In 1514, the entire interior of Asia was in turmoil. A large number of old and new nobles are hostile to each other, and are ready to join the next battlefield at any time. Among them is Said, the head of the army with the royal blood of Chagatai. Under pressure from a powerful enemy, he had to withdraw from the chaos west of Congling and set his sights on the east of Mughalstein.
Through a series of swift and unimaginable rapid strikes, Said quickly defeated the brutal warlord Ababek who was entrenched in the southern Western Regions. As a result, the Zhengshuo of the original Chagatai forces was restored and the Yarkand Khanate known to later generations was constructed.
The frustrated person in the chaos
Said's lineage can be traced back to the Genghis Khan era
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Said was born in Turpan today in 1487 AD, and his descent can be traced back to Chagatai, the second son of Genghis Khan. When the Mongols gradually completed their embryonic form of the empire, the latter was granted a large area of land at both ends of the Kunlun Mountains. Its territory includes Hezhong, Seven Rivers, Western Regions, Afghanistan, and parts of North India provinces. However, with the failure of a series of internal and external campaigns, the Chagatai Khanate itself was severely weakened. Coupled with the blocking effect of geographical factors, the Khanate was eventually divided into two parts, the east and the west.
Decades before Said himself was born, the Western Chagatai Khanate in the hinterland of Central Asia died at the hands of the vassal Timur. The Eastern Chagatai Khanate with the Western Regions at its core, although retained as an independent organization, has also become the main vassal of Samarkand's upstarts. Therefore, when Said came of age, he himself faced the obligation of allegiance to the above two forces. The Mughal Emperor Babur, who later went south to India, was his cousin far away in the Fergana area. Also, because the main population has converted to Islam, outsiders often refer to this large area under his feet by the name of Mogulstein.
The area referred to by Mogulstein
During the transition period of the 15th-16th centuries, the decline of the Timurian Empire was due to the vastness of the rule. The area attracted Uzbek invasion. Said was forced to flee because of internal fighting in his hometown, and was then involved in a larger-scale conflict between the two major groups. However, no matter how hard he and the surrounding feudal masters work hard, they can't rely on weak power to stop the expansion of opponents. In the end, Said took control of the small Fergana Basin and became an horn with his cousin who fled to Kabul. However, the Uzbek's pressing steadily made him quickly realize that he was unable to keep the existing turf.
Facing a new round of Uzbek cavalry, Said convened all his subordinates to discuss countermeasures. As a result, almost everyone is opposed to confronting a strong enemy head-on. Some people therefore suggested that the strategic focus should be changed and the military conquest should be used first in the southern part of the Western Region east of the mountains. It used to be the core position of the Chagatai Khanate and the exile place of many relatives, allowing Said to accumulate enough strength to protect himself. And Ababek, the tyrant who controls the local area, has long been unpopular because of his perverse behavior.
Said is involved in the melee between Tamerlane and Uzbek group in the west
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The entire southern part of the Western Regions has broken away from the East Chagatai system
Although it is located in the hinterland of Montgoalstein, it was the Western Regions at that time The South has actually declared its independence from the Eastern Chagatai system. Long before Said was born, the ambitious Ababek took the place with his troops, and then declared himself a sultan. Due to the lack of strong enough enemies around, he was able to retreat there and became notorious for his brutal rule.
Because of fear of resistance from towns or tribes, Ababek often kills potential opponents due to minor mistakes. Then, because of fear of retaliation, the family of the victim was also killed. He also deliberately supported a group of destitute gangsters to replace the original secular leaders or patriarchs, and tortured more people such as castration and nose picking. During the period, the tyrant himself did not forget to accelerate his wealth accumulation and concentrated a large amount of wealth under his personal name. Even because his subordinates accidentally dug up ancient gold coins, they ordered the use of a large amount of people's power to carry out "violent archaeology", and once again found a lot of assets left over from ancient times. A small part of it is used to build arsenals and build border defenses, while most of the rest are entirely for their own enjoyment. Said and others are determined to challenge him, and they also fancy the huge amount of property he has searched for decades.
