Chapter 401: Repercussions

The army collapsed like a mountain landslide.

Although the Khoshut heavy cavalry, the decisive force of the battle, had returned to the main army and found the wounded Guoshi Khan still stubbornly resisting the enemy cavalry's charges, the battlefield had crumbled and collapsed in an instant beyond all remedy; they could only protect Guoshi Khan and withdraw eastward.

Liu Chengzong ordered pursuit the moment the enemy army broke, and commanded the Mongol and Tibetan baggage troops in the Daotang River and Nanshankou areas to join the battle and seal off the line along the Yellow River's western bank.

As the Khoshut white banner withdrew from the battlefield under the cover of night, tens of thousands of Han and Mongol troops erupted into the largest-scale melee of the entire campaign on the Yellow River's western bank.

That night, it was as if once the main Oirat Allied Army force collapsed on the Heka Grasslands, every reinforcement that entered the field became the straw that broke the camel's back.

Because the Dzungar contingent that the Khoshut had expected to reach the Yellow River's eastern bank failed to arrive on schedule, while the Marshal's Manor fresh troops joining the encirclement grew ever more numerous.

They lit fires everywhere along a hundred and twenty li of the Yellow River's western bank, leaving not a single crossing where the army could safely ford the river.

The night pursuit was very inefficient, but fear of the darkness gripped the men and horses of both sides; gunfire and hidden arrows flew everywhere across the battlefield, and the scattered and cut-off Khoshut routed troops fled blindly in their panic under pursuit.

Some cast aside their armor and leaped into the river, escaping back to the eastern bank with nothing but their lives; more hesitated and halted before the great river, then turned and fled madly toward the southern mountains.

The Chahar troops who had surrendered earlier, after the Khoshut great army collapsed, also surrendered to the Marshal's Manor on one hand, while swarming to turn their coats and hunt down the Khoshut on the other.

The battlefield only quieted toward the morning of the eighth day of the sixth month, as disarmed Khoshut squads were brought back by Marshal's Manor troops one after another, and mountainous piles of armor and weapons were transported back and forth to the ironworks and armories.

On the morning of the ninth day of the sixth month, Liu Chengzong sat in the main army command tent, listening with keen interest as the command officer of the Bee Stinger unit reported on his unit's combat situation.

Liu the Lion was in excellent spirits, not only because they had crushed the Khoshut, but also because Xie Erhu, the Right Brigade Commander of the Marshal's Manor's agricultural garrison, was leading the Mongol horse troops across the river.

Although the encounter with Guoshi Khan had come earlier than Liu Chengzong had imagined, so that he and Yang Yao's unit had been unable to link up in time and the main army had been forced to fight a battle outnumbered.

The Marshal's Manor main army had withstood the test from the Khoshut, and the tactic of divided advance and combined strike had still proven effective.

Not only in the massing of the great army half a day late on the Heka Flats, but also because Wang Wenxiu's unit had succeeded in tying down the enemy rear support troops on the Muge Flats.

This hard-fought campaign would soon be over; the reconnaissance riders of Wang Wenxiu's unit on the eastern front had reached the main camp this morning. He had already linked up with the three camps of Chao Tu Taiji, Ahai Daiching, and Daiching, as well as part of Chahar Lindan's army, and had encircled the enemy main force on the Yellow River's eastern bank at the Muge Flats.

Interrogation of prisoners by the reconnaissance riders confirmed that Batur Khong Tayiji of the Dzungar was at the Muge Flats.

Because the Dzungar were fully equipped with firearms and cannon, the tactics on the two banks of the Yellow River were completely different: on the western bank, Guoshi Khan had wanted to encircle Liu Chengzong, while on the eastern bank, Wang Wenxiu wanted to encircle the Dzungar.

Liu Chengzong had no objection to this; when the enemy army on the Yellow River's western bank collapsed en masse and the rear reinforcement units arrived one after another, the Marshal's Manor had already seized absolute superiority across the entire battlefield.

