Potemkin and Li Zicheng finally broke out of Turkestan and returned to Astrakhan.

Tsar Mikhail I was so enraged by this defeat that he dismissed Potemkin from his post as governor of Astrakhan on the spot.

But fortunately, Potemkin did not make many friends with powerful people on weekdays, and with his handsome appearance, he was quite popular among the noblewomen in Moscow.

With the help of a bunch of noble ladies "pillow wind", he was finally appointed acting governor and was given a chance to make meritorious contributions.

At this time, almost all the forces of Tsarist Russia had been transferred to the Western Front, and Astrakhan was extremely empty.

In the face of China's large-scale attack, Potemkin seemed at a loss.

With the Mongol cavalry, the Chinese sent a total of 120,000 troops, while the defenders of Astarakhan totaled only 12,000.

And most of them are not the main force yet.

At this time, Niu Jinxing said: "Astrakhan will definitely not be able to hold on, and now the best strategy is to burn this place directly to prevent the Huaxia people from getting supplies." As a result, even if they could continue the pursuit, they would eventually lose momentum because of the longer and longer supply lines. ”

Under normal circumstances, for the vast territory of Tsarist Russia, the tactics of clearing the wilderness and exchanging space for time often worked.

But now that Potemkin is guilty, if Astrakhan is given up on his own initiative, he will definitely be held responsible.

With the fiery temper of Mikhail I, let alone the title and official position, can he keep his head when the time comes?

So Potemkin decided to hold on to Astrakhan, even if he didn't hold it in the end, he wanted to hold back the Chinese as much as possible and buy enough time for the Tsarist army on the western front.

The cities of Novgorod, Smolensk and Kyiv are also besieged by heavy enemy troops, and they can hold on, why can't Astrakhan?

At this time, Potemkin showed the courage and responsibility of a Tsarist Russian soldier, and he must hold on to Astrakhan and live and die with the city.

Seeing that Bojiangjin is the king of the eight eating scales, he has an iron heart.

Niu Jinxing had to turn his head and do Li Zicheng's ideological work.

He said, "Your Majesty, now that Astrakhan is a Jedi, we can't stay in the city and wait to die. ”

"Once surrounded by Huaxia's troops, it will be difficult to get out again."

Niu Jinxing said that Li Zicheng of course knew that once they were caught by the Huaxia Army, then there would be absolutely no good end.

But at present, there are only a few entourages left around Li Zicheng, and even his wife has been separated in the process of escaping.

Without Potemkin, where would he go?

Even if he was able to break through the blockade of the Chinese army and successfully escape to Moscow, how long could Tsarist Russia, which was besieged by the Four Kingdoms, hold out?

To be honest, he has long been tired of this kind of life of being chased around like dogs by Chinese people.

In the end, he made up his mind, he Li Zicheng will not go anywhere, he will fight to the death with the Chinese people in this Astrakhan.

Li Zicheng's ruined boat did not infect Niu Jinxing, on the contrary, a trace of ruthlessness appeared in Niu Jinxing's eyes.

For Li Zicheng, falling into the hands of the Chinese is a dead end.

But he may not be a bull Venus, as long as he doesn't fall directly into Li Yan's hands, he should still have a way to live.

If he takes the initiative to sacrifice Li Zicheng and then help the Huaxia people take Astrakhan, maybe he can still get the reward of Huaxia and become an official and a half-job.

Niu Jinxing glanced at Li Zicheng beside him, and sighed helplessly in his heart, he had finally come to this point.

Then Niu Jinxing ordered someone to bring vodka from the Tsarist Russians and drank it in pairs with Li Zicheng.

The two began to reminisce about the past, and the highlight moments of Li Zicheng's life flashed one by one, but it was a pity that only Niu Jinxing was with him in the end, and Li Zicheng, who was drunk to the upside, didn't notice this Niu Junshi at all.

Li Zicheng's most trusted military advisor secretly poured the wine on the ground at this moment, and he didn't even drink a sip.

Soon Li Zicheng fell unconscious and fell asleep.

In the dream, he escaped death from the Ming army and the Huaxia army again and again, but he was suddenly tied up by a rope, and no matter how he struggled, he couldn't get rid of it.

Eventually, he was woken up by a cool breeze.

He found out that he had really been tied up in a carriage.

He scolded angrily: "Master Niu, what do you mean by this? ”

Niu Jinxing said coldly: "King Chuang, don't blame Niu, I once gave you a chance to let you escape together, but you yourself have to stay and find death." ”

"Niu had no choice but to make this decision, exchanging King Chuang for a way for his brothers."

