The name of this station is Altai.

It looks like a small town, but in reality, there are hardly many inhabitants.

In addition to the fur merchants along the way, there were the Tsar's military horses stationed here, as well as some collected natives.

It's just a thousand.

It's just that in this place, a thousand people is already a huge scale.

At least within a radius of 1,000 miles, this is the most important fortress.

In fact, they had already received news of the presence of an enemy in the vicinity a few days earlier, and a supply outpost had been breached.

It was a Tsarist nobleman who immediately realized that something was wrong.

Because in the past year or so, there have been Easterners who have entered the Siberian region in large numbers and have eliminated the last remnants of the Siberian Khanate, which has also led to the realization within Tsarist Russia that they have a new opponent in this place.

Therefore, in order to maintain the interests of the East, Tsarist Russia successively sent some reinforcements.

Unexpectedly, the Oriental people really came.

It's just that...... What the people in Altai never expected was that they thought that the supply outpost would be completely breached, and the soldiers and civilians inside would not be spared.

But where did you think of it...... These soldiers and civilians actually appeared outside the city.

There were more than 200 people, and they didn't seem to have been abused much, and all of them were in good spirits.

The man who called the door at the head was an officer named Shanenov.

This officer was acquainted with the defender Lomonsov, who at first thought that this was a ploy by the Orientals, perhaps deliberately deceiving the city gates, and the nearby Orientals ambushed nearby and attacked.

However, after confirming it repeatedly, he found that it was empty, and it was impossible to ambush people.

Moreover, almost all of the people who followed Sanenov were soldiers and civilians stationed here by Tsarist Russia.

All of a sudden...... Lomonov became difficult to choose.

Letting people into the city can certainly increase the military strength of the city, but ...... The supplies in the city are insufficient.

This was a problem for almost the entire region of Siberia, because of the sparse population, the difficulty of growing food in the snow, and the fact that it was vast and uninhabited, and because it was thousands of miles away from the core of Tsarist Russia, it was very difficult to replenish it.

Rations were limited, and it would have been impossible to sustain such an army in such a barren land had it not been for the ambitions of His Majesty the Tsar.

Therefore, the most precious thing here is not manpower, but supplies.

Often, in Altai one person's ration means that it takes at least thirty peasant families to get it.

Now that there have suddenly been two or three hundred more people in the city, and the wartime situation has made it impossible for people to go out of the city to hunt for a living, whether it is the rations of the soldiers and civilians or the supply of forage for the war horses, there may be problems.

In other words, he had expected that in the event of an enemy, he would be able to hold out for at least a month, and in that month's time, he would just wait for the food convoy in the rear to bring supplies.

And once there is a new force, then that time can be greatly reduced.

But...... He couldn't refuse the demands of the captives to enter the city, which would not only chill the hearts of the Shanenovs, but also the defenders, who were afraid that their morale would also be greatly affected.

So, in the end, Lomonov chose to open the city gates.

Immediately, he urgently summoned Shanenov to his front and asked about the Orientals.

Shanenov replied very honestly, these men were well-armed, hard-working, and brave, and their supplies were extravagant.

How extravagant? Often in a formation of 1,000 people, there will be two war horses, mostly Mongolian horse breeds, Mongolian horses are hard-working, although the explosive power is not as good as other horse breeds, there is less to eat, and the endurance is strong.

As a result, each of them often had a horse to carry the goods.

Not only that, but their weapons were very sophisticated, and each of them had enough to protect them from the cold, which was by no means comparable to the many khanates that were all over the world at the beginning.

And I heard that in their rear, there is also a convoy...... We are willing to send a steady stream of supplies to the front line.

To put it bluntly, it's money!

Of course, Shanenov did not speak ill of Li Zicheng, Zhang Xianzhong and others: "They are not ordinary Khitan barbarians, although they are very resolute in battle, but treat prisoners, both officers and soldiers, They will even care for sick prisoners and take care of them, one of my adjutants, who is still sick, has been taking care of the doctor who accompanied the army, and they did not let him go into the city with us, because their doctor thought that the treatment was not suitable for interruption, so he is still in the camp of the Orientals, They said they would find a way to send him home when his condition was completely improved. ”

Lomonosov's brows furrowed deeper and deeper, and he noticed something unusual, so he said: "It's better not to talk about these situations to anyone else." ”

Shanenov smiled bitterly and said: "General, I think it's too late, we have more than 200 people......"

