Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 451: Fighting the Cossacks (6K)

Gunshots rang out, and in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen Cossack cavalrymen who were rushing in the front fell off their horses.

It doesn't sound like much, but remember, this was achieved while shooting from horseback.

It can be seen that the Tang cavalry’s archery skills are still pretty good!

At the same time, the charging Cossacks also opened fire.

However, the Cossacks’ marksmanship was obviously inferior to that of the Tang cavalry.

After a few gunshots, only a few Tang cavalrymen fell to the ground.

And more importantly, the firearms used by the Tang army were special cavalry guns.

Not only is the gun design more suitable for cavalry use, but it also uses a magazine to feed ammunition. You can reload the gun by just pulling the bolt, and continue shooting by pulling the trigger.

Greatly ensures the firepower density!

The Cossacks still used old muzzle-loading smoothbore rifles.

The disadvantage is obvious: loading cannot be completed on horseback.

Compared with breech-loading rifles, the firing rate is too slow. On the battlefield, it can often only fire one round before it is exhausted, and the firepower density is severely limited.

After the Tang cavalry at the front completed a round of shooting, they immediately loaded their rifles and fired the second and third rounds.

Although the sound of gunfire was not dense, it was continuous.

The Cossack cavalry on the opposite side were unable to fight back and could only passively withstand the firepower of the Tang army.

Peter took the lead and rushed to the front. Bullets kept whizzing past his ears, and the sound of breaking through the air was very obvious.

He couldn't help swallowing nervously, but he still waved the cavalry sword in his hand, shouted and continued to charge forward.

But around him, Cossack cavalrymen were constantly being shot, falling off their horses while covering their wounds and screaming miserably.

With countless horse hooves passing by, a person who falls off a horse can easily be trampled into a pulp, and the scene is horrifying.

Finally, the distance between the two sides was shortened again.

Both the Tang cavalry and the Cossacks put away their guns tacitly.

Draw your sword and prepare to fight!

The next moment, the two cavalry units collided with each other like Mars hitting the Earth.

In the blink of an eye, blood spurted out, the sound of broken bones and tendons continued to be heard, and people shouted and horses neighed incessantly.

The cavalry of both sides charged at each other, slashing with sabers, and the fighting was extremely brutal.

After a round of charge, some people fell to the ground.

The battlefield is littered with corpses!
But it is very obvious that the Tang cavalry suffered much fewer casualties than the Cossacks.

The reason for this is that the Tang cavalry who were able to be transferred to the Northern Expedition were all the elite of the Tang Army, and their skills on horseback were not bad.

In addition, they were superior in equipment, with each man wearing a steel helmet, a steel breastplate, and holding a steel saber.

Therefore, even if the opponent was the world-famous elite cavalry like the Cossacks, they still achieved a significantly superior casualty ratio.

Well, along with the Cossacks' reputation for being tough and warlike, they were also famous for their poverty.

The Russians are reluctant to equip the Cossacks with any good equipment!

Under the premise that the riding skills of both sides are almost the same, the role of weaponry is infinitely elevated!

Peter looked back at the Cossacks behind him and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"This...this loss is too great!"

He felt that he had underestimated the Tang army.

In the past, when he led the Cossacks to fight, whether facing the Mongols or the local indigenous people of Siberia, he could often easily defeat the larger force with a smaller one and achieve a great victory.

When facing the enemy, he often only needed to lead a charge, and the natives who still lived in a primitive state, or the Mongols who were slightly better off than the natives, would be scattered like a tiger among a flock of sheep.

He originally thought that there would be no difference between the Tang army and the Mongolian cavalry.

Unexpectedly, there is such a huge difference!

After a round of confrontation, the casualties of his troops were even greater than those of the Tang army on the opposite side.

Thinking of this, Peter prepared to lead his men to turn around and fight again, and confront the Tang army again.

He believed that with the bravery and tenacity of the Cossacks, the Tang army would not be able to hold on.

They will definitely be able to defeat the enemy on the opposite side.

