Chapter 718: This Is Even Weaker Than the Southern Tang

Reality is often far more absurd than people imagine.

Lu Sanlang feared that Duosage could gather forty to fifty thousand riders in five days; Li Cunhui scoffed on the spot, saying that even given ten days, Duosage would struggle to gather fifty thousand riders.

But the reality was this: today was the eighth day since Yaoluoge Jingyi had vanished, and only now did Duosage receive word from the petty chieftain he had sent to oversee the several hundred households of herders under Duosage's command, saying that Yaoluoge Jingyi had not shown his face for a long time.

This petty chieftain, dispatched by Duosage to keep watch on Yaoluoge Jingyi, had no sooner arrived in the west than he saw that Yaoluoge Jingyi paid no attention to affairs at all, and immediately grew wildly excited, gathering up wandering herders all across the steppe and assigning the richest pastures to his own blood kin.

That Yaoluoge Jingyi ignored his duties suited him perfectly; why would he go looking for trouble?

Besides, he did not take Yaoluoge Jingyi's disappearance seriously at all — was it anything strange for a man or two to go missing on the steppe?

Gone off searching for pasture, gone tracking a herd of wild horses, wandered too far on a hunt, attacked by a fierce beast, drunk too much and fallen into a river — any of those could have happened.

And so, by the time this petty chieftain sent someone to carry word of Yaoluoge Jingyi's disappearance to Duosage, the messenger had likely traveled no more than a few dozen li when Huang Yingda and the others came knocking at his door.

At this point, the situation became even clearer. Huang Yingda grinned at once and said, pointing at the location of the Northern Zubu's Woluduo city on the map.

"Since the great dynasty declined and the Uyghur Khaganate collapsed, there has been no large-scale warfare on the steppe for two hundred years, has there?

No wonder the Sage set aside the Southern Tang and insisted on attacking them — the wariness of these Northern Zubu people is actually even weaker than that of the tribes to the west."

The Northern Zubu naturally had little wariness. In the territories of the western Basmyl, Naiman, and other tribes, the Karluks, the Oghuz, and Saktu of the Karakhanids constantly stirred up strife, all tangled together with complex religious conflicts.

But on the Northern Zubu's side, over the course of several hundred years, the only thing they had encountered was the rise of the Khitan.

Yet the Khitan, after all, were a semi-agrarian people who had risen from fishing and hunting, and their grip on the steppe was not tight. Historically, it was not until the time of Empress Dowager Chengtian, Xiao Yanyan, that great effort was expended to bring the steppe to order.

At present they were still in the "grazing sheep" stage — they collected a bit of tribute and then paid little attention to affairs.

Lu Sanlang said excitedly, "Since the Northern Zubu chieftain Duosage and the Merkit chief Hulubashi are both in Woluduo city, and there are thirty or forty thousand herders living around the city, one surprise attack by us would be a mouthful of pure fat!"

Huang Yingda hesitated a moment, then firmly shook his head, understanding in his heart why this man Lu Sanlang was so disliked in the army.

The army's commander-in-chief, Duke of Su, Li Cunhui, was following right behind with his own troops, no more than a day's march away at most.

It was obvious that with the vanguard and the main force kept so close together, and judging from the orders Li Cunhui had issued, this commander-in-chief, Li Sanlang, clearly wanted to secure for himself the achievement of recovering the Great Tang's Anbei Protectorate, so that he could leave a bold and brilliant mark on the stone stele at Mount Yanran.

The reason the vanguard had been sent racing ahead day and night was fear that the Northern Zubu would react in time. But now that they had learned the Northern Zubu were utterly unprepared, if they still insisted on attacking just before the commander-in-chief arrived — guess what Li Cunhui would think in his heart?

One must understand, this Duke of Su was not a man of generous spirit, and he, Huang Yingda, had no need to offend him.

Of course, most importantly, for their vanguard — which in reality numbered only two thousand riders — to launch a surprise attack still carried considerable risk.

"According to the intelligence, Duosage has in his hands a cavalry force of over two thousand that can be deployed at any time, which counts as the Northern Zubu's standing military strength.

And this time the Merkit Hulubashi, in order to demand the pastures of Wugu Mountain, brought a full three thousand Merkit cavalry.

If that is the case, then there is certainly something wrong with our intelligence.

