I

   Chapter 732 729 [burning, killing and looting]

  The Cossack cavalry who did not come back on time, of course, was bitten by the Datong cavalry!

  A few days ago, in the northern forest of the middle reaches of Heilongjiang.

  There is a small tribe here mainly fishing and hunting. Yegor led more than a dozen Cossacks, and under the guidance of a local guide, he quickly raided the villages of the indigenous tribes.

  It is said to be a village, but in fact it is just a wooden fence around the settlement to guard against wild animals.

  These riding Cossacks are not qualified to be called cavalry.

   For example, Yegor, who led the team, was just a runaway serf from Tsarist Russia. He came to Siberia with the expedition team, and first mixed with Yakutsk (the name of this person, which later became a place name), but Yakutsk was not only cruel to the natives, but also cruel and harsh to his own people.

  A few years ago, news came from farther southeast that there was a big river called Amur (Heilongjiang). In the lower reaches of the river, it is extremely rich and prosperous, not only has a large population, but also is rich in sable fur, and gold and silver mines have been discovered.

  The Cossacks who were enjoying the wind and snow on the shore of Lake Baikal were suddenly stimulated and screamed.

  They couldn't beat the Buryat Mongols head-on, and couldn't go south through their territory, so they continued to open up eastward and reached the Pacific coast. Then, heading south, someone finally saw Heilongjiang.

  Khabarov was the best among them. Not only did he rob many livestock and women, but he also brought back 450 pieces of sable fur at one time.

   Cossack bandits are making a splash!

  But the Daur natives were not vegetarians either. When the Cossacks invaded again, the Daurs rose up to resist, and the Cossack robbers were beaten and fled in embarrassment. Khabarov went back to bring reinforcements and artillery, easily defeated one tribe, and conquered another tribe.

   Hearing that Khabarov had his own fortress, Yegor was very envious.

   Taking advantage of Khabarov’s return to trade furs, Yegor and several Cossacks stole Yakutsk’s Mongolian horses, and the team that caught up with Khabarov decided to join him.

  A Tsarist serf who ran away from Tsarist Russia became a small Cossack leader in this way.

  His riding skills are not good, and he doesn't know how to ride a horse and shoot arrows. Even to fire a musket, you have to get off your horse and stand up first, and reloading ammunition has to be done on the ground.

   This kind of thing, placed in northern China, should be called a horse bandit.

"what!"

  A Sakhalian native man had his palm pierced by the point of a gun, rolled on the ground and screamed.

  Yegor said to his Daur servants: "Tell them, five furs, for one person. If you want to redeem your family, come here with the fur!"

  Daur people and Sahalian people, although their languages ​​are different, they can barely communicate.

  The servants of Daur quickly conveyed the news, and the Sahalian people wept bitterly.

  The more the native prisoners cried and howled, the happier Yegor laughed. He pointed to a prisoner and said, "Kill him and cut off his head. This man injured two of my men!"

  The Cossack robber raised his spear and stabbed the prisoner in the stomach.

   Several holes were poked out in a row, and the native captives were still alive. The Cossack bandits drew their knives close to his neck, grabbed his hair and cut it bit by bit, cutting off the captive's head alive.

  The rest of the captives were too scared to cry.

  Egor said: "Put a few back to report."

  The number of Cossack robbers is very small. They are not warriors. They can sneak attack if they can, and escape if they can escape. Unless it is absolutely necessary, he will never fight head-on.

   This looting was also the same. More than a dozen Cossack riders raided a village of more than 300 people.

  They attacked by night, set fire to the house with torches, and fired guns everywhere to create chaos, beating the natives and fleeing in all directions. Then, capture the captives immediately, flee with the captives, and exchange the captives for furs.

  Why not just rob the fur?

  Because when the aborigines fled, in addition to the weapons, they subconsciously took away the fur. Especially the sable fur, which can be exchanged for food, and it is not heavy, so you must take it with you when you run away.

  At this moment, several captives were released and were responsible for delivering news to the stockade.

   "Let's go too!"

  Yegor did not stop, and took the remaining captives to drill deeper into the forest to avoid being attacked by the natives.

  Of course, two riders were left behind, and they left marks along the way. If the aborigines bring furs to replace people, follow the signs to exchange meat tickets. If there are many natives, the two riders will run away immediately, join together along the sign and tear up the tickets.

  In the indigenous village, the clouds are gloomy.

   They do have fur in their hands. They used to pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty, and every year Tartars came to receive the goods.

   Manchu Qing has not been here for several years, and their life has become better. The furs of the hunted goods were stored and transported to the banks of the Heilongjiang River, where they were exchanged for food with the Sahalian people who were farming.

  The Sahalian people who farmed the land transported the fur downstream by boat, and returned the goods to the Hurha people there. The Huerha people continued to transport the furs westward and handed over the goods to the Mongols in Harbin and Changchun. Round after round, these furs finally fell into the hands of Han merchants in Liaoning.

  Of course, if they got the precious Dongzhu, the Huerha people would also take the Dongzhu and furs, venture across the territory of the Mongols, and exchange them directly with Han merchants.

  Now the Cossack bandits came to kidnap the kidnappers and let them exchange their furs for hostages.

  Without these furs, they will not be able to exchange food with the farming tribes, so many tribesmen will starve to death this winter.

   "Change."

  Patriarch Bao Bai sighed, and his youngest son was also taken away.

   Poor these Saharian people, they were once powerful and rich. United with the Huerha people, they can even resist the Manchu Tartars, and it took decades to be completely conquered.

  The leaders of their ministries were constantly killed by the Qing Dynasty.

  Their clan was young and strong, and they were constantly taken away by the Manchus.

