Dominate the Country

In March of the seventeenth year of Chengtian, a Chinese army appeared on the west coast of the Caspian Sea.

The Russian Caspian Fleet still exists, and they even launched a tentative attack on this military station not long ago, but it was too late.

The Russians had only regarded this military defense point as Baku Khan's "alert", so when the construction of this defense point was almost finished, they did not know that the "workers" here were all from the Ottomans. It was not until the Ottomans suddenly launched an "attack" on Baku Khan and "drilled" a line in the Caucasus Mountains smoothly that the Russians discovered that this defense point originally built by Baku Khan's men "suddenly" hung the Ottoman flag. They immediately launched an attack here, but it was useless.

The Persian Kingdom made a great effort in this matter. Baku Khan was a vassal state of the Persian Kingdom, and the current Persian Khan Aga Muhammad almost directly facilitated this matter.

Under the instruction of Agha Muhammad, Baku Khan fully assisted the Ottomans to establish a military foothold in the northern part of the Caucasus Mountains. Then Baku Khan's "acting skills" were bad, and he cooperated with the Ottoman Empire to perform a dramatic war, so that the Ottoman Empire's crescent-shaped flag was raised above the west coast of the Caspian Sea.

Then the red flag of the National Defense Force also appeared here.

This time, Agha Muhammad broke the boundaries of faith and used practical actions to show goodwill to China. Yes, Agha Muhammad Khan was only showing goodwill to China, not to Istanbul.

Although Agha Muhammad Khan has only shown a trend of unifying Persia in recent years, just like the "Sima family" who wiped out Shu Han, unifying the world is just around the corner. But as a hero who rose in the war, Agha Muhammad knew very well that it was no longer the time when the Persian Empire dominated one side one or two thousand years ago.

Guns and cannons are more powerful weapons than sabers.

Although the main enemy of the Russian Empire was the Ottoman Empire, they were also eyeing the vassal states of the Persian Kingdom in the Caucasus. In the history of Persia, the privileges of mining, road construction, bank establishment, and military training were seized by the British and Russians. In the early 20th century, Britain and Russia colluded with each other to divide the sphere of influence in Persia: the north belonged to Russia, the south belonged to Britain, and the central part was a buffer zone.

So, the crisis of the Persian Kingdom is imminent.

Agha Mohammed Khan is very clear about the situation of Persia. In recent years, he has also clearly seen the progress of the Ottoman Empire's military strength. To be honest, in this sixth Russo-Turkish war, the Ottoman Empire fought much stronger than the last war.

The strength of the Ottoman Empire has increased significantly compared with the previous one.

Although Persia is still a great power, its situation has become less safe in this era. Agha Mohammed Khan does not believe that the Russians will only target the Ottoman Empire, and the Persian Kingdom will also be threatened by the Russians in the future.

In recent years, British ships have also begun to cruise in the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea. According to the news received by Aga Mohammed Khan, the British have already set their sights on the target at dusk.

To the east of the Arabian Sea is India. The Chinese are now unstoppably intervening in the Indian situation, and the pressure on London is not ordinary. They have no confidence that they can resist the Chinese offensive based on the Bengal they occupy. They must find enough support points on the west coast of India and the Arabian World to deal with the Chinese who may continue to move westward in the future.

Pan Chang led a reinforced regiment and first stationed in Haixi, that is, the stronghold on the west coast of the Caspian Sea with a red flag.

The marching route is not to cross the Caspian Sea, but to detour from the south. Through the "coastline" of the Persian Kingdom, reach the West Sea in the safest way.

Before that, a large number of Chinese shipbuilding craftsmen and technicians had already headed westward from Jinghai, riding on clipper ships, following the monsoon and ocean currents, reaching the deepest part of the Persian Gulf at the fastest speed, and then riding horses and camels straight to the Persian port at the southern end of the Caspian Sea.

Chen Han paid a total of 10 million yuan to Persia, which was exchanged by Aga Mohammed Khan for a large number of guns and ammunition. At the same time, China's military academy also opened a small opening to the Persian Kingdom.

It must be said that this is of the greatest breakthrough significance to the Persian Kingdom.

After the Chinese established relations with the Ottoman Empire, they completely ignored the Persian Kingdom. Although private trade was not completely cut off, it was absolutely clear in the official field.

The Ottoman Empire had a deep hatred for Persia.

A major premise of the Sino-Ottoman alliance was that China had to sever its ties with Persia.

The seventeenth year of Chengtian was 1791 in the Western calendar.

The temperature in the Caucasus region in March of the lunar calendar is already quite mild, much higher than that in Siberia. Although it cannot be compared with the real warm regions, the large-scale military operations have already begun.

