Chapter 152: Black Armored Army, White Bone Plain
Longcheng Wasteland, three thousand Han slaves were facing the dawn’s morning light, beginning a day’s work.
Heavy stones were laboriously carried and stacked in their rough hands.
Suddenly, a sharp and urgent whistle pierced the long sky, instantly halting their actions.
Everyone stopped their work, faces full of confusion and fear, raising their heads to look into the distance.
On the horizon, countless cavalry in white armor charged forward like a surging tide, vast and mighty.
The sound of hooves was like thunder, rolling smoke and dust rising behind them, blotting out the sky.
The golden morning light sprinkled on those patches of white armor, with mottled bloodstains still clearly visible, telling of their illustrious military merits, chilling to the bone.
The slaves who saw this scene instantly turned pale.
“White devils.”
“The white devils are here.”
“What’s going on? Are they here to kill us?”
“But we’ve already been working hard.”
The three thousand Han slaves began to grow restless.
In the previous battle, the terrifying strength of the White Armored Soldiers had left a deep impression on them.
Many had been killed by the White Armored Soldiers until routed, then captured.
Now, seeing the vast White Armored Army appear, they instantly fell into a vortex dominated by fear.
But fortunately, the White Armored Soldiers had come not to slaughter them.
When charging to the front of the slaves, the White Armored Soldiers’ war horses slowly came to a stop.
At this moment, the wasteland was silent, only the proud neighing of war horses could be heard.
Li Xiao, clad in full cotton armor, rode a black war horse and slowly came forward.
He stood tall, eyes resolute as torches, casually scanning all the slaves, and loudly said: “I am Jin Prefecture Governor Li Xiao.”
“From today onward, you no longer need to build the city.”
“This governor gives you a chance to gain freedom.” Li Xiao’s voice was cold and firm, spreading across the wilderness.
“Simply kill three enemies on the battlefield, and you will no longer be slaves, but upright Jin Prefecture people.”
“From then on, follow this governor, eat the best food, drink the finest wine, rob money and women, own your own land and property, and control your own fate!”
“Do you all understand?”
The slaves, upon hearing this, were first stunned, then flames ignited in their eyes, the thirst for freedom.
Ever since being captured at Kuyun-Ordu, though their treatment as Han people was somewhat better than that of the Uyghur people, they were still ultimately slaves.
They rose earlier than chickens, slept later than dogs, worked hard, yet could not even get a full meal.
Resentful?
All slaves under heaven were like this.
And the only way was to shed the status of slave.
They had originally thought they would have to act as cattle and horses for several more years to get a chance at becoming adults.
But unexpectedly, this sudden turn brought a glimmer of hope.
The crowd began to stir, whispering among themselves.
“This is just throwing us onto the battlefield to die, right?”
“So what?”
“Staying here anyway is a fate worse than death.”
“I heard those Uyghur people live even worse than us, sent to the mountains to dig stones, and in less than a month, many died of exhaustion.”
“Will they send us to the mountains to dig stones later too?”
“Let’s do it. Staying here is just barely surviving; better to fight for it.”
“As long as we kill three enemies, we can become Jin Prefecture Army.”
At this thought, resolve flashed in the eyes of some slaves.
They knew clearly how well the Jin Prefecture Army was treated.
In the battle at Kuyun-Ordu, the Jin Prefecture Army had seized many women, all maidservants and maids from wealthy families, even palace maids and noble concubines.
These women had once been high above, begging and crawling onto masters’ beds, disdainful of ordinary soldiers and retainers like them.
But what was the result?
All those women were divided up by the Jin Prefecture Army.
Even the former noblewomen now had to serve the mud-legged Jin Prefecture Army soldiers.
This treatment made the slaves envious.
Not to mention, the Jin Prefecture Army had been rewarded with large amounts of gold, silver, and copper coins and more.
Compared to their previous service at Kuyun-Ordu, the Jin Prefecture Army’s treatment was hundreds or thousands of times better.
Next, they only needed to kill three enemies to become members of the Jin Prefecture Army.
They too could seize those noblewomen and ravage them beneath them.
Just thinking of this feeling drove one mad.
Thus, many slaves shouted to join the Jin Prefecture Army.
They had no choice but to agree.
No one was so naive as to think Li Xiao was negotiating with them.
Disagreeing might mean death.
