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    Chapter 40 Alexandria

    The sun was shining high, and in the boundless desert, a large army was advancing rapidly. This was the Tang army led by Du Xuewen, heading towards Alexandria under the guidance of local guides.

    In addition to having to pay a high price to find guides for the Tang army with Xue Rengui, at Suez Port, after seeing the powerful power of the Tang army's artillery, the local Egyptians were not only afraid, but also happy in their hearts.

    When they heard that Du Xuewen was recruiting guides, many local natives spontaneously signed up. Before, they might have been afraid of the Arabs' revenge, but now it is obvious that the more powerful Tang people have come, and the Arabs are no match at all.

    There is another more important reason, that is, Mubak previously robbed the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs and threw the pharaohs' bodies into the sea. This has aroused the anger of all Egyptians. Although they have been enslaved by foreigners for thousands of years  , I am used to accepting things, but everyone can be angry.

    "Rumble!"

    The thunderous hoofbeats made the ground tremble, splashing up large swaths of smoke and dust, like a dark cloud hanging down from the ground. The long march of the Tang army was like a torrent, rolling towards the north.

    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t it arrived yet!?¡±

    ¡°Where are those damn big cannibals hiding? I walked along this road and didn¡¯t even see a single one!¡±

    "What? My hands are itchy! I heard the general say that from Suez to Alexandria, most of it is desert. Where can there be human habitation in a place like this? Speed ??up the march. The big cannibal is ahead. If we leave  If you wait too long, they will all run away!"

    The soldiers were very excited and talked a lot along the way, as if they were not going to the battlefield but to a banquet.

    Starting from the Port of Suez, Tang Jun stepped into the desert. There was yellow sand everywhere. Although there were oases and water sources from time to time, there were more yellow sand and strong winds. The most terrifying thing was quicksand. Once encountered, it would  But it's more bad than good.

    What's even worse is that the temperature in the desert is very low and the temperature difference is huge. This creates a huge dilemma for the Tang Army. However, no matter how great the difficulty is, it can't stop the Tang Army from moving forward. Not to mention the desert, even if it is a mountain of swords and a sea of ??fire, they can't stop it.  Dare to take a chance.

    In order to cope with the complex terrain and changeable climate of the desert, Du Rui prepared Mongolian horses from Mobei Road for this expedition. Mongolian horses are one of the oldest horse breeds in the world.  Produced in the grasslands of Inner Mongolia, it is a typical grassland horse breed.

    The Mongolian horse is not very big, with an average height of only 120 centimeters and a weight of 250 kilograms.  The body is stout, the limbs are solid and powerful, the physique is rough and strong, the head is large and the forehead is wide, the chest is deep and long, the legs are short, the joints are strong, and the tendons are well developed.  The back hair is thick and complex in color.  It is hardy, not afraid of cold, can adapt to extremely extensive feeding and management, has strong vitality, and can survive in harsh and harsh conditions.

    Although the Mongolian horse is not as tall and strong as the Arabian horse and is good at sprinting over short distances, it has extremely strong endurance and strong adaptability to ensure that the Mongolian horse can survive in any environment.

    The Mongolian grasslands are prolific with horses. The "Book of Han? Biography of the Xiongnu" once recorded that before Yao and Shun, they "lived in the north and moved with water and grass. The majority of their livestock were cattle, horses and sheep."

    The Xiongnu horses were once prominent. In 200 BC, Liu Bang, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, attacked the Xiongnu in Baideng and was besieged by Moton Shanyu with more than 300,000 cavalry for seven days.  Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty brought back a large number of horses many times during the war with the Xiongnu, and appointed Jin Richan, the prince of the Xiongnu, as the horse supervisor of the Han Dynasty. The private horse breeding industry developed unprecedentedly.

