"Breakthrough!"

Mikhail breathed a sigh of relief.

The second wave of elite Cossacks rushed up and finally broke through the fire net of the Ming army.

However, when the infantry of another battalion of the Ming army also cruised from the left and right flanks, they formed a crossfire to block the follow-up forces.

Seeing this, Mikhail sighed.

The order to retreat was then given.

"Retreat! Fall back!! ”

Mikhail did not want to waste the lives of his men in vain on the pastures of the Chatuk pasture.

Because even if it broke away the defense of the first formation of the Ming army.

Then the Ming army soon formed a second formation, a third formation.

And when the momentum of the Russian cavalry charge was blocked, they did not have much advantage in hand-to-hand combat, and some of those Chinese were equipped with pistols that could fire repeatedly, which also caused huge casualties to the Cossack cavalry.

The retreat of the Russians, like their offensive, did not drag in the slightest.

On the battlefield, the war horses neighed, and the sound of killing shook the sky.

The sound of gunfire, wailing, and screaming continued.

The Russian army has paid a great deal of casualties, both in the offensive and in the retreat.

But they eventually broke away from contact with the Ming army and disappeared into the night.

"The Rakshasa ghost has run away!"

Chen Liansheng shook his head regretfully.

Although tonight's battle, at least more than 3,000 Russian soldiers were left behind.

Plus those who ran away in this chaos and died of injuries.

The Russians paid at least more than 5,000 casualties in this battle.

If he had a working cavalry at hand, the casualties of these Russians would have been even greater!

However, this battle is obviously a big victory for the Ming army!

Win more with less, and ride with foot.

Its own casualties were only hundreds, and 5,000 enemy soldiers were killed, and there were only more than 10,000 Russian soldiers left who could maintain their combat effectiveness!

Very favorable conditions were created for the subsequent siege by large forces.

This battle.

Naturally, the Ming army won.

Of course, there is the idea of annihilating the opponent completely.

But with only 5,000 troops, it is obviously difficult to do this, and it would be good to win—not to mention that these 5,000 troops are still the feudal army of the Western Capital Division.

Mikhail was to join Lepnin with the remnants of the defeated army, and then to contact the reserve led by Crown Prince Paul.

The casualties of the Russian army in this battle were actually greater than Chen Liansheng expected.

There are quite a few Russian troops who have run away on the steppe - in this vast Gobi wilderness, once lost, the possibility of starvation and thirst death in this wilderness is extremely great.

In the end, only a little more than 11,000 Russian soldiers remained.

The lives of more than 8,000 Russian soldiers were lost in Chatuk.

The faces of the three high-ranking Russian soldiers are not very good-looking.

On the contrary, it was Mikhail who took the lead in saying: "Although this war was lost, we are not without gains. First of all, we have tested the combat effectiveness of the Chinese, they are not the Tatars of the Siberian steppes, they have very good military organization and logistics organization capabilities, they can create more powerful weapons and equipment than the Europeans. ”

"Secondly, we also found a powerful combat power of rifled guns, grenades, howitzers, which showed us the value of this firearm, rifled guns and bombardments, and the Russian Empire had to be equipped even if it was a pot and an iron."

"Secondly. It is the level of threat posed by the Ming Empire. This war proves the strength of our opponents, this country will be the greatest threat to the entire Russian Empire, the idea of losing to the West in the past and making up for the East must be reversed, and we are afraid that we are now losing to the East and making up for the West - the enemies of the East are far stronger than the West, and we know why they are strong, this is our greatest advantage, we can use the advanced tactics and advanced weapons learned from the Ming Empire to seize enough land from the Turks, the Poles - Compared to Siberia, the fertile soil on the shores of the Black Sea, the Great Plains of Eastern Europe, is what is really worth everything for the Russian Empire, and that."

Mikhail looked at Crown Prince Paul

"The Empress may have overlooked!"

Lepnin said in a deep voice.

Crown Prince Paul frowned: "Then what do we need to do?" ”

Lepnin and Mikhail looked at each other.

Mikhail said: "Negotiations! ”

"Negotiate with whom?" Crown Prince Paul asked.

"Negotiate with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty." Mikhail took a deep breath, "First of all, there is the issue of prisoners, in this battle we have at least two or three thousand wounded soldiers who will be captured by the opponent, and we must bring them back, because this is your capital." ”

"My capital?" Crown Prince Paul was stunned and didn't know what Mikhail meant.

"The Russian Empire needs change, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince."

"I agree!" Paul nodded.

"So. We can negotiate with the Chinese for the time being, and we can pay enough price in exchange for He Ping. Lepnin also said.

"Impossible, it is impossible for me to sign any treaty with the emperor of the Chinese that is detrimental to the interests of the Russian Empire!" The crown prince of the Russian Empire said with a wave of his hand.

The two generals looked at each other.

"Your Royal Highness the Prince, the contract will be secret, and I don't think it's appropriate to spread the news of the defeat now, and we will return to Moscow in a victorious manner!"

"The Chinese will not agree."

"No, they'll agree!"

"Why?" Paul shook his head, feeling that this general was too naïve, why should the Chinese agree? They have already gained an advantage on the battlefield.

"Because you can take the territory east of Irkutsk . Sell to the Chinese! ”

“！！” Paul's eyes glared suddenly, is this general crazy?

"Yes, we don't need the East! The Russian Empire is a European country! Mikhail said, "We can exchange the lands of the East for weapons for the Chinese." ”

"And then?" Paul's eyes twinkled, and he asked in a low voice.

"And then. Start a war against the Turks! Lepnin said, "Now who in Europe knows the power of the Chinese's weapons?" Losing Eastern Siberia, we can gain the entire Balkans and the Caucasus! ”

Paul's face was cloudy.

"Will the Empress agree?"

"This army is loyal to you, Your Highness the Prince."

Paul. Petrovich's face changed slightly.

He could imagine that the redemption of prisoners from the Chinese, plus the remaining army in Irkutsk, would have fifteen thousand soldiers in his hands.

If returned to Moscow in a victorious manner, and . With weapons given by the Chinese.

Paul imagined the picture.

The hands holding the reins trembled slightly.

He knew that his Great Mother didn't like him.

If he returns from defeat this time, his crown prince position will definitely be stripped - and the court politics of the Russian Empire are so cruel, can the crown prince, who has been stripped of the crown prince, survive?

"Your Highness, the Russian Empire does not need an old and faint old woman, we need a new emperor who is energetic and vigorous!"

"We can't fight with the Chinese in Siberia for tens or hundreds of years, drain the blood of the Russians, and only Western Europeans, Poles, Turks are so happy."

Paul's face changed slightly.

"So, this is an opportunity, to exchange the frozen soil of Eastern Siberia for the Russian Empire's complete control of the Balkans and the Caucasus - as long as we have the same weapons as the Chinese, we will definitely be able to defeat the Turks!" Mikhail said.

"Can we?"

Paul looked east.

Lepning shook his head: "Your Highness, the Chinese have joined the struggle for hegemony in this world, and we can only choose one direction." ”

"It's either the East or the West."

"Either fight with the Chinese, or fight with the Turks!"

Is this still a choice?

On the one hand, the Chinese can fight too much than the Turks.

On the other hand.

The value of land in the Balkans and the Caucasus far exceeds that of Eastern Siberia.

"It's time to lose the East and make up for the West and the South," Mikhail said.

(End of chapter)