Li Sanlang used the Mongolian he had just learned to command his cavalry troops: "Hurry up, let them hurry up!"
All the people living in the Hami Oasis, regardless of race or tribe, were forcibly relocated.
Of the eight cities of Hami, only Hami Royal City, Lamu City and Kunmo City are left. The other five cities can be abandoned directly. All the people were moved to these five cities, and the court provided food and simple weapons to defend the city.
The military rations shipped from the pass finally arrived, jointly transported by three Shanxi merchants.
They transported grain to Hami and could obtain salt from Wang Yuan. This was the "Kaizhong system" implemented by the Ming Dynasty.
Some merchants directly set up farms on the frontiers, and the grain they produced was sold directly to the troops, and they could also obtain salt. This was the combination of merchant settlements and Kaizhong system.
Unfortunately, with political corruption, both the Kaizhong system and the Shangtun system gradually declined.
The decline of the Kaizhong system stems from the indiscriminate distribution of salt. You can get the salt by bribing the powerful, so why go through all the trouble of transporting grain? The decline of the merchant system stems from the control of the nobles and civilian officials over the right to collect military rations, resulting in
Merchants would still lose money selling grain near the frontier.
In order to obtain military rations this time, Wang Yuan directly used the tea and horse trading rights in the Western Regions as bait to attract Shanxi merchants to come to Kaizhong. As long as they transported the grain, those Shanxi merchants would not only get salt, but also get the next few years.
Qualifications for tea and horse trade in the Western Regions.
After half a year, the military rations were finally sent to Hami by Shanxi merchants!
"General, some people are unwilling to leave their homes." A Mongolian cavalry came over to report.
Zhang Zigao sneered and said: "Since you don't want to leave, then kill him."
Li Ying was surprised and said: "These are our own people!"
Zhang Zigao shook his head and said: "If they don't move into the city, they will definitely be kidnapped by Turpan, and then become coolies and die in the siege troops. If General Li doesn't kill them now, he will kill them while defending the city in a few days."
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Li Sanlang was silent, carefully weighing the gains and losses, and then ordered: "Ci does not control the army, this is the only way. All the people who are unwilling to move into the city will be killed, and no one will be left alive!"
Under the urging of Butu Dao, the relocation efficiency increased rapidly.
Li Ying led Wang Yuan's disciples, as well as the fire gun soldiers who came to Hami, as well as the original Hami garrison, and were ordered to garrison the royal city of Hami.
Zhu Ying led five hundred Mongolian cavalry, gathered the people to defend the city, and was ordered to garrison in Lamu City.
Zhang Wei led 500 Mongolian cavalry, gathered the people to defend the city, and was ordered to garrison in Kunmo City.
Due to the repeated plundering of Turpan, the population of Hami's eight cities and surrounding areas dropped sharply. All moved to three cities, but it was not crowded at all.
A section of the collapsed city wall of Lamu City has been briefly repaired to prevent Turpan soldiers from swarming in.
When Mansuer led more than 12,000 cavalry to Hami, his heart suddenly went cold!
Whether it is pasture or cultivated land, it is all deserted. Especially the cultivated land, some of which have been planted with wheat, and some of which are only half-planted, are left there without being taken care of.
What a waste, you can only dig out the sprouted wheat seedlings from the ground!
Mansuer continued to march and finally came to a city. However, the sentry came back and reported: "Sutan, there is no one in the city and not a single grain of food was found. The enemy also blocked the karez. If we want to get water, we must repair the karez first."
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Mansu'er was depressed and continued to advance with his troops.
It was still desolate, not even a ghost could be seen, and what we saw ahead was another empty city.
Man Su'er was going crazy and could only order: "Tonight in the military city, repair the karez here first!"
After four days of struggling, the Turpan army finally arrived outside Lamu City.
This city is much larger than Chiting City. It was a garrison city established by Captain Yihe in the Han Dynasty. It was managed by Yiwu Sima, whose main responsibilities were farming, raising horses and fighting wars.
The city wall is not high and is made of rammed sand, but it is out of reach for pure cavalry troops.
what to do?
Mansu'er's head is extremely big.
He used to fight in Hami. In order to ensure the speed of the march, he did not bring any infantry. He directly robbed local herdsmen and farmers, used these people as cannon fodder, and improvised simple siege equipment.
If the city is well-defended, then simply go around the city and continue looting everywhere.
But Wang Yuan didn't play by the rules. He ignored production activities in April and May and actually played a game of strong walls and clear fields.
Looking at the densely packed defenders on the city wall, although they were all civilians armed with simple weapons, Mansu'er still didn't have any confidence that they could capture it.
"Sutan, why don't you go back to Turpan and bring infantry to attack the city?" suggested the horse follower.
"Ma Tie" is "Mu Tieyi", which means "submissive". "Ma Heima", who was killed by Wang Yuanzhen before, should actually be translated as "Muhammad", and you will know the name as soon as you hear it.
Man Su'er shook his head and said: "Go directly to Hami Royal City!"
The infantry in Turpan are not strong, they are all young and strong leftovers from the cavalry. They are barely able to defend the city, but they will be blinded when they are pulled out to attack the city, and the number is too small to be consumed during the siege.
After another attack, Man Su'er arrived at the gate of Hami City. He only observed it for a moment, then circled the city and ran to the east. He didn't believe that all the seven guards in Guanxi were fortified!
Facts have proved that Wang Yuan is more ruthless than Mansuer imagined.
The people of Handong Left Guard and Shazhou Guard have all withdrawn into Shazhou City, and Mansu'er also cannot find any chance.