  The knowledgeable shaman also died in the hands of Man Qing one after another.

  Then, the knowledge lost its inheritance, and the population gradually withered, and now they are being bullied by Cossack bandits.

  The clansmen were silent, and they were unwilling to hand over their fur.

  A young man said: "If we hand over the fur, will those robbers let them go? Who can guarantee? What we should do is gather the clansmen and guard the stockade. Those robbers will definitely come back if they don't get the fur!"

   "They have guns and ride horses." Patriarch Bao Bai said.

  The boy asked: "After handing over the fur, can you guarantee that the robbers will let us go? Can you guarantee that the robbers will not attack us again?"

   Bao Bai was suddenly at a loss for words.

  He, the patriarch, does not have much prestige.

  The previous patriarchs were all killed by the Qing Dynasty. He was the patriarch supported by the Manchu Qing Dynasty. His only role was to collect the furs hunted by the tribe and hand them over to the Tartars who came regularly to collect tribute.

  After the decline of the Tartars, the clansmen did not even hand in their furs, and all stayed at home. This move was right and wrong, and the Cossack robbers did not take the blame. People ran away with their own furs, and the robbers didn't even catch a hair.

  At this moment, if a relative is taken away, support the patriarch's choice. No relatives were arrested, or hard-hearted, chose to side with the young man.

  The two sides were deadlocked, and it was difficult to make a decision after three days in a row.

  Egor got a little impatient with waiting, and in a fit of anger, he killed all the prisoners, leaving only a few young women. He said to his subordinates: "The aborigines here are disobedient, and they should be taught more lessons. Only when they are completely subdued, they will obey, and keep their furs and hand them over to us every year. The last night raid, these aborigines did not have firearms. They There are not many people here, and it is completely possible to defeat them head-on. Come back with me!"

   More than a dozen Cossack cavalry set off with Daur servants.

  These Daur servants are responsible for leading the plundered livestock. The livestock carried the looted food and furs, and several young women were also guarded by Daur servants.

   There were still two miles away from the village, and the servants, livestock, property, and captives were left behind, and the Cossack riders rushed towards the village.

  They wear leather armor, have slender sabers around their waists, carry a musket on their backs, and hold a spear in their hands. This is all the equipment of the Cossack cavalry.

   "The robber is coming, the robber is coming!"

  The aborigines standing guard shouted in panic.

  The boy who opposed the patriarch took up a hunting bow and wooden spear, and called the tribe to defend the village. The wooden fence has been urgently repaired.

  The Cossack robbers did not charge directly, but ran around the wooden fence of the village on horseback. After aiming at the loosely guarded place, he ran over and threw the noose. More than a dozen people on horseback pulled the rope and quickly dragged down a section of the wooden fence.

  The boy hurriedly led people to support here, and the Cossack robbers immediately slipped away and ran to another gap to drag down the wooden wall.

  The native boy who had only fought with wild beasts had no way to deal with it. He was sweating profusely at this moment, and was played around by more than a dozen Cossack robbers.

  Finally, the patriarch Bao Bai stood up.

Bao Bai walked up to the young man and said, "That's not how we fight. We all retreat to the innermost part of the village. Gather together and use the houses as cover. When the enemy approaches, we shoot arrows, and when the enemy rushes, we raise spears. We have many people, and they There are few people, so when they are firing their guns, we must seize the opportunity to rush up and fight."

"it is good!"

  The boy immediately understood what to do, and called the tribe to retreat and gather.

  The Cossack bandits rushed into the village on horseback after dragging down several wooden fences.

   Dismounted from a distance, stood up, and shot at the villagers. According to past experience, as long as a few shots are fired, the natives will run away in fright.

   But the aborigines here did not disperse, not because of their high morale, but because they were not accurate enough for long-distance shooting, and none of the aboriginal villagers were even injured. The natives who have seen the Tartar firearms will not be intimidated by a mess of guns.

   In desperation, Yegor ordered the bomb to be reloaded, and rode to the front to shoot.

   "Each find a house to hide!" The boy shouted.

  The native villagers were in a panic, looking for houses as shelters, and the Cossack robbers could only continue to approach.

   Whoosh!

   A sparse rain of arrows came.

   More than a dozen Cossack riders were originally in a loose formation. Because the natives lacked iron, these hunting bows were not very powerful, as long as they protected the vital points, it didn't matter if they were shot by the leather armor.

  The robbers simply gave up their horses and switched to fighting on foot. They quickly went around a house and shot.

  The young man was overjoyed when he saw this, and roared: "The robbers have dismounted, their firearms are useless, hurry up and kill the robbers with me!"

  However, the group of natives who were shot had been beaten to pieces.

   There was a volley of muskets, but only eight people were actually hit, and the rest of them could beat up these Cossack robbers as long as they rushed over. However, the local aborigines have been broken by the Man Qing, and they have long lost their **** courage.

  In other words, the young and strong who could fight were all arrested by the Manchu Qing to serve as soldiers.

   Only eight people were killed or injured, and more than 30 people nearby collapsed immediately. As soon as they fled, the natives hiding behind other houses also followed suit.

   "Chasing and killing!"

   Yegor shouted excitedly, ran back and got on his horse.

  More than a dozen Cossack robbers chased after them on horseback. They held up their spears, and they could overthrow one with one spear. Nearly three hundred natives were chased like a flock of sheep.

  The young man was so angry that his veins twitched violently, and he decided to fight the robber with all his might.

  Hiding behind a house, he aimed his bow at a robber's throat. While drawing the bow, he suddenly heard the sound of rumbling horseshoes.

  Egor also heard the sound of horseshoes, which could only be heard by hundreds of cavalry.

  (end of this chapter)