Seeing that the emperor was full of worry and fell into thought, Zuo Zongtang, the chief of the general staff, felt very uncomfortable, he had always commanded if he was determined, and he had no last resort, but now with the expansion of the empire, the territory is getting bigger and bigger, and the sources are not enough, and it takes more than a month for a message to go back and forth, and this kind of command is very bad.

He forcibly comforted: "Your Majesty, if you don't send a messenger to Ordos Banner, requisition the Mongolian horses there, and let the 46th Infantry Division of Ganzhou and Suzhou all ride horses, you should be able to reach Ili faster." At the same time, the 4th Infantry Division stationed in Ili was ordered to prepare and rush to Kashgar 10 days in advance before the arrival of the 46th Division, so that the 46th Division could fill the vacancy and defend Ili. In this way, it can be rushed for a while, and it should be possible to shorten the trip by at least a month. ”

Feng Yunshan shook his head, how could it be so easy to mobilize war horses for a while and a half. If it is an ordinary horse, it can only be used to transport goods, and it may be able to speed up some trips, but at this time, it is extremely difficult to return to Xinjiang in the cold winter and wax moon, even if there are horses to hurry, not to mention that there are so many horses, the logistics of forage mobilization will be a headache again, how easy it is to say. It would be nice if it was in the grassland, like the Seventh Infantry Division led by Chen Tianshi incarnated as a horse team, looting and looting grain and forage all the way, and fighting to feed the war, maybe you could arrive quickly, but now it is all within the empire, or a desert, how can it be done?

Mao Qi had words in his mouth, and his eyes flashed, as if he had thought of something, he took the map from Zuo Zongtang's hand and looked at it.

Zuo Zongtang was stunned, and then his face was happy, he naturally hoped that Mao Qi could come up with a solution. However, in this case, is it still possible?

Mao Qi quickly glanced at the map, gestured again, confessed to Feng Yunshan, and asked Zuo Zongtang: "Chief of Staff Zuo, I have heard you say that our country still has a hidden force in Hindustan under British rule, but later it became stronger, so it was not very obedient, right?" ”

Zuo Zongtang's eyes lit up suddenly: "Yes!" General Mao, what do you mean? Without waiting for Mao Qi to answer, he jumped up and said to Feng Yunshan with a happy face: "Your Majesty, the method that General Mao said may be able to solve the dilemma of Kashgar and the Fifth Infantry Division!" ”

Feng Yunshan came back to his senses, looked at the location of Punjab in India on Zuo Zongtang's finger map, and also understood: "What do you mean, let the Sikhs in Punjab send troops?" By the way, the Indian officer who used to submit to the empire, and was later recruited into the secret service department as a major. Kumar, who is now the king of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab and the Maharaja of Sikhism. He is indeed very powerful in his hands, but because he is quite powerful, he is no longer willing to be used by the empire, and he betrayed me, how can he still send troops for the empire? ”

"Your Majesty, Weichen thinks you can try, the other party has a great chance of sending troops!" Zuo Zongtang regained his usual confidence at this moment, and he said with a smile: "Regarding the intelligence on the Indian side, the information collected by Director Fan of the Special Services Department is very detailed, and Weichen also knows a lot. Let Director Fan elaborate. ”

Fan Ruzeng reported at the moment: "This person's real name is Summit. Kumar, at the behest of His Majesty, sent him to lead more than a dozen Indian troops back to India to set off a rebellion against the British. Eventually, he became the leader of the rebels and led his troops to Punjab, where he grew rapidly, repeatedly repelling the British who came to suppress them, and now, as His Majesty knows, changed his name to Summit. Kumar. Singh, who became the king of the Sikh kingdom of Punjab and the Maharaja of Sikhism, claimed to have 100,000 Sikh soldiers under his command. However, since the second half of last year, news has been coming one after another. Kumar had already rebelled and killed the other two agents who supervised him, and several other agents were also bribed by him, only two agents who entered later were not exposed, and occasionally sent some news to Weichen. ”

