Needing to guard the place, Li Dingguo summoned half of his army, or fifteen thousand people, to prepare for an attack on the Bukhara Khanate.
Buhua La in ancient Chinese books, Wu Di in the New Tang Dynasty, and Bi and An in the nine surnames of Zhaowu in the Tang Dynasty all refer to Bukhara.
Obviously, the Bukhara Khanate, as a political power of the Uzbek ethnic group, implements the Green Religion policy of governing the country, but it is an out-and-out agricultural country.
Among the nomadic countries, it turned out to be a unique centralized power.
At this time, the Bukhara Khanate was ruled by the Astrakhan dynasty, whose monarch was Abdullah Aziz, and the Orthodox religion was unified.
The handicraft industry is developed, and the paper and porcelain produced by it are widely sold in Persia and India.
Li Dingguo pointed to the map sent by the merchant and said calmly:
"The Bukhara Khanate was originally Khwarezm. It was a river area with fertile land. It was located among various countries. The Kazakh Khanate was in the north, the Ming Dynasty was in the east, and the Mughal Empire and the Persian Empire were in the south."
"According to the merchant's words, the Bukhara Khanate has a population of 2 million and an army of about 100,000. However, it has not been used to war for many years, so there is nothing to worry about."
"The only ones that can be enemies are its heavy cavalry and light cavalry. The cavalry is composed of Uzbeks and Tajiks. They are strong and good at fighting, skilled in bows and horses, and their weapons are also highly praised——"
"Cavalry?" At this time, a burly general raised his head and said with pride on his face:
"In front of our artillery, the cavalry can only die."
"Nonsense, they have to be our musketeers."
The other man was not far behind: "My spear, no matter how thick the heavy armor is, can shatter the internal organs within fifty paces, and knock down a dismounted horse within a hundred paces."
At this time, the cavalry general was also angry: "We cavalry are also equipped with lances now, so we are afraid of eggs."
"As long as we get close, I'm sure to beat you until you're covered in egg yolk."
For a while, the quarrel continued.
Li Dingguo also let them make noise and just stared blankly.
After a long time, perhaps because their mouths were exhausted from the quarrel, the group of people gradually stopped talking.
"Cavalry, spearmen, and artillery are all competing for the lead, so let's compete this time to see which army has made the greatest contribution in Bukhara."
Li Dingguo slammed the table and set the tone.
In fact, he had already weighed it in his mind.
In this war, the most outstanding performance was the artillery.
Without it, relying on its Shaowu-style artillery weighing 400 kilograms would be enough to accomplish extraordinary feats.
Bukhara is a big country after all, and it naturally has its own special skills to be able to survive.
Its capital city is, as expected, difficult to defeat.
This expedition adopted a strategy of providing supplies to the enemy, so it was basically one man and three horses, and a patrol battalion of ten thousand people was recruited to transport supplies.
As soon as the call was made, civil servants would naturally do it.
As the saying goes, if you know yourself and the enemy, you can fight a hundred battles without danger.
Therefore, Li Dingguo found a leader at this time:
merchant.
As a key node of the Silk Road, when the Ottoman Empire dominated the Middle East, in a sense, Bukhara was the end.
Goods from the East are gathered here, and then merchants from all over come to purchase them.
In the Bukhara Khanate, the most numerous people are merchants, so those who are most familiar with the country are also merchants.
As we all know, there is no country in the eyes of businessmen, only interests.
Reinhard, a businessman who traveled between Anxi and Bukhara, was one of the big businessmen on the Silk Road.
He is only about 1.7 meters tall, but his chubby body makes him look a bit stocky, and his brown-green eyes are full of intelligence.
When Li Dingguo came to him to learn about Bukhara, he agreed without hesitation:
"Bukhara is extremely strong. Its city is four feet high and has a population of more than 100,000. It is one of the largest cities in the river."
"If the prince wants to capture Bukhara, I suggest not to attack the city directly, but to capture the Yaka Palace in the southwest corner, where the king and nobles
Where the tribes live. "
"The palace, treasury, officials' residences, armory, temples, handicraft workshops, prisons, etc. are all here..."
"kindness?"
Li Dingguo was stunned for a moment, staring at his fat cheeks, and then smiled: "How did you know that I was going to fight Bukhara?"
Reinhard smiled bitterly and said, "You have summoned so many troops and specially summoned me to inquire about the situation in Bukhara. As long as you are not a fool, who would not know this?"
"You're right." Li Dingguo agreed without hesitation. When the latter heard the accurate reply, he let out a long sigh and looked lucky.
