In March, although the Central Plains has bloomed in spring, Siberia is still hunting in the cold wind.

Lake Baikal, which freezes in January and does not thaw until May, is now covered in snow, crystal clear and beautiful. It is the deepest and largest freshwater lake in the world, the lake shape is long and narrow, like a crescent moon, so it is also called "Moon Lake", the lake water is clear and clear, stable and transparent, and it is a treasure of human history.

On the northernmost part of Lake Baikal, there is a line of small black dots moving slowly, a branch of more than 100 imperial troops, tightly wrapped in thick Kazibu military coats, and carrying bulging bags on their backs.

This is the 9th Infantry Company of the 3rd Infantry Regiment of the 6th Contingent of the Royal Army.

The Sixth Army was responsible for the investigation, exploration, and elimination of enemy bandits throughout Central Siberia, as well as the security of the expeditions and scholars of the empire to Central Siberia.

After the outbreak of the Sino-Russian war in the summer of last year, several expeditions and expeditions from Kulen and Kyakhta have already gone north in the eastern section of the Outer Mongolian tribes on the Sino-Russian border.

Now the whole of Lake Baikal is under the control of the empire, and the cities founded by the Cossacks, such as Ulan-Ude, have been recovered.

I heard that some expeditions have reached the north of Lake Baikal thousands of miles away.

Most of these expeditions were protected by company-level armed forces, gradually infiltrating northward, surveying the terrain, detecting settlements, etc., after all, the Russians' map of Siberia, even the most detailed map obtained from their court, still did not describe the Siberian region accurately enough, and the empire itself needed to survey and investigate.

In fact, Siberia also lives a large number of indigenous peoples, such as various branches of the Tungusic people, such as the Orochi, Nanai, Udigai, Urchi, Yakuts, etc., living in the vast land of Siberia, from the Arctic Ocean in the north, to the Yenisei River in the west, and to the Pacific Ocean in the east.

The indigenous Buryats living in the Baikal area were actually a branch of the Mongols, but in later generations, under the influence of Tsarist Russia, they began to write the Latin alphabet and the Slavic alphabet, and their living customs gradually underwent major changes, and gradually formed a reading people.

Today's Buryats speak the Mongolian dialect like a local dialect of Mongolian, and it is not difficult to communicate with an expedition with Mongolian warriors in every company.

The Imperial Infantry Company at the northern end of Lake Baikal was not armed to defend the kind of expeditions that could survey the map, but the main task of these purely armed infantry companies was to make contact with the discovered indigenous tribes, mark their location on the map, and eliminate the remnants of the bandits.

Russian settlements and military fortresses throughout the Baikal region were uprooted, but small groups of Cossacks or Russian bandits remained.

The company commander of this infantry company was originally the commander of the cavalry battalion of the Kizil Frontier Regiment, and was called Chaganba.

Of course, Chaganba said that he was not demoted, but that he took the initiative to ask to join the Sixth Army Task Force.

The Sixth Group Army's Task Force was formed at the end of last year, and most of its troops were strong northern soldiers and hunter-hunting tribal soldiers, among whom the Dahur and Oroqen people in the Heilongjiang River valley were also its main source of troops.

The battalion command of the task force was abolished, and the infantry company was used as a unit to enter the northern region to carry out a gradual occupation operation.

Taking Chaganba's company as an example, the entire company had 121 people, more than half of whom were Mongols, Dahurs, Oroqen, Xibe, Hezhe, and so on.

Similarly, it is not uncommon for a battalion-first officer to temporarily command an expeditionary infantry company, as Chaganba said.

The task force was not equipped with all heavy weapons, including light machine guns, and the infantry company was equipped with 200 rounds of ammunition per soldier, while the tribal warriors were heavily equipped with bows and arrows, Empire-made military crossbows, and other weapons to compensate for the possible lack of ammunition.

The food of the infantry company is easily not used, and many times it is solved by hunting animals, digging up the roots and stems of edible plants, stealing the fruits of animal caves, etc., and a small amount of canned food, compressed biscuits and other military supplies are only used to solve urgent needs.

