I

Bashkov, the Yenisei governor, was very busy and often left his governor's station and went for a walk to the east of Lake Baikal.

The castles of Chita and Nerchinsk were built under his orders!

After the Chita Castle was built, Bashkov simply stayed there permanently. He not only had to guard against the Datong Army, but also against the Buryat Mongols and Sauron tribe. Because the area around Lake Baikal was originally the territory of the Buryat people, and Nerchinsk was the territory of the Sauron people.

Before the Nerchinsk Castle was built, the Cossacks were even overthrown by the Buryat and Sauron tribes, and the governor fled quickly by boat with dozens of remaining soldiers.

All kinds of encounters made Bashkov not only order the construction of the castle, but also increase the number of troops and weapons here year by year.

After receiving the news that the Datong Army had sent troops to Nerchinsk, Bashkov quickly arrived by boat from Chita with reinforcements. At the same time, heralds were sent to summon all troops around Lake Baikal.

"Protector, there are local Sauron warriors coming to surrender!"

"Please come quickly!"

Before Li Zheng ordered a formal attack, a group of nearby natives suddenly arrived.

More than two hundred people, carrying bows, arrows and hunting knives, kowtowed and knelt when they saw Li Zheng. After announcing their names, they said: "General, as long as it is to kill Rakshasa ghosts, we can do anything. We are willing to attack the city." Get ahead!"

Li Zheng quickly helped them up: "You warriors are determined, and the court will not treat you poorly."

The people’s support is available!

Li Zheng didn't know it yet, but he was attacking Nerchinsk here, attracting Cossacks from all over to come to rescue him. As soon as the Cossacks left their strongholds, the Buryats of the Baikal region took action. Of course the castle could not be chewed down, but only the territory of the wooden villages was destroyed by the Buryats.

The southeast wind blows gently, and the monsoon wind is blocked by the remaining veins of the Greater Khingan Mountains, and it is very weak when it reaches Nerchinsk.

A hot air balloon gradually rose into the sky. The Cossack gunner in the bunker hurriedly loaded the bomb, then adjusted the angle to fire at the hot air balloon. By the time the cannonball was fired, the hot-air balloon had already risen more than ten feet into the air. The cannonball could only pass near the traction rope, and the closest one to the rope was more than two meters away.

The breeze carried the hot air balloon and floated slowly over the castle. The Cossack defenders couldn't help but look up and watch.

"It's over, it's over!"

Shen Kaizao stood in the rattan basket and waved the flag towards the friendly troops on the ground.

The take-off point was too close to the castle and the rope was too long. The hot air balloon actually floated over the center of the city.

After receiving the signal, a group of soldiers dragged the rope in the tunnel and pulled the hot air balloon back little by little.

"Stop, stop!"

said a nearby observer holding up a telescope.

Shen Kaizao put down his flag and bent down to pick up Ten Thousand Enemies.

Today, there are three types of enemy weapons. The five-pound and ten-pound models are used for field battles, and the twenty-pound model is specially used for city defense.

The one in Shen Kaizao's hand weighs ten kilograms.

The wind was not strong and the hot air balloon was very stable.

Shen Kaizao looked down and felt that the position was still not correct, so he raised the flag to signal.

After some tugging on the ground, it finally aimed at the bastion.

Shen Kaizao blew the fire stick, lit the fuse, picked up the ten thousand enemies and threw them down.

"boom!"

The first air raid in human history took place in such an outrageous way.

The Cossacks below were stretching their necks to watch. Suddenly they saw a black thing, which grew from small to large in their sight, and landed on top of them in the blink of an eye.

The early porcelain shells were invincible, but now they have been modified. The shells are cast directly from pig iron, and it is very convenient to lose wax and form them. At this time, it fell from a high altitude, cracks appeared in the cast iron shell, and it bounced to the side twice - boom!

The three Cossacks in the explosion circle went to meet God on the spot.

Six people were injured nearby, one was stabbed in the belly by a piece of pig iron, one had his finger cut off by a piece of iron, and one had more than a dozen pieces of iron sand embedded in his face...

Those who were injured but not dead were rolling on the ground in pain, while others were so frightened that they fled quickly.

Shen Kaizao picked up the second Ten Thousand Enemies and was about to light the fuse when he realized that there was no one directly below him.

The only disadvantage of hot air balloon bombing is that you can't move freely.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The Cossacks began to fight back, firing bullets into the sky.

Shen Kaizao felt a little guilty. After a while, he realized that nothing had happened to him and he immediately started laughing again.

But at this moment, a bullet hit the hot air balloon. Although it was not very powerful and could barely punch a hole in the hot air balloon, Shen Kaizao was still frightened.

This was fired from a rifled gun, which had a longer range.

Shen Kaizao waved the flag, and friendly forces on the ground pulled him back.

Li Zheng didn't wait for the hot air balloon to stop and asked, "How?"

Shen Kaizao replied: "A few were blown over and the others ran away. When our army attacked the city, the enemy did not dare to escape and could only stay in place and let me bomb."

"good!"

Li Zheng clapped his hands and praised.

On the river bank of the mother castle, the warlord Bashkov, who arrived with reinforcements, stared blankly at the sky. He knew that the Datong Army had hot air balloons, but he never expected that those things could actually drop bombs.

"My Lord Governor," Nerchinsk guard Mikhail said, "This season the southeast wind often blows, and the Khitan hot air balloons can easily float over the fort. Why don't we give up the fort and withdraw all the defenders? The mother fort. This can not only avoid the enemy's hot air balloon bombs, but also increase the defensive strength of the mother fort..."

"Shut up, you idiot!"

