Chapter 450: Truly Baffling

How to put it — Yili Bijia's military ability was actually still passable.

From Gaochang to Turpan was more than eight hundred li in all; to the north lay the Bogda Mountains, to the south the Great Ghost Demon Desert. The whole way was harsh country with few resupply points.

He truly did not need to clash head-on with Zhang Zhao; he only needed to make those eight hundred li of road unsafe.

And this tactic of cutting the enemy's supply line and harassing them constantly was exactly what light cavalry raiders were best at.

After suffering a heavy loss at Chiting Garrison, Yili Bijia kept only six thousand elite riders with him and sent all the rest out.

Along the way they destroyed wells, burned grain they could not carry off, moved the common people away, and even scared off quite a few of the yellow sheep herds that moved about nearby.

All of this was to wait for the Liang state's follow-up forces to come and take a very heavy loss.

By the time Yili Bijia had finished his arrangements, the Liang state's follow-up forces still had not appeared, which left Yili Bijia extremely satisfied and much more at ease — though of course he could not help regarding Zhang Zhao as a fool.

Hah! I've stripped the land bare; the thirst alone will kill you on the road. You think you can destroy my great Gaochang state? I'll make sure your tens of thousands never return to Hexi.

Although at Chiting Garrison, infantry kept coming out of the city to provoke him, and cavalry came out to raid by night, costing Yili Bijia men and leaving him somewhat humiliated.

But...

Yili Bijia stroked his beard. No great harm. Once he captured that Zhang Zhao, he would be sure to ask him: who is the true Heavenly King?

Inside Chiting Garrison, Feng Hui truly felt very bored and very constrained; in a fight he was tied hand and foot.

Because Zhang Zhao had given him only the one thousand cavalry under Guo Guangcheng, plus the five hundred Yizhou cavalry that Chen Huiyao had brought from Yizhou.

If he fought too hard, and Yili Bijia turned and fled, he had too few cavalry to pursue. Once Yili Bijia shrank back into Gaochang city, he feared his great merit would turn into a great fault, would it not?

Because attacking Gaochang's strong walls — a war of state destruction — would take months as the unit of time, and was absolutely not as convenient as wiping them all out in one battle in the open field.

So Feng Hui had been holding back, refusing to hit the Gaochang army too hard, while at the same time putting on an anxious look, so the Gaochang people would think he was afraid of having his supply line cut.

Exhausting!

These days Feng Hui was counting on his fingers, marking the days one by one.

Originally Zhang Zhao had told him to hold out at least until early twelfth month, but Feng Hui figured he could hold until the day the grain ran out.

Every day he hoped and hoped that Zhang Zhao would come quickly. The Gaochang Uyghurs had arrayed tens of thousands of cavalry out in this open wilderness — what a fine opportunity!

"Heavenly King, the envoy of Bughra Khan has arrived." In Yili Bijia's camp, just at daybreak, a close attendant came to report that Satuq's envoy had come.

Yili Bijia's expression was very sour. From the time he had sent out his own envoy until now had been only eight days.

For tens of thousands of men to make a round trip from Tingzhou to Gaochang in eight days — they must have ridden without stopping! Couldn't wait, could they?

At the thought of letting so many poor and fierce Karluks into his own territory, Yili Bijia's mood turned even worse.

"Heavenly King, Bughra Khan suggests that we first take the enemy at Chiting.

Now that the Great Khan and the Heavenly King have joined forces, with a full seventy thousand iron cavalry, to swallow these twenty thousand Liang troops with the force of a thunderbolt, and then defeat the Liang central army — would that not be effortless!"

Yili Bijia sneered inwardly. He remembered the fierce infantry outside Chiting Garrison that day. Had this Satuq not already suffered at the hands of that wretch Zhang? And still so arrogant?

But it was not bad either — let the Karluks' strength be worn down first.

So Yili Bijia pretended to think for a moment, then furrowed his brow.

