Chapter 17: Rolling Winter Thunder Part 4: Battle of Kustana (Part 2)
"Also, I did see the Khitan Alliance, but there were Hamuyang's militia monitoring near the Tobor River, and they finally retreated"
Qitad smiled and said, "I heard that Datov has given birth to several more sons in recent years. It seems that he doesn't take the sons in Manuto to heart."
"Then next..."
"Since the Bi official of the Naiman tribe has agreed to surrender to us, the Sultan of Bala is unstoppable. If he surrenders voluntarily, there is still a way out, but there is no movement at the moment. It's already late. Let's rest for a night before siegeing the city. By the way, what are the casualties of our tribe?"
"Half of the nearly five hundred cavalry died in battle. They were hit by their heavy weapons or hit by short axes, bones, and javelins when confronted with the enemy's heavy cavalry. Half of the injured were temporarily lost because they wore cotton armor."
"And..."
"What?"
"Our army captured about three thousand cavalrymen from the Zhongyuziwusun Alliance, who voluntarily surrendered when our troops were pursuing"
"Well, we won't let it go this time. My mines, roads, and city construction still require a large number of people. I have to work for me for three or five years before I can put it back."
"Okay, and also, according to the captives, about a hundred miles east of Custana, the women, children, cattle and sheep captured by Ablai Khan were there, and two thousand tribal cavalry were watching. By the way, most of their food and grass were there too."
"Well, thank you for your hard work, take two thousand Hussars to intercept him. If it is too late, I'm afraid you will run away"
"Navari..."
"Save it, I'll be useful"
"Yes"
In the middle of the night, news came. Chu Huer defeated the Wusun tribal cavalry who rushed south after receiving the news, seized the prisoners and cattle and sheep, and was rushing towards Kustana overnight.
At this time, Qitade had a new plan in his mind.
"Wiri in hand, you can negotiate a contract with Ablai Khan, demarcate the territory with the Turgai River as the boundary, and draw two young and strong brigades from the Naiman Nestorians here, both of whom were unmarried, and they formed two new brigades after mixing with veterans."
"One is stationed in Custana and the other is stationed in Sharkar, and six thousand Dulbert families and women and children are paired with them, and they are half-herders and half-farmers in the local area"
"The other nine thousand households were paired with the Culisari Brigade, the Akto Bid, and the Manuto Brigade. They were originally half-pastoral and half-farmers, but they all became farmers in the future"
....
Before dawn.
Qitade was awakened by Se Kese when he was sleeping.
There was a person in front of him.
A woman!
About forty years, he was very beautiful with a distinct mixed-race appearance of Mongolian and Turkic people, and probably still above Jia En.
"You are Nayier?"
Looking at this woman who is comparable to the famous "Dong Ge" of the Jurchen tribe in the late Ming Dynasty, Qitade suddenly became energetic from sleepy eyes.
Nayi'er's eyes looked at Qitad were obviously unkind. She put her hands in front of her, holding them nervously, and still shaking slightly.
“It’s right”
"Where is the Sultan of Balah? Why didn't he come forward in person for such a big event?"
At this time, Qitad was convinced, "Balah Sultan probably knew that Ablah Khan was also defeated, otherwise he would not have sent an envoy to communicate with him, but he really didn't expect that he would have sent his wife out."
"He's injured"
"Are you still in charge of generals and officials?"
"I came here on my own initiative"
"Oh? Are you not afraid that I will take you down on the spot?"
At this time, the big candle in the tent had lit up, and coal cakes were added to the stove in the middle.
Under the reflection of the candle, Nayi'er's appearance and figure were fully exposed.
After a while, she sighed, "You men are all the same. It seems that Bala is right..."
"Oh? What did he say?"
"He said that since you can accept Jaen, you can accept me, and then his tribe will be saved"
"Oh? Not sure, you know, my army has artillery yet, the city of Kustana is just a wooden city, I want to capture it easily, our army's powerful Balah Sultan has seen it in the daytime, and it is no match for the final battle"
"What the hell do you want to do?!"
Nayi'er's expression suddenly became serious.
"Hahaha," Qitad approached her, "Don't worry, I might as well tell you that your Dabi official has surrendered, and the entire Naiman tribe is mine. As long as I put this news into the city, the soldiers guarding the city will definitely fight back. I cannot guarantee the lives of the Balah Sultan family at that time."
"Then why haven't you done it yet?"
"Oh," Qitade sighed, "Thinking back then, during the Genghis Khan era, the Mongolian tribe, the Kelie tribe, and the Naiman tribe were all the majority of the grasslands in the northern desert. The Turkuts were direct descendants of the Kelie tribe, which was far from the mixed Kelie tribe here."
"Even so, I can't bear to kill again. Don't worry, since you are here, I don't care about Sultan of Bala. Such a person is still known as the number one warrior of Zhongyuzi, and the number one coward is almost the same"
"You..."
