Chapter 22 four

According to Babur's request, I listed to him the main history of his sixth ancestor King Timur's battles in his life.Such a list is naturally not very detailed, but at least it can give him a rough understanding of the places where King Timur fought and the countries he conquered.Moreover, I have repeatedly stated that I will pass over all the war processes that I have not heard Shanai talk about in detail or that I do not understand very well. I can only tell him about those unforgettable experiences. Moreover, I might as well tell the three children carefully about the things that happened before and after the war that are still fresh in my memory.

Babur, Zoviran, and Baba Ullah readily accepted my proposal. Below is the battle sheet: In the 771th year of the Muslim calendar (about 1370) - in the 780th year of the Muslim calendar (about 1379), Khwarizm was conquered. From the 776th year of the Muslim calendar (about 1375) to the 792nd year of the Muslim calendar (about 1390), he conquered the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. In the 783rd year of the Muslim calendar (about 1381)-the 803rd year of the Muslim calendar (1401), Persia was conquered. In the 777th year of the Muslim calendar (about 1376) - in the 797th year of the Muslim calendar (about 1395), the Golden Horde was conquered.

Hijri 800 (about 1398) - Hijri 801 (about 1399), India was conquered. In the 802th year of the Muslim calendar (1400) - in the 803rd year of the Muslim calendar (1401), the country of Mamaluke was conquered. In the eighth and second year of the Islamic calendar (1400)-in the eighth and fourth year of the Islamic calendar (1402), Turkey was conquered. Just such a simple battle form is enough to make Babur fascinated.Among them, some smaller-scale battles that seem to be taking advantage of the sheep are not included.For example, King Timur conquered Baoda and Guerzhi on his way back after conquest of the Mameluke Kingdom.

When the Babas brought Zoviran and Baba Ullah to prepare breakfast for all of us, Babur carefully studied the battle form, and soon he discovered a problem. The problem is obvious. It can be seen from the above table of conquests that King Timur's conquests against Khwarazm, the Eastern Chagatai Khanate, Persia, and the Golden Horde were interspersed in time, and each war It took a long time, if counting from the time when he formally dispatched troops to Khwarazmo in 771 of the Muslim calendar, to finally bringing all of Persia into the territory of the empire, it took him 31 long years.

I remember I also asked Shana why these wars were so difficult?Shanai was not a person who was good at summarizing. Regarding my doubts, he frowned for a long time before finding out some subjective or objective reasons.When I think back many years later, I think his answer, although far-fetched, still makes sense. For example, just like the well-known battle of Khwarazm, their lord had married King Timur, and then surrendered and rebelled several times. This did involve a lot of King Timur's energy until the end The lord's city was destroyed and his conquest of Khwarazmo came to an end.

For another example, King Timur spent almost 16 years conquering the Eastern Chagatai Khanate nine times, but in the end he failed to capture his enemy Hamaruddin alive. The reason is more complicated.Back then, Hamaruddin seized the Khan throne of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate with confidence after killing Prince Ilias. Since then, he has continuously harassed the border with the powerful military power of the Khanate, which made King Timur exhausted for a while. .Later, when King Timur felt that he had the ability to capture and kill Hamaruddin, he led his army to the Khanate under the banner of avenging his old master.

At that time, all the conquests were carried out in an extremely difficult geographical environment, and King Timur faced a cunning and cruel enemy like Hamaruddin.For King Timur's menacing attack, Hamaruddin cleverly adopted a purely nomadic way to deal with it, coming and going in a hurry.Even if he failed sometimes, he would hide. When King Timur withdrew his troops due to bad weather, lack of food, or people's war weariness, he immediately appeared from his hiding place, quickly replenished his horses and soldiers, and started the war again.Even the biggest defeat in King Timur's life was "given" by Hamaruddin. It was King Timur's third expedition to the Eastern Chagatai Khanate. He was introduced into the valley of the Tianshan Mountains by Hamaruddin. He was ambushed and nearly wiped out.If it were not for the bravery and courage of King Timur, who held a spear and fought side by side with his soldiers, deterring the enemy, the valley where the blood flowed into the river might have become his burial place.Before the end of the war, King Timur's eldest son Jehanjar died on the battlefield.

