Chapter 723: War Spirit Runs High Outside Kedun City

From the distance came the thud-thud of war drums, mingled now and then with faint shouts of battle and the sound of hoofbeats.

Zhang Zhao rode in the very center of the great army, swelling with pride beneath banners that blotted out the sky.

"The Dilie Eight Tribes have some courage, I'll grant them that — but do they take my invincible lads for those fake-Jin cavalry short of warhorses? They actually think light cavalry can delay my army's advance!"

A burst of laughter followed. On the second day of the tenth month, Zhang Zhao's forces reached a point less than sixty li from Kedun City, and the light cavalry of the Dilie Eight Tribes immediately began their harassment.

In units of several hundred or even two to three thousand riders, they repeatedly tried to intimidate, outflank, and even slip past the Zhou army's vanguard and main force to strike at the grain and baggage train in the rear.

But the Dilie Eight Tribes soon dashed themselves bloody against reality.

Never mind that Zhang Zhao himself had fifteen thousand tribal auxiliary cavalry from the various steppe tribes — even his twenty thousand-odd Hexi and Longyou conscript cavalry were by no means easy prey.

If these conscripted Hexi and Longyou lads had to fight in formation, one could only say their training experience was very rich, though their combat experience was still a bit lacking.

But when it came to running battles of a hundred-odd men up to a thousand or so, they had it completely in hand! They had often played at this sort of thing back in the Hexi and Longyou region.

So once the fighting started, the Dilie Eight Tribes' cavalry gained not the slightest advantage.

Although both sides were lads raised on horseback, Zhang Zhao's Hexi and Longyou lads were for the most part semi-regular troops who could train part-time with targeted instruction — something the herdsmen of the steppe could never manage.

In terms of equipment, the Dilie Eight Tribes' herdsmen mostly sharpened animal bone for arrowheads; having a suit of leather armor was considered good enough, and their bows were for the most part crudely made.

But the Hexi and Longyou lads' arrowheads were all forged of fine steel, and their arrow shafts were ones they had painstakingly crafted themselves, spending great amounts of time in daily life.

A suit of ring-mail was the basic standard issue; the rest — hard bows, iron helmets, cavalry lances, and the like — were also of the finest quality.

The warhorses of most of the Dilie Eight Tribes' herdsmen excelled at enduring hardship, but could hardly be called spirited or fine.

The Hexi and Longyou lads' warhorses were almost all quite magnificent Hexi and Longyou great horses.

Even if they were not heavenly horses or dragon horses, they were still outstanding — the kind that could make a man on the steppe unable to tear his eyes away.

So the moment the two sides clashed, the Dilie Eight Tribes' light cavalry suffered badly. Even though their horsemanship and archery were no worse than the Hexi and Longyou lads', the gap in equipment between the two sides was simply too great.

Often four or five Dilie Eight Tribes riders would surround a single Hexi and Longyou lad and shoot volley after volley, yet after all that shooting, the Hexi and Longyou lad could still ride and return fire.

But in reverse — a few, no! Not even a few: a single Hexi and Longyou lad chasing down one Dilie Eight Tribes rider needed only to land one arrow to at least put him out of the fight.

Thud-thud — two drumbeats sounded. Someone was coming toward Zhang Zhao. Chen Huo'er, the Deputy Commander of the Golden Spear Battalion, personally held a great shield and guarded Zhang Zhao's side, but Zhang Zhao gently pushed him away.

A cloud of dust rose as a valiant officer rode up, holding a burly man with a bloodied head by one hand, parading him boastfully in a circle around Zhang Zhao. Then with a thud, he flung the burly man onto the ground before Zhang Zhao.

"Sage! Zhang Sheng, Archery Captain of the Zhaoyi Patrol Office in Didao County, Lanzhou Prefecture, has captured a meilu of the Dilie tribe!"

Meilu was a Uyghur word. Its original meaning was the elite bodyguard of the Uyghur kings or the Idiqut; later it came to refer to low-ranking officers of courage on the steppe, roughly equivalent to a commander of about fifty men.

