"The sons and daughters came to see their father Khan."

In the dim candlelight, under the Shen Dan steps, Galdan bowed respectfully to the ground and saluted his father Batur, who was sitting on the dragon chair.

It was only then that Batur seemed to come back to his senses from his confusion and said lightly: "Oh, here you are, get up and talk." ”

"Xie Father Khan."

After Galdan got up, a wry smile crossed Batur's face, and he said in a low voice: "Galdan, what do you think about the current situation?" ”

When Galdan saw his father Khan asking himself straight to the point, he was stunned. However, he also reacted quickly, took a deep breath, and replied: "Father Khan, my sons think that Li Xiao has destroyed most of the elite of my Dzungar Khanate, and killed his eldest brother and cousin, then they will definitely have no worries and go all out to attack the Yarkand Khanate." As soon as the Yarkand Khanate is destroyed, it will use our country's breach of contract as an excuse to send troops to the north and attack our Dzungar Khanate with all its might, so that our Dzungar Khanate will be empty of troops, and it will be very difficult to resist the all-out attack of hundreds of thousands of elite Tang troops, and its situation will also be extremely dangerous. ”

When Galdan said this, he deliberately paused, peeked away, and saw his father Khan Batur's face in pain but inconvenient to attack, so he continued: "However, although the Tang army has a great chance of winning this attack, my Dzungar Khanate is not a fish on the board, and it can be slaughtered. From the point of view of the retainers, if our Dzungar Khanate wants to survive from death, if it wants to turn defeat into victory, then there is only one way to work. ”

"Oh, what's the solution?"

Galdan's eyes burned, Fu took a deep breath, and said in a deep voice: "First of all, because our army is insufficient, the border guards on the border, after learning the news of the Tang army's attack, need to immediately abandon the border city, abandon the border defense line, command all the soldiers and horses, and immediately enter the capital city of Dorben Erut. ”

Hearing this, Batur was stunned and hurriedly asked, "If you act like this, won't the border area have to surrender to the enemy?" ”

"Alas! Father Khan, forgive the sons and daughters bluntly, the Tang army has strong troops, extraordinary combat power, and many firearms to help, our army is already scarce, if the army is divided again, how can it be the enemy! Even if the whole army is loyal to each other, the difference in strength is too great, and even if you want to defend it with danger, it is difficult to last. And instead of being wiped out by the Tang army in this way, it is better to withdraw it to the capital to preserve the fundamentals. It would be the right strategy to rely on the strong walls and garrisons of the capital city of Dorben Erut, and to deal with it for a long time. Galdan's face was solemn, and he replied hurriedly.

When Batur heard this, his brows were tightly knit and he couldn't stop brushing his beard.

Galdan stared at the change in his expression, but remained silent.

Batur let out a long sigh: "Galdan, although this is the case, if the Tang army finds out that there are no soldiers and horses stationed on our border, won't it become more and more arrogant, so that they will hit the capital in one go?" Moreover, if the news of the rout of our army reaches the Russian Empire in the north, will not the aggressive Russian tiger and wolf also be ready to act against our northern borders? ”

"Alas, it seems that Father Khan is really old, and he is timid and backward, and he is really cowardly." Seeing that his father Khan was so confused and timid, Galdan felt contempt in his heart.

He couldn't help but sigh and replied: "Father Khan, stay in the green mountains, don't be afraid of no firewood." Now that the Tang Army is so powerful, how can we compete with it! Our country is already weak, and if we pretend to be strong, what can we do? As for Russia in the north, it is estimated that after receiving the news that our troops were killed in the Yarkand Khanate, I am afraid that they have already moved the idea of going south to fight. This is almost a certainty, and how can it be easily avoided. ”

Seeing that Batur had a gloomy face and did not speak, Galdan hurriedly said: "Father Khan, in the opinion of a child, when he withdraws the border troops and defends the capital with all his might, he must immediately send an envoy to Moscow, the capital of Russia, to meet the Russian Emperor Alexei I, and before Russia sends troops, he will take the initiative to sacrifice land and cede land, and on this condition, I beg him to send reinforcements to aid our Dzungar Khanate, so that the two countries can jointly deal with the Tang army and horses that came from afar. At that time, we still have more than 50,000 soldiers and horses in the city of Dorben Erut, plus tens of thousands of reinforcements sent by Russia, to give them an internal and external attack, and they will jointly attack the besieging Tang army, and I believe that they will be able to defeat them in one fell swoop. ”

After listening to Galdan's plan, Batur was still silent, but his face was much more relaxed.

