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Chapter 1402 Everyone has their own thoughts

To this end, the Don Cossacks sent people to Zaporizhia to contact the local Cossacks for help, and also contacted the Tsar, requesting that regular troops be sent to the port of Azov.

The Zaporozhye Cossacks quickly responded, saying they did not want to send troops to defend Azov, but could advance south to threaten the Crimean Khanate, preventing it from freeing up troops to help the Ottomans.

The Tsar's response was rather slow and contradictory. On the one hand, he wanted to remove the Ottoman strongholds from the Azov region, but on the other hand, he didn't want the Don Cossacks to gain access to the sea. Once they had other means of survival, they certainly wouldn't be so obedient.

Until the end of last year, the Tsar suddenly sent a special envoy with good news. The Ottomans voluntarily abandoned their plan to attack Azov, but the war still had to be fought, and the enemy had changed to the Ming Empire.

The reason, as the Tsar stated, was that the Ming Empire would not allow Russia to expand eastward. Furthermore, there were vast tracts of unclaimed land to the east, including areas slated for Cossack administration. In other words, the Tsar demanded that the Cossacks send troops to attack the Ming Empire, with the promise of land as payment for their service.

That's true; there were indeed large tracts of fertile land to the east. As for whether they had owners, that was entirely up to the victors. The Cossacks did want more land, so the two sides quickly reached an agreement.

Surprisingly, in addition to the Russian army and the Don Cossacks, the Bolivian Federation, the Crimean Khanate, and the Zaporozhye Cossacks also participated in the expedition.

Several factions that had been locked in a bitter struggle for over a century have now set aside their differences and united against the Ming Empire in order to launch an eastern expedition against it! Could it be that the Ming Empire is truly overflowing with gold, and anyone who goes there can take it at will?
Ultimately, it was the current Don Cossack general, Ataman, Mikhail Ivanovich Tatarnov, who revealed the truth to the regimental commanders.

This eastern expedition was not Tsar Mikhail's attempt to expand eastward, but rather a full-scale struggle between the whole of Europe and the Ming Empire for control of Asian trade.

The Russian Tsarist Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Crimean Khanate, and the Cossacks were just one of many forces. In addition, armies from all over Europe would advance eastward by land and sea, determined to defeat the Ming Empire.

Tsar Michael, Władysław IV, and the Ottoman Sultan were all merely pawns going with the tide. Whether they liked it or not, they had no choice but to join the allied forces in launching the Eastern Expedition; otherwise, the European allied forces would appear on their doorstep before the Ming Dynasty's army even arrived.

Even the Russian Tsarist Empire, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Ottoman Empire were not free to act on their own, so how could the Crimean Khanate and the Cossacks remain unaffected? Now everyone is in the same boat, and the only way out is to defeat the Ming Empire and strive to get a bigger share of the spoils after the war.

As for the hatred and conflicts between them, no one can pursue them anymore. Whether you feel at ease or not, you must treat them as allies and fight together. It's just a matter of being a little more cautious, in case someone really disregards the overall situation.

However, these situations couldn't be explained to subordinates, who had no idea how big Europe was, or even what countries existed beyond the Don River, and the affairs of Asia could never be clearly explained.

As arranged by Marshal Buturin, the eastern expedition would be spearheaded by the Don Cossacks and the Zaporozhye Cossacks, each leading 5000 light cavalrymen from the north of the Caspian Sea into the Kazakh Khanate. Their mission was to first scout the route and, by any means necessary, pave the way for the main army and eliminate any potential threats.

The two Cossack cavalry units, having crossed the Don River, swept eastward with unstoppable force. Any attempts at persuasion were futile; any sign of resistance was met with plunder and slaughter—a true swarm of locusts. However, they encountered a formidable opponent on the western shore of the Aral Sea. The Little Horde cavalry were no less capable than the Cossacks, and both sides employed the same tactics, resulting in a stalemate. If the Cossack cavalry hadn't been equipped with a large number of firearms, these ten thousand Cossack light cavalry might not have even made it across the Aral Sea.

Fortunately, the Little Horde Khan was not very resistant. In order to preserve his strength, he adopted a strategy of fighting and retreating, leading most of his people south and voluntarily disengaging from the battle.

As long as the road was cleared, the Cossack cavalry did not want to pursue them to the end. They left the Zaporozhye Cossacks to continue to exert pressure in the area and guard the stolen livestock while waiting for the arrival of the main army. The Don Cossacks then came to the city of Turkestan on their own.

Before setting out, the main generals of the Northern Theater Command had reached a consensus on how to fight this war. Although it was a bit of a stretch, at least they didn't act independently.

The first point of contention was between the Russian general and the general of the Polish Federation. Hatred is something that, once it takes root in your heart, can be hard to eradicate in several lifetimes.

What's more troublesome is that the Northern Theater Command has two commanders-in-chief, one in charge of the Russian army and the other of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army. It's unclear who came up with this idea, but it's definitely a mess.

Marshal Ivan Vasilyevich Buturin, as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army, hoped to advance steadily and cautiously, step by step. He planned to primarily use Russian and Polish infantry, supplemented by Cossack and Crimean Khanate cavalry, to gradually erode the major cities in western and central Kazakhstan and the Khanate of Bukhara, thus depleting the local cavalry's manpower.

Once sufficient provisions have been gathered, we should patiently wait for the Ming army to launch a preemptive strike, then find a way to extend the enemy's supply lines, and then fully utilize the advantages of the cavalry's rapid and wide-range mobility, taking advantage of the desert and Gobi terrain to try to severely damage their main force in one or two battles.

Why would they think that way? Because some members of the Russian army had witnessed the fighting power of the Ming army in a fortress on the Ob River, and were routed in a single encounter.

Because they were no match for the Ming army during the Eastern Expedition, the Tsar and the Russian nobles had to sign a treaty with the Ob River as the boundary, and lived in peace for more than ten years.

Marshal Buturin believed that after so many years, the Russian army had made great strides, and the Ming army had not been lying dormant either. If they were to launch a strong attack on the Ming border, they would likely suffer the consequences.

The only possible chance of victory is to lure the Ming army out and expose them to the deserts and Gobi of Kazakhstan. If a sandstorm could also occur, that would be perfect. Even if their own army suffers heavy losses, a victory of 1000 enemy kills and 800 of their own would still be considered a great victory.

Invading the Ming Dynasty's interior? Dream on! Buturin never even dared to consider it. The most advanced firearms and artillery in the Russian army today came from the Ming Empire; even a fool could see that these weapons weren't the most advanced.

Taking outdated weapons to challenge someone else's more advanced weapons in their own country, without any advantage in terms of timing, location, or popular support, is not fighting at all, but suicide!

(End of this chapter)