Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Chapter 9 The horns and bows are cold amid the sound of drums and rumbles

"Invite us to watch the hunt?"

Tomilo Petrov and Ivan Kunikin looked at each other and smiled. Do these Kalmyks also want to show us their military might? Apart from being more numerous and possessing swords, spears, bows and arrows, what else do they have? Are there any guns or cannons? It’s truly overestimating one’s capabilities!
"Khan Monkarmek is kind enough to let me enjoy your hunting," Tomilo Petrov shrugged and smiled disdainfully.

"Very good, give them two fast horses so that they won't be able to keep up after a while," Daletesh reminded with a smile, full of "good intentions."

"Hahahaha", the malicious laughter of the Mongolian nobles came from the big tent.

Everyone filed out of the tent, took their horses and ran to their respective tribes; the two Oros envoys also followed Daletesh to the central army of the Dulbert people.

As soon as they came out of the tent, they were surprised. There were so many people! It’s everywhere, all over the mountains and plains! Although some were wearing armor and some were not, they stood in line, busy but not chaotic, and silent.

At this time, the Mongolian army was highly hierarchical. Most of the generals at all levels were composed of large and small Noyans and upper-class civilians (Saeyinkun, Tabunang, and Darhan); most of the hussars, armored soldiers, and armored soldiers were composed of middle-class people (Dun Dakun), these are all armored and are the backbone and main force of the army. In addition, there are a large number of unarmored ordinary soldiers composed of lower-class people (Haraquin, Ngonkun, Adak) and slaves (Chitat), who are often used as auxiliary soldiers and consumables in siege battles.

Although the armor is not uniform, they practice strictly according to the fighting methods left by their ancestors. The captains of ten, twenty, forty, centurions, thousands, and ten thousand officers restrain their weapons in an orderly manner. The troops were in formation, and once the formation was completed, there was a murderous aura.

The two of them felt this murderous aura, and they also felt what "strength in numbers" means. There were warriors on horseback everywhere, too many to count.

Tomilo took a breath of cold air and asked Daleitaish cautiously, "Dear Kalmyk Khan, may I ask how many troops your department needs to dispatch for a hunting trip?"

Daletesh sat on a maroon horse and smiled proudly, "There are not many soldiers and horses, only 200,000 people."

The so-called 200,000 people were naturally a boast to scare the Russians. The real number is 70,000: 40,000 Durbot troops, 15,000 Turgut troops, 5,000 Heshuote troops, 5,000 Junggar troops, and 5,000 Yuhuite, Nogai, A coalition composed of the vassal tribes of Kazakh Yuzhi and Kyrgyz Yuzhi. Before the hunt, these troops had been divided into seven ten thousand troops and formed into formations.

Although there were only 70,000 people, compared to the 200-man hunting expedition dispatched by the Russian Tomsk warlord, it was already an extremely large formation!

"Two hundred thousand people!" Tomilo turned pale with fright when he heard this.

Ivan hurriedly encouraged him quietly, "Sir, there is nothing special about the large number of people, they are just indigenous people. I think back then, we only used 800 people to destroy the Siberian Khanate of more than 200,000 people."

Tomilo nodded, regaining some of his color.

Several great shamans wearing deer antlers and branched sacred hats, masks and colorful sacred clothes, with bells and small drums tied around their waists, began to beat the drums and dance, chanting the "Hunting Song". This is a prayer to the gods of mountains, forests, and rivers, praying for a good harvest of prey.

Er, the sacrifice is over, and the desolate horn sounds.

Daletesh gave a slight signal, and the Chinese army immediately waved the white flag, and the white or black military flags shook, mobilizing one army after another. White symbolizes purity and nobility, and black symbolizes the God of War and Death. Mongolian military flags mostly use black and white.

"Da~da~da~"

The cavalrymen set off one after another, with thousands of horses galloping and majestic.

The roar of 70,000 galloping horses shocked the two Russians into speechlessness.

