Starting in Saarhu, it is a bit difficult to make a comeback.

Chapter 258: Far Friendship and Close Attack (Please subscribe for monthly tickets)

These Persians came with bad intentions, and Li Zicheng was aware of it.

Therefore, he had not agreed to allow the Persians to enter Kabul before.

But he never expected that Manig would ignore the overall situation and choose to occupy Kabul at this time.

Although he has 15000 men in the city, his core Dashun Army team has less than 800 people left.

The most important thing right now is to hold on to the Governor's Palace and then let the British mediate!

Li Zicheng knew that he was a "foreign monk", so he paid special attention to the defense of the Governor's Mansion!

All 300 people in the Governor's Mansion are his cronies.

Sure enough, with their desperate resistance, the Persian attack failed very smoothly.

Although the Governor's Mansion is not a fortress, the Dashun troops still used the high walls of the deep courtyard of the Governor's Mansion to form a fire blockade with muskets.

Although the Persian army was large in number, they simply could not operate in this terrain.

After a long siege, they failed to break into the garden of the Governor's Palace. Instead, more than two hundred corpses were left behind.

But there is good news elsewhere.

The Afghan military camp in the city quickly gave up resistance after being raided by the Persian army.

Tens of thousands of Afghans had surrendered to the Persians.

In addition, the South Gate and the East Gate controlled by Dashun Army were also captured by the new Persian army under artillery attack, and all 500 Dashun Army were killed.

The Persian army had successfully controlled the four gates of Kabul.

It was almost as expected by Manig, and despite Warkin's strong protest to them, the Western mercenaries he led did nothing but fire a few shots into the air.

They did not forcefully break through the Persian blockade to relieve Li Zicheng.

After all, the British needed the Safavid dynasty to help them resist the Ottoman Empire in the west and the Chinese Empire in the east. He was sure that the British would not dare to really fall out with him.

Now as long as the Governor's Palace is captured, Kabul will belong to the Persian Empire.

Manigault shouted to his men: "Bring the artillery to the Governor's Palace!"

He did not expect these Dashun troops to put down their weapons and surrender obediently.

Since they were seeking death themselves, he didn't have to be merciful.

Amidst the roar of artillery, the courtyard wall of the Governor's Palace was instantly blown down.

A large number of Persian soldiers shouted slogans and rushed into the governor's palace.

Although the remaining Dashun troops still resisted desperately, they were at a numerical disadvantage and were constantly killed by the Persians.

After a stick of incense, the Persians occupied the governor's palace, which had become a ruin.

But no matter how they searched, they still couldn't find Li Zicheng's body.

Not only Li Zicheng, but also the bodies of his military advisor Niu Jinxing and his wife Amita were not found.

At this time, Li Zicheng, Niu Jinxing and others had passed through the secret passage of the Governor's Palace and ran outside Kabul.

Li Zicheng said: "Thankfully, Commander Niu reminded me to build this secret passage in advance, otherwise we would be prisoners of the Persians now."

At this time, Niu Jinxing could only say awkwardly: "This is all the responsibility of my subordinates!"

Although they escaped from Kabul, where should they go?

The west is the territory of the Persians. It is almost impossible for just a few dozen of them to do something big in Persia.

Kandahar in the south has been captured by the Chinese. The main force of the Chinese army is heading north. They are surrendering themselves into a trap when they go south.

Entering the Mughal Empire eastward is a way out, but although the Mughal surname is Li today, he has nothing to do with him, Li Zicheng.

When they went to the Mughal Empire, it was only a matter of time before they were caught by the Chinese.

After much deliberation, the only option was to go north. Although the Bukhara Khanate in the north was now attached to the Safavid Dynasty of Persia, it was not directly under the jurisdiction of the Persians after all.

Even if there is no chance to stand up in the Bukhara Khanate, passing through the Bukhara Khanate and continuing north is the Kazakh Khanate. Yangir of the Kazakh Khanate was his ally before.

Now that the Mongolian Junggar tribe is moving westward, China is eyeing Kazakhstan. I believe that Yang Gil will not hand over himself to the Chinese.

In the end, Li Zicheng and others headed north into the mountains of Afghanistan.

On the other side, Manig, who occupied Kabul, was worried.

Although he accepted more than 3 Afghan soldiers here and expanded his troops to 5, Li Zicheng escaped.

At this time, the 5 Chinese reinforcements led by Li Shizu had arrived near Kabul and joined Li Yan's remaining troops.

Li Shizu did not expect that the situation in Kabul would change so drastically.

However, he still affirmed Zheng Sen's behavior.

