Chapter 706: A Knife in the Back

The Central Asia battlefield.

The military conference hall.

A group of people heard Omar's words, and one by one, they were shocked.

Especially the representative sent by Aurangzeb, whose expression changed: "Lord Sultan, what is the meaning of this?"

This Mumbai Port is the territory of their Mughal Empire!

What does it mean for his Ottoman Empire to detour through Mumbai Port? Does it mean that in front of the Ottoman army, this Mughal is just that vulnerable? This is a blatant slap in the face!

The others also wore expressions of watching a joke.

Who among those present does not know that this Mughal Empire and the Putu Kingdom are sworn enemies?

Omar laughed and said: "Hahahaha, Hamoud, I am merely speaking based on the facts! Are you not aware of the situation within your own Mughal country?"

The others also looked at each other in dismay.

Only then did they realize that things seemed to be truly not that simple.

Do not look at the current Mughal Empire as indeed having the largest territory under the leadership of Aurangzeb; because Aurangzeb destroyed his father's religious tolerance within the country, after he ascended the throne, he began to forbid Indians from repairing temples, forbade his subjects from building new temples, and even imposed a poll tax on followers of Hinduism and Sikhism. Not only that, because of years of war, Aurangzeb also increased the taxes on his subjects.

This made those governors of the Mughal extremely dissatisfied in their hearts.

Continuous ethnic and religious uprisings have also become a common occurrence in the Mughal Empire.

And the largest in scale among them is the uprising of the Marathas. And these Marathas are precisely active in the Mumbai region.

As mentioned before, the Mumbai region is the largest grain-producing area for the entire Mughal.

The Marathas occupying Mumbai naturally made Aurangzeb's war plans very strapped for resources. It also caused domestic conflicts to begin to escalate.

Since ancient times, the best way to resolve domestic conflicts is infinite expansion, let alone for a war maniac like Aurangzeb?

No food?

Then go and seize it!

This is why, this time, Aurangzeb took the lead in stirring up trouble in Central Asia.

However, now...

With Omar saying it like this.

It made many people's spirits lift.

That's right.

Mumbai Port, such a critical place—would the Marathas take advantage of the situation to do something? Currently, Aurangzeb, who always likes to lead his troops in person, is still taking his main force and rushing toward the Bukhara Khanate.

Who can guarantee that the Mughal interior will not be in chaos?

"This..."

"Omar is right..."

"Then what should be done about this?"

All of a sudden, this group of people who were just arguing about dividing the cake were all panicked.

A bunch of idiots!

Omar gave a cold laugh, stood beside the map, pointed at Mumbai Port with his hand, and said indifferently: "Gentlemen, Mumbai Port must be the key point of this great battle... Only with this possibility can the Ottoman army participate..."

"Therefore..."

"No matter how many Ottomans come, we must intercept them here!"

A flash of cunning passed through the depths of Omar's eyes: "I, the Putu Kingdom, will send out one hundred thousand elite troops!"

The whole room was in an uproar.

One hundred thousand?

Everyone knew the strength of the Putu Kingdom. With three hundred thousand troops in the country standing by, he only sent fifty thousand troops to Bukhara this time.

So he was waiting for this...

"Good, we will also send fifty thousand!"

"We will also send fifty thousand!"

"Intercept the Ottoman army!"

The others also echoed one after another.

Who knew that as soon as these words were spoken, Hamoud's expression changed drastically: "Absolutely not!"

The Mumbai region is the southernmost land of the Mughal; if the Putu Kingdom's army were allowed to drive straight in, wouldn't that be opening the entire Mughal to the Putu cavalry?

This is something the Mughal absolutely will not allow!

But others did not think so.

"Hamoud, the big picture is what matters; what is the meaning of this?"

"Exactly, if that Ottoman army arrives in the Mughal, without us, can you block them?"

Hamoud retorted with an ugly expression: "We, the Mughal, still have three hundred thousand troops!"

Everyone heard this and laughed out loud.

One person snorted: "Three hundred thousand troops—you can't even handle suppressing your own Mughal internal rebellions, who can come to defend Mumbai Port?"

