Chapter 625 Where Did the Invaders Come From?

【60,000 to 20,000, I won’t say that I have the advantage.

But in the end, Khwarezm was defeated and couldn’t even withstand the first wave of Mongolian attack.

If it weren’t for the timely rescue by Muhammad’s eldest son, Jalaluddin, Muhammad himself would have been almost captured.

The Mongolian commander Jochi was worried that Khwarezm would have reinforcements, and the Western Liao Dynasty had not been completely destroyed at that time, so after breaking the Khwarezmian army, he chose to set fire to the camp and retreat to Temujin’s headquarters.

As a result, two years later, the Western Liao Dynasty was destroyed. Muhammad couldn’t help but take a bite of the fat meat in front of him, and occupied a lot of the original territories of the Western Liao Dynasty, which led to disputes between the two sides over interests.

As a powerful lord who could unify the grassland, Temujin himself has always been proud of his ruthlessness and ruthlessness. He is a man who will not suffer any loss even if he bites a dog. How could he allow Khwarezm to jump around like this?

After destroying the Western Liao Dynasty, Temujin wrote to Muhammad with sincerity:

I know you are powerful and you have many territories, so I am willing to talk to you nicely, after all, "I regard you as my own son".

I personally guess that Temujin may have read the Romance of the Three Kingdoms before writing this letter, and misunderstood the idea of ​​having a son like Sun Zhongmou, and came up with a real-life version of having a son like Muhammad.

No one knows whether Muhammad himself was disgusted or not, after all, Khwarezm was swept into the garbage dump of history by Mongolia.

Soon after writing the letter, Temujin entered Khwarezm under the banner of revenge for the caravan envoys.

Were there spies in the Mongolian caravan that was killed at that time? Most likely there were, because the timing of Mongolia's entry into Khwarezm was perfect.

The huge territory that Muhammad expanded in just five years brought equally huge management difficulties. In addition, Muhammad's mother, Queen Mother Tuerhan, was extremely fond of interfering in government affairs. She even forced her son to abandon the position of crown prince because she did not like her eldest grandson Jalaluddin, and replaced him with her beloved grandson who was very pleasing to her.

If Muhammad was given another five years, he might be able to sort out the annexed territories and find a balance between the internal conflicts in the family, but the Mongols would not give him this time.

In 1219, Mongolia officially went to war with Khwarezm. Muhammad chose to deploy defenses on the Syr Darya River, but was soon penetrated by the Mongolian army. The generals died in battle one after another and were unable to save the situation. Muhammad chose to flee westward and eventually died of illness on an unknown island in the Caspian Sea.

At this point, the Mongolian army was divided into two parts. Muhammad's eldest son Jalaluddin resolutely resisted and retreated southward, which led Temujin to personally lead the army to pursue and eventually enter India.

Subutai and Jebe were ordered to pursue Muhammad, but they did not see any trace of him along the way. They eventually crossed the Caucasus Mountains, entered the land of the Kipchaks, and defeated the coalition of the Russian princes in Kiev, and finally the garrison returned.

In 1225, Genghis Khan, who ended his first Western Expedition and returned to Mobei, believed that the time had come to destroy the Jin Dynasty.

When the Mongols had already broken through the city of Yanjing and entered Hebei, Temujin once again launched a war to destroy the Jin Dynasty in the name of Jin Xuanzong's failure to keep his promise and fleeing south privately. 】

"This... How can the area be so vast?"

Zhu Yuanzhang watched the very detailed map shrinking, and even the Yangtze River and the Yellow River could only be vaguely seen. Now the entire territory of the Ming Dynasty has become two palm-sized places at the easternmost part of the map.

And then the few strokes extending from the map and the simple color changes outlined the Western Expedition of the Hu Yuan for him.

Extending all the way west from Mobei, it first entered the Western Liao Kingdom, and then the words of Western Liao disappeared, and the vast land became the same color as Mongolia.

Then several lines branched out and pointed directly to Khwarezm. After a fierce collision around the place called Samarkand, the line representing Mongolia was divided into two again.

One part went south, chasing the name of Zhalantin.

One part went west, passed the Great Lake of Narihai, and then went to the distant Tatars, and finally circled back.

Empress Ma seemed a little unsurprised, and even had a look of sudden realization in her eyes:

"The records of the Hu Yuan Dynasty are actually true, how can their traces be more than ten thousand miles away?"

Zhu Yuanzhang still couldn't hide the surprise on his face:

"The records didn't say that the land in all directions is so vast."

"At the beginning, I should have read more. Although I am determined to restore China, the Hu Yuan Dynasty will last for a hundred years after all, and it can also be used as a reference for governing the country."

As Empress Ma said this, her face became serious:

"But you always read the books of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty hastily, otherwise you wouldn't be like this now."

Speaking of this, the emperor begged for mercy immediately:

"It's not that I can't read it, it's just that the name of Hu Yuan is too hard to remember, and it's said that there are brother countries in the far west... Then why didn't you come to rescue his country when it was destroyed? It may not be true..."

Seeing his wife's half-smile, he could only wave his hand helplessly again:

"Okay, if it's true, it also shows that Hu Yuan can't govern this vast territory, and it's useless for us to think about it."

Empress Ma was also helpless immediately:

She was born in a humble family and ruled the world, and she was proud every time she thought of it.

But perhaps because she suffered too much in her early years, on the one hand, she did not hesitate to abolish the position of prime minister this year in governing the country, and took charge of all state affairs, big and small, without sparing herself.

On the other hand, she was very stubborn and insisted on her own opinions on things that she could not see any benefits at the moment.

"Then aren't you worried that in a hundred years, there will be another barbarian like the Mongols coming from the west and wreaking havoc on the Central Plains?"

"But they have to get through the two passes of Beiping and Guanzhong first."

Zhu Yuanzhang was very confident when he talked about this matter:

"Didn't the young man just say that even if Genghis Khan came in person to surround the three armies, he couldn't do anything to the strong city of Beiping."

"Then isn't there gunpowder that this person is talking about?"

Empress Ma remembered clearly:

"Gunpowder... I remember that the army also called the things used in firearms as fire powder. There has also been a saying of powder since ancient times. Maybe it refers to this thing."

"Eighty-eight, think about it, if the power of the general is ten times greater, can Beiping still be safe?"

Firearms were not rare in the Ming army. Empress Ma knew that her husband was very fond of the power of this thing. The army even divided it into generals, second generals, and generals who seized the gate according to their styles and powers.

But... "Can the general be ten times more powerful? But the military craftsman told us that the general is now extremely difficult to make. Ten casts may not make one. How can it be more powerful?"

Zhu Yuanzhang remained cautious and skeptical.

Empress Ma was not annoyed, and spoke in an orderly manner:

"When King Wu defeated King Zhou in Muye and broke through the battle array with chariots, did he ever think of the elite cavalry in the Han and Tang dynasties who covered the battle array with armor?"

"When Li Weigong attacked on a snowy night, did he ever think of the sharp weapons of firearms nowadays, which soldiers can operate in a few months and can break the elite troops?"

"You have told me about the changes in military equipment before."

"Why do you think there will be nothing more powerful than firearms in the future?"

Hearing that the queen used his previous sigh to reply, Zhu Yuanzhang was speechless.

"What's more..."

Empress Ma couldn't believe it either, staring at the map carefully and asking questions:

"There are dangerous passes in Guanzhong and Hebei, but what if the invaders come from the sea?"