Seeing that this father Khan was silent, Galdan sighed and said, "Father Khan, there are always priorities. I have calculated that if Russia agrees to send troops, its troops will be able to arrive in a month at most if they want to come to the city of Dorben Erut. In that case, as long as I can keep the capital city of Dorben Erut, and temporarily lose the border city, what does it matter? And if our army can clear the wilderness in the middle of the country, the Tang army will not be able to come from afar, and at most it can only capture a few of our border cities. And when our army and Russian reinforcements join forces to defeat the Tang Army, and then drive it out of the country together, isn't it a logical thing? ”

Batur nodded, but asked worriedly: "Galdan, have you ever thought about what if Russia does not send reinforcements, but colludes with Li Xiao'er and conspires with me in the land of Dzungaria?" ”

Batur's rhetorical question, Galdan's face also stiffened, and there was a lot of bitterness in his expression. He smiled wryly and replied; "Father Khan, in the current situation, I can only do my best, obey the destiny of heaven, and take one step at a time. If the Russians really want to unite with the Tang Army against our country, then our country will be considered to have run out of days, and it is reasonable to die. However, the envoys we have sent should be able to express to Russia that they will be cold and that the rabbit and the dog will cook the case, so as to save the situation as much as possible. I heard that the Tang Army, in order to capture Yarkutsk in Russia, had a big fight with Russia, and completely defeated the Russian army and forcibly occupied the entire East Siberia for several years. ”

"Moreover, the soldiers and horses of the fifth town of the Tang Army, after occupying Eastern Siberia, were still greedy and insufficient, and their front-line soldiers and horses continued to advance westward, and had reached the east bank of the Ona River, and were about to enter Western Siberia. The Tang army is so greedy, how can Russia not be extremely afraid. In today's Russia, because the king was still young a few years ago and did not participate much in state affairs, it was all the in-law nobleman Morozov who actually controlled and managed the power of Russia. This person is greedy and cruel, in order to strengthen the country's financial oppression, vigorously oppress the poor people and the vast number of serfs, the year before last Moscow broke out against the imposition of a high salt tax in the citizens' uprising, and in recent years there have been successive uprisings in Pskov and Novgorod, Russia's borders are unstable and civil strife, and it is in great need of stable development, how can it be reconciled with the enemy and attack our country together? “

When Galdan said this, he sighed again: "Father Khan, take another 10,000 steps back, if the Tang Army cooperates with him to destroy our country, will his greed be satisfied?" It is not necessary to continue to attack Russia in the north, but I am afraid that Russia will be driven across the Ural Mountains before it can be stopped. Russia also has wise men, how can they not see that cooperating with the Tang Army will only be a conspiracy with the tiger, and in the end it will lead to the sad result of eating itself. Therefore, the child still thinks that if Russia asks for a long-term strategy, it will go all out to aid our country, and will not cooperate with the Tang army in a bare eye. ”

Hearing this, Batur nodded slightly, his face was completely soothed, and his mind had been decided.

Damn, he can't bear the wolf with his child, and now in order to protect the entire Dzungar Khanate, he can only act as Galdan said.

Therefore, he immediately ordered Galdan to be appointed as the commander of the defense of the capital, and immediately gathered troops and horses from all over the country to aid the capital, and must ensure the safety of the capital and keep the core of this Dzungar Khanate.

At the same time, he sent an envoy plenipotentiary to Russia to show Russia the willingness of the Dzungar Khanate to divide the land and land in order to ask for reinforcements, and at the same time to inform it of the truth that the lips are dead and the teeth are cold, and urge it to march into the Dzungar capital as soon as possible.

In addition to bringing all the stored grain and ordnance to the capital, the military fort grain depots and crops in various places must be completely destroyed, so that the Tang army has no way to supply logistics on the spot.

Even the people everywhere were to be forcibly moved out of the capital immediately. Prevent the manpower and material resources of the city, so that the Tang army can get supplies. Let the Tang army go out to the Dzungar Khanate this time to gain nothing, and there is no possibility of requisitioning grain on the spot.

A few days later, Galdan withdrew all the defenders of the border forts to the capital, and then led a total of more than 50,000 soldiers and horses to garrison the capital together.

At the same time, in order to ensure that there were enough troops available, the young men in the city were also urgently assembled, and a total of more than 20,000 strong men were pulled to the city wall to defend as temporary auxiliaries.

It seems that the Dzungar Khanate is handled urgently and orderly, and it looks like it will face off with the Tang army to the end.

While the Dzungar Khanate was busy and anxious to defend the capital, the Tang army was also gathering its entire army and marching towards Kashgar, the capital of the Yarkand Khanate.

As early as when the main force of the Tang Army marched towards Kashgar, the soldiers and horses of the 11th Town of the Tang Army, which acted to confuse the enemy, had arrived at the outskirts of Kashgar in advance under the leadership of the town mayor Mo Changrong.

