The news that the British fleet was defeated and fled was quickly reported by the indigenous people around the place where the battle took place, and finally reported to Shah Jahan in Delhi.
"What?" Shah Jahan was shocked when he heard this and quickly confirmed, "Many warships came from the Ming Dynasty and defeated the British fleet?"
After getting the affirmative answer, Shah Jahan felt troubled.
The Mughal Empire was founded by the Mongols, and their focus was naturally on war on land. Not to mention there is no navy, there is no large-scale fleet even on the inland rivers. Now it is impossible to attack the Ming army on the coast without warships.
After some discussion, Shah Jahan finally had to send people to find allies at sea. And of course he himself is still preparing for war. The collected northern troops, food, etc., were continuously gathered in Delhi.
The weather in Delhi is the scorching hot season from January to September, which can kill people. Only the locals can endure this temperature.
But even so, the troops gathered in Delhi were hiding in houses, tents, and under the shade of trees, sticking out their tongues and panting. As for marching and fighting on a large scale, that is impossible.
Just when Shah Jahan's troops and supplies were almost assembled, and the weather began to get cooler, the British took the initiative to send a messenger.
This time the messenger actually sent representatives from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to communicate with Shah Jahan, saying that the United Kingdom was preparing to form a joint fleet with the Dutch, so that there would be hundreds of warships, and it would not be afraid of the alliance between the Ming Dynasty and Portugal. The fleet can even ensure victory in naval battles.
But correspondingly, the Dutch also had to participate in commerce, and the trade between the British and the Dutch had to be particularly preferential, allowing them to do business in various parts of the Mughal Empire, etc.
After hearing this, Shah Jahan agreed without hesitation. As long as you win the fight and just do business, there is no threat. If there are any problems in the future, all it takes is a decree to expel them.
So, just like that, in early October of the 25th year of Chongzhen, Shah Jahan finally waited until the weather was not so hot, and immediately ordered the army to set off.
There are 5,000 imperial cavalry, 10,000 city cavalry, and 5,000 feudal cavalry, a total of 20,000 cavalry. As for the infantry, a decree has been issued to recruit them from the southern provinces. They must be elite. You can go first. The provinces near Bombay were assembled, fifty thousand in all. In addition, there were 10,000 craftsmen and 50,000 civilians recruited.
In this war, Shah Jahan personally led the army, with a total of 20,000 cavalry, 50,000 infantry, and 60,000 civilians, totaling 130,000 horses, known as an army of 500,000. The momentum is very loud.
The distance from Delhi to the province where Bombay is located is about two thousand miles. Even if Shah Jahan led the cavalry on the road, it took him more than a month to get there.
After resting and sorting out troops and generals, on November 11, the 25th year of Chongzhen's reign, the battle to attack Bombay officially began.
When they were still about two hundred miles away from Bombay, the Mughal Empire's sentry scouts encountered the Ming army that stayed away at night, but there was no scouting battle. The Ming army withdrew on its own.
Shah Jahan was rewarded, but he just sneered and ordered the army to continue marching. When we get to the beach, where are you Ming troops going?
"Father Khan, we must be careful of the Ming army landing from other places and sneak attacks on our retreat!" Darashiko, who was accompanying him, saw it from the side and quickly reminded him.
After hearing this, Shah Jahan just glanced at him and sneered: "The Ming army has come all the way. How many men and horses can it have? I will let them come for a sneak attack. I can't bear to look at them!"
Having already learned the lesson from Dara Xiko, how could he not be careful to guard the rear of the army. Now he has enough troops. He was not afraid of anything but that the Ming army would shrink on the island. That would be the worst thing.
On this day, Shah Jahan finally arrived in Bombay with his army. Looking at the scene he saw in front of him, he felt a little awe-inspiring in his heart.
You know, when Dara Xiko was defeated, there was nothing on this shore. However, what Shah Jahan saw now was an earthen city built on the coast. Although it is not high, there are various defensive measures, including various defensive measures on the periphery of Tucheng.
About three months have passed, and the Ming army has built such a well-defended earth city so efficiently. It can be seen from this that the strength of the Ming army cannot be underestimated.
The sentinel had already reported the situation to him before. Shah Jahan, however, was less convinced. Only now that he saw it with his own eyes could he believe it.
Although Shah Jahan was feeling emotional at this time, he didn't care much. He brought enough troops, including ten thousand craftsmen alone. Originally, I was thinking of building more rafts and laying them directly on the sea. But at this time, it seemed that they could be allowed to build siege tools first and drown the Ming army with their troops.
With this plan in mind, Shah Jahan ordered the construction of siege equipment while waiting for the arrival of the allies.
