Prince Chongzhen

Chapter 507: A Battlefield Thousands of Miles Away

The foundation of Yarkand is very weak, so weak that the population will be greatly reduced if there is any disturbance.

But people are sometimes unable to recognize themselves because of the ups and downs of the moment.

After winning several battles, the reunified Yarkand felt that it had the potential to become the overlord of the Western Regions. Even if the Khoshut and Dzungar invited the Ming Dynasty to come, they refused to make any concessions.

It is not difficult to imagine what happens next.

After confirming again and again that this was Abdullah's intention, Li Chengdong proposed to see the power of the Yarkand army.

Afterwards, the Ming army sent a thousand dragon cavalry, and Yarkand sent out five thousand Hami garrison troops. This "live-fire exercise" kicked off outside the old city of Handongwei.

To be honest, this is the situation Zhu Cilang most hopes to see.

If the three-party coalition forces surrender as soon as they arrive in Yarkand, then the powerful country in the Western Region will inevitably feel that it is forced by the situation, and the Dzungar Khanate will also feel that it is taking advantage of the Ming Dynasty.

Under such circumstances, it is inevitable that the two families will have deviations in their understanding of the situation. It would be better to show appropriate military force to let them know the real reason why the Khoshuts surrendered to the Ming Dynasty.

The final result did not exceed Li Chengdong's expectations. Five thousand elite Yarkand troops were defeated by one thousand Dragon Riders. If this was not just a "live-fire exercise", even the Governor of Hami himself would have become a prisoner of the Dragon Riders.

By this time, several countries in the Western Regions had already realized the power of the Ming Dynasty. Coupled with the boasting of Li Chengdong and Dayan, only four days later, Abdullah came to pay a visit to the general of the Celestial Empire in person.

I have to say that this time Yarkand was really treated as a bumpkin.

The Khoshut and Dzungar, one in the south and one in the north, squeezed Yarkand tightly between the Tianshan Mountains and the plateau.

As a result, Yarkand's only channel of communication with the outside world is through the Wakhan Corridor and the Central Asian countries.

If it were earlier, this would naturally not be a big deal. After all, the Ottoman Empire was further west from Yarkand. Even if the Ming Dynasty did not care about this place for various reasons, they could still gain some understanding of the world through the Ottomans.

But now the Ottoman Empire was already terminally ill and had no advanced experience to provide to Yarkand, which belonged to the same religious sect.

Under such circumstances, Batur of Junggar realized the strength of Li Chengdong's army the moment he saw it, while Governor Hami of Yarkand did not react until his own troops completely collapsed.

Of course, although Yarkand and Dzungar expressed their willingness to submit to the Ming Dynasty, this submission was only in form.

Going back to the roots, since the seven voyages to the West, the Ming Dynasty began to transform from a land power to a maritime power, and simply left the Mongolian vassal states in the north alone.

By this time, Yarkand had a close connection with the Ottoman Empire, which was not yet dead, and Dzungar was greatly influenced by Russia. If Zhu Cilang really wanted to combine both sea power and land power in one person, he had to find an appropriate time.

At this point, I have to mention a few more things. In the original history, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty wiped out all the remaining forces of the Ming Dynasty, it adopted a policy of almost closing the country to the outside world.

On the one hand, this was because there were still a large number of people in the society who were unwilling to surrender and fled by sea. On the other hand, it was due to their ethnic characteristics.

After nearly a hundred years of war, the Qing Dynasty finally wiped out all the Mongolian vassal states in the north, and the actual controlled area of ​​the Central Plains dynasty on land also increased significantly.

But at the same time, the process of the Central Plains Dynasty adding sea power attributes to itself was completely interrupted, which makes people wonder whether to be happy or sad.

But then again, these things are not a problem for Zhu Cilang.

After all, he knew that having a vast strategic space was as important as adapting to the development of the times. For this Feng Shui treasure land occupied by his ancestors, sea power and land power were not a single choice at all. He could extend his tentacles into the sea while strengthening his control over the north.
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France

朗斯
"Lance has surrendered. There is no point in holding on here any longer." As Grand Conde's words came out, all the officers present focused their attention on him. He then gritted his teeth unwillingly, and when everyone was a little nervous, he said, "Retreat."

A few months ago, Frederick Henry, the regent of the Netherlands, died, and the Low Countries began to think about making peace with Spain.

This is undoubtedly huge bad news for France.

Once the two countries make peace, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, which are at war with the Netherlands, will be able to free up their hands to attack France. By then, even if the Habsburgs are still no match for the Protestant Alliance, France's advantageous position will change.

In order to deal with this situation, Prince Condé, who was supposed to take advantage of the victory to invade the Spanish mainland, had to turn around and head north. At this time, those unscrupulous merchants really chose to negotiate peace, and the more than 20,000 coalition forces of Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, led by Archduke Leopold, invaded the French mainland.

According to common sense, although the Western Gods' coalition forces had a large number of people, they should have found it difficult to advance into the French mainland. However, at this time, the conflicts between the various lords and Paris had reached the point of erupting, and those people could only watch the enemy army besiege Lens.

To be honest, since Louis XIV ascended the throne, Prime Minister Mazarin has repeatedly weakened the power of the lords, and Prince Condé has always been regarded as a leader by the lords and stood with them.

But Magnus Condé was a man who cared about his country. What he thought in his heart was always different from those lords who only cared about their own interests. After hearing the news that Lens was under siege, he led his army to rush to the rescue day and night, trying to stop the Western Gods' coalition forces here.

just
Looking at the city of Lens which had changed its flag, Condé felt mixed emotions.

He understood that Mazarin was not acting purely for himself. His ultimate goal was to emulate the Ming Dynasty and build France into a powerful country. However, this has always been the tradition of European countries. Sudden actions are bound to backfire. If no changes are made now, France will probably fall apart.

As he was thinking, the army consisting of 23,000 soldiers of various types had slowly retreated under the control of officers at all levels. Even though Grand Conde was unwilling, he had no choice but to retreat to the next line of defense.

At this point, the war should have ended with the victory of the Western Gods Alliance, but to Conde's surprise, the army had only retreated for half an hour, but he was full of doubts because of the news from the rear team.

"Report to His Royal Highness, the enemy is catching up!"

(End of this chapter)