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Chapter 139 Lindan Khan's Plans: A Heavy Loss Attack and Retreat

The next day, after resting overnight, Wang Dahu led five thousand cavalrymen.

One man on two horses began galloping across the grasslands beyond the Great Wall, heading towards Jiayuguan, the westernmost point of the Great Wall, intending to detour and attack the rear of the Turpan army.

As for where the five thousand cavalrymen came from...
They captured relatively few Mongol cavalrymen, but they did seize a considerable number of warhorses.

After all, once the warhorse's owner dies, the warhorse won't keep running away for its life forever.

Therefore, Wang Dahu and his men actually captured nearly 10,000 warhorses.

With horses, given the physical condition of the militia, it would be quite easy to form a cavalry force.

Moreover, for them, horses were simply tools for traveling and chasing enemies.

Once they catch up with the enemy, even if it's just infantry fighting cavalry, they are not afraid at all and can easily turn the tables and kill them.

Therefore, Wang Dahu dared to lead two thousand veterans, plus three thousand newly formed cavalry, to directly bypass the Turpan army and attack.

This journey beyond the grasslands will serve as a new training exercise for the cavalry.

Once they reached the enemy's rear, they were confident they could win the battle even if they dismounted.

After all, the army in Turpan only numbered around 20,000.

Back then, Wang Dahu led several hundred militiamen and dared to charge back and forth among Yang Jiamo's tens of thousands of troops, let alone now.

The enemy force numbered only 20,000, while the People's Salvation Army he led had reached 5,000.

This is the effect of the Formation Divine Power reaching level three, encompassing five thousand subordinate soldiers and uniting everyone's power into one.

It even allows every soldier to mobilize this powerful force.

However, it is subject to the limits of the body and can only exert the power of true qi that the body can control to its limit.

Indeed, after months of continuous practice, Wang Dahu's array-setting skills finally reached level three.

Thanks to this, and with the help of others, the main body of the Dynasty's array formation technique, which integrates spiritual power, has reached the peak of level three, and there is a possibility of breaking through to level four at any time.

At that time, the power unleashed by the supernatural ability will surpass the level three supernatural ability realm, and will once again surpass the realm of the dynasty itself.

However, the dynasty is now on the verge of a breakthrough, and it remains to be seen who will be the first to achieve it.

Of course, whether one breaks through in supernatural abilities first or in realm first, it will greatly enhance the power of the dynasty.

The dynasty was eagerly anticipating this.

While Wang Dahu and his men were traveling day and night towards Jiayuguan, Lindan Khan, who had already penetrated deep into the grasslands, had stopped fleeing and gathered some of his defeated soldiers.

After counting the number of people, Lin Danhan almost collapsed.

Of the 50,000 troops that attacked Shandan Weicheng, only less than 3,000 remained, fewer than the number of prisoners captured by Wang Dahu and his men.

Originally, the total number of deaths in the battle was at most 20,000. Even if we include the number of prisoners captured by Wang Dahu and his men, it would only be 23,000 or 24,000.

Lin Danhan and his men should still have at least 20,000 men left.

However, Wang Dahu and his men were pursuing them closely, and many Mongol cavalrymen had already scattered. Many of them were even running towards their own tribes and had no intention of returning to Ligdan Khan's camp.

With Ligdan Khan leading them and suffering heavy losses, they were already considering whether they should remain loyal to him.

Joining the Ming Dynasty, the Later Jin Dynasty, or the People's Salvation Army were the options they needed to consider.

Therefore, Ligdan Khan ultimately managed to gather fewer than three thousand defeated soldiers.

Of these, only about a thousand soldiers truly belonged to the Tumed headquarters.

The other troops were allied forces from other tribes.

But since the deed was already done, Lin Danhan was furious, but after venting his anger, he could only start thinking about what to do next.

He no longer dared to attack the militia again.

The image of the militia's frenzied hacking and slashing, splitting people and their armor in two with a single blow, was deeply imprinted in his mind, making him unable to muster even the slightest desire to resist.

Now all he can do is return to the Tatar Tumed and rebuild an army to intimidate the Mongol tribes that are dependent on the Tatar Tumed, so that they dare not rebel.

While he was deep in thought, a tribal chief asked him a question.

"Great Khan, should we inform King Adula of Turpan about our situation here?"

At this moment, when he looked at Lin Danhan again, he had lost much of his former awe, and his tone was much more casual.

Upon hearing the inquiry, Lin Danhan's eyes flickered, and he informed the King of Turpan, Adulaiyin.

Why did he need to notify them?

Their Tumed suffered heavy losses, so Turpan would not fare any better.

On the grasslands, it's a brutal reality of the survival of the fittest.

If the Tumed tribe declines while Turpan suffers little loss or even grows stronger, that would be a threat to the Tumed tribe.

Therefore, Lin Danhan simply shook his head.

"Need not!"

At the same time, he also noticed the change in the tone of the tribal chief.

However, he did not react immediately, but instead gave orders to the crowd.

"Now that we have been defeated by the militia, we must return to headquarters as soon as possible."

"Yes!"

As everyone prepared to depart, a cold glint flashed in Lindan Khan's eyes. Once he returned to the Tumet royal court and reorganized his army, he would surely eliminate these tribal leaders who had been negligent towards him.

It's just not the time for it to flare up yet.

Although he was somewhat of a bully who preyed on the weak, he wasn't really stupid; otherwise, he wouldn't have become the Khan of the Tumed tribe.

Although his wife also helped a lot in this process.

