Chapter 210: Contending For Supremacy Over A Thousand Li, Crushing The Royal Court Army
The grassland before dawn was immersed in indigo gauze, with the Royal Court Army’s tents like silent giant beasts crouching amid the undulating grass waves.
A squad of Fifth Courtyard Department soldiers wearing tattered leather jackets slowly patrolled the camp in the night wind.
War horses trod slowly over wild grass covered in frost flowers, their spears pointing to the sky, like a bamboo grove gently swaying in the wind.
When they reached the flank of the tents, on a hillside, they gently reined in their war horses.
“Those Jin Prefecture People haven’t left yet?”
“They’ve been here all night.”
“Neither attacking nor withdrawing, what do they want?”
“Of course they’re trying to wear us down. With these few hundred Jin Prefecture Army soldiers sticking around, we have to deploy several times the troops to guard against them.”
The patrolling Fifth Courtyard Department soldiers whispered to each other. Through the faint light of dawn, they could vaguely see several hundred Jin Prefecture Army soldiers standing on a distant hillside.
They neither left nor attacked, just wearing down the Royal Court Army like this.
Tomorrow night, another batch of Jin Prefecture Army would come to continue the attrition, as sticky as dog skin plaster.
If the Royal Court Army dared to send troops to pursue and kill, they would surely fall into the Jin Prefecture Army’s trap and suffer heavy losses.
Therefore, Yelü Zhilugu had already issued orders: as long as they didn’t attack, pretend these Jin Prefecture Army soldiers weren’t there.
“Hmph, how is this war being fought? With so many of our troops, we can’t beat these mere Jin Prefecture bandits?”
“I say, back at the Sihun River, we shouldn’t have withdrawn. We should have just charged over.”
No sooner had the soldier finished speaking than the squad leader scolded him: “Quiet! Do you want to die?”
“You dare question His Majesty’s decision?”
“Of course we don’t dare question it, but we can’t stop others’ mouths.” The soldier shrank his head, his voice much softer.
“I heard the Tuju Tribe and Wuhuai Tribe soldiers harbor a lot of resentment toward His Majesty. Rumor has it their two great kings and Great King Yishi Si have been gathering frequently these past few days~”
“Are these six tribes going to abandon us and run?”
“Where can they run to now? If they’re running, it’ll be after crossing the Ili River.”
“The Yishi Four Tribes suffered heavy losses at the Sihun River. I heard because of this, the four great kings had a huge argument with His Majesty in the main army tent, demanding to execute Privy Councillor Tāyánggǔ to vent their hatred.”
“But the Yishi Four Tribes’ main force is completely wiped out, and those left guarding the Royal Court are just a bunch of old and weak. Why would the great kings even glance at them?”
“A lesson from the past. No wonder the Tuju Tribe and Wuhuai Tribe are growing distant. If this continues, even those Vital people will start causing trouble.”
These soldiers had been on duty the entire second half of the night, and now it was early morning; they were exhausted and full of pent-up resentment, so they could only chat with each other to vent.
But at that moment, a soldier suddenly said: “Eh, what are those Jin Prefecture Army soldiers doing?”
Everyone looked over and saw, in the darkness, a group of Jin Prefecture Army soldiers approaching a hillside a few hundred meters away, fiddling with some strange object.
It was too dark to see clearly, but it instinctively made people uneasy.
“Die Luo, go report this to Lord Shi Lie Zhu. We’ll watch here. Hurry back.” The team leader shouted sternly.
The Jin Prefecture Army had approached the Royal Court camp many times before, but it was always just ordinary harassment.
This time, though they were a few hundred meters from the main camp, there were only a few hundred men.
It didn’t look like they were about to launch an attack.
“They’re definitely preparing to harass us again. When they get closer, we’ll charge out and kill these Jin Prefecture scoundrels.”
“But don’t pursue too far, to avoid ambushes.” The squad leader said to his subordinate soldiers.
And just as the Royal Court soldiers were preparing to meet them, the distant Jin Prefecture Army artillery position was already ready.
“Artillery positions, prepare!”
“Fire!”
With a loud shout from a centurion of the Divine Machine Camp, forty Tiger Zun Cannons roared in the silent night sky.
