Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 644 Sengge's Strategy

Although Dzungar was far away, the Qian Dynasty was not unaware of such a large-scale action. At the beginning, the number of caravans heading to the Western Regions dropped sharply, which made Sengge suspicious.

Later, Sengge received news from his spies in the south of the desert, saying that Meng Jun, in the name of Great Khan Tengerit Gugechi, was gathering the Mongolian tribes in the south and north of the desert. As for how many troops the tribes of the grassland could gather, the spies were not sure, but what was certain was that the number of cavalry would not be small.

This news made Sengge feel a little panicked. Sengge was the founder of the Dzungar Khanate, so he was naturally not an uneducated person. Sengge knew clearly that in history, no nomadic people could compete with the Central Plains for a long time.

Over time, the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Rouran, and Turkic Khitan, no matter how powerful the grassland cavalry were, eventually disappeared under the attack of the Central Plains dynasty.

The Mongol Empire was once so powerful, but after the rise of the Ming Dynasty, the Mongol Empire fell apart. Therefore, even though Sengge usually showed his ambition to restore the Mongol Empire, he was still unsure when he really faced the Qian Dynasty.

………………

On the banks of the Ili River, in the court of the Dzungar king.

In order to resist the impending attack of the Qian Dynasty, Sengge also sent envoys to invite Central Asian countries to prepare to form an alliance.

Among them, Sengge believed that the most important forces were the Bukhara Khanate and the Great Yuzi, Middle Yuzi and Small Yuzi tribes within the Kazakh Khanate.

The ancestors of the Bukhara Khanate are descendants of Genghis Khan's eldest son Jochi. The Astrakhan Dynasty now rules the Bukhara Khanate, but the current Bukhara Khan, Sukhan Kuli Khan, has long since converted to Islam and governs the country according to Islamic law.

As for the three Yuzi tribes, although they nominally belonged to the same country as the Kazakh Khanate at that time, in fact, the internal divisions were extremely serious. Because of the terrain, this place had always been easily divided into three.

That is, there was a force in the south, north and west respectively. For example, during the Han Dynasty, the territories of the three Yuzu, large, medium and small, corresponded to the three great countries of Wusun, Kangju and Yancai respectively.

Sengge had good intentions, but the actual situation was similar to what Meng Jun experienced in Xi'an City. The Bukhara Khanate, which Sengge valued most, and the three Yuzi tribes all refused to join the camp against the Qian Dynasty.

For the current Astrakhan Dynasty, before the Qian Dynasty threatened the Dzungars, the biggest threat to the Bukhara Khanate was the Dzungars. The Dzungars were a nomadic people. After controlling the Western Regions, their cavalry repeatedly harassed the border of Bukhara. It was not until the Qian Dynasty was about to attack the Dzungars that Sengge issued a strict order not to harass the Bukhara Khanate.

Therefore, Suhan Kulihan would rather the Dzungar and Qian Dynasty fight for a hundred years than get involved in this mess. Therefore, Suhan ordered his men to expel the Dzungar envoys and even humiliated the envoys with words.

The three Yuzi tribes were wary of each other. On the one hand, they were unable to help the Dzungars, and on the other hand, they saw that the Dzungars had annexed the Yarkand Khanate, which frightened them and made them extremely wary of Sengge, fearing that if they had too much contact with the Dzungars, they would be annexed by the Dzungars instead.

However, the three Yuzi tribes were still polite to the envoys of Dzungar. At least they were not like the Bukhara Khanate. Each of the three Yuzi tribes said that the other side was a threat to them and they had no ability to help Great Khan Sengge.

In the king's tent by the Ili River, Sengge entertained the small leaders of the tribes with a forced smile. After these small tribal leaders had eaten and drunk their fill and left the king's tent, Sengge frowned and said to his left and right generals: "Suhan is a fool!"

At this time, a subordinate beside him asked carefully: "Great Khan, the Bukhara Khanate refuses to send troops?"

Sengge said in a bad tone: "If it weren't for the aggressive Qian Dynasty, I would have sent troops westward to destroy that idiot Suhan first."

After saying this, Sengge threw the wine bowl on the table and said angrily: "If you want to fight, then fight. I am not afraid!"

At this time, Sengge's elder brother, Babatur, could not help but ask: "The Qian Dynasty is coming to attack, how is the Khan going to fight?"

In the big tent, a group of nobles heard Babatur's words and looked at Sengge. After hearing this, Sengge said in a gloomy tone: "The Qian Dynasty wants to fight, we have to fight back, but they have come from afar, and food supply is the biggest shortcoming of the Qian army!"

Seeing Babatur's confused look, Sengge felt extremely contemptuous of him. How could such a fellow have the nerve to compete with him for the position of the leader of the Dzungar tribe?

But Sengge still patiently explained: "If the Qian army travels thousands of miles, then I will lead the army to avoid the battle and then use light cavalry to attack the Qian army's food supply. The longer the time is delayed, the greater the advantage for me. I don't believe that the Qian Dynasty can fight in the Western Regions for a long time with such supply difficulties!"

Sengge knew very well that the Central Plains dynasty's combat method must be based on infantry, and combat was heavily dependent on logistical supplies. No matter how powerful the Central Plains army was, it would be useless without food.

After hearing this, everyone couldn't help but feel more confident. As they talked one after another, everyone's confidence grew, as if defeating the Qian army, marching eastward, and restoring the Yuan Empire in one fell swoop were just around the corner.

Seeing that everyone's confidence was boosted, Sengge nodded with satisfaction, and then said: "I have sent people to U-Tsang to contact my brother Galdan. As long as Galdan can help us threaten the Hexi Corridor, my chances of winning will increase by another 30%."

Everyone nodded and praised the Khan for his wisdom. Sengge pressed his hands down, then looked at his brother, Babatur, and said, "Babatur, go to the Bukhara Khanate again. If you can't persuade Suhan to send troops, at least make them remain neutral!"

The Bukhara Khanate was located to the west of Dzungaria, while the Qian Dynasty's attack was directed to the east of Dzungaria. In Sengge's view, if the Bukhara Khanate refused to help him, at this critical moment, he should at least not make enemies with it.

After listening to Sengge's words, Babatur said in a muffled voice, "I'll go now." Then he turned and left.

Sengge looked at Babatur's back. After he walked out of the tent, Sengge asked again, "Where is Bogdan the Rakshasa? How come it has been so long, and the firearms promised to the Khan have not arrived yet?"

Seeing everyone's confused faces, Sengge waved his hand and signaled everyone to get out. Then Sengge sent his confidants to Luosha, on the one hand to purchase firearms, and on the other hand to see if he could bring the Luosha people together to fight against the Qian Dynasty.