Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 351 Dragon's Sigh (Special thanks to book friend Lin Yuxuan for his 4 monthly tickets!)

Otomo Yushin slowly pulled out his long sword from his side with both hands, glanced at the guards around him, and said in a deep voice:

“As for such a powerful weapon, I have only heard of the Great Zhou Empire’s Divine Arm Bow having such capabilities!
It seems that the so-called "Goryeo Merchant Group" is actually elite soldiers from the Great Zhou who have infiltrated our Fuso.

The Great Zhou is scheming hard and has great ambitions. I am afraid that after Emperor Zhou conquers Goryeo, the next target will be Fuso!

This battle is no longer a battle between the Otomo family and the Arima family. As long as one of us can break through, we must go to Kyoto and report the details to His Majesty the Emperor!"

The guards around him nodded solemnly.

When Otomo Takenobu was about to discuss a strategy of breaking out with his personal guards, Dai Qi had already mounted his horses and galloped over with a thousand Dragon Guards.

Seeing that the distance of two miles was about to pass in a flash, Otomo Takenobu only had time to shout "Break through the mountains on both sides!", and the rain of arrows from the Longxiong Guards had already broken through the air and attacked.

In an instant, more than a hundred of the five hundred Otomo family guards were shot and fell to the ground. The rest scattered and desperately ran towards the mountains on both sides of the gorge...

After several hours of chasing, Dai Qi and other Ryujo Guards wiped out the Otomo army. Otomo Yushin fled for several miles in the dense forests in the mountains, but was eventually killed by the swords of the Ryujo Guards who were chasing him relentlessly.

After Dai Qi met up with Arima Harumatsu, he immediately sent troops to attack the four states of the Otomo family.

Because the 10,000-man army led by Otomo Takenobu was completely wiped out, only 2,000 old and weak soldiers were left in his territory. In just seven days, the coalition forces of Ryujo Guard and the Arima family conquered all four states of the Otomo family.

Taking advantage of the victory, Daichi seized four states in one fell swoop and held Ma Qingsong hostage in Matsumae Castle, where the Otomo family's residence was located.

Although this battle was claimed to be a complete victory for the Arima family with the help of the Goryeo merchant group in the surprise attack on the Otomo army in the "Akabi Gorge", in fact, the Arima family had gradually become a puppet in Daichi's hands and became a tool for Daichi to rule the Otomo family and the six states of the Arima family.

At present, Dai Qi is secretly trying to win over daimyos from all over Fuso through the Arima family.

After reading the memorial, Chai Zongxun was very satisfied with Dai Qi's talents: the Arima family, the daimyo who already controlled the Kyushu region of Fuso, could use it as a base for the royal army of the Great Zhou to attack Fuso, and there would be no need to worry about the problem of logistics supply for the army when crossing the sea for an expedition to Fuso.

"Before the troops move out, the food and fodder must go first."

After considering for a few days, Chai Zongxun issued an edict, ordering the Ministry of War to use commerce as a cover to gradually transport large amounts of food, weapons and arrows to the Arima Domain controlled by Dai Qi, the pacification envoy of the Longxiong Guard, in preparation for the Great Zhou's attack on Fuso.

Just as Chai Zongxun was preparing to send troops to conquer Fuso, on July 7, urgent news arrived from Central Asia:

Cao Bin's 4th Corps and Yang Ye's 8th Corps of the Longxiang Army stationed in Central Asia have launched a full-scale war with the Samanid Dynasty!
In their memorials, Cao Bin and Yang Ye reported the whole incident to Chai Zongxun in detail.

After the 300 "Yansu Cannons" were delivered to Basharagun, the Longxiang Army had tested the cannons several times. Although they had imposed martial law around the area and tried to keep it secret, the sound of the cannons was too loud and still spread among the hundreds of thousands of local people.

After a long time, the news was discovered by the spies sent by Ali who were lurking in Basharagun.

When Ali learned the information sent back from Basharagun, he was greatly frightened, fearing that the Zhou army was transporting new weapons to attack him.

