Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 1993 Kalmykia

On September 1687, 9, Gao Wengang, the Special Envoy of the East Coast Republic of China to Europe, arrived at Haji Port in the southwest of the Crimea Peninsula by boat.

Haji Port is as prosperous and lively as ever, as if the war that is breaking out in the north has nothing to do with them. The businessmen, soldiers, adventurers, careerists, skilled workers, intelligence personnel and various clergymen gathered here are all It is time to eat, drink, and carry out my work step by step.Although the area of ​​Haji County is only more than 1500 square kilometers, and the military strength is only a garrison of 1000 people, but the sky is falling and there are tall men from the north supporting them. What are they afraid of!

Gao Wengang's ship was parked in the berth specially designated for government official ships and warships in the port, with excellent conditions and convenient transportation.Of course, the conditions of the entire Haji Port seem to be excellent. This famous port, known as "Sevastopol" in later generations, has always been the home port of the Black Sea Fleet of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation. There are very long extensions on both sides. The promontory acts as a natural breakwater, keeping the fierce wind and waves out and keeping the harbor calm.Not only that, there are some geographical commanding heights around the harbor, which can be used to build forts, so that any enemy fleet that tries to break into the harbor will pay a heavy price.

In addition, fertile black land is distributed throughout the southern part of the peninsula, including Haji County and the capital of the Crimean Khanate, Bekchisalay.Moreover, the climate here is warmer than that on the northern shore of the Black Sea, which is suitable for human life and the growth of crops. Therefore, Haji County is really an ideal military-civilian port, and it is also an excellent supply base, which can accommodate hundreds of thousands of residents. Living and working, although the current population here is still very small, only a few thousand people.

However, people from the east coast have also invested in this colonial city in recent years.In addition to a ship repair shop, a large-scale gun repair shop has recently been invested and built. Many machinery and equipment including steam engines have been imported from the local area. At the same time, some technicians have been hired with high salaries to support the factory. up.

Needless to say, business at Haji Gun Repair was very good.They not only repaired guns for the army on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea, but also undertook the business of the Crimean Khanate military, and they were simply too busy.Even now even the Aghas of the Ottoman Empire have heard that Haji Gun Repair Factory can repair weapons quickly and cheaply, so they start placing orders with them to meet their war needs.It is said that now the factory has begun to select people with mechanical processing experience from the slaves captured by the Crimean Khanate to absorb them into the factory in order to expand the production scale as soon as possible and meet the orders from all parties.

Of course, all foreign investment is not limited to this.Compared with investment in industry, people can easily find that there seems to be more investment in business and finance, such as the branches of several local banks and insurance companies on the east coast, such as Sun Chunyang Nanhuo Store, the state-owned Department stores, Nanhai Group and other companies have opened branches here, and there are even branches of foreign banks or commercial companies that have been specially approved. The existence of a large number of enterprises is a very normal thing.

Gao Wengang was actually happy to see the results.At the beginning of this year, the local person in charge of Haji County happily told him that if the investment in infrastructure such as port expansion projects, road construction projects, urban sewage facilities, urban lighting systems (gas lamps), hospitals, schools, etc. , then last year (1686) Haji County’s finances were actually in balance.That is, the tax collected by the government is basically offset by the expenditure, and it is no longer necessary for Gao Wengang to report to the country to apply for funding, if you ignore those infrastructure projects.

Undoubtedly, this is a milestone event, which shows that Haji County has slowly developed hematopoietic ability.After the east bank government invested a lot of money, this place, which was originally called a barren land, has changed its appearance. The population is increasing day by day, and the economy is becoming more and more prosperous. In addition, the flag of the East Coast Republic of China is flying here. The power is more or less scrupulous, so it also attracted many Ottoman exiled officials, Crimean businessmen and other wealthy businessmen and nobles around the Black Sea to settle here, which brought a lot of wealth, knowledge and skills to the city. Further promote the development of the city.These are the keys to the rapid economic improvement and rapid development of Haji County.

"Wu Yifei, you said Captain Mao is not here, so where did he go?" After arriving in a quaint courtyard house in the county seat by carriage, Gao Wengang directly called for the local security commander Wu Yifei and asked him.

