The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 745 This is Dayu, not Tang Dynasty. There is no Talas.
As a legendary king who was able to rise from a eunuch to a king, Agha Muhammad Shah was actually quite capable.

Although he was full of the major problems that the Red-Headed Soldier Lords had suffered for hundreds of years - ambition, excessive conquest, cruelty, arrogance, and lack of sympathy for the people.

But in terms of military affairs alone, Agha Muhammad Shah was capable of standing on his own.

Therefore, after General Shiraz had "tested out" the capabilities of the Dayu army, he organized two large-scale attacks.

Unfortunately, this time he encountered the Western Army carefully selected by Mo Zibu. Not only was it also an elite founding army that had fought in hundreds of battles, but it was also a pioneer that was ahead of its time.

When hot air balloon reconnaissance, contour map drawing, artillery rulers, rifled guns, Minié bullets, etc. appeared.

When staff officers appeared who had to study hard for twelve years to graduate from military academy, when more than half of the 60,000 soldiers could read more than 300 characters, and 70% of the soldiers had completed the literacy program of learning 100 characters.

No one can defeat such an army, especially in this era.

Therefore, there was no need for Marshal Li Xianwen to remind them, as the commanders of the other hills all understood why Mao Xiangsheng only used line infantry.

Therefore, during the second and third exploratory battles, the soldiers on other hills did not use rifles, even though they suffered some casualties as a result.

But Agha Muhammad Shah's tricks were not over yet. He knew that among his elite Red Head Army, the military leaders near the northwest Caucasus region and the southwest Persian Gulf region were not willing to fight this battle.

Therefore, Agha Muhammad Shah sent an envoy to the Western Army camp to negotiate, claiming that as long as Li Xianwen promised not to enter Lesser Khorasan and was willing to temporarily withdraw his troops, this war could be avoided.

At this time, the geographical identifier Khorasan still existed.

Greater Khorasan includes northeastern Persia, western and northern Afghanistan, the three Khanates of Transoxiana and the Tocharian Basin (southern Tajikistan), which is almost the most essential region in the entire Central Asia.

In a narrow sense, Lesser Khorasan refers to the Khorasan Province in northeastern Persia and most of the territory of Turkmenistan.

Li Xianwen would certainly not agree with this. The Western Army came to Hezhong to occupy the entire place and eradicate the hotbed of mysticism.

Agha Muhammad Shah was well aware of this, so as soon as the messenger returned, he started to make a big fuss about it.

At this point, even the red-headed soldier lords in the northwest and southwest of Persia who were unwilling to fight this war had nothing to say.

Dayu blocked them here. If the peace talks failed and they still wanted to leave, they could only cross the mountains and retreat to Bukhara.

This... This is not as good as fighting a battle. At least in the eyes of these people, fighting may not necessarily lead to loss, but retreating over the mountains behind will definitely result in heavy losses.

Seeing that everyone agreed to fight this war, Agha Muhammad Shah came out again and made big promises, saying that he would share some of the benefits and treasures of the three Transoxiana Khanates, which finally boosted the morale of the army.

Moreover, this not only united the hearts of the Red-Headed Soldier Lords, but also frightened the Bukhara and Khivan people who followed Agha Mohammad Shah.

These Bukharan people certainly knew that Agha Muhammad Shah had ill intentions towards them, but even when their country was about to be lost, they still supported Agha Muhammad Shah because they knew what the Dayuxi Army was here for.

Especially the leaders of the two most influential mystical sects, the Naqshbandi Order and the Kubraye Order, they know very well what they have done and what kind of retaliation they will face.

Therefore, they would rather change from the conventionalists to the unemployed, and would rather the Bukhara Emirate and the Khanate of Khiva become vassals of the Persian Empire, than they would not support Agha Muhammad Shah.

Between converting and being eradicated, Grand Imam Ali and others still knew what to choose.

