Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2364: Bloody Battle at Rajmahar (Part )
The emperor's journey northward went smoothly thanks to the careful planning before departure. However, when the emperor arrived in Tianjin, Gao Youshi suddenly received an urgent military intelligence from Bengal - the Mughal Empire had gathered a 100,000-strong army to attack!

Here's what happened: At the beginning of this year, Akbar the Great, the third monarch of the Mughal Empire who had a smooth life, suffered a military defeat in Bengal and the deaths of two sons in a row in the previous southern expedition. After returning to the capital Agra, he was at odds with the Crown Prince Salim, to the point that his own son and heir had to lead troops outside, and he was completely unwilling to be with his parents, and finally died of depression.

As soon as Akbar the Great died, Crown Prince Salim immediately declared himself the successor in his old nest of Bihar, and then changed his name to Jahangir, which means "Conqueror of the World". In order to smoothly take over the huge empire left by his father, Salim immediately led his army westward to Agra, occupied the capital of the Mughal Empire, and truly took control of the government.

Theoretically, when a new emperor ascends the throne, there will naturally be a new atmosphere in the court. However, Jahangir is not without hidden worries, and these worries seem rather outrageous from the perspective of the Chinese: his eldest son Khusrau Mirza is very hostile to him.

Why is this so? Because although Khusrau was his son, he was brought up by his grandparents, namely Emperor Akbar the Great and his queen. He had been close to his grandparents since he was a child, but he had almost no communication with his biological father, and of course there was not much affection between them.

However, due to the rebellion of Salim, now Jahangir, in Bihar, Akbar's southern expedition plan was forced to end, and he suffered a great defeat in Bengal, and finally died in depression. Akbar's grandson hated his father so much that he was even said to have said "I will kill him".

If this was just a powerless brat speaking out, Jahangir probably would not have taken it too seriously. After all, Akbar the Great was dead, and as a middle-aged father, he had plenty of time to ease the relationship between father and son. But the problem was that even though Khusrau was still young, he was not a "powerless brat."

It is true that he is young, but he has power. Yes, many old ministers and veterans loyal to Akbar had suggested to Akbar after Salim rebelled that he should simply abolish Salim's inheritance rights and designate his grandson Khusrau as the successor, and they were all willing to support Khusrau.

Akbar the Great was also shaken about this, and may have even hinted to Khusrao - of course, it may not be Akbar the Great's personal suggestion, but even so, Akbar the Great still allocated the taxes of Gujarat Suba to Khusrao (Suba is equivalent to a province) to show his favor to Khusrao. [Note: In the original history, Akbar allocated the taxes of Bengal Suba to Khusrao, but now because Bengal was seized by the southern border, it was changed to Gujarat.]
In short, Khusrau largely believed that he would inherit his grandfather's throne, and he was determined to avenge his grandfather by capturing and killing his father Salim to punish him for his unfilial piety and disloyalty.

However, in the end, Emperor Akbar considered that his health was deteriorating rapidly and he might not live long. If he deposed Salim and enthroned Khurram instead, a civil war would surely break out in the empire after his death.

Although Akbar was seriously ill, his mind was still very clear. He knew that the Deccan Plateau in the south had not been pacified, and a powerful "Ming army" threatened the Bengal region in the east. If the Mughal Empire fell into civil war, it would simply be self-destruction. Therefore, he rejected various proposals for dethronement and insisted on passing the throne to his unfilial son Salim.

In this way, although Salim did obtain the legitimacy of succession, the ministers and generals who had originally suggested deposing Salim were embarrassed, especially since these important figures included Man Singh, Aziz Kokar and others who had long held military and political power.

Man Singh was a very special person. He was not only an important minister and general of Akbar the Great, but also the elder brother of Salim's first wife and the uncle of Khusrau. Man Singh's sister had swallowed opium and committed suicide not long ago because she saw her husband and son hostile to each other, hoping to warn the father and son... Unfortunately, it was still useless. Instead, both the father and son were more convinced that the other was wrong and killed their wives/mothers. Now the hatred is even more difficult to resolve.

But even if Jahangir successfully ascended the throne, he still did not dare to do anything to Khusrau. After all, the latter's uncle Man Singh not only had a powerful army, but also had great prestige in the entire imperial army. If he dealt with Khusrau easily, Man Singh might even dare to rebel in anger. At that time, it would be hard to know who would win and who would lose.

