In the autumn of 1219, when Khwarazm heard the news that Temujin had personally led a large army to the west, the question of how to build a strategic defensive line was immediately put on their work schedule.
Any decision can be divided into three strategies, including the construction of a strategic defense line by Huarazimo.
The best radical policy is to pull the army to the border line and keep the enemy out of the country.
Almost any country that has the opportunity and the ability will tend to choose such a strategy, because only in this way can its territory and population be guaranteed to be free from the ravages of the enemy.
But to implement this strategy, it is necessary to have sufficiently strong military capabilities, including strong mobility and field capabilities. Otherwise, the long border line will certainly be invincible. Even if the mobility is strong enough, there is no strong field combat ability when the two armies are short and close, and the enemy forces have severely damaged their own military main forces, and the subsequent wars will become more and more passive.
Compared to the Mongol army, did the Khwarazm army have an advantage in mobility and field combat capabilities? The answer is no.
Regardless of our senses of the Mongol Khanate, one thing must be acknowledged: the Mongol Iron Horse was absolutely super mobile, and did the contemporaries have troops comparable to them? Hard. But contemporaneous certainly did not surpass their troops in terms of mobility.
As for the field combat ability, Khwarazm had a head-on confrontation with the Mongol army when he was carrying out the "Aid to the Liao And Resist mongolia", and the Sultan of Mokoma and Prince Zalandin joined forces to barely fight a draw with the Mongol general Subutai. It seems impossible to say that the field combat capabilities of the Khwarazm army were stronger than those of the Mongol army.
Since neither mobility nor field warfare was superior to the Mongol army, and even weaker than the Mongol army in general, the radical strategy could only be abandoned and other strategies sought.
The middle strategy is to send heavy troops to defend key areas, lure the enemy to go deep, and then seek opportunities to annihilate them.
If Khwarazm selectively deployed defenses, it would naturally give up part of its territory to the Mongol Khanate; if the strategy of the Mongol Khanate was to fight steadily and steadily, based on the territory abandoned by Khwarazm, and to attack the fortified cities heavily fortified by Khwarazm one by one, their cavalry superiority would naturally be weakened.
This choice is somewhat similar to the "city wall cannon" tactic advocated by Yuan Chonghuan in the late Ming Dynasty, that is, to concentrate on defense and lure the Mongol army to attack the stronghold.
If the Mongol army was unwilling to attack the stronghold, it was natural to continue to advance beyond these cities and pools that were heavily defended by Khwarazm, and Khwarazm could effectively target the logistics supply of the Mongol Khanate, and then strangle the military strength of the Mongol Khanate step by step.
Under the premise that logistics could not be effectively guaranteed, the Mongol Khanate naturally had to supply locally, which would inevitably hurt the interests of the people in the occupied areas. At that time, the Mongol Khanate could not guarantee its own safety in the occupied areas, and then fell into the dilemma of "enemies every step".
Even if the Mongol Khanate was willing to attack the stronghold, it had enough ability to capture the city that was heavily defended by Khwarazm, and they would inevitably have to divide their troops to guard it. At that time, the living forces of the Mongol Khanate will be constantly divided, and the odds of winning the Khwarazm will continue to increase.
Is the middle strategy feasible? I'll sell it for the time being, and I'll talk about the next policy first.
The next strategy is to exchange space for time, as long as the Mongols dare to occupy, I dare to give up, and after appropriately depleting your strength, I will immediately withdraw my troops.
On the surface, the next and middle strategies seem to be similar, but in fact, the two strategies are completely different in strategic choices.
The middle strategy was to make preparations for the defense of important areas, and the next strategy was that as long as the Mongol army fought, as long as the Mongol army came, hua lazimo would give up, in order to increase the cost of the Mongol army's rule.
As long as the Mongols were held back by large colonies, as long as the Mongols' military power continued to disperse, a sharp counterattack by Khwarazm would come.
During the War of Resistance, this is how we dealt with the devils.
You want to occupy the land, I will retreat after a certain resistance, and the land will be ceded to you. Your strength is always limited, your logistical supplies will always be under pressure, and when you are constrained at both points, I will compete with you.
Later facts also proved that the devils began to advance all the way from Shanghai, occupying Nanjing and attacking Wuhan, but when they advanced to the front line of Hunan, they finally could not move, and the confrontation situation was formed.
