In late autumn, most of India is still warm as summer, but in the Khyber Valley, which leads to the Afghan plateau, it is already a cold wind. Although the autumn wind was cold and the cold winter was approaching, the heavy snow that could block the road had not yet fallen, so the march was quite smooth. In the Khyber Valley, west of Peshawar, a long, pale green dragon rolls forward. Infantry, cavalry, baggage men, Armstrong breech-loading guns and water-cooled machine guns drawn by Indian folded ears, and dark-skinned low-caste slave laborers drove mule-drawn carts all the way west...... Make a beeline for the graveyard of empires Afghanistan!

Of course, Afghanistan is the graveyard of empires, and the officers and men of the East India Company and the Sikh Princely State Army, who are now making great strides westward through the Khyber Valley, do not know about it. If only they had known they wouldn't have strode forward so happily. And the commander of this army, George. Major General Kirton also didn't know, even if someone took the book of heaven handed down by King Zhuge Wuzhong and told him, he wouldn't believe it.

Because he is now in full swing, everything has gone smoothly since the dispatch of the army this time, and he has not encountered any setbacks.

First of all, Ranjit, the head of the Sikh princely state. Singh expressed 100 per cent support for the passage of British soldiers from the territory of the Sikh princely states and the recruitment of Sikh soldiers to help in the war. Without saying a word, he sent 20,000 elite Sikhs to help in the war, and provided a large amount of food, livestock and untouchables to help transport it.

This is followed by the sand of Peshawar. Mahmud was very interested in handing over the city and his few troops, and went to Delhi with only a few retinues and dozens of chests of gold and silver treasures—to become an annuity-eating prince of an Indian princely state.

And Dost, who has always coveted Peshawar. Muhammad. As soon as Khan heard about the sand of Peshawar. Mahmoud had already gone to Delhi to lie down with great interest, and immediately sent his brother Ali. Khan went to Peshawar with gifts. But also to George. Major General Cottonn reported an important military situation - Emperor Daoguang had recently led a large army into the Amu Darya camp on the south bank of the Amu Darya River.

Located in an oasis on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Amu Darya River, this Amu Darya camp was a large stronghold left by Qianlong's southern expedition - when the Qianlong Emperor learned that the Mughal dynasty in India was coming to an end, he planned to take advantage of the chaos to enter India to grab a hand. As a result, the army of the Sadochai Dynasty, which was still quite powerful, blocked it, and before Qianlong broke through the Salang Pass and entered Kabul, he learned that the British East India Company had taken control of most of India...... Dajin Kingdom is late!

Knowing that he had lost a good opportunity, but he was unwilling to lose the opportunity to "print and grab money" forever, Qianlong, who was already living a poor life at that time, gritted his teeth and invested in the construction of the Amu Darya camp as a big base for invading India in the future.

But until Qianlong's death, he did not wait for the opportunity to invade India, and could only pass on this dream to his children and grandchildren......

After learning that the Emperor of Light personally drove to the camp in the Amu Darya River, George. Major General Kirton immediately gave the order to send troops - no matter what, they must enter Kabul before Emperor Daoguang's army enters Afghanistan. It's autumn now, and seeing that the harsh winter is coming, Afghanistan is not a warm India, and if you don't hurry up, when the heavy snow falls, the road into Afghanistan will be difficult.

So Kirton is now competing with Emperor Daoguang for time. As long as his army can enter Kabul, Kandahar, Ghazni, Herat, and Kunduz, which are built around the Hindu Kush mountain range before Emperor Daoguang's golden army, then Emperor Daoguang will have to wait until next year's spring when the snow melts. And by that time, George. Kirton's army had already established itself in Afghanistan – and it wasn't that hard, as long as the Mughal custom was to pay a little allowance to the tribes in the mountains of Afghanistan.

And as long as the tribes in the mountainous areas of Afghanistan were bought by the East India Company, even if the army of Emperor Daoguang barely entered, it could only be defeated and returned.

As long as Emperor Daoguang suffered a crushing defeat in Afghanistan, the prestige that Dajin had accumulated over the years in Central Asia would be wiped out in a short period of time, and the nobles and tribal leaders of Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm, and other places would rebel......

