Chapter 1342: Chasing the Turks Eight Hundred Li

Summer brought war with the Turks, and before anyone realized it, autumn had arrived.

The temperature dropped, and the wind turned biting and cold.

Early in the morning, the red sun rose in the distant sky, casting its light upon the grasslands, where frost and dew on the tips of the withered yellow grass sparkled like crystal.

Horses snorted loudly, their breath forming clouds of mist in the air, as they impatiently pawed the ground with their hooves. The knights controlling them carried long spears hanging before them and held bows and crossbows in their hands, gazing from afar at the Turkic forces chaotically gathering just below the earthen mound.

Li Jing stood at the very front of the formation; he glanced at the rising morning sun, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "Split into three routes and envelop them from the left and right."

As soon as his words fell, the signal bearer carrying the flag beside him produced a banner and waved it back and forth.

Immediately, several hundred troops branched off from both flanks, shouting as they spurred their horses to scatter and ride diagonally downward.

Li Jing clamped his legs against his horse's flanks; the mount beneath him snorted and began trotting down the earthen mound, gaining speed with the acceleration of the slope.

Merging with the few hundred cavalry following behind Li Jing, they now possessed an overwhelming momentum capable of toppling mountains and overturning seas.

For a moment, the thunderous vibration of hooves pounding the earth echoed across the sky.

This small detachment of Turkic troops had no heart for battle; upon spotting the approaching enemy, they had already panicked, assembled their ranks, and begun retreating.

In merely a few short months, their fighting spirit had been crushed once again.

Since this was a large-scale engagement from the outset, the scale of combat escalated rapidly; after Wang Yan led his army into the grasslands, less than a month passed before reconnaissance confirmed Turkic forces exceeding eighty thousand.

But what of it?

Ten years ago, Wang Yan could defeat forty thousand of them with only four thousand troops; ten years later, leading nearly thirty thousand great armies, he would only strike the Turks even harder.

Although in reality, the calculation does not work so simply, for commanding four thousand soldiers and commanding thirty thousand are entirely different matters; yet for Wang Yan, this reckoning held no flaw whatsoever.

In his hands, every unit of troops brought a corresponding advantage; with more soldiers, the power unleashed was even greater.

After all, he had commanded a million-strong army with complete ease; what then were mere thirty thousand troops?

Thus, from the very beginning of the war, the Turks were reminded of the great terror of ten years past.

Their familiar grasslands had become fraught with danger everywhere; exhausted by day and unable to sleep at night, they found the mighty and cruel Great Sui, along with the warriors of the Youbi tribe, always appearing at moments they least expected.

When they concentrated their forces, the Sui would continuously split their troops to harass them; when they divided their forces intending to encircle and suppress, one column after another would be slaughtered into a rout.

Across the grasslands stood pyramids built of severed heads, each one composed of Turkic warriors.

Ten years ago, they could still leverage their numerical superiority to besiege the forces under Wang Yan's command, forcing Wang Yan himself to ride out to rescue them; today, a decade later, with Wang Yan commanding even more troops, they could no longer accomplish such feats and had been subjected to nothing but unilateral beating by Wang Yan.

Casualties were inevitable for both sides, yet theirs were invariably far, far greater.

Since the war began, the battle that inflicted the greatest damage upon them occurred when Wang Yan, in a frontal engagement, led three thousand troops to clash head-on against over ten thousand Turkic forces.

At that time, the Turks were overjoyed, believing that killing Wang Yan would annihilate the more than ten thousand cavalry dispatched by the Great Sui, representing an incomparably massive loss for the Sui.

Moreover, Wang Yan was a renowned God of War who had previously inflicted severe damage upon the Turks; killing him would not only crush the morale of the Sui army but also boost their own spirits, making it an absolutely magnificent outcome.

But clearly, they failed; all their imagined triumphs were shattered by Wang Yan wielding his cavalry lance.