Therefore, the infantry company will not be equipped with logistics personnel such as cooking squads and baggage teams, except for two hygienists in each company, and the whole company is a pure combat establishment.

Few of the health workers in the task force had female surnames, with the exception of Chaganpa's infantry company, whose wife, Arjuna, had been specially approved to join the company, and that another health officer had used a Mongolian girl from Kulen.

The task of the infantry company was to go two or three hundred miles to the lower reaches of the Lena River, where it was heard that there was a Buryats farming tribe, and if it was suitable for the establishment of emigrant estates, the range of activities of the expeditions of the empire could stretch hundreds of miles to the north.

It will be a long-term and slow process for the control and migration of the whole of Central and Eastern Siberia, but the establishment of some migrant cities, including industrial cities, in the upper reaches of the Lena River, so that you can swim down the river and build ports along the Arctic Ocean in the lower reaches of the Lena River.

It was getting dark, but the team was still moving fast.

Arjuna walked in the snow with a shallow foot, wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead, and then looked at the little girl who followed her closely, the thick blue-gray cloth coat wrapped her small body, leggings gray cloth shoes, belt waist, with a gray cloth military hat, the brim was sewn with a few buttons, and two beautiful braids were exposed behind the military hat.

The little health soldier is called a good health soldier, just 14 years old this year, born in a noble family in Kulun, at the age of seven he entered the Central Plains School in Kulen, and the empire began to recruit a large number of health care soldiers in Mongolia before the previous year, and Xiao Hao Ruwa entered the health school, falsely reported as sixteen years old.

The father of the county king who is as good as a baby has seven wives, and the mother who only gave birth to a daughter is not favored, and her mother is even more snobbish, and she has long hoped that her daughter can be drafted into the emperor's palace.

is as good as a baby to enter the health school, her mother is extremely supportive, and also helped to falsely report the age, I wanted to wait for this year's draft to take out the matter of my daughter falsely reporting her age to go to the health school to the officials in charge of the draft, so sensible and motivated, it will naturally be a big plus.

At the end of this year, the empire began to recruit people to the front line in various health schools and health care training classes, and her mother was reluctant and ignored, after all, she had never heard of a female health soldier being sent to the front.

Who knew that Xiao Hao Ruwa had excellent grades and became one of the few female health soldiers who were added to the task force, and Hao Ruwa's mother was in a hurry, not to mention whether it was dangerous or not, although I heard that the unit she was selected to serve did not belong to the real frontier position, but after a year or two with a group of big men, how could she be drafted?

Xiao Hao Ruwa doesn't care about these, ran away from home and went to the barracks to report, for which her mother also wanted to go to the military region to make trouble, but was suppressed by the old man, if the palace draft can be used to falsely report the number of years to learn scientific knowledge as a good story, now in order to prevent her daughter from becoming a soldier to expose the false reporting of the age, a bad handling, is a big trouble.

After a few months of getting along, she and Arjuna are like sisters, and she has told Arjuna little bit about her, Arjuna is funny and pitiful, and admires her bravery, and takes care of this little sister.

However, Xiao Hao Ruwa is extremely strong, and she never asked Arjuna to help her carry her bags when she was marching, and now she is walking with a red face, but she is not lagging behind.

"Prepare for a vigilance break!" Cha Ganba, who was walking in the middle of the team, shouted loudly, there are soldiers from all over the task force, and they all communicate in the official dialect of the Central Plains, even if they are lame, most of these soldiers can say a few words, and simple orders can be understood better.

Chief of Staff Ma Yukun, a native of Anhui Province, in his early thirties, joined the Pingyuan Army 10 years ago, and graduated from the Jinling Political School last year. The chief of staff of each company of the Sixth Army's task force was mainly responsible for supervising military discipline.

It is a small hill col that is less affected by the cold wind, and some trees can be cut down to make a fire to keep warm, in fact, the whole of Lake Baikal is a huge temperature regulating machine, and in winter the surrounding area is warmer than the city of Kyakhta in the south.

After laying hay, Arjuna and Hao Ruwa sat down against a dry birch tree, and soon a soldier brought firewood, blushing and helping to light the fire, and secretly glanced at Hao Ruwa, did not dare to say anything, and quickly ran away.