"It is a pity that my Gaochang warriors are still blockading the Great Ghost Demon Desert; it will take some days to draw them back."

The envoy lifted his head confidently. "The Karluk warriors under Bughra Khan can each match a hundred men.

If the Heavenly King concentrates twenty thousand riders south of Chiting city to support the battle, the rest can be left to my Karluk lads to destroy the wretch for the Heavenly King.

But the weapons and armor of the Liang troops in the city must all be given to us."

Yili Bijia gave a cold snort. So they had their eyes on the Liang army's armor in the city.

On Karluk territory iron goods were extremely precious, to say nothing of iron armor. If they got their hands on this iron armor, their strength would surely surge. No wonder they were so eager.

"That is only right. Whoever takes Chiting city, the armor and weapons of Zhang the wretch's army naturally go to him!"

Yili Bijia spoke decisively, but inwardly his thoughts were twisting and turning.

He was considering whether, after the Karluks and the Liang army had fought each other to exhaustion, he should kill Satuq with his iron cavalry and annex the riders under his command.

Having received Yili Bijia's definite answer that he would at least muster twenty thousand cavalry to join the attack, along with the promise of armor and equipment, the envoy departed overjoyed.

Yili Bijia, his face dark, secretly summoned a man who had ridden in at full gallop.

This was a trusted man at Pugu Cheng's side, and Yili Bijia knew him, because this trusted man also belonged to a distant branch of the Pugu family.

"You saw Bughra Khan Satuq himself with your own eyes, yes? How is the Karluks' fighting strength?"

The trusted man knelt prostrate on the ground, slightly nervous.

But at the thought that the Heavenly King Zhang was willing to raise the reward from a pasture in Jiaohe Prefecture to the post of city lord of Jiaohe, a Darqan, his nervousness vanished in an instant.

Wealth and rank for generations to come were right before his eyes, as long as he could trick Yili Bijia into concentrating his forces.

"I saw him. It was this servant who went to Tingzhou to notify Bughra Khan to enter the pass. He is indeed with the army.

The Karluks' thirty thousand riders are brave and fierce, but their equipment is too poor; their fighting strength is not equal to our Left and Right Divine Martial Army."

Having said this, the envoy hesitated a moment before continuing: "Darqan Diluo bade this servant report to the Heavenly King that although the Karluks' thirty thousand riders are not equal to our great Gaochang's Divine Martial Army, they are far fiercer than ordinary tribal troops.

If the Heavenly King means to use them, then at the meeting it would be best to assemble all the warriors and thoroughly overawe them."

Yili Bijia smiled faintly. This cousin of his had always liked to show himself as quite capable; even at a time like this he could not forget it.

"Go back and tell Darqan Diluo to be careful in all things. If there is any change, report it with the agreed signal flags."

The next day, Yili Bijia personally led twenty thousand elite troops and arrived early near Zetian Temple, the agreed meeting place with Satuq.

Although inwardly he looked down on Darqan Diluo Pugu Cheng, he still felt that what Pugu Cheng had said this time made sense.

So he hastily recalled the elite riders of the Left and Right Divine Martial Army that he had sent out, along with the bravest men of some tribal cavalry.

He intended to let Satuq see the might of Gaochang's crack riders, lest he develop any ideas he should not have.

Two Khagans and tens of thousands of troops would of course not meet rashly.

Before drawing near, the two sides' messengers continuously reported their own positions to each other along the way, to avoid any misunderstanding.

However, since it was a meeting, Yili Bijia did not send his scouts out as far as he would in wartime, nor was he so strict about it.

After learning that Satuq was still fifty li away, Yili Pijia ordered the entire army to eat.

For this he hardened his heart and slaughtered several thousand sheep — only when men eat their fill and eat well can they look full of vigor.

At the same time, he had the army supervisor and other logistics officials begin preparing the armor.

Once Satuq came within fifteen li, they would begin donning armor.

The soldiers were eating, and Yili Pijia was no exception. He first drained a large bowl of grape wine, then picked up a big chunk of roast lamb ribs and began feasting with relish.

