At the beginning of July 1687, the fortress of Perekop.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, commander of the Portuguese garrison in the East Coast of China and head of the Black Sea Detachment, stood on the roof of a fortification north of the fortress and observed with great interest the defense system of this famous fortress, known as the "Tatar trench".

As the name suggests, a Tatar trench is a military defense system composed of ditches, castles, forts, city walls, and some hiding places as the main elements. Years ago, the Crimean Tatars, persuaded by their advisers on the eastern coast, set aside a portion of the money each year – generally borrowed from the eastern coast and then repaid in installments from slaves – and also borrowed some supplies from the suzerain, the Ottoman Empire, and built it consistently.

The entire system of Tatar trenches was supported by two fortresses, the salt fortress at the western end of the isthmus (about eight kilometers wide) (named after the nearby salt field) and the Perekop fortress at the eastern end. Both castles were located north of the Tatar trenches, guarding the rear trenches and fortifications, ensuring that flank fire from both sides would be able to crush the enemy when they tried to break through the trenches.

Thus, both the Salt Fort and the Perekop Fortress were armed with a large number of long-barreled heavy guns, which could basically cover the entire isthmus. In other places, of course, the Tatars also arranged many forts and small castles to block, divide and bombard the enemy. All in all, the Tatar trench was a three-dimensional fortification, with a large number of defenders and heavy weapons, and if there was enough gunpowder, food and water, it was absolutely possible to kill and wound a large number of enemy troops, or even drain their blood in front of this line, which is the main significance of the Crimean Khanate's construction of this epic line of defense at any cost.

But the Tatar trench now seems to be a little awkward. With the growth of the Crimean Khanate's plantation industry on the northern shores of the Black Sea, and the fact that the suzerainty of Ottoman Turkey placed Western Ukraine in their custody – Khmelnitsky the Younger had been nominally administered by the Crimean Tatars since his execution, but in fact the Cossack chieftains were self-governing – the economic center of gravity of the semi-nomadic, semi-feudal state had gradually shifted to the northern shores of the Black Sea.

In that vast area of calcareous black soil, the Tatars built hundreds of plantations, large and small, and used more than 300,000 slaves to cultivate the land for them, producing an astonishing amount of wheat, barley, sunflowers, alfalfa, and a wide variety of fruits every year, which were exported to the Ottomans, Italy, Spain, and other places in large quantities for their own use, and became very profitable.

In addition to this, with the help of the East Coasters, the Crimeans also established some basic processing industries in the local area to keep more profits in the country, such as sunflower seed oil mills, machine flour mills, fruit canneries, salt drying plants, etc. The degree of mechanization of these factories was not very high, and a large number of slaves from Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Hungary and other places were used to work, and the products produced were also exported to the entire Mediterranean, and some of them were even transshipped through Egypt to the east coast colony of New Huaxia Island, which is also very powerful.

These plantations and workshops are basically located on the northern shore of the Black Sea in the country, and only a few are located on the Crimean peninsula. Therefore, in such a situation, the existence of the Tatar trench defense system is even more glaring and embarrassing. Yes, that's right, the capital of the Khanate, Bekchisaray, was located in the south of the peninsula, and the political center of the whole country was there, but the problem was that now the economic center was no longer there, on the northern shore of the Black Sea, outside the defenses of the Tatar trenches, and it was more embarrassing!

Because of this, in recent years, the Crimean Khanate has significantly reduced its investment in the maintenance of the Tatar trench line. Because of the sheer size of the Tatar trenches, the total amount of this cost was not small, and the Great Khan cut it by one-third in one go, which shows that the status of this line of defense in his mind is not as good as before. Otherwise, why do you think they would be in a hurry to transfer the troops stationed near the fortress of Perekop, and let you have the people on the east coast to help defend it? It's not because the importance of this place has dropped considerably!