And the battalion command of Bee Stinger Zhang Zhen, with a total strength of six hundred and sixty-six men, had performed commendably in this battle. At the cost of nearly two hundred casualties, they had successively stormed Yangqu City, thrown the enemy main force into chaos, and triggered the enemy's collapse. Company Commander Zhao Kebian had even launched a charge against the Khoshut main army and was said to have stabbed Guoshi Khan with a broken cavalry lance.

This matter had yet to be verified.

Because Zhao Kebian had only his left hand, and many of the soldiers who followed him in the charge saw that the moment the fighting began, Zhao Kebian was knocked off his warhorse by a Khoshut warrior using his body.

When the battle ended, Zhao Kebian had suffered two axe wounds, seven arrow hits, and one horse hoof strike in the fighting. After emergency bandaging, he had already been laid on a cart and transported to Ju'erwan for treatment, and would need to rest for at least half a year or more... whether he had actually stabbed Guoshi Khan or not, even he himself could not say clearly.

Of course, compared to the outstanding performance of the surrendered troops in the battalion command, the veterans who served as the mainstay had also done something truly fucked up — they had actually dared to mutiny on the battlefield when Zhang Zhen had committed no error, and removed Battalion Commander Zhang Zhen from his post.

If not for this incident, even without mentioning Zhao Kebian leading troops to charge the formation, Bee Stinger Zhang Zhen's disruption of the enemy army alone would have undoubtedly been enough for them to claim the campaign's first merit; at the very least, all officers would have been promoted one rank, and those not in line for promotion could have earned over a hundred taels in reward silver.

Liu Chengzong could understand the veterans looking down on the Bee Stinger, but looking down was one thing — it did not mean they could remove someone from their post just because they looked down on them. This kind of atmosphere could not be tolerated.

The importance of this matter was no less than the summary and analysis of this campaign.

Liu Chengzong had observed in this campaign that the performance of low-ranking officers and soldiers was exceptionally brilliant, but the generals above the rank of Colonel, including himself, had all been somewhat timid and overcautious; they were not accustomed to it.

Not accustomed to a campaign with such enormous battlefield depth — three hundred li north to south and six hundred li east to west. The various units' coordination in small-scale tactical actions was flawless, but the generals' strategic maneuvers were belated, insufficiently bold, and could only be described as passable.

They had made no major mistakes, but neither had they shown any particularly outstanding performance.

Liu Chengzong felt this was a good thing. They had preserved everything they currently had and survived, and through desperate, fierce fighting had earned the chance to reflect properly after the war and grow stronger.

Just then, the reconnaissance riders who raced back and forth across the hundred-li-wide battlefield brought Liu Chengzong a piece of gratifying news.

Guoshi Khan's sixth son, Dorji Taiji of the Khoshut, had been brought in by the reconnaissance riders. Including Guoshi Khan and nineteen Khoshut princes and nobles, over eight thousand Khoshut soldiers were still hiding in the southern mountains.

Facing a hopeless situation where a single pillar could not prop up the sky, Dorji Taiji came as an envoy, bearing Guoshi Khan's white banner, to surrender to the Marshal's Manor on behalf of the Khoshut.

Dorji Taiji prostrated himself beneath the wagon-fort's outer gate. A soldier who understood Mongolian translated: "They are willing to lay down their armor, come down from the mountains, and surrender. They hope the Marshal can distribute medicine and dispatch physicians, and after the war, allow them to return to the Tianshan Mountains."

Liu Chengzong's eyes narrowed sharply before returning to normal. Distribute medicine and dispatch physicians?

This matter was probably not just about the army; at least some prince or noble was wounded. It was possible that Zhao Kebian's assault had been effective and he had indeed stabbed Guoshi Khan.

Liu Chengzong asked, "Knowing what you know today, why not surrender earlier?"

Dorji Taiji was already full of pent-up anger. If not for that madman wielding the great blade who had relentlessly pursued and hacked at him, scattering all his followers, he would never have been pushed out by a bunch of bastards to surrender, kneeling and kowtowing bare-chested beneath the outer gate.