“Boom boom boom boom~”
Before the squad of Royal Court soldiers in the camp could react, they saw blinding red lights exploding on the distant high slope, shooting into the sky.
The shrill whistle of cannonballs tearing through the air was like the wail of the god of death, arcing through the night sky and landing directly in the Royal Court Army camp.
“Boom boom boom~”
Numerous tents collapsed directly, and horse carriages used for transporting supplies and grain were smashed apart.
“What sound is that?”
“Thunder?”
“No no no, that’s not thunder. That’s the Thunder God angry.”
“That’s the Jin Prefecture Army’s sorcerers performing a ritual, summoning the Thunder God to destroy us.”
“Back at the Sihun River, it was this kind of thunder that killed so many of our brothers.”
The massive explosions jolted all soldiers awake from sleep. Chaotic noises rose as many soldiers panicked, shouting and yelling in the dark night.
Panic spread like a plague.
And just as the soldiers grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the tents, the second wave of shelling followed.
This time, the Divine Machine Camp deployed their great killer weapon.
Forty explosive shells detonated in the dense tent area, the cast-iron casings shattering into thousands of fragments like a torrential downpour. Many soldiers’ bodies were torn apart in the blast wave.
Splattered entrails smeared the faces of comrades in the rear ranks, warm blood streaming down shield grooves to form rivulets.
In the terror of the cannonballs, many war horses let out shrill neighs, some even rearing up suddenly and kicking away soldiers trying to calm them.
Some dropped their weapons and fled in panic, only to be blown to bits of flesh and blood by subsequent shells.
Some tremblingly raised shields to block, only to be sent flying like kites with cut strings in the explosions.
The Divine Machine Camp had only forty Tiger Zun Cannons, causing limited direct casualties to the Royal Court soldiers, but effectively shattering the Royal Court Army’s morale.
The newly formed battle lines were blasted with many gaps; soldiers cried and shoved each other, blindly fleeing over their comrades’ corpses.
On the distant grassland, Li Xiao stood in the midst of the army clad in dark golden cotton armor, the black dragon pattern on his armor surface flowing with a cold glow in the morning light, like solidified magma.
Over a thousand Imperial Guards stood solemnly around him like cast bronze and forged iron, each tightly gripping a hooked scythe spear polished to a shine, the blades refracting sharp glints in the dim dawn.
On the army’s flanks and directly ahead, countless soldiers formed an endless steel flood, their three-colored cotton armor merging into mottled waves under the dawn light.
The Kuli Army’s mixed leather and captured iron armor dotted the scene like mottled reefs.
Spears like a forest, banners blotting out the sky, tens of thousands of officers and soldiers holding their breath in wait, with only the war horses’ snorting and the clink of armor spreading in the silence.
“Clang~”
After the Tiger Zun Cannons boomed for a moment, Li Xiao abruptly drew his cavalry saber, cold light like lightning, the blade tracing a fierce arc in the air.
His cold voice echoed across the grassland: “Sweep the Royal Court Army flat. Kill!”
In an instant, hoofbeats thundered like lightning, weapons clashed, countless cavalry charged like arrows from bows toward the enemy lines.
At the first sound of the cannon fire, Yelü Zhilugu, who had been sleeping in his clothes, sat up directly from the bed and shouted loudly: “Men! Men!”
As he shouted, he grabbed his saber and rushed out of the tent. The Pishi Imperial Guard, led by Tāyánggǔ, hurriedly gathered to protect him.
“Your Majesty, the Jin Prefecture Army is attacking.”
“They’re using that mysterious weapon. Our army is suffering heavy losses.”
Tāyánggǔ’s expression was horrified; the scene in the camp before him reminded him of the Sihun River battle a few days ago.
The same tactic: Jin Prefecture Army’s terrifying weapons bombarding soldiers, followed by light and heavy cavalry charges.
Sure enough, when the shelling stopped, someone shouted: “Jin Prefecture cavalry are coming!”
“They’re in the east, lots and lots of them.”
“West side too~”
Yelü Zhilugu looked shocked, gazing at the horizon. He could only see the faint dawn; the grassland was still pitch black, impossible to tell how many Jin Prefecture Army had come.