George. When Cottonen was thinking about how to incite and use the rebellion of the nobles and tribal leaders of the Celestial Sect in Samarkand, Bukhara, Khorezm and other places to expand the sphere of influence of the British Empire, a rapid sound of horses' hooves suddenly came from the front. He hurriedly looked up, and saw a group of knights dressed in white with black turbans wrapped around their heads galloping towards him. Muhammad. Khan's younger brother Ali. Sweat.

This young Afghan aristocrat, who had attended school in Delhi and was one of the few English-speaking people in Kabul, should have been fully aware of the power of the British Empire. Kirton's attitude was very respectful.

I saw this Ali. Khan in George. Kirton reined in his horse, then bent down on his horseback and saluted, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, my brother Dost received a report from the Governor of Kunduz yesterday morning that Emperor Daoguang's army is along the Kunduz River and may soon launch an attack on Kunduz City. So yesterday afternoon, he left Kabul with his own troops to set up a defense at the Salang Pass, so he could not welcome you and your coalition army in Kabul. ”

"Oh," George. Kirton frowned slightly, "This Daoguang is really fast!" Can Kunduz hold on? There won't be a problem with the Salang Pass, right? ”

Ali. Khan frowned, his face a little solemn: "Your Excellency, General, although the Eight Banners of Emperor Daoguang are outdated noble cavalry, their strength is still very strong. In Central Asia, all tribes that dared to oppose Daikin were ruthlessly crushed by them, without exception! The Sadochayi Dynasty was also defeated by the Eight Banners of Emperor Qianlong in Kunduz...... However, the Salang Pass is not so easy to fight, the terrain is very high, the air is thin, and the temperature is low, and it is difficult for people on the plains to breathe after going up. So my brother will be able to hold the Salang Pass until your army arrives. ”

"Good!" George. Kirton loosened his brow, "Ali. Khan, rest assured, the British Empire's 50,000 troops (in fact, only 40,000) are enough to defeat 200,000 Eight Banner soldiers! After bragging, he deliberately raised his voice again and ordered loudly: "Pass my order, the whole army will speed up and advance to Kabul at the speed of a rapid march!" ”

As the loud trumpets sounded in the Khyber Valley, the first marching procession in the valley began to speed forward, galloping towards the city of Kabul, dozens of kilometers away.

......

Just when tens of thousands of British and Indian troops were marching towards Kabul at a rapid pace, Zhuge Weidao and several of his subordinates, including Ling Zongjun, Wang Wen, Yu Yang, Ye Wu, Ma Xuchen, and Li Kezhi, returned to their temporary residence in Xianmen Pass with laughter.

He did not follow Daoguang to the Amu Darya camp, but stayed at Xianmen Pass to be responsible for training the Dajin Navy Airborne Forces...... In fact, there is nothing to practice, just a landing maneuver, just don't break your legs.

Zhuge Weidao himself also practiced by the way, and this morning he and Wang Wen jumped back to parachute - he is a "flying military division", it looks like he can be the commander of the naval aviation sooner or later, and he can't parachute.

Looking at his excited face now, you know that today's parachute jump went very smoothly.

When I walked into the courtyard, I saw a beautiful Taoist aunt coming out, and made a blessing to Zhuge for the Tao, and then said happily: "The slave Nalandili has said hello to the master." ”

Hi Dao?

Before Zhuge Weidao could react, his henchman Yu De had already taken a piece of paper and put it together, "Dong Weng, I thank you...... The third aunt is happy. ”

The "third aunt" in his mouth is Nalandili, she started with Natalie, and she should be the second aunt, but Zhuge Weidao has already made a lifelong agreement with Da Heikong, so Da Hei's ranking should be before Nalandili.

"Really?" Zhuge Weidao looked at Nalandili, and his face was also joyful - he now believes in "many sons and many blessings"! Anyway, you don't have to worry about your children's studies, work, or buying a house...... There is no pressure to have a few children, otherwise how can there be "Eight Hundred Zhuge Brothers"?

"Hmm." Nalandili's smiling face was about to bloom...... She is the fairy of the Nalan family, how can she not give birth to a baby?

"Dong Weng, you're double happy today!" As Yu De spoke, he handed the paper in his hand to Zhuge Weidao.

Zhuge Weidao took the paper and looked at it, it turned out to be a copy of a telegram, and then looked at the content, and sure enough, it was a joy - tens of thousands of British troops had already marched into Kabul City!