Chapter 204: Horses Trample The Eastern Capital, Long Live The Great Governor
On the open grassland, the scorching sun blazed overhead, and the wind howled as the Eastern Capital stood tall.
Compared to the major strongholds in the Central Plains, it might not have been considered grand, but it had withstood the trials of wind, rain, and warfare for several decades, remaining unfallen.
And this time, the Eastern Capital would face another severe test.
The grassland sky was an incredibly clear blue, and the over twenty thousand iron cavalry of the Jin Prefecture Army, along with more than ten thousand Kuli Army cavalry, descended like dark clouds, encircling the Eastern Capital so tightly that not a drop of water could get through.
The golden Sun and Moon Battle Flags fluttered crisperly in the strong wind, their unfurling surfaces seeming like monstrous gaping mouths ready to devour this ancient city.
“Roar!”
“Roar!”
Tens of thousands of war horses stomped their iron hooves, causing the earth to tremble, and the dust they kicked up obscured the sky and sun.
The Three Town Cavalry, clad in cotton armor, pointed their sharp spears towards the heavens, resembling a forest of steel.
They shouted in unison, their “roar” converging into a terrifying wave of sound that exploded like thunder across the grassland, making the ears of the garrison soldiers on the city wall ache and their hearts pound violently.
Among the Jin Prefecture Army ranks, a group of raggedly dressed Royal Court Army captives drew even more attention.
They were like lambs led to the slaughter, roughly pushed forward, their eyes filled with despair and fear.
“These people? They are soldiers from the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.”
On the city wall, Xiao Pula Yelu spoke with a somber expression.
He had lived in Khotan for nearly ten years and had the most contact with people from the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.
Therefore, he was intimately familiar with the appearance, attire, and demeanor of Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate soldiers.
At a glance, he recognized the identity of the captives outside the city.
“They should be soldiers under Yelü Zhixin,” Ali Da also stated with a serious expression.
“It seems the Jin Prefecture Army intends to use these captives to attack the city and deplete our troops.”
Looking at the history of warfare in the Cold Weapon Era, siege warfare methods were generally limited to just a few.
Ladders, catapults, digging tunnels, diverting water to flood the city, and so on.
Since the Jin Prefecture Army had captured these over ten thousand Royal Court Army soldiers, they naturally wouldn’t waste grain feeding them for nothing.
They would definitely seek to extract the maximum value from these prisoners of war.
“Most of these captives are soldiers from the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate and are being driven by the Jin Prefecture Army. They surely won’t exert themselves too much during the siege.”
“Tell all soldiers to stay alert. The Jin Prefecture Army will never break through the Eastern Capital,” Xiao Pula Yelu said in a deep voice.
However, everyone understood that the Jin Prefecture Army did not expect these captives to break through the Eastern Capital.
The true purpose of the captives was to deplete the Eastern Capital’s garrison’s arrows, weapons, and morale.
When the garrison of the Eastern Capital was exhausted and their supplies depleted, that would be the time for the Jin Prefecture Army to launch a thunderous strike.
As for how many Royal Court captives would be killed or wounded in the process, who cared?
But at this moment, Ali Da suddenly exclaimed in surprise.
“Hm? What is that?”
Following the direction Ali Da pointed, they saw that behind the Jin Prefecture Army, a row of round objects stood on the grassland, like slanted cylindrical pillars.
Around each pillar, there were ant-like figures of soldiers moving about.
“Are those… a dozen stone pillars?” Xiao Pula Yelu said, frowning.
The use of gunpowder in this era was still in its very rudimentary stages. Even Xiao Pula Yelu, who had seen much, was seeing cannons for the first time.
“Could these be divine artifacts the Jin Prefecture Army is using for their rituals?” Han Jialu, standing behind him, suddenly said with a look of terror.
His gaze towards the artillery positions trembled slightly, as if fearing that one more glance would invite a curse from the gods.
“Lord, not long ago, during the great battle between the Jin Prefecture Army and the Royal Court Army, lightning suddenly descended from the sky and struck the Royal Court Army, causing their decisive defeat.”
“Perhaps the Jin Prefecture Army is performing rituals with these stone pillars to summon the Thunder God,” Han Jialu said, his voice trembling slightly.
“Si Gele.”
“Shut up!”
Xiao Pula Yelu’s eyes were bloodshot as he roared in anger, “If you dare to disrupt morale again, I will not spare you.”
