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During the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty's sphere of influence had extended to the Hezhong region. At that time, various small countries in the Hezhong region were tributaries of the Tang Dynasty.
Transoxiana generally refers to the area between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers.
In the historical records of the Tang Dynasty, the Syr Darya River was called Yaosha Shui; the Amu Darya River was called Wuhu River. Both rivers originate from Congling and flow into the Aral Sea in the south and north.
The Bukhara Khanate is located in the river area and is named after its capital Bukhara. It is a country established by the Uzbeks. It originally had its capital in Samarkand and later moved its capital to Bukhara;
In the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Bukhara Khanate captured Khwarizm, captured Herat, and destroyed the Timur Khanate.
When its leader Shaibani led an army to conquer Khorasan, he was defeated by the coalition forces of Babur of the Mughal dynasty, the ruler of Fergana, and the Safavid dynasty of the Persians, and was killed in the city of Mafu. After Shaibani's death, the country was on the verge of collapse.
During the reign of Abd Allah II, the Bukhara Khanate revived its power, reconquered Khorasan and Khwarezm, captured Fergana and Tashkent, and invaded the hinterland of the Kazakh steppe.
In 1598 AD, after the death of Abd Allah II, there was civil turmoil and the loss of Khorasan and other places. The Bukhara Khanate never recovered, internal strife intensified, and the throne changed frequently.
The Safavid dynasty of Iran, the Afshar dynasty, the Mughal dynasty of India, and the Khiva Khanate also took the opportunity to invade frequently. The Bukhara Khanate was overwhelmed and relied on alliances with the Kazakh Khanate in the north and the Brut Khanate in the east to barely maintain the situation.
The current Great Khan Abdullah Aziz is already the 17th Great Khan of the Bukhara Khanate.
Nuergan, Yang Jier's envoy, rushed to Bukhara city after a long journey. He thought that he would be received by Aziz immediately as before, but he did not expect that the official who received him refused to introduce him.
After procrastinating until the second day, Nuergan couldn't stand it anymore. The Qin army invaded and looted like fire and its power was like wind. This is burning my ass.
Nuerqian was so angry that he rushed into the palace regardless of his own safety. He was stopped by the palace guards. He shouted outside the palace gate: "I am the envoy of Kazakhstan, you can't do this to me!"
"Great Khan! Great Khan! Don't you know the meaning of death? In the past, when there was trouble in Bukhara, when did Kazakhstan and Brut not send troops to help? How can the Great Khan betray the alliance between the three countries?"
"Great Khan, those who keep their word will get help from more people, and those who betray their faith will be betrayed by everyone sooner or later. Don't forget, Great Khan, that Bukhara also has enemies... "
Nu Ergan was screaming and making a fuss outside the palace gate, but the palace guards did not dare to really hurt him. This attracted many people in the city to watch, pointing and talking.
In the palace complex full of Islamic style, a group of people finally walked out and introduced Nu Ergan into the palace.
Aziz is still young, only in his twenties, and his cheeks are a little thin and pale. He looked malnourished and had a turban on his head.
As soon as Nuergan saw him, he immediately said rudely: "Great Khan, if you don't want to see me, just kill me. Why bother to find such ridiculous excuses to avoid seeing me?"
Doesn’t the Great Khan know that the people of Qin hate my Muslims? After seizing the north and south of the Tianshan Mountains from the Weigars, the Qin State forbade anyone to believe in Allah, and even did not hesitate to let the Junggars take all the people who believed in Allah abducted to Yarkand. Only young women were left for the soldiers to play with.
This time when the Qin army crossed the Suiye River, it is true that Kazakhstan bore the brunt, but will they definitely let Bukhara go? Don’t forget to sweat. Kazakhstan has a vast territory and is backed by the powerful Ottoman. Our Princess Aguli has already entered into a marriage contract with the Caliph of the Ottoman Empire;
If you, the Great Khan, really do not send troops to resist the Qin army together, if Kazakhstan is defeated, the worst thing is that it will retreat far to the north. Bukhara is only a few days away from Turkestan, and then we will not know that the Qin army is chasing our Great Khan for thousands of miles. , it is better to take advantage of the victory to attack Bukhara. "
Nuergan's words were not only aggressive, but also made people feel chilled after hearing them.
I heard that the Qin army was very powerful, even the Junggars were defeated, and that it was even more powerful since it invaded Kazakhstan. Aziz and his ministers wanted to stay out of the matter and try not to provoke this powerful enemy.
It is not difficult to understand the petty thinking of Aziz and his ministers. After all, the offensive power displayed by the Qin army was indeed shocking.
