Some people in the imperial court had considerable opinions on recovering the Western Regions, but when they heard that the northern part of the Western Regions contained rich oil resources, few people dared to make irresponsible remarks.
When they heard that the emperor was retaking the Western Regions, he was also sending troops to take back the desolate and barren Fuxianbelia. These people waited for the opportunity and began to flee again.
It turned out that there was a huge gold mine in the Tangnu Ulianghai area. The gold mine was so much that it was equivalent to the annual income of the imperial court for more than five years. After that, it could only suddenly shut down again.
Some people who are not smart will ask stupidly, how to send miners to mine in such a far away mining area?
These people were laughed at by most people immediately, and they laughed so hard that their stomachs hurt.
Why does the emperor insist on attacking Rakshasa?
In addition to Rakshasa being the enemy of the Ming Dynasty, weren't the prisoners captured after the King's victory all miners?
Wouldn't it be nice to arrange errands for him nearby?
Millions of people go to Tangnu Ulianghai to mine, what a spectacular scene it will be!
There is no need to mobilize miners from within the pass. All you need to do is load the machinery, vehicles, weapons, equipment, food, commodities, etc. needed to build and protect the mining area. Even horses can be purchased locally. How convenient!
One million people mine, and each person can mine five taels of gold worth of gold per month, which is five million taels a month.
Even if the imperial court only gets 50% of the gold mine, it can reap dividends of up to 30 million taels a year.
Even if the early stage situation is not good and the income is reduced by more than half, it is still a huge amount of 10 million taels at least!
In the 23rd year of Haojing, that is, the 39th year of Chongzhen (1666), Beiting's annual income was only 79 million taels of silver.
Including the cost of repairing the railway, it will be paid back within five years.
The total cost of building railways, building mining areas, and conquering Rakshasa from the west could be recovered by a certain new emperor in about ten years as long as enough Rakshasa miners were captured.
It would be a fool not to do such a lucrative project.
After the announcement was published widely in newspapers, both officials and merchants understood the importance of the Western Expedition.
Not only can you regain your homeland, but you can also make money on the way, so why not?
As long as the Moxi gold mine can be connected to the railway, businessmen will not mind traveling thousands of miles to Tangnu Ulianghai to make money.
Anyway, as long as he keeps pace with the emperor, there will definitely be no shortage of money-making projects.
In view of the extremely difficult geographical environment of the Western Expedition, it is reasonable for a certain new emperor to purchase a large amount of food, medicine and other military supplies for the soldiers of the King's Division.
A certain new emperor thinks about the whole army, and Wanli also thinks about Yang Zhan, so it makes sense not to join them.
The strength of the Wanli Department is five times that of the Yang Zhan Department, and it is much more mobile due to its large number of cavalry.
Once the two men and horses join together, Yang Zhan basically won't have many results and can only hang out with Wanli.
Wanli studied under Emperor Haojing, and of course he knew that Yang Zhan was also the general named by his master, so he naturally wanted to leave a piece of cake for him.
This piece of cake is the area east of the Yenisei River. Yang Zhan can eat as much as he can. If he can't eat it, Wanli will send troops to help.
Throughout the winter, Wanli's troops were not harassed by Rakshasa reinforcements on a large scale, and the appearance of a small number of Cossacks did not pose any threat to the king's army on the Western Expedition.
In particular, the hard-working Menggu cavalry came in handy at this time. They were particularly good at fighting the Rakshasa soldiers in the cold winter. In summer, when the temperature rose, they became a little wilted.
In fact, the territory that Wanli wanted to give to Yang Zhan was even larger, because there were actually not many Rakshasa people in the entire Xianbelia, and the job of catching the miners had to go over the Ural Mountains before it could be truly implemented.
What Wanli wants to do most after the beginning of spring is to lead his army all the way west, through the area south of the Ural Mountains, and into the Rakshasa hinterland, so that his soldiers can make money.
Fighting in the Xianbelia area, it seems that the troops are making great strides forward every day. In fact, the places they pass through are basically no man's land compared to the bustling Guan Nei.
You can't see a single native within a mile of the land, and even if you see a tribe, there are only about a hundred or so people in the sky. They are so poor that they can only hope to exchange horses or elk with Master Wang for some daily necessities.
Dozens or hundreds of Cossacks are simply not enough to fill the gap between the teeth of the army. Wanli has no interest in this kind of armed fighting that is better than nothing.
This is by no means an exaggeration. The so-called brave and capable Cossack cavalry are just compared to the soldiers and horses of the vassal state.
I really encountered the elite cavalry of the Ming army who were riding hybrid war horses, wearing heavy armor and carrying repeating rifles. These enemies were just giving away the results.
