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

Chapter 147 Dividing the spoils of victory, Europe is shaken!
Despite the night having fallen, shouts and cries filled the air as the battle continued.

"Charge! Kill!"

"Evil Easterner, die!"

"Kill all the Kipchaks, leave no one alive!"

……

The Kipchaks and Assudans, cornered like beasts, fought desperately to break through under the cover of night.

The Mongol army, the Han Chinese Eight Banners, and the Khwarazmian Five Banners mustered their remaining strength and fought valiantly to intercept them.

Both sides were extremely exhausted, but they gritted their teeth and held their last breath, determined to achieve their goal!

As their stamina waned, the pace of the battle slowed, but for the soldiers on both sides, it became even more agonizing. This was not merely a contest of martial arts, training, or physical strength, but a fierce battle of wills.

Finally, at dawn on the second day, although inevitably more than 34,000 Kipchak and Asud people escaped, the remaining Asud and Kipchak troops were all wiped out.

Yesterday, the five banners of Hualazimo clashed with the Rus' people. All the Rus' infantry were captured, but many of their cavalry escaped.

In total, of the 185,000 combined forces of the Asu, Kipchak, and Rus', less than 60,000 escaped. Of the remaining 120,000, 70,000 were beheaded and more than 50,000 were taken prisoner by the Mongol army. It was indeed a glorious victory.

From the perspective of cavalry battles, this is even more remarkable. If cavalry can't win, they can run away. The fact that the Mongol army could outnumber its own cavalry to this extent is truly commendable.

Of the more than 50,000 prisoners, more than 30,000 were wounded, leaving only about 20,000 unharmed.

Let's just kill them all.

If there were 70,000 or 80,000 steppe captives, Jochi might actually have hesitated.

After all, this vast territory will become his fiefdom in the future. If too many people are killed, who will pay him tribute in the future?
But what can 20,000 people do?
Furthermore, Jochi had been severely pressured by the Kipchaks and Asud, losing thousands of steppe warriors and making it difficult for Jebe to go to the battlefield again. In this battle against the combined forces of the three tribes, the Mongol army of 140,000 suffered more than 20,000 casualties, and Jochi truly hated them to the core.

So Jochi gave the order and beheaded all 50,000 prisoners.

Then, the Mongol army returned to their camp and took turns on guard duty, while most of them fell into a deep sleep.

After resting for a day and a night, the Mongol army once again set out from their camp and arrived at the walls of the city of Mieqisi.

Only 40,000 elderly, weak, women and children of the Asu people remained in the city of Mieqiesi, and they had no choice but to surrender.

Then, the Mongol army began to celebrate their victory.

First, they erected wooden spears and turned the heads of 50,000 prisoners and 70,000 heads of the three allied tribes killed in battle—a total of more than 120,000 heads—into a large forest of skulls to celebrate the great victory in the Terek Valley.

Thirty-one of the heads received special treatment, with the wooden spears supporting them reaching a height of ten feet.

They were the Rus' princes, Kipchak Khans, and Assük Khan Khan who were either killed or captured in this battle.

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

"May the eldest prince be victorious!"

"May the Prince Consort win!"

……

As this unprecedentedly vast forest of skulls rose, the 120,000-strong army erupted in cheers.

The victory in the Terek Valley didn't yield a large amount of immediate spoils. However, this great victory foreshadowed extremely rich rewards to come.

The main forces of the Rus' army, the Kipchak army, and the Assyrian army have been annihilated by them.

The Kipchak Grassland is even larger than the Mongolian Grassland.

The Rus' had extensive agricultural areas and dozens of cities!
In the future, they will be free to roam this vast territory. How much wealth will they amass? How many exotic women will they enjoy?

For the Han army, it was not just that.

These are the heads of thirty-one Khans and "princes," which means thirty-one rulers of a country!
This great victory in the Terek Valley can be described as a single battle that wiped out 31 countries. It will be an incredible topic of conversation when we return to Han territory.

Thanks to the prince consort for bringing them here, allowing them to have such wonderful lives.

……

……

Next up was the Mongolian army's traditional team-building activity: eating and drinking.

Countless large cauldrons were set up, and the soldiers used their various skills to turn the captured cattle and sheep, as well as the dead warhorses, into delicacies from their hometown.

The Asur people and Mongolians have similar dietary habits, and both drink mare's milk wine as a daily beverage.

Now that we've breached the city of Mieqiesi, there'll be plenty of mare's milk tonight.

Except for a few soldiers on night duty, most of the soldiers drank, ate meat, danced, sang, and celebrated their victory.

As for Asu's women, that's unimportant; we can enjoy them tomorrow. Tonight, we're going to drink to our hearts' content with our comrades, until we're completely drunk.