Arjuna looked at Hao Ruwa and smiled, indeed, Hao Ruwa is the baby bump of the whole company, and many unmarried soldiers love her and treat her as a dream lover. But also, even in big cities, Haoruwa is definitely a top talent, let alone in the barracks.

Naturally, she understood what Arjuna was laughing at, and her little face flushed, and she said, "I'll go and give him a piece of black bean candy to thank him." "Black bean candy is the chocolate of the Empire, and nowadays, it is mostly a consumer product of aristocratic families.

Arjuna smiled and grabbed her and said, "Don't go, you want to make people misunderstand that you like him?" ”

Hao Ruwa hurriedly said: "Of course not, Sister Arjuna, you know me." ”

Arjuna smiled, "Yes, yes, I know that you want to enter the palace as a show girl and marry the emperor...... Oh ......" her mouth was covered by Hao Ruwa, who stared at her with big eyes angrily, "I know, I shouldn't tell you anything!" ”

Arjuna chuckled, like a baby and said angrily: "Besides, who said that I was going to marry him, I just want to go into the palace to see what he looks like." ”

Arjuna smiled and hugged her and said, "I know, I know, silly boy, I'll tease you." ”

It's like a baby who pushed her head against Arjuna with dissatisfaction, but she didn't speak anymore, Arjuna's arms were very warm, and it was very comfortable to lie in.

…… Two days later, on the banks of a river full of taiga, a Buryatic village was found, a small tribe of about a few hundred people, who raised sheep and horses, lived in wooden tents, and made iron tools.

The tribal patriarch is a thin old man, and it is not very difficult to communicate with Chaganba, but it took him a long time to figure out the identity of Chaganbayue and others, and they are not "Rakshasa devils who eat human flesh", but a big country from the south, a big country that can expel Rakshasa devils.

Because Chaganba said that his language was roughly the same as his, the old patriarch naturally felt kind, but he was a little skeptical that Chaganba said that he could drive away the Rakshasa devil, but in any case, he still happily asked the villagers to slaughter livestock to entertain guests, and some villagers went to smash the ice on the riverside and fished some fish to make fresh fish soup.

The soldiers of the infantry company took out the last two Belga seals they had hunted and gave them to the villagers to try.

In the old patriarch's tent, Arjuna and Hao Ruwa finally had a hot meal, and when they traveled north along the shore of Lake Baikal, the hunters of the infantry company liked to run to the lake to hunt seals, and the entire Baikal coast was full of ice, but in the lake was a large piece of ice floes, and the Belga seals liked to run to the ice floes to play, and they became the most effortless prey for the hunters of the infantry company.

However, looking at their strange appearance, Arjuna and Hao Ruwa couldn't eat it, and many times they relied on biscuits to satisfy their hunger.

Drinking fresh fish soup, it is like a baby who only feels like Qiong liquid jade syrup, and it is very delicious. He and Arjuna glanced at each other, stuck out their tongues, and began to satisfy their hunger.

Cha Ganba said that while talking to the patriarch, he picked up some important things to tell the chief of staff Ma Yukun.

From the map, this Buryats tribe is not their destination.

When the old patriarch mentioned that there was a Russian wooden fort a hundred miles to the north, Chaganba was stunned, and it was not marked on the map.

The old patriarch said that his tribe had been nomadic in the area of the Russian Wooden Fort, hunting and fishing, and could grow some barley and millet, but when the Russians came, they had to move here, but they were still often invaded by the Russians, and had to sacrifice sheep and grain every year, and sometimes they had to take women.

Speaking of the past, the old patriarch looked sad.

In Siberia, the natives are extremely afraid of the Russians, not to mention their fierce firearms, the notoriety of "eating human flesh" has made the indigenous tribes frightened, the early Russians came to Siberia, the attack on the indigenous tribes was blocked, the food was exhausted, and the indigenous corpses were really dug up to eat, and later, it evolved into slaughtering captives to eat meat, so far the "Rakshasa devil who eats human flesh" is notorious.

