The Imperial Age with the Resurgence of Han Style

Chapter 148 Returning East ()

"Sighing to cover my tears, I lament how difficult the people's lives are!"

On September 9, the Daqin envoy returning eastward arrived in Novgorod and planned to stay in this ancient city with more than 26 years of history for two days to take a break and wait for Russia to accompany their envoy to Daqin. The business group goes on the road together.

As the offensive of the Kingdom of Sweden continues, the Russian Empire has begun a comprehensive mobilization within the territory. Armies and newly recruited soldiers from various places, led by commanders appointed by the Tsar, are gathering in the direction of St. Petersburg and Riga. To prevent the enemy from further invading the Russian hinterland.

Yes, in addition to concentrating its main force of more than 40,000 soldiers to launch continuous strong attacks on St. Petersburg, the Kingdom of Sweden also dispatched a partial division of more than 8,000 people. Under the cover of the navy, they suddenly attacked the largest commercial port in the Baltic Sea - —Riga. With the support of the local Livonians, the Swedish army successfully occupied Riga after two days of fierce fighting. Subsequently, the Swedish army swept through the Russian troops stationed nearby, annihilating thousands of enemies, and the front began to turn northeast, intending to threaten St. Petersburg from the side and rear.

The entire Russian Empire was shaken. After receiving the authorization from Tsar Catherine I, Russian Field Marshal and Army Commander-in-Chief Menshikov issued a national emergency mobilization order, forcing all men who qualified for military service to gather at designated locations. And under the leadership of local military service administrators and garrison commanders, they gathered to the west of the empire.

Thanks to the reform of the conscription system carried out by Tsar Peter I in 1705, Russia's current mobilization capabilities have been greatly improved.

Peter I also transformed the scope of military service from the original traditional aristocratic group and poor supplementary model to a regular and universal compulsory conscription system, that is, the Russian military service obligation was transferred from the aristocratic group and urban and rural taxpayers to those who never performed any duties. The expansion of the level of obligation made service personnel include not only farmers (serfs), small townspeople (small craftsmen and small traders) and merchants, but also domestic slaves and even clergy, popularizing the Russian military service system to all lower classes in Russian society. .

According to the provisions of the new official rank list, civilians who enlist in the army for military service will have the opportunity to be promoted to minor nobles if they can obtain military merit. This has great appeal to the vast number of poor lower-class people. Peter I even gave serfs the freedom to serve in the army without the consent of their landlords. These reform measures enhanced the enthusiasm of the Russian lower class to join the army and served in the army, allowing Peter I, who was eager to make achievements at the time, to obtain a more sufficient supply of troops, thus laying a solid foundation for winning the Great Northern War and defeating Sweden.

However, Russia's conscription system also has major flaws, that is, it does not have any orderly plans and regulations, let alone sufficient military reserves and supplies. For example, from 1699 to 1725, the Russian government conducted a total of fifty-three conscriptions, of which twenty-one were mainly conducted among taxpayers across the country, and the other thirty-two were supplementary conscriptions. The heavy and frequent burden of military service placed an unbearable burden on farmers and industrial and commercial residents. Coupled with the outrageous treatment of soldiers, large-scale soldier desertions frequently occurred in the army.

In order to prevent soldiers from fleeing, the Russian government directly adopted the most brutal and cruel methods. In addition to punitive measures such as exile, hard labor, and death penalty, it also adopted measures to protect the environment. In addition to the sponsor, the soldier's relatives and neighbors are also responsible for the soldier's desertion. At recruitment points, recruits are also shackled or have crosses tattooed on their hands to prevent escape.

Due to the extremely poor treatment and logistical supplies of the Russian army, and the lack of ordnance and supplies, many soldiers died of hunger and cold, far exceeding the number killed on the battlefield. Not only were the new recruits shackled, they were even held in overcrowded, filthy and chaotic cells for long periods of time, waiting to be assigned to various regiments that needed to be replenished.

When the Daqin envoy was marching from St. Petersburg to Novgorod, they saw countless ragged soldiers, like prisoners, being escorted by military service managers and officers, wearing shackles and staggering on the road. . Their faces were miserable, their expressions were depressed, their hair and beards were messy, their bodies were extremely weak, and their eyes showed despair. They were shouted at and whipped at will by the accompanying officers, and they marched numbly.

Even the members of the mission without any military experience can see that these soldiers have not received any military training at all, and their overall condition is very bad. They are not as good as the army handymen and civilians recruited by Da Qin. If they are sent away like this Going to the battlefield is tantamount to dying.

