Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2454: The Rule of the World (VI) Liu Xin's Son
In the first month of the 12th year of Taichang, rape flowers on the Ganges River Plain overflowed the embankment like golden waves. Gao Chun, the fifth son of Gao Youshi and the eldest son of Liu Xin, was wearing a fine steel chain mail, standing on the "Ruhai Tower" in Hengyang (Note: Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh mentioned above, because this city is north of the Ganges, according to the Chinese naming method, "the south of the mountain and the north of the water are called Yang", so Gao Youshi changed the name to this), overlooking the nearly 60,000 troops under his command.

The soldiers' armor shone coldly in the sunlight. The barrels of the "Wanli Type III" rifles of the front row musketeers were pointing diagonally towards the sky, with sharp bayonets inserted in the slots below the barrels, flashing with murderous intent.

Gao Chun, who was only 17 years old, had actually been training in the former Bengal, now the "Hekou" province, for four years. From the initial "powerful governor of Hekou and other places, supervising the river and supervising military affairs", to the later "prime minister of grain storage, supervising military affairs and concurrently governing Hekou and other places", and the most recent "Hekou General". It seems that the official position has not changed much, and the scope of the jurisdiction has not changed at all, as if only the order of the main and concurrent positions has been adjusted, but in fact, the difference inside is known to all officials as a world of difference.

It is true that the main reason why he can take on such an important responsibility at such a young age is naturally his family background. However, if you think that he has obtained such an important trust only by relying on his status, then you will underestimate the ability of this man who is privately called "the most warlike among the sons of the Southern King" within Jinghua.

Like his elder brothers Gao Yuan and Gao Mu, Gao Chun was "sent out for training" at the age of 13 and arrived at Hekou. Although he did not have much decision-making power at the beginning and mainly relied on the subordinates and staff assigned to him by Gao Youshi to manage the local area, but like Gao Yuan and Gao Mu, Gao Youshi also organized a personal army for him.

Compared to the powerful "Tiger Guards" under the command of the eldest son Gao Yuan, the size of Gao Chun's personal army is only comparable to that of his third brother Gao Mu - less than 6,000. To be precise, it is about 5,600 people, that is, the strength of a regiment. Gao Chun has direct command over this regiment of personal soldiers, and is not affected by the staff assigned to him by Gao Youshi.

In the first year after arriving in Hengyang, Gao Chun did not do anything special, but carefully learned about the local situation and the surrounding countries. Whether it was the neighboring Mughal Empire Bihar in the west or the countries in the south, such as Jharkhand, Suguja, Kionjhar and more than a dozen other countries, he carefully studied the relevant situation.

The next year, he suddenly led his army southward, and with 6,000 of his personal soldiers descended from the sky on the capital of Kionjar to force it to surrender. Then he marched westward to defeat the two countries of Jakandi and Suguja that came to rescue him, and conquered three small countries as vassals at once.

Due to this great victory, he was given the power by Gao Youshi, so in the third year he sent troops again, defeated and conquered the ten kingdoms in the eastern part of the Deccan Plateau, and reached a non-aggression treaty with the small overlord Golconda Kingdom in the further south. The two sides agreed that Golconda would recognize the sovereignty of the Great Southern over the above thirteen small kingdoms in exchange for the Great Southern recognizing its current border with Golconda, and the two sides would not invade each other and would be friendly and mutually supportive.

During his three-year term and two years of war, Gao Chun fought with inferior forces, but won every battle. The worst casualty ratio was 1:3.5, and the best record was an appalling 1:9. After hearing the news, Gao Youshi was silent for a long time before he said, "I just hope Chun'er will never be arrogant in this life." Gao Chun's biological mother Liu Xin, who was with him at the time, almost couldn't suppress the smile.

In the second half of his third term, he relied on Jinghua's earlier deployment and contacted several hostile Mughal forces that Jinghua had secretly supported for many years, and agreed on some things that the "Anti-Mughal Alliance" should do.

"Reporting to the commander-in-chief, the western army of Ahmed Negar has crossed the Ghats." The scout submitted the battle report in due time, "Their commander Malik Ambar led 20,000 light cavalry as the vanguard, advancing westward along the Narmada River, threatening not only to recover the lost territory, but also to join forces with the Mewar army in Udaipur."

