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Chapter 1407 Everyone is here 2
"...Oh dear, could it be that they deliberately used the wrong name to try and confuse people?"

This time, Ma Lan understood, yet she didn't quite grasp it. The Russian Tsarist Empire was constantly at war with Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and the Crimean Khanate, with its main forces concentrated in the northwest, west, and south.

Judging from the banners discovered, apart from the Smolensk Archers who came from the west, only the Tula Heavy Cavalry came from the south, and they were a noble's private army. The remaining troops came from the north, east, and southeast, areas with relatively weak fighting capabilities. Calling them miscellaneous troops would be an exaggeration, but they were definitely not elite.

Logically, for such a large-scale battle, even if the entire nation's army wasn't mobilized, the most capable troops should have been sent out. However, the Tsar chose a group of the least capable soldiers, with only a few elite archers and Cossacks added as embellishments. There must be a reason for this.

"It's possible... Let's wait and see. If I'm not mistaken, this battle might be easier." Huang Taiji neither confirmed nor denied this explanation, but in reality, he did not agree with Ma Lan's speculation.

It's not that the army can't use different flags, but I've never heard of them all being mixed together. If a real war broke out, wouldn't everything be in chaos? Soldiers wouldn't be able to find their officers, and officers wouldn't be able to command their soldiers. Trying to figure things out would just be asking for trouble.

The most reasonable explanation is the Tsar's attitude. The Statistics Department and the Ministry of Rites had said long ago that the Russian Tsar and most nobles were not enthusiastic about this war, and now the intelligence seems to be correct.

Forced by geopolitical constraints, the Tsar was compelled to join the European coalition in launching the Eastern Expedition. However, the Russian nobility were unwilling to squander their hard-earned wealth in the East. Thus, they adopted a policy of outward compliance but inward defiance, sending tens of thousands of troops with a menacing and aggressive appearance, while in reality, they dispatched weak soldiers and private armies of the nobility to the East.

This approach would both silence the criticisms of European countries and accelerate domestic military reforms. By using the Ming Empire to scatter local armed forces, regardless of victory or defeat, they would all be brought under the Tsar's control upon their return, saving a lot of trouble.

However, this would be quite detrimental to the Eastern Expedition. Among these four military forces, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is the most capable, the Cossacks are the fastest, Crimea is the most unpredictable, and Russia has the largest number of troops.

If the quality of the Russian army is too poor, it will definitely drag down its allies. Those three countries are all relying on the Russian army as their base, but if their foundation collapses first, none of them can withstand it in the short term.

The newly arrived Russian troops also refrained from making any rash moves. In addition to sending out more scouts to conduct long-distance reconnaissance in both the north and south directions to check for ambushes on the flanks, they also dutifully set up a large camp on the riverbank high ground 10 kilometers away.

As night fell, soldiers from various ethnic groups lit bonfires, singing and dancing, illuminating the Syr Darya River for several miles. Sometimes they even fired guns and cannons into the air, creating a very lively scene that lasted until midnight before finally calming down.

The next day, the lookout in the hot air balloon reported that there were tens of thousands more troops, still Russian, judging from their banners. These guys were probably tired from their night's activities; they neither attacked nor outflanked the city, but just searched for firewood and trees, as if they intended to stay there for a long time.

As dusk fell, warning fireworks rose again from the hot air balloon, signaling the arrival of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army. Compared to the disorganized Russians, the Poles were far more disciplined and imposing, and even the Zaporizhian Cossacks accompanying them seemed much more orderly than the Don Cossacks.

"Commander, I am about to return to headquarters. Take care!" With the arrival of the Boli Federation army, the atmosphere of war was brought to its peak. Ma Lantian, who was always jovial, came to bid farewell to Huang Taiji as soon as it got dark.

Although each guard has a hot air balloon lookout who can communicate and issue orders from a relatively long distance, the main forces of Commanders Ma Lan and Chang Jiang are stationed outside the city. They are unwilling to stay in the city for the sake of convenient combat.

Most importantly, the Ming army had an unwritten rule: officers of all ranks stayed with their headquarters during wartime. If headquarters were fighting on the front lines while the commander was slacking off in the rear, it would be difficult to explain if problems arose, and he would be suspected of desertion. As night fell, a large courtyard in the west of the city remained brightly lit. Huang Taiji paced back and forth in the main hall, his hands behind his back. All the original furniture had been removed, replaced by a large sand table, and military maps hung on the walls.

"11 kilometers... plus 9 kilometers, that's enough, but I don't know how strong the wind is. It would be great if it could fly at night!" After circling around twice, Huang Taiji picked up a compass and ruler and measured on the map. He started shaking his head and muttering to himself.

“Then he’d be a night owl. I’m afraid Commander Zhou wouldn’t agree to that.” Although the voice wasn’t loud, it was still heard by the staff officer next to him, and it immediately drew a rebuttal.

The main body of the Eagle Brigade did not belong to any of the guards of the Western Regions Commandery, but was the Emperor's personal guard, the Imperial Horse Stable Warriors Battalion. When the Emperor's personal guards arrived at local troops, no matter how approachable they were, they were bound to have moments of arrogance.

After this happened repeatedly, the local officers naturally disliked him. Although they couldn't actually make things difficult for him, it wasn't uncommon for them to talk behind his back.

"Since His Majesty has assigned them to my command, there's no question of whether anyone wants to or not. One day... bang bang... bang bang..."

Huang Taiji was originally planning to choose a time to have the glider squadron launch a surprise attack on the enemy camp to see if it could cause significant chaos, and then launch a full-scale attack to take advantage of the chaos.

After listening to the staff officer's gossip, he immediately turned his attention to the aerospace force. He was about to imagine a promising future when he was interrupted by several explosions before he could finish speaking.

"Beep beep beep... Beep beep beep... Swoosh... Snap!"

Before the source of the sound could be determined, a series of horn sounds rang out from the west city wall. Then, a burst of fire suddenly erupted from the dark sky, flying out of the city with a sharp whistle. Soon after, it exploded into a fireball in mid-air, drifting slowly northwestward with the wind.

"Awooo, awooo, awooo... Boom boom boom boom..." Before the lighting fireworks launched from the hot air balloon had gone out, shouts and the sound of horses' hooves rang out from outside the city. It sounded like there were quite a few people, and the ground even shook slightly.

"Alright, I'm not going to sleep tonight. Go get some kebabs and hot naan. Anyone want to place a bet? I'll bet three silver coins on who's attacking the enemy!"

The incident happened very suddenly, but Huang Taiji didn't move an inch, or even look towards the west of the city. He threw down his pen, plopped down in a chair, rubbed his stomach, and found that he was actually a little hungry.

"I refuse to believe it! Two Cossacks!" If a commander dares to open a betting pool, there are bound to be officers willing to place bets. Immediately, two staff officers, with smirks that showed their defiance, shouted and joined the banker's betting pool.

(End of this chapter)