Solovyov in Tsarist Russia 1796.

When Muhammad Omar Khan heard about the Russian invasion, he was so shocked that he sat up in shock from his deathbed.

For no other reason than that the image of the Russian invasion should be of little green men marching in, with Cossacks and hussars leading the way, and cannons firing, bombarding the city walls and formations.

But this time, it was the herdsmen from the grasslands who came.

What terrified him was the sheer number of troops that had arrived—at least twenty or thirty thousand.

Even though the Khanate of Kokand had emptied its coffers, it was still able to cobble together such an army.

However, they also had to consider whether this was merely the enemy's vanguard.

When Genghis Khan of Mongolia launched his western expedition, he had at least 120,000 troops, and the number kept increasing as the war progressed.

Even the officers patrolling the border in Kokand learned from Kazakh herders that several thousand Qing troops, under the command of the Ili General, were moving toward the border of Kokand.

What kind of battle is this?
Two superpowers serving me alone?

Although the Qing army didn't come in large numbers, they most likely just heard some news, waved flags and shouted slogans at the border for a while, and then left.

What is this for?
Only now did those foolish ministers of the Khanate of Kokand begin to feel fear.

While Tsarist Russia would certainly come to seize territory, they only remotely controlled a few puppets in the Kazakh Khanate, and only recently have they started recruiting soldiers there.

The Qing emperor was the one who wiped out the Dzungar Khanate. Even among the Kazakh herders, many were descendants of the Oirats who fled there, and they are still afraid when they talk about it.

This terrifying entity crossed the snow-capped mountains more than 20 years ago and taught the Gurkhas a lesson. Merchants from India spread the story throughout Central Asia.

Although the Qing Dynasty's actual combat strength may have declined, its military prowess in the late Qianlong period was still truly awe-inspiring to a certain number of people.

Therefore, the Khanate of Kokand has begun mobilizing its troops and will also collect taxes for the next five years.

However, the Grand Vizier is now also facing difficulties.
That is because the Khanate of Kokand itself was facing financial difficulties this year, and had already collected this year's taxes in advance.

By the following year, or even five years later, the soldiers would have to use knives to scrape the ground clean.

The "infidel" army that rebelled against Russia and the Qing Dynasty was quite a gimmick.

However, the fact that two such behemoths sent troops here in the Asian interior is quite terrifying.

When Timur the Lame was conquering east and west, at least the area from Transoxiana to Fergana was his territory, and the terror emanated outwards.

These two guys have really arrived now, and the entire Khanate of Kokand is now a soldier.

When Changling arrived in Yili, because he was the Imperial Commissioner, the Russian Governor-General of Orenburg directly handed him the handwritten letter and the translated copy.

Changling was also from the Plain White Banner of Mongolia. He was one of the people who went on a trip to the Gurkha with Fukang'an and Hailancha, and who eventually forced the Gurkha to submit and pay tribute.

Because many Qing soldiers, especially those from the northwest inland, had never seen Russians fight, they mustered a total of 8,000 men, including Solon soldiers, Xibe people, Mongolian cavalry, and various Qing troops.

After seeing Baron Essen's letter, he also learned about the Russians' purpose.

“In that case, the Russian governor-general must fulfill the agreement. Lord Qing, let’s submit a memorial to the Emperor together, explaining the situation. From now on, we will line up along the border of Kokand to prevent them from roaming.”

"But Zhang Nige'er is currently on the run. I wonder if you, sir, have any ideas?"

"We must strictly guard the border and prevent Zhang Ni from crossing the border again. We must also appease the various tribes and increase patrols. If the Kokand army comes from the east, we must recruit the various tribes to join us in a great battle. We must also be wary of the border situation."

The two generals of Yili, after discussing it, arranged for the Qing army to be deployed along the Talas River-Hubahai Mountain, ready for battle. The army was on high alert, and patrols were frequently carried out throughout the camp.

Baron Essen, having received instructions from Alakcheyev, was to enter Kokand, Namgan, and Andijan, strike at the Kokand Khanate, and then return to the Kazakh steppe.

After all, Bukhara was next to Kokand, and Russia could not effectively control the area at that time.

Some Kazakh herders even crossed the border between the Qing Dynasty and Russia and headed south.

The nomadic army that the Russians have conscripted has now reached the border of Kokand.

For this operation, the Russian army also mobilized a group of cavalry artillerymen to the Orenburg Governorate. The cavalry artillerymen were quite fast on the march and were able to keep up with the herders ahead.

In other words, the subsequent ammunition trucks and supplies arrived relatively slowly.

