From a strategic perspective, the Battle of Yeniseysk actually saw the Chu army speed up their march and reach Yeniseysk in September. More importantly, they successfully crossed the Yenisei River and reached the west bank. back.
The balance of victory has already tilted towards the Chu army.
Because in terms of hard power, the Chu Army's Yenisey Dispatch Force and the Navy's Second Fleet of the Small North Sea Fleet are far stronger than the defenders in Yeniseysk.
Not to mention the absolute firepower advantage formed by a large number of flintlock guns, artillery, and grenades, the military strength alone far exceeds that of the Russian army.
The army and navy of the Great Chu Empire gathered here amounted to more than 15,000 people, which was more than all the residents of Yeniseisk City and even the total population of the surrounding villages...
This situation is the same as the second Battle of Jungar a few years ago. The Chu army advanced from multiple directions at the same time, with a total strength of more than 200,000, which was larger than the population of the Jungar tribe.
If you include the logistics workers and other personnel, the number will be hundreds of thousands, more than the total population of the Zhungeer tribe and other dependent tribes under its control.
The Great Chu Empire likes to fight this kind of war in which the more are used to fight the less, and the stronger is used to bully!
The process seems to be ordinary, there are no thrilling scenes, and there are no surprise attacks or shocking miracles such as defeating more with less.
But... all kinds of surprise attacks, amazing tactical miracles, etc. often only appear in weak countries.
In powerful countries, there are generally few so-called famous generals and miraculous battles... This does not mean that the commander's ability or the bravery of the soldiers are not enough, but that there is no such opportunity...
Think about it, when the so-called famous generals of a weak country go to the battlefield with few troops and poor weapons and equipment, they rack their brains and think of various ways to narrow the gap in strength between the two sides and create as many advantages as possible in the situation. advantage time.
The seemingly mediocre and unreputable generals of powerful countries hummed a tune and went to the battlefield in a happy mood with absolutely superior troops and weapons and equipment. When they arrived, they casually glanced at the enemy and ordered their troops to roam freely... Then he turned around and went back to sleep.
When you wake up...victory is within your grasp.
The Chu Empire's wars, especially the army's wars, were basically like this, even in the later stages of the domestic unification war.
They rarely use any messy tactics, they just gather more troops, more guns, and more ammunition supplies to crush them all the way... So far, no enemy can withstand the crushing force of the Da Chu Empire Army. Pressure combat.
In the past, the Dongji people, who were said to be invincible, were brave enough... Their senior generals were not bad either, but despite their many tricks, their soldiers fought bravely, and even resisted with their own flesh and blood countless times. A heroic example of the Chu army's guns and artillery.
But how...
The Dongji people have now disappeared as an ethnic group in the long river of history.
Zhungeer is strong enough. They have an extremely powerful cavalry force. They can even be said to be the most powerful cavalry force in Mongolia and Central Asia. They can pull out tens of thousands of elite cavalry every minute, and they can even do so with all their strength. Pull out hundreds of thousands of cavalry.
And their cavalry is not a traditional mounted archer that lags behind the times. In fact, Jungar's cavalry has kept pace with the times, and they are equipped with a large number of guns and cannons.
They used horses to transport a large number of small-caliber artillery for rapid maneuvers, and then carried out artillery operations when they arrived at the place. Their cavalry were also equipped with a large number of matchlock guns.
The overall intensity of firepower is second to none in Central Asia. The nomadic cavalry of the Kazakh Khanate next door are not worthy of carrying their shoes.
However, when they encountered the Chu army, they were not crushed into powder. Now there are only a few remnants left hiding in Tibet, lingering in the upper reaches of the Irtysh River, the east and north of Yibohai (Balkhash Lake) and other areas.
Today's Russians are no exception. No matter how hard they struggle, when the Chu Empire seriously launched its northern strategy, the ownership of central and eastern Siberia had actually been decided.
How could the Russians withstand the fierce offensive of the Chu Empire with the small amount of troops and population they had in Siberia?