"Haha, excellent!" Zhang Zhao clapped his hands and laughed. "Captain Zhang has captured an enemy officer. Award him five bolts of brocade and promote him one rank in the military order!"

Zhang Sheng was overjoyed. He performed a bow from horseback, then with a whoop turned and rejoined the battle.

Before long, another cloud of dust rose, this time accompanied by a great deal of cheering, so Zhang Zhao reined in his horse and halted to wait.

There appeared a valiant general wearing an iron helmet, his gear somewhat different from the Hexi and Longyou lads, galloping in from the distance.

This valiant general did not casually fling his captive over the way Zhang Sheng had just done, but instead shouted from forty or fifty paces away.

"Your subject, Chai Kehong, Deputy Commander of the Dragon Martial Army of the Southern Tang, a vassal of the Great Dynasty, has captured a young prince of the Northern Mountain Shiwei tribe, and comes before the imperial presence to boast of his deed!"

Chai Kehong! Zhang Zhao's spirits lifted. Last time, during the Huainan campaign, hadn't this fellow been playing the loyal minister and righteous man, swearing he would die rather than surrender? He had even cursed Zhang Zhao as a Hexi bandit, nearly making me, Sage Zhang, choke with rage. What was he doing here now?

But with Zhang Zhao's magnanimity, he certainly would not hold a grudge against Chai Kehong. Laughing heartily, he spurred his horse forward.

"When did young Chai arrive? You have come far too late!"

That one simple sentence nearly brought tears to Chai Kehong's eyes. He rode a few steps forward, threw that so-called Shiwei young prince to the ground, then slid straight off his horse to the ground himself, knelt on one knee, and cried out.

"Your subject Chai Kehong was narrow-minded and shallow of vision. In the past I failed to recognize a wise lord; only now do I understand the breadth of the Sage's heart and the supreme abundance of his benevolence.

If Your Majesty can forgive this subject's great crime of having opposed the imperial court in the past, I am willing to atone through meritorious service and devote my loyalty to the Sacred Zhou!"

Zhang Zhao also dismounted and personally helped Chai Kehong to his feet. "You are indeed a fine son of our people. If there were a few more young men like Chai, the separatist lands of Jiangnan could return to the nation a day sooner, and the common people would be spared the suffering of war!"

Chai Kehong immediately prostrated himself and wept bitterly, swearing oaths and shouting that he would surely serve Sage Zhang with his very life, and so on.

The sixty-li road — the Zhou army advanced like an unshakable giant. No matter how the Dilie Eight Tribes and the Shiwei and Tieli cavalry harassed them, they still moved forward slowly according to their own plan, pressing on toward Kedun City.

The closer they drew to Kedun City, the fiercer the fighting became. Zhang Zhao even released Zhang Cheng and the others to join the battle.

Across a battlefield more than ten li wide, the war drums never stopped sounding. The Hexi and Longyou conscript lads, who had not gotten much fighting, finally had their fill of slaughter.

From dogfights of a few dozen men, to charges of several hundred against each other, to thousands executing breakthrough, flanking, encirclement, and cutting tactics, as well as mutual harassment of each other's supply and baggage operations.

The Zhou army took two days to cover those sixty li, and in those two days, the Hexi and Longyou conscript lads were growing at a rapid pace.

Objectively speaking, the Dilie Eight Tribes' cavalry was a worthy opponent. If the Zhou cavalry's equipment advantage had not been so overwhelming, Zhang Zhao's eastern expedition this time would truly have been somewhat reckless.

Because even with such a gap in equipment, the Dilie Eight Tribes still achieved a kill ratio of roughly twelve to one against the Zhou army's elite cavalry.

Twelve men to trade for one Zhou soldier might seem appalling, but in reality, with such inferior equipment, they were facing the finest cavalry in all of Zhang Zhou — bar none.

Even the cavalry under Murong Xinzhang — after Qu Yanqing returned with the Wind-Fire Raider Camp, the portion of the Left Yulin Guard cavalry that Murong Xinzhang took with him — could not compare to these ten thousand riders around Zhang Zhao.