The Mughal people at the time still largely retained nomadic customs
When they learned that Said had an orthodox identity Returning from the west, Ababek immediately strengthened the defense level of the capital Kashgar. By mobilizing the people for forced labor, a new large fortress was built within 7 days, and they were recruited into the army in various grassroots villages. In a short time, the army in his hand has grown to more than 30,000 men, and he can obtain a sufficient supply of weapons. However, because most of the members are strong and strong, they are very dependent on security and need fortifications to protect themselves.
In contrast, the Eastern Crusade Army is more like a migrating refugee. Excluding all kinds of old, weak, sick and disabled, only more than 4000 people can really take up weapons. But such a group of exiles who look like horse bandits, has a cohesion that the opponent's army can't match. Except for the elite servants of Said himself, the rest of the tribes are all here. They are usually small teams of 70-100 people, brought to the battlefield by their original allegiance, and they know why they are fighting.
Said’s Fergana troops have been tested in many wars
Battle of Kashgar
Today's Kashgar Fortress ruins
In April 1514, Said led 4700 infantrymen to the east quickly. After relocating the dependents and households of the army, immediately enter Uchibalgen Village. Here guards the main ferry crossing the Yutong Basui River, and the two wings are protected by steep mountain passes. At the same time, Ababek also allowed people to build fortresses on relatively flat high ground, blocking almost all possible passages. But because the main forces are gathered in the capital, the defenders actually lack sufficient manpower to cope with the attack.
Once the critical checkpoint was cleared, Said's troops drove straight into the city of Kashgar and marveled at the newly constructed fortress. Because it is estimated that there are only 1000 available cavalry in the city, the attacker thinks that the opponent will hide behind the city wall and passively defend. However, Ababek had gathered many scattered soldiers here, and took the initiative to go out of the city to attack Said's tribe. Although only a small group of light cavalry rode at speed at the beginning, a large number of supporting infantry also slowly walked out of the city gate. As a result, the Fergana coalition forces who were chasing up were quickly blocked by the tightly defended opponent.
Said’s cavalry rushed into the Western Regions in the shortest time
Because of the scarcity of troops, Said only dared to dispatch. About one-third of the cavalry on the right flank. theyFacing the Kashgar garrison defending against the wall, there was almost no way. The main force of the latter is archers fighting on foot, and a large wooden shield erected 1 person high protects the front. Between each infantry phalanx, there are still different numbers of cavalry to support them. Although the Fergana were more powerful, they could not take advantage of the repeated trading in the morning. Instead, as the arrows ran out and the horses weakened, the defenders drove them out of the steep terrain below the city. Immediately, the battlefield gradually shifted from the original gate position to the more flat terrain.
Seeing the defeat of his strong side force, Said turned his main attack direction to the left wing. As the right flank retreated to the reserve position, the cavalry at the other end had already slammed out and went straight to the weak side of the Kashgar garrison. Because the infantry in Central Asia is traditionally biased towards static defense, soldiers are only required to be able to shoot and kill the enemy in a fixed position. Once collective movement occurs due to various reasons, it is easy to fall into chaos after being slammed. As a result, the attacking defender was forced to stop because of a counterattack on the right. Those Fergana who had already retreated turned around to fight back before Said's order arrived. Through the coordination of the two men and horses, the enemy infantry, who had consumed more than half of their physical strength, was finally defeated. The cavalry mingled with it could only turn around and flee behind the city wall.
Said's tribe has a huge advantage in weapons and experience
Siege of Ingishal
The fortification ruins of the ancient city of Yingisar
However, Kashgar still has strong walls and towers for protection. Said estimated that his troops would not be able to withstand the long-term siege, and they needed to be supplemented with new grain in time to sustain it. Therefore, the attackers took the initiative to leave on the third day, crossed the Haratashun River to the south, and approached another very important Ingishal Castle.
The number of garrisons in Ingishar is far less than that of Kashgar, but it also has steep terrain and strong walls to protect itself. When Said’s cavalry challenged the defenders, they were blocked by infantry fighting back from the city. This time, they not only drove the Fergana back again, but also determined not to leave their original position. Only at night did he choose to give up and give up the area outside the city wall to the besiegers. Said also immediately established a large camp nearby, centralized management of the previously scattered baggage, and then arranged some of the Mughal cavalry to looting supplies in the nearby area.
