The western suburbs of Kandahar, all the way to the Persian capital Isfahan, are flat terrain. This kind of terrain is very suitable for troops carrying heavy equipment such as artillery and caravans transporting large quantities of goods. Therefore, Kandahar became the only place for large-scale armies to invade India from Persia or Central Asia, and also became an important trade route between India and Persia in ancient times.
Originally, Kandahar belonged to Persia. However, just because Abbas II's father was very arrogant and did whatever he wanted to ruin his family, the people of Persia lost their hearts.
Among them was Ali Madan Khan, the governor of Kandahar. Fearing that he would be killed, he finally surrendered Kandahar to the Mughal Empire, thus adding a great achievement to Shah Jahan: capturing Kandahar from Persia.
After Abbas II succeeded to the throne, he decided to recapture Kandahar when he was eighteen years old and launched an attack on Kandahar.
Shah Jahan actually received the news in advance. However, he and his ministers thought the winter in Kandahar was too cold. The army that was supposed to rush to support retreated to Delhi halfway to prepare for the next spring. Because they felt that Abbas II would definitely not be able to stand the cold and retreat.
Even if the troops do not retreat, Kandahar has strong walls and fortresses, 7,000 well-equipped soldiers stationed there, and the military rations and ammunition stored are enough to last for 2 years. No matter how powerful the Persian army was, it was impossible to capture Kandahar in the cold winter.
The result was very dramatic: the Persians did not retreat, and the Mughal garrison stationed in Kandahar was a sixty-year-old veteran Daulat Khan, who was basically incompetent. Not wanting to lose their lives by holding on to their mercenaries, the Tatars encouraged the Mughal army in Kandahar to surrender to the Persian army. During the entire battle, a total of 400 Mughal troops died.
This was the most successful achievement of Shah Jahan of the Mughal Empire, which was to capture the important city of Kandahar under Persian rule.
This was also Abbas II's most successful achievement, retaking the important town of Kandahar that was taken away by the Mughal Empire.
Kabul is an important town on the "Silk Road", the famous trade route between the East and the West. It was a center for trade and cultural exchanges between the East and the West more than 2,000 years ago. It can be said that Kabul is more important than Kandahar.
Originally, Kabul also belonged to the Persian Empire, but it was taken away by the founding emperor of the Mughal Empire, and it has been in the hands of the Mughal Empire ever since.
As for Lahore, that's even more important. This was originally the capital of the Mughal Empire, which is evident from this.
But now, a large area of land, including Kabul and Lahore, has been given to the Persian Empire as a condition for military conquest. This is absolutely of great significance to Abbas II. This incident can leave a strong mark in Persian history books.
And Abbas II, in the eyes of future generations, will very likely be regarded as an existence that surpasses Abbas I. And this is naturally what Abbas II longs for most.
Therefore, Abbas II sent troops this time not only to ensure that the bandits from the Ming Kingdom were defeated, but also to firmly occupy the territories ceded by the Mughal Empire. For this reason, he issued a national mobilization order. Except for the troops in the western border who would not be mobilized to guard against the possibility of the Ottoman Empire taking advantage of the situation, all other armies were deployed or were to become the defenders of Kabul and Lahar. Or become the main force in the Qing Dynasty's suppression of Ming Dynasty thieves.
The news that Li Zicheng heard from there was that a hundred thousand Persian troops had arrived, but in fact they were only part of the Persian army. The total number of Persian troops entering Mughal territory was exactly the 200,000 troops Song Xiance said when he deceived Zhang Xianzhong. The leader of the army was Abbas II, who led the army in person.
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For Shah Jahan, there was nothing he could do.
If Delhi falls, there may be no place for him. The enemies from the Ming Kingdom were too powerful. Rather than being wiped out by them, it would be better to seek help from Persia. As for the cost of asking for help, it is natural to bear the child and not be able to ensnare the wolf.
If we really want to wipe out the Ming people, then we can go back and find a way to regain the western territory. Otherwise, everything is empty talk.
Of course, Shah Jahan was not that stupid. He really ceded the western territory to Abbas II without any manipulation at all.
He sent people in advance to clear out all the wealth details in Kabul and Lahore, and forcibly moved the wealthy people in these cities back to Delhi. Important defensive measures, some damage was also done.
In order to guard against what Abbas II had to say, Shah Jahan certainly would not do it openly. On the one hand, he secretly coerced the rich to move voluntarily, saying that it would be safer to hide in Delhi; on the other hand, he spread the news that the rebels were coming to kill them.