To fight such a powerful enemy to a twelve-to-one ratio without collapsing — that is truly a strong army. Thinking back to the Opium War period, if even half the Qing army had possessed this fighting strength and will to fight, how could the British army have fought its way from south to north?

The Barbarian Bear Zhang Zhaozhong stood beside Zhang Zhao and said in a gruff voice, "Sage, the cavalry quality of these Dilie Eight Tribes should be above the Karakhanid iron cavalry that broke Luzhou back then!

Apart from the Khitan Pishi Army's Iron Sparrowhawks, Iron Forest, and the like, they are the finest light cavalry there is."

Zhang Zhao nodded in agreement. It seemed the Mongols' rise in history had a certain foundation after all.

Compared to the steppe tribes here around Mount Langjuxu, the cavalry of the Gold Mountains (Altai), Suyab, Transoxiana, and Persia were each more worthless than the last.

"So the sacrifice of our lads is worth it. Though their casualties are not small, after defeating such an opponent, there will be no enemy left under heaven that cannot be conquered."

Zhang Zhao spoke through gritted teeth. In these two days, his Hexi and Longyou conscript lads had lost over a hundred men.

Of course, the Dilie Eight Tribes' cavalry had lost one to two thousand riders — losses so heavy that today, as they approached Kedun City, the Dilie Eight Tribes' cavalry no longer dared to come forward and challenge them.

Kedun City was built against a mountain. It was first constructed by the Uyghurs, and after the Khitan took it over, they developed it into a fortress city.

It was both the ordo of the Dilie Eight Tribes and a key border defense town of the Khitan on the steppe.

The city's walls were built of rammed earth, backed against a hill and facing the Luju River (the Kherlen River), making the fullest possible use of the natural defenses of mountains and rivers available to it.

At this moment, Kedun City was decked with colorful banners. Bo Liyi and the others had mustered all their strength to assemble roughly thirty thousand cavalry.

Besides them, Shulu Ping also had two thousand Khitan armored troops — of which fifteen hundred were armored cavalry and five hundred were armored infantry.

At the same time, the Bali and other tribes of Shulu Ping's maternal clan also sent out four thousand infantry and cavalry, and in addition there were three or four thousand infantry and cavalry from the Shiwei, Tieli, and Wugu tribes.

These forces totaled roughly forty thousand men, which could be counted as the last remaining resistance force on this land.

On Zhang Zhao's side, there were ten thousand main-force infantry and cavalry, twenty thousand conscripted braves from Hexi and Longyou, and fifteen thousand light cavalry serving as retinue from the various tribes — about forty-five thousand in all, several thousand more than Shulu Ping's force across the way.

But the eight Dilie tribes were fighting on their home ground, fighting to protect their wives, children, elders, and property, so their combat strength should be considerable.

As for the Khitans, Zhang Zhao very much doubted how much fighting strength they could still have left after the successive deaths of Yelu Deguang, Yelu Ruan, and Yelu Lihu.

"Beat the drums! Assemble the generals!" As soon as the men had enjoyed a hearty bowl of the extremely rare soup-cakes, Zhang Zhao could not wait to begin the attack.

Hearing the great drum of the central army commander sound, all officers above the rank of Commander (one thousand men) in the various camps immediately began converging toward Zhang Zhao.

Zhang Xianyu took up the long roster and began calling out names in a loud chant.

"General of the Right Feathered Forest Guard, Duke of Su, Li Cunhui!"

Hearing his name called, Li Cunhui immediately spurred his horse forward, while the central army's great drum beat rapidly five times. Behind Zhang Zhao there immediately rose the battle banner symbolizing the Right Feathered Forest Guard and Li Cunhui's own great banner of silver-white with a black Li character.

Then in the distance, the war drums of the Right Feathered Forest Guard also began to beat in response, and the Right Feathered Forest Guard shouted "Feathered Forest!" three times, the sound shaking the roof tiles.

"Chief Commander of the Front Wing of the Mountain-Shaking Capital, Zhang Zhaozhong!"