"The majestic line of defense, which had been spent on a huge amount of money and depleted the treasury, had become obsolete and even a ridiculous obstacle to communication between the north and the south. This world is so strange that it can't be more bizarre than this, right? Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun bent down and picked a wild flower on the roof turf, shook his head and smiled: "If this kind of defense line is built in our country, I am afraid that it will be scolded to death, right?" Because it doesn't seem to have worked for a day. ”

"I really haven't played it." A staff officer who followed behind Mao Jun replied: "At the time of construction, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was relatively strong in Ukraine, and after suppressing the Cossack uprising, they once wanted to attack the Crimean Khanate, which had plundered them for many years, until they were later defeated by the Russian Alexei Tsar's three-way offensive. At that time, the influence of the Russian Empire was deeply wedged into the Great Plain of Ukraine and was on the verge of being swept away, and the Crimean Khanate was on the weak side, so it was natural to think about the future of the country, so it was not an exaggeration to build Tatar trench fortresses in that era. ”

"The problem is that the line of defense is not stopped in time. After the alarm was lifted, the Tatars continued to invest in perfecting this line of defense, as if the large amount of money brought by foreign trade gave them extraordinary confidence, otherwise these bitter steppe men would not have the strength to build the iconic defense line of the farming people. Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun said.

"Plans don't come to a halt easily, even if the threat is lifted. What's more, the Poles, the Russians could make a comeback at any time, and this line of defense is already halfway repaired anyway, so why not step up and complete it completely? The staff officer said: "And at that time, the people in the commercial department also made great efforts, and Li Qing, the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, also sent people to persuade the Great Khan of Glei to carry out the contract, and highlighted some of its importance, which made the Crimeans determined to complete this epic defense line and become the most important barrier on the peninsula." ”

"Oh, it turned out to be my most hated envoy stirring up in there." Mao Jun couldn't help but complain when he heard it. Although it was the former special envoy Li Qing, and it was not Gao Wengang, who had a bit of an unpleasant quarrel with him recently, he still couldn't help but complain about these diplomatic officials who seemed similar to him.

In his opinion, the power given to diplomats by the East Coast government is simply too great! In particular, the establishment of the post of Special Envoy Plenipotentiary to Europe is very unreasonable and has too much authority. Think about it, he is in charge of the ambassadors of several major countries, he is also in charge of the operation of so many trading stations, and he is even more in charge of the development of intelligence work, and he can also flexibly handle all kinds of foreign affairs on the European continent under the guidance of his own country, formulate foreign policies, and decide whether to issue loans and who they want, which is indeed not ordinarily powerful.

However, when the Portuguese garrison was formally formed, the Executive Committee stipulated that military movements and operations must in principle be reported to the Plenipotentiary Envoy, and if he clearly expressed his opposition, the military commander was not allowed to act on his own. If we take into account that the daily expenses and war expenses of these troops are also raised by the Plenipotentiary Special Envoy, then there is no doubt that he also has a certain degree of influence in the military, and it is no wonder that Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun is very unhappy.

For example, this time the Russian army conquered Crimea in the south, as the highest military commander of the East Coast Republic of China in the European continent, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun was very excited, and immediately formed the so-called "Black Sea Detachment", and the main force of the Portuguese garrison was incorporated into it, and then in accordance with the agreement, the recruitment of mercenaries was spent in the Kingdom of Portugal.

After the formation was completed, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun led his men to the Crimean Peninsula by ship in batches within a year, and then stationed in the territory of Haji County, a leased territory there on the east coast, waiting for the outbreak of war. In this process, although Special Envoy Gao Wengang disagreed, he finally relieved his nose, and also gave them a huge amount of opening fees.

However, after the army arrived in Haji County, Gao Wengang sent a letter to Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, asking him to strictly restrain the troops, be cautious, and not to join the battle at will and cause unnecessary losses to the troops. Most importantly, he demanded that the East Bank troops not appear on the front line of the war against the Russian Empire, because he felt that the Russians had not yet closed the last window for improving relations with the East Bank, and that things could still be discussed.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun scoffed at this. He firmly believes that Russia's grand strategy is to gain access to the sea beyond the White Sea, which can only be achieved in both the Baltic and Black Sea directions. In the Baltic direction, the Russians need to fight to the death with Sweden, which controls the Livonian region, and it will be more difficult. On the contrary, in the direction of the Black Sea, there is only one war-torn and battered Ottoman Turkish Empire, and its ally Poland has also promised to send troops from the flank to assist the Russians in the war, so fools know that it is impossible for Russia to go west now, and will only go south to drink the Black Sea and get the coveted access to the sea.