"Haha, of course, the hero is sad to pass the beauty. The energy of the Balah Sultan has been consumed on you, so the hero is short of breath. Since you have such courage, how can you easily neglect?"
"Go back and tell Balah Sultan, let's leave here with his family and guards. I'm going to make a reservation for his ranch..."
"No! Bala said that half of the herdsmen could be assigned to your country, but Kustana could not give it up!"
"Do you think it's possible? I, Sarachitad, have not missed what I want so far. Once I release the news of the surrender of the Dabi official, the Sultan's personal guards will definitely rush to kill his relatives in order to seek credit from me."
"Go, tell him, leave quickly, the number of people cannot exceed three hundred, wherever he goes"
"Where...what am I?"
"You should follow the Sultan of Bala. I, the Khan of the Turguts, is not a lewd demon, and he will come to see a woman."
Nayi'er left, and her steps were staggering when she left.
The next day, Kustana came to Qitad peacefully, and Balasudan left with only three hundred cavalry. He did not surrender to Ablikhan, who was not sure where he was, but went north to surrender to the Russians.
Chu Huer has returned with the captured Dulberts, and he arrived almost at the same time as Qu Chu Dius, the Dabi official from the Naiman tribe.
"I'm very happy that you can join our country, but you should know the rules of our country, right?"
Dius was now nervous, and after hearing this, he said, "I heard that the Khan needs to include 30% of herders under the jurisdiction of the Khanate?"
"Yes, there are still more men in the family"
Dius couldn't help but feel silent.
After a while, he said: "Since the Khanate's regulations are like this, I am no exception, so I will follow this example."
Qitade smiled and said, "Dabi official, don't worry, if most of your troops still believe in Nestorians, I wouldn't have the will to take this place."
"Since the death of Tok Khan, the Kazakh Khanate has been in chaos. It is because of this that your tribe that believes in Nestorianism can be independent and continue to this day. Otherwise, if a talented and stubborn Khan appears, you will definitely not be allowed to exist."
"Then Ablikhan has already shown this qualification. If the Junggar people in the east are defeated by the Qing Dynasty, it is no problem for Ablikhan to unify the entire Kazakh grassland. At that time, tribes like you should convert to the Islamic religion quickly, or they should only exist as pastoral slaves"
"It's also a blessing for someone like me here. Maybe you have heard that in my Khanate, the national policy of freedom of religion is pursued. In addition to you, there are many tribes that also believe in Nescent."
"According to my understanding, they are authentic Nestorians, one of them, named Diyala, is a Georgian. It is said that his tribe believes in the most traditional and authentic Nestorians. If you want, I can let him come here to preside over the academic affairs here"
As a Nestorian of the Kazakh Grassland, Dius must have heard of this, but he hesitated after hearing Qitad's words.
Qitad knew what he was thinking, and said, "If you don't want to give up, I heard that there are 20,000 households under the command of Sultan of Balah, 30,000 households, 30,000 households, 30,000 households near Kustana, and 30,000 households near Sharkar"
"I formed two new recruits from the brigades, let them farm in these two places, and allocated the Dulbert herders to them. As for the other herders, how they managed them before, or as usual, I will officially grant you the Grand Prix Officer in the name of the Khan of the Truqin Khanate and continue to govern here"
"With these two brigades, I believe Ablikhan would not dare to act rashly, and I also captured his son Vari and would discuss territory with him at that time. You don't have to worry about being attacked by other tribes. You can continue to believe in Nestorianism. Wouldn't it kill two birds with one stone?"
"Ahem," Dius said: "Thank you, Khan for thinking about my army, but..."
"You are thinking about taxes and military service. Don't worry, when you arrive here, Ben Khan will not go east again for the time being. The tax is 10%. At that time, I will set up a large number of post stations in the country. You can just drive cattle and sheep to the post station. Our people will arrive in Kustana and Sharkar, so you don't have to worry about it."
"As for military service..."
Qitad looked at him and thought to himself: "This is the front line of the confrontation with Zhongyuzi. If you force him to be too anxious, you may be able to turn things around at any time. It is better to be safe."
Then he said: "No need for the time being. Our army has enough personnel to deal with the war. However, once foreign enemies invade here, you still need to recruit tribal cavalry to assist us."
Then Dius smiled, "That's natural"
Qitad asked Hamuyang to take three thousand militias to assist Dius in the transfer of herders, and he quickly found Chu Huer.
"Do you receive news from Techina, the Moses who are looking for them?"
"No, Khan, Tichi is very smart, and the Momen are also old generals, so there should be no problem"
"Be careful, so there are still five thousand tribal cavalry in the south, and there are seven thousand cavalry here. You take five thousand cavalry south, and then meet with the five thousand cavalry in the south and quickly find Nolbu to find out the news"
Chapter completed!