Mount and Blade Central Asia

Although Bardock knew that Li Rufeng and Parisa had not yet been married, Li Rufeng always brought Parisa with him when he went to the barracks to inspect the soldiers. This had already become a fait accompli, and the soldiers all believed that he was Timur's son-in-law...

Li Rufeng was Timur's son-in-law, and Timur was the son-in-law of the Golden Family. This was considered a good tradition. There was no reason for the Timurid Khanate not to allow its son-in-law to succeed to the throne.

Even Bardock himself was convinced by this reason. After all, from the perspective of a professional officer, in this war between Li Rufeng and the Black Sheep People, Li Rufeng really has a hope of winning.

The Black Sheep People have too many enemies, and the Khanate's legitimacy in this land has not declined. As long as Li Rufeng can show his unstoppable momentum in the initial stage of the war, he can easily gain the recognition of the "immigrants".

Chapter 434 Yes, Master Shaman!

Li Rufeng spent three days to roughly sort out the internal affairs. Almost all the work had specific persons in charge. He only needed to do the work within his own responsibilities to ensure that no major accidents would occur in this small territory with only two cities and a total population of more than 60,000 people.

After all, the Mughals, who account for nearly half of the population, may not need too much interference from Aleppo, as they are a free nomadic tribe.

After three days of waiting, the confidants sent by Qinggelinayan finally gathered the leaders of various Mongol tribes in Aleppo.

This is not an easy task. As the matter has been brewing for some time, the differences between Qinggelinayan and his younger brother Dangertai are no longer a secret. When Dangertai went alone, he did not consider his brother's face, but publicized his position in a semi-public manner.

He even managed to lure away some young people with dreams from some tribes, and when he left, he had gathered half a thousand-man team.

It can be said that Qinggelinayan's reputation has been completely stripped away, and the fact that he summoned the heads of various tribes in Aleppo this time also shows one thing, that is, Qinggelinayan has bowed to Shaman Rufeng.

So before the leaders of the various tribes arrived in Aleppo, they already knew the results of this meeting.

Li Rufeng's prestige had already begun to soar during the last war with Dosite, but many leaders felt that Li Rufeng was a stranger and a young man, so they were unwilling to recognize his authority.

But Shaman Rufeng did not take these opposition voices seriously. He simply used the power of the Mughals to capture the city of Aleppo.

At that time, the leaders of the various tribes had not yet realized the significance of Rufeng Shaman's move. However, as time went by, after more than half a year, those who were not too stupid had reacted.

But after losing the support of the Khanate, the privileges of the Mughals in this land are disappearing one by one, and they have also lost the trade routes on which they depend for survival. With the rise of the Black Sheep People, there are fewer merchants from the Khanate willing to do business with them.

However, after Li Rufeng occupied Aleppo, he filled this gap.

As an emerging commercial capital, Aleppo easily absorbed and digested the output of the Mughals, allowing them to once again have external trade channels.

Whether the Mughal tribes wanted food, vegetables, salt, or ironware, they could get what they wanted in Aleppo. Passing caravans also had a reason to risk passing through this land again, bringing vitality to the Mughals.

The current situation is that the Mongols need Li Rufeng more, not the other way around.

At the call of Qinggelinayan, the heads of 33 of the 42 Mongol tribes arrived in Aleppo on time. There were also four heads of tribes who were determined not to attend the meeting because they were too far away to arrive on time.

The areas where these four Mongol tribes are located are basically close to the north, very close to the territories of those Mongolian warlords. At the same time, they are also the tribes that support Danggertai the most and are most influenced by the Steel Pillar Centurion.

"I'm afraid those tribes have already made their choice." After determining the final number of attendees, Qinggelinayan's face looked a little ugly.

As the person involved, he had never intuitively felt his lack of dominance, but the absence of the nine tribes today was like a slap in his face.

No one knows whether those tribal leaders were delayed on the road due to the long journey, or whether they had other plans and wanted to act at a certain time.

Qinggelinayan only knew that when he summoned the leaders to attack Dosite a year ago, he had the support of hundreds of people, but now... he could only say that the saying that the Mongols were only loyal to the strong was too hurtful.

A leader who can't ride and blade is not a qualified leader...

