Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 452: Destroying Khwarezm (Special thanks to book friend 2020…8285 for two monthly tickets!)

On June 22, the 33rd year of Kaixi, the memorial reporting that Yang Ye's Eighth Corps had conquered the Khwarezmian capital of Khotan was delivered to Emperor Chai Zongxun.

In October of the 32nd year of Kaixi, Yang Ye bypassed the Khwarezmian army stationed on the border, entered the country from the wilderness and launched a surprise attack on the city of Ketim.

Although the Khwarezmian general Muhammad had an army of 200,000, his combat effectiveness was far inferior. He only dared to harass the Zhou army along the way but could not stop its march.

The Eighth Corps "borrowed food" from the people of Khwarezm along the way, and in mid-November of the 32nd year of Kaixi, it surrounded the city of Khotan.

Although surrounded by an army of 400,000 inside and outside the city of Khwarezm, the Eighth Corps relied on the power of weapons such as the "Yansu Cannon" that transcended this era to attack the city for half a year and finally captured the city of Kotte on April 17, the 33rd year of Kaixi.

In this battle, more than 200,000 of the 400,000-strong Khwarezmian army were annihilated, and after the city was captured, more than 100,000 troops fled in all directions.

The Khwarezmian King Zalan Khan originally wanted to break out from the west gate with his concubines and royal family members, followed by 50,000 imperial guards, and flee to several states in the west that were at war with the Eastern Roman Empire. However, after fighting for a long time, the soldiers suffered heavy casualties and were surrounded by the Zhou army.

In desperation to save his life, Zalan Khan had to surrender.

Yang Ye led his army into the city of Koti. While sending troops to clear out the remnants of the enemy forces inside and outside the city, he sent the military supervisor eunuch Wudesi to the palace to count the treasury. He immediately took Zalan Khan to the palace and drafted an edict to the five western states of Khwarezm that were at war with the Roman Empire, ordering the military generals to hold the city and wait for the Great Zhou army to come and surrender.

Chai Zongxun's edict only tolerated the territories seized by the Eastern Roman Empire, with the upper limit being the five warring states in the west of Khwarezm.

Yang Ye was now leading the Eighth Corps and personally braving the arrows and stones. He knew full well how difficult it was to destroy Khwarezm. This victory was achieved at the cost of the sacrifices of thousands of soldiers, and he did not want the Eastern Roman Empire to take away even a single state.

After hearing this, Zalan Khan hesitated for a moment, then bowed to Yang Ye and said:

"Commander-in-Chief Yang, I will follow your orders and order the 200,000 troops from the five western states to persist in the resistance.

But now that I have surrendered sincerely, can Governor Yang guarantee the lives of me and my family in front of Your Majesty?"

Yang Ye pondered for a moment, thinking about the character of Emperor Chai Zongxun and the possible ways to deal with Zalan Khan, and said:
"Don't worry, Zalan Khan. As long as you cooperate with me to quickly conquer the entire territory of Khwarezm, I will do my best to make suggestions to the Emperor of the Great Zhou on your behalf!

"With your majesty's wisdom, bravery, benevolence and love for the people, you will definitely be able to show mercy to you! I won't say that you will definitely be made a duke or a marquis, but I will definitely be able to save your family's wealth and lives!"

Zalan hesitated for a long time and still couldn't believe it.

Yang Ye was anxious to gain control of the overall situation of Khwarezm as soon as possible. He also had to repay the people's food and grass that he had "borrowed" during the march. His temper surged up, and he said:

"I will use my life as a guarantee to beg His Majesty to spare your family! Zalan Khan, please stop fussing. If the five western states fall to the Roman Empire, I will not be able to save you even if I want to!"

Zalanhan was relieved after hearing what Yang Ye said. He gritted his teeth and said:
"Okay! I believe that Commander Yang is a man of his word and will not lie to me!"

Zalan Khan immediately took the imperial paper from the palace, wrote a royal edict to the commanders of the five western states, ordered the eunuchs to make several copies, and immediately sent the Khwarezmian imperial guards on horseback to convey the edict.