But now he dared not vent his anger and could only kowtow and say, "We did not know the might of the Heavenly Army. We beseech the Grand Marshal to be magnanimous and allow us to return home."

Liu Chengzong shook his head.

A month before the war began, the Marshal's Manor, having just finished the great He-Huang campaign and with no time to digest the fruits of war, had indeed not wanted to start a war with you. But at that time, you refused to heed advice and were unwilling to return to the Tianshan Mountains.

Instead, you wanted to occupy the vast lands of Qinghai without shedding blood. Now that you have lost after starting the war, you want to cease hostilities and return to the Tianshan Mountains without paying any price.

That is laying down arms to cease hostilities, not laying down arms to surrender. You want to take all the benefits — there is no such principle.

"If before the battle you had said you wanted to return to the Tianshan Mountains, I would naturally have let you go back. Now, at this moment, as meat on the chopping block, do you still think you can withdraw your entire army intact?"

Liu Chengzong shook his head, then said: "You may lay down your arms and come to surrender; the wounded soldiers will naturally receive medical treatment. All I can guarantee is that those who surrender will not be killed. Go back and tell the princes and nobles: the Dzungar to the east have already been surrounded. If the Oirat tribes do not surrender within three days, do not blame the Marshal's Manor for sending troops to annihilate them."

Liu Chengzong had not expected that just this one sentence would make Dorji Taiji lose his composure. He raised his head and said: "Grand Marshal, we are willing to surrender! We only beg the Marshal's Manor to send physicians quickly. Without physicians and medicine, my father the Khan will not last three days!"

As expected!

Liu Chengzong frowned and asked, "The Guoshi is wounded?"

Dorji Taiji nodded silently. He had originally not wanted to mention this matter. Once it was spoken, they would have no room left in the surrender negotiations. But now, only the enemy commander before him could save his father.

Dorji said, "He was stabbed by a one-handed cavalryman under the Grand Marshal's command using a broken lance. Our best physician died on the battlefield and cannot perform surgery."

Guoshi Khan's injury was extremely severe.

That one-handed Han cavalryman, at the very first moment of the charge, had used the cavalry lance fixed to the side of his body to skewer a Khoshut heavy cavalryman.

Because he had only one hand, and that hand was still holding a saber, his body could not be secured on the horseback, and he himself was knocked to the ground.

But that long lance was fixed to his body, so that the broken cavalry lance propped against the ground and happened to strike Guoshi Khan's side. Although he did not receive the impact of the iron lance head, the shattered wooden splinters pierced through the chain mail under his ribs, embedding themselves everywhere at the broken shaft.

It was not that the Khoshut lacked the ability to treat this kind of external injury.

Mongol medicine is very strong in surgery, particularly excelling in the treatment of fractures, sprains, and arrow wounds.

Science and technology themselves rely on the accumulation of human experience; a new generation consolidates old techniques and, standing on the foundation of their predecessors, discovers new techniques.

On this basis, the larger the population, the higher the literacy rate, the more efficient the dissemination and learning of culture and technology, and the faster the iteration of new technologies — this holds true for any discipline.

Unless a cultural rupture occurs and literacy rates plummet off a cliff, this process will repeat itself continuously, driving technological progress.

But the critical problem the Oirat face right now is precisely a dark age of culture.

They had only a handful of outstanding physicians, and they died on the battlefield. Those who remain are generally physicians not so worthy of trust.

Dorji Taiji believed that, compared to those people, he would rather request Liu Chengzong to treat his father.

Because he believed that with the Khoshut tribe's surrender and abandonment of their claims to Qinghai, the greatest contradiction between the Khoshut tribe and the Marshal's Headquarters had vanished.

Although surrender might be the worst outcome for them, their remaining troops were surrounded and driven into the mountains, the princes and nobles had lost their will to fight, and even if they launched another bloody battle, they probably could not turn defeat into victory.

