The Azov army is one of the Yuan Dynasty's Semu guards, the Yuan Dynasty's Semu guards were built about the eighteenth year of the Yuan Dynasty, the Yuan court will "the brave of the people of all countries, gathered as a pro-army guard, and with its personal names Kipchakwei, Kangliwei, Azowei, Tang Wuwei", will be organized in the Mongol army and some areas of the Semu people concentrated into an army, directly under the Yuan court, and these guards composed of Semu people are commonly known as Semu Army, until the end of the Yuan, the Yuan Dynasty set up 13 Semu guard institutions, of which Kipchak Wei and Azow Wei have the strongest combat power, In terms of the courage of the charge, the Azov army surpassed the Kipchak army and was the number one combat power of the Semu guards, and I will talk about this Azov army next.
The Book of the World
与“大蒙古国”之缘起
Azo is also known as Alan, also known as Amang Cai, Alan Liao, etc. in the history books after the Qin and Han dynasties, and was originally named "Aso" during the Yuan Dynasty. Azov was originally an Iranian living in the North Caucasus, believed in Orthodox Christianity, and had close relations with Byzantium, Guerzhi (Georgia), and Zairos.
His first contact with Mongolia was during Genghis Khan's first western crusade against Khorezmüm in the Western Regions. In 1220, Genghis Khan ordered the generals Subutai and Zhebei to lead an army of 30,000 to hunt down and kill the Sultan of Mahamad, and the impoverished Mahamat was forced to die of illness on an island in the Caspian Sea, but the conquest of Subutai and Zhebei did not stop with his death, but continued to raid all parts of central and western Persia. In the spring of 1222, he attacked Gu'er and other places, crossed the Taihe Ridge (Caucasus Mountains), and entered the lands of Azov and Kipchak. According to the "Historical Collection", in the face of the menacing Mongol army, the Azov and Kipchaks jointly resisted, and for a while the two sides were at odds, and the Mongols used a dissociation scheme, and actually plotted against the Kipchaks, the Azov people were sold by the Kipchaks, and they were defeated and slaughtered by the Mongol army, and then the Mongols defeated the combined forces of Kipchak and Zairos again, and returned east to the Mongolian headquarters.
"Historical Collection"
The last time the Azov people were conquered by the Mongols was during the Second Western Expedition of the "Great Mongols". In 1235, Wokotai Khan sent Badu, the son of Shuchi, to lead an army of more than 100,000 troops to the west, and after conquering Choros and other places, Meng Ge (that is, Kublai Khan's brother, the fourth Great Khan of the "Great Mongol State") led his division to the capital of Azov in 1239, the battle was extremely difficult to prepare, the Mongol army only broke the city after besieging it for 3 months, "Meng Ge led his division to besiege Azov's city of contempt, read March, and pull it." Hang Husi, the lord of the Azov tribe, led the people to surrender, and Wokuotai gave the name Badu'er, gave him a golden rune, and let him continue to rule the people, and his eldest son Atachi accompanied the Mongol army to conquer, and after Ata Chi fell into cowardice, Hang Husi was killed by enemy attacks on the way back to China, and after suppressing the rebellion, Hang Husi's second son ruled the Azor department according to Fapu and continued to serve Meng Yuan.
左、右阿速卫的建立以及人数编制
According to the "Yuan History", during the period of Kublai Khan, the ancestor of the Yuan dynasty, in the ninth year of the Yuan Dynasty, "he first established Azoba Dudaru Huachi, and later recruited more than 3,000 Azov's main army, and only revealed 700 Wen Tian Xue Dan's army, drove from the car, took charge of the Acropolis Forbidden, and also operated Chaohe and Sugu Tuntian, and supplied military reserves." In the 23rd year of the Yuan Dynasty, Atachi and Yeliebaduer, who commanded this army, attacked the town nest south, suffered huge losses, and were reorganized into the front and rear guards. By the second year, the Right Guard Azov pro-army commanded the mission, the beginning of the Right Azov Guard.
"Metahistory"
According to the "Yuan History" Azov tribal generals' biography, it is probably from the Azov people scattered in the Mongol army are integrated and reorganized, such as the biography of the Azov general Pingula, whose son Atachi is Zuo Azovwei Qianhu, and the Azov general Azolan whose descendants are also serving as officials in the Azov guard, and its army source is most likely from the subordinates of the general Azov in the Mongolian army.
"The Legend of Pingula" and "The Legend of Arsilan" in the "Yuan History"
As for the number of its establishment, the "Yuan History" does not mention it, which is likely to be hidden by the Yuan Dynasty about the number of important forbidden troops, so there is no record in the historical records, "The military registration is a military aircraft heavy business, and the Han people do not read it." Although the privy seal is close to the ministers and brigades, only one or two of the commanders know about it. Therefore, there has been a country for a hundred years, and the number of internal and external soldiers is unknown to anyone."
"Metahistory"
However, the number of Azov troops can be slightly speculated according to historical records, and the "Yuan Dianzhang Determined Officer Rank" records that everything is "tens of thousands of households, above seven thousand troops." One member of Daru Huachi, one member of 10,000 households, and one member of 10,000 deputy households. ——The former part, the deputy ten thousand households from the third product, the tiger charm". Pay attention to the demarcation part, the official position of Daru Huachi, who governs tens of thousands of households with 7,000 to 10,000 people, is the third product.
