Chapter 14: The Savage Massacre of the City

A ferocious tiger can't hold a pack of hungry wolves.

- Han proverb

The Mongol army had always believed that if it wanted to fight its enemies, it must destroy everything about them, destroy their cities, burn their houses, slaughter their wives and daughters, exterminate their history and culture, and make their enemies never turn over.

That's what they think, and that's what they do.

The loss of the capital Samarkand meant that the Khwarazm Empire had become a leaderless beast. Straddling the banks of the Amu Darya River, the old capital and historic city of Urgench was a natural target for the next attack of the Mongol army.

Ali's third brother, named Ayyub, followed the troops to guard Urgenzi. He has a sturdy body, sunken eyes, a straight nose, and a thick beard, and is about 20 years old.

Ayyub stood atop the tall city walls, vigilantly watching the swarming Mongol invaders in the distance.

In July 1220, Genghis Khan's third son, Ögedei, led 50,000 Mongol soldiers and horses to besiege the beautiful and beautiful Urgench, the glorious city of the Khorezm Empire.

Urgench is the birthplace and base of the Khumezm Empire, across the Amu Darya River, with a long history and splendid culture, and a very high degree of civilization at that time, including tall and magnificent mosques, ingenious dwellings, and magnificent aristocratic gardens.

The Mongol army was adept at fighting decisive battles in the wilderness, and lacked effective methods to conquer the city, so they set up camp around Urgench, sending envoys to summon the city's inhabitants to surrender, and preparing for the siege.

Khorezm spent a great deal of money on strengthening the walls of Urgenzi and building strong fortifications. The famous general Khumar commanded an army of 110,000 men on the city walls, holding out day and night.

The Mongol army had nothing to do in the face of the impregnable wall of Urgench, and attacked continuously for more than six months without success, so it had to adopt the method of blockading Urgenqi, cutting off the food supply channels inside and outside the city, in an attempt to cause the Khwarazm army to run out of ammunition and food, and finally forced to surrender out of the city.

The defenders of Urgenzi adopted mobile and flexible tactics. Ayub took advantage of the Mongol army's lack of attention and suddenly led his warriors out of the city gate to attack them. When the enemy came after him, Ayub quickly returned to the city and closed the gates, standing on the city wall to mock and ridicule the Mongol soldiers, and the Mongol soldiers were furious.

The defenders of Ayyubid and Khorezm persisted in a defensive battle for more than seven months, costing the Mongol army dearly.

In the spring of 1221, the Mongol army captured a large number of Khorezm captives and forced them to fill in the trenches near the city walls, clear them of obstacles in their path, and dig tunnels leading to the city on dark and windy nights.

After the siege equipment was ready, the Mongol army first sent a vanguard into the tunnels, quietly infiltrated the city of Urgench, and set fire to the barracks of the Khorezm defenders.

Ayub saw the smoke and flames rising from the barracks, and immediately organized soldiers to extinguish the fire.

The Mongol army took the opportunity to launch a full-scale offensive on Urgenzi. They destroyed the castle using siege engines they had learned to make, and stormed the neighborhoods of Urgench.

The soldiers and civilians of Urgench, under the leadership of General Kumar, swore to die and stubbornly resisted the Mongol invaders, forcing the Mongol army to turn to street fighting.

The Mongol army sent 3,000 soldiers to sabotage the bridge over the Amu Darya River in an attempt to cut the city into small pieces and encircle them.

Ayub took the initiative to ask General Kumar for battle, and led the city protection daredevils to annihilate all 3,000 Mongol soldiers, fighting a beautiful victory in an extremely difficult situation, and boosting the morale of the vast number of Khorezm officers and soldiers to kill the enemy bravely.

The Mongol army broke through the barrier and fought all the way to the tent of General Khumar's command.

Ayub rushed out of the tent and desperately slashed the Mongol soldiers besieging General Khumar, fending off the poisoned arrows with his body. His body was covered in arrows, but he still fought valiantly. In the end, Ayub was seriously injured, vomited blood from his mouth, and died a heroic martyr.

After seven days of fierce fighting, all 110,000 defenders of Urgench died heroically. The walls and trenches were littered with the corpses of young soldiers. The bright red blood merged into a piercing river that flowed across the land of the Empire.

After the Mongol army captured the city of Urgen, they first captured young women, children, and artisans for their own use, and then brutally slaughtered the rest of the civilian population. Feeling still resentful, they dug the embankment of the Amu Darya River, causing the surging water to flood Urgench, drowning hundreds of thousands of people in the city and turning Urgench into an ocean.

A bustling, historic city has since disappeared from the face of the earth.

The fall of Urgench marked the capture of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya darya, the central areas of the Khwarazm Empire, by the Mongol army.

At the same time, Genghis Khan and his youngest son Tulei led the Mongol army and the Thamach army, a secondary army composed of Khorezm prisoners, to evacuate Samarkand and rapidly advance to Barihei (present-day Balkh, Afghanistan) and other places in southern Central Asia in search of the fugitive Khorezm king Aladdin Mahamat.

