Dominate the Country

"Gee, gee..." Galloping on the vast grassland, the breath of spring has already blown, countless tender green grasses have emerged from the earth, covering the withered grassland with a layer of green.

Chen Ming watched Chen Kaishan and the 1st Cavalry Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division, more than 6,000 people, galloping from Zhangjiakou into the vast grassland.

Their target is not the Qing-Russia Allied Cavalry in Shaanxi and Gansu. Although the latter has a large number of cavalry teams, there are troops from the 2nd Division and the Training Division, so there is no storm there at all. Chen Kaishan and his team's destination is Lake Baikal. Potemkin is so bold that he dares to get involved in the Chinese battlefield with the little shrimp in his hand. Chen Ming wants to teach the Russians a lesson!

He wants to send troops to destroy the Russian stronghold at Lake Baikal.

Lake Baikal is a very important place for Russia in Siberia. The Cossacks there are also the most loyal and toughest among the large group of Cossacks to St. Petersburg, but unfortunately, there are few people. The sparse population is the biggest flaw of the Baikal Cossacks.

In 1643 AD, Kurbat Ivanov, the leader of the fifty Cossacks, came to the Verkholensky wooden fortress on the Lena River, with 74 people and the son of a Tungus tribal leader as a guide, and explored southward along the Lena River, and finally they came to the shore of Lake Baikal. Kurbat Ivanov and his men made a boat, sailed in Lake Baikal, and discovered Olkhon Island (the third largest island in the lake in the world, with an area of ​​730 square kilometers and an altitude of 1,276 meters).

Kurbat Ivanov left thirty-six people in place, and took the rest of the people along the west bank of Lake Baikal, and began to sail northward to the mouth of the Upper Angara River. Here, he met another Tungus tribe, and with the help of the Tungus people, he finally arrived at the northernmost end of Lake Baikal: Kurbat Ivanov established a settlement here and began to engage in the most primitive trade with the locals. Of course, it didn't take long for the Cossacks used later to ride on horses, holding scimitars and muskets and began to collect tribute from local tribes. It was no longer a trade between you and me.

From 1648 AD, the Buryats in the area of ​​Lake Baikal and along the Angara River began to migrate eastward to Transbaikal and Mongolia. By 1655 AD, a larger-scale migration occurred. That year, the angry Buryats took action as a whole. After killing all the Russians they could kill, they retreated to the area east of Lake Baikal. But then they were brutally retaliated by the Russians. The north and west of Lake Baikal fell into the hands of the Cossacks.

After the Qing Dynasty signed the Treaty of Nerchinsk with the Tsarist government, the pearl of the North Sea, Su Wu's grazing land, fell completely into the hands of the Russians.

This time, Russia intervened in the Chinese war, and they recruited a full thousand Cossacks from Lake Baikal. It is hard to imagine how many people were left there. According to the news from Outer Mongolia, there are less than 10,000 Russians in the entire Lake Baikal.

At the same time, it is also to test Outer Mongolia and force it. Time is getting shorter and shorter. When will Outer Mongolia make up its mind?

Another thing is the Buryat Mongols, these Mongolian tribes active in Siberia, let's see if they can be circled back! Although these people live thousands of miles away from the hinterland of the Russians, the Tsarist Russia has never slowed down its exploitation and oppression of the Buryat Mongols. Otherwise, how can the Buryat people always maintain a smaller scale? This is the same as the experience of the Torghut tribe.

Chen Ming sent out a standard cavalry brigade, more than 6,000 main forces, two horses per person, and 20 light cavalry cannons, all cast in bronze! This will further reduce the weight of the artillery. There is also a batch of mortars that are also equipped with horse-drawn artillery carts, as well as their ammunition carts.

Chen Ming watched the cavalry team go farther and farther until they disappeared under the northern horizon. He looked very solemn, because the responsibility of the cavalry brigade's attack this time was too great. Teach the Russians a lesson, contact the Siberian Tatars, that is, the Buryat Mongols, and let Outer Mongolia feel the "pressure".

Chen Ming didn't know whether Chen Kaishan could complete the task, so he gave Chen Kaishan all the power.

"Your Highness, there is news from Japan. The generals of the Tokugawa shogunate are dissatisfied with the action that our army is about to launch against Ezo. They believe that the north of Sakhalin belongs to China, and the south belongs to Japan. They do not agree with our notice to withdraw the Matsumae clan from Odomori Town [on Sakhalin] and all the Japanese in the southern part of Sakhalin." Xiong Bingzhang brought new news.

Chen Ming listened to it and said, "Does Tokugawa Ieharu think that this governor will negotiate with them?"

