Preface
His arrows once spanned Eurasia with great glory, but his death was lost in the sands: the mystery of Jebe, the god of war under Genghis Khan. An arrow shoots into the sky, piercing the sky until it falls weakly, and a warrior charges on horseback, invincible, but is defeated by a wounded soldier on his way home. Their glory and fall seem to be in an instant, their fate is unpredictable, and their history is difficult to find.
He is the Mongolian fierce general Jebe, a marksman, a god of war, and a loyal guard under the command of the emperor. His life is like an arrow, short but dazzling, and his death is a mystery in the fog of history. People marveled at his military exploits and remembered his heroic appearance, but they were also puzzled by his helpless fall.
So, what is the story of this legendary general? What are the anecdotes of his commanding battlefield? And what kind of tragic fate made him a lonely grave at the end of the yellow sand?
Jebe threw the first arrow, and the Mongol knights began to roar
One day in 1201, the sun was shining brightly over the Mongolian desert. At this time, Mongolia was on the rise, and Genghis Khan unified all the Mongolian tribes, riding like the wind, invincible. On this day, Genghis Khan's mount was wounded by an arrow from the bowstring of an enemy warrior in an engagement.
Instead of running away, the soldier confessed his actions. He saw Genghis Khan's appreciation for his honesty and extraordinary archery skills. As a result, the soldier was renamed "Jebe", which means "cluster of arrows", and became one of the four fierce Mongolian generals, and began his legendary journey.
Jebe was originally from the thirsty Dalhut tribe and had demonstrated amazing archery skills since he was a child. He can wear hawthorn in 100 steps, and he is even more amazing when he rides a horse and flies arrows. Genghis Khan took him to death, and Jebe never failed to live up to the Khan's kindness.
In the long campaign that followed, Jebe consistently followed Genghis Khan's side. He successively participated in the conquests of the Jin Dynasty and the Western Xia, and made great achievements. Jebe is ruthless, and his execution of military orders is like the blink of a meteor, and the enemy cannot escape his pursuit. But he was loyal to the Khan and said nothing about it.
A rock-solid trust was formed between the two, which also established Jebe's position as a powerful force on the Mongolian plateau. When the storm arose, and the Mongol iron cavalry was about to embark on a journey to conquer Europe and Asia, Jebe had become an important pawn.
The cauldron is sunk, and the iron rider is only for the west
In 1219, Genghis Khan personally led an army of 200,000 men to begin the Western Expedition, aiming directly at Khorezm, which was only a prelude to the Western Expedition. Two years later, the capital of Khorezm fell and the Sultanate fell. Genghis Khan sent two henchmen to lead his army in pursuit and complete the final annihilation.
These two Praetorian Guard generals were Jebe and Subutai. They led 20,000 horsemen deep into the vast steppes of Persia and the Caucasus, and were invincible. The grassland peoples were all frightened and fled. The warriors of Kipchak, Khorezm, and Alain were repeatedly defeated, but they also repeatedly regrouped and fought back.
In the vigorous twenty-year campaign, Jebe and Subutai's iron cavalry footprints traveled all over the Eurasian continent, and they killed decisively and showed no mercy. When the enemy faced the joint attack of the two, he could only wait for death in anger, and there was almost no way out.
And this is exactly what Genghis Khan wants, he needs two henchmen like Jebe and Subutai to accompany him, so as to ensure the complete submission of the countries in the Western Regions. Only by giving them a taste of absolute fear and despair will these Western forces not dare to act rashly. As a result, the two fierce generals did not live up to his expectations and dealt a devastating blow to the enemy.
Some people say that the Mongol army came like the messenger of Hades in the cycle of life and death, where the hope of the afterlife and the despair of this life merge in the flames of war. And Jebe and Subutai are the harsh drivers of all this. Perhaps because of this, the fear of the enemy also deepened - they knew that the iron horsemen of these two men were an extension of the imperial power, which meant absolute obedience and destruction.
Russia lost, and the Rus' kings bowed down
In the spring of 1223, 20,000 iron horsemen led by Jebe and Subutai continued their sweep. This time, the enemy was a hundred thousand allied forces consisting of the Russian multiprincipalities. However, Jebe did not take these enemies seriously.
The previous two years of fighting had already left this elite Mongol force fearless. They fought their way through the battlefields of the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, and they were invincible. Now, what could stand up to their onslaught, and how could these weak Slavs be their opponents?
As a result, Jebe attacked decisively, he steadily controlled the morale of the army, and boldly explored in combat. The battle soon ended in a complete Mongol victory, and they did not give the enemy the slightest respite. The coalition forces were soon torn apart and crushed. The Grand Duke of Kiev, Mstislav Romanovich, was also captured alive in the battle.