Gao Chun glanced at the map. The Kingdom of Ahmadinegal was a tough nut for the Mughal Empire. The latter had been fighting for at least twenty years, starting from the time of Akbar the Great, sending troops to attack every few years, but until now, it had only occupied half of the country's land and had not yet completely conquered it. (Note: In the original history, it would take more than two years to completely conquer the country, but in this book, the Kingdom of Ahmadinegal continued to receive blood transfusions from Jinghua, so it was more determined to be hostile to the Mughals.)
Mewar was even more powerful. This place had been resisting Mughal conquest since the time of Emperor Akbar the Great. It had never been stable for decades. Even after its capital was lost and the entire area was surrounded by the Mughal Empire, it never stopped resisting. The Mughal Empire had to station large troops in the Mewar area for decades, seriously depleting the national strength.

However, even so, Gao Chun believes that it is not realistic for Ahmed Negal to establish territorial ties with Mewar. After all, the Mughal Empire is still in its heyday, and it is not something that two "little strong men" can accomplish a counterattack. It is not that they are not tenacious, but that the gap in national strength is too great.

Fortunately, Gao Chun did not need them to do this, but only needed them to continue to contain the main force of the Mughal Empire. After all, the real elite of the Mughal Empire was still fighting with Safavid Persia in the north for the Afghan region, and in addition to the allies in the west, there were also allies in the middle.

Gao Chun's fingertips slid across the Narmada River on the map, and his eyes fell on the Ratanpur Kingdom in the middle. This small country, famous for its elephant soldiers, was gathering 15,000 troops, led by King Pratap Singh himself, and was slowly advancing westward, aiming directly at the old city of Mandela occupied by the Mughals.

"The central army is too slow." Gao Chun frowned and said, "Send a message to Pratap. If Mandela is not captured within ten days, the firearms support from Da Nan will be diverted to the west route."

Gan Decheng, the deputy general of the imperial guards, looked puzzled: "Why does the commander-in-chief favor the western route so much?"

"Because the western route is a tough one." Gao Chun patted the map. There was a folded area on the Deccan Plateau. "The Rajputs of Mewar are good at mountain warfare. Together with Ahmed's light cavalry, they are enough to hold back Jahangir's main force in the south. As for the central route..." He sneered, "Ratanpur's elephant soldiers are just decorations. My uncle (Liu Jing) told me that these things have too many flaws. He easily defeated them when he conquered the Burmese king Mang Yingli... Our real killer move is in the east, in ourselves."

He ended his conversation here, waved his hand, and ordered the navy and army to set out immediately and go up the Ganges.

As Gao Chun expected, the Western Route Army had a turning point on the seventh day. Malik Ambar's light cavalry bypassed the frontal defense line of the Mughal Army, crossed the Narmada River at night, and suddenly appeared behind the Mughal Army. And slightly beyond Gao Chun's expectations, they actually joined forces with the Mewar Army heading south.

When the two sides met, Amro Singh, the leader of the Rajputs of the Mewar army, was being suppressed in the Kumbhal Fort by the heavy artillery of the Mughal army. The flames at the gaps in the city wall dyed the night sky bloody.

"Ready your muskets!" Malik Ambar swung his scimitar, and the 20,000 light cavalry split into two wings, flooding across the grassland like a black tide. The front-row soldiers, holding the "Longqing Type II" muskets purchased at a low price from Jinghua (because Jinghua deliberately supported them), fired a volley from fifty steps away, and the lead bullets penetrated the leather-covered wooden shields of the Mughal army. The archers in the back row took the opportunity to shoot rockets, igniting the enemy's gunpowder carts.

The defenders of Kumbhal Fort were in chaos, and the Mughal noble Mirza Khan, who was in charge, ordered the elephant soldiers to charge. Twelve war elephants dressed in gilded armor rushed out, with sharp steel knives tied to their tusks, but Ahmad's army was well prepared - thirty Javanese mercenaries assigned to them by Danan suddenly jumped out of the bushes and threw poisoned javelins, hitting the elephant's eye.

The leader roared in pain, turned and ran into its own formation, trampling dozens of infantrymen to death. The rest of the elephants also became chaotic, some still running around, and some turned around and ran back following the leader. In short, the Mughal army's formation collapsed immediately.

Amro Singh took the opportunity to break out of the city, and the scimitars of the Rajput cavalry and the muskets of the Ahmad army formed a crossfire. By dawn, the Mughal army was completely defeated, and Mirza Khan was beheaded and his head was hung on the top of the Kumbha Fort. The turban that was spinning in the wind was still stained with wet brains, which was a chilling sight.