Even if the Chu Empire's troop projection and population in the northern region are smaller, they are still relatively small.
In other places, the empire may easily mobilize tens or hundreds of thousands of troops and mobilize millions of young people to support the war.
In the northern region, only tens of thousands of people could be mobilized to participate in the war, and there were only hundreds of thousands of young people from the rear to support the war.
However, this is still much stronger than the Russians in Siberia.
This huge strategic advantage brought about by national strength, as long as the Chu army's frontline generals do not make huge mistakes, then this war will be a sure win.
The only uncertainty is how to win!
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Regarding these huge strategic disadvantages, the high-level Russian authorities in Yeniseisk also know that they have tried to improve this huge strategic disadvantage before, but... hard power is like this, not if they want to change it Able to change.
Now the only thing they can do is to resist and hold on until winter comes, and then hope that when winter comes, the Chu army will take the initiative to retreat due to lack of follow-up.
The whole idea is actually similar to the idea of the Russian army in Yakutsk on the Lena River.
And the ending is almost the same...
The city of Yakutsk on the Lena River failed to hold, and the Russian army in Yeniseisk also failed to hold.
On September 17, the day after the Chu army crossed the river, more Chu army troops, artillery and ammunition successfully crossed the river and went into siege operations.
Among them, the navy's temporary artillery unit is also indispensable.
The Navy has always had the tradition of moving naval guns from battleships to land and then organizing them into temporary artillery units to support land operations. Even small and medium-caliber naval guns, especially large-caliber howitzers, were designed with temporary additions in mind. Possibility of mounting land gun mounts and conducting operations ashore.
Although the whole process is very troublesome, and it is very inconvenient to use the naval gun after replacing the gun mount, it can provide powerful fire support for ground troops anyway.
After all, the navy's naval guns are far more powerful than the army's firepower.
On the Army side, the 115mm field artillery is already considered an important division and army-level main support artillery. The 150mm class howitzer is also used to limit weight. Ultra-light howitzers are generally used. The 150mm standard howitzer is generally used. They are all attached to independent heavy artillery units and are rarely seen in ordinary field battles.
As for the Navy, 115mm-class naval guns are considered small-caliber... Especially after the Navy adopted the unified large-caliber naval gun plan, newly built warships, even river warships, are equipped with larger calibers. gun.
The main inland river gunboat in the second group of the Little North Sea Fleet, the Northern-class first-class inland river gunboat, has a full load displacement of just over 180 tons, but its main guns are two 130 mm mid-barreled naval guns and two 130 mm Short-barreled naval gun.
A warship of just over 180 tons is equipped with four 130mm naval guns... This is an exaggerated figure. It is very rare even among typical river warships with small boats carrying big guns.
However, this is a typical phenomenon in the Chu Empire Navy's plan to unify large-caliber naval guns in recent years.
This time, the Second Battalion supporting the Army's operation not only allowed several inland river gunboats to risk approaching for shelling, but also mounted more than 20 naval guns on temporary Army gun mounts, and then pulled them ashore to participate in the shelling to directly support the Army. Combat.
Most of these more than 20 artillery pieces are 130 mm medium-barreled and short-barreled naval guns, and there are also multiple 150 mm short-barreled naval guns.
These artillery pieces will fire solid shells or grenades and assume the main artillery mission.
Coupled with the army's own dozens of artillery pieces, this was another battle in which more than a hundred artillery pieces shelled the Russian defenders!
Under such circumstances, starting on September 17, the rumbling explosions in the city of Yeniseisk never stopped. From morning to evening, even at night, the Chu army had nothing to do and moved towards Yeniseisk. A few rounds of shelling in Sk City...
After such violent shelling continued for three days, the city of Yeniseisk was already in a mess. The outermost city fortifications had not collapsed. Most of these fortifications were built to defend against solid shelling. The overall defensive performance was actually good... At least the large number of explosive shells fired by the Chu army did not cause much damage to these solid bastion defenses.
But the problem is...these bastion defenses themselves are fine, but it doesn't mean that the Russian soldiers stationed inside are fine.
