Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 780 This is a sign of weakness to the enemy
“Da da da~”
“Boom~”
"Cease fire! Cease fire! Save ammunition."
October 8, 1647, Khyber Pass, Zhang Xunzhai.
"General, we have repelled the Indians again."
"Haha~ The fighting spirit of these Indians. Every time they charge, as soon as our machine guns open fire, as long as they fall down by a few hundred, they will immediately retreat... So, how many people did we kill this time?"
"We still have 200 people. As for the wounded soldiers who fell in front of our position but are not dead yet, I don't bother to care about them."
"That's true. If we drag them in, we'll waste our food and medicine." Taking his eyes off his plate, Man Gui said, "Old Black, the Indian attack is just so-so. You don't need to tell me about these things in the future. But our ammunition and food..."
"Because we seized the supplies prepared by the cities in Kashmir for the Indian army during our raid, we are not short of food for the time being. As for ammunition, since the Indian army's weapons are the same as those of the Western bandits, their specifications and parameters are not compatible with our weapons. Therefore, we are in a bit of a shortage."
"Where's the water source?"
"No problem. When Prime Minister Wen built the Khyber system, he brought water from the distant snow-capped mountains, and he built a hidden canal. After Cao Bianjiao handed over this place eight years ago, the Ottomans simply filled up the wells here. I guess they didn't find the hidden canal. In short, twelve of the fifteen wells in Zhangxun Village, Xuyuan Fort, and Nanjiyun Fort have resumed water supply, so there is no problem with our army's daily drinking water."
"That's good. As long as the water problem is solved, we can hold out here for a long time. As for ammunition, next time the Indians come, we will counterattack and try to get their weapons and ammunition."
"Okay, then I will organize a stormtrooper team and give the Indians a hard time the next time they attack."
After Hei Yunlong retreated, Man Gui summoned the Tibetan division commander, Qu Duoga, and asked, "Have all our messengers been sent out?"
"General, all the messengers who are contacting the Sikhs, Pashtuns and heading north to find General Sun have been sent out. Five groups of messengers have been sent in each direction, and they are all the best mountain climbers among us Tibetans."
"That's good. Hey , what kind of war are these Indians fighting? If they keep going like this, I'm going to get rusty here."
While Man Gui was lamenting in Zhang Xun's camp that the enemy had no capable fighters, north of the Khyber Pass, Wallenstein, who was already 64 years old this year, was sighing in front of a huge military map.
When he was captured in Southeast Asia, the Spanish government offered a huge ransom to redeem him. Philip did not blame him, but appointed him as the Governor-General of India. Such a great favor moved Wallenstein so much that he made up his mind to die for Philip.
This time, the Ming Dynasty launched a large-scale invasion of India. Wallenstein, who was over 60 years old, mobilized 20 Indian divisions early on, thinking about how to help His Majesty Philip.
Who knew that just as he led ten Indian divisions through the Khyber Pass and prepared to continue northward to support the Hussein Group in Central Asia, the second echelon of Indians behind him sent an urgent telegram: The intersection was blocked!
The first time the Ming Dynasty invaded India, they also sent a troop to the snowy region. But on the one hand, the Ming Dynasty's opponent was the Mughals, and on the other hand, the European Union's staff unanimously determined that even if the Ming Dynasty sent troops from the snowy region again this time, the poor roads would definitely not be able to support the movement of a large troop. Even if a Ming army really came out from the snowy region, it would not be too difficult to annihilate it with the full 20 divisions of Indian troops.
Who would have thought that after the war started, Hussein on the northern front was manipulated by Sun Chuanting, and there were only a few real battles, and he had completely lost the initiative strategically. So before the main force of the Ming Dynasty landed in India, Wallenstein was forced to lead the Indian Corps to the north for support.
Then Man Gui's surprise force was stuck in the middle.
After receiving the telegram from the rear, Wallenstein thought for a long time and decided to concentrate 20 Indian divisions to attack from the north and south, recapture Khyber and then go north: the reason is simple, if Khyber is not smooth, then the logistics supply of his ten infantry divisions north of Khyber, especially the supply of ammunition, will not be smooth. And what if the Chinese army coming out of the snow area kicks his ass from behind when he is going north?
But why was the Indians' fighting spirit so weak? Starting from October 5, 20 Indian divisions advanced from the north and south, besieging Zhang Xunzhai, Nanjiyun Fort and Xuyuan Fort from both sides. But no matter whether it was the southern or northern front, after three days, the attacking side always collapsed at the first touch.
"Damn these damn Indians. I can understand the helplessness of the Chinese officers stationed in India nine years ago. The Khyber defense system was plowed several times by the Ottomans with artillery fire, and then it was abandoned for more than eight years. It can be said that if our European elites come to attack this broken defense line, even if we can't take it down within three days, at least we can advance effectively. But these Indians..."
