Mount and Blade Central Asia

"Then it will be the same if we go to Aleppo. There is nothing between Mardin and Aleppo. Wouldn't the Black Sheep people be able to go there freely then?" the reckless man asked again.

"It's called trading space for time. We need time to strengthen the city's defenses and appease the people. We can abandon these lands directly because we are few in number and can easily be relocated." Li Rufeng gestured for the other party to sit down and continued, "As for the Black Sheep, if they want to take over this unowned land, they will have to pay a price. They are also a newly revived small country with limited manpower. Moreover, they must consider their relations with neighboring countries after expanding their territory."

"If we occupy the city of Mardin, the Black Sheep will clench their fists and hit us because we are too close. On the contrary, if we retreat all the way to the city of Aleppo, the Black Sheep will have to spread out their palms if they want to hit us, and by then they may only have one fingertip left to hit us." Li Rufeng answered this question in a simple and easy-to-understand way.

"Aleppo's business is more prosperous than Mardin's. Once we stabilize the trade routes, the merchants coming and going will make us even richer." Li Rufeng then offered these leaders a promise of benefits. "Then our furs will fetch higher prices, but the food and other supplies we buy will become cheaper."

And I can realize the good days of lying at home and waiting for taxes to be collected, Li Rufeng thought silently in his heart, with a smile on his face.

"I know you have reasons that you haven't said. It doesn't matter. I'll say it for you. You want to know that since the Khanate can't come back, why not just surrender to the Black Sheep People or the Mamluks, right?" Li Rufeng's eyes swept across the faces of every chief. Most people didn't react much, and some even smiled disdainfully, but there were still three chiefs who didn't dare to look directly into the shaman's eyes.

"We will not surrender to the Mamluks or the Black Sheep People. They are not worthy. Bah!" Dangertai spat on the ground to express his position.

But Qinggelinayan simply waved him away and said, "Let me answer for you. We've all been acting as executioners these past few years. Even if we surrender, we'll be liquidated. So, we've all been behaving ourselves. We can only rely on ourselves now. We have to stick together."

All the leaders nodded, and in the end no one raised any objections, and the attack on Aleppo was decided.

At this point, Qinggelinayan seemed to have just remembered something and said to Li Rufeng, "Shaman Rufeng, I suddenly remembered that we forgot to hold the city-taking ceremony when we captured Mardin City. I plan to give this honor to you. You deserve it."

The other chiefs were stunned for a moment, and then they all agreed, either sincerely or insincerely. Even Dangertai just had a stern face, his eyes full of envy. Only Li Rufeng was confused.

He was a novice in fighting and this was his first time conquering a city, so he knew nothing about the Mongol rituals of capturing a city.

But there is one thing Li Rufeng can be sure of, this ceremony was not forgotten, but Qinggelina Yankeyi kept it until now. After getting the result of the war between the Khanate and the Black Sheep People, he finally decided on how to deal with the city of Mardin.

If the Qara Qoyunlu had won and the Qara Qoyunlu had perished in one battle, then their attack on the city of Mardin would have been considered as suppressing a rebellion, not as conquering a city. If the Qara Qoyunlu had won and the Khanate's forces could not enter the Mesopotamian plains again, then the city of Mardin would have been their achievement.

After the meeting, Qinggelinayan handed Li Rufeng the old sultan's three-yuan flag and said, "This may be the last time we use this flag. Leave it in Mardin. When the Black Sheep see it, let them know that Timur's warriors are not completely wiped out."

When Qinggelinayan said this, his tone was very complicated.

In terms of ethnic conflicts, the old Sultan Timur was the leader of the people of Transoxiana, and they were just prisoners of war who were defeated and captured. But from a military perspective, Timur was like another monument after Genghis Khan. The soldiers who could serve him were lucky, because under Timur's command, they were invincible.

Leaving this flag in the city of Mardin symbolized both the Mughals' admiration for the old Sultan and the end of their loyalty to the Khanate. From now on, they would fight for themselves.

Li Rufeng followed Qinggelinayan's instructions, put the flag on a spear, and then climbed to the highest point in Mardin, which was the minaret of the mosque in the city, more than 30 meters high. A lucky craftsman who was not harassed at all built a tall and long ladder for Shaman Rufeng so that he could slowly climb up the minaret.