Before long, a large rib was down in his belly, and Yili Pijia reached again for the wine bowl.

But just as he was about to lift it, he hesitated. He would soon be meeting with Satuq — if he drank too much and lost his composure, that would be unfortunate.

Yet at that very moment, the wine in the bowl suddenly rippled with a faint tremor, almost invisible to the naked eye.

Just as Yili Pijia was wondering at it, panicked shouts suddenly came from outside, and the next instant a close attendant burst in, flustered like a hungry dog pouncing on food.

"Heavenly King, cavalry! A great host of cavalry is closing in from three sides — they do not look friendly!"

This was baffling. Weren't the Karluks still fifty li away?

Yili Pijia froze for a brief moment, then his face darkened as he hurried out of the tent to see for himself.

It was exactly as the close attendant had said. From the hill where Zetian Temple stood, dust rose in clouds to the northwest, northeast, and due east — cavalry was indeed approaching at speed.

"Too far to make out their banners yet. Their numbers don't seem large — roughly equal to our own, around twenty thousand riders." The Left Divine Martial General beside him quickly assessed the enemy strength.

"Heavenly King, Bughra Khan's envoys have vanished. They took advantage of our morning meal, using the excuse of roasting their own sheep, and have already fled without a trace."

Yili Pijia glared viciously at the approaching cavalry and could not suppress a roar. "Has this Satuq lost his mind? How dare he?

Pass on my order: every unit is to send out skirmishers to delay the enemy's charge. The rest, get armored at once. I want to see for myself what gives these beggarly Karluks the nerve to act so recklessly."

Even at this moment, Yili Pijia still took the rapidly closing Zhang Zhao army for Satuq's Karluks. He thought Satuq had gone mad, a snake trying to swallow an elephant.

After all, seen from a distance, the riders all wore black robes — which happened to confirm the Karluk custom of honoring black.

Yili Pijia's Gaochang Uyghur cavalry had pitched several thousand tents around Zetian Temple — seen from afar, it was quite a grand sight.

But unfortunately, such grandeur offered the Gaochang men no real protection; rather, it was liable to become kindling for a fire.

At this time, fighting strength diminished steadily from east to west.

The Liao and Jin states were roughly equal. The Liang state was weak only in that its material output was not abundant enough to sustain a great army through years of grinding war; the fighting quality of its troops was actually not poor.

But past the Hexi Corridor, fighting strength dropped a full grade. A force like the Gaochang Uyghurs, if placed in the Central Plains, probably could not even defeat Wang Min.

The Gaochang skirmishers poured out in chaos, like termites from a destroyed nest, scattering in every direction.

Their speed in meeting the enemy could not be called slow, but they lacked unified command, and beyond flimsy horse bows, broken iron sabers, and wooden spears, they had no other equipment.

The first to break into the Gaochang skirmishers were the Right Feathered Forest Guard of the Hanshan Capital and part of the Hanhai Garrison and Yucheng Garrison cavalry.

They too were horse archers, but their bows and arrows, and their simple protective light composite leather armor, were beyond anything the Gaochang skirmishers could match.

In the first exchange of arrow volleys, the Gaochang Uyghur cavalry, caught off guard, suffered a severe loss.

Their ranks were even shattered outright, and they fell into separated pockets of encirclement, to be wiped out one by one.

Lu Sanlang led his three hundred elite riders at the very front. The moment he saw the Gaochang Uyghur cavalry thrown into confusion, he immediately adjusted his tactics.

He dispersed all his riders, ordering them to single out and shoot down the Gaochang men carrying banners, while he himself led a few dozen men to set fires along the way.

On the battlefield, banners are the key to telling friend from foe, the indicator of where to strike, and the symbol that rallies morale.

Once the banners were gone, the Gaochang cavalry — who had charged out like a swarm in the first place — completely lost their bearings.

With the camp tents beginning to blaze, they fell into even greater chaos.

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