Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 915 Northwest Raiders
Due to the need to guard the place, Li Dingguo summoned half of the army, that is, 5000 people, and prepared to attack the Bukhara Khanate in one fell swoop.

Buhuala mentioned in the ancient Chinese books, Wudiguo in the New Tang Dynasty, Biguo and Anguo among the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Tang Dynasty all refer to Bukhara.

Obviously, the Bukhara Khanate, as the regime of the Uzbeks, is an out-and-out agricultural country even though it implements the policy of ruling the country with green religion.

Among the nomadic countries, it turned out to be a characteristic centralization.

At this time, the Bukhara Khanate was ruled by the Astrakhan Dynasty, whose monarch was Abdullah Aziz, and the Orthodox Church was united.

The handicraft industry was developed, and the paper and porcelain produced by it were widely sold in Persia and India.

Li Dingguo pointed to the map sent by the businessman, and said calmly:

"The Khanate of Bukhara was originally Khwarazm. It is a region in the middle of the river with fertile land. It is located among various countries. In the north is the Kazakh Khanate, in the east is the Ming Dynasty, and in the south is the Mughal Empire and the Persian Empire."

"According to the merchants, the Bukhara Khanate has a population of 200 million and an army of about [-]. However, it is not a cause for concern that they have not practiced war for many years."

"The only enemy is its heavy cavalry, light cavalry, cavalry composed of Uzbeks and Tajiks, fierce and good at fighting, skilled in bows and horses, and their weapons are also highly praised-"

"Cavalry?" At this time, a burly general raised his head and said proudly:

"In front of our artillery, the cavalry can only die."

"Nonsense, it has to be our Musketeers."

The other person was not far behind: "My gun, no matter how thick the heavy armor is, can shatter the internal organs within fifty steps, and knock down the horse within a hundred steps."

At this time, the cavalry general was also resentful: "Our cavalry is now equipped with cavalry guns, and we are afraid of eggs."

"As long as we get close, I will beat you until the egg yolk overflows."

All of a sudden, there were endless quarrels.

Li Dingguo also let them make noise, just watched in a daze.

After a long time, perhaps because their mouths were dry, a group of people gradually stopped talking.

"Since the cavalry, spearmen, and artillery are all vying for the lead, let's compare this time to see which army has done the most in Bukhara."

Li Dingguo patted the table and set the tone.

In fact, he already had a weighing in mind.

In this war, the most outstanding performance turned out to be the artillery.

Without it, relying on its Shaowu-style artillery weighing [-] catties is enough to make great achievements.

Bukhara is also a big country, and it can stand upright in China, so it naturally has its housekeeping skills.

Its capital, unsurprisingly, is difficult to fight.

This expedition adopted the strategy of relying on the enemy for food, so basically one man and three horses, and a patrol battalion of [-] people was recruited to transport supplies.

Naturally, there are civil servants to do the recruitment.

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you will never be imperiled in a hundred battles.

Therefore, at this time, Li Dingguo looked for a guide:
businessman.

As a key node of the Silk Road, when the Ottoman Empire dominated the Middle East, in a sense, Bukhara was the end.

Commodities from the East are gathered here, and merchants from all over the world come to buy goods.

In the Bukhara Khanate, the most people are businessmen, so the people who are most familiar with the country are also businessmen.

As we all know, businessmen have no country in their eyes, only interests.

Reinhardt, a merchant traveling between Anxi and Bukhara, is one of the great merchants on the Silk Road.

His height is only about 1.7 meters, but his chubby body makes him look a bit short and stocky, and his brown-green eyes are full of wit.

When Li Dingguo asked him to learn about Bukhara, he responded without hesitation:
"Bukhara is exceptionally solid. Its city is four feet high and has a population of more than [-]. It is one of the largest cities in the river."

"If the Duke wants to take Bukhara, I suggest not to take the city directly, but to take the Yaka Palace in the southwest corner, where the king and nobles live."

"Palaces, treasuries, residences of officials, arsenals, temples, handicraft workshops, prisons, etc. are all here..."

"kindness?"

Li Dingguo was taken aback for a moment, staring at his fat cheeks, and then said with a smile: "How do you know I'm going to beat Bukhara?"

Reinhard smiled bitterly: "You have summoned so many troops and specially called me to inquire about the situation in Bukhara. As long as you are not a fool, who would not know?"

"You're right." Li Dingguo agreed without hesitation, and the latter heaved a sigh of relief when he heard the accurate answer, looking lucky.

"how?"

