Chapter 79: Ambush And Kill
After Li Xiao ordered men to kill all the captives, the Naiman People were completely enraged.
Five thousand cavalry roared, tailing the shadows of the Northern Frontier Cavalry, angrily charging forward.
Their minds held only one thought left.
Kill all Liao State people, take revenge.
But as the crowd ventured deeper along this road, Qu Chulü’s heart grew increasingly uneasy.
Looking at the surrounding terrain, a sense of danger arose spontaneously.
He shouted loudly, “Stop, everyone stop.”
“Hurry and withdraw.”
But at this time, many Naiman People had become hot-blooded and reckless, the scene extremely chaotic.
Qu Chulü’s orders could not be conveyed to every soldier for the moment.
The soldiers in front heard Qu Chulü’s orders but did not understand, wanting to stop, but the soldiers behind kept charging forward relentlessly, forcing them to be swept along.
Only at this point did Qu Chulü’s face gradually turn pale, cold sweat dripping, realizing in his heart that they had fallen into a trap.
Sure enough, in the next moment, a low rumbling sound suddenly rose from the hills on both sides.
“Clang clang clang~”
As terrifying as meteors crashing to the ground.
Immediately after, someone shouted loudly, “Stones, stones are rolling down.”
“Dodge quickly.”
“There are people on the mountain.”
Qu Chulü looked up, only to see massive boulders rolling down simultaneously from the hills on both sides.
They smashed straight into the ranks of the Naiman People, some Naiman Soldiers shoved by those beside them, unable to dodge, directly crushed and vomiting blood.
More and more soldiers were hit by boulders, the scene turning chaotic.
The war horses’ neighing and the soldiers’ shouts blended into one.
The boulders might not have caused too many casualties to the soldiers, but they greatly frightened the war horses.
The startled horses began running wildly, colliding with other horses, causing more war horses to go mad.
They kept leaping and neighing, running everywhere, throwing many Naiman Soldiers off their horses, who were then trampled by hooves.
This scene was no less than a camp rout.
“Stop, everyone stop.”
“Don’t run.”
Qu Chulü shouted loudly, but it was completely useless.
Even in the next second, a boulder rolled down, directly smashing Qu Chulü’s horse’s leg.
Accompanied by the war horse’s miserable neigh, Qu Chulü was flung off the horse.
“Prince, His Highness the Prince.”
Qu Chulü’s personal guards were greatly alarmed, hurriedly jumping down to help him up, averting his fate of being trampled to death.
“Withdraw, hurry and withdraw~”
And at that moment, a thunderous shout of killing rose from the distance.
“Kill~”
It turned out that Li Xiao had led his men to turn back again, charging at the Naiman People.
At the same time, large numbers of cavalry appeared on the hills on both sides, holding spears and war sabers, roaring loudly like barbarians.
Facing this overwhelming shout of killing, all the Naiman People realized they were surrounded.
“Liao State people are there, and on both sides too.”
“We’re surrounded, what do we do.”
“Break out.”
The Naiman People shouted in fear, looking around in panic, seeing enemy figures everywhere on the hills, their inner fear and panic constantly growing.
Many instinctively began to retreat, but the rear was still packed with large numbers of Naiman Cavalry, unable to turn around.
Large numbers of Naiman People crowded together, many squeezed off their horses and trampled to death.
With the Northern Frontier Army charging from three sides, the battle soon ended.
Soon after, the mountain valley was littered with corpses of Naiman People, blood flowing, staining the grassland red.
Large numbers of injured war horses neighed piercingly, their fate’s end only the Northern Frontier Army’s large pot.
Li Xiao wore armor, rode a tall war horse, held a horse spear, walking through this valley strewn with corpses.
Seeing any surviving Naiman People, he directly finished them off with a knife, sending them to meet Arakha.
In fact, many Naiman People were not killed by the Northern Frontier Army, but trampled to death by their own in the chaos.
Even at the very beginning, the Northern Frontier Army didn’t need to attack directly, just kept creating panic, exerting psychological pressure on the Naiman People.
Watching them crowd each other in flight, squeezed off horses and trampled alive.
Such enemy-killing efficiency was much higher than direct charging, with the greatest benefit of reducing their own casualties.
Soon after, Li Sanhe ran over to report to Li Xiao.
“Nearly three thousand escaped.”
He estimated the number of fleeing Naiman People based on the captives’ confessions and the approximate number of corpses on the ground.
In battles on the grassland, it was actually hard to completely annihilate the enemy; any mistake and they would slip away.
Like Li Xiao, with much prior preparation, luring the enemy deep, and ambushing on three sides, still dared not seal off all four sides.
Also worried that the Naiman People, in desperation, would fight desperately; if Li Xiao’s forces suffered heavy losses, it would not be worth it.
So he chose to let part of the enemy go.
Leaving two thousand Naiman Cavalry was enough to satisfy Li Xiao.
The remaining three thousand, though escaped, had become bereft of home and fighting will.
“Let Sixth Uncle and them pursue.” Li Xiao nodded lightly.
The process of pursuing and killing defeated soldiers was often the time when the enemy kill count was highest.
