Chapter 163: Leading The Army Through The Pass, Sun And Moon Battle Flag Surrounds Dunhuang
Yumen Pass is just a very small fortress, part of the Han Dynasty Great Wall.
The resident population is only a few hundred people, and because no wars have broken out for many years, the military functions of Yumen Pass have seriously deteriorated.
The city walls have collapsed, the soldiers lack training, and the troops are seriously insufficient.
For all these reasons, after the Uyghur infantry’s first tentative attack, the useless garrison commander of Yumen Pass surrendered in fear.
Seeing this scene, Li Xiao shook his head lightly. He had thought it would be a hard fight, but in the end~
Just this?
Seeing the city gate slowly opening amid the terrified expressions of the garrison, Li Xiao shouted in a deep voice: “General Alkus!”
“Here!”
“Have your men lead five hundred soldiers as the vanguard.”
“After entering the city, no burning, killing, or looting is allowed, otherwise military law will punish severely.”
“Understood!” Alkus shouted loudly.
Nicely put, it’s the vanguard, but in reality, it’s just probing for traps.
If it’s a trap, the Uyghur soldiers will surely suffer.
But there’s no way around it—who made the Uyghur soldiers stepchildren?
They came here to do this job.
Thus, five hundred Uyghur soldiers entered the city first, quickly controlling key positions like the city walls. After confirming it was safe, Li Xiao waved his hand.
“Enter the pass!”
White Armored Army soldiers rode their war horses and charged majestically into the pass.
Soon, a golden Sun and Moon Battle Flag was raised atop the city wall.
Under the blazing sunlight, the battle flag fluttered loudly in the wind, making the common people inside the city tremble in fear.
Li Xiao rode a tall war horse and entered the pass under the protection of the White Armored Army.
What met his eyes was desolation everywhere, all covered in earthy yellow.
The city walls were built of loess, the messy and dilapidated houses were piled up from loess, and even the common people were covered in thick layers of yellow dust.
Their skin was cracked, their faces pitch-black, they wore dirty sheepskin, and their messy hair was like chicken coops.
They were all crowded together, looking at these tall White Armor soldiers with terrified gazes.
Li Xiao was already prepared for this and wasn’t too disappointed.
After scanning the city, he shouted loudly: “Where is the garrison commander of Yumen Pass?”
“H-here~”
A Tangut man hurried over, wearing a sheepskin jacket and deerskin boots, cleaner and more spirited than the others.
He bowed to Li Xiao with a fawning smile: “This lowly one is Ye Tuduo Wen, paying respects to the general.”
“How many people are in Yumen Pass? And how many Han People?”
Hearing this, the garrison commander was immediately dumbfounded, stammering without giving a clear number.
He had come here just to get by, to make enough money and leave—how could he care about these lowly people?
Li Xiao’s brows furrowed instantly: “You don’t know?”
The garrison commander’s face turned pale, and he said panickedly: “I know, I know.”
But his gaze turned to a middle-aged man beside him, as if asking him to help out.
This man was the squad leader from outside the city gate earlier, who said through gritted teeth: “Lord, there are five hundred and twenty-eight people in Yumen Pass, of which three hundred and sixty-six are Han People.”
This number was not beyond Li Xiao’s expectations—Yumen Pass was just a very small pass, a supply station on the Silk Road.
“Are you from Yumen Pass? What’s your name?” Li Xiao asked indifferently.
“This lowly one is Wang Da Niu. My ancestors came to Yumen Pass, and I grew up here since childhood,” the squad leader said.
Li Xiao didn’t hesitate and said directly: “From today, the more than five hundred people in Yumen Pass are incorporated into the Kuli Army. Wang Da Niu is responsible for managing them.”
“Divide all of you into ten squads, supervising each other.”
“If anyone from a squad flees, the entire squad will be executed.”
Li Xiao said in a cold voice, simply reorganizing these more than a hundred households of common people.
Then his gaze turned to the Yumen Pass garrison commander: “Since you know nothing, keeping you is useless.”
“Kill~”
With Li Xiao’s order, Tie Tou beside him drew his cavalry saber and instantly slashed across the garrison commander’s neck.
Blood sprayed out, his eyes still filled with terror and disbelief.
The common people were also stunned by this scene—the high-and-mighty garrison commander was killed just like that, deepening their fear of the Jin Prefecture Army.
