When the officials of the Ming Dynasty were sly digging pieces of fat from Spain in Nanjing, the Luo wilderness in the north had already reached autumn.

The Luo wilderness in autumn is the most beautiful season of the year. There are neither the mosquitoes that swell in summer nor the continuous rain. The rolling plains are like a carpet of golden wool, spread flat on the ground, and there is no limit at a glance.

On this golden land, a team of cavalry jumped to the high ground by the river in the bitter autumn wind. However, a man in the lead pulled the reins and raised the whip in his hand and pointed at the picturesque scenery in front of him and laughed at his companion behind him:

"Lao Jiu, look at this scenery. People all say that the wilderness is everywhere, but who knows how vast and rich this land is!"

The one who sighed so was Chen Zhekun, who led the expedition into the Luo Wilderness last year. In the past year, he and the expedition have been marching westward on this land, just like the Russian Cossacks, but they are not going west.

Go west all the way!

But he saw Si Yuyu step forward and said side by side with him:

"Yes, I used to think that the north was full of wilderness, but I didn't realize that there was a sky outside the sky after walking the way. Brother Chen, if we go along the way, would we meet Jiannu?"

"Jiannu? Didn't Jiannu say that Jiannu is fighting with Russia now? Maybe if we continue along the way, we will be able to quickly cross the Ural Mountain and then meet Jiannu! Let's fight with them!"

Looking at the mountains in the distance, Chen Zhekun smiled.

It is not impossible to fight a war with Jiannu. After all, from the Guli River Guards where they left, they went deep into the heart of the Luo wilderness, they encountered Russians. They had learned from them that the Mongols had once again expeditioned the West. However, the great khans of the Mongols were called "Dorgon", but they were just Jiannu who had changed into a dress!

Although Jiannu was strong and powerful, it was no big deal for Chen Zhekun, Si Yuyu and others. The glory of their fathers made them look down on Jiannu who only escaped. Moreover, they were eager to make achievements on the battlefield. This was a belief, a strong belief. It was this belief that supported them to go deep into this land and headed west towards unknown risks.

While Chen Zhekun and Si Yuyu were enjoying the scenery on both sides of the river, another team of riders came from not far away. Unlike Chen Zhekun and Si Yuyu and others, these people dressed in nomadic dress, some of them had their hair loose, and some braided their hair into braids to reveal their bare foreheads. They all carried scimitars on their waists and long bows on their backs. Although they seemed tough, in fact, long bows and scimitars had long been eliminated by the times.

Among them, only a few people have firearms. These people are the natives whom Chen Zhekun and others have won over in the Luo wilderness in the past year. These natives have different identities. Many of them call themselves Mongols, but there are tribes of different sizes. Among them, they cooperate with the Rakshasa people and those who resist the Rakshasa people. However, while they resist the Rakshasa people, they also attacked each other. Many of the small tribes were annexed by the large tribes in such an attack.

Chen Zhekun, Si Yuyu and others have won over many small tribes, especially those that were defeated by the large tribes and were floating around.

However, in just one year, they had won over a team of more than 3,000 people. Their ages were different, and there were even women among them, but this did not prevent Chen Zhekun from calling them "Cossacks", they were the "Cossacks" of the Ming Dynasty.

The cavalry led by Li Yang, the natives who followed them westward in Gulihewei. Although they were natives, he had already become Chinese. After stopping the horse, Li Yang did not dismount, but directly clasped his fists and reported to Chen Zhekun:

"General, you have found out. The Ob River is ahead, and walking down the river fifty miles is the city of Tomsk of the Rakshasa people."

"Well, thank you for your hard work."

Chen Zhekun nodded at Li Yang, then turned around and ordered:

"map."

The so-called map, by the Ming Dynasty, is not a standard map at all. The quality of the map drawn by the Rakshasa people is worrying, but it is simply marked with rivers and cities in the Luo wilderness. As for whether it is accurate or not, I am afraid that only the old genius knows. After all, the Cossacks were not map surveyors. In fact, Russia's first detailed map of Siberia was not drawn until the 19th century. Before that... the so-called map was just a name.

