Of course, the Renaissance Army was fighting deep into enemy territory after all.
As the saying goes, if you often walk by the river, how can your shoes not get wet?
Gao Yun's cavalry brigade was ambushed by the Russian army.
Fortunately, in the current Western Siberia region, Tsarist Russia is unable to gather large-scale troops.
The rest of them are basically stationed in their respective cities. There are only two to three thousand people in each city at most.
The cavalry brigade led by Gao Yun and the tribal cavalry led by Geser combined totaled more than 10,000 people.
After the reinforcements arrived in Mobei, Gao Yun's troops who had stayed behind returned to his command.
This time, there were only 2,000 Tsarist Russian troops ambushing Gao Yun and others. This group of people was very brave, and they chose a good ambush location.
They came from Novonikolaevsk and were originally the garrison of that city. The leader of the group, Panda Dzerzhinsky, was a radical aristocratic young general.
He was very dissatisfied with the surrounding city defenders for allowing their troops to massacre in the rear.
He felt that staying in the city was just a matter of sitting there and waiting for death. It was better to take the initiative and use his familiarity with the terrain to consume the enemy. No one would listen to his advice unless he gave it.
Therefore, this radical young general made the decision to attack without authorization. He felt that the eastern armies were only good at fighting with the wind. As long as he could disrupt the opponent with one blow, he would be able to win with less and more.
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But he obviously thought of his enemies too simply.
After losing more than a hundred people, Gao Yun's men quickly reacted. They quickly used rotating machine guns to suppress the enemies who ambushed them, and then used mortars to shoot at the woodland where the enemies were hiding.
At the same time, he only left the light cavalry to confuse the enemy from the front.
The dragoons dismounted their horses and sneaked into the woods from both sides.
Then they attacked the Russian ambush from both sides and rear.
The Tsarist Russians were not very skilled in using this kind of ambush warfare, and they did not even build a decent position.
In addition, the range of their muskets and the way of fighting with muzzleloaders are not conducive to the effectiveness of ambush warfare.
The Renaissance Army is an expert in ambush warfare. They know how to fight an ambush, and naturally they also know where the loopholes in ambush warfare are.
After eliminating this group of enemies, Gao Yun found out through the prisoners that these people came from Novonikolaevsk.
And he also knew that this was the main force in Novonikolaevsk. In other words, after eliminating this group of ambush troops, there were almost no defenders left in Novonikolaevsk.
Novnikolayevsk is a new small city, and the city's defenses are not as strong as those of the previous cities that were built as fortresses.
This city is mostly used for trade.
This is related to its geographical location. It is also located in the upper reaches of the Ob River, but it happens to be the intersection of the Kazakh steppe, Altai region and Western Siberia, so the business here is very developed.
This time the defenders of Novonikolaevsk stung a hornet's nest.
Gao Yun's cavalry brigade happened to have no suitable target.
"Brigadier Gao, this Novonikolaevsk is a good place. It is a commodity distribution center. I, Dashengkui, have been there before."
"The Tsarist Russians also built some factories there, and many of the special products sent from the lower reaches were processed there." Shopkeeper Sun heard that the army was preparing to attack Novonikolaevsk and joined in and said.
"Don't worry, old shopkeeper, we have cooperated very well this time. From now on, we will follow the old rules." Gao Yun knew what the old shopkeeper meant, and he responded with a smile.
"Hey, General Gao, as you said, we are all a family. I am telling you this just to remind you that the roads around that city are very muddy."
"Maybe it's because the surrounding terrain is very low. Many places there are swamps and cannot be passed by ordinary people, let alone cavalry. You should pay attention when the time comes." Shopkeeper Sun reminded.
These living maps of Dashengkui played an important role in the penetration operations of Gaoyun Cavalry Brigade.
Most of Siberia is a no-man's land in the wilderness, and it's easy to get lost.
But these Dashengkui shopkeepers are very familiar with the roads here. Because they usually lead camels when trading. They have measured the roads here with their feet, so they are very impressed.
The cooperation between Dashengkui and the Renaissance Army was very pleasant this time. Not only did they make up for their original losses in Tsarist Russia, but they also made a lot of money.
Dashengkui now has a large amount of furs, honey and other Siberian specialties in his hands.
As long as these things are sent to the inland areas of China, they can be sold at very good prices. In the south, these things are scarce.
And their cost is very low. Of course, Dashengkui also brought great convenience to Gao Yun's cavalry. At least Gao Yun no longer has to worry about supplies.
Since entering Western Siberia, Gao Yun's cavalry has not stopped at all. Da Shengkui mobilized a caravan of seven or eight thousand camels to follow Gao Yun. They are like hard-working worker ants.
Gao Yun does not need to take care of the captured supplies, and even the prisoners do not need to be under their custody. The camel team will take away all the supplies and prisoners they captured when they return.
