Chapter 41 Ottoman Russia Sends Arms to the Kiln Gangs

As an assault force, the contingent that broke through the defensive line laid out by the Ottoman army in the Greater Caucasus Mountains was definitely the elite of the Russian Empire. This assault team numbered just over 20,000 people, and they did not make much effort when they broke through the Greater Caucasus Mountains. After the defeat of the Ottoman army, the morale was extremely low, and the army that was left behind to block the enemy felt that it was an unlucky errand. They all knew that so many of the empire's most elite troops could not defeat the Russian imperial army, and it was even more impossible for their few armies to stop the Russians. So the Ottoman army, which remained in the Greater Caucasus Mountains, was already defeated without a fight. As soon as the Russian Empire arrived, and as soon as the two armies came into contact, the Ottoman army was defeated. Fortunately, the Russian Imperial Army was also very cooperative with them and did not pursue them. In this way, the army in front of the Ottoman Empire fled backwards, and the army that was enveloping it behind also fled backwards.

However, the Russian Imperial Army, which was fighting well, received an order to stop attacking and defending on the spot.

At first, the commander of this army, the proud Count Ostov, thought that this was a temporary order from the Tsar, and he believed that after a well-organized offensive operation, the fight would not be abandoned for no reason. Besides, after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire, the morale was over, and now is really an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity to defeat them completely. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the mighty Ottoman Empire to defeat them when they breathe a sigh of relief.

However, the Tsar's envoy poured cold water on the head of the arrogant Count Ostolov, who was shocked to hear that the Ottomans had bought more than 5,000 muskets, and he knew what these 5,000 muskets meant, and that it was with a thousand muskets that the Russian Empire defeated the Ottoman army. After the last World War, the effect of muskets has been magnified by an unknown number of times.

After listening to the envoy's introduction, Count Ostolov felt a little chill in his back, if it weren't for the news from the envoy, his 20,000 people would have assaulted in front and encountered Ottoman muskets, I am afraid that none of them would have been able to go back. The envoy also instructed Count Ostolov to keep the matter a secret, so as not to affect morale.

To Count Ostov's anger, his request to lead the army to first withdraw to the Greater Caucasus Mountains was refused. There was no way, Count Ostolov had to ask the envoy to send some more troops, otherwise, with their more than 20,000 people who had penetrated into the army alone, it would be very dangerous to face the entire Ottoman army. However, the envoy only promised that he would convey his request to the Tsar. Of course, there is no follow-up to this matter.

In fact, the tsar himself would be in a dilemma, reason told him that if he did not attack, he would withdraw to take a real defensive position, but he had already defeated the Ottoman Empire, and this opportunity to defeat the Ottoman Empire in front of him was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and he did not want to lose it. He had already lost the results of the natural danger of fighting the Greater Caucasus Mountains, and he didn't know how much he would pay if he wanted to fight again, so he couldn't make up his mind. He also knew that in order to hold the victory, he had to increase his troops, but if he stopped continuing the attack, he would not send troops out. The Tsar's idea was to buy some muskets as soon as possible to strengthen the army and strive to launch another attack on the Ottoman Empire as soon as possible.

The lone army that had killed the Greater Caucasus Mountains had been alone in the Tsar's hesitation.

Although the Ottoman Empire was defeated once by the Russian Empire, its war potential was incomparable to that of the Russian Empire, the Ottoman War Machine was war-tested, and his intelligence agency was extremely efficient. The situation of this lone army was quickly grasped by the Ottoman army.

The Ottoman Sultan was really a treasure for the 5,000 muskets he obtained, but he saw with his own eyes on the battlefield that his elite casualties could not stop the impact of any musket-wielding musket-wielding soldiers sent by Russia. In that way, a musket army can completely change the entire battlefield situation, and now the musket guards formed by himself are also borrowed from the experience of the Russians, and his army will also be three soldiers and one musket. One is a shooter, one is a sub-shooter, and the other is a shield bearer. In this way, the Ottoman Empire formed a Guards of 15,000 men. Five thousand people, one team for every three thousand, for a total of five teams.