Kill the chicken to warn the monkey—this was a necessary measure.
Most importantly, killing these Tangut officials and generals was to reduce hidden dangers.
Without them leading, even if someone wanted to rebel, it would be a scattered mob without the prestige to rally people.
As for Wang Da Niu and the others, they were beneficiaries and would only help the Jin Prefecture Army pacify the populace, not easily rebel.
……
Dunhuang is the westernmost town of the ancient Han lands in the traditional sense, and also the endpoint of the Hexi Corridor.
Yumen Pass and Yang Pass are like two tentacles extending west from Dunhuang, one south and one north, strangling the throats of the northern and southern Silk Roads.
The three locations form a triangle, supporting each other.
If any one is attacked, the news will quickly reach Dunhuang and then be passed to Guazhou City.
On this day, a cavalryman coming from the northwest direction broke the peace of Dunhuang.
Covered in dust, full of yellow sand, he arrived at the city gate, gasping heavily, and said to the city gate soldiers.
“Quick, go report to the Prefect and the Deputy Commander— Yumen Pass is under siege by a strong enemy and urgently needs reinforcements.”
The defending squad leader’s face changed instantly. Not daring to delay, he hurriedly took soldiers to the Military Command Department.
He met Dunhuang’s highest military officer, the Deputy Commander of the Xiping Military Command, Ji La Si Yi.
This was a general around thirty years old, with a tiger-like back and bear-like waist, a fierce face, and an intimidating aura just sitting there.
Upon hearing Yumen Pass was besieged, he shot to his feet and said angrily.
“Which force is besieging Yumen Pass? Gaochang or Tubo? How many people?”
The messenger soldier said: “We, we didn’t figure out which force it was.”
“Before they surrounded the city, the garrison commander sent me to report quickly.”
“As for the numbers, the garrison commander said there were a hundred thousand troops…”
Hearing this, Ji La Si Yi couldn’t hold back and cursed loudly: “What a stupid pig.”
“Even a pig would be smarter than him.”
He was cursing the Yumen Pass garrison commander, of course.
A complete stupid pig, with not a shred of useful information.
A hundred thousand troops besieging Yumen Pass?
Blow him away!
If the Kingdom of Qocho had a hundred thousand troops, they would have conquered the entire Western Regions long ago.
Though the Tubo army has a hundred thousand, it’s no longer the Tang Dynasty era—Tubo is severely fractured internally, too busy with infighting.
How could they possibly gather a hundred thousand troops to besiege a small Yumen Pass?
But regardless, Yumen Pass being besieged is real.
“Men, full army alert, prepare for battle.”
Ji La Si Yi shouted loudly.
He then selected a scout team to probe the situation at Yumen Pass.
Soon after, Dunhuang Prefect Zhang Xinghua hurriedly arrived at the Military Command Department.
“General Ji La, I heard Yumen Pass is besieged?” Zhang Xinghua said in a heavy voice.
In a short time, basically everyone who needed to know in Dunhuang City knew.
“It is besieged, but don’t worry. I’ve sent people to scout the situation and will reinforce Yumen Pass at any time,” Ji La Si Yi said in a deep voice.
It depends on the situation—if it’s truly untenable, they must abandon Yumen Pass and fully defend Dunhuang City.
Otherwise, if the enemy ambushes on the way, the Dunhuang garrison would be in danger.
“Who dares to attack Yumen Pass? Gaochang people or Tubo people?” Zhang Xinghua said angrily.
“Not clear yet, but it’s probably one of those two,” Ji La Si Yi said in a deep voice.
Geographically, only those two countries have the motive and ability to attack Yumen Pass.
“We still need to figure out who the enemy army is quickly. This official can also write a memorial and send it by fast horse to Xingqing Prefecture,” Zhang Xinghua said.
A few days later, the scouts sent to Yumen Pass returned.
A team of originally more than a dozen ended up with only two returning.
And all were wounded; one died just after entering the city.
“What happened?”
“Who exactly?” Ji La Si Yi said angrily, his gaze like a tiger’s fixed on the last surviving scout, afraid he would die too.
“Lord, we, we saw Uyghur People~” the wounded scout said weakly.
“Uyghur People?”
