I

Cossacks are also human beings, and as humans they will be afraid.

They are afraid, but these guys are extremely brave and will not surrender unless faced with a desperate situation.

As long as there is a castle to defend, it is not a desperate situation in their eyes!

Li Zheng's killing of prisoners made the Cossacks more frightened, and at the same time strengthened their determination to hold on to the end.

It was under this circumstance that Li Zheng began to order the crossing of the river, seemingly without any regard for military tactics.

In the sky, the hot air balloon rose again.

The hot air balloon was not launched a few days ago because the extra ropes were taken away by the scouts. Now that the scouts have returned, all the ropes are used to lift the hot air balloon, which can ensure that the two hot air balloons float over the enemy's southeast bastion.

"The Khitans may have to cross the river and pull up the artillery!" Bashkov said.

Li Zheng kept shelling the enemy fort, and Bashkov did nothing.

The Cossacks tore down all the wooden boards in the city, and nailed the extremely valuable furs to the outer layers of the wooden boards to wrap them. They didn't have iron sheets, so they reinforced them with double-layered wooden boards, which were lifted by strong people to block the top. The gunner and his servants quickly pushed and pulled the artillery.

The Datong Army artillery position on the high platform operates together with two hot air balloons.

The artillery fired at the enemy's northeast and southwest bastions, where there were also Cossack artillery. But the distance is too far and the accuracy is extremely poor. If twenty or thirty cannons are fired, one shot may not be able to hit, and it can only interfere with and delay the enemy's actions.

Two hot air balloons frantically dropped bombs towards the enemy's southeastern bastion.

This time, there is no need to throw it down within seconds, because the enemy is holding a baffle, and the damage caused by the air explosion is limited. Just light the fuse and throw it down. It will always fall to the ground and explode. When it explodes, several people will fall down. Even if it falls on a wooden board, the impact of a ten-pound bomb falling from a high altitude can knock the enemy's baffle away.

The southeastern bastion that was bombed by hot-air balloons was almost in ruins and could not stand at all.

"Boom boom boom!"

At the moment when the Datong army crossed the river, the Cossacks opened fire. The two bastion forts in the southwest and northeast, as well as the defensive forts on the west city wall, shelled the water together.

The officers and soldiers of the Datong Army all rowed small boats, and each boat could seat six people.

Two of them put up their skin baffles to defend against bullets, two of them paddled forward quickly, and finally there was a civilian husband holding a spade and shovel.

Hundreds of small boats were sparsely spaced and rowed forward. Enemy shells continued to hit the water, causing splash after splash. At this moment, in the mountains in the northeast, suddenly there were Sauron warriors again, carrying dozens of small boats to the river.

The Cossack gunners in the northeastern bastion quickly turned their guns and bombarded the Sauron natives who were about to cross the river.

As a result, the firepower suffered by the main battlefield on the south side was suddenly reduced by one-third. The soldiers of the Datong Army crossed the river more smoothly. When the first batch of boats approached the other side, only one boat was hit, and two other boats were capsized and sank by the waves.

The reason why it went so smoothly was because the two hot-air balloons made it impossible to fire on the Cossacks' southeastern bastion, which was exactly the direction in which the main force of the Datong Army crossed the river.

Sauron's warriors, who were responsible for the feint attack in the northeast, faced the firepower of the bastion there and soon suffered heavy losses. More than 30 people were killed or injured in a short period of time. When the boat reached the middle of the river, it was fired upon by muskets, and all of them collapsed after being hit.

On the front, after the Datong Army crossed the river, the soldiers immediately erected baffles on the ground to cover the civilians behind them digging tunnels.

Two people set up baffles to defend against bullets, two soldiers and two civilians dug holes. There were six-person groups like this everywhere on the south bank of the enemy's castle.

"boom!"

When a cannonball hit, the outer cowhide of the baffle was not damaged, but the inner iron sheet was severely deformed, and the wooden board was shattered into dregs.

The two soldiers of the Datong Army who were responsible for carrying the baffle flew backwards with broken arms in an instant, and their bodies were covered with sharp wooden thorns. The four people behind him were also affected. They were all killed and injured by baffles and wooden spikes. One civilian husband was injured and could still move. He was hit by a bullet just as he stood up and tried to escape.

"boom!"

The artillery of the Datong Army on the high platform fired more than 40 shots in a row, and finally hit the enemy's artillery position.

A Cossack gunner's head was smashed, and the cannon behind him was also knocked over. The cannonball jumped up diagonally and killed two more enemies.

Counting from the beginning of crossing the river, Datong Army soldiers suffered 36 casualties, civilian husbands 18 casualties, and Sauron warriors 49 casualties. Finally, several deep pits were successfully dug on the river bank. The soldiers and civilians who followed to cross the river jumped into the pit under artillery fire and desperately widened the tunnel.