Han Jialu also realized he had said the wrong thing and mumbled, not daring to say anything further.
However, soldiers in this era were very superstitious.
The news that the Jin Prefecture Army had summoned the Thunder God to assist them and defeated the Royal Court Army in less than an hour had already spread among the Eastern Capital’s soldiers.
Many felt fear towards the talk of deities, and thus, while looking at the twenty stone pillars in the distance, the garrison of the Eastern Capital, amidst their confusion, also felt a sense of unease.
Meanwhile, the Divine Machine Camp had finished their preparations.
“All artillery positions, prepare.”
The Chiliarch Liu Zhong stood in the rear, holding a command flag and shouting loudly, his hoarse voice piercing through the din of the battlefield.
The reflection of the city walls in the distance appeared in his pupils as he roared loudly.
“Fire cannon!”
Twenty artillerymen lit the fuses with torches, and the pungent smell of sulfur mixed with gunpowder smoke instantly filled the air.
The crackling sounds became clearer in the dead silence.
The next second, a thunderous explosion.
“Boom, boom, boom, boom~”
Consecutive sounds exploded between heaven and earth. In just two to three seconds, twenty Divine Might Cannons simultaneously shuddered and spewed flames, their iron wheels plowing long furrows in the ground.
Solid cannonballs, the size of a palm, tore through the air with immense force, emitting a piercing whistle as they hurtled towards the Eastern Capital.
“Boom~”
The first cannonball accurately hit the mid-section of the city wall. The roar of cracking bricks and stones, mingled with the dust stirred up by the blast wave, turned a radius of two zhang into a chaotic vortex.
The rammed earth on the surface of the city wall rained down like a torrential downpour, revealing the mottled brick and stone skeleton within.
Immediately following, more cannonballs were fired, with their impact points mostly concentrated around this section of the wall.
The intention was to concentrate all firepower to blast down this section of the city wall.
“Lord, be careful.”
Han Jialu threw himself onto Xiao Pula Yelu, muttering as he did so, “The Thunder God has manifested. The Jin Prefecture Army has truly summoned the Thunder God.”
Ali Da, on the other side, also turned and ran. His face was now one of horror, feeling as if the city wall beneath his feet was trembling violently, as if the earth itself were shifting, threatening to bury the entire Eastern Capital.
“Damn it, how could this happen?”
“What in the world is that thing?”
The emergence of the Divine Might Cannon, a revolutionary firearm, had surpassed the understanding of most people of this era.
For many ordinary soldiers, the Divine Might Cannon was nothing less than the roar of a deity.
It wasn’t just the garrison soldiers on the Eastern Capital’s walls shouting in terror under the bombardment.
Even the Royal Court captives outside the city walls were trembling in fear.
Even the Kuli Army soldiers’ memories seemed to have been brought back to the grasslands of the past, and they harbored a deep-seated fear of those stone pillars.
“Again!”
Liu Zhong roared, waving his command flag, “Fire cannon.”
“Fire cannon!”
“Fire cannon!”
The subsequent artillery barrage continued, with cannonballs directly striking the breach in the city wall. After prolonged bombardment, this section of the wall began to collapse.
Before the garrison soldiers on the city wall could even look up, the bricks and stones beneath their feet began to shake violently.
Some gripped the battlements tightly, their knuckles turning white, yet they felt the entire city wall shaking like a sieve.
As the deafening explosions erupted, waves of scorching heat, carrying gravel, swept towards them, instantly swallowing the rising cries.
“Run!”
Someone shouted with all their might, but their voice was completely crushed by the roar of the collapsing city wall.
Bricks and stones rained down like a torrential downpour. A young soldier was hit on the back of the head by a flying stone and was flung backward like a tattered cloth, crashing heavily onto his comrade.
Blood splattered onto the face of the veteran soldier beside him. The veteran froze in place, his eyes wide open, his bow still held in a drawn position, his face now filled with terror and despair.
More soldiers scrambled and fled backward, only to be forced back by the continuously collapsing city wall, with nowhere to retreat.
Some, in their panic, jumped off the city wall with their shields, only to be struck by falling bricks and stones in mid-air, emitting a shrill scream.
The remaining garrison soldiers huddled in corners, trembling and clinging to each other, watching the once impregnable city wall collapse before their eyes.
Soon, the sound of the Jin Prefecture Army’s cannons ceased.
“Lord, the city wall has collapsed.”