But Nurgan's words were equally shocking. Indeed, Kazakhstan has a vast territory, and if it is defeated, it can escape far to the north, or even defect to the Ottoman Empire.
Bukhara is limited to the narrow strip between the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. To the south of the Amu Darya is the Shiite Safavid Empire. Due to the differences in beliefs between the two sides, there have been constant wars.
If Kazakhstan really withdraws to the north, only two small Sunni countries, Bukhara and Bulut, will be left in the river area. In the dilemma of being isolated and helpless, I am afraid that even if the Qin army does not come to attack, sooner or later they will be attacked by the south. The Safavid Empire was destroyed.
After repeated weighings, Aziz sent General Hami to lead 300 heavy cavalry and 5,000 light cavalry to join the battle.
Bukhara's heavy cavalry, both human and horse, were covered with chain plate armor, made by the most exquisite Persian craftsmen, and equipped with giant axes or spears, which destroyed the mountains when charging into battle.
Because the armor of heavy cavalry was too heavy, each heavy cavalry was accompanied by an auxiliary, and horses were used to carry the armor during the march, so the march was quite fast.
Heading north from the city of Bukhara, passing through the western bank of Aydar Kul Lake, passing through the eastern edge of the Kizilkum Desert, and then crossing the Syr Darya River, you entered the territory of the Kazakh Khanate.
In the small town of Tamerlane, Hami reunited with three thousand Brut cavalry led by the commander Wusunli, and then continued northward.
Let us say that after Su Jin left Suiyechuan, he went straight to Turkestan City until he reached the Talas River, where he was blocked by the Kazakh general Mu Yi Suifeng.
Mu Yi Suifeng was one of Yang Jier's trusted generals. He patrolled the west bank of the Talas River with 10,000 troops, and ordered people to cut down all the trees near the east bank of Helan Ferry in advance to clear the fields.
When Su Jin's army reached Helan Ferry, he sent troops to search everywhere, but they couldn't find a plank nearby for building a boat to cross the river. To the north of Helan Ferry, there is the vast Moyinkum Desert, and to the south are bare stone mountains, spanning nearly Two hundred miles.
Under the scorching sun, it was impossible to cross the Moinkum Desert. It would probably take several days to go around the rocky mountains in the south. At present, Helan Ferry is the only shortcut to Turkestan City.
Looking at the Tallas River, which was twenty feet wide, Su Jin wandered back and forth, thinking urgently about countermeasures.
The Kazakh army on the other side was stationed on the grassland by the river. The tents stretched for two miles, with flags fluttering and thousands of troops ready. Mu Yi Suifeng himself set up a military camp on a hillside three miles from the river. From a high position, he commanded ten thousand soldiers. Army.
After Su Jin carefully observed the enemy situation on the other side with a telescope, he felt quite embarrassed.
Although he knew early on that with the rocket rifles and Type 69 flintlock rifles equipped by the Qin army, what could really stop their offensive might not be the enemy's soldiers and horses, but climate, terrain, supplies, and even disease.
But when I was really blocked by this special terrain, I still felt very unhappy.
After gathering the generals, Su Jin asked straight to the point: "Generals, do you have any way to cross the river?"
Staff officer Qian Da was the first to say: "General, it is said that when Kublai Khan crossed the Jinsha River when he conquered the Dali Kingdom, they did not use boats to cross the river, but used a kind of sheepskin bag.
The method of making this kind of sheepskin bag is probably to slaughter the sheep, blow air into the sheepskin with a thin tube to create airflow between the skin and meat, and then beat the sheepskin hard, and the sheepskin will be separated from the mutton;
Then cut off the sheep's head and limbs, and tear the sheepskin down from the head, and the sheepskin will peel off completely. Then just tie the holes in the head, limbs and tail tightly to create an air bag.
Finally, air is blown into the skin bag, and the sheepskin expands into a bulging leather bag. This kind of leather bag can be used by one person to cross the river. General, we have a lot of cattle and sheep in our army, why not try this method. "
When Su Jin heard this, he was secretly happy and quickly told Qian Da: "Counsel Qian, I will leave this matter to you. If I can really cross this river, I will remember you as the first contribution."
"Thank you, General. My subordinates will take care of it now."
After Qian Da left, Staff General Chen Runan continued: "General, the river is only twenty feet wide. Our army's flintlock rifles can completely cover the area within dozens of feet on the other side, making it difficult for the enemy to get close to our army when it crosses the river. Shoot arrows to block the attack. If Qian's method is really successful, the general will think that crossing this river is not necessarily difficult."
Su Jin said: "Don't take it lightly yet. No one can guarantee that the enemy has no other tricks."
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.(To be continued...)
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