New Shun 1730

Holding high the banner of "Refuse to surrender Yasak", the well-fed and well-drinking crowd came to the castle of the Rakshasa people.

Liu Yu and his people didn't even need to change their clothes. After walking for nearly a year, they hadn't washed their clothes at all. No one would doubt that they were from the forest tribe.

The soldiers of Handoriwei didn't need to come to participate in the siege for the time being, but went back to transport food and grass.

Liu Yu felt that there was no problem with the money he used to exchange for the disguised caravan.

As long as he told the emperor when the time came, and said that it was the reward from His Majesty's inner treasury when the money was distributed, not to mention that it was his own, there should be no problem.

As for the three thousand taels of silver he owed to his family and his friends, Liu Yu didn't care.

As long as he succeeded and made a contribution this time, his father would jump up and help him pay the money back.

Besides, why should he pay back the money he borrowed with his own ability? If he made a contribution this time, wouldn't those friends express their gratitude?

Since money is not a problem, many things can be easily solved.

There are a lot of lands for the soldiers in Handoliwei City, but the grain in this place cannot be sold.

If there is no war, it is useless except for making wine and exchanging leather.

If the grain is transported to a place with a large population like Liaodong to sell, there is no need to worry about losing the baby in the belly. The surrounding tribes fish and hunt, just like drinking a few sips of wine, and are willing to exchange leather. There are many liquor pots in Handoliwei, and the price of grain is not low.

This group of soldiers may be the ones who are most looking forward to fighting in Heilongjiang. In addition to being able to make merit, divide the land, and increase the population of tenant farmers, the grain stored in their own homes can finally be sold for money.

With the relationship between Du Feng and Du Qian, the grain price in Handoliwei City is bought at a normal price. The captured Cossack horses were also traded by Liu Yu and these soldiers, and they were all exchanged for grain.

It’s a pity that Russia had not yet bred the Don River horse at this time, and the Cossacks mostly rode Mongolian horses, otherwise the horse breed could be improved.

But there are also a few good horses.

The captured Cossacks said that there were several Karabakh horses from Persia, and several Hanoverian horses from Sweden. Although they were captured, the horse-loving Cossacks still hoped that Liu Yu would take good care of these good horses.

They begged Liu Yu not to let the horses drink water when they were sweating, not to let them drink ice and snow in winter, and not to feed them with dewy grass...

It can be clearly seen that the horses chosen were different from the Maolian horses ridden by the palace soldiers. Liu Yu decided to pick the good horses. He kept three good horses for himself and gave the rest to those who had a good relationship with him.

He brought the local powerful figures closer, and promised that he would not take a cut of the fur and silver after the city was broken. The palace soldiers of Handoriwei City were also in high spirits, and adults and children were mobilized to transport food to the Heilongjiang River.

After the logistics issues were resolved through negotiation, Liu Yu led Jiao Laobutu and Du Feng to the upper reaches.

There is a waterway with sandbanks and islands in the middle of the river.

Bering's map is really well drawn and recorded in great detail.

"Although I am full of confidence, I still have to consider the possibility. If we can't break the city within 20 days, we have to be prepared to besiege the city and fight for reinforcements on the river."

"Otherwise, if the reinforcements from upstream enter the castle, we can only squat outside the city and wait until they run out of food. If we can't grab the credit by then, we will regret it."

Looking at this narrow and curved river channel full of sandbars and islands in the middle of the river, after listening to Liu Yu's words, Jiao Laobutu can easily understand what he is thinking.

"What do you mean, sir, if we can't break the city within 20 days, we should prepare for an ambush here?"

"Yes. Just in case. I think this way, Du Feng, you ask your father to bring some people, I also have a carpenter here. Let your father build some birch bark boats here."

"Your father should not go to the siege. First, his leg is injured, and second, he is old and his leg is injured, so he can't be promoted. There is no need to grab this credit. Leave it to you."

Du Feng was very satisfied with this arrangement and was sure that his father would be satisfied too. Liu Yu spoke very directly, and it was indeed the case. However, if Du Feng was not allowed to participate in the siege, Du Feng would be unhappy.

"I hope that we don't have to fight this battle here. If we can break the city in 20 days, we can defend it with the strong city, and the three or five hundred people coming from the upper reaches will be here to give credit. But there are always contingencies, and we can't expect everything to go according to our arrangements."

Du Feng responded: "Don't worry, sir, I will tell my father. There are still many carpenters in the city."

Liu Yu turned his head to Jiao Lao Butu again.

"Brother Shu, take some good men with you and watch the river from the other side these days. If the city sends a boat out to ask for help, don't fight them, just let them go. When you see the boat coming out for help, tell me."

"Yes. Then how do you plan to siege the city?"

"That's not urgent. Let's just mess around and have no idea what to do. When they send someone to ask for help, I'll attack the city seriously. I still have to trick Hannibal. I'm really afraid that he wants to repay the late emperor's kindness and use himself to exchange for the castle upstream to prepare for the battle. In that case, two great achievements will become one, and it's a loss of blood."

Jiao Laobutu didn't ask any more questions, and paddled Liu Yu to the island in the middle of the river.

After measuring the distance between the river and the island in the middle of the river, looking at the soil of the island in the middle of the river, and throwing a few leaves to measure the flow rate of the waterway, Liu Yu nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

If all my backup plans failed and I had to besiege the city and fight for reinforcements, I should be able to do it with the captured cannons, the cannons from the Acropolis of Handorii, and the captured exploration ship.

