A Young Boy

First tell me, do you know how to read a map?

Without giving any answer, the boy sat in front of Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf, opened the map and placed his finger on different places and said, This is Balkh and this is Bukhara. Probably you have heard a lot about the strength of the Bukhara fort, but the Balkh fort, even if it is not so strong, is much safer due to its geographical location. Bukhara is surrounded by open plains, and we can easily lay siege to it, depriving the inhabitants of the city of the support of the forces of the rest of Turkistan.

As for the fort, I assure you that stone walls do not stand in front of a fortress, and it has been seen many times that fortified forces only resist for a long time when they hope for help.

Otherwise, she gets frustrated and opens the doors. On the contrary, we will not have to face many problems in Balkh. As much release as we need to attack the city. Much more soldiers will be needed to secure the supply and reinforcement routes in the hilly area and besides, we will have to occupy all the surrounding hills to besiege the city. In these wars the mosquitoes of the hill tribes will be more dangerous than our arrows. The mountains to the south and east of Balkh are quite high. If all the states of south-east Turkestan tried to help Balkh, a huge army would approach Balkh without facing any resistance from us under the cover of these high mountains and threaten us from the east, south and west. can do

And if the forces of Bukhara and Samarkand also come to help them from the north, our way of receiving help and reinforcements will also be cut off.

And we will be surrounded by foreign invaders from all sides.

However, in the summer we will be able to hold out against them but the siege will certainly drag on and in the winter the hill people will prove very dangerous to us and in the case of a spy there will be very few of us who can get back. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was now looking at this young and young soldier more than the map. He said that the word "retreat" has not yet found a place in the military reforms of the Arabs.

The boy replied, "I don't doubt the determination and independence of the Arabs, but from a military point of view, I consider this attack tantamount to suicide."

Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf said. So what do you think that the intention of advancing towards the east should be abandoned?

"No, to dominate Turkistan, our last outpost in the east will not be Balgh, but we will have to occupy all the mountainous region between Kashgar and Chitral, but I I think it is necessary to conquer Bukhara first. We will have two benefits in this. One is that it is the most important city of Turkistan and its conquest will have the same effect on the people of Turkistan as it did on the Iranians after the conquest of Madain and the Romans after Damascus. The second is that during the siege of Bukhara, we will not have to face these threats from outside.

What I have explained about Balkh.

After conquering Bukhara, we can make it the base of our forces instead of help. From there they can advance to Samarkand and Samarkand towards Quqand and Ferghana. After these victories, I do not expect Turkistan's immunity to remain, after that my proposal is that our forces from Bukhara and Samarkand advance towards South Turkistan and the forces of Quqand turn to Kashgar. I believe that sooner or later the forces of Quqand will cross the difficult mountains and reach Kashgar.

Before this, Balkh and its surrounding cities in the south must have been conquered. Al-Hajjaj ibn Yusuf was looking at this young soldier in a state of charity and wonder.