"This is all I can do. It's up to you from now on. Don't let us down, Shaman Rufeng!" Qinggelinayan held Li Rufeng's hand and squeezed it hard, as if to pass the heavy responsibility to Li Rufeng in this way.

But Li Rufeng's response to him was just a smile as usual, as if the pressure didn't exist or was not worth mentioning to him at all.

This meeting involving the leadership of the Mughals was not held in the city of Aleppo. Li Rufeng chose to hold an open-air banquet in the Mongol style in the camp where Li Rufeng's troops were located.

At this banquet, there was plenty of mutton, mutton soup, and liquor, and young men and women who were good at singing and dancing showed themselves to their heart's content. I don't know how many young people's marriages were facilitated by this banquet.

Li Rufeng sat with the leaders, and the atmosphere was a little serious.

"Dangertai is a young man. He did something wrong. Qinggelinayan wants me to teach him a lesson." Li Rufeng gave Qinggelinayan enough face and completed the transfer of power in this way.

Li Rufeng's words caused the chiefs to murmur among themselves, but as Li Rufeng cleared his throat, the voices of discussion immediately died down. "But Dangertai is just a child, while Baoledebagen is not. To mobilize the army without the order of Lord Nayan is a grave crime, unforgivable."

"I heard that there are several tribal chiefs who support Baoledebagen. As tribal chiefs, they did not put the interests and safety of their tribesmen in the most important place. This is also a serious crime." Although Li Rufeng's voice was not loud, the meaning of his words made these chiefs shrink their necks.

No one knew when it started, but Li Rufeng already possessed the power to convince them wholeheartedly. What he said was enough to make every tribal leader carefully consider whether his past words and deeds were against the will of the people.

"As the messenger of Changshengtian, I declare that they will be deprived of all their worldly rights and the qualification to go to the Tengger grassland after death. They will be sentenced to the punishment of endless walking in the eternal desert." Li Rufeng's words swept through the leaders present like a cold wind, and even the flames nearby trembled unconsciously.

"Who of you agrees and who opposes?" Li Rufeng's eyes swept over each tribal leader one by one, but no one dared to look him in the eye.

"Very good. I believe we Mongol people can handle our own affairs. One month from now, I want to see that sinner Baoledebagen kneeling here and apologizing to Changshengtian." Li Rufeng said finally, "Now, everyone, continue drinking and eating. Don't waste the wine and food, or even Tengri will be furious."

"Yes, Master Shaman."

Chapter 435 Mr. Li? !

Li Rufeng actually didn't care whether the Steel Pillar Centurion would be brought to justice on time. He just wanted to take the opportunity to complete the process of power transfer. His fundamental purpose was to secure the human resources of the Mongol group.

The Mughals were the best cavalry, a fact proven by the great conqueror Timur. Timur's twenty-nine "cavalry tents" could mobilize a total of twenty-nine thousand-man ranger teams, which formed the backbone of his army that conquered three-quarters of the known world.

Among these twenty-nine cavalry tents was the Mongol tribal group led by Qinggeli Nayan. They might not be the strongest fighting force under Timur, but they were definitely elite.

As for the thousand-man team led by Badak, it was more like a standing army under Timur, used to maintain the territorial integrity and legal dignity of the entire empire.

Before the end of the meeting, Li Rufeng also agreed with the leaders of various tribes on the order to send troops. When his order was issued, the residents had to mobilize 3,000 cavalry to obey Li Rufeng's orders. This was also a customary practice.

However, before this, they would often mobilize 4,000 people, because Qinggelinayan had four centurions under his command, but now there are only three left. The centurion led by Baoledebagen will be disbanded and incorporated into the cavalry sequence of Li Rufeng's army after he is killed.

If it were an ordinary lord, the whole process might not be so smooth, but for Li Rufeng, the process was as smooth as playing a game.

Because he could clearly see the relationship between him and each leader. Although the values ​​were high and low, the lowest was above 20, which proved that the relationship between the two sides was quite harmonious.

There were also some who were taller, over 40. Considering that Li Rufeng was not very familiar with them, he attributed this to the old shaman's face and his piety to Changshengtian.

