gnovel Chapter 193 Liu Weiqing: This is called robbing the rich to help the poor
Chapter 193 Liu Weiqing: This is called robbing the rich to help the poor
Zhang Ying's wife and children were arranged to stay in Bhutan, accompanied by three Persian women. With no obstacles in place, he indulged himself completely. The next day, when the sun was high in the sky, he didn't start working until late, with dark circles under his eyes and looking exhausted.
Despite her exhaustion, Zhang Ying handled Liu Weiqing's affairs—including provisions, household registration, and resource allocation—with remarkable skill, far surpassing Liu Weiqing's previous Bhutanese strategist.
With Zhang Ying handling official business, Liu Weiqing was finally freed from miscellaneous tasks and led 20,000 elite cavalrymen to the outside of the Mughal camp in a grand manner.
"Shout it out to me, Aurangzeb! You murdered your brother, imprisoned your father, and stole your sister-in-law! You shameless bastard, how dare you become emperor? If you have the guts, come out and fight me!"
The longer Liu Weiqing stayed here, the more he learned, especially about his biggest rival, Aurangzeb.
As Liu Weiqing finished speaking, the 20,000-strong army began to shout in unison. Although the Persian was stiff, it made the nobles stationed in the camp lose face.
If it weren't for the absence of high-ranking officers, they would probably all have volunteered to leave the camp and fight.
Aurangzeb, upon hearing the report from his generals, remained expressionless. In the Mughal royal family, the selection of an emperor was always based on merit.
"Use cannons to drive them away, then we don't need to worry about them anymore. Their eagerness to fight means there's definitely chaos in their rear. Let's just wait and await General Amir's good news!"
After Aurangzeb finished speaking, he continued to lie back on the throne and sleep. Seeing this, the dozen or so generals all withdrew, knowing that once the emperor made up his mind, he would not change it.
Liu Weiqing shouted for two hours, but no one appeared. Instead, he was met with cannon fire and had no choice but to retreat.
He knew he had met his match.
Simple provocation tactics don't work!
……
Five days later, more than a hundred boats set sail from Dhaka, adorned with silk ribbons and topped with the banners of the Indian king, to distribute food to refugees along the Ganges River.
Small boats were sent into even the narrowest rivers, less than ten meters wide, but they weren't loaded with grain; instead, they were filled with Han soldiers and a large number of empty boats.
Upon seeing vast farmlands, they would change into Mughal uniforms and disembark, as the large farmlands signified the presence of landowners.
The Han army had bows and crossbows, muskets, and even makeshift gunpowder packs, so these small manors or castles could be taken down in no time.
After they broke in, the Han army left almost no survivors, except for a group of young women who were made to spread rumors about the atrocities committed by the Mughal army.
The grain would be loaded into empty ships and then handed over to larger ships to be distributed to the lower classes.
Liu Weiqing's guess was correct. These manors and castles, because they were guarded and provided with food for the Mughal cavalry, were not destroyed at all.
Even a small landlord could produce twenty or thirty bushels of grain, mixed with some wild vegetables or tree roots, enough to feed two or three thousand people for three days.
With the massive confiscation of property, news spread within a month that the Indian king spared no expense in providing military rations, even at the cost of his own hunger, to help the people.
In some places, the rumors have become increasingly outrageous.
It is said that King Liu Weiqing of India ate grass roots and tree leaves every day and donated his own food to help the people. Now he is so hungry that he should go see Shiva.
This undoubtedly made Hindus, who are prone to self-pity, marvel at the greatness of the Indian king and flock to nearby militias to join their ranks.
The Shudra blacksmiths and carpenters emptied their pockets to make weapons for the young men who were preparing to go to war. Even if the quality was mediocre, they could still kill people.
At the same time, news spread that the Mughal cavalry were becoming increasingly audacious, starting to raid Brahmin estates, often killing entire families and robbing them of all their wealth and food.
When the two messages reached eastern Bengal, a large number of Vaishya merchants and Brahmin nobles rushed to Dhaka to donate grain, fearing that if Liu Weiqing met Shiva, no one would protect them.
Meanwhile, Amir, who was opposite Dhaka, also received the news and, without any delay, immediately led his troops to withdraw, gathering his forces along the Ganges River. At the same time, he sent out messengers to order everyone to gather near Rajshahi.
During this month, he received very little news from his subordinates. He knew that the rebel army had grown stronger, and he wanted to bring back as many troops as possible.
When he arrived in Rajshahi, his army numbered less than 10,000 cavalry. The remaining 13,000 cavalry had not responded and were likely already dead at the hands of the rebels.
Three more days passed, and seeing that only a few hundred men had returned, many of them wounded or emaciated from hunger, Amir immediately ordered a retreat.
As the army set off the next day, Amir, a veteran of many battles, felt a killing intent far stronger than that of a war between two nations.
"General, we're surrounded! There are over 30,000 men less than 3,000 meters ahead, over 15,000 men less than 5,000 meters to our left, and even more than 50,000 men less than 6,000 meters behind us! And they have cavalry!"
Clang...
Amir lost his grip on the curved blade and landed hard on the first touch!
It seems the messenger was captured, the news has been leaked, and all the Hindu militia have gathered together.
Taking the scimitar handed to him by his personal guard, Amir raised it high and looked solemnly at the general beside him.
"Whether we can return to the camp depends on how quickly we launch our raid. The 30,000 troops ahead are the closest. Only by breaking through quickly can we protect our wealth."
"Now, gather all the treasure in the rear camp for management. Everyone follow me into battle; anyone who dares to retreat will die!"
After Amir gave the order, the more than 1,000 wounded soldiers began to collect everyone's belongings, and the extra horses were also gathered together and walked at the very back!
This is a fortune worth millions of taels of silver, more than the military expenses for this expedition, and Amir is reluctant to part with it.
On the other side, facing an army of 30,000, Ambassinger rode a tall black Persian horse, slowly leading the way.
As expected of the Kshatriya family, which has a history of thousands of years, training troops is practically ingrained in their blood.
A thousand cavalrymen gathered around him, all dressed in Mughal cavalry equipment.
Behind them were three thousand spearmen, all of them strong men over 1.7 meters tall, wielding five-meter-long spears that were clearly homemade.
Because the spear shaft is made of iron bamboo, which is rare, its advantages are that it is both hard and light, better than other types of wood.
They were all covered by iron plates, protecting their chests and groins, and wrapped in saris.
The rest were all spearmen, with other miscellaneous weapons, but without exception, they were all very spirited and had reached the standard of Green Standard Army soldiers.
With his surname and reputation, Ambassinger could easily have assembled an army of 70,000 to 80,000 men, but he firmly believed that a large number of men would be a burden, so he recruited men who had a blood feud with the Mughal cavalry.
Upon seeing the Mughal cavalry charging towards him, Amba Singh immediately drew his scimitar and gave a pep talk to the men behind him.
"The Mughal cavalry commander is just ahead. If we kill him, we can avenge our family!"
"There is no hope of survival!"