“We pledge to fight to the death for the governor!”
“We pledge to fight to the death for the governor!”
The slaves’ voices merged together like surging waves, one after another, echoing over the wasteland.
Thus, Li Xiao’s army gained three thousand war slaves.
Moreover, these three thousand were basically all strong young men.
Because the old, weak, sick, and disabled had long had their corpses devoured by wild wolves and vultures on the two-thousand-li journey back to Jin Prefecture.
Soon after, Luo Meng and other chiliarch units arrived at Longcheng Wasteland.
This time, Li Xiao mobilized five thousand Jin Prefecture Army, plus these three thousand slaves, for a total force of eight thousand.
The rest were left to guard their respective fortresses and tribes against enemy attacks, while also leaving two chiliarch units to suppress the twenty thousand slaves in Golden Mountain.
Afterward, Li Xiao began reorganizing the composition of these eight thousand soldiers.
“Li Dahu, appointed chiliarch of Kuli Army.”
“Zhao Chunsheng, appointed chiliarch of Kuli Army.”
“Wei Xuan, appointed centurion of Kuli Army.”
“Zhao Dabao, appointed centurion of Kuli Army.”
“Feng Hou, appointed centurion of Kuli Army.”
With Li Xiao’s orders issued, Da Hu, Wei Xuan, and other meritorious officers from the western expedition were all promoted by one rank, becoming officers in the three thousand slave army.
At the same time, a batch of slaves was drawn to supplement the other chiliarch units.
In this way, the eight thousand troops were reorganized into eight chiliarch units.
Among them, the White Armored Army remained personally commanded by Li Xiao.
Only now their troop strength had reached fifteen hundred.
Because during the western expedition, the old master had led people to produce a batch of cotton armor.
And in the month since Li Xiao’s return, Jin Prefecture’s industry had gradually begun to ramp up.
Ultimately, Jin Prefecture added five hundred sets of cotton armor.
Li Xiao selected five hundred soldiers from the entire army to join the White Armored Army under his direct command.
Then, he selected five hundred of the strongest soldiers to form a heavy cavalry legion named ‘Black Armored Army’.
Er Hu served as chiliarch.
The other six chiliarchs were Luo Meng, Li Dashan, Li Sanhe, Da Hu, Bali’ala, and Li Xiao’s second uncle, Qin Chunsheng.
As for Li Erjiang, Li Sishui, Amo, and Bu Ermahei, they were left guarding war captives in Jin Prefecture due to rotation.
Once all preparations were complete, Li Xiao led eight thousand iron cavalry on a grand southward march into the Great Desert.
……
Beshbalik, formerly Ting Prefecture, once the core seat of the Great Tang Northern Ting Governor’s Mansion, is now the garrison of the Great Desert Governor’s Mansion.
It lies quietly at the foot of the Tianshan Mountains, two hundred li from the northern Tungut Desert.
Benefiting from the nourishment of Tianshan snowmelt, a green oasis corridor stretching a thousand li east-west with an average width of two hundred li naturally forms on either side of Beshbalik.
Winding between the vast sand sea and steep ridges, it becomes an important passage on the Silk Road.
Thanks to its special geographical position, Beshbalik became a Silk Road heavy town.
In the past, camel bells rang constantly here, caravans came one after another, fine silk from the Central Plains was transported from here to Central Asia and beyond, and the city was filled with prosperity and harmony everywhere.
But at this moment, Beshbalik was once again shrouded in the flames of war.
The former prosperity vanished like a dream bubble, and outside the city, the Uyghur Army surged like a tide, besieging the city airtight.
Those densely packed tents were like a black ocean, with no end in sight.
Inside the city, the common people fell into extreme panic.
Merchants hurriedly packed goods in their shops, trying to move precious silk and valuables to safety.
The common people hid in their homes, silently praying, hoping the war would end soon.
On the city wall, the Xiao character flag under the blazing sun seemed drained of vitality, no longer flaunting its former majestic flutter.
Soldiers leaned in twos and threes against the battlements, eyes full of exhaustion and confusion, morale low.
Only when a young general passed by did these soldiers hastily stand up.
They shouted one after another: “Chiliarch lord.”
The young general nodded slightly, making no punishment for the soldiers’ low morale, just softly telling them.
“The Great King has already sent people to the Great Desert for support, and Jin Prefecture Governor Li has led his army south.”