Only then did Li Zicheng realize that the two guards around him had already been bought by Niu Jinxing, and at this moment they were looking at Li Zicheng vigilantly, ready to draw their swords at any time.

Li Zicheng looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, and shouted: "I want to be famous Li Zicheng in the first life, but I will end up like this in the end." ”

"Master Niu, you betrayed me for yourself, I don't blame you. Please give me a good time, I don't want to be sent to Beijing to accept Li Xianzhong's humiliation. ”

Niu Jinxing smiled siniestly and said, "King Chuang, now I can't help you!" ”

So he hurriedly signaled his subordinates to block Li Zicheng's mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue and committing suicide.

A Li Zicheng's head is the same as the living Li Zicheng, and the value is naturally different, how can Niu Jinxing affect his future in order to give Li Zicheng a happy life.

Soon they came to the camp of the Chinese people.

Niu Jinxing not only sacrificed Li Zicheng, but also burned Astrakhan's granary.

Li Shizu casually praised a few words, and then said: "Mr. Niu hasn't returned to his homeland in China for many years, right?" ”

"This king will appoint you as an escort officer, responsible for escorting Li Wei to the capital."

The straight-line distance between Astrakhan and Beijing is more than 16,000 miles, and Li Zicheng has been in a prisoner car with heavy shackles all the way, and I am afraid that it will be a year before he arrives in Beijing.

The Chinese army only had 12-pounder field guns called "Napoleonic guns", and heavy siege artillery was still being transported.

If Niu Jinxing hadn't taken the opportunity to burn the grain and grass in the city, the Chinese army would still have had to work hard to conquer Astarahan.

Now that the grain and grass in the city have been destroyed, and the soldiers in the city have no fighting spirit, Li Shizu decided to take a strong attack.

Although the "Napoleonic cannon" could not directly destroy the city wall, it still had a great lethality to the defenders of the city.

Coupled with the hunting of Huaxia's snipers, the Huaxia army successfully attacked Astrakhan.

After most of the day's fighting, Astrakhan was conquered by the Chinese.

Fortunately, Potemkin did not listen to the bull Venus, burned Astrakhan, implemented a strong wall to clear the wilderness of China, and exchanged space for time.

Soon he will realize what a mistake he has made.

On the other hand, the army led by Wu Sangui also managed to occupy Kazan.

The loss of Kazan and Astrakhan also meant that the eastern gate of Tsarist Russia had been opened.

The Chinese army broke through the Ural Mountains and the Ural River, and advanced to the Volga River valley in one fell swoop.

If it's just the Chinese army, maybe it's not so terrible.

The Chinese army could be accompanied by a full 400,000 Dzungar tribesmen.

Li Xianzhong had said he would help them seize the pastures on the Volga River, and now it was time for the Chinese Empire to make good on its promise.

Later, the right bank of the Volga River was the pasture of Dzungaria.

The most indispensable thing in the Kazakh steppe is horses, and all the 50,000 Chinese troops who followed Li Shizu on the expedition this time brought two or even three horses.

A large number of infantry also turned into dragoons on horseback at this moment.

Fortunately, all the soldiers of the Western Regions Military Region in China were trained in equestrianism to adapt to this kind of expedition.

Even so, the cold weather in Tsarist Russia still caused great trouble to the advance of the Chinese cavalry.

However, no matter how heavy the wind and snow were, it couldn't stop them from moving forward.

At the moment they have only one goal, and that is Moscow.

A few years ago, in the military academies of China, the expedition to Moscow was regarded as a compulsory campaign course.

All the cadets who graduated from the Liaodong Military Academy know Moscow very well.

The instructors in Huaxia repeatedly warned the students that they must be prepared for the cold when they go on an expedition to Moscow, and that they must prepare sufficient food supplies themselves.

Because the greatest difficulty of the expedition to Moscow was not the army of Tsarist Russia, but the severe cold of more than minus 40 degrees Celsius, and a fortified city of Moscow.

These two "enemies" would have prevented the vast majority of the invasion of Tsarist Russia.

Although the harsh winters in Liaodong and North Korea were also extremely cold, even the Chinese soldiers from Liaodong under Wu Sangui were still shivering from the cold.