Hulubashi's three thousand men are encamped north of the Northern Zubu's Woluduo city, and he is merely demanding pasture from Duosage, not even making an issue of having had the banner of resistance against the Six Dharma Sect seized from him.

That is more than enough to prove that Duosage must have something even more formidable than these three thousand Merkit cavalry at his side.

My guess is that Duosage has certainly carried out some degree of mobilization, and the cavalry he can deploy at any moment numbers at least four thousand, perhaps even five or six thousand riders."

Qu Qilang, Qu Yanqing, nodded and added, "Second Brother Huang's analysis makes sense. Seen this way, the whole of Woluduo has at least seven or eight thousand riders, and with Woluduo city being spacious and having many exits, defeating them while they are unprepared would not be hard for us — but they are locals, so catching them will not be easy."

Cao Bin's eyes lit up. They were all shrewd men; he of course knew that beyond this reason, everyone was somewhat wary of stealing credit from Li Cunhui. At once he pointed to the area north of Woluduo city and said.

"Does Sir Huang mean that we should not attack Woluduo city, but instead launch a surprise attack on the Dalimi tribe to the northwest, sealing off the road by which the Northern Zubu and the Merkit's three thousand riders would retreat toward the North Sea, and let the Duke of Su's main force strike Woluduo city?"

Huang Yingda laughed heartily. "Truly a young hero upon whom the Sage has looked with favor — that is exactly what I have in mind.

When we departed, the Sage gave repeated instructions: this expedition beyond the frontier is not merely about carving stone at Yanran; the main goal is to seize Duosage and Hulubashi, these two sources of instability.

What Cao Dalang has said matches my intent exactly. Send a messenger at once to inform the Duke of Su of our decision.

Then conscript all three hundred households of herders here, the men to carry supplies for our army, and leave thirty riders to guard the women and children until the Duke of Su's main force arrives."

The assembled officers all roared their assent. Only Lu Sanlang's face showed displeasure; he very much wanted to say something, but was held back by a tug on his sleeve from Pei Tongyuan, who was likewise of the East-Returning faction, and in the end he did not speak.

In Woluduo city, Duosage was frowning — but not because of the news of Yaoluoge Jingyi's disappearance, for he had not taken that matter much to heart either.

To say he had not taken it to heart was not quite right; Duosage did give it a moment's thought, but quickly dismissed his misgivings.

He simply could not imagine that Yaoluoge Jingyi, an enemy of the Son of Heaven of the Central Plains, would be frightened by him into fleeing south.

He even believed that his promise to grant Yaoluoge Jingyi a chiliarch's title, such a mark of regard, would send this son-in-law into raptures of delight.

So what was actually making Duosage feel restless right now was precisely the matter of the Merkit chief Hulubashi demanding the Wugu Mountain pastures from him.

Duosage knew that although the weather was no longer as bitterly cold as in previous years, the Merkit people living near the North Sea and Lake Buir still had a hard existence.

They desperately hoped to obtain a stretch of pasture near Mount Langjuxu, where the high mountains could block the extreme northern winds.

But Duosage could not give it to them, because the Merkit people, even in the eyes of the Northern Zubu — who themselves were of Tatar Nine-Surname stock — were considered quite savage and backward; they even had a tradition of eating their enemies.

If the Northern Zubu seemed savage and ignorant in the eyes of the Central Plains people, then the Merkit were the savage and ignorant ones in the eyes of the Zubu.

If they were allowed to obtain a stretch of pasture around Wugu Mountain, then given Hulubashi's abilities, they would very quickly gain a firm foothold in this region.

And then, when the Merkit next moved south, they would have a place to set foot, which would pose a grave threat to the three Northern Zubu tribes.

Even the fragile balance on this territory, achieved among the Merkit, the Northern Zubu, and the eight Dilie tribes, would very quickly be shattered.

But if he refused Hulubashi's demand, Duosage worried greatly that the man would harden his heart and go over to the Khitan's wrist-severing Empress Dowager, who was then on the territory of the eight Dilie tribes — and at that point the Zubu would face an even more dangerous situation.

Truly, wolves ahead and tigers behind! Duosage could not count how many times he had wrestled with the decision, yet he simply could not make a final choice.