“It really is them.” Ji La Si Yi and Zhang Xinghua both frowned at the same time.
“What is the Kingdom of Qocho trying to do? Start a war?” Zhang Xinghua said.
Since the establishment of Western Xia, the two countries had never gone to war—after all, the Dunhuang area was all desert, nothing worth fighting over.
But why had the Kingdom of Qocho gone mad this time?
Ji La Si Yi slammed the table even harder and roared: “Damn Gaochang bastards, I won’t let them get away.”
“Also, Lord, we saw a golden flag and a group of cavalry wearing white armor.”
“They were very fast, with excellent weapons—our spearheads could hardly penetrate their armor.”
“Our team of more than ten was chased by ten of them, and only I survived.”
Hearing the scout’s words, Ji La Si Yi calmed down and asked in surprise: “Just ten of them wiped out your more than ten?”
The scout nodded slowly, and Ji La Si Yi had a bad feeling inside.
“Are Uyghur cavalry this powerful?”
He then asked: “What about Yumen Pass? How is it?”
The scout shook his head lightly: “We were discovered by them before getting close to Yumen Pass.”
“Those white armor cavalry had even advanced to forty li east of Yumen Pass—I’m afraid Yumen Pass has…”
Ji La Si Yi and Zhang Xinghua fell instantly silent.
“The Gaochang army is coming fiercely; we must plan early,” Zhang Xinghua said in a deep voice.
Then, the two took action separately.
Zhang Xinghua wrote a dispatch, sending it by fast horse to Xingqing Prefecture to report the events to the Imperial Court.
Meanwhile, Ji La Si Yi sent people to Guazhou City for aid.
One of Western Xia’s twelve local military commands, the Xiping Military Command, is located in Guazhou, only two hundred li from Dunhuang.
Its very purpose is to support Dunhuang.
Two days later, Ji La Si Yi didn’t wait for reinforcements from Guazhou but instead for the ‘Gaochang Army’.
At noon, with the sun blazing overhead, on the distant horizon, a faint black line first appeared, accompanied by rolling yellow dust.
As time passed, the black line thickened, gradually revealing dense silhouettes of people and war horses.
The Dunhuang soldiers on the city walls immediately panicked.
“What is that?”
“Cavalry, lots of cavalry!”
“It’s the Uyghur People.”
“Uyghur People are here—quick, notify the Deputy Commander.”
They had already heard the news of the Uyghur invasion, and Ji La Si Yi had ordered all Dunhuang army units to prepare.
The city gates had been closed days ago—no one could enter or exit without his or the Prefect’s order.
Amid this atmosphere of panic, the Jin Prefecture Army vanguard cavalry finally appeared outside Dunhuang City.
Soon, Ji La Si Yi and Zhang Xinghua quickly came to the city wall and looked out, only to see a shocking sight.
Thousands of iron cavalry charged majestically, quickly spreading out in a fan shape, surrounding Dunhuang City airtight.
The neighing of war horses and the trampling of iron hooves blended into a roar like rolling thunder, shaking the desolate land.
Army flags fluttered loudly, the sun and moon emblem on them striking and dazzling, dancing wildly in the wind.
Seeing this, the two men’s faces were extremely grave.
“This should just be the Gaochang Army’s vanguard troops—there must be a large force of infantry behind,” Ji La Si Yi said gravely.
“What is the Gaochang Kingdom trying to do? Mobilizing so many troops—is it to start a national war with Great Xia?” Zhang Xinghua said incredulously.
Just the vanguard cavalry numbered several thousand; the infantry behind would be even more.
The Uyghur People were preparing to unleash their full national strength in war.
“Something must have happened in the Gaochang Kingdom that we don’t know about,” Ji La Si Yi said in a deep voice.
At that moment, Zhang Xinghua seemed to notice something and pointed at the Jin Prefecture Army’s battle flag.
“General Ji La, don’t those Uyghur People’s battle flags look familiar?”
“Battle flags?” Ji La Si Yi looked out.
Amid the yellow sand filling the sky, the ‘Uyghur People”s battle flags danced wildly in the wind.
The flags’ base color was a dazzling gold, as striking as the sun, embroidered with sun, moon, and stars patterns.
“That’s… sun and moon?”
Before he finished, Ji La Si Yi’s face changed drastically, horrified: “Three Luminaries Flag?”