“Once they arrive, the Uyghur people outside the city will surely collapse.”
“Then, this chiliarch will lead you to charge Gaochang, rob money and women, and give each of you a young girl.”
……
He was Xiao Chilü, son of Xiao Tula Duo.
Inheriting Xiao Tula Duo’s fine genes, he had a strong build, high martial arts, and was fierce in combat.
But now trapped defending the city, cut off from the outside world, he did not know if reinforcements were coming, nor if he could hold until they arrived.
All he could do was continuously boost morale and defend the city to the death.
“Lord, all incoming traveling merchants have been detained in the East City market.”
“However, there are too many Uyghur people in the city, and our troops are too few to guard them all.”
A Khitan general walked to his side and reported in a deep voice.
To prevent the Uyghur people in the city from causing chaos and cooperating from within and without to open the gates, Xiao Chilü ordered all Uyghur people in the city detained, not allowing them to move freely.
But at least half of Bie Shibali City’s population were Uyghur people, with the other half being Han Chinese, Khitan people, and others.
This left Xiao Chilü severely short-handed.
Xiao Chilü frowned tightly, a flash of cold severity in his eyes.
He said in a deep voice: “Then no need to guard them.”
“Drag all those Uyghur people to the city wall.”
“Also gather all their family members together.”
“Tell them, if Beshbalik is breached, this chiliarch will first kill all their families.”
Using the lives of Uyghur families to threaten them to defend the city—even if a few harbored ill intentions, disunity meant they could not make big waves.
After his subordinate generals acted, Xiao Chilü stood on the city wall, silently calculating his troop strength.
Originally, Xiao Tula Duo had left him only one thousand to defend the city; after Xiao Tula Duo died in battle, most of the Uyghur soldiers in the army surrendered to the Gaochang Army.
Only fewer than one thousand Han soldiers escaped back.
Xiao Chilü had fewer than two thousand regular soldiers, so he could only mobilize the city’s common people to defend.
Beshbalik was not a large city, with a resident population of only around thirty thousand.
Conscripting over six thousand Uyghur male laborers and over four thousand Han male laborers was already the limit.
This gave Xiao Chilü over twelve thousand troops in hand.
But many conscripted commoners were old, weak, sick, or disabled, and there were two-hearted Uyghur people, completely unreliable for major use.
Thus, facing the siege by twenty thousand Uyghur Army, the situation remained unoptimistic.
And at that moment, the Uyghur people outside the city suddenly began to move.
Someone immediately shouted: “Chiliarch lord.”
“The Uyghur people are starting to attack the city.”
Xiao Chilü loudly soothed the soldiers’ emotions, telling them not to panic and to hold their positions.
Then looking outside the city, he frowned and said lowly: “The Uyghur people can’t wait any longer.”
Beshbalik had been surrounded for many days, but previously the Uyghur people had only conducted small-scale siege warfare, mainly focused on persuasion to surrender.
But Xiao Chilü knew they were taking the opportunity to build siege equipment.
Now, the Uyghur people had finally begun the all-out assault.
Ladders, catapults, siege towers, battering rams, and more—all siege weapons fully equipped.
It was clear there were many artisans among the Uyghur people, with quite exquisite craftsmanship.
“Hold the city wall; anyone daring to retreat one step, their entire family will be beheaded.”
Unlike the earlier Xiao Chilü, in battle he became a ruthless tyrant, showing no more care or encouragement to the soldiers.
In short, defend the city wall at all costs.
But the next second, his personal guard suddenly shouted: “Lord, look, what is that?”
Xiao Chilü looked outward upon hearing this, and the next second, his face turned ferocious.
Ahead of the Uyghur siege force, a corpse was hung high on a flagpole, slowly advanced forward by soldiers.
He recognized at a glance that the corpse was his father, Xiao Tula Duo.
“Beasts~”
Xiao Chilü’s eyes nearly split with rage, gaze almost spewing fire.
His voice low and hoarse, containing endless anger and grief.
His father’s death in battle was already a heavy blow; now to suffer such insult from the Uyghur people—how could he endure it?
“Uyghur people, I share not the same sky with you!” Xiao Chilü roared to the heavens, drawing the long saber at his waist.