“The Jin Prefecture Army is about to storm in. Let’s flee quickly.”
The rolling smoke and dust were gradually dispersing. Xiao Pula Yelu looked at the distant city wall with terrified eyes, his entire body feeling as if drained of strength, his legs seemingly rooted to the ground, unable to move.
But the next moment, his pupils constricted violently.
The rampart that had been as solid as iron moments ago now had a gap three zhang wide, blasted open.
“How… how is this possible?”
Xiao Pula Yelu’s eyes widened, his heart filled with shock.
He staggered back a few steps, nearly falling, cold sweat pouring down his back.
The resolve to fight the Jin Prefecture Army to the death had long since vanished, replaced by a face full of terror and despair.
At this moment, he suddenly realized that the terror and might of the Jin Prefecture Army far exceeded his imagination.
This war was not as simple as he had imagined; he was facing a terrifying force capable of destroying everything.
At the same time, more soldiers on the city wall were shocked by the scene before them.
They too, crawled up from the ground in fear, the sight of the ruins before them impacting them even more deeply.
“The Thunder God is enraged!”
A sergeant, his face covered in blood and dust, suddenly knelt on the ground and kowtowed frantically towards the sky, blood immediately seeping from his forehead.
“The Jin Prefecture Army has summoned the Thunder God. We are finished, finished!”
His cry seemed to open the floodgates of fear, and the soldiers around him also fled backward in panic.
Outside the city, beneath the golden Sun and Moon Battle Flags, Li Xiao held a telescope, coldly observing the city wall in the distance.
The Eastern Capital was built during the reign of Yelü Dashi and was now sixty to seventy years old, no longer sturdy.
With continuous solid cannonballs hitting, the city wall had a breach opened, a full three zhang wide, enough for the Jin Prefecture Army to enter the city.
“Relay orders: Luo Meng, Myriad Household Commander of the First Division; Li Erhu, Myriad Household Commander of the Second Division; Zhao Dadao, Myriad Household Commander of the Third Division, lead their respective Wanhu Armies as the vanguard to storm the Eastern Capital.”
“Those who lay down their arms and surrender will not be killed. Those who resist will be killed without mercy,” Li Xiao said in a deep voice, issuing the order for a full assault.
In this battle, he did not send the Kuli Army first, mainly out of concern that the Kuli Army might go on a killing spree and slaughter everyone in the Eastern Capital, which would be problematic.
In Li Xiao’s view, the garrison of the Eastern Capital were not enemies; most of the soldiers were misled.
Once things were explained, they would still be brothers!
Therefore, this siege must not be a wholesale slaughter like the previous battle against the Royal Court Army; the focus should be on subjugation.
“Uuuu~”
The deep horn blast tore through the sky, like a death knell from the underworld.
Luo Meng, wearing bright yellow cotton armor and a tasseled helmet, his cheeks tightly encased by the armor on both sides, revealing only a pair of indifferent eyes looking straight ahead.
Holding a hooked scythe spear, he uttered no superfluous words, only a cold shout: “Kill!”
“Roar!”
The First Division Cavalry let out three low growls and then, under the command of their respective chiliarchs, began to advance slowly.
“Boom, boom, boom~”
The iron cavalry galloped, gathering a mighty roar on the grassland, appearing from afar like a surging sea of golden fire.
In a short moment, the vanguard of this “Golden Lion” stepped over the scattered bricks and the corpses of the garrison, surging into the breach like a tide.
“Quick, open the city gate and let the army enter,” shouted a Jin Prefecture Army Centurion, covered in blood, holding a spear thrust through the chest of a garrison soldier, shouting to the soldiers behind him.
Although the Eastern Capital’s city wall had been blasted down, its foundation still remained. The ground littered with gravel prevented a large cavalry charge.
Therefore, these Jin Prefecture Army soldiers had abandoned their war horses and entered as infantry.
The gravel and miscellaneous items in the gate passage had to be cleared to open the city gate and allow the main force of the Jin Prefecture cavalry to enter.
Although the ones entering were Jin Prefecture infantry, they were still brave.
The cotton armor they wore offered far greater protection than that of the Eastern Capital’s garrison. Moreover, many of the Eastern Capital’s garrison soldiers had already been terrified by the Divine Machine Camp’s artillery.
As a continuous stream of Jin Prefecture infantry poured into the city, the South Gate of the Eastern Capital was soon opened.
