Tong Haifeng and Julian rushed together before dark, loaded all the booty and prisoners onto the ship, and then set sail under the starlight of the summer night.

Seeing that the big war is about to start, they all hope to go back and prepare early, but no one wants to miss a big battle.

In the middle of the night, the fleet returned to the port of Nishijima on the Hidden Islands.

The Oki Islands are only more than 100 miles away from the Shimane Peninsula, and were once the hidden country of the Japanese Order, but the national strength is weak, and the stone is only more than 5,000 high, and now it belongs to the Matsue Domain.

Because it is close to the mainland, and the population of the island is not large, and there is a good natural port wharf, it has become the base camp of the three or four battalions of mercenaries, and there are 2,000 mercenaries stationed on the island, as well as more than ten warships of the navy and more than 1,000 soldiers and some logistics personnel.

The scenery of the island is very good, there are 100 zhang high skyscraper cliffs and sky bridges on the west island, there are many kinds of strange rocks and many caves, there are screen rocks on the east coast of the middle island, and there are sea cliffs and other unique scenery on the west coast of Zhifu Island.

But on the big night, I can't see anything clearly.

The ship docked, and there were soldiers on duty to help unload the goods.

After working for a long time, I finally got all the people and goods off the ship.

"Captain Tong, here's a letter from you."

A sergeant handed a letter into Tong Haifeng's hands and left.

With the help of the street lamp on the dock, after reading the letter, Tong Haifeng's two sword eyebrows raised, feeling a little surprised.

The letter was given to him by Zheng Lian, the commander of the Seventh Fleet, and told him to stand by on the island of Hideki.

Early the next morning, Julian's company learned of the incident and had no choice but to leave the company on another ship. Went to join up with the other mercenary camps and assembled.

In addition to Tong Haifeng, there are several other cruisers left behind, and the logistics on the island are also there. After three days of boring waiting on the island, a boat finally arrived.

It was the ships of the Seventh Fleet that came, but there were no battleships and no cruisers or destroyers, and some frigates of the sixth rank came. There were also some gunboats below the rank.

"Task Force 1 of the Seventh Fleet!"

Looking at the handwritten letter from the fleet commander that he had just received, Tong Haifeng was still a little unconvinced.

He had just been appointed commander of this task force.

His task force has one fifth-class warship, four sixth-class warships, twenty gunboats, and ten transports.

The warships of the fifth and sixth ranks were three-masted sail ships, the fifth class ships had forty-six guns, and the sixth class had thirty-six guns. All the guns were on one deck and were extremely fast. It's flexible.

Twenty gunboats, eight brigs and twelve sloops. These brigs were smaller, with twenty-four guns for the brigs and sixteen guns for the dhows.

In addition to the ten armed transport ships, Tong Haifeng's task force has thirty-six boats and nearly eight hundred large and small artillery pieces. It can be said that it is already quite tough.

The fifth-class ship has a capacity of 300. 200 6th class ships and 100 brigs. Five hundred sloops, plus the crew of the transport, a total of more than three thousand people.

He didn't expect that he would be able to become the captain of a fifth-class warship, let alone become the commander of a task force, commanding thirty-six ships. More than 3,000 people.

After the shock, he thought that his task force was going to continue to attack the Japanese coast, but he was told that it was actually going to the northeast.

It is necessary to go upstream from the mouth of the Heilongjiang River to support the Heilongjiang battlefield. At the same time, the Russians who had already invaded the Heilongjiang River valley were driven away.

It turned out that during the period when Tong Haifeng was fighting off the coast of Japan, there was also a war in the Northeast.

Last year, the Jurchens, who retreated into the upper reaches of the main stream of the Heilongjiang River, launched an annexation war against Sauron and other aborigines, and the Sauron tribes held out to resist. Sauron had already been defeated, but a Han army had traveled thousands of miles from the distant North Sea to come in for reinforcements.

Li Xin set out from Beihai with 500 reinforcements, traveled all the way east, and then recruited many tribal hunters along the way, and by the time they reached Nebuchu in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, there were more than 5,000 people.

They annihilated a group of more than 200 Russian bandits, recaptured the city of Nebuchu, and continued down the river.

rushed to Yaksa to reinforce the Sauron tribes, and the Saurons, who received this support, withstood the offensive of the Qing army, but with the support of Li Xin, fought several counterattacks and won the battle, drove the Qing army back to Yuanhui, and took the opportunity to recover the land in the Jingqili River basin.