The Ottoman Sultan often personally visited the training ground to see the training of the musket guards. The Ottoman Janissaries were selected from their own Praetorian Guard and the main army. The Sultan also often studied the tactics of using muskets with his officers. It can be said that the whole Ottoman Empire devoted a lot of energy and high hopes to the musketeers.

This time, in order to be able to fight a decisive battle with the Russian Empire, the Ottoman Sultan decided to send a vanguard of more than 40,000 men to first destroy the Russian Imperial army that crossed the Greater Caucasus Mountains alone, and clear the way for the army to march towards the Russian Empire. In order to ensure victory in the first battle, the Sultan attached a team of 3,000 musket guards to them.

Count Ostolov was slow to get the Tsar's reinforcements, but there was no order to retreat, knowing that with his more than 20,000 people, it was impossible to hold the entire defense line of the Greater Caucasus Mountains, so Count Ostolov, who had some military acumen, concentrated his army in a camp of the original Ottoman army stationed in the mountain pass. This camp is built on the mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack, and Count Ostolov organized officers and soldiers to strengthen the cottage, set up many obstacles, and there are rolling wood and thunder stones.

In fact, Count Ostolov did this out of helplessness, and there are actually many elite cavalry in the army here, and only attacking in the wilderness is their advantage, and now being encircled in the cottage is like being trapped in a cage.

The general who led the Ottoman team was not an idle man, and he already knew very well the deployment of Count Ostov's army.

The night before the start of the battle, he first sent an elite army to block the main roads in and out of Count Ostov's camp, and no one was allowed to enter or leave, and then took advantage of the night to move a large number of artillery to the opposite side of the camp, and then a large number of troops also quietly advanced in front of the camp.

As soon as the morning dawned, breakfast was being prepared in the camp of Count Ostolov when the Ottoman artillery opened fire. Numerous cannons opened fire at the same time, and the hit was earth-shattering, and the army of Count Ostov, caught off guard, was quickly thrown into disarray. The soldiers suffered heavy casualties, and those who did not die crashed everywhere. After the stables were hit, the horses crashed everywhere, adding to the chaos and casualties.

Even more unfortunate, two shells also fell in the big tent of Count Ostolov, and many officers in the big tent were killed and wounded, and Count Ostrov was also wounded in several places.

As soon as the shelling stopped, the Ottoman army rushed to the camp with the sound of horns, and soon rushed into the camp through the gap opened by the artillery.

The wounded Count Ostolov commanded the soldiers who did not die in a duel to the death. But as more and more Ottoman troops stormed the camp, especially the more than 3,000 musketeers joining the battlefield, the situation quickly turned one-sided.

In the end, Count Ostolov, who had retreated to the foot of the mountain, ordered the remaining soldiers to lay down their arms and surrender, and the count himself killed himself with his sword.

After the war, after counting, less than 5,000 wounded, captured and surrendered Russian soldiers, more than 15,000 were killed.

Out of respect for Count Ostolov, the Ottoman officers and soldiers treated the prisoners kindly, and also buried the Russian soldiers who died in battle, and planted a tombstone in front of the grave.

The annihilation of more than 20,000 people led by Count Ostolov was too great a blow to the officers and soldiers of the Russian Empire, but fortunately, the Ottoman Empire did not launch a full-scale attack immediately. While the tsar adjusted the deployment of troops, he also calmed down, and had to admit that the comprehensive strength of the Ottoman Empire was much stronger than that of the Russian Empire, that is, the muskets, the Ottoman Empire bought 5,000 at once, and the Russian Empire gritted its teeth and bought 2,000, which was still a big victory, and the ministers saw the benefits of the musket before agreeing to buy another thousand.