When he stood on the top of the tall minaret and looked down, the entire Mesopotamian plain was in sight. A sense of heroism and ambition arose spontaneously. He raised high the flag representing the old Sultan's martial virtue, took a deep breath and shouted loudly. His voice was so loud that even the Mughals who had left the city and were reorganizing outside the city could hear his shout.

When the Mughals inside and outside the city look back

When they saw the Sanyuan flag, they suddenly realized something and let out a majestic roar. The roar of the warriors echoed in this ancient city, and Li Rufeng held the spear with both hands and stabbed it down hard, fixing the flag at the highest point of the city.

Just as Li Rufeng completed the ceremony, a prompt from the system appeared.

(You successfully commanded a battle and made a decisive decision at the critical moment, winning the final victory in one fell swoop. Your strategic planning and decisiveness earned the admiration of all the soldiers. Leadership skill +11)

(You successfully commanded a battle and achieved ultimate victory. You are very good at identifying and seizing opportunities. Tactical Skill +9)

(You won the battle and gained +8430 experience)

(Your level has increased and is now level 6, 19580/29580)

You have achieved...

[Stand on your own: Congratulations, you have conquered a city with your own strength. The soldiers under your command are all praising your bravery and wisdom!

As a reward, those who have this achievement can choose a certain building to upgrade after owning their own city. This choice is irreversible. After choosing, the attribute bonus of the building will be permanently increased by 100%.

I spit on your grave...

The author says:

Author's Note: So, the chapter at 3am should have been updated last night...

Chapter 166 No, let Brother Mengjiang take a gamble.

What surprised Li Rufeng was that the system also gave him another achievement called "I Spit on Your Grave".

[I spit on your grave: You personally executed a lord whose relationship with you was -100, proving to the world that you are not a soft-hearted person, and that shamans also have the wrath of Tengri!

As a reward for those who have achieved this, from now on, when you communicate with all lords and important figures with whom you have a negative relationship, there is a 10% chance that you will intimidate them and make them agree to your request out of fear.

Okay, so Duo Si Te hates me so much? Is our relationship down to -100? Li Rufeng scratched his head, feeling a bit wronged. After all... he and Duo Si Te weren't really close, and their few encounters were purely coincidental.

So when people are unlucky, even drinking cold water will make them get stuck in their teeth. Some people just die while walking...

According to the system of Mount & Blade 2, a character is only given one attribute point every four levels, but there are specialization points to be obtained at each level. Li Rufeng used the specialization points he obtained this time on tactics.

This is not because Li Rufeng thinks he has great ambitions in tactics, but because he only has a few attribute points in cunning. However, as a commander, after each battle, he will get more or less experience points in the two skills of tactics and command, thereby passively improving his skill level.

However, his cunning attribute, which only had one attribute point, and his tactical skill with zero specialization level, had begun to restrict his efficiency in gaining experience points in tactical skills.

At this time, Li Rufeng's efficiency coefficient in acquiring tactical skill experience points was 0.72, and negative gains had begun to appear. In order to prevent this situation from getting worse, Li Rufeng could only invest his own specialization points to increase the tactical skill experience acquisition coefficient from 0.72 to 1.4.

Next is the harvest of specific skill proficiency levels.

After the attack and defense of Martin, Li Rufeng's tactical skill proficiency level increased to 28, and he obtained the first tactical expertise.

The familiar two-choice interface provides Li Rufeng with two specializations: "Loose Formation" and "Tight Formation", and their effects are:

[Loose Formation: (As a troop commander) When you personally command your troops, the damage caused by ranged soldiers to your infantry is reduced by 10%. (As a captain) When your infantry uses a loose formation to fight the enemy, the morale loss in battle is reduced by 25%.

[Tight Formation: (As a troop commander) When you personally command your troops, the damage your infantry causes to cavalry increases by 10%. (As a captain) When your infantry deploys a tight formation against the enemy, morale loss in battle is reduced by 25%.

After hesitating for a moment, Li Rufeng chose the talent "Tight Formation". On the one hand, the target of this specialization is the infantry. In Li Rufeng's traditional memory, the infantry is a type of soldier that ultimately competes on organization and morale, and the tight formation has been the main formation of the infantry at least until the end of World War I.

On the other hand, Li Rufeng didn't have many infantrymen at all. Looking at the surrounding forces, he hadn't heard of any of them having a dominant infantry force. Only the Armenians were considered the strongest among the short ones, and the future Ottoman Janissaries could be considered the strongest troops...