Although three hundred years ago, the leader of the Ainu tribe in Sakhalin presented the Bronze Sparrow Tower to Takeda Nobuhiro. In the 21st year of the Wanli reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty [1593 AD], Toyotomi Hideyoshi sent Matsumae Keikō to defeat all the Ainu tribes (i.e. the Ainu tribe) and theoretically occupied all the lands of the Ainu tribe, including the part of Sakhalin Island controlled by the Ainu tribe.

In the 8th year of the Chongzhen reign [1635 AD], Matsumae sent Murakami Saobe Saemon to inspect Sakhalin Island. But what is the use of this? Did Chen Ming hear this from the Japanese?

In the 18th year of the Chongzhen reign [1645 AD], the participants of the Amur March led by the Russian Boyarkov saw the northwest coast of Sakhalin Island for the first time. Subsequently, the Russian Empire sent Cossacks to harass the Heilongjiang River Basin, including Sakhalin Island.

More than 30 years later, Hisaharu Kodan of the Matsumae Domain Anajinya established the town of Odomari-cho on Sakhalin Island, and the Japanese officially began to develop fishing grounds on Sakhalin Island.

Does that mean that the Russians also have some "legitimate" sovereignty over Sakhalin Island? Nonsense.

Although to be precise, the Japanese have been developing Sakhalin Island for nearly a hundred years. Compared with the situation that China only has sovereignty but has never sent a single soldier there, the Japanese are indeed stupid to give up a hundred years of efforts under Chen Ming's order. But they must swallow this loss now! Sakhalin Island, including the Kuril Islands, all belong to China.

"The Japanese informed the Russians of the news in more detail. Since the signing of the Treaty of Nerchinsk, Tsarist Russia sent an expeditionary force (composed of soldiers and prisoners) to attack the northern end of Sakhalin Island, killing the Hezhe residents, building barracks and mining coal because the Qing Dynasty had no official garrison on Sakhalin Island. Since then, the Russians have continued to increase their troops on Sakhalin Island, fighting fiercely with the local indigenous people and the Japanese forces in the south."

"This place is very far north, with short summers and extremely cold winters that can last up to six months. Several ports are frozen for a long time. Some areas in the north can be frozen for up to eight months." In addition, the sea surface around Sakhalin Island is often foggy, known as the 'Sea of ​​Fog'. In addition to the Ainu, the indigenous people include the Hezhe, Mongolian [Tatar], Oroqen, etc. The Japanese said it in quite detail, and Liu Wu read it to Chen Ming one by one.

"That's perfect. Let the fleet start from the south of Sakhalin. Also send someone to Edo to tell Tokugawa Ieharu to retract his outstretched claws."

Chen Ming doesn't care how long the Japanese have been active on Sakhalin, because that is not a reason at all. The four words "since ancient times" can only be their best excuse and reason when Japan becomes strong, and now Japan is just a small shrimp. Does Chen Ming need to listen to the history of Japanese development?

Sakhalin, that is China.

If Chen Ming is annoyed, even Hokkaido can be divided, "Just tell Tokugawa Ieharu that the Ainu can also establish a country."

...

Tongzhou, the former Qing army camp, now the Beijing recruit camp

In the recruit training ground, the 1,300 recruits who arrived last month were wearing thick winter military uniforms and warm locomotive hats with a huge red five-pointed star in the middle of the hats. They were divided into 13 recruit teams. Under the command of the instructors, they first swept the snow on the playground and then carried out boring queue training.

Their faces and hands exposed to the outside were already red from the cold. When they were sweeping the snow, they were so hot that they even wanted to take off their cotton clothes. Now the coldness penetrated directly into their bones. Many people felt that their faces and hands had lost consciousness.

Almost 70% of the recruits in this camp were from Hebei, and a small number of them were from Henan and Shandong, and the rest were all from the capital. There are many reasons why they are willing to join the army, some for military merit, some for revenge, and some for survival, but whether they can become a soldier on the battlefield in the future depends on their training in these three months.

Standing at attention for half an hour, marching in step would be done on the ice surface of the puddle, which was thin and thick. At first, the thin surface, a row of soldiers would step up and land, and they would probably break the ice layer and fall into the puddle in the next moment. After returning to the dormitory to change clothes, they were pulled out to march on the ice surface. Many people heard the whistle but did not dare to raise their legs, and then they were pulled out by the instructors and severely punished. Because this is called disobeying orders, running around the playground for 10 or 20 laps is a piece of cake.

"New recruit Lei Wanxing."

A familiar voice like a cow came from not far away, and Lei Wanxing was startled and came back to his senses from his drowsy state.

"Here!" Lei Wanxing quickly straightened his chest and stood at attention.