Like a God of War, Wang Yan, the dignified Regional Commander of a full circuit, personally led the charge, pitting three thousand against over ten thousand Turkic troops; with just a single charge, he threw the Turkic army into disarray.

While the Turks were still plotting flanking maneuvers, Wang Yan had already flattened several thousand men in their central command; the fervent soldiers of the Great Sui and the Youbi tribe roared as they scattered in all directions, chasing, driving, and slashing their enemies.

After that single battle, barely one in ten of the over ten thousand troops that engaged Wang Yan survived; the largest pyramid of heads was created in this very fight, where heads were severed on the spot and counted immediately by officials accompanying the army to tally military merits, with no falsification whatsoever, only a secondary redistribution to allocate shares to those without merits and to the families of fallen brothers.

This battle dealt an immense blow to the Turks; defeated despite their superior numbers and subjected to Wang Yan's extreme cruelty, their morale completely collapsed, yet since this conflict concerned their very survival, they could not retreat and instead began rushing hither and thither, attempting to cause trouble for Wang Yan.

However, it was useless; Wang Yan consistently struck at their vital strength, to the point that even the infantry in the rear had mounted war horses to join the fray.

Simultaneously, some surrendered Turkic soldiers, along with women and children forcibly relocated by Wang Yan, and countless cattle, sheep, and horses, struck heavy blows against the Turks' already meager logistical system.

On Wang Yan's side, the more they fought, the more troops they gained; since the war began, after several great victories and the conversion of surrendered Turkic soldiers, their forces had grown from an initial strength of under thirty thousand to nearly fifty thousand, achieving the goal of converting the entire army into cavalry within just a few months.

Undoubtedly, this was a truly earth-shattering military achievement.

After all, under normal circumstances, a few months on the grasslands would barely suffice for both sides to chase each other in circles utilizing cavalry mobility, yet Wang Yan had already crippled the Turks.

The primary reason lay with Wang Yan himself; though he did not exert his full strength, neither did he conceal his abilities, essentially achieving the most ideal results possible given the existing conditions.

Normally, a war reaching this stage could already be concluded, as the Turks had submitted in humility; the reason the conflict had not ended was precisely because Wang Yan fought with such ferocity.

The longer a war continues, the greater the logistical pressure becomes, but Wang Yan fought so quickly that before logistics could even become strained, he had already achieved a result where the Turks begged for peace; originally, a war lasting one or two years had been anticipated, with both sides exchanging blows until the Turkic logistics collapsed and they could no longer sustain themselves, at which point negotiations would commence, leaving the beaten Turks obedient thereafter.

Now, however, seeing a genuine hope of annihilating the Turkic nation, the entire court of civil and military officials of the Great Sui naturally had no desire to negotiate peace; instead, they urged continuing the fight to see if, after a bit more time, total annihilation could truly be achieved, for such a Da Gong would ensure their names remained in history, so at this moment, everyone was roaring for extermination, with even the conservative faction feeling that the radicals were being too conservative...

Wang Yan feared no suspicion; compared to suspicion, what mattered more was his powerful influence over the army, for even without stepping onto the battlefield, his will could be implemented throughout the forces.

Moreover, to speak truthfully, he had been utterly loyal to the old Yang family from start to finish and possessed irreplaceability; while some might fear his influence within the military and thus hesitate to let him act freely, no Emperor with ambition and aspiration would think of eliminating Wang Yan early on, for keeping him in the capital living a life of wealth and honor, with his entire family together, could pose what trouble?

Only in the final stages, fearing that someone like Wang Yan, wielding power that shook the court, might become uncontrollable by the successor, would measures be taken to take such a person along to the grave as a companion...

So now the Turks had become obedient; upon seeing the Sui army, they wanted only to flee, waiting until they could gather superior forces before attempting to fight back.

Even when it appeared that in a single localized battlefield their forces held a numerical advantage, they would still choose not to engage, for the bloody lessons of the past had taught them the answer: there were no more defiant Turkic warriors left.