Grenades... in modern times are not originally used to attack the fortifications themselves, but are used to kill a large number of enemy troops.
Especially the air-burst bombs that the Chu army likes to use the most. Once they explode on the heads of dense enemies, they can cover a large area in minutes.
During the three days of fierce shelling, the Russian troops defending the city suffered a large number of casualties, and their morale was extremely low. A large number of deserters had begun to appear.
Unlike the Chu army outside the city, which was all professional soldiers, the Russian army inside the city actually didn't have many formal regular troops, just a thousand men, and more of them were mercenaries and temporarily recruited militiamen.
And among the above three, the militias and mercenaries are not very capable of withstanding the brutal war...
If nothing happens and the overall casualties are not high, it's okay. Helping to defend the city is not a big problem. But once the casualties increase and the fighting becomes fierce, it will be easy to escape or even collapse on a large scale.
The Russian army in Yeniseisk is now on the verge of collapse.
On the fourth day of the large-scale bombardment, September 21, feeling the increasingly cold weather, the technical personnel accompanying the army and the local guides were all judging that based on the experience of previous years and the recent As the weather changes, it may not take long for the local area to experience severe cooling and snowfall.
They couldn't accurately determine the time, but they could probably guess it, and it was probably in early October.
In other words, there is not much time left for the Chu army to attack the city of Yeniseisk.
Optimistic estimates suggest that there are still ten days left, but if you are unlucky, it may only be five, six, or even three or four days.
Therefore, the Chu troops on the front line did not hide and tuck in. After the fierce bombardment for the first three days, they launched a full-scale general offensive on the fourth day.
They want to end the fighting before large-scale snowfall, and then enter the city of Yeniseisk to spend the winter.
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When the Chu army launched a comprehensive attack, a large number of infantry units began to participate. Under the cover of fierce artillery fire, they attacked the city of Yeniseisk like a tide.
Such a fierce offensive was simply not something that the defenders in the city could resist.
On the first day of the all-out attack, because the Chu army's attention was mainly focused on the fortifications on the city defense and the fortification nodes outside the city, and at the same time to avoid a large number of casualties, they fought relatively cautiously.
Therefore, although the Russian army suffered heavy casualties, with more than 300 casualties in one day of fierce fighting, it was still able to sustain itself without a complete collapse.
But on the second day, the 22nd, after the Chu army passed the test of a large-scale infantry attack on the first day, they launched a targeted attack on several weak points in the Russian army's defense on the second day, and Grenadier commandos were used.
When the Chu army dispatches elite infantry such as grenadier commandos, the battle situation is often a matter of victory or defeat, and more importantly, life and death.
With more than 200 people taller than 1.8 meters, all of them are strong and strong, wearing heavy-duty bulletproof breastplates made of high-carbon steel, holding flintlock guns, and wearing two Suifa pistols and several When the grenadiers with a grenade began to launch a fierce attack on the Russian army.
The already overwhelmed Russian army finally collapsed completely.
The remnants of the Russian army began to flee and surrender, but they no longer had the last vestige of determination to resist.
It’s not that they are not brave, but they are really unstoppable...
In the past few days, when there was only artillery bombardment by the Chu army, although they were beaten to death by the artillery, at least the Chu army infantry did not launch a large-scale attack.
Yesterday, when the Chu army sent out infantry to attack, they were actually almost unable to hold on. However, in order to avoid too many casualties, the Chu army held back and often preferred to slow down the pace of the attack rather than suffer casualties. There are too many people. After all, the infantry attack on the first day is still based on testing and reconnaissance of the enemy's defense force deployment and looking for weak links.
However, even so, the Russian troops in the city were actually almost unstoppable.
If the Chu army had not retreated on its own in the end, the city of Yeniseisk would have changed hands yesterday.
But today, when the Chu army truly launches a full-scale attack and dispatches elite infantry such as grenadiers, the Russian resistance becomes even more unrealistic.
