On September 5, 1687, Gao Wengang, the plenipotentiary envoy of the Republic of China to Europe, arrived at the port of Haji, located in the southwest of the Crimean peninsula, by ship.

The port of Haji was as prosperous and lively as ever, as if the war that was going on in the north had little to do with them, and the merchants, soldiers, adventurers, careerists, skilled workers, intelligence officers, and various clergy gathered here were all to eat, drink, and carry out their work in order. Although Haji County is only more than 1,500 square kilometers, and its military strength is only the size of a garrison of 1,000 people, there are tall people in the north who are afraid of it when the sky falls!

Gao Wengang's ship was parked at a berth in the harbor specially designed for government vessels and warships, and the conditions were excellent and the transportation was convenient. Of course, the conditions of the whole port of Haji-Dji seem to be excellent, this famous port known as "Sevastopol" in later generations has been the home port of the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation, and there are very long promontory stretching out on both sides as natural breakwaters, keeping out the fierce wind and waves, and keeping the harbor calm all the time. Not only that, but there were also geographical vantage points around the harbor that could be used to build forts that would cost any enemy fleet trying to break into the harbor dearly.

In addition, the entire southern part of the peninsula, including Haji County and Bekchisaray, the capital of the Crimean Khanate, is dotted with fertile black soil. Moreover, the climate here is warmer than the northern shore of the Black Sea, suitable for human life and the growth of crops, so Haji County is really a very ideal dual-use port, but also an excellent supply base, enough to accommodate hundreds of thousands of residents to live and work, although the current population here is still very small, only a few thousand.

But Easterners have also been investing in the colonial city in recent years. In addition to a ship repair shop, it has recently invested in the construction of a sizable gun repair factory, imported many machinery and equipment from the country, including steam engines, and hired some technicians at high salaries to support the factory's stalls.

Needless to say, business at the Haji Gun Repair Factory is very good. Not only did they repair guns for the army on the east coast of the Mediterranean, but they also took over the business of the Crimean Khanate. Even now even the Ottoman Agas had heard that the Haji Gun Repair Factory was quick and cheap to repair weapons, so they began to place orders for them to meet their own war needs. It is said that now the factory has begun to recruit people with experience in machining from the slaves captured by the Crimean Khanate in order to expand production as soon as possible and meet the influx of orders from all sides.

Of course, all foreign investment is not limited to this. Compared with industrial investment, people can easily find that there seems to be more investment in business and finance, such as the branches opened here by several local banks and insurance companies on the east coast, such as the branches opened here by Sun Chunyang South Stores, state-owned department stores, Nanhai Group and other enterprises, and even some branches of foreign banks or commercial companies with special licenses. It's a normal thing.

Gao Wengang is actually happy to see this. At the beginning of the year, the local governor of Haji County happily told him that if the infrastructure investments such as port expansion, road construction, urban water and sewerage, urban lighting (gas lamps), hospitals, schools and other infrastructure were removed, then the finances of Haji County would be balanced for the whole of last year (1686). That is, the tax collected by the government is basically offset by the expenditure, and there is no longer a need for Gao Wengang to report to the country to apply for funding, if you ignore those infrastructure projects.

There is no doubt that this is a milestone event, which shows that Haji County has slowly developed hematopoietic capacity. After the large investment of the East Coast government, this place that was originally called a wild place has changed its appearance, the population is increasing day by day, the economy is becoming more and more prosperous, and the flag of the East Coast Republic of China is hoisted here, and the surrounding forces are more or less scruples, so it has also attracted many Ottoman exile officials, Crimean merchants and other wealthy merchants and nobles around the Black Sea to settle here, which has brought a lot of wealth, knowledge and skills to the city, and further promoted the development of the city. These are the keys to the rapid improvement and rapid development of Haji County's economy.

"Wu Yifei, you said that Captain Mao was not there, so where did he go?" After arriving at an antique courtyard house in the county seat by carriage, Gao Wengang directly found Wu Yifei, the commander of the local garrison, and asked him about it.

