Chapter 1782: Invading the Kara-Khanid State

The golden eagle spread its wings and soared high, gliding through the vast sky, crossing snowy ridges and glaciers, skimming over lakes and forests. Its powerful wings gleamed under the golden sunlight, its stretched posture exuding unbridled freedom.

Only after it had enjoyed itself to the full did it turn back along its path, seeking its master's trail. After roaming dozens of li and searching through, its falcon eyes suddenly flashed with sharp light. With a piercing cry, it dove down from the clouds, straight toward the military camp pitched in the lake-valley basin.

This was a massive military camp, with deep black as its dominant color and the high-flying Han banners as its most striking insignia. Stockades and fortifications were linked together, and vigilance was strict. This was the Kara-Khanid Expeditionary Force commanded by Wei Prince Liu Min.

Since the official commencement of hostilities in early summer, striking north against the Kara-Khanids, more than half a year had already passed. Under Liu Min's command, the Han army once again displayed its world-leading offensive capability, successfully breaking through the Kara-Khanid defenders, crossing the Tianshan barriers, and driving deep into Kara-Khanid territory.

For this campaign, the Han army had mobilized relatively few troops. Even adding the several thousand Khotan auxiliary troops conscripted for the expedition, the total was only twenty-five thousand men. This was the maximum force Liu Min could employ while maintaining basic security and defense across the vast Anxi region.

Of course, if there were too many men, the pressure on logistics and supply would be even greater. Liu Min had weighed many factors before deciding on the scale of mobilization. By comparison, the forces the Kara-Khanids fielded to resist were likewise not numerous. They were confident in the natural barrier of the Tianshan, and also because, over the past thirty years, the Kara-Khanids had shed too much blood on the eastern front, suffering grievous wounds and severely depleted strength.

Even with numerous vassal tribes and Central Asian "holy warriors" as cannon fodder, they still could not withstand the enormous consumption of pushing eastward. First the Khitan, then the Great Han, had firmly suppressed the Kara-Khanids' expansionist ambitions. The beautiful and fertile lands of the east remained merely a legend, existing only in the talk of merchants.

And after Liu Min's first western expedition, the Kara-Khanids not only vomited back all the territories they had seized through decades of bloody war, but also lost everything south of the Tianshan. The Han army's powerful and forceful strikes made the Kara-Khanid state fully recognize that stark reality.

Even though the Great Han was bloated and its capital lay ten thousand li away, a mere flick of its finger was more than the Kara-Khanids could resist. By now, within the Kara-Khanid state, there was no longer any talk of marching east. On the contrary, they had to unite as one, organize with full effort, to deal with the Han army's invasion.

Unlike the Han army, which received a steady stream of reinforcements and supplies from home, under the long and cruel war, every Kara-Khanid who died was one less man. After thirty years of intermittent bloodletting, this once-strong state of the Western Regions, which had boasted a million households and a hundred thousand armored soldiers, had become fragile as a reed in the wind.

However, the Kara-Khanid state still possessed a certain resilience. After all, its former glory was not far in the past, and its organizational systems had commendable aspects, especially in military force construction, which was already systematic.

Moreover, religious faith—sometimes worth nothing, sometimes capable of erupting with tremendous power. Therefore, after the Han army invaded from the north, the Kara-Khanid state did not sit idly waiting for death, but threw itself into the fight with everything it had.

But passion and determination alone were not enough; sufficient strength was needed to back them up—and that was precisely what the Kara-Khanid state lacked. Bada Ridge Pass, situated at the southern foot of the Tianshan, had once been the Kara-Khanids' bridgehead for advancing east. As times changed, it had become the first fortress for defending against the Han army.

During the year Liu Min implemented his recuperation strategy, Kara-Khanid cavalry had mostly ridden south through this pass to harass Anxi. After the Han army marched north, the first target they had to chew through was this pass.

The Kara-Khanids had only three thousand men stationed at this pass. Unlike the city of Kucha out on the open plains, relying on the pass's formidable terrain, it was enough to hold off the Han army. The Kara-Khanid defensive strategy remained one of strict defense, stalling for time and waiting for changes, hoping to counterattack.

However, their calculations failed once again. This time, Liu Min brought into play the cannons he hadn't been able to use before. Even if they weren't fully mature, once these divine instruments of infantry warfare were formally thrown into battle, they displayed their sharp and formidable prowess.

Even the Han army's own soldiers were astonished, let alone the Kara-Khanids. In batches, the Ministry of War had allocated seventy-two cannons to Anxi. Amidst the deafening thunder and the terrifying impact of iron shot, Bada Ridge didn't even hold out for three days before falling. The Kara-Khanid state's gateway was formally smashed open.

Afterward, a long, unimpeded drive was impossible. The roads were rugged and difficult, transportation conditions truly abysmal, and the Han army had much baggage. Combined with the Kara-Khanid army's stubborn harassment and delaying tactics, even after breaking Bada Ridge, the Han army could only advance methodically, steadily, and slowly.

While securing their supply line, it took nearly two months in total for the Han army to break through the obstacles and formally enter the Ysyk-Köl basin of the Kara-Khanid state, bringing their forces before the city of Barskhan.

The journey had been arduous—casualties from non-combat causes exceeded those from the assault on Bada Ridge. However, after entering the basin, the roads became much flatter and easier to traverse, and the greatest problem of marching was solved.

After scattering the last wave of enemy forces blocking their path, Liu Min ordered the western expeditionary Han army to rest for over half a month. Only after their energy and fighting spirit had been fully restored did he order the march westward, dispatching troops toward Barskhan.

