People in the Middle Ages, draw cards to get promoted - Chapter 855 Iwanhu and Quchuli

After a week, the new Ivan had successfully cleared out a large number of bandits in the territory and established a firm foothold here. But they were now facing a new threat, the Khwarezmian Empire, which once controlled Samarkand and was once prominent in Central Asia.

His territory was completely used as a fence and was located on the west side of Samarkand.

Today, Western Liao is in a precarious situation. The only land it directly controls is the Samarkand to Bukhara Corridor. Its vassals such as Karakhan are also ready to make a move. Fortunately, the main elite forces of Western Liao are still there, so Iwan Qianhu does not have to consider when to change jobs as soon as he gets on board.

Recently, after absorbing many horse bandits, the number of troops under Ivan has expanded to more than 10,000.

It was a pity that he had only stayed here for a short time. Both the Khwarezmian Gulam and the Egyptian Mamluks needed to be trained from their youth as slaves, and a lot of time had to be spent teaching them martial arts and imparting to them the spirit of "fighting for the sacred fire" and "fighting for the master."

At the side, Baron Fulk, who had just finished training the Mamluks in the art of charging with lances, squatted beside him, sweating profusely. He said, "The price of grain in Samarkand has risen a lot recently. The price of weapons and war horses sold by Sogdian merchants has also doubled. We don't have much time left to rest."

Ivan smiled nonchalantly and said, "Hey, what are you afraid of? How can you get any credit if you don't fight?"

He spent all his money on armaments, wasn't it just to prepare for war?Fulk sneered, "Why do you think Jur Khan was so tolerant of you and watched you recruit troops without saying a word? Believe it or not, the price hike by the Sogdian merchants was instigated by the Khitans. If you continue like this, even if you have a mountain of gold and a sea of ​​silver, it will be emptied sooner or later."

Fulk frowned and said, "A half-full hound is the easiest to drive. Those Khitans want us to work hard, but they don't want to see us grow in strength. I don't think it's worth it to get involved with them."

"Great, you can even speak proverbs now. If I had known you had this ability, I would have sent you to Al-Azhar University for further studies. Perhaps you could become a famous theologian abroad."

Ivan showed a cynical smile. He certainly knew that the treatment given to them by the Khitans was not good at all. The pasture allocated to them was just a barren, small land filled with horse bandits and Khwarazmians, and it could be taken back at any time.

All supplies have to be purchased from Samarkand. The lifeline is in the hands of others, so it is impossible to be tough even if you want to.

Ivan's expression changed slightly: "You want to join the Khwarazmians?"

Naturally, he had no sense of belonging to Western Liao. When he betrayed his master Takidin and decided to become a mercenary, he had already vowed to live for himself in the future.

"do not know."

Fulk shook his head. "If we surrender to the Khwarezmians, we might be pushed out as the vanguard to attack the Khitans. No one can be trusted. It will be extremely difficult for outsiders like us to gain a foothold in this area."

While the two were talking, a group of cavalrymen, flying the Khitan flag, broke into the tribe in broad daylight.

Fulk stood up hastily, frowned and said, "Here they are, the Khitan envoys."

The messenger was a Sogdian, riding on horseback, with his nose in the air, and shouted arrogantly: "Where is Ivan? The Khan has summoned you. Go to the palace immediately to discuss matters without delay!"

Ivan smiled and told the interpreter, "Tell him for me, I understand. Let me say a few words to the tribesmen and I'll be there right away."

"You bastards, I told you to go immediately without delay. Are you deaf? You are a bunch of lowly things, how dare you disobey the Khan's order!"

Even though Ivan didn't understand Khitan, he could tell that this guy was talking nonsense. He immediately became furious, grabbed the reins of his mount, and using all his strength, he actually threw the tall "river warhorse" to the ground.

He panted heavily, and cursed like a demon descending from the earth: "You, a Sogdian who came from a merchant family, what are you pretending to be in front of me? Believe it or not, I will kill you like a sheep."

Now that he has been in Central Asia for a long time, Ivan has gradually figured out the situation of the Khitan Kingdom. It is said that when the country was first established, there were 84,500 adult males in Husiwoerduo alone. Assuming two adult males per household, there were about 40,000 households.

Although he couldn't figure out how much strength the Khitan Kingdom had left, an army of 10,000 people was considered to be of some weight.

The Sogdians were used to taking advantage of others, but they didn’t expect this Semu man to be so ferocious. They didn’t even bother to cry out in pain, and hurriedly reminded him: “Don’t… don’t kill me! I’m Quchuli Khan’s man!”

Ivan sneered: "The Khan summoned me to fight against the Tatars. What do you think is more important, my army of 10,000 households or a mere Sogdian slave like you?"

He held his scimitar against the messenger's face for a long time before he let go with a sneer: "Fulke, help our distinguished messenger up and let him stand aside and wait!"

bang bang——

He rang the copper bell in the middle, and soldiers from various units heard the noise and gathered around.

Those Mamluks clad in iron armor and belonging to him were like an iron wall, surrounding Ivan to the center.

He stepped on a Mamluk's shoulder, stood up, and shouted loudly: "Brothers, do you know what our Ivan tribe lacks the most now?"

"Warhorse!"

"weapon!"

The soldiers started shouting at once. Most of them came from Aleppo, Damascus and other places. Many of them were farmers. Some were escaped slaves and horse bandits recruited later near Samarkand. They all had one thing in common, that was, they were of humble origins.

"Ha, no, it's a woman!"

"Rob!"

