Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 353 Who Belongs to Central Asia (Special thanks to the book friend who read the book in the dark at night and gave 4 monthly tickets!)

Although Mansur saw that the Zhou Dynasty had heavily guarded the city, he did not take it seriously: his own 4 plate-armored cavalry were extremely powerful, more than four times the number of Zhou troops. How could he not be able to capture the small mountain city of Bekara?
Moreover, there are two routes with a million troops from more than twenty allied countries in the Star Religion world that are about to arrive.

As he did not know the exact range of the Great Zhou's "Yansu Cannon", Mansur immediately set up camp several miles away and sent messengers to the city to persuade it to surrender.

The messenger rode his horse under the lower city gate, looked at the top of the Bekara city wall which was newly raised by more than ten feet, and said loudly:

"Listen, commanders of the Zhou army:

The emperor of your country is cruel and inhumane. He conquered the Karakhanid Khanate and abused the followers of the Starry Sky Church. This has aroused public indignation in all of us who regard the Starry Sky Church as our state religion!
His Royal Highness the King of the Usamanid Dynasty was elected by all countries as the leader of the alliance against Zhou. Now he leads an army of 1.8 million to attack us. If you, the soldiers of Zhou, dare to resist, you will be crushed to pieces in a moment!

Your Highness is a kind-hearted man who has sent me here to persuade you to surrender. If you open the city gates and surrender immediately, you can save your lives!"

The generals of the 4th and 8th Corps of the Great Zhou Longxiang Army on the city wall were furious and started shouting and cursing at the Samanid envoys below the city.

Cao Bin said:
"The Karakhanid Khanate is brutal and tyrannical. It forced neighboring countries to convert to the Star Religion, and slaughtered those who refused! It also treated its own people in the same way. Its hands are stained with blood and sin!

Our Great Zhou Emperor avenged the people and punished the criminals, and after destroying the Karakhanid Khanate, he implemented benevolent policies, exempted the emperor from taxes, encouraged the people to engage in agriculture and commerce, and immediately ensured that the people here had enough food and clothing and became increasingly prosperous. He is a godsend for the people of Central Asia!

The ruler of your country has been bewitched by the traitor Ali and is trying to start a war between the Star Sect and our Great Zhou Empire. This is extremely foolish and will only bring about his own destruction!
Don't think that your Star Sect Alliance is now extremely powerful. My Longxiong Army will trap you at the gates of the city and make it difficult for you to advance!
Soon, the Emperor of the Great Zhou will send a large army to attack us. Our Longxiang Army will crush the Rusamanid Dynasty and take Bukhara!"

Yang Ye, the commander of the Eighth Corps, secretly admired the literary talent of Cao Bin, a Confucian general. He had read a lot since he was young, but he couldn't express these profound principles. He immediately shouted to the people below the city:

"Wunasaman barbarian, when two armies are at war, they do not kill envoys. This governor will spare your life for now. Go back and report to your ruler, and withdraw your troops immediately. Pay tribute to the Emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty every year, and you will avoid the Great Zhou Dynasty destroying your Xingxing Sect countries!"

As soon as Yang Ye finished speaking, he drew his bow and shot an arrow. When the string sounded, the arrow flew towards the city like a meteor. In the blink of an eye, it pierced the left ear of the Samanid envoy and nailed it into the ground.

The messenger was both in pain and frightened. He hurriedly turned his horse around and galloped back to his own army several miles away to report what had happened to the king Mansur.

Mansur was furious after hearing this and said:
"Since these Zhou troops are stubborn and unyielding, I will not be polite to them! How dare a small mountain city stop my million-strong army?
General Ali, I order your troops to be the vanguard, and my army of 600,000 to be the backup. Take down Bekara immediately!"

After receiving the order, Ali immediately led his 200,000 exiled Karakhanid troops and pushed hundreds of "Huiyi cannons" to attack the city of Bekara.

Cao Bin and Yang Ye on the top of the city wall estimated that the enemy's "Huiyi Cannon" had entered the firing range of four miles, and immediately ordered the artillerymen to aim at it and fire.

