Ch.192Anatolia (3)

# Temujin led his soldiers forward.

Then he gave orders to Jamukha, his anda and right-hand man.

“The enemy is Qutb al-Din, the firstborn of the Sultanate of Rum. Though he was defeated by the Crusaders, we shouldn’t underestimate his military talents.”

“Ha! Are you saying I should fear someone who was defeated by Westerners?”

“Exactly.”

“Tch.”

Jamukha frowned at Temujin’s words.

Seeing this, Jelme approached and patted Jamukha’s shoulder.

“You should be worried, Jamukha.”

Jelme had begun addressing Jamukha as a friend.

This was because Jelme had achieved the greatest merits in all the battles fought so far.

Because of this, Jelme now enjoyed more of Temujin’s trust than Jamukha did.

Even the army trusted Jelme more than Jamukha, so Jamukha couldn’t say anything in response to Jelme’s behavior.

The Ulus was strictly a meritocracy.

Jamukha had no choice but to acknowledge that he had fallen behind in objective ability, not in status or background.

But he had no intention of accepting it.

“You’re right, but this time I’ll prove with results that I was right.”

Temujin and Jelme nodded at this.

Since Jamukha said he would show them something, there was no need to provoke him further.

“But I’d prefer if you didn’t question my methods.”

Jamukha said this while looking at Temujin.

Temujin shrugged and replied.

“As you wish. The Gurkhan said we could use brutal methods.”

Jamukha smiled with satisfaction at this.

Then he ordered his soldiers to bring wheels.

“Wheels? What are you planning?”

“I’m going to instill a deep fear of the Ulus in their minds. My anda.”

“You’re mistaken about something. This clearly…”

“I know it only applies to Qutb and his soldiers. I can make that distinction.”

“Good then.”

Temujin nodded.

Then he adjusted his posture and looked at Jamukha.

“I give this order to Chiliarch Jamukha.”

“I await your command, heir of the Golden Clan.”

“Take 5,000 cavalry and advance to annihilate the enemy.”

“I will obey your command.”

After saying this, Jamukha left.

When he was gone, Jebe and Jelme approached Temujin with worried expressions.

“Is it wise to send him alone, Your Highness?”

“Let me support him with my arrows. Send me, Your Highness.”

“It’s fine. I trust my anda.”

Temujin trusted Jamukha.

And he trusted the Mongol soldiers who followed Jamukha.

With their bravery, victory in this battle was certain.

Of course, there was still a possibility of defeat.

If that happened, Temujin was prepared to treat Jamukha accordingly.

“Anda. Show me your abilities. Otherwise, you can no longer remain by my side.”

* * *

Jamukha led his soldiers galloping across the plateau.

Though similar to the Mongolian steppe, this place had more rocks and less grass.

“At first glance, the enemy fortress looks solid.”

Jamukha said this while looking at Aksaray.

Built in Greek style, the walls were solid but not very high.

Moreover, Aksaray had been defending against Byzantine attacks from the front lines for a long time, so the walls were quite damaged.

As he was muttering to himself, a scout arrived beside him.

After bowing, the scout began to report to Jamukha.

“General. I’ve surveyed the surroundings as you ordered.”

“How is it?”

“Currently, Aksaray is…”

The information about Aksaray matched Jamukha’s assumptions.

Overall, the defensive capability of the walls had been significantly reduced.

In this state, with Qutb leading his defeated troops here, it was only natural that the place would be in chaos.

In addition to the internal situation, the external conditions were not good either.

“All the grass around has dried up, and all the flowing rivers have low water levels.”

Jamukha nodded at this.

For Mongols, winter, which was almost like spring, was coming to an end.

After the cold, dry winter passed, the grass on the ground had completely dried up.

The grass had dried up.

At this, Jamukha smiled.

“Good.”

At Jamukha’s words, his adjutants tilted their heads in confusion.

Jamukha smiled and gave instructions to his adjutants.

“Gather all the flammable materials around here—grass, straw, dry wood, anything that burns well.”

“What do you plan to do with them?”

To the adjutants’ question, Jamukha gestured toward Aksaray.

“I plan to burn that place to the ground.”

“You… you mean all of it?”

“Yes. If we burn the entire place down, we won’t have to engage in a siege, which is advantageous.”

Jamukha’s words were true.

Every siege required a lot of manpower and time.

So it was much more efficient to just burn down the fortress.

In fact, the Ulus had advanced this far by burning many cities in the Middle East.