Daletesh had seen large-scale battles before. He mobilized the army with ease, and quickly dispatched various ministries to enter his hunting grounds. Seven teams of ten thousand people, seven hunting grounds. His army of ten thousand men was in the center, and the other six hunting grounds surrounded him.

The advance and retreat of the army is the greatest test of the commander's ability. The Mongolian army formation was not chaotic at all. Even Tomilo and Ivan couldn't help but smack their lips in admiration.

"Humph!"

Daletesh groaned, the flag waved, and a thousand men were divided from the ten thousand soldiers. Holding torches and shouting loudly, they went to drive away prey in the forest and grass. The remaining nine thousand men were divided into three groups, one in the middle and two groups. Spread out to the wings.

Soon, a large number of wild beasts emerged from the woods and grass, numbering in the tens of thousands. Running at the front were fierce beasts such as tigers, leopards, bears, jackals, etc. They were huge in size and had fangs bared.

"Well done," Daletesh laughed, "Fall back."

At the command, the Mongolian army in the center moved their horses to retreat. The frightened beasts pursued them and gradually fell into the siege of the Mongolian troops on both wings.

This "fake defeat" tactic is not only a common tactic used by the Mongols in hunting, but also in combat. At that time, Mongolia's Western Expedition army used this method to encircle and annihilate the coalition forces of various countries many times.

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh~"

Arrows rained down like rain, with whistling sounds, and the surrounding jackals, tigers and leopards were shot down one after another.

"Ow~"

With a beast's roar, a white bear that was as tall as two people sprang out, with a fierce look in its eyes, and charged towards Daleitaish fiercely.

Arrows are like locusts! Two huge bear paws opened the bow left and right, knocking down the arrows one by one.

"Dataiji, be careful!"

Seeing the danger, the loyal and brave guards raised their spears in front of Daleteshma.

The seemingly frail Datai Ji moved, took out a horn bow with a string like the full moon, and hit an arrow in the left eye.

The bear was rolling on the ground in pain and howling.

"Haha, what a bear skin, just right for me to enjoy," Daletesh said lightly, and another meteor-like arrow hit the bear's throat, killing the ferocious beast.

"Da Tai Ji is so brave ~ Dadai Ji is so brave ~ Dadai Ji is so brave ~" There were thunderous cheers from left and right. "Khan, can I see your bow?" Tomilo came forward.

"Haha, take it," Daletesh handed over the bow.

Tomilo took a look and looked solemn. The Kalmyks used horn bows, which were much better than the wooden bows used by the Siberian Tatars. The arrows were mostly made of iron, and their combat effectiveness was much stronger than the Siberian Tatars. !
After admiring it for a while, he said respectfully: "I admire Dadaiji's amazing shot!"

The hunting of various tribes is still in progress. Sea hollies, hunting dogs, lassoes, spears, bows and arrows are all available in an endless stream, which is an eye-opener for the two Russian envoys.

Not to be outdone, Ivan Kunikin took out a musket, lit a match, and shot a deer to death with a bang. He said meaningfully: "It's better to use a gun to save trouble!"

"Your Majesty is right, it is better to use a gun to save trouble." Daletesh waved his hand, and his men drove the remaining beasts to the center. Two hundred gunmen suddenly appeared in front of the Chinese army, lining up in two rows and shooting at the beasts in front of them in turn.

"The Kalmyks also have muskets!"

At this time, Tomilo and Ivan were so shocked that their faces turned pale.

"Humph!"

Daletesh waved his hand again, and ten more bronze cannons suddenly appeared in the Chinese army formation.

"Chirp ~ chirp ~ chirp ~"

The cannonballs were not very powerful, but the rate of fire was fast, blasting the beasts to pieces.

"Khan, you, how come you have a cannon?" Tomilo was completely stunned, his voice trembled.