    After the Western Jin Dynasty, tribes outside the Great Wall went south one after another, bringing tens of thousands of horses with them.  During the prosperous Tang Dynasty, all ethnic groups in the north paid tribute with fine horses. For example, "Tang Hui Yao" records: "Turkic horses have unparalleled skills and moderate muscles and bones. They can travel long distances and are extremely useful in field hunting."

    ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????¡¯''''s ¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯s'''¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯s'' ¡¯¡¯s''¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯©\©\¡¯¡¯¡¯©\Bas's' Horse's©\'''¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯¡¯ through©\¨CYantuo'singing's 1998 1996-2011  During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Khitan horses in the Northeast were also Mongolian horses, which shows that Mongolian horses were already distributed in the three northeastern provinces.  The Mongolian Empire is known as the "Empire of Horses". Genghis Khan's guard was composed of excellent cavalry. History said that he "conquered the world with the power of bows and horses."

    According to the records of "Yuan History", the horse herding land was very wide at that time, ranging from Huoli Tuma in the north to the grassland outside the Great Wall and in the south.  According to historical records, when Genghis Khan's cavalry marched westward, they often relied on the amazing speed and endurance of Mongolian horses to launch surprise attacks on the enemy and achieve victory.

    In September 1219 AD, two generals of Genghis Khan, Subutai and Jebe, attacked the city of Khorazimo and failed to break it because of the strong fortifications in the city.

    Zhebie led the army to retreat 500 miles away and rest and reorganize the team.  When the enemy spies learned that Genghis Khan's army had retreated 500 miles away, the guards in the city felt relieved and relaxed their vigilance.  ?After the ancient army had rested for a few days, Zhebie suddenly ordered one night to lead the army to attack the city of Nieda.  The army marched 500 miles at night and arrived at the city early the next morning for a surprise attack.  Because the city was unprepared, Genghis Khan's army easily captured the city and won a complete victory.  After that, the Mongolian army became famous and defeated the powerful Khwarazi Mo Kingdom in just two years.

    Although the sprint speed of Mongolian horses is not as good as that of European horses, their specialty is long-distance running, and their demand for forage is lower than other horses, and they can withstand harsh natural conditions.  Therefore, the Mongolian army can "move soldiers and horses first, and then move food and grass." The Mongolians, who were born in a bitter cold land, endure hardships and stand hard work, and sometimes rely on drinking mare's milk to satisfy their hunger.  The Mongolian army was not troubled by baggage, so it was able to carry out surprisingly large-scale non-stop maneuvers.

    At first, the soldiers of the Tang Army who were used to tall horses were not satisfied with the Mongolian horses. They always felt that these horses were no different from donkeys. However, after entering the desert, they understood why the Ministry of War had to allocate this kind of war horses to them. The previous war horses  Although it is a tall and powerful horse, it needs a rest after running for a while, but this kind of Mongolian horse does not feel tired even after walking for days and nights.

    The morale of the soldiers of the Tang army was high. Du Xuewen was very satisfied, but he continued to encourage the soldiers: "Soldiers! In front of us is the cannibal Alexandria. Legend has it that it is to commemorate the original Macedonian emperor.  It was established by a man named Alexander. Alexander once dreamed of conquering the whole world. He was so arrogant. Now, we must conquer there first and defeat the big cannibal, just like our ancestors in the Western Regions, Congling, and Central China.  Just like defeating the giant cannibals, defeat them and conquer them, can we do it!"

    "Yes!" It was just one word, but it was earth-shattering. The soldiers held their chests high, their heads high, and they were extremely proud.

    The glorious deeds of our ancestors are the best examples to inspire military morale.  As Du Xuewen said, Du Rui led an army far smaller than that of the Great Cannibals, overcame numerous difficulties, expelled the Great Cannibals from the Western Regions, and then crossed the green mountains to fight a decisive battle in Central Asia. The courage required does not need to be imagined.  Yes, it¡¯s so exciting.

    The Alexandria that Du Xuewen mentioned was founded by Alexander the Great in 334 BC, and its chief architect was the Greek Dinocletus.