"Use the swords given to us by the Khan to rob us!"

The soldiers' eyes glowed red and they gasped and shouted.

During this period, Ivan's generous style has been fully recognized by them. Such a great Khan is willing to spend his treasures and money to arm their tribesmen, and he will never be stingy in the distribution of spoils in the future!

Ivan laughed loudly: "That's right, we are going to rob. The opportunity is coming soon. Zhilugu Khan invites your Khan to come over to discuss matters. You boys should wait at home. When your Khan returns, I will take you to rob women!"

Fulk looked at the cheering troops and was stunned by their enthusiasm. He suddenly realized that the "fantasies" that Ivan had talked about before might not be just fantasies.

"Let's go."

He grabbed the Sogdian envoy who was so frightened that he thought he was going to be sacrificed, threw him onto his horse, and then he took Fulk and dozens of Mamluks belonging to him and headed eastward.

Ivan held his breath and found an empty seat downstairs to sit down.

There was no ripple in the hall due to the arrival of a small captain like him. Zhilugu Khan asked himself: "Now, the rebellious Gaochang Uighurs have surrendered to the Tatars. The court headquarters of Kashgar, Husiwoerduo and other strategic places have been occupied by the Tatars. The enemy has now finished its repairs, organized its troops and is approaching Khotan. Do you generals have any good strategies to defeat the enemy?"

"Humph, the Tatars have only 20,000 cavalry. If you, Khan, hand over all the warriors of the six divisions to me, I will write a military order and will definitely defeat the enemy and bring Jebe and Subutai to dance with sheep for you, Khan."

"Now that the Tatars have subdued the Uighur rebellion, they now have more than 20,000 cavalry under their command."

"Idiot! How dare you say such things in front of so many tribal leaders?"

The Khitan general said confidently: "Anyway, they can't understand Khitan. I have long said that these local tribes should be conquered and replaced by our Khitan nobles to rule."

Qu Chuli looked at this messy scene and sneered in his heart. The enemy was about to hit him in the face, but these Khitan nobles were still quarreling. He didn't expect that the descendants of Dashi were actually a bunch of trash!He is the son of Baibuhua, the Sun Khan of the Naiman tribe, which once competed with the current Tatar tribe for the position of overlord of the grassland. He is well aware of the terrible power of the Tatars who destroyed the Naiman tribe with their own hands.

Now he is valued by Yelu Zhilugu. Not only is he adopted as his son and appointed the leader of the Six Courtyards, he also marries Zhilugu's daughter Princess Huanghu. He has regarded this power as the cornerstone for his future regaining the throne of the grassland Khan.

The person who spoke was the Khitan general, Yelu Zonghan. He was the uncle of Yelu Zhilugu and the younger brother of the previous emperor Yelu Yilie. Since Zhilugu ascended the throne, he had always been in charge of the palace army and was a leading figure among the Khitan royal family.

He could understand that his own Khan had been wary of the Xiao family since Xiao Worila's act of deposing and enthroning the emperor, even though Xiao Worila had supported Yelu Zhilugu to the throne.

But such an important force as the Six Academies should be controlled by the royal family even if it is not in the hands of the Xiao family. How can it be given to an outsider?Qu Chulu's expression immediately turned gloomy. After all, the Sixth Academy Department was now nominally under his control. Yelu Zonghan's direct request for military power simply showed that he did not take him seriously.

But he also knew that his foundation was shallow, and the only real power under his command was the remnants of the Naiman tribe who had fled after the demise of the Naiman tribe. The reason he could now be named "Quchuli Khan" and participate in politics here was purely because he was valued by Zhilugu.

"Everyone, I have no intention of elevating myself by elevating the enemy. The Naiman tribe was once the overlord of the grassland, with 100,000 soldiers under their command, but they were wiped out in one fell swoop by the Tatar tribe, which had only 50,000 soldiers.

The shamans under their command can control strong winds, lightning, wolves, and ferocious beasts; the cavalry under their command are skilled in archery and horsemanship, have extraordinary combat skills, and have gotten rid of the lax temperament of the grassland cavalry, and are able to enforce discipline.

Among them, the Tatars even had a Qiexue army modeled after the Jin Dynasty. They were well-equipped and marched westward like a torrent of armored soldiers. All the tribes on the grassland could not stop them. I surrendered to Buyilukhei Khan, but he was defeated by the Tatars. I fled to Beshbari, but the Uighur (Gaochang Uighur) Protector General Baershu wanted to capture me and surrender me to the enemy. The Tatars easily recruited the Uighur army under their command. Doesn't this prove how terrible the enemy is?"

“Let me ask you, although all the generals present are heroes, who has more experience in fighting against the Tatars than I do?

After he finished speaking, he knelt on the ground, tears in his eyes, and said: "Adoptive father, I do not seek fame, nor do I seek rewards of gold and silver. I only wish to help you clear out the wolves that invaded and bring peace to the Liao court."

Zhiluggu Khan, who had been sitting on the throne and watching coldly, was also moved by Qucheliu's performance for a moment. Princess Huanghu next to him even cried out "Daddy".

"Well, you will lead the six divisions to go to war. All subordinate divisions must cooperate with you to the utmost without any delay. Uncle Zonghan, you will be the deputy general and help Qu Chulu to fill in the gaps!"

Yelu Zhilugu made the decision and left without giving the Khitan generals a chance to object.

After a long while, he finally learned what happened from the interpreter. He couldn't help but curse: "What bad luck! Isn't Qu Chuli a gigolo who lives off his wife? How come he suddenly became our boss?"