That is why when they heard the peace terms between Agha Muhammad Shah and the Western Army, they were terrified and rushed to Agha Muhammad Shah to beg.

Only after receiving these people's pleas and their assurances that they were willing to fight with all their might did Agha Muhammad Shah begin the decisive battle with the Dayu Western Army.

January 1797, 1. This was the 4st year of the Guangzhong reign of the Great Yu Dynasty of China, originally the first year of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, and the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month.

After nearly a month of continuous small-scale conflicts between the Western Army and the Persian coalition, the final decisive battle is finally about to begin.

The Persian King Agha Muhammad Shah mobilized 90,000 people at one time and took the initiative to attack the Dayu Western Army from four directions.

As for Dayu, even if the Persian king did not take the initiative to attack, Dayu would soon be unable to hold back.

Although the winter in the river is not as cold as in the Kazakh steppe, the temperature is generally around zero degrees. If Dayu's 60,000-strong army camps in the wild and delays any further, the entire army will suffer from frostbite.

It is definitely impossible to deploy an attack of 90,000 people in one place, and the Persian king does not have the ability to coordinate 90,000 people.

Not to mention them, even in today's Europe, only the Tsarist Russian Empire with a large number of gray livestock and Kutuzov and Suvorov can make 90,000 people fight in coordination as if they were one's own arm.

Well, maybe Napoleon could do it at this time.

"Ninety thousand troops, humph, I'll make you die with your intestines pierced through your stomach!" Li Xianwen, wearing reading glasses, studied the map for a long time and snorted coldly.
"This Persian king is deliberately being mysterious. The focus of his attack must be the strongholds of Mao Xiangsheng and Yang Fang."

General Mo Gongling of Zhenxi nodded in agreement, "Indeed, the Persian king does not have the ability to integrate 140,000 people in such a short period of time. He and his officers do not have the ability to command a large army to fight in a coordinated manner.

So it seems that he has 90,000 people moving together, but the ones who actually punch people are only 30,000 to 40,000.

And Chief Mao's Jiazi Mountain and Commander Yang's Dingzi Mountain are blocking the most critical place. He will definitely attack here with all his strength."

"With 90,000 troops, he needs a place to deploy his troops. He needs an open area to fully utilize his numerical advantage."

Chen Huacheng nodded and then looked at Li Xianwen, "Grand Marshal, please allow me to lead the troops to reinforce. I will definitely be able to withstand the Persian attack."

Li Xianwen slowly shook his head and said to Chen Huacheng, "You, Chen Yezhang, are good at defending. I have a more important task for you."

In the last battle to capture Kokand, Chen Huacheng led a thousand men to defend Dingxia City (Kokand City), and withstood the fierce attack of 40,000 Kokand people for four months, becoming one of the most defensive generals in Dayu.

"I'll leave you 5,000 men, but I can only give you the Long March warriors with the lowest combat effectiveness. I'll also take most of the artillery with me. Chen Yezhang, can you hold the camp and preserve the food and supplies?"

Li Xianwen looked at Chen Huacheng seriously, "I thought about it again, the Persians' main attack directions will not be two, but three.

Because although our camp is not on the route the Persians must take to get water, it is under the attack of the Persian flank.

We have been hoarding a large number of troops these days, so they naturally cannot attack us. But now I want to attack and give them a fatal blow, and the camp will be in great danger."

Chen Huacheng looked at the map and knew that this was indeed an important task, so he immediately knelt on one knee and said, "I accept your order and am willing to sign a military order. As long as I am in the camp, I will stay!"

Li Xianwen nodded, and then called over the other two Huiliang generals, Luo Tianxiang and Ma Jinyuan.

"Mao Xiangsheng only has over 600 men. He certainly can't withstand the onslaught of tens of thousands of people. So I want you to go and support him. Do you two dare to go?"

Mao Xiangsheng's Jiazi Hill is the most important, but unfortunately the hill is too small and more than 600 people are already the limit, so support is necessary.

