The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 727 Do you understand the value of an agricultural nation?

"Emir, the best solution right now is not to rescue Samarkand. Let Prince Hussein hold this fortified city and wear out the Taohuashi people, while we intensify the training of our army in Bukhara."

In the Emir's Palace, also known as the Ark City, Ahmed Hakim, the general of the Bukhara Khanate, whispered his battle strategy.

"Emir, I led my troops to fight against the Peach Blossom Stone Man." When General Hakim said this, a trace of fear appeared on his face, but it quickly disappeared.

"They were very fierce, their infantry were in strict formation, 500 soldiers were standing in the open field, and our 2,000 cavalry charged, but they didn't move an inch.

As for the cavalry, they are even more terrifying. We cannot deal with the Kazakh and Mongolian cavalry below. Those emperor's guards in red helmets and red armor are said to be a hundred times more ferocious than the Mongolian cavalry.

Moreover, many of our warriors are untrained and don’t even know how to follow the flags and drums. They are simply incapable of fighting in such a short period of time. They must be trained.”

This General Hakim is actually quite capable. Although the Bukhara Khanate is not a national alliance composed of nomadic tribes and has a considerable agricultural base, all aspects of the Khanate are still very fragmented.

Of the population of more than 2.4 million, most are controlled by nobles at all levels.

What the royal family and the court could control were the big cities in each province.

This is somewhat similar to the situation of Xia Fan, except that the feudal lord of Xia Fan had just come to power and was under pressure from the imperial court, so he was more obedient overall.

Many of the Bayi masters in Bukhara have been in power for hundreds of years and have complex and intertwined forces. The Emirs living in Bukhara and Samarkand are lucky to make them bow down to them, and it is impossible to completely drive them under their control.

With the state's political system in such a state, the army was even more chaotic. In Bukhara, with a population of 2.4 million, the Emir had only 13,000 standing troops under his control.

Apart from these 13,000 men, if a war was to start, the first thing they would do was to recruit citizens from big cities like Bukhara, Samarkand, and Karshi as the Khan's heavy infantry, and recruit vassals from the countryside of the four states as iqta cavalry.

Even among these 13,000 standing troops, there is a lot of water in them.

Because Bukhara is an Islamic country, and like Ottoman Turkey, the backbone of its army is not its own people, but various slaves captured or bought from conquered pagans.

For example, General Hakim, who is offering advice, was a slave who was sold from the Caucasus region.

After constant turmoil, the Bukhara Khanate could not even keep the Dayuan Basin (Fergana Basin). Its strength had been greatly weakened, and it was simply unable to purchase so many slave children, let alone train them to become Mamluks.

So the Bukhara Khanate was said to have a standing army of 13,000 people that could actually perform ceremonial duties, but at most they could only muster 7,000 people. This amount of strength was not enough to fill the gaps in Dayu's teeth.

You should know that the troops that Dayu is sending out now include 30,000 Western Expeditionary Forces from the Northeastern Envoy, 30,000 Dingxi Army of the Imperial Han Army brought by Dong Jinfeng, 4,500 three guards of the Xia clan brought by Li Xianwen, plus 10,000 Long March warriors and 10,000 Unity warriors.

The combat troops alone numbered approximately 85,000 men, and the fourth wave included three Imperial Guards and three Beijing Battalions, totaling over 40,000 Pingxi troops.

These 125,000 people did not come to defeat or conquer the Bukhara Khanate at all, but to directly destroy the people of the three khanates, and even the entire Transoxiana peoples such as the Qarluk (Uzbek) and Oghuz (Turkmen).

Of course, the people in the river did not know that Dayu had made such a big decision, nor did they know how many people had come from Dayu.

General Hakim and Emir Murad are so worried now only because they have sensed that something is wrong and are afraid of becoming the next Junggar.

However, after hearing General Hakim's words, Bukhara Chief Kushbegi Utkul Biy shook his head and said, "It is impossible for us not to save Samarkand, because we cannot convince the iqtas of the Samarkand province.

They had witnessed the ferocity of the Peach Blossom Stone Man, and were filled with anger and fear. They were hoping that His Highness the Emir would send troops to protect them, and it was impossible for them to obey such an order.

This is the disadvantage of not having an absolutely powerful monarch, because the people below have their own interests and demands, which you cannot ignore. Therefore, operations such as self-sacrifice and enduring humiliation are completely impossible to implement.

The so-called Kushbegi was an official position in the Bukhara Khanate, similar to a prime minister or a university scholar.

The Bukhara Khanate generally had two Kush Begi. The Supreme Kush Begi was in charge of administration, official appointments, etc., and was equivalent to a vice emperor.

