Timur made ample preparations for this counteroffensive on Samarkand, equipped with shield carts, catapults, artillery, guns and other types of troops.

Moreover, in order to ensure the victory of the counteroffensive, he also gave special training for a month to familiarize them with the cooperation of various arms.

However, when he led his army to the city of Haret, two hundred miles away from Samarkand, he saw the well-disciplined and neatly lined Ming army, and a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

"Amin!"

"Stay back for a while, and if the war doesn't go well, quickly take me and Ma Heima to run......"

"Yes!"

Timur quietly put himself on an insurance policy, and then arranged his troops and made the final mobilization before the expedition.

After an impassioned speech, all the soldiers were enthusiastic and shouted slogans for the Pearl.

Timur watched the patchwork army stride forward in a slightly better mood, especially when he saw that the shield cart he had prepared blocked Daming's lead bullet and allowed his soldiers to advance calmly, he felt that victory beckoned to him.

"Artillery and catapults ready!"

"Shoot in the direction of Daming!"

"Your Majesty, you can't beat it...... You'll have to take a few hundred steps further! ”

"Isn't that still going to work?"

"Last time, we were knocked down several miles away from the Ming army!"

As soon as Timur's voice fell, he heard a loud noise in the distance, and then he saw one after another flaming cannonballs smashing towards him.

Seeing this, Timur subconsciously hid back in the carriage, his carriage was specially made, and a thick steel plate was added to it, and ordinary shells could not be broken when hit, but would be bounced away.

But the soldiers on the battlefield were not so lucky, under the heavy artillery fire of the Ming army, their proud shield cart was blown apart, and the archers and musketeers hiding behind the shield cart were blown up by the cannonballs before they could get close to launch.

As for the catapults that Timur had collected with great difficulty, it was even more miserable, it was the key target of the Ming artillery, and before the first round was over, the dozens of catapults he brought over were completely scrapped.

Timur's painstakingly forged artillery was not spared, some were blown up by the Ming Dynasty's shells, and some were blown up by the Timurid Empire's shoddy shells.

In short, the war began in an unexpected way, hitting the Timurid imperial army by surprise.

The defeat of the Timurid Imperial army has failed to gain experience, and seeing that it cannot defeat the Ming Dynasty, the rear team becomes the front team, and the front team becomes the rear team, and they flee with lightning speed.

They also discovered the shortcomings of the Ming Dynasty, the Ming generally did not pursue the enemy, and even if they were pursuing, it was difficult for them to maintain shooting accuracy on horseback, and they had to dismount to hit accurately.

Therefore, Timur's army knew that as long as they ran fast enough, they did not have to worry about being caught by the Ming army.

However, just as they were running in an orderly manner, they suddenly heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them.

The soldiers at the back turned back in horror, only to see tens of thousands of Northern Yuan soldiers wielding sabers in the phalanx of the Ming army!

These people not only wore the unique robes of the Beiyuan people, but even the slogans they shouted when they were chasing and killing were the same as the Beiyuan people!

In fact, these people were the Northern Yuan people, soldiers recruited by the Ming Dynasty from the conquered Northern Yuan homeland.

It's just that there was little use for them in the previous battles, and Lan Yu has hidden them to this day.

After the Mongol cavalry of the Ming Dynasty joined the battlefield, the entire battlefield situation turned into a one-sided massacre.

Those soldiers of the Timurid Empire who were running unhurriedly were caught up by these Mongolian cavalrymen who were eager to be rewarded for their meritorious service, and they were cut down to the ground just by looking at their faces, and then their ears were cut off by the enthusiastic Mongolian cavalry and put in their pockets as a token of their merits for killing the enemy.

After running for a few miles, Timur hurriedly stabilized his position, ordered his generals to restrain his soldiers, and prepared to turn around and fight with the Mongol cavalry.

In his opinion, it's just that he can't beat the Ming Dynasty, can't even the Mongolian cavalry?

However, as soon as his side stopped, Daming's artillery fire followed, and it fell accurately into his troops.

Although some shells missed and hit the Mongol cavalry, the casualties were not very large because the Mongol cavalry was scattered.

When Timur saw this, he cursed.

"How can this be fought!"

"When did the artillery fire of the Ming army become so strong, even at such a distance?"

Just as Timur was scolding, Jiawen Kuban tugged Timur's sleeve and pointed to the mountain dozens of feet high on the side.

Timur looked up and saw that there were thousands of more Ming troops on the mountain, plus hundreds of cannons, and they were condescendingly bombarding his own army at this time.