Since ancient times, the Mongols have not been fond of religious people who tried to interfere in military power, but his main reason was that those shamans were not brave enough and not good at fighting.

The reason why Mr. Li has the status he has today has little to do with his identity as a shaman. He has reached his current position based on his military exploits.

What's more, he now controls the city of Aleppo. Even if these Mongol leaders are stubborn, they know very well who they should thank for their increasingly better lives.

The city of Aleppo controlled by Li Rufeng revitalized the entire Mongol base. Li Rufeng had long become the actual controller of this Mongol tribe outside of the legal system.

Qinggelinayan remained silent throughout the whole process, acting as if he had retreated to the second line and was not concerned with worldly affairs. He also rejected all tribal leaders who tried to meet with him alone after the conference.

"Are you planning to take advantage of the war between the Black Sheep and the White Sheep to reap the benefits?" Qinggelinayan asked Li Rufeng while riding on horseback on the way back to Aleppo.

Although it was only a short distance of less than five kilometers, Qinggelinayan had already clearly felt Li Rufeng's improvement in riding skills. He didn't know how Li Rufeng did it, because Li Rufeng's progress was faster than those children he had seen who grew up with horses.

Although Li Rufeng's riding skills were nothing special among the Mongols, considering that when Li Rufeng was first picked up by the old shaman, it was said that he needed someone to help him get on the horse, and the number of times he had ridden a horse in the past few years was very limited, and the time he had spent on it was even more limited, yet he had made such progress, Qinggelinayan could only believe that he was really blessed by the Eternal Heaven.

Chapter 436 Jinyiwei!

The name "Lord Li" is not common in this place. After all, it is difficult for the locals to distinguish the pronunciation of the name Li Rufeng. It is too difficult to ask them to know which part is the first name and which part is the last name. What's more, the voice spoke in Chinese, which Li Rufeng could understand.

This is equivalent to the influence of that Eastern dynasty on the trade routes, so it is not impossible to meet people who can speak Chinese in this land. For example, the scholar hired by Li Rufeng, Ostad Mahmud, learned a few words of Ming Dynasty official language from the Samarkand delegation.

It's a pity that he knew too little and couldn't form coherent sentences, and his pronunciation was not standard. In addition, the official language of the Ming Dynasty was closer to the dialect of the Jianghuai region than the later Mandarin, so Li Rufeng couldn't understand it at all.

But Li Rufeng heard the word "Sir Li" very clearly, and the pronunciation had already begun to have the meaning of later Beijing dialect.

However, in the darkness, they could only hear the sound but could not see the person, which made the guards around Li Rufeng immediately nervous.

These personal guards had been following Li Rufeng and had encountered threats from the Four Wind God's followers several times. In addition, Li Rufeng himself was a shaman and occasionally came into contact with miraculous powers, so they were afraid that the same situation would happen now and they would be unable to help at all. They immediately took out specially made firework-filled arrows and shot them into the sky.

This place is only two or three kilometers away from Aleppo City and Li Rufeng's troops. No matter which side hears the sound of arrows or sees fireworks, they will immediately send troops to support them. So in theory, as long as they hold on...

However, the expensive rocket was shot down by an unknown object before it could fully ascend.

This scared Li Rufeng, his personal guards, and Qinggelinayan. It was an arrow in the dark, and even with a spark at the tail, it was difficult to see its trajectory.

But the mysterious man on the opposite side had the ability to intercept the arrow in mid-air. With such shooting skills, those of them holding torches in the dark were like living targets and could only be called out at will.

"Put down your swords, they are not enemies." Li Rufeng is no longer a novice on the battlefield. He certainly knows that the current situation is one of being at the mercy of others. Unless Haishaer can arrive in time, his people will have no power to resist.

What's more, the other party spoke Chinese, which made Li Rufeng more confident in his judgment.

"Friends across the way, why don't you come over to Guangli and chat?" Li Rufeng rode forward alone, demonstrating his sincerity. "Isn't it wonderful to meet an old friend in a foreign land?"

"Sir Li, I have heard of your great name for a long time." Less than ten meters in front of Li Rufeng, a ray of fire suddenly appeared. Weng Guo held up the newly lit torch and illuminated his position.