However, before he could give the order to turn the horse around.

Then there was a rumbling sound of horse hooves in the distance.

Another Tang cavalry rushed into the battlefield and headed straight for the Cossacks.

"Brothers, kill!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious!"

"..."

Amidst the earth-shaking shouts of killing, the Tang cavalry entered the arena.

In the blink of an eye, they rushed to the Cossacks.

Snapped! Bang bang!

Crisp gunshots rang out!
Before the collision, the Tang cavalry fired several rounds in succession.

Then, as the distance shortened, the two sides once again engaged in cavalry fighting.

Phew! Phew!
The sound of a sharp blade cutting flesh continued to ring out.

Screams and the sound of horses falling were heard.

Soon, the cavalry of both sides charged at each other again.

At this time, Peter had already regretted it and wanted to back out.

After two rounds of fighting, nearly half of the Cossacks behind him had been killed.

Even with the Cossacks' brutality and tenacity, they are now unable to hold on, and their originally high morale is clearly beginning to decline.

Peter knew that if he did not order a retreat, he and his men might be left on the battlefield by the Tang cavalry.

However, at this moment, another wave of Tang cavalry rushed into the battlefield.

"kill!"

Bang bang! Bang bang bang!

Gunshots rang out and the two sides confronted each other again.

No, this time it can no longer be considered a hedge, but a unilateral massacre by the Tang army.

Faced with the third wave of Tang cavalry, the Cossacks had almost lost their ability to resist.

The Tang cavalry plowed through the Cossack formation mercilessly like a bull plowing the land.

Leaving corpses all over the ground!
The smell of blood in the air became stronger.

Moreover, at the edge of the battlefield in the distance, the fourth wave of Tang cavalry had appeared again.

Seeing this scene, Peter's face twitched constantly.

At this moment, he really felt despair.

The Cossacks behind him also changed their expressions.

The Tang army had an absolute advantage in terms of manpower in this battle. So, facing the invading Cossacks, they naturally would not choose to play a one-on-one duel with them.

Just choose to beat them up!
Each unit took turns to fight against the Cossacks in battalion units.

Even if the Cossacks are so tenacious and good at fighting, they can hold off the first, second, and third waves, but what about the fourth, fifth, sixth, or even more waves?

Sooner or later it will be overwhelmed!

Taking a deep breath, Peter said dejectedly.

"quick!"

"Pass the order down, retreat!"

"We retreat to Chukuboxing..."

However, just as the order to retreat was given, Peter discovered that the three Tang troops that had just charged against them appeared in various locations on the battlefield after the charge, blocking the entire battlefield.

In other words, it was too late for Peter to retreat at this time!
They have been surrounded by the Tang army!

"kill!"

Earth-shaking shouts of killing rang out, and the fourth wave of Tang troops rushed towards the Cossacks.

Seeing that his side was in a desperate situation, Peter took a deep breath and shouted.

"For His Majesty the Tsar, for the Great God!"

"For the glory of the Cossacks!"

“Fight to the end!”

After shouting, he took the lead and was the first to charge towards the Tang army in front of them.

The Cossacks behind him had already collapsed, and only a few of them obeyed his orders and rode forward.

Faced with hundreds of Tang cavalrymen coming at him in a black mass, Peter, with only a few people following him, was like a moth flying into a flame.

As we charged on horseback, gusts of wind mixed with a slight chill blew in our faces.

But Peter felt unusually open-minded.

The warhorse galloped, and his body rose and fell with the horse's movements.

Suddenly, Peter felt a tightness in his chest, as if he had been hit hard.

His body suddenly flew backwards and fell heavily on the soft grass.

At this moment, Peter felt as if everything in front of him slowed down.

Blood was oozing from his mouth, his limbs were visibly deformed, there was a bullet hole in his chest, and blood was constantly oozing out.

What came out was not only blood, but also his vitality.

On his deathbed, Peter could not help but recall the scene in St. Petersburg when he was personally crowned by the Tsar.