The Ratanpur army in the middle was in a tough fight just as Gao Chun expected. Although Pratap Singh's elephant soldiers numbered 5,000 and there were about 200 war elephants, they could not move forward in front of the matchlock guns of the Mughal army. The wooden buildings on the backs of each war elephant were crowded with soldiers holding bows and arrows, but they were riddled with holes by dense lead bullets. The elephant drivers had to frequently swing their goads to drive the war elephants to trample on the enemy's positions, but they were repeatedly blocked by trenches and chained chevaux de frise.

"Your Majesty, we need firearms support!" Deputy General Rahul Dewald pointed at the defeated infantry, "If the artillery support from Da Nan doesn't arrive, Mandela City will be lost again!"

Pratap Singh looked at the sky, but he only saw the geese flying south, but not the artillery fire promised by Gao Chun. He had no idea that Gao Chun had already concentrated the main force of firearms on the east route, and a small part was used to support the west route. He just sent a batch of No. 4 light artillery to their central route like a messenger... and they were still moving slowly on the road, not in a hurry at all.

On the contrary, Gao Chun's Eastern Army, led by himself, was bombarding the frontier fortress of Bihar State of the Mughal Empire with 72 No. 2 cannons. The Ratanpur Army in the middle was just a bait in his hand. Victory was good, but defeat was not a big deal.

On the seventh day of the third month of the eleventh year of Taichang (1614), the dusk of the lower reaches of the Ganges was dyed iron-gray. Gao Chun stood on the poop deck of his inland flagship, the Zhe Gu, and watched more than fifty new inland gunboats plowing through the green waves on the river.

These warships, called "Ganges Vipers", were uniquely designed. Although they were not small in size, they only had a draft of more than five feet. The hull was wrapped with Bengal teak, and five No. 3 naval guns were installed on each porthole. On the bow deck was a newly improved "No. 2 naval mortar" designed for bombarding city walls. In wartime, if you want to break a city, you usually need to assemble several such inland gunboats side by side with their bows pointing at the riverside city walls or fortresses, and concentrate firepower to bombard.

"Is the Governor of Bihar's fleet still anchored upstream?" Gao Chun knocked on the gun barrel on the side. The gun barrel was still warm, indicating that it had just completed a test firing.

"Reporting to the governor, the Mughals thought we would mainly attack by land, so the navy only needed to block our inland fleet." Gan Decheng, the deputy general of the imperial guard, unfolded the hydrographic map and ran his fingertips across the bend of the Ganges. "Their warships are parked ten miles downstream of Patna, connected by iron chains to form a floating bridge, with artillery forts built on both sides, which seems to be impregnable." Gao Chun sneered, took out a copper whistle from his sleeve and blew it hard. In an instant, the twenty or so gunboats closest to the flagship turned at the same time, aiming their bows at the reed marsh on the south bank. The three hundred Javanese mixed-blood soldiers who were proficient in swimming and hiding in the reeds jumped into the water one after another. They had sheepskin air bags wrapped around their waists and held sharp water knives in their hands. Like a group of black otters, they sneaked towards the Mughal fleet.

At 3:30 a.m., the Governor of Bihar, Mohammad Khan, was sleeping soundly on the flagship when he was suddenly awakened by a violent vibration. He heard explosions on the deck and rushed out of the cabin, only to see flames rising from the river - the Javanese soldiers had used reeds soaked in fish oil to ignite the chains connecting the warships, and the fire, driven by the wind, quickly spread to the entire pontoon bridge.

Mohammad Khan watched in horror as his warship became an isolated island in the sea of ​​fire, only to see that the gunboats of the Great Southern Army were approaching like ghosts. Amid the roar of the No. 2 naval mortar, the first shell actually hit the flagship's gunpowder compartment.

The blast blew Mohammed Khan away. At the last moment before he fell into the water, he saw the "Fire Dragon Horse" cavalry of the Great Southern Army rushing over the burning wreckage of the warship. These war horses, which Gao Youshi had spent many years breeding to adapt to the climate of the South Seas, were sturdy in body, with red fur and hot waves spurting out from their nostrils. The knights on horseback were holding short Wanli three-style muskets and galloping like ghosts in the night.

