Chapter 1234: Shudras, Welcome the Roving King!

"Anusha Khan was truly brave! Facing as many as 100,000 Dzungar pursuers, he still led the bravest Islamic warriors to stay behind as the rearguard. Like a wall of iron, they stubbornly blocked the tide-like surging enemy, buying a chance of survival for us Hindus from India, while he himself... wuwu..."

Inside the palace at Samarkand, Aurangzeb's bravest general, Mirza Raja Jai Singh, had fought his way out of the encirclement and fled back with 3,000 brave Rajput warriors — Anusha Khan had guessed correctly: there was indeed an ambush force outside the Fergana Valley, 25,000 Dzungar cavalry personally led by Anu Khatun.

Anu Khatun had already learned that her husband Sengge had won a victory at the Samarkand oasis and was preparing to strike at the Khwarezm oasis, so she had brought her troops to the outskirts of the Fergana Valley, planning to launch a tail-biting attack when Anusha Khan returned his army to Khwarezm, nibbling away at Anusha Khan's "tail" bit by bit.

From the Fergana Valley to the Khwarezm oasis was 1,500 li, and the route not only crossed the Starving Steppe but also a large stretch of sandy terrain, making supplies extremely hard to obtain along the way. So Anu Khatun's 25,000 men had no need at all to force a decisive battle — as long as they clung to Anusha Khan's tail and pursued, forcing his army to keep abandoning baggage and leaving no time to search for supplies, they could "pursue to death" the tens of thousands of men under Anusha Khan.

But Anusha Khan was more astute than Anu Khatun had imagined. Instead of leaving the Fergana Valley, he plunged straight into it. At the same time, he sent Singh off with 9,000 Rajput cavalry to draw away the Dzungar ambushers, so that these Dzungars would not come causing trouble while Anusha Khan occupied the Fergana Basin...

And so Singh's men met with disaster!

Originally Singh had intended to lead them in a pleasant surrender to the Dzungars — Aurangzeb had already prepared an enormous ransom, guaranteeing that these loyal and brave warriors would be redeemed back to India, which was why he had volunteered to serve as the rearguard. But he never expected that Anusha Khan would not give him the chance, kicking him out of the valley first. It was still night when they left the valley, pitch black, and Anu Khatun, without grasping the situation, led her troops in hot pursuit, giving the other side no chance to surrender, just cutting people down directly — truly savage!

This pursuit and slaughter continued until noon the next day, when Anu Khatun received a military report from Hu Zhongyong and only then learned that Anusha Khan had entered the Fergana Valley. She hurriedly recalled her troops, and Singh finally escaped disaster, returning to Samarkand with 3,000 battered remnants.

However, though this general was no good at fighting, his acting and storytelling skills were absolutely first-rate — he talked Anusha Khan to death on the spot!

Seeing him weep, Princess Nisa, seated beside Aurangzeb in mourning dress, could not help bursting into tears as well, and Aurangzeb also produced a handkerchief to dab at his eyes. In the palace there were also many Uzbek generals, led by Arif, all weeping and wailing, every one of them...

After everyone had wept for a while, they heard Aurangzeb clear his throat with an "ahem," and all at once stopped crying, every eye turning to this Great Emperor.

Aurangzeb sighed mournfully: "I shall hold the grandest funeral for Anusha Khan! Bury him beside the great Timur, so that he may forever accompany the Emperor!"

Well now, a grand and glorious burial it was to be!

And buried beside the great Timur, no less — Anusha Khan was a descendant of the Golden Horde, Timur's mortal enemy. Was it really appropriate to bury the two of them together?

No, wait — Anusha Khan was not dead at all! This was a "living funeral," and Anusha Khan, far away in the Fergana Basin, would surely cough up blood in fury if he learned of it!

But whether or not Anusha Khan coughed up blood, it could not stop his funeral from proceeding... and his funeral was, of course, not without meaning — it released the more than ten thousand Uzbek warriors remaining in Samarkand from their allegiance to Anusha Khan.

