At the beginning of September, on the main stream of the Heilongjiang River, it was still sunny, and the noon sun even made people sweat.

Tong Haifeng didn't know that his task force had been officially awarded the title of the Heilongjiang Fleet by the emperor, let alone that he had been promoted to the commander of the Heilongjiang Fleet. The empire was the youngest and the lowest ranked fleet with the fewest number of warships, both the river fleet and the vast northern seas of the Black Dragon Sea, the Black Dragon Strait and even the Siberian Strait.

He has even been promoted to a post-military academy with an astonishing rate of promotion.

At this time, he led his task force and had already left Linjiang Fort and continued to drive upstream. After crossing the Linjiang River, the main stream of the Heilongjiang River was already completely the sphere of influence of the Jurchens. From time to time, they could see the Jurchens on both sides of the strait.

Tong Haifeng has already put the fleet into a wartime state, maintaining a high degree of vigilance, and no longer sweeping the two sides of the strait unless necessary. This is already the core area of the Jurchens, and they can't sweep it clean, even if they repel the enemy for a while, it is impossible to establish a military station here.

Now Tong Haifeng only hopes to cross this river as soon as possible and rush upstream as soon as possible. But he also knew in his heart that he had delayed too long along the way, and if the chief soldier Li Xin really counted on him to come to the rescue, it would definitely be too late. He believed that the Imperial Army would definitely arrive earlier than them, or at least contain them from behind the Jurchens, and that the Imperial Army and the Mongol Army could enter the upper tributaries of the Heilongjiang River from Hung Yen Province and then go down the river to reinforce Li Xin.

On both sides of the Heilongjiang River, the Jurchen cavalry can often be seen, but on the river, there are no Jurchen boats. Perhaps the Jurchens knew very well that with the strength of the Han army's fleet, even if they made some small wooden boats, it would be impossible to stop the Han warships.

"Be vigilant. Don't be careless, this is within the control of the Jurchens. Tong Haifeng was highly vigilant and gave a strict order to the fleet, slowing down the speed of the voyage and only sailing in the middle of the river. The fleet sailed in formation, but at a sufficient distance. Avoid the enemy attacking with fire, iron cables, shipwrecks, driftwood, etc., and in the event of an attack, there is enough space to avoid it.

In addition, since crossing the river, they have tried not to dock as much as possible, and have eaten and lived on the boat. In front of the fleet, there were patrol boats that were released several miles early to prevent ambushes. Behind the fleet, there were also a few patrol boats hanging from afar, guarding the back road. On the left and right sides of the fleet, there are also patrol boats, which are responsible for communication and liaison, and in case of an attack, when the flag is not clear, these patrol boats can be used to quickly convey military orders.

The fleet is like a great enemy. Very cautious, after all, the Jurchens were still very powerful. The emaciated camel is bigger than the horse, and Tong Haifeng, a person like Tong Haifeng, who had heard countless rumors of the fierceness of the Tatars when he was a teenager, has always had some shadows on the Jurchens.

However, after several days of sailing, the expected attack did not materialize.

But on the left bank, a small force of light cavalry with a Jurchen army, followed their fleet all the time. It's not like it's going to attack them, it's more like it's spying on them.

"If we continue to be safe and sound, we will be able to reach Yaksa in half a month at most." The ship's mate was very pleased with the calm of these days.

"It's not that simple, even if it's okay along the way. But when you get to Minghui, there must be a tough battle. Tong Haifeng didn't believe that the Jurchens would easily let their fleet go, and the only explanation was that the Jurchens were waiting for the opportunity. The best time, of course, is in Yuanhui, which is now the new capital of the Jurchens, and it is also their base camp, heavily guarded, maybe there will be batteries and ships, and it will be very difficult to break through the blockade.

On the south bank of the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, at the eastern foot of the Daxing'an Mountains, Humar Village.

Humar Village is named after the Humar River, Humar is the Daur language, which means the rapids of the mountains and valleys without sunlight, and it is the territory where the Daur people have lived for generations.

However, in the previous campaign, the Jurchens had captured Humar Village, and even fought all the way to Duo Chen upstream.

But just half a month ago, the upper reaches began to launch a fierce counteroffensive against the Qing army in Humar, and countless Sauron tribe warriors rode down the river on rafts.

The Qing army refused to defend the village, and as a result, they were stunned by the fierce offensive.

