The struggle of the reborn prince

The Western Expeditionary Army rested for ten days. After receiving supplies, the troops were divided into two groups. On one side, Gao Chong led two dragon cavalry brigades, a hunting cavalry brigade, a desert army, and artillery commanders, as well as the attached logistics team, to attack Beiting.On the other hand, Zhao Li, the supervising army, led two infantry brigades, two artillery commanders, and most of the auxiliary troops and supply detachments of various ministries stayed in Yanbo City to block the Western Liao army who came to help.Obviously, the strength of the two armies is very different.And everyone can see that the Gaochang army is weak, and the Xiliao army is the main opponent of the Xizheng army, but such a deployment of troops is really confusing.

However, this arrangement of troops was decided after discussions between Zhao Li and Gao Chong, because the emperor had said in advance that it is not appropriate to have an armed conflict with Xiliao during the battle against Gaochang, and should try to solve the problem peacefully, but Xiliao has force Provocative behavior can be resolutely counterattacked, but the intensity must be appropriate, leaving room for buffering.Zhao Tong's consideration is based on the current situation. Xiliao is on the edge of Central Asia and is the bridgehead to enter West Asia, but at the moment West Asia is ruled by the Seljuk Dynasty...

The Seljuks belong to one of the four major tribes of the Turkic Oghuz Tribal Alliance. They first lived in the Kyrgyz grasslands of Turkestan and were named after their chief Seljuk.Around the middle of the tenth century, Seljuk led his nomadic tribes to move westward to the Zhande area in the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, where they were incorporated into the border guards of the Samanid Dynasty, settled near the city of Bukhara, and converted to Islam.Later, taking advantage of the foreign wars and internal strife of the Ghaznavid dynasty, it expanded its power and gradually rose.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty, Tughrul, the grandson of Seljuk, led his troops across the Wuhu River to the west, and seized Mulu and Neishapur, the territories of the Ghaznavid dynasty.Later, in the decisive battle of Dandankan, the Seljuk army defeated the Ghazni army and even conquered several cities.Occupy the entire territory of Khorasan.Tughrul set up the capital Neshapur and established an administrative agency.Self-proclaimed "Baker".After the establishment of the regime, its leaders continued to march westward.It annexed Media, occupied Lai and Hamadan, and moved its capital here after capturing Isfahan. Twenty years later, he conquered Azerbaijan, where the feudal lords took land from the Seljuks.The following year, at the call of the Abbasid caliph Gaim, Tughrul led troops into Baghdad to dethrone the emir of the Bwehi dynasty, and was regarded by the caliph as his savior and protector.

Later, the Caliph was forced to give Tughrul the title of "Sultan".He was named the "King of the East and the West" and became the regent of the Caliph.From then on, all the power of the Abbasid dynasty was under the control of the Sultan, and the Caliph was only a symbolic religious leader.When Sultan Albu Ayerslan and his son Malik Shah were in power, the empire reached its heyday, with outstanding martial arts and martial arts.For decades, it occupied Ani, the capital of the Byzantine Armenian province, captured Aleppo, expanded its power to Jerusalem and Damascus, and recovered the holy lands of Mecca and Medina from the Fatimid dynasty.

This was followed by the Battle of Manzikat north of Lake Van.The Seljuk Empire defeated the Byzantine army, captured the Byzantine emperor Romanius Diogenes, and occupied the eastern part of Asia Minor.Since then, a large number of Seljuks have moved to Asia Minor.Islam spread in Asia Minor.At the end of the last century, Malik Shah moved the capital to Baghdad. At this time, the territory of the Seljuks started from Central Asia in the east and bordered Liao.It extends from Syria and Asia Minor in the west to the Arabian Sea in the south.As far north as Kiev on the Russian border, a powerful military feudal empire was formed.During Friday prayers.Put the name of Sultan alongside the Caliph and become the new master of West Asia.

After the successive deaths of Malik Shah and Nizam Mulek at the beginning of this century, the princes of the royal family fought for the throne, the royal family fought among themselves, the military and feudal lords of various places ruled the roost, and the Assassin tribe of the Ismaili sect occupied many fortresses in Persia and Syria. The dynasty army was attacked and assassinated, which led to the disintegration of the Seljuk Empire and the independence of the Roma Sultanate in Asia Minor.Afterwards, the empire split into many small Seljuk sultan dynasties centered on Baghdad, Damascus, Konya, Mosul, Diyarbakir and other cities. The melee among the dynasties weakened the ability to resist foreign enemies.

Although the Seljuk dynasty has been declining, the lean camels are bigger than horses, and they are still the overlords of West Asia.Ordinarily, whoever is weak and who is strong has nothing to do with the Song Dynasty who is thousands of miles away, but these Turkic people are still masters in 'business'.Whether it is joining forces with Persia or Byzantium, it has a very realistic purpose: to monopolize the Silk Road.They took advantage of the advantages and strong conditions of occupying the passage in Central Asia, plundered the silk, porcelain and jewelry that Eastern merchants trafficked to Central Asia, and used them to do business with Rome and Byzantium in order to obtain huge profits...

The Seljuk's business without capital caused great losses to the merchants of the Song Dynasty, and angered the emperor Zhao Tong, who was a fan of the Song Dynasty.Song Dynasty is now operating an export-oriented economy, stimulating the domestic economy through exports, increasing fiscal revenue, and alleviating the domestic economic crisis.Cutting off people's wealth is tantamount to killing their parents. What they did was tantamount to cutting off the wealth on the land road of the Song Dynasty. How could Zhao Tama swallow this breath.

