Chapter 501: Shocking the West

Chaos continues to intensify in Baghdad.

Murders and looting occurred frequently in the city, and there were screams and wails everywhere.

Only the docks in the Dongcheng area are relatively safe.

Tugrile is not stupid. He has not yet fully turned against the Song Dynasty, so there is no need to provoke the Song Dynasty.

Therefore, Chagar was responsible for strictly restraining the soldiers and prohibiting them from approaching the mission.

At this point, the Tugrile brothers are smarter than Zhongtianzhu.

Wang Xuance was originally happy when he went to Tianzhu as an envoy.

As a result, a rebellion broke out in the Kingdom of Tianzhu and the Tang Dynasty envoys were killed. Only Wang Xuance and Jiang Shiren escaped.

Later, Wang Xuance borrowed thousands of people from Tubo and Niboluo to destroy the Kingdom of Zhongtianzhu.

Perhaps it was also the fact that although the Tang Dynasty's troops were sharp, they did not reach the Kingdom of Tianzhu after all, which led to the lack of due respect for the Tang Dynasty in the local area.

But now in the Song Dynasty, the world situation is different.

Firstly, Tugrile saw the rapid demise of the Black Khanate, and secondly, he heard about the power of Song Dynasty's firearms.

Therefore, Seljuk was much more cautious than Tianzhu in terms of doing things cautiously, and was unwilling to provoke those who had not yet become enemies.

It’s no wonder that he will accomplish great things in the future and establish a huge Seljuk Empire.

At this moment, the Song Army sent people to maintain order on the dock. The Seljuks did not dare to approach, and the side of the dock was considered safe.

However, panic caused a lot of human unrest before, and various accidents of crushing, stamping, and falling into the water still dealt a heavy blow to ordinary people in Baghdad.

A large number of people huddled near the pier, because at this time the outside was surrounded by Seljuks and no one was allowed to get close. None of them knew whether the Seljuks would launch a surprise attack on the crowd.

Therefore, many people retreated step by step, resulting in constant stampedes. If the Song army had not suddenly stepped forward to maintain order and sent a guard to stand outside, the scene would have been even more chaotic.

"The envoys of the Song Dynasty ahead, the troops are prohibited from moving! If you dare to approach again, you will be killed!"

On the street near the city, Guangzhou Military Camp Commander Liu Chengwu pulled out the Huanshou knife from his waist and shouted towards the street entrance in front.

During the scene, a Song man who was doing maritime trade in Baghdad shouted at the other party in the local language.

But it is a pity that the language of the Seljuk Turks is different from theirs. Tugril was able to communicate with Qayim only because Tugril learned Arabic.

So the Turks on the other side couldn't understand it at all.

But the black gun pointed at them still made them a little uneasy. The Turkic generals who originally wanted to intimidate them hesitated and reported to the Turkic nobles.

It happened that the man leading the troops here was Talib Rube. When he learned about this, he ordered the Turks to retreat and stop squeezing the living space of the people in Baghdad, forcing those people to jump into the river one after another.

"Governor, these untouchables deserve to die. The Song people didn't even pull out the swords on their waists, they just pointed iron pipes at us. What can we be afraid of?"

The Turkic general asked very puzzledly.

"Hmph, now is the critical moment for the Great Khan to capture Baghdad. Don't make any extraneous matters. We know the power of the Song people's artillery and we can't provoke them easily. This is the order of the Great Khan and Deputy Khan."

Talib Rube scolded.

"Yes yes yes."

The general had no choice but to go back and convey the military order.

The wharf corresponds to various streets. The streets are crisscrossed, and groups of Turks slowly retreat.

This situation made the Song Army soldiers guarding each street entrance relieved.

In addition to the armored ships of the Jing Navy, the local Forbidden Army in Guangzhou also deployed a 2,000-man musketeer infantry team to follow them this time.

The 2,000 people were divided into 4 battalions, with 500 people in each battalion. There was a battalion commander and two deputy commanders, who were controlled by Wang Shining of Jing Haijun.

But their number was still too small. It didn't mean that they couldn't kill all the Turks, but they wanted to ensure the safety of the envoy. Most of them were on board.

Therefore, only one battalion came down to maintain order. This battalion was divided into 10 teams, with 50 people in each team controlling 10 streets. The rifles could cover the entire street. How many Turks came and died.

But they can only guard 10 streets. The dock is miles long, so there are more than 10 streets? If the Turks rush out from other streets, it will inevitably cause large-scale riots among the people.

When a stampede occurs, unless they fight their way through the crowd, they will be overwhelmed by the crowd, causing unnecessary casualties.

This is also why it is not easy for Song Dynasty to get involved.

A hasty intervention would not only prevent the Song Dynasty from benefiting from its own country, but might also cause death or injury to its own personnel if not careful. Therefore, one must think twice before acting and not let one's own people be buried in a foreign land.