At this moment, inside the city of Myaqis, in what was originally the residence of Asukhan Khan Hussein, a small victory celebration banquet was underway, attended only by Zhao Shuo, Jochi, Subutai, and Jebe.

According to the customs of Mongolian nobles, banquets are held with individual servings. Each person has a small low table with food and wine on it.

Today's dishes are simple.

During wartime, there weren't many formalities; it was simply a matter of soldiers offering mutton, roasted lamb leg, pork ribs stewed with onions and radishes, clear stewed beef, and mare's milk wine.

However, Jochi was extremely excited.

"Ashuo!"

Jochi, holding a bowl of mare's milk wine, approached and said, "I toast you! Thanks to you, we annihilated the main forces of the Asud, Kipchak, and Rus' in one fell swoop. If we continue our sweeping campaigns, I'm afraid that in less than two years, the lands of Rus' and the Kipchak steppe will all be ours!"

Zhao Shuo raised his glass, smiled, and said, "It was only through the joint efforts of us brothers that we achieved such a glorious victory."

"Yes! My good darling, let's have another drink!"

"it is good!"

Jebe, holding a wine bowl, approached Zhao Shuo and said, "Hurlan died at your hands, A-Shuo. Thank you! I'll toast you with this bowl!"

He had already learned from the prisoners of Asu that Hurlan had died at Zhao Shuo's hands, and he was truly grateful to Zhao Shuo. The steppe warriors didn't use fancy words; everything was etched in Jebe's heart.

Jebe is unlikely to return to the battlefield, and may not even live for many more years. However, Jebe's seven sons are still alive, and his hereditary title of commander of a thousand men remains. He has made up his mind to tell his sons that no matter what happens in the future, they must stand firmly on Zhao Shuo's side.

I will obey Zhao Shuo's orders, even at the cost of my life.

"it is good!"

Zhao Shuo drank another bowl of mare's milk wine.

Subutai also toasted Zhao Shuo, saying, "I'll also toast the Prince Consort with a bowl!" Through this battle, Subutai clearly understood the fighting strength of the Khwarazmian Five Banners and the Han Eight Banners, and greatly admired Zhao Shuo's ability to train troops.

Zhao Shuo had invented the telescope long ago and had given one to Subutai and others.

When Subutai, Jochi, and Jebe marched into the Kipchak Steppe, the telescopes played a significant role in detecting enemy ambushes in advance.

Although the telescope didn't actually play a significant role in the Battle of the Terek Valley, Subutai's military acumen was enough to foresee that if the three-tribe allied forces were to conduct any clandestine military maneuvers, the presence of the telescope would only lead to a more gruesome defeat.

In short, the three of them took turns toasting Zhao Shuo, the greatest contributor to the battle, and Zhao Shuo accepted every toast. His physique was extraordinary; even if the three of them tried to get him drunk, he could still get them all drunk.

The more they drank, the more excited they became.

"correct."

Jochi suddenly remembered something and said to Zhao Shuo, "Shuo, you once said that when you conquered the Byzantine Kingdom of Azer, you also subdued Queen Rusdan of the Kingdom of Bagration?"

Zhao Shuo nodded and said, "That's true. Lu Sudan has become my woman."

Jebe said, "Then the Queen is lucky. The eldest prince will definitely look at the Kingdom of Bagration differently in the future."

The Kingdom of Bagration was located in the Caucasus region, and according to the previously defined spheres of influence, it belonged to Jochi's fiefdom, which is why Jebe said that.

However, Jochi waved his hands repeatedly, saying, "What do I need to look at differently? From now on, the Kingdom of Bagration will belong to Ashoka. Not only the Kingdom of Bagration, but also this Terek Valley will belong to Ashoka!"

Zhao Shuo started from Daerban City, traveling from east to west, passing through the valleys of the Caucasus Mountains, and arrived at the Terek River Valley.

With hundreds of thousands of troops marching, this was the only way they could go.

However, judging from the map, the Bagration Kingdom and the Terek Valley were connected by several paths. These paths were simply steep mountain trails, extremely difficult to traverse, and unusable by large armies. Even in later generations, many Assyrians still lived in Georgia (the Bagration Kingdom).

Therefore, Jochi simply gave the Terek Valley and the Kingdom of Bagration to Zhao Shuo.

Zhao Shuo nodded and said, "Alright, I'll trade you half of the Khorasan province."

Jochi said seriously, "Ashoka, if you still consider me your sworn brother, then don't talk about exchanging or not exchanging. Without you, could we have won the great victory in the Terek Valley? Although Father Khan didn't say it explicitly, all the land north of the Caucasus region is mine."

"Give me the Kingdom of Bagration and the Terek Valley, such a vast territory as the Kipchak Steppe and the Rus' lands, and I feel it's too stingy. So, I won't give you the Kipchak Steppe; you can choose another territory in Rus'."

