Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 130 You like to be a masochist, right? Then I’ll grant your wish!
Temujin nodded slightly and said, "Yes. Then, after the Khwarezmian Empire is destroyed, Asho will establish the Ulus in the Khorasan region, in the lands of Ghor and Kojinin."

Then he asked Tolui again.

Tolui naturally chose the Persian region.

Originally, Zhao Shuo chose Khorasan and Afghanistan, which obviously meant he had his sights set on India. Why should Tolui compete with him?
Further west of the Persian region is the rich Mesopotamian region.

If Tolui did not choose the Persian region at this time, which one would he choose?
After the distribution was completed, Temujin's face became serious and he said, "Well, now the land of Khwarezm has been divided. Now, I officially announce my intention to conquer Khwarezm. Prince Consort Zhao Shuo!"

Zhao Shuo stood up and said, "Here!"

Temujin said, "Now Muhammad has fled to Iraq. I order you to lead your troops to an expedition in three days, through the Khorasan region, into Persia, and attack from the east to the west, straight to Iraq, and pursue Muhammad until you catch him.

For cities along the way that surrender, protection documents can be issued and leaders can be assigned to them.

Any cities that resisted along the way, or any cities that did not resist but showed signs of defiance or resistance, would be massacred.

If a city is particularly strong and difficult to capture in a short period of time, you can leave it alone for now and wait for me to lead the follow-up troops to capture it."

Zhao Shuo said loudly: "Yes."

Temujin said again: "Jochi!"

"Here!" Subuchi also stood up.

Temujin pointed to the map and said, "Don't you like the steppes? I order you to lead Jebe and Subutai, a total of 30,000 troops, in three days. We will march north, heading west through the Kipchak steppes. Then, we will bypass the Caspian Sea and attack from the west to the east, heading straight for Iraq. You and Asho will surround Muhammad from both sides and make sure he doesn't escape our grasp."

"Yes!"

Obviously, although Khwarezm had been divided, Temujin would not allow Zhao Shuo, Jochi and others to attack their own fiefdoms. Khwarezm was still a whole, and Zhao Shuo and others' combat missions were still coordinated.

The mission of Zhao Shuo and Subuchi was to attack from both sides and eliminate Muhammad.

Temujin said again: "Chagatai, Ogedei!"

"exist!"

"You two don't need to send troops now. Five months from now, when the autumn is high and the horses are fat, lead another 50,000 troops to attack Yulongjiechi City. At that time, I will also lead the central army, advance along the Amu Darya River, and sweep all the cities on both sides of the river."

"Yes."

The Mongols set out from Husihanerduocheng in Western Liao in the autumn. The march, including the conquests of Zhandi, Bukhara, and other cities, took about five months. The attack on Samarkand took nearly another month. After another month of rest in Samarkand, Sherifuddin surrendered.

It is spring now.

The Mongols need to conserve their horses in spring, which is the season they least like to use troops.

If Subutai and Zhao Shuo wanted to pursue Muhammad urgently, there was no other way but to send troops even in spring.

However, the Mongols did not need to rush to attack other cities, as Temujin planned to take action in the autumn.

Of course, there is another very important reason, which is that Temujin is old and is already 58 years old this year.

His once pitch-black beard was now streaked with silver. His face, once cast in cast iron, was now drooping with loose flesh. Even when he clenched his teeth, the wrinkles instantly stretched like a drawn bowstring. His eye sockets were much deeper than in his youth, his eyelids drooping slightly. His gray-blue eyes were still bright, but the edges of his pupils were now smudged with gray.

Despite the old tiger's ambition, Temujin still rode his horse and drew his bow, slaughtering cities and destroying countries. But when the war was not urgent, he wanted to rest for a few more days.

This situation showed signs when the Mongols attacked the Jin Dynasty last time.

Zhao Shuo was appointed as the Darughachi of the area south of Tiemenguan and north of the Yellow River, and was ordered to conquer the four provinces of Shanhe. Mu Huali was appointed as the Darughachi of the area north of Tiemenguan, and was ordered to conquer the northeast.

Temujin was only stationed in Zhongdu.

The current situation is similar.

Temujin not only kept Ogedei and Chagatai by his side to accompany him for a while, but also chose the easiest war mission for himself, neither chasing them for thousands of miles nor personally leading the army to attack the most fortified Yulongjiechi City.

In fact, whether it was Zhao Shuo or Jochi, Ogedei, Chagatai, or Tolui, they all clearly felt Temujin's aging.

According to historical records, after Jochi, Ogedei, and Chagatai conquered Yulongjiechi City, they immediately divided up all the spoils there. Not only did they not let Temujin pick first, they didn't even keep the 30% share stipulated by the Great Jasa.

When Ogedei and Chagatai came back to see Temujin, Temujin was so angry that he didn't see them for three days.

Of course, Temujin, Ogedei, Chagatai, and Tolui were all resting in Samarkand, so Zhao Shuo and Jochi were the only ones sent out to pursue the enemy, which was still a certain compensation. Finally, Temujin ordered that all the tall and majestic Arabian horses captured since the expedition to Khwarezm be given to Zhao Shuo and Jochi.