"Your Majesty, the Tsar..."

"I can only fight for the great empire in my next life..."

After muttering these words, the light in Peter's eyes completely disappeared, and he looked completely lifeless.

The remaining Cossacks on the battlefield, seeing their commander fall off his horse and die in battle, chose to raise their flags and surrender.

……

A remnant of the Cossack soldiers ran for his life.

He kept whipping the horse, urging the horse under him to speed up.

It was as if something deadly was chasing him from behind!

There was blood all over his body.

The bullet holes and knife marks were extremely obvious, and even the warhorse under his crotch had several bloody wounds.

One look at the man and the horse revealed that they had just experienced a great battle!
The severe pain coming from all over his body made him tense and he dared not relax at all.

Finally, he saw the bastion at the end of the horizon.

The moment he saw the bastion, the Cossack cavalryman felt his tense heartstrings relax.

Immediately, the whole person seemed to have his spine pulled out, and his body and spirit went limp.

His body lost balance and he fell heavily to the ground!

The world shook before his eyes, and then he lost consciousness.

When he woke up again, he had been rescued and brought back to the bastion of Chukubexing.

The Cossack opened his eyes and saw darkness all around.

This was a house with closed doors and windows, and the air was filled with a pungent smell of blood.

The source of the bloody smell came from his own body!

The wounds on his body have been treated and bandaged.

And under him was a soft deerskin blanket.

Lying on it, the Cossack cavalryman felt himself become relaxed, and even the wounds on his body didn't seem to hurt so much anymore.

Well, Siberia is a place that lacks everything except various fur products.

After the Cossack cavalryman opened his eyes, a doctor nearby shouted outside the house.

"Wake up, wake up!"

"Go and inform Major Alexei!"

Amid the doctor's shouts, a Slavic officer soon walked out of the room, surrounded by several soldiers. Major Alexei walked up to the Cossack who had escaped and asked with a serious expression.

"How's the battle going?"

"Where are Captain Peter and the others? Why are you back alone?"

Upon hearing this, the Cossack couldn't help but shed tears and spoke in a tearful voice.

"We lost, we lost!"

"The Tang cavalry attacked in turns. Although the Cossacks fought bravely, they were eventually suppressed and surrounded."

"Captain Peter died while leading his troops in a charge..."

Alexei's face darkened when he heard that, and he punched the wall beside him.

"Sokabile, Peter is such a stupid guy, it's terrible."

"Didn't they agree that he was only going out to test the waters? Who allowed him to fight a decisive battle with the Tang army?"

"Damn it!"

Alexei is really angry now.

The garrison in Chukubaxing City was already limited, and faced with the offensive of the Tang army, it was in great danger.

In this situation, Peter still played like this, which was simply a joke on Chukuboxing.

If Peter had not died in battle outside the city, Alexei would have even wanted to execute him by military law.

Alexei cursed in anger.

At this moment, a Tsarist Russian soldier came running over.

"Major, the Tang army... the Tang army has appeared outside the city!"

Upon hearing this, Alexei's face darkened immediately. He took a deep breath and then spoke.

"Pass the order down and tell our soldiers to prepare to defend the city."

"Everyone, without my order, are not allowed to rashly leave the city to fight the Tang army. Violators will be severely punished."

"have you understood?"

The Tsarist Russian soldier in front of him heard this and immediately said solemnly.

"Don't worry, Major. I understand!"

……

After dealing with the invading Cossacks, the Tang army continued to advance towards Chukubexing.

Soon, they arrived outside the city of Chukubexing.

The Tang cavalry, along with the Mongolian civilians who accompanied them, surrounded the entire Chukubexing City.

Russian soldiers stood on the wall of the bastion and looked out, and saw Tang cavalry galloping everywhere outside.

Listening to the rumbling sound of horse hooves, countless people couldn't help but feel frightened.

Despair, like a dark cloud covering a city, was brewing in the hearts of countless people.

Alexei looked at the Tang army outside the city with a very solemn expression.