Unexpectedly, Li Zicheng had so many helpers. It seemed that the British and the Persians had regarded China as their number one enemy.

If Zheng Sen had not divided the enemy in time and caused the Persians to fight with Li Zicheng, I am afraid that the current situation would have been even more critical.

In particular, Li Yan's group of troops killed as many as 7,000 people in the battle. This was already the largest casualty in China's military use this year.

The Safavid dynasty of Persia was a centralized empire. The Persian Empire had no less than 20 troops, and it also had a modern new army, whose combat power should not be underestimated.

Not counting the low-powered soldiers of the Mughal Empire, the total number of troops China could use in this area did not exceed 100,000.

We also need to protect an area as vast as the Western Region and India.

Of course, with China's current national strength, if it declares war on the Persians with all its strength, it will be easy to mobilize another 100,000 troops from China, Southeast Asia, and Japan.

But in this way, he seemed a little incompetent and had to ask his father Li Xianzhong for help.

Even though Kabul could not be conquered even after sending 70,000 troops, why did Li Shizu feel so embarrassed? At this time Zheng Sen said: "Don't worry, Second Prince. As far as I know, the current situation in the Persian Empire is not good either. The Ottoman Empire is eyeing Baghdad."

"If we can persuade the Turks to send troops with us, attack from east to west, and jointly dismember the Safavid dynasty of Persia, then not only the problem of Kabul will be solved. Even the Chinese Empire can continue to expand our power westward to the Persian Gulf !”

Zheng Sen's words moved Li Shizu, but although Li Xianzhong handed over the command of the Western Region and South Asia into his own hands.

But uniting the Ottoman Empire was, after all, a major matter involving national affairs.

Originally, the "princelings" in China were quite critical of my father's decision to hand over the military command of such a large area to himself. If he continues to make bold decisions and form an alliance with the Ottoman Empire, he may very well arouse the fear of his brother, the prince, and his father, Li Xianzhong.

Zheng Sen also saw Li Shizu's worries and said, "Is the second prince worried about the ministers in the court?"

Although Li Shizu was young, the two brothers had been trained as the next emperor since they were young, and they had been exposed to many historical cases.

If Li Shizu couldn't even think of this, it can only mean that Mao Yuanyi, the prince and tutor, failed too much.

His father really favored him. Not only did he marry the Mughal Queen, but he also gave him the military command over a large area.

Even if he were the emperor of the Chinese Empire, he would probably arouse criticism from the ministers in the DPRK.

In particular, most of the ministers in the capital were on the side of his eldest brother Li Shengzu, and he could not make things too difficult for his father.

After hesitating for a moment, he said: "It will definitely not work to kill first and tell later. Formal alliance with the Ottoman Empire must have an edict from the emperor."

"But we can use the name of the Eastern Ryukyu Company to sign a trade agreement with the Ottoman Empire first, and by the way, mention the carving up of Persia."

"The Ottomans and the Persians have been repeatedly competing for the Mesopotamia and the Transcaucasus. The Ottoman Sultan Murad IV will definitely not miss this golden opportunity."

"Befriend far away and attack close" is an old Chinese tradition. The enemy of the enemy is a friend.

At this time, the interests of China and the Ottoman Empire were highly consistent, and both sides easily reached an agreement on carving up the Persian Empire.

Zheng Sen said: "The East Ryukyu Company has a base in Mumbai, India. I can use the name of my father to use the East Ryukyu Company's funds in India."

Li Shizu nodded and said: "Good brother, just go ahead and do it. If the funds are insufficient, there is still a lot of gold in the Mughal treasury, you can also use it."

Nowadays, China's territory is too vast.

The distance from the easternmost part of the empire to the western part is close to 2 miles, and the fastest round trip would take half a year.

If you have to ask for instructions for everything, I'm afraid the day lilies will get cold.

It is for this reason that Li Xianzhong gave great powers to the governors of various places.

Zheng Sen waved his hand and said: "That's not necessary. Your Highness, don't underestimate the financial resources of Dongliuqiu Company. Next time I go to Istanbul, I will make money and will not lose money."

After Li Shizu's army arrived, there were already 6 Chinese troops around Kabul.

Soon they surrounded Kabul.

Manig quickly sent an envoy. The Persian envoy asked: "Previously, Zheng Sen reached an agreement with Governor Manig. China agreed to hand over Kabul to the Persian Empire. How can you go back on your word?"

Li Shizu laughed and said: "The result of the previous agreement was that the Persians handed over Li Zi to the hands of the Chinese, and the Chinese allowed you to occupy Kabul. May I ask where Li Zicheng is now?"