"In the eyes of the tsar and generals, all soldiers are expendable." An interpreter who was well versed in Russia said softly: "The value of these soldiers is not even as good as a musket. Of course, Iraksha Due to our poor military supply system, many soldiers will not be issued a musket on the battlefield. They will be used as cannon fodder, consuming the enemy's firepower, and paving the way for the elite regular legions and guards to serve as human vanguards. The path of attack.”

"Grandma, if you don't treat the soldiers as human beings, you will end up defecting on the battlefield, turning the gun, and fucking your commander!" Bai Chengbin, the Marquis of Yongding, twitched the corner of his mouth and cursed in a low voice: "Is this how the Rakshasa people fight? By gathering people on the battlefield and fighting for their lives against the enemy? What the hell is this!"

"Yongdinghou, if you understand the fighting methods of the Rakshasa people, you will be even more shocked." An officer of the mission said with a smile: "In our Great Qin Army, the most important military key is line Column shooting, followed by hand-to-hand assault. The reason why generals at all levels in the army avoid hand-to-hand assault is mainly because they are worried that the battle formation will be destroyed in this case, and the soldiers may run away, thus allowing the defender to dominate. But Rakshasa People's generals do not think that line tactics are an effective means of attack. Instead, they believe that firepower is to ensure the smooth progress of hand-to-hand assaults and to provide battlefield cover. They often can't fire a few shots on the battlefield before launching hand-to-hand assaults. Use the human wave tactic to break through the enemy’s defense lines.”

"Isn't that just a suicide?" Bai Chengbin curled his lips and looked at the disappearing queue of Russian recruits in the distance, as if he were looking at a group of dead people. "As long as the opponent's line formation has not been broken through, your hand-to-hand assault is simply a suicide." Head. Hey, did the Rakshasa people also fight like this when they were defeated by the Qi people in the Caucasus? With the firepower of the Qi people, they would have hit the iron plate with their heads!"

Although Bai Chengbin has never been to Qi State and has never seen Qi State's fighting mode, many officers in the army who have returned from studying in Qi State have said that the Qi army fights with extremely fierce firepower and a small team fighting mode of hundreds of people. , there are several artillery pieces attached. If a legion of thousands of people fights, the artillery shells seem to be free of charge. Sparkling shells, shrapnel shells, rocket shells, solid shells, and dense and terrifying close combat shot shells will cover the enemy array head-on. When the line infantry launched a charge, those tall, muscular grenadiers with strong arms, under the cover of the chasseurs, bravely rushed to the enemy's formation and threw small bombs in their hands. After such a saturation attack, the enemy troops would generally collapse in formation and lose all morale. They would eventually be defeated by the Qi army and allowed to pursue them to the north and slaughter them wantonly.

"I don't care much whether the Rakshasa people also rely on this fighting mode when fighting against the Qi people. But it would be great fun if they had to fight like this when dealing with the Junggar Mongolian cavalry." An officer of the mission said maliciously.

"Probably not." The mission interpreter shook his head and said: "Those Rakshasa people stationed at the border between Siberia and Junggar are not new recruits without any combat experience, they are all veteran soldiers and soldiers. They are still very good at dealing with Mongolians and local indigenous people."

"Then why were they almost pushed all the way to the Yenisei River Basin by the Bohai Kingdom? I guess in a few years, these Rakshasa people may not be bordering our Great Qin, but the Bohai Kingdom is next to us. It’s the northern border!”

"Compared to our Great Qin, the Bohai State is definitely sparsely populated and weak in national strength. But compared to the Rakshasa people's more depleted population size in the North Sea (Lake Baikal) and Siberia, it is also a strong regional power." The interpreter said: "Furthermore, after hundreds of years of conquest and killing, the Rakshasa people have formed a life-and-death feud with the local indigenous people and cannot use local human resources at all. On the other hand, in Bohai Country, except for their core ruling class In addition to the Manchu Tatars and Han people, there are also countless local Buryats, Daurs, Oroqen, Evenkis, and Hezhe people in the territory. Because their languages ​​​​and customs are similar, and their appearances are not much different, they are all accepted under the rule. people. This allows the Bohai State to have a relatively advantageous population size when facing the Rakshasa people. Naturally, it can crush the scattered colonial strongholds of the Rakshasa people in terms of military strength. In addition, Qi State and Beiming State With continuous support and support, the weapons and equipment are better, so they can keep suppressing the Rakshasa people and keep pushing westward." ˆˆˆ "This wolfish ambition of Bohai State, in addition to continuous westward expansion, will definitely have a negative impact on Mobei and Heilongjiang areas in the future. The people of Qi State also have ulterior motives. They spare no effort to support them. Most of them want to threaten and threaten Da Qin from the north." Bai Chengbin said in a deep voice: "Look, if Da Qin turns against Qi in the future, this Bohai Sea The country will inevitably attack Daqin from the north like a hungry wolf."

