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At the foot of the Helan Mountains, Su Jin was still busy recapture the cities around Yinchuan and pursue the fleeing defeated soldiers.
Qin Mu was troubled by the 50,000 Mongolian troops led by Ma Yongzhen.
These 50,000 Mongolian young men were drawn from the various Mongolian tribes in the south of the desert last year, which was actually a disguised form of conscription. Now that the reorganization has been completed, Qin Mu cannot return them to the various tribes in the south of the desert.
The problem is that when Ma Yongzhen and his men reorganized these troops, they used the excuse of more efficient suppression of Norbu and Chitate. Now Norbu and Chitate have been eliminated, if you don't want to return these 50,000 people, you must find another excuse.
Originally, Qin Mu planned to destroy the Qitate and then send these 50,000 troops to the Western Regions to attack the Dzungar Khanate. But now the Dzungar Khanate was cut off from its source by Yan Yingyuan and then defeated by Li Dingguo, and retreated to Yarkand City in embarrassment.
Now Qin Mu still wants to use Batur to eliminate the influence of Islam on the Western Regions. So far, Batur has done a good job in this regard. If he can withdraw from the northern border as Qin Mu requires, take away the men and the elderly and the weak in the northern border, and leave the young women behind, it will be equivalent to giving Daqin a clean northern border in one move, avoiding endless troubles in the future.
Therefore, Qin Mu did not want to launch a large-scale attack on Junggar right now. It would be more beneficial for the Qin Dynasty to let him mess around in southern Xinjiang for a few years.
However, if he does not attack Dzungar, what should Ma Yongzhen do with his 50,000 troops
In addition, Gao Yigong in Qinghai-Tibet also reorganized 30,000 young and strong Tibetan soldiers. This also needs to be arranged. It is obviously unrealistic to send them directly to Australia now.
The Whip of God, the Yellow Peril. These two words once again popped into Qin Mu's mind.
How many troops did Hulagu mobilize when he led the Western Expedition? 20,000 or 50,000
Did Genghis Khan prepare logistical supplies for him? It seems not. They seemed to have drunk mare's milk and fought their way into Central Asia.
In other words, if we launch a western expedition like Hulagu, it will actually be a no-brainer. There is no need to worry about wasting national strength.
While hunting at the foot of the Helan Mountains that day, Qin Mu suddenly remembered that Dayuer had mentioned that Tsarist Russia had invaded the Moxi steppe many times.
During lunch, Qin Mu called the Dzungar envoy Heljin and asked him to talk about Tsarist Russia.
You wouldn't know this until you talk about it. Once you talk about it, you'll be shocked to find out that Tsarist Russia not only invaded the western part of the desert, but had even reached the north of Heilongjiang.
If we count by the AD, before the end of the 16th century, Siberia and the Far East were not Russian territory. During this period, Russia had just formed a unified centralized state, and its territory was only the area around Moscow, located in a corner of northeastern Europe, far away from Siberia. From the mid-16th century when Tsar Ivan IV came to power, Russia began to expand eastward.
In 1556, the Tsar summoned the Stroganov family, who were adjacent to the Siberian Khanate, to inquire about the border situation and authorized them to resist the Siberian Khanate. He ordered them to build fortifications near the Siberian Khanate, recruit troops, purchase weapons, and wait for an opportunity to invade the Siberian Khanate, and fierce conflicts broke out between the two sides.
In 1579, the Stroganov family sent people to contact Yermak, the Cossack leader who had been severely punished by the Tsar, and encouraged him to join the group to conquer the Siberian Khanate and serve the Tsar in expanding the territory.
In 1581, after long preparations, the Cossack leader Yermak led a team of 840 people, supported by the weapons of the Stroganov family, and officially set out to conquer Siberia.
The Tsarist Russian army advanced along the waterway, passed the Chusovaya River, crossed the Ural Mountains, crossed the Sherebryanka River, Tagil River, Tula River, and Tobol River, and finally invaded the Irtysh River.
In October 1581, they captured Kashlyk, the capital of the Siberian Khanate. Yermak and his group made great contributions to the expansion of Russia. The Tsar decided to pardon Yermak and others, commend their actions and issue a large amount of salary.
The Stroganov family was also encouraged and rewarded with two cities.
The invading forces of Tsarist Russia crossed the Ural Mountains, and Yermak's expedition marked the beginning of Russia's large-scale expansion into Siberia.
After conquering the Siberian Khanate, Tsarist Russia sent heavy troops, built castles, and controlled military strongholds to consolidate the newly occupied areas. It also used these strongholds as bases to further encroach on the Balabin Steppe.
