“Invite us to watch the hunt?”
Tomilo Petrov and Ivan Kunijin exchanged a smile. Did these Kalmyks also want to show us their military might?
What did they have besides a large number of people, some sabers, long spears, and bows and arrows? Did they have guns and cannons?
Truly overestimating their capabilities!
“Given the Kalmyk Khan's generous invitation, I shall appreciate your tribe's hunting,” Tomilo Petrov shrugged, smiling disdainfully.
“Very good, give them two fast horses, lest they can't keep up when we start running later,” Dalai Taishi smiled slightly, reminding them with full “goodwill”.
“Haha~haha~haha,” the tent echoed with the ill-intentioned laughter of the Mongol nobles.
Everyone filed out of the tent, retrieved their horses, and galloped towards their respective troops; the two Oros Envoys also followed Dalai Taishi closely to the Dörbet's central army.
As soon as they left the tent, they were startled. So many people!
They were everywhere, covering the mountains and plains!
Although some were armored and some were not, they stood in formation, busy but not chaotic, silent and solemn.
At this time, the Mongol Army had a strict hierarchy. Most of the generals at all levels were composed of Great and small Noyans, and the upper class among commoners (Sain Kun, Tabnang, Darhan); the cavalry, armored soldiers, and mail-clad soldiers were mostly composed of middle-class people (Dundakun), these were all armored and were the backbone and main force of the army.
In addition, there were a large number of unarmored ordinary soldiers composed of lower-class people (Harakun, Engun Kun, Adak) and slaves (Qitate), who often served as auxiliary troops and consumables in siege warfare.
Although the armor was not uniform, they strictly drilled according to the tactics left by their ancestors. The centurions, twenty-man commanders, forty-man commanders, hundred-man commanders, thousand-man commanders, and ten-thousand-man commanders systematically disciplined their troops to form formations, and once the military formation was complete, it naturally exuded a killing aura.
The two felt this killing aura and even more so experienced what it meant to have “strength in numbers”.
There were mounted warriors everywhere, too many to count.
Tomilo gasped, and cautiously asked Dalai Taishi, “Respected Kalmyk Khan, may I ask how many soldiers and horses your tribe mobilizes for a single hunt?”
Dalai Taishi sat on a reddish-brown horse, smiling proudly, “Not many soldiers and horses, only two hundred thousand.”
The so-called two hundred thousand was naturally a boast to scare the Russians.
The actual number was seventy thousand: forty thousand Dörbet army, fifteen thousand Torghut army, five thousand Khoshut army, five thousand Dzungar Army, and another five thousand united army composed of Huit, Nogai, Kazakh Senior Zhuz, and Kyrgyz Zhuz vassal tribes.
Before the hunt, these armies had been divided into seven ten-thousand-man units and arranged in formation.
Although there were only seventy thousand, compared to the two hundred-man scale hunt dispatched by the Russian Tomsk Governor, it was an extremely impressive large-scale operation!
“Two hundred thousand!” Upon hearing this, Tomilo's face turned pale with fright.
Ivan quickly and quietly encouraged him, “My lord, a large number of people is nothing impressive, they are just some natives. Think back then, we only used eight hundred people to annihilate the Siberia Khanate with over two hundred thousand people.”
Tomilo nodded, and a little color returned to his face.
Several Great Shamans, wearing divine hats with deer antler branches, masks, and colorful divine robes, with bells and small drums tied around their waists, began to beat drums and dance, chanting the “Hunting Song”.
This was a prayer to the gods of mountains, forests, and rivers, praying for the gods to bestow a bountiful harvest of game.
Suddenly, the sacrifice ended, and the desolate sound of the horn rang out.
Dalai Taishi gestured slightly, and the central army's flags and drums immediately waved the white dadu, and white or black military flags swayed, mobilizing one army after another.
White symbolized purity and nobility, and black symbolized the god of war and the god of death; Mongol military flags were mostly black and white.
“Da~da~da~”
One cavalry unit after another set off, with thousands of horses galloping, an imposing sight.
The roaring sound of seventy thousand cavalry galloping left the two Russians too stunned to speak.