After all, Jahangir was in his prime, and because of these internal problems, he was eager to prove his ability and prestige. The fire of conquest burned in his heart, and he longed to leave his own great name in history to announce to the world that he was no less capable than his father, Akbar the Great.

As it happened, there were many ambitious officials in the court. They saw the new emperor's desire and began to whisper in his ear, urging Jahangir to establish his authority by force. They claimed that only by defeating powerful enemies could he gain respect from all sides, such as the Nanjiang Army in Bengal, whose existence was undoubtedly a challenge to the new emperor's majesty.

This persuasion was exactly what Jahangir needed.

First, Bengal was densely populated and had rich land. It was the largest source of tax revenue in the Mughal Empire.

Secondly, the reason why he was despised by many nobles and ministers in the country was because he had previously "colluded" with the forces in southern Xinjiang. Now that he has ascended the throne, he naturally needs to conquer Bengal to clear his name;

Finally, Man Singh had served as the Governor-General of Bengal and had a strong popular base in the local area. If he promised Man Singh that he would continue to appoint him as the Governor-General of Bengal after he took over Bengal, he would be able to stabilize this imperial general and even stop "sheltering" Khusrau, thus alleviating his own worries.

In short, driven by these voices and his own interests, Jahangir decided to launch a large-scale eastward expedition to demonstrate the power of the Mughal Empire. He assembled an army of 100,000, which was composed of the most elite soldiers of the empire, including Rajput warriors, mercenaries from Central Asia, and troops of princes from all over the country who were loyal to the empire. They carried artillery and war elephants and marched towards Bengal in a mighty manner. There is no doubt that there were also 30,000 elite soldiers led by Man Singh himself.

When the news reached the Southern Xinjiang Army, Liu Xin, Gao Yuan and others quickly convened a military meeting. They knew that this battle was not only a military challenge to the Mughal Empire, but also a big test for the Southern Xinjiang Army's long-term rule in Bengal - only by passing this big test can the Southern Xinjiang Army's rule in Bengal be truly stabilized.

After some discussion, they decided to meet the Mughal army in Rajmahar in western Bengal. This is an open plain, and the city is built along the Ganges. Although the Ganges makes military dispatch difficult for both sides, the terrain on both sides of the river is suitable for cavalry charges and artillery. For this reason, this city is a must-pass place for the Mughal Empire to enter Bengal from the east, and it is also an important stronghold of the Southern Xinjiang Army in Bengal.

The Southern Xinjiang Army took quick action, strengthening the fortifications of Rajmahal and stockpiling sufficient food and ammunition. At the same time, since Gao Youshi was on his way back to the capital, it was inconvenient to send pigeons to communicate in time, so they also sent envoys to try to ease the situation through diplomatic means and strive to receive clear instructions from Gao Youshi.

However, Jahangir's heart was filled with the passion for battle and his great desire to consolidate his imperial power, so he ignored the proposal for peace.

As the Mughal army approached, the atmosphere in Rajmahar became increasingly tense. The soldiers of the Southern Xinjiang Garrison stood on the city wall, looking into the distance with a firm gaze. They knew that the upcoming battle would be a life-and-death contest, but as elite troops who had fought for many years, they had no fear in their hearts, only a desire for victory. Finally, one morning, the vanguard of the Mughal army appeared on the horizon. Their team was like a black dragon, winding for miles, with flags covering the sun and dust flying. As a Padishah, Jahangir actually appeared in the vanguard in person, which shows how much he expected of this battle. He rode on a white warhorse, wearing golden armor, holding a jeweled scimitar, his eyes flashing with a desire for victory, and personally looked at the city he had been to.

The generals of the Southern Xinjiang Army stood on the city wall. Liu Xin and Gao Yuan stood side by side, their eyes equally determined. Liu Xin glanced at Gao Yuan and saw that although he was calm, he was still a little nervous, so she whispered, "Yuan'er, what do you think your father would do if he were here?"

Gao Yuan tightly gripped the hilt of his sword, but his tone was clearly confused and nervous: "What will father do? Will he... observe the other party's formation?"

"That's for sure, but that's not what I'm saying." Liu Xin whispered, "Of course, the commander of the army needs to observe the enemy's formation, but what's more important is to make everyone under his command feel confident that they will win... Think about it again, what should we do now?"

After she finished speaking, she saw that Gao Yuan still had difficulty understanding immediately, so she reminded him again: "Don't worry for now. The other side is just here to show off their strength and hope to undermine our morale. At the moment, they are not yet firmly established, and the main force in the rear has not arrived yet, so they will not rashly launch an attack."