At the same time, the Russian Empire stepped up its advance to the upper reaches of the Ob River and established the city of Tomsk at the mouth of the Tom River. In this area, the Russian army had a fierce struggle with the Western Mongolians and the Kyrgyz people, and began to advance step by step into the Western and Northern Deserts.
After failing to gain any benefits in the western desert, Tsarist Russia continued to expand eastwards and occupied parts of the middle, lower and upper reaches of the Yenisei River in the early years of Chongzhen.
After occupying the two major water systems in Siberia, they sent troops from Mangazeya in the north and Yeniseysk in the south to occupy the Lena River at the same time.
The Cossack cavalry plundered property and established strongholds along the river, including Middle Vilyusk, Lower Vilyusk and Upper Vilyusk.
In 1638, the Russian Empire ordered the establishment of the Yakutsk Governorate, forcibly incorporating a large area of land in the Lena River (which originates from Lake Baikal) into the Russian territory. Since then, Yakutsk has become the command center for the Russian Empire's further expeditions to Northeast Asia.
By the end of the Chongzhen period, the invading forces of Tsarist Russia had crossed the Yenisei River and reached the Lena River, the Chukotka Peninsula and the Sea of Okhotsk (where the Heilongjiang River flows into the sea).
In the process of gradually advancing eastward, the Russian Empire established many castles and winter camps in this area. In 1638, Verkhoyansk was established on the Yana River, and in 1642, Nizhneyansk was established; and Petshvirsk was established on the Indygilka River. In 1645, Mikhail Staduhin and others arrived at the Kolyma River and successively established three winter camps: Upper, Middle, and Lower Kolymask. In 1647, Fort Okhotsk was established.
After hearing the news, Qin Mu couldn't help but sniff. This was too... Well, behind closed doors, everyone thought that the Qin Dynasty was expanding the fastest, but now we know that Tsarist Russia has fought from the East European steppes to the Sea of Japan, and both East and Siberia have become theirs.
Some people say that a country will collapse if it expands too quickly. Why didn’t Tsarist Russia collapse
They have maintained firm control over such a large area until the 21st century, and China still has to spend trillions of dollars to buy oil and natural gas from them.
Originally, Eastern Siberia should have been China's back garden. With this large piece of land in hand, China can focus on developing southwards and no longer have to worry about energy problems or someone stabbing it in the back.
What's more, now that the Mongolian forces in the western and northern parts of the desert have been eliminated by the Qin Dynasty, those places have almost become no-man's land. Would the Tsarist Russia, which has been eyeing them covetously, seize such a good opportunity
After returning to the government office, Qin Mu summoned all the generals in the army and asked, "My generals, have you heard of the Whip of God?"
The twenty or so generals above the rank of guerrilla commander present looked at each other in bewilderment; they had never heard of such a statement before.
"When the Mongol generals Batu and Hulagu went on the Western Expedition, they were called the Whip of God by Westerners, meaning that God whipped them with a whip. I also need a whip now to severely whip those ignorant people. I wonder if any of you generals are willing to be my whip?"
The generals looked at each other, and finally Li Jiu stood up and answered, "Your Majesty, I am willing to be your whip."
"General Li, you have to think carefully. The Western Expedition is a tough job. It may take ten years, and we will have to endure hardships and travel tens of thousands of miles. Apart from the 50,000 troops, I will not have any backup or logistics for you. Once you set out on the expedition, everything will depend on you."
"I understand." Li Jiu bowed and said, "It is my honor to serve Your Majesty. No matter how hard it is, I am willing to go! I only have one request, I beg Your Majesty to give me a name."
"Okay, I will grant General Li the title of Ding, and have him pacify East and Siberia for me, defeat the Russian Empire, and erect the boundary marker of the Qin Dynasty on the Ural Mountains, so that he will never dare to cross the Ural Mountains again."
"Thank you for the name, Your Majesty. I, Li Ding, will never fail Your Majesty's trust. If I cannot fulfill your command, I will never return alive."
"Okay, when General Li returns victoriously, I will personally welcome Baili and have the painter paint a portrait of General Li and hang it in the Lingyan Pavilion."
"Thank you, Your Majesty. I will not stop until I die."
"In addition to the 50,000 Mongolian troops, I will allow you to select 3,000 elite soldiers from the army, give you 3,690-type flintlock rifles, and 100 rocket launchers. This is all I can give you. Beyond the borders currently under the actual control of the Great Qin, everything depends on you."
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.(To be continued..)
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