The Mongol army rushed forward with thousands of troops and horses around Genghis Khan. Genghis Khan's righteous son, the captain of the Great Khan's guard, Badr, followed Genghis Khan closely and conscientiously fulfilled his duty to defend the Great Khan.

Ali rode on a white horse and followed the large army behind. His melancholy eyes stared at the distance ahead, and he couldn't help but lament in his heart: I wonder how many more ordinary people of Khorezm will be slaughtered?

In the south of the upper reaches of the Amu Darya River, Barihei is a historical city in the northwest of Afghanistan, at that time it was the hub of transportation and trade in Central Asia, South Asia and West Asia, with an important strategic position and prosperous commerce, and was the center of metal manufacturing, especially famous for bronze objects inlaid with gold and silver. From the third to the second century BC, Barikhei was once the capital of Bactria, founded by the Greeks.

The inhabitants of Barikhe were lucky enough to think that the Mongol army was far away from their city, and that they would stay there for a long time if they captured the capital of the empire, and that Barikhe would be peaceful.

On this day, the weather was fine and sunny, and the residents walked out of the city gates to go wild in the nearby woods and meadows. Adults spread bright carpets on the river beach in the suburbs, put tea and dried fruits, and sat around happily chatting and entertaining. Children chase and frolic in the woods.

A man walks into the rubble when he suddenly notices a yellowish cloud floating on the horizon in the distance. He looked at the branches around him with alarm, and found no wind blowing, and immediately sensed that the situation was not good, and turned and shouted to the joyful people: "Oh no, the Mongols are coming!" Hurry back to the city! ”

The residents on vacation were in a state of confusion and let out a cry of terror, and men, women, and children ran back to the black city of Barry.

The Mongol army galloped to the city in the blink of an eye.

Looking at the Mongol army that was oppressive, the inhabitants of Barihei had already been terrified. In order to avoid the catastrophe of the massacre of the people, the citizens elected the Grand Mullah, the most prestigious mosque in the city, as the representative of all the citizens, and went out of the city gate to surrender to the commander of the Mongol army, Tulei, and swore allegiance to the Great Mongolia.

Tuo Lei is not very old, but he is brave and good at fighting, and his heart is as strong as steel. He was overjoyed to see such a satisfactory result, and immediately rode over to ask his father, King Genghis Khan, whether he would accept the surrender of the citizens of Barihe.

Genghis Khan pondered for a moment, looked at his son with sharp eyes, and then asked, "Our goal is to continue tracking down the abominable Mahama." If you leave behind a populous city, imagine what will happen? ”

Clever and clever, he immediately replied, "They may one day rebel against us and quietly stab us in the back." It will be the saddest day of our Great Mongolia. ”

Genghis Khan stroked his beard lightly, grinned and said, "Spring shoots, autumn fruits." The toothless wolf cub has finally grown up. ”

Hearing his father's compliment, Tuo Lei said happily: "I will immediately go and organize the battle." ”

Unexpectedly, Genghis Khan shook his head lightly and said, "Why fight against the people of Limin? So tell them that we, the Great Mongols, accept their surrender. Our troops were stationed outside the city, and only one group was sent into the city to count the population. Then ......"

Genghis Khan made a meaningful gesture of beheading.

Tuo Lei immediately understood, and rode back to arrange the arrangement.

Barry's dark sky was getting darker.

After a busy day, Ali cleaned up the tableware, lifted the curtain and walked out of the camp, wanting to move around the neighborhood alone to relieve the depression in his heart.

Suddenly, he heard a mournful cry coming from the direction of the Black City of Barry.

Didn't Genghis Khan accept the surrender of the inhabitants of the city? Why kill people?

Ali hurried to the gate of Barry Black Castle, only to find the gate open but unattended. He looked into the city, and saw many houses burning and smoking, and the streets were full of people who were fleeting.

Ali ran into the city gate in order to find out what happened, and only then did he see a group of Mongol soldiers rushing around brandishing sharp knives, and saw the panicked residents waving their swords.

The streets of Baribhei were littered with the corpses of men, women, and children.

Ali watched as the unarmed remnants of the empire died one by one at the hands of the Mongol soldiers, slaughtered like cattle and sheep in the market. His body was shaking violently. Tears and blood flowed from his young heart. He felt immense anger, helplessness, helplessness, and deep sadness.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar figure, and when he looked closely, it turned out to be Badr with a sharp knife.

Badr also recognized Ali. He was stunned at first, then strode over, saw something in Ali's face, and told Ali in a deep voice: "You, you are not allowed to come to such an occasion in the future, you know?" ”

Ali stammered in the Mongolian language he had just learned, "Captain Badr, they are innocent citizens, and they have already surrendered, so why do they want to kill them all?" ”

Badr replied solemnly: "In the eyes of our Mongols, they are a bunch of pure thugs, enemies that we can never forgive. Is it wrong for a brave warrior to destroy a wicked enemy? ”

Ali was speechless, and had to silently withdraw from Barry Black Castle with grief and indignation. He clutched tightly in his hand the pebble he had picked up on the banks of the Zeravshan.

