The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 307 Shache Turmoil
Within the territory of the State of Bei.

The most significant events in history that challenged imperial power are unfolding one after another.

The Shangdu court fell silent for a moment, all of them acting as if they were deaf and mute.

Outside the borders of the State of Bei.

Su Rileg and the others rushed back to the royal city of Shache without stopping.

after that.

The king, the two religious leaders, and a group of powerful and influential figures received this devastating news.

General Hasbaren, who took the northern route, and his 200,000 archer cavalry, and General Dan Ali, who took the southern route, and his 50,000 elite troops, were all wiped out!
Only fifty-odd prisoners remained!
The king was so angry that he flew into a rage on the spot: "Just how many troops does the Bei army have in the Seven Guards of Guanzhong? Has the Bei army become so powerful now?"

Surileg and others banged their heads on the ground:

"Khan! The Bei army in the seven guards of Guanzhong should have around 100,000 troops. Such an army should not be a threat!"
However, they had a large number of firearms, and the power of the muskets could completely suppress the matchlock guns. The biggest threat was the fire grenades!
Those fire mines could be buried in the sand, and would explode as soon as a person or horse stepped on them, with a destructive power dozens of times greater than that of muskets and matchlock guns.

Furthermore, the explosion produced a loud noise, which terrified our warhorses, causing them to become completely out of control.

In addition, their vanguard battalion produced a character even more ruthless than Jebe, whom the Bei army called the Rakshasa General!
After meeting Jebe, he gave Jebe two easy moves, then shot him through the throat with a single bullet.

Everyone: "Hiss!"

The destructive weapon of fire and lightning combined with cannibalistic demons—what kind of combination is this?
The two noblemen also had something to say:
"That Rakshasa general was not only ruthless but also possessed demonic magic. During the fight, all of us were entangled in the branches of the trees in the forest and couldn't move an inch!"

"Yes, my legs were dragged into the mud, and tree roots got tangled in my shoes!"

"."

If you said this in the State of Bei, no one would believe you.

But in the Kashgar Khanate, no one dared to lie in front of the Khoja (religious leader).

Even more bizarrely, there was Dan Ali and his 50,000 elite troops who were buried alive in Lop Nur.

That's something that can't be done by human power.

Next, the king and the leaders heard demands for ceding territory and receiving double the amount of grain as reparations.

"call"

Many leaders breathed a sigh of relief.

To be honest, the strength of the Bei army exceeded their expectations.

Having achieved their current status and position, they cherish their lives more than ordinary people.

The ransom was demanded from the families of the captives; the king and the court would not pay for it.

We can barely scrape together some food.

Only on the issue of ceding territory.

Black Hat Khoja (religious leader) expressed strong opposition.

“Weilumu is fine! There are no cities there, it’s just a place for grazing horses! But how can Huozhou be ceded to the Han people?”

Isn't it!

Huozhou was the westernmost territory of the Tang Dynasty.

The Tang army settled and cultivated land here to grow grain and cotton.

Later, the Tang army established a trade market in Huozhou, which became an important trading point on the Silk Road.

By the mid-to-late Tang Dynasty.

Western merchants even brought spices such as pepper and cardamom from the Eastern Roman Empire and the Abbasid Caliphate to the Tang Dynasty via Huozhou.

After that, Huozhou became the largest city among the kingdoms of the Western Regions.

Today, although Huozhou is not as economically prosperous as it was during the Tang Dynasty, its annual production of wine and white cloth is still a best-selling product in both the Western Regions and the Central Plains.

Its importance is self-evident! Especially since it borders the State of Bei, the tens of thousands of troops stationed here were there so that they could invade the interior at any time.

Now look what's happened! The Bei army is pushing the border line more than a thousand miles westward into the region!

The white-hatted Khoja (religious leader) also spoke up:

"We absolutely cannot cede territory! If we agree to cede Fire State today, they might want Iri next time!"

The king and other leaders nodded in agreement.

The Kashgar Khanate only annexed the lands of other countries; it never ceded any territory.

Strongly disagree.

Suzhileg bowed his head and said:
"Their commander-in-chief said that if we do not send the ransom, food, and the letter of cession to Hami City within three months, their Russian general will bring a large army to Shache to take it for himself."

Three months?
Suzhileg and his team have already used up more than half a month's time.

Upon hearing this, the leaders of all the major clans were furious.

"Twice the amount of grain is enough to feed an army of 500,000 for a year! It would normally take two or three months to procure that much! If we need it urgently, could we use livestock in exchange?"

Suzhileg shook his head.

The leaders all said, "We can't do it! This grain procurement task is absolutely impossible to complete!"

A few generals are still struggling in their death throes:

General A:
"The Bei army must have anticipated that our army would attack the Seven Guards of Guanzhong, and thus took the initiative to plant fire mines in Weilumu!"
This disadvantage stemmed from unfamiliarity with the terrain and the difficulty of long-range combat! But if the Bei army were to reach Shache, entering our territory, we could still organize the herdsmen to fight them!

General B: "Or perhaps, we could cooperate with the Russians!"

General A: "The Russians have been coveting Ili for many years. Your plan is like using one wolf to drive away another; in the end, it will only lead to the wolf entering the house."

"hiss!"

General B's opinion was like water getting into a frying pan of oil.

Oil splattered and popped.

So, there were other options besides ceding territory?

The various leaders no longer hesitated to refuse, and immediately patted their chests to guarantee that as long as the generals were willing to fight the Han army to the death, they would provide them with grain, fodder, and herdsmen free of charge.

Suddenly, the debate at the royal court took a different turn.

Led by the White Hat Khoja (religious leader), they advocated letting themselves fight!
Even without elite horse archers, the herdsmen are skilled in mounted archery.

As long as we lure that Rakshasa general and his army to Shache, we can set up ten or eight ambushes along the way!

They refused to believe that by continuing this war of attrition, the enemy could actually break into their capital.

In short, we will not give up until we reach the Yellow River, and we will not admit defeat until the last soldier is defeated.

The Black Hat Khoja (religious leader) faction, however, believes that...

The entire force of 250,000 archer cavalrymen was wiped out. If they were to use herdsmen as soldiers, defeat would mean the death of all the adult men in each tribe.

Without able-bodied men, how can women and children defend their homes and country?
In this way, it might take eight or ten years for the Khanate to recover its strength!
If, during this period, other small countries that we previously conquered rebel, their demise will not be far off.

To achieve immediate results in dealing with the Bei army, the best approach is to enlist the help of the Russians, making them fight amongst themselves, thus buying the Khanate time to recuperate.

Both sides have their own reasons and refuse to compromise.

Surilege and the two noblemen were heartbroken. If the court did not compensate with grain and cede land, how could their families still go to Hami City to send ransom?

The three of them had ingested poison.

The countdown to his death has less than forty-five days left.

(End of this chapter)