Even five hundred Cossacks could not defeat five thousand Mongolian cavalry. It was common for Cossacks to be beaten by Mongolian cavalry along the way.
Wanli was only interested in the letters and maps on the Rakshasa soldiers. Other trophies could be awarded to the various tribes participating in the war. Therefore, the Menggu cavalry rushed to the battlefield to kill the enemy.
After the loss of the Barnaul stronghold, the defenders of Novosibirsk and Tomsk to the north were naturally frightened.
There were only about a hundred Cossacks in one stronghold. Everyone did not want to be annihilated, so they unanimously chose to run west.
But even when they arrived in Omsk, five hundred miles away, these people did not feel safe. After all, it was not far enough from Barnaul.
Perhaps by running to Chelyabinsk, we no longer have to worry about being chased by yellow-skinned monkeys.
They are not cowards. If there are three to five thousand people, they will definitely kill them.
But now there are only about 200 people here. As soon as they pass by, almost all of them will die...
After much thought, Wanli made a bold decision, that is, the entire army would attack directly to the west and give up the plan of turning around.
Leave the territory behind you to Yang Zhan to feast on. If your troops move quickly, they can advance to the vicinity of the Ural Mountains before winter comes.
The entire army will arrive in Kazan next year. If we calculate according to the time, we can attack the Rakshasa capital Moscow as soon as the year after next!
Go west as soon as possible, leave this barren land, enter the densely populated areas of Rakshasa, and plunder. This is what Wanli wants to do.
While spending the winter in Barnaul, Wanli remembered Jiexuan's fleet expedition to America.
This guy stayed in North America where he couldn't make much money for a while, and then he sent his troops south to attack the Xiyi territory.
Wan Li believed that although Yang Zhan's troops were not large, there was no problem in protecting themselves. It would be easy and enjoyable to deal with one or two thousand Rakshasa soldiers.
There is no need to wait for him to come over slowly. It is better to treat the territory behind him as a gift and give him a personal favor. This arrangement is also very beneficial to his own department.
You won't get lost when going to Omsk, because the city is built on the bank of the Irtysh River. In fact, in order to facilitate water access, the Rakshasa people's strongholds are basically built on the riverside, which is easy to find.
Wanli launched his troops at the end of March, and the entire army reached the outskirts of Omsk by the beginning of June.
Since the city was built on the east bank of the Irtysh River, the defenders abandoned the city in advance and fled in order not to be bombarded by the enemy when crossing the river.
It was mainly from people who had retreated from the three strongholds of Barnaul, Tomsk, and Novosibirsk that the Yellow-skinned Monkeys had as many as 100,000 troops and also carried a large number of heavy artillery!
There is no way to fight this battle. Holding on will mean death!
I heard that after being caught by a yellow-skinned monkey, he would be skinned, which would be even more terrifying...
After occupying Omsk without bloodshed, Wanli immediately ordered the Menggu cavalry troops to continue marching westward without stopping.
The target is Kurgan on the west bank of the Tobol River, where the entire army will winter, and then continue westward in the coming spring.
Wanli estimates that it will not be so easy to advance further west from Kurgan, because it is already close to the southern Ural Mountains.
This place is thousands of miles away from the Daming Pass, but relatively close to the core control area of the Rakshasa people. The entire army will encounter frequent Rakshasa cavalry attacks.
But the war is exactly what Wanli is looking forward to. Never having a head-on battle and understanding his opponent through actual combat will make Wanli somewhat anxious.
News of the defeat reached Moscow, and Tsar Alexei I was immediately furious when he saw the report.
Although Obukhov did not understand military affairs, Khabarov and Tolbuzin both had rich combat experience and would not deceive the emperor.
The great Tsarist Russia will surely trample the yellow-skinned monkey under its feet, and the entire Siberia will be merged into the territory of the Tsarist Russian Empire.
There is no doubt about this, nor is it likely to change to any degree.
The yellow-skinned monkeys are just struggling to their death. The brave and capable Tsarist Russian army defeated the Kipchak Khanate. Are they still afraid of those yellow-skinned monkeys that can even bully the Dutch?
After calming down, Alexei I convened his ministers to brainstorm and must discuss a feasible counterattack plan as soon as possible, otherwise most of Siberia will fall into the hands of the yellow-skinned monkeys.
For Alexei I, this was absolutely unacceptable and could not be tolerated.
After listening to everyone's suggestions, Alexei I finally ordered Bonesk to be the governor of southern Siberia.
Lead three thousand Cossacks to fight back against the yellow-skinned monkeys that invaded Siberia. You can only succeed, not fail!
Alexey I believed that 3,000 Cossacks were enough to sweep away 30,000 yellow-skinned monkeys. If that didn't work, he could also attack a thousand shooting troops, which were troops equipped with artillery.
