The fires all over the city completely angered these invaders. They chose to attack at this time. On the one hand, they had received military orders, and on the other hand, they really wanted to spend the winter in the rich river valley.
It seems that the innate attribute of Tsarist Russia is that it is not good at construction. Even if they have developed powerful heavy industry and military industry in special periods in later generations, they still have inherent shortcomings.
Their rough and arrogant character makes it impossible for them to be meticulous in their construction, especially the industries related to people's livelihood, which makes them a mess.
It's okay to let these stupid and thick Cossacks kill people and set fires, but let them engage in production and construction, but ten thousand will not work!
For example, now, although they occupy Lake Balkhash, which is rich in water and grass, the quality of life of tens of thousands of troops cannot be guaranteed at all.
They can't even build the most basic adobe houses. In these Cossacks' hometowns, houses are mostly built with wood and stones. They don't understand the technology of adobe houses at all.
Central Asia is inherently lacking in wood. As a result, the army has been relying on tents in recent years.
Not to mention food. Although cattle and sheep can be collected from the surrounding area, the boring cooking method makes the food taste very monotonous, which is simply boiled meat in salt water.
However, it is difficult to guarantee the logistical supply of even the simplest salt. The closest supply route from Lake Balkhash to Tsarist Russia is the Volga River Basin thousands of kilometers to the west.
The Volga River merges into the Caspian Sea, and there are relatively prosperous Tsarist Russian settlement cities at the mouth of the sea. If these cavalry want to rely on their own country's supplies, they can only hope here.
But the journey is so long, and Tsarist Russia is so poor, there is simply no extra capacity to deliver more non-staple food to them.
The limited supplies were all used to transport artillery shells and bullets, and only supplies related to the war had priority.
These Rakshasa ghosts had no choice but to grab whatever they could find. The Han people's medicinal materials, salt, leather goods, spices... all became in-demand goods among the army.
Now that these robbers finally got the order from the top, they could finally rob freely. How could they not be excited?
Fight to the Ili Valley. Wherever the Chinese have cities, the soldiers can live in warm adobe houses without ventilation, with hay to keep warm, salt and spices to season the meat, and even open access to wheat and rice. .
Compared with the bitter cold lakeside camp, life there is already paradise!
More importantly, the hard-working Han people and herdsmen of other ethnic groups will harvest a large amount of forage in summer and autumn. These are the guarantee for the war horses to survive the winter!
Although there is plenty of this grass on both sides of the Ili River, the Rakshasa ghosts have to be in the mood to cut it!
Are these bandits who are good at murder and arson allowed to do farm work? Throughout the summer and autumn, they were either drinking, hunting or fishing, and the forage collected by the entire army was simply not enough for their army to survive the winter.
The entire army and even the commanders are waiting to rob at the end. They just hope that other nations will work hard to build, and then they will use their knives to rob what is ready.
The calculation was really smart, but I didn't expect that the Chinese would really come this time. In the past five years, Tsarist Russia also came here to ask for "protection money" from the Chinese, and none of the trembling veterans dared to refuse.
The so-called military depot is more like a supply bank for Rakshasa ghosts. If you need any amount, you just need to send a team of cavalry to notify them.
Today, they mobilized the entire army to kill in the rich valley. In the eyes of these bandits, the weak Chinese and the sparsely populated herdsmen will definitely not resist, and the mountains of pasture will naturally belong to them.
But reality gave them a big slap in the face. The usually humble and despicable veterans turned into fierce tigers today, and even dared to sacrifice their lives to burn the city!
The raging fire burned all the pasture, and the most important supplies of the Cossack cavalry were completely burned by the fire.
This fire can be clearly seen from more than 20 miles away. The gray-black soot is carried by the northwest wind, forming a black dragon soaring into the sky.
Even late at night, you can still see the dark smoke strips blocking the stars in the sky.
The Rakshasa ghosts were completely enraged, and these bandits vented their anger on the people fleeing eastward, and of course on the British expedition team that was very conspicuous among them.
This is Central Asia, a no-nonsense zone far away from European civilization and Asian civilization. Even if something unexpected happens in such a chaotic situation, you British people may not be able to say anything.
The angry Cossack cavalry battalion commander issued an order to massacre, including these British expeditions of unknown origin!
Bang bang bang... Gunshots rang out from behind the fleeing team. Those who fled at the end of the team were beaten to death on the river bed. The killings aroused the fear of the fleeing people. Screams and curses were intertwined. , the noisy people have a headache.
"Get away...get away these damn cattle and sheep...don't block the road..."
"Oh God, which one is more important, life or cattle and sheep..."
Gordon in the expedition team was also scolding, as were Guan Lu and Doluo. The entire expedition team had been wiped out.
Just as Doro raised his whip to whip Tuoma who was blocking the way, suddenly an idea came to his mind: "Oh... are you all stupid? There are so many cattle, sheep and horses here, all gather together and rush back!"
"There are only five to six hundred Rakshasa ghosts in total, and Kapchagai's livestock must be no less than seventy or eighty thousand! If they all rush back, they will definitely overwhelm the enemy..."
"As long as we delay it for one more hour... we can escape!"
"Drive the livestock back immediately, drive back! Let the animals rush towards the enemy's ranks, let the cattle and sheep block the road..."
"Rich businessmen, don't run away with your satin and jade items on your back. Throw them all on the ground... Those are greedy robbers. They will definitely steal property. By then we will be alive..."
The words awakened the dreamer, and the entire expedition team began to shout. They encouraged the surrounding herdsmen to abandon their cattle and sheep and drive back.
But they underestimated the power of herdsmen and businessmen. These greedy ghosts want money as well as their lives.
Cattle, sheep, and livestock are the life of the herdsmen, and silk, satin, porcelain, and jade are the life of the merchants!
When these people heard that the expedition asked them to lose their lives, they became furious and said, "Get out! Why didn't you throw away your own things? If you want me to throw away my cattle, sheep and property, then kill me first..."
Bang bang bang... gunshots suddenly rang out from behind. The frightened retorts shrank their necks and then stopped talking, running forward for their lives.
Gordon and Samuel Baker blew their beards angrily, "Throw away our debris! Only leave the literature and necessary food..."
"All minerals, plants, and animal specimens are lost...and the Afghan specialty products we purchased are also lost!"
"Show them a show! You're too greedy. Do you want money rather than your life?"