The failure of the three expeditions forced King Timur to reflect on the reasons for the failure.At one meeting, he told Shanai and other generals that the most important reason why the campaign against Hamaruddin failed repeatedly was that the information he obtained was not accurate enough, which caused his opponents to escape repeatedly.As a commander in chief, this is unforgivable.Perhaps King Timur's insight was not unreasonable, but later facts proved that Shah Ruh's summary of his father's protracted war was far more accurate than that of King Timur himself, Shah Ruh said , King Timur failed again and again when he conquered the East. There are three most important reasons: one is that the troops are dispersed due to attacking from all sides; Leading the army back to the division cannot form a fatal blow to the enemy; third, every time the city is captured, the damage is serious, arousing the hatred of the people against the invading army, and creating conditions for Hamaruddin to recruit troops and make a comeback.

Therefore, King Timur never really conquered Hamaruddin.In the end, Hamaruddin's power was weakened due to the opposition of some nobles inside. When King Timur made his ninth expedition to the Ili Valley, he disappeared forever in the places where Altai mountain martens and ferrets haunted. Ilyas and Touma's half-brother Hei'er Huo Zhe inherited the throne of Khan.The new Khan was a devout Muslim who, when he came to power, forced all the people under his rule to convert to Islam.The same religious belief gave him a sense of identity with King Timur. Therefore, in the 799th year of the Muslim calendar (1397), he generously sent his fourteen-year-old daughter, Turan, who was more beautiful than Zhaoxia. married the fearsome conqueror.

This is the second marriage between King Timur and a pure descendant of Genghis Khan. For King Timur, marrying the two Mongolian princesses he had dreamed of since boyhood was even more proud than the conquest itself.In fact, because he loved Turan so much, when he made peace with the new Khan and took Turan back to the palace of Samarkand, the sixteen-year-long war, which had experienced too many twists and turns and sufferings, , has dramatically turned into his personal comedy. Tuma and Turan, a pair of aunts and nephews with a close blood relationship, became the first and second queens of King Timur.They are the pride of King Timur.I dare say that in the life of King Timur who was strong, cold and fickle, he never changed his love for these two women.

Having said that, I have to insert a digression. The terms "big queen" and "little queen" should be a relatively common term in the empire, but the Spanish envoy Clavijo called both Tuma and Turan in his "East Envoy". Princess.The reason for this is probably related to the fact that most of the land of the East Chagatai Khanate, where the two princesses were born, is still in the concept of China. In any case, since then, the shadows of two women have really been integrated into the emotional life of King Timur.Of course, there may be a third woman. The third woman is also a direct descendant of Genghis Khan, but that woman has made him elusive throughout his life... That woman is also a princess. In my heart, she will always be an indescribable but irreplaceable woman! All of a sudden, the relentless narrative of war bored me so much. I close my eyes.My eyes are like springs that are about to dry up, and no more tears can come out.However, whenever I think of the princess, there is still a warm liquid that fills my eye sockets. That feeling is really comfortable. Babur still looked at me longingly. I thought about it and said to him, can I be born into this world first?Because, the world will become more exciting because of my birth.I promised him that in the following stories, I would not only tell him about the war I experienced, but also tell him about a beautiful and sad love like a blooming snow lotus. Babur, Baba Ullah, and Zoviran excitedly agreed. I smiled slightly. I'm old, really, and physical aging makes me more chattery and impatient.Memories are part of my life, and now I share them with my three children.I know very well that the three children love all the unforgettable things I told them. So here is Cecia's story. And all of this had to start when I was conceived in my mother's womb.