He was also a man and a horse, wearing black clothes and a black robe, with a burly figure. When you looked over at first, you would think it was Haishar.

But as the visitor came closer, he could see something different. Although he had a Mongolian appearance, he was wearing a brocade robe under his black robe. The exquisite pattern on it actually reflected the luster under the firelight, and the white collar on the right side clearly pointed out the visitor's origin.

"I am Weng Guo, a Ming citizen, and a captain of the Hami Guard of the Northern Pacification Division of the Embroidered Uniform Guard." Weng Guo reported his identity directly, which made Li Rufeng's brain freeze at that time.

Pigeon day everyone

I got together with my family on New Year's Eve, drank some wine, and was a little confused.

Chapter 437: The full map is open

The collapse of a huge empire is a very long process, which takes several years or even more than ten years to complete. What's more, this kingdom called Timurid Khanate has not completely died. It is only half-dead and still maintains considerable strength.

Li Rufeng had not previously known how a country like the Ming Dynasty viewed a country like the Timurid Khanate. After all, according to the traditional concepts of the Eastern Kingdoms, such a country should not exist at all and had no basis for existence.

But it is obvious that concepts such as family, country, the world, etiquette, integrity and shame are too advanced in this era, so that ignorant religion is the real glue of these lands.

And now, as the scroll from the Embroidered Uniform Guard was unfolded, a whole new world slowly opened up before Li Rufeng.

The scroll is forty-five centimeters long and contains seventy-four pieces of information in different directions written in tiny calligraphy. The full text is nearly one thousand five hundred words, and the handwriting is clear, so Li Rufeng can understand it even if it is written from top to bottom.

Among these seventy-four pieces of information, twelve were about Shah Rukh and fifteen were about the Black Sheep King Karl Yusuf, which were obviously carefully selected intelligence.

The remaining forty-seven items are all-encompassing, including but not limited to the movements and possible tendencies of the Iranian emirs, Persian nobles, and Mongolian princes bordering the Black Sheep People, as well as many military deployments. It is obvious that the Ming Dynasty Jinyiwei has established a complete surveillance network there.

Although most of the information was described in just one sentence or even a few words, Li Rufeng still felt the joy of having a full-map cheat.

For example, there is a piece of information about the Erbil Fortress, which says that the Black Sheep have more than 2,000 soldiers and sufficient food and grass, while the next piece of information says that there are 1,500 Timurid soldiers in Diyanai.

The scroll even thoughtfully wrote most of the place names and personal names in Chagatai to make it easier for Li Rufeng to recognize them. After all, if this thing is transliterated, without a unified understanding, it would be completely confusing...

For example, in the intelligence about Tabriz, the Jinyiwei directly used Taoli Temple to refer to it. It took Li Rufeng a long time to realize that Taoli Temple was Tabriz.

Although the two pieces of information together only had less than thirty words, with the help of the simple map in Li Rufeng's hand, it was easy to judge the current situation between the Black Sheep People and the Timurid Khanate.

Diana is a hundred miles away from Erbil Castle. If both sides are cavalry, they can basically set out in the morning and arrive in the evening, making a round trip every day and returning to their base before dinner.

The Erbil Fortress is only two hundred miles away from Li Rufeng's target, Mosul City, and is considered to be the strongest fortress of Mosul in the west.

The intelligence on Shaharu and Karl Yousu was much more detailed. The Jinyiwei had arranged the information about the two of them in chronological order so that Li Rufeng and others could see it more clearly.

First of all, the intelligence pointed out that what Li Rufeng was worried about was indeed happening. The Black Sheep King was indeed negotiating peace with Shaharu, but the two sides were still in a stage of testing each other's bottom line.

Chapter 438: Dark Clouds over Urfa Castle

With the intelligence support from the Jinyiwei, Li Rufeng had a deeper control over the entire situation. Although the Jinyiwei did not explain why he supported him, perhaps because of the feeling of familiarity of meeting an old acquaintance in a foreign land, Li Rufeng gladly accepted this unexpected help.

According to the intelligence, the war between the Black Sheep and the Aries people is combined into a full-scale war. It is an external war used by the Black Sheep King to divert the irreconcilable conflicts of interest among the Black Sheep tribes. After a full circle of selection, only the Aries people are the most suitable.

