A force of two thousand Manchus and…
October 1652 CE
A force of two thousand Manchus and Koreans armed with artillery arrives from Ninguta and on March 24, 1652 attacks Achansk.
Khabarov somehow manages to defeat them (the Manchu general, Haise, will later be executed for his incompetence).
Not knowing how many more Chinese are in the area, on April 22 he had withdrawn up the Amur.
At one point, he had encountered another force of six thousand Chinese, but had been able to slip around them under cover of fog and darkness.
Further upstream, he had met a force of one hundred and seventeen Cossacks who had been sent as reinforcements.
He learned from a captive that a new Manchu army was being gathered on the Sungari.
On August 1, he reached the mouth of the Zeya, where one hundred and thirty-six of his men had mutinie leaving only two hundred and twelve loyal. (Since Khabarov, in his report, mentions the mutiny immediately after mentioning the question of where to build winter quarters, it may have been connected with the question of whether it was wise to remain on the Zeya and await a possible Manchu attack.)
From the Zeya he sends a report to the Yakutsk Voevode describing in a matter-of-fact way the burning of villages, slaughter of natives and the torture of prisoners.
They apparently winter at the Zeya.
The English sources become unclear from this point.