At the beginning, the Persian merchant Zardusht went through great pains to get four hundred Arabian horses for Zhao Shuo.

This time, Temujin allocated 60,000 Arabian horses to Zhao Shuo at one time.

In the Khwarezmian army, the field forces were mainly nomadic peoples, with the majority of them being cavalry and war horses.

Like the Mongols, they each had three horses.

Although it's unlikely that all of these war horses were Arabians, the Mongols had already annihilated over 100,000 Khwarezmian field troops, and the Khwarezmian people also had a large number of horses. It wouldn't have been difficult for Temujin to gather all the Arabian horses in his army and allocate 60,000 to Zhao Shuo.

Together with the war horses that Zhao Shuo had originally captured, each soldier under Zhao Shuo's command now has an Arabian horse.

On average, these Arabian horses are six or seven centimeters taller than the original "Da Qing Xiao Qing Jue Shi Wu", which can be said to be a complete upgrade.

Don't think that six or seven centimeters is too little.

The height of a horse is closely related to its combat power.

Therefore, there is a folk saying: "If a horse grows an inch taller, its value will increase by a thousand gold coins."

Although "thousands of gold" is obviously an exaggeration, it is still okay if it is 50% more expensive.

For example, the standard for Song Dynasty military horses was a shoulder height between four feet and four feet six inches. A horse with a shoulder height of four feet six inches cost 38,000 coins, but in reality, it cost even more, 50,000 coins. And a warhorse with a shoulder height of four feet, just barely meeting the standard, cost only 13,000 coins.

It can be seen from the money that if the shoulder height is two inches different, there will be a huge difference in combat power.

Anyway, Temujin had made his assignments and everyone followed his orders.

Three days later, Zhao Shuo led 15,000 of his own troops, 59,000 of the Eight Banners Army, and 20,000 of the Baru Camp, a total of 94,000 people, and marched south.

Three days later, they arrived at the Amu Darya River.

The Amu Darya River is a major inland river in Central Asia, not much smaller than the Yangtze River in China. If Muhammad adopted Jalaluddin's advice, assembled a large army, and held the Amu Darya defense line, it would take Zhao Shuo at least half a year to break through the Amu Darya defense line.

It’s a simple logic. If you want to attack the Amu Darya defense line, you must first have ships.

The Khwarezmians had already taken away all the ships on both sides of the Amu Darya.

How long would it take for Zhao Shuo to build the ships, train the soldiers so that they could fight against the Khwarezmian navy, and then storm the Amu Darya defense line?
However, Muhammad was frightened by the Mongols and did not set up a defense line on the Amu Darya River. He simply took away all the ships, which made things much easier for Zhao Shuo.

Although the Amu Darya River is very wide, it is not very deep.

Zhao Shuo ordered his men to make leather valves out of cowhide and tie them to the horses' tails.

Nearly 100,000 soldiers crossed the river by pulling on the tails of their horses and using leather valves. In just five days, they had all crossed.

However, those heavy siege equipment could not be brought with them at all, and they could only be made on-site by the engineering battalion when they were needed for siege in the future.

After crossing the Amu Darya River, Zhao Shuo's army entered the Khorasan region, which roughly corresponds to northeastern Iran, northwestern Afghanistan, southeastern Turkmenistan, and southwestern Uzbekistan in later generations.

Historically, it has long existed as a border area of ​​Persia.

Because of its numerous mountains and brave people, it has always been the best source of soldiers in the Persian region.

The Abbasid Dynasty, which is now in decline, is also known as the Black Caliphate in Chinese history books. Six hundred years ago, it used the Khorasan army as its main force to destroy the Umayyad Dynasty and took over all of Persia.

By the way, at the beginning of the Abbasid Dynasty, the Battle of Talas broke out with the famous Tang Dynasty general Gao Xianzhi.

On the Abbasid side, both the renowned Persian general Abu and the main force of the army were Khorasan. It's safe to say Gao Xianzhi was fighting against the Abbasids' most elite troops. It was like encountering a purely Jurchen army led by Jin Wushu.

Gao Xianzhi was defeated in Talas because he defeated a larger force with a smaller one and was betrayed by the Karluk people. It can be said that he was defeated with honor.

In short, if Zhao Shuo established the Eight Banners of Khwarezm and recruited soldiers from the Khorasan region, it would be the most advantageous option.

The Khorasan region is now divided into four counties, with the four fortified cities of Maru, Yeli, Nishapur and Balikhe as county seats.

Zhao Shuo first sent a large army to besiege Barihei.

Balkh has a population of 120,000 and a garrison of 20,000 troops, making it a relatively large city in Central Asia.

According to historical records, Jebe led his army to pursue Muhammad. The black people of Bari did not dare to resist and surrendered the city. Jebe issued them a document of protection.

Later, Temujin arrived with a large army. Worried that Barik had too many people and would block the Mongol army's retreat, he drove all the soldiers and civilians out of the city under the pretext of taking a household register. He first destroyed all the defensive fortifications of Barik and set fire to the entire city, and then killed all the soldiers and civilians.

