Han Khan

Chapter 51, Izhou Defenders

Zhang Sheng rode on his horse, aiming at the enemy's weaknesses, and shot one deadly and tricky arrow after another, knocking down the remaining Uighur cavalry again and again.

He kept an eye on the battle situation. When he saw that the enemy's defenses had begun to weaken, he once again gave orders to the guards beside him:
"If they rush over, retreat and don't engage in close combat! Don't give them a chance to breathe! Let them know that surrender is the only way out!"

"As you command, Your Highness!"

Under his encouragement, the soldiers fought more bravely and the rain of arrows became more intense, leaving the enemy no chance to breathe.

But the damage of arrows to armor is too limited! Zhang Sheng looked at this situation and felt a little anxious!
"Put down your weapons, kneel down and surrender. If you continue to resist stubbornly, I will burn you to death!" Zhang Sheng said loudly to the Yizhou heavy infantry who were surrounded by the Jinhan Guards.

Upon hearing this, the guards also spoke loudly to these heavy infantrymen who were resisting stubbornly, conveying their lord's thoughts.

The guards were eager to defeat the heavy infantry in front of them, because their armor and weapons were excellent, and they were tall, strong and sturdy, making them excellent infantry. If Jin Han could join them, their strength would be further improved.

Zhang Sheng didn't want his guards to fight the enemy at close range, as the Yizhou heavy infantry in front of him were fully armored and well-armed.

If our tired war horses rushed to the enemy, they would definitely be pierced with big holes by the enemy's spears. The advantage of cavalry over infantry lies in mobility, not in charging towards hedgehogs recklessly.

The enemy before us is a giant hedgehog armed to the teeth. If we rush into it head-on, we will definitely suffer heavy losses!
But the battle won't be over until they are defeated!
But the enemy has no way out now! They are surrounded by Jin Han's guards and centurions!

Zhang Sheng looked back at Yizhou City. The enemies on the city wall were looking at the battle outside the city anxiously and desperately.

Anpolat took away the main force, even the heavy infantry guarding the city were taken away! Now that the main general is dead, the morale has dropped greatly.

In the vast Gobi Desert outside Yizhou City, the wind was howling and dust was filling the sky.

The Yizhou heavy infantry formed a tight circle and gathered together. They wore heavy armor, held huge shields and sharp spears, and formed a tight square formation, like an unshakable fortress.

But now, everyone has understood that, let alone victory, even the chance of escaping back to Yizhou City is slim. They have been surrounded by the Jin Han army for a long time, and the two sides have been in a stalemate.

But Zhang Sheng understood that this was exactly what made these enemies so scary. Once their chances of survival were slim, these battle-hardened heavy infantrymen would not choose to retreat, but to fight desperately, because they knew that only by moving forward could they have a glimmer of hope.

So what he had to do was to crush the enemy's psychological defenses and defeat them without fighting.

He pulled out a long and peculiarly shaped armor-piercing arrow from his quiver.

Then he aimed at the enemy's head in a gap and pulled the longbow to its full length. The armor-piercing arrow pierced through the enemy's helmet like lightning and penetrated deeply into his head.

The enemy fell down without even having time to let out a scream.

Seeing this, the heavy infantrymen who were surrounded like hedgehogs couldn't help but feel more and more fear in their hearts.

Zhang Sheng took the opportunity to shout, "I have killed your commander, and you are surrounded by us. You have no way to escape now.

"For your bravery in battle, put down your weapons now, stop resisting, and surrender! You can still survive!" Zhang Sheng shouted again, signaling the guards to increase the intensity of their shouting.

Some heavy infantrymen began to hesitate, their eyes flickering with anxiety.

Seeing this, Zhang Sheng knew that the psychological offensive had worked. He continued in a cold voice:
"Resisting to the end will only lead to death! It's not that we don't have the ability to kill you here. If you don't surrender, then we will continue to fight.

But think about your families and what would happen to them if we took Illinois!"

"Tang leader, you are a good fighter. We are slaves of Anpolat, but now our master has died in battle. Gaochang's Yiduhu will not let us and our families go. If we surrender, can you let our families go?"

At this time, the voices of the enemy speaking in Uighur language were heard from the opposite side.

Zhang Sheng looked around at the guards!
Then, he said solemnly to the heavy infantrymen who were gathered together: "If you are willing to surrender, not only will I not harm you, but after you enter the city, your families will also be reunited with you.

If you are willing to submit to me, you can be my slaves. As long as you serve as a soldier for me and make contributions, you can gain freedom and distribution of livestock. Your families can all live safely in my tribe, and no one will dare to hurt you in the slightest."

Hearing this, one heavy infantryman threw away his spear, and then several others followed suit. It was like a chain reaction, and more heavy infantrymen dropped their weapons.