"Hahahaha!"

"Thirty thousand... is thirty thousand really enough for the Mughal?"

The Mughal's territory is too vast and internal rebellions are endless; it is a universally acknowledged fact that thirty thousand troops cannot even handle running back and forth.

"But, this cannot be..."

Hamoud argued on grounds of reason.

However, it was already of no use.

This military conference was participated in by several countries. Perhaps if Aurangzeb were here, he would still have significant weight in the conversation. A mere Hamoud simply could not contend with them.

The bigwigs of the five nations in attendance finally agreed that, starting from today, they would send troops to station in the Mughal's Mumbai Port.

Once this news broke, the situation in all of Central Asia underwent a drastic change again.

"What are you saying? What are you saying?"

Aurangzeb, who was currently campaigning on the front lines, turned black in the face upon hearing this news.

He grabbed the messenger by the collar with one hand and roared: "Have they already set out?"

"Yes..."

Aurangzeb spat out a mouthful of black blood directly.

Putu Kingdom!

This damned Putu Kingdom!

That damned Omar!

Taking advantage of someone's precarious position—this is absolutely taking advantage of someone's precarious position! Isn't this stabbing him in the back while he is deep in enemy territory with an isolated army?

However, he was already about to penetrate deep into the heart of Bukhara, and it was already too late to turn back.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Especially when he saw that a key stronghold in Bukhara, the one closest to Bukhara itself, was about to be taken by him.

And yet you tell me...

They are going to Mumbai?

Vomiting blood!

Aurangzeb vomited blood again and roared like a madman: "Attack for me! Within three days, it must be taken!"

"Yes!"

Rumble.

The sounds of Cannon fire, battle cries, horse hooves, and war chariots were incessant.

At this moment.

Yintan City.

Compared to the chaos in Central Asia, compared to the inscrutable situation in Liaodong.

Here, Qing Yangshuo was very quiet.

It was just that.

At this moment, sitting before Qing Yangshuo was an old acquaintance.

Wang Chao!

The two were drinking tea and playing a game of chess.

Wang Chao.

This Dean of Wangbei Academy had also only arrived in Liangzhou recently.

Because these days happened to be the time for the first batch of talent exchanges between Wangbei Academy and Liangzhou Academy. Therefore, although he had been mentally prepared and knew that Liangzhou under the governance of Liu Zheng must be incomparably prosperous, upon arriving here, Wang Chao realized that his imagination had still been greatly limited.

Prosperity.

It was not just prosperity.

It was the kind of prosperity where everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment.

Throughout the entire territory of Liangzhou, everyone was full of spirit and positive.

Here, doors were not locked at night, and lost property was not picked up from the road.

This was an extremely wonderful social atmosphere that made one feel as if bathed in a spring breeze.

Besides admiration, there was only admiration.

"This time, the situation in Central Asia... hmm, Central Asia, is that what the Mandarin calls it? Was it planned by you, sir?"

Wang Chao finally could not help but ask.

Facing Qing Yangshuo, he maintained his respect.

Qing Yangshuo placed a piece and smiled indifferently: "A mere trifle, just to share the worries for the Mandarin."

Wang Chao looked annoyed: "Why didn't you notify Wang Chao earlier, sir, so that the students of Wangbei Academy could also go and join in the excitement!"

The two looked at each other and laughed, having a sense of mutual appreciation.

It was truly no mistake.

The students of this Wangbei Academy loved participating in these large-scale wars and the disputes between several nations the most.

Qing Yangshuo smiled: "Dean Wang calling me 'sir' is truly too polite. I don't know why, but I always feel that something is not quite right..."

These words made Wang Chao's expression freeze.

"Dad!"

Just at this moment, a cheerful voice rang out.

Afterwards, Hu Xi'er and Mo Chen pushed the door open and entered.

Qing Yangshuo's beautiful face sank immediately.

He glanced at Mo Chen, who was following behind Hu Xi'er, gave a faint hum, and the piece in his hand was almost thrown down.

Snap.

The atmosphere.

Seemed to freeze instantly.