"Uralsk was attacked?" Li Xiao was a little surprised when he read the message sent by Shi Dewei himself.

According to the pre-arrangement, Uralsk is a key node. There will be no less than 8,000 Russian immigrants there!

Even if half of these immigrants are men, there are still 4,000 people. Taking into account the old and young, there are at least close to 3,000 people who can fight.

These people are not ordinary farmers, but they followed Liaodong's Wubao policy.

Back then, Li Xiao used these militiamen to trap Huang Taiji's Eight Banners army, preventing them from getting behind Jinzhou and attacking Shanhaiguan.

The policy formulated by Li Xiao and Empress Catherine also arranged immigrants around the railway to form a natural road protection team.

The immigrants in Uralsk were the product of this kind of thinking. Russia issued them more than two thousand rifles and a large amount of ammunition.

Including the garrison in Uralsk, there are more than 5,000 armed forces.

Who could have such courage to eat more than 5,000 people at once? He also plundered the entire Uralsk, and even 231 people from the Ming Dynasty died in this disaster?

"On the day of the looting, we happened to have a road survey team arrive in Uralsk. They brought the latest radio station and sent the news back in time.

At the Nur-Sultan base, an airship was dispatched to conduct an air strike. One group of attackers was annihilated and the route exploration team was rescued.

But most of the team members have been martyred, and only three people including captain Shi Danai survived. One of them was seriously injured. According to the news from the front, he may not be saved."

Since he is a descendant of the historian family, Shi Dewei will naturally help his nephew when making reports.

"Shi Danai? The Shi Danai who built the railway in the Western Regions?" Li Xiao glanced at Shi Dewei.

"That's him!"

"Oh, don't avoid relatives when promoting talents. Since Shi Danai has made such achievements, he should be promoted as appropriate. Not rewarding meritorious service is not the way of my Ming Dynasty." Li Xiao put down the telegram.

“After the Russians interrogated the prisoners, they learned that they were Chechens from the Caucasus mountains.

The leader was called Dudayev. This time the Chechens gathered nearly 30,000 people to attack Uralsk.

They looted a lot of property and people, and even some small machinery and equipment were also taken away by them.

Some of the newly built buildings were blown up by them, and the initial property damage was at least 800,000 Ming Dynasty silver coins." Shi Dewei was a little annoyed.

Uralsk was attacked and almost all the buildings were destroyed. If it was rebuilt, it would take at least next autumn to complete it.

In this way, the progress of the Central Asia Railway will be seriously affected.

Because the planned Uralsk will not only be a train station, but also a supply center.

The train needs to add water, coal and various supplies here! Even the locomotive needs to be replaced. There is also a locomotive repair shop here.

Now that everything is finished, it will take at least one to two years to rebuild these facilities. In the cold Siberia, construction cannot be carried out in winter.

"But the railway can continue to be repaired. At most, the train can haul more coal, and then find a place nearby to replenish the train." Stewie said helplessly.

"This is not a matter of supplies. This time the Chechens attacked Uralsk. Next time they can attack other stations. As long as they are along the Caucasus Mountains, they can come anytime they want.

What will you do then? Station heavy troops along the way? Haha! This is a long railway line of several thousand kilometers, and even all the soldiers of the Ming Dynasty will not be enough to fill it." Li Xiao was also a little annoyed.

Looking at the huge map of Eurasia on the wall, Li Xiao set his sights on a place called Grozny in the Caucasus Mountains.

That place is the capital of the Chechens.

"Commander, what do you mean...!" Stewie asked with some confusion.

"I want to...! Come in." Li Xiao was about to speak when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Shunzi walked in and handed Li Xiao a telegram.

"Damn it!" Li Xiao glanced at the telegram and slapped it on the table.

Stewie picked up the telegram and glanced at it and was surprised: "The airship force was ambushed and eight ships were shot down. The casualties of the people on board are unknown!

This...! They actually have anti-aircraft guns, where did they come from?"

"There are not many countries in the world that can manufacture anti-aircraft guns. The closest ones to Chechnya are Russia and Israel." Li Xiao pressed his hand directly on the Crimean Peninsula.

"You said that the Chechens are controlled by the Hebrews?"

"It's not necessarily control, it's more likely to be bribery.

The Chechens live deep in the Caucasus Mountains. As mountain people fighting against the sky and the earth, they are born with the need to be tough.

However, precisely because they have been in the mountains all year round, they do not understand the world. If the Israelis give them a few benefits, they will be induced to attack Uralsk.

What a sad nation, they don’t know what the power that rules the world is." Li Xiao shook his head helplessly.

"It is not difficult to attack Grozny, but it will be difficult if they escape into the mountains.

If you want to search such a large mountain range, I'm afraid it will take at least 100,000 people. To use 100,000 people to fight, this military expenditure...!" Shi Dewei was a little embarrassed.

