The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 636 They Are Already Invincible

The steam engine truly changed the world.

In other words, when tools emerge that can replace human labor and natural forces such as wind and water, it means that productivity has truly taken a big leap forward.

The Russian troops in the Irkutsk Governorate still had good combat effectiveness. Although they had the old problems of the Russian army, their attack on Xinwan Town was still quite efficient.

(Matsumae) Qian Liangzhang thought he could easily hold out for two months, but in fact he was pushed into a desperate situation after only forty-one days. It is estimated that he could only complete the mission given to him by Chen Guangyao in one and a half months, or forty-five days.

All this was accomplished by the Russian army in the ice, snow and mud. When they arrived outside Xinwan Town, they suffered a night raid and launched the attack after resting for one night.

The Russian army's extraordinary ability to endure pain and its cruelty of not treating the vassal army as human beings, nor its own people as human beings, enabled them to quickly pave a path through the walls of Xinwan Town with corpses.

But in the end, all of this melted away quickly, like ice and snow encountering the scorching sun, in the face of Chen Guangyao's painstaking design, China's national strength far exceeding that of Tsarist Russia, and its military technology that could form a dimensionality reduction attack.

A coastal gunboat of more than 70 tons rushed into the Wu River at a high speed, and then used its four-pound naval gun to bombard the Russian logistics camp on the riverside, blocking the Russian army's retreat route to the north of the Wu River.

This type of small gunboat developed rapidly in China after the steam engine technology matured.

Even much smaller than it, inland boats with a displacement of only about 30 tons are the largest group of boats using steam engines in China.

Because the most prosperous Jiangnan and Pearl River Delta areas are densely populated with water networks, the people have a great demand for this kind of mechanically powered boat.

This led to the first development of small steam-powered ships weighing dozens of tons, which also forced inventors to reduce the size of the steam engine as much as possible while increasing horsepower.

After this gunboat cut off the Russians' escape route to the north across the river and prevented them from obtaining supplies and retreating from the logistics base, Fukangan was no longer nervous at all.

I heard that the officer leading the team this time is a lieutenant general of the army, a man of great military talent who comes from a noble family in Jiading and Jinghan.

Although this guy is strictly speaking a Beijing native, he joined the emperor very early and was personally trained by the emperor. He also grew up in the Mingxiang people’s settlement and is very trusted.

And now it seems that his command ability is also quite good. He has caught the weak spot of the Rakshasa with just one move.

In view of this, Fukangan crossed the Wude River instead and prepared to arrange attacks along the way, which was the task he was originally responsible for.

However, Fukangan gave the power to carry out this task to Lebao, because this kind of attack along the way did not require high technical skills, and the main competition was who was more familiar with the geography and the jungle.

In this respect, the Luosha people are obviously inferior to the Ewenki, Oroqen and other tribes living nearby.
Fu Kang'an stayed on a small hillside north of the Wudi River. He wanted to see how the Han people fought and how Emperor Mo could make the people of the world submit to him with just tens of thousands of people.

Army Lieutenant General, General Fu Bo Wu Xing personally came to the front line in military uniform.

Well, a guy from a high-ranking family in Beijing and Han Dynasty, most likely a native of Beijing, bearing the title of General Fubo, sounds a bit too hellish to people in later generations.

But at this moment, it is 100% politically correct.

Because all the noble families in Beijing and Han believed that they were descendants of the Han people who moved south, but their ancestors were blinded by greed and had the idea of establishing their own territory.

Therefore, most people in Beijing today have found an ancestor from the Han and Tang dynasties.

The Wu family, known for its military power, even directly traced their ancestry back to Empress Wu Zetian, claiming that their family was a distant branch of the Baibo Wu family in Luoyang, and that their ancestors were generals who followed the famous eunuch general Yang Sixu in the early Kaiyuan period and went south to quell the rebellion in Annan.

The descendant of such a general participated in suppressing the Annan rebellion, so in Wu Xing's opinion, it was very appropriate to give himself the title of Lieutenant General as General Fubo.

Before the army landed, the Russian troops in Xinwan Town had already been thrown into chaos, as their endurance had basically reached its limit.

If the Okhotsk district fleet had not arrived in time, they would have given up long ago. The only reason they were able to hold on before was because they had hope.

And now, all hope has been completely shattered.