Dalai Taishi had seen large-scale operations and mobilized the large army with ease, quickly deploying the various units into their respective hunting grounds.
Seven ten-thousand-man units, seven hunting grounds.
His ten thousand central army was in the center, and the other six hunting grounds surrounded him.
The movement and retreat of the large army tested the commander's ability the most, and the Mongol Army formation was not chaotic at all, even Tomilo and Ivan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
“Hmph!”
Dalai Taishi grunted, the flags fluttered, and a thousand men were detached from the ten thousand central army, holding torches and shouting loudly, to drive the game from the forests and grasslands, while the remaining nine thousand men were divided into three groups, one in the center, and two spreading out to the flanks.
Soon, a large number of wild beasts were startled out of the woods and grasslands, numbering over ten thousand.
Running in the front were ferocious beasts such as tigers, leopards, bears, wild boars, jackals, and wolves, with huge bodies and baring fangs.
“Good timing,” Dalai Taishi laughed heartily, “Retreat.”
With an order, the central Mongol Army turned their horses and retreated, and the startled beasts pursued closely, gradually falling into the encirclement of the Mongol Army on both flanks.
This “feigned retreat” tactic was not only a common tactic in Mongol hunting but also a common tactic in warfare.
In the past, the Mongol Western Expeditionary Army used this method to encircle and annihilate the allied armies of various countries many times.
“Swish~swish~swish~”
Arrows rained down like locusts, with whistling sounds, and the jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards caught in the encirclement were shot down one after another.
“Ow~”
With a beastly roar, a white bear more than two meters tall sprang out, its eyes revealing a fierce light, charging fiercely towards Dalai Taishi.
Arrows flew like locusts!
Two huge bear paws struck left and right, batting away the arrows one by one.
“Great Taiji, be careful!”
Seeing the danger, loyal guards raised their long spears in front of Dalai Taishi's horse.
The seemingly gentle Great Taiji moved, took down a composite bow, the string was like a full moon, and an arrow hit his left eye squarely.
The bear rolled on the ground in pain, howling.
“Heh heh, what a good bear skin, just right for this Taiji to enjoy,” Dalai Taishi said lightly, and another arrow, like a shooting star, hit the bear's throat, finishing off the ferocious beast.
“Great Taiji is divine and brave~ Great Taiji is divine and brave~ Great Taiji is divine and brave~” The cheers on both sides were like thunder.
“Great Khan, can I see your bow,” Tomilo came forward.
“Heh heh, take it,” Dalai Taishi handed over the precious bow.
Tomilo took a look, his expression serious. The Kalmyks used composite bows, which were of much better quality than the wooden bows used by the Tartars of Siberia, and the arrows were mostly iron, making their combat power far stronger than the Tartars of Siberia!
After admiring it, he respectfully said, “Great Taiji's archery is divine, we admire it!”
The hunting of the various tribes was still ongoing, with various methods such as gyrfalcons, hunting dogs, lassoes, long spears, and bows and arrows appearing one after another, which greatly broadened the horizons of the two Russian Envoys.
Ivan Kunijin was not to be outdone, he took out a musket, lit the fuse, and with a “bang”, shot and killed a small deer, saying meaningfully, “Using a gun is still more convenient!”
“Your Excellency is right, it is more convenient to use a gun.”
Dalai Taishi waved his hand, his subordinates drove the remaining wild beasts to the very center, and suddenly two hundred musketeers appeared in front of the central army, arranged in two rows, firing in turns at the beasts in front of them.
“The Kalmyks also have muskets!”
At this, Tomilo and Ivan were so shocked their faces turned ashen.
“Hmph!”
Dalai Taishi waved his hand again, and suddenly ten bronze cannons appeared in the central army formation.
“Chiu~chiu~chiu~”
The cannonballs were not very powerful, but their firing speed was fast, scattering the beasts.
“Great Khan, you, how do you have cannons?” Tomilo was completely stunned, his voice trembling.
“My ancestors once swept across all nations, so the craftsmanship of making guns and cannons is naturally understood,” Dalai Taishi said proudly.
