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Chapter 903 Going back on one's word
"Your Majesty, how can we identify their identities?"

Ding Shun was the one who received this task. He did not think it was too cruel, but he raised a small problem in execution. Most of the Ming army could not speak Mongolian, and not all the locals could speak Mongolian. How could they distinguish who was an official and who was a commoner, and who believed in what?

"Hehehe... We have Rahim Berk. Send someone back immediately to ask him to make a list. It would be best if the names of Kashgar were included. They should also provide some guides. They will be responsible for screening after entering the city.

You should go there in person and ask Rahim in private whether he needs our help to get rid of his wife. The White Mountain Sect will dominate here in the future. As the city lord, he will have a wife from the Black Mountain Sect and the Hezhuo family, which will cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Remember, this is just my advice, not an order. Respect his choice on how to deal with him, and don't force him too much."

The question raised by Ding Shun was indeed rather tricky. Abash was merely a small emir living in the remote Ruoqiang. He must be unfamiliar with the capital and could hardly help except by acting as a translator.

But Hong Tao had a solution. If Abash failed, there was still Bakhti. This family was not only very powerful in Khotan, but also related to the Shadi Khoja family. They were not too far away, so they must be familiar with the political ecology of the capital.

If you want to be a fence-sitter, you must have the awareness of being a fence-sitter. Power can never be obtained for free, and there is no charity without reason. You must pay a price to get it.

This is a test for the young city lord. Based on his feedback, we can see whether he is suitable for the important position. Being a puppet also requires certain basic skills and talents. You can't just find anyone.

Shadi Hezhuo never expected that the twenty carefully selected dancers not only failed to make the Ming Emperor obsessed with women, but instead sounded the death knell of Yarkand City.

The team escorting the dancers had just returned, and the tribal riders who had reported the incident also arrived. The Ming army suddenly left the Guma Town garrison and was marching westward in a mighty manner. According to the speed estimate, they should have arrived in Yecheng by now, and would reach Yarkand in two days at the latest.

At first, Shadi Khoja did not believe what the tribal riders said. He had already reached a clear agreement with the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the messenger sent to Turpan had been on the road for a few days. All he had to do was wait for Latif Khan to expel the Ordos tribe from the Khanate, and then the war caused by misunderstanding would end.

But then there were tribal riders coming to deliver messages one after another, and in the afternoon, an emir from Yecheng arrived. He said that the vanguard of the Ming army was surrounding Yecheng and cutting off the passage to Yarkand. If they hadn't run fast, they would have been unable to escape in half an hour.

"Sinners, pagans who have defiled the Prophet! Open the armory, distribute weapons to believers, respond to the Prophet's call to defend the city and kill all pagans!
Inform the city lords and emirs to bring their troops into the city and not to engage in a field battle with the Ming army outside. They have many cannons and must rely on the city walls for defense.

Ring the bell, ring the bell, I'm going to the Great Mosque! Have you got any news from the messengers sent to Bukhara and Kazakhstan? Send someone to Kashgar City and ask them to send troops to harass the Ming army from the flank. Yarkand City must be saved, the Khan will be back soon! "

At this time, Shadi and Zhuo finally believed that they had been deceived. A slightly fat face and a pair of silly eyes appeared in their minds. Then they howled hysterically, walked back and forth in the yard like crazy, and issued orders one after another, which made the city lords and emirs present a little overwhelmed.

Just when Yarkand City was in chaos, Hong Tao, leading the southern army, had left Yecheng behind, leaving only a thousand households to be responsible for attacking the city and clearing out the remaining enemies, and the army did not stop at all.

On the way west from Khotan, you can clearly feel the strong hostility. The local tribes are very hostile to the arrival of outsiders. Tribal armed forces often come to harass along the way or at night. Even the guides of Abash and Bakhti family can't play a big role. For this reason, Hong Tao decided not to conquer and appease at the same time. He wanted to capture Yarkand City as quickly as possible, break the central nervous system of the Khanate, and use practical actions to warn those unruly tribes, either stay away or keep their tails between their legs, so as to avoid the situation becoming completely uncontrollable.

It was almost dusk when Huang Taiji's vanguard arrived at Yarkand City. Hong Tao did not let them surround the city as before, but instead carried out a temporary reorganization.

Two thousand-households of the army and two thousand-households of the Eight Banners Army formed two armies. One army, commanded by Ding Shun, crossed the city and stationed on the west side. The other army stayed on the east side of the city with the central army, preparing to launch an attack from the east side at dawn.

At night, Hong Tao had just turned off the gas lamp and was ready to go to bed when he got up again. There was a faint sound of gunfire from the west. Before he could figure out what was going on, the defense line a few hundred meters away also opened fire, and then the pre-set firewood piles were ignited one by one, and the night attack began!

"Sun and Moon Khan, the enemy has indeed arrived. The sound of horse hooves is very dense and heavy. There are quite a few of them, at least several thousand."

The first person to come and report to the emperor was not the staff officer, but Huang Taiji. Compared with the daytime, he only took off his helmet, and his armor was intact, and it was obvious that he even wore it when sleeping.

Hong Tao had no habit of sleeping in armor. He stretched out his hands, allowing the eunuchs to put the leather armor on him like a wooden man.

This set of armor was specially made by the Armory Bureau according to the emperor's wishes. It is made of three layers of whale skin and the surface is carved. It is divided into the torso, arms, legs, and neck. It fits close to the body, but its protective power is obviously insufficient.

But anyone who really thinks so would be greatly miscalculated. In fact, this set of armor is not leather armor, but thin steel plates are sandwiched inside each component, which can protect against crossbow shooting at a distance of 20 steps, let alone close-range slashing.

As for rifles... they can't be protected. Hong Tao once tried adding an extra layer of leather and a thin steel plate, but it still couldn't protect against rifle bullets. Unless the distance was over 300 meters, and lead bullets were used, it would barely not be penetrated. If it was replaced with a conical bullet, it would still make a hole at 300 meters.

"I'm afraid there will be more, are you afraid?" Hong Tao did not agree with Huang Taiji's judgment. After several defeats, if Shadi Hezhuo still planned to launch a surprise attack with a few thousand cavalry, it would be like eating without fighting.

It's not that Huang Taiji lied about military intelligence, but there was a reason for it. The soil here contains a lot of sand, and the transmission of sound and vibration is different from that of traditional grassland. Lying on the ground and listening will cause a large error.

"I'm only afraid of being surrounded by the enemy. This is not the way the Eight Banners Army fights."

Huang Taiji didn't say he was afraid directly, but he was actually a little afraid. The army's camp was in the shape of a U, with each side about 400 meters long. All the baggage, livestock, and the Eight Banners Army were enclosed inside.

(End of this chapter)