When Yuri woke up, it was already dawn. He rubbed his still-swollen head, struggled to get up from the ground, and found that all the people of the expedition were tied together with their hands cut backwards, and their faces were full of fear.

Inside and outside the stronghold were full of Tatars armed with scimitars and crossbows, the ground was covered with the corpses of Cossacks, and there was a smell of blood around it. The expedition's muskets, gunpowder, and a few cannons, as well as a large number of precious furs, were scattered along the shore.

Sergei, his Don native, also woke up, and was sitting there with a depressed expression. Yuri leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Sergey, will these Tatars kill us?" ”

Sergei turned his head to look at him, shook his head with a gloomy face, and said, "Who knows, maybe they will sell us as slaves, or maybe ...... It is said that the Tatars of the East, when they caught a captive, would kill all the men who were taller than the wheels. ”

Yuri listened to Sergei's words, and a wave of despair suddenly rose in his heart. He didn't want to die, and he wanted to go back to his hometown, but when he saw the corpses all around him, he couldn't help but feel down.

They were greeted by several tall Tatars, covered with branches and old strips of cloth, and their faces painted with colorful paint, like a group of demons from hell.

One of the Tatar chieftains, who was at the head, waved his hand, and several Tatars dragged the Tunguska guide, who seemed to have just been beaten severely, and his face was covered in blood, and he looked very miserable.

The Tunguska guide pointed to Ivanov, the leader of the expedition, and then nodded at several fierce Tatars, and then was dragged away.

Ivanov was picked up from the crowd by them, and in front of Yuri and them, Ivanov was brutally beaten, and the Tatars were so heavy that Ivanov's hands and legs were badly deformed, and they were broken alive.

Yuri listened to Ivanov's terrible screams. My scalp was numb, and I was covered in cold sweat.

The Tatar leader shouted at the Tatars behind him, and a group of Tatars rushed over like wolves and dragged a few people out of the crowd. Because Yuri was on the side, he was also carried outside.

Yuri was already so frightened that he peed his pants, and he begged loudly for mercy. But he was immediately punched in the lower abdomen, and he curled up on the ground in pain. Fortunately, the Tatars did not continue to beat them, but gave them tools and let Yuri and others dig a deep pit next to them.

When the pit was finished, several Tatars carried a sharpened stake and buried it in the pit. Then he stripped Ivanov naked and sat his body on a sharpened stake.

"Ah...... Ah......h

Ivanov hissed loudly, his body contorting and sinking, as his body sank. The voice became more and more poignant and hoarse. Yuri and a group of Cossacks trembled with horror at this tragic scene.

Under normal circumstances, the prisoners who were tortured often had to endure more than two or three days of painful torture, which was extremely cruel.

In the face of Ivanov's tragic situation, Yuri and the nearly 100 Cossacks who survived were all honest as obedient children. It is good that the Tatars only killed Ivanov and did not harm anyone else.

But Yuri and the others were also stripped naked. Then he got up early and did all kinds of heavy work in the dark, and if he slacked off, he would be beaten badly by the Tatars. But Yuri, they didn't dare to resist in the slightest.

Because in the open space outside the stronghold, the wooden stake has penetrated a lot, and Ivanov, who is inserted in the wooden stake, is still stubbornly alive, and even at night, the other party is still wailing hoarsely.

Two days later, the Tatars burned several strongholds along the Angola River. Carrying all kinds of precious furs with war horses, he escorted Yuri and the others away. Yuri and a group of captured Cossacks were tied to a string of ropes, and a pitiful last glance at Ivanov on a stake, who was now not far from death.

After a period of arduous trekking, Yuri was taken by the Tatars to the mouth of the Selenga River in the southeast of Lake Baikal. Here the Selenga Delta. It is a fan-shaped wetland, with endless grasslands, numerous rivers, and abundant aquatic plants.

It is also home to a large tribe of the Tatars, numbering in the thousands, and the lake and river banks are lined with herds of sheep and cattle and yurts, dotted with haystacks of hay.

Yuri and the others have become slaves of this tribe since they were arranged here, and they can only eat half full every day, and they have to get up early and do all kinds of heavy work in the dark, and they are tired and half dead every day. Several of them were beaten to death by the brutal Tatars because they were lazy in their work, and then hung upside down outside their dwellings, making Yuri and them tremble every day.

"These damned Tatars, if I escape one day, I must come back for revenge."

Sergei muttered quietly as he cleaned up the foul-smelling cow dung. Yuri looked to both sides, and then whispered: "Sergey, we don't know each other here, we can't escape at all, don't do anything stupid." ”

Listening to Yuri's words, Sergei said hatefully: "Boy, do you want to be a slave of the Tatars for the rest of your life? ”

After he finished speaking, he looked carefully to the side, and then said to Yuri, "Did you find out?" These Tatars have only rudimentary bows and scimitars, no arquebuses and cannons, and there is not even a wooden fence around the tribe, so we will gather only a thousand...... No, with only 500 Cossacks, you can easily defeat them.

Hum...... If they had not been able to take our stronghold by means of a vile sneak attack, in a few days I would have managed to escape, go back and gather some Cossacks, take arquebuses and artillery, and destroy this damned tribe of Tatars. I went to the warehouse where they stocked up the other day, and there were mountains of precious furs, and boxes of golden sand and precious stones, hehe...... If we destroy this tribe, we will be rich, and we will not have to stay in this damn place in the future, and we can go back to our hometown and enjoy happiness. ”

Yuri's heart is also alive when Sergei says it, and this is indeed the truth. This tribe is no different from the natives of Siberia, except that the population is larger and the tribe is richer. If the other side did not attack by surprise, thousands of people would not be able to capture their stronghold.

Thinking of this, he said excitedly: "Sergey, then how do we escape?" ”

Sergei smiled and said: "In the past few days, I have already agreed with the others to try to capture a boat by the lake, row along the lake to the Angara River, and then escape all the way north." Boy, you can follow me when the time comes. When we get back, we will make a name for ourselves here, and there will be a lot of Cossacks who will be willing to come with us. ”

(To be continued.) )