Yes, you can't control more than two hundred mouths.

And outside the city.

The siege began quickly.

The siege engine was made on a large scale after a few days, and then began to launch continuous attacks on the city.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, one was responsible for the siege of the city, the other led the old battalion soldiers and horses, and a large group of cavalry began to set off, searching and advancing nearby, looking for the other party's food team.

Encirclement and reinforcement, this trick is very effective.

Especially for people like Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong, the biggest weakness of the rogues is that they do not have siege weapons, but they are not afraid of officers and soldiers in the field, so they often tempt nearby officers and soldiers and supply teams to attack while besieging.

Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are so familiar with this set that they can't be more familiar.

These two people not only have talents, but most importantly, they also have handsome talents.

Therefore, they are not just playing siege warfare, but also a psychological battle.

Sure enough, soon another grain convoy was attacked.

And the city was under the tense defense, and soon the food was insufficient.

In this case, it is actually possible to stick to it.

The defenders can kill horses, they can eat rats, they can eat everything they can.

Some cities, as long as they have a resolute attitude, although they only have one month's food, but they hold on for three months, and it may not be impossible to hold on to these orientals and wait for reinforcements.

But the problem now is that the siege has taken a toll on them, and hunger and cold have weakened their will.

Not only that, but a large number of rumors began to spread in the army.

Much of the news that the Orientals would not kill their captives and give them preferential treatment had long since spread.

There are even many people who say that the treatment of defending the city here is not as good as when you were a prisoner.

This kind of rumor with nose and eyes is extremely terrible for the desperate defenders.

Because he brings hope to the hopeless.

As food becomes more and more scarce.

Things in the city got worse.

Because many people swore that even if they surrendered, the Orientals would send them home.

Go home......

Looking up at this cold world full of snow, the more people dream of going home, back to the west of the Urals, where they can snuggle up with their families by the stove, in sheepskin jackets, and in hot soup with rich aromas.

Inevitably, the willpower of the people began to be lost.

And General Lomonov immediately realized that something was wrong, and he was an absolutely loyal man, and personally ordered the punishment of an officer who thought that he should surrender.

"This is a ruse of the Orientals!" Lomonosov exposed Li Zicheng's lies.

But what's the use?

That night.

Dozens of officers, surrounded by soldiers, seized General Lomonov's guards overnight and then entered General Lomonov's residence.

Lomonosov was awakened and looked angrily at the oil lamps in the room, the north wind howled outside, and in the dim room, there were familiar figures, their faces were not clear in the dim light.

One of the officers at the head said, "General......"

Lomonosov's eyes widened and he said coldly: "You betrayed the Tsar......"

"We are following the wishes of the soldiers."

"Oriental scheming ......"

"The Orientals will take us home."

"This is also our home, and it has been for a long time."

"It's not!"

Finally Lomonov said: "Kill me." ”

The officers did not move, but remained silent.

Lomonosov angrily grabbed the collar of one of them, and the appearance of the person opposite him made him even more angry, because this person was his confidant lieutenant, and even such a person was actually with them.

Lomonov shouted: "If you kill me, you can go and do your business." ”

The officers remained silent.

The adjutant hung his head and said, "General, someone has already gone to open the city gate." ”

Lomonosov's eyes were stunned, and then his face was desperate.

He was hunched up at this time, like an old man in his last years, and his anger had dissipated like smoke at this moment, but he said tiredly: "I know." ”

The officers hesitated for a moment, and finally everyone left silently.

It was just that when they walked out, there was a piercing gunshot in the room behind them.

On the other side, the previously captured officer Shanenov was already familiar with a team of soldiers and opened the city gates.

Propriety...... They understand.

They hoisted the white flag.

And all weapons were laid down beforehand.

Everything is a breeze.

After all...... Uncle really practiced.

They even took the cue of bringing someone who is familiar with the Mongolian language so that they could communicate unimpeded.

Soon, Li Zicheng led people into the city.

He saw the figure of Shanenov at a glance.

Li Zicheng is a bold person, dismounted, laughed heartily, and then patted Shanenov on the shoulder, affectionately, he worked hard for a long time, only barely learned a Russian word, and said: "Friend, old friend!" ”