Genghis Khan

Difficulty:Level 5

This is just a short little dictation about Genghis Khan. As you'll see, he may not have been the nicest person ever to have lived, having been responsible for a surprising number of deaths.

Something not covered in the dictation is the fact that Genghis Khan once used cats and birds as a weapon of war.

This occurred in 1207 as he laid siege to the city of Volohai.

siege

siːdʒ

Meanings

noun

• a military operation in which enemy forces surround a town or building, cutting off essential supplies, with the aim of compelling those inside to surrender.
  E.g. Verdun had withstood a siege of ten weeks
• a group of herons.
  E.g. there is a siege of herons at the river

As things weren't going well for the attackers, Genghis Khan said that he would leave if the city paid a tribute of 1,000 cats and 1,000 swallows.

Unsurprisingly they agreed and paid the cats and swallows. Khan, ever the joker, set light to all the cats and birds, which in panic raced back to the homes that they knew. As a result, the city was set alight and as the city defenders fought the fire, Khan's army was able to get into the city leading to a massacre.

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