The dynasties in the Central Plains could plough in spring, but the Mongolian Empire could only rely on the weather.
The winter had just ended, and the Mongolian grasslands were filled with wails. Tens of millions of cows and sheep had died of hunger. The herdsmen were reaching their limit, and if they didn't improve, something big would happen.
To the Mongolians, the so-called improvement was to plunder again.
Last year, when the Mongolian Empire attacked Western Xia, they were defeated. This made the Mongolian Empire realize how powerful Great Xia was in the Central Plains. They couldn't afford to provoke it.
Therefore, the Mongolian Empire decided to change their target to the west.
The Persian Empire was connected to the Ogedei Khaganate in the west.
The Mongolians were familiar with the Persian Empire. In history, two of the Mongolian Khaganate, the Khanate, and the Ili Khaganate had divided the vast Persian Empire's territory.
Therefore, the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition was just the same as before.
On the 15th of March, 600,000 Mongolian cavalrymen started their westward expedition under the banner of "taking back the old land". They would surely leave a mark in the history of China.
Although the current Persian Empire could not be mentioned in the same breath as in the past, with a strong army and vast territory, Genghis Khan was still very confident that he could bite off a piece of fat meat from the enormous Persian Empire.
The war between the two empires had begun.
…
On the 18th of March, in the capital.
Ouyang Shuo was surprised to hear about the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition.
According to the information collected by the Black Snake Guards, the Persian Empire had a vast territory. It included the entire Central Asia, half of West Asia, and Pakistan in South Asia.
If the overseas territories were not taken into account, Great Xia's current territory was basically equivalent to that of the Persian Empire. Just from this point alone, one could see how powerful the Persian Empire was.
The entire Central Asia included Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan, as well as the southern part of Kazakhstan.
The northern part of Kazakhstan was occupied by the Romanov Dynasty.
The West Asia included Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman, UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain.
Other than Afghanistan and Iran, which belonged to the Persian Empire, the remaining 14 countries belonged to the Arab Empire.
Whether it was the Persian Empire or the Arabian Empire, their birth was not because some overlord swept away the others and expanded their territory by destroying other countries. It was more of a kind of alliance between countries.
Therefore, during the establishment of the Empire, there were very few countries that were destroyed. More than 90% of the players were retained, and the Royal Guards were also converted into the Imperial Army relatively smoothly.
Between countries, it was more through the bonds of religion and culture that brought them together.
Whether it was the Persian Empire or the Arab Empire, they both implemented a city-state system similar to that of ancient Greece. Under the premise of electing a ruler, the city-states enjoyed a certain degree of autonomy.
The Arab Empire had 20 million players, and the total number of troops in the empire was 2.7 million. The Persian Empire was even more ridiculous. It had more than 30 million players, and the total number of troops in the empire was close to 4 million.
If it wasn't for the Persian Empire's city-state system, Genghis Khan wouldn't have dared to send troops to Persia.
It was reported that in view of the worsening global situation and the possibility of a world war breaking out at any time, the two empires were also stepping up their efforts to build a complete empire.
Otherwise, they would definitely be eliminated in the future or become cannon fodder.
Ouyang Shuo predicted that with the Mongolian Empire's expedition to the west, the Persian Empire would speed up its internal coordination and complete its internal restructuring before the Arab Empire.
In order to survive, the Mongolian Empire had no choice but to launch an expedition to the west. Their internal defenses would definitely be weak, and logically speaking, this was the best opportunity for Great Xia to attack the Mongolian Empire. After all, they didn't have to worry about disrupting the spring plowing.
Some generals had already submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting to attack the Mongolian Empire.
For example, the commander of the Fengxiang Army, Guo Ziyi, had submitted a memorial to the imperial court, requesting to launch an attack while the Mongolian Empire's defenses were weak.
Even if they couldn't destroy the Mongolian Empire, they could at least weaken the enemy's strength.
Ouyang Shuo had always viewed the Mongolian Empire as a formidable enemy, and the Mongolian Empire was one of the greatest obstacles for Great Xia to unify the China region. Even so, Ouyang Shuo still resisted the temptation.
No matter what, the Mongolian Empire was a part of China, and taking advantage of the Mongolian Empire would damage Great Xia's image. Furthermore, it would be too short-sighted.
Regardless of the Mongolian Empire or the Persian Empire, they were both formidable enemies of Great Xia. If they were to fight to the death and exhaust each other, it would be a good opportunity for Great Xia to watch the tigers fight.
Ouyang Shuo had no reason to intervene at this moment.
If Great Xia were to declare war on the Mongolian Empire now, it would only cause the Mongolian Empire to give up halfway, and the biggest beneficiary would be the Persian Empire.
The failure of the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition was equivalent to being forced into a desperate situation, and the only way for them to survive was to point their vanguard at the Central Plains.
A pack of wolves in the grasslands without a path of retreat was extremely terrifying.
This was equivalent to harming others without benefiting oneself.
Because of this, Ouyang Shuo decided to adopt a defensive stance against the Mongolian Empire and watch from the sidelines before the outcome of the battle between the Mongolian Empire and the Persian Empire was decided.
Even so, the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition still created an opportunity for Great Xia.
The Mongolian Empire's westward expedition was equivalent to temporarily giving up on the Tufan Dynasty, and this was the best opportunity for Great Xia to conquer Tufan.
On one hand, the Mongolian Empire's westward expedition greatly reduced the pressure on Great Xia's northern border; on the other hand, if Great Xia were to attack Tufan now, Mongolia would definitely not participate, and there would be no worries.
Furthermore, the Tufan Dynasty was similar to the Mongolian Empire in that they mainly grazed livestock, with agriculture as a supplement. If they were to launch an attack now, it would not affect the spring sowing, and there would be no worries.
All of these created an excellent opportunity for Great Xia to attack the Tufan Dynasty.
After Xixia submitted to Great Xia, the Tufan Dynasty had been maintaining their stance. They did not lower their heads to the Mongolian Empire or Great Xia. They wanted to play a balance between the two.
Such actions had long made Ouyang Shuo dissatisfied.
Let's see what else the Tufan Dynasty can do about the so-called balance.
At the thought of that, Ouyang Shuo no longer hesitated. He sent an order to the northwest battlefield and ordered Li Jing to personally lead the Flying Bear Army to attack the Tufan Dynasty. Li Mu would lead the Soaring Eagle Army to defend and be ready to respond at any time.
The Tufan Dynasty only had 400,000 troops and was no match for the Flying Bear Army. They could rely on the plateau terrain, which could easily cause obstacles for the Great Xia army.
That was not a problem for Great Xia.
In history, Li Jing had once led an expedition to Tuyuhun and had similar combat experience. Moreover, Li Jing had led his troops to the border of Shu for more than two years. He had long understood the situation of the Tufan Dynasty.
At that moment, it could be said that the time was right.
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