The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: All-in at the start in Beijing

Chapter 187 Liu Mu: Professional and Relevant

The highly anticipated online novel, "The Revolt of the Three Feudatories: A Bet on Beijing from the Start," is a heartfelt work by author Fat Fish Is Not Afraid of Fire, available exclusively on Cola Novels.

Korean?

Upon hearing this, Liu Mu was also full of praise!

At this time, what better people than the Koreans to go to Bangladesh? They were born to run fast, and crucially, they were incredibly resilient.

It is nothing short of a miracle that a North Korean soldier could survive the brutal reality of World War II, which saw him traverse battlefields across Eurasia.

The key point is that the family lived to a ripe old age and had many children.

"Okay, okay!"

"How should it be arranged?"

Hearing Liu Mu's excited gestures, Zhou Peigong was puzzled as to why the emperor was so thrilled.

However, out of professional ethics, he began to think, and it took a full half incense stick's time for Zhou Peigong to open his eyes.

"Your Majesty, I have reviewed the population statistics from the Ministry of Revenue. The Joseon Kingdom has a population of 5.79 million."

"I suggest selecting young men aged sixteen to twenty. Most of them are unmarried and more likely to survive alone. Recruiting 50,000 men should not be a problem!"

"Once Taiwan is pacified, the goods can be delivered to the Bay of Bengal from Geoje Island in two months!"

That's professionalism!

Liu Mu immediately made the decision.

"Send an urgent message to Zhao Lie, ordering him to prepare 50,000 able-bodied men within a month. At the same time, instruct the Ministry of Revenue to requisition seagoing vessels and tell all the merchants that for every ship carrying grain brought back from Bengal, one ship's worth of taxes will be exempted!"

Liu Mu will not forget the grain from Bengal. As long as it is transported to Nanjing, the campaign against Wu Sangui can be launched in one fell swoop, without having to launch repeated attacks like the Qing Dynasty did due to tax shortages!

As for the people there going hungry, that's Liu Weiqing's problem; being the King of India isn't so easy.

The next day, Liu Mu set off for Luoyang in a grand manner to pay homage to the Yuanling Mausoleum of Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu!

……

Meanwhile, in 1676 AD, on the third day of the ninth month of 1877 in the Han Dynasty, Liu Weiqing had already organized a large army to arrive in Dambad at the border of West Bengal.

PS: At this time, there was no city of Danbad. The actual name, when translated, is seven characters long and sounds like "rural area," so I simply named it Danbad Little Castle.

This place is in a great location, with a turbulent river to the north and a swamp to the south.

Here, Liu Weiqing mobilized 100,000 laborers to build three temporary rammed earth walls, connecting the entire area together.

And at regular intervals, a fortress three meters wide and five meters high would be built, with small cannons and musketeers or archers placed inside.

Although it cannot stop the enemy's infiltration, as long as the Mughal army cannot get through, that's fine. As for detouring to Dhaka, that's too far, and the supply lines can't keep up.

After more than two months of recovery, Ji Nanshou's gun muzzles had all healed. Looking at the ever-increasing number of tents below Danbad Fortress, his eyelids twitched for the first time.

"Your Majesty, judging from the size of this camp, there are probably 150,000 troops. This morning, 3,000 cavalrymen even ran out. Could they be surrounding us? Should we retreat?"

Liu Weiqing, who was observing through binoculars, was also sweating profusely. In just two months, he had barely managed to replenish his 20,000 iron cavalry, but Ji Nanshou's 10,000 musketeers had only been replenished to 6,000.

After the previous incident, and with the weather getting hotter, it's impossible to bring the Tibetans over.

Today, there are only 100,000 Hindus, plus Kshatriya leaders from various regions, forming a three-no army.

What does "three no's" mean?

They lack organization, morale, and bloodshed, so these people are at best cannon fodder, or even worse, because they will run away.

"It's alright. We're adopting a scorched-earth policy now, and we're not fighting them. Let's see how long that Mughal emperor's supplies can last!"

After Liu Weiqing finished speaking, he leaned against a stone tablet, closed his eyes, and began to rest. He appeared calm, but in reality, he was extremely nervous.

He was only twenty-three years old and had only fought a few battles. He had just experienced the death line of the decisive battle in Bengal and was now facing even more troops. He was afraid!

As for the scorched earth policy, it naturally involved relocating all the population of the three counties near Danbad, harvesting crops ahead of schedule, and disposing of all water sources with the carcasses of cattle and sheep.

This was the method used by grassland tribes to deal with the Central Plains dynasties. Liu Weiqing had no choice but to follow suit.

Similarly, inside the Danbad Citadel, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb was also filled with worry, and finally looked at his generals.

"The opposing commander is so cowardly, building so many fortresses; is he planning to avoid battle?"

"How long would it take to clear out those fortresses using cannons?"

Aurangzeb's biggest worry was the Deccan Plateau. If the conflict dragged on for another six months, the 100,000 troops there would have to be withdrawn.

Upon hearing this, several Mughal generals remained silent for a long time, murmuring amongst themselves. Finally, it was Amir, the strongest general under Aurangzeb, who was nearly fifty years old, who stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, if we launch a full-scale attack, it will take half a month, and that's assuming the enemy's cannons don't retaliate!"

Upon hearing this number, Aurangzeb's face darkened, but he was, after all, a military genius and quickly came up with a breakthrough.

Upon hearing this, Amir immediately began to calculate on his fingers, and then revealed a look of surprise.

"Your Majesty, this will only take half a day, and we can use our naval forces to transport supplies, allowing us to quickly break through and enter our territory!"

Aurangzeb was also able to stand up and wave his hand!

"Then let's fight! Let's fight today!"

Amir and the other generals looked at each other, bowed, and quickly left to gather their troops.

The elite troops lived up to their reputation; the 100,000-strong army mobilized at lightning speed, arriving at the fortress in less than half an hour, stretching for more than ten miles.

Although the army was spread out in a long line, the artillery was all concentrated along the riverbank because the Mughal army also had more than two hundred grain transport ships.

Ji Nanshou, who had been observing, had already noticed something was wrong, so he quickly nudged Liu Weiqing.

"Your Majesty, they've moved! They've moved!"

Liu Weiqing shook his head. Thinking about so many things every day made his head feel like it was about to explode.

When he saw the Mughal artillerymen pushing their cannons toward him, his expression changed drastically.

"This is bad! The Mughal army has skilled fighters; they're planning a full-scale attack on this section of the embankment. Quickly, gather all the laborers and continue building the rammed earth mounds. They don't need to look too impressive; just enough to stop the cavalry charge!"

Liu Weiqing's idea was simple: if you attack this section, he will fight and retreat at the same time, while continuously building earthen mounds behind you.

It was to guard against the Mughal cavalry.

Not long after Ji Nanshou left, the sound of intense cannon fire resounded throughout Danbad, and even the river trembled slightly.

Nearly 600 cannons were seen, located 300 meters away from the fortress. Among them were twelve heavy cannons weighing 2,000 jin each, fifty or sixty large cannons weighing 1,000 jin each, and the rest were all small cannons weighing 500 jin each.

The Mughals, situated on the Bay of Bengal, frequently traded with the West, and their artillery was comparable to that of the Han Chinese.

Under such bombardment, the first ten rammed earth bunkers were the first to be blasted into craters.

The stationed soldiers didn't even have a chance to utter a sound.