Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 352: A life-or-death struggle (Special thanks to the book friend Tianlu Xingkong for his 2 monthly tickets!)

Among these Star Religion Alliance countries, the Samanid Empire, the Black Caliphate, and the Ghaznavid Empire were the strongest.

The Samanid Empire had a land area of ​​2.85 million square kilometers, with its territory extending to the Aral Sea in the north, the upper reaches of the Indus River in the south, the upper reaches of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya in the east, and the Caspian Sea in the west. The Samanid Empire was the largest East Iranian Islamic kingdom in Central Asia in the Middle Ages.

The royal family came from a noble family of the Sassanid Empire of Persia, and some said they were descendants of the Yediots.

The population of the Samanid Empire was 11 million, with more than 30 ethnic groups.

Before the reign of Emperor Taizu of the Zhou Dynasty, Chai Zongxun, there was no mention of this dynasty in ancient Chinese documents, and it seemed that the two sides had never had any contact. However, there are two references in ancient Arabic documents to the exchange of envoys and marriage between the Samanids and the Chinese royal family.

The Ghaznavid Empire was an Islamic dynasty established by the Central Asian Turks, which ruled southern Central Asia, the eastern Iranian Plateau, Afghanistan, the Indus River Basin, etc. It is also known as the "Ghaznavid Dynasty" and the "Ghaznavid Dynasty".

Aleptegin, a general of the Samanid dynasty who was born as a Turkic slave (specifically referring to the slaves of the court servants and the slaves of the guards), occupied Ghazni. His son Sabuktigin established the Ghaznavid dynasty and regarded the Samanid dynasty as its suzerain state.

The area is about 820,000 square kilometers and the population is over 6 million.

As for the Black Caliphate, it was the second hereditary dynasty of the Arab Empire, the Abbasid Caliphate, established in 750. Because its flag was black, it was called "Black Caliphate" in ancient Chinese historical books.

In 751, the Abbasid Dynasty fought the "Battle of Talas" with the Tang Dynasty. After this battle, they seized control of the Syr Darya region in Central Asia.

Gao Xianzhi originally wanted to reorganize his army and fight again, but only four years later, the "Anshi Rebellion" broke out.

The Black Caliphate had a land area of ​​three million square kilometers, a population of over nine million, and more than fifty ethnic groups within its borders.

Agriculture in the Caliphate was well developed, and the Arabs continued to build water conservancy projects and reclaim wasteland, diverting river water into the main irrigation canal and then into branches to form an irrigation network. The entire canal was tens or hundreds of kilometers long, and a team was also deployed to specifically maintain the irrigation network and canals.

According to Du Huan, who was captured in the Battle of Talas in the tenth year of the Tianbao period of the Tang Dynasty (751), and then traveled to West Asia and North Africa, becoming the first Chinese to have been to Africa and to have written a book, his book is recorded in the Tongdian Jingxingji:
The vast area of ​​Central Asia from Talas to the West Sea is suitable for growing barley, wheat, rice, peas, and beans. The Bohanna area is rich in grapes, tangerines, dates, peaches, plums, etc. Livestock includes cattle, wild horses, teals, and partridges.

Baghdad, the capital of the Abbasid Dynasty, was the center of world commercial trade at the time. It was the place where most land and inland caravans passed through. It was also an important trade and communication hub connecting the East and the West in the Middle Ages.

Porcelain, musk, curtains, saddles, pillars, ink, brocade from China; tigers, elephants, nail wood from India; fox skins, furs, honey, wax from Russia; silk textiles, olive oil, glass from Damascus; silk, linen, saffron from Azerbaijan; paper from Samarkand, etc. were all traded in Baghdad.

At the same time, the Abbasid Dynasty had many trade routes, such as the Baghdad-Arabian Peninsula route, the route connecting Baghdad and Mosul in the north, the route from Baghdad to Basra and then to Abadan and finally into the Arabian Gulf.