Umu took advantage of the opportunity before the Turks encircled them to find the ship from downstream, and rowed desperately to get to the dock. To his despair, all the ships near the Song fleet were Baghdad's ships.

Although those merchants could not seek direct protection from the Song Dynasty, they had ships running to the Song Dynasty fleet, which trapped the Song fleet itself.

It is inevitable that people will laugh or cry a little bit.

But the good news is that because there were too many ships, the people of the Song Dynasty fixed them with anchors. In order to prevent the ships from being washed away, the people's ships were tied to each other with ropes and connected together.

As a result, they can even walk directly on the ship.

With the help of more than a dozen guards, Umu walked past the connected ships and arrived near the outer ships of the envoy.

The mission's fleet is naturally very particular. The surrounding sea ships form a defensive fleet, forming a circle.

We protected the envoys on three floors outside and on the other three floors. At the same time, the armored ship was on the easternmost side of the river, that is, the outermost periphery, cutting across it, creating a gap.

In this way, if an accident occurs, the armored ship will be the first to come out from the encirclement of Baghdad ships, and the other ships will retreat one after another and evacuate towards the east bank of the Tigris River. Naturally, there will be no need to worry about being unable to move.

That is to say, the Tigris River is one of the mother rivers of the Mesopotamian Plain. The width of the Baghdad section of the river is about 0.48 kilometers, or 480 meters, which can accommodate so many crowded ships.

Otherwise, if it encounters an ordinary small river, it may be difficult for the fleet to even turn.

Wu Mu arrived at the perimeter and reported his identity to the person in charge on the perimeter ship with difficulty, and then reported to Tan Wexue and Zhang Youwei step by step.

"It seems that the Caliph is in a hurry."

"Are you not in a hurry? The Turks have already entered."

"I thought that the Turks, who are also Sunnis, would not go on a killing spree in the city."

"Barbarians don't change their habits. What's more, after attacking a city, it's a common practice not to seal the sword and plunder, in order to stimulate the morale of the army. Such things were not uncommon in the late Tang Dynasty."

"Oh, let him come."

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei chatted for a while and then asked someone to bring Wu Mu over.

Wumu's small boat was towed all the way, passing by those large ships, and finally arrived under the main ship, and was led to the ship.

Seeing Tan Wenxu and Zhang Youwei standing there with their hands behind their backs, waiting for him, Wumu hurriedly stepped forward and put his right hand on his chest, bent down and saluted: "Dear guests, I am Wumu, and I am the sulta."

Saladin translated for them. Surta was the official responsible for various affairs in Baghdad. He could be understood as the prefect of Kaifeng in the Song Dynasty and a senior Abbasid official.

It's just that during the Buyid Dynasty, the Abbasid Dynasty's decrees could not leave the palace, so senior officials including the vizier (prime minister), the clergyman, the governor of Baghdad, and Surta had no actual power.

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei also politely raised their hands and said, "Sulta is polite."

Umu said: "Before, the messenger said that because the Bouweshi family was friendly with you, you were inconvenient to help. Now that the Bouweshi family has been destroyed, can the Caliph ask you for help?"

"Well, this is possible in principle, but."

Tan Wenxue started to show off.

"But what?"

"But the Seljuks also sent people over just now."

"But they are just the rebels of the Caliphate, and we are the masters here."

"Of course we understand, but we have a saying in the Song Dynasty called this time and that time, which means that before was before and now is now."

"I know that the Bushway family is weak, but this time the opponent is strong, and the previous conditions naturally no longer apply, so the Caliphate has other instructions when he comes out this time."

Umm gritted his teeth and said: "In addition to the conditions promised before, the Caliph is willing to give you another thousand catties of gold, ten thousand catties of silver, and the remaining spices, carpets, jewelry, and medicinal materials add up to three hundred thousand catties."

According to the exchange rate, the price of these things should reach more than one million yuan.

For example, one thousand kilograms of gold is equivalent to twelve thousand kilograms of silver, plus ten thousand kilograms of silver, calculated as one kilogram of sixteen taels, that is three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.

The total value is 350,000 yuan, which may be slightly higher based on purchasing power.

Other things may not be that valuable in the Middle East, but after being shipped to the Song Dynasty, their value will soar several times or even dozens of times.

For example, one tael of silver in the local area could buy hundreds of kilograms of pepper. In the Song Dynasty, the price of a kilogram of pepper usually fluctuated around 0.6 guan, and could reach as high as one silver dollar, which was a guan per kilogram.

This is just the cheapest pepper, other spices, carpets, jewelry and medicinal materials are more expensive.

Even if 300,000 jins of cheap spices account for 200,000 jins, the remaining 80,000 jins are carpets, 19,000 jins are medicinal materials, and one thousand jins of jewelry, the total value is still one million guan.