"how?"
"I'm just happy that I can escape disaster by staying in Anxi." Reinhardt sighed.
"No, you come with me to Bukhara."
Li Dingguo stared at this famous cunning businessman, with the corners of his mouth raised slightly.
"Huh?" The latter's face was full of horror.
"I heard that you are very powerful in Bukhara. You even have hundreds of servants and many wives and concubines. When the time comes, if we unite internally and externally, won't we be able to capture the city easily?"
Reinhard immediately collapsed to the ground and trembled: "You misunderstood, I am a small businessman, and there are thousands like me in Bukhara."
"Just treat me like an ant on the ground and let me go!"
"I can stay in Anxi, and there will never be any tip-off..."
"Okay." Li Dingguo shook his head and said, "As long as we capture Bukhara, I will recommend you to be the prefect and take charge of the civil affairs of Bukhara."
Poof——
Reinhard suddenly stood up and bent slightly to show his respectful attitude.
The fat on his face couldn't stop trembling, and his brown-green eyes were round and about to pop out of their sockets.
"My lord, is everything you said true?"
"Of course." Li Dingguo said decisively: "You are the only one I know in Bukhara. If you don't want to be the prefect, who should?"
"But since you don't want to, forget it, I'll find another one."
Reinhard was stunned for a moment, shook his head and shook his fat: "I do, I do."
"I also have a guard of a hundred people at home. My brother-in-law is the gatekeeper. He will be able to tell the news and open the door when the time comes..."
At this time, his subjective initiative was taking over, and he poured out his thoughts, and then looked at Li Dingguo expectantly.
Unexpectedly, there was an unexpected gain, and Li Dingguo smiled.
Although there were still two months until winter, Li Dingguo was eager to set out and capture the Bukhara Khanate.
Bukhara and Ili are nearly two thousand miles apart, which seems extremely far away. But in fact, as long as the logistics base is placed in Kashgar, the distance between the two places will be reduced to one thousand miles.
However, Li Dingguo did not want to conquer the Bukhara Khanate in one go, because this was unrealistic.
The cavalry can raid hundreds of miles, but it is difficult to raid thousands of miles.
Therefore, he must use an area as a granary until April next year, after the long winter, when Bukhara will be destroyed.
And he has already chosen this place, that is:
Kokand region,
It is the Fergana Valley consisting of the cities of Kokand, Andijan, Margilan, and Namangan.
The intermountain basin between the Tianshan Mountains and the Gisar-Alai Mountains is 600 miles long and 340 miles wide from north to south and is densely populated.
If the Bukhara Khanate really had two million people, half of them lived in the Kokand region.
However, this place is too close to the southern border of the Ming Dynasty. It can be reached in three to five days' journey, making it easy to defend but difficult to attack.
Of course, in later generations this country was divided into three countries: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, and was rich in a large number of mineral resources.
Li Dingguo didn't know how to describe it, but in the end he called it Little Sichuan.
At the end of September, the army gathered, carrying weapons and equipment, one person and three horses, walking quickly.
After setting off from Kashgar, the vanguard arrived in Andijan in just three days.
This is the east gate of Kokand region
Household, location is extremely important.
Facing the sudden Ming army, more than a thousand defenders in the city surrendered without a fight.
After leaving necessary guards behind, the vanguard continued their advance and arrived at Kokand City on the seventh day.
At this time, they had marched nine hundred miles.
Even if there are one person and three horses, it is still very tiring.
After three thousand soldiers surrounded the city of Haokand, they collected food and grass while waiting for the army.
It was not until the tenth day of dispatching troops that Li Dingguo led the main force of 5,000 to reach Haokand City.
The subsequent troops and horses still stayed in Andiyan.
In the past few days, he also brought in a large amount of supplies.
Obviously, the Ming army, which numbered nearly 10,000, put great pressure on the city.
You know, even the city of Haohan only has 20,000 people, so it is impossible to fight.
At this time, the big businessman Reinhard came in handy.
As a businessman, he had extensive connections and had friends all over the place, and he soon contacted the City Lord's Mansion.
Then, on the premise of preserving the lives and property of the whole city, let him surrender to the city.
Later, he actually persuaded the wealthy merchants in the city and donated a large amount of gold, silver and food to reward the army.
Of course, he also benefited from it privately.
As a result, he flourished in both the Ming army and Haohan, and was taken seriously by both.
After replenishing livestock and supplies in Kokand City, Li Dingguo did not hesitate and immediately sent troops everywhere to capture the nearby cities of Marjilan and Namangan.