All Li Rufeng has under his command now are the beggar infantry of less than two hundred people under Piri Reyes. Let alone the formation, if they really let them put up a loose formation, they will probably collapse first.

Next came the command skill. The command skill proficiency level was raised to 34, and the first command expertise was also obtained, namely "Combat Tips" and "Raising New Warriors" -

[Combat Tips: (As a troop commander) All soldiers in your troop gain +2 daily experience points. (As a troop commander) When recruiting soldiers from settlements of the same culture, their initial level increases by +1.]

[Raise New Warriors: (As a troop commander) All level 1 and 2 soldiers in your troop gain +4 daily experience. (As a governor) The garrisons in settlements you personally oversee gain +3 daily experience.]

When Li Rufeng saw the recruiting soldier in the "Combat Tips" and the initial level +1, his hands trembled. The tribal militia under his command were all level 1 soldiers, Mongol nomads, according to the system. Their initial level +1 directly turned them into Mongol warriors.

Among Li Rufeng's personal guards, there are still seven or eight people at the level 1 stage, and the rest are just level 2 Mongol warriors.

In the entire Mongol group, only the members of Qinggelinayan's four hundred-man teams can be counted as third-level troops, namely Mongol riders and Mongol raiders.

If Li Rufeng could increase the initial level of his recruits by +1, his strength would soar immediately, and all his newly recruited soldiers would be level 3 soldiers. However, the problem is that his cultural classification is Chinese, and he can't travel across the ocean to the Ming Dynasty to recruit local militia to fight in Central Asia...

Li Rufeng sighed with disappointment and could only choose the specialty of "Promoting New Warriors". At least after he occupied Aleppo, as the governor of Aleppo, all the soldiers in the city could enjoy the bonus of +3 daily experience points.

If Li Rufeng remembered correctly, the newly recruited peasants should be counted as level 0 soldiers. The experience points required for them to be promoted to level 1 soldiers were 300, and the experience points required to advance to level 2 soldiers were 550, and the experience points required to advance to level 3 soldiers were 900.

The direct effect of the daily experience value +3 is that those recruits can become qualified recruits from farmers within three months, and then serve for another six months, reaching the average level of the regular armies of various countries.

After serving for another ten months, he would be almost at the level of skilled soldiers in the armies of various countries.

Of course, this time refers to the situation where Li Rufeng is supporting these people for free. Under normal circumstances, the newly recruited soldiers also need to be trained, and it is estimated that they can get 1-3 experience points every day.

In general, although the specialty of "Raising New Warriors" is not as abnormal as "Combat Tips", it is mediocre relative to the performance in the game, because in the game, you can lead soldiers to fight continuously, and quickly upgrade the soldiers by fighting to support them. If you run out of soldiers, you can recruit them locally and organize a group of new soldiers to continue to gain experience in a raising-style manner.

If you do this in the real world, you will probably be left alone in two months.

With the expertise of "Promoting New Warriors", Li Rufeng's speed in training soldiers is basically guaranteed. It is estimated that a newly recruited soldier can reach the level of a skilled soldier in one year. It may sound like that, but in fact... this thing is shocking.

In addition, in this battle, nine of Master Li's forty personal guards were lost, four of whom died in battle and five were seriously injured. Even with the bonus of Li Rufeng's medical skills, three of them were left disabled and could no longer ride horses and kill from then on.

But correspondingly, after this fierce battle, the few Mongol nomads who were left behind by Li Rufeng's personal guards were also advanced to Mongol warriors, and one-third of them were advanced to level 3 soldiers. Li Rufeng chose to let them all advance to Mongol raiders.

The two types of troops, the Mughal Raiders and the Mughal Horsemen, marked the first time that the Mughal cavalry was subdivided into their respective areas.

The raiders are better at mounted archery and guerrilla warfare, and are mounted archers. Their one-handed weapon proficiency, bow and arrow skill proficiency, and riding skill proficiency have all reached 70 points, while other attributes have not been greatly improved.

The riders are better at frontal charges and are the traditional charging cavalry. Their proficiency in one-handed weapons, long-pole weapons, and riding skills has reached 70 points, and their other attributes are relatively average.