Zuo Zongtang said: "Your Majesty, according to Director Fan, this Summit Kumar does have a rebellious heart. But because all his family members lived in Xiguan World City in Guangzhou, he still didn't dare to rebel openly. In this way, there is room for manoeuvre. Now that this person has greatly increased his power and stolen the position of Sikh Maharaja, he naturally does not want and dare not admit that he is an agent of the secret service department of my Chinese Empire, so that he will be torn to pieces by those Sikhs. Now that the situation is urgent, Your Majesty and Wechen feel that it is entirely possible to try General Moltke's strategy and persuade Samit Kumar to send troops from the Punjab he occupies to rescue Kashgar. Lahore, the central capital of the Punjab that they currently control, is less than 2,000 miles from Kashgar, and its periphery is even closer to Srinagar. As long as we get the news to Summit Kumar as soon as possible. Your Majesty, I would like to invite General Moltke to tell me about his strategy. ”

Feng Yunshan nodded.

Moltke pointed to the map and said, "Your Majesty, please see, the Sikh kingdom in Punjab has captured Rawalpindi (now Fort ***) and the surrounding Indus Valley, and from there, send troops upriver along the Indus River, and as long as you march less than seven or eight hundred kilometers, you can reach Kashgar." The climate is relatively warm, and even if it is difficult to walk in the mountains, it will take less than a month to reach the destination. And the key to the problem now is how to get the news to this Samit Kumar as soon as possible, and make him willing to send troops to help! In addition, there is another plan, even if the other side is unwilling to send troops to help, we can send troops from the South Sea to Karachi through the Indian Ocean, and then up the Indus River to Multan, it will only take a month and a half, and no more than two months at most. It only takes a month to arrive in Kashgar from Multan, which is much more convenient and faster than sending troops from the Shaanxi and Gansu regions in the northern interior! ”

After listening to Mao Qi's strategy, Feng Yunshan was overjoyed and said: "Mao Aiqing is really good at military strategy, especially in terms of marching and transporting troops, which is almost unmatched!" In the Austro-Prussian War and the Franco-Prussian War that occurred more than ten years later in history, the Kingdom of Prussia used the railway network within the country to transport troops in accordance with Moltke's strategy, and was able to gather hundreds of thousands of troops to push to the front line in a short period of time, resulting in a firepower advantage to defeat the opponent.

However, the emperor's words of praise made Zuo Zongtang and Shi Dakai a little embarrassed, but the two had to admire this foreigner's pioneering thinking and broad strategic vision. Shi Dakai and Zuo Zongtang felt that they had opened a new window, and it turned out that marching and fighting could be like this!

Shi Dakai bowed his hand to Moltke: "General Moltke's strategy amazed Shi. ”

Moltke politely waved his hand and said that he did not dare to, in his opinion, this was actually a very common thing, and the march by sea, no matter what the means, as long as the goal could be achieved quickly and easily.

Shi Dakai gritted his teeth and bowed to Feng Yunshan: "Your Majesty, Weichen has been favored by Your Majesty, and he is in a high position in the empire but has been eating a vegetarian meal, so he is really frightened. Now that the western frontier and the soldiers of our empire are in danger, Weichen asked to take command and personally lead reinforcements to reinforce Kashgar, and at the same time crusade against the Kokand soldiers and the Russian invaders to defend the western frontier of the empire. ”

Feng Yunshan just wanted to speak, but Shi Dakai took the first step and continued: "Your Majesty is not busy refusing first, Rong Weichen Qiqi: General Moltke's two plans are to march from the sea, and Weichen has never gone to sea to fight, I beg Your Majesty to let Weichen try it." If you want to convince the rebellious Samit Kumar, it must be difficult for ordinary messengers to do it, and they must be in a high position in the empire, and Wechen is not talented, and he is added as the righteous king of His Majesty's own title, which can best represent His Majesty's sincerity. Therefore, Wechen felt that it was better to combine General Moltke's two plans into one, and be more sure that he would kill the invader at one time. As the Minister of Defense, Weichen is responsible for maintaining the frontier of the empire, and he specially asks to lead the troops there. ”

Seeing that Shi Dakai said resolutely, Feng Yunshan couldn't help but sigh and said, "King Yi, why are you suffering?" ”

Feng Yunshan knew that Shi Dakai was a person and would never betray him. And he has become a high position second only to himself above 10,000 people, and he has to go to the battlefield, it can only be said that he likes this kind of life.

