Struggle in Russia

Anton knew very well that with his strength, there was no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation with Ulanov. So from the beginning, he had the idea of ​​​​moving east and west to transfer the tiger away from the mountain.

He led more than half of his troops in a frontal attack to attract Ulanov's attention and draw his main force away from the docks and ships. Then the other half of the force waited for the opportunity to launch a sneak attack from the river and sank Ulanov's ship in one fell swoop.

Sure enough, Ulanov thought he was smart and fell into the trap immediately. He used most of his power to attack Anton. If Nikolai Ivanovich hadn't been suspicious and refused to cooperate, he would have really I lost my pants.

Just when Ulanov's people were fiercely besieging Anton, several ships emerged from the diagonal stabbings on the river and quickly plunged into the dock, catching Ulanov off guard.

In a hurry, the two ships caught fire, and Ulanov himself was almost hit by a stray bullet.

"What's going on? Where did the boat come from?!"

Ulanov, who was lying on the board of the ship in embarrassment, shouted to his men while hiding with his head in his hands.

It's just that no one can answer this question. The firepower of Anton's people is so heavy that they can't lift their heads. If Nikolai Ivanovich hadn't left most of the troops behind, they might have been taken away in one wave. .

"Let Nikolai Ivanovich fight back! We must repel these damn bastards!"

At this moment, Ulanov also knew that he had fallen into the trap. His heart was bleeding when he saw the burning ships. Each of these ships contained real gold and silver!

Two ships were lost at once, a loss of at least two to three million rubles!

Such a lot of money is enough to buy a high-ranking official, but if it is ruined like this, do you think he can avoid gritting his teeth?

Nikolai Ivanovich is actually a little confused. Although he has many people, his equipment is not very good. The old-fashioned smoothbore rifles used were not only slow to load but also poor in accuracy. Only three guns could equal one gun on the opposite side.

What's more, he himself is not a military expert. After working with Ulanov for so many years, he has made no military achievements. Apart from learning how to make money, he also learned corruption. Naturally, his city defense army was average in terms of training and morale.

To put it bluntly, they are just a group of bandits with guns. Such a unit may have no problem in bullying the weak, but once they encounter a tough enemy, their true colors will show up in minutes.

As expected, his people were suppressed and could barely maintain a balance of power. This made Ulanov so angry that he ordered his subordinates to call back the main force that besieged Anton while cursing Nikolai Ivanov. Qi is a waste.

In fact, the people under Ulanov were not much better. After all, Nikolai Ivanovich learned all his skills from him, and everyone was equally divided.

As a result, this fierce exchange of fire fell into a stalemate. Anton had a small number of people but strong firepower and good training, while Ulanov and Nikolay Ivanovich had a large number of people, but they were a ragtag group.

It's just that such a stalemate is actually not good for Anton, because Ulanov is the governor after all. Even if he is held back, as long as he is willing to call in hordes of mobs to support him in Kiev every minute. You can use the human sea tactic to drown Anton!

In fact, this is what Ulanov did. As soon as he saw that he couldn't take advantage, he immediately started to sway people. As more and more city defense troops joined the siege of Anton, Anton gradually fell into a disadvantage!

"Sir, the Third Battalion of the Second Brigade of the City Defense Army has also arrived. We can't continue like this!"

Anton looked with a telescope and saw a group of city defense troops in gray military uniforms gathering at the end of the road. These guys also dragged a few artillery pieces.

Once they set up the artillery, he would be met with disaster. Anton turned the telescope and looked at the direction of the dock. He could vaguely see two ships on fire. As far as he knew, Ulanov had at least six ships.

In other words, even the most optimistic estimate has only completed one-third of the task. In fact, it is a failure at all, because his purpose is to keep Ulanov, even if only one ship escapes, this is a failure!

However, Anton also knew that his subordinates had tried their best, and it was not easy to persist for such a long time in the face of an enemy attack several times their own.

He sighed, and just as he was about to order his men to retreat, he suddenly noticed several plumes of smoke in the lower reaches of the Dnieper River.

This kind of smoke column is not unfamiliar to Anton. It is a unique feature of steam ships. Under each black smoke is a ship, but this black smoke is too much, right?

There were seven or eight of them at random. As far as he knew, there were only a few steamships in Ukraine. Why did so many come suddenly?

Not only Anton noticed these smoke pillars, but Ulanov also saw them. It was the first time for him to see so many steamships. Although he was a little confused, he felt that it was God who could not stop him.

Although he was also a conservative old fogey, he knew full well how convenient steam ships were compared to sailing ships. So many steamships suddenly appeared in Kiev. With his dignity as a governor, it was not a piece of cake to make these ships serve him!

"Send a signal immediately and ask them who they are!" Ulanov impatiently gave the order.

Sitting on the steamship was Nakhimov, deputy commander-in-chief of the Black Sea Fleet. After receiving the secret orders from Dmitry Milyutin and Li Xiao, Kornilov ordered him to immediately lead twelve steamships to carry nearly two people. Thousands of naval infantry marched towards Kiev.

He hurriedly and slowly arrived at Kiev, but the sound of gunfire on the river and the pier also caught his attention. To be honest, he was startled, thinking that the rebels had already invaded Kiev.

However, after using his binoculars to see clearly that both fighting parties were wearing Russian uniforms, he was a little confused. Could it be internal strife?

To be honest, he had seen too many weird things along the way, especially after passing Kremenchug, he saw only bad things day by day.

The whole Ukrainian life has been turned into a pot of porridge. What we saw along the way were either starving people or ruins. After finally entering Kiev, we found ourselves in internal strife. Could this be any more chaotic?

Nakhimov was in a very unhappy mood. He suppressed his anger and ordered: "Send a signal, ask who is on the other side, and ask them to put down their weapons immediately, otherwise I will use force to suppress them!"

Ulanov was stunned. When his subordinates told him that the one facing him was the Black Sea Fleet, he felt a little bad, because there was no reason for the Black Sea Fleet to suddenly appear in the hinterland of Ukraine. Needless to say, it must have a certain mission.

Could it be that St. Petersburg gave some instructions to the Black Sea Fleet?

After thinking for a while, he ordered: "Tell the Black Sea Fleet that I am the governor of Ukraine and I am being attacked by the rebels. Please ask them for reinforcements!"