The victory in this battle was like a hammer, shattering the luck of the principalities of Eastern Europe. Among them, the fate of Kievan Rus' was the most miserable, they lost their Grand Duke and could only beg for forgiveness from the Mongol iron horsemen. This marked the end of an era and the beginning of a new era, and the Mongols had no choice but to submit to the hinterland.
And the exploits of the two also reached Genghis Khan's tent, causing appreciation. Jebe and Subutai were officially promoted to "Ten Thousand Households" and became super-first-class heroes in the empire. This means that they not only control the military and political power, but also gain the absolute trust of the Khan, so that in the future, even if they have different intentions, they can only secretly watch. Therefore, it can be said that Jebe is the general who really won the favor of the Khan King, and one word determines life and death. Of course, he himself never had the slightest thought of rebellion.
Crimea, the farthest landmark of the Western Expedition
In the late autumn of 1223, Jebe and Subutai completed their mission to the west, returning triumphantly with booty and captives. Their return route to the division was also very special: they took the northern shore of the Black Sea, ran into Bulgaria, and extended the territory of Mongolia.
This was another strategic consideration of Genghis Khan. He sent these two fierce men to continue to march westward, with the aim of laying the foundation for future conquests. As a result, Jebe and Subutai did complete their task and included Bulgaria in the empire.
At this time, Jebe and Subutai were actually physically and mentally exhausted, and they had been fighting in the Western Regions for eight years. During this time, he ran around and repelled countless enemy troops. However, Genghis Khan did not seem to intend to give them a respite, and wanted them to continue to fight for new plans.
As a result, Jebe could only continue to give orders and lead the army straight to the Crimean Peninsula. The peninsula is beautiful and precarious, and controlling it will undoubtedly cement Mongol rule in Eastern Europe.
However, the soldiers were physically and mentally overdrawn. After a long period of conquest, they longed to return to their homeland and recuperate. Subutai, as Jebe's deputy, also has many complaints. As a result, on the battlefield on the peninsula, the Mongol army did not achieve a decent victory, but paid a certain price.
Eventually, the war between Jebe and Subutai in Crimea came to an end, and the two temporarily stopped the Iron Cavalry's attack. In the spring of 1224, they led their troops from the northern shore of the Black Sea, preparing to cross the steppes of Central Asia to meet the main forces of Genghis Khan. And this is also the last journey of the philosopher's life.
At the end of the yellow sand, the loneliness and death of the fierce general
During the long journey back to the east, Jebe gradually felt unwell. He knew that he was dying, and it would be difficult for him to regain his former bravery. Moreover, in that battle in Samara Bay, he was seriously wounded, and at this moment accelerated the weakening of his body. While the others continued to rush non-stop, Jebe had to slow down and be careful with the injury.
The brave general became unusually lonely in the long sand. He understood that the warrior's home was on horseback, not on a stretcher. But he was exhausted, watching the troops drift away little by little, and his own life passed little by little.
This disparity afflicted Jebel. He once commanded spears and arrows to make great achievements, and he once led the charge and was invincible. Now the cruel reality of fate, he can only watch his eyes go to death, and those former glories have come to naught.
In this way, in the fate of glory and bleakness, Jebe came to the end of his life as a warrior. By the time news of his colleagues arrived, he had died of high fever and extreme weakness. This Huying passed away, and his body was not brought back, leaving only a piece of yellow sand. This is the final destination of this god of war.
In the west wind, all that remains is legends and remembrances
Occasionally, the westerly wind blows in the Mongolian steppe, rolling up the yellow sand and approaching the blue sky. After the wind passed, the earth was bare, and there was no trace of it. This is like in the long river of history, many legends passed away quietly, and soon disappeared into the flow of time.
Jebel's ending is one of them. This god-like military general once terrified the enemy, but he did not die well. When people talk about his deeds and tragic death, the first thing that comes to mind is contradiction and drama. Fate gave him an incomparably glorious moment, and in an instant, he withdrew his gift and succumbed to Huang Chen.
However, because of this, the legend of this general is also more and more gorgeous. Later generations have never stopped studying and recalling Jebe, and he has become a memorable symbol and model in Mongolian history.
epilogue
Just as the invincible arrows of his life can only fall to the ground in the end, the endless legend has also integrated the life of the god of war into the long river of history and passed down through the ages. After all, it is not only the glorious moments that belong to the legend, but also the reversal and drama of the bumpy fate. This deepened people's imagination of this period of history, and also firmly rooted Tebabe in the hearts of thousands of people.
Every civilization needs its heroes and myths. Mongolia, as the conqueror that once swept Eurasia, is no exception. Countless deeds and legends have made this glorious historical scroll. And Jebe, the ill-fated god of war in the end, undoubtedly occupies a special place among them.