"Sir, what should we do now? Judging from the intensity of the attack in the past three days, unless the Chinese run out of ammunition and food, these Indians will never be able to capture this place."
The chief of staff for Wallenstein at this time was Coutinho, who was promoted by Rudolf and led the army to capture Jerusalem in the First Austro-European War, forcing Philip to knight him. After Spain conquered India, most of Rudolf's trusted officers were demoted in name only: Philip gave them higher ranks and titles, granted them fiefs in India, and then completely drove them out of the Spanish Army system.
Coutinho seemed very anxious about the situation, but deep down in his heart... well, not happy - at least at this time, although he still had deep doubts about Philip, he had been in India for so many years, ruling a rich family business here, and getting older, so the idea of finding the truth about Rudolf's death and taking revenge had faded less and less.
However, he was still very unhappy with Philip. So, deep down, he was quite calm at the moment: Winning this war would be the best, but losing doesn't matter. As long as my big estate in India can be preserved, that's all.
"Coutinho, has Hussein in the north called recently?"
"The most recent one arrived an hour and a half ago. Commander Hussein said that the main Chinese corps has arrived at the gates of Samarkand and started the attack. However, the intensity is not very strong, so defense is not a big problem. In addition, the main force he led has captured the enemy's guerrilla detachment and will start a decisive battle with the enemy in the next two or three days. Although he is very dissatisfied with our inability to go north for the time being, he also said that if the main Chinese corps is attacking Samarkand with such a low intensity, then it doesn't matter whether we go or not."
"Huh?" After listening to Coutinho's report, Wallenstein frowned and said, "Please get me a picture of the troop deployment on the northern front. No, sir, call a staff meeting immediately. I want to know the situation on the northern front in detail."
…
At the same time, in Central Asia, more than 100 kilometers west of the Amu Darya River.
"Sir, we have once again engaged in fierce fighting with the Chinese rearguard, and the Chinese have once again fled in panic."
"Hahaha, these idiots who don't know geography, if they go further, they will reach the Karakum Desert! Although there are many oases and herdsmen in it, without a reliable guide, they can't find the oases hidden deep in the desert. Besides, even if they find them, what good will it do? Can those oases support their tens of thousands of troops?"
More than a month had passed since September 5, when Hussein led seven divisions of Ottoman troops and 50,000 Turkmen and Uzbek cavalry out of Samarkand and went out of the city to pursue the detachments of Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
During the thirty-three days, Hussein's group and Li Zhang's detachment had two large-scale battles and countless small-scale battles, and both sides lost about 20,000 people each.
Although the losses were similar, the more battles they fought, the more confident Hussein became: the Chinese would be fighting without a rear base, and although they could plunder food, cattle and sheep from the Turks and Uzbek residents along the way, their weapons and ammunition could not be replenished. Therefore, as long as our army was always hanging behind the enemy and the exchange of fire continued, one day, the enemy would be exhausted to death.
Subsequent developments confirmed Hussein's idea: in the Battle of Chalju on October 1, although the Chinese cavalry was at a disadvantage in terms of horse breeds and had a hard time fighting against the Ukrainian and Turkish cavalry, the cavalry were extremely tenacious in the battle mainly using cold weapons. However, after more than two hours of fierce fighting with the Ottoman army led by him, the Chinese infantry actually abandoned the cavalry on the distant battlefield and fled!
In this case, it is certain that the Chinese are running out of ammunition. Chase! Chase and kill all these damn Chinese! In this way, not only will he stabilize the Central Asian front, but he will also be able to push back and lead his army into Xinjiang, China, as Grand Vizier had previously envisioned.
However, the complacent Hussein did not expect that: first, on October 1, when Li Zicheng's infantry retreated westward, Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry retreated northward. Second, although his 120,000-30,000-man army chased Li Zicheng's troops into the Karakum Desert, he also entered the desert and was getting farther and farther away from the Amu Darya River, which had abundant water sources.
On October
"Sir Hussein, after carefully reading the battle report you sent and our staff's repeated deductions of the battlefield situation, I believe that you are now in a very dangerous situation. Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong still showed great tenacity and high military literacy in the extremely difficult environment of North America, facing our elite troops. It is unlikely that the troops led by such outstanding generals will be defeated in successive battles, nor will they be unable to control the use of their own ammunition. The enemy is likely to lure you deep into the desert, and then the infantry troops will occupy an oasis and hold on, while the cavalry troops will cut off your supplies... In my many years of military career, I have done too many things to show weakness to the enemy and lure the enemy step by step into the ambush circle I designed in advance. Please trust my intuition and never leave the Amu Darya River too far - Wallenstein sincerely hopes that you are safe."