When these camel teams returned to Uliasutai and unloaded their belongings and prisoners, they would take the necessary supplies for the cavalry and go out again to look for Gao Yun's team.
Qi Bin found that it was easy to build in Mobei, it was like a blank sheet of paper.
Except for the three Khans in the east, he could do whatever he wanted in the vast area in the west.
It's like a blank piece of paper here, where he can draw as he pleases.
Especially after Wang Shaozhi's temporary cavalry brigade arrived in Mobei, Qi Bin became even more confident.
He first established a series of border ranches in the west of Khovd and in the Ulianghai Shizuo territory.
Then grassroots officials were dispatched to manage these ranches, and militia officers were assigned to these ranches.
The herdsmen of these ranches are selected from Khovd, Wulianghai and Zhasaktu areas.
The herders who are drawn will be recruited into these border pastures, and at the same time, the males among the herdsmen will also participate in certain military training.
Then all they have to do is patrol while grazing. For these pastures, the Mobei Protectorate will provide certain subsidies, which is equivalent to establishing a cheap border guard force.
The western part of Mobei belongs to the Altai Mountains. The altitude here is higher and most of them are alpine meadows. It is difficult for ordinary Han people to adapt to life here. Qi Bin's arrangement of rescue just solved this problem.
In the Ulyasutai area, Qibin established basic industrial facilities. There are factories specializing in fur processing, felt production, and woolen yarn production.
At the same time, Qi Bin also selected several easy-to-mining places to mine coal.
Promote the use of briquettes to herders on the grassland.
In this way, herders no longer have to rely on collecting cow dung to make fires.
The cow dung on the grassland can return to the grassland, which is also beneficial to the grassland soil environment of the grassland.
In the Gobi Desert south of the Mobei Grassland, the FNA prospectors also discovered large gold, silver and copper associated mines.
This mine can even be open-pit mined. This made Dong Shuheng, who was short of precious metals, especially copper, overjoyed.
Soon, a mining company was set up, and Dong Shuheng couldn't wait to develop it.
Qi Bin believes that it will be the economic lifeline of Mobei Grassland in the future.
The pastures here are not considered rich, and Mobei cannot develop solely relying on animal husbandry.
In the future, Mobei's economy will mainly rely on mining.
Qi Bin is also trying to change the lives of people here.
With the planning and construction of Uliasutai industry and commerce and Kulun commerce.
Many herders are also attracted to live in cities or around cities.
Prairie people discovered that besides grazing, they had other ways to survive.
The prisoner-of-war camp in Ulyasutai has gathered five to six thousand young Russians.
Qi Bin had just inspected the prisoner-of-war camp. He felt that these prisoners of war had almost been raised and they could now be used to their fullest potential.
He is now planning two roads, one linking Ulyasutai and Kulun, and then connecting Kyaktu in the north. Using the Selenge River to connect with the Yuehu area.
The other one runs from Uliasutai through Sanyinnuoyanbu to Ulanqab and then to Suiyuan City, connecting the inland areas.
There was already a simple road on this route. However, Qi Bin felt that it should be widened, at least to be able to drive horse-drawn carriages.
The cost of using camel fleets for transportation like now is too high and the efficiency is extremely low.
Now that he is able to manage such a large area, it all depends on Dong Shuheng's respect for him, so he must show his value.
Building military equipment externally and building industry internally is Qi Bin's management approach.
In addition, he also asked Dong Shuheng for many newly recruited officials to establish the grassroots management government in Mobei.
Qi Bin adopted a differentiated approach to the three subordinate Khan tribes in the east.
Qi Bin gave the most preferential treatment to the Tuxie Tuhan tribe who actively cooperated and contributed the most.
He used the power of the Protectorate to help the Tushe Tuhan tribe plan and build a small trading city in the upper reaches of the Orkhon River.
This will serve as a sub-center of trade for the three Khan tribes in the east, besides Kulun.
At the same time, a relatively strong civil service team was sent to the three Khan tribes to manage local civil affairs.
Not only that, there were also restrictions on the armies of the three Khan tribes.
It is stipulated that the standing army of the Khan must receive training from the officers of the Renaissance Army.
Two alliance meetings are arranged every year, and only during the alliance can the tribes assemble.
At the same time, it was stipulated that the Renaissance Army could recruit troops from three Khan tribes to fight with the army when needed.
Of course, the troops recruited during the battle will be paid and supplied by the Renaissance Army.
At the same time, Qi Bin also followed the practice of the shogunate and required the three khan kings to report their duties to Xinjingcheng every year.
The heirs of the Khan tribe must receive a Chinese academy education in Xinjingcheng.
Dong Shuheng still agreed very much with Qi Bin's arrangements.
