Today's Kashgar New City is very different from the past. During the four years of his occupation, Aguba continued to conquer the people to build the fortifications and fortifications of the new city.

A moat was built to divert water from the Kashgar River. Forts were built outside the city, and the walls were heightened and thickened, and the forts at the head of the city were repaired.

At present, the defense strength of Kashgar New City is absolutely second to none in Xinjiang, and Urumqi and other cities cannot be compared with it. The city wall is five zhang high, hundreds of disc towers and fifty forts, and the whole city head is densely packed with protruding points. If you look close, it is a mountain of pressure, and if you look at it from a distance, it is hideous.

It is also unknown how many rebel troops Aguba gathered to defend the city. It was not possible to see how many soldiers there were on the virtual map, Liu Xian only knew that there were more than 40,000 soldiers and civilians in Kashgar New City.

What about Liu Xian's side? The combined forces of Yarkand and Kashgar numbered more than 2,000 people, the cavalry of the hussar battalion was also close to 2,500 horses, and the infantry expanded to about 2,000, but the formation was still the same as those three brigades. Abduli's first brigade, Wang Guosheng's second brigade, and Ikemu's third brigade were all overnumbered.

Dong Fuxiang's team has also expanded to two battalions, including Hui and natives, but no matter what, the strength of the team has improved. Finally, there was Liu Xian's Qin army, which dispatched two cavalry brigades and two infantry brigades, totaling about 1,800 men, plus two guard infantry squadrons equipped with pistols led by Liu Xianam, and a newly organized artillery battalion, for a total of 2,500.

The sum of the various divisions brought 10,000 soldiers, plus the people recruited with the army, to a total of 14,000 troops.

The day after the team arrived. Liu Xian sent the vanguard into the camp five miles outside the new city of Kashgar. Three barracks were built in two days, and the rebel army in the city did not come out to disturb them at all. Then the main forces entered the barracks, and only then did the artillery be sent to select the position.

Because I don't know the depth of Aguba. In addition, Ingishal won it too easily, and Liu Xian always felt unstable in his heart. In this Kashgar strategy, he did not hesitate to slow down his steps, and he also had to firmly establish the 'infrastructure' facilities first.

The artillery position was set up in the southeast of the new city of Kashgar, which was one mile away. When He Buyun led his labor to build an artillery position, the chaotic army at the head of the city also opened artillery bombardment, but the accuracy was really bad enough. The range of artillery fire is also quite close, and all of them are solid shells, so there is no great threat to the artillery position.

Liu Xian has been paying close attention to the situation in the artillery positions. Seeing this, I felt a little more at ease.

In the afternoon of the same day, the artillery units were in place, and the artillery battle between the two sides officially began, and the result was much more than Liu Xian expected. In the morning, the artillery of the chaotic army, which was completely blind, showed an extraordinary absolute strength as soon as the artillery was fired in the afternoon. Whether it's speed. Or precision. Or the power and range of the artillery are definitely the first-class level in the world today.

Liu Xian immediately ordered the artillery units to retreat. At this point, if he didn't understand that he was playing tricks on people, he would be a fool.

In less than two quarters of an hour, when all the artillery units had withdrawn from the range of the artillery fire of the chaotic army at the head of the city, they counted the number and found that in such a short period of time, seven of the 36 artillery pieces dispatched had been lost, not counting the mortar units that had been hit a few times behind. Of these: the loss of three six-pounder guns. The nine-pounder gun lost one and the cavalry gun lost one. The gunners were killed and wounded forty-five.

"It's British, isn't it?"

Liu Xian felt that the British were very likely. In my heart, I scolded the British for eighteen generations of ancestors. I never thought of handing an excerpt to Beijing and asking Beijing to negotiate with the British.

Attacking the city is no longer possible. Liu Xian, who has only such a little strength, is still counting on taking Agubai and waving his troops north to sweep the whole of Xinjiang. It is impossible to throw all the infantry to Kashgar.

Dig tunnels, dig trenches.

Starting from outside the range of artillery fire, the five directions fired in unison, approaching the new city of Kashgar little by little.

"Colonel, the Qing people have invented a completely new tactic. It can be used to siege cities, and it can be used to capture fortresses—"

Jack. As a qualified major in the British Imperial Army, how could Dural not see the striking effect of this method of operation on the fortress. You must know that since the rise of the Mini rifle in Europe, whether it is the Crimean War or the Civil War of the United States, how to quickly conquer the fortress has always been a difficult problem that plagues the entire West.

Filling in human lives, staying up time, and fighting cannonballs, it seems that since the appearance of the fortress in the west, the offensive war against it has become a three-piece set that has not moved for hundreds of years. This was true of the Crimean War, as was the Civil War of the United States. But is that really the case?

Today Jack. Dural was amazed when he saw the method of Liu Xian's army approaching the city through the tunnel, and then his brain turned over and thought about it, and he instantly analyzed this tactic.

It's just a film that breaks little by little.

Although history does not seem to have seen European and American armies fight like this. That's because of the strong scientific and technological strength of Europe and the United States, which directly swept this backward tactic into the trash. It didn't take long for the breech-loading guns to become popular, and the new flowering shells combined with the powerful penetration of the breech-loading guns, the old bastions became so fragile and vulnerable overnight.