In order to obtain battlefield information more accurately, Li Rufeng once again sent a team of 100 people to the Diyarbakir area and established a simple post station system along the way to ensure that he could get the latest battle reports every day.

It is obvious that the conflict between the Black Sheep and the White Sheep people started with high intensity from the very beginning. In less than a month, more than 20,000 people from the various White Sheep tribes migrated to the vicinity of Diyarbakir.

Although Aries King Kara Osman has always been prepared for danger and prepared for this war that may come at any time, he still does not have enough food to feed so many people.

Compared with Aleppo, which has a unique geographical location, Diyarbakir is an inland city after all. Relying on trade to prepare food is undoubtedly a loss-making endeavor.

What's more, the Aries are also Turkmen, a nomadic people. In addition to people, livestock and horses are as important assets to the tribe as people. Even if Diyarbakir can accommodate a population of such a scale, they will not give up these livestock.

If the Black Sheep had not been eyeing them with such covetous eyes and acting so ruthlessly this time, the White Aries would probably have already experienced internal divisions. After all, among the Turkmen group, the Black Sheep who persevered and restored their country were too powerful.

The more powerful the Black Sheep people were, the more miserable the White Sheep people who defected to Timur became.

But this is what Li Rufeng wants to see. The greater the pressure on Aries people, the greater the benefits he will gain.

On February 24, 1409, the third day after Li Rufeng received the intelligence from the Jinyiwei, the defeated Aries people finally maintained their defense line in the town of Bismir, less than 2 kilometers away from Diyarbakir.

The Black Sheep people currently attacking Diyarbakir mainly come from the direction of Batman Fortress. Including the armed herdsmen, there are about four to five thousand people. The White Sheep people have the advantage in numbers, but because the White Sheep King adopts the strategy of retreating to advance and intends to defend Diyarbakir and stretch the Black Sheep people's front line, the Black Sheep people seem to have the advantage on the front battlefield.

Judging from the map, Diyarbakir, Batman Fortress, and Mardin City almost form an equilateral triangle with a side length of 80 kilometers. However, the Black Sheep troops in Mardin City dare not make any unusual movements. They are always vigilant against the Mongols under Li Rufeng to prevent them from suddenly rising up and joining the battle.

If the Black Sheep people in Mardin were just on guard, then the Urfa Castle, located further west, only three days' journey from Aleppo and sandwiched between Aleppo and Diyarbakir, was basically in a state of panic.

As early as when the Black Sheep people first set foot on this land, Haidam became the "master" of Urfa Castle. He was a close confidant of the Black Sheep King Karl Yusuf, and had followed him in wandering around and witnessed the fickleness of the world.

After Carl Yusuf returned to this land, he led his tribe to fight for it.

That was why the Black Sheep King gave the ancient and glorious land of Urfaburg to Haidam as a reward for his loyalty. At that time, his heart was indeed filled with glory, as he knew that his king would inevitably have a big reckoning with those traitors of the Aries tribe.

By then, he would be one of the spearheads of this reckoning. He would use Urfa Castle as his base, leaving behind bloody footprints, and climb to a higher position by stepping on the corpses of the Aries people...

At that time, the Mongols who fled to the south in panic did not seem to pose any threat, especially the Shaman Rufeng, who was unknown and no one cared about him.

As a result, the enemy quietly occupied Aleppo, turning it into a new "City of Plenty" in the blink of an eye, and brought back from the Karaman territory an iron army that had once followed Timur in conquering the world...

According to the news from the Black Sheep King's messenger, the Mongolian shaman could conservatively mobilize three to four thousand soldiers, while Haidam only had two hundred cavalrymen from his own tribe and was no match for him at all.

So the Black Sheep King once again sent a whole team of a thousand people to Urfa Castle to help Haidam monitor the movements in the direction of Aleppo.

Although this was a good thing, Haidam still encountered other problems. The leader of the thousand-man team, Dimurati, came from another larger Black Sheep tribe. Although the more than a thousand soldiers under his command were a coalition of three or four tribes, the cavalry of Dimurati's tribe accounted for nearly half of the number, so that thousand-man team was Dimurati's thousand-man team.

Chapter 439 Charge!