Chapter 2163: Shizong Chronicles 31: The Sixth Year of Jianlong · The Sixth Great Han-Islamic War

In the sixth year of Jianlong, the Great Han Empire, with sustained political stability, deep correction of corruption and negligence, and further recovery and development of the economy and people's livelihoods, increasingly showed signs of a flourishing age. "Striving for good governance, directly pursuing Yongxi" had already become a slogan chanted directly by the Pacification Commission.

And with the equally rapid development of the vassal states both at home and abroad, in the various military and political activities of the Great Han Empire, exchanges with the vassal states were increasingly important. Under the "normalized" interactions between the imperial center and the vassal states, exchanges between the two sides in politics, economics, and other aspects actually became even closer.

Throughout the entire sixth year of Jianlong, from the perspective of the Great Han Empire's territory, a total of three major events occurred, and two of them were related to the vassal states — specifically Anxi and Andong, the two most powerful vassal states.

On the Anxi side, after several years of probing, entanglement, and wrestling following Liu Min's death, a great war erupted once again between Central Asian Han civilization and Islamic civilization — a war with the nature of a decisive battle.

This time, the participating sides were much "purer." The Han side was simply the Anxi Dynasty, while the Islamic side was the Ghaznavid Dynasty mixed with holy warriors who were always charging at the front. From the perspective of civilization, this was another total eruption of contradictions between two great empires. From the perspective of the Central-Western Asian landscape, this was a hegemonic war between the Anxi Dynasty and the Ghaznavid Dynasty — whoever won would become the sole hegemon of the Central-Western Asian region.

And such a great war that would determine the course of Central-Western Asian history could hardly be small in scale. Although it was a one-on-one duel between Anxi and Ghaznavid alone, the scale of mobilization was the greatest of all previous "Han-Islamic Great Wars."

Ghaznavid Sultan Mahmud was undoubtedly the finest monarch in the Islamic world at the time. Building on the foundations laid by his father and grandfather, he had single-handedly brought the young Ghaznavid Dynasty out of the desolate, barren mountains of Afghanistan — conquering south into India, taking Persia in the west, and resisting the Han Empire's Central Asian vassal state in the north.

Except for not having marched into Baghdad to bring the Caliph under his control, Mahmud and his Ghaznavid Dynasty did exactly the same things that many powerful dynasties under the former Abbasid Empire had done during their periods of strength.

And the only difference — or rather, the thing most praised and worshipped by the Islamic world — was that he had made outstanding contributions in resisting the invasion of the formidable Han Empire from the East.

Although the "Five Great Wars" of Yongxi 11–12 had ended in the disastrous defeat of the allied forces, the Han had not gotten off lightly either — their losses were equally enormous. Without the bloody sacrifices of those years, how could there have been nearly twenty years of "peace" for the Islamic world?

Otherwise, given the greed and ferocity of Liu Min, that "Heavenly King of Central Asia," it would not have been impossible for him to invade the heartland of Islamic civilization, water his horses in the Two Rivers, and march his army to Baghdad. How else could Mahmud have devoted himself to governance for over a decade, halted his western campaigns, and focused his energy on rectifying and resolving Anxi's internal problems?

Like the brothers Liu Min and Liu Ye, Mahmud was also a horse-borne monarch. His career was essentially bound up with war — from the moment he succeeded the throne, he was either fighting a war or on the road to one. Although he was not lacking in civil achievements, his rule over the Ghaznavid Dynasty effectively made it a military dynasty, and under the broader backdrop of Han civilization's advance into Central Asia, this trend was only intensified.

During nearly thirty years of Mahmud's rule, he had also established countless achievements and reaped countless glories. Besides the occupation of the wealthy Persian region, the conquest of the northern Indian region was also a shining ornament on his crown of victory.

By before the sixth year of Jianlong, Mahmud had already campaigned south into India fourteen times, placing nearly the entire northern Indian region under the dynasty's rule, making the most solid contributions to the expansion of Islamic civilization on the South Asian subcontinent.

