The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 657: The End of the Eastern Era of the Russian Empire
Lake Khuvsgul is located south of the Eastern Sayan Mountains, where Chen Guangyao is currently undergoing renovations.

He also controlled 50,000 Mongolian herdsmen, more than 100,000 livestock, and 4,000 elite cavalry transferred from Chahar, Tumed and Khalkha in the south of the desert.

Although the Mongolians' abilities were weakened during the Qing Dynasty, they could still mobilize three or four thousand elite cavalry.

Moreover, since the sixth year of Guangzhong (1781), Mozibu has been continuously strengthening the power of Mongolia south of the Gobi Desert.

He asked Zhangjia Hutuktu to abolish the Yellow Sect's custom in southern Mongolia that the eldest son must become a monk to serve the Buddha.

At the same time, he also asked the Ministry of War's Chariot and Horse Department to coordinate professors and students from the biology academies of the Imperial College to go to Mongolia south of the desert to assist the Mongols in improving horse breeds.

Cavalry from Daibei and Xiongnu cavalry officers from Europe were deployed to train ordinary Mongols in the use of cavalry carbines, etc.

After nearly nine years of recovery, the combat effectiveness of the Mongols south of the Gobi Desert has been greatly improved compared with the past. The combat capabilities of some of the elite Qiexue cavalry have reached the level of the Guards Cavalry.

After all, they are a nation of nomads. As long as the restrictions are relaxed, they will recover quickly. Then, it will not be difficult to select 10,000 elite cavalry from nearly 3 million people.

In addition, Chen Guangyao had 500 hussars from the Left Guard.

At this time, the imperial guards of the Dayu Dynasty had expanded to a size of about 60,000 people, among which one of the imperial guards with a title, such as Yuancong, Shesheng, Longxiang, and Yulin, would have three guards under its command.

The left guard was a standard hussar regiment, the right guard was a dragoon regiment, and the center guard was a line infantry regiment.

In terms of scale, the left and right guards each have 1,000 people, and the central guard has 3,000 people.

As for the Guards Cuirassiers and Guards Artillery, they were independent armies.

Of course, under each titled Guards, there is a cuirassier company and two artillery companies directly under the command of the commander-in-chief, and the line infantry guards also have their own guard artillery company.

Therefore, each titled guard, including officers and clerks, has a total of 6,000 people. If one of them is deployed alone, it can have a complete range of infantry, cavalry, and artillery, and can bring about 20,000 auxiliary troops to fight a major battle anywhere.

If they are withdrawn, a Guards Cavalry Corps of 20,000 men, including cuirassiers, hussars, dragoons and cavalry artillery battalions, can be quickly formed.

And an elite Guards Infantry Corps of more than 40,000 people, including chasseurs, line infantry, and grenadiers.

These people are the key to Mo Zibu's ability to sleep well.

However, the 500 left guard hussars around Chen Guangyao were not mainly there to fight, but to complete the topographical survey of Mobei and Xianbei wasteland.

Although Emperor Mozibu thought that he could vigorously support the Mongols, he deliberately brought the Mongols into the gunpowder age so that they would not fight without the gunpowder and steel from the Han area, in order to complete the integration.

However, due to thousands of years of struggle between farming and grassland peoples, the officers below were still not very confident about these nomadic peoples. Therefore, targeted countermeasures were carried out secretly under the auspices of the Inner Court Staff Officers Department.

Detailed maps of the south, north and west of the desert are now accurate to the meter, and the surveying of the East and West Xianbei Deserts is currently underway.

Chen Guangyao detained so many people and hid about 270 kilometers away from the battlefield and Irkutsk because he was afraid of problems.

Although it has grown for twelve years, Dayu's power north of the Great Wall is not particularly strong.

It is true that the country is strong, but there are also many places where money can be spent.

He conquered Japan and South Korea, suppressed rebellions in the northwest, maintained stability in Southeast Asia, developed the northeast, and even found time to fight a major battle with the British in India.

At the same time, we must promote industrialization, complete popular literacy campaigns, and mobilize tens of millions of people to leave Shenzhou to colonize.

Any one of them is more important than managing the area north of the Great Wall, and is also a key national policy that costs more money than managing the area north of the Great Wall.

Currently, the 10,000 troops of Yang Kaijia who are besieging Irkutsk, the 5,000 troops of Zhu Wenjie, Fukang'an and Hailancha who are blocking the reinforcements, plus the tens of thousands of herdsmen and 4,500 cavalry here are all the forces that Chen Guangyao can mobilize.

If this blocking battle fails and Irkutsk is not taken, unless the emperor suspends any major national affairs in the southeast, northwest, northeast and southwest and transfers manpower and material resources to the Xianbei wilderness, Dayu will not be able to launch a campaign of this scale for at least three years.

"General, there will definitely be good news from the front, because no matter how we look at it, we will definitely win, unless the Russian Empire withdraws all its troops that are attacking Romania."