There were not only Evenks, but also Oroqen and Daurs, in addition to the Mongols, and even the Han army. The most important thing is that these warriors from all tribes, no longer holding simple spears and bows and arrows, but each carrying a musket, and even behind the infantry spread out in a line, there is a cannon.

In just half a day, the Qing army's fortress position at the forefront of the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River was breached. The 3,000 Qing troops stationed here did not even have time to escape, and they were either killed or captured.

Now, this upstream position, which is less than 500 miles away from the Qing army's base camp, has become the former enemy headquarters of Li Xin, the commander of the Heilongjiang Campaign.

In the small fortress, more than 30,000 warriors of the Tunguska tribes in the middle and upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River are focused, in addition to more than 10,000 Mongolian warriors, and thousands of Han soldiers.

These more than 10,000 Menghan reinforcements crossed the border from Hung Yen Province and then arrived at the Erguna River, a tributary of the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and rushed down by boat to Yaksa for reinforcements. Their arrival made Li Xin and others, who had been struggling to support themselves, all rejoice. The ammunition brought by Li Xin had long since run out, and the musket had become a burning stick, and the artillery had become purely an ornament.

Fortunately, on both sides of the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, he recruited thousands of hunter warriors to come over, and in the later period, many tribes who got the news brought people to reinforcements.

Relying on their tenacious will, they stubbornly defended several fortresses, and finally survived.

However, in this battle, Li Xin also clearly felt that the Qing army was no longer as powerful as rumored, and there were many old and weak people in the Qing army, and there were even many Haidong and Haixi Jurchens, who were not very attentive to this war. As for those forcibly conscripted Sauron and other departments, they are completely in Cao Ying's heart in Han.

In addition, after the Jurchens retreated to Heilongjiang, they were no longer in the past, and the army only went north for 500 miles to fight, and their logistics and supply problems were already continuous.

After Li Xin and others captured Humar, the nearby and Daur and other Tunguska tribes responded in droves, and those tribal villages that were originally subservient to the Jurchens also completely fell to the official army at this time, sending troops and food. Respond to anti-clearing.

More good news is coming.

The Guanwai Military Region and the Saishang Military Region, as well as the allied forces drawn by the Mongol princes, went all the way north, and the Jurchens deployed defenses and intercepted them on the front line of the Inner Xing'an Mountains, trying to block the army in the south of the mountain.

But under the artillery attack of the imperial army, the fortress defense line that the Qing army had worked so hard to build was being uprooted one after another.

Now Allah has moved to defend the southern defense.

"Ladies and gentlemen. It's time for us to fight back, the imperial army is marching all the way, and the defense line set up by the Jurchens on the front line of the Yilagul Mountains and the Xiaoxing'an Mountains is crumbling one after another. They are no longer able to guard against us, and this is the perfect time for us to go down the river and go straight to the enemy's den. ”

The 30,000 Tunguska warriors that Humar focused on were all excited. In the past, everyone surrendered to the Jurchens and paid tribute to the Jurchens. As a result, the Jurchens had to make more and more demands, becoming more and more excessive. The Jurchens were eager to take away all their dried meat, dried fish, and domesticated reindeer, and take them all to war.

But the Han people were different, and the Han people helped them fight against the fierce Jurchens, brought them medicines, brought weapons, and helped them take back their homeland.

The patriarchs and leaders of the various tribes had already sworn to the righteous man, Lord Li. Forever loyal to the Han Empire and become a subject of the Empire. Hunters of the Ministries. Now they are all warriors, and all of them have joined the Imperial Reserve and become the Imperial militia.

They didn't know what a reserve was, and they didn't know what a militia was, but they all understood what General Li said, and everyone who joined the imperial reserve was added. And if you become a militiaman, you can get a flintlock pistol, and you can exchange your prey for bullets later. If you don't join the reserves, if you don't become the militia of the empire, you can't get a flintlock pistol. It is also not eligible to purchase.

The young men of all the tribes who have seen the flintlock pistol know that this thing is powerful, and it can shoot farther and fiercer than a bow and arrow. Many tribes are young and strong, and they call the flintlock pistol thunder, some called the heavenly thunder, and some called the heavenly fire, in short, in their opinion, it is extremely mysterious and powerful.

With such a divine fire, there is no need to be afraid of bears and wolves, and there is no need to be afraid of the Jurchens.

Li credited 30,000 export-oriented muskets, and successfully subdued the Tunguska tribes in the middle and upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and organized 30,000 young men from each department into the militia of the empire.

