The Han culture is spreading strongly in Southeast Asia

Chapter 744: Isn’t this the Ottoman New Army? I have seen it.
The positioning of the Dayu Western Army was very particular; they did not spread their limited military forces everywhere like scattering sesame seeds.

After all, although the Western Army was said to have 100,000 troops, only 60,000 of them were actually used on the front battlefield because they had to defend the two cities of Samarkand and Navoi, and also take care of logistics.

The Persian King Agha Muhammad Shah had an army of 140,000, more than twice the number of the Western Army. It was unreasonable to block the enemy with several times more troops on all sides.

Therefore, the tactic adopted by the Western Army was to occupy six relatively key and connected hilltops, and then use artillery and muskets to block the entrances and exits, blocking the Persian coalition forces' way down the mountain to get water.

The ability to achieve such precision, in addition to the command ability of the Western Army generals, should be attributed more to the hot air balloon and the sketcher who was shivering from the cold on the hot air balloon but was able to draw the terrain relatively accurately.

After receiving the aerial view of the terrain sent back by thirty sketchers, the staff officers from various military academies in the Grand Marshal's camp began to make further detailed drawings and calculations, and then came up with the best blockade plan.

The level of detail in the plan was something that most countries' armies at that time could hardly understand, let alone implement.

Not only are the hills that must be captured clearly marked, but even the firepower configurations such as the placement height and firing angle of the artillery for capturing the hills, as well as the spacing between the artillery configurations, have been given sufficient scientific advice.

Moreover, these suggestions were not made up by the staff officers on a whim, but were based on careful mathematical calculations and are quite feasible.

This precisely calculated plan, combined with the rich combat experience of the school-level officers and adapted to local conditions, is quite terrifying.

It can be said that Dayu’s elite troops already have the shadow of modern armies.

As for the Persian coalition, or more precisely, after they murdered Nadir Shah, who was training a new European-style army, they quickly regressed to the time of three or four hundred years ago, just like the time of Timur the Lame.

Even the combat effectiveness of the Persian coalition forces was far inferior to that of Timur the Lame's army. After all, that army basically unified the Muslim world.

Moreover, the Western Army of Dayu did not simply wait for the Persians to attack, but combined offense and defense.

The rumbling sound of cannons echoed among the mountains. This is the end of the Jinsha River Valley (Zerafshan River Valley). The mountains are not high, just a series of undulating hills.

Therefore, the Dayu Western Army could still fire from one hilltop to another by installing several large-caliber 18-pound and 24-pound heavy cannons on the several mountain strongholds where they were embedded.

Even field guns such as three-pound and six-pound guns can be quickly deployed and continuously bombarded upwards.

In addition to the intermittent bombardment to exert tremendous psychological pressure, the Western Army also mobilized veterans to form an elite night watch team, which carried out continuous raids and actually killed a large number of Persian coalition forces.

Leng Tianlu led a night raider squad, which consisted of fifteen people in total, six light infantrymen armed with rifles, and two grenadiers who could throw grenades wherever they pointed within fifty meters.

Four raiders armed with a special horn, a large-caliber musket that can fire shotgun shells, and three artillerymen armed with a Qi Yepa tiger squat cannon.

It was a dark night, and fifteen people, wearing black and gray night clothes, were moving quickly. Don't underestimate these night clothes that looked a bit like camouflage uniforms, as they were the embodiment of the highest technology at the time.

Because in this era when the printing and dyeing industry has just begun to develop rapidly, dyeing a piece of pure color cloth is no longer as difficult as before.

For example, in history, the Korean Peninsula could only wear plain colors due to the lack of dyes, and they even found an excuse to prefer white to cover up their shame. But now, with the development of chemical technology, yellow, purple, green and blue can all be dyed on the Korean Peninsula.

However, dyeing a piece of cloth with various colors and in a regular pattern requires extraordinary technology, which is simply not possible in ordinary printing and dyeing factories.

The night clothes greatly concealed the movements of Leng Tianlu and his men, so that when they were only seventy or eighty meters away from the target hilltop, the enemies on the gate tower still did not discover them.

