… the Mongol army had forded the Oxus River with no problems, and in January 1220 they entered the territory of northern Afghanistan (Tokharistan), which was a part of the empire of the Khorezm-shahs. “We continue to lose men and time. These Tokharians are resisting fiercely. Just take a look at Balkh. They’re being stubborn.” Genghis Khan didn’t conceal his irritation. … Shigi-Khutukhu knew geography and cartography incomparably better than any of the military commanders did, better even than his royal brother…. But there was something that bothered him. Sun Tzu, the brilliant Han Chinese war theoretician, warned against fighting on two fronts at the same time. … “After the assault by the ‘crowd,’ you are to feed all those who were unable to take the city... Then you are to take all of them three hills away, divide them up equally among your nokhors, and give the order to kill them all. Then, have rocks piled on the corpses. You are to begin the executions personally and see to it that everything is done properly. Repeat the order.”
… … (Yeh-liu Chu-tsai) killed eighteen men by his own hand, but the last one he engaged would not be defeated. He proved to be a splendid fencer in excellent chain mail who, it was later learned, had killed at least twelve of (his) men that day. This professional, obviously a military man, had long been known to several of Yeh-liu Chu-tsai’s officers by the red plum flower sewn onto his right shoulder. After the battle started, the inn began burning on three sides; paint blistered and acrid smoke spread thickly along the floor, slowing the battle; and one had to be doubly careful to note the identifying marks on mask or chest so as not to enter into a skirmish with one’s own fighting comrade. … Now, for the first time in his life, he was supposed to slice open the little body of an infant at the breast, maybe even many of them, or to smash those little bodies with a club. Vomit rose to his throat. … The settlements and towns along the army’s route surrendered without resistance, sent delegations out to meet the Mongols, paid in gold and jewels when the Mongol command demanded it, turned over their weapons, horses, and carts, and sighed in relief when the dust raised by the conqueror’s departing cavalry settled. … The Mongols really didn’t engage in robbery and didn’t abuse the people of the cities that surrendered in good time… But Allah is merciful, and he saw and understood that there was no alternative. … And now Temuchin was approaching [Yeh-liu Chu-tsai] alive and well, and once again everything seemed possible. Over the years that they had been separated, the khan had taken on a pinched look and grown somewhat stooped, and his red beard had faded slightly, but the same fire, the same magnet and flame, blazed in his round gray eyes. The khan was on his black horse, and Yeh-liu Chu-tsai’s roan neighed in greeting. … By the autumn of 1197, more than two tumens of people of long liberty had gathered under Khan Temuchin’s tugh. Remnants of the various small tribes and major clans that had been smashed by the tribal alliances numbered about a tumen. The Jalairs, Torguts, Changsi’uts, Baya’uts, Burulats, Menguts, Arulats, Uru’uds, Mankuts, Honhotans, and Sartagols either returned to him or joined him for the first time. … Khan Temuchin was so dismayed he lost the ability to issue orders. As Yeh-liu Chu-tsai said subsequently, the reason for the paralysis of will was the khan’s highly developed political thinking. … There were no better warriors than the Merkits…. Living at the mouth of the Selenga and on the southern steppe expanses near Lake Baikal, they had been a forest people in the not so distant past, which explained their incredible accuracy with bow and arrow… … But could the steppe conquer the Jurchens? After all, on the territory of the sedentary peoples, all of the deficiencies of the Jurchen army would become its advantages: the steppe dwellers would be the ones who couldn’t find pastures for their horses there, and there was more grain on the Great Plain than grass. The many thousands of villages and towns would become the Jurchens’ supply line; the Jurchens wouldn’t even need campaign and pack horses. But the nomads didn’t know how to assault fortified points. … The old man suddenly uttered in Mongolian, “Listen, sheep face, do you have any arhi?” This was so unexpected that Yeh-liu Chu-tsai laughed. “Sure, Grandfather, but not arhi. I have Han rice vodka, and you can lap it up until you puke.” “Start pouring, bagatur.” … “Who is he?” Yeh-liu Ahai paused before replying. “His name is Ku-nai, and he says he’s your son.” … Yeh-liu Chu-tsai broke off reading. The manner of writing in the message from the master of saboteurs, as he called Dzeng Yung, was unusual, because instead of official brevity there was irresolute prolixity. Could it really be… … Pursuit of the Merkit tribes and Kuchlug’s Naiman soldiers by Temuchin's forces continued in the far west of the steppe until the spring of 1205, when Subodei was able to catch the fugitives at the upper reaches of the Irtysh. … It was the year 1227 in Karakorum, capital of the Mongol Empire. Yeh-liu Chu-tsai said to himself, And afterwards we went to war with three empires at once, but so far we’ve only been able to crush one of them, Khorezm. The weakest one, as it turned out. … Genghis Khan made not a single strategic error, or even a serious tactical error, during that campaign. And he handled the political aftermath masterfully. … …the Grand Khan himself had decided to send Subodei and Jebe’s tumens to the far-off west… … After Yeh-liu Chu-tsai’s death … in 1243, nothing of particular value was found in his personal papers about Genghis Khan except the recollections of one conversation.
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