Ming Zuo

Chapter 1595 Hexi Corridor
The southwestern strategic cluster has not been marching to Yunnan for a long time, not because it has encountered any major difficulties.

It's not that the situation in Yunnan is so complicated and difficult to handle.

In terms of strength, even the combination of Mu Tianbo, Sun Kewang, the Burmese Army and the Remnant Ming Dynasty is not enough to destroy the Southwest Strategic Cluster.

The reason for the pause is entirely out of strategic considerations.

In the planning of the empire, Myanmar is far more important than Yunnan.

The empire was founded on business, and it attached great importance to sea trade, and was very aware of the importance of seaports.

In the southwestern region, the nearest outlet to the sea is in Myanmar.

Although it is not necessary to include Myanmar into the empire's territory, it is very important to control the situation in Myanmar, open up business routes and ports, and open up connections with the Southwest.

If you want to do this, just putting pressure on Myanmar as the suzerain country will not be very effective.

The Central Plains Dynasty has not always had a strong control over Yunnan. This has also caused the small countries in the Indochina Peninsula to rebel from time to time even though they admit that they are vassals of the Central Plains Dynasty.

For example, the border between Yunnan and Myanmar is often invaded by the Myanmar side, and disputes continue.

In other words, Myanmar is not very obedient to the Central Plains dynasty.

Faced with this situation, the center of the empire had already made a judgment.

To deal with the rebellious and unruly people, it would be honest to fight them once.

To use force against Myanmar, you need an excuse.

Now Myanmar supports the Remnant Ming Dynasty, which is the best excuse.

It just so happened that Sha Dingzhou, the leader of the local chieftains in Yunnan, was also on the verge of extinction. It happened to be able to hug grass and beat rabbits, and take all Yunnan, Myanmar and chieftains into it.

The Center and the High Command fully agreed with the judgment of the Southwest Strategic Cluster and formally issued an order for action.

For a while, the flames of war reignited in the southwest, and the entire Indochina Peninsula began to feel the style of the emerging suzerain.

Compared with the aggressiveness in the southwest direction, the northwest strategic cluster asked for instructions to suspend its march.

After Huang Sanhu inspected the situation in the northwest, he found that the problem was very serious.

What affects the march the most is still the logistical supplies.

Whether it is through the Hexi Corridor or Qinghai, if you want to enter the Western Regions, the supply lines are thousands of miles long and very fragile.

Not only is the environment in the entire Northwest region harsh, but there are also various ethnic groups that have not yet belonged to them, plus bandits who are elusive and haunted, all of which are in danger of affecting logistics supplies.

The Northwest Strategic Cluster judged that three to five years of governance and planning must be carried out for the currently occupied areas, and the best time to enter the Western Regions is to ensure the safety of the rear.

In addition, in the Western Regions, Liang Yue has teamed up with Batur Huntaiji to attack the Yarkand Khanate.

The two sides fought inextricably, and the winner has not yet been decided.

After the Yarkand Khanate lost Turpan, they simply shrunk their line of defense and hoarded heavy troops in the Aso (Aksu) area.

To the north of Aso is the Tianshan Mountains, and to the south is the vast Taklamakan Desert.Liang Yue and Batur Huitaiji were unable to outflank at all, and could only compete fiercely with the Yarkand Khanate in Aso.

Abdullah was quite talented. While building a line of defense in Aso, he also reached an alliance with the Kokand Khanate.Together, they sent troops from the Ili River Valley and attacked the core area of ​​the Junggar Department against the northern side of the Tianshan Mountains.

In addition, he also sent someone to secretly contact Erqitu Khan, the leader of the Oirat leader, to report his interests.

After Gushi Khan was wiped out by Batur Huntaiji and Liang Yue, Orqitu Khan already felt the crisis.He happily united with the Yarkand Khanate and suddenly launched an attack on the hinterland of the Junggar tribe.

This combination led to complete chaos in the Western Regions.

The two sides are evenly matched, and it is difficult to tell the winner for the time being.

This situation is also one of the reasons why the Northwest Strategic Cluster does not want to enter the Western Regions prematurely.

I'm afraid that with the arrival of a powerful empire, the two sides that were fighting with each other will abandon their hatred and become enemies of the empire together, which will increase the difficulty of unifying the Western Regions.

In addition to the army, the local government also has the same attitude.

When spring comes, the earth is covered with green again, but the peak of Qilian Mountain is still covered with snow.

During the huge procession, the melodious sound of camel bells is a melody that has never changed for thousands of years.

Xu Erdou rode on the camel, feeling the scenery of the Western Regions, and he was in a different mood.

Among the five brothers of the Xu family, the eldest Xu Erjue sits in Batavia, the second Xu Erjue follows the diplomatic team to Europe, the fourth Xu Ermo is infatuated with art, and the fifth Xu Erlu has already made his mark in the army.

Only he has entered the political arena, and is now appointed as the governor of Gansu Province.

He is very clear that with the identity of a foreign relative, he will definitely be treated differently.

The only thing that can be done is to show results.

So after arriving in Gansu, he immediately set out to visit various places to observe the social situation in person.

In order to be targeted, he even walked through the Hexi Corridor himself.

Xu Erdou has long been familiar with this well-known Northwest Commercial Road.But now that I have personally set foot in it, I realize the hardships involved.

Between Wuwei and Zhangye, there used to be a guard of Yongchang, but now it is deserted.

This has caused dangers in the thousands of miles of journey.

There was a sudden burst of smoke and dust in the mountains on the north side, and a large group of cavalry rushed out almost in the blink of an eye.

Among them are horses, camels, and even mules and donkeys, which can be described as varied.

The cavalry above are also in a mess, and the weapons in their hands are even more difficult to see.

Everyone immediately realized that this was an encounter with a horse bandit.

But no one panicked, and quickly started to respond under one order after another.

Imperial caravans and government staff must master certain combat capabilities.

After all, in this era of chaos, force is the most effective guarantee.

The caravan quickly changed from a long formation to a camel city besieged by several camels, and the camels were covered with thick felt as armor.

The big guys even took out their weapons one after another, ready to fight.

Compared with the unsightly cold weapons of the horse bandits, everyone in the caravan is armed with Mines rifles.

Not only that, but there are two mortars in each camel city.

Unlike the fine operation in the army, the mortar gunner in the caravan simply uses his right thumb to aim directly.As a result, the mortar shells were quickly discharged, and fell on the route of the horse bandits' charge.

Despite the lack of accuracy, the violent explosion shock wave still caused heavy losses to the horse bandits.

They had never seen such terrifyingly powerful weapons at all, and they unconsciously slowed down for a while, fear and doubt in their hearts prevailing.

However, cavalry who cannot charge at full speed, facing hundreds of muskets, can imagine their fate.

(End of this chapter)