After losing two more six-man teams, Li Zheng stopped crossing the river and only used artillery fire to cover the soldiers and civilians who had crossed the river digging holes.

The Cossacks in the city also stopped shelling when they saw this. Their ammunition reserves are limited. Since it is difficult to bombard the Datong Army in the tunnel, they can save it for use when the Datong Army attacks the city.

At night, torches were lit in the tunnels, and soldiers and civilians took turns digging the tunnels.

In the darkness, with these firelights pointing the way, the crossing of the river began again. Soldiers and civilians rowed boats toward the fires everywhere. When the Cossacks in the city noticed the movement, they could only fire cannonballs randomly on the river. Whether they could hit or not depends on who had better luck.

The next entire month was spent digging holes and shelling.

The tunnels of the Datong Army directly surrounded Nerchinsk Castle. More and more soldiers and civilians are crossing the river. There are "Z" shaped tunnels in all directions outside the city.

At night, there are torches in all the tunnels, and the workers in the tunnels are all digging in shifts. Bashkov wanted to launch a night attack, but he didn't know where to launch it. He could only watch as the tunnel was dug closer and closer.

I'm going to die!

The Datong Army is not the Eight Banners Army in history, and it will not be stumped by a bastion.

During the Battle of Yaksa, the earth walls built by the Qing army also surrounded the castle. But I didn't know what to do next. I only knew how to cut off water and food, plus shelling, but failed to dig out a "Z" shaped tunnel for tunneling.

What's more, the Datong Army's hot air balloons can also be used for bombing!

After three months of shelling and bombing, Bashkov only had 372 Cossacks left. Especially the southeastern bastion, no matter how brave the Cossacks were, no one dared to climb up there. More than 30 people were killed there by tens of thousands of enemies. Even if he didn't die at that time, he would have died due to wound infection. The iron sand in the enemy's house has been soaked in gold juice!

"Guardian, two tunnels have been dug under the city wall. Don't dare to dig too wide, as this place will easily collapse."

"Very well, move the powder keg in and blow up the city before dawn!"

After doing so many things before, Li Zheng didn't think about attacking by force. He just diverted the enemy's attention and dug tunnels to bury explosives.

Nerchinsk City is next to the river, and large areas of land are all washed out by the river. Except for the occasional digging of underground water and the easy collapse of the tunnel, the digging here is very fast, and even stones are rarely excavated.

"kill!"

In the dark night, torches were raised everywhere outside the city, and shouts of death were heard.

The defenders in the city were used to this, because the Datong Army came here every now and then. They were still nervous at first, but after a few more visits, they relaxed. Only a few people were left on guard, and the other defenders slept when they needed to.

There are two tunnels, one with 36 gunpowder barrels and the other with 28 gunpowder barrels.

This kind of small city built on loose geology does not have a deep foundation like Nanjing City. Twenty or thirty powder barrels are more than enough.

"Is there going to be a battle tonight?" Qiao Guangyong asked while huddled in the outer tunnel.

Qiao Nian said: "We will definitely fight. All the soldiers are being mobilized."

"It'll be great if we can fight tonight." Qiao Guangyong looked tired.

He was almost transferred to participate in the cross-river battle, but fortunately, the superiors changed the order temporarily. Because Han people are scarce in the Heilongjiang River Basin and every one of them is a treasure, the people who participated in crossing the river were all indigenous people. Qiao Guang used these Han people to go over in batches at night.

The torches and shouts of death outside the city were purely to cover the mobilization of troops.

The scene was very lively, but the torches did not move, and the soldiers and civilians responsible for shouting did not move. The soldiers who were really about to attack the city moved forward in the tunnel, giving the enemy the appearance of still harassing the tired enemy.

Bashkov did not sleep and stood on the city to watch.

Every time there was any movement in the Datong army, he didn't dare to sleep because he didn't know when they were really going to attack.

Damn it, this place is too dangerous. Once this battle is won, Bashkov plans to be transferred back to the country. He is not a poor Cossack, he is a serious low-level nobleman. He has made enough by selling furs over the years, and he can be transferred back by bribing Moscow officials.

It comes to whomever you love, anyway, Bashkov never wants to come again in his life.

"Boom! Boom!"

There were two loud bangs in succession. Due to the error of the clock, they were scheduled to detonate at the same time, but there was still a difference of several seconds.

Bashkov felt his feet shake, and the violent shock almost made him fall. Returning to the country, I subconsciously looked towards the south. I couldn't see the city wall collapse in the darkness. I could only see that the brazier on the wall was extinguished and the red-hot wood had flown down outside the city.

