Ch.104Occupation War (3)

“Hii…hiiik! To think the Mongols would invade all the way here…”

“I don’t want to die like this…”

“I barely escaped from Kucha only to die here…”

The people inside the walls fell into chaos at the sound of the Mongol warriors’ thunderous battle cries outside the city gate.

The nobles residing in Almaliq were naturally affected by this confusion as well.

“Must we die like this…?”

“Why isn’t the Emperor coming to save us?”

“To think my family would fall in my generation… *sob*… Ancestors… I’m sorry.”

The nobles wept and lamented.

They were well aware of the Mongols’ notorious reputation.

Gruesome rumors about throwing corpses during the conquest of Western Xia, or creating rivers of blood from the people they killed.

While these rumors were somewhat exaggerated, they were difficult to completely deny since they were based on actual Mongol actions.

Moreover, since those who witnessed these events firsthand often embellished them with their own experiences, fear of the Mongols could only grow stronger.

“I heard the Mongols spare those who surrender…”

“Yes, let’s surrender. I don’t want to be hanged on the city gates for resisting.”

Some nobles began suggesting surrender to the Mongols.

Again, these were local aristocrats with little loyalty to the central government.

“If only the governor would make the right decision…”

“Exactly. Why should we remain loyal to an emperor who won’t protect us?”

Khitan nobles who had come from the central government began to reproach them.

“How dare you betray the Emperor’s grace!”

“Can you still call yourself nobles of Great Khitan?”

“Ha! Then lead your private army to the battlefield yourself. I don’t want to die horribly resisting the Mongols.”

“If you want to fight, fight alone.”

The Khitan nobles had to keep quiet in the face of the Sogdian nobles’ retorts.

The truth was, they didn’t want to fight either.

It was clear that stepping forward when the central government offered no help would only lead to the destruction of their families.

Thus, the idea of surrendering to the Mongols began to gain traction among the nobles.

“This won’t do. I’ll go to the governor myself and plead for surrender.”

When one of Almaliq’s influential local nobles stepped forward, other nobles responded favorably.

The man quickly mounted his horse and headed toward the city wall where the governor was stationed.

Time passed after his departure.

While everyone was holding their breath and staring at the city wall, the gate suddenly opened.

“Has the gate been breached…?”

“Are we all going to die now…!”

While people trembled in fear, Mongol soldiers entered through the gate with calm expressions.

Then they looked around at the people and shouted loudly.

“I am Temujin, commander of the Yeke Mongol Ulus! I have accepted the surrender of this city’s commander! Now that I know you have no intention of resisting the Ulus, I will not harm you!”

A Sogdian merchant standing right next to Temujin immediately translated this.

Upon hearing the translation, the people of Almaliq began to cheer.

“We’re… we’re alive!”

“We’re alive! We’re alive!”

Just moments ago, people had been gripped by the fear of imminent death.

The terrifying cries of Mongol warriors outside the walls had been shaking their hearts.

People knew how cruel Mongol warriors could be, and they thought they were all dead if the gate was breached.

In such a situation, they couldn’t help but rejoice when the Mongol commander suddenly appeared and promised not to harm them.

“Phew…”

“Ancestors! I can preserve our family line!”

“Thank goodness… thank goodness!”

“The governor has saved us.”

Even the nobles were saying the governor’s decision to surrender was the right choice.

This was because they themselves had first approached the governor with the suggestion to surrender.

Because of this, no one could criticize the governor for surrendering to the Mongols.

People were rejoicing in their survival.

Watching this, Temujin clicked his tongue and looked at Bo’orchu.

“Your words were true.”

“Will you believe me now?”

Bo’orchu answered Temujin’s words with a slight smile.

Temujin nodded and praised his achievement.

“Thanks to you, our forces were able to capture Almaliq without a single casualty. I would like to reward you for this—would you accept?”

“Are you speaking to me?”

“Yes. This is separate from the compensation for the horse you requested earlier.”

At Temujin’s words, Bo’orchu looked at him with a surprised expression.

This was because most rulers were typically stingy with rewards.

But Temujin was different.

Not only did he keep his word, but he was also offering an unexpected additional reward for Bo’orchu’s accomplishment.

Rewarding good deeds and punishing bad ones—easy to say, but rarely practiced by leaders these days.

Despite his young age, Temujin knew how to win people’s hearts through clear rewards and punishments.

Bo’orchu couldn’t help but be impressed by Temujin’s actions.

“I gratefully accept your words. However, I would like to receive that reward later.”

“Later?”

“Yes. As a merchant, I prefer to let it accumulate and receive something greater later.”

“Hahaha! How much greater are you hoping to receive?”