But what frightened him most was that after arriving outside the city of Chukubexing, the Tang army did not rashly launch an attack on the Russian bastion.

Instead, they started unloading things from the boat!

And those things are obviously large-caliber heavy artillery.

This was not good news for Alexei.

……

The Tang army was preparing to attack the city, while Feng Zicai and Zhang Lexing met with Sulge.

"You were the first to discover the enemy's attack and sent out a signal to alert the army, right?"

"Don't worry about it, just be honest!"

Zhang Lexing said with a kind look.

Facing Zhang Lexing, Surge was obviously a little nervous, but still spoke honestly.

"I went to take a shit, and after I wiped my butt I felt the ground shaking. I thought it must be an enemy attack, so I immediately sent a signal to warn them."

Zhang Lexing: “…”

There is no need to be so honest!

Feng Zicai on the side said with a smile.

"Haha, good job."

"Your reminder has, in a sense, indeed reduced the losses that the army might have faced."

"I will greet your Khan later and ask him to join the Tang army to do some work. How about that?"

Although Surge is currently under the management of the Tang army, in name only, he is still a member of the Chechen Khanate.

Therefore, if Feng Zicai wanted to use him, he had to inform the Chechen Khan first.

Well, even if Feng Zicai didn’t say hello, Chechen Khan probably wouldn’t dare to say anything, but he would definitely be unhappy.

The most taboo thing in the officialdom is to make enemies for no reason.

Feng Zicai would naturally not do such a thing!
Well, it’s just a greeting, the Chechen Khan will definitely not refuse.

Upon hearing this, Surge became very excited.

"I...I do!"

"I would like to thank the Commander for his cultivation!"

Everyone admires the strong, especially the Mongolians who grew up on the grasslands.

The harsh natural environment has given them the courage to fight against nature and the earth.

But it also makes them naturally worship the strong!
Therefore, Surge was really eager to join the Tang army.

Hearing this, Feng Zicai patted Surge's shoulder and laughed.

"Good! Good! Good!"

"You boy is good!"

……

Lu Ze and several of his men worked together to lift a 150mm breech-loading rifled cannon off the ship.

They began to assemble the artillery and set up the gun positions quickly.

Soon, sweat broke out on Lu Ze's forehead.

He wiped it casually with his sleeve, and then began to silently calculate the shooting parameters in his mind.

Although he is not a professional gunner, he has worked his way up in the military and has plenty of practical experience.

Many times, he only needed to take a glance to get a rough estimate of the artillery's firing parameters.

"Distance 1700 meters, bearing 10 o'clock, wind speed level 35, no impact, muzzle adjusted to degrees..."

"Prepare to reload!"

Lu Ze quickly reported a series of numbers.

The brothers under his command quickly obeyed the order and prepared to launch firepower delivery.

The black muzzle of the gun was aimed in the direction of the Chukuboxing Bastion.

Looking at the bastion in front of him, Lu Ze looked somewhat disdainful.

How could an outdated bastion built one or two hundred years ago possibly withstand the artillery fire of the Tang army?
Lu Ze silently complained in his heart that the bastion had not been redesigned for one or two hundred years and was still using the old style. These foreign devils really had not made any progress.

……

boom! Boom boom!

Deafening artillery bombardments echoed across the battlefield.

However, it was not the Tang army's artillery that opened fire.

Instead, the Tsarist Russian city defense artillery in Chukuboxing City aimed at the Tang cavalry and artillery positions outside the city, intending to launch a fire attack.

Faced with the fierce offensive of the Tang army, the Tsarist Russian army in Chukubexing City did not want to sit and wait for death.

So he planned to take advantage of the fact that the Tang army had not yet established a firm foothold and give the Tang army a warning first!

But unfortunately, the artillery in the bastion are all muzzle-loading smoothbore guns with limited range, rate of fire and power.

The Tang army outside the city can’t be reached at all!
Well, whether it was the Tang army cavalry or the artillery positions, when they were deploying, they had already considered the enemy's firepower threat as a very important reference factor.