Over the past twenty or thirty years, the dynasties and states of the Indian region had faced unprecedented survival pressure — on one hand, the Ghaznavid Dynasty to the north launching southern campaigns at the slightest provocation; on the other, Han merchants and civilians becoming increasingly restless along the southern coastal regions.

One conclusion could be drawn: the external colonization and development emanating from the Great Han civilization was intensifying turmoil and unrest throughout the entire world...

And for Mahmud personally, no matter how many victories and glories he had won in other wars, the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Mingcheng was an ineradicable fact. This humiliation had accompanied him for nearly his entire latter half of life.

To wash away this humiliation, only an even greater victory and more blood would suffice. This was something the strong-willed Mahmud always remembered, and he had prepared for it for nearly twenty years.

Over the past twenty years, aside from the tug-of-war with Anxi in the Khorasan region and the southern campaigns into India, Mahmud had devoted almost all his energy to selecting talent, restoring national strength, developing the economy, and strengthening military preparedness. Moreover, the wealth plundered from northern India was also invested in defensive preparations against the great enemy to the north.

And twenty years later, powerful enemies like Liu Min and Liu Ye who had given Mahmud such a hard time had passed away. Their successors were clearly not enough to make Mahmud wary. Feeling that he was fully prepared, he once again organized an "Eastern Expedition."

Of course, the reasons that drove Mahmud to raise an army went far beyond this. For example, he was getting old — by the sixth year of Jianlong he was already over fifty. At the twilight of his life, if he did not make one final desperate strike, who knew when he might return to the embrace of Allah. And before that day came, he had to act to avenge the defeat at Mingcheng that had weighed on his mind for nearly twenty years.

There was also another consideration: the military dynasty Mahmud had built also had its limits of development. Under the pressure of the Central Asian Han state, it had even become somewhat deformed — namely, militarism and bellicosity.

As much military preparedness as was accumulated, that much contradiction was accumulated. And exporting war and plundering resources externally was naturally a way to divert domestic contradictions. When the target of war was still the hereditary enemy of the Han dynasty, there was even less to hesitate about.

Multiple factors and contradictions all drove the launch of a new round of "Han-Islamic Great War." And Mahmud's decision to restart the Eastern Expedition naturally provoked strong repercussions in the Islamic world of the Two Rivers region, receiving support from many sects and believers — even though Mahmud's intention to exploit religious fanaticism was quite obvious.

In twenty years, the rule of the Abbasid Empire had become increasingly chaotic. The Buyid Dynasty, which had once dominated the Two Rivers region and still held the Caliph in its grip, was now in its twilight years. After intense internal attrition, it was like a perilous tower in the wind, tottering and about to collapse.

Therefore, aside from the Ghaznavid Dynasty ruled by Mahmud, there was truly no other force in the entire Islamic world that could speak for Islam or punish those Han infidels on behalf of Allah.

At the same time, twenty years was more than enough for a new generation to grow up. With the deep foundations of the Two Rivers region and the continued development of the Ghaznavid Dynasty, the Islamic world once again possessed the strength to launch a counteroffensive against the Han Empire.

Therefore, when the campaign began in the third month of the sixth year of Jianlong, Mahmud organized an army of 200,000 from within his own country. Adding the holy warriors from western Persia and the Two Rivers region, the total force reached 240,000. If later mobilizations were included, it exceeded 300,000.

This was a solid 300,000 troops. For the Ghaznavid Dynasty, aside from adopting a contractionary defense in the northeastern mountains to guard against the state of Kangju, this was truly a mobilization of their entire strength. Within the country, including the capital, only basic public security forces were retained, while the troops, money, grain, and military equipment accumulated over many years were all thrown into the war against the Anxi state.

In summary, Mahmud had gone all in!