In the trench outside the gatehouse, several unfortunate sentries were breathing heavily, and their sounds could be heard from far away.

In the middle of the night when the temperature is around zero degrees, the coldness in the wild cannot be relieved by wearing more clothes.

Leng Tianlu deliberately made a little noise, a strange grunt or two, and a few small stones rolled twice.

The two red-headed sentinels heard it, but they were too lazy to move. They had just used torches to warm the ground a little. The two of them snuggled together, barely able to resist the cold. Now neither of them wanted to move.

Seeing that they were not very vigilant, Leng Tianlu made a few more sounds of small animals, which sounded like rabbits, wild cats or other animals.

Now the two men were even more reluctant to move. In their inherent cognition, night raids only existed in stories. In such a cold late night, how much money would the superiors give them? Would they risk their lives to launch a night raid?
"Let's take turns sleeping and watching the fire. If it goes out, we might freeze to death."

A red-headed soldier paid no attention to the noise outside. His eyes were focused only on the fire in front of him, as if it was his life.

The other one was even more ruthless. When he heard his companion say that, he didn't even say hello and started snoring.

"Dog." This almost broke the defense of the red-headed soldier who was speaking. He clenched his fists and suddenly wanted to give his comrades a good beating.

The swelling anger reduced his perception. Just as he lowered his head to stir the fire again, a dark shadow suddenly appeared.

A huge palm covered his mouth, and almost at the same time, a cold dagger accurately pierced his heart through his chest.

The red-headed soldier felt as if his whole body was enveloped by coldness and darkness. Suddenly, he could not see anything clearly, only endless darkness. He vaguely remembered that he seemed to be struggling, but he could not say what he was struggling for.

After more than ten seconds, his last moments of consciousness disappeared as his heart stopped beating.

His comrades were in an even worse situation. The martial arts master Leng Tianlu took action personally and broke the red-headed soldier's neck with his pair of iron palms.

The force was so great and the speed was so fast that the red-headed soldier was still twitching strangely on the ground. His consciousness was still slightly present, but his body and brain seemed to be separated, and neither could affect the other.

After taking over this trench, Leng Tianlu and his men were only about fifty meters away from the Red-headed soldiers' camp.

At this distance, we can start taking action.

"Can we break the door here?" Leng Tianlu, who had just twisted the red-headed soldier's neck, patted the gunner's shoulder.

"We have at most two shots. If we exceed that time, we might not be able to escape. There are four or five hundred people in here."

The gunner shifted uncomfortably, estimated the distance in the moonlight, and took a breath. "If we get a little closer, we should be fine."

"Then let's do it. The old method is to lure the people out and blow them up!" After Leng Tianlu said this, he led the light infantry forward.

But after a while, they pretended to lose the position and were discovered by the red-headed soldiers at the gate of the stronghold, who then started shooting.

The sound of gunfire and the orange-red flames illuminated the night sky, echoing with the gunfire coming from the area being attacked in the distance.

Most of the red-headed soldiers were armed with matchlock guns, which were inconvenient to fire in the dark, so they could only quickly beat a Persian iron drum to give a warning. The Turkmen archers in the village also kept shooting arrows.

Leng Tianlu and others moved to another place after each shot. More than a dozen of them were as fast as moles, and their shooting skills were much more accurate than those of the Turkmen archers who shot blindly.

Soon, several red-headed soldiers under the torches were killed or injured. The grenadiers even threw a bomb to make the noise even louder.

Many dazed Turkmen on night duty were shocked by the sudden casualties. They didn't know how many people had arrived, but they only knew that the enemy's firepower was fierce and they had suffered considerable losses.

Soon, rumors began to spread everywhere, saying that the Taohuashi army had begun to attack their own fortress and the gate was about to be breached.

There was too much chaos and too many rumors. The officers who were hastily awakened from their sleep did not know the true situation and could only believe it.

So, under his loud command, more than a hundred red-headed soldiers hurriedly ran from the barracks to the village gate. Then, with a loud bang, Grandpa Qi's mortar fired, and the pale green gunpowder exploded directly in the crowd.

