Eagle Byzantium

The Oxus River is the Amu Darya River. Although the river course has changed continuously for thousands of years, it eventually flows into the Khwarezm Sea (Aral Sea). It is also the boundary between the two major civilization systems of the East and the West since ancient times, and its rivers The Hezhong and Great Khorasan areas on the left and right are the stage where countless forces come and go - countless royal families have risen from here, and countless heroes have come to their end here.

Among them, the Seljuks also came out here, and their success was as full of God-given colors as Gawain. The name of the Seljuk Turkic group comes from their recognized "grandfather" Seljuk. However, the Seljuks were also one of the "Oghuz" at the earliest. They were nomadic to the north of Lake Balkhash with their relatives such as the Cumans and Pechenegs. Because their language was different from other Turks, they often proudly called themselves They are Turkmen, that is, "thorough and pure-blooded Turks", so they are called "Turks" in historical materials according to the homophony. Previously, Gawain even issued a golden edict in Anatolia, calling them "Turkmen". ".

The country that originally ruled in Transoxiana and eastern Persia was the Samanid dynasty, which also served to some extent as a barrier to the Turks' westward invasion. However, the surrounding Turkic peoples were all-pervasive as mercenary herdsmen, and gradually established a Crescent Kingdom on the north and south sides of the Samanid Dynasty, namely the Kara Khanate and the Ghaznavid Khanate. The center of the former's rule was in Kashgar ( Today's Kashgar, Xinjiang) was located in the Chu and Ili river basins; the latter's ruling center was in Ghazni (now Ghazni in Afghanistan).

The Samanid dynasty was located between the two Turkic Khanates and was quickly defeated and destroyed.

But what is interesting is that the one who finally picked up the fruits of victory was neither Kara nor Ghazni, but Seljuk, who had always been looked down upon by them.

The Seljuks were originally an uncivilized and loose tribe, but their leaders since Yalih (Seljuk's father), Seljuk, and Yehu have adopted very flexible and pragmatic strategies, sometimes helping Samand The dynasty fought against Kara and Ghaznavids, and after the demise of Samania, it helped Karaga against Ghaznavids. In the end, while the two khanates were competing for Samanid inheritance, he firmly established himself in the fertile river area!

In the long war, even the Ghaznavid Khanate, which has always been known for its bravery and prowess in warfare, had nothing to do with it: the Seljuks were a pure nomadic people. Today they fought hard to conquer them, but tomorrow they rolled up their tents and drove their horses and ran thousands of miles away. (That's why Zahas previously said that Turks can cross the sea as long as they have tents and wheels. After saying this, he successfully transformed into a pirate). In the end, they fought back and forth, and the exhausted Ghaznavids were defeated miserably by the Seljuqs who seized the opportunity. They could never get over again. At that time, their Seljuq leader was Tugril (whose name means eagle). . The Seljuqs, with the remaining power of their great victory, did not linger on Khorasan and the river. Instead, they headed west like a tornado. In just over ten years, they destroyed the Bouvet dynasty of Western Persia, unified the land of Persia, and gained Caliph, "Emperor of the East and West", the Sultan's title, was also After becoming the protector of orthodox Sunnis, Tugril rushed into Armenia and Georgia, burning, killing and destroying, and had many fierce battles with the Eastern Roman Empire army at the end of the Macedonian dynasty. These can be regarded as Manchikert Prelude to the battle.

Tired of being nomadic all the way, Tugril finally chose to settle down and use the Persian palace system to govern the vast territory. The city he chose was Isfahan.

In the following years, his successors Alp Arslan and Malik Shah Khan continued to conquer the east and west. What needs to be distinguished is that although the Eastern Roman army and rule collapsed in Asia Minor after the Battle of Manchikert, Thousands of miles away, but the Isfahan court is actually not very interested in conquering Anatolia because they love Persia too much. Who doesn’t love Persia? Why leave the palace of Isfahan, filled with garden roses and beautiful moonlight, to conquer the barren and dangerous Anatolia?

So in fact, it was not the Seljuqs who encroached on Anatolia and turned it into Turks in the future, but its young Roman Sultans (that is, the branch of Prince Markianias) and various Turkmen chiefs. Being excluded and marginalized, they were willing to carry out conquests and adventure activities on the Asia Minor plateau and continue their nomadic life. As for the Seljuks who stayed in Persia, they always looked at the countries in the East and West with vigilant and uneasy eyes, fearing that someone would compete with them for Persia. Since the Eastern Roman Empire was on its deathbed, what made it even more uneasy was that there were still In Kara and Ghaznavid in the east, although these two countries are nominally surrendered to Isfahan, they have been at war with each other for so many years. In addition, the Seljuk royal family's internal dog-meat war, and the caliph's role as a stir-up, Therefore wars and rebellions continued.

After Gawain eliminated Rom and Danishmund, as well as a group of small Turkic countries in Greater Armenia, although it was difficult for him to have any relationship with the Isfahan court, he also understood that the Seljuqs could defend the Orcs. The Seuss River blocks all kinds of barbarian invasions from the east, so you can feel at ease in the waves. The degeneration of the Roman culture is actually in the best interest of the New Roman Empire. After all, Gawain's future direction is in Egypt, Aksum and even the oceans and land beyond. There is no need to waste money and national power on the eastern land. As long as everyone walks to the business capital There is money to be made, why not?

This is why he was so horrified and sensitive to the incident of "the emperors of the Song Dynasty surrendered to the barbarians and attacked the west". But now this large group of natural disaster barbarians has really crossed the Oxus River, and what is blocking them in the middle is Amur, the important border defense town of the Seljuk Empire.

This military town was attacked fiercely. The intelligence message must have arrived in Isfahan before it came to the Amidah Fortress. It is said that the whole palace was in chaos. Although the Seljuk soldiers were good at fighting, the new Sultan was young, and the number of barbarians who attacked was terrifying. Moreover, these barbarian soldiers did not need military pay to fight. They wanted to survive and wanted your land. As for the people on the land, sorry, half of them would be killed and half would be turned into slaves. There was no reason to talk about it.

Most of the Seljuk court officials placed their hopes on Emperor Gawain who came to help.

At the same time, another more terrible news came. The Ghaznavid Kingdom, which also surrendered to the Great Fair King, mobilized 10,000 elite cavalry from its king, including 3,000 heavy cavalry in iron armor, and countless light infantry from various tribes in the kingdom, and they also attacked the southern border of the Seljuk Empire like a tide.

Ghaznavid's rebellion was even more lethal to the Isfahan court.

The Oxus River originally started in the Amur and turned to flow east-west, so it was also the natural boundary between Ghaznavid and Transoxiana. But now, Ghaznavid Khan Israel III, under the promise of the Great King Gongping that "you must attack Isfahan alone, and all the military states in the east as far as Tauris (Tabriz), will be yours", vowed to take the opportunity to restore the empire to its former glory. So he raised an army across the country, preparing to cross the Sistan region from the city of Herat and directly take the Seljuk Southern Road to stab the enemy in the belly!