When the war in Temple Street was ignited, the valley where Bao Youzhi and his friends were hiding was not spared either.
With so many people entering the valley, it is difficult to eliminate traces.
The Russian army also had hunters who were good at tracking. They could easily find the path leading to the valley.
With the help of war horses, Lieutenant Colonel Rescinho's men quickly searched all the nearby villages, but they could not see a single person.
Finally, the missing Qing people were found in the valley.
"Haha, these rats from the Qing Dynasty are actually hiding here." In the marching team, Rescinio laughed arrogantly.
The land in Jiangdong is a rare plain beside the Heilongjiang River, and it is a relatively mature area for development.
Recinio felt that his family's fiefdom on the Don River was not as good as here.
After this war is over, His Majesty the Tsar will definitely build a city here and then move a large number of people here.
So as Recinho, as the hero of the occupation here, he always has the opportunity to pick a good piece of land here.
Of course, the premise of all this is to eliminate the original owner here.
Without the indigenous people, this place would be a terra incognita, so Tsarist Russia, as the discoverer here, could naturally occupy it legally.
Over the years, the European powers have created a large amount of terra nullius through this method, and also created a principle of territorial possession in international law - first occupation.
How could this earth have developed so far that there are so many unclaimed lands? According to them, America, Australia, and many islands in the Pacific are all unclaimed lands.
It's not that those places are ownerless, it's just that they killed all the owners here.
Rescinho's confidence also comes from the five thousand soldiers behind him, especially the two thousand Cossack cavalry.
He believed that with these powers, he could easily break through the valley where the natives were hiding.
Recinio almost mobilized his entire army. He just wanted to kill these people as soon as possible. When he had time, he might be able to visit the Qing territory in the south. He heard that there were many Qing cities there.
When the time comes, just kill a few and let the soldiers under your command make a small fortune and have fun.
In addition, if they can capture the city, they can catch women. They have been out for a long time this time. These energetic young men may have been unable to hold it in for a long time.
The news that the Russians were heading towards the valley had been sent back by sentries along the way.
"Sir, I heard that more than 5,000 Rakshasa people have come. Can we stop them?"
When the news came back, the heads of each family could not sit still. The Han people in the Far East were somewhat afraid of Tsarist Russia, because in the past century, the locals had always been at a disadvantage in the confrontations with the Tsarist Russians.
Moreover, the ferocity of the Russians is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Otherwise, people would not call them Rakshasa ghosts.
"Everyone, if soldiers come to block it, and water comes to cover it, the soil will cover it. Everyone should know that if the valley is breached, the Rakshasa people will not let anyone go. What they want is the land here, the good farmland cultivated in Jiangdong."
Bao Youzhi hates that iron cannot become steel. At this time, these people are still afraid. Fear and fear cannot solve the problem.
"Then there is only one way for us to go, which is to defend the valley. To defend the valley is to defend our homeland. When we stand here, Jiangdong is still in our hands, and the women and children we send out will be safer."
"I believe that my brothers in Temple Street will defeat the Russians and counterattack. Then we will work with them to keep these Russians here and not let go of any of them. Let them become fertilizer on this land."
Bao Youzhi knew that it was useless to just shout slogans to them. Only when they saw blood on the battlefield and their fallen relatives would they find their lost blood.
"Battle Commander Peng, take the brothers into the position." Bao Youzhi ordered Peng Yue, the battalion commander of the landing combat battalion.
"Yes, Commander Bao!"
"Everyone, please return to your posts. Now we can only count on the young men on the ground to stop the Russians. If the defense line is broken, I will block it with his family. We have no retreat."
Bao Youzhi's words seemed to have touched everyone's lips.
The trapped beasts are still fighting, let alone humans?
Only when one is desperate can one's fighting potential be stimulated.
Weapons have been distributed, and most of the young men have been given flintlock guns.
Twenty-five artillery pieces were placed on a hidden high ground, facing the outside of the valley. They were unloaded by Bao Youzhi from the ship, and the gunners were also transferred from the ship.
The fortress at the entrance of the valley was reinforced with logs, boulders and earth. It didn't look aesthetically pleasing, but it was very solid.
It was not until the order to enter the position was issued that the reinforcement work on this fortress stopped. This is the last line of defense in the valley. Everyone hopes that it will be stronger.
There are two trenches outside the valley mouth. On the outside of the trenches, there are sharpened wooden nails nailed to the ground to form a barrier for horses.
The first batch of militiamen entered the trenches under the leadership of the temporary commander. Reserves were ready to support behind the fort.
The Minzhuangs used flintlock muskets, but Bao Youzhi did not dare to let them line up in a line formation to fight the Russians. That would be like hitting a stone with an egg.
Their task was to stand in the trenches, put their guns on the mounds in front of the trenches, and shoot at the Russian troops who were resisting horses.
The trenches were dug very wide to facilitate loading of the flintlock muskets.
The main function of this trench is to give these people a psychological comfort.
"Dong dong dong..." The sound of cavalry stepping on the ground came from far away. It was like the drums of war.
The heart of Minzhuang, who was hiding in the trench, also trembled.
"Beep..." With a long trumpet sound, the Russian army stopped two kilometers outside the valley.
"Brother Bao!" Bao Youzhi was leading his guards to observe the situation of the Russian army with binoculars above the fortress when he suddenly heard a pleasant female voice.
