I

"Captain, there is no one stationed in Hami. Our vanguard has captured this city."

"Where did Hami Burke escape?"

"It was reported that they were fleeing to the west, most likely to Turpan. Along the way, many rural nobles also fled. All the things they could not take away were burned, leaving no grain of money or grain for our army. Even the grain of the serfs was lost to the countryside. The nobles robbed everything, and the countryside ahead was filled with hungry people begging for food.”

"Haha, the walls are strong and the country is clear. Send an order to the logistics officer and ask him to first allocate 50,000 shi of military rations to the civilian officials accompanying the army to help the people here!"

Muhammetisha and Zhuo were so ill that they had to be carried away even when they escaped.

His son Ebedulla took charge of the power and was determined to confront the Datong army, and even resorted to the strategy of strengthening the wall and clearing the country.

Jiang Liang's distribution of military rations all the way will definitely not be able to regain the northern Xinjiang area, because the food will not be enough to eat, but it will be greatly beneficial to future rule.

As the founder of the Wuxing Town uprising, Jiang Liang is relatively mediocre in all aspects.

However, Jiang Liang has one advantage: he likes to figure out what others are thinking. After being transferred to be stationed in Xi'an, Jiang Liang knew that he would probably fight in the Western Regions and studied the intelligence of the Western Regions two years in advance. Later, Zhao Han sent another secret letter asking him to pay attention to ethnic and religious issues in the Western Regions. Jiang Liang immediately understood the emperor's thoughts.

It’s no problem that the north of the Tianshan Mountains cannot be recovered this time. What the emperor wants is long-term stability south of the Tianshan Mountains!

The army continued to advance.

From Dunhuang to Hami, corpses can occasionally be seen along the way. They are serfs who were killed or died of illness and starvation.

Serfs were of all races, and there were even those of Persian descent. They were hungry for several days, and even their houses were burned down. When they saw the Datong army, they became even more panicked and hid far away, shivering.

At this time, the civil servants and officials who accompanied the army took the civilians and military rations, burned pots and cooked porridge, and called for the hungry people to come and eat. Military missionary officers, accompanied by translators, took the opportunity to preach policies to serfs of all ethnic groups, and held grievance meetings for the serfs to express their emotions.

Many serfs were half-full. They spoke hesitantly at first, then started speaking fluently, and then burst into tears in front of everyone.

When the army arrived in Hami, Jiang Liang suspended the march and prepared to spend two or three days reorganizing the troops while waiting for news from the vanguard army to return to Turpan.

Chief missionary officer Luo Bingcheng came to report the work with a smile: "Captain, as soon as the grievance meeting was held, all the people's hearts went to our army. Many serfs learned that they could divide their fields. They were afraid that the nobles would come back, so they begged our army to stay and not leave. There are also Some serfs are willing to join the army to help in the war and help our army transport food and grass."

Jiang Liang said with emotion: "This trick has not been used for a long time. Unexpectedly, it can also be effective in the Western Regions."

Luo Bingcheng said: "These serfs didn't live like human beings before. The harvest belonged to the nobles, and I was thankful not to starve to death. We cooked porridge for them as soon as we arrived, and gained the trust of the serfs. We also held a grievance meeting to let them The serfs told us all their grievances. Then they promised to divide the fields. Who can not treat us as one of their own?"

Eighty years ago, a Harim Khan was born in the Yarkand Kingdom.

He abolished the privileges of the nobility, abolished serfdom, and allowed farmers to gain personal freedom. He did not allow local nobles to collect taxes independently. All taxes were stipulated by the Khan Court, and local taxes must be handed over to the central government. Squires, nobles and officials also had to pay taxes, and they paid more taxes than ordinary people.

He also established an official examination system, selecting students from the seminary and appointing them after passing the examination. Officials were no longer lifelong and hereditary.

He also reformed the judicial system and took back judicial power from local religious leaders, allowing the Khan's court to appoint judicial officials with full authority.

This series of reforms is obviously learning from China.

But in Xinjiang at that time, classical Christianity was popular, and there was no unified religious leader, let alone someone who was loyal to the Khan and the imperial court. People are naturally opposed to this kind of centralized reform, so the effect of loud thunder and small raindrops is extremely weak.

It happened that Sufism became popular in Persia. The Mughals almost destroyed the country, and the emperor went into exile in Persia, relying on the power of Sufism to restore the country. Harim Khan found that Sufism was conducive to centralized rule, so he also took the initiative to introduce it, and then the chaos in the Yarkand Kingdom began.

After the death of Harim Khan, the New Deal was completely abolished, farmers became serfs again, and the oppression of serfs intensified.

Luo Bingcheng said: "The serfs here are worse than the tenants in the late Ming Dynasty. Although they are all foreigners, their hearts are full of flesh. Since they are willing to join the army, I plan to temporarily recruit a group of civilians. The number is not large, and each village only has Recruit one or two and let them see the power of the Datong Army. When they return to the village, they can spread their knowledge to the villagers."

"It's up to you." Jiang Liang agreed.

…

Turpan.

Turuntai encouraged him confidently: "Father, now the nobles from Turpan and Hami have brought their armies to join us. We already have tens of thousands of soldiers and strong horses. It's time to do big things. Father, don't hesitate any more!" "

Babai Khan sighed: "Well, we can't even defeat the Mongols. How can we win the Han army? Haven't you heard that the Mongols were beaten by the Han and couldn't fight back?"

Touluntai said: "This time is different. The Han people want to kill all the nobles, and the nobles are all willing to fight to survive."

"I'll think about it again," Babai Khan said.

Touluntai said impatiently: "Father, stop thinking about it, the nobles are waiting for you to send troops!"