The tsar understood that the Ottomans were coming from afar, and he had to deal with them by means of fortification. Now the number of muskets and troops in the Ottoman Empire far exceeds that of Russia, and the musket in his hand is not a secret, and it is not a miracle soldier, there is a huge disparity in strength, and it is absolutely impossible to easily carry out a decisive battle like Kursk with the Ottoman army, and such a decisive battle is even more powerful.

When the weather warmed up, the Ottoman Sultan led a large army across the Greater Caucasus Mountains, his thoughts were completely different from those of the Tsar, and he longed for a decisive battle with the Tsar to be ashamed. But the Sultan's wishes were frustrated, and the Russians did not fight them head-on, but sent light cavalry to constantly harass their longer and longer transport lines. Occasionally, there were several local battles, all of which were carefully chosen by the Russians. The battle was short and intense. The Russians were very skilled in the use of musketeers, and they were able to quickly destroy the lone Ottoman team when they encountered them. Often reinforcements rushed and could only collect their bodies.

The constant harassment made the army advancing towards Moscow stop-and-go. Finally, the Ottoman Sultan was also forced to send his own guards musketeers to deal with the Russian harassment.

On several occasions, the Ottoman musketeers actually encountered the Russian Musket Guards, and when the musketeers of the two sides met, the intensity of the battle was not encountered at all. Such a battle is a contest of strength, short and fierce like never before. Both losses are not small.

Someone complained to the Ottoman Sultan: "Your Majesty, the muskets we bought for so much silver did not make much difference!" ”

The Sultan glared at the fool and said, "Without these muskets, we wouldn't even be able to cross the Great Caucasus." Without these muskets, Russia would have started a decisive battle with us long ago! ”

This kind of battle made it not easy for both sides, especially the Ottoman army, for fear that the logistics would be cut off, in that case, hundreds of thousands of troops would collapse without a fight, so they did not dare to stride forward, and the battle with the Russians was fought almost every day, although the scale was not very large, but it was a duel between musketeers, not musketeers, and they would be sent to death if they went out.

The ammunition consumption is really very large, and both sides end up using reloading bullets. Such a bullet cannot be compared with the original bullet on the battlefield, and it is easy to corrode the chamber. Therefore, the task of cleaning the chamber after the battle is very heavy.

In the end, neither the Ottoman Empire nor the Russian Empire had the strength to repel their opponents, and they were both fighting for attrition.

The Ottoman Empire had a large number of muskets, and although they fought far from their homeland, they still felt that they could afford to consume the Russians. The Russians thought that we were fighting on our own soil, and we were not afraid of you, so we gritted our teeth and consumed.

At the same time, they all knew that the battle was won or lost, and it had a lot to do with muskets. So both of them coincidentally asked the Ming Dynasty to buy ammunition. The somewhat struggling Russian Empire also demanded a thousand more muskets. The Tsar had already collected gold and silver in Russia, because the Ming Dynasty only needed these hard currencies.

Such a protracted and hopeless war could not be relied upon by either the Ottoman Empire or the Russian Empire. The Ottoman Sultan had ordered the feudal lords to hand over gold and silver to be used to buy **. The Sultan knew that if this battle was lost, and his own sultan's throne would not be secure, the entire Ottoman Empire would collapse, and it would probably be divided equally among the surrounding countries that had been eyeing the Ottoman Empire. Therefore, the Sultan did not hesitate to do his best to win this battle. Buying more muskets was his only option. However, the Sultan has vaguely felt that he and the Tsar of the Russian Empire are likely to be in the Ming Dynasty, and our two families are desperately trying to buy a weapon to fight to the death, but it is the Ming Dynasty that benefits. It is not even ruled out that the Ming Dynasty has other ambitions. If the Ming Dynasty turned its face to any of them, or even attacked them together, they would not be able to stop it at all, not to mention, this war had almost drained the two countries.

The Tsar of the Russian Empire didn't think so, but now only by getting the muskets and bullets of the Ming Dynasty can it be possible to drive the Ottoman Turks away, otherwise they can only be slaughtered by others. Therefore, the tsar's order was that all nobles should contribute the gold and silver in their homes, and it was for accounting, and the empire would return it to everyone in the future.