"The little one is happy. Now that I stay in Anxi, I can escape the catastrophe." Reinhardt sighed.

"No, you go to Bukhara with me."

Li Dingguo stared at this well-known cunning businessman, the corners of his mouth slightly raised.

"Huh?" The latter's face was full of horror.

"I heard that you are very powerful in Bukhara. There are even hundreds of servants in your house, and there are groups of wives and concubines. When the time comes, we will unite internally and externally. Wouldn't it be easy to break the city?"

Reinhard suddenly slumped on the ground, trembling: "You misunderstood, I am a small businessman, there are thousands of people like me in Bukhara."

"Just treat me like an ant on the ground, let me go!"

"I can stay in Anxi, and I will definitely not tip off..."

"Okay." Li Dingguo shook his head and said, "As long as Bukhara is taken down, I will recommend you as the prefect to take charge of Bukhara's civil affairs."

puff-

Reinhardt stood up suddenly, bent slightly, showing his respectful attitude.

The fat on his face couldn't stop trembling, and the brown-green eyes were round and about to pop out of their sockets.

"My lord, is what you said true?"

"Of course." Li Dingguo said decisively: "I only know you in Bukhara. If you are not the magistrate, who will?"

"But since you don't want to, forget it, I'll find another one."

Reinhard was taken aback for a moment, shook his head quickly, and shook his fat: "I am willing, I am willing."

"I still have a guard of a hundred people in my house. My brother-in-law is the gatekeeper. When the time comes, he will be able to report the news and open the door..."

At this time, the subjective initiative was on the attack, and he confided it all at once, and then looked at Li Dingguo expectantly.

Unexpectedly, there will be unexpected gains, Li Dingguo smiled.

Although there are still two months before winter, Li Dingguo is eager to set off and win the Bukhara Khanate.

The distance between Bukhara and Yili is nearly two thousand miles, which seems extremely far away, but in fact, as long as the logistics base is placed in Kashgar, the distance between the two places will be reduced to one thousand miles.

However, Li Dingguo didn't want to take the Bukhara Khanate in one go, because it was unrealistic.

Cavalry can raid hundreds of miles, but it is difficult to raid thousands of miles.

Therefore, he must take an area as a granary, and wait until next April, after the long winter, when Bukhara will be destroyed.

And this place, he has already chosen, that is:
Kokand area,

It is the Fergana Valley composed of Kokand, Andijan, Margiran, Namangan and other cities.

The intermountain basin between the Tianshan Mountains and the Gisar-Alai Mountains is 340 miles long and [-] miles wide from north to south, and is densely populated.

If there were really 200 million people in the Khanate of Bukhara, half of them lived in the Kokand region.

However, this place is too close to the southern border of the Ming Dynasty, and it can be reached in three to five days, so it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

Of course, in later generations, here is Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and it is rich in a large number of mineral resources.

Li Dingguo didn't know how to describe it, but in the end he called it Little Sichuan.

At the end of September, the army gathered together, carrying weapons and equipment, one man and three horses, and walked quickly.

Starting from Kashgar, the striker arrived in Andijan in just three days.

This is the east gateway of the Kokand region, and its location is extremely important.

Facing the surprise attack of the Ming army, more than a thousand defenders in the city surrendered without a fight.

After leaving the necessary guards behind, the striker continued to move forward and arrived at Kokand City on the seventh day.

At this time, they had already marched nine hundred miles in a hurry.

Even if there are three horses alone, it is exhausting enough.

After 3000 soldiers surrounded Haokand City, they waited for the army while collecting food and grass.

It was not until the tenth day of the dispatch that Li Dingguo led the main force of [-] troops to Haokand City.

The follow-up soldiers and horses still stay in Andijan.

In the past few days, he also brought in a large amount of supplies collected.

Obviously, the Ming army with a scale of nearly [-] put great pressure on the city.

You know, even Haokand City has only [-] people, so it is impossible to fight.

At this time, the big businessman Reinhardt came in handy.

As a businessman, he has a wide network of contacts and friends everywhere, and soon contacted the City Lord's Mansion.

Then, on the premise of saving the lives and property of the whole city, let him surrender the city.

Later, he actually lobbied the rich merchants in the city and donated a large amount of gold, silver and food to reward the army.

Of course, he also took advantage of it in private.

Therefore, in both the Ming army and Kokand, he was very active and was taken seriously.

After replenishing livestock and supplies in Haokand City, Li Dingguo was also unambiguous, and immediately sent troops around to take down the nearby cities of Margilan and Namangan.