Therefore, this is like a huge sum of money. Even if it is placed in the Song Dynasty, it can create a super rich man in an instant.

In comparison, the artillery purchased by the Chola Dynasty cost 18 kilograms of gold. With various supporting facilities, the total value was only about 380,000 guan.

But with the Chola Dynasty, it was a business, and this was to help people restore power, so the situation was naturally different.

What's more, the value of these things will be high if they are successfully transported to the Song Dynasty.

At least in the Middle East, based on the prices in the Song Dynasty, only gold, silver and jewelry are worth a little money, while the value of other things is greatly reduced, and the total value will not exceed 500,000 yuan.

After all, it is common practice for anything to be cheaper in the area where it is produced.

For example, 200,000 kilograms of spices would only cost 2,000 kilograms if you buy 100 kilograms with local currency. The carpets are all woven by local handicraft manufacturers, and the prices are not too high.

So Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei looked at each other and smiled.

Then Tan Wenxue said: "Two thousand catties of gold, twenty thousand catties of silver, three hundred thousand catties of spices, two hundred thousand catties of carpets, three thousand catties of jewelry, and thirty thousand catties of medicinal materials."

Wumu opened his eyes wide and said, "This is too much."

"Don't worry."

Zhang Youwei stretched out his hand to signal Umu to calm down and said: "Sulta needs to think carefully. We can help you repel the Seljuks, but have you ever thought about what to do if the Seljuks come back once we leave?" ?”

"this"

Umm hesitated for a moment.

Zhang Youwei continued: "So in order to ensure that this kind of thing will not happen, after we help you repel the Seljuks, we will leave some artillery and grenades, and tell you how to use them, which will definitely enable you to have the ability to protect yourself. I think your Caliph does not want the Seljuks to attack again after we leave, so that you will lose your kingdom again."

This sentence made Umm stunned, and then thought about it.

Yes, what the other party said makes sense.

The Song people can only save them for a while, not for a lifetime. After the Song people leave, they still need the ability to protect themselves.

Although this money is really painful to spend, on the one hand, as a religious leader, the Caliph has countless believers to support him, so this money is still there.

Secondly, they repelled the Seljuks and were able to obtain the Buweishi family heritage, which can also supplement them.

Money is external things. Only when you sit firmly in your position and have power can you last long.

Umm raised his head and looked at the center of the city again. Above the tallest tower, the black flag was swaying in the wind.

He gritted his teeth and said, "This has exceeded the bottom line given by the Caliph, but you are right. We must be able to protect ourselves after you leave. I promise you!"

"Happy cooperation."

Tan Wenxue and Zhang Youwei looked at each other and laughed.

Wang Shining beside him said, "Send troops?"

"Send troops!"

Tan Wenxue said with a cold light in his eyes, "In addition to being able to grab a lot of benefits from this war, the most important thing is to make my Song Dynasty famous in the West."

"Then send troops!"

Wang Shining said, "Let's start according to the original plan."

After that, he raised the flag in his hand.

The lookout on the main ship saw it and immediately waved the flag.

Then the ironclad warships on the periphery roared and sailed towards the east of the river.

Afterwards, a large number of Song army ships began to mobilize at the dock, and they all followed the gap to get out of the encirclement of the surrounding small boats.

Their actions caused a lot of commotion.

Fortunately, there was still a battalion of soldiers at the dock, and the order of the local people in Baghdad could still be maintained.

But the Turks in the distance were a little uneasy and didn't understand what the Song army wanted to do.

But they soon knew what the Song army wanted to do.

After coming out of the surrounding fishing boats and merchant ships, the Song Dynasty set sail and headed north, cutting off the retreat of the Turks in the upper reaches of the Tigris River.

All the way south to the south of Baghdad, the other three battalions of soldiers disembarked and lined up to enter the city from the south.

This was a tactical strategy that Wang Shining and his men had prepared long ago.

The Turks naturally did not enter the city to plunder with tens of thousands of troops. It was difficult for horses to pass through the city. There were many steps and the terrain was narrow. Only a small number of generals rode horses, and the rest dismounted and entered the city to kill.

So most of the horses were left in the north of the city, and at least half of the Turks were in the rear to guard the horses.

The Turks came from the east and wanted to cross the Tigris River, so the Jinghai Army went north and bombarded the Turks' rear camp with artillery to eliminate their horses and the remaining Turks.

The infantry entered the city from the south where there were fewer Turks, using rifles to clear the way and clear the obstacles one street at a time.

This, together with a small number of artillery cover, was enough to clear the Turks in the south of the city.

There were now about 10,000 to 20,000 Turks in the city, burning, killing and looting everywhere. With 1,500 soldiers and 500 soldiers at the dock, it was not difficult to eliminate these Turks who had dismounted and were not in formation.