However, the supporting troops still could not gain a foothold on the hill and could only line up on the side of the hill. As a result, they faced considerable pressure.

"Grand Marshal, don't worry. I, the Fat Elephant, have followed Your Majesty in your battles. I've been to every battlefield!"

"Grand Marshal, we are sinners and the only thing we deserve is death!" Ma Jinyuan said more directly.

As the only one of the four brigadier generals from Huiliang among the thirty-six Huiliang surnames, Ma Jinyuan knew very well how to regain the trust of the emperor and others, and that was to not be afraid of bloodshed and sacrifice.

"Try your best to come back alive!" Li Xianwen did not say anything else hypocritically. He chose Luo Tianxiang and Ma Jinyuan because these two were tough guys who were not afraid of death or injury and dared to fight and kill.

At this time, Li Xianwen had not yet fully understood the combat effectiveness of the Persian coalition forces. He thought that these two people would be in great danger if they took two thousand people to the plain to fight against tens of thousands of people.

This is also the reason why he chose these two people. Only those who are willing to risk their lives can take on this task.

"Luo Siju, you lead a thousand men to reinforce Yang Fang, and I will give you five hundred Xia Fan personal guards." Li Xianwen looked at this brave general whom he had trained with great emotion.

The emperor was good at judging people. He knew that Luo Siju was a talented general, so he transferred him to the Imperial Guard three years ago. His future was bright.

Luo Siju also understood Li Xianwen's intentions. He was a latecomer who went directly from being a vassal army general to the Imperial Guards. He had a good relationship with his comrades in the army, but it was definitely not comparable to those who had been in the Imperial Guards from the beginning.

This time, Li Xianwen promoted Luo Siju by asking him to assist the old-established Yuancong Guards in the Guards Army.

Of course, the five hundred Xia vassal guards were there as a favor. Some of them did not want to be vassals and wanted to join the Royal Guards to continue climbing up the ladder, so Li Xianwen had to support them.

. . . .

At Jiazi Mountain, the pressure came all of a sudden. What came now was not a few thousand chaotic people, but more than 15,000 aggressive red-headed soldiers.

The reason why Mount Jia is important is that it blocks the Persians' passage from three directions.

Such terrain means that Jiazi Mountain has its back to one side, while the other three sides are relatively open and can accommodate a large number of troops.

And this time, Mao Xiangsheng had no other way to fight without a rifle. The nest had already been dug, so naturally he had to use both long guns and short cannons.

The Red Head Army was so called because they liked to wear a kind of hat called the twelve-pointed red hat. This hat is based on the classic white turban of Islam, with twelve red protrusions standing upright on it, like a red horn growing on the head, hence the name.

These red-headed soldiers wearing twelve-pointed red hats were equipped with not only muskets and a small number of flintlock rifles, but also spears, bows and swords. Some of them also wore typical Persian chain mail under their white Persian robes with double-breasted collars.

As they marched forward in unison, the Red Head Army soldiers hummed songs praising the deeds of Abu Muslim, the incarnation of God, who had defeated Gao Xianzhi in the Battle of Talas.

The Sufi mystical cult in the river is deeply influenced by the extreme worship of Abu Muslim in the Turkmen region. Especially in the rural areas of Turkmenistan, Abu Muslim is on par with Muhammad, or even one level higher.

Because Muhammad is only a prophet of Allah, while Abu Muslim is the incarnation of Allah.

This is also the reason why the Red Head Army has suffered repeated blows but is still so powerful. They believe that Abu Muslim, the incarnation of God, will be resurrected and lead them to attack again.

The last time Abu Muslim appeared, he became famous by defeating the devilish Peach Blossom Stone "invasion army".

They regarded the victory in this battle as a sign of Abu Muslim's return.

boom! boom! boom!
Faced with the first wave of attack by at least 5,000 people, the gunners of the three field guns have increased the loading speed to the fastest.