Along the way, they made a big show and put on a huge appearance, which shocked the remnants of the remnants of the army in Kashgar City to be confused about the truth and reality, and everyone was terrified.

What made the defenders of the city even more frustrating was that after the Tang army, which did not know the reality of the troops, arrived in Kashgar City, they divided their troops and plundered nearby, and they were invincible, sweeping away all the remaining people and food after the nearby fortified walls were cleared.

Sadly, the Tang army was fierce outside, and the only remaining 50,000 soldiers and horses in the city only dared to watch from the wall.

These last precious soldiers and horses, all led by King Abdullah himself, have been cowering in the city, not daring to come out at all. They were strictly ordered to defend the city, and when they saw that the Tang army was doing evil outside, they could only grit their teeth in the city.

After all, Kashgar is the last important town of the Yarkand Khanate, and there is no room for failure.

It's just that after defending like this, the defenders at the head of the city, who were already demoralized, suddenly became more and more depressed. They stood at the head of the city every day, trembling in their faces, completely unsure of what to do next.

And the main general in the city, the Yarkand king Abdullah, every time he patrols the city, he sees that the Tang army outside is so large and elite, and he looks like a rainbow, his heart is suddenly full of panic and loss.

What to do?

The Tang army is so powerful, the number of defenders in the city is insufficient, and the morale is so low, can this capital really be defended?

Alas, why have the soldiers and horses of the Dzungar Khanate not yet arrived!

Abdullah was in a depressed mood and was speechless for a long time, he subconsciously looked at the sky from afar, and could only see that there was a round of sunset that was gradually setting in the west.

The sun is setting, the twilight is vast, some mustaches and remnants, trapped in the lonely city, endless mountains and rivers, endless ends, for a while, Abdullah's heart is full of inexplicable sadness.

After waiting for a few days, in the Tang army's array, a line suddenly split like a wave, and a Tang army general wearing an eight-petal tasseled helmet, steel mountain pattern armor, copper-covered boots, and a bright red cloak was riding his horse towards the east gate of Kashgar City under the protection of a group of guards with the same armor.

Seeing the person who came dressed like this, Abdullah secretly said in his heart, in the eyes of this person, there is no doubt that he must be the main general of the Tang Army.

He guessed correctly, the general of the Tang Army was Mo Changrong, the mayor of the eleventh town of the Tang Army. Now, surrounded by a group of guards, he will soon be a stone's throw away from the east gate.

At this time, one of the guards next to him pulled his neck and shouted to the city, "Hey! Listen, people in the city! My head of the town, Mayor Mo Changrong, wants to talk to your king, please go to the palace quickly! ”

Hearing the shouts of the Tang army, the defenders at the head of the city became more and more panicked, and they subconsciously focused their helpless and panicked eyes on the frowning king Abdullah.

Abdullah, who was dressed in armor, felt the pressure of everyone's gaze, and finally let out a long sigh and came to the east gate.

Looking at the Tang soldiers and horses under the city, the city lord general Abdullah glared angrily and shouted, "I am the king of the Yarkand Khanate, and Abdullah is also." You wait for the Han dog Nikan, who dares to invade my Yarkand Khanate for no reason, slaughter our soldiers, and occupy the city of our state, I really hate it in my heart, and I really want to kill you and others to relieve my hatred! ”

Seeing that Abdullah was so embarrassed now, but he was still so strong and hard-toothed on the surface, Mo Changrong sneered and replied loudly: "Abdullah, you dog thing, listen up!" I am the mayor of the eleventh town of the Tang Army, Mo Changrong is also. Let me tell you, my army of hundreds of thousands, from Jiayuguan to attack here, everywhere I went, most of the prefectures, counties and towns surrendered, it can be said that invincible and unstoppable. You bullshit Yarkand country is also about to be destroyed. What's the point of you, a thing that doesn't know how to live or die, leading some remnants of the army and still guarding the capital? Now that our army is about to attack the city, if you, a thief, do you still surrender to our army at the right time, do you really want to be so obsessed and die here and destroy the country? I don't want to talk nonsense with you, now that our army is pressing, you are already cornered, if you don't surrender as soon as possible, let alone when! ”

After listening to the translator's rude and extremely strong words, Abdullah's heart was full of anger, and his teeth were gritted loudly.

"Humph! You invaded my Yarkand Khanate, killed our soldiers, occupied the city of our state, and you were embarrassed to come to persuade you to surrender! I, Abdullah, have been given the kingdom to the heavens, and I can only die on the battlefield, and I will die in martyrdom, and I can conquer the Erhan dog! Mo Changrong, you have the courage to come to attack the city, so why talk so much nonsense! ”