However, the ministers believed that as long as three thousand Cossacks and one thousand troops equipped with artillery were sent, there was no need to send an elite shooting army into battle.
So the scale of the troop dispatch was set at four thousand, of which three thousand were Cossacks who could fight on the move, and the rest could fight in positional battles with the yellow-skinned monkeys.
Starting this spring, we will basically be able to reach eastern Siberia by next summer. If it is not completely lost by then...
When the vanguard troops sent by Manli arrived outside Kurgan, the reinforcements from Moscow also arrived, but only three days earlier than the former.
"Just these yellow-skinned monkeys?"
Warlord Boneske looked at the situation outside the city with a telescope in Kurgan City, with a somewhat contemptuous tone.
The number was less than 3,000 by visual inspection, but there were 3,000 Cossacks in my hands.
With just one charge, the incoming enemies can be killed and scattered.
"Sir, should we be more careful?"
Balfinov, who had retreated from Barnaul, felt that it was still necessary to remind the warlord who knew little about yellow-skinned monkeys, so as not to make the mistake of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly.
"What are you careful about?"
"Perhaps this is just the forward force of the yellow-skinned monkeys, and their main force has not arrived yet!"
"...Well! It's not impossible!"
Although Boneske despised the yellow-skinned monkey, he was not reckless and felt that his subordinate's reminder was reasonable.
It was impossible for Obukhov, Khabarov, and Tolbuzin to lie to the Tsar at the same time. This would be the sin of the emperor.
Since they have confirmed that the opponent has tens of thousands of troops, before the yellow-skinned monkeys are not exposed to the epidemic, there may really be nearly ten thousand people arriving here.
The most important thing is that Boneske did not see artillery in the opponent's cavalry group, but it is possible that the opponent's heavy weapons have not reached the outside of Kurgan.
Boneske was still hesitant as to whether to attack first and win a victory to boost morale, or to wait until all the opponents arrived before taking action.
If the Cossacks under his command are too brave and scare away the yellow-skinned monkeys, and I still have to work hard to catch up, I might as well wait until the other party is almost there before taking action.
Thinking of this, Boneske decided to stand still because Kurgan is a city located on the west bank of the Tobol River.
The enemy's movement across the river will be discovered by the reconnaissance cavalry, and then it would be best to attack halfway across the river...
Five days later, Wanli arrived at the outskirts of Kurgan with the main force.
However, I have received reports from my subordinates before, saying that there are many traces of enemy troops in the city.
It seems that the garrison had more than a thousand troops, but the exact number is unknown.
Because the enemy was well-positioned on the other side, they would not let the Menggu cavalry cross the river easily.
Wanli seemed very happy about this, which showed that not only were the defenders more numerous, but they also planned to fight him to the death.
The five hundred steam tanks under his command were moving so fast that their wheels were almost worn out, and they didn't even get a chance to fire.
We finally caught up this time, but the other party must not run away, our five hundred tanks are already very hungry!
To be precise, there were only about 460 tanks that reached the other side of Kurgan City, and the rest were scrapped halfway.
This was good enough, since there wasn't much fighting along the way.
If it has experienced a high-intensity battle, there will not be more than 300 tanks available at this time.
It is already early September, and the temperature of the river water in this area is not high.
But it is absolutely no problem to find a ford and let the troops wade across the river.
The Tobol River is not a big river, and its surface is not wide. Besides, Wanli can also let the engineers throw stones into the river and pave a road forcibly.
The chosen crossing point was about forty miles upstream of Kurgan City. Wanli wanted to see if the other party would dare to send troops when his own troops were crossing the river.
Mandai chose a sunny day with excellent visibility and deployed three artillery battalions on the east coast.
Then he ordered 10,000 Menggu cavalry to cross the river first, followed by armored troops, and finally the infantry.
The infantry basically went with the artillery, leaving 10,000 Mengo cavalry on the east bank to protect them.
"Lord Warlord, the yellow-skinned monkeys have begun to cross the river!"
"How many troops are there?"
"Probably fifty thousand or more!"
"……real???"
"That's according to my experience!"
Balfinov personally went to see the opponent's crossing point. The scene was majestic and there were a large number of vehicles equipped with artillery.
After listening to the report from his men, Boneske began to hesitate. He had thought that the yellow-skinned monkeys had more troops, but he did not expect so many people to come.
Four thousand versus fifty or sixty thousand?
Our own side is at a strength disadvantage of more than fifteen times!
Unless the opponent is vulnerable, if you are stuck in a bitter battle, you will also suffer a loss.
"What do you think of the fighting ability of the invading yellow-skinned monkey?"
"...It's hard to estimate!"
