The war in the northwest progressed slowly, but Cao Bianjiao advanced quickly, and finally reached Almaty, the capital of the Kazakh Khanate.

The Kazakh Khanate gathered heavy forces in Almaty, which was already the last line of defense, and it must not be lost. The terrain of Almaty is precipitous, even if the Ming army has artillery, it is difficult to break its city walls, and Cao Bianjiao is naturally unwilling to pile up with human lives, so the two sides are in a stalemate outside the city.

The siege battle is a very troublesome thing for the attacker, because after the weather is cold, it is difficult to survive in the tent outside the city, especially for the army from the Ming Kingdom, although there are enough down jackets and duvets in the equipment, but the cold cannot be resisted by the quilt alone.

So next to the hill outside the city of Almaty, Cao Bianjiao led the Ming army to establish another city - Daming City. Daming City is mainly made of wood, and a kang is built in the room, so that when it is cold, the room is still warm like spring after burning the kang.

The Dzungars, on the other hand, seem to be unaffected by the cold at all, and they are able to resist winter with their tents. However, after Cao Bianjiao entered Batur's big tent once, and was driven out by the smell inside, he was no longer willing to enter the tent of the Watters.

The Minva coalition forces were not able to encircle the whole of Almaty, but the people of the Kazakh Khanate were unable to drive them away, so that all kinds of agricultural and commercial activities could not be carried out normally. This annoyed the people of the Kazakh Khanate.

The Kazakh Khanate had no choice but to send people to negotiate with the Minva coalition forces. After discussing with Batur, Cao Bianjiao felt that the gains of always besieging it like this would outweigh the losses, and after consulting the country, he decided to negotiate with the Kazakh Khanate.

The Ming court sent Li Delin as a negotiator to live in the Kazakh Khanate to negotiate. Li Delin was instructed by the General Staff to aggressively demand compensation from the Kazakh Khanate as soon as he came. Although the Kazakhs were defeated in successive battles, the capital was safe and sound, and they had some confidence in their hearts.

Li Delin was in the middle of this, so he agreed with the Kazakh Khanate, and all the land of the original Dzungar Department was returned, and a large piece of land from Hot Spring City to Tieklee was newly set aside for the Ming Dynasty. Because there is no way for the Ming Dynasty to immigrate here, this place, which was named Xining Province, is temporarily managed by the Dzungars. And the Kazakh Khanate agreed to allow the Ming to pass freely on the border with the Rakshasa State.

Both sides were satisfied with this result, Batur recovered the Dzungar land, which further increased his prestige among the tribes, and this enclave of the Ming Dynasty was temporarily managed by the Dzungar Ministry, which was actually the same as the Dzungar Ministry. And there is nothing bad about the Kazakh Khanate just returning the annexed Dzungar territory and building another piece of land that has no output.

Daming got the nominal ownership of a piece of land, which seemed to be the most unattainable, but Li Delin was very happy. Because what the Ming Dynasty values is the name, this land is now managed by the Dzungar Ministry, and when the time comes to take it back, maybe there will be disputes, and there will be one more excuse to conquer the Dzungar Ministry.

Cao Bianjiao's troops were ordered to rest and build a military fort at Tiekley, and then continue to the north to converge with the troops of the Northern Naval District when the weather warmed up.

Li Delin informed Cao Bianjiao of the current situation in the Northern Naval Region, and when Cao Bianjiao heard that the army had reached a place several thousand miles west of the Beihai Sea, he was so anxious that he was afraid that the credit would be robbed by others.

Li Delin said with a smile: "I heard His Majesty the Emperor say that this northern place is very big, and in the end, it will be fought all the way to Europe, and the credit will not be exhausted." Moreover, there is a discussion in the General Staff that the occupied places will be named after the generals who lead the troops, and soon we will see that there is a place called Bianjiao City. ”

Cao Bianjiao smiled and nodded, his heart was hot, he knew that the plan of the General Staff was to attack from two roads, he was the commander of the south road, and his uncle was the commander of the north road, if the two cities were named after the uncle and nephew, then the ancestors of the Cao family would wake up laughing.

Li Delin said again: "Master Lu said, the main thing on your side is to be stable, and don't let the Kazakh Khanate fall to the Rakshasa State. Forts are built one fortress after another to ensure the supply of food, and even if it is unfavorable for a while, it can ensure that the road back is worry-free. His Majesty the Emperor is ready to take this piece of territory larger than the Ming Dynasty within ten years, the confidence of the General Staff is not so full, only the place where the railway is repaired, can we implement effective governance, according to the construction situation, the construction without interference, it will take at least ten years to build to the Ural Mountains. ”

Cao Bianjiao said: "After we leave the border of the Kazakh Khanate, we can choose the direction to attack at will, right?" ”

Li Delin said: "The meaning of the General Staff is to choose to go north as much as possible, and first join the Northern Naval Region, and you will belong to the Northern Naval Region by then, I know that you don't want to go north, and you don't want to work under your uncle." ”

Cao Bianjiao said: "I don't want people to gossip, as if I relied on my uncle to rise up." In fact, my uncle was much stricter with me than with others, and he wanted to take credit for me. ”

Li Delin said: "General Cao also doesn't want people to talk more, and besides, it's not very easy for you to be promoted if you want to accumulate merit." By the way, when I came this time, I heard that your aunt had already told you a family affair, and I heard that it was a relative of the eldest princess. ”

Cao Bianjiao's face changed greatly: "Does my uncle know about this?" ”

Li Delin smiled: "Your aunt can't help your uncle nod, how dare she make her own opinion." What are you worried about, Your Majesty has never been suspicious of the Guards. ”

Cao Bianjiao said: "This will make people gossip, it seems that our Cao family is attached to the powerful, and it is not good to say." ”

Li Delin smiled: "What do you say, now your Cao family is a powerful person." It's just a relative of the eldest princess's husband's family, and the eldest princess's family is only a general of a military region, not more than the same level as your uncle, and now which military region can compare to the Northern Naval Region, all domestic resources are tilted towards the North Sea, and this trend will not change within more than ten years. Then I am afraid that many people will cling to you. ”

Cao Bianjiao shook his head and said: "My uncle told me that our Cao family should be simple, don't think about what we don't have, fight the battle first, and when there is no war in the four seas, we will disarm and return to the field, and go down to the forest leisurely." ”

Li Delin said: "In fact, the generals in the major military regions are almost the same now, because they are all close ministers of the Son of Heaven and understand the emperor's views on civil and military affairs. At that time, only the war is over, and the metropolis has the same choice as General Cao. But change Jiao, do you think the battle in this world is over? ”

Cao Bianjiao thought for a while and said: "If all countries dare not fight back, there will naturally be no war." ”

Li Delin laughed and said: "Well said, then let's work together to beat all countries to the point that they dare not fight back." ”

Sogou reading website: