Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 656: The Battle of Moxi (1)

After conquering Turpan, Lin Shiqi did not send a large army westward, but instead sent messengers to various cities in the Western Regions, such as Chalishi, Tiemenguan, Tarbugul and Kuxian.

When the Qian army temporarily stopped its advance, the defeated soldiers in Turpan City had already spread the story of how the Qian army captured Turpan City.

The Qian army's rapid capture of Turpan shocked the Yarkand people greatly. With the propaganda of a large number of defeated soldiers and Babaksu's persuasion to surrender in his capacity as the prince of Yarkand, the Qian army quickly captured Turpan, which greatly shocked the Yarkand people.

When Lin Shiqi was still in charge of Turpan, Chalishi and Tiemenguan surrendered. As for the cities such as Tarbugul further west, the defenders in the cities fled westward in panic and fled to the capital Shache.

During the Han and Tang dynasties, the area around Charishi and Tiemenguan was called Yanqi. The name Tarbugul sounds a bit unfamiliar, but it also has another name, Luntai.

This is the Luntai where Emperor Wu of Han issued the Luntai Repentance Edict. Minister Sang Hongyang proposed to establish military farming in Luntai in the Western Regions. However, Emperor Wu of Han was troubled by the Witchcraft and Poisoning Incident, and Li Guangli defected to the Xiongnu, which led to the annihilation of tens of thousands of troops on the Western Expedition. In addition, the whole country was engaged in wars for years, and the population of the world was reduced by half. Therefore, Emperor Wu of Han rejected Sang Hongyang's suggestion of military farming in Luntai, stopped using troops, and issued the Repentance Edict.

Lin Shiqi was overjoyed when he learned that Chalishi and Tiemenguan surrendered without a fight. He then led his army westward and captured the two cities of Tarbugul and Kuxian without any effort.

After the Qian army entered Tarbugul, they stopped advancing westward again and allowed the army and civilians to stay there temporarily.

Tarbugul was the town of Qiuci, one of the four towns of Anxi during the Tang Dynasty. It was also the place where the Tang army was stationed. During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, Qiuci was crowded with Han people and was bustling with commerce.

But hundreds of years later, when the army of the Central Plains dynasty arrived here again, the old clothes and robes had become a thing of the past, and the Hu dance was now everywhere in the border town.

Lin Shiqi inspected the area around Tarbugul City and found that it was indeed a good place. The city was at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, and the Tianshan Mountains were covered with ice and snow all year round. Every year, the melted snow flowed down from the mountains and formed many streams around Tarbugul.

There is plenty of sunshine and enough water here, which is more than enough for military farming.

So Lin Shiqi ordered that the civilians who came with the army be set up in several frontier guard posts around the city of Tarbugul to specialize in farming.

At the command of the Marshal, the Qian army, which had temporarily no fighting, and the civilian laborers who followed the army, began to dig canals, reclaim land, sow seeds, and carry out military farming operations in the former site of the Anxi Protectorate.

If one pound of grain can be grown here, the imperial treasury in the rear can save ten pounds of grain. Therefore, both Lin Shiqi and Meng Jun hope that military farming can begin as soon as possible.

After dealing with all this, Lin Shiqi felt that the names of the cities in the Western Regions were obscure and difficult to understand, so he wrote to the emperor, requesting to change the names of the cities in the Western Regions.

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On the banks of the Ili River, in the court of the Dzungar Khanate, a bonfire was burning and another banquet was in full swing. This was a banquet hosted by Khan Sengge for the most important allies of the Dzungars, the Rakshasas.

During this period, Sengge had hosted Bogdan for several banquets in a row. In fact, Sengge was very happy that Junggar had an ally who truly supported him. No matter what the Russians were thinking, at least now, they were helping him.

As for U-Tsang, Yuzi, and the Bukhara Khanate, they are all short-sighted guys. If Dzungar falls, they can still live a stable life.

Sengge and Bogdan sat high up in the felt tent. On the long table in front of them, a whole lamb roasted to a golden shine was placed on the table. The skin was crispy and the fat was dripping, which looked very appetizing indeed.

The servant skillfully cut the mutton with a knife, and the tender pieces of meat were neatly placed on a silver plate and brought to Bogdan.

Although Bogdan disliked the Dzungars in his heart, as the saying goes, one should not hit a smiling person, and now they were allies, so Bogdan had been smiling since he entered the banquet.

Sengge generously raised the silver bowl filled with kumis and said to Bogdan with a smile: "Come on, drink this bowl of kumis, and you will be the best brother of this Khan in the future!"

Bogdan responded vaguely, then frowned slightly and drank it all in one gulp.

At this time, Sengge put down his wine bowl and asked Bogdan: "I heard that your army has crossed the Ural River. I wonder when they will arrive in Yili?"

Bogdan thought for a moment, then said, "Great Khan, the army was already on the march when I set out. I estimate that they should arrive in the next few days."

Sengge nodded, and then said with a somewhat regretful tone: "Your country is good at firearms, but only 4,000 people came to this battle. It would be better if more people came."

After hearing this, Bogdan shook his head and said, "His Majesty the Emperor can easily dispatch hundreds of thousands of troops, but this place is too far away from the mainland and it is inconvenient to supply them. Otherwise, when the 100,000 troops arrive in the east, the Qian Dynasty will be destroyed."

Sengge was stunned. This man was talking nonsense. With only 100,000 people, they wanted to destroy the Qian Dynasty. Back then, the ancestors of the Dzungar Khanate, the Oirat Khanate, had captured the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, yet they still hadn't destroyed the Ming Dynasty. Even if there were 100,000 Russians, it would not be an easy task for them to fight all the way from the border to the heart of the Central Plains.

At this time, a cheerful and passionate sound of horse-head fiddle rang out, and several girls in colorful costumes stepped lightly into the tent. The girls had graceful figures and agile dance steps, and their every move showed the passion and unrestrainedness of the daughters of the grassland.

Bogdan was fascinated by the performance for a while, and Sengge temporarily put aside his worries and accompanied Bogdan in enjoying the singing and dancing.

As night fell, the lively banquet came to an end. Bogdan reluctantly accepted Sengge's kindness and once again returned to the tent with the two girls.

Soon after the banquet ended, a burst of hurried horse hooves was heard. Soon, the Khan, who had already fallen asleep, was urgently awakened and the oil lamp in the Khan's tent was lit.

Sengge listened to the scout's report with a melancholy face. The coalition forces of the Qian army and the southern desert tribes were already heading towards the Khan's court. The scout described the enemy as a huge scale, with an overwhelming cavalry swarming in.

Sengge immediately gave orders to prepare the army for battle, and with the help of his slaves, he put on his armor and walked out of the tent. The cold night wind blew past, but it failed to dispel the heaviness in his heart.

In fact, Sengge did not have much confidence in this war. The Dzungars were grassland cavalry, but the tribes south of the desert were also grassland cavalry. Looking at the soldiers hastily gathering outside the tent, Sengge took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

Then he gave the order in a deep voice: "Pass my order, all the generals, come to the tent to discuss the matter immediately!"

Soon, all the generals came rushing over. Many of them were still drunk and seemed to be about to fall asleep while standing.

Sengge scolded them, and they barely cheered up. Sengge looked at them and said in a serious tone: "Everyone, the Qian army and the group of traitors in the south of the desert have approached the Khan's court. We are all warriors of the grassland and must not retreat! This Khan has decided to fight the Qian army to the death in the Khan's court!"