“It’s more than a thousand li from Western Liao to the Western Regions. I plan to demonstrate my abilities thoroughly and receive multiple rewards along the way.”

It could have sounded arrogant.

But Temujin responded magnanimously, as if he could accommodate Bo’orchu’s ambition.

“Show me your abilities. I will pay the price each time.”

“That’s what I’ve been waiting to hear.”

Bo’orchu smiled and bowed to Temujin.

* * *

“…Thus, the vanguard led by Darughachi Toghrul has already reached the vicinity of the enemy capital.”

I couldn’t help but be greatly surprised by the messenger’s report.

This was because they had captured two fortresses in less than a week since the war began.

And these weren’t just any fortresses, but ones situated along the Charn Valley, which were as good as natural strongholds.

Moreover, this campaign wasn’t led by my anda Toghrul, but by my son Temujin.

Even though he had gained war experience through the Tatar campaign and the Ulus unification wars, he was still a child lacking in military experience.

But perhaps it was true that he was chosen by history—Temujin was continuing his conquest activities relentlessly, as if riding a winged horse.

“In the case of Almaliq, they conquered the city without battle by using strategy.”

The darughachis and commanders in the ger were greatly surprised at this.

Capturing a fortress without battle was something that only happened in Chinese novels.

Mongolia was a country far removed from words like strategy, intrigue, tactics, and schemes.

In such a situation, they couldn’t help but be surprised to hear that Almaliq had been captured through strategy.

“Truly worthy of being the son of Gurkhan.”

“Heaven is bestowing fortune upon the Ulus.”

“The Borjigin clan has once again proven its right to rule the world.”

The darughachis were speaking almost like fanatics.

Again, Mongolia had been blessed with luck. Not just once, but repeatedly.

Of course, even in original history, Mongolia was able to continue its conquest activities relatively smoothly due to various international political situations.

But the current Mongolia was far surpassing the original one.

Because of this, even those without faith were developing it.

“Everyone, calm down. Temujin’s military achievements are outstanding, but the war is not over yet.”

Despite my attempts to restrain them, the darughachis who had become fanatics could hardly come to their senses.

So I had to sigh and strike a pose.

“Hmph!”

“Ohhh…!”

“Yes. Muscles… the blessing of muscles…”

“Glorious muscles…!”

Words that seemed questionable were coming out of the darughachis’ mouths.

But they seemed to have received a great shock(?) from my front double biceps pose and quickly regained their senses.

“As expected of Gurkhan.”

I deliberately ignored Elunka’s burdensome, reverent gaze.

Then I looked at everyone and continued speaking.

“There is a high probability that news of our vanguard capturing Almaliq has already reached the enemy capital. If so, the enemy’s counterattack may become fierce. Therefore, we must move even faster.”

The darughachis nodded at my words.

Again, the key to this war was mobile warfare and occupation.

Whether Kuchlug seized power or the Emperor recovered it through a counterattack, we needed to bring all of Western Liao under control while their leaders were still disoriented.

For this purpose, I had dispatched Munglig to the west and Bulqa to the east.

With Temujin having reached Almaliq in this situation, we needed to move even faster.

Faster than now.

For this, we needed more troops.

But even if we divided the remaining forces into Mingghans as much as possible, it would be difficult to quickly occupy Western Liao.

This was because there was a limit to our forces.

Which meant,

“We will divide the troops deployed for occupation into smaller units.”

Elunka was greatly surprised at my words.

And he looked at me and carefully asked a question.

“The minimum operational unit size for our forces is currently the Mingghan. How much smaller do you intend to divide them?”

“Divide each Mingghan into ten units.”

The darughachis looked at me with surprised expressions.

Dividing a Mingghan into ten meant occupying Western Liao’s cities and villages with just Jaguns of a hundred men each.

“It could be dangerous if the enemy counterattacks, Khagan.”

I shook my head at Elunka’s restraint.

And I looked at everyone and shouted loudly.

“When we attacked the Tatars, the minimum unit we operated was the Arban. This is twice that size, so it shouldn’t be a major problem.”

“But Western Liao is not like the Tatars.”

“Western Liao is not the Tatars, indeed. They have fortresses and walls to stop us.”

Then I took a breath and continued.

“However! Not all villages have walls.”

Again, medieval cavalry were like tanks.

It wasn’t difficult for a hundred cavalrymen to occupy a village without walls.

So what was needed now was to give the darughachis confidence.

“My son Temujin also captured a fortress without casualties through strategy. This is something that the darughachis here can do as well.”

The darughachis nodded at these words.

If young Temujin could do it, so could they.

So I looked at everyone and made the sign of the cross.

“God, Tengri, and our ancestors protect us.”

The darughachis cheered at this.