Therefore, when the Russian army arrived at the border of Kokand, the soldiers patrolling on the Kokand side saw a bizarre and wonderful scene.

There were Russian officers in green uniforms, and behind them were artillerymen in the same uniforms.

There were also many Kazakh herders who were not wearing armor. These people were the most numerous and carried firearms, bows and arrows, and swords. They were accompanied by cattle, sheep, horses, and camels. The scene was quite spectacular.

In addition, many of the elite cavalry from the Middle and Little Hordes of Kazakhstan were heavily armored cavalry, and some were ironclad archer cavalry, equipped with their own sabers and spears.

Next came a group of Russian Cossacks, all dressed in Cossack clothing, but not yet the suits later influenced by the Terek Cossacks.

Among them were some Tatar cavalrymen from Astrakhan, some of whom were even dressed in traditional Mongol clothing, with a leading warrior carrying a military flag and a long spear.

At least they didn't bring out Su Luding, otherwise, I don't know how to define this situation.

Muhammad Omar Khan was filled with fear and anxiety, and after learning of the military report, he fell seriously ill and never recovered.

Although he was still relatively lucid at this moment, it was difficult for him to take charge of the overall situation, so he had no choice but to have his ministers escort Crown Prince Muhammad Ali to meet the Russian army.

As for the Qing troops who were already not far from the border, Kokand was unprepared.

The Kyrgyz people south of Kokand even heard about the Russian army's movements. With the Qing army reaching the border in northern Xinjiang, they immediately sent envoys to the Qing Dynasty's Kashgar advisor, expressing their willingness, after consultation among various tribes, to submit to the Qing Emperor. They reasoned that the Emperor was at least willing to protect Orthodox Christians, as the Russian Christians had repeatedly defeated them and even Russified them.
The counselor in Kashgar was stunned by the scene, as were the assistant ministers in Aksu, Yengisar, and other places.

Russia is now an ally of our Great Qing Dynasty, so how come it has such a strong deterrent effect?

Of course, their submission to the Qing Dynasty was also due to the emperor's consistent benevolence and his appeasement and control over these tribes, which led to their sincere submission.

Madame Soloveo, living in Crimea, had no idea of ​​such a lively affair. It was just like in 1860, when the Anglo-French allied forces invaded, Russia intimidated them and ceded territory.

This time, however, they gained the sincere allegiance of the various Brut tribes, who also stated that Zhang'er had fled westward, probably heading towards Bukhara or Afghanistan.

Zhang Ge'er dared not go to Badakhshan, where the two Khoja brothers had already been killed.

Moving in the opposite direction, while the Qing army was searching for him and wanted to chop off his head to claim a reward from the emperor, he naturally couldn't go either.

Moreover, the Black Mountain Faction and the various Burke Lords over there all treat him as a walking money bag; his head is equivalent to a gold coin, and the wealthy lords are all eyeing him.

He also had no chance to win over those believers, after all, unleashing his ultimate move required a cooldown, and he also had to consider that his "faith points" were incompatible with other factions.

Upon receiving the news, Emperor Daoguang indeed felt bored.

However, since the various tribes of the Brutus were willing to submit, and some even wanted to join the empire, Emperor Daoguang simply settled them in the mountains.

Although the national treasury had been robbed of five million taels by the treasury guards, and the recovery was still underway, the national treasury was generally not short of silver. He was able to pay these tribal leaders their annual stipends and grant them permission to bring their people and lands to submit to the government.

What's both laughable and absurd is that, all of a sudden, Emperor Daoguang inexplicably began expanding his territory south of Kokand.

He did nothing, but simply used Russia's bad reputation to act as a good person, making these tribes feel that they could never repay the Emperor's kindness.

As for the "annual stipend," even under the extremely stingy circumstances of Emperor Daoguang, the silver and official hats given to those tribal leaders were actually more than the "annual reward" of the Ming Dynasty, and these tribes had genuinely surrendered and were willing to become subjects of the Qing Dynasty.

Even the Qing dynasty's officials had to understand the situation of these tribes. Unlike Chongzhen, who ultimately gave the annual rewards meant for the Tumet tribes that were close to the Ming dynasty to Ligdan Khan, not only was he taken advantage of, but he also destroyed his own base in Mongolia.

When the news reached Mohammed Omar Khan and his son, they were completely stunned.

What kind of thing is this?
As for the battles on the front lines, although it was already 1821, the mode of warfare between the two sides seemed no different from past battles, except for the addition of cannons and muskets.