The artillerymen who had been on standby and aiming almost simultaneously responded by igniting 300 "Yansu Cannons" from the top of the city walls towards the Samanid army.

Amidst the loud noise that could be heard hundreds of miles away, three hundred black solid iron balls whizzed towards the 200,000 Ali troops rushing towards the city. A few of them directly hit the frame of the tall "Huihui Cannon", breaking the wooden pole and sending wood chips flying.
Most of the shells hit the soldiers near the "Huihui Cannon" in the enemy's formation, causing blood and flesh to fly everywhere and killing several enemy soldiers.

Seeing the power of the Zhou army's new weapon, the Yansu Cannon, the Samanid king and his ministers were all shocked. If the Zhou army continued to aim and fire at the Huihui Cannon, hundreds of them would soon be destroyed.

Ali said:
“Your Highness, if we allow the Zhou army to unleash the might of their artillery and long-range firepower, our army will surely be defeated.

Our army has the advantage of outnumbering the enemy by several times. Your Highness, please order the entire army to attack and surround the city from all sides so that the Zhou army will have no chance to respond!
In this way, our army's Huihui artillery can advance to a range of two miles and throw stones at the enemy. "

Mansur secretly praised Ali's military vision. He saw the strengths and weaknesses of both sides in a moment, and immediately ordered the entire army to surround and attack the city from all sides. Suddenly, the city of Bekara was surrounded by Samanid plate cavalry, pushing siege equipment such as "Huihui cannons" and ladders, and swarmed towards the walls of Bekara.

The five hundred tiger-crouching cannons of the Zhou army on the city wall also opened fire one after another after the enemy entered the one-mile range, and a fierce battle began.

Because the Samanid army was too large in number, four times that of the Zhou army, the "Yansu Artillery" of the 4th and 8th Corps on the city walls could no longer stop all the "Huiyi Artillery" from advancing within two miles. A small number of enemy troops began to bombard the top of the Bekara city with boulders from the "Huiyi Artillery", and the Zhou army also began to suffer casualties.

In the next ten days, one million troops from other Star Religion countries arrived at the city of Bekara one after another. Seeing that the Samanid Dynasty had not yet conquered the city, they immediately joined the battlefield.

The Fourth and Eighth Corps, with their 200 "Yansu Cannons" and 500 Tiger Dun Cannons, killed the enemy very quickly, but they were caught in a tough battle facing an enemy force that was ten times their size.

Fortunately, the Huihui cannon invented by Ali was invented not long ago, and he considered it a secret weapon, so it was not possessed by other Xingjiao countries. There were only a few hundred Huihui cannons in Ali's army during the war, so the Fourth and Eighth Corps of the Longxiang Army survived by relying on the strong city.

After reading the memorial, Chai Zongxun pondered for a long time. The next morning at the court, the emperor and his ministers discussed countermeasures.

Chai Zongxun said solemnly:

"Under the instigation of the traitor Ali, the Star Cult world formed an anti-Da Zhou alliance led by the Samanid Dynasty. I have long predicted that this war is inevitable!

Today, after the expansion of the Longxiang Army of our Great Zhou the year before last, it has reached 1.6 million people. We have 1,000 "Yansu Cannons" in stock, and 5,000 "Tiger Dun Cannons" in stock. We can be said to have well-trained soldiers, sharp weapons and sufficient food!

This battle concerns the destiny of our Great Zhou for the next few hundred years, and will also determine the future world pattern!

I have decided to suspend the attack on Fuso and mobilize the whole country to deal with the Star Religion world. We will win this battle!"

The Prime Minister and Minister of War Zhang Qixian came out and said:
"Your Majesty is wise! You have foresight and foresee the future!
In the past "Battle of Talas", the Tang Dynasty was defeated and the Central Asian region was occupied by the Xingxing Sect. Now it is time for the Great Zhou Empire and the Xingxing Sect to decide who will win Central Asia!

Although Cao Bin's 4th Corps and Yang Ye's 8th Corps of the Longxiang Army are extremely brave and are defending the border city of Bekala with two corps, they may not be able to sustain long in the face of an enemy force ten times their size. We must send reinforcements as soon as possible!"

(End of this chapter)