The Sun and the Lion

The year 904 of Muharram (1498) was a peaceful and stable year for Iran. Sunni uprisings in various places had subsided, and there were no large-scale foreign conquests, whether it was Afghan tribes or Kurdish leaders-these two were in Ibra. It seems to me that the most defensive force is still temporarily surrendering to the force of Safavid.

But for the Central Asian forces, the situation was completely opposite. After Samarkand was captured, the originally united coalition forces fell apart and fought with each other.

In the big tent in Turkestan, the Uzbek Khan, Muhammad Shaibani, was very concerned about the situation on the Kipchak grassland and the river. As a descendant of Genghis Khan and the grandson of Abul Khair Khan, his greatest obsession is to recover and expand his ancestral property.

However, during the siege of Samarkand last year, he led his troops to support the Song Dynasty Huoer who was defending the city. However, due to the emergency, he did not have time to mobilize enough soldiers and horses from various tribes. He only brought a small number of direct soldiers and horses to quickly Heading south, I ended up flattened.

But such a small failure could not dissuade his ambition to revive the Uzbek Khanate. After learning about the chaos after the fall of Samarkand, he sensed that new opportunities had arrived.

He immediately summoned his brothers, uncles and nephews who controlled various tribes to come to Turkestan where the Khan tent was located to attend the Kuritai Conference.

For a time, the Turkestan felt tents gathered together, and Shaibani's big tent was also filled with relatives.

The Uzbek Khanate at this time was a typical family business, and all fiefdoms in the country were controlled by the descendants of Abul Khair Khan - Shaibani Khan's two uncles, his brothers and other distant relatives.

Shaibani sat on his main seat, looked at the surrounding lords who had arrived, and then said loudly: "Sultans, please be quiet for now. I have something important to tell you."

After all the sultans below were quiet, Shaibani continued to the relatives who were looking at him: "All the sultans knew about Ben Khan's expedition to Samarkand last year. At that time, due to the hasty dispatch of troops and the lack of unity among the enemies, What results can be obtained. But now, Ben Khan knows that the emirs of Guligani have started fighting again."

After Babur took control of Samarkand, because he did not have enough resources to maintain the loyalty of his subordinates, the army that originally supported him immediately fell apart. Several of his generals returned to Fergana with their troops. .

They used the information gap to successfully deceive Andijan's city defenses, and after killing the religious authorities and Zhuo Qazi who supported Babur, they claimed that Babur, who already owned Samarkand, should entrust Fergana to his children. brother, and directly supported his brother as the puppet Mirza, who actually controlled the military power of Fergana.

Babur was shocked when he learned the news and immediately wrote a letter expressing his refusal to entrust Fergana to his brothers. However, Babur had neither prestige nor the money and food that could win over the army. On the contrary, the rebellious generals used the looting of settlements that were still loyal to Babur as bait to attract many soldiers who deserted.

This was not over yet. After the possibility of retaking Fergana alone disappeared, Babur led the remnant of more than a thousand people and was forced to withdraw from Fergana and asked his uncle in Tashkent for help. But as soon as he left, the lord of Bukhara, Ali Muhammad, who had previously intended to join the coalition but withdrew his troops early, took Samarkand and called himself the emir of Gulighenni.

When things have developed to this point, everyone knows that the river has become a mess. Samarkand, which changed hands twice in a year, has become a joke to everyone, along with the title of Emir of the river.

Shaibani was very confident about intervening in the melee between the three parties. From what he knew, he would crush any party he faced, and there was no possibility of failure when he went south this time.

After Shaibani told everyone present what he knew about the situation, the following sultans were also confident and expressed support for Uzbek Khan's idea. And a few people with hidden concerns dare not express their opinions publicly.

In fact, in addition to being enemies with Gulegani in the south, the Uzbek tribes also face pressure from the Kazakh tribes in the Kipchak grassland in the north to the south.

The founders of the Kazakh Khanate, brothers Kle and Zanibek, quickly took control of the Kipchak grassland after the death of Abul Khair Khan and annexed many tribes that originally belonged to Uzbek Khan. The geographical environment they faced was very similar to that of Shaybani. Except for the two who regarded each other as great enemies, there was no opponent they could fight in the direction of the river where they wanted to expand. Find Shuyuan ｗww.zｈhaoｽshuyuan.com

Although the Kazakh Khanate was very loose at this time, Zhanibek's son Hasim already controlled the majority of the population. With great strength, he constantly sent small groups of troops south to test, and many Uzbek tribes were harassed. Hasim also actually formed a competition with Shaibani.

However, Shaibani seemed to have anticipated some of the concerns of the sultans, and then analyzed: "Now the Gulegani tribes in the south are fighting with each other, and the Kazakh tribes in the north will not be able to pose a threat in a short period of time. Hasimu has strong military strength. But he is not Khan after all, and Balandu Black also has some power. Until the two of them fight to determine the outcome, there is no need to worry about the Kazakh army going south. "

Then Suyunchi asked cautiously: "Great Khan, now that the matter has been settled, when will we send out troops? If it is this year, it will be too hasty. The remaining days of the combat season are not enough for our army to gather south to attack the city. "

Hu Chunchi said: "Samarkand has been besieged for half a year. Such a defender is not easy to replace. The repair of the city's fortifications is also time-consuming and laborious. It is not difficult to defeat it in one battle. But it can be captured in one battle." The city of Samarkand is also a depopulated, poor, and dilapidated city. What’s the point of taking such a city alone?”

Shaibani thought for a while and replied: "I know that even if the Kuritai is held now, you will not be asked to lead the troops south immediately. If so, I have already passed the news to all the troops. When the troops are sent out in the spring next year, you will be leading the troops. Come to Turkestan and go south together!”

Then he added: "Don't waste this winter when you go back. Train your companions, count the soldiers, and inform your tents, so as not to waste a lot of time in gathering when arrows reach your tents. Centaur."

The sultans answered with one voice: "Yes, Khan."