One can imagine what enormous military pressure the Anxi state, as the target of attack, faced from the Ghaznavid Dynasty, which had staked its entire nation on this war and raised the banner of Islamic holy war. In his heart, Anxi King Liu Wenze did not want to fight this war. After all, he had only just completed the integration of Anxi's military and political affairs and established his own authority after achieving complete political suppression of his second elder brother. For him, what he needed more was time to digest his political victory.

And Mahmud's renewed great campaign had clearly broken his rhythm and shaken the throne he had just consolidated. Even though he did not want to fight in his heart, once the Islamic army came in force, he had no other choice but to raise his troops in resistance.

Not to mention Mahmud's ferocious posture of wanting to destroy Anxi, the domestic situation of Anxi alone did not permit Liu Wenze any weakness or hesitation. The realm his predecessor had carved out — as its successor, he must resolutely uphold and defend it. This was almost a mission imposed on Liu Wenze by dynastic consciousness. If he could not accomplish this, even without an enemy attack, he would not be able to sit steadily on this throne.

For Liu Wenze, he first needed to thank the former king Liu Min for leaving him this foundation. At least in the Central-Western Asian region, it was sufficient to fight with, and when fully utilized, capable of responding to threats from any foreign civilization.

In the sixth year of Jianlong, within the Anxi Dynasty's ruling territory, the population of various ethnic groups had already surpassed 5.5 million. Among them, the core-ruling Han population was close to 700,000, and the standing army numbered as many as 70,000.

And the Anxi Dynasty under the camp-system was in fact also a military dynasty. Its most basic structure and grassroots governance operated with military organization at the core, and only when facing expansion and war could its full power be thoroughly unleashed.

More than thirty years after the founding of the state, with the passing of the older generation of meritorious generals and commanders, Anxi's implementation of the camp-system was naturally no longer what it had been in the old days — one could even say it had greatly declined. But since the former king Liu Min had not been dead for long, his legacy still influenced the dynasty's ruling class over a wide range, especially the Han elite.

Moreover, speaking frankly of comprehensive national strength, even the Ghaznavid Dynasty alone might not necessarily be a match for the Anxi Dynasty. After all, Anxi occupied nearly the most essential regions of the entire Seven Rivers area, and a dynasty with 700,000 Han as its core was not comparable to Ghaznavid in terms of creative power in production and development.

Tracing back to their origins, the two states had not differed much in their germination and growth time. But Ghaznavid, a military dynasty brought up all the way by Mahmud, after more than half a century, actually had less deep-rooted foundations than the outsider Anxi.

In the cultivation of "internal strength," the power of Han civilization was far beyond what other civilizations could compare with — even the Central Asian Han civilization, after Liu Min's adjustments adapted to local conditions.

Therefore, after a military conference was held in the Dacheng Hall of the Hezhong Palace, the military machine of the Anxi state, which had been running at low throttle for nearly twenty years, once again started up at full speed.

Mahmud had come with his entire strength, so Liu Wenze could only meet him with the entire nation. After the king's decree was issued from Hezhong, from the west reaching Haidong, the center reaching Samarkand, and the east reaching the Suiye Prefecture, all the cities and major military garrisons under the Anxi Dynasty's rule began urgent mobilization. Within one month, 200,000 troops were organized.

Unlike the previous Han-Islamic Great War, this was the strength of the Anxi state alone, and without even further mobilization. Of course, given Anxi's ruling situation over Central Asia, even though the camp-system greatly digested and assimilated the local ethnic populations, its organization and mobilization capacity had limits. It could not achieve theoretical heights either — doing so would more likely lead to self-collapse.

But even so, it was already sufficient to repel the enemy. With the strength of one nation, bearing the weight of the entire Islamic world — for the Anxi Dynasty of this period, this was not an exaggeration but solid national power.

If the Anxi state had any weakness, it also lay in "one nation against all." Unlike any previous occasion, this time at least in the early stage, Anxi had neither support from the Great Han Empire nor coordination from the brother states of Kangju and Beiting.

The Ghaznavid Dynasty, on the other hand, had support from the entire Islamic world, including the direct participation of tens of thousands of holy warriors in the Eastern Expedition, as well as even more spiritual and material support.