Whether it is Britain, France, Germany, Russia, they only need to be equipped with breech-loading guns + new flowering shells, then it's OK.

"This commander-in-chief of the Qing army is really a good commander. If I could, I would like to visit him after the war. ”

Forsaiat. Colonel Sayif smiled, visit? Jack was joking. With the capture of a large number of Kokand soldiers, the survival of himself and others must not be able to keep secrets. But an open secret is also better than an open fact. The British Empire also wanted to save face.

"But ...... "The Qing generals on the other side are really good." If there had been an army like him on the battlefield in Beijing nine years ago, Forsaith. Sayif really has to worry about the end of the coalition forces.

It's just that in the current war, no matter how capable the Qing generals on the opposite side are, they can't escape defeat. Because Aguba not only has the support of the British Empire behind him, but even Tsarist Russia has also intervened.

With the fortified city in hand, the army of Kokand, supported by the two great powers of Britain and Russia, will soon arrive. Colonel Sayif did not think that Aguba would fail.

Three days later, five tunnels that went hand in hand had been extended to less than 100 meters below the city of Kashgar New City.

At this distance, the Enfield M1853 rifle is fully capable of accurate shooting. But he can't stop Liu Xian from having a local way.

With a wooden plank, a quilt, soil and sand, and then watered, the protective layer made of it was covered on the top of the tunnel, and it was not afraid of the shooting of the Minnie rifle at all. And if the artillery fire at the head of the city can really accurately blow up to the top of the ground cover, then the soldiers below will not lose their lives.

After five days of non-stop digging day and night, less than 60 soldiers and civilians were killed and wounded by guns and artillery.

The tunnel excavated by Liu Xian has a narrow upper mouth and a wider lower part, but it can accommodate the firing of a mortar cannon.

When digging 200 meters from the tunnel, the mortar began to shoot non-stop at the head of the city. At the same time, Liu Xian released all his snipers, and selected soldiers with accurate marksmanship from the army to participate in cold gun battles, suppressing the chaotic army at the head of the city.

"Boom...... a flowering bullet fell over the high city wall and into the city. The explosion tore apart a broken wall, and earth and rock splattered.

In a house under the corner, there was a rustle of earth and sand falling with the sound of an explosion. Aguba's face was a little gloomy, and he slapped the dust on his body.

"Dear Great Khan, you need not be angry about this. In five days at most, 20,000 reinforcements from the Kokand Khanate will rush to the new city of Kashgar. At that time, you can unleash all your anger on the Qing army outside the city and the rebels in the east. ”

In addition to Aguba and several of his attendants, there were four blonde foreigners in the house. One of them was speaking to Aguba in a very authentic Uzbek language.

A smile appeared on Aguba's face, "Yes, Lieutenant Colonel Andrei. Thanks to the help of the Russian Empire in times of crisis, believers in the true God will not forget the friends who helped him. ”

A real shameless person can betray a qiē for his own interests. Aguba is such a villain through and through.

In 1865 in the Western calendar, that is, the year when Aguba entered Xinjiang, the Kokand Khanate defeated the army of the Kokand Khanate, the regent of the Kokand Khanate, Grand Mullah Alimkuli, was killed, and Tashkent, one of the most important cities of the Kokand Khanate, fell. Three years later, last year, the Kokand Khanate signed an agreement with Russia and became a Russian protectorate.

In the face of the crisis faced by Aguba, although neither Tsarist Russia nor the British wanted to see Aguba so defeated, it was impossible to let Tsarist Russia and the British blatantly intervene in the situation in Xinjiang and support Aguba. If you want to save Aguba's defeat, you can only use Kokand soldiers.

In order to allow Tsarist Russia to allow the Kokand Khanate to send troops to reinforce Aguba, the British did not talk about how to discuss with Sha Ming, and Aguba alone signed a series of treaties that 'lost power and humiliated the country'. For example, Russia's domestic commercial tax in Hongfu Khan was only 1 out of 40, that is, 2.5% more pitifully than the Manchu Qing Dynasty.

The current king of the Kokand Khanate is Muhammad. Gudeya, in the face of the demands of the Russians, did not have the courage to refuse. Raising funds from various sources, 20,000 soldiers and horses were mobilized, including more than 7,000 Uzbek cavalry.

This force can be said to be of great importance to the current Kokand Khanate. The Battle of Tashkent four years ago can be said to be a decisive battle between Kokand and Tsarist Russia, and the Grand Mullah Alim Kuri only gathered 30,000 soldiers and horses.

An army of 20,000 Kokand, especially more than 7,000 brave Uzbek cavalry. Suddenly appeared on the battlefield, and the complex army outside the city that would definitely kill was defeated.

André is confident in this.

As far as he knew, this force had already crossed Uruk, and it would definitely reach the new city of Kashgar in five days.

From the city of Kokand to Andijan, and from Andijan to Kashgar, the march along the way was not much of a secret. However, Aguba has already blocked the road from the west of Kashgar to the east, and with his side to take care of it, the news of the march is absolutely not allowed to worry about leaking the news.

Kashgar New City, whether it is Agubo or Britain and Russia, does not take the current disadvantage seriously. Their eyes are all on five days later. (To be continued......) R1292