Three days later, the defenders of Allahabad, a major city in the central part of the Mughal Empire, saw the Great Southern Army fleet coming from afar on the Ganges River. Governor Asaf Khan climbed up to the top of the city wall and watched 72 gunboats lined up in a row, with the "Gao" flags on the bows fluttering in the wind. What frightened him even more was that dust was rising behind both sides of the fleet, and at least thousands of Fire Dragon Horse cavalry were galloping on the river bank, and the scarlet ribbons on the horses' manes seemed to form a sea of ​​blood.

"Fire!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, and the Ottoman muskets on the city wall (because they were hostile to Safavid Persia at the same time, the Mughal Empire first bought muskets from the Ottomans, and later introduced production lines to produce them themselves) fired a volley, but due to insufficient range, the lead bullets fell into the river. The artillery of the Great Southern Army responded first, and grapeshot poured down on the city wall like a rainstorm, forcing the defenders to retreat behind the bunkers.

Gao Chun stood in the command cabin of the "Mugger", looking at the panicked defenders through the telescope, with a sneer on his face. "Continue the bombardment, keep the rhythm." He said to the gunner calmly, then turned to Gan Decheng and ordered, "It's time for the engineering team to go on stage."

While the artillery battle was in full swing, 500 Danan engineers had already landed under the cover of night. Wearing black tights and carrying folding shovels made in Jinghua, they quietly moved along the reeds on the banks of the Ganges until they reached the northern wall of Allahabad, which was the weakest section of the defenders, with its back to the river and its face to the mountain.

"Start digging." Engineer Captain Chen Tieniu gave a low order. These veterans who had participated in many tunnel battles immediately spread out and used greased shovels to cut into the soil, their movements as light as the night wind blowing through the grass. The tunnel extended in an arc, avoiding the defenders' listening holes, and every ten steps, a support frame was built with pine wood to ensure that it would not collapse.

At the darkest moment before dawn, the tunnel finally reached the bottom of the city wall. Chen Tieniu personally piled thirty barrels of gunpowder next to the load-bearing column, and the fuse snaked like a venomous snake to the cave entrance. He took out his pocket watch, and the pointer pointed to the third quarter of the morning - the interval between the gunboats changing shifts and resting.

"ignition!"

The sizzling sound of the burning fuse echoed in the tunnel, and Chen Tieniu led the engineers to retreat quickly. When the first ray of morning light climbed over the top of the city wall, a shocking explosion tore through the air. The middle of the north city wall suddenly collapsed, and huge bricks and stones fell like meteorites. The screams of the defenders were heard in the smoke and dust.

Gao Chun rode his Fire Dragon Horse through the ruins, the iron hoofs of the warhorse crushing bricks and stones, making a crisp sound. He watched the defenders in the direction of the city gate making hasty adjustments, only to find that the musketeers of the Great Southern Army had poured in from the collapsed area, forming a crossfire. At the same time, thousands of Fire Dragon Horse cavalry rushed out from the flank, the cavalry charged in a wedge formation, and the Wanli three-style muskets fired at close range, with lead bullets hitting the enemy formation like hail.

Asaf Khan tried to organize a counterattack, but was hit in the shoulder by a stray bullet and fell to his knees in a pool of blood. He looked up and saw the fire dragon horses of the Great Southern Cavalry coming in the smoke. The "Book and Sword" emblem on the horse's harness was clearly visible in the morning light. It was the symbol of Jinghua, which is now Great Southern.

"Governor, how are you?" Gao Chun's voice came from his horse. He took off his helmet, revealing his sweat-soaked hair. "The walls of Allahabad are indeed strong, but no matter how strong the walls are, they cannot stop the gunpowder and cavalry of the Great South."

Asaf Khan watched the Ming cavalrymen go by in a cloud of dust, and finally understood why the Prime Minister of the Ming Dynasty, thousands of miles away, was determined to eliminate the flashy war elephants. These Fire Dragon Horse cavalrymen had both speed and firepower, and they were able to move freely in the humid and hot environment of the Ganges Plain. They were much more suitable for tearing through the enemy formation at will than the bulky war elephants.

Soon after, Gao Chun looked down at the conquered city, knowing that this was only the first step. Agra, the capital of the Mughal Empire, was not far away. He judged that Jahangir, who was strong on the outside but weak on the inside, would definitely flee if the war situation was unfavorable, and his escape route had been discovered by scouts - Delhi was not far away, but it was not close either. However, the flowing water of the Ganges and the iron hooves of the fire dragon horse would carry his army all the way west to the heart of the Mughal Empire.