But from the sound, at least ten or twenty thousand.
“Kill! Hold them off for me.”
“Tell all soldiers: kill one enemy, reward ten sheep~”
Yelü Zhilugu shouted loudly, truly going all out.
After all, they were already here; two more days and they’d cross the Ili River. He was truly unwilling to give up.
Though the camp was thrown into chaos by the Jin Prefecture Army’s cannon fire, Yelü Zhilugu had made many preparations against night raids.
So after the initial panic, the soldiers returned to their positions under their officers’ cursing and shouting.
But immediately after, whistling sounds poured like sudden rain. The Royal Court Army infantry had just formed a wall of shields when dense arrow rain tore through the morning mist.
Iron arrows thudded into elm shields with teeth-gritting “thunk thunk” sounds.
But the rear soldiers had no cover, and screams instantly pierced the air over the camp.
Some had throats pierced, hands clawing desperately at arrow shafts, blood gushing from between fingers.
Some were pinned to shields by arrows, staggering back from the impact and piling into twisted meat mounds with comrades behind.
“Archers, counterattack!” A centurion’s roar mixed with clanging metal echoed through the camp.
The Royal Court Army’s arrow rain shot into the darkness, but all that could be heard besides the thundering hooves was faint metallic clinks.
“Clang clang clang clang~”
Arrow after arrow struck the Black Armored Army’s armor and bounced off. Except for those hitting joint connections by chance, most didn’t even graze the Black Armored Army’s furs.
Instead, it provoked the Black Armored Army’s ferocity.
“Black Armored Army, trample them flat.”
Zhang Xianfeng, under his iron mask, swung a large mace while riding a sturdy war horse, letting out a mighty roar.
He led over a thousand Black Armored Army in a charge toward the Royal Court camp.
“Kill!”
The mace traced afterimages in the air, smashing heavily into the first abatis.
Arm-thick logs exploded instantly, flying wood chips mixing with caltrops scattering everywhere.
Front-line spear and shield soldiers were terrified; before they could raise shields, they were sent tumbling by the Black Armored Army heavy cavalry, bodies crushed to meat paste under iron hooves.
The Black Armored Army’s wedge formation was like a sharpened giant axe, mercilessly cleaving the Royal Court Army’s defenses.
Maces shattered helmets, horse-chopping sabers severed necks, iron hooves crushed shields.
“Hold! Hold for me! Retreaters die!”
Royal Court Army officers’ shouts were drowned in the earth-shaking cries of killing.
Wherever the Black Armored Army passed, corpses piled like mountains, blood soaking the grass. The rising sun dyed this slaughterhouse a thick crimson red.
And the Black Armored Army’s charge hadn’t stopped; the Three Town Cavalry’s assault followed closely.
Countless elite riders in cotton armor surged forward like an avalanche.
Spears thrust, instantly piercing enemy chests; sabers chopped, leaving headless corpses in their wake.
Under the morning light, the Jin Prefecture Army slaughtered wantonly, as if the entire grassland trembled under the pressure of this steel flood.
In the chaotic camp, a burly, half-bald, bearded middle-aged man shouted urgently.
“Hudu La, they’ve broken in. Our Wuhuai Tribe soldiers can’t hold them.”
Facing him, another mounted middle-aged man shouted back: “Our Tuju Tribe can’t hold either.”
“The Jin Prefecture bandits are too strong.”
These two were the great kings of the Tuju Tribe and Wuhuai Tribe among the Khitan Eight Tribes.
Most of the Yishi Four Tribes’ soldiers had been captured by Li Xiao; now the Khitan Six Tribes had only these two great kings with real power left.
As soon as he spoke, Great King Yishi Si arrived with a cavalry squad and said to them: “Hudu La, Te Muge, hurry and withdraw.”
“Our four tribes are finished. Do you want to end up like us?”
This hit their hearts; Te Muge unhesitatingly shouted: “Good! Our Wuhuai Tribe withdraws. No more fighting.”
And he made an excuse: “The Jin Prefecture Army are also our Great Liao troops. This civil war is pointless.”
The Tuju Tribe great king nodded too: “Exactly. Your Yishi Tribes fought for Yelü Zhilugu’s throne, nearly wiping out your tribesmen.”
