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INVASION OF GENGHIS KHAN
Genghis Khan thoroughly prepared for the trip to Transoxiana. Even before the beginning of hostilities, he collected information through merchants about the number and degree of readiness of the enemy's military forces and the situation inside the state of khorezmshakhs.
The number of Khorezm troops far exceeded the number of Genghis Khan's troops. Unfortunately, the lack of unity in The Khorezmshah camp did not allow this superiority to be realized. On the eve of the war, their differences were clearly manifested, which prevented them from adopting a unified plan for defeating the enemy. The Sultan was afraid to gather all the troops, because, United, they could overthrow him. Before the war itself, at the Council held, the opinions of military commanders were divided and the plan to repel enemy attacks was not adopted. It was decided to deploy troops in different cities and conduct defensive tactics. However, Khorezm was not prepared for a defensive war, and the state was in great danger.
In the autumn of 1219, Genghis Khan began to move on the state of khorezmshakhs. The total number of his troops reached 200 thousand soldiers. Genghis Khan's army went to the city of Otrar, located on the banks of the Syr Darya. Here he divided the army into four detachments in order to speed up the conquest of Maverannahr. For the siege of Otrar, one part was led by his sons chigatai and Ogedei. The second group was led by the eldest son of Juchi, who moved his army to the lower reaches of the Syr Darya. His goal was to capture the cities of Sygnak, Uzgen, JEND, and Yangikent. Five thousand Mongols under the command of the generals Alak-Noyon and Suketu-cherbi went up the Syr-Darya to the cities of Binaket and Khojent. Genghis Khan himself moved with the main force to Bukhara.
Otrar was a well-fortified border town. It was 20 thousand horsemen, headed namestni-com Gargano (Inalcik). Before the siege, a force of ten thousand men under the command of Karach Hadjib arrived to help the go-rod. According to Juveini, in addition to these forces, Sultan Muhammad sent another 50,000 soldiers, called "Lashkar birun". As a result, a powerful defensive force was concentrated in the city against the enemy — 80 thousand soldiers. Despite this, according to chroniclers of the time, the Mongols, besieging the city, led the besieged into confusion. Betrayal also played a big role here. In the first days of the siege, the Mongols took the side. In the first days of the siege, a representative of the city government, Badruddin Amid, and descendants of the executed Sultan kaziy Otrar, led by Safi AKRA Hadjib, joined the Mongols.
According to sources, the siege lasted five months. The Mongols filled all the ditches that flowed into the city, threw stones and barrels of burned oil from catapults, filled the ditches surrounding the city with earth and branches, dug tunnels under the walls of the fortress, and built ladders from felled trees to climb its walls. During the siege, great damage was done not only to the besieged city, but also to the Mongols. The ranks of the besieged were thinning, and there was a shortage of food. In the most difficult days of the siege of Otrar Karach, khajib and his 10,000-strong army left the city and surrendered to the Mongols. But the Mongols did not spare the traitors and executed Karach Khajib and his soldiers.
The inhabitants of Otrar staunchly defended the city and held it in their hands during the entire siege. Especially the desperate resistance of the Governor Hairhan, plundered the caravan of Genghis Khan and killed his merchants. His soldiers, divided into groups of 50 people, went outside the city, fought and died in battle with the invaders. Chigatai's army entered the city through holes made in the walls, drove the population out of Shahristan, and sacked the city.
However, entrenched in the citadel of Otrar, a part of established, headed by Gargano held the siege for another month. Chigatai decided to seize Gair Khan at any cost. Finally, he was surrounded, captured and brought to Samarkand, where he was executed in Koxare.
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