During this period, he naturally also sent out cavalry troops to search both sides along the coast in order to have a good idea of the surrounding terrain.
………………
The Ming army naturally saw the arrival of Shah Jahan. Especially when you see that his camps are organized in an orderly manner, and both the front and rear camps are well-defended. Just from these arrangements, you can see that Shah Jahan is used to fighting, and most of his troops are elite.
On our side, there are only about 20,000 infantry and cavalry in total. Compared with the Mughal Empire's military strength, there is a huge gap. However, I had psychological expectations for the Mughal Empire's military strength, so I was not too shocked.
After Yan Yingyuan observed the enemy's formation, he saw that all of his soldiers had serious expressions on their faces, so he loudly said to his guards: "Send the order, the emperor has already expected this battle, and I have already obtained the information before setting off." The emperor’s brilliant plan. Everything happening now is as expected by the emperor. In this battle, the enemy will definitely be defeated!”
When the guards heard this, they were all overjoyed and hurriedly went to the various armies to convey the order.
Not to mention, although I don’t know how far away from the capital of the Ming Dynasty, the soldiers of the Ming army suddenly became energetic after hearing this.
Emperor Chongzhen originally had a high prestige, was invincible in battles, and had a reputation for predicting events like a god. After being spread through various channels, it has become a myth.
At this time, although Yan Yingyuan's news seems a bit outrageous, he can calculate it from such a distance. Zhuge Liang doesn't have this ability, right?
However, the Ming army officers and soldiers just believed that their emperor had this ability!
Since the emperor has already calculated it, there must be corresponding arrangements. Thinking this way, the morale of the Ming army has been significantly improved.
Bombay Commander-in-Chief Li Dingguo and Navy Commander-in-Chief Zheng Chenggong also confirmed that the Governor's words were true. In this way, the morale of the Ming army will be higher.
Since the emperor led the army to fight, the Ming army has been winning battles. The confidence in victory that has been cultivated in the past is not an exaggeration, even if it is blind.
In short, it is true that the Ming army is not afraid of the Mughal Empire army on the opposite side.
This was soon felt by Shah Jahan, who often observed the movements of the Ming army, which surprised him very much.
In his several battles with the Safavid dynasty for Kandahar, when he led the army to attack, he could feel the psychological impact of the massive army on the enemy. However, now he doesn't feel this in the Ming army.
If it wasn't that every one of the Ming army was arrogant and arrogant, then they were all elite and unmoved by this. However, will the Ming army be arrogant and arrogant?
Thinking of this, Shah Jahan came to the conclusion that the Ming Kingdom would be his biggest enemy in his life. Going to war with such an enemy may not be a blessing for the Mughal Empire. If possible, it would be better if the opponent is less provoked!
With this in mind, after deliberation for a long time, Shah Jahan finally sent someone to Bangladesh to convey the order, telling Aurangzeb not to attack Dongwu again, so as not to further stimulate the Ming Dynasty.
As soon as he sent the messenger, he heard many of his men cheering. When he was about to be questioned, he saw the personal guards outside the camp coming in and reporting: "Great Khan, the allies at sea have arrived!"
Hearing this, Shah Jahan was also delighted and walked out to watch.
I saw tall sailing warships all along the coast to the west of Mumbai. There were many of them and they were very spectacular.
Seeing this scene, Shah Jahan suddenly felt something in his heart. He couldn't help but think: Should he also build a fleet at sea? Otherwise, if foreign enemies keep coming to the sea, he would be very passive without a fleet at sea. !
Thinking like this, he hid this idea in his heart and prepared to start preparations after this battle.
About an hour later, Shah Jahan saw the heads of the Dutch and the British in the tent of the Chinese army.
"I am Max, Commander of the British Fleet, and I am very happy to serve the respected Khan!"
"I am Antony, commander of the Dutch fleet, and I am very happy to serve the respected Khan!"
They didn't mention the position of governor, which would be more sensitive, so they only reported the identity of fleet commander.
On this side of the Dutch fleet is Anthony, the former governor of Batavia. Because he had fought with the Ming army and was familiar with the Ming army better than anyone else, he, who had already been imprisoned for losing the Far East, was sent here to atone for his sins.
The low profile of the two of them greatly benefited Shah Jahan. He was even more happy when he heard these two Westerners say that with the strength of their current fleet, they would definitely have no problem defeating the fleets of the Ming Kingdom and Portugal.
With the guarantee of these Western fleets, Shah Jahan made up his mind to destroy all this Ming army, so as to assuage the restless thoughts of the Ming emperor to the greatest extent possible.
Therefore, Shah Jahan also wanted to win over the two fleet commanders. When the two sides were talking happily, they heard rapid footsteps outside the Chinese military tent.
Miaoshuwu