The Three Luminaries Flag, also called the Sun, Moon, and Stars Flag, was the highest-grade flag of Huaxia.
Its earliest records date back to the Son of Heaven period of Zhou, continuing through Tang and Song, though styles varied by era.
And the reason this Tangut man Ji La Si Yi was so shocked by the Three Luminaries Flag was mainly one country.
The Jinshan Kingdom established by the Guiyi Army at the end of Tang.
The flag they used was the Three Luminaries Flag.
【Zhang Yichao’s Campaign Map】
“Why are these Uyghur People using the Jinshan Kingdom’s flag?” Ji La Si Yi was baffled.
The ‘Uyghur People”s battle flags before them were very similar to the Jinshan Kingdom’s Three Luminaries Flag.
The biggest difference was the color.
The Jinshan Kingdom’s flag base was red, while these were golden yellow.
But essentially, there was not much difference.
This gave Ji La Si Yi an absurd feeling—the Gaochang Kingdom had switched sides to the enemy.
One must know that the Jinshan Kingdom’s decline was mainly due to years of war with the Uyghur People.
So why were the Gaochang Army using the Jinshan Kingdom’s flag now?
Ji La Si Yi couldn’t figure it out, nor could Zhang Xinghua, but they guessed it was related to this inexplicable war.
……
An hour after the Jin Prefecture cavalry surrounded Dunhuang City, Li Xiao led the Jin Prefecture Army main force to arrive.
Coming with them were thirty thousand Uyghur infantry and more than a thousand Dunhuang common people.
Apart from the more than five hundred common people from Yumen Pass, the rest were mostly from Yang Pass.
Yumen Pass and Yang Pass were like two large pincers extending west from Dunhuang, one south and one north, stationed in the desert.
Like Yumen Pass, Yang Pass had long lost its military function and become a pure merchant relay station.
The Jin Prefecture Army easily captured Yang Pass, taking all the common people, cattle and sheep, camels, and other property inside, then marched for several days to finally reach Dunhuang.
“This is Dunhuang? Unfortunately, we can no longer see the former Han and Tang grandeur,” Li Xiao looked at the distant city gate and said indifferently.
“The Great Governor is wise.”
Riding beside Li Xiao was Yang Shouzheng, the head of the Yang Family, recently rescued by Er Dan.
He was a Western Xia Han person and from a military family, well-versed in family learning, and deeply knowledgeable about Western Xia’s situation.
He introduced to Li Xiao: “Dunhuang was first established in the time of Emperor Wu of Han, but it had long been abandoned. The Dunhuang City we see now was built by the Jinshan Kingdom and is over two hundred years old.”
“The walls are five meters high, over four hundred zhang long north-south, over three hundred zhang wide east-west, all built from rammed earth and boulders.”
The Western Han Jinshan Kingdom was the state established by the family of Shazhou Prefect Zhang Yichao at the end of Tang.
Its approximate territory included what is now the two prefectures of Guazhou and Shazhou, or the western half of modern Jiuquan City.
The capital was located in Shazhou.
Thus, the Zhang family had renovated Dunhuang City once.
By the Western Xia period, Dunhuang’s strategic position had rapidly declined, and after more than two hundred years of erosion, it had long become dilapidated.
“Shazhou was once the capital of the Western Han Jinshan Kingdom, and many of the common people here are remnants of the Jinshan Kingdom?” Li Xiao asked in a faint voice.
“Yes.”
“Their ancestors were all subjects of the Jinshan Kingdom,” Yang Shouzheng nodded lightly.
“However, after more than two hundred years, many have even forgotten the Jinshan Kingdom’s existence.”
Forgetting was better—otherwise, Li Xiao would worry they might try to restore the Jinshan Kingdom later.
As long as they remembered they were Han People, that was enough.
“How many common people are in Dunhuang? And how many Han People?” Li Xiao asked—this was what he cared about most.
What Jin Prefecture lacked most was population.
Yang Shouzheng thought for a moment: “The common people in Dunhuang City number around twenty thousand, and there are another twenty to thirty thousand scattered in villages outside the city.”
Dunhuang City’s total population was around fifty thousand.
According to what Yang Shouzheng had seen, Han People made up at least seven tenths, or about thirty-five thousand.
