surrender!" Ivan shouted desperately. They couldn't hold on to such an offensive.
seaside.
The Prime Minister still did not order the Marines to attack.
"Keep bombing, bomb a little longer, blast a few more gaps, spend more shells, and get fewer casualties, it's a good deal!"
The gunners practiced the naval guns skillfully and fired one shell after another.
The Marines did not stop, and had all the shield vehicles ready. The Marine artillery over there had also built an artillery position with sandbags on the shore, and set up the battalion cannon weighing several hundred kilograms.
He also began to aim and shoot and joined the bombardment team.
The outer earthen walls and the inner wooden walls were constantly crumbling. A white flag was raised on the city top. In the east, many Rakshasa people abandoned the city and fled despite the artillery fire.
"Stop those who are running away, and don't let anyone escape,"
"Marines, attack the city!"
The Marines pushed the shield cart and rushed towards the castle under the still fierce artillery fire. They quickly arrived in front of the trench. Someone brought a ladder and quickly assembled it into a trench ladder.
Rush rush rush.
No one can stop me.
Artillery also began to extend into the city, and the Prime Minister did not stop the bombardment. He did not care about the bottles, cans, flowers, plants, cats, and puppies in the castle.
He only needs to ensure that the casualties of soldiers are minimized.
A red flag was planted on the north wall full of gaps, making the sun and moon more eye-catching in the wind and snow.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Enter the city!"
The Prime Minister of the Dynasty tried to enter the city with two muskets, but was blocked by his own soldiers. He could only wave his guns and shout.
When Ivan shouted to surrender, the morale of the Okhotsk army collapsed. The tribal leaders who came to attend the banquet in the city took the opportunity to run to the prison, opened the cells of the tribal hostages, and broke their chains. They knew that they were coming.
They were soldiers of the Chinese emperor, so they picked up sticks and stones and started killing the Japanese in the castle to help them. Some people were setting fire to them.
The castle was in chaos, the Cossacks and hunters were running away, and no one wanted to stay here anymore.
Some Cossacks even ran away to grab a handful.
The Ming army entered the castle smoothly.
When they ran into the fleeing Rakshasa Japs head-on, they fired a barrage of gunfire at them without any courtesy. The bang-bang-bang muskets knocked the Japs in front of them to the ground at close range.
A few lucky guys also raised their matchlock guns, but the second row of Marines' muskets fired again, knocking them over.
When Wang Chao saw more and more marines rushing into the city, he ordered the tribal soldiers to enter the city.
Those bear-skin warriors, fish-skin warriors, tiger-skin warriors, and wolf-tooth warriors who had been standing on the beach in a daze after getting off the boat were all in a daze.
Some of them have experienced many battles, and there are even warriors who participated in the war between Sauron and Houjin. It is not that they have never seen firecrackers and artillery, but have they ever seen such a scene?
At the beginning, Hou Jin did not have many musketeers, and only a few small cannons.
Now the Ming army fired dozens of cannons in volleys, the bombardment continued, and the Ming army musketeers marched in with guns. The castle, which they thought was extremely tall, was actually bombarded into rubbish?
They didn't even see any Ming troops fall.
Is the battle over?
When the translator shouted the order to attack again, they finally came to their senses.
A Feyaka man wearing a bearskin picked up his fist and punched himself in the chest, roared to the sky, and then rushed towards the castle with a big stick.
The Hezhe warrior, who was dressed in fish skin, even brought his two dogs with him to charge.
Only when they rushed into the castle, they found that the battle was over.
From the time the Rakshasa Kingdom established its winter camp and then upgraded it to a castle, Fort Okhotsk, which took ten years to build, was captured almost as soon as the gun was fired!