《Yuan Dianzhang》
According to some records in the "Yuan Shi Bai Guan II", the Daru Huachi official product that governs the left and right Azovwei is the third product. It can be inferred that the level of the left and right Azov guards is equivalent to tens of thousands of households, and the number of the two guards should add up to the range of 14,000 to 20,000.
In the "Yuan History", the right Azovwei compiled a record, the ratio of these thousand households and hundreds of households is quite strange, is it a mistake when the "Yuan History" copied the "Jingshi Dian"?
猛将辈出，忠勇有加
After the Azov Department was conquered by the Mongols, a large number of Azov people were moved to Middle-earth, and the upper echelons of Azov were mostly military generals for their brave and good fighting, leading the Azov army for the "Great Mongolian State" and later the Yuan Dynasty's southern and northern wars, with outstanding achievements.
Taking the Hanghusi family of the head of the Azov tribe as an example, its eldest son Atachi followed Meng Ge Khan into Sichuan to attack the Song Dynasty, fought against the Southern Song Dynasty in Diaoyu City, and was personally rewarded with wine from Meng Ge Khan, "the emperor drank wine and rewarded him with platinum", after the death of Meng Ge Khan, Kublai Khan competed with Ali Buge for the throne, and Atachi fought with Ali Buge's troops, "the first to go to the enemy, the enemy to the belly, not afraid", was commended by Kublai Khan, and was summoned to Suwei. Later, he participated in the suppression of Li Wei's rebellion, "fighting more than 20 battles and earning thousands of gold runes". From the fifth year of the Yuan Dynasty, he began to participate in the conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty. In the eleventh year of the Yuan Dynasty, the army of Zhenchao was killed drunkenly by the Southern Song Dynasty.
His son Berdal also participated in quelling the rebellion of the northwestern king Siriji, defeating and capturing alive only Watai, who responded to the rebellion of Siriji. Later, he garrisoned Mobei and continued to fight with the rebels, and when he attacked the fortress held by the rebels, Burtar fought bravely, and the "right side of the arrow" was not afraid. In the twentieth year of the Yuan Dynasty, Ji Gong Ding Yuan, commanded the Guards and Guards, and also led the Azov army, and was the Azovbadu Daru Huachi.
"Yuan Shi Hang Husi Biography"
In addition to the Hang Husi family, there are other famous generals of the Azov department, such as Yelie Badu'er and Yuwa's lost father and son, who are also outstanding in battle. Especially the loss of Yuwa, now to the 24th year of the Yuan to suppress the Naiyan Rebellion, hundreds of rebels in a row. During the reign of Emperor Yuan Chengzong, he accompanied the king of Emperor Haishan (later Yuan Wuzong) out of Mobei, defeated the Haidu army, and rescued the Yuan army besieged by Haidu, and Yuan Chengzong appreciated it very much and praised: "Today's matter of the eldest husband, who can lose it, even if he is wrapped in gold, it is not enough to disgust his will." ", later General Zhenguo.
"Metahistory"
It can be said that the generals of Azobu participated in the conquest of the Southern Song Dynasty, Ping Li Wei, Ding Nai Yan, and Yuhai Capital, which can be described as outstanding achievements, showing loyalty to the Yuan Dynasty and strong combat effectiveness.
承平日久，腐化堕落
By the end of the Yuan Dynasty, with the corruption of the political situation, the Yuan army was inevitable, and none of the two color guards that had behaved fiercely in the past, Kipchak Wei and Azovwei, could fight, and when they encountered the peasant army, they all became long-legged generals. In the eleventh year of the Zheng Dynasty, the Privy Council led the Azov army to fight against the Red Turban Army, and when they saw the strength of the Red Turban Army, they actually shouted "Abu (run)" and fled directly, leaving a laughing stock for thousands of years.
"Gengshen Foreign History"
In the fourteenth year of Zhizheng, the Yuan army attacked Zhang Shicheng in Gaoyou, and the key was that the commander of the Yuan army escaped and was framed and removed from his post, and the Yuan army's heart was fluctuating, and there was a direct chaos, and the Azov army under the command of the Yuan general Nasu Ding fled directly, resulting in the death of Narashudin and his three sons. It is clear that the combat effectiveness of the Azov army has long been corrupted and miserable.
"Metahistory"
Until the Yuan Dynasty was destroyed by Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty, many Azov people also moved to the grassland with the Yuan court and integrated into the Mongol tribes.
To sum up, after the Azov people were conquered by the Mongols, they made great achievements for the "Great Mongolia" and the Yuan Dynasty, and were responsible for the combat strength of the Semu guards, and at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, due to too much corruption, resulting in its low combat effectiveness, almost vulnerable, with the demise of the Yuan Dynasty, annihilated in the long river of history.
Citations: "Yuan History", "Yuan Dianzhang", "Jingshi Da Dian", "Gengshen Foreign History", "History Collection"