The leader of the troops who arrived in Iskell was named Baulhovsky, who was a loyal and brave earl under the Tsar.

He wanted to enter Iskell City, and used the shooting army's battle axe to cut off Yermak's head and inserted it into a craft.

Last year, Yermak captured the city of Iskell, and after plundering, he presented 2,400 marten furs to Tsar Ivan the Thunder, which made the Tsar happy and excited the gloom brought by the defeat in the country.

Seeing that the southwest expansion was unfavorable, the empire focused on the more barren and bitter east, and sent Baulhovsky to lead the firing army of 500 to support Yermark along the way. Their first stop would be Iskell City.

Carrying sufficient baggage, they set out from the land of the Stroganov family, crossed the fortress chains of the Silva River and the Yaiva River, and entered the Siberian Khanate.

This march should have been smooth. In Borkhovsky's view, they were the most elite regular army of Tsarist Russia. Yermak's Cossacks were defeated by the regular army. Now they come to the Siberian Khanate to deal with the defeated generals of Cossacks, and they should be solved.

But they underestimated the tragic environment here.

Natural environment and man-made environment.

The Cossacks created a large number of unmanned lands between Moscow and Iskel.

No one is not important. The Tsar prepared sufficient supplies for them, but no house...is a big problem.

When the weather became cold, they didn't even have a stable, and all the ruins they could find were burned clean by the Cossacks, and in these places there were sporadic tribal rebels.

Or in other words, they were actually robbers gathered privately by the homeless Khanate tribes. With inferior armed forces, they were not enemies of the shooting army at all, but they were able to make the regular army unable to get disturbed by ugliness.

People always have to sleep and rest. When the shooting army rests, the robbers will sneak into the camp to let the horses run, shoot the dogs pulling the sled with bows and arrows, and even light a fire in the place where the baggage is piled up.

The shooting army carried enough supplies for two years. They had a considerable number of horses and sled dogs, but once the number of horses and sled dogs was insufficient, a large amount of supplies became a burden.

When the shooting army explored mature counterattacks, their supplies that had been enough for two years had been burned down, and they gave up not much. After calculation, they were only able to last until winter came.

There is no other way, they can only speed up.

But the baggage is still not enough.

A large number of thick winter clothes were burned down during the harassment. The remaining clothes could not allow them to resist the cold winds of the Siberian plains in winter, and most of the food was destroyed on the road.

They worked hard to build a small boat, but the river was frozen before the ship was built, and the date of arrival near Iskell was one and a half months later than expected.

God knows how they spent this month and a half.

Anyway, when they arrived at the city of Iskell, everyone was hungry, lacking fruits and vegetables suffered from severe scurvy.

But at least they still saw hope. As long as they entered Iskell, they could kill the last horse and dog and let everyone have a few meals.

As long as they can have a full meal and sleep a few nights in the warm room, their combat effectiveness will be well restored soon.

Yermak should have enough food.

The only thing they overlooked was the Ming-shaped dragon flag hanging from the ice lumps on the top of Iskell.

What does a unit of about 400 people holding up the double-headed eagle flag and appearing at the city of Iskell mean to the Long Live Army who has been eating and drinking for a month in the city?

These men were so bored that forty or fifty people surrounded a prisoner every day and couldn't help but listen to him telling stories. They were idle and had nothing to do and wrestled with him. Before Dong Yiyuan gave the order, they had already arranged their own teams in the flag army.

First time.

This is the first time since the Wansui Army was trained by Wanli. It does not require drums, officers, or orders. Everyone finds their position in the team as quickly as possible.

It scared Dong Yiyuan.

After hearing the scout shouts, he climbed up to the city wall wearing a bearskin hat, glanced with a resin telescope for a long time, and carefully observed the troops' strength, advancement speed, equipment, flags and other matters.

After estimating these things in my mind, the troops had already gathered under the city, silent.

Five or six hundred pairs of eyes staring at him under the city, full of desire to leave the city.

Even the Mongolian armored cavalry were busy putting on the back, so Dong Yiyuan quickly stopped: "Chechen Khan, this battle is nothing to do with you. The snow outside is too deep, and the horse cannot run when going out and it is easy to fall. You can just stay in the city."

Then he comforted the Long Live Army, and asked them to climb the city to set up artillery, but he would forget it if he left the city to fight.

It was obvious that this enemy army was at the end of its strength, and it was already exhausted after they had made their long journey to Iskell City.

It would be fine if Iskell City was a city in the core area of ​​the Ming Dynasty. It would be fine. It was surrounded by villages and it was easy to replenish supplies everywhere. Weak soldiers like this would need to be sent to annihilate them.

But now the city of Iskell is located in the winter plain of Siberia, and there is no one in sight within a radius of a hundred miles. Even if you go hunting for more than 400 people, you cannot count on those prey to survive.

In Dong Yiyuan's eyes, it is not necessary to go out of the city and fight in the field. It is possible to pursue it after the battle.

He just let the gatekeeper open the city gate without saying a word.

Perhaps the deserted scene and fatigue along the way made Borhovsky relax his vigilance, or perhaps he did not expect that the city had been recaptured by the enemy. In short, his troops saw the city gate open, and lined up on the snowfield without saying a word. They didn't even take the baggage and walked towards the city gate with all their strength.

As soon as he walked to the city, Baulhovskif was in his heart and looked up at the gun that was sticking out of the city, and his heart was filled with warning signs.

The muzzle didn't look like the gun they handed over to Yermak.

And how could Yermak's cannon be directed at them?

The next moment, the city gate that looked empty was full of Ming army wearing armor and well-equipped armor. Several artillery fired at the same time, and countless sparse numbers sprinkled on the shooting army outside the city like rain.

At such a close distance, the powerful artillery fire made many firing troops shoot overturned by the scatters that had penetrated the air in an instant before they even had time to lift the muskets.

Even the shooting army, who was lucky enough to be hit, was lying in the snow in a mess.

In this situation, to the shooting army far from the city gate behind, it seemed like the cannons on the city shot everyone to death in an instant.

Frightened filled their hearts, hundreds of people ran westward at a faster speed than when they came. When they crossed the baggage, some people wanted to take the baggage. When they turned around, they saw the enemies rushing out of the city shouting and running out of the city. For a moment, they didn't care about the baggage. They all ran away with their heads and disappeared on the snowfield.
Chapter completed!