He turned to face the soldiers behind him, eyes bloodshot like an enraged lion. “The Uyghur people bully and insult me and my father—how can we men sit idly by?”
“Today, we must make them pay in blood!”
……
At the same time, in the Uyghur Army’s rear, a man rode on a war horse, coldly sneering at all this.
Looking at the corpse on the flagpole, his heart was full of satisfaction.
“Xiao Simo, Li Xiao!” He murmured softly, reciting these two names, voice low and hoarse, full of coldness and killing intent.
“Xiao Tula Duo’s today will be your fate tomorrow.”
He was Da He Chu Luo Duo.
In the Ili River battle, his Eagle Unit Pishi Army was directly crippled, completely defeated by Li Xiao.
Fortunately, at this time, someone suggested to Yelü Zhilugu that the Kingdom of Qocho send troops to pincer the Northern Frontier Army from the Great Desert.
To redeem his merits, Da He Chu Luo Duo took on this task, bringing his five hundred remnant troops to Gaochang.
But afterward, he received terrible news.
Kuyun-Ordu was breached, his father died in battle, his mother and wife captured by Li Xiao.
Like a bolt from the blue, it drove Da He Chu Luo Duo mad with rage.
To him, it was utter humiliation.
Thus, Xiao Simo and Li Xiao became the people he hated most.
He would use every means to take revenge.
Xiao Tula Duo was just a little interest he collected from them first.
“Pass the order: intensify the siege.”
“Within three days, I want Beshbalik breached.” Da He Chu Luo Duo spoke coldly, his voice not loud but carrying an unquestionable dignity.
Beside him rode two generals on horseback.
The forty-something Uyghur man named Shi Gu Bi was the Great Desert Deputy Governor.
The twenty-something young man was named ‘Baershu Al Te’s Jin’.
He was the Prince of Gaochang.
In history, it was he who killed the Western Liao minor supervisor, the supervisory official placed in the Gaochang Kingdom.
Then he led the Gaochang Kingdom to surrender to Temüjin.
This time, he served as commander of the Gaochang Army, attacking the Great Desert.
Hearing Da He Chu Luo Duo’s words, Baershu’s face remained unchanged as he said flatly: “Beshbalik’s walls are tall and sturdy, and Xiao Chilü has mobilized the city’s common people to defend.”
“If relying only on my Gaochang Army, it would be hard to breach in three days.”
Meaning, have Da He Chu Luo Duo bring his Eagle Unit men to join the assault.
Clearly staying back without effort, yet always pointing fingers at others.
He despised such people most.
“Breach it or not, attack anyway. I don’t believe there’s any wall under heaven that can’t be breached.”
“Grab all the nearby common people, especially those Han people, and make them charge at the forefront.”
Da He Chu Luo Duo snorted coldly.
He hated Han people most.
Because of Li Xiao, he wanted to kill all Han people.
Baershu’s gaze glanced toward the distance, as if not hearing Da He Chu Luo Duo’s words.
Neither agreeing nor opposing, as long as no Gaochang subjects were grabbed.
He could dodge, but Shi Gu Bi could not.
As Great Desert Deputy Governor, no one knew the Great Desert better than him; this task naturally fell to him.
Glancing at the two at odds, Shi Gu Bi dared offend neither.
He could only nod with hand to chest to both, then go to nearby villages to grab people.
Once Shi Gu Bi left, the atmosphere between the two grew even more awkward.
Baershu was an ambitious prince, whose greatest dream was to lead the Gaochang Kingdom to revival, recreating the mighty strength of the Uyghur Khaganate.
Unfortunately, the Gaochang Kingdom was weak in power, a small state with few people, long a vassal of Western Liao.
Especially having seen the Western Liao minor supervisor act tyrannically in Gaochang from childhood, resentment toward Khitan people had long brewed in his heart.
Thus, he naturally showed no good face to Da He Chu Luo Duo.
Especially since this man was forcing the Gaochang Kingdom to send troops, which Baershu firmly opposed.
But his father feared Western Liao deeply, dared not refuse, and even promised to marry the princess to Da He Chu Luo Duo.
It nearly exploded Baershu with anger.
Every time he saw Da He Chu Luo Duo, he looked as if he wanted to devour him.
Da He Chu Luo Duo had long grown accustomed to it.
With a cold snort, he thought darkly: “Once I become Gaochang prince consort, I’ll send you all to the Western Paradise.”