Russia dispatched more than 10,000 infantry, as well as the Caspian Fleet and 2,000 to 3,000 cavalry.

The reinforced regiment led by Pan Chang had a total strength of less than 4,500 people. In terms of troop strength, the Russian army was at an advantage.

However, no matter how great the advantage was, it would only increase casualties in the face of firepower.

Pan Chang carried not only a large number of rockets, but also a large number of guns, gunpowder and grenades.

This strategic point in the West Sea is not a fortress-style iron wall, let alone a bastion, but a position equipped with a considerable number of permanent defenses. But this was enough for Pan Chang and his officers and soldiers to easily keep the Russians out.

No one knew that it was when a large number of Russian Caspian Fleet warships swarmed south and came to the West Sea to make soy sauce. Just east of Alasthan, across the entire northern part of the Caspian Sea, is China's first military station along the Caspian Sea.

A large group of officers and soldiers were working hard to dig a ditch.

When this ditch as wide as a small river and ten feet deep was dug to the Caspian Sea, the sluice that had been built long ago was lifted up, and the rolling water poured in. At the end of the ditch - a ship with more than three hundred The ton-sized sloop slowly passed through the channel and sailed into the Caspian Sea.

There are six such channels here.

God knows how much effort it took for the logistics department to send each piece of dry wood thousands of miles to the Caspian Sea. However, with China's technological reserves and strength at this time, it would be a piece of cake to simply build a few dry docks.

On April 16, 1791, on the third day after Yakov Fedotovich Pavlov, the governor of Astrakhan, personally arrived in the Western Sea, six ships of the Wehrmacht were blown by the southeast wind. Heading westward, heading straight for Astrakhan.

To curb the Russian naval development in the Caspian Sea, the first thing to do is to open the Astarahan shipyard.

Even though the shipbuilding industry there has shrunk to the extreme, if it is not eradicated, it is likely to grow again.

Surprisingly, they found a slow dhow on the sea, which seemed to be a Russian patrol ship. But their vigilance is really too low. The six Chinese sailing ships had arrived within five or six miles of them, and only then did the Russian sailing ship realize that the danger was coming.

Then everyone on the boat started to get busy.

Hoist the sail, hoist the sail.

This square sailing ship, responsible for the security of the Russian Caspian Sea, turned around and began to escape without restraint. It's just that this ship is really too old, and its speed is much slower than the six new ships of the National Defense Force. It was soon surrounded by the two leading National Defense Force warships, one on the left and one on the right.

The Russians seemed to realize that they could not escape at this moment. They started a desperate counterattack with the few small-caliber artillery on the ship.

The 300-ton small boats of the National Defense Force can carry a very limited number of artillery pieces, but their naval guns are all the latest new guns. Not to mention the age and technology gap with the Russian naval guns themselves, only the artillery guns of both sides. The Russian army was at an absolute disadvantage.

Under the officer's order, the artillery fired one after another, and 12-pound, 10-pound, and 5-pound iron balls roared towards the Russian ship at a distance of 600 meters. Due to the strong wind and waves on the Caspian Sea and the fact that it was the first round of shelling, the accuracy was not very good. Several shells fell into the sea, but two still hit the hull of the enemy ship, causing some damage. This is already very lucky!

When all six Wehrmacht warships surrounded them, the Russians continued to resist desperately, instead of raising a white flag.

"Let all the warships go into battle." Captain Zuo, who was leading the team, issued the 'kill order' without hesitation. Perhaps this was out of a soldier's respect for a true soldier.

The whole battle is without suspense.

When the schooner was flooded by the turbulent waters of the Caspian Sea, the surviving Russian sailors jumped into the sea holding planks, barrels and other floating objects.

The Wehrmacht sent out some small boats to 'capture' people. At the same time, these rescued Russian sailors will also be their most direct source of intelligence.

The battle with this Russian patrol ship was just a small episode today. The ultimate goal of the Wehrmacht was to bombard Alasthan, destroy Alasthan's shipyard on the seaside, and burn out the Russian timber reserves.

Of course, by the way, they don't mind adding a little more trouble to the Russians.

Burning, looting, destroying all the Russian villages living along the coast around Astrakhan, and driving all the Russian refugees, those who had nothing, towards Astrakhan. This is enough for the Russians to drink a pot.

Seriously, the Russians' defensive vigilance in Astrakhan was poor.

There are more than 10,000 Russian land and sea troops to the south of Astrakhan, and there is the Ural River to the north. The Guryev Fortress and the Orenburg Fortress are like a pair of gatekeepers, firmly blocking the threat from China. Outside Astrakhan.