Because the city of Haokand served as a model, it was almost impossible to defeat them without a single blow.
In this way, the huge Kokand region was almost completely included.
By the end of October, when winter had arrived and it was impossible for the Bukhara Khanate to send reinforcements, Li Dingguo breathed a sigh of relief.
Reinhard became the consul of the Kokand region, responsible for civil administration.
Of course, in the words of the Kokand people, it’s Burke.
It's just that other cities are guarded by Burke, and he is the Great Burke. He not only manages the city of Haokand, but also manages other Burkes.
The cold wind was howling and the yellow sand was long. He was wrapped in fur clothes and turned into a huge sphere. His face was grinned, revealing yellow and white teeth.
"My lord, we finally got it done today."
Reinhard panted.
In front of him, Li Dingguo and a group of military generals were roasting over a bonfire, eating sizzling and oily roasted whole lamb, not to mention how delicious it was.
"Say it!"
Li Dingguo ate barbecue and even put a cloth cover on his beard to prevent it from getting greasy.
"The Kokand region has four cities: Kokand, Andiyan, Margilan, and Namangan. Among them, Kokand has the largest population, with 23,000 people, Andiyan has 20,000 people, and Margilan has 15,000 people. Namangan 10,000 people.”
Reinhard took out the paper and read it word by word.
"Why are there so few people?"
Li Dingguo couldn't believe it.
"My lord, this is only the population within the city. The majority is outside the city. The total is about half a million."
"That means, up to 600,000 people."
Li Dingguo shook his head: "No wonder you are so scared when you see people like me. There are too few people."
"My lord, there are ten thousand defenders in the four cities of Haohan. They are just scattered and are no match for our Ming Dynasty."
Reinhard sighed, not knowing whether it was regret or luck in his tone.
"Continue to recruit and gather 30,000 people."
Li Dingguo bit into the mutton, like a hungry wolf, ruthlessly tearing the strips of meat with his mouth, looking extremely happy:
"When we go to Bukhara next year, we will directly mobilize 20,000 people to follow."
Obviously, with 20,000 servants following, even if the battle cannot be fought, they can still strengthen their momentum and guard the captured city.
Reinhardt knew it was his fault, he continued:
"In terms of taxation, the four cities of Haokand and the villages can collect 130,000 silver coins. If converted into grain, it is 300,000.
Stone left and right. "
"Too little."
Li Dingguo shook his head: "My city of Urumqi can collect 100,000 shi of grain a year, but its 600,000 people only have that little."
"Well, don't be idle these few months. Increase the number of craftsmen to repair the armor and recruit war horses."
"Wait a minute, is this the ancient Dawan? There should be the legendary bloody horse!"
"The bloody horse you mentioned should belong to us. As for Dawan, I don't know. It's too far apart in time."
Reinhard smiled bitterly.
During the winter season, the Ming army naturally could not live outside the city. Reinhardt continued to make arrangements and finally allowed the main force to live in warm houses.
In a foreign country, as a captain, Yue Cheng rubbed his hands and felt the coldness without snow. For a moment, his crotch felt chilly.
He stamped his feet, stepped on the city bricks, and began to patrol.
I don’t know how long it took, but his ears were red from the cold. At this time, another team came to replace him and inspect the defense.
"Here -" Back in the room, the deputy was holding a jar in his hand, scooping out a spoonful of oil from it and smearing it on his ears:
"This is butter, specially obtained from the Yamen. It can prevent freezing."
"Why didn't you get this good thing earlier?"
Yue Cheng complained, and then started to apply it on his own.
"How could there be so many people here? I just collected them and distributed them."
The deputy team leader was asking people to pass the butter around, then put away the rest, and then relayed:
"The general said that those who attack Haokand will receive three points of merit, and then each person will be rewarded with ten yuan. Let's consider it as a subsidy!"
"Ten dollars is fine."
Yue Cheng smiled and said, "It's not in vain that we traveled thousands of miles to a foreign country."
A team of hundreds of people also rejoiced, and no one wanted too much reward.
Later, Burke Yamen sent cattle and sheep as rewards.
Each team has ten sheep and twenty jars of wine, which is extremely rich.
The deputy captain continued: "The general said that if we capture Bukhara next year, the reward will be doubled. By then, half of the gold, silver and jewelry confiscated in Bukhara will belong to us."
All kinds of exciting words were circulated in the army. For a time, there was a huge earthquake in the army. The fear and loneliness in a foreign country, as well as the longing for home, suddenly dissipated a lot.