"Damn it!"

"All the scout camps are to be put to death!"

"So many Ming troops hid in the mountains and didn't find them, they should really be broken into thousands of pieces!"

On the battlefield where the war was raging, everyone only cared about running in all directions, and did not care to listen to Timur's roar.

Amin faithfully performed his duties, forcibly carrying him into a carriage despite Timur's objections, and then taking him out of the battlefield in the midst of the chaos.

As for the others, they are not so lucky, they can only run on their legs. Fortunately, half of Timur's army was cavalry, and even if it was damaged, half of it could run back.

It's just that the infantry is likely to fold......

Timur finally got a respite after running dozens of miles away, and began to calmly gather the fleeing soldiers.

As he expected, the infantry was lost, and only a part of the cavalry ran back.

While Timur counted the casualties, Lan Yu was also cleaning up the battlefield.

If it is determined that they are not cured, they will order the soldiers on the side to give them a good time, and those who still have hope of being cured will be carried back on a stretcher and handed over to their apprentices for careful treatment.

Sapphire prefers captives to these injuries.

Whenever a captive was caught, a Mongol soldier would come forward with a red-hot soldering iron, imprint the slave's mark on the opponent's forehead, and then bring it back to the rear to repair bridges and roads, and mine with iron.

As for the aristocratic generals, they will make bids according to their positions, and let their families send people to ransom them.

This can be regarded as a Middle Eastern characteristic, and Lanyu's move is also a local custom.

Lan Yu inspected the battlefield and commented on the artillery camp on the mountain.

"The range of our artillery is still too close, if we can fight dozens of miles away, why should we ambush an army here?"

"Chang Sheng, you send electricity to the people of the Ordnance Academy and tell them to improve the cannon!"

"Even if you can't let the cannon hit the range of dozens of miles, you have to increase the power of the cannon by a hundred times!"

"Samarkand is just an ordinary city, and our artillery can't even hit it. In the future, if we fight under the city of Constantinople, will we use our lives to fill it? ”

At this time, Lan Yu had only one thought about the entire Western world, and that was to take Constantinople with a large army.

In fact, Lan Yu did not have such great ambitions at first, but as he came into contact with more and more Middle Eastern scholars, from time to time he heard them boast about how strong Constantinople was, and no one could conquer it for a thousand years, that his competitive spirit was aroused.

As for why he attacked Constantinople, he didn't even think about it.

After all, for him, as long as he wants to fight, he can always find the right reason.

Lan Yu cleaned up the battlefield for three days and captured sixty or seventy thousand prisoners, and then returned to Kangju City to retire contentedly.

As for the soldiers of Haret, they naturally continued to garrison this place to prevent Timur's army from counterattacking again.

Timur was also stationed dozens of miles away for three days, while sheltering the soldiers, while thinking about ways to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

After returning to Isfahan, Timur finally thought of a way to deal with the Ming Dynasty.

"Javin Kuban!"

"Pick twenty eloquent emirs and ask them to send envoys to various countries on my behalf to seek reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements?"

Jia Wen Kuban said with a bitter face when he heard this.

"Your Majesty, where did we get reinforcements!"

"Although the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Empire have promised to send troops, they only pay lip service to it, and they have no intention of sending troops......

"As for Byzantium, which is more western, it's good that they don't take advantage of the fire to rob, and we dare to count on them to help?"

Timur smiled coldly when he heard this.

"Just do it, and I'll tell them what to say when the time comes......"

Five days later, twenty envoys left the city of Isfahan, who were ordered to go to the western countries to ask for help.

In the Ottoman Empire, Bayezid heard that Timur had sent an envoy again, and although he didn't say anything, he was already a little unhappy in his heart.

"Is Timur so useless?"

"Wasn't it very powerful when he forced me to withdraw from Byzantium, and now I am beaten by Daming and can't wait to call me for rescue three times a day!"

The person on the side secretly rolled his eyes when he heard this.

Timur only sent two groups of people in total, okay, why did it become three times a day?

"Your Majesty, would you like to receive it?"

"See you!"

"If not, the old thing should be picked on again!"

Bayezet was actually already mobilizing his soldiers, but he needed time to prepare. Not only must you prepare enough weapons and armor, but you must first understand how strong the Ming army is and whether you can withstand it.

He didn't want to help Timur and put his empire into it.

Of course, all of this is because after the Ming Dynasty captured Samarkand, he did nothing excessive except for changing the name of Samarkand.