"Commander of the Wind-Fire Raider Cavalry Battalion of the Left Feathered Forest Guard, Qu Yanqing!"

As one general after another arrived, one battle banner after another was raised, one great drum after another was struck, and the cheers of the myriad troops at once raised the fighting spirit to its peak.

At this moment, Shulu Ping in the distance saw that the Zhou army was beating drums and assembling its generals, and immediately ordered the Dilie tribe to send out two thousand cavalry to begin harassing them.

Cao Bin and Pan Mei, who had no standing to enjoy the glory of the drum-summoned assembly, turned back with envious looks toward the central army, then each began leading the cavalry units assigned to them forward to tangle with the Dilie light cavalry.

At the central army command post, the assembly of generals continued. Zhang Xianyu had shouted himself hoarse, but was still brimming with excitement.

"Regional Commander of Jintian Garrison, Xihai Prefecture, Dafeichuan — Lun Boren!"

"Pacification Commissioner of Kangding Prefecture, Troop Supervisor Su Shangzhi!"

"Young Lord Troop Commander of Songpan Prefecture, Lang Gui!"

Although the Tibetan cavalry that had come along this time numbered only a little over two hundred riders in all, Zhang Zhao still counted them in.

Lun Boren, Su Shangzhi, and Lang Gui (son of Langjie Jiangcuo) were overcome with excitement, and the assembled Tibetan and Qiang officers and men also cheered in succession.

Chai Kehong, at the outermost edge, looked anxiously toward Zhang Xianyu.

"Capital Inspector of the Southern Tang Dragon Martial Army, Chai Kehong!"

Chai Kehong directly spurred his horse out, took from the banner-bearer the flag symbolizing their thirty-odd riders of the Southern Tang imperial guard, and though the Southern Tang troops were few, they too shouted in unison, "Feathered Forest!"

"Captain of the Wuyue Inner Fang Superior Army, Chen Huzi!"

Chen Huzi led two riders forward on horseback, his expression both awkward and proud, because the Wuyue inner-fang soldiers who had come with him numbered only these two.

Zhang Zhao personally spurred his horse forward, looked at the two Wuyue riders behind Chen Huzi, and asked, "Where do these two brave men hail from?"

The two Wuyue inner-fang soldiers trembled with excitement from head to toe.

The taller one answered in a loud voice, "Wang Sheng of Huzhou!"

The shorter one answered in a trembling voice, "Hu Zhao of Yuezhou!"

Zhang Zhao saw that the two men, probably because they had come to pay court without wearing armor, could only go into battle in plain clothes, and immediately shouted to the secretary behind him.

"Bring two sets of the golden-thread soft armor We had made. The lives of Our sons are worth far more than those of Khitans."

Wang Sheng and Hu Zhao hastily rolled off their horses, received the two suits of mail armor woven from thick iron wire, and wept so hard their whole bodies shook.

One could guess that if Zhang Zhao now asked the two of them to charge the enemy formation alone, they would dare to do it.

A moment later, with a loud shout, a Southern Tang cavalryman also spurred his horse out of the ranks — a skilled archer with arms as long as an ape's.

"We, the brothers Zhou Fengyi and Zhou Fengquan of Jiangdu, also wish to serve the country and destroy the barbarian rebels. We beg to be granted armor."

"Fine lads!" Zhang Zhao praised loudly, and with his own hands handed a suit of ring-linked armor to this man, who might have been either Zhou Fengyi or Zhou Fengquan.

The man dismounted, received the armor, raised it above his head, and said, "This humble general thanks Your Majesty for granting armor. May the Sage witness the strength of us heroes of the Jianghuai!"

At this moment Zhang Zhao also mounted his horse, rode back to the commander's position, and suddenly drew the imperial horse-slaying long saber, pointing its edge toward Kedun City.

"Gentlemen, let us destroy these barbarian slaves and feast!"

The assembled generals all clasped their hands and answered in a loud voice, "Aye!"

War drums thundered to the heavens, the officers of every unit immediately returned to their posts, and all the armies together sang the ancient Dunhuang song "The Divine General Emerges," making battle preparations according to the established plan.

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