The Mongols are a nomadic people who come and go like the wind. Li Rufeng wants to give full play to their advantages, and mounted archers are undoubtedly the best choice.

Li Rufeng could not afford the losses of engaging in a cavalry duel, so he used the raiders to implement the tactics of retreating when the enemy advances and attacking when the enemy is tired. This would undoubtedly better utilize the miraculous mental command ability of Li Rufeng's direct troops.

Unfortunately, although the system can forcibly improve the personal abilities of Li Rufeng's soldiers, it does not give the corresponding equipment to the level 3 soldiers out of thin air... Li Rufeng has to pay out of his own pocket to give these soldiers better armor and better bows and arrows.

However, considering that the Mongols themselves are experts in horse breeding, Li Rufeng actually took advantage of the system. Those soldiers who were divided into levels 1 and 2 were actually fighting on the war horses of level 3 and 4 soldiers.

As for equipment, now is not the time for Li Rufeng to feel the pain. After all, the equipment of a level 3 soldier is basically a full set of leather armor, ordinary bows and arrows, and bows and arrows with iron arrowheads. The real pain will have to wait and see - the level 5 civilian soldiers and the level 4, 5, and 6 noble soldiers are all finely made armor made of real gold and silver, and the weapons are fine bows and fine iron weapons. Only then will he feel the pain.

After upgrading his soldiers, Li Rufeng planned to fill the nine vacant positions by selecting three each from his headquarters, the Taiba tribe, and even the Kurds. On the one hand, it would appear fair, and on the other hand it would also increase his influence.

All the soldiers who were selected were almost stamped with a mental stamp of loyalty and would not betray. This was a miracle in itself and was very suitable for Shaman Rufeng to go out and cheat people.

If there were not strict limits on the number of soldiers he could recruit, Li Rufeng would even have ambitions to take over the mess left by Timur.

Another one makes Li

The master was somewhat disappointed that, until now, Brother Mengjiang hadn't given any hint about accepting him as a follower. He didn't know if it was because Brother Mengjiang was in a better financial position. Li Rufeng remembered the wanderers who were waiting to be recruited in the bars in the game. They either owed gambling debts, alcohol bills, or favors to others and needed money to pay them off...

Li Rufeng thought, if it really doesn't work, then he can invite Brother Mengjiang to gamble a few times?

Chapter 167 Planning and Potential Assistance

Whatever the Moghuls' demands for this war, it was time to leave.

The death of Maharaja Miran Shah symbolized the decline of the Khanate in this land. Its power would not be able to descend upon this land and its people again in the short term, or perhaps never again. The Mughals were the afterglow of the Khanate.

They must return to their own territory before others react, ensure the safety of their tribe, gather them together, and then... attack the city of Aleppo as requested by Qinggelinayan and Shaman Rufeng.

Not every chief wanted to go to war. Although this war with Duosite went so smoothly that it didn't seem like a war, some people still felt that they had fulfilled their obligations to Lord Yan.

Qinggelinayan might have noticed something, but he said nothing. His body still needed to rest, and he hoped that the condition would not worsen on the way back. His cub still needed time to grow. Before that, let the shaman make the decision.

Li Rufeng may have seen through the little tricks of some of the leaders, but he did not say anything. If bloodshed was necessary to confirm his status among the Mongols, then Master Li could be ruthless.

When the Mughals came, there were several thousand of them, and when they left, there were more than two thousand civilians. Although some people had set out early to clear the way for the main force as they did when they came, the team was still much longer.

But this time, almost all the Mughals were smiling. Some of them rode one horse, followed by three or four other horses, each of which had a bunch of odds and ends hanging on it that made jingling sounds.

Although Shaman Rufeng was willing to spend money to buy spoils from them, he only sold food. He didn't want any pots, pans, or anything like that.

Most of the civilians who set out together looked unhappy when they saw this scene, because those things were basically stolen from them.

In order to eliminate public anger, Li Rufeng spent extra money to redeem the citizens who were abducted and enslaved by the Mongols. Regardless of whether they were willing to migrate or not, Li Rufeng gave them freedom. This incident made the entire refugee group grateful to Li Rufeng.

In this battle, Qinggeli Nayan did not gain as much prestige as Li Rufeng, nor did he gain as much wealth as Li Rufeng. On the contrary, he also leaked the news of his illness to all the Mongol leaders. From the perspective of pros and cons, Qinggeli Nayan lost.