Luo Meng led his Myriad Household Army into the city gate, followed closely by Er Hu and Zhao Dadao, charging fiercely into the city.
Amidst the ruined walls, wherever they passed, cries of agony continued.
Soon, the sounds of shouting and killing erupted throughout the Eastern Capital, and blood stained the shattered bricks and stones.
“Governor, the Jin Prefecture Army is coming. They’ll be at the North Gate any moment.”
“We can’t break out.”
The North Gate was the last “pure land” of the Eastern Capital, and the Jin Prefecture Army had not yet captured it.
Therefore, Ali Da and Xiao Pula Yelu had planned to lead their men to break out through the North Gate, but they had not expected the Jin Prefecture Army outside the city to be so exceptionally fierce.
Ali Da personally led the charge to break through, not only suffering heavy losses but also nearly being overrun by the Jin Prefecture Army.
However, at this moment, the soldiers reported even more dire news: the Jin Prefecture Army had already stormed into the city.
Ali Da could even vaguely see the figures of the Jin Prefecture Army at the end of the street.
They were a group of cavalry clad in red armor, all wearing tasseled helmets, wielding hooked scythe spears, riding tall war horses, trampling through the city streets as they charged ferociously.
“Those who lay down their arms and surrender will not be killed. Those who resist will be killed without mercy.”
During their charge, these soldiers continuously shouted this in Khitan and Turkic languages.
Most of the garrison in the city had already surrendered, leaving only those at the North Gate.
Facing the rapidly approaching Second Division Cavalry, Ali Da’s blood-stained face became even more ferocious, his eyes filled with killing intent and fighting spirit.
He roared loudly, “Kill~”
Then, he led his remaining twenty-odd personal guards to charge at the Jin Prefecture Army.
He knew that given what he had done, Li Xiao would never spare him, even if he groveled and surrendered.
Since death was inevitable, he might as well die a glorious death.
“Bang~”
Ali Da charged ahead, holding his spear and rushing towards the Jin Prefecture Army.
Facing him was a squad leader from the Jin Prefecture Army, in his twenties, with a similarly fierce expression, clearly a man brave and skilled in combat.
As the two men closed in, there was a muffled “thud,” and Ali Da’s spear struck the Jin Prefecture Army squad leader’s chest.
But to Ali Da’s shock, his spearhead couldn’t penetrate the opponent’s body at all. It only used the momentum of the war horse to push the Jin Prefecture Army squad leader flying.
Perhaps two ribs would break, but it would definitely not be fatal.
On the other hand, Ali Da, relying on his many years of battlefield combat experience, narrowly avoided a fatal blow but had his shoulder caught by a hooked scythe spear.
Blood splattered, causing cold sweat to stream down his face from the pain.
But before he could recover, two more hooked scythe spears were thrust at him from different directions.
“What?”
Ali Da’s face was filled with horror, shocked by the close coordination of the Jin Prefecture Army soldiers.
They often worked in groups of three, responsible for frontal blocking, tripping the horse’s legs, and flank ambushes.
Therefore, even for a fierce warrior like Ali Da, facing the attacks of two other soldiers, already injured, he gradually began to falter.
Soon he was knocked off his horse.
Not long after, Er Hu arrived quickly on his war horse.
“Hahaha~ Good!”
His laughter preceded his arrival.
Er Hu was truly happy.
In this siege, he, Luo Meng, and Zhao Dadao each led two thousand four hundred soldiers into the city, but only the soldiers under his command captured Ali Da and Xiao Pula Yelu.
It was a great boost to his prestige.
“Zhang Dali, how is it? Are you alright?”
Er Hu ignored Ali Da and the other man and first went to check on the injured soldiers.
Zhang Dali was the squad leader who had duelled with Ali Da and was knocked off his horse.
He was lying on the ground now, his mouth twitching from pain, “I’m fine, Myriad Household Commander. Don’t worry, I, Old Zhang, am very tough, I won’t die.”
It was just a broken rib, it really hurt.
“Hahaha, I knew you were like a cat, with nine lives. Even King Yama can’t take you now,” Er Hu said with a laugh.
Then he said, “You performed very well this time. When we expand the army, it will be your turn to get promoted.”
Zhang Dali was overjoyed to hear this, “Thank you, Myriad Household Commander.”
With that, Er Hu’s gaze fell upon Ali Da and Xiao Pula Yelu.