Dunhuang had been the Jinshan Kingdom’s capital after all, so the Han proportion was higher.
In contrast, in eastern places like Suzhou and Ganzhou, the Hu People proportion was higher, with most Han People concentrated around Xingqing Prefecture, near the Jin Dynasty Han lands.
In this desolate place like the Hexi Corridor, Dunhuang’s seven-tenths Han proportion was already valuable.
“How are the conflicts between Dunhuang’s Han People and Hu People?” Li Xiao asked.
“The Han People’s situation isn’t too good,” Yang Shouzheng shook his head gravely.
“Though there are many Han People in Dunhuang, most officials and garrison generals in the city are Hu People, and local Han People are suppressed everywhere.”
After all, as remnants of the Jinshan Kingdom, Western Xia still guarded deeply against the Han People in Dunhuang and Guazhou, not even allowing them to hold office.
Compared to Western Xia’s eastern Han People, their treatment was worlds apart.
Without backers above, they naturally had no say, and often suffered bullying from Hu People.
“Situation not good? That’s perfect,” Li Xiao smiled.
If the Dunhuang Han common people were doing well, who would follow Li Xiao?
Precisely because they weren’t, Li Xiao could liberate them and help them stand up again.
Yang Shouzheng probably guessed Li Xiao’s thoughts and proactively said: “Great Governor, I previously repaired Dunhuang’s city walls and know where the walls are unstable.”
“I am willing to help the Great Governor break through Dunhuang.”
Yang Shouzheng now knew Li Xiao’s identity.
Jin Prefecture Governor of the Liao State’s Jin Prefecture, brother-in-law of the Sixth Courtyard Department Great King, a border army general wielding heavy troops.
Not long ago, he had led troops to break through the Kingdom of Qocho’s capital Gaochang City, capturing the Gaochang King and a bunch of royals and officials alive.
One could say the current Gaochang Kingdom had been destroyed by Li Xiao.
What remained was just the puppet he deliberately left.
When he learned this, Yang Shouzheng was extremely excited.
Because he finally saw hope for revenge.
Join the Jin Prefecture Army, seek refuge with the Great Governor, and avenge the Yang Family’s blood debt.
He wanted to earn merits, to become stronger in the Jin Prefecture Army.
One day, kill back to Xingqing Prefecture, drag that tyrannical emperor off the Imperial Throne, and question why he wronged the Yang Family without distinguishing right from wrong.
Just because the Yang Family were Han People, and the errant main general was the Empress’s cousin, the Yang Family deserved to take the blame?
Yang Shouzheng was unconvinced.
So at this moment, he wanted to fully demonstrate his value and let Li Xiao see his abilities.
One day, perhaps he too could lead the Jin Prefecture Army to kill toward Xingqing Prefecture.
And the Dunhuang City before him was just a bit of interest he was collecting from the tyrant.
“Shouzheng, I know you’re eager for revenge, but there will be plenty of such opportunities later.”
“As for Dunhuang City, keeping it still has use,” Li Xiao said in a deep voice.
His gaze turned to the earthy yellow city walls—after more than two hundred years of wind and sand erosion, many places were already crumbling.
Li Xiao could break through it effortlessly.
But his eyes held far more than just one Dunhuang City.
“Dunhuang’s garrison commander must have already sent word to Guazhou!”
“Perhaps Guazhou’s reinforcements are already on the way,” Li Xiao said in a ghostly voice.
Then, he looked at Yang Shouzheng: “You’ve lived in Dunhuang and Guazhou for over a year—are there suitable places for ambushes between these two places?”
Yang Shouzheng was stunned, then nodded hurriedly: “Yes, many!”
Soon after, Li Xiao called Li Dashan and Er Hu, ordering them to lead the Yang Family brothers and set out with troops.
He wanted to besiege the point to strike reinforcements, eliminating the Guazhou army coming to aid.
Then, Li Xiao ordered the Uyghur People to continue surrounding Dunhuang City, while he himself led the Jin Prefecture Army to strike everywhere.
There was still time now—he wanted to gather up the common people outside Dunhuang City.
To make it easy to pack and take away later.
At the same time, outside Guazhou City, the Xiping Military Command Commander Duoluo Jianzan personally led six thousand troops toward Dunhuang City.
“Faster, all of you keep up.”
“Reach Dunhuang City within three days.”