"Now Li Zicheng is nowhere to be seen alive, and his body is nowhere to be found dead. You broke the contract first, and you actually have the nerve to ask China why it went back on its word?"

After seeing off the disgraced Persian envoy, Li Yan said: "My army of more than 6 people is concentrated in Kabul and consumes a lot of food supplies. Why does the second prince surround us and not attack?"

Li Shizu said: "The terrain near Kabul is very complex, which is conducive to us ambushing Persian reinforcements. After all, the Safin Dynasty is a huge empire with 20 troops. Eating the people they march eastward will not hurt their muscles. Move the bones.”

"If we can 'encircle and reinforce' and further eliminate their effective forces in the mountains near Kabul, the situation will be more favorable!"

"As for food, Mr. Li doesn't have to worry. The Mughal Queen has mobilized 300,000 workers to repair the road from Delhi to Congling. Although it has not been fully completed yet, the efficiency of transporting food has been greatly improved. We will not No more food."

Although the second prince in front of me is young, he is thoughtful and calculating. It seems that he has received the true inheritance from His Majesty!

On the other end, Zheng Sen relied on his father Zheng Zhilong's relationship to quickly mobilize a large amount of materials and funds from the Eastern Ryukyu Company in Mumbai Port.

With Li Shizu's order, he mobilized two sail battleships from the Chinese Indian Ocean Fleet to join the escort fleet.

In this way, they set sail all the way to the Ottoman Empire.

Since the Persians had complete control of the Persian Gulf, they could not land at the port of Basra and then rush overland to Istanbul.

The only option is to bypass the Persian Gulf and follow the Arabian Sea into the Gulf of Aden and then into the Red Sea.

At this time, the Ottoman Empire was almost at its peak. It was a huge empire spanning three continents: Asia, Europe, and Africa.

In Asia, the Ottoman Empire controlled the entire peninsula of Asia Minor, as well as large tracts of land on the east coast of the Mediterranean, including Yemen and the coast of the Red Sea.

In Africa, they controlled almost all of North Africa, including Egypt. It can be said that the southern coast of the Mediterranean was completely under the control of the Ottoman Empire.

In Europe, they not only occupied Constantinople, the former capital of the Eastern Roman Empire. It even occupied the entire Balkan Peninsula, and its troops were directed towards Vienna, the capital of Austria.

In addition to the Balkans, they also controlled Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, and the Crimean Khanate in today's Ukraine.

It is no exaggeration to say that the entire Black Sea is the inland sea of ​​the Ottoman Empire.

The land area under its rule exceeds 500 million square kilometers and the population exceeds 3500 million.

It can be said to be the second largest empire in the world at this time, almost only after China.

The Ottoman Empire has always maintained trade with the Ming Dynasty. The earliest Rumi guns used by the Chinese army were imitations of Ottoman muskets.

The East Ryukyu Company has also expanded its trade here long ago.

So when Zheng Sen led a huge Chinese caravan to the Red Sea, the officials of the Ottoman Empire did not appear too nervous.

Today's Suez Canal has not been dug, so there is no connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean.

It was too time-consuming to go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, so Zheng Sen and others chose to unload the supplies near Cairo, Egypt, and then transport them overland to Istanbul.

This time they brought a large amount of porcelain, silk and tea from China, which are "hot commodities" in Istanbul.

Sending Ryukyu Company goods to Istanbul was not the first time. A large number of camel teams had already assembled near the port and were on standby.

After paying the tax, this huge caravan set off from near Cairo, Egypt, and passed through the historical cities of Jerusalem and Damascus.

After more than a month of trekking, they finally crossed the Dardanelles Strait.

Arrive at Istanbul, the capital of the Ottoman Empire.

Of course, his predecessor's name was even more famous. He was Constantinople, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

In 395 AD, Emperor Theodosius I of the Roman Empire passed away and inherited the eastern and western parts of the empire with his two sons.

Among them, most of the "Western Rome" were quickly wiped out by the Ostrogoths.

However, the Eastern Roman Empire, with Constantinople as its capital, lasted for more than a thousand years. It was not until May 1453, 5, that Sultan Mehmed II of the Ottoman Empire led his army to invade Constantinople. Officially dead.

It was precisely because of the fall of Constantinople that the land Silk Road was cut off, and Europeans had to travel to Asia by sea. In a certain sense, the Ottomans' capture of Constantinople triggered the "Great War" in Europe. The Age of Sail”.

China was one of the largest trading partners of the Ottoman Empire. When the Ottoman Sultan Murad IV heard that Zheng Sen was leading a large delegation to visit, he also paid great attention to it and soon introduced them to Istanbul!
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(End of this chapter)