Now, as Heilongjiang has long since thawed, the two sides have rested for a period of time during the news period and will start fighting again in the summer. The Jurchens gathered more men and horses, and repeatedly fought with the reinforcements of Sauron and Li Xin in the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River, and both sides won and lost.

However, Sauron and other troops were weaker than the Jurchens, and lacked ammunition and other supplies. When the batch of ammunition brought by Li Xin ran out, they could only fight with knives, guns, bows and arrows, which became more and more disadvantageous.

When the imperial court received a report from the distant northeastern Heilongjiang region, the emperor decided to send troops to support.

The emperor mobilized the Han army in the northeast, as well as the Mongol soldiers and horses, to attack the Jurchens from the south.

At the same time, the emperor also decided to send a fleet to bypass the Korean Strait and reach the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, and then go up the river to support Li Xin and the Sauron Army. Ammunition and guns, weapons, food, etc. were sent to them.

However, the Heilongjiang River is also an inland river after all, although the whole line can be navigated, but the specific situation is not very understood, so it is not possible to send large ships at once, and finally decided to form a fleet composed of mainly small warships.

In addition to the 3,000 naval soldiers, there were 2,000 marines and many supplies on board.

The Emperor eventually ordered the Seventh Fleet to form this task force, after all, the Seventh Fleet had been stationed in Japan in the past, and it was more familiar with it.

Zheng Lian, commander of the Seventh Fleet, finally selected Tong Haifeng, a young captain who graduated from the Tianjin Naval Academy and served in the North Sea Fleet, the Royal Task Force, and the Seventh Fleet in the East China Sea, and has always performed well, to serve in this important position.

Of course, in the end, the important reason for Zheng Lian to appoint Tong Haifeng was because the emperor once mentioned Tong Haifeng's name, saying that this young man was doing well and could put the burden on him when appropriate. The emperor greeted him, and Zheng Lian was of course impressed by the young officer. With this opportunity, he reported the names of Tong Haifeng and several other captains, and finally the emperor chose Tong Haifeng.

Zheng Lian was very polite in his letter to Tong Haifeng, telling him that this was a good opportunity to make meritorious contributions, and if he performed well, he would definitely be promoted at that time.

Sail on inland waterways like Heilongjiang. Certainly safer than at sea, especially in such a summer, when the sea is stormy. However, there are also dangers in inland waterways, especially since there is no previous experience in navigating Heilongjiang.

Zheng Lian also told Tong Haifeng that according to the intelligence department, there were Russians in the area of the Heilongjiang estuary, and he must be on guard. If the Russians are encountered, then immediately expelled. If necessary, force may be used to annihilate or capture the opponent.

Zheng Lian also told Tong Haifeng that the emperor had just announced that the Heilongjiang River basin was the territory of the Han Dynasty. The imperial court had already merged the land of Liaodong and Liaoxi south of the West Liao River and the East Liao River, east of Shanhaiguan, and west of the Yalu River into Liaoning Province.

And the east of the Ussuri River to the sea is the province of Hercyni.

East of Daxingan Mountain, west of Daxing'an Mountain, is Hung Yen Province.

South of the Songhua River. West of the Ussuri River and east of the Great Khingan Mountains. To the north of the East Liao River, it is Jilin Province.

To the east of the Daxing'an Mountains, to the south of the Heilongjiang River, and to the north of the Songhua River, it is Heilongjiang Province.

north of the Heilongjiang River to the south of the Outer Khing'an Mountains. All of them are in Gangdong Province.

From the Bohai Sea in the south, to the North Sea in the west, to the sea in the east, and to the Outer Xing'an Mountains in the north, this large area. It is divided into six provinces.

Further north of the Outer Khing'an Mountains and the Beihai, from the sea in the east to the Ural Mountains in the west, this vast area was designated by the emperor as the Xipol Special Province, which was also included in the territory of the Han Empire.

The emperor has declared his sovereignty over this, and no tribe or country can be infringed upon. Neither the Jurchens nor the Russians are inviolable.

Since the emperor has declared sovereignty, then those of them who are courtiers, especially the soldiers of the empire, must uphold the emperor's declaration and maintain the authority of the empire.

First of all, the first step, of course, is to conquer the Jurchens, and then drive the Russians away. Now the indigenous tribes of Sauron, Buryatia, Yakutia, and other places in Xipol and the Northeast have all expressed their submission to the Han Emperor.

Now is the perfect time for the Empire to enter this northern frontier.

