"This damn weather is unbearable!" Dong Shuheng complained in his heart in the Jiangning Presidential Palace.
"Yuxiang, go and make arrangements. Let's go to Jiangxi tomorrow. I heard that the gentry and landlords there are making trouble." Dong Shuheng called over and gave instructions.
Although he made such an arrangement, in fact Dong Shuheng wanted to go to Mount Lu to escape the summer heat.
There hasn't been much happening in Jiangning these days. Anyway, telegraphs are now available at the state level in Liangjiang area. If anything happens, just send a telegram.
In the past month.
Most of the Taiping Army was wiped out, and only two forces escaped.
A group led by Shi Dakai fled to Guangxi. There were more than 10,000 people in this group when they escaped, but most of them were old brothers brought by Shi Dakai from Guangxi.
Shi Dakai shouted the slogan "Fight back home", causing the army to break out in a desperate situation.
The governor of Guangxi, Lao Chongguang, was caught off guard. Before he could mobilize his troops, he lost Guilin, the gateway to the north.
After Shi Dakai occupied the important town of Guilin, he raised his banner and recruited troops, and his troops rapidly expanded.
After all, the Taiping Army started in Guangxi, and it still had a certain mass base in Guangxi. In addition, Shi Dakai's reputation was very good, and many rebels who claimed to be kings came to join the army.
There is also a group led by Luo Gang, which enters Henan. This group has about 20,000 people.
According to the arrangements of the Huai Navy Headquarters, Wang Congzhi did not retaliate against Luo Gangzhi's ambush.
After learning that Luo Gang had fled to Henan, he chased Luo Gang from a distance and sent him out of Anhui.
After Luo Gang entered Anhui, Henan governor Yinggui, who was suppressing the Nian army in Yingshang, was even worse. Yinggui urgently ordered the Nanyang defenders to rush to defend Runing, but it was too late.
After Luo Gangluo captured Runing, he did not stop. Instead, he replenished his troops and supplies and then moved towards Henan Prefecture. His goal was Luoyang.
Dong Shuheng's purpose of doing this is very simple, that is, to prevent the court from calming down.
Lin Fengxiang in the Northeast is not doing well in the Northeast. Tens of thousands of troops from the three general offices of Shengjing, Jilin, and Heilongjiang have gathered around Shengjing. Seng Gelinqin from behind has also caught up. Lin Fengxiang is on the verge of life and death at this time.
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In the past two years, the Nian bandits have only made small troubles and have not caused much trouble to the court at all.
Therefore, Dong Shuheng wanted to release the big catfish Luo Gangda into a large pond in the Central Plains to muddy the water and prevent the court from finding trouble for him again.
Recently, battle reports have been sent back from the Far East every few days.
Dong Shuheng sent all the fast communication ships there and established a fast communication line along Temple Street, Vladivostok, Busan, and Haizhou.
The information was sent to Haizhou by speedboat and then passed to Dong Shuheng's ears through telegraph lines.
A large-scale battle involving more than 50,000 people was considered a relatively large-scale battle for the Huai Navy.
The key is that there are still three young generals commanding this battle. Only Lin Wei is slightly older. However, he is a gangster and lacks the experience of fighting in a large corps.
Let us review this battle that determined the pattern of the Far East.
On June 10, Bao Youzhi led the fleet to the Jiangdong area.
The first stop was Xujiatun.
Patriarch Xu warmly entertained them. Xu Yue'e wore a plain floral skirt made of new cloth today.
The group sat down, Xu Yue'e poured tea for everyone, paused specifically in front of Bao Youzhi, and then exited the living room with graceful steps.
In the past, Bao Youzhi would have taken a few more glances, but today his mind was occupied with business matters.
"Clan Chief Xu, I hope you can temporarily move downstream to Temple Street or Khabarovsk." Bao Youzhi said straight to the point.
"Master Bao, why is this? You must know that the crops in this field have just been planted, and they need people to take care of them!"
"Could it be that the Rakshasa people are about to attack?"
Xu Yaozu knew that it was impossible for Bao Youzhi to say such words casually.
If there is any danger in the Far East that everyone needs to relocate to avoid, it must be the Rakshasa people.
These people often use any means to occupy land, killing villages and exterminating tribes are common things they do.
"Exactly, we have already fought a battle with the Rakshasa people in the north on Temple Street. From the prisoners' mouths, we learned that the Tsarist Russians will come down by boat from the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River. You all live on the east side of the river along the river.
I'm worried that the Russians will do something bad to you."
"Mr. Bao, of course I believe you, but the villages in the east of the Yangtze River have lived here for generations. It is very difficult to make them give up their crops and migrate."
"I know it's difficult to do, but Mr. Xu, there are many people coming from Tsarist Russia this time. The news we got is that there are as many as 50,000 people."
"We don't have that many troops on Temple Street, so we can only defend in Temple Street. We cannot take into account the entire Heilongjiang Basin."
"Does the Heilongjiang General Mansion know about it? They won't ignore such a big movement, right?" Elder Xu asked.
"Hi! The Heilongjiang general is currently leading his troops to exterminate the bandits in Shengjing. Where can he find the time to take care of things here?"