Under the influence of this mood, the news of Yaoluoge Jingyi's disappearance was essentially ignored.

But what Duosage could never have imagined was that at this very moment, less than ten li away from him.

An army of three thousand riders — every one mounted on Hexi dragon horses and heavenly horses, equipped with well-cared-for horseshoes, every man clad in a suit of ring-mail armor, bearing horn-crossbows — an army that had already scouted his situation with complete clarity, had arrived!

Li Cunhui stood gazing down from Mount Yanran. Beneath his feet, a nameless river surged down from Mount Yanran, and when it reached the distant steppe its current slowed, the river gently tracing out a curved bend.

And Woluduo city — the Dragon City of the ancient Xiongnu — stood right at this river bend.

This was a place of excellent feng shui on the Mobei steppe. Mount Yanran blocked a great deal of the cold wind from the north, and the snowmelt from its peak formed a great river that brought abundant water to Woluduo city.

And where Woluduo city lay beneath Mount Yanran, the terrain was exceptionally flat, so that the herders could channel water everywhere with only a little effort — extraordinarily convenient.

Although at this time this stretch of pasture had already prematurely taken on an earthy yellow color from overgrazing, one could tell from the terrain and the watercourses how lush and green it must once have been.

Li Cunhui bared his teeth in a grin, gazing at the distant Woluduo city as if looking at a great slab of fat meat, his mouth nearly watering.

Strike straight at Dragon City, carve stone at Yanran — what magnificent phrases!

The sharp-eyed Wang Shenqi, standing behind Li Cunhui, whispered a reminder: "Third Brother, this is a great gift from Huang Yingda, Qu Yanqing, and the others!"

Back when Murong Xinzhang had brought Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi back to Liangzhou as his junior followers, the two of them had, to a certain extent, been accepted by the old Guiyi Army men.

So Zhao Kuangyin and Wang Shenqi had always called Zhang Liecheng their eldest brother, Murong Xinzhang their second brother, and Li Cunhui their third brother.

Li Cunhui rubbed his chin, his old habit surfacing again. "That Huang Yingda — his judgment is a bit poor, but as a man he's all right.

Today I've accepted his favor, and in the future I will certainly repay it."

These words made Wang Shenqi roll his eyes despite himself. When Li Cunhui said Huang Yingda's judgment was poor, he meant that back in the mountain stronghold, Huang Yingda had chosen not to follow the Sage west but instead returned to Ganzhou, and so had foolishly thrown away the chance to become one of the founding followers.

It was just that Huang Yingda himself already regretted it so bitterly his guts had turned green, and if anyone brought the matter up in front of him, he was sure to turn hostile.

If Li Cunhui's remark reached Huang Yingda's ears, it would infuriate the man half to death and create enmity for nothing.

Li Cunhui had not turned around, so he did not see Wang Shenqi's eye-roll. Pointing at the distant city of Woluoduo, where herders were beginning to stir, he said:

"Wang Erlang, take your men and deploy to the north. I am certain these wretches will flee north. Remember this: whether old or young, women or children, as long as it is alive — even if it is a single horse or a single dog — do not let it go north."

Having said that, Li Cunhui looked at Zhang Zhaojie and said: "Marquis of Yongchang, please lead the seven hundred elite cavalry of the Front Battalion's Beiji Iron Cavalry Camp ahead, and take a roundabout route to raid the Merkit encampment north of Woluoduo City. There is no need to kill many; the first priority, likewise, is that they must not be allowed to return north."

Toward an old-timer like Zhang Zhaojie (Qiongre Duojin), Li Cunhui was still very respectful.

Although these men held neither high titles nor high offices, everyone understood that they were Sage Zhang's true confidants — the old brothers who had once fought side by side with him.

Zhang Zhaojie said no more. After receiving the order, he immediately mounted his horse and led the seven hundred elite cavalry of the Hanshan Capital's Front Battalion lancers, taking a roundabout route north.

Only then did Li Cunhui look at Zhao Jingangnu, Li Zun, Fan Changgong, and the others behind him, and say: "Whether this battle's objective can be achieved depends entirely on whether we can capture or kill Duosage. All of you follow me and charge straight for Woluoduo City.

I will assign each of you one Western Zubu man who knows Duosage by sight. The moment you spot the target, dead or alive, it is the first merit of the battle!"