Ali Da looked quite miserable, with several unbandaged wounds on his body, but he was leaning against the wall motionlessly, with his eyes closed and making no sound.
“Heh, Ali Da, you’re quite a man. Have you resigned yourself to death?” Er Hu said with a cold laugh.
Ali Da slightly opened his eyes. He recognized Er Hu and knew he was Li Xiao’s younger brother.
So, in a hoarse voice, he said, “I, Ali Da, deserve to die. I know I have failed the Great King’s trust and have no face to remain in this world.”
“Go ahead, kill me.”
Er Hu snorted with a smile, “The person I hate the most in my life is a traitor.”
“Killing you like this would be too easy for you.”
With that, Er Hu ordered someone to stop Ali Da’s bleeding. Dying from blood loss would be a release for him.
Then, Er Hu’s gaze turned to Xiao Pula Yelu, “Are you, old man, Xiao Pula Yelu?”
Xiao Pula Yelu had lost his usual arrogance. He was wearing a plain, worn-out leather jacket, his hands bound, looking up at Er Hu.
He nodded and said, “That’s right, I am Xiao Pula Yelu.”
“In terms of connections, I am even the uncle of your Governor.”
But the next second, Er Hu kicked him directly, sending the old man flying several meters before he crashed heavily to the ground.
“Hmph, don’t try to pull rank with me.”
“You old bastard have been stirring up trouble in the Eastern Capital, you deserve to die even more than Ali Da.”
With that, Er Hu ordered them to be taken away to await Li Xiao’s judgment.
With the efforts of Er Hu and the others, the Eastern Capital City was quickly pacified.
The garrison of the Eastern Capital City, except for some who were killed, most surrendered and were confined to a temporary prisoner of war camp outside the city.
……
The gunpowder smoke gradually faded. The Eastern Capital City trembled uncontrollably under the ravages of the Jin Prefecture Iron Cavalry. Twisted corpses lay scattered among the ruins, and congealed blood stained the shattered bricks and stones a dark red.
The golden Sun and Moon Battle Flag fluttering on the city wall cut through the originally peaceful sky like a sharp blade.
The wind swept through the ruins, making a whimpering sound, as if the battle-hardened city was weeping.
On both sides of the road, the Wuwei Army stood solemnly like two rows of steel statues. They wore cotton armor with red trim on a yellow background and held hooked scythe spears, their cold, shining spearheads pointing diagonally towards the sky.
Emitting a fierce and chilling aura, they stood in silence, their gazes fixed on the distant grassland.
Soon, a tall war horse, entirely black, slowly entered their view.
On the horseback, Li Xiao, clad in dark gold cotton armor with black trim, exuded a noble and dignified aura in the sunset, forming a stark contrast with the ruined Eastern Capital City before him.
Beneath his golden tasseled helmet, his eyes were sharp as an eagle’s as he surveyed the conquered city.
“Eastern Capital ah~”
“I never expected to return here in this way.”
Li Xiao stood still, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, looking at the tall city gate, murmuring softly.
He had no feelings or attachment to the Eastern Capital City, only some memories.
But this city was the center of power in the Northern Frontier. Whoever possessed the Eastern Capital City, to some extent, represented legal rule over the Northern Frontier.
And now, this old capital of Western Liao, lay prostrate before Li Xiao in this manner.
The feeling of power striking the soul surged within him, even more intensely than when Li Xiao had broken through Kuyun-Ordu.
But then, Li Xiao took a deep breath. The scent of gunpowder mixed with bloody mud entered his nostrils, and his eyes returned to their cold clarity.
He looked indifferently at the broken city wall of the Eastern Capital and said faintly, “The Eastern Capital City is nothing more than this.”
With that, he shouted loudly, “Enter the city.”
Behind him, Tie Tou, Thin Monkey, and Lin Dazhuang, three Wuwei Army chiliarchs, followed closely. The sound of hooves clattering was exceptionally clear in the gateway.
Immediately afterward, the cheers of the Jin Prefecture Army resounded from inside and outside the city.
“Great Governor is mighty~”
“Great Governor is mighty~”
“Great Governor is mighty~”
Li Xiao’s expression was stern, completely unfazed by all this. His horse’s hooves trod over the blood and mud on the ground, each step sounding like a death knell for the city.
He slowly passed through the city gate. Behind him, the golden Sun and Moon Battle Flag fluttered in the wind, as if proclaiming the majesty and invincibility of Jin.