Before the smoke from the first shot had dissipated, the gunner quickly took a gun brush with wool wrapped on the top, dipped it in a bucket of water, and thrust it into the barrel of the gun.

A sizzling sound accompanied by steam quickly extinguished the remaining sparks in the barrel.

Then the second cannon brush made of high-quality pig bristles and other materials was immediately pushed in.

The hard bristles and certain water absorption of the pig bristles quickly scraped the residue of the burning gunpowder in the barrel off the wall of the gun, and took away the moisture in the barrel.

The third was a hook with a spiral tip that could pick up fallen gunpowder residue and the cardboard covering of the cannon's charge.

"Cleaned up!" The artilleryman, who had been stabbing with three brushes in a row, was so tired that his cheeks were red, but he still roared at the first moment.

Hearing his roar, the second group of gunners immediately stepped forward, lightly moistened the first wool brush again, and poked it in again. This was to cool the barrel and avoid extreme accidents such as the powder bag being ignited.

Then the powder bag was quickly placed into the muzzle, and then the shell weighing more than five pounds was also stuffed into the muzzle. The bear-like gunners picked up the loading rod and pushed it hard to push the shell into place and compact the ammunition.

"Ready!" the second group of gunners shouted in unison.

At this time, the artillery commander immediately inserted an awl into a small hole at the back of the barrel. With a "pop" sound, the powder bag inside the barrel was punctured.

When the gunner saw the gunpowder residue brought up by the awl, he quickly inserted the fuse into it again.

At the same time, the igniter who had been prepared long ago carried the gunpowder bag and poured the gunpowder into the muzzle, then covered the muzzle where the fuse was located with his hand to prevent rain and strong wind from interfering with the ignition, or even sparks from nowhere from igniting the gunpowder prematurely.

The artillery commander had already moved to the observation position at this time. Looking at the dense crowd below, he felt that there was no need to adjust the muzzle, so he raised the small triangular red flag in his hand.

"put!"

"Fire!" The other five gunners shouted, and the igniter lit the fuse. With a bang, a ball of orange flame accompanied by gray smoke suddenly rose up, and a solid bullet weighing more than five pounds whizzed out from the fireworks.

The huge recoil force caused the wheels of the artillery carriage to move backward at a high speed.

The gunners were in no mood to observe the hit screen. They pushed hard, pushed the gun back to its original position, and then fired according to the procedure again.

It can be said that the gunner's operation at this time was very troublesome and laborious, so most of the gunners were very strong and fat men.

This is also the reason why the artillerymen on the losing side in a battle often suffer heavy losses, because they are exhausted and heavy, and cannot escape at all.

Of course, this is also the reason why elite artillery is extremely important at this time. It is a great test of the gunners' coordination and experience, and it can only be tested in actual combat.

There is a huge gap between the elite and non-elite.

For example, in Dayu, the artillerymen of the Zhen Army were considered qualified if they could fire three rounds of three-pound field guns in two minutes, but in the Imperial Guards and the Beijing Camp, they had to fire two rounds in one minute, or four rounds in two minutes to pass the test.

However, the Red Head Army was particularly unlucky today. It was true that Mao Xiangsheng was commanding Huiliang people, but the artillery was the elite troops directly transferred from the Jinwu Youwei, and they could achieve a terrifying efficiency of five rounds every two minutes.

A five-pound solid bullet fell from the sky, accompanied by a scorching hot gale.

Boom!

It hit the ground heavily, and the two Red-Head Soldiers who were hit instantly lost their shape. Their shattered flesh and bones, along with the sand and gravel on the ground, turned into thousands of fragments, shooting in all directions.

Then, the shell bounced out of the crater and flew diagonally backwards in the horrified eyes of many red-headed soldiers.

One unlucky guy was hit on the shoulder and immediately lost half of his arm. Another one was even more unlucky. He was hit directly on the head and was blown to pieces on the spot.