The Ming Dynasty only mobilized 300,000 people to conquer India. Now to conquer such a small Grozny, 100,000 people have to be mobilized... I'm afraid...!

“The Chechens must be eliminated, and they must be completely destroyed like the Dzungars.

There is no way! Ming Dynasty always wants to make people awe, or it would be more appropriate to say fear.

This is the law for leading countries in this world. Now something like this has happened. With the speed of news spreading today, all major European countries will soon know about it.

They are all looking at our attitude. If we show the slightest weakness, then the deterrence the Ming Empire has established through its bloody overseas efforts will collapse.

Today the Chechens come to attack us, tomorrow it will be the Persians, Arabs, Tamils, or Gurkhas.

If something like that happens, Ming's overseas interests will be in smoke. Then...how many troops do we have to deal with such a thing?

Even with all the might of the Ming Dynasty, there was no way to compete with the power of the whole world. If you wanted to re-establish deterrence at that time, you would have to pay ten times, a hundred times, or even thousands of times the price.

The Ming Dynasty’s national power is now at its peak, and it is the critical moment before the outbreak. This kind of thing must not happen to interrupt the Ming Empire’s journey to the top.”

Li Xiao gave that little Chechen a vicious look!

"If we insist on fighting, I suggest that we let the Russians fight first. First, we can weaken the strength of the Chechens, and secondly, we can also see the strength of the Chechens.

After all, we have never dealt with this country. We are completely unprepared for what kind of fighting power they have."

Stewie's suggestions are very pertinent. This war with the Chechens is different from the past.

The Chechens have weapons supported by Israel, even anti-aircraft guns. It is impossible for Ming Dynasty to use airships to carry out massacre attacks like the Indians or the Ottomans, where only I can hit you, but you can't hit me.

If we really send troops rashly with an arrogant attitude, we may end up capsize in the gutter.

Besides, Chechnya is located in the Caucasus Mountains. It may not be difficult to capture Grozny. The difficulty is how to deal with the Chechens who have fled in the Caucasus Mountains.

These people live in the Caucasus region all year round. They are familiar with the terrain there and are more adapted to the climate there.

The Ming army could not occupy Grozny for a long time because that place was not that important to the Ming Dynasty.

It is not the core interest of Ming Dynasty!

Withdrawal is inevitable!

If you withdraw here, the Chechens will immediately come back and occupy it. Within three or two years, they will regain their strength.

The Chechens, who have regained their strength, will continue to threaten the security of the Central Asian Railway.

The security of the Central Asian Railway needs to be absolutely guaranteed, because it is the key to the success or failure of the next war against Israel.

As long as the war breaks out, this railway will be the artery and lifeline of the Ming Dynasty's army!

Once this railway is destroyed, it will greatly affect the logistics of the Ming army. After all, it is impossible to rely solely on airships on such a long line.

At the same time, killing the Chechens can also serve as a very good warning. That is - whoever tries to take advantage of this railway will die.

"Well! You can let the Russians fight first, and at the same time promise benefits to the Armenians and Azerbaijanis. Let them also participate in the attack, which is the old method.

Use money to buy the heads of Chechens, men, women, and children. The Ottomans have influence over Armenians and Azerbaijanis, so let them talk.”

"Commander! This trick doesn't work anymore. They have already learned the art of killing the good and taking the credit.

The last time something like this was done in India, a lot of wasted money was spent. These people killed everyone, and in the end they actually formed an industry.

We can't spend money like this anymore!" Stewie was helpless, as long as it involved making money.

No matter they are from Ming Dynasty or anyone else, they will become smart very quickly.

"How much did we lose in this attack?" Li Xiao suddenly asked.

"Eight... at least 800,000 Ming silver coins were lost." Shi Dewei was a little confused and thought to himself, I just told you ten minutes ago, now I forgot?

"Armenians and Azerbaijanis are very poor, and Ming silver coins are more valuable to them than real gold.

A young man's head is worth two Ming silver coins and a young woman's head is worth one silver coin.

At least the heads of old people and children are considered half a Ming Dynasty silver coin.

Do the math, how many heads can 800,000 buy? Even if half of them are Chechens, we will still make a profit.

You can also calculate how much it would cost to send out a hundred thousand troops for a day. If you calculate it this way, it is not a waste of money.

How many Chechens are there?

They live in mountainous areas without much arable land, and most of them rely on semi-agriculture and semi-pastoralism to make a living. Such productivity cannot support many Chechens.

It is estimated that sending 30,000 troops this time is already the limit of their capabilities. So based on this calculation, the number of Chechens is at most 30,000 or 400,000.

Why do we need to send our disciples to fight through life and death when we can settle things with 400,000 silver dollars?"

"The commander-in-chief is right. I specifically asked the intelligence department before coming here. They said there is no accurate estimate of the population of Chechens because it is too remote.
To be continued...