Bashkov scolded: "With so many enemies coming, I'm afraid it will take a year to fight. Even if all the defenders of Zibao are killed, they still have to be stuck there to buy time for the next reinforcements! If Zibao is abandoned, Although the enemy's big ships can't get through, the small boats can go around the river south of Zibao. By then, the passage for subsequent reinforcements to enter the city will be blocked!"

Mikhail asked: "How should we fight? Should we increase the strength of Zibao?"

Bashkov shook his head: "No, the only role of those soldiers in the sub-fort is to delay. As long as it can be delayed for a month or two and reinforcements arrive from various places, the mother fort will have thousands of troops, and the Khitans will never be able to attack it. As for the The soldiers of Zibao sacrificed their lives for His Majesty the Tsar, and when they reach heaven, the Lord will accept them."

"Boom boom boom!"

While the two were talking, the Datong Army suddenly opened fire.

This time, instead of bombarding the soldiers on the city, they bombarded the wooden and earthen fence outside the fort.

Bashkov climbed onto the wall of the mother castle, observed it with a telescope, and muttered: "The Khitans are preparing to attack the city."

After a day of continuous shelling, the outer barriers of the enemy's fort and the wooden wall on the east side were all smashed down.

The next day.

Three hot air balloons take off.

The ropes carried by the army were all tied up and could only be used for high-altitude bombing by two hot air balloons. There is only one hot air balloon left, which has a very low altitude and is specially used for battlefield observation.

A hot air balloon bombed the bastion in the northeast corner of Zibao. A hot air balloon bombed the bastion southeast of Zibao.

There are two artillery positions, one shooting parallel to the east wall and the other shooting parallel to the south wall.

In this way, the enemy's northeast and southeast bastions, as well as the east and south city walls, were all exposed to the firepower of the Datong army. Only beat people, don't blow up city walls!

The attack was launched from the due east of the fort. Under the cover of our army's long-range firepower, the two bastions that could cause cross fire could not concentrate on the battle.

There were only more than 80 Cossacks in the garrison of the castle, and the remaining 100 or so were all indigenous servants.

Two Datong Army artillery positions took the lead in launching the attack.

After adjusting the angle, I fired one shot after another without any idea of ​​saving ammunition. On the south wall and east wall of the enemy's castle, the defenders did not dare to stand in the middle. They all squatted close to the female wall for fear of being hit by ricochet bullets.

Immediately afterwards, two hot air balloons began bombing.

From the two bastions below the hot air balloon, the indigenous servants fled first, followed closely by the Cossacks. They would rather run to the east wall, where they would not necessarily be hit by artillery. If they stayed at the bastion, they would definitely be bombed.

When the defenders abandoned the bastion, half of the castle was destroyed. It was no different from a traditional fortress and could not form a crossfire without blind spots.

Moreover, the Cossack forts were all set up on bastions, and the artillery was completely useless.

The soldiers of the Datong Army began to cross the river, and several people carried a baffle. This kind of baffle is similar to the Tartar cart baffle. The inner layer is hardwood, the outer layer is wrought iron, and the outermost layer is cowhide, which can effectively protect against bullets.

"Hurry and push the artillery over here!"

The Cossack guard will give orders to the artillery officers.

A few gunners were daring and led the native servants to move the artillery, hoping to knock down the east city wall and bombard the Datong army crossing the river.

As soon as these guys approached the fort, Shen Kaizao dropped a bullet from the enemy. And he still had experience. He held it in his hand for two seconds before throwing it, and it exploded directly over the bastion. The iron pieces and iron sand flew out like a goddess scattering flowers.

"ah!"

A group of gunners and native servants screamed in pain, and several had their skulls penetrated by iron pieces.

The defenders on the east wall fired crackly into the river, and the bullets were all blocked by baffles. To be honest, from such a long distance, even if it hits someone, it won't have much power.

Before the soldiers crossing the river landed, a cannonball suddenly made a difference.

In that artillery position, the previous thirty or so shells had only hit one enemy. This time, it was extraordinary. The cannonball hit the city at a small angle and bounced forward against the parapet - there were people behind the parapet!

The cannonball flew over the head of one Cossack and directly smashed the head of another Cossack. Then it landed on the city wall and bounced, breaking the neck of an indigenous soldier, and then smashing the head of another indigenous soldier... It just exploded with blood mist all the way, and finally rolled forward rapidly, taking away several legs one after another.

There were a few lucky ones who had cannonballs bounce over their heads. Although they were fine, they looked to their left and right and were frightened on the spot.

It was really bloody, with all kinds of headless corpses.

Those who lost their legs cried heartbreakingly, which further shook their morale.

Unable to withstand the psychological pressure, the indigenous servant army abandoned the city wall and fled, leaving only dozens of Cossacks defending.

Seeing that the Datong Army has landed, the fortress is guarded by a hot air balloon. The remaining Cossacks were unwilling to hold on. Before the Datong army arrived, they abandoned the castle and fled north, rowing a boat back to the mother castle.

Bashkov watched the whole battle, his face expressionless at the moment. He thought that the fort could still hold on for a month or two, but it fell on the third day of his arrival.

He turned to his adjutant and said: "Send people back to Chita immediately. All reinforcements must be assembled in Chita. Don't come in batches. I can still hold on here and let them gather before setting off from Chita. The upper reaches of the castle will be blocked. Cut off the enemy forces and allow them to land early and come to support by land.”

There are three obstacles outside the mother fort, and it is difficult to set up artillery positions of the Datong Army. Due to distance and wind direction, the hot air balloon could only bomb the nearest bastion.

The next battle is still difficult to carry out.