Great Zhou Empire: Kill Zhao Kuangyin at the beginning

Chapter 454: Dunkhvor and the Battle (Special thanks to book friend tai1972 for 2 monthly tickets!)

Yang Ye laughed a few times and said:
“General Badas, because our two countries are allies, I would like to advise you to lead your army back home and not waste time here.

You Romans have a total of 300,000 troops. You have been attacking five states including Donkovo ​​for five or six years, but have not captured a single city. It is useless to continue fighting.

In consideration of the friendly relationship between our two countries, this governor will give your army 100,000 dan of grain as a gift for the return journey!"

Badas had seen a significant reduction in the number of Khwarezmian defenders in the past few months, and he guessed that Zalan Khan had mobilized a number of western front defenders to the capital city of Khoti to guard against the Zhou army.

Facing the Khwarezmian army whose strength was greatly reduced, Badas was becoming more and more confident that he could capture the five states of Donkhov.

At this moment, taking a look at the Zhou army on the top of the city, Badas saw that there were only a few tens of thousands of them. He couldn't help but look down on them. He was eager to make contributions to the country and win rewards from Emperor Basil II with high positions and generous titles.

Badass Road:

"General Yang, as the saying goes, 'A gentleman does not take away the good things of others.' My Roman Empire has been attacking the five states of Donkvo for several years and killed more than 100,000 enemies. Otherwise, how could your Great Zhou have invaded Khwarezm so easily?
I have decided on these five states. Please ask Commander Yang to hand them over to the Roman Empire, otherwise don’t blame me for being ruthless! "

Yang Ye smiled and said:

"Badas, you are the first person who dares to speak like this in front of my Great Zhou Longxiong Army!
For the sake of the alliance between our two countries, this governor will not bother with you for the time being.

Badasi, I will let you see the bravery of my Great Zhou army first. If you still insist on claiming the five states of Dunkwo, I will be at your service at any time!"

Yang Ye waved his hand, and dozens of Longxiang soldiers pushed a "Yansu Cannon" from the slope to the city wall and placed it securely.

The Roman soldiers had heard of the power of the Zhou Empire's firearms in recent years. Now, they saw for the first time that the Zhou army had launched such a huge weapon on the city wall, and they were all shocked.

Yang Ye said:
"Roman soldiers outside the city, watch out!
If it weren't for the Longxiang Army of our Great Zhou, how could Khwarezmia surrender after being defeated? If Zalan Khan doesn't withdraw troops from the western front, you won't be able to capture the five states of Donkwo even if you fight for another ten years.

This governor ordered you to withdraw your troops and return to your country because I don’t want you to die in vain under the firearms of my Great Zhou!

Now let me show you the power of the firearms of my Great Zhou Empire!"

Yang Ye immediately ordered his soldiers to aim and fire at the forest about 2 miles to the left of the city.

Several artillerymen adjusted the muzzle of the gun, fiddled with it for a while, then filled it with gunpowder, stuffed in the shell, and lit the fuse.

Under the gaze of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on and below the city walls, the fuse sparked all the way and burned into the gunpowder chamber of the cannon after a few seconds.

With a loud "bang", a huge black iron bullet flew out from the muzzle at a high speed, flew about two miles in the air, and hit a big tree in the forest.

With a loud bang, a big tree broke immediately after being hit by the bullet. The remaining force of the shell continued, and it knocked down or hit several big trees behind it one after another. For a while, branches fell like rain, birds and beasts were startled and ran away, dust was flying, and the sound was terrifying.

Yang Ye looked proudly at the hundreds of thousands of Roman soldiers who were stunned by the power of the artillery and said:

“If your Roman army takes over the five states of Donkwo by your own ability, then my Great Zhou Empire will not come to rob you for the sake of our alliance.

Now that Khwarezm was conquered by our Great Zhou soldiers at the cost of their lives, how can this governor hand over the five states to others? How can this be worthy of the brothers who died in the battle? !

This cannon is called "Yansu Cannon". It is a unique artifact created by the Royal Academy of Sciences at the order of His Majesty the Emperor of our Great Zhou. There are more than ten thousand of them in the army of our Great Zhou.

At this moment, there are hundreds of guns in my Eighth Corps. If you are not afraid of death, then don't listen to my advice and attack the city!" Badas was angry and afraid. He looked at the pale faces of the soldiers around him and knew how his flesh and blood could withstand such powerful artillery from the Great Zhou.
The densely packed "Roman phalanx" was the most disadvantageous formation when facing artillery.

Badas thought that his wish to be granted a title would be in vain, so he pointed at Yang Ye on the top of the city wall and said:

"Yang Ye, this is not that easy! When I return home, I will report to His Majesty the Emperor that you have disrespected the Roman Empire, undermined the alliance between our two countries, and attempted to provoke a war between our two countries!

At that time, an envoy will go to Bianjing to meet with your emperor and ask you for your crime!"

Badas turned his horse around and wanted to return to the center of the army.

Yang Ye on the top of the city wall felt relieved. It was the best thing that could happen if Bardas led the Roman army to withdraw.

Otherwise, if the two countries went to war, there would be casualties. If things got out of hand, Yang Ye was still worried that it would displease Emperor Chai Zongxun and lead to his punishment.

Yang Ye smiled and said:

"General Badas, this place is quite far from your Constantinople. I advise you to accept the food that my Great Zhou has given you before you leave! Otherwise, you will have to ask the court for food on your way back home, which will only increase the anger of your emperor.

Marshal Badas, don't feel that you owe me a favor! After returning to Constantinople, Marshal Badas will report me to your emperor!"

Badas was extremely angry, but then he thought again, things would be just as Yang Ye said. If he withdrew to the country without any achievement, it would make Basil II angry. If he had to ask the emperor for military rations on the way back, it would be difficult for him not to be blamed by Basil II.

Badas immediately bowed to Yang Ye on the top of the city wall, indicating that he accepted his gift of food.

Yang Ye smiled and waved his hand. A 10,000-man Longxiang Army waiting inside the city gate, fully armed and on high alert, escorted more than a thousand horse-drawn carriages full of bags of grain and opened the city gate and went out.

Seeing the city gate open, Badas and more than 100,000 Roman soldiers were slightly tempted. However, when they saw the tens of thousands of Great Zhou soldiers in full armor and mighty and majestic, and remembered the power of the artillery just demonstrated by the Great Zhou, Badas did not dare to take the risk after all.

After crossing the moat, the ten thousand Longxiong soldiers left the carriage team where they were and marched into the city in a line. The mountain-like city gate was then hung closed with chains.

Bardas led his soldiers to receive the food and then began to evacuate Donkovo. The Roman generals who attacked the other four states also received the order to evacuate from their commander Bardas soon after, and within two days, they all withdrew their troops to Rome.

On June 22, the 33rd year of Kaixi, Chai Zongxun received a memorial from Yang Ye on the front line of Khwarezm.

After reading the details, Chai Zongxun smiled and said:
"Yang Ye is indeed a loyal minister and a capable general!

I said that the Eastern Roman Empire could only take the five states of Donkovo, but I didn't expect that he would actually annex all five states to me!

Ha ha ha ha! "

Khwarezm has a long history, which can be traced back to the pre-Qin period in China.

It has an area of ​​1.8 million square kilometers and a population of 5 million. It was officially incorporated into Zhou Shi in the 33rd year of Kaixi of the Great Zhou Empire.

After the Great Zhou occupied it, it divided it into 52 prefectures, bringing the total number of prefectures in the country to more than 1,500.

(End of this chapter)