The torches outside the city were also moving, quickly approaching the city wall.

"The city wall has collapsed, the city wall has collapsed!"

The nearby Cossacks shouted in fear, and at the cave-in on the north side of the city, they were also shouting in confusion.

Countless Datong troops and indigenous warriors, some followed the tunnels and attacked through the gaps in the city wall, and some climbed out of the trenches and carried ladders to attack the city. The east, south and west were the main directions of attack for the Datong troops. On the contrary, Li Zheng deliberately left the west side, the only land passage, unattackable.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

Many of the Cossacks and native servants woke up from their sleep. To be precise, they hurriedly opened their eyes and stood up, because there was too much noise outside the city and they had already woken up. Even if he didn't wake up, he was awakened by the gunpowder blasting the city.

These guys didn't understand the situation, so they could only subconsciously fire guns and arrows at the torches outside the city.

Debuku was a Sauron warrior. According to the classification hundreds of years later, he should belong to the Evenki tribe. His name means "wise and brave hunter".

His tribe was repeatedly ravaged by the Cossacks. His father died in the battle, and his brother was captured for meat. Because the skins he handed over were not enough, he was tortured to death. This time he heard that the Datong Army was going to attack the Cossacks, so he and his tribe came to help.

A month ago, Debuku participated in a feint attack across the river to attract firepower for the Datong army. More than ten tribesmen were killed and injured, and new hatreds were added to the old hatreds.

At this time, the Datong army was attacking the gap in the city wall, and Debuku led his tribe to build ladders to attack the city.

The Cossacks were attracted by the two gaps, and they were defended by some native servants. Debuku resented these servants very much, because most of them came from the defeated Sauron tribe. There was obviously a blood feud, but he was tamed by the Cossacks, and he followed the Cossacks to help the tiger!

Another tribesman was shot to death. Debuku had already climbed onto the city wall. He slashed down one of the servants with his sword, and then kicked another one over.

The servants guarding the city encountered repeated frights. At this moment, their morale was completely reduced. They turned around and fled towards the silent West City.

Debuku did not pursue them, but instead fought towards the nearby bastion and cooperated with the Datong Army on his left.

"Remove, quickly withdraw the defensive artillery forts!" Bashkov shouted.

The defensive fort in Xicheng is eleven meters high, and you can still hold on there for a while after retreating. But it is also a dead place. When the Datong Army takes over the entire area, the artillery can destroy the defensive forts.

There was chaos everywhere, and Bashkov's military orders could not be communicated effectively at all.

With a sense of survival, many Cossacks abandoned the city walls and fled to the west. As the shouts of killing got closer and closer from the east, south and north, they no longer had any hope of defending the city and slipped down the slope of the west city wall to escape.

Bashkov was also among the defeated troops and finally escaped outside the city, but there were trenches and channels dug by the Datong army everywhere.

They were blind, and they fell in without paying attention. Some of them had sprained legs and were unable to stand up, and were trampled to death by the friendly troops who escaped from behind.

Bashkov fled to the only land passage in the city. Counting the defeated servant army, there were only four to five hundred people left with him. They fled westward in a swarm. The land passage was only more than ten meters wide, with deep rivers on both sides.

The defeated soldiers who were running at the front had only escaped halfway through the passage, when suddenly there was a crackling gunshot from the front.

But at some point, the Datong Army was already ambushing in the reeds.

The defeated soldiers in the front row were shot and fell to the ground. The defeated soldiers in the back couldn't see the situation clearly and stepped on the corpses and stumbled.

Bashkov also fell down, and when he was about to get up, a servant stepped on his calf. As the servant soldier ran away quickly, he also lost his balance and fell forward, pressing hard on Bashkov.

The Cossacks who did not fall were frightened by the gunfire. Some jumped directly into the river to escape, and some turned around and fled towards the city wall.

Debuku caught up, met two Datong troops, and joined forces to rush towards the passage.

He tried to kill the enemy several times, but was defeated by the Datong Army. He had nowhere to vent his anger for revenge. Finally, he rushed into the passage and touched up the injured or fallen enemies. Suddenly he saw an enemy standing up, and Debuku stepped forward and slashed with his sword.

Bashkov, the Yenisei warlord, was stabbed and fell unconscious before he could stand firmly.

He's still not dead, but he can't withstand the last hit.

Debuku pressed his knee on Bashkov, felt the position of his neck, pressed the knife down and gave it a sharp stroke.

All the enemies in the passage were eliminated. Debuku knelt among the corpses, looked up at the dark night sky, and shouted with tears in his eyes: "Dad, brother, I have avenged you!"