Xu Yue'e wore a short men's clothing and trotted up to the fortress. She held an old-fashioned shotgun in front of her chest.
"Miss Yue'e, why are you here?"
"I want to kill Rakshasa ghosts with you." Xu Yue'e said and raised the shotgun in her hand.
This gun looks very old at first glance, but it is well maintained. There is also a long match rope on the back. Oh, this is still a matchlock gun.
However, Bao Youzhi did not dispel the girl's enthusiasm.
In the past, I only thought that she was the doted granddaughter of Patriarch Xu, and she should be a bit unruly and willful. Now it seems that this girl is still very stubborn.
"You ran out with the old patriarch on your back?"
Xu Yue'e turned her head away and said nothing, which was regarded as acquiescence.
"Okay, just follow me!" Bao Youzhi said.
It was impossible for him to let Xu Yue'e go to the front line. If something happened, he would not be able to explain it to the old patriarch.
At this time, he was relatively safe around him. Not only were there guards, but he was also far away from the battlefield.
As the commander-in-chief, it is generally impossible for him to visit the front lines in person.
Huai Haijun has very strict requirements in this regard. Everyone on the battlefield has his or her own position. If he suddenly leads the soldiers to charge on a whim, then the military inspector will definitely get his copy.
Bao Youzhi had just made a visual inspection. There were about 5,000 Russian troops outside the valley. There were even more than 2,000 cavalry. These cavalry should belong to the Siberian Cossacks. These Russian cavalry were all professional executioners.
They were the main force behind Russia's expansion in the Far East, and they were also the main culprits in the massacre of the indigenous people.
Looking at the horses made of thick logs in front of the trench, Bao Youzhi felt slightly relieved.
If they were directly faced with the impact of these cavalry, it is estimated that these people would probably collapse directly.
Lieutenant Colonel Rescinho was also looking at the valley.
This is definitely a good place for defense. From the outside, there is only one valley entrance to enter the valley.
There are lush peaks on both sides of the valley entrance. Although the peaks are not high, only a few hundred meters, the outward side is very steep. People can barely climb up, but it is very difficult.
Lieutenant Colonel Rescinho believed that the enemy would definitely deploy manpower on the mountain. They did not need many people. As long as they could monitor the outer slopes, they would be able to cut off their way up the mountain.
There were many obstacles set up outside the valley entrance, which discouraged Recinio's plan to send cavalry directly into the valley.
The Qing people inside had made some preparations, and there might be regular troops among them.
Now, we can only clear away the obstacles outside first.
"Engen, let the artillery prepare to blow up those obstacles." said the adjutant of Rescinho's team.
The best way to deal with these log obstacles is undoubtedly to use artillery.
Huge cannonballs fly past with kinetic energy, and all these resisting horses will be turned into a pile of useless wood.
Rescinio brought 30 cannons. At this time, the artillerymen behind had already pushed the cannons up.
They formed a row in front of the valley, without any thought of being attacked by enemy artillery.
Recinio did not see a Qing cannon at the entrance of the valley, and he felt that he was worrying too much. How could these Qing people have cannons?
None of the Qing Feng Sui they attacked before had artillery placed in them.
But now there is just a primitive village in front of me.
War is like this, and information is also an important factor in determining the victory or defeat of a war. Therefore, our ancestors knew that they must know themselves and the enemy when fighting.
These Russians have formed a solid understanding of fighting the local nomads in the Far East.
What do they always think? In fact, as the Huai Navy entered the Far East, the situation here has undergone tremendous changes.
Whether it was Pavlov's failure or the hunter counterattack in the Far East that was destroyed, it was all caused by the lack of understanding of the Huai Navy.
Following the order, 30 artillery pieces opened fire one after another, and the shells flew towards the front of the valley, and some of the shells even flew to the front of the fortress.
The iron ball rolled on the ground, like a bulldozer, smashing the obstacles outside the valley entrance and plowing gaps.
The huge sound of cannons made some timid Minzhuang tremble uncontrollably.
They could only hold on to the flintlock guns in their hands with so much force that their knuckles turned slightly white.
Bao Youzhi took Xu Yue'e and the guards back to the bottom of the fortress.
"How's it going? Are you scared?" Bao Youzhi said with a smile. He had already anticipated this situation and had already laid out countermeasures, so it was only at this time that he decided to tease Xu Yue'e.
"No, I'm not afraid!" Xu Yue'e said extremely firmly, even now she was so nervous that she couldn't straighten her tongue.
"Haha, don't worry, we will silence those Russian artillery immediately."
"Let the artillery counterattack!" Bao Youzhi said to a messenger next to him.
As the order was passed to the flag bearer at the top of the fort, the Huai Navy artillery, which had been hiding on the hilltop on one side, finally opened fire.
Most of these artillery pieces were unloaded from the ship, and most of them were old-fashioned artillery pieces, similar to the artillery pieces used by the Russians now, but because they were condescending, they had been adjusted in advance to shoot at the elements.
Therefore, the artillery shells flew directly towards the Russian artillery position. The skills of these gunners who were transferred from the ship were not bad.
It is much more difficult to operate artillery on a ship than on land, so the artillerymen trained on the ship are generally the elite artillerymen on the road.