Chapter 224: The Last Glory of the Ujiyed

Though he cursed inwardly, Ning Wanwo was, after all, a Han minister deeply trusted by Prince Regent Dorgon. Haltai grunted, trying to make his tone sound as normal as possible, and asked:

"Then tell me, what should be done?"

"The Uriankhai main camp is far from our main force, but the Ujiyed is closer. Rather than chasing Ulmai to the death, it would be better to split into two routes. By now Ulmai has probably already fled to Xifeng Pass—he can't be caught, so there's no need for you, Commander, to wade into that muddy water."

As Ning Wanwo spoke, he was like a pleasing little lapdog, which truly made Haltai feel a chill of disgust. Yet no matter how repulsive one found him, for the sake of orders from above, one still had to treat him with kind words.

Ning Wanwo naturally noticed the change in Haltai's expression. In truth, he had grown accustomed to being a slave over these years—even if the other man cursed him to his face, he would never dare utter a single word of defiance.

You see, on the Tartar Qing side, Han ministers were not like the Jianzhou barbarians. Even a lowly niru of the Jianzhou barbarians outranked an ordinary Han banner commander. If the two committed some capital crime, it would always be the Han who was punished in the end.

"Commander may send some unrelated person to give chase, while you yourself split your forces into two routes and head straight for the Ujiyed. Surely the Ujiyed cannot have fled far. That way, all the blame falls on that man, while the credit naturally all goes to you, Commander."

Haltai glanced sidelong at Ning Wanwo, and at this moment he somewhat understood Dorgon's meaning. These Han slaves were handy and agreeable to use—especially men like Ning Wanwo and Fan Wencheng, who truly had some cunning schemes in their bellies.

If it were himself, he would probably have just led the troops straight in pursuit. If he truly failed to catch them, he would inevitably incur the Prince Regent's wrath. But if he did as Ning Wanwo suggested, at the very least his merits and faults would cancel out, and he could continue to throw his weight around in the commander's seat.

With this in mind, Haltai smiled and said: "The Grand Secretary is truly extraordinary. I understand."

He disdained to say more to Ning Wanwo. Rising, he picked up his tiger-head saber and strode out of the tent, shouting at the top of his voice:

"Assemble the troops! Follow me, your Commander, to intercept and slaughter the Ujiyed! As for Ulmai, have Sunduleng take men to chase him. Tell him I'm adding an extra niru of Eight Banner troops to his command—if he fails to catch him, I'll hold him accountable!"

At Haltai's command, shouts of men and neighing of horses rang out continuously throughout the Qing camp.

Before long, more than two thousand Manchu Plain White Banner cavalry rode west with Haltai, while another group of some three hundred riders headed north to notify the Ongniud tribe, which still pledged loyalty to the Tartars.

"Run fast! Once we get through the pass, we'll be safe!"

"You all run—I'll hold off the Jianzhou men!"

The Ujiyed had barely heard the news before hurriedly packing their belongings. A great mass of tribespeople wailed and wept, and burdened with cattle, sheep, the old, and the young, they naturally could not flee far before Haltai's Plain White Banner cavalry caught up with them.

From afar, a scout of the Ujiyed tribe galloped back, gasping for breath as he said: "Chieftain, the Jianzhou men are almost upon us—fully two thousand or more riders! Those several hundred bayara in front each have two horses apiece, and every one of them looks utterly ferocious!"

Hearing this, the Ujiyed chieftain thought to himself what rotten luck this was—he had fled with his people the moment he heard the news, yet he never expected these swift-riding Jianzhou Tartars to still catch their scent.

He knew there was no time to waste, so he drew his curved saber and shouted back over his shoulder:

"The Jianzhou men are here! Old folk and women, stay to the rear! Any warrior who can hold a blade and mount a horse, follow me to cover the retreat!"

After a moment, more than five thousand Ujiyed people clad in leather armor gradually separated from the crowd. The chieftain looked over their numbers, nodded, and said:

"Good! The warriors of my Ujiyed outnumber the Jianzhou men by a full two to one! What is there to fear? Let them taste the might of Ujiyed warriors!"

