There were not many herdsmen around. After the arrival of the Ming army, they moved to distant places to avoid being affected by the war.

Some brave ones did not leave, but after receiving the notice from the Ming army, they hurried away with their families.

Two days later, not a single Kazakh herdsman could be seen within a hundred miles of the Ming Dynasty military camp.

At this time, Yang Bao and his men began to work. Their task was to lay mines. The Ming Dynasty mines had been developed long ago.

It is not the kind that will explode automatically in later generations, but needs to be manually ignited.

Yang Baochende and others led people to mark out a grassland 500 meters wide and 1,000 meters long, and asked the soldiers to start digging trenches.

The trench does not need to be too big, as long as it can connect the explosives and mines.

After the small trench was dug, some explosives such as dynamite and landmines were placed in it. A large trench was dug diagonally every 50 meters. A Ming army squatted in it. It was covered with wooden boards and grass. When the signal was heard, the gunpowder was immediately ignited.

lead.

It sounds simple, but it is not so easy to do. Once the enemy attacks during this period, all previous efforts will be in vain.

The dozens of troops Zhang Huangyan sent out stayed at night and ran back and forth on the Kazakh grasslands. They would report any disturbance to the coalition forces in a timely manner.

A few days passed without any movement from the coalition forces. Yang Bao and the others finally successfully completed their mission on the third day.

At this time, Li Laiheng and others had already dug the trenches, and now they did not have to worry about a sudden attack by the coalition forces.

The only thing that worried Zhang Huangyan was whether the buried explosives would explode. After all, this was the first time.

After all preparations were completed, Zhang Huangyan convened a meeting with the generals and told them how to use trenches...

After some discussion, it was finally decided that Li Erniu would be stationed in the first trench.

Chen De was stationed in the second trench, and the third trench was handed over to Li Laiheng.

Once the first trench could not stop the coalition's attack, Li Erniu immediately retreated to the second trench, and so on. He must block all coalition forces in the third trench.

Zhang Huangyan led 10,000 soldiers and artillery to garrison the military camp.

The artillery here does not include mortars, but a total of two hundred heavy field guns and three hundred rockets...

Zhang Huangyan assigned all mortars with limited range to the defenders of the three trenches.

The Ming army's trenches were not very deep, and people could still expose their shoulders and heads inside, making it easier to shoot.

Once the opponent fires artillery, there are gun holes about two meters in the trench, so you can take shelter temporarily.

After everything was ready, each army took turns to rest on duty. After replenishing their energy, they were ready to attack the coalition forces at any time.

The Ming army's tents were densely covered by the river, and hundreds of camps were connected end to end for several miles, standing tall like mountains and majestic.

The Ming military camp was equipped with antlers to resist horses, and the surrounding areas were sprinkled with caltrops, and patrols were carried out day and night...

…

Turkestan

With the arrival of the 50,000 troops of the Chechen Khanate, the five-nation coalition forces finally successfully joined forces in the territory of the Kazakh Khanate.

There were more than 300,000 troops from the five anti-Ming countries, and the leader of the coalition headed by Golovin held a banquet in the palace of the Kazakh Khan to honor the Chechen Khan.

The Chechen army traveled a long distance and it was impossible to start action immediately. The coalition forces rested for another day and prepared to start on the third day to attack the Ming army that entered the Kazakh Khanate.

On the third day, the coalition forces under various banners finally rushed out of Turkestan City...

The sound of horns resounded throughout the world, and more than 300,000 allied troops marched southward like a torrent. Their flags covered the sky, people roared and horses neighed, and the scene was extremely spectacular.

Along the way, the herdsmen glanced at the vast prairie and saw flags like a sea, and a huge crowd of people with no beginning in front and no end behind.

A herdsman child pointed at the coalition troops and shouted:

"Look, the Kazakh Khanate and the Allied Forces of the Four Nations have finally dispatched, so majestic!"

The Rakshasa Kingdom Golovin and Chechen Khans, as well as the Mughal generals led an army of 150,000 to the rear, and the Kazakh Khanate and Shuo Khanate combined more than 100,000 troops as the vanguard.

As the leader of the coalition forces, Rakshasa Kingdom will definitely not lead the charge.

The order of sending troops to the four khanates was determined by drawing lots, and no great khan wanted his subordinates to take the lead and serve as cannon fodder.

Although they were jointly fighting against the Ming Dynasty, because they did not understand the Ming army, no one was willing to take the lead. The Rakshasa Ghost Golovin had no choice but to make a decision by drawing lots.

None of the four khanates had any objections to his decision. Now it all depends on luck.

When the draw was announced, the Great Khan of the Heshuo Khanate was immediately dumbfounded. He actually became the main force of the first wave of attacks with the Kazakh Khanate Taiji.

