I

Alexey has night blindness and cannot see clearly at night.

He walked from the Grand Bazaar in the city to the river, swam quietly across the Volga River, and walked far around the fortress.

There is no need for eyes in the dark night. Anyway, just run to the east, which is all the territory of Huerhut's tribe. Historically, when the Torgut tribe returned eastward, even the west bank of the Volga River was occupied by them. The fortresses and cities of Tsarist Russia were surrounded by the pastures of the Torgut tribe.

He didn’t know how long he had been walking, but Alexei was so exhausted that he was panting, and his malnourished body could no longer support him.

He couldn't see what was going on around him at all, so he could only shout at the top of his lungs: "Is there anyone? Is there anyone?"

While shouting and walking, a herdsman finally heard him, rushed out of the tent and caught him.

The two sides cannot communicate, and ordinary herders cannot speak Russian.

The next morning Alexei was taken to the chief, who in turn took him to the king.

Xie Yuan originally planned to visit the Khiva Khanate, but before he even set off, he heard that Russians had defected. After briefly understanding the situation, Xie Yuan asked: "Why do the shooting troops in the castle want to join us?"

Alexei said: "We are starving to death. In more than half a month, I have starved to death one of my sons and one of my daughters."

Xie Yuan asked doubtfully: "Is there a shortage of food in the castle?"

Alexei replied: "The Governor is not short of food, but our shooting army is short of food."

Xie Yuan was even more confused when he heard this: "Aren't you soldiers? The governor doesn't give you food and salary?"

Alexey said: "We are shooters, we are born. My father is, so am I, and my son is still. When there is a war, we take up arms. When there is no war, we find jobs to support our families, and we also have to Taking care of the errands of the masters. Some time ago, the city was looted, and now we can't find work."

Xie Yuan suddenly realized that the person in front of him was a member of the Tsarist Russian army.

"How many people are there like you?" Xie Yuan asked.

Alexei said: "There are more than two hundred."

Xie Yuan asked again: "I usually live in the castle."

Alexey nodded: "They all live in the castle."

Xie Yuan asked again: "Do they all have muskets? How much ammunition do they have?"

Alexei said: "Some of them no longer have muskets. There is not much ammunition. We usually don't have ammunition. They were issued when we were defending the city some time ago."

"How many other defenders are there?" Xie Yuan continued to ask.

Alexey said: "There are three hundred border guards, and there are more than twenty retinues of the governor. These soldiers are different from us. They can have enough to eat."

Xie Yuan turned around and spoke in Mongolian: "Your Majesty the King, you need a capital to build a country. I think Astrakhan is a suitable capital."

Shukuer Daiqing was moved when he heard this, but he hesitated and said, "Is this person pretending to surrender?"

"Then it depends on whether you dare to gamble." Xie Yuan said.

Ayuqi said: "Grandpa, you can take a gamble."

Astrakhan is not only a fortress, but the city on the other side of the river is also a trading center on the Caspian Sea. Occupying this place will cut off the trade between Tsarist Russia and Persia. If you want to do business, you must pay taxes honestly to the Kingdom of Turgut.

Tsarist Russia would not give up on such an important city, and would most likely mobilize tens of thousands of troops, or even more than 100,000 troops to attack.

Opportunities and dangers coexist, it depends on whether the Turgut people can bear it.

Shukur Daiqing was still hesitating, and he said truthfully: "The Russians we have dealt with can have hundreds or even thousands of troops. If we occupy the city, we will face endless attacks. If the Tsar sends How can we hold on to an army of 100,000 or 200,000?"

Xie Yuan sneered: "If you don't eat the meat that's on your lips, and you don't dare to occupy the city next to your own pasture, then why are you still here? Lead the troops to the east as soon as possible, otherwise the Russians by the river will become more and more The more there are, you won’t even be able to keep your pastures in a few decades.”

This goes to the core. If you don't occupy the castle now, you will never think about it in the future.

Just like another time and space, the pastures of the Torgut tribe are spread across both sides of the lower Volga River. But the Tsarist Russian castle stood by the river, like a nail driven into the heart of the Mongols. The Mongols could only surrender to the Tsar and face endless military service.

The Tsar also did not collect taxes from them, but he raised troops from time to time. Sometimes one or two thousand, sometimes three to five thousand, were drawn to fight the Mongols, and the casualty rate was generally around 20%.

If you win, you will get nothing. If you lose, you will suffer heavy losses. The population of Huergut tribe will continue to decline.

"Let me give you an idea," Xie Yuan said. "After occupying the castle and city, you have to try to accept other ethnic groups. Whether they are Orthodox or Green, you allow them freedom of belief. No matter how much tax Tsarist Russia imposes, you will Reduce it a little. Let everyone know that it pays better to be your subjects than the Tsar's."

In the city on the other side of the fortress, the market is called the Grand Bazaar, and you can tell what religion you follow just by listening to the name.

The Khorhut State must implement religious freedom in order to integrate the Orthodox, Green and Buddhist people. Otherwise, they would have civil strife themselves without a call from Tsarist Russia.