"Fight these Jianzhou men to the death!"

Haltai, the Manchu Plain White Banner commander pursuing from behind, was fighting desperately for his own future. He paid no heed to the harassing Ujiyed scouts, only continuously urging the bayara soldiers beside him to spur their horses harder.

Before long, Haltai suddenly reined in his mount. Looking at the Ujiyed cavalry waiting before him, he sneered: "Well now, these Mongols have no small amount of nerve."

Seeing this, the bayara niru on the other side also grinned viciously: "We'll finish them off quickly—all the Ujiyed men are here. What's behind them are just women, cattle, and sheep."

"No rush. Not a single one of them will escape." Haltai showed not the slightest concern, laughing heartily.

On the high slope before them stood a great mass of Ujiyed light cavalry. The several chieftains at the head were all skilled horsemen, and the front rows were cavalry who had fought alongside them for years, clad in leather armor with gleaming curved sabers hanging from their hands and waists. But those in the rear were less impressive.

The youngest were children of barely ten-odd years who had just learned to ride; the oldest were old men who swayed unsteadily and could barely lift a saber to swing. Even such people had been brought out—clearly showing how utterly desperate the Ujiyed, once a great tribe in the age of Genghis Khan, had now become.

Compared to the Ujiyed's advantage in numbers, the Jianzhou barbarians seemed far weaker, numbering only around two thousand. But if one looked closely, the gap in quality between the two sides was still obvious.

The bayara soldiers at the front carried fine steel tiger spears on their backs, held serrated tiger-head sabers in their hands, wore three layers of heavy armor, and even their horses bore gleaming white armor. Many had fine steel daggers tucked into their calves—truly armed to the teeth.

Among the Jianzhou barbarians, some skilled horsemen were already fitting the horse blinkers issued by the army onto their mounts, apparently preparing to slaughter all around them shortly.

Though the Ujiyed had greater numbers, their morale was inferior to the Jianzhou barbarians'. Looking at the sea of pure white Jianzhou cavalry before them, quite a few of them were even trembling.

Among the Ujiyed, the best were merely those veteran cavalry arrayed in front, and even they wore only a set of grassland leather armor. As for the majority in the rear, their tools for battle—apart from the curved saber in hand—were in truth nothing more than a somewhat thicker set of clothing.

Two bayara soldiers rode out from among the Jianzhou barbarians, each holding aloft a Plain White Banner dragon banner and galloping across the front of the formation while shouting. As they ran, every Jianzhou soldier they passed immediately drew his steel saber, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes.

When the two bayara soldiers converged at the very center of the formation, the Jianzhou cavalry behind, who had been building their momentum, shouted and charged forward.

The three Ujiyed chieftains at the front of the formation were startled by the sight of the Jianzhou charge. They exchanged glances, raised their curved sabers, and shouted at the top of their lungs:

"Ujiyed, descendants of Genghis Khan! The time to reclaim the glory of our ancestors has come! Eternal Heaven will protect us—kill these Jianzhou men!!"

"Kill!!"

The cavalry of the Ujiyed tribe and the Jianzhou barbarians' Plain White Banner crashed together. Battle cries shook the heavens. In an instant, severed limbs flew everywhere, and men continuously screamed in agony as they tumbled from their horses.

The bayara soldiers of the leading niru were like gods of slaughter at this moment, wreaking havoc among the Ujiyed cavalry—no one could withstand them.

Almost in the very instant of the collision, two of the three Ujiyed chieftains were cut down from their horses by bayara soldiers at the same time. The last one struggled desperately but was hacked to death by Haltai in less than the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, his very head raised into the air in triumph.

Within less than the time of one incense stick, all three Ujiyed chieftains had been killed. Morale plummeted, and before long the entire line collapsed. All over the mountains and plains, Jianzhou barbarians were hunting down the fleeing Ujiyed cavalry.