“But how did he treat you?”
“I don’t want to end up like that.”
With that, Hudu La raised his spear and shouted loudly: “Tuju Tribe men, follow my orders: break out!”
“Go home!”
The sky was just barely lightening, visibility still poor.
Moreover, Jin Prefecture Army and Royal Court Army numbers were roughly equal, and on this grassland terrain, they hadn’t yet encircled the Royal Court Army.
These men still had a good chance of breaking out.
The Tuju Tribe and Wuhuai Tribe troops left, and the Yishi Four Tribes great kings led their remnants, mixing in and charging out of the camp.
The news quickly reached Yelü Zhilugu.
The battlefield was filled with gunpowder smoke, the cries of killing deafening.
The Jin Prefecture Army’s assault was like surging waves, one after another; the Royal Court Army’s lines teetered, soldiers screaming and falling, blood seeping into the scorched earth.
Yelü Zhilugu wore an iron helmet encrusted with gems, his gold-inlaid iron armor stained with mud and blood. He gripped a long sword, hoarse-voiced commanding soldiers to resist.
“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Tāyánggǔ rushed over in a panic, face covered in sweat and dirt, finally squeezing to Yelü Zhilugu’s side and shouting at the top of his lungs.
“The Tuju Tribe and Wuhuai Tribe troops have fled, and the Yishi Four Tribes great kings took their remnants and ran.”
Hearing this, Yelü Zhilugu’s roar cut off abruptly.
He spun around, shocked, his voice squeezing from a cracked chest: “What did you say? Say it again!”
Tāyánggǔ bellowed: “They fled west. The Jin Prefecture Army’s sun and moon battle flag is already in our rear camp!”
Before he finished, earth-shaking cries of killing came from afar, Jin Prefecture Army hooves pounding like hammers on every heart.
“Treacherous bastards!”
“This is desertion in battle. I will exterminate their three clans, flay and dismember them.”
Yelü Zhilugu roared in fury, eyes bloodshot, neck veins bulging, gold-inlaid iron armor screeching with heavy breaths.
“Once I defeat the Jin Prefecture Army, I will wipe their tribes from the grassland.”
But before he finished, a sharp whistle came; Tāyánggǔ yanked Yelü Zhilugu to the ground.
The arrow grazed the iron helmet, embedding in the war drum behind with a buzzing hum.
Yelü Zhilugu struggled up, wiping blood and dirt from his face.
Seeing the trembling arrow behind him, his throat tightened, body drenched in cold sweat, legs shaking uncontrollably.
He had been that close to meeting his ancestors.
“Protect! Protect!” Yelü Zhilugu’s face paled, shouting in terror.
Tāyánggǔ was also full of dread, shouting fearfully: “Your Majesty, let’s withdraw too, or it’ll be too late.”
“The Jin Prefecture bandits are too fierce. The tide has turned. Preserve the green hills, and firewood won’t be lacking.”
Yelü Zhilugu’s eyes were red. Though terrified inside and trembling, he outwardly raged with false righteousness: “You want me to flee? How can the Emperor of Great Liao desert in battle and shame our ancestors?”
Tāyánggǔ stamped in anxiety, grabbing Yelü Zhilugu’s arm and shouting: “Your Majesty, preserve your useful body, and you can rally later to avenge and wipe out the shame!”
“You are worth a thousand gold. As the saying goes, the Son of Heaven does not sit in a perilous hall.”
“Great Liao can lose this minister, can lose these soldiers, but absolutely cannot lose you, Your Majesty.”
“For Great Liao, please leave this place quickly.”
Yelü Zhilugu gritted his teeth, eyes sweeping the chaotic battlefield, seeing tribes that once swore loyalty deserting. He felt urgent, angry, and sad.
But cruel reality forced him to face the situation. He gripped his saber tightly, watching the approaching Jin Prefecture cavalry, eyes deepening with fear.
In a trembling voice: “Fine! For Great Liao’s future, today I must disappoint our ancestors.”
“Withdraw!”
“Later, when I rally, I won’t spare that Li Xiao scoundrel.”