Baron Essen, having spent so much time in Europe, never imagined the fighting here would turn out this way.

The Russian artillery performed steadily as always, their solid shot hitting the Kokand troops accurately, tearing the cavalry to shreds.

However, the subsequent battles turned into a turn-based affair, with the Kazakhs and the Kokand army fighting against them. Even the Tatars, who had long cooperated with Russia, were somewhat unaccustomed to this strange version of the game.

The Kazakhs fired a barrage of arrows and muskets, and the Kokand army retaliated with guns and cannons.

What followed was a clash between the cavalry on both sides, but the cavalry were scattered, and it generally turned into small-scale one-on-one duels and large-scale melee.

Essen felt it would be very troublesome to involve the Cossacks now.

He had once defended Riga and repelled the French, so he was somewhat at a loss when facing this kind of battlefield.

If all the troops that come are Russian, he might still have command.

Seeing the chaotic battle ahead, he didn't know what to say.

Fortunately, although the Kazakh cavalry fought in a chaotic manner, their armor, blunt weapons, and sabers still proved effective.

The Kokand army's cavalry was no match for them, and their infantry was scattered. In an instant, shattered skulls and decapitations flew everywhere, brains and blood mingling together.
After the initial victory, the vanguard of the Kokand army lost more than two thousand men to the Kazakh cavalry, not counting the results of the Russian artillery fire on their ranks.

Even the Russian army did not pursue them. Baron Essen and the tribal chiefs emphasized the things to be aware of on the battlefield and had the translators explain what was going on.

As for the Kokand army abandoning Tashkent, the ordinary people in the city had nothing left to rob.

However, the goods of the merchants and the taxes that Kokand had extracted from Tashkent were all divided up by the Kazakh leaders.

Fortunately, they were not stingy. The various tribes of the Kazakhs have always been relatively scattered, and they cannot be gathered together without some benefits. After receiving their share of the benefits, these herders are waiting for further summons.

Because there is still the core territory of the Khanate of Kokand ahead, if we were to attack, there would probably be a lot of things to plunder in the Khanate's palace.

In addition, the envoy of the Khanate of Kokand was captured by the Cossacks sent by Essen to scout.

They found a letter from Haidar, the Emir of Bukhara, in which he angrily denounced the arrogance of the Khanate of Kokand, saying that because they were so un-HALAL, they would surely go to Hellfire and would not have a good end on Judgment Day.

As for reinforcements, Bukhara and Russia have always been friendly, and they will not send you a single soldier or help you with a single penny.

In addition, like the Kazakhs, they also expressed their outrage at Kokand's behavior of daring to call himself Khan despite having no lineage whatsoever from the Golden Family.

Bukhara is, after all, the most powerful force in Central Asia. Without blood ties, they can only call themselves Emirs. The identity of Babur's son in Kokand is obviously unverified. If the Mughal Empire hadn't intervened at this time, they might have had another one come out of Kabul to attack them.

In addition, the Russian translator's erroneous translation confirmed that Kokand was indeed the "Ming" dynasty.

Although the Qing army watched the whole thing from the sidelines, they still patrolled the area very strictly.

The minister in charge of affairs in Kashgar also submitted a memorial to Emperor Daoguang, stating that Russia had won the first battle in the war between Russia and Kokand, and that he was worried that the Kokand Beg might flee all the way and take the risk of raiding the border.
Emperor Daoguang, who was afraid of spending money, saw the character "朙" and naturally decided to target Kokand.

However, news from his side reached the front lines rather slowly. Yang Fang, the Governor-General of Zhili, had just set off from Lanzhou with the third batch of Shaanxi-Gansu Green Standard Army cavalry, and had not even covered a quarter of the Hexi Corridor when the situation there changed again.

Muhammad Umar Khan of Kokand, known as Beg in the Qing Dynasty, is dead.

The cause of his death was quite simple: he died of fear after the Russians annihilated his army of several thousand in a single battle.

However, his son insisted on continuing the war against Russia and, like the deposed ruler of Kokand, did something equally bizarre.

They demanded that the Russian emperor and the Qing emperor convert to Christianity and launch a jihad against Russia and the Qing dynasty, or else they would massacre the Russians and Qing people in Kokand.

The problem is, the Qing dynasty had no people here. If you really want to count, the newly surrendered Kyrgyz tribes were also outside the territory ruled by Kokand.

Because Kokand seized Tashkent, and they had their own ports for trade, Russia did not take this route when they went to Tarbagatai.

Thus, the declaration of war amounted to nothing, and was even quite laughable. (End of Chapter)