"Okay, let's go back. I think Hannibal should be having a headache."

…………

Liu Yu guessed correctly, Hannibal was indeed in a headache.

The ambush site was far away, but the sound of gunfire could still be heard. He could vaguely guess that a big battle had taken place there.

He was a very cautious person. When the Cossacks had not returned in the afternoon, he knew that they were finished.

He decisively gave orders to retreat to the castle and move the food outside the castle.

Then he set fire to the trade area and some houses outside the city without any hesitation.

Many women were crying there, and some people begged not to burn the houses. He ignored them and ordered the exiled shooting army to maintain order.

If the houses were not burned, it would hinder the shooting range and provide cover and wood for the siege.

After doing everything a fortress engineer should do, Hannibal began to have a headache.

Who did it?

Was it the surrounding tribes?

Or did the Khitans in the south go to war with the empire?

None of the Cossacks who went out to rob came back. How many people were there on the other side?

There were only more than 150 men left in the city, and the remaining women were useless. The few who could fire guns were also recruited to participate in the defense, but the number was still not enough.

However, due to his confidence in his own ability, he was sure that he could rely on this inferior bastion to defend for a period of time.

But the key issue now was whether to send someone for help?

If the war between Shun and Russia started, it would be meaningless to ask for help. It would be better to send someone to tell the officers upstream to let them defend and prepare for battle, and buy some time here.

But if it was just a "riot" by the tribesmen, it would be better to ask for help.

He was not afraid of the tribesmen attacking the city.

In 1504, 140 Portuguese in Cochin, India, relied on a simple city defense system to fight against the 50,000 troops of Calicut, and achieved an exchange ratio of 0:5000.

Although there was some bragging by the Portuguese, Hannibal believed that with his own ability, he might be able to replicate the Portuguese myth in Cochin.

But what if the tribesmen did not attack the city but only besieged it? After the siege, what if they refused to surrender the Yasak?

Then we have to send people out of the city to clean up the situation, otherwise the wildfire of rebellion will burn from Heilongjiang to Kamchatka. It is said that the tribes in Kamchatka have been organizing resistance since a few years ago.

Once the fire starts, it will sweep across the entire Far East, unless it is put out when it just starts.

Defending the city will not allow us to control the tribe. Defending the city will not be able to put out the fire of resistance. But going out of the city to clean up the situation requires mobile forces, and Hannibal has no mobile forces at all.

In the evening, a large number of tribesmen came to the outside of the city, holding high the flag of "Refusing to surrender Yasak", and the bloody words on it can be clearly seen in the telescope.

These tribesmen no longer only have bows and arrows, many of them hold matchlock guns.

Thinking of the sound of exchange of fire heard before, Hannibal felt that it should be Dashun who was behind the scenes.

Perhaps Dashun considered that it did not want to go to war with Russia, so it instigated these tribesmen to resist?

Dashun provided guns, officers, and money, and the tribes provided people?

If they won, Russia would have to withdraw from Heilongjiang.

At least on the diplomatic level, Dashun did not go to war with Russia, but borrowed these tribes to directly gain control of Heilongjiang.

He had studied in France for too long, his mind was very westernized, and he did not understand what the Celestial Empire was... The Celestial Empire basically did not have equal diplomacy. When it was strong, it did not form alliances, only tribute, which was a high-level form of alliance. It was even less likely to do such a thing in the way he thought.

"Mencius" said: "To the emperor, you report your duties. If you do not come to the emperor once, you will be demoted; if you do not come to the emperor twice, you will be deprived of your land; if you do not come to the emperor three times, six divisions will be moved.

All under heaven is the king's land.

Within the scope of the king's land, even if the Junggar rises and threatens Dashun, Dashun will not be able to form an equal alliance with Khalkha Mongolia: either pay tribute and become a vassal, and I will protect you; or, you two will fight together until you surrender.

Or... if you can't beat me, I will kill you and hang myself on a crooked tree.

As for supporting the tribes to resist, he hid behind and did not come out to accept the tribute, and waited until the tribes had dealt with it themselves before coming out... The court would not make such a "shameful" decision.

However, Hannibal did not understand the differences between the East and the West. The Western system was not inconsistent with the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but it was obviously irrelevant to the present.

So he used his Western brain to judge this matter, and fell into the pit that Liu Yu had dug for this Westernized brain.

After careful consideration, Hannibal made a wrong judgment.

In a letter to the officers upstream, he wrote:

"...Obviously, the Khitans are not going to go to war with us, but are inciting those tribes to rebel against the Yasaks - in this regard, the actions of the Cossacks are the indisputable fuse. I am not blaming you, you are also a Cossack, but the continuous resistance is inseparable from the barbaric behavior of the Cossacks."

"But now, barbarism can only be conquered by barbarism."

"In view of this, I beg you to send about 300 soldiers. There is no problem with the guarding of the bastion. Those barbarians are as fragile as pancakes on Carnival. But my troops are not enough to go out of the city to encircle and counterattack."

"If the resistance of these barbarians is not stopped in time, it will be like a fire on the grassland, burning non-stop. The fire in autumn must be extinguished in time. If it is not extinguished, it is very likely to burn from here to Buryatia and Kamchatka. You should understand this truth."

"As soon as your reinforcements arrive, I can fight back. I think that soon, many hanged bodies will float on the Amur River, and the fish next year will be fat, but not tasty. When those barbarians see the bodies on the river, they will understand the price of resistance..."