The next morning, when the Mongol army was collecting its accounts, Ali was horrified to find that the Barihe, which had been a considerable building yesterday, had been reduced to a pile of ashes.

Ali looked at the large black and red ruins with resentment, and couldn't help but think of his father, mother, and all his relatives. Unbeknownst to him, his parents, his third brother Ayub and Uncle Ahmed, were long gone.

Seeing Ali's sad face, Badr reminded him solemnly: "You are now an errand of the Great Mongol Empire, and you are no longer a subject of Sartaul. You must not sympathize with them, or you will be a shameful traitor to our Great Mongolia. Let's go. ”

Ali followed the Mongol forces and continued on their way.

Subsequently, Genghis Khan and Tulei led the Mongol army to conquer the cities of Tarihan (present-day Taligan, Afghanistan), Setermi (present-day northern Termez, Uzbekistan)), and Yeli (present-day Herat, Afghanistan).

The vast empire of Khoartzm started with military affairs, so the country is full of castles, which are easy to defend and difficult to attack. In order to solve this problem, Genghis Khan learned and applied it before the siege of the city, and formed an engineering group composed of prisoners, which played a huge role in his own siege of the city.

In addition to using their previous weapons such as bows and arrows, spears, and darts, the Mongol soldiers also learned to use Khorezm's lightweight, sharp looping knives, which they used to slaughter their owners and makers.

Genghis Khan's favorite grandson, Chagatai's son, Mu'a Khdgan, was killed by an arrow during the attack on Van Yan (present-day Bamiyan, Afghanistan), which broke Genghis Khan's heart into eight pieces.

When the Mongol army captured the city of Fanyan, Genghis Khan immediately ordered that not a single person be pardoned, not a single thing should be taken, all the citizens and livestock should be killed, and the hateful city should be destroyed.

The Mongol soldiers, who had received the order, went on a killing spree and slaughtered all the citizens of Van Yanbao without mercy.

The devastated city of Van Yanburg has since been renamed the Ominous City, uninhabited and lifeless for decades, and even wild animals are too strong to approach it because of the smell of blood.

Genghis Khan's son-in-law, Tokhtchar, was killed by Khorezm's army under the city of Neshapur in present-day Iran.

Genghis Khan's daughter, in order to avenge the grief of losing her husband and the hatred of the loss of her brother-in-law, gathered Mongol armies from all walks of life and frantically attacked the city of Neshapur.

The soldiers and civilians of Khorezm, who defended the city, had a premonition that the Mongol army would wait for an opportunity to retaliate, so they raised their vigilance and took strict precautions, and set up 3,000 crossbow machines and 500 stone engines on the city wall, ready to strike at the invading enemy.

The Mongol army could not conquer Neshapur for a long time, so they had to retreat to find a good solution. They ordered the Khwarazm craftsmen to build 3,000 crossbow machines, 300 stone engines, 700 oil projectors, 4,000 ladders, and 2,500 cannon stones, and attacked the castle fiercely, and also used a flame thrower to throw the deadly Greek fire into the castle, and finally breached the Neshapur gate.

After entering the city, the Mongol army killed all the citizens in sight. In order to prevent someone from pretending to be dead and defrauding, Tuo Lei ordered all the dead people's heads to be cut off, and built three tall human head towers according to men, women, and children.

On the blood-stained corpses of Neshapur soldiers and civilians, a pair of dead eyes glared at the brutal Mongol soldiers.

When Genghis Khan and Tuo Lei led their army to attack the city of Mulu (present-day Mare, Turkmenistan), they encountered stubborn resistance from the soldiers and civilians in the city.

The tow mines, which have been tempered by the Great War, have become smarter and smarter each time. He was not in a hurry to attack the city in an all-out way, but sent heavy troops to surround Mulu City, and sent small forces to attack and harass in turn day and night, so that the soldiers and civilians in the city were exhausted, and then threw Greek fire into the castle to cause a fire, taking advantage of the chaos in the city to break through Mulu City.

Tuo Lei sat high on a chair inlaid with gold, proudly crossed Erlang's legs, holding a war knife in his right hand and wine in his left hand, smiling as his soldiers savagely slaughtered hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children in Mulu City.

During these shocking days, Ali witnessed the atrocities of the Mongol army every day, and his brain, which had long enjoyed a sense of peace, was severely stimulated, and his young mind was also cast a thick shadow. He was reluctant to touch others, nor did he want to speak, and often hid alone in the corner of the military tent in a daze.

Ali was puzzled: where is justice and conscience? Where are the gods who preside over justice and conscience? Is the peace and tranquility we pray for daily in the hands of the gods, or by the Mongol invaders?