"We're doomed, we're finished!" Major General Andreevich sighed, "I didn't want to come here in the first place, but now it seems my guess was right, this is a trap!
The Khitans placed their most warlike warriors here in order to mobilize the main forces of the Irkutsk Governorate, so that it would be much easier for them to cross the border and attack us.

You couldn't catch the Tatars because they had long since learned of the Khitans' arrival and had gone into hiding. Now that the Khitans have arrived, they will surely ambush us on our retreat route."

Major General Nikolsky couldn't help but show a look of despair on his face. In this desperate situation, his jealousy towards Major General Andrei suddenly subsided a lot. He sighed and said:

"Ivan, whether it's a trap or not, we actually have no choice.

If we don't send troops, we will be finished after the Khitans feed the Tatars here with almost unlimited supplies."

After listening to this, Major General Andreevich remained silent for a while, and then he admitted that what Major General Nikolsky said was correct.

After this brief silence and brief, desperate analysis, Major General Andreevich looked at Major General Nikolsky and said:
"Let's retreat to the rear camp. There's plenty of food and water there, as well as some houses. Maybe we can hold out for a while."

At this time, the Russian army had two logistics camps, one of which was a temporary camp on the riverside and had been controlled by the gunboats of the North Sea Fleet.

The other is the main logistics camp fifteen kilometers away, which suffered a night attack. The Russian army built a simple camp there relying on the dangerous terrain.

Major General Nikolsky nodded. This was the only feasible solution at the moment, and it was only temporary.

Because in the East Xianbei Ice Field, retreat is an extremely difficult thing. If there is not much baggage and the retreat is exhausted, it is simply a death march.

But no one knows what will happen after retreating to the logistics camp.

After making the decision, the two major generals acted quickly, immediately summoning all the soldiers they could still control, throwing away everything except guns and ammunition, and quickly retreating westward.

As for the others who were scattered throughout the city, some were even fighting in the streets and had not discovered the Khitan soldiers coming from the sea, so they were left alone and could just stay behind to act as a blocking force.

Major General Nikolsky, who suffered heavy losses, paid a huge price of 500 rubles, which was approximately equivalent to 380 silver dollars, and left a lieutenant colonel to organize these people to block the attack.

On the coast, Wu Xing naturally knew that he had to hold on to the Russians and not let them retreat easily, otherwise this drama that had been planned for three years and resulted in the deaths and injuries of more than 200 Matsumae samurai would be in vain.

Therefore, before his army landed on the eastern beach, he sent 500 Aihui quivers on centipede boats, going upstream directly from the mouth of the Wude River to hold onto the Russian army.

Fu Kang'an saw through a telescope halfway up the mountain north of the Wude River that Dayu's 500 Aihui quivers wrapped their rifles in oil paper and rowed their boats upstream, even faster than the Russian army that had abandoned the city.

Since the road from Xinwan Town to the west is basically along the river, if you don't go there, you will have to go through the wet and cold primitive jungle, so both sides can see each other, and the Russian army was quickly caught up.

Under the command of Major General Andreevich, more than 3,000 Russian troops lined up at the river bank, attempting to shoot the Aihui quivers in the river with guns.

Fu Kang'an originally thought that these quiver soldiers would not dare to come over, but he did not expect that they would accelerate and continue to move forward from the north bank of the river despite the huge danger. After losing more than 20 people, they blocked the Russian army.

At this time, the Russian army was forced to change from a column facing the river to a horizontal column, and the five hundred quivers were also lined up.

The number of men was three thousand to five hundred, with the advantage being on the Russian side.

However, as soon as the battle started, the situation immediately became one-sided.

The quiver soldiers were lined up in neat rows, marching in unison. Following the drums and shouting slogans, the five hundred people acted as one.

On the Russian side, everyone was in panic. Many people had even been squeezed to the front row, but were still busy loading.

The first two rows could still barely form a line under the command of the officers, but the ones at the back were huddled together like bees in a hive.

Before the battle even started, Fukangan shook his head, thinking that the Russian army might not be able to hold on.

But he didn't expect that the Aihui quiver warriors' fighting style was more violent than he had imagined.

The five hundred people came in a row, which put great pressure on the Russian army. Although these Russian soldiers were fierce, most of them were bandits, pirates, and strongmen. They were fierce and cruel, but lacked discipline and spirit of sacrifice. They could not withstand the attack of a real regular army.