In the choking poison, Leng Tianlu shouted loudly, and the grenadiers went forward first and threw all the bombs in their hands out in one breath.

Then the assault soldiers approached and fired a fierce attack with their large-caliber muskets loaded with shotgun shells.

This type of shotgun shell, which is about the same size as later BB bullets, is not very effective in killing people, but it has a very wide coverage area. If you are hit by one, it will cause excruciating pain.

The first picric acid bomb killed or injured more than ten people among the hundred people. The second wave of bombs killed and injured more than ten people. And this wave of blasts must have injured more than half of them.

And because it was night, it was impossible to easily determine the extent of one's injuries as during the day, and officers could not control the army as they did during the day.

Therefore, many red-headed soldiers were only slightly injured, but they thought they would die soon. Everyone was panicked and had no intention of resisting at all.

Leng Tianlu seized on this idea again and took the lead in rushing into the red-headed soldiers' camp. They either stabbed with bayonets or slashed with various long and short weapons they carried. More than a dozen people actually killed their way in and out of the camp of three or four hundred people.

When they estimated that the time was almost up, Leng Tianlu fired an orange flare (fireworks) into the air, and the elite raiders immediately retreated.

When they retreated to the foot of the hill, Leng Tianlu took inventory and found that not only was there no one missing, but there was not even a seriously injured person. The members of the assault team smiled at each other and retreated with their eyes shining in the dark.

In the camp, the officers who were inexplicably beaten and had fifty or sixty dead and more than a hundred injured suddenly found that the enemy was retreating, and a look of joy suddenly appeared on their faces.

After a while, a battle report was sent up, saying that our army was attacked by hundreds of enemy troops at night. Fortunately, all the soldiers in the village fought bravely. Although more than half of them were killed or wounded, they fought to the death and finally killed the enemy and saved the stronghold. Unfortunately, it was too dark and they failed to capture any heads.

Such battle reports greatly interfered with the judgment of the Persian high-level officials.

The Persian King Agha Muhammad Shah was horrified to discover that he received dozens of such battle reports every day, each of which claimed to have killed a large number of enemy troops.

However, it is true that they lost seven or eight hundred people in the past two days, but they rarely saw the corpses of the enemy soldiers, and now there are only less than ten of them in total.

This must be a lie on their part, but... the position wasn't lost. Could it be that the Taohuashi people paid such a high price just to kill their own soldiers, even giving up a stronghold they could have captured? In a hidden spot on the hill, in the Persian king's headquarters, the generals were arguing. No one had expected that almost every important hilltop at the foot of the mountain would be captured so quickly.

Moreover, the peach blossom stone men chose the places so precisely, so precisely that they themselves did not realize that some places were so important.

What’s even more terrifying is that the small-scale battles on some hills are still very fierce, and every time there is a firefight, our side suffers considerable losses.

When this situation arose, except for some religious believers, especially those who believed in mysticism and thought that the Peach Blossom Stone Man was some kind of divine helper, most of the generals understood that they had encountered an unprecedentedly difficult opponent.

"Your Majesty, this isn't our war. We've come so far and helped the Bukharans so much, which is already very difficult. So I suggest that the Bukharans should take the lead."

Agha Muhammad Shah narrowed his eyes and glanced at the general who was speaking. This was a general from Shiraz. Although he was also a member of the Red Head Army, he was not a close confidant of Agha Muhammad Shah.

At this time, there were actually still dozens of separatist forces of various sizes in Persia. In other words, Persia was still in the early Western Han Dynasty in China and had not evolved forward.

The various separatist forces in Persia could also have the title of "Khan". They did not have complete independence in diplomacy, and even in internal affairs and military affairs, but they were not 100% obedient to the king.

The title of the Persian king since ancient times, "Shah Shah", means King of Kings. Originally, it meant that the king could control the khans, big and small, and was the king of the khans.

Therefore, Agha Muhammad Shah at this time was very clear that what the Shiraz general actually meant was not to push the Bukhara people to the front to be used as artillery, but that these nobles in western Persia were not willing to participate in the war in the Central Asian region.

