Ch.184Middle East (6)

Baghdad was gradually emptying due to my orders.

With the people mobilized to move books and buildings, not many remained.

“It would be better to settle the Keriks here.”

I thought it would be better to make the Keriks the new residents of this place.

This made sense because they were settled people, making them suitable for producing the food needed for supplies while living here.

In Chinese terms, it was similar to the Tuntian system.

I was simply applying something like that Tuntian system to the entire massive city of Baghdad.

And I planned to settle an artificially created tribe there.

“I wonder if there are suitable people…”

At that moment, the door of the ger opened.

And my son Temujin entered.

“Great Gurkhan. The atabegs have arrived with the promised soldiers and supplies.”

“I see. Let’s go meet them.”

I put aside my wandering thoughts and got up.

Then I left the ger to greet the guests.

As I came out, I could see soldiers gathered in front of Baghdad.

In total, there were infantry forces that barely exceeded 10,000 men.

Most of them wore cotton armor and carried only a single spear as a weapon.

Seeing their shabby appearance, I looked at the atabegs.

“You have not properly followed my orders.”

The one who appeared to be the leader of the atabegs approached me.

After bowing, he began to explain the situation.

“I apologize, Great Gurkhan. This is all the military force we can mobilize right now.”

“That answer is not satisfactory. If you don’t explain properly, I will punish you before I punish the enemy.”

When I made this threat, the atabeg trembled slightly.

Then, bowing, he began to confess the truth.

“Before the Great Gurkhan arrived, there was a major civil war within the Seljuk realm. The atabegs were constantly at war trying to secure their interests.”

In other words, a Warring States period had been unfolding here.

Among them, the strongest powers were the Khwarazmian and Ghaznavid dynasties, which we had dealt with, so from their perspective, they had no chance of fighting and surrendered immediately.

Given their situation, they couldn’t possibly have proper soldiers.

While their explanation made some sense, I had no intention of being understanding of their position.

Seeming to understand my feelings, the atabeg immediately spoke.

“The first expeditionary force mobilization was inadequate due to hasty preparation. Next time, we will send proper soldiers. Please ease your anger.”

At his words, I nodded.

It had only been two weeks since I ordered them to mobilize troops for the expedition.

They couldn’t suddenly produce soldiers out of thin air.

This was something I could reasonably take into consideration, so I nodded.

“Very well. Since I have distributed the lands left by those who resisted in Hamadan among you, ensure this doesn’t happen with the next expeditionary force.”

“We will keep that in mind, Great Gurkhan.”

At those words, I gestured for the atabeg to rise.

The atabeg bowed again and returned to his original position.

Anyway, I had acquired 10,000 light infantry led by the atabegs.

I fell into thought about how to use them.

“…This might actually be better.”

I smiled as I looked at the light infantry.

* * *

“Move quickly!”

“Stack the cargo over there!”

Originally, I had planned to settle the Keriks here.

Instead, I decided to settle the soldiers sent by the atabegs in Baghdad.

The main reason for this decision was that they were lightly trained infantry.

In contrast, the Keriks were elite infantry with extensive war experience.

So naturally, I intended to leave the light infantry sent by the atabegs to guard this place while using them as labor to fortify it.

“With Baghdad’s people gone, it’s better to use these men.”

This could actually be advantageous.

If I had mobilized the people of Baghdad, they might have resisted.

But due to the assassin incident, they and all the intellectuals had been relocated to the Great Capital.

So Baghdad was empty, and Iranian soldiers would now live there.

Since the land was vacant, no one would complain if they occupied houses where others had lived.

The Iranian soldiers were also pleased about this.

From their perspective, supporting from the rear here was better than going to the battlefield.

“Are you planning to settle Iranian soldiers here?”

At Temujin’s question, I nodded.

Then I stretched out my hand and pointed to the city walls.

“We will further strengthen the defenses there.”

“You mean over there?”

“Yes. A strong wind will blow from that direction soon.”

At my words, Temujin tilted his head in confusion.

Seeing my son’s expression, I calmly looked in that direction.

Ayyub.

A hero of Islam who was still counted among the heroes of the Islamic world today.

This was because he was a prominent figure who had defended the holy land by defeating the Lionheart and the Dignified King.

Of course, it was largely due to the Lionheart returning to England due to internal problems when he was almost at death’s door from illness, but the result was that he had defeated them.