Babai Khan is the fourth brother of the Yarkand king who died on pilgrimage. He can be understood as the prince of Turpan and is in charge of the area west of Jiayuguan.

As for Touluntai, who had rebelled against Shunzhi in history, he occupied Suzhou together with the Hui generals of the Ming Dynasty. The Qing army came to kill, Suzhou city was destroyed, and thousands of people from Touluntai and below were massacred.

Not only was Babai Khan not as reckless as his son, he could even be said to be cowardly to the core. The Manchu Qing sent envoys to Yarkand to question him, and the Yarkand king took the opportunity to remove him from power. Babai Khan was actually taken to Yarkand City and handed over the power of Turpan to the king's son.

Babai Khan said to his son at this time: "The Han army is coming. We cannot resist, otherwise there will be no retreat for surrender. You first go to appease the nobles everywhere, and I will send people to Hami to ask for surrender. As long as we are more obedient, it will definitely be Those who can survive may be able to keep their property.”

If Babai Khan did what he said, the Datong Army would really not kill him. After all, he was the prince of the Yarkand Khanate, so it was of great significance to recruit him to surrender.

At most, his land will be taken away, and even his wealth will not be touched. From now on, he will still be a rich man.

But Touluntai felt that his father was too useless. The nobles from all over the world came to surrender with their troops. What did they have to fear when they had tens of thousands of troops (many of them serfs)? As long as they defeat the Chinese army, their father and son will gain great prestige. There are two great Khans in the west who are fighting internal conflicts. Maybe they can take the opportunity to seize the throne of the king.

Touluntai pretended to agree. When he returned, he conspired with his confidants and contacted some local nobles.

At night, Touluntai suddenly led troops to surround his father's mansion and put Babai Khan under house arrest, waiting to send his father on a pilgrimage to Mecca after the war.

Two days later, Touluntai ordered the dispatch of troops, and launched a holy war, taking the initiative to kill the Datong army.

The leading troops of the Datong Army retreated on their own initiative and sent people back to report the news. Jiang Liang immediately led the army to set off.

At this time, 8,000 cavalrymen from various ethnic groups in Qinghai had come to Hami to meet up.

On the Datong Army side, there are 60,000 people on foot and cavalry, and more than 40,000 civilians (more civilians are distributed on the grain road, which extends from Gansu to Hami).

Touluntai's army had more than 70,000 infantry and cavalry. There were no peasants, and serfs were recruited as soldiers. They all had to take up arms in battle. The real core strength is the standing army and the aristocratic armed forces, which total more than 10,000 people.

But Touluntai was full of confidence, and he didn't know where his confidence came from. It was just as confusing as when he went to Gansu to rebel during the Shunzhi Dynasty in history.

The two armies met between Turpan and Hami. The main road was taken by business travelers. Both sides of the road were Gobi and desert.

Two or three miles apart, they stopped marching and formed their formations.

On the Datong Army's side, the chariot soldiers were at the front, followed immediately by musketeers. The traditional spearmen had been eliminated.

Among the musketeers were a few grenadiers.

Grenadiers usually do not wear armor. When they need to attack fortresses, they will fight with heavy armor and warhammers. After all, a person is tall and powerful, but throwing bombs is too wasteful, and sometimes it is necessary to trap and attack the city.

Artillery and dragoons were hidden in the formation.

The two wings and the center were all brave cavalry and Yi cavalry, and there were also some dragoons on the two wings. As for the eight thousand Qinghai cavalry, they were commanded by two tribal leaders and also deployed towards the two wings.

Except for the eight thousand Qinghai Cavalry, everyone on the Datong Army side wore armor.

Even the musketeers all wore cotton armor.

As for Touluntai's army, there were barely more than 10,000 soldiers wearing armor, and most of them were leather armor. There were at least 50,000 serf soldiers brought in temporarily, and they looked like conscripts from Tsarist Russia to fight a war.

The troops from both sides gradually approached, and then stopped to regroup.

The cavalry on both wings were already running in the Gobi.

The fanatical believer cavalry from Barkol lost their territory and defected to Hami, where they were arranged to live in the countryside. In recent years, they have also been replenishing their manpower, and have probably returned to around 1,500 riders. The rest of the cavalry are basically country nobles and their retinues, and there are very few real standing cavalry.

On the Datong Army side, the Valiant Cavalry and the Yi Cavalry did not move, and the Dragoons went up to fly kites with the enemy.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

The gunfire that came from time to time meant that the two armies were at war.

1,500 fanatic cavalry rushed to the front, facing a barrage of bullets. After firing, the dragoons ran away immediately. Another group of dragoons shot from the side, and also ran away after shooting.

We are not afraid of the enemy rushing over. Anyway, there are brave cavalry and Yi cavalry waiting.

The fanatical believers' cavalry ran for a while, but before they could get close to the range of the bow and arrow, more than 200 people were shot to death by random shots.

"Boom boom boom!"

Artillery fire from both sides was exchanged.

Turuntai gathered more than 20 artillery pieces, and even the defensive artillery pieces from Turpan Castle were brought.

As for the Datong Army, there are a hundred artillery pieces, all of which are front-loaded straight-bore cannons. There are also many squatting tiger cannons, which are fired only after the enemy is close to them. At this time, they are still hidden in the formation and have not been revealed.

Front-mounted straight-bore artillery has a range that is not much farther than that of smooth-bore artillery, and it does not have the accuracy of spiral-rifled artillery. It was invented purely to increase the rate of fire.

The number of artillery pieces of the Datong Army was four times that of the enemy, and the rate of fire was much faster.

After several rounds of shelling, the artillery position in Touluntai had been completely destroyed. The Datong Army continued to push the artillery forward and began to fire towards the enemy's formation.