Then, more than ten meters away, another scream was heard. Another unlucky guy was hit by the falling shell again. His entire lower abdomen, including the man's symbol, was smashed into minced meat.

However, such an artillery bombardment that killed six or seven people with one shot could not cause a devastating blow to an army of 5,000 people. Even if one or two squads would collapse due to heavy casualties, the army as a whole would not.

But at this moment, an extremely loud roar came from the sky, it was like a thunder rolling across the sky.

This was the sound of a cannonball fired from the only 16-pound city defense cannon on Jiazi Mountain.

This was something a three-pound cannon couldn't compare to. Accompanied by a huge roar, the shell first created a large hole in the ground, instantly killing four people, and then it swept backwards almost in a straight line.

The force of the flying bricks and the cannonballs is strong and even more terrifying.

In an instant, if you are touched even slightly, your bones will definitely be broken, and if you are hit in the chest, the person will disappear immediately.

In the crowded crowd just now, an empty blood tank suddenly appeared. The horrifying scene reduced the enthusiasm that had just been inspired by religion.

When the huge artillery sounded again the next time, fear clearly appeared on the faces of the Red Head Army soldiers. Their steps slowed down and they stopped chanting.

The commander at the front saw this and he himself carried a large green flag with the words "Allahu Akbar" written in Arabic on it.

This kind of senior commander of a thousand-man level is often the Imalet in the Red Head Army, which is equivalent to the gentleman and the man of the Lord in Dayu. They have fiefdoms and vassal troops, and their prestige is very high.

"Don't be afraid. God and Sufi are with us. Those who die in battle will go to heaven and live forever in a world flowing with milk and honey, enjoying the dedicated service of 72 beautiful virgins forever!"

Imalet roared loudly and waved the big flag in his hand, and the morale of the Red Head Army immediately rose.

"For the sake of truth!"

Unfortunately, before they could finish cheering, a long bullet (Mini bullet) flew over and easily broke the temple of Imalet who was standing on the side.

Blood and cerebrospinal fluid flew out, and Imalet's huge body fell to the ground in an instant.

Another officer saw this and knew that the flag could not be allowed to fall, so he ran over quickly and caught the flag that was swaying from side to side.

But unfortunately, he didn't have time to say a word, or even to let the soldiers see who he was.

Another long bullet flew over and entered his cheek. The huge impact shattered his teeth, tongue, and flesh in his mouth.

The officer let out a huge inhuman scream, opened his mouth, and vomited out a mouthful of fragments with a "wow" sound. He fell to the ground in pain.

The third officer hesitated for a moment, but still rushed forward. However, before he could touch the flagpole, he was shaken violently as if he had been electrocuted. Two flowers of blood burst out of his chest, and then he fell backwards.

Then, more than a hundred light infantrymen fired more intensive long bullets, causing heavy casualties to the red-headed soldiers in the front.

"Forward, forward!" The only officer left in the front did not dare to move forward. Before the green flag fell to the ground, he shouted the order to charge at the top of his lungs.

But at the same time, Mao Xiangsheng also decisively gave the order to move forward.

The four hundred line infantrymen of Huiliang suddenly moved forward thirty steps, then stood in a stairway, and the three-stage firepower continued.

The four-barreled Qi Yeye Tiger Crouching Cannon also moved forward quickly, the green flames of the picric acid bombs flew everywhere, and the enemy's screams came one after another.

With a plop, the green flag fell to the ground. No one knew who took the lead, but the seven or eight hundred red-headed soldiers in the front row turned around and ran almost at the same time.

Their confusion immediately impacted their comrades behind them.

These were the Red Head Army, not Dayu Yuan's Guards. When they saw the people in front running away frantically, even the uninjured Red Head Army soldiers behind them retreated in panic. Then a sixteen-pound cannon shell swept across the entire army formation.

Amid the huge roar, no one could stop the retreat.

(End of this chapter)