After Yang Ye finished his current tasks, he also wrote a memorial detailing the current situation and sent someone on horseback to Bian Jing to report to Emperor Chai Zongxun.

Seeing the guards quickly walk out of the hall, Yang Ye sighed and thought:

"For your majesty and for the benefit of our Great Zhou, I can only do my best. Your majesty is wise and never kills indiscriminately. Zalan has made great contributions in conquering the territory of Khwarezm, so that our army no longer needs to compete with the Eastern Roman Empire for territory. Your majesty should spare Zalan and his family.

If Your Majesty wants to punish or even kill Zha Lan because he is a country of the Star Religion, then I will die with him to prevent people from saying that I, Yang Ye, am a dishonest and cunning person!"

Six days later, on April 23, the envoys sent by Zalan Khan arrived at the five western states and read the king's edict to the generals in command.

The Khwarezmian generals discussed the matter for a long time. On the one hand, compared with the Roman Empire, the Zhou army had a reputation for strict military discipline. Even the hostile Star Sect countries, which had been at war with the Zhou for several years, were aware of this.

The Great Zhou Dynasty never killed non-resisting civilians or surrendered soldiers. This was completely different from the Eastern Roman Empire army which would massacre people and rape women after conquering a city.

Secondly, Zalan Khan was the king of Khwarezm after all. Although the capital had been conquered by the Zhou army, the Khwarezmian generals who led the army to guard the five western states were naturally Zalan Khan's confidants and could be entrusted with important tasks.

Although Khwarezm had actually been destroyed at this time, the power of Zalan Khan was still there, so the generals of the five states finally obeyed the king's will and defended the city to wait for the Zhou army.

Three days after Yang Ye entered Keti City, the eunuchs who supervised the army had counted the spoils seized from the Khwarezmian treasury:

There were more than 1.2 million dan of grain, more than 7 million taels of silver, more than a thousand rare treasures, and more than 1,500 beauties in the palace.

Yang Ye immediately took out the secret decree from Emperor Chai Zongxun and requested the eunuch in charge of the army to immediately allocate sufficient food and money to him in order to repay the food he had "borrowed" from the people of Khwarezm.

When the eunuch supervising the army saw that it was indeed the emperor's edict stamped with the "Imperial Seal", and knowing that Yang Ye had a hot temper, he did not dare to neglect it. He immediately ordered the soldiers of the Wude Division to meet with the soldiers of the Longxiang Army to collect food and money, and it was done that same day.

The next day, Yang Ye sent a team of a thousand people to escort the food and money back along the way they came, and to repay the people one by one according to the IOUs written that day.

As for the cattle, sheep and the like that were inconvenient to repay, the people were compensated with silver according to the market price in Khwarezm.

After more than ten days of reorganization by Yang Ye, the law and order in Kote City were greatly enforced, and almost all the prefectures in Khwarezm surrendered as soon as they saw the Zhou army carrying the king's edict. It can be said that the situation was extremely smooth.

On April 29th of the 33rd year of Kaixi, Yang Ye was overjoyed when he received a reply from the commander of the five western states of Khwarezm agreeing to surrender to the Great Zhou.

He left Wang Gui's troops of the Third Army and a small part of the artillery to guard the city of Keti, and he himself led 60,000 troops of the Second Army, equipped with a thousand tiger squat cannons and four hundred "Yansu cannons", to go to the five western states to accept surrender.

All the soldiers in the army were puzzled.

During a break for lunch, the First Army Commander said:

"Grand Commander, now the five states in the west of Khwarezm have agreed to surrender to our Great Zhou. Our army only needs to go there to accept the surrender. I believe their king is already in my hands, and these Khwarezmian generals dare not play any tricks.

Why bring so many artillery pieces to the battle?"

The Second Army Commander Hu Yanbiqiu also said:

"Yes! The Grand Commander can just send one of my generals or the commander to lead an army to the five western states to accept the surrender. Why does the Grand Commander need to personally lead the army with heavy troops and artillery?"

(End of this chapter)