It stands to reason that the Nawab kingdom possessed most of Sindh and one-third of the former Mughal Empire in Sindh and one-third of Punjab, with a population of nearly 8 million and an army of more than 100,000 people.

The reason why this happened was that the war in northwest India, which had been silent for more than seven months, suddenly became "lively" again.

In 1719, after another bitter battle for the throne within the Mughal Empire, Rohsan (grandson of Shah Alam I) was put on the throne by the powerful minister Nizam and named Muhammad Shah. In order to consolidate his rule and establish his prestige, the young emperor, at the instigation of the prime minister Nizam, launched a reconquista war against Punjab and Sindh in February 1722.

In order to protect itself, the Nawab Kingdom and the Banjinad Kingdom jointly sent troops to fight the Mughal Empire's army in Ludhiana, Rajput (present-day Rajasthan, India) and other regions.

The fighting lasted for more than a year, affecting the four provinces of Lahore, Multan, Sindh and Rajput, killing and wounding more than 100,000 troops on both sides, and displacing millions of people as refugees.

Although the war has become a stalemate, and neither can eat the other, the two sides did not stop at the end of the war, but instead hoarded a large number of troops at the junction of the three parties, forming a confrontation with each other.

The Nawab kingdom only retained a royal guard of less than 4,000 people in the capital city of Multan, and in the face of the attack of tens of thousands of rioting civilians inside and outside the city, it was caught off guard and did not resist much, and after losing half of its personnel, it escorted King Azim I out of the city in embarrassment and went straight to the fortress of Hanewal, which was more than 30 kilometers away.

Ten days later, when the Nawab Kingdom was preparing to mobilize troops from the border area and return to the capital to quell the rebellion, the Mughal Empire took the opportunity to launch a massive offensive and dragged the Nawab Kingdom's army alive.

Under the guidance of the "people with hearts", King Azim I urgently sent an envoy to the nearby Xizhou Governorate to ask the Qi State to send troops to help the Nawab Kingdom quell the rebellion and stabilize the domestic order.

When more than 3,000 officers and men stationed in Xizhou landed more than 10 kilometers away from Multan, they were immediately attacked by thousands of rioting civilians.

However, when several small steamers lined up on the river and shelled the shore one after another, the raging mob quickly dispersed, leaving dozens of corpses and litter on the riverbank.

In the afternoon of the next day, after hearing that the Qi army had arrived near Multan, an army of more than 1,000 Nawab Kingdom troops hurried to meet them.

"Didn't you send your own army?" Pramod Mishra, the commander of the Praetorian Guard of the Nawab Kingdom, who led the troops, looked at the thousands of Qiyin servants dressed in gray cloth uniforms in surprise, and his face couldn't help but have a trace of trepidation, "There are as many as 30,000 untouchables in the rebellion, and they have also seized the armory in Multan City, making them even stronger. If they are not defeated in time, there will inevitably be more mobs to follow, and the whole situation will become out of control. ”

"More than 30,000 mobs are just a rabble." Jiang Chuntang, commander of the Xizhou garrison army and lieutenant (lieutenant colonel) Linglu, said disdainfully: "Even if they seize the ordnance and armor of your Nawab Kingdom army, but they have not been subjected to any formal military drills before, how high can their combat effectiveness be?" In wars, sometimes it is not necessary to have a large number of people to win! ”

"However, there is a tenfold difference in troops, and your country is dispatched like this...... So...... The local troops, isn't it a little too big to underestimate the enemy? Pramod Mishra eagerly persuaded: "This general of the Qi State, we should wait a little longer, and after the arrival of your Qi army, we can launch the fiercest attack on the rebellious untouchables." ”

Yo, I'm underestimated!

Although the 3,000 local servant troops of our Xizhou garrison army are all equipped with old "Hanxing 10-style" flintlock muskets, they are also soldiers who have been trained by professional officers of our army for more than a year, and they should be able to fight and win against more than 30,000 hastily organized mobs.

Moreover, there was also a professional artillery unit with 12 light artillery guns of 55 mm and 65 mm caliber, and if it could not defeat tens of thousands of rabble, it would be better to disband them all and go back to eat dirt.

In the eyes of the Qi people, the combat strength of the armies of all the princely states of India, including the Mughal Empire, has shown irrepressible decline and regression since the defeat of the imperial emperor Aurangzeb at the Qi state more than forty years ago.

