MTL - I-Chapter 1018 1014【Close the window】

  Chapter 1018 1014【Close the window】

   Alexei has night blindness and cannot see clearly at night.

  He walked from the Grand Bazaar in the city to the river, swam quietly across the Volga River, and walked a long way around the fortress.

   You don’t need eyes in the dark, you just run to the east anyway, that’s all the territory of the Huerhut Department. Historically, when the Turghuts returned to the east, they occupied even the west bank of the Volga River, and the fortresses and cities of Tsarist Russia were surrounded by the grasslands of the Turghuts.

   I don't know how long he walked, Alexei was panting from exhaustion, and his malnourished body could no longer support him.

  He couldn't see what was going on around him at all, so he could only shout at the top of his voice, "Is there anyone? Is there anyone?"

  While shouting and walking, finally a herdsman heard him, rushed out of the tent and caught him.

  The two sides could not communicate, and ordinary herdsmen could not speak Russian.

  The next morning, Alexei was taken to see the leader, and the tribal leader took him to the king.

  Xie Yuan originally planned to visit the Khiva Khanate on the way, but before he left, he heard that Russians had defected. After a brief understanding of the situation, Xie Yuan asked, "Why does the shooting army in the castle want to join us?"

  Alexey said: "We are starving to death. In the past half a month, I have starved to death a son and a daughter."

  Xie Yuan asked doubtfully, "Is there a shortage of food in the castle?"

  Alexey replied: "The governor is not short of food, but our shooting army is short of food."

  Xie Yuan was even more confused: "Aren't you soldiers? The governor doesn't pay you?"

Alexei said: "We are the shooting army, we were born. My father is, so am I, and my son is still. When there is a war, we take up arms. When there is no war, we look for work to support our family, Take care of the lord's errands. Some time ago, the city was sacked, and now we can't find work."

   Xie Yuan suddenly realized that the person in front of him was a Tsarist Russian military household.

   "How many people like you are there?" Xie Yuan asked.

  Alexey said: "There are more than two hundred."

  Xie Yuan asked again: "I usually live in the castle."

   Alexei nodded: "They all live in the castle."

  Xie Yuan asked again: "Do they all have muskets? How much ammunition are there?"

  Alexey said: "Some of them don't have muskets anymore. They don't have much ammunition. We usually don't have ammunition. They were issued when we defended the city some time ago."

   "How many other defenders are there?" Xie Yuan continued to ask.

  Alexey said: "There are 300 border guards, and there are more than 20 followers of the governor. These soldiers are different from us. They can eat enough."

   Xie Yuan turned around and said in Mongolian: "Your Highness, you need a capital city to build a country. I think Astrakhan is suitable for the capital city."

  Shu Kurdaiqing was moved by hearing this, but hesitated: "Could this person be a false surrender?"

   "Then it depends on whether you dare to gamble." Xie Yuan said.

   Ayuqi said: "Grandpa, you can take a gamble."

  Astrakhan is not only a fortress, but the city on the other side of the river is also a trade center on the Caspian Sea. Occupying here would cut off the trade between Tsarist Russia and Persia, and if you want to do business, you must pay taxes to the Turghut Kingdom honestly.

  For such an important city, Tsarist Russia will not let it go, and it is very likely that tens of thousands of troops, or even more than 100,000 troops, will be mobilized to attack.

   Opportunities and dangers coexist, and it depends on whether the Turghuts can bear it.

Shukurdaiqing was still hesitating, and he said truthfully: "The Russians we have dealt with can have hundreds of thousands of troops. If they occupy the city, they will face endless attacks. If the tsar sends With an army of 100,000 to 200,000, how can we hold it?"

Xie Yuan sneered: "You don't eat the meat you want, and you don't dare to occupy the city next to your pasture, so why do you still stay here? Let's go east as soon as possible, otherwise the Russians by the river will be more and more The more you have, the more you won’t even be able to keep the pasture in a few decades.”

   This is getting to the bottom of it. If you don’t occupy the castle at this time, you will never think about it in the future.

  Like another time and space, the grasslands of the Torghut Department spread across both banks of the lower reaches of the Volga River. But the Tsarist Russian castle stands by the river, like a nail in the heart of the Mongols. The Mongols can only submit to the Tsar and face endless military service.

  The tsar did not collect taxes from them, but he conscripted troops every now and then. Sometimes one or two thousand, sometimes three or five thousand, the Mongols were drawn to fight, and the casualty rate was generally around 20%.

   If you win the battle, you will not get any benefits, and if you lose, you will suffer heavy losses. The population of the Huerhut Department has been continuously declining.

"Let me give you an idea," Xie Yuan said, "after you occupy castles and cities, you have to try to accept other ethnic groups. It doesn't matter whether it is the Orthodox Church or the Green Church, you allow them freedom of belief. No matter how much tax Russia imposes, you will A little less. Let everyone know that it is more cost-effective to be your subject than to be a subject of the Tsar."

  In the urban area on the other side of the fortress, the market is called the Grand Bazaar, and you can tell what religion you believe in just by hearing the name.

  Hurghut must implement religious freedom in order to integrate the Orthodox, Green, and Buddhist people. Otherwise, without the call from Tsarist Russia, they themselves will have civil strife.

