On September 12, the Russian prisoners of war who surrendered in Cheremhovo were successively escorted by the Northern Navy to a wasteland east of Usolye. This place is located on the opposite bank of the Angara River, almost three kilometers in a straight line from Usolye.
In this wilderness originally covered with grass and shrubs, thousands of temporary workers from Irkutsk have been busy for several days. Only a small number of them are previous settlers, and most of the others are new immigrants from the island country and brought here last year and this year.
Because there were so many captured Russian troops, the North Navy could not provide enough prisoner-of-war camps in a short period of time. So when the prisoners arrived one after another, they built their own camps under the supervision of the North Navy.
According to the requirements of the Beihai Special Region Public Security Police Station, after removing the branches from all the felled logs, they are processed on a simple woodworking bed into three-meter-long wooden piles with a diameter of 20 centimeters; of course, if the chopped logs are about this size, then use it directly.
All the wooden piles were buried one meter deep into the ground at intervals of two meters, forming a horizontal and vertical grid of one hundred meters square on the ground. The wooden piles were connected with iron wires with butterfly-shaped blades. Starting from a height of thirty centimeters above the ground, they were blocked in sequence, making a total of six blocks. In this way, a square area of 10,000 square meters is formed, which is slightly larger than a standard football field.
After all, there was strength in numbers, and the cold wind at night was already biting, so the Tsarist Russian prisoners worked very hard. Since early September, more than a dozen prisoner camps have been surrounded.
The Russian military supplies captured from the battlefield were also transported here after preliminary inspection. Items such as tents and blankets were distributed after being sprayed with a large amount of quicklime powder for disinfection. This also ensured that the prisoners of war had A minimum accommodation.
The first thing the prisoners did after entering the camp was to dig a toilet. This order caused great dissatisfaction among the prisoners. The first thing to do should be to build a house to provide shelter from wind and rain! However, in response to the prisoners' complaints, an Irkutsk citizen working at the scene couldn't help but offer some kind words.
"Guys, the Chinese are right to tell you to do this. Public health is very important, otherwise you will have a plague within you."
"Public...health?" The Russian officer showed a surprised expression after hearing the explanation, but he was still startled by the word "plague".
You must know that these days there are no toilets even in the palace in Tsarskoye Selo. People who go out have to find a secluded place to do so. That is to say, there were few people in Irkutsk and the weather was cold, so the plague never broke out. But now tens of thousands of prisoners are gathered together, and there are many injuries and illnesses. If there is no forced management, the plague will not escape.
By the way, why doesn’t the old lady Queen stay in the palace in Moscow, but stays in Tsarskoe Selo on the outskirts of St. Petersburg for many years? Nothing else. Moscow in the eighteenth century was extremely dirty.
Since the time of Peter the Great, when the center of power in Tsarist Russia was transferred from Moscow to St. Petersburg, the abandoned Moscow and its suburbs attracted a large number of serfs and deserters. The growing population has created mountains of waste, not only from humans and livestock, but also from slaughterhouses and tanneries.
In early 1770, plague broke out among the Tsarist Russian troops stationed in Moldova. The main way it spread was through prisoners of war and trophies. Because the garrison general at the time concealed his condition from his superior, Rumyantsev, the local garrison was almost wiped out. At the end of that year, the plague spread to Moscow, reaching its peak in September of the following year, causing a large number of people to flee, and the entire city was like a ghost.
Markovich, currently the secretary of the Irkutsk city government, whose actual power is equivalent to that of the mayor, was exiled to Siberia precisely because of the plague.
When the city declared a state of emergency, shops, hotels, pubs, factories and even churches were all ordered to close, and the entire Moscow was surrounded. The residents of the city were deprived of food and clothing, and eventually began to resist. The mob viewed any state emergency measures as a conspiracy to spread the disease and even killed the archbishop.
Markovich robbed a church because of hunger. So when the riots subsided and the plague ended, he was still young and was sent to Irkutsk.
Although Catherine II later took many measures, the plague still lasted until 1772. The death toll in Moscow alone is estimated at 300,000. Despite this, the Tsarist Empire did not improve the city's public health management level afterwards, and Moscow's filth and disorder continued until the second half of the 19th century.
Since Zhang Jingxuan took office, the most public buildings built in Irkutsk are toilets and septic tanks, which earned him the nickname "Toilet Governor".
In the two years since it was governed by Beihai Town, relying on the efforts of the Public Security Police Department and the newly built medical system, public health regulations have become the most stringent laws in Irkutsk. Anyone who dares to urinate or defecate on the street, or dump feces or waste into the Angara River, or even wash the toilet, will be fined five silver rubles, plus three days of hard labor to clean the streets.
Although these regulations have been agreed upon by people in places such as Beihai Town and Fuldan City, how can those Russians and Yakuts understand this? In the first half year of Beihai Town's rule, people were escorted to sweep the streets every day, including people from the five major families.
