Chapter 105: Naiman

Perhaps due to historical inertia, whether in the original timeline or this one, the Naiman tribe was the last force on the Mongolian steppe to be conquered.

Unlike other tribes on the steppe, the Naiman had already moved beyond the primitive tribal stage and possessed a simple state apparatus. Their ruler held the specific title of Sun Khan, and their weaponry and equipment were more advanced compared to other tribes.

But unfortunately, no matter which timeline, his enemies were terrifyingly strong; in the original timeline, his enemy was Genghis Khan, who was about to sweep across Eurasia, while in this timeline, he had to face a revolutionary army that led the era in every aspect.

He was terrified of this revolutionary army, a force that had defeated their hundred-thousand-strong coalition with only ten-plus thousand men, and now they had fifty thousand.

These past days, Sun Khan had been trying to get his western neighbor, Western Liao, to help him; unfortunately, Western Liao was not interested in the affairs of the Mongolian steppe. No matter how they laid out the pros and cons, Western Liao simply refused to send troops.

The chasm of power was like an insurmountable natural moat, leaving him racking his brains but finding not the slightest countermeasure. For Sun Khan, this sense of powerlessness was like being swallowed by endless darkness, almost suffocating.

Now he could only pray that Temujin's Borjigin clan and Wang Han's Kereit clan would block the Tatar forces in front of him; however, not much time had passed before he saw over a thousand fleeing cavalry on his own city walls.

It was the troop led by Wang Han's son, Sangkun, who brought news that the Kereit and Borjigin clans had been swallowed up.

When this news reached his ears, Sun Khan's heart was instantly shocked by a tremendous impact, as if the entire world was collapsing before his eyes; earth-shattering fear and despair instantly filled his soul. He felt his body bound by an invisible force, almost unable to move, and the scene before him began to blur, as if he might faint at any moment.

"Sangkun, if we surrender right now, will the Tatars treat us well? I heard the Tatars treat prisoners well; our captured soldiers weren't killed, so our treatment should be even better, right?" Sun Khan asked cautiously.

Hearing Sun Khan's question, Sangkun really wanted to slap himself a few times; originally, Temujin had clearly told him that Sun Khan was a straw man with absolutely no courage to fight the revolutionary army.

But Sangkun didn't believe it, because Sun Khan was a person with the same pride as himself and surely wouldn't be a coward; he just hadn't expected that the more quickly pride came, the faster it would deflate.

Sangkun really wanted to slap Sun Khan in the face; treat you well? Someone like you is a typical target for criticism; how could they treat you well? What qualification do you have to be treated well?

If it were the original Sangkun, he would surely have mocked Sun Khan for a while, but the pride in his heart had been shattered by Guo Jing; after Sangkun repeated the class hatred that Temujin had told him, he spread his hands and said, "People like you and me have killed many slaves and herdsmen in our daily lives; after all, in our eyes, they are not as good as cattle and horses, so killing them was just killing them, but in the eyes of the revolutionary army, we must pay with our lives for killing slaves."

The officials and nobles in the city were in an uproar; they didn't understand. A slave was just a slave; if he was killed, no one cared. His relatives didn't care, so why should a tribal chief care? Wasn't this a dog catching a rat, meddling in matters that didn't concern him?

Besides, weren't the slaves originally bought by them? Could they not be allowed to kill them?

"Great Khan, although their short clubs are formidable, if we hide behind the city walls, can they still hit us? Great Khan, let's fight them to the end."

In an instant, the entire tribe was incensed and wanted to fight the revolutionary army to the death; watching this scene, Sangkun's expression was very complex, because the Naiman tribe's performance today was almost identical to the Kereit tribe's earlier.

The nobles of the Kereit tribe also reacted this way after hearing Temujin's explanation; at that time, he thought that if the whole tribe united, they could surely defeat this so-called revolutionary army, only to be utterly crushed.

Those nobles were probably being criticized by the slaves and herdsmen just like his father, Wang Han.

That night, Sangkun led his followers fleeing west, running as far as they could, making sure the revolutionary army never caught up with them in their lifetime.

After suffering a heavy blow, he couldn't help but believe Temujin's words; Temujin had told him that the revolutionary army's ambition was not limited to the Mongolian steppe; sooner or later, they would attack Western Xia, attack the Jin Kingdom, and attack the distant Song Dynasty.

They wanted to eliminate all exploiters in this world and bring the world into a society named Communism, a society without exploiters like them.

Arrogant and reckless Sun Khan would pay the price for his assumptions, just like himself; fortunately, he not only had the life to flee but also had a thousand cavalrymen by his side.

As for Sun Khan, he would soon discover that the organization that defeated the hundred-plus thousand tribal coalition had only shown a fraction of its terror.

Under the Naiman tribe's strict and tense patrols, the figures of the Tatars finally appeared on the horizon, sweeping down like a wild wind. At first, the Naiman warriors all had a tight string in their hearts; however, when they carefully identified them, they found that the enemy's charging cavalry numbered only ten thousand, and the tension in their hearts instantly eased.

Relying on the solid city and the defensive works already prepared on the city walls, even facing the Tatar attack, they had enough confidence and ability to hold out.

However, reality poured a bucket of cold water on them; their joy was a bit too premature. When the Tatar leader paced to the front of the formation and took a glance, their city suddenly provoked a sneer from him.

Everyone looked at each other, full of confusion. Just then, a shocking scene occurred. Above that leader's head, dark clouds suddenly gathered, as if the anger of heaven and earth had condensed in that moment. The dark clouds rolled, thunder rumbled, as if thousands of horses and ten thousand soldiers were galloping within. Lightning flashed in the clouds, like sharp swords cutting through the sky, portending the terror about to descend.

Just as everyone was terrified, that young man suddenly extended his finger, pointing directly at their city. At that very moment, the terrifying power brewing in the sky finally erupted. A thunderbolt descended from the heavens, crashing down onto their city with a boom. That deafening roar seemed to make the entire earth tremble.

The city, which they regarded as their last refuge and had pinned countless hopes on, now appeared like a torn scroll, suddenly revealing a huge, shocking gap.

Through this gap, the revolutionary army killed their way in, and facing such an enemy, they simply could not resist; of course, they didn't want to resist either.