With the decision made, Emperor Chongzhen led the army to Mingwei Fort. Thanks to the Mughal Odom, he was well aware of the situation on both sides of Fort Mingwei.
Although Odom's role in the eyes of the Ottoman Empire's Prime Minister Koprulu became less and less, and the number of consultations with him became less and less, at least he was at the center of the Ottoman Empire, and the news he heard was very important to him. For Emperor Chongzhen, it was still very useful.
Emperor Chongzhen was already used to this kind of situation. It was just like those battle games he played in later generations. Others would need to send scouts to open the map, but he didn't need to. The whole map was visible directly.
Therefore, Emperor Chongzhen did not directly enter the battlefield, but lay dormant outside the battlefield between the enemy and ourselves, just like a tiger, hiding there and waiting for the opportunity.
……………………
On the Mingwei Fort side, as time slowly passed, the battle situation changed again.
After all, the Ming army had too few troops. At the beginning, their morale was very high, and they fought closely with the Ottoman Empire's army. They successfully prevented the enemy from bypassing the Mingwei Fort to attack the people of the Ming Dynasty.
However, Hong Chengchou did not have a golden finger and could only command based on his judgment. Therefore, it was difficult for him to target the weaknesses of the Ottoman army every time and fight. As one blocking battle after another was fought, the Ming army's casualties inevitably increased.
As a result, military morale will naturally be affected.
Speaking of which, morale actually needs to be constantly encouraged. Otherwise, it will be like a leaky rubber ball. No matter how much air you originally inflated, it will eventually slowly drain out.
Of course, Hong Chengchou also kept using every means he could think of to boost morale. For example, rewards and punishments are clearly defined, the results of the battle are exaggerated, and the emperor is reminded that reinforcements are coming.
However, after using these methods too much, the Ming army gradually became immune. The inevitable casualties were slowly damaging the morale of the army.
As for the Ottoman army, it was actually similar. Although they have strong military strength, they have been unable to capture Mingwei Fort, and they cannot even freely send troops to plunder the north of Mingwei Fort. This makes Prime Minister Koprulu's life very difficult.
Just like the Ming army, the Ottoman Empire army, after their offensive was blocked, they finally realized that the Ming army was far more powerful than they could easily defeat. Especially since they clearly had far more troops than the Ming army, they were still unable to do anything to the Ming army. The war situation fell into a stalemate, which had a greater impact on their morale.
Another reason is that the Ottoman Empire has a strong military force. This means that the Ottoman army will be under great logistical pressure.
At the beginning, they were unstoppable. They could get some supplements along the way, so they didn't pay attention to them. But as the war situation reached a stalemate at Fort Minwei, this logistical problem became apparent.
Minwei Fort is far away from the Ottoman Empire's mainland, and it can basically transport food supplies from the Empire's mainland. The Crimean Khanate is closer to the outlet of the Volga River.
However, the Crimean Khanate was a nomadic country and was extremely poor. It had to rely on daily plundering to maintain its livelihood, so it could not provide the logistics for the Ottoman Empire's army.
Therefore, Keplu Lüchou!
The way of supporting war through war is a supplement. However, all the way north, everything that can be grabbed has been grabbed. However, the capture to the north of Fort Mingwei was not smooth.
In the war with the Ming army, the Ottoman Empire army also suffered heavy losses. At least in terms of the elite of the army, Abbas II was really right. The Ming army was better than any other Ottoman army in terms of morale, equipment, etc.
The unsatisfactory situation of the war reflected on Koprulu, who felt that his body was getting worse and worse.
At this time, he was already in his seventies.
There was no general Liao Hua in Sichuan to serve as a vanguard. For the same reason, the Ottoman Empire was in a mess. After he came to power, he vigorously reorganized it, but there were not many people who could really use it. Now this Eastern Expedition was very important, and he had to lead it personally.
However, an old man in his seventies will definitely get tired no matter how healthy he is.
In the original history, he did not march eastward, but led his troops to fight against Venice. Although he was defeated, he also lost his temper not long after.
At this time, it's almost the same. Koprulu felt that his body was getting worse day by day, and he became more anxious.
He could imagine that if the stalemate continued like this, he would die here. That opponent, Hong Chengchou, the commander of the Ming army, is a very cunning man. He will definitely seize the opportunity and the army will probably collapse.
And if Koprulu were to make the decision to retreat at this time, he would definitely not be willing to do so. Because he knew that once he retreated, it would be impossible to maintain the early results. At least the Volga River Basin would definitely be taken back by the Ming army.
After much thought, Koprulu finally made a decision and sent someone to negotiate with Hong Chengchou.