At 110 meters, the Russian army could not hold on any longer and they opened fire first.

Unfortunately, the Russians were armed with smoothbore flintlock rifles, and even matchlock rifles, which were effective only within 90 meters. Above 110 meters, their lethality and accuracy were severely insufficient, and their panic prevented them from firing in unison, significantly reducing their effectiveness.

The quiver soldiers forcibly withstood this wave of damage, and more than thirty of them fell. Then the drum beats suddenly became rapid, the officer in the front shouted, and the five hundred people trotted fifteen meters in unison, and came to about ninety meters.

"Three volleys!"

The sound of gunfire is like the call of death, and the long bullet (Miné bullet) is the messenger of death.

In half a minute, the Russian army was hit by 1,200 rounds of accurate rifle fire. The front row was either killed or frightened and fled desperately to the back.

"bomb!"

The quiver major shouted again, and a hundred grenadiers spread out from both wings, trotting thirty or forty meters and throwing bombs.

Although the damage is certainly not as great as a volley of rifle fire, the psychological pressure it causes is far greater than a volley of rifle fire.

The Russian army fell into complete chaos. The violent explosions and thick smoke caused many people to lose their basic judgment.

They didn't know how many people they were fighting. Every Russian soldier felt that they were surrounded by people on all sides.

"Quiver soldiers, charge!" Seeing this situation, the major in charge of command made a prompt decision. He raised his command knife high and roared at the top of his lungs.

"Long live! Long live! Long live!"

Every quiver soldier roared, and without fear or hesitation, rushed towards the Russian army that was more than six times their number.

Among these arrow-tube soldiers, the Han people received a large amount of cultivated land in Lelang Prefecture (North Korea), and Goryeo farmhands to help them farm the land. Each of them went from being a tenant farmer in Shandong to a North Korean master with 300 acres of land.

For these people who came from the hometown of Confucius and Mencius and have always been obsessed with officials, it is easy to imagine how grateful they were to the emperor.

The Xibai people could finally enjoy all the good things from the Han area at home and would no longer be forced to join the army.

Every member of the Chaoren (Hua) family was born as a bastard, and experienced everything from hell to heaven. However, they are the most fanatical among the three types of people.

The Aihui Arrow Soldiers formed by their combined strength may not be stronger than the Jibei Iron Cavalry in terms of combat effectiveness, but their fighting will is definitely the most tenacious and fanatical.

The whistling arrows of the quivers immediately penetrated the chaotic Russian army. They were like a wall, with the soldiers tightly packed together, stabbing forward mechanically.

The Russian troops in front of them immediately suffered heavy casualties. Most of them did not even resist, but squeezed back in fear. There were a few brave ones, but before they could even stab with their bayonets, they were stabbed to death by several quiver soldiers.

Upon seeing this, Major General Andreevich quickly ordered his trusted guards to retreat twenty meters and form a line of defense again, hoping to calm down the chaotic front row.

However, just as he had arranged his battle formation and the frightened Russian soldiers who had been running over from the front row had just begun to gather behind them, another barrage of gunfire rang out.

During training, the Minié bullet fired at a rate of four rounds per minute, and on the battlefield it was at least close to three rounds per minute, catching the Russian army off guard.

Moreover, this shooting started from two hundred meters away.

Because the rifle is a rifled gun, it can be used for sniping at a long distance. The longest killing distance can even reach four hundred meters. Hitting a person at two hundred meters is something that a soldier who has undergone hard training can do easily.

The Russian army was still waiting for a line-up shoot-off at a distance of 90 meters, standing so densely packed, but now they are in trouble.

No matter how elite the soldiers were, or how incompetent they were, they certainly couldn't withstand being shot in a queue and then being shot unilaterally while standing!
The quiver soldiers attacked fiercely for more than 200 meters. The Russian army, which was holding on, was hit by thousands of bullets. After nearly a hundred people were killed or wounded, they could no longer hold on and began to retreat.

At this time, the Quiver Warrior immediately seized the opportunity and launched another Banzai attack.

The Russians retreated again and tried twice to maintain their formation, but were unable to do so due to the damage they sustained.

"Master, a group of Rakshasa ghosts have escaped!" Sartuk Changling, who had saved his life in Xinwan Town, pointed to the distance and shouted.