At the same time, many good things in the Russian Empire were also delivered to the Ural Mountains, where there were a large number of Chinese merchants with large amounts of silver in their hands, and these Chinese were not afraid of expensive things when they encountered them, and they could sell them quickly. A lot of jewelry and antiques flowed to the Ming Dynasty in large quantities from here.

The temperature difference between day and night is very large, the sun is blazing during the day, and I dare not sleep without a thick quilt at night. However, it is precisely because of the large temperature difference and good sunlight during the day that the sugar content of the fruits here is very high, and the fruits are exceptionally sweet.

However, it is hot during the day, as long as you don't get in the sun directly, stay in the shade, and it will cool off quickly. Because the air here is dry, the heat is transferred slowly.

When he arrived in Hami, Emperor Chongzhen, like everyone, ate fruits and ate a belly garden.

Under the shed, Queen Zhou fanned herself, covered her mouth and said, "Hehe! I've never seen the emperor eat like this! ”

Zhang Zhimu said: "Few emperors have been here!" I think! No matter which emperor arrives here, it is inevitable that this will happen! ”

Liu Jiantai, a scholar, said flatteringly: "Just because the emperor is here, he can be regarded as an emperor through the ages!" ”

Although Liu Jiantai said something a little explicit, Emperor Chongzhen was still very happy, "I didn't expect that we would take the train to this place that used to feel like the edge of the sky!" You see, it's all desert all around, but it's an oasis that thrives! I didn't expect there to be such a sweet fruit in the world! ”

Everyone was eating fruit and laughing, Yang Jing came in quietly and handed a telegram to Ouyang He, Ouyang He didn't speak after reading it, and handed the telegram to Chen Yufeng beside him.

Before Chen Yufeng could finish reading the telegram, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes were sharp and he saw it, "I said, Zhang Dongjia, wouldn't it be good for you to show us openly if you have any good things!" Otherwise, don't send the telegram in, and it will tickle our hearts! ”

Liu Jiantai also coaxed, "Zhang Dongjia, why do you still have to keep it secret from the emperor?" ”

Chen Yufeng smiled and didn't speak, and handed the telegram to Zhang Zhimu, who was also smiling.

Zhang Zhimu took the telegram and saw that it was a telegram from Ningde and Ningde, which said: "The Ottoman Empire wants to buy another 3,000 muskets!" There are also 600,000 solid bullets, 600,000 shotguns. 1200 million**. ”

After reading it, Zhang Zhimu smiled and said, "Oops! I'm sorry, but it's really a secret that can't be said. However, I accept the emperor's opinion that such a telegram cannot be delivered to such an occasion in the future. ”

When Zhang Zhimu said this, the emperor's heart was even more itchy, "No! Zhang Dongjia, you are teasing all of us! ”

"That's right!" Someone followed suit, "Zhang Dongjia, what's the good thing, let's be happy with the emperor!" ”

"I will tell the emperor about this matter secretly!" Zhang Zhimu held up the telegram in his hand and said.

Zhang Zhimu said this, and everyone also knew that this matter could not be said here, otherwise Zhang Zhimu would not be so insistent.

Until the evening, the emperor and everyone ate the roast whole sheep with their faces full of oil, and the emperor did not forget the telegram during the day.

After removing the food, Zhang Zhimu saw that only the few people left in the kiln gang, as well as the emperor, and then Concubine Zhuang and Yang Yulin accompanied Queen Zhou and did not leave, Zhang Zhimu took out the telegram from his pocket and handed it to the emperor.

Emperor Chongzhen took the telegram and read it carefully, and couldn't help but say, "Oh my God! How much silver is that? ”

Zhang Zhimu didn't answer the emperor's question, but asked: "Your Majesty, should this matter be kept secret?" ”

"Deserve! This must be kept secret! Emperor Chongzhen said, "I can't calculate how much silver this is, but I know that it is enough to build a canal and railway in the west!" ”