A mere Gaochang prince consort could not satisfy his ambition.
Da He Chu Luo Duo planned, after marriage, to slowly seize Gaochang’s power, then eliminate obstacles like Baershu.
Finally, launch a coup d’état, force the Gaochang King to abdicate, and make himself Gaochang King.
After a full day of assault, Beshbalik remained firm as ever, only with many more corpses on and below the city.
Seeing this, Baershu showed sorrow, clasped his hands, and murmured: “Amitabha!”
Then looking at Da He Chu Luo Duo, he said: “Da He Chu Luo Duo, your sins are deep; you may one day suffer the torment of karmic fire. You should do more good deeds in the future.”
Da He Chu Luo Duo snorted coldly upon hearing this: “No need for your concern.”
“I’m not concerned for you, but worried my sister will be widowed.” Baershu sneered.
He then ordered: “Sound the gong to withdraw; fight again tomorrow.”
That night, under bright moonlight, the Uyghur camp was filled with many cries of agony.
Da He Chu Luo Duo was tense and sleepless, so he walked out of the tent, gazing at Beshbalik’s city wall, thoughts heavy.
It must be breached within three days.
Otherwise, the longer it dragged, the greater the chance Eastern Capital and Jin Prefecture armies would arrive.
He had participated in that war, personally witnessing the Northern Frontier Army’s power, especially terrifying in field battles.
In Da He Chu Luo Duo’s view, in the open wilderness, the Uyghur people were hard-pressed to match the Northern Frontier Army.
They must rely on city walls for defense, like a nail firmly embedded in the Great Desert, drawing Northern Frontier forces and creating conditions for the royal court’s Northern Expedition.
Thus, within three days, the city wall must be breached, at all costs.
At this time, a Uyghur officer led men on patrol through the camp and, seeing Da He Chu Luo Duo, immediately saluted.
“Greetings, prince consort.”
“General Hamamu, are you on duty tonight?”
“Yes, this general is on duty!”
“Any anomalies?” Da He Chu Luo Duo asked.
“All normal,” Hamamu said.
“This general has sent over a dozen scouts to the west and northeast, reporting every two hours—no anomalies.”
If the Eastern Capital Army attacked, they would come from the west; the Jin Prefecture Army from the northeast.
Hamamu’s plan was sound.
But Da He Chu Luo Duo frowned and asked: “What about the northwest?”
“Why no scouts to the northwest?”
Knowing Da He Chu Luo Duo was unfamiliar with Great Desert terrain, Hamamu explained: “Prince consort, rest assured; the northwest is White Bone Plain—no one can come from there.”
White Bone Plain was an extremely special and dangerous area.
Located at the desert’s edge, in ancient times this land had been the site of multiple large-scale wars.
Countless soldiers fought and died here, corpses unburied, eroded by wind and sand; over time, white bones littered everywhere, hence named White Bone Plain.
White Bone Plain’s terrain was complex and variable, many places full of quicksand, with harsh climate—scorching hot by day, bitterly cold by night, extreme temperature swings.
Gradually, it became almost a forbidden zone for humans.
Neither Jin Prefecture nor Eastern Capital would risk marching through there.
Da He Chu Luo Duo nodded lightly but still warned: “Do not be careless.”
“Send more scouts to White Bone Plain direction; caution first.”
“This general obeys.”
Then, Hamamu thought of his idle scouts and said to his subordinate: “Go tell Jiao Luo Ta Ge, no more faking illness.”
“Go scout the northwest situation.”
1.《Changchun Zhenren’s Journey to the West》 records, “Arriving at White Bone Plain ahead, all black stones, ancient battlefield; weary troops arriving here, ten of a hundred return not, a death ground,” due to prolonged warfare, armies passing through—blazing sun by day, travelers easily dying of heat and thirst, leaving piles of white bones, hence the name.
2. In the fourth year of Jin’s Xingding （1220） second month, Qiu Chuji led nineteen disciples by imperial decree out of the northern desert, crossing the Altai Mountains to the Qinghe area in present-day Xinjiang, then south through over two hundred li of White Bone Plain. Genghis Khan once stationed 500 Mongol soldiers here; upon entering White Bone Plain, they held a ceremony, killing horses and smearing horse blood on people and horses’ faces to ward off the “White Bone Plain devils.”