Back then, when Babur, the founder of the Mughal Empire, moved from Central Asia to India, his army was invincible in front of many princely states in India, and everywhere he went, he defeated the enemy in front of him in a devastating way. They not only have strong artillery and muskets, but also have the strong military qualities of Central Asian and Persian soldiers. Even in the headwind situation when the battle situation is unfavorable and the generals are killed, they can still fight stubbornly.

Akbar the Great carried out military reforms, which further improved the training, management and equipment of the troops, and laid a good foundation for the empire to expand its territory in India.

However, by the middle of the last century, the Mughal army had lost three battles against the Safavid dynasty of Persia in the battle for Kandahar, so that they suffered from "wave phobia" and did not dare to face their troops directly. In the later melee of the succession to the throne, there were many times when the whole army was defeated. In these battles, the Imperial army fought bravely to take the lead in a tailwind situation, lest they would not be able to pick up the credit, but once the situation was slightly unfavorable to their side, they would immediately waver and even flee in fear.

As the foreign conqueror of India, the army on which the founding emperor Babur relied was mostly from the bitter cold mountains and deserts of Central Asia. These people grew up in a barren and difficult environment, and cultivated the excellent qualities of hard-working, brave and good at fighting. At the same time, they also integrated the weapons and equipment, strategy and tactics of the Turks, Mongols, and Afghans, and had combat effectiveness that surpassed the local Indian army.

However, as they gradually penetrated deeper into the South Asian subcontinent and gradually took root in the warm and rich land of India, they were inevitably infected by the warm and humid climate and comfortable and affluent life here, and their combat effectiveness began to deteriorate rapidly, and the spirit of hard work in the past was gradually blown away by the wind of extravagance and pleasure.

Moreover, starting with Akbar, three successive generations of Mughal emperors have vigorously wooed local Hindu princes in India in order to stabilize their rule, allowing more and more Indian locals to participate in the military and political affairs of the empire, and allowing them to hold important positions in the military and political system. Compared with the Central Asians, who were able to tolerate the harsh cold climate and poor environment, the Indian soldiers who enjoyed the warm climate and fertile land of South Asia were obviously less tolerant of unfavorable war conditions and harsh environments, and still less enthusiastic about expanding their territory.

At the same time, lower-caste soldiers were deeply affected by rigid hierarchies and suffered discrimination from higher-caste counterparts. They do not enjoy good treatment and training, and they do not have the opportunity to turn over and soar after meritorious service. As a result, they not only have poor military literacy, but also have little motivation to fight bravely. In the previous battles of the Mughal Empire, they were pushed into the battlefield like cannon fodder, but before they really became cannon fodder, they would often quickly rout and scatter when the war was slightly unfavorable.

After the Qi-India War, the Mughal Empire seemed to be broken by the Qi State at once, not only did various separatist forces appear in the country, but also the combat effectiveness of the army declined sharply. During the Aurangzeb period, the once aggressive pioneering momentum came to an abrupt halt, and rounds of infighting began.

The Marathas, Rajputs, Balus, Sikhs, ......, and self-reliant governors were able to tear off a piece of flesh from the vast Mughal Empire, absorbing nutrients and growing themselves.

In India, the Qi people are very careful to control the number and objects of various types of firearms, not only to avoid the excessive growth of the forces of one side, so as to have the strength to reunify the Indian region, but also to rack their brains to control the frequency and scale of wars carried out by all parties, so as not to overly damage the local economy and people's livelihood.

The third civil war of the Mughal Empire (also known as the Northwest War) that broke out last year, whether it was the Mughal Empire army, or the combined forces of the Nawab Kingdom and the Banjinad Kingdom, although they also had a lot of old artillery after the elimination of the Qi State, most of the soldiers' equipment was basically based on cold weapons, and the way of war also returned to the medieval mode.

And the local servants in our Xizhou garrison army are also modern firearms units that have undergone months of rigorous training, and there are also professional artillery blessings, and when facing a group of chaotic people who can't even eat enough, if they can't be defeated in a battle, it will be a bit of a slap in the face.

"Have a good rest tonight, and leave early tomorrow morning." Jiang Chuntang ordered: "I hope that I will be able to enter Multan City tomorrow night." ”

(End of chapter)