Chapter 1449: Lord Protector of Siberia

A fine drizzle fell unbroken, veiling the whole world between heaven and earth in a vast white blur. The waters of the Shilka River had risen sharply as well, and along both banks, days of heavy rain and the thawing of the frozen ground had turned the land into a sodden marsh pocked with puddles; the roads were so deep in mud that no army could march.

The bitter cold of a Siberian winter certainly made campaigning difficult, but the season after the ice and snow melted in spring was one in which campaigning was utterly impossible. As a rule, one had to wait until late spring or early summer, when the ground had been baked dry and hard and the flooding of the river channels caused by the snowmelt had ended, before it was time for a great army to set out on campaign. Yet the season fit for fighting never lasted long; once the autumn winds began to blow, it was time to prepare to hole up for the winter. Time was limited, and they had to seize it!

Oboi, who had fought for years along the Heilong and Shilka rivers, knew perfectly well that to wage war in the frozen-soil regions of Siberia, one had to race against the vile climate for time, and one also had to be skilled at exploiting the changes of the weather.

It could be said that in fighting along the Heilong and Shilka river regions, unity among men was absolutely no match for favorable terrain, and favorable terrain was no match for favorable weather!

If one could not grasp and make use of favorable weather, then no matter how strong the troops and sturdy the horses, no matter how united the hearts above and below, no matter how mighty the state, when faced with that kind of bone-chilling cold and that kind of endless mud, there was simply nothing to be done.

And Oboi and his army were exceedingly skilled at making use of the weather along the Heilong and Shilka rivers!

This time, they intended to advance while the spring rains, the snowmelt, and the mud had not yet ended, catching the Russians completely off guard and seizing the fortress of Nerchinsk in a single stroke.

According to the intelligence Oboi and Yolo had gathered, the Russians had not abandoned and burned the fortress of Nerchinsk — perhaps because by the time Nerchinsk learned that Oboi and Yolo might be marching west, it was already winter. Therefore, before the muddy season ended, the garrison of Nerchinsk was hardly likely to burn the town and flee, because they simply could not get away!

In the vast white blur of rain and mist, outside the town of Yaksa at the confluence of the Heilong and Shilka rivers, amid the mud, company after company of the "False Russian Army" in red coats and red caps, shouldering matchlocks and flintlocks and carrying large packs of baggage on their backs, marched in neat ranks toward the warship docks not far away.

At the warship docks lay moored many warships of a somewhat slender build, capable of being driven by oars and sails at the same time — these warships were all of a single-mast, square-sail, twenty-oar configuration, and were called "Dragon River warships." This type of warship was extremely nimble in the channels of the Heilong and Shilka rivers and could go almost anywhere. But their interior space was small, and the personnel and supplies they could carry were limited.

Including the oarsmen, each could carry at most sixty men with their corresponding equipment and baggage. And to load all five thousand men of the "False Russian Army" under Oboi and Yolo onto ships would require no fewer than one hundred twenty-odd Dragon River warships.

And because Oboi was attacking the strong fortress of Nerchinsk, he had brought along another twenty or thirty boatloads of cannon, horses, and other supplies needed for besieging a fortress.

Therefore the total number of Dragon River warships now moored at the warship docks of Yaksa exceeded one hundred fifty!

Oboi and Yolo strolled through the rain, their red robes already soaked through, yet neither paid it any mind. Watching the great army embarking at the docks, the two men's brows furrowed ever more tightly.

"Jin Protector-General, you are a grandson of the late founder (meaning Nurhaci), of the imperial blood. This Khan of Siberia — you should be the one to take it."

"What? Become Khan of Siberia? Guan Protector-General, aren't we going to submit to Russia? I should become Governor-General of Nerchinsk or Governor-General of Baikal!"

"A governor-general has to be appointed by the Tsar of Russia, doesn't he? The reply from Russia's Governor-General Stroganov arrived yesterday. That governor-general is a timid, trouble-fearing coward. In his letter he said he would not accept our submission. He also said he was unwilling to interfere in the internal affairs of the Great Ming. How utterly hateful! I've been thinking, if this western campaign still cannot force Russia to accept our submission, then we'll simply strike out on our own — after taking Nerchinsk, we'll establish a Khanate of Siberia. You'll be the Khan, and I'll be the Grand Preceptor."