After taking the map, Chen Zhekun, Si Yuyu, Li Yang and others dismounted together and spread out the map to discuss. This is a map they seized from the Rakshasa people. They attacked a Rakshasa stronghold last year and seized the map. Although the map is inaccurate, it also marked the Rakshasa in the Luo wilderness in detail, and even the cities west of the Ural Mountains were marked some.

This map may not be accurate, but it is the only map that Chen Zhekun and others have. It is precisely with this map that they and their group arrived here so smoothly.

It was also based on this map and the explanation of the Rakshasa prisoners that they did not go north to attack the Rakshasa base in Yakutsk, the Luo wilderness. The Rakshasa people set up the Governor's Mansion there as early as the 11th year of Chongzhen. In their early years, their infiltration into Heilongjiang and other places almost all started from here.

However, after the establishment of the Guli River Guard, the Rakshasa people in Yakutsk finally restrained themselves. Compared with the Ming Dynasty, their troops were pitifully small. In addition, the place was located in the extreme north, so it was not on the way for Chen Zhekun and others to advance westward.

But this did not prevent Chen Zhekun, Si Yuyu and others from subdivating the indigenous tribes that confronted Rakshasa. Those Jurchens might have the name of "Juchens", but they were not "Juchens" hostile to the Ming Dynasty.

After conquering the Jurchens, Chen Zhekun and others did not stop there. Instead, they advanced westward and cleared the small strongholds of the Rakshasa people along the way, in fact, they were isolated from Yakutsk. From last summer to now, this "exploration team" that expanded from less than 300 people to nearly 3,000 people has successfully isolated Yakutsk in the Luo wilderness.

Yakutsk is actually an "alone city" now, and the hundreds of Cossacks in the city may not even realize this, but they will definitely find this this year, and then they will be in prisoner's dilemma.

If you want to escape, there is a hostile "Rubu No Jurchen" who is full of hostility towards him. If you want to defend, the Rakshasa stronghold along the way to the west has been completely wiped out by Chen Zhekun's "Da Ming Cossack".

While the Rakshasa people were unable to advance or retreat, Chen Zhekun and others had already arrived at the Ob River.

Now, for him, there are only two choices left, one is to set up a yamen in the local area to conquer the surrounding indigenous tribes, and the other is to continue moving westward.

But one thing that is certain is that Tomsk is a thorn on their back path. If this thorn is not pulled out, it will inevitably affect their future journey.

"Tomsk City...just be here."

After finding the target on the map, Chen Zhekun frowned.

"Yes, it's here. The Rakshasa governor's palace is here. As long as we take down the city, we can control the entire Ob River basin."

Si Yuyu nodded and agreed.

"The Rakshasa people acted along the river and rely on the advantages and convenience of water transportation to conquer such a large area of ​​land. The local natives neither build ships nor fight in water, so they are not their opponents..."

The reason why those Cossacks were able to rush around Siberia and even invincible was not just because of muskets and cannons.

One more important reason is that they turned the river into a battlefield, and the Cossacks built the fortress near the river. Then they would rely on the river to fight and expand along the river. This is the advantage of the Cossacks. They are not only the best riders, but also a group of sailors. For the natives who can neither build ships nor swim, this method of war is undoubtedly what they are not good at, plus the muskets and cannons in Shaq's hand. For the natives, it is simply a dimensionality reduction strike.

Now the Ming Dynasty is also learning from them, learning how to use waterways to expand.

"The natives don't know how to fight on the water. We are not natives, so what are you afraid of. Then again, it's not difficult to build a ship."

Shipbuilding is indeed not a difficult task. During the expansion of the Cossacks, they rode horses on land. When they encountered and built ships, they could find a sloop in just a few days.