This battle was fought within the territory of the Kazakh Khanate. The Kazakh Khanate sent troops to protect itself, and they also sent troops to save the Kazakh Khanate.

Why did he and the Kazakh Khanate take the lead? Is there a problem with the drawing of lots? The Great Khan of the Heshuo Khanate suddenly couldn't figure it out.

Did the Chechen Khan and the Mughal Kingdom have such good luck? He suspected that Golovin was up to something.

Because the two great Khans of Mughal and Chechen Khanate seemed to be relatively close to Golovin.

Seeing Heshuo Khan bowing his head in deep thought, looking worried, Kazakh Taiji smiled and said:

"What's wrong with you? Do you suspect someone is cheating?"

How could Heshuo Khan tell Kazakh Taiji his inner thoughts? He could not let others say that his khanate was as cowardly as a mouse.

"It's okay, Chechnya and Bukhara are so lucky..."

Kazakh Taiji laughed loudly when he heard this:

"Haha, no, no, they are unlucky. As long as our two countries defeat the Ming army, we will take the best pastures in the Ili Valley and Zhungar. They will regret it then..."

At the same time that Heshuo Khan and Kazakh Taiji were happy, the Chechen Khan, Bukhara Khan, and Mughal generals in the rear were all secretly glad to have caught a good lot.

None of these Khanate armies had experience fighting against the Ming army, and they all wanted to see the opponent's strength first.

The Kazakh and Heshuo Khanate armies will take the lead first, and the armies of these three countries will be able to find out the details of the Ming army. Then the five-nation coalition forces will work together to kill the Ming army.

After the coalition forces of the two countries left, Golovin, the governor of Siberia of the Rakshasa Kingdom, smiled slyly and said to them:

"This time, I am taking care of you in drawing lots, not because you are lucky. I hope you can cooperate closely with the empire. When the time comes, I will ask the Tsar to take credit for you and give you the best pastures in the Yarkand Khanate and Zhungar.

."

Hearing what Golovin said, the Great Khan of the Three Kingdoms was a little confused. They were obviously the vanguard of the draw, why would Golovin say this.

Golovin knew what they were thinking and said:

"Open the strips of cloth in your hands."

The three of them didn't know what it meant, but they still opened the cloth in their hands. When they saw the word "pioneer" on the cloth, they were stunned on the spot. It took a long time to realize:

"Commander, what's going on?"

"Shh..."

Golovin made a silent gesture, and then said softly:

"The five banners all have the word "pioneer" on them. It's just that I asked the Kazakh Khanate and the Heshuo Khanate to see them first. As long as they see the banners first, they will definitely be the pioneers. Do you understand?"

The three of them suddenly realized that it was Golovin who was behind the scenes, and they felt very grateful.

It can be seen that the coalition forces are not united. Before the actual battle with the Ming army, Golovin began to play tricks.

The Rakshasa ghosts are preparing to annex the Kazakh Khanate, but the Kazakh Khanate is not weak and has a population of more than one million.

In order to achieve the goal of completely annexing the Kazakh steppe, Golovin began to bribe the Mughal Kingdom, the Chechen Khanate and the Bukhara Khanate.

The Chechen Khanate is relatively small and has no ability to resist the Rakshasa Kingdom, while the Mughal Kingdom is also a powerful country and must be won over.

The four countries don't know whether they are stupid or stupid. Don't they know how a small Muscovy Principality became so big now?

"Tap..."

…

Ming Army Headquarters

After Emperor Shenwu learned the tactics of several young generals, he nodded with satisfaction:

"Very good, the young generals are all mature. Now that the five-nation coalition has left the city, it's time for us to go out. Qin Guogong led 50,000 troops to attack the Bukhara Khanate, and Xiang Guogong led 50,000 troops to attack the Heshuo Khanate. This is

Military maps and supplies can be looted along the way. I hope that after the main force destroys the Kazakh Khanate, you can also destroy the two countries."

"According to the order!"

The two princes immediately accepted the decree...

"Then Zhu Cihong sent another order, and the Zhengbei Protectorate immediately raised troops to destroy the Chechen Khanate in Mobei. He spared their lives last time, but he didn't know how to cherish them.

"Demonstrated, the Oirat Mongols, Yarkand surrendered cavalry, and Jungar Mongolian cavalry entered the scene to cleanse the troops on the Kazakh prairie."

After Zhu Cixiang issued orders continuously, he stood up slowly, glanced at the faces of the generals, and said:

"Send an order to raise troops early tomorrow morning. After the young generals defeat the coalition forces, they will immediately encircle them on three sides and try to destroy the coalition forces in one fell swoop!"

"According to the order!"

…

"Report, a dozen roads further is the Ming army camp. There is hardly a single herdsman found for hundreds of miles nearby. They probably killed them all..."

Both of them were shocked when they heard this:
To be continued...