30,000 flintlock pistols only, Li Xin thought it was a good deal. The cost of the flintlock pistol is already very cheap now, not to mention this kind of export type, as long as the Jurchens are defeated, this area will really be in the hands of the empire in the future. Now taking advantage of the face to subdue the ministries, it can be regarded as a good relationship with the ministries.

Not to mention anything else, he issued 30,000 flintlock pistols to the various ministries, but the ministries did not take them empty-handed, they all paid a batch of tributes to the imperial court, and he accepted them on his behalf. Nowadays in Yaksa, the tributes paid by the various tribes are piled up in several large warehouses.

Deer leaves, deer fetuses, deer whips, ginseng, pearls, gold, silver, and all kinds of precious mink, bearskin, deer skins and other skins. Everything is a good thing, and the deer ginseng is a very precious medicinal material, and those natural large pieces of gold are even more amazing. Not to mention the mink, which is extremely sought-after in the Central Plains and Europe, any one is worth hundreds of silver dollars.

Transporting those tributes back to Beijing and casually handing them over, the proceeds were far more than 30,000 muskets. What's more, after these tribes surrendered to the empire, this will be the territory of the empire in the future, and the empire will buy furs here, sell all kinds of industrial and commercial goods, and even mine here, not to mention the benefits.

Besides, there are 30,000 imperial militia in this northern frontier, and they can also balance the role of the Mongol princes and other starting points. In the event that one day a Mongol prince died, the Tunguska fishing and hunting tribe behind them was a sharp knife that threatened their backs at any time, and if they didn't get it right, they would be stabbed.

Before the war ended, many bold Han merchants had already flocked to the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River. Buying furs, selling all kinds of tobacco, tea, salt, wine, sugar, matches, soap, candles, oil lamps, oil, clothes, cloth, boots, and even needlework, hanging pots, and kettles, in short, people nowadays have a flexible business acumen.

With a population of two or three hundred thousand, such a large undeveloped commercial virgin land, not to mention the various skins and herbs in their hands, no matter how good the commodities are, they can make a lot of money in the Central Plains if they buy them and change hands.

There are also some more powerful businessmen who directly target minerals everywhere. At present, the royal people have arrived in Nebuchu, they heard that there is a large silver mine in Nebuchu, and immediately sent a team of Kan detectives over, and after confirmation, they have immediately applied for the establishment of the Nebuchu silver mine.

And I don't know when the news came out, but now many people have heard that there is a lot of gold sand in the Ergun and Shilka rivers and those smaller tributaries. As a result, a large number of gold diggers have no longer care that the war here is not over, and they are pouring in large numbers to pan for gold.

There are also some more intelligent guys, they see the huge business opportunities, but also rushed over, they are not panning for gold, but are ready to open taverns, restaurants, inns, teahouses in the gold panning camp here, and even some guys are also preparing to open green buildings, some are ready to open casinos, and some are planning to open grocery stores, selling gold panning tools, in short, a gold rush has been formed, and countless people will pour into the upper reaches of Heilongjiang.

Even Li Xin himself had already informed the people in the shops in Beihai, asking them to organize a batch of goods to come and buy the rich and cheap furs and medicinal materials here.

Even relying on his familiarity here, he also negotiated an agreement with the Evenknebuchu people for the Nebuchu silver mine, so that there was no hindrance to the mining of this silver mine, and after reaching this agreement, Li Xin also entered a share of the promising mineral of Nebuchu by the way, although the shares are not very large, but it is definitely a million profits.

However, Li Xin did not forget his original purpose of coming here, which was to rescue the Sauron tribes. And now, since the emperor has trusted him so much, made him the chief military officer of Xipol, and specially appointed him as the commander-in-chief of the Heilongjiang Campaign, leading the campaign against the Jurchens, then of course he will not patronize to make money.

Taking this opportunity, he destroyed the Jurchens, completely eradicated this once favored giant, and thought that he would be famous in history because of this war in the future, Li Xin, a scholar in his bones, couldn't help but shine with excitement.

"His Majesty the Holy Emperor bless us to destroy the Jurchens!"

Li Xin shouted.

A large group of Menghan soldiers also shouted in unison, "Your Majesty bless, destroy the Jurchen!" ”

Many of the Tunguska warriors didn't know what the Han and Mongol Antars were shouting, but they couldn't stop them from shouting.

"The morale is high, the military spirit is available, pass the order, tomorrow the fourth watch will make food, and the fifth watch will set off, go straight to the enemy's nest, plow the court and sweep the hole!" (To be continued.) )