Fukangan looked carefully and saw that, sure enough, a group of Russian soldiers were escorting an important figure and leaving the battlefield on the far left.

"Let's go, follow Lebao. These Rakshasas are ours. We must not let them return to Yakutsk alive!"

Just as Fukang'an turned around, a deafening explosion came from behind him.

The navy's large ships finally approached the coast. The remaining Russian troops were confused and actually hoped to stop the main force of Dayu from landing on the beach.

The result was that the Russian troops assembled on the beach became targets of the two third-level battleships. More than a hundred guns fired fiercely, making the Russian army feel like they had walked through hell.

Well, actually, these people are not as stupid as imagined. It's just that they are of too low origin and the Russian Empire is too backward. These people don't know or understand what the third-level battleship and the forty-eight-pound gun mean.

In their minds, a four-pound field gun was big enough, and a forty-eight-pound naval gun was simply unheard of.

This is the face of the Russian Empire. Most of the nobles in St. Petersburg are proficient in France, and a small number admire Britain. They have a clear understanding of the outside world and are no different from the British, French and other Western Europeans.

Most of the people below were still living in a semi-slave and semi-feudal society, similar to the Tatars in Xianberia, and even more ignorant than the people of Ottoman Türkiye.

Hearing the sound of cannons, Fukang'an paused for a moment. He couldn't help but look back. Through the telescope, the terrifying warship showed him the power of the Han Dynasty Dayu.

"Perhaps this is why the Bannermen emperors of all dynasties have always been wary of the Han people. Once they unite as one, they are truly formidable."

After muttering to himself, Fukangan immediately ran westwards. It was time for them to take action!
At this time on the battlefield, the retreating Russian army had been completely defeated by 500 archers.

Major General Andreevich and nearly two thousand men were forced to retreat into the damp and cold jungle, trying to use this terrifying primeval forest to block the pursuers.

Major General Andreevich swore that if he could return to Irkutsk, he would report Major General Nikolsky's desertion and have him brought to a military court.

Unfortunately, the barking of dogs extinguished his last hope.

Of course, Major General Nikolsky, who fled early, was not much better off. The hundreds of people he took with him were caught up by Le Bao and the Lingbei tribes.

In the past hundred years or so, the tribes in northern Ling were genocided by the Rakshasa people. The hatred between the two sides was higher than the sky and the enmity was deeper than the sea. Even if all the people in the tribes died, they would not let them leave.

On the fifteenth day of the fifth lunar month, the battle of Xinwan Town finally came to an end.

The more than 1,000 Russian soldiers left in the city were basically wiped out. After being killed by artillery on the beach, they wanted to retreat into the city, but were immediately subjected to brutal retaliation by the Matsumae clan soldiers in the city.

The Matsumae clan lost more than a hundred samurai in this battle, and the crown prince (Matsumae) Qian Liangzhang had one ear broken by a wound. How could he be polite to these Russian troops?

More than a thousand people were killed, and most of them were beaten to death. Those who surrendered were beheaded.

Of the 2,000 men led by Major General Andreevich who fled into the forest, more than 900 were killed or captured, the rest were missing, and only less than 100 escaped back to the towns controlled by the Russian Empire.

The whereabouts of Major General Andreevich even became a mystery until more than a hundred years later, when his dog tags and several leg bones were discovered by a group of desperate jungle hikers from the Central Xianbei Province. It was said that the cave looked like a brown bear's den.

However, Major General Nikolsky successfully retreated to the camp. The more than 700 people he led and the 500 people left behind in the camp held out for another eight days.

During this period, Major General Nickel asked for surrender several times, but was not allowed because Wu Xing wanted to kill him to vent his anger on the Lingbei tribes.

On the eighth day, the Russian army, which had been trapped on the mountain for two days without a drop of drinking water, collapsed on its own. Most of them were captured and became cannon fodder for the Chinese army's attack on Nerchinsk and Yakutsk.

As for the more than 50 ships of various sizes from the Russian Empire's Okhotsk District Fleet, none of them escaped. They were either sunk or captured.

However, for the Dayu Dynasty of the Chinese Empire, the meat in the Xianbei wilderness had been eaten, and all that remained were extremely tough bones.

This time it is China's turn to make a long journey across ice, snow and mud to attack the ice fortress built by the Russians for more than a hundred years.

(End of this chapter)