At the beginning, he threatened and intimidated Hong Chengchou, asking Hong Chengchou to surrender quickly. Otherwise, when he defeated the Ming army, he would massacre the city and kill all the Ming soldiers and people.
In response, the messenger who came to threaten him lost his ears.
Then, after a period of time, Koprulu sent someone to negotiate. He said that he admired Hong Chengchou's ability and the bravery of the Ming army. Therefore, he was willing to be open-minded and let the Ming army return home. He would never pursue him, and he was willing to make amends with the Ming Dynasty and never fight with the Ming Dynasty again.
In response, the envoys who went to negotiate came back disappointed.
From this, Koprulu knew that it was unrealistic to place hope on the Ming army, and he became ruthless.
It’s not that there are too many people and too much food is consumed! He sent out all his troops and bypassed Mingwei Fort to attack the Ming people in the north. Naturally, the Ming army would not agree, and the blocking battle became very intense.
On the other hand, Koprulu sent people to the former Bukhara Khanate to collect as much food as possible. For a while, the original Bukhara Khanate became a white field.
The increase in casualties made the morale of the Ottoman Empire's army very low. In response, Koprulu summoned the generals and said to them: "You don't want to see how many people have died in our army. You have to see how many people have died in the Ming army! Our military strength is far stronger than that of the Ming army. Now they have suffered casualties." There are so many, I’m sure I can’t hold on any longer.”
At this point, he began to be tempting again and said: "As long as the enemy in front of you is defeated, the land here will be owned by our Ottoman Empire. You have also seen this side of the Volga River Basin, whether it is grazing or farming, They are all very good. Whoever has made the greatest contribution, I can decide who will be rewarded here!"
The Volga River Basin has been managed by the Torgut tribe for many generations, and after the arrival of Hong Chengchou's troops, the Ming Dynasty's high irrigation and farming technology further improved the farmland in the Volga River Basin. It can be said that this is a very good place.
Therefore, after hearing Koprulu's promise, many Ottoman generals were moved.
Seeing this situation, Koprulu was secretly happy, and tempted him again: "In the north, the Turgut tribe has herds of cattle and sheep. As long as you can break through the Ming army's blockade, the wealth you can plunder will be far greater than before." There are plenty of them. I can also promise you that whoever grabs it will get it without having to hand it over."
When the Ottoman Empire army came over, the Ming army blocked it and protected most of the people from escaping to the north of Mingwei Fort. These Ottoman generals knew this. Therefore, if they could break through the Ming army's blockade, they knew how much money they would get.
At this time, someone was moved again.
Looking at them, Koprulu finally said loudly: "If we can defeat a strong enemy in this battle, I will definitely report to Your Majesty and the Empress Dowager to reward the Ottoman warriors!"
He was willing to go all out, knowing that no matter what measures he took, the most important thing was that the war could not be dragged on any longer. Otherwise, the consequence of procrastination is that he is more likely to be defeated.
After some encouragement and mobilization, Koprülü began to order troops and generals, dispatching 10,000 troops from his own headquarters, 10,000 cavalry from the Crimean Khanate, plus 30,000 other miscellaneous troops, totaling 50,000 at once. I just thought that this time I must break through the Ming army's blockage and plunder the north. This will not only improve our own morale and replenish military supplies, but also severely damage the Ming army's morale, thereby creating good conditions for the final victory over the Ming army.
Hong Chengchou heard the news here and knew that this time was very difficult. No matter what, the enemy's troops were indeed too many. To deal with the main force of the Ottoman Empire's army, he could only send out 5,000 headquarters cavalry, 5,000 Gossart cavalry, 5,000 Turgut cavalry, and 5,000 ordinary herdsmen, for a total of 20,000 troops.
If it were any different in the past, the Mingwei Fort side would usually be a stalemate. But this time, after preventing the Ming army from retreating, Koprulu mobilized a large army to attack Mingwei Fort.
Hong Chengchou felt that it was time to show off and decide the outcome.
For him, he actually didn't want to see this happen. The best thing is that the emperor arrives with reinforcements and then fights the enemy decisively. But now that we are forced to advance, we can try our best to fight.
Naturally, he didn't know that the reinforcements he was waiting for had actually arrived and had even finished resting. The entire army was no longer tired from the long journey. Like a fierce tiger, it has been staring at you for a long time.
If Mingwei Fort remained in a stalemate, it would be difficult for Emperor Chongzhen to make a move. However, now that there is a lot of fighting here, there are many opportunities.
In terms of strength, the more than 30,000 cavalry troops, including the strength of Mingwei Fort, are still not as large as the Ottoman Empire's army. However, the outcome of a war cannot be determined by comparing military strength.
The war that will determine the fate of the entire Central Asia has finally begun.