It turned out that the Russian governor-general Alexander Stroganov had recently arrived at Nerchinsk, and had sent a messenger from Nerchinsk bearing his letter refusing the submission of Oboi and Yolo to the town of Yaksa.

So Oboi had been thinking that if there was truly no way to submit to Russia, they might as well establish a state of their own!

But he did not dare restore the Great Qing — that would draw too much hatred. The Ming Crown Prince had already reached Liaoyang and might march north to the Heilong River at any time. If Oboi and Yolo set up a Great Qing, would that not be inviting this Ming Crown Prince to come and destroy it all over again?

Oboi, who did not want to establish a Great Qing, thought of the name of the Khanate of Siberia, which had been destroyed by the Russians years earlier, and decided to simply borrow it and establish a Khanate of Siberia as well.

But he himself did not want to be Khan; instead, he wanted to push Yolo, who came from the Aisin Gioro clan, out front to take the lightning.

And how could Yolo be willing to be Khan? Keep being Khan, and he might well end up dead! He immediately shook his head again and again: "No, no, I cannot be Khan. I am of a collateral branch of the Aisin Gioro family, unqualified to be Khan. Moreover, the late emperor (meaning Shunzhi) is barely cold in his grave, and the young sovereign (meaning Kangxi) has already grown to adulthood. This Khanate should be held by the young sovereign!"

Oboi knew Yolo's mind — he did not want to be the bird that sticks its head out — and said at once: "If you won't take it, then don't. But let's not harm the young sovereign either. How about we make a republic instead — the Republic of Siberia!"

Now that was something — Asia's second republic had arrived! Oboi and Yolo might well go down in future history books as republican revolutionaries...

"A republic?" Yolo had heard of "republics" — after all, Asia's first republic, the Batavian Republic, had already been established. "Then what sort of republic shall we make? A Dutch-style one, or an English-style one?

And what shall the head of this republic be called? Chief Councilor, Consul, or Lord Protector?"

"Let's make it an English-style one," Oboi had long since thought it through. "The head will be called Lord Protector. We'll set up two Lord Protectors, both equal in rank. You be the Left Lord Protector, and I'll be the Right Lord Protector. How about that?"

"Two Lord Protectors?" Yolo thought it over. "Isn't that too many?"

"Not too many, not too many," Oboi said. "This is called a two-lord republic... two lords deliberating together. How fine that is!"

"That does make sense," Yolo nodded. "Still, we must make a real effort. If we could land posts as governors-general of Russia, that would be even better — under a great tree there is good shade!"

"Naturally," Yolo said, glancing back at the troops boarding the ships at the docks. "Guan Protector-General, let us board as well!"

Nerchinsk fortress — this earth-and-timber bastion had been under constant reinforcement and preparation for war over the past several months.

By the time Governor-General Alexander Stroganov arrived there by a roundabout route from Yakutsk, the Governor-General of Irkutsk, Urasov (Nerchinsk fell under Irkutsk's jurisdiction), who had arrived several months before him, had already turned the fortress into one that could truly be defended.

"Your Excellency the Governor-General," said Urasov, a former military officer who had only been transferred to Siberia a year before, as he strode quickly into Stroganov's office inside Nerchinsk, "you sent for me?"

"Feodor," Alexander Stroganov called Urasov by name, "these past two days I have inspected the fortress of Nerchinsk and the two supporting forts nearby. All three strongholds have been reinforced... and sufficient supplies have been stockpiled. Clearly, you have made every preparation to hold the fortress."

"Yes, Governor-General," said Urasov, a man in his thirties, short and stocky, even a little plump, as he nodded. "After several months of reinforcement, Nerchinsk is now the foremost strong fortress in Siberia! The Chinese can never again take this place as easily as they did in the past several times... unless they can bring sufficient heavy artillery, they will find it utterly impossible to storm the fortress within the limited time available.

Therefore, the region of Nerchinsk shall forever remain the land of His Majesty the Tsar!"

Stroganov frowned. "But what if the enemy who comes next time possesses siege artillery powerful enough?"

(End of Chapter)