The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

In the former Jurchen settlement, one could see men with unfriendly faces or thuggish looks, holding wooden spears or blunt knives, surrounded by three thousand Han soldiers, practicing battle formations.

As the commander of Ningguta Guard and concurrently the general of Heilongjiang, Zhao Lie had the authority to command 5,000 troops, which was used to control the entire Heilongjiang province.

Don't think that 5,000 men is a small number. This is a regular force. Once there is sufficient firearms, they will be equipped with new flintlock muskets and small field guns weighing 500 jin.

As long as he doesn't provoke public outrage, he can become an invincible force in this desolate land, just like Li Chengliang did back then, relying on a few thousand elite retainers.

One of the Han soldiers saw a scarred-faced man who looked listless and had no intention of training, and immediately lashed him with his whip.

"You bandit from the mountains, His Majesty's mercy in sparing your life is already an act of divine grace. Now he's even helping you strengthen your body. Stop dawdling like this, are you courting death?"

After being lashed on the back, everyone thought the scarred man would swallow his anger, but to their surprise, he pushed off with his foot and crashed directly into the Han soldiers.

Unexpectedly, the scarred man possessed such great strength that the Han soldier was sent flying more than two meters away, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and he lost his fighting ability.

When Scarface saw that the Han soldiers were so weak and easily defeated, he immediately put on a smug look.

"Back in the day, when I, your brother Dao, led my bandits across the Western Regions and fought the Mongols for food, you brat were nowhere to be found. Now you dare to lecture your brother Dao?"

The other prisoners cheered loudly upon seeing this.

"Great job, Brother Dao!"

Zhao Lie, who had just entered, witnessed this scene. This scarred-face man dared to ambush Han soldiers today, and he would dare to kill Zhao Lie, the general, tomorrow. Therefore, he had to be executed.

Without asking any questions, he simply pulled out a short gun, no longer than a chopstick, from his waist, skillfully loaded it, aimed, and pulled the trigger.

With a loud bang, Scarface collapsed to the ground, dead, his brains spilling out from the back of his head.

All the prisoners looked at Zhao Lie and the short gun in his hand, and couldn't help but shiver. Did he kill people without even saying hello?

This short gun is made of high-quality iron, and each time it is loaded with gunpowder, it is very powerful and can penetrate armor within fifty meters. However, its production is limited, and currently only those of the rank of adjutant general and above possess it.

Liu Mu's provision of this pistol to officers was also a symbol of honor. What is honor? It's having something that others don't.

Moreover, this pistol can be used for self-defense or suicide when in dire straits. After all, you can't kill yourself with a knife, but you can pull the trigger with a gun.

After killing the scarred man, Zhao Lie strode to the center and coldly surveyed the prisoners.

"You are all bandits from the Northwest or mountain bandits from Shandong and Shanxi. No matter how powerful you were in the past, you must behave yourselves in Heilongjiang."

"Men, drag this scarred-face man out and feed him to the wolves!"

Zhao Lie had been a slave since childhood and had witnessed firsthand how the unruly Kazakh tribal leaders were gradually tamed by their slave owners into slaves who only knew how to work.

They only have one tactic: to intimidate by killing, and to do so ruthlessly and decisively.

Sure enough, these criminals and thugs were frightened by Zhao Lie's methods and began to behave themselves.

Seeing that the time was right, Zhao Lie took out a folded book containing information about the prisoners.

"Most of you were originally destined to die, but His Majesty the Emperor is merciful and will send you to the North Sea, the place where Su Wu herded sheep more than a thousand years ago."

"The weather there is even colder than here in winter, and there are cannibalistic savages nearby. Don't even think about escaping if you go there. Even on the way there, if we don't kill you, you'll either freeze to death or be eaten!"

"However, you will be there to reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land. Those who perform meritorious service will be allocated land and wives, and you will have the opportunity to start anew!"

Upon hearing that it was even colder than Ningguta and that there were cannibalistic savages in the surrounding area, the group immediately became agitated.

Bang! Another gunshot rang out.

A man who was 1.8 meters tall was hit in the chest by a lead bullet and fell to the ground dead with a gruesome expression.

Faced with the ruthless Zhao Lie, the prisoners fell silent again, after all, no one wanted to be next.

Of course, Zhao Lie wasn't killing indiscriminately. It was because that guy was a human trafficker, and he himself had been trafficked, so naturally he hated him to the extreme.

Killing him would also be settling a personal score!

At the same time, he would also advise the court that such human traffickers should not be sent over, and that they should be executed on the spot.

Zhao Lie glanced at the sky and, sensing that it was about time, waved to the person in cotton armor standing nearby.

"Chen Liu, put leg irons on them all, divide them into groups of ten and head to Beihai. If anyone tries to escape along the way, kill the entire group!"

Chen Liu was the one who operated the cannons before. Zhao Lie wanted to recommend him for merit, but he said that his family had been massacred by the Manchus and he did not want to return to the painful Central Plains. So he has been serving as a soldier in Ningguta ever since.

He is now one of the three commanders of Ningguta.

This time, Chen Liu will lead a thousand-strong army, more than three thousand camels and horses, more than one hundred craftsmen, and five hundred prisoners to the North Sea, which is east of Lake Baikal.

They would also be stationed there to defend against Tsarist Russia.

When the sun was fully up and the temperature reached its highest point, the nearly two thousand-strong column began its rapid march.

This is a secret to traveling in the northern winter. Due to the short daytime hours in winter, you must travel as far as possible within three hours, and you must find a sheltered place to camp before sunset, otherwise you will all freeze to death.

……

While Chen Liu was marching rapidly, thirty miles outside the Nerchinsk fortress of Tsarist Russia, Aguda, with more than eighty cavalry, was already at the top of a large hill.

Each of them covered their face with fur and had drawn their bows and arrows, ready to charge from their high ground at any moment.

Down the hillside, more than fifty Cossack mercenaries were hunting a herd of nearly three hundred reindeer.

They have a clear division of labor, creating commotion from all directions to force the reindeer herd into a valley where they cannot escape, ultimately achieving the effect of trapping them like turtles in a jar.

"Brothers, we've been through so much together, today it's time to vent our anger on these demons!"

"But remember, absolutely no one can escape!"

"Charge!"

After giving the order, Agu shouted and charged forward, his horse quickly reaching its peak speed with the help of the slope.

At the same time, the collective running of the reindeer drowned out the sound of the galloping warhorses, making this an unmistakable surprise attack.

Since it was a hunt and the fortress wasn't far away, these Cossack mercenaries weren't wearing chainmail, and Aguda drew his bow and shot an arrow from a distance of 120 paces.