I

Chapter 1049 – 1045 [Mantis Arm As A Car]

Chapter 1049 Chapter 1045 [Mantis arm as a car]

“Commander, there is no one stationed in Hami, and the vanguard of our army has captured the city.”

“Where did Hami Burke escape?”

“It is reported that they fled to the west, most of them fled to Turpan. Along the way, many rural nobles also fled. All the things they could not take away were burned, and they did not leave a single grain of money for our army. Even the grain of those serfs was taken by the village. The nobles robbed them all, and the countryside ahead was full of hungry people begging for food.”

“Hehe, fortify the wall and clear the wilderness. Order the logistics officer to allocate 50,000 shi of military rations to the civilian officials accompanying the army to help the people here!”

Muhan Mai Tixia and Zhuo were already so sick that they were carried away even when they fled.

His son Ebedura was in power, and he was determined to fight against the Datong army, so he actually played the trick of fortifying the wall and clearing the country.

Jiang Liang will definitely not be able to regain the northern Xinjiang region by distributing military rations all the way, because the food will not be enough to eat, but it will greatly benefit future rule.

As the hero of the uprising in Wuxing Town, Jiang Liang is relatively mediocre in all aspects.

However, Jiang Liang has one advantage, he likes to figure out what other people are thinking. After being transferred to be stationed in Xi’an, Jiang Liang knew that he was probably going to attack the Western Regions, so he studied the intelligence of the Western Regions two years in advance. Later, Zhao Han sent another secret letter asking him to pay attention to the ethnic and religious issues in the Western Regions, and Jiang Liang immediately understood the emperor’s thoughts.

It is no problem that the north of Tianshan Mountain cannot be regained this time. What the emperor wants is the long-term stability of the south of Tianshan Mountain!

The army continued to march.

From Dunhuang to Hami, corpses can occasionally be seen along the way, which are serfs who were killed or died of disease and starvation.

Serfs are not divided into races, and even have Persian descendants. They starved for several days, and even their houses were burned down. Seeing the Datong Army, they panicked even more and hid far away trembling.

At this time, the civilian officials and officials who accompanied the army brought civilian husbands and military rations, cooked a pot of porridge, and called the hungry people to eat. The military mission officer took the opportunity to preach the policy to the serfs of all ethnic groups with an interpreter, and held a complaint meeting for the serfs to express their emotions.

Many serfs were half-fed, and at first they hesitated to speak, but then they got up quickly, and then burst into tears in front of everyone.

When the army arrived in Hami, Jiang Liang suspended the march, preparing to spend two or three days to reorganize the troops, and waited for the news from the vanguard to return to Turpan.

Chief Propaganda Officer Luo Bingcheng came to report with a smile: “Commander, once the meeting of complaints is held, the hearts of the people will all belong to our army. Many serfs learned that they could divide their fields, and they begged our army to stay and not leave for fear that the nobles would come back. Some serfs are willing to join the army and help our army deliver food and grass.”

Jiang Liang said with emotion: “This trick has been useless for a long time. Unexpectedly, it will also work in the Western Regions.”

Luo Bingcheng said: “These serfs didn’t live like human beings in the past. The harvest belonged to the nobles. I am thankful that I didn’t starve to death. We cooked porridge for them as soon as we came, and gained the trust of the serfs. The serf spoke out all the grievances in his heart. Then he promised to divide the land, who can not treat us as our own people?”

Eighty years ago, a Halim Khan came out of the Yarkand Kingdom.

He abolished the privileges of the nobility, abolished the serf system, and allowed farmers to gain personal freedom. He forbade the local nobles to collect taxes independently. All taxes were regulated by the Khan Court, and local taxes had to be handed over to the central government. Squires, nobles and officials also have to pay taxes, and they pay more taxes than ordinary people.

He also established an official examination system, selecting students from the School of Economics and appointing them after passing the examination. Officials are no longer lifelong and hereditary.

He also reformed the judicial system, withdrawing judicial power from local religious leaders, and appointing judicial officials with the full power of the Khan court.

This series of reforms is obviously learning from China.

But in Xinjiang at that time, classical Christianity was popular, and there was not even a unified religious leader, let alone the idea of being loyal to the Great Khan and the court. People naturally oppose this kind of centralization reform, so the effect of loud thunder and little rain is extremely weak.

It just so happened that Sufis became popular in Persia. The Mughals almost destroyed the country, and the emperor went into exile in Persia to restore the country with the help of Sufis. Harin Khan found that the Sufis were beneficial to centralized rule, so he also took the initiative to introduce them, and then the chaos in the Yarkand Kingdom began.

After the death of Harlem Khan, the New Deal was completely abolished, and the peasants became serfs again, and the oppression of serfs intensified.

Luo Bingcheng said: “The serfs here are worse than the tenants in the late Ming Dynasty. Although they are all aliens, their hearts are fleshy. Since they are willing to join the army, I plan to temporarily recruit a group of peasants. The number is not large. Each village only Recruit one or two, and let them see the might of the Datong army. After they return to the village, they can spread their knowledge to the villagers.”

“It’s up to you.” Jiang Liang agreed.

…

Turpan.

Touluntai was full of ambition and encouraged: “Father, the nobles from Turpan and Hami have come to join us with their troops. We already have tens of thousands of troops, and the soldiers are strong. It’s time to do big things. Father, don’t hesitate any longer! “

Babai Khan sighed: “Oh, we can’t even defeat the Mongols. How did we win the Han army? Didn’t you hear that the Mongols were beaten so hard by the Han that they couldn’t fight back?”

Toulontai said: “This time is different. The Han people want to kill all the nobles, and the nobles are all willing to fight for their lives.”

“Let me think about it again.” Babai Khan said.