"Pass the order down," he wiped the Hanshui and gunpowder on his face and looked westward, "Rest for three days, build a military supply transit warehouse, and then go straight to Agra. I want Jahangir to know that the Fire Dragon Horse Cavalry of Danan will not stop on the banks of the Ganges."

Compared with Gao Chun's confidence, Jahangir felt that he had never been so frightened. He stood on the watchtower of Agra Castle, watching the smoke rising from the horizon, listening to the increasingly clear sound of cannons, and unconsciously rubbing the "Mountain of Light" diamond on his waist with his fingers. He had received urgent reports from many parties: the Western Army was first defeated, and then was dragged around by the enemy, and had no decent record at all; the Central Army had made progress but could not completely wipe out the enemy; the Eastern Army was even more terrifying, and it easily broke through the Bihar defense line that had been built for more than ten years. Now it has broken through the extremely advantageous Allahabad, and is only three days away from Agra.

"Your Majesty, retreat westwards as soon as possible!" Chief Minister Abul Hassan Asaf Khan tugged at the sleeve of the Padishah who called himself "World Conqueror". "Danan was only lucky to have succeeded in this sneak attack, but Delhi's defenses are strong, so we can make a long-term plan!"

Jahangir looked at the Yamuna River below him, with countless baggage boats floating on the river, which were the supplies he had prepared for his escape overnight. Suddenly, he remembered Gao Chun's father, Gao Youshi, the powerful prime minister in the Ming Dynasty, who might be sitting in the Wenyuan Pavilion in Beijing at this moment, looking down at his own embarrassment through the map.

"Order it," he said in a hoarse voice, "burn the granaries in Agra and sink all the artillery that cannot be taken away into the Yamuna River. I... I will personally lead the Royal Guards to cover the retreat."

However, the so-called "cutting off the rear" was just a cover. That night, Jahangir took a thousand guards and fled to Delhi along the Yamuna River by speedboat. What he didn't know was that Gao Chun had already sent 300 death warriors trained by his mother and given to him by boat upstream. At this moment, they were lurking in the reeds downstream of Agra, waiting for the opportunity to hunt down the Mughal emperor.

On the ninth day of the third month of the eleventh year of Taichang, Gao Chun rode a captured Mughal war elephant and slowly entered the tall city gate of Agra. The defenders on the top of the city had already hoisted the white flag, and the people knelt on the roadside in fear, offering wreaths to the young conqueror.

Gao Chun took off his helmet, letting the wind from the Ganges brush across his face, his eyes fixed on Jahangir's golden tent - after entering South Asia for many years, this group of descendants of Mongolian sons-in-law with Turkic blood but Persianized still retained the habit of using tents. But it didn't matter, opposition had become the spoils of the Great Southern Army.

"General, Jahangir fled to Delhi. Should we pursue him?" Gan Decheng presented the captured Mughal military flag.

Gao Chun shook his head: "There is no need to rush this matter." He pointed to the northwest, "The Safavid Persian army is approaching Kabul. Jahangir's troubles are not limited to me."

After a pause, he took out a Taichang Tongbao copper coin and threw it into the air. "Pass the order to appease the people and open the granaries to release grain. From now on, Agra will be under the jurisdiction of Da Nan, and after my army determines the situation in Delhi, it will go south to clean up the mess... After taking the southern half of the Mughal Empire, we will discuss with the Persians how to cooperate with the next action, so that we can get twice the result with half the effort."

The copper coin fell into the dust, and the words "Taichang Tongbao" on the front were clearly visible. In the distance, the waves of the Yamuna River reflected the sky, like a golden ribbon, quietly connecting the South Asian subcontinent with the territory of the Ming Dynasty through the Indochina Peninsula, the core of the Great South.

Gao Chun knew that the many battles he had fought in South Asia were just part of his father's plan. And as the "strongest land warrior" among his father's sons, he would eventually carve a deeper mark of Han civilization on this land.

"Father said that the people here are too slave-like and have become rotten from the root of their spirit... Father is certainly not wrong, but what's wrong with this?" Gao Chun curled his lips and glanced indifferently at the people of Agra who still dared not stand up, and said to himself: "If you like to kneel, then you can kneel until the end of time."
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PS: Judging from the comments, everyone is expecting more from a tougher protagonist. I hope that not too many readers will think that the protagonist is too cold and utilitarian.

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