"Here... let me go there myself. If they are willing to follow the migration, it would be best. If they are not willing, let them make their own fortune."
Patriarch Xu has made up his mind that Xujiatun will definitely move to Temple Street. As for the other villages, they can only do their best and obey fate. These villages are not monolithic, and some of them still have conflicts between them.
The Tsarist Russian army had already set off from Chita at this time. This time Muravyov brought a total of nearly 50,000 people. Of course, most of them were immigrants, but there were also nearly 10,000 regular troops and more than 5,000 Cossack cavalry.
Advance on the shore.
More than fifty gunboats alone were built. Of course, most of these gunboats were built upstream using local materials. They were actually transport ships equipped with small artillery.
Other transport ships followed behind the rear gunboat. Since this troop dispatch was very far away, Muravyov brought a large amount of logistical supplies. The transport ships were packed full.
Standing on a slightly larger gunboat, Muravyov watched the fleet sail from a narrow tributary into the main channel of the Amur River.
He was very excited at this moment. He never thought that he could lead an army of fifty thousand people in a place like the Far East.
In his original plan, five thousand men were enough to sweep across the entire Amur River Basin.
But the damn British got involved again (these Tsarist Russians still believed that the failure of the Far East was caused by British and French intervention) and supported a Chinese force to intervene in the Far East.
It even destroyed the Russian fleet in the Far East and occupied the Russians' new city, Nikolayevsk.
Because of this, the great Tsar Nicholas I generously allowed him to lead an army of 50,000 men to punish these clowns.
Muravyov's trip down the river this time was not just to punish the clowns who invaded Nikolayevsk, he had a more grand plan.
According to reports from Russian spies in Mongolia, the Qing army is now in the south to capture the bandits, and the entire Heilongjiang Province is now basically undefended by Cai Shusen.
Therefore, Muravyov felt that he could move the Governor's Palace to the warm banks of the Amur River.
At that time, maybe a new governorate can be opened - the Amur Governorate.
This place is not like barren Siberia, where there is frozen soil everywhere. You can only raise reindeer and hunt fur, but you can't support many people at all.
The Russians have inspected the entire Amur River Basin. The land here is very fertile and the climate is extremely pleasant. At least for the Russians, this climate is considered livable.
Muravyov did not just rush on his way. All the Qing outposts he encountered along the way were razed by his troops. For a while, there was a constant war in the upper reaches of Heilongjiang.
Tsarist Russia seemed to want to remove all traces of Qing people living here.
Most of the soldiers guarding Fengsui were sent here for crimes and were no match for the Russians.
Without the need for brave Cossacks to take action, the armed peasants alone could quickly bulldoze these wind stubbles.
When they are lucky, they can also find a little food in the wind and fire. This is a lot of extra money for those armed farmers who were born as serfs.
It's a pity that not a single woman was seen.
After walking for another two days, we finally saw a small town - Mohe. This is a small town where Han people and Solundaur people live together, mainly trading with the surrounding hunters.
Most of the Han people here are descendants of Peijun, and they make a living here by growing food and purchasing fur goods.
Thousands of Tsarist Russian soldiers swarmed into this small town, like locusts. After the army passed by, there was not a single man alive here.
Only some young women are still alive, but at this time they may be more miserable alive than dead.
Muravyov converted this place into a Russian supply depot.
Bao Youzhi temporarily made Xujiatun his headquarters.
In the past few days, Patriarch Xu has been hinting that he will betroth his granddaughter to Bao Youzhi.
Bao Youzhi had no choice but to pretend to be dumbfounded. At this time, he had no experience in thinking about his children.
The reconnaissance boat he sent upstream went out for several days and finally returned. Not because he saw the Russian fleet, but because he encountered people fleeing on rafts.
When Bao Youzhi saw these people, they seemed a little numb. Perhaps they were frightened by the brutal massacre by the Russians.
"How many Rakshasa people have you seen?" Bao Youzhi asked one of them.
"Sir, I don't know. They are everywhere. Their boats cover the entire river." This resident upstream didn't care that Bao Youzhi dressed differently from others and didn't have braids.
Seeing that he was well-dressed, I felt that he must be a big shot.
"Clan Chief Xu, it may be too late for us to retreat."
"This... Mr. Bao, what should we do?" Patriarch Xu was a little panicked now.
Hearing the man talk about the cruelty of the Russians, he was also very scared.
Originally, he was ready to evacuate with the Huai Navy, but now he didn't expect the Rakshasa people to arrive so quickly.
Bao Youzhi knew that the light ships he had could not fight with these Russian gunboats on the river.
In this way, even if you can achieve some results, you will suffer huge losses.
"Chief Xu, please inform the people from each village to come to Xujiazhai to discuss matters. Time is running out now and there is not much time to explain." Bao Youzhi said anxiously. He has been delayed a lot of time by these people here these days.
"Xu Li, go upstream to the west bank and inform the imperial troops in Blackwater City. Suggest them to evacuate southward." Although he was not a stranger, Bao Youzhi still didn't want these people to die tragically in the hands of the Russians.
In addition, after these people evacuate the city, people who evacuate will inevitably follow suit. This also has the effect of strengthening the wall and clearing the field in disguise.
The fewer supplies the Russians have, the sooner defeat will take place.