Wang Yuan's order to strengthen the walls and clear the country was successfully implemented, thanks to Turpan's brutality over the years. They used to loot, but the Quxian Guards were almost wiped out, the Anding Guards were not far away from being wiped out, and the remaining guard posts also had strong populations.
reduce.
Most of the young and strong of these tribes were dragged to fight by Wang Yuan. The remaining old, weak, sick and disabled had no ability to resist, so they were naturally easily taken into the city to avoid the disaster.
When the war reached this point, Wang Yuan was no longer worried that the Mongolian tribes under his command would not cooperate.
But the Mongolian tribe under his command was worried that Wang Yuan would leave with his army. If Wang Yuan did not gather the army, the Seven Guards of Guanxi would become a piece of scattered sand again, and Man Su'er had been completely angered and would be waiting by then.
Mansu'er's crazy revenge!
Just like the various tribes in Turpan, they were forced to unite around Mansuer.
The Mongolian tribes in the land of Kansai were also forced to follow Wang Yuan. No matter who gave up halfway, they would be exterminated.
what to do?
Mansu'er didn't want to go any further east, as there would definitely be strong walls and clear fields there.
The city wall of Shazhou was not high, and the defenders only had two to three thousand soldiers, most of whom were old, weak, sick and disabled. Man Su'er issued an order in anger: "Make a ladder and dismount to attack the city!"
There are no tall trees near the sandbank, and the few that are there have been cut down in advance.
Mansu'er couldn't even make siege equipment. He could only ask his soldiers to carry earth and boulders and transport them to the bottom of the city to build a slope.
There were only a few young men who defended the city, leading the elderly, women and children to throw rocks, wood, gold juice and other objects down the city. These tribes had limited supplies, and all their iron arrows were taken away by the cavalry. The old, weak, women and children could only
Shooting bone arrows sporadically.
After two days and nearly a thousand casualties, Mansu'er finally rushed up to the low sandbank wall.
They didn't grab much goods at all. There was only a little food left in the city, and the number of livestock was slightly considerable. Such a shabby trophy was obtained at the cost of the lives of nearly a thousand elite cavalry. Mansu'er's heart was bleeding!
Man Su'er did not dare to engage in massacre, but instead took two thousand old, weak, women and children to serve as cannon fodder to attack the nearby Guazhou City.
Guazhou City is shorter, has fewer garrison troops, and also has less loot.
After capturing Shazhou and Guazhou, Mansuer did not dare to continue eastward. This was because according to the report from the expedition, the Han army in Suzhou City had probably moved to Chijin Fort, and there were also old men from Handong Guard and Chijin Guard.
The weak, sick and disabled cooperated to defend the city.
What's even more frightening is that the large group of cavalry led by Wang Yuan never showed up.
If Mansu'er leads his troops to attack too deeply and is attacked from both sides outside Chijin Fort, then just wait for the entire army to be annihilated.
Escorting nearly 3,000 old, weak, women and children, Mansuer returned to the gates of Hami City.
These innocent people who served as cannon fodder were forced by machetes to carry the soil and attack the city. Halfway through, they suddenly knelt down collectively.
"Hot air balloon!"
Li Sanlang gave an order, and two hot air balloons rose from the city wall and were tied there with ropes to serve as a lookout.
"Inshallah!"
The cavalrymen under Mansu'er dismounted one after another and knelt before the two hot air balloons.
Mansuer shouted anxiously: "That's not Allah, that's Setani (the devil), it's Ibris (the devil)!"
Even if the devil defends the city, it is not easy to attack.
After Mansu'er roared like this, the cavalry no longer knelt down, but they did not dare to attack the city again.
Mansu'er gritted his teeth and said: "Kill the old man and take the women, children and livestock back to Turpan!"
The Turpan cavalry were just outside Hami City, raising their butcher knives at the unarmed people, and then retreated with a small amount of loot.
From the moment he discovered the enemy's fortified walls and cleared the country, Man Su'er's march was very slow. He even deliberately exposed his flaws and lured Wang Yuan's cavalry to attack. As long as Wang Yuan's thousands of cavalry were eaten, the entire Kansai land would be at his mercy.
, the cities in Kansai even had to surrender voluntarily.
But from beginning to end, Wang Yuan's cavalry never showed up. This made Man Su'er feel like he was punched on cotton, and he felt so aggrieved that he was so angry that he wanted to hit the wall.
During the retreat, Man Su'er also marched slowly, hoping that Wang Yuan would lead his troops to attack him. No matter whether it was an ambush or a night attack, he could accept it, as long as he could fight him with real swords and guns.
Damn it, not a single enemy can be found in the wilderness!
Li Ying stood on the wall of Hami and watched the Turpan army withdraw to the west. He murmured to himself: "I only hope that Brother Ruoxu can succeed, otherwise the land of Guanxi will be ruined."
Strengthening the walls and clearing the fields is easy to say, but in fact it will cause great harm to one's own side.
If Turpan had not plundered and massacred the Seven Guards of Guanxi several times, and there was not much population left in total, Wang Yuan would not have been able to clear the country. Even so, this year's production activities were almost complete, and Wang Yuan promised that the Ming court would send food relief.
The Mongols in the Western Regions didn't know what the imperial finance was like, but Wang Yuan himself knew it.
There must be relief food, but it cannot feed the Kansai Seven Guards.
Wang Yuan could only loot Turpan, empty the treasury of the nobles, and use the property to buy grain from the merchants of the Ming Dynasty!