In March of the 17th year of Chengtian, a Chinese army appeared on the west coast of the Caspian Sea.

The Russians' Caspian Fleet still exists, and they even launched a tentative attack on this military position not long ago, but it was too late.

The Russians had only regarded this military defense point as a 'guard' for Baku Khan, so when the construction of this defense point was nearing completion, they did not know that the 'workers' here were all from the Ottomans. It wasn't until the Ottomans suddenly launched an 'attack' on Baku Khan, and smoothly 'chiseled' a route through the Caucasus Mountains, that the Russians discovered that this defensive point, which was originally built by Baku Khan's men and horses, had 'suddenly' hung up the Ottoman flag. They immediately attacked the place, but it was useless.

The Persian kingdom played a great role in this matter, and Baku Khan was a vassal of the Persian kingdom, and the current Persian Khan, Aga Muhammad, almost directly contributed to this.

Baku Khan was instructed by Aga Muhammad to assist the Ottomans in establishing a military foothold in the northern Caucasus Mountains, and then Baku Khan cooperated with the Ottomans in a dramatic war that raised the Ottoman flag over the western coast of the Caspian Sea.

And then the red flag of the Wehrmacht also appeared here.

This time, Aga Mohammed broke through the boundaries of faith and used practical actions to show goodwill to China. Yes, Aga Mohammed Khan is only courting China, not Istanbul.

Although Aga Muhammad Khan has only had a tendency to unify Persia in recent years, it is like sweeping away the 'Sima clan' of Shu Han, and dominating the world is just around the corner. But as a rising lord in battle, Aga Muhammad knew very well that it was no longer the time of a thousand or two thousand years ago when the Persian Empire was dominant.

Guns are more powerful weapons than sabers.

Although the main enemy of the Russian Empire was the Ottoman Empire, they were also eyeing the Persian kingdom's vassal states in the Caucasus. In Persia, the British and Russians seized privileges such as mining, building roads, setting up banks, and training armies. By the beginning of the 20th century, Britain and Russia had colluded to divide their sphere of influence in Persia: Russia in the north, Britain in the south, and a buffer zone in the center.

Therefore, the crisis of the Persian kingdom is imminent.

Aga Muhammad Khan is well aware of the situation of Persia, and he has clearly seen the growth of the Ottoman Empire's military strength over the years, to be honest, this time in the sixth Russo-Turkish war, the Ottoman Empire fought much stronger than the last war.

The Ottoman Empire had grown significantly in power compared to before.

Persia, while still a great power, is in a less secure position in this day and age. Aga Muhammad Khan did not believe that the Russians would only attack the Ottoman Empire, and that the Persian kingdom would be threatened by the Russians in the future.

In recent years, British ships have also begun to cruise the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and according to the information received by Aga Muhammad Khan, the British have already set their sights on target.

To the east of the Arabian Sea is India, and the Chinese are now unstoppably intervening in the situation in India, and the pressure on London is not ordinarily great. They did not have the confidence to resist the Chinese offensive based on their own state of Bengal. They must find sufficient support points on the west coast of India and the celestial world to deal with the possible westward orientation of the Chinese in the future.

Pan Chang led a reinforced regiment and first settled in Haixi, the stronghold on the west coast of the Caspian Sea with the red flag flying.

The route of the march was not to cross the Caspian Sea, but to detour from the south. Reach the Western Sea in the safest way through the 'coastline' of the Kingdom of Persia.

Prior to this, a large number of Chinese shipbuilders and technicians had already sailed westward to the sea, followed the monsoon and ocean currents, reached the deepest part of the Persian Gulf as fast as possible, and then rode horses and camels straight to the Persian port at the southern end of the Caspian Sea.

Chen Han paid a total of 10 million Chinese yuan to Persia, which was exchanged for a large amount of guns and ammunition by Aga Muhammad Khan, and at the same time, the Chinese military academy also opened a small opening to the Persian kingdom.

I have to say that this is of the greatest significance for the Persian Kingdom.

After the Chinese got into contact with the Ottoman Empire, they completely ignored the Persian kingdom. Although private trade has not really been completely severed, in the official realm, it is absolutely clear.

The Ottomans had a deep hatred for Persia.

One of the major prerequisites of the Sino-Ottoman alliance was that China should disassociate itself from Persia.

The seventeenth year of Chengtian is the year 1791 in the Western calendar.

Temperatures in the Caucasus in the third lunar month are already quite mild, much warmer here than in Siberia. Although it cannot be compared with the real warm area, the large-scale operation of the army has already begun.