In the past few years, Zhao Tun was busy rectifying the internal affairs, crusade against the Kingdom of Jin, and integrating all the forces around him, so he couldn't spare a moment to deal with them.The past few years have been different. Goryeo has surrendered, and the Kingdom of Jin can’t make any flowers. The business in Southeast Asia is also booming. Countries send envoys to the DPRK every year, so there are no more leaders in the east. You can turn your energy to the northwest, and if you want to punish the Seljuk Dynasty, you can't get around a strong enemy, that is, Xiliao, which is not very friendly to them, and even has old enemies.

In the past few years, the pace of Song's external expansion has been a bit fast, which has aroused the vigilance of neighboring countries, which of course includes Xiliao.At the beginning, the Song and Xia coalition forces helped Gaochang expel the Xiliao forces, which made Yelu Dashi feel uneasy. Once the Song Dynasty controlled Gaochang, then Xiliao would inevitably be a neighbor of a powerful country. Because of their interests, they tried their best to prevent the entry of the Song Dynasty forces, and did not hesitate to instigate Gaochang to make them fall into their arms again.

And Xiliao is no longer the panic-stricken bandit with only a few hundred people who was chased to nowhere by the Jurchens. Now they are already a regional power with a vast territory.Their emperor Yelu Dashi is undoubtedly a qualified ruler, not only a resolute character, but also a flexible wrist and a benevolent heart.His rule is extremely efficient, and he can become a model among rulers. He knows how to make progress, and he also knows how to recuperate.

Under the management of Yelu Dashi for more than ten years, all industries in Western Liao Dynasty prospered, the livestock were fat and strong, and the army was getting stronger and stronger at this time, and it was already invincible in Central Asia.The business travelers who come and go, and the common people who cultivate, are all extolling its prestige at this time.Although the Song Dynasty has become the most powerful country in East Asia at this moment, and its military and economic strength are far superior to those of Western Liao Dynasty, it is obviously not the best choice to fight against such a flourishing emerging empire. It will not only consume a lot of national power, but also consume There is one more powerful enemy on the way to the west.

Therefore, when Zhao Tun decided to advance westward, he did not treat Xiliao as an enemy, but hoped that they could become his allies in the westward advance.The reason is not only because Song and Liao had a century-old friendship, and he married a Khitan princess, but also because Khitan was deeply influenced by Han culture and the regime of the Central Plains.After the establishment of the Western Liao Dynasty, although it was located in the Western Regions, Yelu Dashi still imitated the old system of the Liao Kingdom, adopted the Han system, changed the era, and took Chinese as the official language, and did not abandon the tradition.

On the other hand, Song and Liao have a common potential enemy. Yelu Dashi is an ambitious monarch like Zhao Tun. He thought that even if he could not return to the East, he would spread the reputation of the Khitan people here and establish the Khitan people. The new great dynasty.Under the call of this great ideal, Dashi decided to go west to open up the new territory of the Khitan people. He set his goal on the declining West Kara Khanate, which was also a vassal state under the rule of the Seljuk Dynasty. It made it inevitable for them to fight the Seljuk Empire.

The facts also proved that Zhao Tun's judgment was correct.In the fourth year of Kangguo in the Western Liao Dynasty, the Liao army entered the Fergan Valley and traveled all the way west. It encountered the army led by the Great Khan Mahemu of the Western Kara Khanate near Kuzen. The two sides fought, and the Western Liao Army launched a fierce attack. , The Geluolu people, the main component of the Western Kara Khan Army, were unwilling to work for Mahemu, and dispersed one after another. In the end, Mahemu's army was completely defeated by the Western Liao Army.

Under the attack of Xiliao, the Western Kara Khanate was quickly defeated, and Mahemu led the remnants to flee back to the city of Samarkand.Panicked, he sent a letter asking for help to his master Seljuk Sultan Sanjar, begging his master to save his fate.In the letter, Mahemu played up the threat of Dashi to the utmost extent, saying that the kingdom encountered an unimaginable disaster.Ask Sanjar to fulfill the duty of the sword of Allah, gather Allah's warriors under the banner of the crescent moon, launch a new war, and defend his faith.

But at that time, the Sultan of Seljuk, Sanjar, was busy dealing with Khwarazmo, and had no time to take care of Mahemu. Khwarizmo was once also a vassal of the Seljuk, but at this time there was a rebellion under the rule of Ajisi The wave of the Seljuks caused Sanjar to suffer a lot. The Khwarizim army once invaded the city of Bukhara and executed the governor sent by Seljuk here.

However, Yelu Dashi did not take advantage of the victory to continue westward. In his mind, the time for a decisive battle with the Seljuk Dynasty had not yet come.After the Battle of Khuzen, the Xiliao army stopped to consolidate their newly captured lands in the Syr Darya Valley.But Dashi understands that the decisive battle with him will eventually come.He watched with cold eyes, waiting for that day to come, but this year finally made him wait, and Sanjar finally freed up his hands. He was going to have a showdown with Yelu Dashi, the ruler of Kara Khitan.Unfortunately, Da Song's army also arrived... (to be continued...)