They would not gain much benefit from winning, and it would even be harmful to them if Agha Muhammad Shah became a demigod of the Sufi mystical order.

As for losing, what they lost was their own strength.

"If we encounter a powerful enemy and our first thought is not to confront it but to hide behind our allies or even to escape, then we will never be able to restore the glory of the Persian Empire. I am not worthy of being a descendant of Sufism, and you are not worthy of being a follower of Sufism!"

Agha Muhammad Shah first said some correct nonsense, then stared at the general from Shiraz with cold eyes.

"I agree with your suggestion, so I decided to give you 3,000 men. You take them and your tribe and attack tomorrow. Take this stronghold back for me before dark!

If you can't do that, then your proposal is just a random one, and as the Shah of Persia, I will depose your title, take back your territory, and execute you!"

Agha Mohammad Shah pointed at the map viciously. If he didn't hit the one who stood out severely, how could he lead his team?

The general from Shiraz did not expect that King Agha Muhammad Shah was so cruel that he would disregard his face and go across two or three levels to target him directly. He looked at his real lord with some despair.

But he found that the Khan did not look away and had no intention of looking at him at all.

"How dare you disobey my order?" Agha Muhammad Shah did not follow General Shiraz's gaze, because now was not the time to reorganize the internal affairs, and it was impossible to touch such a high-ranking noble at this time.

"You took the initiative to offer suggestions, but you don't have the courage to implement them?" Agha Muhammad Shah once again raised a fatal question.

It is still very artistic. The first question is forcing this ignorant and arrogant general to deliver it.

The latter sentence was a guarantee that as long as no one continued to take the lead, he, as the king, would not force anyone to take the initiative to attack the Peach Blossom Stone Man, which was obviously difficult to deal with.

Then, the big tent immediately became dead silent and no one spoke anymore.

General Shiraz, who knew that he had made a fool of himself and that he had been betrayed, sighed heavily and could only go out with a pale face to prepare for the attack.

After he left the tent, Agha Mohammad Shah said with a cheerful face, "Actually, I'm very optimistic about this suggestion. After this group of troops has tested the combat effectiveness of the Peach Blossom Stone People once again, we will immediately organize a full-scale counterattack."

The Western Army controlled six large hills approximately where the Persian coalition forces were camped. Each hill was garrisoned with between six and eight hundred men and equipped with five three- to six-pound field guns.

Those who were chosen to be embedded as nails were the most elite soldiers of Dayu.

They are either the imperial guards who are the pillars of the dynasty, or veterans tempered in the northwest and northeast, or members of the Huang Han army with overflowing fighting spirit and the Huiliang army eager to prove themselves.

The unfortunate General Shiraz brought more than 600 people from his own army, more than 3,000 Bukhara militiamen and hundreds of divine warriors. As luck would have it, they chose Mao Xiangsheng.

As the governor of Andi (Yan), Mao Xiangsheng had already decided that his daughter would marry the second son of the crown prince and grandson of Li Xianwen, Mo Guangchen.

Therefore, he is currently in charge of the Anji Marquisate, and his fiefdom will be taken from this war.

"Second brother, third brother, this seems to be a test. Then beat them hard and scare them out of their wits as soon as possible. Force them to fight or even escape over the mountain."

Mao Xiangsheng looked at the two people behind him and said with a smile: "Our own benefits and our own vassal state still come from these people."

In fact, the two men whom Mao Xiangsheng called second brother and third brother were not his brothers from his hometown in Hunan, but his subordinates. To be precise, they were Huiliang people who had taken refuge with him, that is, the disciples of Huihan from the northwest.

After these Hui people followed Mao Xiangsheng, they took his surname Mao. Later, the relationship between the two sides continued to deepen during the war, forming a stable interest group. They also began to call each other brothers and finally became like a family.

"We have to beat them, beat them hard. We believed their lies in the past. If we don't beat them hard, how can we let the Grand Marshal and His Majesty know that our Mao family has completely changed its ways?" Brother Mao nodded like a chicken tackling rice.

"However, don't use too many rifled guns, so as not to expose too much. Let's fight them with volley guns." Brother Mao San immediately added.