Anyway, Christian countries couldn’t do anything while Salah al-Din was around.

Given such a figure, it was good to be thoroughly vigilant.

“Since Father calls it a strong wind, I will prepare thoroughly.”

At Temujin’s words, I nodded.

Then I spoke to my son.

“The enemy is a person who employs excellent military tactics. How will you deal with such a person?”

At this, Temujin fell into thought for a moment.

Then he asked me a question.

“Does he have many people who can help him?”

“Few. They can be counted on one hand.”

Salah al-Din had many political enemies.

This was because he was not from a prestigious Islamic family but rather a general who had served under the Seljuk Turks.

Not many welcomed him.

That’s why the Nizari Ismaili state’s assassins had tried to kill him.

“Does he have many enemies?”

“Many enemies, both external and internal.”

“Then I would implement a strategy to isolate him.”

“Isolate him? In what way?”

“I would isolate him militarily, politically, and diplomatically. Once isolated, he would naturally become intimidated.”

“And what do you hope to gain from this?”

“An alliance.”

Temujin smiled as he spoke to me.

At his words, I wore a puzzled expression.

“Isolation followed by alliance? I think more explanation is needed.”

“If we isolate him, he will try to join hands with even former enemies to avoid isolation, whether diplomatically, militarily, or politically.”

This was only natural.

Even the Jin Dynasty had requested to pay tribute to us to avoid diplomatic isolation.

There was nothing good about being diplomatically isolated.

When surrounded by enemies, there was too much to worry about, and the national burden was too great.

My son Temujin saw through this precisely.

“However, there’s no guarantee he would join hands with us.”

“We are future adversaries, before our interests become entangled.”

Temujin’s words were accurate.

The Ulus and Ayyub had not yet engaged in any significant battles.

And there were no overlapping territorial interests yet.

Of course, if our forces advanced further into the Syrian region, interests would inevitably clash.

But the Ulus was now in Baghdad, in the modern-day Iraq region.

In this era’s terms, the Mashriq region was distant from Egypt and Syria governed by Ayyub.

So it would be difficult for him to see me as a complete enemy.

“Therefore, I wish to have a dialogue with him first.”

“And what do you hope to do after that?”

“If he truly is an outstanding hero, we should join hands and divide the lands we gain. If he is not such an outstanding person…”

Temujin wore the same cold expression as when he surrounded Baghdad.

And in a chilling voice, he murmured.

“The lands he rules will become ours.”

* * *

I decided to accept Temujin’s opinion.

The original plan was to conquer Egypt, produce food there, and project influence throughout the Mediterranean.

But this plan had to be put on hold for now.

This was because the Mongol naval power was still at an infant level.

“It will take at least five years… unnecessarily occupying Egypt and drawing Europe’s attention is not a good choice.”

In modern terms, drawing too much aggro was not good.

Therefore, as Temujin said, it was better to keep Salah al-Din alive as much as possible.

After all, he was destined to die soon.

When he died, the Ayyubid dynasty would essentially lose its power.

It wouldn’t be too late to send troops and annex it then.

The choice was ours.

So there was no reason to move hastily.

“If we form an implicit alliance with Salah al-Din, we’ll be completely at odds with Christianity, but…”

I smiled as I said this.

This was because I actually had another plan in mind.

By the Pope’s order, we were to conquer the infidels, but it wasn’t specified that the infidels had to be Muslims.

“Once the implicit alliance is formed, we will proceed directly to the Anatolian peninsula.”

There were infidels there.

A shameless country with an infidel emperor who dared to call himself the Eastern Roman Empire.

In Europe, there was only Catholicism.

The Orthodox Church shared the same roots as Catholicism but was clearly heretical.

Therefore, it became a target for the Crusades.

In actual history, the Crusaders had attacked the Byzantine Empire, caused its downfall, and established the Latin Empire.

This was what Enrico Dandolo, the Doge of Venice, did during the Fourth Crusade.

I was just planning to do it a little earlier.

“Khan of the Steppe, Emperor of the Middle Kingdom, and Basileus of the Eastern Roman Empire…”

No one in history had ever held such titles.

That’s why I intended to do it. The Ulus could make it possible.

The Mongols were destined to rule the world.

I was merely following that destiny to become the lord of the four seas.