A pool of alkaline springs, demarcating the boundaries of the Gothas.

Since the Cossacks came to Turpan last year, they received clear instructions - not to cross the Nawang alkali spring, and on the other side of the alkali spring was the Ming army.

The Ming army did not build a fortress here, but only built a few simple camps, and for the Ming army, they had enough confidence not to build a fortress or to defend.

Offensive!

Capture the entire Western Regions.

For every Cossack, this was their nightmare, and these Cossacks from both sides of the Volga knew that the Ming army was a group of people who were better at fighting than the "devils with pigtails", and although they were not as savage as those people, they had developed technology that allowed them to have the best weapons in the world.

And in less than a year, the Cossacks had also seen what science was – just two months earlier they had seen a roaring steam locomotive, which, like a devil roaring out of hell, whistled and spewed thick smoke, dragging tens of thousands of loads of goods across the railway.

"God can testify that it must be the power of the devil!"

Until now, Sergey blushes at the fact that he has never seen the world, and he remembers the embarrassment of almost falling off his horse when he saw a steam locomotive.

In fact, everyone's situation was not very good, and even Harris, the noble officer, was stunned.

No one had seen a train before that day.

Although there was already a steam locomotive in Moscow – a gift from the Qing dynasty to the Tsar, the steam engine was so advanced for the Russians that it was destroyed in less than a year, and Russian craftsmen were unable to make the right parts to repair the train, which was later sold to France as scrap metal.

But even so, the steam locomotive also allowed the Russians to master the principle of the steam engine, but it was only the principle, Russia could not produce steel to make a steam engine, let alone bore the cylinder, in short, for the steam engine, Russia finally stayed on paper.

After all, this is a country that even muskets need to be imported.

Sergei, of course, didn't feel anything about all this, he just rode on his horse and went to Hami with the captain, and by their side, followed by several cavalrymen of the Ming Kingdom.

"Captain, look at their sabers, they seem to be very exquisite."

"Captain, their muskets are also delicate......"

Almost every time, Sergei would say these words, and his words made Holf, a German, feel a little embarrassed.

Yes, the swords of the Ming Kingdom are very exquisite, and so are their muskets, but in comparison, their weapons are rough like the weapons of barbarians, and even on the barrels of the muskets, you can still see the traces of hammer forging.

"Okay, Sergey, if you really like their stuff so much, you can just take your wife to Hami."

Horf grumbled dissatisfiedly.

"Captain, if everyone is willing to do this, I have no objection, I heard that the emperor of the Ming Kingdom is very benevolent......"

As a Cossack, perhaps Sergei swore allegiance to the Tsar, but for the Cossacks, they had no homeland, and their allegiance was forced by reality, after all, more than ten years ago, many Cossacks who participated in the uprising in the Stepan uprising were killed.

Despite Sergei's young age, he did not take part in the uprising, but his brother followed Stepan and later died on the battlefield.

However, not all the Cossacks who participated in the uprising were executed, some laid down their arms and were forgiven by the tsar, and several hundred Cossacks fled to Kazakhstan, and later they even became the bannermen of the Qing state and fought for the emperor of the Qing state.

The Cossacks were free and could be loyal to the Tsar, as well as to the Ming Emperor.

"These words, reach the ears of General Miroslavsky, he will definitely kill you,"

Khorf's words made Sergei say with a smile.

"God forbid, now he doesn't care about me at all, he's probably more worried about the Emperor of the Ming Kingdom now, otherwise, how could he let us go to Hami with the gift of tribute?"

General Miroslavsky in Khorf's mouth is the governor of the Eastern Governorate of the Russian Empire, the general who once suppressed the Rahim uprising, when he came here, he swore that Russia would never make a concession in the East, but God knows, now that general has been frightened and can't sleep.

"Haha, perhaps, by the time we went to Hami, he had already fled to Astrakhan and left the Eastern Governorship......"

"Haha, he has already sent his things to Astrakhan ......"

"That coward, even if he doesn't leave now, as soon as he hears that the Chinese army is coming, he will definitely flee immediately......"

When a hearty laugh came out of the mouths of these Cossacks, the eyes of several of the Ming soldiers who were escorting them around lit up, as if they could understand what these Cossacks were saying.