Liu Shizi was already blooming with joy inside, but on the surface he considered for a moment before nodding. "Fine. I will dispatch army physicians to accompany the surrender-accepting troops. But you had best go back and discuss this clearly with the Khoshut nobles — this is surrender, not a ceasefire. Prepare yourselves mentally. If anyone disobeys orders, then when the time comes, never mind the State Tutor's life, even for you all, jade and stone will be indistinguishable."

Dorji Taiji kowtowed repeatedly, then withdrew beyond the camp gate to await the surrender-accepting troops' departure.

Only then did Liu Chengzong return to his tent, finally showing his excitement, clenching his fists tightly.

This was undoubtedly good news for him. The Khoshut tribe's surrender would provide support for shattering the Dzungar tribe's psychological defenses.

This practically meant bringing catastrophic disaster upon the Dzungar tribe, who were holding fast and awaiting reinforcements. The only path to survival left for Batur Khong Tayiji was the single road of surrender.

That afternoon, Feng Rang had the relay cavalry report the Khoshut tribe's surrender situation to the central army. Twenty Khoshut and Dörbet princes and nobles had already set out to kowtow before the central army. Over 8,200 Khoshut surrendered troops had laid down their armor and surrendered, and they posed two questions to the Shogunate.

The first question was the resettlement location for the Khoshut surrendered soldiers.

Liu Shizi's answer was still to resettle them on the sea. That was the place where a mutiny by surrendered troops was easiest to control — surrounded on all sides by fortress mountains, with the Great Lake Navy in the middle. Even if they truly mutinied, there would be nowhere to flee.

Those who surrendered or were captured in the earlier battles had already been sent over. As for the princes, nobles, and commanders, they were separately resettled in Xining City, to prevent them from contacting their old subordinates while the rear was empty.

Feng Rang's second question was to ask Liu Chengzong whether they needed to let the State Tutor die in a medical accident.

Liu Chengzong had no such intention. He had the relay cavalry inform Feng Rang: whether the State Tutor survived depended on his fate; just treat him with full effort. Once his injuries stabilized, send him to Xining.

They had won the war; there was no longer any need to play such schemes and tricks. Even if the State Tutor Khan were still alive, without troops in hand, he posed no threat.

Quite the opposite — he needed the State Tutor Khan to live.

On the road leading his army east across the Yellow River, Liu Shizi wrote two letters. One he had the relay cavalry deliver to Wang Wenxiu, who was besieging the Dzungar at Muge Flat; the other was sent to New City, to be given to his father who remained behind.

The letter to Wang Wenxiu was to warn him to be wary of Ligdan Khutugtu. This war had entered its final stage, and they needed to guard against Khutugtu, lest he exploit the struggle between snipe and clam to strike with a sudden betrayal.

After all, both sides were exhausted forces from consecutive battles, while Khutugtu's Chahar troops, who were very adept at running, had already recovered.

And the letter delivered to New City was to ask his father to help him think through an idea.

If everything went smoothly, the number of Mongols settling down west of Xining would approach the 150,000 mark, and the population composition would be very young.

Although the Marshal's Headquarters treated these Mongol young adults as farmers, herders, and fishermen, by the standards of a nomadic khanate conscripting herders, nearly every male could ride and shoot, and all were of military age.

This meant that with a shift in thinking, the Marshal's Headquarters could field 70,000 nomadic troops. The Mongols under his rule were already one of the most powerful Mongol forces in the world.

The numbers had grown so vast that Liu Chengzong could no longer remain indifferent. He had to, politically, bring them completely and utterly under his rule. Victory in this war against the Oirat was the perfect opportunity.

Nearly every Oirat great noble whose name carried any weight had participated in this war. This meant that if they did not die on the battlefield, they would meet him with bowed heads in Liu Chengzong's camp for surrendered commanders.

Liu Chengzong wanted to reunify Mongol noble titles, official ranks, and designations with those of the Central Plains dynasties, and, relying on this victory, push his influence all the way to the Tianshan Mountains that the Oirat occupied!

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Good afternoon!