Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 673: Troops Arrive at Shache

During the march, Babaksu felt a little uneasy. He knew yesterday that Apak Khoja had sent envoys to negotiate peace, but Babaksu had no idea how the talks between Gulbuha and the envoy went.

Babaksu was actually a relatively intelligent person. After joining the Qian Dynasty, he learned some simple basic Chinese characters and Mandarin in a very short period of time. Although he could not compose poems, he had no problem with simple communication.

Because he knew that if he wanted to restore his country, he could only rely on the Qian Dynasty, and in order to please the Qian Dynasty, Babaksu did everything he could. Although when he met the emperor of the Qian Dynasty, the emperor did not mention helping him restore his country in any words, but just said that he would talk about it after the Western Expedition was over, but at least the emperor did not explicitly refuse.

Therefore, during the time he followed the army, every time the Qian army captured a city, Babaksu would send people to search for treasures and beauties, and then send these things, which he considered to be precious, to the emperor.

However, this behavior made Gulbuha and the generals of the Qian army feel very disgusted. On the one hand, they felt that this man was a flatterer. On the other hand, Babaksu was under the banner of presenting gifts to the emperor, so they had to send people to escort the gift-giving team to Guanzhong.

Babaksu then came up to Gulbuha and asked, "General, I heard that the traitor Apak Khoja has sent an envoy?"

Gulbuha glanced at Babaksu. In his heart, he didn't want to pay attention to him. However, this matter was not important to Gulbuha, so Gulbuha didn't hide it. He nodded and said, "Yes, you saw it all. Why are you asking when you know the answer?"

Babaksu smiled awkwardly, and then said to him: "General, Apak Khoja is a shameless man with no integrity at all. General, don't be fooled by him!"

"Haha, I am smart and clever. Your Majesty has praised me before. How could I be fooled?"

Upon hearing this, Babaksu nodded repeatedly and said, "General Jian is in the emperor's favor and will have a bright future."

Gulbuha hummed but did not respond. At this time, Babaksu said hesitantly, "I wonder what conditions this Apak Khoja has proposed?"

Gulbuha frowned and said, "Why are you asking this? If you have something to say, just say it directly. Why are you beating around the bush?"

Babaksu said: "General, what I want to say is that no matter what conditions Apak Khoja offers, I can offer higher than him!"

Gulbuha was shocked when he heard this, and then he scolded as if a saint was possessed: "Humph! The Celestial Empire sent troops to the Western Regions to punish the criminals and restore peace to this land, so that the people can be free from the suffering of war. How can it be measured by interests? Seeing you often holding a copy of the Analects, I think you are just pretending!"

Babaksu was choked by Gulbuha and was speechless. He actually heard such righteous words from the mouth of a Mongolian.

Although Dzungar and Apak Khoja were enemies of Babaksu, to be fair, regardless of whether Dzungar would threaten the Qian Dynasty, they did not take the initiative to provoke him. This war was clearly initiated by the Qian Dynasty.

As for Sengge's attack on Guanzhong, that happened a long time ago, and the Qian Dynasty didn't suffer any loss at that time. Bringing that incident up as a reason to send troops now is purely an excuse.

Although he thought so in his heart, Babaksu admitted his mistake on the surface: "General, I was wrong."

After he finished speaking, Babaksu came closer and asked Gulbuha tentatively, "General, I wonder what conditions Apak Khoja has offered?"

Gulbuha's eyes rolled and he replied, "The Great Khan of Yarkand came to the capital in person to apologize to the emperor and disbanded the army of the Yarkand Khanate. The Qian army will be stationed in the cities of Yarkand. The state affairs will be governed by the Yarkand minister appointed by the court, and the military will be under the control of the general of Shache. All systems will follow the court, and the court can allocate money, food and materials at will!"

Hearing this, Babaksu was shocked and cursed Apak Khoja in his heart, saying that he was a complete traitor who could actually offer such a condition. If they agreed to this, would the Yarkand Khanate still belong to the Yarkand people!

But soon, Babaksu realized that something was wrong. With such favorable conditions, why did Gulbuha not agree and instead march towards Shache?

So Babaksu smiled and asked: "General, why don't you agree to such conditions? Isn't it better to win without fighting?"

Gulbuha waved his hands and said, "This may be a delaying tactic. I will ignore it. The credit for taking Shache and destroying the country belongs to me. Liu Kun is just lucky. If I were the leader, Sengge would not have been able to escape!"

Babaksu cursed in his heart: "Reckless man......"

Two days later, the vanguard of the Qian army arrived outside Shache City. For a moment, the sound of horse hooves was like rumbling thunder, and dust rose up outside the city. Although there were only more than 10,000 cavalrymen, the sight of them covering the sky and the sun still shocked the city of Shache.

Inside the city of Shache, Abdu stood on the city wall, looking at the densely packed Qian cavalry outside the city with a solemn expression. The soldiers looked nervous, with fear and uneasiness in their eyes, and the sound of whispering rose and fell on the city wall.

After learning that the Qian army was approaching the city, Apak Hezhuo hurried to the top of the city. Looking at the Qian army outside the city, Apak Hezhuo asked tremblingly: "General, what should we do? The Qian army is really coming."

Abdu replied angrily: "You ask me, who should I ask?"

The Qian army is at the gates of the city. As the Khan of Yarkand, instead of trying to appease the troops, you are still standing on the city wall asking yourself what to do.

Apak Khoja looked worried. Abdu glanced at Apak Khoja and asked, "Didn't you send someone to negotiate peace with the Qian army? Is there any news?"

Apak Hezhuo shook his head and said, "It's only been two days, how can it be so fast!"

At this time, Abdu clenched his fists, his eyes firm, and said loudly: "Don't panic! The city walls are strong, and there is enough food and grass in the city. We must hold on to the end. After a while, Sengge Khan will definitely come to help us."

When the defenders heard Abdu's words, their reaction was not what Abdu expected. Their morale was greatly boosted, but they were still as listless as before.

In the Qian army camp, Gulbuha rode on a war horse, looking at Shache city with confidence in his eyes. Even though the number of defenders in the city was greater than that of the Qian army's vanguard, Gulbuha still regarded the defenders in the city as nothing more than chickens and dogs.

Babaksu followed closely behind Gulbuha with a flattering smile on his face. He looked towards the city gate from time to time, as if he was expecting something.

"General, should we build the equipment now and prepare for the siege?" Babaksu asked.

Gulbuha glanced at Babaksu and said, "Why build it? We are all cavalrymen. The craftsmen didn't come with the army. Who can build it? Will you climb the city after you build it? Besides, wars now rely on artillery. Without artillery, how can we attack the city?"

Babaksu thought to himself, "Didn't you say you wanted to take credit for destroying a country? When the main force arrives, you won't get any credit!"