Khwarezm was still a small country at that time, with an area of ​​about 800,000 square kilometers and a population of 3 million.

According to the "Book of Han", Khwarazm was a territory of Kangju in the Western Regions. During the Tang Dynasty, Khwarazm was one of the "Nine States of Zhaowu". In the local language, Khwarazm is interpreted as "the land of the sun".

Khwarezm is one of the ancient cultural centers in Central Asia. It has highly developed agriculture and water conservancy and irrigation. Historically, it believed in Zoroastrianism, but was later Islamized. It also has a unique urban architectural culture.

In early May, Cao Bin and Yang Ye, who were stationed in Central Asia, learned the intelligence sent back by the Longxiang Guards lurking in the Samanid Dynasty and other places, and realized that the situation was extremely urgent.

The officers of Cao Bin's group believed that the enemy army was too large in number. Although our army had the advantage of the "Yan Su Cannon", the disparity in troop strength was too great, at a ratio of one to ten. It would be better to hold on to Basharagun, the largest city in Central Asia, and wait for the emperor to send a large army to help.

The officers of Yang Ye's group believed that if the Xingxing Sect coalition forces were allowed to invade the Great Zhou, their force would be too large and the states would fall quickly. If the two corps were to defend Basharagun and were surrounded by an enemy that was ten times their size, they would be in danger of being wiped out if they made any mistakes.

Moreover, if we fail to keep the enemy out, and allow the enemy to invade the country and wreak havoc everywhere, harming the people and destroying the Central Asian society and economy that has just begun to prosper, then Emperor Chai Zongxun will certainly be extremely angry.

Even if the Fourth and Eighth Corps held on to Basharagun and supported until the arrival of reinforcements from the Great Zhou, it was still a failure.

It is better to seek victory in danger and survive from death. We should gather the forces of two large corps and march to the city of Bekara, which is located in a strategic location on the border state with the Samanid Dynasty, to hold the city firmly and keep the enemy out of the country.

The two factions argued for several hours, but the soldiers of the Longxiang Army, all knowing that the Emperor was clear about rewards and punishments and ruled the country and the army according to the law, finally agreed with Yang Ye's strategy.

After the discussion, he immediately submitted an urgent memorial to Emperor Chai Zongxun, and at the same time led two large corps of 180,000 troops to the city of Bekara on the border between Great Zhou and the Samanid Dynasty to deploy defenses, vowing to prevent the coalition forces of the Star Cult from invading the Central Asian territory of Great Zhou.

Each provincial capital in Central Asia only had a garrison of about one or two thousand troops.

The city of Bekara is located high in the mountains, controlling the gateway to the east-west passage. It was a must-win place for the Samanid dynasty to invade the Central Asian territory of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

On June 8, 986, Cao Bin and Yang Ye led their troops into the city of Bekara. They vigorously transported food, weapons, arrows, artillery and ammunition from various states in Central Asia, and ordered the soldiers to reinforce and raise the city walls in order to await the enemy.

On June 6, the Star Cult World Coalition set out from the Samanid capital in three routes to the east, intending to quickly invade the Central Asian territory of the Great Zhou with an invincible force and recapture the Karakhanid Khanate in one fell swoop.

After half a month of marching eastward with his 600,000 troops, the Samanid King Mansur of the Central Army had arrived at Mibo, a large state on the northwestern border. After joining forces with the 200,000 troops of the governor Ali, they continued to march eastward with flags covering the sky and a terrifying momentum. On June 25, the 27th year of Kaixi, they set foot on the territory of the Great Zhou.

As Mansur, Ali and other Samanid kings and ministers had expected, all the Zhou troops stationed on the border had fled.

Three days later, Mansur led an army of 800,000 from the Samanid Dynasty to the city of Bekara, only to find that a large number of troops had gathered on the city walls. The Fourth and Eighth Corps of the Great Zhou Longxiang Army had gathered in the city with a majestic appearance.

(End of this chapter)