And what about the strategy of the Eastern Coast Republic? Of course, it is to curb the southward movement of a land power like Russia! So what else is there to talk about, and what is there to be left to chance? One side wants to go south, and the other side wants to prevent it from going south, this is a fundamental contradiction, okay? Although the fact that the east bank did not directly engage the Russian army seemed to leave room for maneuver and gave it a step down when they wanted to negotiate peace in the future, it was not very useful! The Russians are not stupid, they already know very well how deeply the Easterners meddled in the affairs of the Crimean Khanate, and no one can guarantee how they will think of the Easterners because of these things! And Mao Jun faintly felt that if Russia was defeated in this war, then when they shirked their responsibilities, they would probably put the matter of the East Coast's assistance to Crimea on the table and say, then this is still a cover-up, and it is good to go directly!

"Detachment leader, I heard that the Russians have begun to lay siege to the fortress of Azov. The Turks did not engage them in field battles outside the city, but relied on fortified cities for defense. Of course, there was also a considerable number of Mamluk cavalry outside, who caused great harassment to the Russians and prevented them from attacking the city with all their might. Seeing that his superiors began to accuse Gao Wengang, the plenipotentiary envoy to Europe, the staff officer's face was a little ugly, and he immediately changed the topic and said: "Judging from all indications, Golitsyn is not sophisticated enough, and he has nothing outstanding in command. The fact that more than 100,000 Russian troops are not able to exert their maximum strength is good news for the Crimeans as it may partially offset their disadvantage in numbers. ”

"The Russians have gone through the magic barbars in order to gain access to the sea. What's so good about Azov? The port is heavily silted, the loading and unloading of goods is extremely inefficient, and the nearby seabed is full of sandy shores, which will cost a lot of money every year to maintain. This kind of rotten port, even if you don't want it to give it to us, the Russians still use it as a treasure. Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun said with a smile, with a lot of sarcasm in his words, only to hear him continue: "But in order for the Don River to be able to open to the sea, they have no choice, haha." This Azov is a nail that has to be hit, Golitsyn is a fool, he has a large army but he can't command, I just want to see if the Russians can get away with Azov in time, I remember that they are a little short of food, right? ”

"Not only food, but also forage, and ammunition is not very abundant." The staff officer echoed: "Yesterday there was news from the front that the Great Khan of Gelai had carried out a resolute policy of clearing the wilderness in the eastern steppe of the Khanate, and ordered all the herdsmen to leave their places and go to the west, without leaving a bag of grain or sheep for the Russians. ”

"Whatever, that fool will bury this army sooner or later." Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun looked at the skyline in the distance and said, "After I go back, I will summon the heads of various departments to my office for a meeting." Grandma's, it's been a tough day, I've got to go east and see how it's going. ”

"East? Do you mean Azov? The staff officer asked with some surprise, and then persuaded with some disbelief: "Detachment leader, there is a series of battles going on in Azov, and it is not interesting for us to go over and join in the fun, and the main forces of the Great Khan of Grei have not arrived." Moreover, if this is the case, there will be some problems for the High Envoy. ”

"What a fuck." Mao Jun scolded hatefully when he heard it, then looked at his intelligence staff and ordered: "Then forget it for the time being." But you kid have to keep an eye on the situation over there, don't we have three ships chartered to the Crimeans to help transport things in the Sea of Azov? You'd better send someone to follow the ship for a long time and get first-hand information in real time. As soon as the situation on the Azov side changes, then we will find a way to join in, implement a landing on the ground, and see if there is any cheap to catch. By the way, the men of the General Intelligence Directorate also brought with us, and we pushed upstream along the Don River to see if we could contact the Kalmyks, who were supposed to be their nomadic areas, and there were quite a few of them. ”

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