However, it cannot be denied that Lin Dan Khan is still very capable.

Naturally, he was able to control his anger at this moment.

He wouldn't act now, when he's at his weakest. Who knows what those tribal chiefs are thinking? If they all turn their forces around and attack him, he'll be in extreme danger.

Therefore, even if he was angry, he would wait until he returned to the Tumed royal court, reorganized a new army, and then settle accounts with them for disrespecting the Great Khan's authority.

On the other side, Wang Dahu and his men traveled day and night, and finally arrived at the outside of Jiayuguan three days later.

At this moment, the Turpan army outside Jiayuguan had also reached its limit.

In just over three days, they launched several attacks, but each one was repelled. They couldn't even climb the city walls, let alone break through Jiayuguan.

The arrows of the militia were so sharp that the defenders on the city wall began firing when they were only 400 meters away from Jiayuguan, with the longest range reaching nearly 500 meters.

It directly covers a 100-meter range between 400 and 500 meters.

In just a moment, a large number of soldiers were killed.

Ordinary leather armor is no match for an arrow from the militia.

Furthermore, the power of the arrows increases as the distance closes.

When they were less than a hundred meters from the city wall, many arrows could even pierce through their bodies and kill those behind them.

Moreover, the arrows of the Salvation Army seemed endless. From the first day of the attack until now, as long as they launched an attack, the Salvation Army would keep firing arrows until the end of the battle without any reduction.

Even if they rushed to the city walls, there wouldn't be enough soldiers left to scale them, and they would soon be shot dead by the militia.

Well, since it's impossible to mass-produce the firearms of later generations now, the dynasty naturally has to maximize the advantages of the People's Salvation Army.

His great strength allows the People's Salvation Army to draw longbows with a draw weight of three or four stones.

Supernatural abilities not only increase their speed, but also enhance their eyesight and nerve reflexes.

With these two qualities combined, even without the aid of archery skills, they could become the best archers.

Given these conditions, the dynasty would naturally produce a large number of bows and arrows.

Since the establishment of the Salvation Army and its acquisition of the ability to manufacture bows and arrows, the dynasty has been ordering the Weapons Manufacturing Department to work overtime to produce bows and arrows.

Moreover, the bows and arrows used by the militia did not require the same considerations as ordinary people, such as whether they could draw the bow while increasing the range.

Since ordinary bows and arrows don't have that long range, we thickened and enlarged them, making them all iron-framed bows.

In short, you only need to consider the range; you don't need to worry about whether you can draw the bowstring.

Naturally, the manufacture of the People's Salvation Army's bows and arrows was much simpler.

Therefore, the current militia has many bows and arrows, so many that it makes people question their existence.

Therefore, the militia rarely engaged in direct hand-to-hand combat; such battles were only fought as a last resort.

When fighting, the militia would often start by attacking with bows and arrows.

Only when the enemy was on the verge of collapse would the militia launch close combat, let alone defend the city.

The relentless rain of arrows would absolutely keep the enemy pinned down beneath the city walls, leaving them questioning their very existence.

Especially for important cities like Jiayuguan, the number of arrows accumulated over several months was enormous.

Even with continuous firing, it would be enough to guarantee a three-day supply.

Moreover, the army in Turpan could not launch a continuous offensive.

Moreover, Jiayuguan, as the most important westernmost pass of the Great Wall, is characterized by its high walls and strong fortifications, making it difficult for them to climb.

So to this day, they have never even climbed the city walls.

However, they have already suffered heavy casualties, with nearly 10,000 people lost in total.

They hadn't even reached the city walls yet, and they had already lost more than half their men. This made everyone from top to bottom, from generals to soldiers, question their existence and completely lose the desire to attack the city.

The atmosphere in the central army camp was extremely oppressive. King Adulayin of Turpan looked down at his generals with a gloomy face and spoke in a cold voice.

"A bunch of useless fools! You couldn't even take Jiayuguan, which was occupied by a bunch of rebels from the Ming Dynasty!"

The generals below had dark faces and silently lowered their heads without uttering a sound.

However, deep down, they couldn't help but secretly complain.

We're all useless, so why don't you lead your troops to attack the city?
In the very beginning, some people would even take the initiative to challenge others.

But without exception, they all died at Jiayuguan.

None of the remaining generals dare to lead troops to attack the city.

Even if Abdullah gave the order, they would only direct the soldiers to attack the city from the rear; they themselves would not charge into battle.

Seeing the performance of the generals below, King Adulayin of Turpan became even angrier and angrily said:
"Who here is willing to lead troops to attack the city again?"

The generals looked at each other in bewilderment, and then all lowered their heads.

"Humph!"

King Adulayin of Turpan snorted coldly, slowly sat down, his eyes flashed for a moment, and then he spoke:
"What should we do now? Do any of you have any advice for me?"

His tone had softened considerably without him even realizing it.

The generals exchanged glances, all able to see the understanding in each other's eyes.

Clearly, at this point in the war, there is no longer any need to continue.

Meanwhile, King Adula of Turpan had already decided to step down.

However, as the King of Turpan, he led his troops on this expedition.

If you suffer heavy losses and gain nothing, and then slink back in disgrace, you will lose face and attract a lot of criticism.

Therefore, King Adulayin of Turpan now needs someone to give him a way out.

Thank you to reader [幽月刀锋] for the 500 reward!

Thank you to reader [幽月刀锋] for the 500 reward!

Xinghuo expresses its sincere gratitude to all the experts for their support! ().:*

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(End of this chapter)