Russia sent tens of thousands of infantry, as well as the Caspian flotilla and two or three thousand cavalry.

The reinforced regiment led by Pan Chang has a total strength of less than 4,500 people, and the Russian army is in an advantage over the army.

However, no matter how great the advantage is, it will only increase casualties in front of firepower.

Pan Chang carried not only a large number of rockets, but also a large number of guns, gunpowder and grenades.

This strategic point in the West Sea is not a fortress-like iron wall, let alone a fortress, but a position equipped with a considerable number of permanent fortifications. But this was enough for Pan Chang and his officers and soldiers to easily keep the Russians out.

No one knew that it was when a large number of warships of the Russian Caspian Fleet flocked south and came to the West Sea to make soy sauce. Just east of Alasthan, across the entire northern Caspian Sea, was China's first military garrison on the Caspian coast.

A large group of officers and soldiers were digging a ditch diligently.

When the ditch, which was as wide as a small river and ten feet deep, was dug up to the Caspian Sea, the sluice gates that had been erected long ago were lifted, and the rushing water rushed in, and at the end of the ditch, a dhow of more than 300 tons slowly passed through the channel and sailed into the Caspian Sea.

There are six such channels here.

God knows how much effort it took the logistics department to send the dried timber thousands of miles to the Caspian Sea. However, with China's technical reserves and strength at this time, it is a piece of cake to simply build a few dry docks.

On April 16, 1791, on the third day of the arrival of the Russian Governor of Astrakhan, Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, to the Western Sea, six ships of the Wehrmacht sailed westward to Astrakhan under the southeast wind.

The first thing to do to curb the development of the Russians in the Caspian Sea is to take advantage of the shipyard in Astarahan.

Even if the shipbuilding industry there has shrunk to the extreme, if the grass is not cut and eradicated, it is likely to blow the wind and grow again.

To their surprise, they spotted a slow dhow on the surface of the sea, which appeared to be a patrol ship of the Russians. But their vigilance is really too low, too low. Six Chinese sailing boats had arrived within five or six miles of them, and the Russian sailing ship realized that danger was coming.

Then the whole ship got busy.

Raise the sails, raise the sails.

The schooner, which was responsible for the security of the Russian Caspian Sea, turned around and fled without restraint. It's just that this ship is really a little too old, and its speed is much, much slower than the six new ships here of the Wehrmacht, and it was soon surrounded by two leading Wehrmacht warships, one on the left and one on the right.

The Russians also seemed to find themselves unable to escape at this moment, and they began a desperate return fire with the few small-caliber guns on board.

The Wehrmacht's 300-ton boats here have a very limited number of artillery pieces on their bodies, but their naval guns are all the latest new guns, not to mention the age and technology gap with the Russian naval guns themselves, only the number of artillery on both sides, and the Russian army has also fallen into an absolute disadvantage.

Under the officer's order, one artillery cannon fired one after another, and iron balls of 12, 10, and 5 pounds whizzed towards the Russian ships at a distance of 600 meters. Due to the fact that the wind and waves on the Caspian Sea were not small, and it was the first round of shelling, the accuracy was not very good. Several shells fell into the sea, but two still hit the hull of the enemy ship, causing some damage. It's already lucky!

When all six Wehrmacht ships surrounded them, the Russians continued to resist desperately instead of flying the white flag.

"Put all the ships into battle." A lieutenant who led the team did not hesitate to issue a 'nirvana order', or this can be regarded as his respect for a real soldier out of a soldier.

There is no suspense in the whole battle.

When the schooner was plunged into the turbulent waters of the Caspian Sea, the surviving Russian sailors jumped into the sea with wooden planks, barrels and other floating objects.

The Wehrmacht released a number of dinghys to 'capture' the men. At the same time, these rescued Russian sailors will also be their most direct source of intelligence.

The battle with the Russian cruiser was only a minor episode today, and the ultimate goal of the Wehrmacht was to shell Alastemhan, knock out the shipyard on the seashore and burn the Russians' timber reserves.

Of course, by the way, they don't mind adding a little more trouble to the Russians.

Burning, looting, smashing Russian villages living on the coast around Astrakhan along the way, driving all Russian refugees, people who have nothing, towards Astrakhan. That's enough for the Russians to drink a pot of watch.

Seriously, the Russians were poorly alert in the defense of Astrakhan.

Astrakhan has more than 10,000 Russian land and water troops to the south, and there is a Ural River to the north, and the Guryev Fortress and the Orenburg Fortress are like a pair of door gods, firmly blocking the Chinese threat from Astrakhan.