Shishkin, a Cossack soldier from the Don River, walked into a large tent ignorantly. After entering, he found that the front and back of the tent were open. A man in a white coat and a white mask ordered him to take off his clothes, shoes, and even his underwear. When Shishkin saw the Northern Navy soldier who was looking at him coldly, he suddenly became excited and stripped himself naked in three strokes.
After he slowly turned around with his bare buttocks raised and his arms raised, someone splashed white powder all over his head and face. Just when Shishkin was at a loss and finally opened his eyes, someone immediately stuffed a ball of clothes and a pair of shoes into his arms.
Then, he and nineteen other prisoners who were naked and holding clothes went out from the other side of the exit, and quickly stood in two rows under the orders of a man wearing a mask and a hoarse voice.
"I'm only going to say this once! Listen clearly! Keep your number plates and clothes! Remember, if you don't have your number plate, you won't have food!"
Only then did Shishkin notice that on top of the clothes in his arms, there was a wooden sign about half the size of a palm with a rope on the top, and a line of numbers on it.
"151739?" Before Shishkin could figure out what it meant, he was immediately pushed aside to put on his clothes.
The clothes and shoes of the prisoners of war were all produced in Beihai Town itself. The styles were imitations of the dark blue upper and lower cotton-padded jackets from another time and space. The shoes were also the lace-up cotton shoes of later generations. This kind of attire is easy to distinguish in the Siberian wilderness, even if someone is running away, you can recognize it at a glance.
After dark, Shishkin, who spent the whole afternoon digging the foundation, received his share of dinner, two potatoes and half a bowl of beet soup, based on his number plate. Shishkin couldn't eat enough with this little food, but he wouldn't starve to death either. However, all he could do was pray to God and hope that the war would end soon.
Over the next two days, more and more Russian prisoners of war were transported from the west bank of the Angara River, and the "square grid" where they were held was spread across the desolate wilderness like a chessboard. From the Yakut who was responsible for delivering meals to them, Shishkin learned that the Chinese called these square grids with barbed wire "camp areas" and that he was in the fifteenth camp area.
Between each camp area is a passage up to six meters wide. In addition to the three-meter-high wooden sentry towers located at the four corners of the camp, the barbed wire is also hung with glass bottles, cans, and even bells on the horses' necks; they make loud noises when touched. At night, the bright lights emitted from the sentry towers at the four corners of the camp swayed back and forth on the tents in each camp. The prisoners were shaken so hard that they could not sleep peacefully. They were worried and frightened.
In Shishkin's view, the Chinese are all magicians. They can move the light like the moon into the human world. Such opponents are difficult to defeat. Perhaps the Queen should have sent a group of monks instead of soldiers.
On the fourth day after Shishkin arrived here, he had just finished eating a potato for breakfast, and then, just like before, he lined up in the camp to receive tools for work. Different from the previous two days, there was a sudden commotion at the front of the team. When the queue was almost at Shishkin, he discovered that the guard had changed.
"what is it call?"
"Shishkin Rychikov." Shishkin was surprised to find that the guard who questioned him was actually a Russian wearing an enemy uniform, and his accent was from his hometown.
"From the Don River? From which village?"
Shishkin told the village where his family was located, and the guard actually laughed when he heard it: "My family is from the village of Kalkin, which is only thirty miles away from you."
"Then why, how...are you here?" Shishkin almost blurted out. He actually wanted to ask, "Then why are you a traitor?"
The guard smiled and did not answer the question. Instead, he patted Shishkin on the shoulder and said, "Go to work hard."
After a tiring day, Shishkin dragged his exhausted body back to the tent and was about to prepare dinner when he heard someone outside shouting: "Shishkin Rychikov!"
Shishkin quickly came out and stood at attention, shouting loudly: "Yes!" The reason why he did this was not because of his status as a soldier, but because of the requirements of the prisoner of war camp.
It was already dark outside, but the pine oil torch on the ground was burning brightly. Only then did he see clearly that the person calling him was the guard he met in the morning.
"Relax, man." The man grinned, walked up and whispered: "You haven't had dinner yet? Come with me, I will take you to a nice place." After that, the man turned around and left, and then Then he suddenly stopped and said, "By the way, my name is Mikhail."
The confused Shishkin was brought to the door of Camp No. 15 by Mikhail. When he arrived, he discovered that Mikhail was not only looking for him, but also more than twenty other Cossacks.
After registering with the camp guard, a group of people left the camp, and then cautiously followed Mikhail under the light of pine oil torches on the roadside. More than 20 minutes later, they finally arrived at a tall wooden structure outside the camp. outside the room. Along the way, Shishkin noticed that there were about five or six Northern Navy soldiers with guns behind them. It was estimated that if anyone tried to escape, they would be shot to death indiscriminately.
"Come in, guys!" Mikhail opened the door and greeted more than 20 Cossack prisoners with a smile.
However, when a group of prisoners walked into the house uneasily, they were immediately blinded by the sight in front of them. There were more than a dozen long tables and benches placed in the room, and some prisoners of war had already sat there in advance. The table was covered with a snow-white tablecloth, and a bright oil lamp was placed on it. What made Shishkin and others salivate the most was that the plates on the table were filled with fragrant bread, various meats, and even a few bottles of wine.