"Building ships is not difficult. The question is, what should we do next? The Rakshasa people have been in the Luo Wilderness for more than a hundred years. They not only have garrisons here, but also have many native tribes that support them. In addition to Tomsk, we also need to consider the reinforcements they came from other places." Chen Zhekun pointed out one by one on the map:

"We have pulled out the stronghold between Yakutsk and Tomsk. It is not clear what Tomsk's reaction is, and what are the reactions of the Rakshasa people in other places? Compared to them, we have limited strength."

Not only are they limited in strength, but they are simply weak in strength. Although it seems that they have thousands of native mercenaries now, those natives are okay in fighting with the Rakshasa people. If they were asked to fight alone with the Rakshasa people, these would have been beaten by the Rosa people long ago...

"So what if it's alarmed? It's best if these Rakshasa governors' palaces are all brought together. Let's not run around to deal with them. Anyway, it would be nice to have a thousand defenders in the city of those Rakshasa ghosts." Li Yang said disdainfully. In his eyes, the Russian army in the Tsarist Russian army was covered with wine bags on the battlefield except for Cossacks. And the Tsarist Russian city walls were made of tofu and could not afford the Han shells. In fact, the Russians can't blame the Russians for cutting corners. After all, no one would have thought that there would be such powerful artillery in this vast Siberian plain.

After all, for the Russians of this era, flowering bullets are tantamount to black technology. What's more, flowering bullets that explode as soon as they land.

Seeing Li Yang speaking so easily, Si Yuyu couldn't help but cough and reminded:

"Anyway, be careful to make the ten thousand-year-old ship. The closer we go west, the closer we will be to the Rakshasa Kingdom. Before the clever calculation is to win, we will lose first, and the number of Rakshasa garrisons here will only increase. The real evil battle is now the beginning. Why do they conquer so early here? The natives must also be more and more inclined to them. We always need to consider some in all aspects."

Unlike Li Yang, who is the first self-in-law in the Ming Dynasty, Si Yuyu and the others are more realistic and more cautious. They will not believe in the Ming Dynasty almost without thinking like Li Yang. Of course, this is not a bad thing, but on the battlefield, they must be more cautious.

"Well, Lao Di is right. Not only the Rakshasa people, we should also pay attention to the local Mongolian tribes here. In short, the situation will be much more complicated than what we encountered in other places before."

Chen Zhekun then added that as the commander-in-chief of the expedition team and the captain, Chen Zhekun was very clear about the current situation of the army. Although the Tsarist Russian army was pitifully few in Siberia, its own strength was even more worth mentioning. If the losses expanded, they would even escape back to the local area in shame. After all, they did not even have the ability to take risks.

But the Rakshasa people are different. They have been operating here for nearly 100 years, which can be said to be almost the same as the local snake in this place.

A strong dragon cannot defeat a local snake. All the people of the Ming Dynasty understand this principle.

"Oh, I can't figure out this kind of thing, and I don't have that brain to think about it so much. Captain, just say it. What should we do next? Should we fight? Or what to do?"

Li Yang asked impatiently. For him, he never thought about it so much, he just either fought or didn't.

Of course, he also knew that if there were no muskets and cannons of the Celestial Empire, they would not be able to fight against those Rakshasa people just by relying on them, but he really didn’t have so many concerns. He didn’t have so many concerns, but because of his personality. Or because of his IQ, they didn’t have so many concerns when fighting, but they were completely based on their temperament. As for what to count or not, it was not within their considerations.

Regarding this, Chen Zhekun is of course more clear than Li Yang about his own shortcomings, and he can also better understand the gap in strength between his own strength and the Rakshasa people.

After thinking for a while, he looked at Si Yuyu in the same look. In the other person's eyes, he understood the other person's thoughts.

For them, there are no more choices now, and they have gone so far. It is impossible to look back now.

Since it is impossible to look back, let's take a gamble.

After thinking about it, he immediately decisively lowered his punch on the map and said:
Chapter completed!