Song Jun, the Lieutenant General of the Army, the General of Zhenbei, and the Commander-in-Chief of the 47 Han and Barbarian Armies in the Southern Desert, saw that Chen Guangyao was getting impatient, so he started to persuade him:

"Yes, no matter how you calculate it, we should be the winners, but before the final result comes, it always makes people uneasy." Chen Guangyao repeated Song Jun's words, still a little uneasy.

After taking a long breath, this man of the Dayu Dynasty who was most trusted by the emperor, whose eldest son had already been reserved for the position of imperial concubine, and whose two daughters were definitely future princesses, and whose future favor might surpass the military merits of Xu Da, the King of Zhongshan, opened his heart to Song Jun, who was of Hakka origin, for the first time.

"Old Song, it's been three hundred and sixty years since Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Dynasty swept across the northern desert. This is the first time that we Han people have penetrated deep into the desert. We have even left Wolf Mountain behind. How can we not be nervous?
And what we are facing is no longer a steppe khanate, but an empire with a complete system like ours.

Even though it is still too weak compared to China, there is no doubt that its combat effectiveness exceeds that of any steppe khanate.

Moreover, I led 30,000 warriors on this expedition, and more than 4,000 of them froze to death or suffered frostbite.

If we cannot win, how can I, Chen Guangyao, face their parents, wives, and children? How can I repay these heroes of the empire? "

After listening to this, Song Jun was silent for a moment. The most difficult part of this battle in the Xianbei Desert was not the battle with the Russians, but overcoming this terrible weather.

In order to quickly capture the various strongholds of the Russians in the Xianbei Desert, if they did not survive the cold winter in the wild, then with only four windows of less than five months each year, they would not be able to capture them in twenty years.

In order to survive the harsh winter in the Xianbei Desert, although there are various tools available and the logistical support is as good as possible, the cold wind in the Xianbei Desert is actually not something that can be resisted by human power.

In the Battle of Yakutsk, more than 400 of Fukangan's 5,000 men froze to death even though they had built barracks.

In the Battle of Irkutsk, while the blocking troops captured some Russian towns, 170 people froze to death, and 220 people of Yang Kaijia's troops on the Selenga River froze to death.

As for those who suffered frostbite and a small number of frozen disabled people, the total number must be more than two thousand.

The casualties were so great that Chen Guangyao could hardly bear it. If these men had died bravely in battle, he would have felt better.

But it is really hard to accept that people were frozen to death because of his military orders.

Song Jun pursed his lips a few times, but he didn't know how to comfort Chen Guangyao.

He knew in his heart that he had to win this battle. Apart from various other reasons, the most direct reason was that only by winning would he be qualified to ask the court for money.

This money was not to be put into one's own pocket, but to be used as compensation for the soldiers who froze to death based on their military merits when they returned victoriously.

"Red flag, red flag, the messenger is coming, it's the messenger who brings good news!" After waiting in silence for an unknown amount of time, the whole camp suddenly became noisy.

The messenger hadn't seen it yet, but the scouts that had been sent out by the army had already returned quickly to report. If it weren't for a real great victory, these people would never dare to lose their composure like this in Dayu, where military discipline was strict.

Chen Guangyao laughed heartily. He excitedly strode towards the barracks door, ready to personally greet the messenger who had brought the news. "If Irkutsk falls into my hands, the Russians will have lost their strongest and most important fortress in the East. Next, it will be Semipalatinsk!"

June 1790, 6. This was the 12th day of the fourth lunar month in the th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty, the th year of Emperor Guangzhong's reign in the Great China.

When Chen Guangyao received the news of victory from the blocking troops, he immediately headed from Lake Khuvsgul to Irkutsk, the last stronghold of the Russians, on the ice and snow that had not yet completely melted.

At the same time as he set off, Zhu Wenjie, Hailancha and Fukang'an, who were blocking the troops in the west, and Yang Kaijia and Pierre Ney, who were clearing out the vassal tribes of the Russians on the Selenge River in the east, also led their troops towards Irkutsk.

At this point, the Buryats and Sayan Uriankhai (Tuvans), who had been playing hide-and-seek with Dayu in the mountains around Lake Baikal, finally came down.

They knelt down in front of Chen Guangyao's horse and dared not leave even when being beaten, but just kept begging for mercy.

On the fourth day of May, Chen Guangyao arrived outside Irkutsk. The city was dead silent. Only behind the shooting holes in the city wall, countless frightened eyes were looking at the army outside the city with despair.

"Send the flags and prisoners of the Semipalatinsk reinforcements over there, and tell those Russians that if they surrender now, they might have a chance at slavery. If they wait until I capture the city, I'll kill everyone!"

After much consideration, Chen Guangyao decided to let these Russians go.

Firstly, he was about to cooperate with the court's westward expedition. Secondly, the city of Irkutsk was surrounded by two bastions. There was no need to let the soldiers pay the price of their lives for killing people when the dust settled.

However, Chen Guangyao wanted to show leniency, but some people did not appreciate it.

The Russians, with Irkutsk as their center, have been ruling the area around Lake Pakhary for more than a hundred years. Even the lowest-ranking Russian officers and municipal officials owned large estates and servants here.