Tong Haifeng's task force is arduous, and it must be sent to the new commander-in-chief of West Pol Province, Li Xin. Because of the distance, it is impossible for the imperial court to send a fleet too large for the first time, and at present, a fleet of this size is already very large.

Tong Haifeng felt the weight of the burden on his shoulders.

Whether the emperor can really control the Heilongjiang Valley, which has been included in the empire's territory, or even the West Pol further north, his expedition is extremely important.

However, he also secretly admired the emperor's ambition in his heart, and with a big mouth and a wave of his hand, the empire included such a huge piece of land into the territory.

And that General Li Xin is also a bull, it is said that he used to be a lifter, and he also participated in the invasion army, but he turned against him anyway and captured the puppet emperor Zhu Changxun alive. Later, he abandoned his post and went into hiding, scattered his family wealth and went to Beihai. Then he actually led a team of 500 people to trek thousands of miles to rescue the irrelevant Saurons, only to pull up more than 5,000 warriors along the way.

I heard that if it weren't for him, the various tribes of Sauron would have been defeated by the Jurchens and collapsed and annexed.

I really want to meet such a legendary figure, and the emperor also knows it, and he doesn't care about Li Xin's former rebel status, nor does he care that he once abandoned his post, and actually directly gave him the post of the chief soldier of a province.

But when you think that you were the captain of the most ordinary light cruisers, you were suddenly given the task of commanding a fleet of thirty-six ships and eight hundred cannons, and the Empire was often eclectic in this regard.

Tong Haifeng's face was red with excitement, and he thought excitedly, a great opportunity has appeared, can he show his skills?

This trip has to be thousands of miles away, to the mouth of the Heilongjiang River, and then to the battlefield of Yaksa, there are still four or five thousand miles. Distance is the generals' worst enemy, and it is difficult to get supplies along the way, and even this is the first time they have taken this route.

There can be no mistakes, and there is no room for delay.

But think about it, Li Xin can drive thousands of miles in the ice and snow, ride a sled, and expand the team tenfold, is it not as good as him to drive the battleship in the wind and waves?

"Expect no storms along the way!"

The task is daunting. But only this can show the ability of the commander more and more, Tong Haifeng is not afraid of difficulties, he is just looking forward to being able to set off and arrive early.

The battleship was loaded with sailors and gunners, while the transports were loaded with marines, weapons and food supplies. The team only rested for a day, and Tong Haifeng couldn't wait to give the order to set sail.

"Captain. Japan's piece of fat, let's throw it away? ”

"Although Japan is a piece of fat, there are too many people staring at it, most of the Imperial Navy is gathered here, and North Korea is also there to join in the fun, and even the Imperial Army is thinking about how to intervene, even if we stay, we won't be able to seize any opportunities. It's Heilongjiang, and we're the only one. ”

The navigator smacked his mouth. "Our dignified Imperial Navy, this time we enter Heilongjiang, we will become an inland river division, this is not a downgrade."

There are also naval divisions in the army, such as the Yangtze River Fleet, although there are a large number of warships and sailors, but the navy has always looked at them squarely, and always feels that they are playing the storm at sea. And people are playing in the pond in front of their homes, which is not a grade.

It's like the Imperial Army always thinks that the Imperial Navy is inferior to them. I think they are the real elite of the empire, the navy, which is just a group escorting merchant ships.

Such discrimination can be seen everywhere, even in the army, the cavalry looks down on the infantry, and the infantry looks down on the artillery. It's the same that the artillery looks down on the sappers.

The gun commander asked, "Isn't there just a few barbaric and backward indigenous tribes in Heilongjiang, some people have no people, some have money and no money, and they are thousands of miles or even tens of thousands of miles away from the Central Plains." Why do we have to go there to fight, what are we doing? ”

"What's the picture, of course it's profitable." Tong Haifeng smiled.

"What can be profitable?" The gunslinger was not convinced.

The deputy captain said, "You don't understand this, although it is indeed cold in that place, but Heilongjiang is said to be as big as the Yangtze River, nearly 10,000 miles long." The river is wide and deep, suitable for navigation, and the land on both sides is fertile. The wood is excellent, and there are many kinds of medicinal herbs, and the fur production is large. ”

"It's not worth it for this little thing, who would go to that place to open up the wasteland and farm?"