To be honest, Gao Wengang was a little confused at this time. He had been in Istanbul for diplomatic activities, and had negotiated a series of cooperation with the upper echelons of the Ottoman Empire, including currency reform, which he was relatively proud of, and this was something that he could later take back as an important political achievement, and had a crucial influence on promotion. However, at this time, the person in charge of the state-run Haji trading station (which is also an intelligence station) sent him a report, pointing out that the Black Sea detachment had begun to mobilize partially after hearing of the major changes in the Azov war situation, and that the detachment leader, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun, had selected some of the elite in the whole army, and then requisitioned two merchant ships belonging to the South China Sea Transport Company, and sailed all the way east, saying that it was to land near Azov and carry out a long-planned operation, that is, to find and contact the Kalmyks, so that they could settle nearby and accept the protection of the people on the east coast.

Gao Wengang was annoyed by this. He had already told Mao Jun three times before, try not to get involved in this war, the reason why they were able to come to the Black Sea was also because he felt that the victory or defeat of this war was really difficult to say, and he wanted to see if they could help when they came, just in case.

But the result? After all, Mao Jun, the army Qiu Ba, still couldn't suppress the belligerent genes in his blood, and actually took people to the area of the Sea of Azov, what is Mao? Gao Wengang will be really angry, but it is not good to say anything in front of Wu Yifei, because he is not Mao Jun's boss, and there is no tradition of civilian commanding generals in the East Coast, so he can only veto it with one vote if Mao Jun obviously violates the country's major policies (there is actually a lot of room for maneuver here). Wu Yifei is also half a Qiu Ba, although he usually docks with him more, but some words are still not suitable for saying in front of him, so he can only sulk secretly.

"Yes, the liaison with the Kalmyks is a strategy that has been carried out for many years, but unfortunately there is no chance. This time, the defeat of the Russian army under the city of Azov was a godsend, so the head of the Mao detachment took people over. Well, he took the cavalry company of the 7th mixed battalion, and at the same time drew three hundred skilled soldiers from the Haji garrison, and four hundred elite horsemen were also selected from the three thousand mercenaries, bringing a total of eight hundred. Wu Yifei replied respectfully.

It is said that the Siege of Azov, which lasted for a month, finally ended in late July. Because Azov City was not besieged by regiments and the Ottoman navy could enter and exit freely, although the city could not be replenished with reinforcements, the supply of military materials such as food, weapons, and medicine was indeed sufficient, so the more than 10,000 defenders in the city always maintained a high morale, so that the Russians were never able to capture the city.

Look at the Russian troops outside the city. 150,000 horses and horses gathered together, people eat and chew horses, and the daily consumption of grain, grass, and munitions is an astronomical amount, and the logistics system of the Russian army is extremely bad, only a small part can be transported, so military supplies - especially food and horse materials - are very scarce, coupled with the Crimean Tatar cavalry resolutely harassing its logistics supply line, the Russian soldiers have to fight hungry, morale is very low, and the combat effectiveness has also dropped very much.

At the beginning of July (when the people on the east bank had just received news of the beginning of the siege by the Russians), the Tatars boldly entered eastern Ukraine, attacked a convoy of Samoilovich's grain, and burned the grain and grass. This batch of grain and grass was raised by the Cossacks with great difficulty, and they were intended to be transported to the Azov front to replenish the food reserves that were about to bottom out, but they were intercepted and burned by the Tatar cavalry, which directly determined the direction of the battle on the front.

In mid-July, after full preparations, the Great Khan of the Crimean Khanate led the main army of more than 70,000 people to contact the Arab troops from Egypt and Aleppo that had been active in the southeast of Azov, and launched a rapid offensive against the Russian army under the city of Azov. The Russians resisted for just over two days before gradually losing ground and retreating to the rear.