To be honest, Gao Wengang was a little confused at this time.He happened to be conducting diplomatic activities in Istanbul before, and negotiated a series of cooperation matters including currency reform with the upper echelon of the Ottoman Empire. At this time, he was quite proud, because these are all things that he can take back as important achievements in the future. Has a crucial influence on promotion.However, at this time, the person in charge of the state-run Haji Commercial Station (which is also an intelligence station) sent him a report, pointing out that the Black Sea Detachment had already begun partial mobilization after hearing of major changes in the Azov war situation. The whole army selected some elites, and then requisitioned two merchant ships belonging to the South China Sea Transportation Company, and sailed all the way east, saying that they were going to land near Azov, and launched the operation that had been planned, that is, to find and contact Karme Ke people, so that they settled nearby and accepted the asylum of the people on the east coast.

Gao Wengang was annoyed by this.He has already told Mr. Mao repeatedly that he should try not to get involved in this war. The reason why they came to the Black Sea is because someone Gao felt that the victory or defeat of this war was really hard to say. He wanted to see It's all about whether they can help when they come over, they are prepared for the eventuality.

But what happened?Mao Jun, the Army Qiu Ba, still couldn't suppress the warlike gene in his blood after all, and even took people to the Sea of ​​Azov area, what is he doing?Gao Wengang will be really angry, but it is not easy to say anything in front of Wu Yifei, because he is not Mao Jun's boss, and there is no tradition of civil servants commanding generals in the East Bank, so he can only do it when Mao Jun obviously violates the country's major policies. Under the circumstances, it can be vetoed by one vote (in fact, there is still a lot of room for manipulation).Wu Yifei can also be regarded as half Qiu Ba, although he usually communicates more with him, but there are some things that are not suitable for him to say in front of him, and he can only sulk secretly.

"Yes, contacting the Kalmyks is a strategy that has been implemented for many years, but unfortunately there is no chance. The defeat of the Russian army at the city of Azov this time was a god-sent opportunity, so Captain Mao took people there. Well, He took away the cavalry company of the Seventh Mixed Battalion, and at the same time, he also selected 800 soldiers with good riding skills from the Haji garrison. He also selected [-] elite cavalry from the [-] mercenaries. [-] people went." Wu Yifei replied respectfully.

It is said that the siege of Azov, which lasted for a month, finally ended in late July.Because the city of Azov was not besieged and the Ottoman navy could enter and exit freely, although the city could not get reinforcements, the supply of military supplies such as food, weapons, and medicines was indeed relatively sufficient. Therefore, more than 7 defenders in the city The army has always maintained a high morale, so that the Russians have never been able to capture the city.

In contrast, the Russian army outside the city. 15 horses gather together, people eat horse chews, and the daily consumption of food, grass, and ammunition is an astronomical figure, but the logistics system of the Russian army is extremely poor, and only a small part can be transported, so the military supplies ——especially food and horse fodder—were very scarce, coupled with the resolute harassment of the Crimean Tatar cavalry on its logistics supply line, the Russian soldiers had to fight hungry, their morale was very low, and their combat effectiveness also declined. sharp.

At the beginning of July (that is, when the people on the east coast had just received the news that the Russian army had begun the siege), the Tatars boldly entered Eastern Ukraine, attacked a Samoilovich food convoy, and sent burnt.The Cossacks managed to raise this batch of grain and grass. They planned to transport it to the front line of Azov to supplement the grain reserves that were about to bottom out. However, they were intercepted and burned by the Tatar cavalry after being scouted. This directly determined the direction of the battle on the front line.

In mid-July, after full preparations, Gelai Khan of the Crimean Khanate led a main force of more than [-] people to contact the Arab troops from Egypt and Aleppo that had been active in the southeast of Azov. The Russian army under the fast city launched a swift offensive.The Russians only resisted for more than two days, and then they gradually failed and retreated to the rear.