"My ancestors once conquered all nations, so they naturally understand the art of making guns," Daletesh said proudly. He actually sent people to buy these guns from Samarkand, the largest arms city in Central Asia. There were indeed some craftsmen in his tribe, but they could only make some earthen guns, and they lacked the ability to smelt them. But these days, you don’t have to pay taxes when you brag. In an understatement, it shocked the Russians.

"Dear Kalmyk Khan, what do you think about swearing allegiance to His Majesty the Tsar?" Tomilo asked unwillingly.

"Oh, this is a good thing!"

The kind-hearted Daletesh smiled at him and confessed his heart, "However, such an important matter cannot be decided by me alone. It needs to be discussed at the Chulgan Conference and unanimously agreed by all the ministries before it can be implemented. ".

"Oh, then when will you hold the Chulgan Conference?"

"You can't say for sure. Maybe two years, maybe three years, maybe five years. All the leaders must be free."

"That's it~"

Seeing that these two guys were still chattering about trying to persuade him to be loyal to the tsar, Daletesh smiled and gave the eviction order, "This time I hunted a good bear skin, so I asked someone to peel it off and give it to your governor to keep out the cold. Use it. You two envoys, please take the bear skin and return quickly. The wind in the north is strong, so don’t freeze the warlords."

"Great sweat", the two of them were about to say it again, but Dadaiji had already jumped on the bay red horse, beat the horse and drove away.

In the Tobolsk Warlord's Mansion, Warlord N.C. Kuragin was furious with the two unlucky men. According to the Russian custom of first name + father's name + surname, this warlord's name should be N.

"You two losers are just asking a group of natives to surrender to His Majesty the Great Tsar. Is it so difficult?" The flattery did not work out. Warlord N was very angry and needed to drink some rose tea.

"My lord, they say they need to wait a few years and discuss it at their Chulkan meeting before deciding," Tomilo murmured.

"Idiot, can't you hear that this is an excuse?"

"Even so, their army is too numerous, like locusts, countless." Ivan was still shocked.

"Oh, how many are there?"

"Seven to eighty thousand soldiers and more than 200,000 tribesmen."

"So many!" Warlord N was stunned, and then he became happy, "No matter how many there are, they are just indigenous people. Bows, arrows and spears can only be prey in front of the Cossacks' guns."

"No, sir, they not only have sharp bows and horses, but also guns." Tomilo poured out another basin of cold water.

"Guns? Where did they get the guns?" At this point, Governor N could no longer remain calm.

"The Kalmyk Khan said he made it himself, but the officer heard that the sound of the cannon seemed to be a bronze cannon made in the city of Samarkand. It should have been bought from the Bukhara Khanate," Tomilo finally said. A reliable guess.

Warlord N nodded, "Despite this, he is still a powerful enemy that is not easy to mess with. It seems that our strategy in Siberia should be changed from heading south to heading east."

Tomilo cheered up, "Your Excellency, do you need to request reinforcements from His Majesty the Tsar to hunt these disobedient Kalmyks?"

"Idiot, this will only make His Majesty the Tsar think that I am incompetent. You guys go down first, I will make my own decision."

After the two men retreated, Governor N wrote a memorial to Tsar Michael: "Your Majesty, under the protection of your reputation, our cause in the East is succeeding. Not only have we conquered the numerous Tatars in Siberia, Tribes, make them your loyal subjects, pay taxes and obey military service, and make the unruly Kalmyk Khan fear you. Kalmyk Khan himself expressed his willingness to bask in your glory, However, it still needs to be approved by their parliament. In view of their poor work efficiency, this process is estimated to take several years. In order for you to obtain the beautiful sable fur, I am ready to continue to expand your loyal servant N.C. to the east. Kuragin”.

Whether in China or abroad, there is never a shortage of flatterers who report good news but not bad news. Under the deception of the big sycophant N.C. Kuragin, Tsar Mikhail did not realize that his majesty was challenged by the Oirat Mongols, and he still dreamed of the heavenly kingdom.

The two sides still maintain peace, and how beautiful peace is!

(End of this chapter)