Great Khan of Gelai was also an old man, and knew that victory and defeat were in one move, so he personally went to the front line to command the battle, so that the most elite new army clinged to the main force of the Russian army and attacked endlessly, and finally turned the retreat of the Russian army into a rout, and the losses were extremely heavy. Mao Jun also decided to lead his troops to land at the mouth of the Don River in this context, he knew that the main force of the Russian army had been defeated, the loss of troops amounted to tens of thousands, and the remaining 80,000 or 90,000 people had completely broken their courage, and they were being chased and killed by the Tatars like sheep, and it was estimated that tens of thousands of people would have to be lost, so the situation in the southern provinces of Russia should be completely eroded, and the social order should completely collapse, which was just conducive to their actions.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun had already planned, and immediately after the landing, he would cooperate with the Crimean army to advance along the line of the Don River, pursue and kill the fleeing troops of the Russian army, and at the same time, search for and contact the local nomadic Tatars and Kalmyks, so that they could also join in the anti-Russian activities. If possible, it is also one of the plans to instigate these people to establish an independent state, in short, take one step at a time.

"Looking for a Kalmyk? Eight hundred? Gao Wengang was a little helpless: "Eight hundred people, still need war horses, weapons and ammunition, where did he get the means of transport?" ”

"There was already a ship in the harbor that belonged to the trading station, and in addition he had requisitioned two flute-shaped ships of the boys' transport company that were waiting to be loaded here, and two additional Gena*ian ships, for a total of five ships, which could be loaded. In fact, you don't have to carry all the food, weapons and ammunition, the Crimeans will definitely be able to replenish them, and even some war horses can be borrowed, so five ships are more than enough. Wu Yifei replied.

"Okay, okay, all of them took my words as a deaf ear." Gao Wengang was a little deflated, sat down on the chair, and waved his hand directly to let Wu Yi fly out, and then lit a cigarette and fell into deep thought.

Things have come to this point, and it must be unlikely that Mao Jun will be persuaded back again. What's more, now that the Russian army has been defeated and has no time to take care of itself, they follow the Tatars deep into the Don Valley, and the danger seems to be not so great. So at this time, it is also good to simply stop doing two things, and send more people to land in the area around the mouth of the Don River, make the scene bigger, and see if we can do something?

Thinking of this, Gao Wengang was more helpless. This time it was tantamount to the army taking him into the army, forcing him to make decisions, forcing him to agree to all their previous actions. In fact, in his heart, he did not want to see the East Bank army appear in front of the Russian army, especially when the outcome of this war was already doomed, which completely angered the Russians and was very detrimental to his long-term diplomatic career.

But now I can't help it. The army helped him to make a decision, which was to offend the Russians, go deep into the Don River valley and incite a large number of local nomads to revolt and establish his own independent state. At worst, these people must be pulled to the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, and then find a way to slowly resettle. In short, whether it is participating in the pursuit of the Russian army, or inciting an uprising or even "abducting" the Kalmyks, it will greatly anger the Russians and completely rupture the relations between the two countries, which have long deteriorated.

"Don't call them Kalmyks anymore, call them Oirats, the so-called Kalmyks and Warats are all scornful names, don't call them anymore." After being silent for a long time, Gao Wengang suddenly spoke up and said to his secretary.

In fact, the so-called Kalmyks are all Crimean Tatars, and the people of the eastern coast are indeed inappropriate because of this. Kalmykia, also known as the Turkic word "Kalkonk", means separated, left behind, and left behind, and by extension, it means "apostate" and "not believing in the green religion".

In terms of origin, the Kalmyks are actually standard Mongols, belonging to the Oirat Mongols of Moxi, and are very close to Dzungaria in terms of blood relationship, and they are all a branch of Moxi Mongols. The Kalmyks still believe in Tibetan Buddhism and maintain traditional Mongolian nomadic customs, operating along the Don and Volga rivers, and the Russians have only superficial influence over them, paying a symbolic tax every year, just like the large number of Tatar nomads in the region.

Therefore, the people of the eastern coast wanted to find them and acquire a nomadic land in the Black Sea or the Sea of Azov to shelter them. If possible, it would be better to establish a kingdom of the yellow race, even if it was to submit to the Ottoman Turkish Empire for a while, and then take it slowly.

This time, Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun led the team eastward and officially went for this matter. Kalmyks, it's time to break away from the Russians!