Because Haokand City is used as a model, it is almost bloodless.

In this way, the huge Kokand region was almost completely included.

It was not until the end of October, when winter was over, that it was impossible for the Bukhara Khanate to come to help, Li Dingguo was relieved.

Reinhardt became the consul of the Kokand region, responsible for civil administration.

Of course, in the words of the Kokand people, Burke.

It's just that the other city guards are Burke, and he is the big Burke, who not only manages Haokand City, but also manages other Burkes.

The cold wind was howling, and the yellow sand was endless. Wrapped in fur, he became a huge sphere, with his face grinning open, revealing yellow and white intersecting teeth.

"Duke, this one is finally out today."

Reinhard gasped.

In front of him, Li Dingguo and a group of generals were roasting a bonfire, eating roasted whole lamb that was sizzling with oil, not to mention how delicious it was.

"Speak!"

Li Dingguo was eating barbecue. In order to prevent his beard from sticking and greasy, he even put a cloth cover on his beard.

"There are four cities in the Kokand region, Kokand, Andijan, Margilan, and Namangan. Among them, Kokand has the largest population with 3000 people, Andijan has 2 people, Margiran has 5000 people, and Namangan has the largest population. Do 1 people."

Reinhardt took out the finger paper and read word by word.

"Why are you so small?"

Li Dingguo couldn't believe it.

"My lord, this is only the population inside the city, and the population outside the city is the bulk. There are about half a million people in total."

"That is to say, up to 60 people."

Li Dingguo shook his head: "It's no wonder why people like me are so scared when they see people like me. There are too few people."

"My lord, there are [-] defenders in the four cities of Kokand, but they are scattered, and they are not our Ming's opponents."

Reinhard sighed, not knowing whether it was regret or luck in his tone.

"Continue to recruit and make up 3 people."

Li Dingguo bit the mutton like a hungry wolf, biting the meat with his mouth fiercely, looking extremely happy:

"When we go to Bukhara next year, we will directly transfer 2 people to follow."

Obviously, with [-] servants following them, even if they can't fight a battle, they can still gain momentum and guard the captured city by the way.

Reinhardt had nothing to do, he continued:
"In terms of taxation, the four cities and villages of Kokand can receive 13 silver coins, which is about 30 shi when converted into grain."

"Too little."

Li Dingguo shook his head: "My city of Urumqi can collect 60 shi of grain a year, and its [-] people are only that little."

"Forget it, don't be idle these few months, increase craftsmen to repair armor, and recruit war horses."

"Wait, is this the ancient Dawan? There should be a legendary bloody BMW!"

"The hard-earned BMW you mentioned should belong to us. As for Dawan, I don't know. The time is too far away."

Reinhardt smiled wryly.

During the winter season, the Ming army naturally couldn't live outside the city. Reinhardt kept making arrangements, and finally let the main force live in a warm house.

In a foreign country, as the leader of the team, Yue Cheng rubbed his hands, feeling the snowless cold, and felt chilly under his crotch for a while.

He stomped his feet, stepped on the city bricks, and began to patrol.

I don't know how long it took, and his ears were red from the cold. At this time, another team came over to change his shift and inspect the defense.

"Here—" Back in the room, the deputy captain was holding the jar in his hand, dug out a spoonful of oil from it, and wiped it on his ear:
"This is butter, specially obtained from the yamen, it can prevent freezing."

"This is a good thing, why didn't you get it earlier?"

Yue Cheng complained, and then smeared it on his own.

"There are so many people, where can I get them? I just collected them today and sent them out."

The deputy team was asking people to pass on the butter, and then put away the rest, and then relayed:
"The general said that those who hit Haokand will all get three points of merit, and then each will be rewarded with ten yuan, which can be counted as an allowance!"

"Ten yuan, it's fine."

Yue Cheng laughed and said, "It's not in vain that we traveled thousands of miles to a foreign country, it was not in vain."

A team of one hundred people also rejoiced, and no one was too much for the reward.

Afterwards, Burke's yamen sent cattle and sheep as rewards.

Each team has ten sheep and twenty altars of wine, which is extremely rich.

The deputy team continued: "The general said that if Bukhara is captured next year, the reward will be doubled, and half of the gold, silver and jewels seized in Bukhara will belong to us."

All kinds of exciting words were circulated in the army. For a while, there was a great shock in the army, and the fear and loneliness in a foreign country, as well as the nostalgia for their hometown, suddenly dissipated a lot.

(End of this chapter)