"Third brother is really careful. He didn't let them know about the rifle. Then you can take the four hundred men with you!"

On the hillside, a large flag of the White Lotus Sect with a red background, a golden sun and golden swastikas embroidered around it was erected at the highest point. This was the standard for Hui Liangren and White Lotus Sect believers.

In a place like Hezhong, religion always has to be mentioned a little bit, and the White Lotus Sect is a very suitable one.

On the battlefield, the only flag flying higher than the White Lotus Sect's swastika-shaped golden sun flag was the red-background golden sun and moon flag, which symbolized Dayu and was used exclusively by the army.

The 400 Huiliang soldiers were dressed in blue uniforms and black iron flying saucer hats. They were arranged in two rows, with three three-pound field guns and several small-caliber mortars placed in the middle.

In the distance, more than 4,000 Persian soldiers were moving forward in a disorderly manner. At first, they imitated Hui Liangren and formed a fairly neat formation, moving forward continuously.

Unfortunately, they had not received such training, so as they walked, the team began to twist and turn, and after five or six hundred meters, it became a mess.

Morale was not very high either, because an expert could tell the quality of the troops at a glance. The thousands of people below looked at the hundreds of people on the mountain as if they were one body, and saw the black muzzles of the cannons and the gleaming bayonets, and many people felt their legs go weak.

Boom!

The Huiliang army's artillery, which was high up on the hillside, fired first. The trajectory of these three-pound cannons was adjusted very appropriately, because this method of hitting low from high would easily cause the shells to hit the ground directly instead of hitting in a straight line.

Each of the three cannons of the Huiliang Army fired a straight line. The shells emitting white smoke came whistling like the god of death, wrapping up several bloody corpses and leaving a pink trail of blood.

The terrified Bukhara militia cried and hid to the sides. Some turned around and ran. After only three shots, they began to get confused.

Seeing this situation, the red-headed soldiers who were holding the line showed no mercy. They started punching, kicking, and even slashing with knives, and soon suppressed the situation from the back.

The militia continued to move forward, roaring in panic, some of them praying loudly to Allah with a look of panic on their faces.

Another round of artillery fire came, and this time it was much better because the angle was different. The shells did not hit the ground in a straight line like before, but hit the ground hard and bounced back.

Although the damage was much less, the psychological pressure was even greater. With only four or five hundred meters left, some Bukharan, unable to bear the pressure, shouted, "Charge! Charge!"

The entire crowd was completely out of the control of the officers and began to charge forward with a roar. They were as chaotic as ants. Many of them fired their muskets from three or four hundred meters away. The battlefield was filled with smoke. Many people were already sweating profusely from running, but the two armies had not yet really engaged in battle.

"I must have been crazy before, actually listening to the preaching of such a person." Mao Sange muttered, and the red of shame quickly spread across his face.

"Eighty meters, fire!"

"Two volleys!"

"Free Fire!"

Brother Mao San gave orders in a very organized manner. The chaotic sect militia was hit by a torrential rain of more than 2,000 lead bullets at a distance of 80 to 50 meters. Dozens of people fell to the ground each time.

General Shiraz's eyes were red as he kept ordering his tribe's soldiers to force the Bukharas to attack from above. However, after the Bukharas suffered more than a hundred casualties, they would definitely retreat, and the cycle would repeat itself.

By the fourth round, the Bukhara people refused to go up, and the desperate General Shiraz looked at the tribal soldiers with fear on their faces and smiled strangely.

"I won't let you go to your death!" After saying this, the general, who was a little straight-headed but still responsible, put the pistol in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

The Persian King Agha Muhammad Shah watched all this through a telescope from a distance with his cold eyes, and he actually nodded.

"They can fight. This is their most elite army, comparable to the new army of the Ottoman Caliph. They don't exceed 30,000 men at most."

Agha Muhammad Shah was quite knowledgeable, and he estimated that the 60,000 Dayuxi troops present here had 30,000 elite soldiers, which was already an overestimation according to the average army.

"We will concentrate our forces and attack those people, forcing the Peach Blossom Stone People to come to our rescue."

(End of this chapter)