Chapter 257: Abolition

Chapter 257: Abolition

Chapter 257: Abolition
The road from Samarkand to Tashkent is flat and there is no advantageous terrain to be used.

In a decisive battle between large armies, a surprise attack by a small force cannot play a key role.

Therefore, after sending cavalry several times larger than the enemy's to set up an ambush and completely annihilating the Cossacks who were harassing and fighting outside, Shao Quanzhong's main force did not march quickly, but instead marched forward with all the baggage and marched straight towards the enemy's main force.

…………

In Tashkent, a large number of camels are slowly entering the city from the north gate, and on their backs are a large number of new weapons - modified Ridge rifles.

Konstantin Petrovich Kaufman, the Governor of the Russian Turkestan Governorate, rode on a Don horse and looked at the newly arrived arms with a strange expression on his face.

The Turkestan Governorate of Romania had just been established, and General Kaufman had been transferred from his post as Governor-General of Lithuania to serve as the first Governor-General.

His Majesty Alexander II had great trust in me and sent me the latest modified breech-loading rifles. The meaning was obvious, asking me, as the governor, to work harder and conquer Central Asia as soon as possible.

Lucia, the huge polar bear, has long been fed up with the cold winter in the north and dreams of having a warm outlet to the sea in the Mediterranean or the Indian Ocean.

Kaufman really wanted to take over Central Asia quickly, but it was not that easy.

He originally mobilized 30,000 people to gather in Tashkent, preparing to attack Samarkand. Now it seems that it will take another year to prepare, and he can only start the attack on the Bukhara Khanate next year.

He was a qualified general, so he would not launch a campaign rashly. After investigating his men, he found that the morale of his soldiers was unstable and they might mutiny at any time.

If an army like this goes to war, it might rebel halfway through.

The reason is that His Majesty the Tsar is liberating the serfs.

Serfdom has greatly hindered Lucia's development, and liberating the serfs is definitely a wise move by Your Majesty.

The problem is that this kind of top-down reform, in which the rulers cut their own flesh with a knife, will inevitably affect the interests of a large number of serf owners and will be strongly resisted.

Your Majesty relied on your prestige and iron-fisted measures to forcefully implement the policy of emancipating serfs, but just like the move to emancipate black slaves in the United States, you encountered an embarrassing situation.

The peasants who lost their slave status had no property, and when they were liberated they lost their jobs, which caused large-scale chaos in Russia.

Kaufman understood that this was the pain of progress and the inevitable consequence of liberating serfs and strengthening the country. But the reaction here was that the parents of the soldiers in their hometowns were starving, and the soldiers had no intention of fighting, but wanted to go home to take care of their displaced families.

So - wait for a year, until the domestic order is basically restored, and I, who have just taken office, have pacified the soldiers, and then train them again, and then take down the Bukhara Khanate and the Khiva Khanate in one fell swoop, and finally march into Kokand and unify Central Asia.

After consolidating the empire's rule in Central Asia, they would then move south to Afghanistan and Persia, seeking the coveted outlet to the Persian Gulf...

So, the Qing Dynasty was afraid of the Russians, but in fact, the Russians had a lot of problems at home and were not much stronger than the Qing Dynasty. Now that the Huai Army has emerged, the strength of the Qing Dynasty has surpassed that of the Russians.

The Grand Council and the two Empress Dowagers were worried about Shao Quanzhong's safety in Central Asia. In fact, this was a mental inertia caused by the bullying they suffered at the hands of the Russians in the past.

In fact, Russia is much poorer than our Qing Dynasty, but it can be called a great power because of their militarism.

To say that they are a fighting nation is extremely inappropriate.

They are warlike but not good at fighting. Although they always lose wars, they have a larger population than European countries.

A large number of gray animals rushed forward, not afraid of death in numbers, and beat the master to death with a random punch. The powerful countries trembled when they saw it, and that's how they became powerful countries.

Their core territory is in Europe, so they have a lot of experience. Warmongering countries will copy advanced weapons as soon as they have them, and they are relatively powerful in Central Asia and the Qing Dynasty before them.

Kaufman picked up a newly modified rifle and gestured with it. Well, it was okay, with the traditional style of Lucia's rough but durable weapons.

The trigger has no guard and is not curved, but rather a short, thick barrel shape, designed to adapt to Russia's harsh climate - it is easy to operate and the soldier can pull the trigger even when his hands are too frozen.

It is impossible to design a muzzle-loading gun to be converted into a breech-loading gun by ourselves. Russia is as backward as our Qing Dynasty in this respect.

This was a plagiarism of the design of the Austrian designer Kranka. The breech of the original muzzle-loading Rich rifle was roughly sawed open, and a reverse locking block was added to open and close the chamber.