With that, Yelü Zhilugu ordered the Pishi Imperial Guard and Fifth Courtyard Department to disperse and break out, rallying south of the Ili River.
Though some would surely be mopped up by the Jin Prefecture Army, as long as most escaped to the south bank of the Ili River, it was victory in Yelü Zhilugu’s view.
He still had a chance to rally.
When the sun fully rose, the battlefield slaughter finally stopped.
The once verdant grassland now seemed like a scarlet carpet.
Tattered tents slanted in the mud, broken Royal Court Army flags half-buried in blood pools, fluttering cloth stained with bits of flesh.
Corpses lay scattered and piled; war prisoners huddled dejectedly in a camp fenced with ropes, wounds still bleeding, eyes full of fear and despair.
They were roughly shoved, with Jin Prefecture Army shouts occasionally sounding.
The air reeked of thick blood and gunpowder smoke; flocks of crows and vultures circled low.
Diving now and then to peck at limbs on the ground, cawing “caw caw,” adding desolation and misery.
Li Xiao rode slowly across the bloody battlefield, hooves squelching nauseatingly over corpses.
Arriving before what had been Yelü Zhilugu’s main army tent, Li Xiao reined in.
Everywhere he looked was wreckage: tents in ruins, the twelve Son of Heaven Banners and twelve war drums symbolizing Great Liao Emperor’s power scattered and toppled.
Banner surfaces trampled by hooves, congealed filth of blood and mud.
The central great banner snapped in two, golden tassels with “Liao” embroidered dangling in blood pools, trembling feebly in the morning breeze like a dying man’s last struggle.
All this seemed to silently narrate the fall of the Western Regions overlord.
The once majestic banners fluttering in north winds were now just blood-soaked rags.
The Great Liao Emperor who once awed the Western Regions was now just a coward scared witless under Jin Prefecture iron cavalry.
“Great Governor, Myriad Household Commander Er Hu and Myriad Household Commander Luo Meng report they each annihilated a Royal Court cavalry unit, but found no sign of Yelü Zhilugu.”
“Currently, our Jin Prefecture units are continuing to pursue the enemy remnants~”
Tie Tou stayed by Li Xiao’s side, protecting him while relaying the latest reports from the units.
Li Xiao nodded lightly: “Order all units to fully mop up the Royal Court remnants, strive to eliminate them on the Seven Rivers Grassland.”
“But do not advance deep into the south bank of the Ili River.”
Jin Prefecture Army and Royal Court Army forces were evenly matched, fighting on grassland terrain; total annihilation was impossible.
Yelü Zhilugu had ordered dispersed breakouts, making him even harder to catch.
Though regrettable, it achieved Li Xiao’s strategic goals. This battle greatly eliminated the Royal Court main army’s effective strength.
At least for five years, the Royal Court Army couldn’t recover its former strength, let alone threaten the Seven Rivers Grassland.
“Understood.” Tie Tou nodded heavily, then sent messengers to relay orders.
By afternoon, Gu Zizhong and Zhang Xinghua came together before Li Xiao.
“Great Governor, casualties, prisoners, and spoils have been tallied.”
“We captured over eleven thousand enemy troops, mostly Uyghur People and Geluolu People infantry.”
“Among cavalry, mainly Pishi Army and Fifth Courtyard Department soldiers,” Zhang Xinghua said gravely.
“Killed over six thousand enemies~”
“Our casualties over three thousand~”
Kuli Army suffered the heaviest, followed by Seven Rivers Army and Great Desert Army Camp; Jin Prefecture Three Towns had the lightest.
After all, most wore sturdy cotton armor; even new recruits were battle-hardened from the Kuli Army, knowing how to survive.
Overall, though not all of Li Xiao’s expectations were met, the strategic significance was immense.
From now on, the Northern Frontier’s stance against the Royal Court would reverse from defense to offense.
Shifting from strategic defense to strategic offense.
Once Li Xiao dealt with the Kangli Allied Army and stabilized the Northern Frontier, he would prepare to eliminate the Royal Court threat once and for all.
Of course, Western Xia was also a must-conquer target for Li Xiao.
With more and more foreign races in the Jin Prefecture Army, Han Chinese bloodlines were urgently needed to maintain internal stability.