He understood Shi Dakai's thoughts, Shi Dakai was very simple, although he had a plan, he never used it on his brother. It's just that I am unwilling to fight without a war and want to go to the battlefield to fight. This may be a natural general, who leaves the battlefield and feels disinterested, purely living for the sake of war. It seems that he doesn't like the idea that he doesn't want him to go to war for his sake. In that case, let him be perfected.

"In that case, according to the words of the righteous king. Zuo Aiqing, Mao Aiqing, what do you think? Feng Yunshan decided to come down.

Both of them nodded, the emperor had already opened Chrysostom, and it was the righteous king who took the initiative to ask for help, so they naturally would not object. However, Zuo Zongtang added: "Your Majesty, King Yi, the Nanyang troops are not too much, or mobilize half of the troops from the special division in Shengjing, and then mobilize a mountain infantry division and a few special battalions from Fujian, they are more suitable for the mountainous terrain, send 15,000 elite soldiers to go, prepare more gunpowder, and wait until India recruits thousands of people to transport supplies on the spot, so that the troops and armaments can be assembled in advance before the King of Yi arrives in Fuzhou, saving time." ”

Fan Ruzeng, who was on the side, interjected: "Your Majesty, Weichen suggests that some elite spies be transferred from the Secret Service Department to follow King Yi for safety. In addition, leading all the family members of Nasamit Kumar to the past, Wechen has already learned that his family has a total of 6 people, a mother, a wife, two children, and two younger brothers who are about to become adults. ”

Feng Yunshan looked at Shi Dakai with some concern: "Okay, King Yi, since you really want to go, you have to listen to your Aiqing's words, bring more troops to go, and recruit more guides on the spot." Then the king, the king of the man's family, took his wife and two children, and told him that he would no longer be my subjects, but would become my friends, and that the two countries would be on good terms. This time, because his mother was in poor health, he would wait for the next time to send his mother and brother again. ”

Shi Dakai saw that the emperor agreed, and was immediately overjoyed and grateful.

Feng Yunshan waved his hand: "The matter in Western Xinjiang is resolved." What do Zhong Aiqing think of Lu Shunde and Qin Rigang? ”

Zuo Zongtang said with a smile: "Your Majesty, Lu Shunde's self-defense letter was also delivered yesterday, and I entrusted Weichen to forward it to the emperor." He explained that instead of letting Qin Rigang attack the empire in the deep mountains and old forests, it was better to send them to Ezo next to Japan and throw this trouble to those Dongyi. ”

Feng Yunshan also grinned: "This Lu Shunde, this trick has figured out my temper!" After speaking, Feng Yunshan turned to say: "The rest is the remnants of the Manchu Qing in the northern Xinjiang!" I didn't expect that they would be so resolute, Sheng Jing didn't want it, Bai Dune also abandoned it, and in the end, even Jilin City and Qiqihar, their Manchu root land, were occupied by me, and they refused to surrender, preferring to flee to the icy Heilongjiang City, which was their last place to stay. It may be that he is really in a hurry, so he will desperately want Tsarist Russia to ask for help and ask for help. ”

Fan Ruzeng scolded angrily: "Abominable Qing Demon Head! And those foreigners are also stupid, the Manchus have been beaten to the point that there is nowhere to stay, and they still have the ability to cede the Tangnu Ulianghai and Uriya Sutai controlled by the Mongols to them? The Mongols who control these places have now bowed down to our Chinese Empire. ”

"The foreigners didn't really hope that the Manchus would give them these territories, they just needed a rhetoric and an excuse, they always spoke with strength and went to grab it themselves." Feng Yunshan admonished: "Therefore, in addition to letting the Mongols strengthen their guard, the cavalry formed by the empire should speed up the pace. As for those Tsarist Russian foreign devils, pass on my orders, once the other party has any action to help the Manchus, they will declare war on them, I don't believe in the power of the whole country, and I can't help the foreign devils who have come from thousands of miles away! ”