In fact, it is true that after the wealthy people emigrated, an army sacked the two cities and also carried out destruction.
Regarding this matter, there are rumors that Shah Jahan sent people to do it. The reason is that the thieves did not look like Mingren. However, some people countered that many of the thieves are now Mughal rebels. The looting of these two cities was done by thieves from the Ming Dynasty. They even swore that it was done by thieves from the Ming Kingdom and saw it with their own eyes.
In short, in this era of war and chaos, no one can tell the truth from false rumors.
After Abbas II came, he did not trace who did it, nor did he rush to Delhi to join the Mughal army. Instead, he began to deploy troops to completely control these newly acquired territories. The external reason is also very simple. The thieves are all here, so he naturally has to consolidate his retreat first.
As a result, the war in the Mughal Empire never really started, but there were many troops, including thieves.
I also have to mention the Persian army here.
The Persian army was originally very rubbish, but thanks to the military reforms carried out by Abbas I, and with the help of the British, it finally became a strong army with cavalry, musketeers, and a European-style fighting method.
However, the main body of this army was actually slaves, called Gulam.
During the period of Abbas I, this army was indeed good at fighting and achieved the glory of Abbas I. However, he was lost to Safi, the son of Abbas I.
During the reign of Abbas II, although he had recovered somewhat, he still had the same foundation as before. However, it is not as powerful as it was back then. Otherwise, Abbas II would not only have achieved Kandahar, but would have taken back Baghdad and other places that were taken away by the Ottoman Empire in the hands of his father.
In the Mughal Empire, after Abbas II stayed in the western region for a long time, he finally led 120,000 troops and began to advance to the east to join the Mughal Empire's army and prepare to start a war with the Ming rebels. At this time, naturally, Li Zicheng began to escape.
Li Zicheng was naturally familiar with how to fight. Wherever he passed, he took away everything he could and burned what he couldn't take away without leaving it to the enemy.
As for the Persian army, as I have said before, it is actually a slave army. Their military discipline will naturally not be very good in this foreign country. The Mughal people finally escaped the harm caused by Li Zicheng's troops, but they were harmed again by the Persian army!
Not to mention the Persian army, even the Mughal Empire's own army was just like a ball.
Just like that, the outcome of the war is unknown, who loses and who wins, but the people on the Mughal side are suffering deeply from the war.
There are no roosters crowing for thousands of miles, and bones are exposed in the wild. This scene that happened in the Ming Dynasty also happened in the Mughal Empire.
The population in the Mughal Empire decreased sharply.
The most important thing for the army is food, and when the army is fighting, it consumes more food.
Originally, Abbas II came with a large army because he wanted to end the war as soon as possible with more troops. However, whether it is Zhang Xianzhong or Li Zicheng, they will always lose money. No matter what strategy you use or what bait you put, They are talking about empty city tactics, but these two people are not fooled. They are clear!
As a result, the Persian army and the Mughal army fought back, and food and grass began to be tight.
The territory of the Mughal Empire had been devastated by war, and even if they robbed food, they would not get much. As a last resort, Abbas II had no choice but to transport grain from the country into the Mughal Empire.
No matter how Abbas II calculated this food, there was one thing that he had no way to change. Even if the food is transported, 90% of it is consumed on the transportation road.
To a certain extent, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong are really pests, killing no grass wherever they pass. Once they reached the territory of the Mughal Empire, they also brought disaster to the territory of the Persian Empire.
The monster of war had its head eating people in the Mughal Empire, but its tail swept back and forth in the Persian Empire, making the Persian people miserable.
As for when the monster will return to the cage, it is not something that one person can decide, but several people who originally released the monster need to want it to return to the cage to make this possible.
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At the same time, the Ming Empire finally started relocation work. The capital was moved back to Nanjing, and the capital became the companion capital. This heralded that the Ming Dynasty's center of gravity began to shift southward, and the national strategy also moved toward the ocean.
In addition, another very important thing is that the western army entered the areas controlled by the Oirat Mongols and established provincial and state offices. The Ming Dynasty added the Western Region Province and Tibet Province.
This matter became smoother after Gushi Khan and others visited Guan, especially after meeting Zhang Mingwei.
However, due to the large size of these two provinces, the resettlement work cannot be completed in a short time. It should be said that this is what happened throughout the year.
On the European side, the kingdoms of Poland and Lithuania are still in civil strife, and Tsarist Russia and Sweden are watching closely. Britain and the Netherlands were at war, and civil unrest in France continued.
It seems that this world is not chaotic enough, because some people can't hold it in anymore.
(End of chapter)
