Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 537 The third collision

The news of Bolo's arrest spread like wildfire throughout the Qing court, and caused a great uproar within the court. Upon hearing the news, his followers were filled with righteous indignation and plotted to rescue him. For a time, the camp was tense and a civil war in the Qing court seemed to be imminent.

Bolo was trapped in the camp, surrounded by guards, and outside were his former subordinates. The two sides confronted each other. Bumbutai issued an edict, ordering the entire family to submit to the Qian Dynasty. Most of the opponents were Bolo's subordinates, but in general, those who were willing to surrender were the majority. After all, everyone knew that if they hid in the mountains, even if the Qian army did not attack, they could still trap the Qing army to death.

During the confrontation, the emotions of both sides became more and more agitated. For a moment, the arrow was on the string. Suddenly, a soldier accidentally shot the arrow out. Although the arrow was weak and did not cause any damage, in such a tense situation, it was like a ignited fuse.

Screams and sounds of fighting followed, and a melee broke out, with both sides engaged in a life-and-death struggle. Although Bolo did not see it with his own eyes, he heard the constant shouting and killing in his ears, so how could Bolo not know?

Bolo was heartbroken and roared, "Enough, stop it!"

Bumbutai had not expected the situation to get so out of control, but since things had come to this point, how could she turn back? She could only go down this path to the end. She urgently dispatched more troops to try to prevent the internal conflict from escalating.

Under the tough suppression, the spontaneously formed organizations of the rebels were wiped out one by one by Bumbutai, but the price was heavy. In this internal conflict, thousands of people fell under each other's swords and guns.

If there was no hope, Bumbutai would not want to go to this point. However, after this period of time, the Qian army's efforts to buy off the tribes in the mountains have been effective. Bumbutai knows that even if it is delayed any further, the Qing Dynasty will be impossible to save.

After eliminating his opponents, Bumbutai's path to surrender became smoother. Those Qing soldiers who were unwilling to surrender left the camp at night and fled into the mountains. Most of the rest followed Bumbutai out of the mountains and surrendered.

Zhao Yongping was overjoyed and immediately reported to the capital to inform the court of this great news.

With the surrender of Bumbutai, the Qian army's encirclement and suppression went smoothly. Most of the Qing troops surrendered to the Qian army. The few who were unwilling to surrender had already lost the battle and could no longer pose a threat to the Qian Dynasty.

Zhao Yongping confiscated all the weapons of the surrendered troops and sent people to monitor them closely. These soldiers were easy to deal with, but what to do with Bumbutai and Fulin was not something Zhao Yongping could decide. Therefore, Zhao Yongping imprisoned Fulin and Bumbutai in Fushun, waiting for the court's order.

However, after the Qing court, the great enemy of the Qian Dynasty, was destroyed, some changes occurred in the north.

The Jurchen tribes living in the Longjiang River basin were originally subject to the Qing Dynasty. At that time, these Jurchen tribes lived a free and easy life. They basically paid tribute to the Qing Dynasty with some materials or provided some able-bodied men.

But the Russians were different. They came from the far west and basically relied on the local area for material supplies. Therefore, they imposed extremely heavy taxes on these Jurchen tribes, which also caused dissatisfaction among the tribes.

Zhao Yongping sent 2,000 cavalry and infantry to the north to resist the Russians, but according to Liu Kun's intelligence, the Qian cavalry encountered a Russian cavalry equipped with sabers, spears, and muskets. Compared with the Mongolian cavalry, this cavalry was much more elite, and Liu Kun's subordinates did not have the upper hand in the battle against them.

And this cavalry is the Cossack cavalry, the main contributor to the expansion of Russia.

The disadvantage of the Cossack cavalry was that they were few in number, and in front of Liu Kun's large group, the Russians could not gain any advantage, especially the firearms soldiers who followed closely behind them, which made the Cossack cavalry realize that they were not comparable to the tribal soldiers.

As soon as the Qian army entered the Longjiang River basin, it immediately won the support of the local tribes. Many tribal people brought weapons and wanted to follow the Qian army to fight the Russians.

At this time, Stroganov, Duke Bogdan, had also learned the news that the Qian army was heading north. The Qian army had only about two thousand people, and Bogdan had fought favorable battles for so many years, and believed that he could easily defeat the two thousand Eastern soldiers.

The contact between the two sides broke out without warning. Bogdan built a simple defense line on the Qian army's route. Bogdan prepared to use firearms to snipe the Qian army's infantry.

This was the first contact between the Qian Dynasty and the Rakshasa people, and also the first war between the two sides.

Huang Sheng and Liu Kun discussed it and decided to launch an offensive. Huang Sheng believed that the Russian defense line had almost no depth and that as long as the cavalry rushed forward, they would be dispersed in one charge.

Moreover, the Qian army had the advantage in numbers, and there were also many able-bodied men from the Jurchen tribes helping in the battle. Huang Sheng and Liu Kun both believed that they could defeat these Rakshasas in one battle.

Liu Kun rode on his warhorse and observed the enemy formation with a telescope. After a long time, he still couldn't find the troublesome cavalry. Liu Kun felt that the enemy cavalry must have hidden themselves.

So Liu Kun waved his hand and signaled the infantry to attack first.

When the drums sounded, the artillery team of the Qian army fired first, smashing a round of artillery at the Luosha army's formation. Then the main firearms soldiers formed a line and approached the Luosha army, while on both sides were scattered Jurchen men.

The Luosha soldiers were somewhat dazed by a round of artillery fire, so even though the Qian army's infantry had entered the firing range of the Luosha musketeers, the sounds of the muskets firing were only sporadic.

When the Qian army's firearms soldiers arrived within the firing range, they immediately loaded powder shells and bullets. At the officer's command, a series of "bang bang bang" sounds rang out.

The Rakshasa soldiers fell one after another, and some of the Jurchen men on both sides also rushed over under the hail of bullets and engaged in a melee with the Rakshasa soldiers.

Liu Kun keenly sensed the opportunity and immediately ordered the cavalry to charge. Liu Kun was worried that the Rakshasa cavalry was lying in ambush, so he only ordered more than a hundred cavalry to charge.

But the momentum created by these one hundred or so riders was extremely astonishing. The horses' hooves trampled the ground, raising dust. These knights were all heroic and in bright armor.

Such a scene reminds us of the heroic scenes in ancient poetry: "The horse is as fast as Lu, and the bow is as loud as thunder."

The sound of hooves of the Qian cavalry could be heard. The Rakshasa soldiers saw the waving sabers and spears and quickly raised their muskets to shoot. However, the firing rate was too slow and more than a hundred cavalrymen quickly rushed over and killed into the Rakshasa formation.

Bogdan realized something was wrong behind the formation, but it was too late. After the Qian cavalry rushed over, the Rakshasa infantry had no desire to fight to the death, but instead retreated hastily.

Seeing that his infantry was defeated in such a confusing way, Bogdan's Cossack cavalry hiding on the flank had no choice but to change their plan and retreat in a hurry.