But from the perspective of the Mongols as a whole, Qinggelinayan still won. This battle at least demonstrated the power of the Mongols and let many small tribes and small gathering places know that the Mongols are still the tribe that is capable and warlike.

The Khanate may have left, but the Mughals remained.

This war bought the Mughals at least two to three months of buffer time. Those tribes and gathering places that wanted to attack the Mughals needed time to unite with each other and make trade-offs in their interests.

Li Rufeng needs to take advantage of this time to capture Aleppo and strengthen the city's defenses so that he can protect himself in the subsequent chaos and develop himself at the same time.

Aleppo is a treasure land. Before it was conquered by Timur, as many as 70,000 people lived here. If the merchants and pilgrims coming and going are included, the population here may exceed 100,000. It would be an understatement to describe it as a place that makes a fortune every day.

A few kilometers west of Aleppo is a hilly area, which is an important marble and limestone producing area. Aleppo's marble and limestone were once transported to almost all nearby cities to build those sacred religious buildings. Of course, Aleppo itself is also its largest consumer.

Li Rufeng now had enough Persian prisoners to quarry stone for the city's defenses. Before that, Li Rufeng would keep them well-fed. The Mongol people weren't afraid of them escaping after a good meal. If they could outrun four on two legs on the grasslands, he wouldn't have to work anymore and could even be used to breed horses...

East of Aleppo is a vast agricultural plain where wheat and barley can be grown, as well as cash crops such as cotton, grapes and olives. If there are enough people, local specialty plants such as chickpeas, lentils, melons, and saffron can also be grown.

Especially saffron, Europeans are particularly obsessed with this natural dye. They would even soak water in saffron before drinking it.

To the north of Aleppo is a plain area. The entire Anatolian Peninsula's trade route to the East, and even the best road to the Arabian Peninsula, is right at the doorstep of Aleppo. It is a natural commercial city and should have enjoyed this geographical advantage and prospered for a thousand years.

However, the people of this land...are not doing well!

Li Rufeng felt that since he was not a local, and his direct subordinates were not local either, they should be able to do different things.

South of Aleppo, all the way to Damascus, a full 300 kilometers is a wasteland with no suitable settlements. The army needs to prepare water sources in advance when crossing the border.

Relying on the power at his disposal, Li Rufeng is confident that Aleppo will be transformed into

The Black Sheep are a newly rising force, but how many people can they muster to attack a city so far away from their ruling core?

After all, they still have the Aq Qoyunlu people to the north, and the Timurid Khanate to the east, which is eyeing them and wanting to destroy them again. Once they take over the territory left by Dost, they will directly border the Ottomans to the west.

Although the Ottoman Empire was torn apart by the chaotic fighting between warlords and princes during the Great Interregnum, its weakness was relative to that of Sultan Timur. Sultan Yusuf must have been unable to ignore the generals and princes who held military power.

As for the Mamluks, Li Rufeng has 4,000 Mongol cavalry and estimates that he can raise at least 1,500 infantry within the next year. It depends on how much the Mamluks are willing to pay to retake the city.

It’s not that Li Rufeng looked down on them. If they had a little confidence, they would have recaptured Aleppo the year the old Sultan died. Why would they need to secretly support the Black Sheep People?

Moreover, with the death of Milan Shah, the forces abandoned by the Khanate were not limited to themselves. The Khanate still had two large enclaves in the Ottoman Empire.

The entire Kastamonu province north of the Ottoman capital Ankara and the coastal areas from Smyrna in the south to Antalya all belonged to the Khanate. Although Sultan Timur did not station a thousand households there to exercise actual control, he left a total of 5,000 soldiers to maintain the Khanate's privileges there.

Of course, in the year the old Sultan died, these 5,000 people were reduced to 2,500, especially in the northern province of Kastamonu, where only 500 people were left, maintaining the prestige of the Khanate in name only.

Li Rufeng could not count on the five hundred people, but he was thinking about the two thousand-man teams in Smyrna and Antalya. As long as they still planned to return to the country, they would have to go through Aleppo. By then, Master Li could use a little trick and leave at least eighteen hundred people behind, right?

The author says:

Author's Note: I checked some map information. Today I will start with 2,000 words, and tomorrow and the day after tomorrow I will update with 4,000 words each.