Lower Kush Beji was in charge of finance and responsible for collecting important taxes such as the Muslim zakat, which was equivalent to the Minister of Finance.

Emir Murad glanced at the military general and the prime minister, coughed twice, straightened his back and sat up straight, then said slowly:
"Kushbegi's words make sense. We can't just stand by and watch Samarkand fall. There are 300,000 people in the city, and 800,000 in the Samarkand province. We can't and have no reason to abandon them."

The total population of the Bukhara Khanate was about 2.4 million, of which Bukhara and its provinces had about 800,000 people, Samarkand had about 1.3 million people, and the remaining four (or possibly five) provinces had a total population of only 300,000 people.

If we abandon Samarkand, it would not be a self-sacrifice, but amputation below the buttocks.

General Hakim wanted to say something else, because he also knew that it was impossible to give up the entire Samarkand, so he planned to give up only the city of Samarkand.

He planned to let 300,000 people in Samarkand fight desperately and exhaust the Taohuashi people.

At the same time, he summoned all the iqtas in the countryside to Bukhara, and used their hatred for the Peach Blossom Stone People to arm an army of revenge, and finally fought a decisive battle in Bukhara.

And by that time, the Durrani dynasty of Afghanistan, feeling threatened, should also be able to send troops. When the decisive battle of Bukhara takes place, the Durrani army will come down from the mountains to attack Samarkand, cutting off the retreat of the Taohuashi people.

However, when he wanted to continue to persuade, a sharp gaze was fixed on him. It was the reproachful look of his uncle, General Hassan of the Guards.

General Hakim understood instantly that Prince Hassan Hussein, the third son of Emir Murad and his cousin, was still in Samarkand. He was the future of the family, so how could he not save him?

Thus, all the words turned into a silent sigh, and the only battle plan that could possibly cause some trouble to the Dayu Western Army disappeared.

. . . .

September 1795, 9, the 18th year of Emperor Guangzhong's reign in the Great China, originally the th year of Emperor Qianlong's reign, the fifth day of the eighth lunar month.

By the eighth month of the lunar calendar, the weather in the river had become quite dry, which was a good time for fighting.

The 120,000-strong army of Dayu, including civilians, who came down from the shady mountainous area, was deployed in just over ten days according to the established plan. The main force then surrounded the city of Samarkand.

The Bukhara Khanate took advantage of Dayu's temporary withdrawal of troops to strengthen the defense of Samarkand.

Many elderly, weak, women and children were sent to the countryside to live with relatives and friends, and tens of thousands of young men were sent into the city to prepare for a resolute resistance.

And the reinforcements from Bukhara also arrived, including 8,000 Khivan cavalry, 8,000 Bukhara Itak cavalry, 13,000 city heavy infantry, and nearly 20,000 light cavalry, uh, they can also be called armed herdsmen.

However, when Emir Murad, who led the army in person, saw the Dayu army in the distance on Kuhak Mountain northeast of Samarkand, he felt dizzy.

Although it was impossible to station all 120,000 people outside the city of Samarkand with the supply capacity of the Dayu Western Army, there were still about 65,000 people besieging Samarkand from three directions.

"How could the Taohuashi people mobilize so many people? The output of Kokand's territory cannot support so many people to fight. They don't even have enough food to eat."

No one could answer Emir Murad's words, because they also couldn't understand how the small area of the Dayuan Basin could produce enough food to feed such a large army.

If any Chinese heard their exclamations, they would definitely snort in disdain.

Do you think any nation can be called an agricultural nation? Do you think the title of "farming maniac" was given for nothing?
The Dayuan Basin is such a good place, almost comparable to the Guanzhong Plain. You guys are totally clueless, and the naturally grown crops can only support 20,000 to 30,000 people in battle.

But when the Dayuan Basin fell into the hands of the Chinese people, think about the Qin and Han dynasties. With that kind of productivity, it could support tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people fighting all year round.

Now that we have steam pumps, relatively high-yield seeds, and cast iron farm tools, if we can't even support a battle involving tens of thousands of people, then all the 11 million silver dollars that Mo Zibu spent on improving infrastructure in the past three years with the Xia clan would be wasted.

After realizing that the enemy was extremely powerful, Emir Murad immediately thought of the second question.

Since so many people came from the State of Yu, why didn’t they occupy the important location of Kuhak Mountain, but let them occupy it easily?

Then, Emir Murad immediately knew why.

Because since they arrived, the Dayu Western Army, which had been besieging the city, immediately set out. The sieges on the southeast and north sides were almost immediately lifted, and the army headed straight for Kuhak Mountain.

"It's actually coming for us!" The old guard general Hassan shouted in disbelief.