"As long as the place is stable, there are people who are willing to reclaim the land and cultivate the land, but you don't know the people's love for the land. Moreover, it is not only farming, but also hunting and fishing, both prey and fish are very abundant there, besides, I heard that in the upper reaches of the main stream of the Heilongjiang River to the current Jurchen Huihui City, this more than 1,000 miles along the river basin, rich in gold, people call it the Golden Road. I heard that in those small tributaries in the upper reaches of the Heilongjiang River, the bottom of the river is full of golden sand. ”

"Oh my God, is this true?" Several officers on the ship couldn't help but cry out in surprise.

"Of course, I also heard from the staff officers, it is said that the group of Russians annihilated by General Li Xin's troops in Nebuchu City, they found a huge silver mine nearby, and they captured Nebuchu City without leaving. I heard that the imperial court has planned to build a mine there, and it is said that it can mine at least tens of thousands of catties of silver a year. ”

"Good fellow, isn't there gold and silver all over there?"

"Sure, you think, from ancient times to the present, there have been no people over there, and there is no gold or silver. It's like the Central Plains, no matter how much gold and silver there is, it will be mined for thousands of years. ”

Everyone was a little excited.

Although they didn't go to mine for gold, they couldn't help but be excited when they heard about it.

If there is really gold and silver all over there, then even if it is desolate, it must be included in the empire, how can it be allowed to be invaded by the big nose of Russia. As long as there is really gold and silver to be mined, I am afraid that as soon as the news spreads, it will not be a few years before a large number of merchants and ordinary people will pour in.

At that time, there was also news of the discovery of many gold mines in Taiwan, which caused a large number of people from Guangdong, Fujian, Zhejiang and other places to flock to Taiwan, and the gold rush did drive Taiwan's immigration.

Come to think of it, it's only been a few years, and Taiwan now has a population of more than one million.

A few years ago, there weren't even 10,000 immigrants there.

"You say, can General Li and the Saurons hold out until we pass?"

"It should work, right?"

Everyone thought that since this General Li had been able to persist until now, there should be no problem with persisting for a few more months.

瑗珲.

Dolgon's face flushed with rage, and another beautiful glass was shattered.

The national fortunes of the Qing Dynasty seem to have come to an end, and the luck of the Jurchens has also come to an end. Since his brother Huang Taiji was beheaded by Liu Jun, their Jurchen life has really deteriorated day by day.

Looking back, he even regretted that he had cheated Hauge for the sake of power.

Hauge didn't become the emperor of the Qing Dynasty back then, and he didn't do it himself, and the three-year-old Fulin became the emperor, and he still felt that he still had the upper hand. But he still underestimated the Han people.

He couldn't have imagined that the scum Wu Sangui and Zu Dashou would be capricious, and he didn't expect Haoge to stab him at the most critical time.

Two of his brothers died in battle, Daishan died of old age, Haug rebelled, and Zilharang lost his bravery.

After they abandoned the hometown of Jianzhou, and after they were far away from Liaoshen, the land of Zhongxing, they lost Harwin.

All the way over the small Xing'an Mountains, came to the bank of the Heilongjiang River.

The Jurchen Eight Banners, which had repeatedly entered the Central Plains, could not even defeat the Sauron savages.

Just thinking about it, he was angry.

It's just that the Eight Banners can't beat the Han army, after all, they have sharp cannons and firearms, but why can't they beat a group of savages?

Those children of the Eight Banners, and even the descendants of Aixin Jueluo, are no longer as strong as they were at the beginning, they are all like horses that have been instigated, and they are no longer the slightest bit fierce and brave.

One after another, they were defeated, but they were not ashamed, but found various reasons to prevaricate, what Sauron savages had the support of the Han army, and what had to guard against the Mongols in the south.

Afraid of death, cowardly.

Those are all excuses, that Li Xin just brought a few thousand savages over, and what they added was only a few thousand firecrackers and a few small cannons, which the Qing Dynasty also had.

They just don't dare to fight anymore, they all learn to be afraid of death, and they don't have that momentum anymore.

The Jurchen Eight Banners have begun to fear death, how can this battle be fought?

For most of the year, there was no progress, money and food were wasted, and the war was like a swamp in this season, full of mud, and as soon as you stepped down, you kept hiding, and if you were not careful, you would be trapped.

Originally, he wanted to annex the Sauron tribes in order to restore some of the Jurchen's strength, but now it turned out like this.

"Report!"

"Report to the prince, urgent military report, the Mongolian princes are gathering troops and horses, intending to go north!"

Hearing this, Dolgon felt a little dazed, this war dragged on for a long time, the Han people were finally going to take advantage of the fire to rob the ground, and their lackeys Mongols were coming. (To be continued.) )