Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 538: Capture of Yaksa

The two sides had a slight contact, and Bogdan realized that the Qian army and those savage tribes were completely different things. Bogdan immediately ordered the entire army to retreat to the city of Yaksa first.

At this time, the city of Yaksa had not been fully completed, but Bogdan was reluctant to give up the areas south of Yaksa and the surrounding areas because the climate here was more suitable for survival. Nerchinsk was still too far to the north. Unless he had to, Bogdan was unwilling to give up the city of Yaksa.

As soon as the Russians withdrew their troops, all the oppressed tribes surrendered to the Qian Dynasty. After all, the Qian Dynasty was stronger than the Russians.

By the end of May, Huang Sheng and Liu Kun, with a total of 2,000 troops, reached the south bank of the Longjiang River, facing the city of Yaksa across the river. The Qian army set up a large camp. In the camp, there were shadows of people and the neighing of horses and horses.

Bogdan looked at the Qian army outside the city and was not too worried. Although the city of Yaksa had not been completely completed, the main part of the outer wall had been built. It was obviously impossible for the Qian army to easily break through the bastion with the current force.

Since Russia broke away from the rule of the Golden Horde, it has claimed to be the orthodox Roman Empire and started to use military force in all directions. Since Russia crossed the Ural Mountains, it can be said that it has been invincible all the way, which also made Bogdan begin to despise the East.

However, Bogdan had just suffered a loss, so he decided to cheer up and take it seriously. Looking at the more than 2,000 Qian army infantrymen and a bunch of scattered tribal soldiers under the city, Bogdan believed that with more than a thousand people stationed at the bastion, he was almost invincible.

After Liu Kun arrived at Yaxica, he did not send troops to attack the city due to insufficient troops. However, as time went on, three to four thousand Jurchen tribes gathered to help Qian's army.

Liu Kun thought that perhaps he could give a try at attacking the city, so after several days of preparation, the Qian army, with the Jurchen tribes as the main force, launched a tentative attack on the bastion.

However, siege was exactly what Bogdan desired. After only one day of fighting, many Jurchen tribes suffered casualties, and the bastion had almost no blind spots. No matter which direction the Jurchen soldiers attacked from, the Russians' muskets could aim at them.

Seeing that it was difficult to fight, Liu Kun immediately ordered the bastion to be surrounded. Although the Qian army did not take action in this battle, Liu Kun negotiated for peace. He thought that relying solely on the current strength of the Qian army, it would be beyond their ability to storm the city.

After the complete collapse of the Qing Dynasty, Zhao Yongping was able to spare some time to deal with the invasion of the Russians. After repelling the Russians, Zhao Yongping learned that the Qian army was trapped in the city of Yaksa and was difficult to break through.

Therefore, at the end of July, Zhao Yongping decided to personally lead reinforcements, totaling more than 20,000 people, to the city of Yaksa.

Bogdan couldn't help feeling anxious when he saw the densely packed Qian army marching into the military camp in groups.

Because Bogdan was worried that if the Qian army continued the siege for a long time, he would surely be dragged to death here, so Bogdan took the initiative to send an envoy to inquire the generals of the Qian army for the first time.

Bogdan's envoy told Zhao Yongping that they were the ones who built the city of Yaksa and they were the first to discover this place, so according to convention, this place belonged to them. Bogdan also said that the city of Yaksa could be used as the dividing line, they would no longer move south, and the Qian army could not continue to stay in Yaksa and must evacuate immediately.

However, Zhao Yongping just laughed and said, "All under heaven belongs to the king, and all the people in the world are the king's subjects!" Then Zhao Yongping said that this large area used to belong to the Liaoyang Province of the Yuan Dynasty, so it was reasonable for the Qian Dynasty to establish its rule here.

The envoy was stunned and asked bluntly what the relationship was between the Yuan Dynasty and the Qian Dynasty. Zhao Yongping was too lazy to continue talking nonsense with the envoy, so he immediately gave him a final ultimatum, asking Bogdan to surrender, otherwise, when the army gathered, he would capture the city of Yaksa.

Bogdan naturally could not surrender, and he also did not agree to give up Yakutsk, so the negotiations between the two sides ended in vain.

At the beginning, Bogdan hoped that the Qian army could launch an attack, because as long as they attacked, he could rely on the bastions to inflict heavy damage on the Qian army. If the Qian army could not attack, they would have to withdraw. Once the Qian army withdrew, would those Jurchen tribes dare to resist his rule?

Only now, the numbers of Qian’s troops were so overwhelming that Bogdan believed that even with ladders, so many men would overwhelm his men.

Bogdan's idea soon became a reality. As soon as Zhao Yongping arrived at Yaksa, he acted quickly and without hesitation. He immediately arranged auxiliary troops to prepare siege equipment.

The city of Yaksa was not big, the city walls were not high, and the number of artillery was limited. Therefore, Zhao Yongping believed that with an enemy force dozens of times larger than his own, there was no way they could not take it.

As the horn of the first round of attack was blown, the prelude to the war was officially opened, and the artillery hit the city wall. Due to the short and thick design, the damage of the artillery to the city wall was reduced to a minimum.

However, the number of Qian troops was much larger than that of Luosha people. The city of Yaksa was besieged on all sides. The brave soldiers of Qian army, wearing double armor and holding shields, climbed over the fortress wall under the hail of bullets.

The Qian army was large in number, and they attacked the city walls wave after wave like a tide. The defenders of Yaksa City had only more than a thousand soldiers. Under this continuous offensive, the Qian army at several climbing points had already started hand-to-hand combat with the defenders.

As the battle progressed, the losses on both sides gradually increased, and Bogdan could no longer hold on. Even though the casualties of Qian's army were greater than those of the defenders, his troops were simply insufficient.

After Bogdan barely held out for a day, he led the remaining defenders to escape from the city of Yaksa under the cover of night.

As soon as Bogdan moved, he was discovered by Qian army scouts. Zhao Yongping urgently ordered Hao Yongzhong and Liu Kun to lead their troops in pursuit.

The Qian army trapped the Russian infantry twenty miles west of Yaksa City. Bogdan saw that the situation was irresistible, so he led the cavalry to leave the battlefield.

In this battle, except for more than 400 Cossack cavalrymen who escaped and more than 200 soldiers who surrendered, the rest of the Russians in Yaxica were all killed.

After Zhao Yongping captured the city of Yaksa, he left troops there to garrison and sent fast horses to report to the capital.

After receiving the news of the victory in the Battle of Yalu River, Meng Jun was encouraged. He knew that the Russians had many fortresses in the Far East, which could also be used as forward bases for the Qian army.

However, Meng Jun actually had no idea how far the war against Russia would go. As the saying goes, "No one can occupy Moscow in winter." Meng Jun had often heard this sentence before.

Its territory is vast and its strategic depth is enormous. If it were to get caught in a long war, it would be a nightmare for the Qian Dynasty.

Of course, Meng Jun never thought of reaching Moscow, as it was too far away. With the current administrative power and transportation of the Qian Dynasty, the upper limit of an empire's territory was naturally limited.