Volume 4: Hot! The whole world is a warring state Chapter 782: Peace Returns to the North
"Bang~Swish~"
"Sigh~"
“Ah~!”
On the morning of October 12, about 60 kilometers from the Amu Darya River, a traditional cavalry battle was unfolding. On one side was Zhang Xianzhong's 60,000 light cavalry (75,000 initial troops), mainly Mongolian soldiers, with some Uyghur and Kazakh soldiers riding short Mongolian horses and slightly taller Kazakh horses; on the other side was Said and Hasim's 42,000 cuirassi cavalry (50,000 initial troops), mainly Turkmen and Uzbeks, with a small number of traditional Ottoman Sipahi warriors riding relatively tall Akhal-Teke horses and Arabian horses.
Because the time travelers have made the technology tree of this plane weird: submachine guns have come out, but tanks have not come out yet. So in 1647, cavalry still has a certain status in the armies of the three major countries and has always maintained a certain number.
However, submachine guns were finally introduced. Therefore, in cavalry battles of this era, the two sides would often charge at each other first, use up a magazine during the charge, and then use sabers to decide the outcome - in general, the traditional fighting style still dominated.
With this style of fighting, Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry suffered a lot in the first month or so. Li Zicheng's infantry might have feigned defeat, but Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry was generally defeated for real, and the casualty ratio was always very ugly, almost 1:2 - there was no way, the Ming cavalry was at a disadvantage in terms of horse breeds. This was also one of the important reasons why Hussein dared to stay in the desert to besiege Li Zicheng: his cavalry was stronger than the enemy's cavalry, which could effectively protect his logistics lines.
However, in the battle on the early morning of the 12th, the situation was completely reversed.
At six o'clock in the morning on the 12th, before the sun rose in the high latitudes, the cavalry led by Zhang Xianzhong took the initiative to attack the Tuwu cavalry. Although the Tuwu cavalry was at a disadvantage in terms of manpower, they also started to fight against the enemy without fear.
After both sides fired a round of bullets from a distance and completed the first piercing through each other with sabers, the number of knights falling off the horses on the Ming side was still higher than that of the Ukrainian cavalry. But after the two sides fought for more than an hour, the sun rose completely and everyone's vision became better. The commanders of the Ukrainian-Turkish coalition, Sayid and Hasim, almost bulged their eyes: What's going on? How come after more than an hour of fighting today, and after the two sides repeatedly pierced through each other seven or eight times, the number of our soldiers falling off the horses is more than that of the other side?
"You are a bunch of idiots. My Mongolian horses are a little short, but they are hardworking and can maintain basic running ability after more than a month of high-intensity march. Your horses are good at short-distance sprinting and are much taller than our Mongolian horses. But their endurance is obviously not as good as ours. Not to mention, you walked in the desert all day yesterday, while I rested and fed the horses by the Amu Darya River for nearly ten days."
Yes, as a semi-wild Mongolian horse, it has supported the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Turks, Uighurs, Khitans and Mongols, so many grassland ethnic groups, since the third century BC. It has never relied on its height and might, but the most important thing is its hard work and endurance.
After more than a month of intense fighting between the two sides, the horses of the Wutu cavalry had already reached their limit, not to mention that Zhang Xianzhong's cavalry had rested for nearly ten days.
Therefore, after more than an hour of fierce and repeated sprinting, the Ukrainian-Turkish coalition's horses slowly began to fail to run. However, the short Mongolian horses were still energetic and maintained a considerable speed.
At around eight o'clock in the morning, when the sun had fully risen, the Mongolian cavalry actually used the Mangudai tactics of their .
At this time, the war horses of the Wutu coalition were completely unable to run and charge. Facing the Mongolian cavalry who fought and retreated and continuously attacked with long-range bows and arrows, the Wutu and Tu warriors riding tall horses were completely lambs to be slaughtered...
Around 9:20 in the morning, the Wutu cavalry formation began to collapse. First a few, then more and more cavalry began to flee. After just over ten minutes, the Wutu coalition army, which had more than 30,000 cavalry left, completely collapsed...
What awaited them was the continuous death of their horses and the Mongolian warriors easily harvesting their heads.
During their escape, Sayyid and Hasim were kind enough to send a telegram to Hussein: The cavalry has been defeated and the retreat has been cut off. Please make plans as soon as possible!
At 9:40, Hussein received this telegram, and he had not yet recovered from the huge blow. Another piece of bad news arrived: this morning, the enemy suddenly appeared in Dushanbe, and Dushanbe, which had no regular garrison, fell! (The five divisions originally stationed in Dushanbe were transferred to Samarkand).
It turns out that all of this was a trap! The cunning Chinese pretended to be defeated many times and led me into the desert step by step. The main force of the Chinese army in the east seemed to crawl slowly to Samarkand like a snail and launched a weak attack. It turned out that they had already separated an elite force to attack Dushanbe!