    Legend has it that when Alexander the Great wanted to draw the city's plan, he happened to have no chalk on hand, so he used grains to plan the city's overall situation.  Alexandrian astrologers took this as an omen that the city would flourish like grain.  Later, a group of birds flew in and ate the grains, and Alexandria later became the most important food supply place for ancient Greece and Rome.

    There is also a legend that a monster in the sea prevented Alexander from building a city here, so Alexander sat on a glass bell and went to the bottom of the sea to defeat the monster. Later, he erected a metal statue on the seaside to scare the monster.

    Historically, Alexander¡¯s purpose in building the city here was to establish a Greek center in Egypt as a link between Greece and the fertile Nile Valley.  At that time, there was only one place in Egypt that had the conditions to build such a city.

    Alexandria is located behind Pharaoh¡¯s Island and is not hindered by the silt at the mouth of the Nile. At that time, there was already a small Egyptian city in the area, which was mainly the residence of fishermen and pirates.

    After Alexander left, his governor Cleomenes continued the construction of the city, but later archeology confirmed that the city was mainly completed by Ptolemy.

    Alexandria replaced the destroyed Tire as the center of European trade with Arabia and India.  A century later it was larger than Carthage, and in the following centuries it was only smaller than the city of Rome.  During Roman times, Alexandria was nominally a free Greek city with its own senate.  Augustus abolished the jurisdiction of this senate, but Septimius Severus later restored it.

    Alexandria was not only a center of ancient Greek culture, it was also the largest Jewish city in the world at the time.  It was there that the Septuagint was completed.

    The first Ptolemaic rulers maintained the development of the city and made its university the best in Greece.  At the same time these rulers divided its inhabitants into Greeks, Jews, and Egyptians.  Beginning with Ptolemy IV, conflicts among various ethnic groups in the city began to intensify.

    In 80 BC, Alexandria was officially under Roman administration according to the wishes of Ptolemy X, but it had been under Roman influence for more than a hundred years before that.  It controlled one of the most important granaries of the Roman Empire.

    In the late 4th century AD, the persecution of believers of other religions by Christians reached its climax. Many temples and statues of gods were destroyed in the Roman Empire, pagan rituals were banned, those who engaged in pagan rituals were even punished with death, and libraries were closed.

    In 391 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodosius I ordered the destruction of all temples, and the Library of Alexandria may have been??It was destroyed at this time.

    In 616 AD, the Persian king Chosroes II captured Alexandria, although a few years later, the Byzantine emperor Heraclius reoccupied Alexandria.

    But with the gradual rise of the Arab Empire, the Byzantine rule in Alexandria became unstable.  When Du Rui sailed around the world and arrived in Egypt, Alexandria had already been occupied by Ottoman, the then commander of the Arab Empire's Western Expedition. Although the Byzantines, with the help of Du Rui, temporarily expelled the Arabs, after Muawiya came to power  , once again sent an expeditionary force, and finally captured Alexandria after besieging it for fourteen months. During these fourteen months, Alexandria did not receive any assistance from Constantinople.

    Although shortly thereafter, the Greeks took advantage of the Arab army's absence to occupy Alexandria again, but the Arabs immediately returned after hearing the news and quickly resumed their rule over Alexandria.

    The most famous building in Alexandria is the Lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Built in 270 BC, this 135-meter-high giant lighthouse stood for more than 1,000 years before being destroyed by an earthquake.  It was destroyed after it was built and ignited in 281 BC, and the flames were not extinguished until the Arab Islamic army conquered Egypt in 641 AD.  It has been burning day and night for nearly a thousand years, which is unprecedented in the history of mankind.

    Two of the seven ancient wonders recognized by the world are in Egypt. One is the Pyramid, which ranks first among the seven wonders, and the other is the Alexandria Lighthouse, which ranks seventh.