Although Kuhak Mountain is only a relatively wide hillside, it is quite steep. After years of wind erosion, the mountain has many twists and turns, making it very suitable for hiding soldiers.

There is also a large-scale mausoleum on the mountain, which is said to be the burial place of Timur the Lame, a famous monarch of the Timurid Khanate.

To the east of the mausoleum lies a series of palaces, the most famous of which is the Ulugh Beg Observatory, built by Timur's grandson, Ulugh Beg. It was once the largest observatory in the East, including Central Asia. Although most of these buildings are now in disrepair, they served as defensive structures, saving the effort of building camps.

In addition, the Zeravshan River, an important tributary of the Amu Darya River, flows past Mount Kuhak, ensuring that the troops stationed on the hillside will not lack water.

So in the eyes of Emir Murad and General Hassan, this is the most important place in the entire suburbs of Samarkand. It is really strange that the Taohuashi people did not come to occupy it.

At the foot of the mountain, Li Xianwen ordered Chen Guangyao to personally lead 20,000 Western Expeditionary Forces to encircle the enemy. The Western Expeditionary Forces had more than 60 artillery pieces, most of which were field guns and mortars that could be moved quickly.

As soon as Chen Guangyao arrived, he immediately ordered Yang Kaijia to deploy the cannons and bombard them fiercely. The Bukhara army had never seen such fierce artillery fire. Although there were many places to hide on Kuhak Mountain, it was still very dangerous at the foot of the mountain.

Seeing the heavy casualties, after two days of resistance, Emir Murad thought of retreating a little, avoiding this wave of fierce artillery fire, and then thinking of a solution.

As a result, as soon as the Bukhara army hid in the mountains, Chen Guangyao's Dingxi army immediately changed direction and attacked a hill west of Kuhak Mountain.

"Too arrogant, too arrogant!" General Hassan roared angrily. It turned out that the hill west of Kuhak Mountain was guarding the road for the Bukhara army to retreat back to Bukhara.

"These peach blossom stone people not only want to eat up the army of Samarkand, but also want to eat us!" General Hassan was so angry that his hair stood on end. He walked up to Emir Murad and pleaded:

"Your Highness the Emir, please allow me to lead the cavalry in the attack. Their artillery is slow and lacks cavalry protection. I can defeat them with a single charge."

Emir Murad thought for a moment and nodded in agreement. "I'll give you 5,000 cavalrymen, bring enough gunpowder, and find the right opportunity to charge forward. As long as you blow up those cannons, you'll be halfway to victory."

This Emir is really bold in his thinking, and General Hassan is really bold in his actions.

But they didn't notice one thing, that is, the more than 60 artillery pieces of the Western Expedition Army were used in a concentrated manner.

Basically, they aimed at one place and started a collective and fierce bombardment. Otherwise, it would be impossible to cause great damage to the Bukhara people as soon as the fighting started.

Napoleon had already begun using this tactic of concentrating artillery during the Battle of Toulon, and it became Napoleon's signature tactic in history.

This tactic does not seem to be a genius creation. The reason why many generals have not used it before is that the artillery at that time was all smoothbore cannons, and the casting process would be different even in the same batch.

It is very troublesome to determine the shooting parameters of this most primitive artillery. Air pressure, altitude difference, wind speed, wind direction, and the unpredictable trajectory of the smoothbore gun will all become important factors affecting the artillery effect.

At this time, artillery that can quickly handle all the shooting elements requires a lot of learning and practical experience. The French Revolutionary government's army was unable to fight at the beginning because it lacked such experienced artillery.

Therefore, concentrating and using such experienced artillery is itself a very luxurious thing.

Only France and China, where military academies are flourishing, have the strength to mobilize so many elite artillerymen and implement the lavish tactics of concentrated use of artillery.

(Yoshi) Tian Dongguang looked indifferently at the cavalry approaching from a distance. They had been hanging behind the artillery team for a long time.

These guys are very cunning. When you send out cavalry to chase them, they run away. When the cavalry retreats, they surround you.

More importantly, Commander Yang Kaijia exposed his weakness twice, but both times he was discovered, and these cavalrymen just refused to take the bait.

"Commander Tian, General Yang wants to ask you, if he chooses to withdraw the cavalry guarding the artillery, can you hold out for an hour?"

After testing each other back and forth, everyone is getting impatient, so let's do it for real.

"This should have been done a long time ago. Not to mention I have 800 men, even if I only have 500, I can still protect the artillery!"

(Yoshi) Tian Dongguang said with certainty that this Japanese warrior who participated in the Aceh massacre has completely evolved into an emperor, and at the same time he has the style of a Japanese who gambles on the fate of the country. He has wanted to do this for a long time.