Dong Shuheng did not use these small political means very well.
But old politicians like Qi Bin use it very skillfully. The key is that they can always grasp the heat.
If this kind of decree is carried out, it will not cause any trouble.
Dong Shuheng is full of expectations for mining in the Mobei grassland.
In the future, the Zhangjiakou railway will continue to extend northward into Mobei. At that time, Mobei's mineral resources will be able to be continuously transported to Xinjing to support the industrial development of the Xinjing area.
Especially for copper mines, the role of copper will become particularly important after electrification.
Copper is needed for various electrical components. Copper is also needed for the production of bullets and cannonballs.
If it can produce its own products, Dong Shuheng can not only get rid of foreign constraints, but also save foreign exchange for trade.
There are still a lot of things you can buy abroad. If you have them yourself, Dong Shuheng doesn’t have to buy them from others.
Anyway, from now on, the entire Mobei, like the Western Region, will be an important resource provider in China.
Dong Shuheng will deliberately reduce resource extraction in inland areas and protect the environment in inland areas.
As for the Western Region and Mobei, the natural environment there is not very good to begin with, so it doesn't matter whether it is damaged or not.
…
At the same time, the 1st Division also encountered trouble in the west.
Although they defeated Kosygin's two thousand cavalry, Kosygin conveyed Petrovsky's order.
Next, the small fortress at the back was completely deserted.
Moreover, the fortress here is already far away from the Western Region, so there is no value in occupying it.
The First Division could only demolish these fortresses.
Without the citadel of Tsarist Russia, the Renaissance Army turned its target to the surrounding Kazakh tribes who surrendered to Tsarist Russia.
Originally, these large and small Kazakh tents that surrendered to Tsarist Russia sought refuge in the fortresses of Tsarist Russia.
Of course, these people are also responsible for providing logistical supplies to Tsarist Russia.
The tribes in East Kazakhstan have been cleared. Now the First Division is building fortresses along the lines of the Tsarist Russians and has pushed the front deep into the central area of the Kazakh grassland.
In fact, their strategic mission has been completed, but Wang Congzhi has the same idea as Dong Shuheng, and also wants to push the front as much as possible before the arrival of winter. In this way, the enemy's counterattack will be more intense in the coming year.
Difficulties.
"Commander, I feel we have to retreat. I heard from the Kirgiz cavalry that the frost on the grasslands has been relatively heavy recently. According to their experience, it may snow here at any time." Wang Congzhi's chief of staff Yu Weishun suggested to him.
Once it snows here, it is no ordinary snow. The climate here is mainly plateau. Once it snows, it will be a blizzard.
Their attack lasted a long time. Wang Congzhi didn't even know how many fortresses and Russian garrisons they had destroyed.
Anyway, they sent back tens of thousands of prisoners. The tribes that recently attacked Kazakhs captured a large number of prisoners.
These Kirgiz rangers are very good at capturing prisoners. Maybe they used to do this kind of thing all the time.
Zuo Jigao's side is currently engaged in construction, which requires a lot of manpower.
If it weren't for Zuo Jigao's order, Wang Congzhi wouldn't have bothered to capture the prisoners. He would have had to be specially assigned to guard or escort them back.
However, in Zuo Jigao's view, these captives were free labor.
The Western Region now needs a lot of infrastructure construction. And the Renaissance Army's own people must rebuild their homes.
The Renaissance Army is not interested in using labor for free. In fact, no one is idle, including the common people, who are very busy and hardworking.
After the policies of the Renaissance Army came down, the people were assigned land and had to work on their land or participate in construction activities organized by the government.
Whether you are busy with your own affairs or earning a salary from the government, there are endless things to do.
Zuo Jigao is now also opening mines, setting up factories, and building roads in the Western Regions. The area around Huiyuan City has become a large construction site.
In the south of the city, near the mining area, an industrial park is under construction.
Zuo Jigao had a big appetite and not only wanted to build an arsenal in the Western Regions, but also a steel plant.
In the desert northwest of Luntai, China's largest oil refinery is under construction.
It is estimated that it will take several years to build this refinery. The reason why it was built here is because a large oil field was discovered in the nearby desert, and it is a shallow oil field that is very easy to exploit.
Now the oil refining technology has been developed, but the oil field mining technology is still very backward.
China can only exploit such shallow oil fields now.
Currently, there are only a few shallow oil fields that Dong Shuheng can discover. Dong Shuheng must utilize them all.
The reason why they are so eager to engage in oil fields is because their diesel engines are ready for practical use.
ps: Thanks to 5435848 and Xiaoqiang 45100 for their large monthly tickets, and to other gentlemen for their support, we finally broke the 1,000-vote mark, but it was just Diandian and Penguin added together. Diandian is still a little short of the tickets for a single station. Keep going! Keep going!