For example, now there are more than 400 slaves under the control of the Irkutsk Governor's Office alone.

The Russians were used to being high and mighty masters here and could not accept being slaves. Therefore, they wanted to hold on, relying on the fact that there was still enough food in the city to last at least a year and there was no shortage of drinking water.

The war continued to burn, but the situation became increasingly favorable for Dayu.

Because the weather is gradually getting warmer, the temperature at noon has reached 14 or 15 degrees.

Not only was the pressure of the cold weather on the Dayu army relieved, but steamships were also able to begin sailing on Lake Baihaier.

On May 21st of the lunar calendar, after sixteen days of fierce attacks, especially the steam gunboats on Lake Bohaier continuously bombarded the city walls without bastion protection, and at the same time sent sharpshooters to areas where the Russian defenses were weak to snipe and kill officers.

The Russians held out for sixteen days, and then finally couldn't hold on any longer.

On the night of May 22, the soldiers from the Tosa and Hiroshima domains, led by Saigo Takamitsu, took advantage of the Japanese's short stature and sneaked into a very narrow cave. The Russians had no idea that these people had entered the city.

On the morning of the 23rd, Saigo Takamitsu and others, who had been hiding in the city for several hours, suddenly launched an attack. They seized the cannons on the top of Irkutsk city and used them to bombard the bastion on the left side of the city.

This is amazing, because when Irkutsk was built, no one considered that the bastions outside the city would be bombarded by the main city, so it was completely defenseless.

On the city walls of Irkutsk, the Russians organized wave after wave of charges, but they were all beaten back by the crazy Japanese samurai.

Seeing that there was no hope, the defenders of the left bastion outside the city, who could no longer bear the bombardment, raised a white flag and declared surrender.

The Russians in the right bastion opened the gate in panic and broke into the city, but were caught by the Yuan Left Guard Hussars who had been waiting there. More than 400 of them were almost all hacked to death outside the city of Irkutsk.

The Russians in the city wanted to retreat to defend the Governor's Office, but the Dayu soldiers did not give them a chance and kept sticking to them, preventing them from leaving the battle.

On the morning of May 24, the Russian army in the city completely collapsed, and the Dayu soldiers also became angry. As soon as they saw a Russian man, they would attack him with a knife. Finally, shrill screams began to resound throughout the city.

Some Cossacks were forced to the edge of Lake Berhai. They rushed into the lake like frightened wild dogs and were then all killed by patrolling steam gunboats.

Most of them were hiding in the city like rats, completely losing their former strength.

This doomsday-like scene made Governor Jacob in the Governor's Office feel heartbroken.

He watched the Dayu soldiers at the foot of the mountain getting closer and closer. After taking a deep breath, he gave his son, Lieutenant Colonel Annenkov, a strange smile and then shot himself.

Irkutsk fell.

It marked the complete end of the Russian Empire's rule over the Central Siberian Plateau and the East Siberian Mountains in later generations.

Since the extinction of the Rurik dynasty, the Russian Empire's nearly two hundred years of expansion into the East suffered a devastating blow, marked by the defeat of the Siberian Khanate.

For China, this was not the first time that the imperial army reached Lake Baikal, but it was the first time that the imperial army truly controlled it, which was of great significance.

Just as Saigo Takamitsu killed a fleeing Russian musketeer, he saw the army commander, Prime Minister of the Northeastern Mission, and former general Chen Guangyao standing in front of him.

This Satsuma samurai, who should have had a successful career, was held back by his father and is now only a major.

As for how it got dragged down... well, it's pretty simple.

Saigo Takamitsu's father, Saigo Kichibei, was originally sent by the emperor to deal with the usurping emperor, but he did not dare to take action twice at the last moment and even wanted to escape.

This is too much. If you didn't accept the mission, everything would be fine. But you went there with the mission, but it almost ruined everything. That's a serious problem.

After returning, Saigo Kichibei was soon sent to Hanchuan Province, which was almost equivalent to exile. Saigo Takamitsu also left the emperor and became a member of the Imperial Guard.

"Xiang, I hope you can stay here for three years and find all the Russian Cossacks hiding in this icy land. I can give them a chance to live, but they must be loyal to China."

Governor Jacob's judgment was very accurate. Chen Guangyao knew that there were at least more than 50,000 Russian serfs scattered everywhere, including at least hundreds or thousands of Cossacks who could cause great damage.

A look of surprise flashed across Saigo Takamitsu's face, and he understood what Chen Guangyao meant.

If he completed this task successfully, he would be able to return to the emperor's sight.

"Zhongtang, Saigo Takamitsu will definitely fulfill his mission!"

Chen Guangyao nodded and said, "This place is too important to be handed over to the Mongolian vassal.

Within three months, I will send you at least two hundred Han Chinese households. After that, the army will leave, and the rest of the time will depend on your strategy."

After giving the instructions, Chen Guangyao looked at the governor's son who was kneeling in the blood-stained mud.

"Mr. Annenkov, if you can truly play the role you described, not only will you be able to save your life, I guarantee you will also have the opportunity to become a noble of the empire."

(End of this chapter)