Toulontai said impatiently: “Father, don’t think about it anymore, the nobles are waiting for you to send troops!”

Babai Khan was the fourth younger brother of the Yarkand king who died on a pilgrimage. He can be understood as the prince of Turpan and ruled the area west of Jiayuguan.

As for Touluntai, who rebelled against Shunzhi in history, he occupied Suzhou together with the Hui generals of Ming Dynasty. The Qing army came, the city of Suzhou was destroyed, and thousands of people below Toulontai were slaughtered.

Babai Khan not only does not have the recklessness of his son, he can even be said to be cowardly to the bone. The Manchu Qing sent envoys to Yarkand to question the crime, and the king of Yarkand took the opportunity to relieve him of his power. Babai Khan was obediently taken to the city of Yarkand, and the power of Turpan was handed over to the king’s son.

Babai Khan said to his son at this time: “When the Han army comes, we can’t resist, otherwise there will be no way to retreat. You go to appease the nobles everywhere, and I will send someone to Hami to ask for surrender. As long as we are more obedient, it must be Those who can survive may be able to keep their property.”

If Babai Khan really did what he said, the Datong Army would really not kill him. After all, he is the prince of the Yarkand Khanate, and being able to recruit him is of great significance.

At most, he will take away his land, and he will not even move his floating wealth. He will still be a rich man in the future.

Toulontai felt that his father was too useless, and the nobles from all over the world brought troops to vote. They have tens of thousands of troops (many of them are serf soldiers), so what are they afraid of? As long as the Chinese army is repelled, their father and son will gain great prestige. There are two great khans in the west fighting side by side, maybe they can take the opportunity to seize the throne.

Toulontai pretended to agree, and conspired with his confidants when he returned, and connected some local nobles.

At night, Toulontai suddenly led troops to surround his father’s mansion and put Babai Khan under house arrest, waiting to send his father to Mecca for pilgrimage after the war.

Two days later, Toulontai ordered troops to be dispatched, and it was a holy war, and he took the initiative to kill the Datong army.

The vanguard of the Datong Army retreated voluntarily and sent people back to report the news. Jiang Liang immediately led the army to set off.

At this time, 8,000 cavalrymen of various ethnic groups in Qinghai had arrived in Hami to meet up.

On the side of the Datong Army, there are 60,000 riders and more than 40,000 civilian husbands (more civilian husbands are distributed on the grain road, extending from Gansu to Hami).

The army of Toulontai has more than 70,000 infantry and cavalry. There were no peasants, and serfs were also drawn into the army, and they all had to take up arms in battle. The real core force is only the standing army and the nobles’ armed forces totaling more than 10,000.

But Toulontai is full of confidence, and he doesn’t know where the confidence comes from. It is as confusing as when he went to Gansu to rebel in the Shunzhi Dynasty in history.

The two armies met between Turpan and Hami. The main road was traveled by merchants, and both sides of the road were Gobi and desert.

A distance of two or three miles, each of them stopped marching, and they were all forming formation.

On the side of the Datong Army, there are chariot soldiers at the front, followed by all musketeers. The traditional spearmen have been eliminated.

Among the musketeers, there were a few grenadiers.

Grenadiers usually don’t wear armor, but when they need to attack, they will focus on armor and use warhammers to fight. After all, a person is tall and strong, but throwing bombs is too wasteful, and sometimes it is necessary to trap and attack the city.

Artillery and dragoons, hide in the formation.

The two wings and the central army are all Xiao cavalry and Yi cavalry, and some dragoons are divided into the two wings. As for the 8,000 Qinghai cavalry, led by two tribal leaders, they also spread out towards the two wings.

Except for the eight thousand Qinghai cavalry, everyone in the Datong Army is wearing armor.

Even musketeers wear cotton armor.

As for Toulontai’s army, there were barely over ten thousand armored soldiers, most of whom were in leather armor. There are at least 50,000 serf soldiers who were temporarily drawn in, and they have the taste of Tsarist Russia’s conscription to fight.

The troops of both sides gradually approached, and then stopped to regroup.

The cavalry on both wings have already run in the Gobi.

The fanatic cavalry from Barkol lost their territory and defected to Hami, and was arranged to live in a rural area. In the past few years, they are also replenishing their manpower, and they have probably recovered to about 1,500 riders. The rest of the cavalry are basically rural nobles and followers, and there are very few real standing cavalry.

On the side of the Datong Army, the Xiao cavalry and Yi cavalry did not move, and the dragoons went up to fly kites with the enemy.

“Bang bang bang bang!”

Gunshots from time to time mean that the two armies are at war.

1500 fanatic cavalry rushed to the front, facing a bullet. After firing, the team of dragoons immediately ran away. The other team of dragoons fired from the side, and also ran away after shooting.

Not afraid of the enemy rushing over, anyway, there are Xiao cavalry and Yi cavalry waiting.

The fanatic cavalry ran for a while, but failed to get close to the range of the bow and arrow, and more than 200 people were killed by random guns.

“Boom boom boom!”

The artillery of the two sides fired at each other.

Tulontai gathered more than 20 artillery pieces, even the artillery of the Turpan castle was brought.

As for the Datong Army, there are a hundred artillery pieces, all of which are front-loading straight-bore cannons. There are also many tiger squatting guns and the like, which are fired only after the enemy approaches, and they are still hidden in the formation and have not shown up.

The front-mounted straight-bore artillery is not much longer than the smoothbore gun, and it does not have the accuracy of the spiral-bore artillery. It was invented purely to increase the rate of fire.

The Datong Army had four times as many artillery pieces as the enemy, and the rate of fire was much faster.

After several rounds of shelling, the artillery position of Toulontai was completely destroyed, and the Datong Army pushed the artillery forward and began to fire into the enemy’s formation.

(end of this chapter)