In the fifteenth year of Chengtian, in July.

Chelyabinsk, the Russians' key town on the west bank of the Ob River, one of the cities that Rumyantsev focuses on, has finally ushered in the last period of his life.

In June, a group of ragged Russian prisoners of war were escorted to the front line of the Chelyabinsk moment, and the officers led by them were also known by the soldiers in the city of Chelyabinsk, they were indeed the defending officers of the Omsk fortress, and now they appeared in front of Chelyabinsk as prisoners, so the news of the fall of Omsk is also true.

The Chinese outside the city cheered thunderously.

The siege has not yet been carried out in the real sense, Chelyabinsk is not really surrounded, and now it is still playing a war of attrition and confrontation. The Wehrmacht in front of Chelyabinsk also had only a small reinforced regiment, more than 4,000 men, but they were well supplied - enough rockets. And they had the Kazakh cavalry of Xiaoyuz to do the coordination.

But none of this compares to the news that Tobolsk and Tyumen had been captured by the Chinese in the following days, and although some of the defenders withdrew from Tobolsk and Tyumen with the help of Russian mobile forces, the arrival of prisoners of war made the Russian defenders in Chelyabinsk smell death. Perhaps the carefully arranged line of defense by Marshal Rumyantsev did not last long.

The chain of defense is a set of dominoes, and if the first card falls, the next card will fall faster.

Because the Chinese had more soldiers and materials to concentrate on the subsequent siege and war of attrition.

So, before the danger came - anticipating the siege of Chelyabinsk was about to begin, the commander of the city defense of Chelyabinsk and the mayor made a "wise" decision. They sent a regiment of troops, a regular army with only one battalion in it, to protect the women, children, old and weak of the city from Chelyabinsk before it was completely surrounded.

Wherever they go.

Orenburg is good, Ufa is good, Izhevsk, Perm, Kazan are all fine. As long as it's not in Chelyabinsk, it's OK!

The decision caused an uproar in Chelyabinsk, where the militia was reluctant to be separated from their families. There were no telephones and no mobile phones in this era, and if a family was separated in the war, it was likely that they would never see each other for the rest of their lives.

In Russia, where serfdom was rampant, it was dangerous for women and children to be protected without men.

Unfortunately, this decision is not subject to the will of these locally conscripted militias.

At nine o'clock in the morning, when the gates of Chelyabinsk were opened, a group of weeping Russian women and children left Chelyabinsk with their children and a small amount of food, clothing, and possessions, and with a sad heart.

In the words of later generations, today the sorrow of Chelyabinsk is flowing into a river.

Mayor Kasyanov stands on the steps of the city hall, which is located in the western part of the city. Many people walked in front of him, but no one came to show respect to Mayor Kasyanov.

On the contrary, it is not known how many people spat at Kasyanov. Although they can't really spit on Kasyanov. But these people express more of their own dissatisfaction and anger.

Kasyanov stood for half an hour, and then he ordered his servants to harness their horses and prepare to go around the city to see what was going on. In his hands he had in his hands the only military force of the present city government - a squad of forty or fifty policemen and a Cossack hundred, and, of course, a militia battalion of three or four hundred men, which was unfortunately no longer obedient.

No one understands Kasyanov's pain, these days, he has frowned and stayed up all night, his face, which was fair and rich last year, has now become sallow and thin, and he has more than once sat in his study looking at the arrows on the map, and spent the night silently with his arms clenched.

He is now the most lost time of his life.

When the world was peaceful, every official felt that only by relying on his 'diligence' and 'love' could the serfs and the common people under his rule live a good life and make the family run prosperous. They often have a sense of self in their heads, which is their spiritual reward for their 'hard work and diligence'. You can understand that when the situation is calm and peaceful, the administrator, as the ruler, will think that he is the master of the city, and his every decision and every consideration will affect the future of millions of civilians. They ignore all public opinion! At least in Russia.

And when troubled times come, they will perceive that public opinion is so turbulent, and feel that they are completely incomprehensible and violent and ignorant. They wanted to bind their hands and feet, and then they were propelled forward by this tremendous force, and even this force wanted him to become afraid to disobey him. The war had brought the status of civil servants to a deterioration, and the titles that had given them power and glory had now pale in comparison. It seems that they have suddenly changed from those in power, the source of strength, the master of all, into insignificant and useless and weak people.