In principle, it is the same as the Enfield rifle modification used by Shao Quanzhong's subordinates, but the workmanship is much cruder. This is why Shao Quanzhong chose the Enfield muzzle-loading rifle in the first place, because it is a unit-type rifle. To convert a muzzle-loading rifle into a breech-loading rifle, just replace the breech-loading unit, and assemble it with a click, and the shooting accuracy will not decrease at all.

The Reed rifle was no good. After being sawed in half and modified, the result was just that - usable, better than a muzzle-loader.

Therefore, the production speed is not fast enough. Only 10,000 guns were delivered this time, which is only enough to equip one-third of the troops.

Kaufman sighed and told his men, "Make a troop deployment plan and transfer 20,000 troops to Almaty, where they can eat rations from the Seven Rivers. Tashkent can only support 10,000 troops, and it's too difficult to dispatch them from the rear."

He himself also plans to go to Almaty, and come to Tashkent next year.

"Report! Scouts have discovered that a large number of Qing troops are heading towards Tashkent, numbering more than 60,000."

"Report! We have lost contact with the Cossack soldiers who were harassing us."

"Report! The Qing people sent captured Cossack soldiers to deliver a declaration of war. They declared war on us because we attacked their vassal state, the Bukhara Khanate, and occupied Tashkent, the territory of their vassal state, the Kokand Khanate. Their demand is that we withdraw from the territory of the Kazakh Khanate that we had previously occupied - the Kazakh Khanate is also their vassal state."

Kaufman was so angry that he laughed. The Qing people really knew how to take advantage of the situation. Maybe they heard about the unrest in Russia from somewhere and wanted to take advantage of it?

The Kazakh Khanate is indeed your vassal state, but you didn't dare to say a word when we occupied it before.

The Khanate of Kokand can barely be considered your vassal state, so when did the Khanate of Bukhara have anything to do with you?

Not to mention, they were quite well behaved and didn't ask for the Seven Rivers region that they lost when the treaty was signed two years ago.

But if we withdraw from the former territory of the Kazakh Khanate, the Seven Rivers region will become an enclave. Isn't that nonsense?

"Come here, send 20,000 men out of the city, with field artillery, to dig trenches and fight against the Qing army in the field!"

This is in line with the art of war. Tashkent is short of food. If 30,000 people are defending the city and are besieged by the enemy, they will not be able to hold out for long before they run out of food and will have no choice but to fight the enemy in the field.

I don't believe that you Qing troops, who have never fought a large-scale modern battle, can withstand the resistance of my trench warfare.

"The 10,000 troops left behind in the city will be equipped with new breech-loading rifles and will begin familiarization training immediately. Remember, you are not allowed to use the precious new copper bullets, but the old paper bullets instead."

"Move the 20,000 troops from Almaty to Tashkent to reinforce them, and bring as much food as possible. Also, transfer the Cossacks led by Ivan who are patrolling the border. I think our Cossack cavalry has met with misfortune."

"Report to His Majesty in St. Petersburg that the Qing army attacked us in Central Asia. Let the diplomats stationed in Beijing exert diplomatic pressure on their little emperor. Request the troops stationed in the Far East to attack their northeast region. At the same time, the fleet stationed in Temple Street will attack Dagukou to deter them and force their regent queen mother to withdraw the troops from Central Asia."

Kaufman, the governor-general, had sufficient international vision and issued a series of orders. With this combination of punches, it was estimated that the Qing Dynasty would soon give in.

To send news to Mocheng from here, we have to rely on fast horses, which is similar to the Qing Dynasty's 800-li express, and it takes seven days to arrive. However, from Mocheng to St. Petersburg and then to the capital, telegraphs can be sent through the European network.

Now, as long as they could hold off the Qing army's attack outside Tashkent for half a month to a month, the Turkestan Governorate would be safe.

Perhaps the actions of the Far Eastern troops and fleet could bring in some money from the wealthy Qing Dynasty and save Russia's economy, which had collapsed due to the abolition of serfdom.

I heard that the Tsar is in talks with the Americans about selling Alaska to them because he is short of money. But the price has not been agreed yet, and the Americans are offering too low...

At the governor's order, 20,000 soldiers immediately prepared to leave the city.

It is easier to work with more people. After a few days, dense trenches had been formed and artillery positions consisting of hundreds of cannons had also been established.

The scouts' reports were passed on to the Governor, and Kaufman went to the front line to supervise the battle in person.

In the distance, a large flag with the word "Bo" appeared in the sky, indicating that the vanguard of the Huai Army had arrived.

"The enemy has thirty minutes to enter the battlefield!"

The Russian soldiers were ready to fight a fierce battle with the Qing army who were ignorant of the danger.

(End of this chapter)