Li Jing led his troops to surround three sides while leaving one open, relentlessly slashing at a Turkic army that outnumbered his own.

Three columns pursued while one fled, galloping at full speed for over ten li.

Just as they were about to crest another earthen mound, the despairing Turks discovered ahead a large mass of Sui cavalry charging in scattered formation, assuming an encircling posture.

At the summit of the mound, Wang Yan, clad in full armor, sat on a folding small wooden stool, chewing on dried horse meat, while nearby retainers burned cow dung to boil water and brew milk tea.

The killing did not last long; after the Turks identified a single direction and launched their strongest breakout attempt, they engaged only briefly before being surrounded and beaten by the arriving Sui troops, and having long lost any fighting spirit, they dismounted one after another to surrender.

With the battle concluded, the Sui army skillfully cleaned the battlefield, gathering war horses, disposing of dead mounts, severing heads, and counting prisoners, a series of operations performed with complete ease and standardized efficiency.

Li Jing, covered head to toe in blood, rode over, bowed respectfully with clasped hands, and said, "General."

Wang Yan paid no heed to these formalities, as they were solely Li Jing's own insistence.

He waved his hand, ordering his retainers to pour milk tea for Li Jing, and asked, "Were you injured?"

"My arm was grazed," Li Jing replied, holding up his arm to reveal a rather deep wound caused by a grazing arrow.

"Get some strong wine to clean it."

Wang Yan gave the order, and his subordinates brought alcohol; Li Jing, being a tough man, refused to let others do it for him, instead tearing off a piece of meat to scrub the wound himself before allowing Wang Yan's retainers to wrap it with cloth.

Li Jing, drenched in sweat, drank the milk tea and chewed on the dried horse meat of which he had long grown tired.

There was no other choice; aside from humans, it was the war horses that died in the greatest numbers; adhering to the principle of avoiding waste, any meat that could not be consumed immediately was cured into dried meat to carry along, and though the taste was not particularly good, it was still meat, rich in nutrients and high in energy, so after several months of consuming countless war horses, most of the soldiers now boasted ruddy complexions.

"General, we have fought to this point; the Turks can no longer hold out. Snow will fall soon. Must we continue fighting?"

"I have received no order to withdraw troops, yet I have received mountains of winter clothing and the strong liquor produced by my own household, which has already been delivered to the Youbi tribe; within these few days, all our brothers will be warm."

"Winter warfare is disadvantageous for us," Li Jing stated plainly.

On the grasslands, snow falls three feet thick, turning everything white; directions are hard to find, supplies are hard to deliver, and with the sky cold and earth frozen, no matter how many layers one wears, the chill penetrates to the bone, not to mention the dangers of snow blindness and so forth.

By then, it will be difficult even to locate where the Turks are, let alone attack them; furthermore, Wang Yan here faces geographical constraints, as they must protect the captured Turkic population along with their cattle and sheep, preventing them from venturing deep into the grasslands to pursue and kill.

"I never said we would continue fighting," Wang Yan smiled. "Once snow falls in the north, we cease hostilities. Let everyone rest and recuperate properly; we shall resume battle when spring arrives next year. After all, as the Regional Commander of the Yanmen Expeditionary Army, having captured so many Turkic people, I must govern them well."

"Moreover, the Turks' vital strength is broken, their military morale is unstable, and their people are disunited; this winter will be even harder for them. It is possible that after one winter passes, the Turks will collapse without being attacked and turn to slaughtering each other. Dublan's head may even be voluntarily delivered to us, begging our Great Sui to cease hostilities."

Li Jing clearly shared this thought; he nodded with full agreement, then spoke somewhat embarrassedly, "I thought we would fight through the winter too, which would have been far too costly. The General's foresight is indeed superior, having made this decision long ago."