Kasyanov felt this, so he couldn't be bound by public opinion, but even so, this force made him extremely annoyed.

Police Chief Vladimir came to Kasyanov's office and walked into the office with the secretary who had come to report that the carriage had been set. The two men turned pale, because there were people in Chelyabinsk who were inciting trouble, and the police agents had heard with their own ears that the militia was being incited to flee the city, which was doomed to hell, and now a stream of people was pouring towards the city government.

Without saying a word, Kasyanov got up and walked briskly out of the office, walked to the balcony door of the luxurious and bright hall on the second floor, grabbed the door, and seemed to shake it violently, but then let go of his hand. From the balcony, he could clearly see the crowd outside the city hall. Sure enough, the civilians were instigated, and there were at least seven or eight hundred people outside the city hall, and there were others who were constantly gathering over, and even if he returned to the office, he could hear the commotion outside.

"What do they want?" He asked the police chief.

"Your Excellency, they say that the army let them go, not because of the war to let the civilians go away, but to throw away the baggage. For them to survive, they need clothing, food, and money for the rest of their lives. It is dishonorable for the army to abandon civilians, either promise them everything they want, or leave them in Chelyabinsk. ”

Of course, the chief of police knew how much material reserves Chelyabinsk had, and to be honest, it would be very advantageous for the defenders to give up these women, children, old and weak, who numbered as many as 10,000 people. Especially when it comes to the final breakthrough and retreat, it can be lightly loaded.

Kasyanov was angry, "A bunch of idiots, a bunch of stupid sluts." ”

Kasyanov felt an unquenchable anger rise in his heart, he felt that his dignity had been challenged, and now he could never back down, he must make those lowly serfs realize the dignity of the imperial government, and realize the greatness of his Lord Kasyanov. The dignity of the Russian Empire will never be trampled under the feet of a mob.

The angry Kasyanov needs to find someone to vent and use this slain 'chicken' to warn the restless monkeys. This idiom of the Chinese is very wise, and he must tell them - who is the master in this city!

"Pull the tall man out with his waving hands. This shameful deserter, this bunch of untouchables, scum among the Slavs. These stupid people need a victim to sober up their brains. "As is often the case with people with a big temper and a fiery liver, anger took control of Kasyanov.

He casually ordered a man. Who made this man stand out so prominently in the crowd, he was very tall, and his hands and feet were intact, such a person did not join the militia, this is definitely a shameful coward.

Ten minutes later, the noise outside the city hall increased several times over.

"Your Excellency. Please give the order on what to do with Ogarkov, who has already been brought over by the head of Vladimir. The secretary came up and said.

"That bastard is called Ogarkov?"

"Yes. He is an unemployed vagrant. ”

Kasyanov showed a sneer on his face, unemployed vagrant, very good, very much in line with the image of the scourge in his impression, maybe the person who instigated people is still this Olgakov. He quickly pulled the door to the balcony and strode onto it. The noise outside the city hall suddenly stopped, and all eyes looked up at the mayor who walked out.

"Hello, people of the Empire!" Kasyanov's voice was loud, just like his emotions were now high, "I am very grateful for your presence, because next I am going to execute a man, a very bad bad person. He is a traitor to Russia, he is a traitor to the Caucasians, we must punish this bad guy who does things for the Chinese with death! ”

Kasyanov waved his arms and gave an impromptu speech on the balcony.

The silence in the crowd was like a stone smashed through the water, and it could no longer be maintained. There were angry voices again, and everyone saw that Ogarkov was arrested by the police, this is an innocent person, what is Kasyanov going to do? He was going to put him to death.

"He's a passionate guy."

"Ogarkov is an honest man, I don't believe he will be bought by the Chinese."

"Look, the mayor is warning us that he is putting the charge of 'spy' on Ogarkov's head and will execute him as a warning to us. Poor Ogarkov! People are saying this. It always seems that someone will be smart enough to 'see through' everything.