They would simply do the same here.

“But His Highness ordered us to refrain from civilian massacres.”

Jamukha nodded as if he understood.

Then he continued speaking to his adjutant.

“When we set fire to the fortress, both enemy soldiers and the people of Aksaray will rush out. Then we’ll kill all those who resist us and spare those who surrender.”

It was a simple distinction.

But there was no method more certain than this.

On the battlefield, those who resist are enemies.

Those who surrender are allies.

Jamukha was simply applying this to everyone in Aksaray.

“And show no mercy to those who resist—kill them. Among the prisoners, behead those taller than a wheel.”

Jamukha’s reason for giving this order was simple.

Those taller than a wheel were essentially adults. So even if they were subjugated, there was still a possibility of rebellion.

On the other hand, those shorter than a wheel were still children.

Such individuals could be captured and indoctrinated with Ulus education to become warriors loyal to the Ulus.

This method had been a law of the steppe since the times of the Xianbei and Xiongnu, before the Ulus existed.

Jamukha was simply following it.

As Jamukha was resolute, the adjutants had no choice but to nod and follow.

Though the methods were cruel, the enemies were merely rebels who had defied the Sultanate of Rum, a vassal state of the Ulus.

Therefore, there was no reason to show mercy.

“We’ll gather them right away.”

“We’ll set them up near the walls as soon as they’re gathered.”

Jamukha nodded at this.

Then he smiled as he looked at Aksaray.

“There’s nothing better than setting fire to a burrow to exterminate rats.”

Aksaray was a city with a long history, having been used as a military city during the Byzantine Empire.

Such a city with history and tradition was about to face the same fate as the cities in the Middle East—disappearance.

* * *

“What are the enemies doing?”

Qutb, standing on the wall, looked at the battlefield with a perplexed expression.

This was because nomads had suddenly appeared.

Moreover, they were gathering dry grass, straw, and firewood and setting them up near the walls.

“It seems they’re preparing for a fire attack.”

“Like the barbarians they are, attacking without even declaring war!”

Qutb gritted his teeth.

Although he too was of Turkic origin, which had split from nomadic culture, he had been acculturated to Greco-Persian civilization and was essentially a settled person.

So, like a settled person, he was outraged at the Mongols’ behavior of launching an attack without first declaring war.

“Send soldiers immediately to remove those things. And if the enemies approach the walls again, shoot arrows to drive them away.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The adjutant bowed and moved to carry out Qutb’s orders.

Just then, a group of Mongol cavalry appeared, carrying sacks full of dry grass.

“Enemy! Shoot!”

The archers began shooting arrows.

But the cavalry easily avoided the arrows, as if mocking the archery skills of Aksaray’s archers.

“Hmph.”

Qutb was dumbfounded.

Even though the soldiers he led were a group of defeated troops, the arrows they shot were not something that could be avoided by sight.

Yet the Mongol soldiers were avoiding them naturally, as if it were no big deal.

This meant that the Mongol soldiers were no ordinary fighters.

“This… Send out the infantry!”

At this, Aksaray’s gates began to open.

Several infantry soldiers rushed out through the open gates.

The infantry charged forward with momentum, but the Mongol cavalry remained calm.

They threw their sacks near the walls and then turned around to leave.

It was impossible to stop cavalry with infantry.

So they could only watch them leave in vain.

“What is this…”

Qutb was dumbfounded as he watched the enemies throw fuel and leave.

But if he lost his composure like this, they could really fall victim to a fire attack, so he ordered the removal of the fuel.

“Remove all the sacks. Hurry!”

The infantry, who had just been chasing cavalry, now had to carry out the task of removing the sacks thrown by the cavalry.

They couldn’t help but feel disgruntled, but they had no choice. So they had to follow Qutb’s orders.

As they were trying to remove the sacks, the enemy appeared again.

This time it was different cavalry, and they were carrying sacks full of fuel in both hands.

As if mocking the infantry who were removing the sacks, they threw more sacks full of fuel right next to them.

“No…”

“We just cleared them, and they’re throwing more!”

The soldiers of Aksaray felt like they were cleaning up trash only for it to reappear.

Qutb, who was watching this, felt the same way.

“Hmph…”

If they had cavalry, they could chase the Mongol cavalry.

But unfortunately, there was no cavalry in Aksaray.

Because of this, there was no way to stop the enemy cavalry from throwing sacks.

At this rate, Aksaray was destined to burn down in a fire attack.