After several days of consideration, Ali selected hundreds of people who had fled from the Karakhanid Khanate, whose families had almost all died in the war with the Great Zhou, and who were also eloquent, as envoys to lobby the Ghaznavid Empire, the Black Caliphate, Khwarezm and other countries.

These envoys won the sympathy of the rulers and ministers of various countries by saying that their family members were all killed by the Zhou army. They spread the words that Emperor Chai Zongxun of the Great Zhou hated the Star Religion and strongly supported Taoism, Confucianism and Buddhism, which successfully aroused the resentment and hostility of these Star Religion countries towards the Great Zhou. Ali personally went to Bukhara, the capital of the Samanid Dynasty, to meet with King Mansur.

Mansur summoned Ali to the front hall of the palace.

After greeting, Ali said:
"Your Highness, the spies I sent to Basharagun have reported that three months ago, the Great Zhou sent a large number of new weapons from Bian Jing. It is said that this weapon is about ten feet long and made of fine copper. It can fire iron balls in the tube and fly several miles. When it is fired, the sound is like thunder. It is called the "Yansu Cannon" in the Great Zhou.

In my opinion, Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou was so deliberate and stationed two corps of the Longxiang Army in my Karakhanid Khanate. I am afraid that he had already prepared for a war with my Samanid Dynasty!

Your Highness must be on guard!"

Mansur's mind was racing. He thought that the Zhou Emperor Chai Zongxun's suppression of the Star Religion in Central Asia was indeed hateful. Even if it was not because of Ali, he would definitely have a conflict with the Great Zhou in the future because of issues of faith and governance.

Ali was a rare talent who was determined to restore his country, and he became a general in the war against the Great Zhou.

Mansour said:

"Chai Zongxun is very ambitious. In the past three years, he has sent large armies to attack everywhere. It is said that he has taken over the entire Xianbei region except for the Khitans.

And from the southeast, two corps were dispatched to attack the Tibetan tribes.

Their beliefs are very different from our Star Religion, and will surely be a great threat to our Samanid dynasty!"

Ali was overjoyed and said:

"Your Highness is wise! Emperor Chai Zongxun of Zhou is a man-eating tiger. Rather than waiting for him to attack, it is better for us to eliminate him as soon as possible!

"I have worked hard in Mibo for several years and have recruited more than one million soldiers and civilians from my homeland, and trained a 200,000-man armored cavalry. As long as Your Highness raises an army to attack Zhou, I am willing to lead my army and swear allegiance to Your Highness until death!"

A few days later, after discussing with the prime minister and generals in the court, Mansur decided to send envoys to several neighboring Star Religious countries to urge them to unite and launch a "holy war" against the Great Zhou Empire.

In the previous months, Ali had sent envoys to Ghazni, the Black Caliphate and other Star Religious countries to incite and stir up resentment against the Great Zhou among the people. Now, when the rulers and ministers of each country saw that the King of the Samanid Dynasty, Mansur, had personally sent envoys with valuable gifts, they all agreed to join forces to attack the Great Zhou after being persuaded for several days.

After more than two months of preparation, the Samanid Empire raised an army of 600,000, plus Ali's army of 200,000 stationed in the border state of Mibo, totaling 800,000 plate cavalry.

The Ghaznavid Empire sent 300,000 troops, the Black Caliphate sent 300,000 troops, the Khwarezmian Empire sent 200,000 troops, and the Saffarid Empire, Khorasan and more than a dozen other small countries sent a total of 200,000 troops, almost all of which were plate cavalry.

The total military strength reached an astonishing 1.8 million.

These dozens of countries all have the Star Religion as their state religion. Each country sent envoys to Bukhara, the capital of the Samanid Empire, and formed an alliance on June 6, the 27th year of Kaixi. They held a swearing-in ceremony and launched a "holy war" against the Star Religion of the Great Zhou Empire.

This oath-taking ceremony marked the beginning of the all-out war between the Great Zhou Empire and the Star Religion World, which had a far-reaching impact on world history.

Because this war lasted for a long time and set new records for the most killings and the most battles, it is also called "Dragon's Sigh" in the history of the Great Zhou Empire and the world.

(End of this chapter)