Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 657: The Battle of Moxi (2)

There was a moment of silence in the tent, and then Babatur said, "Great Khan, aren't the Russian reinforcements about to arrive? Should we wait for them to arrive before sending out our troops?"

Sengge nodded and said, "Yes, the Luosha people have 4,000 firearms soldiers and more than 5,000 cavalry. They should be here in the next two days."

Sengge then gave orders for all departments to get ready and sent out scouts to investigate the movements of the Qian Dynasty. Everyone followed his orders and left.

Sengge walked out of the tent and looked at the dark horizon in the distance. He seemed to have seen the upcoming fierce battle.

This battle was of vital importance to Sengge. If he could not defeat this cavalry, not only the Western Regions but also the western desert grasslands would be lost.

At that time, the only way left for Sengge was to move westward. To move westward, he could only attack the three Yuzi tribes or attack the Bukhara Khanate. For Sengge, these two options were not opponents that could be easily conquered.

The next morning, Bogdan walked out of the tent and stretched comfortably, but he was puzzled when he saw the busy scene in the camp.

At this moment, a Dzungar noble hurriedly found Bogdan and told him that the Khan wanted to meet him.

Bogdan keenly realized that something was happening, and without delay, he hurried to the Khan's tent.

When Sengge saw Bogdan, he stated straight away that the Qian army and the grassland rebels were approaching the Khanate and the war would probably begin soon. Sengge hoped that the Rakshasa reinforcements would arrive as soon as possible to participate in this decisive battle.

Bogdan was a little surprised. He didn't expect the Qian Dynasty's attack to be so fierce. Before the Tsar's army arrived, their army had already approached here.

But Bogdan also knew that the military situation was urgent, so he quickly said that he would set out immediately to meet reinforcements.

Today, the Qian Dynasty and Luosha are still in a state of war, or conflict, because the two sides have not formally declared war, nor have they engaged in large-scale fighting. There are only conflicts on the border.

However, the conflict on the border was a great disadvantage for the Russians. They were few in number in the Far East and could not get support from the locals. On the other hand, the Qian Dynasty had all kinds of people under its command, especially in border conflicts. They included Jurchens, Solons, Ewenkis, Oroqen, Daur, and Mongolians. They had all kinds of nationalities and were more likely to get support from the locals.

Moreover, due to the long distance, Luosha's aid to the Far East was powerless. If there were too few people, it would be useless, and if there were too many people, the logistics could not keep up. So Bogdan could only watch as the fortresses they had built with great effort were captured one after another by the Qian army.

The fruits of Bogdan's family's decades of struggle were being eroded bit by bit by the Qian army, but Bogdan had no way to stop it.

After losing Yaksa, important fortresses such as Nerchinsk, Okhotsk, and Barguzin were successively captured by the Qian army.

Originally, Tsar Alexei Khim thought that the failure of the war in the Far East was due to Bogdan's incompetence. However, after Bogdan returned to the capital and told Alexei Khim in great detail about the advantages and disadvantages of the Qian Dynasty in the Far East, Alexei Khim gradually realized that the Qian Dynasty was a powerful country and its power in the Far East was far stronger than theirs.

So Alexei Khutuk sent Bogdan to Dzungar Khanate, and Bogdan did not disappoint Alexei Khutuk. He not only sold a large number of firearms, allowing Russia to earn a lot of money on arms, but also increased the strength of Dzungar Khanate.

This made Alexei very happy, so Bogdan restored the title of Grand Duke, which was equivalent to reinstating his official position.

Therefore, Bogdan was also worried that the Dzungar Khanate would be destroyed by the Qian Dynasty, which would affect himself, so Bogdan rode at full speed and led a team of people straight to the Ural River.

About two days later, about a hundred miles northwest of the Dzungar Khanate, Bogdan found scouts of the Tsar's army that was sent to aid Dzungar.

The person in charge of commanding this army was Andrei Vito. This army was not a cannon fodder army composed of serfs, but Alexei's Guards Corps, an elite force.

When Andrei heard that Bogdan was coming, he dismounted and went to greet Bogdan in person.

As soon as they met, Andre said in high spirits: "Your Excellency, long time no see."

Bogdan frowned and said, "General, the army of the Qian Dynasty has approached the Dzungar Khanate, and the decisive battle is about to begin. I hope that you can rush to the Dzungar Khanate as soon as possible to help them resist the attack of the Qian Dynasty."

Andre was a little shocked and said, "The Qian army came so quickly?"

Bogdan nodded and said, "Yes, General, we need to set off as soon as possible. We can't waste any more time."

Andre narrowed his eyes slightly, and after a moment, he looked at Bogdan with a confident smile on his face: "Your Excellency, don't worry. I command the Emperor's Guards, all of whom are the most elite warriors. So, Your Excellency, don't be anxious. The final victory will definitely belong to us!"

Bogdan was not as confident as Andrei. He sighed and said, "As far as I know, the combined forces of the Qian army and the grassland tribes have a large number of troops, with at least 60,000 cavalry. In addition, another army of the Qian army has already captured Turpan City, and it is said that they are marching towards the cities of Yarkand in the Western Regions. The situation on the battlefield is not so optimistic now."

After hearing this, Andre frowned, but after a moment, he shook his head and said, "Sixty thousand cavalrymen, although there are a lot of people, they are probably all poor nomadic cavalrymen."

However, Andrei knew that the military situation was urgent and he could not delay any longer. He turned to the officers behind him and ordered loudly: "All troops, listen to my order, and march to the Dzungar Khanate immediately!"

Following Andre's order, the Guards Corps moved quickly. The soldiers skillfully packed up the tents, loaded artillery and various supplies.

While the soldiers were packing, Andrei asked Bogdan about the Qian Dynasty's system, national strength, the army's equipment, tactics, combat effectiveness and everything else.

Andrei knew that Bogdan knew Qian Chao better than he did. As the saying goes, the more you know about your enemies, the more responsible you will be for yourself and the army.

Hearing this, Bogdan smiled somewhat complacently. After all, he had been dealing with the Qian Dynasty since the Far East. Over the years, he had also tried to understand the Qian Dynasty through various channels. It can be said that it is not an exaggeration to say that in Tsarist Russia, Bogdan is an expert on the Qian Dynasty.

Since Andre wanted to know, Bogdan was happy to share the information he knew, so he said to Andre: "The system of the Qian Dynasty is different from ours. They are a central empire, and the emperor has full control over the country. As long as their emperor is willing, then the emperor's orders can be passed on to anyone in the empire."

Andre frowned and said, "But I heard that the Qian Dynasty is a huge country. Don't they have powerful vassals in various places?"

Bogdan shook his head and said, "No, the Qian Dynasty has no vassal states. They use civil officials to control the empire and convey the emperor's will."