"Look at your position, how tilted it is!" The instructor was so angry that he was about to blow his beard and glare. Lei Wanxing didn't know whether he was dizzy or what when he stood at attention. His body shook first, and then his feet began to move in the tilted direction unconsciously, and he almost collided with the person in front of him.

Seeing Lei Wanxing's energetic face, not at all dazed, the instructor was more inclined to believe that Lei Wanxing fell asleep while standing.

"As a recruit instructor, what I hate most is that the recruits under my command are lazy and slack, not training seriously, and not training hard. Because you gave up a great opportunity." Many of the instructors in the recruit camp are disabled veterans who retired from the battlefield, just like the corporal instructor in front of him, who has two fingers missing on his right hand, including a thumb.

"Recruit Lei Wanxing, step out. Run around the playground twenty laps! Hurry up, quickly, twenty laps!"

The instructor put his right hand behind his back and held a whip in his left hand. His angry expression made the recruits under his command shiver.

"Yes, instructor." Lei Wanxing didn't even dare to show a bitter look on his face. He saluted the instructor in a serious and standard manner and trotted out of the formation. That is, he turned his back to the instructor and faced his fellow recruits in the same team, and then he showed a hint of tears on his face.

Twenty laps. One lap of the playground is about 150 feet, which is about one mile, so that's 20 miles.

After running, my legs will be broken. I hope there will be no emergency gathering tonight.

"If you can't finish the run within an hour, you will continue to run 20 laps after today's training!" The instructor said bluntly. The recruit camp has been established for several years, and its existence has been accompanied by the growth of the Fu Han Army. The camp has long sorted out a complete set of recruit training subjects and regulations.

Each instructor of a recruit team has great power. As long as the report is approved, the instructor has the right to wake up the recruits in the middle of the night and play and warm up in the snow and ice.

Lei Wanxing rushed out like a rabbit. At the edge of the playground, there were a few unlucky guys who were driven out of other recruits' ranks running. On the playground track bordering the playground, there were also the same unlucky guys running. Lei Wanxing joined the running team with ease. Soldiers who were not punished to run are not good soldiers, and the recruit camp life without being punished to run is not a complete recruit camp life.

The abundant food rations of high protein and high calories and the heavy load of systematic training and exercise have unconsciously changed the physical fitness of Lei Wanxing and other recruits in dozens of days. Even if Lei Wanxing and others felt that they were tired like dogs, he could still maintain a speed of three minutes per lap.

This punishment of twenty laps in one hour was rarely completed by new recruits at the beginning, but after more than a month, new recruits can generally achieve it. However, no matter how well they can complete it, when Lei Wanxing, who was exhausted and panting, returned to the team like a dead dog an hour later, his comrades around him were all twitching.

The morning passed quickly, and at 11:30, the bell rang. Hearing the instructor's command of "disbanding", Lei Wanxing squatted on the ground, and the whole person was about to collapse.

The strong feeling of hunger tortured Lei Wanxing's stomach. Two soldiers in the same dormitory pulled him up from the ground. The hungry soldiers did not go to the restaurant, but went back to the dormitory first. From 11:30 to 2 o'clock in the afternoon, this was the happiest time of the day in the recruit camp except for sleeping.

The soldiers who washed their hands and faces gathered in front of the restaurants before 12 o'clock. Compared with the lives of these people before joining the army, the food in the army was happy. Rice, white flour buns, dumplings, noodles, and at least one salted fish every day.

Life was improved every five days. Large pieces of pork were the soldiers' favorite, and everyone would dislike greasy roasted pig intestines.

People in this era were very short of oil and water. In the first ten days after entering the camp, some people could eat four or five large steamed buns in one meal, and those three steamed buns weighed one pound. Only when these people were fed with oil, would their seemingly incredible appetite slowly decrease.

The first time life was improved, braised pork was generally made. Every time new soldiers entered the camp, some of them would have diarrhea after eating the first meal. The food was too greasy and their stomachs couldn't stand it.

"When I have accumulated enough military merits, I will buy one or two hundred acres of land for my family, and eat meat noodles and meat buns every day in the future..." Lei Wanxing chewed the buns with big mouthfuls. He was a man with an active mind and liked to be clever, so he was punished every now and then, but the trace of cleverness in his mind made him sneer at the desire of many people to "eat good noodles and braised pork every day." How could there be such a good thing in the world? How big a family business would it take to support such an eating habit every day?

If there were hundreds of thousands of Fu Han soldiers in the world, and everyone was like this, then everyone would be a soldier. He didn't want to look forward to eating good steamed buns and braised pork every day, but just turned his ideal of drinking porridge every day into eating meat noodles and meat buns every day.