Li Dashan and Luo Ping’s two chiliarch units had stayed ambushing on the mountain, with fresh horses.
In contrast, those fleeing Naiman Cavalry had been entangled with Li Xiao all the way, already exhausted.
At most two thousand could survive in the end.
“Clean the battlefield quickly, leave no captives.” Li Xiao shouted loudly to his subordinate soldiers.
Deep in enemy territory, they had neither the energy nor manpower to guard captives; killing them outright was the best way.
Of course, a few necessary guides still had to be kept.
Soon after, Da Hu and Er Hu brought men escorting a Naiman Person over.
“Elder Brother, see who we caught?”
Li Xiao rode on his war horse, looking down high at this captive.
He saw a youth around twenty years old, thin-faced, high nose bridge, with standard Naiman People features.
From the luxurious clothes on his body, this should be a Naiman noble.
But now he was disheveled, hair disarrayed, body covered in blood, unknown if his own or others’.
His face dirty and grimy, full of stains, hat nowhere to be found.
“Who is he?”
Li Xiao asked; if no value, don’t blame him for being ruthless.
“Naiman Prince, something or other?” Er Hu said excitedly, turning to look at Hutu.
Hutu, who could speak the Naiman language, immediately explained, “Master, he says he is the Naiman People’s prince, called Qu Chulü.”
“His father is precisely Sun Khan.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao also looked at this Naiman Person with a surprised gaze.
Qu Chulü?
This was no obscure figure; he had left a name in history.
After the Naiman were destroyed, Qu Chulü fled to Western Liao Dynasty, gained Yelü Zhilugu’s favor, and was married to his daughter Princess Hunhu.
Unexpectedly, Qu Chulü had been secretly gathering Naiman remnants, expanding his strength.
Taking advantage of Yelü Zhilugu’s absence hunting, he launched a coup d’état, directly making him Supreme Emperor.
So, hearing that the man before him was Qu Chulü, Li Xiao became interested.
“Heh, actually captured this guy, quite interesting.” Li Xiao chuckled.
History had changed in his hands; did that mean Western Liao Dynasty would not be usurped, and Yelü Zhilugu could die a natural death?
At this moment, Qu Chulü also glared at Li Xiao with gritted teeth.
Hard to imagine, he had failed so muddleheadedly.
With an unwilling expression, he angrily asked, “Who are you?”
It was clear that this youth before him seemed to be the leader of this Liao State army.
This shocked and enraged Qu Chulü greatly.
Unexpectedly, he had led five thousand army, yet in a short time, was utterly defeated by this Liao Person even younger than himself.
This filled the always arrogant Qu Chulü with shame, fury, and regret.
“Who am I?” Li Xiao shook his head lightly with a smile.
In a faint voice, he said, “Jin Prefecture, Li Xiao.”
Then, his gaze turned to Hutu: “Ask him how many troops are in Golden Mountain Camp, the current situation, and how many troops are deployed at each pass.”
Immediately, Hutu and Qu Chulü began conversing in the Naiman language, jabbering away.
Finally, Hutu shook his head helplessly: “Master, he refuses to say anything.”
“I can see that.” Li Xiao nodded faintly.
Qu Chulü’s expression was very ferocious, completely uncooperative.
Looked like he needed some hardship.
So he waved his hand and said, “Go loosen his bones for him.”
Then, to the messenger soldier: “Clean the battlefield, don’t leave a single piece of clothing from the Naiman People.”
Soon, the mountain valley was full of the Naiman People’s bare corpses, their chests slit open by knives, to become a feast for vultures and wild wolves.
By evening, Li Dashan and Luo Ping’s two forces finally returned.
The reason for the delay was that, besides pursuing and killing Naiman defeated soldiers, they had also driven back the cattle and sheep that Li Xiao and others had abandoned on the road earlier.
At night, in a huge mountain valley, bonfires blazed everywhere, filled with the soldiers’ clamor.
This was Li Xiao’s temporary main camp.
Over these past days, all the seized cattle and sheep, female slaves were kept in the mountain valley, with Northern Frontier Army soldiers’ tents on the surrounding mountain peaks, guarding their spoils of war.
On a distant hill, several corpses of Naiman Women hung from an old tree’s branches, appearing especially terrifying in the moonlight.
Soldiers sat by the fire piles laughing loudly, boasting of today’s battle achievements, holding Naiman Women in their arms and indulging freely, gnawing large bites of horse meat in their hands.
Arrogant laughter and women’s screams filled the entire mountain valley.
On a hillside, Li Xiao and Li Dashan and others sat together, saying gravely:
“Qu Chulü’s five thousand troops have been defeated by us; the Naiman People in Golden Mountain Camp number less than ten thousand.”
“Tomorrow morning, leave three hundred here to guard.”
“The rest, wear Naiman People’s clothes, blacken your faces.”
“Attack Golden Mountain Camp.”
Saying this, Li Xiao’s gaze looked toward the endless dark night, the direction of Golden Mountain Camp.
In a murmuring voice, he said, “This war is about time to end.