The officers assented with fervor, murderous intent surging in their hearts.

At dawn, the sky had already turned pale, and herders who rose early were beginning to come out of Woluoduo City.

It was already the ninth month. Although the herders had stockpiled large quantities of fodder for the winter, the weather had not yet turned cold enough for heavy snow to cover the ground, so it was still best to let the livestock out more, to graze on the green grass of the pastures.

Although Woluoduo was a city, it was, after all, on the steppe, and there was not enough farmland around it to feed the thirty thousand or so people inside.

Therefore many herders still had to go out to pasture, usually for five or six days or even longer before returning, and they were also the earliest to leave Woluoduo City.

And so, with only a sliver of light in the sky, all across Woluoduo City, herders appeared everywhere like ants, hurrying to leave the city.

An old herder, grinning, was tidying up his tent. He carefully tucked a leather pouch filled with some fine wine close against his body, and cut off several strips of air-dried meat.

Of course, the greater part was various air-dried mushrooms and beans. Add a little milk to these, along with a few dry wild-vegetable cakes, and that would be his food for the next several days.

After packing all this, the old herder simply could not find his big black dog, and this made him frantic with worry.

This big black dog was the leader of his family's pack of dogs. In ordinary times, it not only helped guard against wild beasts but also helped keep the cattle and sheep in order. It was his best helper in herding, and he could not do without it.

"Father, come look! Big Black has squeezed under the cart and just won't come out!" A girl's voice rang out — it was the old herder's youngest daughter calling to him.

"Hey! You glutton, what's wrong with you today? Is there a man-eating yaksha outside?" The old herder had also spotted the big black dog hiding beneath the cart.

To be precise, the big black dog was not unwilling to come out; rather, it looked utterly terrified, shivering beneath the cart.

This reminded the old herder of long ago, when they had encountered a pack of hungry wolves while herding. Back then, the big black dog had looked exactly like this.

But this was Woluoduo City! How could any pack of wild wolves dare run wild here?

The old herder grinned. If there were, that would be fine — wolf meat might be a bit tough, but it was still meat, wasn't it?

Boom! Crack!

A long, drawn-out explosion rang out like thunder. Though it was not very loud, the herders were all startled and could not help looking up at the sky.

They had never heard such a sound on the steppe, and so they did not know what it meant.

But Li Cunhui and the two thousand iron cavalrymen of the Great Zhou knew what it was: it was the signal from Zhang Zhaojie's (Qiongre Duojin's) Front Battalion, as they began their surprise attack on the Merkit encampment.

The standard-bearer raised the great banner that symbolized the commander-in-chief. Li Cunhui's calm face suddenly erupted with a ferocious expression, and he roared:

"Attack!"

In an instant, the iron cavalry churned up dust and, like fierce beasts descending from Mount Yanran, galloped madly toward Woluoduo City, a li away.

A li and more of road — and the charging cavalry were all essentially light-armored riders mounted on fine horses, so they reached the vicinity of Woluoduo City with extreme speed.

The moment the old herder heard the sound of ten thousand galloping horses, his mind flashed back to more than thirty years before, to the moment when the Khitan, led by their Emperor, had made a surprise attack on Woluoduo City.

He let out a miserable wail and dashed to the cart, huddling together with the big black dog. Man and dog began to tremble together.

His daughter, however, was quite calm. Even on the steppe, a young woman was an important asset to a tribe, and no one would harm them without reason.

So this steppe girl wisely fled to the roadside, then clasped her hands over her head and crouched on the ground, raising her full, shapely hips — brimming with feminine allure — into the air.

In this way, the charging enemies would recognize her value and would not kill her casually.

But the other herders had no such experience. The Northern Zubu had not been attacked like this in thirty years.

These young people had also grown up in an atmosphere where the Northern Zubu tribe was constantly growing stronger. After a moment of shock, instead of fleeing, they actually wanted to resist.

But the gap in training and equipment made their resistance doomed to be futile.

A young herder on a large cart had just shot one of the charging enemies with his short bow.

But before he could rejoice, he saw the arrow simply bounce off the enemy's body. Far from wounding anyone, it probably did not even leave a mark.

Fan Changgong, irritated, looked at the herder on the distant cart and raised his hand to shoot.

