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Chapter 883: A single move affects the entire body
Moreover, it would be too late to retreat by then. The northern army assembled in Guazhou was not just a feint. The 800-li Gobi Desert was not a dead end for the Ming army with canned water. If the army could not march together, it could be divided into batches of or men.

At this time, whether to defend Hami or not would be a quarrel between Yarkand Khan and Turpan Khan. If they defended Hami, they would lose their homeland, which Yarkand Khan would definitely not do. If they did not defend Hami, they might be able to keep their homeland, but the Turpan Khanate would definitely be gone.

Given the huge conflict of interests, it would be difficult for the two khans, who were already at odds with each other, to reach a consensus, and they might even go to war with each other.

At this time, the Ming army was relaxed and waited for them to decide the outcome, or to assist a certain Khan and artificially create a ruler of the Yarkand Khanate that would be beneficial to the Ming Empire.

That's right, according to the emperor's intention, it would be best to leave a Khan with more appeal in the Yarkand Khanate. Then, through his mouth and hands, he could implement policies that were in the interests of the Ming Empire. But the real control of the Khanate must be in the hands of the Ming court.

Why go to so much trouble? Does it mean that the Ming army is incapable of defeating the military force of the Yarkand Khanate head-on?
When formulating this battle plan, Yuan Keli, Ding Shun, Li Ruzhang and Sun Chengzong all had similar questions, and the emperor's answer was to reduce costs.

If a head-on battle breaks out, the Yarkand Khanate will not be a match, but the war will be prolonged and its intensity will increase.

The natural conditions within the area controlled by the Yarkand Khanate are quite special. The area is huge, but the cities and population are relatively scattered. To conquer a city one by one, at least two armies are needed, and each army must provide sufficient supplies. As time goes by, the supply line will become longer and longer.

In the later stages of the battle, it is estimated that the intensity of frontal combat will weaken, while the frequency of harassment battles from the flanks and rear will increase significantly.

In this natural environment, fighting a protracted war with the enemy was the last thing the Ming army wanted to see. It was like using a cannon to kill a mosquito, paying a high cost but gaining only a tiny profit.

It took a year or even several years, countless soldiers and civilians from both sides were killed or injured, and the land was devastated and the population was dwindling. To restore production and life, a huge amount of money and a relatively long time will be invested. Let alone making a profit, it would be a great fortune if you could avoid losing your pants.

The best way is to use the shortest and least intense battle to eliminate the most diehards, damage the original agricultural and economic foundations as little as possible, and maintain social integrity.

Then support a puppet regime and turn the policies of the Ming Empire into orders from the local people, which will be more easily accepted.

In addition, while attacking the Yarkand Khanate, they also had to guard against two other potential enemies, the Oirat Mongols in the north and the Bukhara Khanate and Kazakh Khanate in the west.

The relationship between these three khanates and forces and the Yarkand Khanate was very complicated, with both hostility and alliance. In terms of blood relationship, their ancestors were all descendants of the Mongol Khanate, and it was unclear whether they were in the fifth degree of mourning, but the relationship was not distant anyway.

On weekdays, they fight and kill each other, and it seems that no one is willing to give in to the other. But if they encounter a foreign invasion, there may be a scene where the uncle sends troops to rescue the nephew. Especially when the two sides are in a protracted war, the various possibilities will increase exponentially.

The southern Xinjiang region was already in chaos, and if they got involved, there would be no hope of peace. It would probably take at least ten to eight years. Faced with such a long supply line and an unfamiliar place, the Ming Empire really couldn't afford to delay.

Therefore, the only way to swallow up Yarkand is to do it quickly. With lightning speed, take down its main population centers in one fell swoop, kill the hardliners cleanly and neatly, and quickly support the surrenderists. When the news spreads, the dust has settled, and the victims have said that they will not pursue the matter. There is no reason for relatives and friends who are watching the fun to interfere. Even if there are people who are unwilling to take advantage of the situation, the Ming Empire can lend a helping hand in the name of the friendly country of the Yarkand Khanate.

At this time, they are no longer invaders, but a righteous army helping the people of Yarkand. Even if we don't welcome them, we must provide them with necessary food and grass to jointly resist foreign enemies.

As for the Oirat Mongols, let them occupy the northern border first, as long as they don't develop southward, there will be no trouble. If they think that the Ming Dynasty is easy to bully, it doesn't matter, there is still the Outer Khalkha Mongols next to them.

Elek of the Tushetu Khanate went south to Beijing to meet the Ming Emperor. It was not just a formality. Although no alliance was reached, a private verbal promise was made.

Hong Tao promised not to take hostile actions against Outer Khalkha Mongols before conquering the Yarkand Khanate. Elek Khan promised not to go south when the Ming Empire was at war with the Yarkand Khanate.

On the surface, it was just a war between the Ming Empire and the Yarkand Khanate, but in fact, this war involved at least three khanates, two Mongolian forces and a great Han empire.

If you want to win, you must eat what's in your mouth, protect what's in your bowl, pick up what's on the plate, look at what's in the pot, think about tomorrow, and keep an eye on your deskmate.

This is no longer a matter of killing two birds with one stone, but rather of dividing the brain into eight parts, filling the whole body with tricks, and telling lies in order to fool one's own people, enemies, allies, and onlookers.

The Turpan Governor's Mansion is located behind the Great Mosque, in a large courtyard covered with tiles. Governor Abdul Chain leaned against a long sac, sipping black tea and occasionally picking up a piece of halva candy and putting it in his mouth.

He was the twelfth son of the second Khan of the Yarkand Khanate, the younger brother of the third and fourth Khans Abdukhalin and Mahama, and the uncle of the current Khan Latif.

According to the tradition of choosing the eldest son in the Khanate, after the death of the eldest brother Abdulkhalin, the Khanate was to be passed on to the fifth brother Mahama. After Mahama's death, the Khanate was to be passed on to the surviving brother, the youngest Aduchain. Only when all the brothers were gone could the Khanate be passed on to the oldest son or nephew.

However, when the throne was passed to the fourth generation, Mahemā's selfish desires expanded. He joined forces with the Black Mountain faction and the Zhuoshadi family to control the Khanate's discourse power, and forcibly passed the throne to his son Ahemaiti.

Although this move seriously violated the tradition of the Khanate, when the Khan, who held political and part of the military power, joined forces with the Khoja, who controlled the religious power, others had no effective way to check and balance them except to protest.

Only Abdulchayin, the then governor of Turpan, openly stood up to oppose it. To this end, he colluded with the Oirat Mongols and captured the two cities of Yanqi and Talbugir in one fell swoop. He also defeated his nephew Timur Sutan who came to attack him and firmly occupied the Turpan area.

From then on, the Turpan region was nominally a part of the Yarkand Khanate, but in reality it had become a separate khanate that neither obeyed orders nor proclamations.

(End of this chapter)