Facing Jiancheng, Said’s tribes had no choice but to dismount.
In July 1514, the crucial siege of Ingishal officially started. Said is ready to use this city as his foothold and arrange different teams under his command to start local work. Although its members are all Mongolian cavalry born, they have experienced the baptism of the battlefield in Central Asia and often learned a lot of simple and reliable siege techniques. Said himself, just like his subordinates, chose a certain tower as the main target, arranged for the tribe to dig the trenches, and quietly sent people to plant mines at the foot of the city wall. In addition to the north wall on the steep cliff, the attackers blocked the water from the south, east and west, and made the low morale defenders mistakenly believe that they were facing tens of thousands of opponents. In order to further confuse them, Said also ordered the large camp to move every day to attract most of the attention of the defenders.
After 5 days of confusion and quiet work, the first completed landmine was detonated by the Fergana at night. The tower made of rammed earth completely collapsed due to the huge destructive force, and the entire section of the city wall was blown into a huge gap. The defenders have been transferred to this area to strengthen their defenses, but they have relaxed their attention to other areas. So in less than a day, a second landmine destroyed the strongest tower in the city. At this point, the defenders of Ingishar had completely lost their direction and began to demand surrender to Said's army.
Due to the destruction of 2 towers, the Ingishal garrison can only choose to surrender
Yeerqiang Khanate established
阿巴巴In the end, Ke could only regroup his troops in Yarkand
Until this time, Ababek was still trying to organize a larger force for a decisive battle. He himself has retreated south to the city of Yarkand, located in Shache today, and collected all the manpower that can be mobilized. There are also 60,000 sets of various armors and about 12,000 sets of vests in his arsenal, enough to arm a powerful army.
So many servants who were originally in forced labor began to rush to Yarkand from various construction sites. They are assigned to spears, sabers, bows and arrows, and armor. Some people who have horse riding experience can quickly upgrade to "Elite Cavalry", and even the mount under the hip is also equipped with a vest. But in fact, he couldn't even operate his horses flexibly, and even fell from his horse during the parade. A small number of troops that were really capable of fighting were also defeated by Said’s Mughal cavalry in a peripheral raid, unable to stop the opponent from continuing to collect food on the spot. As for Ingishar, who is in desperate need of salvation, he has also negotiated terms with the siege and handed over the ownership of the city to the opponent.
Temporarily forcibly recruited, the Yarkans garrison has no combat power at all.
At this time, Ababai Ke has completely lost confidence in the decisive victory and fled south with a large amount of belongings. When it was discovered that the residents of Yutian did not support him to continue resisting, they plunged into the foothills of the southern plateau. Said also immediately dispatched 3000 cavalry to chase after him, and he took over the control of the city of Yarkand without blood. Kashgar, who was still on the sidelines, also wanted to surrender to the new post at a later date. In the end, the former tyrant, who was already a bereaved dog, was forced to burn all his belongings because of the difficult way forward. Although he threw valuables and slaughtered horses and mules at all costs, he still could not escape Said's pursuit. After surrendering desperately to the chaser, he was cut off the head in the night.
So far, Said has completely controlled half of the Western Regions, and therefore sits on the core area of Moguolstein. Although the natural conditions there are not as good as those in the northern part of the Tarim Basin, and the number of people that can be carried is relatively limited, it is worse than a place of death that attracts attention. The defeated Ababaek can dominate for a long time, relying on this relatively unique geographical location. For Said, who is more ambitious, this is also a forward base for further expansion.
Said built the Yerqian shogunate site
In order to stay away from the dangerous Fergana, Said He even moved the capital from Kashgar to Yarkand and rebuilt his military shogunate. Although he belongs to the original Eastern Chagatai royal family, because there are other forces in the Western Regions, it seems to outsiders that it is more like an independent Khanate with Yarkand as the center. The name of the Yarkand Khanate as we know it today is based on this special historical stage.
His descendants will set off from this area, and then control the large branches of the north and south of Tarim, and continue the Guozuo of the Eastern Chagatai Khanate into the next century.