Gelai Khan is also an old man who has fought battles. He knows that victory or defeat depends on one action, so he went to the front line to command the battle, and made the most elite new army stick to the main force of the Russian army to attack endlessly, and finally turned the retreat of the Russian army into a battle. Defeated, the loss was extremely heavy.Mr. Mao also decided to lead his troops to land at the mouth of the Don River under this background. He knew that the main force of the Russian army had been defeated, and tens of thousands of troops had been lost. It is estimated that tens of thousands of people will be lost if people are chased and killed like sheep. Therefore, the situation in the southern provinces of Russia should be completely corrupted, and the social order will be completely disintegrated, which is just conducive to their actions.

Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun has made a plan. Immediately after landing, he will cooperate with the Crimean army to advance along the Don River. While chasing and killing the fleeing Russian troops, he will search and contact the local nomadic Tatars and Kalmyks, and let them Also joined together to carry out anti-Russian activities.If possible, it is also one of the plans to instigate these people to establish an independent country. In short, it is a step by step.

"Looking for Kalmyks? 800 people?" Gao Wengang was a little helpless: "800 people, horses, weapons and ammunition are also needed. Where did he get the means of transportation?"

"There was already a ship belonging to the merchant station in the port. In addition, he also requisitioned two flute ships from the Boy Transport Company waiting to be loaded here, and hired two additional Genoese ships. Five ships, you can make do with it. In fact, you don’t need to carry all the food, weapons and ammunition, and the Crimeans can definitely supplement them, and even some war horses can be borrowed from others, so five ships are more than enough.” Wu Yifei replied.

"Okay, okay, everyone ignored my words." Gao Wengang was a little discouraged, sat down on the chair, waved Wu Yifei out, and then lit a cigarette, lost in thought.

Things have come to this point, presumably the possibility of persuading Mr. Mao to come back is unlikely.What's more, now that the Russian army has been defeated and can't take care of themselves, they follow the Tatars deep into the Don River Basin, and the danger does not seem to be so great.So at this time, it would be good to not do anything at all, and send more people to land near the mouth of the Don River to make the scene bigger and see if something can be done?

Thinking of this, Gao Wengang was more helpless.This time, it was as if the army had taken him into the army, forcing him to make decisions, and forcing him to agree to all their previous actions.In fact, speaking from the bottom of his heart, he is unwilling to see the east bank army appearing in front of the Russian army, especially when the outcome of this war is already doomed, completely angering the Russians will be very detrimental to his long-term diplomatic career .

But now there is no way.The army helped him make a decision, that is to offend the Russians, go deep into the Don River Basin to incite a large number of local nomads, and revolt to establish their own independent country.At worst, these people should be dragged to the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea, and then find a way to resettle them slowly.In short, whether it is participating in the pursuit of the Russian army, or instigating an uprising or even "trafficking" the Kalmyks, it will greatly anger the Russians and completely break down the relationship between the two countries that has deteriorated for a long time.

"Stop calling Kalmyks in the future, and call them Oirats. The so-called Kalmyks and Oirats are insulting names. Don't call them any more." said the secretary.

In fact, the so-called Kalmyks are all the names of the Crimean Tatars, and people on the east coast are indeed a little bit wrong because of this.Kalmyk, which is the Turkic word "Kalmank", means those who separated, stayed behind, and fell behind. When extended, it means "apostate" and "do not believe in the Green Church".

In terms of origin, the Kalmyks are actually standard Mongols, belonging to Oirat Mongolia in Moxi. In terms of blood relationship, they are very close to Junggar, and they are both a branch of Moxi Mongolia.The Kalmyks still believe in Tibetan Buddhism and maintain the traditional Mongolian nomadic customs. They are active in the Don River and the Volga River. The Russians have only superficial influence on them, and they pay some symbolic taxes every year. There are a large number of Tatar nomads in the area.

Therefore, the people on the east coast wanted to find them and acquire a nomadic land in the area of ​​the Black Sea or the Sea of ​​Azov to shelter them.If possible, it is best to establish a country of the yellow race, even if it temporarily surrenders to the Ottoman Turkish Empire, it doesn't matter, just take it slowly in the future.

This time Lieutenant Colonel Mao Jun led the team to the east, and he officially went for this matter.Kalmyks, it's time to break away from the Russians!

(End of this chapter)