Although Dushanbe is located in the mountains, the logistics support route seems extremely difficult. However, after the fall of Dushanbe, this Chinese army in Central Asia completely opened the passage to Afghanistan. Although the Pashtuns in Afghanistan were given an independent status by the empire, they were very bloodthirsty in recent years, and the Pashtuns did not like the Ottomans. Now that Dushanbe, which was hanging over the heads of the Pashtuns, has been taken by the Chinese, what attitude will the Pashtuns take towards the empire in the future? Need we say it?
After thinking all this through, Hussein became extremely disheartened and even thought about ending his life once and for all.
However, as a soldier who had experienced many wars, after a brief period of frustration, he quickly cheered up and began to issue multiple orders in succession.
First, he sent a telegram to the transfer station in Tehran, asking them to report the battle situation there to the Grand Vizier in Istanbul. Hussein frankly stated that the group was in danger of being annihilated. If the Grand Vizier's reinforcements were too late, he would be asked to send troops to Persia in advance to prevent Sun Chuanting's troops from entering Persia and disrupting the empire's most fertile colony.
Then I sent a telegram to Wallenstein in Khyber: Your Excellency the Count has a much better sense of war than I do, but unfortunately I did not follow your advice. Now, the war situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse. If Your Excellency the Count wants to go north to support me, please come to Samarkand as soon as possible to join forces with me. I will do my best to bring back the remaining 80,000 Ottoman soldiers. However, after the loss of Dushanbe, the attitude of the Pashtuns will change. Whether Your Excellency the Count stays in Khyber or goes north, he must pay attention to the Pashtuns.
Then, he called a halt to his troops' attack on the Hakim Oasis, and ordered the entire army to count their luggage, especially to centrally control all the drinking water in the army. After arranging two divisions to cover the rear alternately, he led the remaining troops and resolutely began to return eastward.
…
Early morning of October 16th.
An Ottoman soldier with chapped lips, dry eyes, and difficulty moving his eyeballs, fell down silently after making a prayer gesture in the direction of Mecca.
At this time, four days had passed since Hussein led the Ottoman army of more than 80,000 soldiers back to Samarkand. The army was still more than 20 kilometers away from the Amu Darya River.
Human feet are not suitable for walking in the desert. Those who have lived in the desert or traveled to the desert in the 21st century know that walking in the desert is much more laborious than walking on ordinary ground. So after the Battle of Chalju on October 1, Li Zicheng walked and stopped for ten days before dragging Hussein's troops into the depths of the desert for only more than 200 kilometers. Now Hussein wants to walk back, and it will not be possible in just four days.
What is even more worrying is that although Hussein's troops had enough water for four days when they set out, this forced march was very physically demanding, and a forced march in the dry desert was even more physically demanding and water-consuming. Moreover, clean water would deteriorate over time!
So, on the evening of the 14th, Hussein's troops were essentially cut off from water!
People can barely survive without food for a few days, but if they don't drink water for more than three days, they will die. And soldiers who drink unclean water and suffer from severe diarrhea will of course die faster!
Starting from the afternoon of the 15th, soldiers began to fall behind one after another, and then died in despair in the endless desert, heading towards Mecca.
On the evening of the 15th, some soldiers began to voluntarily leave the team and surrender to Li Zicheng's troops, who were only one or two kilometers away from their rearguard troops.
Yes, from noon on the 15th, Li Zicheng's troops appeared in the sight of Hussein's rear guard. The Ming soldiers did not attack, but held their guns in one hand and their canteens in the other, looking indifferently at the Ottoman soldiers who kept dying in front of them. At this time, the Ottoman army just numbly advanced towards the Amu Darya River, completely ignoring the enemy troops that appeared behind them.
After watching the march in such a quiet, indifferent and extremely cruel way for the whole afternoon, at night, Li Zicheng, who could not bear it any more, ordered the treatment of the Ottoman soldiers who fell behind. Once this gap was opened, more and more Ottoman soldiers took the initiative to fall to the end and surrendered to the Ming army. In just one night on the 15th, Li Zicheng's troops took in nearly 20,000 prisoners.
At about 6 pm on the 16th , only about 40,000 Ottoman troops were left and they were only two kilometers away from the Amu Darya River. At this time, the humidity in the air increased significantly, and the ground under their feet was covered with green grass. Countless Ottoman soldiers exerted their last strength and desperately dug the mud and sand under their feet, trying to dig water from the ground. However, at this moment, Zhang Xianzhong's troops blocked their way...
At about 7 o'clock in the evening of the 16th, after a brief negotiation, Hussein turned back alone and joined Li Zicheng's team to surrender to Li Zicheng. Since then, Hussein's army, which had an initial strength of 155,000 troops since it set out from Samarkand in early September, was completely wiped out.
On the 23rd, Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong's troops arrived at the city of Samarkand with more than 60,000 prisoners. While joining forces with Sun Chuanting's main force, the defenders in the city were completely desperate.
On the 24th, Samarkand surrendered. The entire Ottoman Central Asian Army ceased to exist, and this large-scale war, at least on the northern front, temporarily calmed down.