These guns and cannons were actually bought by him from Samarkand, the largest arms city in Central Asia. His tribe did have some craftsmen, but they could only make some crude firearms, and they also lacked smelting capabilities.
However, in this era, boasting didn't require paying taxes.
With a few words, he had intimidated the Russians.
“Respected Kalmyk Khan, may I ask how you have considered the matter of swearing allegiance to Czar?” Tomilo asked, unwilling to give up.
“Oh, that matter, that is a good thing!”
The benevolent Dalai Taishi smiled at him and revealed his thoughts, “However, such an important matter cannot be decided by this Taiji alone. It needs to be discussed at the Churgan Conference, and can only be implemented after the unanimous agreement of the Taijis of all tribes.”
“Oh, then when will you hold the Churgan Conference?”
“That's hard to say, maybe two years, maybe three years, maybe five years, the major leaders all need to be free.”
“Is that so~”
Seeing that these two fellows were still chattering, trying to persuade him to pledge allegiance to the Czar, Dalai Taishi smiled and issued an order to expel them, “This time, this Taiji has hunted an excellent bear skin, I will have someone peel it off and send it to your Governor for warmth.
Your two Excellencies, please take the bear skin and return quickly. The wind is strong in the north, don't let the Governor freeze.”
“Great Khan,” the two wanted to say more, but the Great Taiji had already leaped onto the reddish-brown horse, whipped the horse, and galloped away.
In the Tobolsk Governor's Office, Governor N. C. Kulagin was raging at the two unlucky fellows.
According to the Russian custom of name + father's name + surname, this Governor's name should be N.
“You two good-for-nothings, it's just about getting a group of natives to submit to the great Czar, is it that difficult?”
His flattery had not been successful, so Governor N was very angry and needed to drink some rose tea.
“My lord, they said they need to wait a few years and discuss it at their Churgan Conference before they can decide,” Tomilo muttered.
“Idiot, can't you hear that's just an excuse?”
“Although that is the case, their army is too numerous, like locusts, countless,” Ivan was still shaken.
“Oh, how many people do they have?”
“Seventy to eighty thousand soldiers, over two hundred thousand people.”
“So many!” Governor N was startled, then became happy, “No matter how many, they are just some natives. Bows and arrows and long spears can only be game in front of the Cossack's guns and cannons.”
“That's not true, my lord, they are not only skilled in archery and horsemanship, but they also have guns and cannons,” Tomilo poured another bucket of cold water.
“Guns and cannons? Where did they get guns and cannons?” At this, Governor N could no longer remain calm.
“That Kalmyk Khan said he made them himself, but this subordinate could hear that the sound of the cannons seemed to be from bronze cannons made in Samarkand, they should have been bought from the Bukhara Khanate,” Tomilo finally made a reliable guess.
Governor N nodded, “Although that is the case, they are still a formidable enemy that is not to be trifled with. It seems our strategy in Siberia should change from moving south to moving east.”
Tomilo's spirits lifted, “Your Excellency, do you need to request reinforcements from Czar to conduct a hunt against these disobedient Kalmyks?”
“Idiot, that will only make Czar think I am incompetent.
You two go down first, I have my own decision.”
After the two withdrew, Governor N submitted a memorial to Mikhail Tsar: “Respected Your Majesty, under the protection of your great name, our cause in the East is achieving success.
Not only have we subdued a large number of Tatar tribes in Siberia, making them your loyal subjects, paying taxes and serving in the military, but we have also instilled awe in the unruly Kalmyk Khan towards you.
The Kalmyk Khan himself expressed his willingness to bask in your glory, but it still needs the agreement of their council. Given their poor efficiency, this process is estimated to take several years.
In order for you to obtain beautiful sable fur, I am prepared to continue expanding eastward.
Your loyal servant, N. C. Kulagin.”
Whether in China or abroad, there is never a lack of sycophants who only report good news and not bad news.
Under the persuasion of the great sycophant Governor N. C. Kulagin, Mikhail Tsar had no idea that his authority was being challenged by the Oirat Mongols, and he still dreamt of being a heavenly empire.
The two sides still maintained peace, and how wonderful peace was!