The old patriarch said angrily: "These demons should all be cut by a thousand knives. ”

Chaganba said that he immediately inquired about the situation of the Russians in Mubao, and realized that the Russian immigrants in the entire Central and Eastern Siberia are fleeing westward, because most of the immigrants in this area are armed immigrants composed of exiles and thugs, and their hands are more or less stained with blood, and the Russian immigrants in the southeastern plains of Novosibirsk are completely two concepts and two mentalities, and these people are afraid that most of them will be killed when they encounter Chinese soldiers. Even prisoners and real civilians have no idea of settling here, most of them came to the East to pan for gold, and now they are worried about the retaliation of the Chinese, and they can escape back to the homeland and naturally flee westward, and there are few people who have died in the vast wasteland.

However, the news of the whole of Siberia is closed, and some Russian settlements in the far north are afraid that they do not know the news of the war between China and Russia, let alone the war report of the Russians in the midst of continuous defeat and retreat.

This wooden fort settled by the Russians, although it is in the southern part of Central Siberia, seems to be the same situation and is not on the official Russian map.

The old patriarch said that there were originally only a few dozen Russians in this wooden fort, all of whom were warriors on horseback, but in recent years, the number has gradually increased, about two or three hundred, including many women, children, and children, and it seems that there are more civilians who have moved their families and emigrated here.

Chaganba said that he exchanged a few words with Chief of Staff Ma in a low voice, and then turned back and ordered: "The whole company has a rest and is ready to take out the Russian kennels." ”

As a baby, she became excited, blinked her eyes and asked, "Company commander, can I shoot?" "She hasn't seen a war yet, but after a few months of training before joining the company, her marksmanship is passable, and she is equipped with six thunder cannons.

Chaganba laughed and said, "It's not your turn to shoot." ”

The old patriarch was startled when he heard Chaganba say that they were going to attack the Russians' wooden fort, but he didn't expect them to come for real, and said, "This, this is still a long-term plan." ”

Attacking the Russians from the south, with the brutality of the Rakshasa devil, they will definitely list their own tribes as suspicious targets and take bloody revenge.

Cha Ganba said helplessly: "Old man, don't worry, we guarantee that we can win these Rakshasa devils, don't say such a little Rakshasa people, in the west, hundreds of thousands of Rakshasa devils, that are all real regular army, not a spoonful of stew by us, let me tell you, we have millions of troops in the Central Plains, will we be afraid of the little Rakshasa ghosts?" Old man, you will also be a child of the emperor in the future, and you will understand it slowly! The old patriarch asked a little puzzled: "You say, you are not the Great Qing Kingdom?" ”

Cha Ganba said with a smile: "When did the capital of the Great Qing Dynasty happen?" My emperor is carried by heaven and mighty all over the world. "After saying and thinking about it, it seems that the new dynasty has not been established for a few years, but over the years, the changes in the empire have really been earth-shaking, and I don't know what year it is.

In fact, Chagan Baya's conversation with the old patriarch is naturally not as simple and clear as "carrying by heaven and threatening the four seas", and the literal translation is that "the great emperor is the master who rules from the north to the White Ice Ocean, the east to the Pacific Ocean, the south to the South Ocean, and the west to the Turks, and is the Heavenly Khan of the Chinese in the Central Plains, Mongolia, the Western Regions, the Far North, and the Tibetan Province, and is the incarnation of the gods on earth." ”

The old patriarch was stunned by the series of titles of the Great Emperor of China, and when he heard that "China" had defeated the Rakshasas in the West, he was finally a little relieved, and asked hesitantly: "Can the general defeat the Rakshasa devil in the wooden castle?" ”

Chaganba said in order to appease his heart, Zhengse said: "That's nature, will I take my warriors to death?" ”

The old patriarch thought about it for a while, and then asked, "Do you also have firearms that shoot farther than bows and arrows?" ”

Cha Ganba nodded and said, "Old Tusi said that he could send people to watch the battle, so you can know that what I said is true." He also saw that under the silver power for many years, these tribes in the Northern Regions must be extremely hateful and afraid of the Rakshasas.

(To be continued)