The city of Barskhan, situated among the northern ranges of the Tianshan and bordering Lake Ysyk-Köl (Lake Issyk-Kul), was the largest city in the Kara-Khanid state's southeastern territory. It was also a necessary waypoint on the route to their capital of Balasagun, and like Bada Ridge, it had to be taken.

Facing the fierce onslaught of the Han army, the Kara-Khanid state made its final effort at Barskhan, concentrating all remaining elite troops in the country and conscripting en masse the Turkic tribes such as the Turgesh and fanatical Muslim believers, assembling over forty thousand men, personally led by the Great Khan Alimüsa, intending to stop the Han army's advance. Their slogans were carefully chosen: Defend Barskhan, defend the people, defend the Kara-Khanids, defend the Holy Faith.

In light of their past several clashes with the Han army, the Kara-Khanid forces had thoroughly awakened to the realization that fighting a defensive siege battle, no matter how many men they had, was difficult to win. Defensive operations meant surrendering the initiative and letting the Han army's war machines do their work.

On the contrary, what they excelled at was cavalry warfare. Although the Han army was formidable in combat, in open-field battles, they weren't necessarily without a chance of victory. Based on past engagement experience, most of the casualties the Kara-Khanids had inflicted on the Han army—aside from the bloody battle at Kucha—had come from small-scale field engagements.

Moreover, the war machines the Han army relied upon, while immensely powerful, were mostly heavy and difficult to move—that was their opportunity. If meeting the enemy head-on in open battle was hard to win, then they would use flanking maneuvers and surprise attacks. The tactical core lay in abandoning defense for offense and seizing battlefield initiative.

Thus, east of Barskhan city, the Han and Kara-Khanid armies erupted into the largest pitched battle since the two states had gone to war. Liu Min and the other Han commanders had originally expected another siege battle at Barskhan; they never imagined the enemy would take the initiative to sally forth—rather than worrying, they were delighted.

After all, even though the Han army excelled at offense, they weren't particularly fond of siege warfare. They likewise preferred to annihilate the enemy in the open field. And the Han army's ironclad defensive formations in field battles were equally a strong point.

However, the course of the battle still exceeded Liu Min and the others' expectations. Although the Kara-Khanid army took the offensive, they weren't reckless. They absolutely refused to charge headlong into the Han army's tight formations.

When the Han army defended, they harassed; when the Han army attacked, they retreated. And whenever the Han army couldn't maintain a fully tight defensive formation, they would launch fierce assaults, fearless of death, throwing themselves into the fight without regard for casualties.

Against such tactics, the Han army was compelled to launch several counter-offensives, intending to crush the enemy head-on. But under the propaganda of "defending the nation and the faith," the Kara-Khanid soldiers' spines were hardened to the extreme—they would trade life for life. After all, they were fighting on home ground and had superior numbers. For the Han army on a distant expedition, purely trading attrition, even with fewer casualties, was not sustainable in the long run.

After twelve battles of varying sizes, the Han army suffered over three thousand casualties. Even though the Kara-Khanids lost even more, after assessing the situation, Liu Min ultimately abandoned the plan to directly crush the enemy forces and adopted a strategic retreat.

Seeing their tactics had achieved results, the Kara-Khanid army became relentless, clinging on and pressing forward, wanting to counterattack and completely defeat the invading Han army. This enraged the Han army—a counterattack battle soundly repulsed the pursuing Kara-Khanid forces.

The minor defeat only dented the Kara-Khanid army's morale, but during the fighting, the Kara-Khanids once again discovered a weakness in the Han army: the Khotan troops. Compared to the fully equipped Han soldiers, the Khotan army was a completely soft persimmon.

Therefore, once the Kara-Khanid army turned its attention to the Khotanese, they quickly achieved results. Those Khotanese, who had been forcibly bound to the Han army's war chariot, could hardly withstand the fearless onslaught of the Kara-Khanids. They had been conscripted only to perform auxiliary tasks; making them fight to the death on Kara-Khanid soil was truly beyond them.

With the Khotanese defeated, the Han army naturally couldn't remain unaffected. And because of the Khotan rout, Liu Min suffered his first major defeat since the western expedition began. He was forced to retreat again, fighting while withdrawing, pulling back fully a hundred li until they reached the eastern shore of Lake Ysyk-Köl before stabilizing their position.

At this point, their route of retreat had been cut off by the Kara-Khanid army. The Han army had become trapped beasts, cornered in the basin. The situation suddenly turned dire, with the danger of total annihilation.

The Kara-Khanid army, seeing the opportunity to destroy the Han army, refused to let this hard-won chance slip away. After only a brief rest, they pressed forward again. Facing this situation, Liu Min decisively contracted his defenses.

But against the Han army's formations, the Kara-Khanids truly couldn't crack them. The fighting fell back into a stalemate, lasting until autumn. After several failed assaults, the Kara-Khanids cooled down from their wild elation and grew smarter.

They no longer thought of swallowing the Han army in one gulp, but instead adopted a siege strategy—sealing off the mountains and blocking the roads to prevent possible reinforcements from Anxi. After all, time was passing, the Han army's morale was declining, and their provisions were being consumed. Without relief, the danger would only grow day by day.

It must be said that the Battle of Barskhan was the most dangerous and most pressure-filled battle Liu Min had experienced since joining the military—even surpassing the time he had followed Yang Ye on the distant expedition to Mobei. Back then, he had been merely a general; this time, he was the supreme commander, responsible for the soldiers under his command.