Chapter 1057: Balkhash City

Balkhash Lake, known in ancient Huaxia as "Yibohai," is located in the ancient Western Regions.

In reality, calling it the Western Regions is no longer entirely precise. Balkhash Lake should be considered part of the Central Asian region, in Central Asia.

However.

Today, the territory of Longyan has expanded to this place. In fact, in ancient times, this place also belonged to Zhongguo. Later, it became the territory of the Kazakh Khanate. With the confusing situation of the war in Central Asia, the Kazakh Khanate, which had once been glorious, had long since fallen apart in the dust of history.

Later, Balkhash Lake fell under the Kokand Khanate.

Now, the Kokand Khanate has also been carved up by several Central Asian countries, and Balkhash Lake has naturally been incorporated into the territory of Longyan.

Balkhash Lake is the fourth longest lake in the world. Because the eastern part of the lake lacks inflowing rivers, it has formed a phenomenon of one lake with two types of water: fresh in the west and salty in the east. On the northern shore of the lake, Balkhash City was built. This is a very famous copper mining belt, and Balkhash is also a very important copper smelting center. Therefore, in Liu Zheng's plan, Balkhash is likewise an indispensable place.

Copper!

This metal is truly too important for Liu Zheng's technological development.

As the First Industrial Revolution slowly unfolds, the Second Industrial Revolution will likely arrive in the near future, or perhaps even arrive early. The metal copper will soon become a scarce resource; all kinds of electrical appliances and the utilization of electric power cannot do without aluminum and copper.

So, I do not know if it was intentional by Tsarist Russia, or if it was truly just a coincidence.

Peter the Great placing the main direction of this attack on Balkhash Lake is quite intriguing.

But regardless.

Balkhash cannot be lost.

It does not matter if it is because of the copper mines or because of national sentiment. One must know that in his previous life, this place had always been the natural dividing line between Zhong and E. But following a series of subsequent unequal treaties, Balkhash Lake formally broke away from Huaxia. For Liu Zheng, this is absolutely a tremendous pain!

"Two hundred thousand..."

At this moment.

The main general guarding Balkhash is named Wang Feng, who was also in the first batch of students at the Liangzhou Military Academy and was a classmate of Zou Sheng. It is just that Wang Feng is more than ten years older than Zou Sheng, belonging to the type of person who achieves success late in life.

Upon hearing the number of enemy troops, Wang Feng's expression also began to look unpleasant.

He was sent by Liangzhou Prefecture to take over the copper mines of Balkhash Lake, and there is quite a lot of work to do. First, an administrative center must be established here, and only then come the military base and the work regarding logistics and transportation.

This time.

The Western Regions Army he brought only numbers thirty thousand...

Thirty thousand...

Yet the opponent has two hundred thousand!

The mighty army of two hundred thousand is already stationed on the opposite side of the lake at this moment; just the camps seen through the telescope are enough to make one feel shocked and desperate. Fortunately, Balkhash Lake is different from a place like Kuye Island. Kuye Island was, after all, previously considered ownerless land; one could just go up and start fighting directly. Balkhash Lake was previously a military stronghold of the Kokand Khanate, and the defensive fortifications used here to protect the copper mines are still quite sound. Therefore, if Tsarist Russia wants to take Balkhash, it certainly cannot adopt a Lightning War; it must proceed slowly.

The situation here is even more complex than Kuye Island.

Longyan has just taken this place back, and those local people who previously belonged to the Kokand Khanate naturally cannot pledge their hearts to the Longyan imperial court so quickly. This, likewise, is another extremely complex situation.

Watching the two hundred thousand-strong army on the opposite side, they have already started cutting down the nearby trees, all for the sake of building these timbers into pontoon bridges once everything is ready, and then crossing the lake to fight!

"Where are Putu's troops?"

"And what about the reinforcements from East India? When will they arrive?"

"What about Loulan?"

Wang Feng began to grow a bit anxious. Over these past few days, relying on these thirty thousand troops and the previous defensive fortifications of Balkhash Lake, he has been harassing these Russian Army troops... but the effect has been almost negligible.

They

have too many people.

"General, they are still on the way; it shouldn't be that fast..."

"The closest ones coming from Dayuan will likely take seven days..."

"Seven days?"

Wang Feng took a deep breath.

Seven days!

He absolutely cannot wait that long!

"General, the atmosphere inside Balkhash City recently is a bit strange..."

A deputy general said.

Upon hearing this, a sharp glint flashed in Wang Feng's eyes: "Those Noble masters want to stir up trouble again?"

That deputy general coughed: "Not only that, this subordinate believes there must be people in the city who favor Tsarist Russia and are passing information to them!"

"What?"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the camp had their expressions change.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay.

In fact, the Kokand Khanate had previously been close to Tsarist Russia; the ideological concepts of these two countries were very consistent. Even the once two-faced Kokand Khanate could already be considered a dog of Tsarist Russia, and it had even introduced the Eastern Orthodox Church of Tsarist Russia into its own country... This also led to quite a few increased difficulties for the Liangzhou side when governing the territory of the Kokand Khanate.

This Balkhash Lake is exactly like this.

"These ungrateful wretches!"

Wang Feng shouted coldly.

"General, we must think of some Method..."

"The morale in the army is..."

A group of people suggested.

Wang Feng pondered for a moment, and then he laughed coldly: "Passing information to Tsarist Russia? Very well..."

He shouted angrily: "Tie all these people up for me!"

"When Tsarist Russia launches an attack, let them go first!"

"I want to see whether this Tsarist Russia kills these people or not!"

As soon as these words were spoken.

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, gasping in cold air.

Ruthless!

This move by Wang Feng is truly ruthless!

Those who come out of the Liangzhou Military Academy are indeed extraordinary!

"Hahahaha, let's see what they do now!"

"We are saved!"

"Kokand Khanate! The glory of God!"

"It is God, the gods have come to save us! They said that as long as we can help them take Balkhash Lake, we can restore our nation!"

At this moment.

In Balkhash Lake, a group of people were conspiring in a courtyard.

The crowd surrounded a man over fifty, offering congratulations and compliments.

This man had a thick beard and an exotic face; he was called Manapu, and he had previously been a Noble of the Kokand Khanate. Hearing these people's flattery, he also laughed loudly: "Easy, easy, everyone, remember, no one in Balkhash City is allowed to help those Longyan!"

"Whether it is construction or anything else, everyone must engage in work-to-rule!"

"When our Kokand Khanate is restored, you will all be founding heroes!"

"Yes!"

The group followed, filled with excitement.

They seemed to have finally seen the dawn; from the beginning, they had highly esteemed the Slavic culture of Tsarist Russia, willing to be dogs just to sell their lives for them!

Longyan?

A bunch of weak, sour-smelling cowards, how could they be worthy of ruling them?