Even Wu Sangui, a native of Liaodong, complained: "The wind here is so cold that even if the soldiers are wearing leather uniforms, they are still too cold." ”

Even if people can bear it, many war horses can't hold it.

Although the Chinese cavalry had selected many hardy Siberian horses during the months in Kazakhstan, some horses were still frozen to death and frostbitten.

At this moment, the cavalry team in charge of supply sent the latest artifact to protect against the cold.

Ever since China began its conquest of the Kazakh Khanate, Li Xianzhong had anticipated a war with Tsarist Russia in the near future.

Even in later generations, the cold in Moscow was an insurmountable difficulty.

So he ordered the craftsmen of Huaxia to rush out 50,000 pieces of down vests day and night.

Wu Sangui picked up a vest and said, "This thing is so light, how can it keep out the cold?" ”

Li Shizu has worn this down vest invented by his father since he was a child to keep out the cold, which is both light and warm.

He said, "Don't underestimate this waistcoat, he takes the fluff under the feathers of ducks or geese, so the weight is very light." You can't get much from a duck at all, and these 50,000 down vests are estimated to be taken from millions of ducks. ”

After the soldiers put the down vests under their military uniforms, they were really not so cold.

The morale of the Chinese army was also boosted!

Eventually, they braved the freezing cold of minus 40 degrees Celsius to make their way to the vicinity of Moscow.

But anyone who has read a little military book knows the story of "Li Suxue's night attack on Caizhou" in the Tang Dynasty.

But if you weren't prepared, you'd have been buried alive in the snow.

At this time, both Li Shizu and Wu Sangui were glad that the Liaodong Military Academy had accurately rehearsed the battle for the conquest of Moscow.

Otherwise, they would probably end up in total annihilation today.

Although Moscow at this time cannot be said to be an empty city, there are really not many soldiers and horses that can be used.

When it was discovered that the Chinese army was only 30 miles away from Moscow, Count Surwolf, who was in charge of the city's defense, was also surprised.

Although he had already received the news that the Chinese had conquered Kazan and Astrakhan, he could never have imagined that the Chinese could come to Moscow in the bitter cold of more than minus 40 degrees.

Even Tsarist Russia's own army would not have chosen to march in such bad weather.

The Russian scout cavalry had already tested the Chinese army, and they did not become timid because of the bitter cold.

On the contrary, the Chinese had a strong fighting spirit, and the Russian cavalry that went out was quickly annihilated by the Chinese.

The battle-hardened Count Surwolf knew that it was impossible to stop the Chinese by relying on more than 10,000 old and weak soldiers in Moscow.

So he made the difficult decision to burn the city of Moscow.

He was to burn all the wood in Moscow that could be used for heating and food for his stomach.

Let these Chinese invaders starve to death and freeze to death in Moscow.

A large number of Tsarist nobles, as well as Muscovite citizens, began to flee Moscow.

And the Russian soldiers, holding torches aloft, began to set fire to all the buildings in Moscow, including the Cathedral of St. Basil's Ascension and the Kremlin, where the Tsar lived!

Although he would be reviled by all the subjects of Tsarist Russia and even executed by the Tsar himself, Surwolf had no choice but to do so in order to stop the Chinese.

If China had been given a complete Moscow, then Tsarist Russia would have been finished.

At this time, the Chinese army was less than 20 miles away from the city of Moscow, and the soldiers of China could even see the towering spires in the city.

But soon the sight was replaced by the skyrocketing fire and billowing smoke!

Li Shizu never imagined that the Tsarist Russians would not hesitate to burn their capital in order to strengthen the wall and clear the wilderness.

The fortified walls of Huaxia were only aimed at the outside of the city, and they actually burned Moscow directly.

So he hurriedly ordered to speed up.

He knew very well that in such severe cold, if he could not find wood for heating, his army could still freeze to death.

In particular, the soldiers thought that victory was about to be achieved and that they could go into the city and enjoy it; As a result, the huge gap in heart was enough to destroy the will to fight of the Chinese soldiers.

When the instructor of the military academy suggested that the enemy might set himself on fire to the city of Moscow, all the cadets thought that the instructor was crazy.

But now this living case is in front of his eyes.

Moscow, which they have taken with great difficulty, is ultimately just a ruin.

And the Chinese army will starve and freeze in this dilapidated ruins, and finally have to obediently retreat.

At this time, the cavalry of Tsarist Russia will continue to entangle, chasing the Chinese cavalry until they are all wiped out.

The Tsarist Russians are just too ruthless!

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