At this time, a medium-sized, very strong man in the room greeted loudly: "Brothers, please sit down quickly, you are welcome."
Like Mikhail, this man is also Russian. He was wearing a dark green Northern Navy military uniform, with a wide leather belt tied around his waist, with shiny copper buckles. He has broad shoulders, a big black beard with a few white strands in the middle, and a pair of big eyes. The expression on his face made people feel inexplicably at ease.
Shishkin and others sat down tremblingly, looking at me and you with the others. They all swallowed their saliva, their eyes rolled around, but they did not dare to speak. Chinese people have strict rules, and many people have been punished for violating the regulations in the past two days. Besides being whipped, the most unacceptable thing was being starved.
At this time, I saw the strong man walking into the middle of the crowd and loudly said: "Let me introduce myself, my name is Ivan. Like you, we are all Cossacks from the Don River."
Suddenly, someone among the Cossack prisoners present said coldly: "Then why are you wearing the clothes of the enemy? Are you working for them now?"
Ivan ignored that person, but grinned and said: "Everyone is hungry, let's eat something first." After that, he took the wine bottle and cup from the table and poured himself a glass of wine. , raised his neck and drank.
Shishkin had been tired for a day and was already hungry. He saw someone reaching out for bread, so he took a piece and stuffed it into his mouth. The bread baked from newly beaten rye was so delicious!
As more and more people took action, within a short time, everyone was swept away and all the food on the table was swept away.
After everyone finished eating with satisfaction and drank two more glasses of wine, the man named Ivan said loudly: "Cossack brothers! The cruel Romanov dynasty asked you to fight a war of aggression against other countries' territories. Suvo Love failed, and now Rumyantsev has also failed! I am entrusted by the Cossack Congress to call on everyone to unite, overthrow the rule of that vicious old woman, and establish our own Cossack Kingdom on the vast land east of the Ural Mountains!
The Chinese are not our enemies. Lake Baikal is their inherent territory. They have been grazing here more than a thousand years ago. Now they entrust me to send you warm greetings and brotherly salutes. They are not willing to fight with you, but are willing to form an alliance with us. ． ． ． ． ． "
my Lord! Did I drink too much and my ears don’t work? This guy actually called Our Lady a "vicious old woman"? !
Including Shishkin, the Cossack prisoners present were shocked by these rebellious remarks.
When Ivan finished his tirade, the room fell into silence. After a while, someone finally woke up and said angrily: "What nonsense are you talking about! We have our own military leader."
Mikhail, who had been silent for a long time, suddenly said: "Really? Were they elected by the Cossack Congress? Since the death of Romanzanov Pyotr Emelyanovich seventy years ago, all military strategists have The Tamans were all appointed by the tsar, they were in cahoots with the nobility, the Cossack Assembly has long ceased to exist, and our power has been taken away!”
The so-called "Cossack Congress", also known as the Cossack General Military Council, has responsibilities covering military, economic, administrative, political, legal, social and all other matters. According to the tradition of the Cossack ministries, the Cossack Congress generally meets once a year or every few years to discuss all issues accumulated during this period. During the period between the two congresses, the "military Ataman" - that is, the supreme military leader - is solely responsible.
For example, after Pugachev was defeated by Suvorov and fled, people's hearts turned against him, and he was kidnapped by his accomplices. Afterwards, other rebels held a Cossack meeting, and finally the majority voted in favor of sending Ataman, that is, Pugachev to Kazan. Of the 186 people present at the time, only 32 voted against it and one person abstained.
From 1718 onwards, the Cossack Congress was abolished, and all subsequent top military leaders were appointed by the Tsar, thus closely connecting the Cossack aristocracy and Tsarist Russian dignitaries. The reason why Pugachev's riot was joined by a large number of lower-level Cossacks was precisely because of long-term dissatisfaction with these powerful people.
Seeing that no one could answer, Mikhail added: "In a real Cossack Congress, everyone should be able to speak freely, and everyone should be able to express their opinions on the future of the Cossacks, regardless of high or low. But since Pugachev was Those traitors were delivered into the hands of evil enemies, and our right to speak was deprived of our right to speak by those noble gentlemen!"
At this point, Shishkin suddenly raised his hand and asked: "Excuse me, who is the supreme military leader you just mentioned? And which conference was he elected by?"
Mikhail walked up to Shishkin, patted him on the shoulder, and praised: "Brother, you are on to something!"
After that, he looked around at the prisoners present, then walked to Ivan, showed a serious expression, and said in a deep voice: "Please allow me to introduce - Alexander Ivanovich Pugachev, he is The supreme military leader elected by our Don Cossack Congress, he is also the eldest son of the Cossack hero Yemelyan Ivanovich Pugachev."
The prisoners present were all dumbfounded when they looked at Ivan with a smile on his face.