However, the city's strategic location was so important that it quickly became prosperous.

Later, when Timur the Lame established the Timurid Empire, he made Balkh the capital of the entire empire.

The measures taken by Zhao Shuo were to allow the black people in Bari to enjoy the benefits of the war.

Who would follow you if there is no benefit?
Once the blacks in Bari get a taste of the joys of burning, killing and looting, I'm afraid they won't be able to be driven away.

Just like in history, Zhao Shuo's army surrounded the city of Barihei. The soldiers, civilians and people in the city did not dare to resist and surrendered the city.

Zhao Shuo selected all the young and strong people from the 120,000 people in the city, formed a ten-person household, and a hundred people formed a hundred-person household, forming a 30,000-strong army. Together with the 20,000 regular troops, they formed a 50,000-strong army.

Then, ten disabled veterans from the Eight Banners of the Han Army were left in the city to guard Barihei City.

These people have been the managers of the black city of Bari for quite a long time.

The main task is to symbolize that the Mongolian army has occupied the city.

A secondary task was to collect taxes. Zhao Shuo didn't really care if the amount collected was too much or too little. After all, the Mongol nobles didn't understand how to collect taxes. With the abilities of ten ordinary disabled Eight Banner soldiers, managing a city where they couldn't even speak the same language, how could they possibly collect taxes?

If the people in the city rebelled, they would surely die, and then the Mongol army would return and massacre the city to avenge them.

If the Khwarezmian army attacked after Zhao Shuo's army left, they would still be in danger of death. If Zhao Shuo returned, he could only kill more Khwarezmians in revenge.

On the other hand, what if the people in the city did not dare to rebel, and no Khwarezmian troops came to attack? For at least the next four or five years, they would be the absolute masters of Balkh, enjoying a life of luxury and wealth.

Is there such a good thing?

These disabled veterans have set a very good example.

For the Eight Banners soldiers, the generous pensions for disabled veterans were enough to satisfy them.

Now, I can become a superior person.

Why be afraid of danger?
They served in the army and fought in wars, so their heads were already hanging on their belts, ready to move at any time.

There is basically nothing to do every day, just eating, drinking and having fun. This kind of life is worth living for even one year, let alone four or five years!

For those who signed the army from Barihei City, their eyes were red with envy when they learned that these Eight Banners soldiers were just ordinary soldiers but could enjoy such treatment!
During this era, Khwarezm did not have an imperial examination system, and it was much more difficult for ordinary people to transition to a higher class than in China.

Think about it, if I became a soldier of the Eight Banners of Khwarezm, fought bravely for my husband and became disabled, would there be such a day too?
It’s really exciting just thinking about it!
Also, this only applies to the cities that surrendered.

So, what about the cities that refused to surrender?

They had heard about what the Mongols had done.

Kill all the men, play with the women however you want, and divide up all the money.

Before, the signed army certainly did not have this treatment, but the Eight Banners of Khwarezm did have this treatment!

Moreover, the Prince Consort had instructed that the Barihei soldiers would receive 10% of the salary of ordinary soldiers, and the Barihei regular soldiers would receive 30% of the salary of the Prince Consort's regular soldiers.

If what the prince consort said is true, wouldn't it be a blessing in disguise?

In this way, although Zhao Shuo forced the soldiers to sign in Barihei, the morale of the soldiers who signed was quite high after Zhao Shuo explained these policies.

After resting in Barihei for five days, Zhao Shuo raised his army and led it towards Nishapur.

Your Shapur is the capital of Khorasan in this era. It is more prosperous than Barikhe. Zhao Shuo must conquer it.

However, an accident happened.

On their way, Zhao Shuo and others passed by a small town called Zhawei.

This small town has only 30,000 people, and there are less than 2,000 soldiers defending the city.

Zhao Shuo's main task was to pursue Muhammad, so he needed to hurry and was not very interested in Zhawei.

A black man from Bari was sent as an envoy to persuade Zawei City to surrender. However, Zawei City was unwilling to surrender and only offered a large amount of food and delicacies.
Then forget it.

Zhao Shuo was too lazy to care about Zhawei City, so he led his army away and continued to advance towards your Shabul City.

However, just as Zhao Shuo's army was retreating.

"Oh! The Mongolian barbarians are gone!"

"Go away, you lowly pagans! How dare you provoke the people of the true God?"

"The food I gave you is like feeding the dogs!"

"The Mongolian barbarians brag about being powerful, but they're actually nothing special. They're afraid of us, the Zhawei people!"

"By the Almighty God, the city of Zavi is indestructible!"

……

The cheers from Zavi City reached the Mongolian army.

Is there such a thing?
This is really the case that there is a road to heaven but people don’t take it, instead they take the small road leading to hell!

After hearing this, Zhao Shuo was so angry that he almost laughed. He ordered, "The entire army halts. Send the 50,000 Bari Black troops to slaughter the city of Zavi!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)