The herder had just started to run; the moment he stood up, the arrow arrived.

Although Fan Changgong was using a cavalry bow, with the added momentum of his horse's charge, its killing power was still astonishing — it even pierced straight through the herder.

Fan Changgong and his men were serving as breakthrough cavalry, that is, their task was to break through the enemy formation. So after simply shooting down a few who blocked their path, they charged toward Duosage's great tent.

And behind them, Li Wanshan and the others had come specifically to create chaos. Once inside the city, Li Wanshan and his three hundred riders carried jars of fire oil in one hand and pear-blossom lances in the other.

What was in these fire oil jars was made from tung oil mixed with fine coal powder from the Hexi region and various other materials. It ignited at the slightest spark, and once lit, it clung with exceptional tenacity.

Whenever Li Wanshan and his men saw a tent, they hurled a jar at it, then sprayed it with their pear-blossom lances.

These herders' tents were all made of cloth, and the furnishings inside were mostly furs and a small amount of wooden furniture. Around the tents there was also a great deal of dry grass stored for the winter — they were simply the best kindling imaginable. Once they caught fire, there was no way to put them out.

Before long, the whole of Woluoduo City was ablaze with roaring flames. Amid the billowing smoke, countless herders wailed and ran in every direction, making the already chaotic and congested city even more chaotic.

Some tried to resist, but were quickly shot down without mercy. The piercing wails made it seem as though one were in hell itself.

Of course, there were also those who reacted quickly. At the very moment the great fire first ignited, large numbers of figures began converging on Duosage's great tent in the city.

The Northern Zubu — more precisely, the Kereit tribe — was in a flourishing period of ceaseless growth, and still had some substance to it. It was not something a marginal tribe like Yedugu could compare to.

North of Woluoduo City, the "scenery" was quite different. The three thousand riders Hulubashi had brought were all elite troops of the Merkit, and being on Northern Zubu territory, they still maintained a relative vigilance.

Only this vigilance was directed at the strength of the Northern Zubu.

But at this moment, what came surging at them were not the Northern Zubu cavalry, who could only be called armed herdsmen, but the most elite cavalry of Zhang Zhou.

The Hanshan Du Beifu Iron Cavalry Battalion — ranked alongside the Left Yulin Guard's Wind-Fire Raider Battalion and the Right Yulin Guard's Hawk Strike Du as one of Zhang Zhou's three great cavalry trump cards.

A master reveals himself the moment he strikes. Although the Merkit, who had always kept hidden sentries, received word the moment Zhang Zhaojie launched his surprise attack, by the time they had just finished assembling, the Beifu Iron Cavalry Battalion had already charged straight in.

Seven hundred riders split into five waves, crashing down in succession amid a mountain-roaring, sea-surging onslaught upon the panicked Merkit cavalry, instantly inflicting heavy casualties.

But Hulubashi was no pushover either. Under his command, the Merkit's strongbow archers decisively dismounted, using the camp tents as cover to slow the Beifu Iron Cavalry Battalion's charge.

Hulubashi then raised his chieftain's great banner, calling for those in the distance to rally to him.

Zhang Zhaojie gave a cold laugh and decisively had two hundred men dismount, don heavy armor, and take up strongbows and long sabers to clear out the enemy, while he himself led the remaining cavalry straight at where Hulubashi's great banner stood.

Hulubashi had wanted to have men delay them so he could organize a counterattack, but with this division of forces, the elite strongbow archers were one by one found and killed in large numbers by the opposing ironclad soldiers, and the opposing cavalry came charging over as well.

Hulubashi suddenly thought of a possibility. He understood who had come — it must be the great army of the Zhou state from the Central Plains!

Instantly his will to resist vanished completely. He hurriedly took several hundred trusted cavalry and wheeled his horse to flee, abandoning his elite troops as toll money for the road.

Zhang Zhaojie had eyes only for the great banner, and did not know whether Hulubashi was among the several hundred riders fleeing. Besides, his task was not to capture Hulubashi.

Therefore, after devouring the Merkit cavalry that had fallen into complete chaos, he and Wang Shenqi's unit together took up positions — one squatting at the northwest corner, one at the northeast corner.

Whoever came out of Woluoduo City and dared to flee in this direction — neither man nor beast would pass, neither chicken nor dog would be left alive.

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