At the same time, although Liu Wenze had served as governor in Khorasan, fought against Ghaznavid, and passed Liu Min's tests admirably, in a war of this national scale, he was still somewhat inferior compared to the seasoned Mahmud.

At least in the early stage, he was deceived by Mahmud and failed to promptly detect the Ghaznavid state's large-scale military preparations. Of course, Liu Wenze and the Hezhong court could not be entirely blamed — only because Ghaznavid's military preparations had lasted for so many years, and the voices of "Eastern Expedition holy war" from the Two Rivers, Persia, and the Ghaznavid region had been continuously loud since Liu Min's death. In the past, they had grown accustomed to the low-intensity tug-of-war in Khorasan and Haidong, and simply never imagined that this time Mahmud was playing for real.

And this single failure to anticipate threw the Anxi state into a very passive situation in the early stage of the war. For the campaign against Anxi, Mahmud had made thorough preparations before the war. Once formally launched, his actions were exceptionally swift and fierce, and his objectives were firm and clear.

He even did not choose to wait for the holy warriors of the Eastern Expedition. Having learned the lessons of the previous great war, he also did not follow the routine of marching north to attack Mingcheng. Since the Five Great Wars, Mingcheng's status within the Anxi state had been further elevated. It was Anxi's most solid fortress wedged into West Asia, the great rear base for consolidating the dynasty's southwest and bearing the weight of the Arabs. Its strategic significance was extremely great.

But this time, Mahmud, besides sending two detached forces from Khorasan to feint and create the illusion of attacking Mingcheng in the north, personally led 150,000 troops northward along the Murghab River to attack Leizhou and Gaozhou, which Anxi had established in the southeastern region of the Karakum Desert. These two prefectures were the vital communication routes connecting Mingcheng, the Khorasan region, and the capital Hezhong from the southern edge of the central desert.

Under the sudden and powerful offensive of the Ghaznavid army, although the defenders of Leizhou put up tenacious resistance, they ultimately could not overcome the absolute disadvantage of fighting against overwhelming odds. After holding out for only five days, the city was taken. Of the more than 5,000 camp-system troops and civilians stationed there, fewer than 1,000 survived.

After taking Leizhou and basically cutting off Anxi's connection with the Haidong region, Mahmud did not pause but continued marching north with his troops. Before the end of the third month, he arrived before the walls of Gaozhou and watered his horses in the middle reaches of the Jihun River.

Gaozhou was also a newly rising city developed by the Han. Originally just a small city on the banks of the Jihun River, Liu Min had ordered its expansion in the thirteenth year of Yongxi and established Gaozhou.

The original purpose was merely to consolidate Hezhong City and prepare for the subsequent relocation of the capital. But over nearly twenty years, Gaozhou had not only borne the military function of guarding the royal city but had also become the metropolitan link connecting east and west.

If Gaozhou were lost, then the Ghaznavid army could cross the river northward without restraint and strike directly at the heart of the Anxi state — Hezhong City. The distance between the two places was not far. At least by late March, the Anxi side had not yet fully completed its war preparations.

However, those five days of desperate defense at Leizhou still bought Anxi considerable time. At least in the deployment of Gaozhou's defenses, Liu Wenze made improvements in an emergency. He appointed the veteran general Kang Jirong as Defense Commissioner, commanding all the armies of Gaozhou, and reinforced him with 30,000 additional troops, putting him in charge of the Jihun River defense line to hold back the Ghaznavid army and buy Anxi more time.

Therefore, no matter how hard Mahmud pushed, it was impossible for him to take Gaozhou in a few days as he had Leizhou. And Mahmud had indeed learned the lessons of the Battle of Mingcheng twenty years ago. After testing with several rounds of attacks, he decisively abandoned the grueling siege assault, withdrew to set up camp, and did not even have the intention of besieging the city.

The sixth great war between Han and Islam also unfolded successively around the various military decisions of both sides concerning Gaozhou.......