These were Jochi's true feelings.

When he was choosing the Caucasus region, he already considered the vast Kipchak Steppe as his own.

However, the Kipchak Steppe is even larger than the Mongolian Steppe, not to mention the Rus' kingdoms that border it.

Jochi's main force consisted of only nine commanders of a thousand men. He had thought that he would be lucky if he could conquer half of the Kipchak Steppe in his lifetime.

Unexpectedly, today's battle was a resounding success, annihilating the main forces of the Asud, Kipchak, and Rus'. Such a vast territory will fall into Jochi's hands during his lifetime.

What is this concept?
The Kipchak Steppe alone is much larger than the Mongolian Steppe!

This was a great comfort to Jochi, who did not inherit Temujin's throne.

He was also genuinely grateful to Zhao Shuo.

As he spoke, he even produced a captured map of Ross, saying, "Ashor, choose whichever you like. Anyway, I got the Ross territories far too easily."

Zhao Shuo and Jochi had been sworn brothers for almost thirty years, and Zhao Shuo knew Jochi's temperament well.
When Jochi offered to give something, he truly meant it.

If Zhao Shuo refuses, Jochi will feel that Zhao Shuo is being distant. Even if the chosen location is not good, Jochi will feel that Zhao Shuo is being perfunctory and will be unhappy.

Zhao Shuo stopped refusing and pointed to the map, saying, "I'll choose the Principality of Qiwa. Qiwa was once the capital of the Rus' and was very wealthy."

"Even if the Khitan are rich, they are still too small!"

Jochi looked at the small principality of Chiva on the map with dissatisfaction and pointed to the ground, saying, "The Rus' have seventeen principalities, how can you only take one? In this way, the principalities of Chernigov and Galich next to Chiva will also be yours."

Zhao Shuo said, "Then I won't stand on ceremony."

"A-Shuo, you can keep it. From now on, our descendants will have adjacent fiefdoms and will continue to serve as our sworn brothers!"

Jochi smiled broadly.

Now that Zhao Shuo has pacified the Caucasus region, and is about to gain control of the Kipchak Steppe and Rus' lands, Jochi has no regrets in his life and cherishes Zhao Shuo's brotherhood above all else.

Zhao Shuo was also very happy.

The Principality of Chernihiv and the Principality of Galich, located next to the Principality of Chiva, together comprise about half of Ukraine. And Ukraine possesses black soil of roughly the same size as Northeast China.

The average temperature in these black soil regions is a full six degrees Celsius higher than that in Northeast China.

If the black soil of Northeast China was not suitable for development at this time, then the land here was absolutely perfect for development.

How did these three principalities utilize this black soil?
They now practice feudal serfdom. Serfs have no incentive to improve agricultural tools, and nobles are more concerned with expanding their territories than with improving tools.

Therefore, these farms now use wooden farming tools and practice crop rotation.

The black soil here is so fertile that they can meet the needs of the entire region by planting some shallow-rooted rye, barley, and lentils.

What a waste of natural resources!

Let Han Chinese immigrants cultivate the land and make the most of this black soil!

Moreover, to the south of the Duchy of Galicia lie Hungary and Poland.

It is yet another bridgehead for the advance into Europe.

Think about it again. Zhao He and Jochi's son Batu is about to grow up. In the future, let the two brothers go on an expedition to Europe. With the help of the famous general Subutai and the siege master Guo Kan, how much land can they conquer?
It’s interesting to think about.

Next, Zhao Shuo and Jochi jointly wrote a letter to Temujin, explaining the urgency of advancing into the Rus' territories and the Kipchak Steppe.

Then, Jochi led his troops into the Kipchak steppe.

Zhao Shuo's army of 100,000 men was divided into three routes and invaded the Rus' territories.

The Kipchak Grassland is alright; it's quite far from Europe and Rome.

However, the Rus' region already belonged to Europe.
As Zhao Shuo's army marched into Rus', Europe was shaken!
how?

Our Crusaders haven't even entered Asia yet, and the Eastern armies have already invaded Europe and Rome?

Moreover, the leader of that army was some kind of "God's calamity"?
Zhao Shuo's title of "the scourge of God" evoked Europeans' terrifying memories of Attila the "scourge of God" eight hundred years ago.

Hungary and Poland, which border the Principality of Galicia, were shaken!
The Frankish Kingdom was shaken!
The Kingdom of England is in turmoil!
The Holy Roman Empire was shaken!

The Roman Catholic Church, which ruled the faith of Europeans, was shaken!

People are talking about the Mongol army that has invaded the Rus' territories, and about Zhao Shuo, the "disaster of God"!
(End of this chapter)