They did not flee or surrender en masse before the Chu army's grenadiers rushed up, but barely resisted for about half an hour. This was considered worthy of their Russian tsar.
Of course, they only resisted for half an hour, and this half hour was actually the time when the Chu army continued to advance... No matter how elite the Chu army's grenadiers were, they couldn't fly. They could only rely on two The legs continue to advance across the battlefield.
When the grenadiers advanced to the main defense line of Yeniseisk City, the Russian army naturally collapsed.
As soon as the Chu army arrived, some surrendered and some ran away...
At this time, the city of Yeniseisk can be declared to have been captured by the Chu army!
Subsequently, the Chu army did not push the fleeing remnants too hard, nor did they rush into the city to pursue them. Instead, they very cautiously controlled the main defense nodes along the city wall.
The grenadiers then began to welcome large numbers of ordinary infantry into the city.
After the ordinary infantry entered the city and formed an absolute strength advantage, they began to gradually advance towards the city.
This kind of advance in the city is also very characteristic of the Chu army's combat, that is, it advances piece by piece... It does not mean running directly along the avenue in the city, directly to the center of the city... but using the area as a The goal is to control one area and then advance to the next area.
This kind of control, to control traffic arteries, important buildings, etc., aims to cut off and disperse the remaining enemy forces that may exist in the city.
Prevent the remaining enemies in the city from organizing a large-scale ambush.
After controlling these areas, the next step will be a more detailed suppression operation. The Chu army will enter every house, search every person, and in the process kill any recalcitrant elements and arrest any suspicious elements.
At the same time, it was also accompanied by the confiscation of various trophies and so on.
Well, the part of confiscating loot is the most popular among the soldiers.
Everyone came all the way from China to fight in the northern ice fields. In addition to carrying out orders, serving the court, and making achievements, they naturally also hoped to get some loot and make a little fortune.
When the Chu army was engaged in foreign wars, they generally dealt with the spoils of war very generously. In addition to weapons and ammunition, bulk supplies, large amounts of gold and silver in the treasury, and organized house raids on the enemy's powerful people.
During daily battles, when soldiers seize some private trophies on the battlefield, the government generally adopts a tacit attitude. Even the military post office will help the soldiers send the trophies home...
The same was true for the battle in Yeniseisk this time. Under the sweep of the army, the Chu army obtained a large number of official trophies, and many of the soldiers also had bulging pockets.
Some obtained gold and silver decorative vessels, and many more obtained a large number of furs. These furs may be of average value in places like the Arctic, but they can be sent back to their native areas, especially North China, Northeast China and other northern provinces. Yes, the price is quite high.
This clearing operation of Yeniseisk City is a carnival of spoils!
In order to avoid conflicts between various ministries due to the issue of loot, the dispatched army also specially ordered to delineate each district in the city. Each unit is responsible for their own investigation. Even the navy personnel were assigned to a block for clearing operations.
In this way, all troops will have the opportunity to eat a wave of loot, and everyone will be happy...
When the Chu army's purge operation in Yeniseysk City lasted three days and completely ended, Yeniseysk City finally ushered in the first wave of extreme cold wave this year!
Overnight, the temperature dropped sharply and there was snow!
The arrival of this large-scale cold wave also announced that a series of military operations in the Northern Strategy of the Great Chu Empire had pressed the pause button, and they began to be busy preparing for the winter. At the same time, they were also actively preparing!
Next year, the Great Chu Empire will plan to completely conquer the Yenisei River Basin and the areas east of it, and at the same time expand its military front westward to the Ob River Basin, starting the later stage of its northern strategy.
That is to capture the Ob River Basin and completely solve the strategic security problem in the north.
The upper reaches of the Irtysh River, the upper reaches of the Ob River Basin, is where the remnants of Jungar are located.
Therefore, next year's northern strategy, in order to fully control the Ob River Basin, will not only target the Russians, but also launch a new round of attacks on the remnants of Dzungar.
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There is an easter egg chapter at the back, and a strategic map of the north is uploaded. You can take a look.
(End of chapter)