In fact, as early as more than ten years ago, there were intelligence officers in the military department who learned Russian, and in the process of escorting the Cossacks, they naturally sent military officers who could speak Russian. As for these Cossacks, they did not have a sense of secrecy at all, and the things they said inadvertently when chatting always contained a lot of information.

Astrakhan, fleeing......

The information that came out of the Cossacks' mouths was consistent with the information held by the Military Division, and this information was sent to Zhu Mingzhong at the first time.

"It seems that Miroslavsky is not willing to hold on to the Western Regions."

As he spoke, Zhu Mingzhong looked at Li Dingguo and asked.

"How sure are you if you do it now?"

"Ninety, Your Majesty, we have six towns in the Hami area, plus a town in the direction of Hotan, we can actually put in more than 150,000 troops, while Russia has less than 5,000 Cossacks in the direction of the Tianshan Mountains, and only more than 1,000 people in the direction of Yeerqiang.

"Well, it looks like you're leaning towards it."

"Your Majesty, I think that it is more in our interests than fighting, fighting, Miroslavsky is a member of the Russian Miroslavsky family, they are supporters of Tsar Ivan, so he is more inclined to be pursued by hundreds of thousands of troops, and then flee back to Russia, when the time comes, he can even claim how resourceful he is, to escape the pursuit of hundreds of thousands of troops, on the contrary, if we only send a few thousand troops, Miroslavsky will be more difficult to choose."

When Miroslavsky was mentioned, Li Dingguo's tone was tinged with mockery. If it weren't for the intelligence of the military department, it would be hard for him to imagine that in Russia the powerful ministers could even elect two tsars, and for those powerful families, the interests of the family have always come first.

"In order to protect the family's reputation, he has only one choice, but we sent a large number of troops, which in turn provides an excuse for Miroslavsky's retreat, after all, anyone knows what the result will be when a few thousand people fight against dozens of times the enemy's army, and he can safely lead the troops to withdraw to Russia, it is already ...... Well, God forbid, the Russians believe in this. ”

Li Dingguo's words made Zhu Mingzhong smile.

"They do believe in God, and you mean, right now, we just need one armed march, right?"

Before coming to Hami, Zhu Mingzhong had already decided to commit troops from about two towns to conquer the so-called "Shengjing" first, and then march all the way west to recover the whole of Xinjiang, but now Li Dingguo's proposal completely subverted his thinking.

"Almost, it's just an armed parade, the army is attacking Shengjing in a mighty way, as for the Russians, they will definitely retreat, whether it is a general or a soldier, they know very well what the price of resistance is, and more importantly, the Russians, they are not ready for war at all, Your Majesty."

"Not ready for war?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, now, the so-called Eastern Governorate of Russia has less than 10,000 Cossacks, and these 10,000 Cossacks are distributed in such a vast area, with the withdrawal of the Qing army and civilians, this area is simply a place where no one is inhabited for thousands of miles, just with a few thousand Cossacks, how can it stop the attack of the army? Therefore, the ministers are more inclined to use the Eastern Governorate in exchange for our concessions in Siberia than to take the war for the sake of the Qing captives, and if we are determined to fight, they will definitely abandon the Eastern Governorate at the first time, after all, the difference in strength between the two countries is too great, and the Russians are not ignorant of the gap between the two countries. ”

Then, Li Dingguo looked at His Majesty and smiled.

"Therefore, after learning that Your Majesty had traveled west to Hami, they sent people to pay tribute as soon as possible, and the minister felt that they were still inclined to negotiate."

"Tribute ......"

With a sneer, Zhu Mingzhong shook his head and said.

"Negotiations are impossible, we cannot make any concessions on the territorial issue."

On the issue of territory, Zhu Mingzhong is not willing to negotiate, and he has a clear bottom line in his heart about the future land of the Ming Dynasty - Siberia must be the Ming Dynasty, of course, including Central Asia, after all, the Ming Dynasty needs oil there.

"What if they're determined to hold on?"

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Mingzhong asked rhetorically. After all, in history, the Russians have always been extremely resolute in defending the dirt, whether it is Sevastopol or Lushun, the Russians have shown amazing will.

"It's easy, hit!"

Li Dingguo said coldly.

"Fight until they surrender, but I think that Miroslavsky never wants to die here, after all, the interests of the Miroslavsky family are realistic, and they cannot be abandoned! But ......"

After the cold words, Li Dingguo suddenly laughed.

"In Chen's view, in any case, they do not want to solve the problem by means of war."