A few minutes later, a lieutenant officer hurriedly walked out of the main gate and gave some order, so Kasyanov's only policemen lined up outside the door. The Cossacks in front of them used bayonets and sabers to force the civilians gathered in front of the city hall backwards. Kasyanov strode out of the doorway, through the middle of the police.

"Bring that shameful traitor up."

Angry eyes stared at Kasyanov, if those angry eyes were sharp arrows, Kasyanov would have pierced his heart with ten thousand arrows; If those angry gazes had been a fire, Kasyanov would have been burned to the ground.

With a wave of his hand, two policemen walked out with a scruffy middle-aged man in his thirties, tall but also thin, wearing a shabby gray shirt and dirty linen trousers tucked into open-toed boots. At first glance, you can tell that you are a poor ghost.

When Kasyanov saw the right hand of this man, he knew why such a tall man was not pulled in by the militia, and the thumb and tail fingers of this man were frozen. Yes, Kasyanov could tell at a glance that it was frostbite.

But Kasyanov will not give him a chance to overturn the case, pointing to the lowest step. "Bring him here."

The sloppy middle-aged man seemed to be scared at first, but the countless people behind him seemed to give him infinite courage, and the look of fear receded. It's the face!

Kasyanov saw that the middle-aged man did not kneel down to him and beg for mercy, and the sneer on his face turned gloomy.

"The subjects of the empire, this is this man, who became a traitor to Russia, he is a traitor to the Chinese. He stirs up your emotions, ignites your discontent, and undermines the government's decisions, which will have an impact in favor of the Chinese. ”

The hardness on Ogarkov's face disappeared. He looked up at Kasyanov, his eyes full of incredulity and disbelief.

"I'm not a traitor ......"

Ogarkov shouted, but before he could finish a word, he was gagged by the policemen on the left and right.

Kasyanov did not look at him at all. Killing a lowly serf seemed to Kasyanov like crushing a bed bug.

Ogalkov struggled violently, and a policeman raised the butt of his rifle and smashed him on the head.

He was bleeding profusely, and before he could fall, he was caught and knelt on the ground by another policeman.

"Oh God!" Someone in the crowd let out a sad sigh.

Kasyanov watched the commotion of the crowd with satisfaction, which he considered to be a shock to him. Kasyanov never thought there was anything wrong with being an official who was feared by the civilian serfs. In his cognition, officials and commoner serfs are a completely different class, and the officials and nobles are high, and they are born to fear the commoners and serfs, because they hold the life and death of thousands of civilian serfs in their hands. Even he enjoyed the fear.

All eyes were on him, and Kasyanov didn't feel weak at all, although he clearly knew the innocence of the middle-aged man at hand.

"He betrayed the great empress and his homeland, he was loyal to the Chinese, he tarnished the glory of the Slavs." Kasyanov raised his voice as calmly as the judge of the court who pronounced the sentence of the criminal, as if what he was telling was true. "Kill him now. Let this lowly traitor go to hell to atone for his sins, and not allow him to continue to live in the world, and damage the reputation of the Russians! The Slavs are a fighting people, and we will not submit to any aggressor. We will always enjoy the freedom that God has given us. ”

The corpse, covered in blood, collapsed at the foot of the steps. Everyone who witnessed this scene rushed to the back with a look of horror and panic at this moment.

……

A bridgehead south of Chelyabinsk, where the Mias River is located in the upper reaches of the river.

Thousands of Russian militiamen crowded here. It was still hot, and the gloomy Colonel Commander sat on a stone by the bridge, his eyes rolling constantly. He was thinking about his way out, with a team of more than 1,000 people, could he really escort tens of thousands of women, children, old and weak to Orenburg, Ufa, and Kazan?

The colonel was well aware of how low the morale of the team was. His militia were not natives of Chelyabinsk, and they were desperate to flee back to their homeland. The old and weak women and children were obsessed with Chelyabinsk, which they were slowly leaving behind, and every day people ran away.

They would rather hide in the surrounding mountains than leave their homes. Because it means that they are all away from their husbands, their fathers, all of them. And the commander also paid attention to the pursuit of the Kazakh cavalry, which is quite possible. He was disappointed in his future.