Everyone was silent when they heard the words, and then they looked at each other and shook their heads and sighed.

Qi and Qin share the same ancestry and origin, and both are Chinese civilizations. Most of their citizens are also immigrants from Qin, or are descendants of Qin immigrants. The two countries have had friendly exchanges for decades, and the exchanges between private businesses and people have become increasingly frequent. They are like brothers and friendly neighbors. The royal families of the two countries are even married to each other and are very close.

It all looks so beautiful.

However, after decades of development and evolution, the affection and brotherhood between the two countries have become increasingly indifferent, and there is even a hint of estrangement.

Especially since the 1704nd year of Qianyuan () - well, this year was also called the year of national calamity by the people of Qi. Taizu and Taizong of Qi passed away one after another, and the relationship between Qin and Qi was no longer as close as before. Instead, cracks and even conflicts inevitably appeared in many matters.

The Qin government was strongly resentful and dissatisfied with Qi's indulgence in Beiming's continuous erosion of Qin's territory and interests in Korea and Liaodong.

Qi's commercial power almost controlled most of Qin's foreign trade channels. It also continuously suppressed the prices of Qin's traditional bulk commodities such as tea, porcelain, silk, and tung oil, and dumped and smuggled a large number of cheap industrial products into the Qin market, which impacted the Qin state. Vulnerable primary industries.

Also, from time to time, Qi has proposed that Qin open more trade ports and even remove all restrictions on Qi's business so that their capital and goods can enter the Qin market more freely.

Qi's navy ships roamed freely in the waters around Daqin, spying on Qin's coastal defense, directly exposing the prosperous areas south of the Yangtze River to Qi's military threat.

From Yunzhou (now Hokkaido), Korea, Ryukyu, Luzon, to Annan, the Malay Peninsula, and Borneo, Qi’s military presence was everywhere. Together with Beiming, Dongdan, and Bohai, it almost formed a threat to Qin. The semi-arc-shaped encirclement made everyone in Qin think deeply about it, and they were all horrified.

What makes Qin even more fearful is that there is still a huge gap between Qi and Qin. It can be said that in addition to having a population several times that of Qi, our country, Qin, lags far behind Qi in all data comparisons that can express the country's strength. country.

Moreover, in the past ten years, the hawks of the Qi military and some "people of insight" have not dared to criticize or deny the Emperor Taizu's spared no effort to support the Qin State, but they have clamored to change their ways. Yi Zhang changed his attitude towards Qin and implemented a comprehensive containment strategy against Qin to prevent future challenges to Qi.

However, after all, the relationship between the two countries has a solid civilian foundation and close commercial ties, and the top leaders of both parties have maintained necessary restraint. In fact, the constraints of the northwest border have not been completely resolved, and their own naval strength is simply not enough to challenge the powerful The navy of Qi State caused Qin State to make more corresponding concessions. This maintained the delicate relationship between the two countries that had both disputes and differences and mutual needs (exploitation).

However, some Qin officials and scholars with broad vision know very well in their hearts that Qin and Qi will inevitably have a fierce conflict or even a huge war at some point in the future due to geographical disputes or commercial interests. war.

On October 10, the original departure date of the Daqin delegation was forced to be postponed for three days because too many Russian nobles were arguing over the number of places in a business delegation and how much trafficking materials to carry. If not for the forcible intervention of Tsarina Catherine I and the powerful minister Menshikov, these nobles competing for Eastern trade opportunities might have started many duels.

In the end, the size of the delegation was staggeringly large, including the Privy Council Minister in charge of foreign affairs, the Vice Chairman of the Army Council, the former diplomatic minister, as well as experts in geography, plants, languages, mathematics, etc., doctors, priests, military officers, etc. personnel, as well as a large number of servants and slaves, the total number was 325, and the escorting soldiers were 650.

The entire caravan carried a large amount of goods, including more than 130 million furs alone. In addition, there were also small amounts of leather, woolen fabrics, mirrors, etc.

Looking at this posture, they are planning to do a big business in Qin to supplement their empty domestic finances.

(End of this chapter)