  Shu Kuldaiqing did not object to religious freedom, otherwise he would not get involved with the Don Cossacks. He nodded and said, "That's the only way."

  Before defeating the Russian expeditionary army, there must be freedom of religion, and all ethnic groups must be united.

Xie Yuan said: "Your diplomatic form is not bad. The Don Cossacks in the west are allies, the Bashkirs in the north are also friends with you, and the Xiaoyuzi in the east is a mess. By the way, Khiva Khan in the southeast What is your relationship with the country?"

  Shu Ku Erdaiqing said: "There is no relationship, and there is a small Yuzi territory across."

   "I plan to go to the Khiva Khanate to help you establish an alliance." Xie Yuan said.

  …

  Aleksey ate until his belly was full, and he even hid some food in his arms, planning to take it home for his wife and children to enjoy.

  He waited until night and crept back to the river, and then hid near the fort, only to emerge in the middle of the next morning. After returning home, he was not in a hurry to convey the news, but took out the food to his wife and children.

  Looking at the devouring family members, Alexei comforted and said: "I won't go hungry in the future, I have already thought of a good way."

   When his wife asked him where the food came from, Alexei kept silent, only saying that he would not go hungry in the future.

In the afternoon, Alexei found Nikita: "The Tatars in the east have been canonized as king by the Khitan emperor and have won the support of the Khitan emperor. They plan to occupy the castle and build a capital here. If the shooting army can open the gate , can get a piece of land outside the city. Those who are willing to stay and serve as soldiers will also be taken in by the Tatar Khan, and they can receive military pay."

   "Will the Khan convert us to Buddhism?" Nikita asked.

Alexei said: "No, we can continue to believe in the Orthodox Church, and the Turks in the city can also continue to believe in the Green Church. The Khan also said that the Slavs are allowed to raise their own funds to continue building the Holy Trinity Cathedral. "

  Holy Trinity Cathedral has been built for decades.

   Due to lack of funds and craftsmen, even the main frame has not been completed yet.

  Nikita frowned and thought about it. He planned to lead the shooting army to seek refuge in Mongolia, but he never thought of helping the Mongols take down the castle. Once the castle is occupied, it is tantamount to stabbing a hornet's nest, and the Tsar will take it back at all costs.

  Alexey continued: "The Khan also said that the Torghut Kingdom he established is a country for the poor. He will cut taxes for the poor, and everyone will live better than before."

   "It's done!" Nikita slapped his thigh hard.

  The two sides made an appointment to act at dawn.

  The shooting army first set fire to various houses in the fortress, causing chaos and keeping the defenders busy fighting the fire. When the Mongols outside the city saw the flames, they quickly approached the castle, while the shooting army killed the guards in the chaos and opened the city gate.

  The whole plan went extremely smoothly, and the Governor and the border guards were not at all prepared.

  In history, Racine captured the city by this method, and used the same method to capture several fortresses in the Volga River Valley one after another. At that time, because it was too smooth, Racine swelled up and threatened to establish a Cossack republic on the Volga River.

   "Sir, hurry up, the Tatars are coming in!" The butler panicked.

  Governor Yakov is also big-hearted. He was besieged some time ago, and he can still fall asleep when the castle is on fire tonight. I just got up halfway, asked a few questions, and learned that I was already fighting the fire, so I ran back to sleep soundly.

   Yakov finally panicked at this moment, and asked, "How could the Tatars come in?"

  The steward said: "It was the shooting army who opened the city gate."

   "Those **** animals, I should starve them all to death!" Yakov was furious.

   "Kill the Governor!"

   The animal Yakov was talking about had already approached the Governor's Mansion.

  The shooting army owed the governor a lot of money and food. No matter what happens in the future, it is right to kill the governor anyway. The best way to repay the debt is to pay off the debt.

  Hearing the shout, Yakov turned pale with fright, put on his clothes in a panic, and escaped through the back door before he had time to go to the stable. After running a few steps, a few shooting troops rushed towards him, and Yakov immediately squeezed his throat and shouted: "Kill the governor!"

   "Kill the governor!" The shooting soldiers shouted, thinking that Yakov was also an accomplice.

  Yakov mixed with these shooting troops and rushed to the governor's mansion to kill himself. He was blind and couldn't see his clothes and appearance clearly. He deliberately slowed down and waited for the shooting soldiers to run away before turning around and fleeing in another direction.

  His family is in Moscow, there are only mistresses and illegitimate children here, and it doesn't matter if they are killed by the shooting army.

   This guy really ran away in the chaos, and fled all the way north to Tsaritsin, scaring the governor of Tsaritsin very much.

  The uprising in the north has not yet subsided, and the Tsar temporarily ignored it. When the uprising was pacified, the tsar's food and grass were almost exhausted, and it was estimated that it would take another three to five years before he could gather tens of thousands of troops to conquer Turghut.

   Tens of thousands of troops is already the limit.

   After all, Tsarist Russia is at war with Poland and Ottoman at the same time, and is even at war with China in the Far East.

   Astrakhan was occupied by the Mongols, which was tantamount to stabbing Tsarist Russia economically, and the already difficult financial situation of Tsarist Russia was bound to get worse.

  Moscow's Window to the East is closed!

  (end of this chapter)