After all the analysis of the three strategies of the upper, middle and lower levels, which strategy did Hua Lazimo finally choose?
Prince Zalandin suggested the best strategy, for good reason: to fight is to gain momentum, but this strategy was quickly rejected, and Prince Zalandin was reprimanded by Sultan Mokomad.
Prince Zalandin's personal qualities were highly sought after by Temujin, he was also a general in the army, and he had fought a head-on battle with the Mongol army not long ago, so it is said that he would not be unaware of the falsehood of the Mongol army, so why did he make such a suggestion?
I think the main reason is that Prince Zalandin has a deep understanding of the current situation of Khwarazm, and knows that the people in the early days of the empire are not united, and only by bringing everyone together and playing a brilliant victory can Khwarazm have a future to speak of.
The mainstream view of This suggestion of Prince Zalandin is that it is extremely wise in later generations, but I do not see it this way, for the reasons already mentioned above: whether it is mobility or field combat ability, the Khwarazm army is inferior to the Mongol army, and it is unwise to carry the mongolian iron horse with great momentum in the front.
The upper policy was rejected, and only the middle strategy and the lower policy were left. At the time of the initial formulation of the strategic programme, a proposal was made, but it was quickly rejected.
During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, we did not play the strategy of "exchanging space for time" at the beginning, because we could not afford to lose this person, and we began to plan for retreating without a fight. But with the successive losses of North China, we have to formally realize it.
Hua Lazimo is also in such a situation, retreating without fighting a battle, is this not to increase the morale of others and destroy their own prestige? If you put a hat on it, there is no problem directly describing the people who choose the next strategy as capitulators.
More importantly: if we retreat without firing a single shot in a battle, there will certainly be a large number of puppet governments and puppet armies in the back.
Sometimes, a single thought can really determine the fortunes of a country. If the management of Hua Lazimo knew the subsequent process and outcome, I am afraid that they would not have such a big resistance to the next policy.
But they do not have a God perspective, for the above reasons, the next policy has also been rejected, only the middle strategy is optional, but when choosing the middle strategy, they have also made some improvements.
First, Khwarazm decided to focus on the deployment of important areas along the border, depleting the Mongol army through layers of resistance and preventing the Mongol army from quickly and comprehensively controlling the colonies.
Contrary to the strategy previously discussed, Sultan Mokomad also decided to form an army behind enemy lines similar to a guerrilla army, to lie dormant in a suitable position and wait for an opportunity to invade the rear of the Mongol army.
Objectively speaking, the strategic plan of The Sultan of Mokomad is still remarkable, although he could not prevent the Mongol army from penetrating deep into the country, he also greatly limited the mobility of the Mongol army, and made full use of the advantages of the city wall to offset the field advantage of the Mongol army.
The establishment of guerrillas is even more ingenious, as long as there is such a force in the rear, the Mongols do not dare to rush forward with all their might, and must always pay attention to the rear not to be surrounded.
For the colonies occupied by the Mongols, if there were no guerrillas, they might simply kneel on the ground and join the Mongol Imperial Army in building the Promised Land. But the presence of guerrillas will naturally increase the cost of surrender of the puppet government.
Whatever we do, the first factors we have to consider are always "cost" and "risk", and in many cases, "risk" can be attributed to "cost".
This can be done when the benefits outweigh the costs and risks; it can't be done when the benefits are equal to the costs and risks; it can't be done when the benefits are less than the costs and risks.
All the preparation we make is to reduce costs and risks as much as possible, and to expand the benefits if there is an opportunity, in order to maximize the benefits.
For Huarazimo, the "key areas of arming" can be said to be medium-cost, low-risk, but high-yield.
It is cost to give up a large amount of territory, but the army can be effectively retained; it is not necessary to face the aggressor directly, which is a small risk; it is a high gain to drag the aggressor into the quagmire of war and constantly divide their comprehensive strength.
However, the disadvantage of this strategy is that because of the need to defend key areas, Khwarazm must divide the troops first. Although this avoids field battles, it also has to face the situation of less enemies and more enemies.
In the face of this situation, Temujin is no stranger: after the fiasco at Wild Fox Ridge, this tactic was used by Jin Guo. Since hua lazi mold has opened the posture, Temujin naturally wants to see the tricks.