    This lighthouse does not have any religious overtones and was built purely for people's practical life. The candlelight of the Alexandria Lighthouse illuminates the entire Alexandria at night, protecting ships on the sea. In addition, it was also the tallest building in the world at that time.

    In 330 BC, the arrogant Macedonian king Alexander the Great captured Egypt and established a city named after him at the northwest end of the Nile Delta, on the southern shore of the Mediterranean Sea.  This is a city with a very important strategic position. In the next 100 years, it became the capital of Egypt, one of the most prosperous cities in the world, and the largest and most important international transshipment port in the entire Mediterranean world and the Middle East.

    The Alexandria Lighthouse is 120 meters high. Including the tower base, the entire height is about 135 meters.  The tower consists of three floors: the first floor is a square structure, 60 meters high, with more than 300 rooms of varying sizes, used as fuel depots, machine rooms and staff dormitories; the second floor is an octagonal structure, high  15 meters; the third floor is a circular structure with 8 stone pillars 8 meters high surrounding the dome light tower.

    On top of the lamp tower, stands an 8-meter-tall bronze statue of the sun god Helios in a standing posture.  The entire lighthouse is built with materials such as granite and copper, and the fuel for the lamp is olive oil and wood.  The entire lighthouse covers an area of ??approximately 930 square meters.  Smart designers also use the principle of reflection to use mirrors to reflect light farther out to sea.  This unparalleled lighthouse is brightly lit every night and works conscientiously to navigate ships entering the harbor. It brings a sense of security to the helmsman.

    The square tower base is 14 meters high. It is essentially a three- or four-story large lattice covering a large rock.  The lower tower, which rises in the center of the tower base, is 71 meters high and is also square. There is a bronze statue of "The Son of Poseidon blowing a conch" on each of the four corners of the upper end. It faces four different directions to indicate the direction and direction of the wind.  .  The middle tower body shrinks into a thin column, 9 meters high.  Eight stone pillars are erected on the octagonal position of the middle tower, which together support a circular tower top.  This onion-shaped round top became an important reference for later Islamic mosque architecture.

    Above the upper tower is a circular tower top, in which a huge torch is burning day and night.  On the top of the tower is a bronze statue of Poseidon, the god of the sea, about seven meters high, which adds mythological and artistic style to the building.

    The external shape of the Alexandria Lighthouse is very beautiful and elegant, and the internal structure is also very strict and complex.  There are more than 50 rooms on several floors at the base of the tower. It is estimated that these rooms are for the accommodation, office or operation of on-duty personnel, or they may be special rooms for astronomers and meteorologists to observe astronomical phenomena.  The three-story tower itself is not suitable. In order to overcome the monotony and obtain an artistic visual shape of the overall building, many layers of windows are built, which are equivalent to those of buildings.  Some researchers believe that the lower part of the tower is wide inside, and a sloping spiral path was built from here to the top of the tower.  There are 32 and 18 steps on the inclined staircase leading to the middle and upper floors respectively.  In the middle, there is an artificial lifting device equivalent to a modern elevator, which is used to transport torch fuel and various items to ensure that the torch remains extinguished day and night.

    It is said that in addition to its own flame light, the torch also has a concave metal mirror, which reflects the dazzling torch light so that ships 60 kilometers away can see the direction of the lighthouse, so that they will not lose their way.  You can drive straight to Alexandria.

    In historyIn 700 AD, there was an earthquake in Alexandria, and the lamphouse and the statue of Poseidon collapsed.  Regarding this matter, it is said that an emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire attempted to attack Alexander, but was afraid that his fleet would be seen by the lighthouse, so he sent someone to inform the caliph of the Umayyad Dynasty, falsely claiming that the relics and treasures of Alexander the Great were hidden at the bottom of the tower.  .  The Caliph fell into a trap and ordered the tower to be demolished, but due to strong opposition from the people, the demolition stopped when it reached the lamphouse.  In 880 AD, the lighthouse was restored.  In 1100 AD, the lighthouse was damaged by a strong earthquake again, and only the first part below remained. The lighthouse lost its former role and became an observation tower, with a mosque built on the platform.  It was not until two earthquakes in 1301 and 1435 that the lighthouse was completely destroyed.

