Han Khan

Chapter 131, Returning Victoriously

With the surrender of the Linzhong tribes and the Kyrgyz people, the influence of the Jinhan tribe was greatly expanded, and their ruling area had extended to the Yenisei River and the Zhiju River.

The submission of these tribes not only brought Jinhan a vast territory, but also brought more resources and population.

This news quickly spread throughout the grassland, and the reputation of the Jinhan tribe and Zhang Sheng spread, making them another highly-watched presence on the grassland, in addition to the Khitans who were now in the Liaohe River.

The Zhiju River (Selenge River) is majestic and surging.

It starts from Yanran Mountain and Langjuxu Mountain, flows northward and finally flows into the North Sea.

The area through which this river flows has the most fertile land in the entire desert, with abundant water and grass, making it an ideal place for grazing.

In addition, the banks of the Zhiju River were important settlements of ancient nomadic peoples. Powerful nomadic empires such as the Xiongnu, Turks, and Uighurs all established their own political centers here.

Today, there are many tribes scattered across this vast grassland, the most prominent of which are the Nine-surname Tatar tribes and the Thirty-surname Tatar tribes of Hulun Lake and Buir Lake...

In short, there is no unified force on the prairie nowadays. Various tribes are scattered on the prairie. Zhang Sheng has no idea where so many tribes came from.

Most of these tribes spoke the Donghu language and had hundreds of thousands of people. Due to the limited resources such as population, livestock and pasture, fierce conflicts and fights often occurred between the tribes, and they achieved integration in this way.

As a result, new tribal groups and clans continued to emerge.

At the same time, the Tiele, Rouran, Turkic and Uighur tribes that once left their traces on the grassland gradually declined and were facing the fate of being conquered, assimilated or even replaced by these Donghu-speaking tribes.

In this turbulent era, only tribes that can adapt to changes and possess strong strength can survive.

The Jinhan tribe today is no longer what it used to be. Jinhan has its own sphere of influence near Jinshan in the western part of the prairie, and has gradually developed into a powerful tribe.

After a fierce battle with the Dubo tribe and staying in their camp for nearly twenty days, Zhang Sheng began to prepare to lead his troops back.

In this battle, they successfully captured more than 30,000 people from the Dubo tribe and seized a large number of livestock such as cattle, sheep, horses, and reindeer, numbering hundreds of thousands.

In addition, 4,000 households from various tribes in the forest and about 2,000 households from the Khitan tribe were incorporated.

These forest tribes were also reorganized into groups of ten households, one hundred households, and camps.

At this point, the goal of conquering the Dubo tribe and its surrounding forest tribes had been achieved.

Zhang Sheng decided to keep Yan Zhi, the newly promoted head of the regiment, to lead a regiment of 900 soldiers under his command and be responsible for supervising the thirteen camps of forest tribes here.

And guard against attacks from the Merkits and Mongols in the east. Such arrangements were sufficient to ensure the safety of the area.

Zhang Sheng led two regiments of Jinhan cavalry, as well as more than 2,000 Kyrgyz warriors armed with weapons and armor seized from the Dubo tribe, to form a powerful cavalry team of more than 3,600 people.

They escorted more than 30,000 people, hundreds of thousands of livestock and dozens of carriages full of goods, and began to evacuate in a grand manner.

The team was like a giant dragon, winding across the grassland. In the sunlight, the armor of the Jinhan people flashed brightly, and they were so arrogant.

The Khitan people were extremely happy to have submitted to the Jin Han, received protection, and found safety.

The Dubo people who were being taken into custody seemed somewhat dejected. They had lost their freedom, their leaders and warriors had died in the battle, and all the Dubo people had been captured. They did not know what the future would hold, but fortunately, they had saved their lives.

The Jin Han people who participated in the battle were all smiling and in a particularly happy mood. They were secretly thinking about the rich rewards that this battle achievement could bring. After all, with His Highness' generosity, he would definitely not treat these brave men unfairly.

Everyone looks forward to getting a share of the wealth.

…………

The Dubo tribe was destroyed by the Jinhan tribe which marched northwards. The news that many forest tribes between the Tannu Mountains, the Yenisei River and the North Sea had submitted to the Jinhan tribe quickly spread throughout the entire northern grasslands.

At this time, Baicharshijin, the leader of the Ubili tribe located in the northwest of the Golden Mountains (Altai Mountains) and the Western Sayan Mountains, also learned the news.

The Ubili tribe's sphere of influence was very broad, including not only the Golden Mountains and Western Sayan Mountains, but also extending westward to the middle reaches of the Ob River.

But apart from the Golden Mountains, the western areas are covered with large swamps because they are located between the two major rivers, the main stream of the Ob River and its tributary, the Irtysh River. Apart from that, there are flat meadows.

It is the settlement of various ancient Tiele, Turkic, Samodi and Ugric tribes who fled from the south.

Therefore, although the land controlled by the Ubili tribe was vast, due to the harsh climate, the distance from settled towns and the swamps everywhere, the population of the Ubili tribe and its subordinate tribes was not large. All the tribes together had only about five or six thousand households.

At this time, Baichaer, the leader of the Ubili tribe, had a gloomy face and was extremely anxious and frightened.

In order to fulfill his promise, he sent 3000 tribal cavalry led by his brother to hunt down the new Khan of the Karakhanid Khanate, Satuk, on the Seven Rivers Steppe south of the Irtysh River, and asked for the Karakhanid cavalry and two important Karakhanid nobles he had requested.

Unexpectedly, only a dozen defeated soldiers escaped back to the tribe. He reported that the 3000 cavalrymen of the tribe, including his brothers, were defeated by Jin Han's troops, and the entire army was wiped out and died in the Great Lakes Basin.

At that time, he did not feel much about it, because his brother was the only leader of the Ubili tribe besides him.

The cavalry he brought with him were also his brother's troops. Losing his younger brother made him feel relieved, because this brother did not obey his management and only wanted to get Satuk's reward.

But what terrified him was that today a Jinhan army of nearly 3000 people suddenly appeared at the foot of the Western Sayan Mountains at the source of the Irtysh River and was detected by tribal scouts.

At this time, even worse news came. The Jinhan tribe directly defeated and annexed the Dubo tribe, an ally of the Ubili tribe. This news shocked the heads of many clans in the tribe.

That means that now the Ubili people have to resist the attacks of the Jinhan people under the Jinshan Mountain alone.

This... is too fast! In such a short time, they defeated all 3000 Ubili people and annexed the entire Dubo tribe. How powerful is the Jinhan tribe?

At this moment, Baichaer's heart was filled with endless anger and fear.

He couldn't help but let out a manic howl, like a wounded tiger, exuding an extremely dangerous aura.

He hated the Jinhan people to the core because they went on wars in the name of revenge for Kutlug Yar Khan and attempted to annex all the tribes in the Jinshan area.

At this time, the Jinhan soldiers of the Right Wing Third Regiment led by Zhang Xibao had discovered some small tribes of the Ubili people scattered in the foothills of Jinshan Mountain.

They rushed into these small tribes without hesitation and began to slaughter and burn them, creating chaos.

Then they killed all the resisters and drove the prisoners to lead the way towards the headquarters of the Ubili tribe.

(End of this chapter)