"Very good!" Zhang Sheng showed a happy expression, "You have made a wise choice. Now, take off your armor, put down your weapons, and kneel away!" Hundreds of heavy infantry took off their heavy armor, threw away their weapons, and slowly walked out of the circle.

After they walked away, they knelt down one after another. The Jinhan cavalry quickly stepped forward and confiscated the weapons and armor they had thrown on the ground.

The battle finally ended. Zhang Sheng looked at the surrendered enemy troops and felt a sense of accomplishment.

Not only did he win, he also managed to avoid further casualties.

Seeing the enemy kneeling on the ground and choosing to surrender, he was overjoyed. Finally, this fierce and difficult battle was finally over.

Hundreds of surrendering heavy infantrymen knelt on the ground, resigned to their fate, with their heads hung, looking ready to be slaughtered.

Zhang Sheng turned around and ordered the guards beside him: "Tie them up and release them after we capture Yizhou!"

"I will follow your Highness' orders!"

The soldiers from each hundred households rode their war horses, let out low roars, swooped down from the high slopes, and chased after the fleeing Uighur cavalry.

For the people on the grassland, war was not a good thing, and the captives had no idea how the Tang people would deal with them.

Maybe he could be lucky enough to become a slave, but if he was unlucky, according to the old rules, all men taller than the wheels would die.

"All healthy war horses, arrows, weapons and armor that can be used or repaired should be gathered here!

Those dead, injured and disabled horses must not be wasted. Let the tribesmen come to dissect them and salt them into jerky!"

Yan Zhi, who was standing aside, heard Zhang Sheng's order.

He immediately responded without hesitation, "Yes, sir!"

Then he quickly gathered a group of soldiers and led them to clean up the battlefield.

On the battlefield strewn with corpses, the Jin Han guards were like hungry wolves, killing many injured or pretending to be dead Uighur cavalry with one blow. Wherever they passed, all the armor, weapons and arrows were looted.

More than a thousand Uighur cavalrymen, and even their chief general Anpolak, were all wiped out!

These one thousand cavalrymen were basically members of Anpolak's own tribe, as well as some Uighur tribal leaders and their brave warriors.

However, facing three consecutive charges by the guards led by Zhang Sheng, this powerful cavalry team was eventually wiped out.

The Guards fought bravely, killing and wounding more than 600 Uighur cavalrymen, but the remaining 300-odd Uighurs could not escape their fate and were all captured and executed.

In comparison, these Uighur cavalry were not as difficult to deal with as the heavy infantry who had just surrendered.

In order to successfully recruit the more than 600 heavy infantrymen who surrendered, Zhang Sheng had to take action, and this was the reason why he made this decision, because many of the Uighur cavalrymen were the masters of these heavy infantrymen.

The battle outside the city has been decided. The enemy cavalry has been destroyed and the heavy infantry has been captured. As long as Yizhou is captured, this war will end!

Although Yizhou City is not as good as Dunhuang and there are few soldiers in the city, if the enemy insists on defending, they can still cause heavy losses to the Jin Han people by virtue of their dominant position.

Now, Zhang Sheng had no choice but to send troops to besiege the city! He had to find another way.

The Uighurs were actually quite lacking in the ability to build cities, as they changed from being nomadic to settling down, living in towns and fortresses built by locals and Tang people.

In this way, he ruled the Uighurs, Sai people, Tocharians and other people from the Western Regions in the cities around Yizhou City, as well as the Uighurs, Tiele people, Turks and Tatars who migrated from the northern desert.

Yizhou remained the same, and the Uighurs did not expand or build on the basis of the Tang people's foundation.

However, the Uighurs used this city, as well as their cavalry and heavy infantry, to resist the attacks from the Tatars and Kyrgyz in the northern desert and defended their way to the west.

However, today, the army of Yizhou has been completely wiped out, and those who could take charge have all died outside the city.

The most respected person in Yizhou City today is Chen Yunde, the defender who was sidelined by the Uighurs and Sai people. He was the defender appointed by Zhang Chengfeng, the father of Zhang Sheng, when he recaptured Yizhou.

The Uighurs did not kill him because the Chen family was a powerful and large family in Yizhou when they followed the Tang Dynasty.

Now, many high-ranking people in the city are looking at him, and the time has come for him to make the decision.

The soldiers guarding Yizhou were almost all the guards of some tribes and clan leaders in the city, as well as the more than 400 elite guards of the Chen family. Therefore, Chen Yunde had a very strong psychological quality at this time, and he had seen everything in the Western Regions.

The Tang people left, the Uighurs came, and the ups and downs of the Zhang, Suo, Li, and Cao families of the Hexi Guiyi Army were so unreliable that it was obvious at first glance!

The Uighurs have now successfully secured their positions in Anxi and Beiting, becoming the de facto rulers of the northern and southern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains and the city walls. Only by relying on the Uighurs living in Gaochang, Beiting and Anxi can the Chen family's wealth and power be preserved.

(End of this chapter)