At the same time as the funeral was being held, the dire news arrived that the Dzungar army had broken through the Khwarezm oasis — which was, of course, also entirely fabricated. In reality, King Sengge had only just reached the Bukhara oasis at this time and had not even reached the Amu Darya!

But the Uzbeks inside Samarkand did not know this. Each and every one believed their homeland was being ravaged by the Dzungars, and inevitably there was another round of bitter weeping, with many running to Aurangzeb to beg to be sent into battle.

Aurangzeb did not hesitate either, beating his chest and vowing to stand up for the Uzbeks!

But just before Aurangzeb dispatched troops to Khwarezm, another piece of dire news arrived: Samarkand's grain reserves had hit bottom!

Soon there would be nothing to eat! What was to be done?

Inside the palace at Samarkand, Aurangzeb sat with brows tightly knit, silent. His wazir, Shaysta Khan, was describing Samarkand's famine in the most sorrowful tone.

"The entire oasis is suffering famine. Samarkand never had enough grain to begin with and always had to purchase from Fergana, but the trade routes for buying grain were cut off long ago. Worse still, large numbers of refugees and troops are concentrated in Samarkand, greatly intensifying the strain on food supply. But the greatest crisis is still caused by those accursed Dzungar devils — they destroyed at least half the wheat fields in the oasis, reducing grain output by more than half, while grain shipped into Samarkand has fallen by over ninety percent! If the famine cannot be resolved, several hundred thousand people will starve to death this winter! And the army will also lose its fighting strength due to hunger..."

Aurangzeb asked: "Can we buy grain? I have plenty of rupee silver coins — as many as needed!"

A rich man indeed!

The Uzbek generals present all revealed greedy expressions.

"There is none to be bought!" Shaysta Khan shook his head. "This is not India — there is no surplus grain here!"

"Then... then what can be done?" Aurangzeb asked anxiously.

"We have no choice but to abandon Samarkand!" Shaysta Khan said. "Your Majesty Alamgir, we can first withdraw to Termez and Kunduz. There is still some grain there that can help us get through the bitter winter. Next spring, when the mountain roads of Afghanistan become passable, we can go on to Kabul, and from there return to the grain-rich Punjab!"

What he was describing was, of course, a plan long since drawn up for evacuating Transoxiana and conquering Afghanistan!

Aurangzeb's Samarkand expedition had already achieved complete success... at the very least he could pull hundreds of thousands of people back to India, including more than ten thousand Uzbek cavalry from the Khwarezm oasis!

With their help, the warlords of Afghanistan would be utterly incapable of withstanding a single blow!

So on the return journey to India, Aurangzeb intended to seize Afghanistan.

In this way, he would not only gain over a hundred thousand elite troops from Transoxiana, but could also recruit warriors from Afghanistan. With the warriors of Transoxiana and Afghanistan, how could the great and small states of India possibly be a match for the great His Majesty Alamgir?

Aurangzeb's acting was also first-rate. Though he had long since planned to leave, he deliberately put on a face of iron resolve: "Shaysta Khan, I have already declared that I would avenge Anusha Khan. If we now withdraw because of insufficient grain, would that not be breaking my word?"

"This is not breaking your word!" Shaysta Khan said solemnly. "A temporary withdrawal is for the sake of launching an even larger offensive in the future. If we do not withdraw to India, we will starve to death in the Samarkand oasis. And dead men cannot avenge Anusha Khan. Surely Anusha Khan in heaven above would not wish us all to starve to death in Samarkand?"

"Yes, the wazir is right!" Arif, the great general of the late Prince Alim, led the chorus of agreement. "Your Majesty Alamgir, let us first withdraw to India and seek an opportunity to counterattack Transoxiana in the future!"

"Yes, let us return to India first!"

"Starving to death in Samarkand is meaningless — it would only delight the Dzungars!"

"Let us withdraw!"

"Please lead us to India!"

"Your Majesty Alamgir, we swear to follow you unto death!"

Sure enough, no one wished to starve to death in Samarkand, and Aurangzeb was also the most generous monarch these penniless generals from the Khwarezm oasis had ever seen...