Whether it is an artillery position or the cavalry's range of activity, they will naturally choose to stand outside the enemy's artillery range and will not rashly take the risk of entering the range of the enemy's artillery.

Well, the Tang army is different from the Cossacks of Tsarist Russia. The Cossacks are brave but stubborn, while the Tang army is brave but not stubborn.

Lu Ze saw with his own eyes several shells flying towards him, but they fell to the ground halfway.

It rolled forward for a distance, then its kinetic energy was exhausted and it stopped where it was.

The Russian bombardment continued.

However, several rounds of artillery fire did not pose much threat to the Tang army.

It's just a waste of gunpowder!
At this moment, as the command flag waved, Lu Ze and other Tang army artillerymen also received military orders.

"All gun crews, prepare for test firing immediately!!"

Amid the shouts, Lu Ze quickly operated the artillery and prepared to fire.

boom!
With a loud bang, the barrel of the artillery suddenly retreated.

The gun carriage that was stuck on the grass to fix the gun position moved sideways backwards, leaving a clear mark on the ground with the tail of the gun, and the soil was turned up.

The muzzle of the gun suddenly spewed out a cloud of thick smoke, and the shell broke through the air and shot towards the top of the Chukuboxing Bastion.

Under the watchful eyes of countless people, shells fell from the sky and landed on the bastion.

Amidst a loud bang, smoke, fire, and shock waves quickly spread out.

Wherever the shock wave passed, there was devastation.

A bastion's defensive artillery position was affected by the explosion, and the flames ignited the gunpowder barrels in the position.

An even louder explosion was heard, and a small mushroom cloud rose from the top of the bastion. The gunner and the gun itself were blown into the sky.

At this moment, the entire bastion couldn't help but shake slightly.

Outside the city, the Tang army’s artillery position.

Seeing this scene, a group of people couldn't help but cheer.

"Lu Tou Niu Hide!"

"Fuck, I hit him, boss is awesome!"

"..."

The crowd couldn't help but marvel at Lu Ze's artillery skills. He was a real master!
Lu Ze smiled and waved his hand nonchalantly, signaling everyone to keep a low profile.

Then, the shelling continued.

After completing the test firing and confirming that there were no problems with the artillery firing parameters, the Tang army's artillery crew began to aim at the bastion and deliver firepower unscrupulously.

Boom! Boom!
Deafening artillery bombardments echoed across the battlefield.

The roar lasted for half a day. After half a day, the gun positions on the Chukubexing Bastion were almost completely cleared.

The soldiers defending the city suffered heavy casualties!
The next moment, the shrill sound of the charge horn sounded, and the Tang army launched a mighty charge towards the bastion.

"Kill!"

"The Tang Dynasty is victorious, long live your Majesty!"

"..."

Holding a rifle with a bayonet, Surge shouted loudly and charged forward with the Tang army.

It seemed as if there was a surge of blood boiling in my chest.

"Kill the Rakshasa ghost and avenge our people!"

Surge shouted in Mongolian, veins bulged on his neck and his face turned red.

Beside him, the Mongolian soldiers of the Chechen Khanate also shouted loudly and charged forward together.

Everyone is extremely excited!
The Chechen Khanate had suffered a lot during the eastward expansion of Tsarist Russia. Several small tribes dependent on the Chechen Khanate were massacred by the Cossacks, and even the Chechen Khanate headquarters was attacked several times, causing heavy losses.

Everyone has relatives who died at the hands of Tsarist Russia.

Now that they finally have the chance to take revenge, how could these members of the Chechen Khanate not be excited?
To fight the Russians, they have to bring their own dry food!
Amid shouts and cries of killing, the Tang army successfully broke into Chukubexing's bastion.

The Russian troops involved attempted to resist, but were shot to death or stabbed to death by sharp bayonets at the first sight.

Soon, as more and more Tang troops poured in, the double-headed eagle flag over Chukuboxing City was lowered and replaced by a large flag with Tang characters on it.

(End of this chapter)