    There is also a legend about the establishment of the Alexandria Lighthouse. One night in the autumn of 280 BC, with a dark moon and high winds, an Egyptian royal wedding ship hit the rocks and sank while sailing into Alexandria. The royal family on board  The relatives of the country and the brides from Europe were all buried in the belly of the fish.

    This tragedy shocked the Egyptian government and the public. King Ptolemy II of Egypt ordered the construction of a navigation lighthouse at the entrance to the largest port.  After 40 years of hard work, a majestic lighthouse was erected on the east end of Pharos Island.  It stands on a rocky reef 7 meters away from the island shore. People call it the "Alexander Pharos Lighthouse".

    When the Alexandria Lighthouse was built, it became the tallest building in the world at a height of 400 feet.  Its designer was the Greek architect Soschatus.  For 1,500 years, the Alexandria Lighthouse has been guiding sailors into the harbor in the dark night.

    An Arab traveler once recorded in his notes: "The lighthouse is built on three floors. At the top, a mirror is used to reflect sunlight during the day, and firelight is used to guide ships at night."

    In the 14th century AD, a rare major earthquake occurred in Alexandria. The shaking earth destroyed this architectural wonder of the ancient world with huge force.  This loyal defender of Alexandria, this crown of Alexandria, just disappeared.

    Du Xuewen was lucky. He could still see the full view of the Alexandria Lighthouse. When he was in Du Ling, he had heard Du Rui talk about it. In Du Rui's description, the lighthouse was no weaker than the Great Wall.  , Du Xuewen has always been fascinated by it.  Now he finally has a chance to see it.

    ??Forward, forward, speed up!

    The marching team of the Tang Army flew through the desert like a tornado, rolling up clouds of smoke and dust as it headed north.

    Du Xuewen had no time to stop at some Egyptian settlements he encountered along the way. The Tang army was now fighting a time war. He had to get there before the cannibal defenders in Cairo could react and rescue Alexandria.  , conquer there.

    The reaction of the Great Cannibal will not be so slow. It has been five days since they left Suez Port. Cairo must have received the news. And then combined with the march route of the Tang Army, it is not difficult for them to guess the Tang Army's next target.

    As Du Xuewen expected, after learning that Suez Port had been captured and that the Tang Army was advancing northward, Hamadry responded immediately.

    Not only did they mobilize all the garrison in Cairo, they also recruited tens of thousands of Egyptian servants. Although the Egyptians robbed the tombs of past pharaohs and insulted the pharaohs' holy bodies because of the cannibal, they had no choice but to face the cannibal's scimitar.  yield.

    The glory of the past is long gone, and most Egyptians have forgotten that they were once the strongest in this world. After being enslaved for thousands of years, their nerves have become somewhat numb.

    After gathering the army, Hamadry left only 5,000 defenders in Cairo, and hurriedly led the newly assembled army towards Alexandria.

    Although he was angry that the Port of Suez was lost, the status of the Port of Suez cannot be compared with that of Alexandria. Not only was it the largest trading port on the Mediterranean coast, but more importantly, the existence of Alexandria made the Empire of Great Food more important.  able to threaten Constantinople at all times.

    If Alexandria is lost, Hamadry no longer dares to think about it. He can see how angry Caliph Yazid will be once the news of Alexandria's fall is sent back to Baghdad, which is definitely not something he can bear.  of.

    But no matter how hard Hamadry urged the army to speed up, it was still too late.

    Looking at the huge lighthouse flashing in the distance, Du Xuewen knew that his destination had arrived.

    "Alexandria! We have arrived at Alexandria!" Suddenly, the soldiers burst into a burst of shocking cheers.
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