Wang Yan took another large gulp of milk tea, chewed on dried meat, and spoke while eating, "We have fought for so long; the brothers are all exhausted. With only a few months until the New Year, matters of compensation and rewards for merit must be settled soon. Even if the imperial court ordered further fighting, I, Wang Mou, would have to defy the order. Fortunately, the court ministers are not mere wine sacks and rice bags; they still show compassion for us brothers who risk our lives."

He waved his hand. "The order to withdraw troops has already been issued; in recent days, we shall retreat in stages. While there is still time, Yaoshi, take some men to sweep the surrounding area; relocate everyone. Do not leave them anything—not even a single strand of wool, let alone cattle or sheep."

"Orders received." Li Jing cupped his fists, then drained his bowl of hot milk tea, turned, mounted his horse, went below to assemble the troops, and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Wang Yan continued standing on the earthen mound, blowing in the cold wind, drinking hot tea, and chewing on dried horse meat...

From the start of the war until now, he had fought only one battle; the rest was merely deploying troops and arranging formations. Yet undoubtedly, the reason this side fought so smoothly was that the single battle he fought played a decisive role.

At this moment, his position was over five hundred li from Yanmen; the great army under his command was basically distributed within one or two hundred li around him, arranged in a fan-shaped offensive formation radiating outward to the west, north, and south, while to the east behind them were only some troops guarding the captured Turkic population and migrating cattle, sheep, and horses, essentially leaving that flank completely undefended.

The battle he fought earlier occurred when the Turks, acting cleverly, exhausted all their efforts to outflank him from the rear, only to be beaten by him into lowering their flags and drums.

Within this scope, there was no decent resisting force; only those wolf cubs who had not yet grown up, disobedient and causing trouble—this was genuine defiance.

After all, every batch of migrating Turks had to pass several pyramids of skulls; those who dared to cause trouble even after seeing the pyramids died quite miserably.

The achievements Wang Yan had now accomplished could truly be described as driving the Turks back eight hundred li; he believed that over in Daxing, as well as among the powerful aristocratic families throughout the realm, jaws had long since dropped in shock.

However, he felt no pride about this; after all, he, Wang Mou, was the Ball President, so subduing a mere tiny Turkic tribe was hardly worth praising.

Once the fighting here concluded, he straightforwardly contracted his forces: one part returned to Yanmen to rest and reorganize, while another part remained on the grasslands to guard the seized spoils and prevent the Turks from rashly seeking a winter decisive battle with him.

Leading by example, he did not return to Yanmen to enjoy comfort but stayed alongside his brothers to garrison on the grasslands. Of course, given his status, he would not suffer hardship wherever he went; it was simply that his significance in remaining here differed.

During winter, he led some sons of humble families in handling issues concerning the Turks and matters of ethnic integration; this was an undertaking even greater than warfare.

Since the Turkic men had all gone to war and those who could speak with authority in the tribes had all died, only women and children remained; thus, Wang Yan straightforwardly issued wives to the men who had been relocated.

This was a rapid method of integration: directly replacing the Turkic bloodline would thoroughly resolve the problem within three generations. It also solved the problem of Great Sui commoners being unable to find wives, while simultaneously addressing the shortage of labor on the grasslands—a solution perfect for both sides, achieving multiple goals with one move.

Furthermore, the compensation and rewards for merit mentioned by Wang Yan also began to be processed, ensuring that the brothers did not come in vain nor die in vain. This required the financial support of his Old Wang family; he primarily cared for the soldiers who had died or been disabled, along with their families. In this regard, ancient dynasties had always failed the soldiers who contributed the most.

Once again, he bought the loyalty of the army.

Thus time passed until after the New Year; the dark clouds of war seemed to envelop the grasslands once more, making the early spring, not yet begun, exceptionally biting.

Just then, news arrived that was not entirely satisfactory, though Wang Yan had already anticipated it to some extent.

Dublan was dead.

Killed by his own subordinates.

Dublan's head was delivered to Yang Su...

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? (End of Chapter)