Whether it is continued to expand, or burning, killing and looting, it has not been done, and it is much more civilized than the Mongols back then.

Otherwise, he would have gone to war long ago!

A short time later, the envoy entered the main hall and saluted Bayezid according to etiquette.

"Your Majesty, I am sent by my lord His Majesty Su Dan to ask you for a reinforcement army!"

"Reinforcements......"

"The envoy doesn't know, I, the Ottomans, have been fighting with Byzantium for many years, and I have a lot of unhappiness with the lord, and now I ......"

"Your Majesty, I haven't finished my words yet, my lord asked me to ask for a hundred reinforcements!"

Bayezet was stunned when he heard this.

"How much?"

"Back to Your Majesty, we only need a hundred reinforcements!"

"Only a hundred......"

"Okay!"

"I'll send it to you now!"

"It doesn't matter if you want cavalry or infantry!"

The envoy saluted respectfully.

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

"But for the sake of your soldiers' safety, the servant suggests that you better send cavalry, so that even if they are defeated, they can run faster!"

Bayezet thought that the other party looked down on his soldiers, and refuted it on the spot.

"Don't worry!"

"I, the Ottoman warriors, are not afraid of death, they will die on the battlefield even if they die!"

Byzantine Empire, Constantinople.

Manuel II received the envoy Timur with great hospitality.

For the Ottoman Empire, Timur was an enemy. But for Manuel II, Timur was a benefactor.

If Timur hadn't sent troops to force the Ottoman Empire to retreat, he might have abandoned Constantinople and ran away.

Therefore, compared to the indifference of the Ottoman Empire, he gave Timur's envoy a very high courtesy.

not only went out of the palace to greet him personally, but also rewarded him with a luncheon.

"Your Majesty, Byzantium, the servant is not here for the banquet, but on the orders of my lord to ask for reinforcements!"

"Reinforcements......"

"The envoy doesn't know that we have been at war with the Ottoman Empire for many years, and there are not many soldiers in the country anymore. Even if we in Constantinople can only make up tens of thousands of ......"

"No!"

"Your Majesty, you misunderstood, we didn't want you to send tens of thousands of reinforcements, our Majesty said that we only need you to send a hundred reinforcements......"

"A hundred?"

Manuel II was also stunned when he heard this, he really couldn't figure out why Timur only needed a hundred reinforcements!

"Special envoy, you tell me the truth, is it that your majesty wants too many reinforcements, and you are embarrassed to say it, so you tell a lie that only requires a hundred people?"

"No, no, no......"

"Your Majesty has misunderstood, I have a national letter here, and our Majesty really only needs you to send a hundred soldiers!"

"This ......"

Manuel II read Timur's letter and saw that Timur's personal seal was indeed printed on it, and he immediately stopped doubting it.

"Okay!"

"But a hundred people really can't be handled, or I'll give you five hundred, right?"

"No, no...... No, our Majesty has made it clear, only a hundred people are enough! ”

"Is a hundred really enough?"

"I don't know, it's just that our majesty did say so!"

"Oooh oh ......"

"Then I'll really only send a hundred people......"

The same drama was played out in various countries, and even countries that hated each other sent reinforcements of a hundred people.

If nothing else, just for Timur alone to block the westward advance of the Ming Dynasty, it is worth sending reinforcements.

What's more, Timur didn't want much, only a hundred people.

It's just that after sending a hundred reinforcements, the monarchs of various countries have speculated how Timur will use these people, does he really have the ability to turn decay into magic?

Or did he communicate with the pearl and could be protected by God?

In the face of doubts from all sides, Timur did not give any response.

He just ordered people to settle the reinforcements of various countries, and entertained them with good food and drink every day, neither letting them train the queue nor letting them practice the formation, but only letting them practice one thing, that is, the escape skills on the battlefield.

On the martial arts arena outside the city of Isfahan, various types of cannons imitated by Timur were lined up one after another, and a few cannons were fired from time to time in a fixed direction.

Outside the range of the cannons, reinforcements from twenty countries lined up one after another, listening to the deafening sound of artillery fire exploding in front of them.

Whenever the horses neighed and were out of their control, they tightened their reins and forcibly quieted them.

However, it didn't work, and when the cannonball went further and was only a dozen paces away from them, the war horse finally ran uncontrollably.

After more than ten days of training, the war horses finally got used to the sound of artillery, and then Timur announced the fourth counterattack on Samarkand!

(End of chapter)