Soon, the Song army began to implement the original plan, and the first gunshot was heard in the south of the city not long after.

This was a yellow powder rifle, which was no longer the original black powder flintlock rifle, and it was incredibly powerful.

Not long after, the Turks who were looting on the streets in the south of the city were caught off guard, suffered heavy casualties, and kept screaming as they ran towards the north of the city.

Then the news that the Song army had launched an attack on them spread quickly, and all kinds of whistles and horns rang in the city, making it more chaotic than before.

"Kill!"

"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"

"The Turks dress completely differently from the locals, aim at the spot."

"Don't let any of them get away!"

"Bang, bang, bang!"

A group of newly organized Turks ran to the street and shouted at them: "Kill."

The next second, gunshots rang out, rifles fired loudly, and dense ammunition formed a terrifying firepower network on the street, and no one could survive.

The rest of the Turks were terrified, watching their comrades fall down inexplicably, no longer as ferocious as before, throwing down their scimitars and running away, shouting in panic: "Monster, monster!"

For a while, the city was even more chaotic.

Because most of the Baghdad people who were still on the streets had been killed by the Turks, only the Turks roaming around were left on the streets.

So the Song army had almost no obstacles and no psychological burden, and they pulled the trigger when they saw anyone.

The Baghdadis who were hiding in their homes heard the Turkic voices outside, which were originally showing off their power, but soon turned into the Turkic screams. They curiously opened the windows upstairs and peeked out.

They saw a strange army suddenly appeared in the city, holding black long-barreled weapons everywhere, and the mouth of the barrel seemed to be able to spit out flames. Every time a flame was spit out, a Turk fell down.

"Bang bang bang bang!"

At this time, more violent sounds rang out.

The naval fleet in the north fired artillery volleys.

The Turkic camp in the north of the city was in chaos, with countless people killed and fell.

The horses were especially frightened and kept running away, causing the camp that had just been built to fall apart in an instant. Horses were running everywhere, and all the Turkic people who blocked the way were trampled to death by horses.

At this moment, Tugril, Chagar and others in the city were almost crazy. Bad news came one after another, making them lose their composure.

"What's going on? What's going on?"

"It's the Song people. The Song people are out."

"How many of them are there? How can they defeat you so quickly?"

Chagar, who was in charge of the army in the city, first heard the sound of gunfire outside, and then saw his own soldiers fleeing like a tide. Soon he heard the report from his subordinates and was furious for a while.

They had an army of 50,000, and there were 30,000 outside the city. Moreover, many troops were deployed near the dock to guard against the Song people.

As a result, they were defeated as soon as they came into contact.

"The Song people are monsters. They are far away, and the long tubes in their hands can spray flames, and then the soldiers fall down one after another."

The general who reported was still in shock and said: "No, they are more terrible than monsters, too terrible."

"Waste!"

Chagar drew his sword and killed the general with one blow, and then shouted to the people around him: "Blow the horn immediately and assemble the army."

"Yes!"

The other generals were shocked and hurried to blow the horn.

But it was obvious that the Turks in the city had been dispersed long ago, and the Song soldiers, in teams of fifty, began to clear out the remnants.

For the Turks, the streets in the city were crisscrossed, and it was difficult for cavalry to perform.

For the Song people, the narrow terrain was also not conducive to the concentrated shooting of the rifle team, so it was better to disperse.

Because more than a dozen people standing side by side can fill the street, so the remaining soldiers guard each alley and be careful of the Turks hiding around, and they can completely cover a street.

So it is easier to play their advantages if they act separately.

Just like the rifle era in later generations, it is no longer an era of arranging formations, but a team forming a firepower network and dispersing the attack.

This can prevent the enemy from shooting with intensive firepower and prevent artillery coverage.

Under the attack ahead of the times, in less than half an hour, the Turks in the city were either killed or fled the city, and only a very small number of them remained.

In addition, the Song army also sent a team of 50 people to the Abbasid Palace as soon as possible, drove away Tughril who was still there, and protected the Abbasid Caliph Kaim.

At that time, Tughril even wanted to kidnap Kaim, but was protected by Kaim's remaining guards. It happened that the Song army came over, and Tughril saw that he had not broken through the Abbasid Palace, so he had to flee in panic.

After another half an hour, the Turks in Baghdad had been almost wiped out, and the Song army rushed out of the city.

The Turkic camp outside the city had long been razed to the ground by naval artillery fire, and a large number of Turkic people fled to the northwest because their horses were frightened and fled in that direction.

Before the sun set in the afternoon, there were no Turkic people in Baghdad. The gunfire in the city gradually subsided, and the peace of the past was restored.

A few days later.

The news spread.

It shocked the entire Western world!