When Gao Yuan heard this, he calmed down, thought for a moment, and recalled Gao Youshi's previous teachings. Suddenly he understood and burst into laughter.

When the generals around him looked at the young prince of Jingguo and the governor of Siam in surprise, Gao Yuan was pointing at the Padishah flag of Jahangir across the street and said loudly: "Salim is a king who has taken a dangerous and dangerous approach to a battle. If we don't teach him a lesson, won't he bully us in the southern border?"

As soon as these words were spoken, all the generals couldn't help but narrow their eyes slightly, and each of them looked at the green lion flag with some murderous intent.

Gao Yuan saw this and shouted without hesitation, "Who among you dares to take the lead and help me to dampen their spirit?"

Naturally, no one wanted to fall behind at a time like this. The generals under the Western Expedition Army requested to fight one after another. Gao Yuan laughed and said, "Good, good, good. It seems that there is absolutely no coward in my Western Expedition Army." Then he turned to Liu Xin and bowed slightly, saying, "Auntie, everyone is so enthusiastic that it's hard for me to decide. I wonder which general do you think I should give this honor to?"

Of course Liu Xin knew that Gao Yuan said this on the one hand to express his respect for her, and on the other hand it was probably because he had little experience in military career and was not sure who would be the most suitable person at the moment, so he gave the final decision to her.

Although Gao Yuan said so much, his choice would more or less disappoint the generals who were not appointed, but this was actually Gao Yuan's cleverness - as the prince of Jingguo, it was not convenient for him to show obvious preference for his generals. However, as the secretary-general, his status was like that of the prime minister of the cabinet. No matter who was appointed to fight, the generals would have nothing to say.

Besides, he is not only the secretary general, but also the master's bedside man, so he is not afraid of any dissatisfaction. In this case, Liu Xin naturally did not hesitate, nodded and looked around at everyone, and saw that all the generals stood up straight, so he said: "I see that although the enemy army seems to be aggressive, it is actually exhausted and lacks energy. It is only arrogant because of a delusion, and it is not impossible to defeat it.

However, since we have a battle plan before the battle, it is not convenient to annihilate this vanguard army in one fell swoop, lest its main force retreat upon hearing this. Therefore, this time, we only need to repel them and blunt their sharp edge, but we cannot kill too many people...

Therefore, I want to select the best cavalry from the prince's family to attack and show the prestige of my Western Expedition Army. At the same time, I also want to let these Mongolian miscellaneous people see that since my Ming Dynasty can destroy the Mongolian mainstream, it is even easier to deal with them! "

Gao Yuan was actually a little surprised when he heard this, because his "elite cavalry of family servants" were the northern cavalrymen who were assigned to him by his father before he left, and brought all the way from the capital to southern Xinjiang. After they arrived in southern Xinjiang, it took a long time for both the people and the horses to adapt to the hot weather here, but even Gao Yuan himself was not sure how much of their abilities they could play in the north. He didn't expect that his aunt would actually select them to go into battle.

Not only that, although the troops coming from the Mughal Empire now are only the vanguard, they seem to have at least 10,000 or 20,000 people, and the elite cavalry under his command were originally the last guard force given to him by his father, and their actual strength is only a little over a thousand.

Can these 1,000 cavalrymen defeat the 20,000-strong Mughal vanguard? Gao Yuan felt a little worried. This was the first battle, and the goal was to dampen the enemy's spirit and boost our own morale. If we won, it would be easy. But if we lost...

Unexpectedly, before he could reply, the commander of the family servants and cavalry who had been standing silently behind him had stepped out calmly, saluted Liu Xin and him, and responded in a calm but loud voice: "Thank you, Prince, thank you, Secretary General, Gao Shizhong will not fail in your mission."

After saying that, he took three steps back, turned around and left.

Gao Yuan smiled and nodded in appreciation, but turned around and took advantage of the moment when all the generals were subconsciously looking at Gao Shizhong's departing back to ask Liu Xin in a low voice: "Aunt, Gao Shizhong only has more than a thousand cavalrymen..."

"Don't worry. He has been following your father since the Battle of Mo Nan. He has saved countless souls. The elite cavalry of Mongolia and Jurchen have been defeated by him. What can a mere Mughal do to him?"
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PS: Sorry, this chapter has been delayed for a day, but it’s really not because I’m lazy. It’s just that it’s too difficult to find information about the Mughal Empire on the Chinese Internet.

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