Shukur Daiqing did not object to religious freedom, otherwise he would not have gotten involved with the Don Cossacks. He nodded and said: "This is the only way."

Before defeating the Russian expeditionary army, there must be religious freedom and all ethnic groups must be united in dealing with the outside world.

Xie Yuan said: "Your diplomatic form is not bad. The Don Cossacks in the west are allies, the Bashkirs in the north are also friendly with you, and Xiaoyuzi in the east is a mess. By the way, Shiva Khan in the southeast How is the relationship between the country and you?"

Shukuer Daiqing said: "There is no contact, and there is a piece of Xiao Yuzi's land separated by it."

"I plan to go to the Khiva Khanate to help you establish an alliance." Xie Yuan said.

…

Alexey's stomach was full after eating, and he hid some food in his arms, intending to take it home for his wife and children to enjoy.

He waited until night to sneak back to the river, then hid near the fortress, only to emerge in the middle of the next morning. After returning home, he was not in a hurry to convey the news, but took out food for his wife and children.

Looking at the devouring family members, Alexei comforted him and said, "I will never go hungry again. I have thought of a good way."

When his wife asked him where the food came from, Alexey remained silent and said that he would not be hungry in the future.

In the afternoon, Alexei found Nikita: "The Tatars in the east have been canonized as kings by the Khitan Emperor and have received the support of the Khitan Emperor. They plan to occupy the castle and establish a capital here. If the Shooting Army can open the city gate , can get a piece of land outside the city. Those who are willing to stay as soldiers will be taken in by the Tatar Khan and can receive military pay."

"Will the Khan convert us to Buddhism?" Nikita asked.

Alexey said: "No, we can continue to believe in the Orthodox Church, and the Turks in the city can also continue to believe in the Green Church. The Khan also said that the Slavs are allowed to raise their own funds to continue building the Holy Trinity Cathedral. "

Holy Trinity Cathedral has been built for decades.

Due to lack of funds and craftsmen, even the main frame has not been completed yet.

Nikita frowned and thought. He planned to take the shooting army to Mongolia, but he never thought of helping the Mongols capture the castle. Once you capture the castle, you have stirred a hornet's nest, and the Tsar will take it back at all costs.

Alexey continued: "Khan also said that the Torgut country he established is a country for the poor. He will reduce taxes for the poor, and everyone will live better than before."

"Fuck it!" Nikita slapped her thigh.

The two parties agreed on a time to take action at dawn.

The shooting army first set fire to various houses in the fortress, creating chaos and keeping the defenders busy putting out the fire. When the Mongols outside the city saw the fire, they quickly approached the castle, while the shooting army killed the guards in the chaos and opened the city gate.

The whole plan went extremely smoothly, and the governor and the border guards were not prepared at all.

In history, Racine relied on this method to capture the city, and also used the same method to capture several fortresses in the Volga River Basin. At that time, because it was so smooth, Racine was so swollen that he threatened to establish a Cossack Republic on the Volga River.

"Master, leave quickly, the Tatars are coming!" The housekeeper panicked.

Governor Yakov is also very arrogant. The city was besieged some time ago, and he can still sleep tonight when there is a fire in the castle. I just got up in the middle, asked a few questions, and learned that the fire was already being put out, so I ran back to sleep.

Only then did Yakov finally panic and asked: "How could the Tatars come in?"

The steward said: "It was the shooting army that opened the city gate."

"Those damn animals, I should starve them all to death!" Yakov was furious.

"Kill the Governor!"

The cattle mentioned by Yakov were already approaching the Governor's Mansion.

The shooting army owed the governor a lot of money and food. No matter what happened in the future, they would just kill the governor anyway. Death and paying off the debt was the best way to default on the debt.

Hearing the shouting, Yakov's face turned pale with fright. He hurriedly put on his clothes and ran out of the back door without even having time to go to the stables. After running a few steps, he saw several shooting troops rushing towards him. Yakov immediately pinched his throat and shouted in a different voice: "Kill the Governor!"

"Kill the governor!" the shooters shouted, thinking that Yakov was also an accomplice.

Yakov mixed with these shooting troops and rushed to the Governor's Palace to kill himself. In the dark, he couldn't see clearly what he was wearing or what he looked like. He deliberately slowed down his pace and waited for the shooting troops to run away before turning around and running away in the other direction.

His family is in Moscow, where there are only mistresses and illegitimate children, so it doesn't matter if they are killed by the shooting army.

This guy really took advantage of the chaos and ran away, fleeing all the way north to Tsaritsyn, frightening the governor of Tsaritsyn.

The uprising in the north has not yet subsided, and the Tsar cannot care about this side for the time being. After the uprising was put down, the tsar's food and grass supplies were almost exhausted. It was estimated that it would have to wait for another three to five years before he could gather tens of thousands of troops to conquer the Turgut Kingdom.

An army of tens of thousands is already the limit.

After all, Tsarist Russia was at war with Poland and the Ottomans at the same time, and was even at war with China in the Far East.

The occupation of Astrakhan by the Mongols was equivalent to an economic stab at Tsarist Russia, which would inevitably worsen Tsarist Russia's already difficult financial situation.

Moscow’s Window to the East has been closed!