Since Yang Kaijia came to ask, it meant that he was ready to really give in and reveal a flaw. Therefore, the cavalry were quickly transferred elsewhere, and the artillerymen also left their positions and began to move on with the assistance of their horses.

General Hassan saw from a distance that the farthest Taohuashi cavalry was twenty miles away, and only then did he finally make up his mind to rush over.

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder. The Bukhara cavalrymen learned from the Ottoman Empire and used the oldest Mamluk style of fighting.

That is, the cavalry, wearing light iron armor, rode their horses slowly forward about a hundred meters, and first shot at the horses with muskets.

Then, using the small amount of damage from the musket and the smoke to cover himself, he began to accelerate and took out a horse bow from behind.

When they were about fifty meters away, they used the tactics of the grassland cavalry to unleash a wave of arrows. With this wave of arrows, they would cause chaos in the enemy formation, and then they would rush forward and kill them.

This set of fighting styles, which can be called horse acrobatics, is actually quite powerful and is the unique skill of the Muslim Knights.

But there is a fatal problem, that is, being able to wear armor and use a musket and then a bow and arrow on horseback while ensuring lethality is not something that ordinary people can do.

Although the most elite Mamluks of the Ottoman Turks were fully capable of operating this complex tactic, many of them even became elite cavalry under Napoleon after the expedition to Egypt.

But the Ottoman Empire could not afford to support many of these elites, let alone the small Bukhara Khanate.

Therefore, Yoshida Dongguang, who was in formation to protect the artillery, wanted to let these cavalrymen get closer before attacking, but he was soon stunned by their outrageous actions.

More than a hundred meters away, inferior matchlock guns fired lead bullets with a crackling sound, but caused almost no casualties.

At this distance, one would need to be a sharpshooter to hit the target with a musket, let alone one on horseback.

After firing their guns, the Bukhara cavalry began to accelerate and they changed to short horse bows.

Seeing all this through the telescope, Yoshida Dongguang, who had just finished his daze, waved his hand, and more than four hundred rifled guns opened fire. The long Minié bullets had a trajectory as straight as a line.

The Bukhara cavalrymen holding horse bows fell one after another, and screams were heard on the battlefield, but they still moved forward.

In addition to the fact that these people have good morale and courage, it is also because when cavalry fight, their perception of the battlefield is not as clear as that of infantry. In many cases, more than half of the soldiers have been killed or wounded, but others are still unaware of it.

The Bukhara cavalry was like this. By the time the first thousand cavalry realized something was wrong, more than three hundred of them were gone. They then quickly slipped away amid the even more intense gunfire.

At the same time, the second wave of cavalry rushed up under the cover of the first wave of cavalry, but they were greeted with a very orderly volley of fire.

There were loud rumbling sounds like thunder, and many Bukhara cavalrymen were knocked to the ground before they even put down their muskets.

"Shotgun, give them a lesson!" (Yoshi) Tian Dongguang shouted. It turned out that the third group of cavalry hiding at the end had arrived.

They had already approached to a distance of forty or fifty meters, and the arrows they had shot were already falling down.

More than a dozen unlucky line infantrymen were hit, but fortunately the foam-studded armor on their bodies blocked a lot of damage.

Boom! Woohoo!

The densely packed shotgun shells were only the size of pigeon eggs, but their kinetic energy was very strong. As soon as the third wave of Bukhara cavalry drew their sabers, these devils who reaped lives arrived.

The cavalry at the front were even riddled with holes, and even the strong horses were beaten to pieces.

These five or six cannons firing shotgun shells were like pressing a modify key on the war. The Bukhara cavalry, which had suffered heavy casualties, instantly changed from a forward charge to a reverse charge.

"Retreat, retreat back to the mountain, retreat back to the mountain!" Veteran General Hassan shouted the order. Upon hearing the order, the Bukhara cavalry turned around and ran as if they had been pardoned.

(Yi) Tian Dongguang laughed a few times. He didn't need to hold on for an hour. It was only half an hour and he hadn't had enough fun yet. The Bukhara cavalry had already retreated.

Afterwards, this ruthless Japanese warrior continued to move westward while protecting the artillery. He quickly captured the hill on the key retreat route of the Bukhara reinforcements and set up cannons to block it.

Emir Murad's heart sank. These peach blossom stone men were too calm and composed. They didn't even seem very excited. The entire direction of the battlefield seemed to be proceeding step by step as if it had been set.

Now, the troops inside and outside the city were trapped by the Peach Blossom Stone Men. Emir Murad seemed to have foreseen the fate of his army's destruction in advance.

(End of this chapter)