When Temujin led his army to the border of Khwarazm, he first attacked the city of Yuda. It was a very famous city, where Hai'er Khan was in charge of its defense and where Mongol caravans were slaughtered.
Why did Temujin choose the first attack location here? First of all, there are heavy troops here, and if you don't break through the city of Yanda, Temujin will not dare to drive straight in. Secondly, because the Mongol caravan was slaughtered here, Temujin led an army to attack here, which can prove to the world that I have no other reason to send troops, that is, to avenge my people!
The offensive and defensive battles were carried out several rounds, and Temujin found it difficult to break the city in a hurry, so he ordered his second son Chagatai and Sanziwo Kuotai to lead the army to continue the siege, and the other troops divided into three roads and continued to advance.
At the time of the division of the troops, Temujin set a strategic goal: the four-way army marched in tandem, and we met in Samarkand, the capital of Huarazimo!
In the traditional history books, Hai'er Khan was a guy with a pig's brain, and it was his disregard for the overall situation and insatiable greed that attracted the invasion of the Mongol Iron Horse.
As for the reasons for the massacre of the Mongol caravans by Hai'er Khan, I have analyzed in detail in my article a few days ago: he was to oppose the centralization of the Mokomad Sultan, and he was by no means a rich man, let alone a human head.
Under the command of Hai'er Khan, the city of Yadara held out for half a year. In the fifth month of the defensive battle, many people surrendered in despair due to the lack of foreign aid, and the outer city was quickly breached. But Hai'er Khan did not give up, and he led 20,000 troops to retreat to the inner city, where he held out for more than a month.
In the end, the 20,000 soldiers were reduced to pieces, and in a group of fifty people, they went out wave after wave to fight with the Mongols, causing the Mongol army to suffer heavy losses.
In the end, only a few people remained in the entire army, and they continued to fight, and no one surrendered. In the end, when haier khan was left alone, Wokoutai ordered him to be captured alive, and haier khan finally even fought the Mongol army with bricks and tiles, and was captured alive after exhaustion.
Not to mention the history of the Mongol conquests, but also in the history of the world, such a tragic war is one of the few. Such a tenacious will to fight, such a tenacious army, to say that Haier Khan is a guy with a pig's brain, I absolutely do not believe it.
Yuan Chonghuan at the end of the Ming Dynasty initially held out in Ningyuan City for two days, so there was the "Ningyuan Great Victory" that everyone boasted; later he insisted on holding out in Ningyuan and Jinzhou for twenty-four days, so there was the "Ningjin Great Victory" that was invincible.
Compared with Hai'er Khan, the little thing that Yuan Chonghuan can get his hands on is also worthy of the battle record?
If a good man like Hai'er Khan is a clown with a human head and a pig's brain, then what should the wise and divine Haojie look like? If all the cities conquered by the Mongols had this will to fight, would it be possible for Temujin and his descendants to build an empire that spanned Asia and Europe?
Some people may say: That is because Hai'er Khan slaughtered the Mongol caravan, cut off his own back road early, and had to resist to the end, which is not a really good man.
But the question is: If Hai'er Khan surrendered, would Temujin still kill him?
You know, the city of Yanda was the first fortified city that Temujin faced when he entered the territory of Huarazimo, and if he could receive such a great gift just after entering Huarazimo, Temujin didn't know what to be happy about, how could he kill Hai'er Khan, who played an exemplary role?
Even if Haier Khan was not a Maxima, Temujin would not mind buying horse bones with thousands of dollars.
Moreover, by the time Hai'er Khan had been holding the city for five months, there had been many traitors, and the outer city had been breached by the Mongol army, but Hai'er Khan could still lead 20,000 troops to defend the inner city and finally fight to the last man. What kind of cohesion is this?
Because of the fierce resistance, Hai'er Khan himself was very tragic.
He was tied to the execution ground, and the executioner poured molten silver liquid into his ears and eyes, burning him alive, supposedly as punishment for his greed.
A fierce resister like Hai'er Khan, Temujin could never spare him. Not only did he not spare Hai'er Khan, but Temujin did not spare the people of the city: under his orders, the brutal slaughter of the city began.