Manuscripts Burn


MANUSCRIPTS BURN

"Manuscripts don't burn"
- Mikhail Bulgakov

Hi, I'm horror and science fiction author Steve Kozeniewski (pronounced: "causin' ooze key.") Welcome to my blog! You can also find me on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads, and Amazon. You can e-mail me here, join my mailing list here, or request an e-autograph here. Free on this site you can listen to me recite one of my own short works, "The Thing Under the Bed."

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

The Last War: Chapter 17

The drums beat to a tune that was hallowed in Mongolia and feared in China and many other places. The haunting melody of "The Mongolian Imperial Battle March" was well known in most of Asia, for various reasons.

It was written to complement an army. The music was for bugles and drums, as only a large military force could provide. Part of the music also came from the beat of troops marching in a regular pattern.

It loses something in the translation from the sweet Mongolian tongue to the brutal English one, but the song's message is still clear: Mongolia will never back down.

Hail to the Empire
Long live the Emperor
We are blessed by some divineness
For we shall never be beat
Nor slow down
We shall keep and defend our homeland
And take more land to call our home
Sweet Mongolia.

The Mongols marched on towards their objective, the hole which had been blown in the great wall of China. The troops crossed the border and began pouring into China. Some of the Chinese put up resistance, mostly those still loyal to the Communist regime. Many more still rushed to greet and welcome the Mongol soldiers, and have joyful reunions with the Chigols whom they knew. The Mongols swept through China. Resistance grew less and less until finally, when they reached the Pacific Ocean, there was none left. The people were beaten. And yet, they were all happy. Bleda Khan promised jobs for everyone, medicine, food, land, money, and, most importantly, competent leadership. The Chinese people had hope again.

We honor Bleda Khan
Our first Emperor
He shall rule forever from above
Though we look forward
We never forget the past
Nor shall we forget
Above all else:
We serve Mongolia

From China the conquering Horde swept south. Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia fell quickly, but the occupying army was harrowed for a long time by guerillas and terrorists. Soon even the terrorism petered out. Kirghiz Jagatai, the commander of the army, next led a detachment into Myanmar. The Burman government surrendered their country without a fight, and the Burmese people were all too happy to support the Horde.

We shall campaign
We shall crusade
We shall defeat all who stand in our way
We are blessed
The Empire shall watch over us
We shall march into battle
And never back down
For we fight for Mongolia


Brilliant, unworkable schemes were planned out for the invasion of Indonesia, the Phillipines, and the countless thousands of islands to the south of Vietnam. The more ambitious strategists even proposed a sweep through the Pacific Rim and an invasion of Australia. However, a distinct and strange lack of ships left this utterly impossible. A few islands, such as Brunei and the northernmost Phillipines were invaded, but the Horde’s fleet seemed utterly tapped out. Many of the governments of Maritime Southeast Asia surrendered in advance, to retain a fair amount of autonomy and avoid Bleda Khan's minimal naval wrath. Expansion into the islands was cut short. As for the reason for the fleet’s mysterious disappearance, no explanations were forthcoming.

We shall have sea on every side
We shall have four shores
We shall not stop fighting
Till this task is accomplished
We watch over our people
As we bring others into the fold
So they can stand with us
For Mongolia

Bleda Khan had originally believed that India would only fall when the Mongolian navy surrounded her borders. However, the Mongolian Empire had such overwhelming ground forces, that a land invasion without any naval support had become possible. Jagatai, despite having been wounded and infected with gangrene during his campaigns in Laos, led the Horde into the subcontinent. Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India fell. Spurred on by their own impetus, the Horde swept into Kazakhstan and Tajikstan, but was halted in Uzbekistan, where the Uzbeks sued for peace and preservation of their autonomy. Jagatai was disappointed, but his army was exhausted, so he turned back, happy with his conquests. The Middle East lay just out of reach of Mongolia. Bleda, however, was more than happy. With a final diplomatic force launched into the underdefended Japanese islands to negotiate a truce, Mongolia achieved hegemony over the entire Far East. In the entire Asian continent only Russia still opposed the Golden Horde, and Russia, too, was falling fast. The old Mongolian Empire had been resurrected.

Our Chinese brothers and sisters will join us
As will many others
The people of the world shall fall before the Golden Horde
No one shall want for anything
Our dynasties will go on
We are golden
The Imperial Battle March shall play
And everywhere shall be called Mongolia

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