Han Khan

Chapter 66: The Khitans have retreated

The Gaochang Uighur army arrived late and surrounded Yizhou tightly, but saw the open city gate of Yizhou and an empty Yizhou.

The leader of Gaochang Uighurs, Pijia Yiduhu, was filled with anger and helplessness!

The Han people left and took away everything in Yizhou, including people, livestock, etc., leaving nothing behind!

He was unable to send troops north because marching in the barren Gobi Desert was difficult, and the Gaochang Uighurs had very few supplies, making it difficult to supply nearly 10,000 troops under his command.

The Jin Han people, on the other hand, moved north to Qingshan in batches. As the cold winter was approaching, it was still unknown whether they could find the Jin Han people in Mobei, or whether they could return to Beiting and Gaochang from Mobei.

However, he found it hard to swallow such heavy losses. In order to make up for the losses, he led his army into Moheyan Desert, intending to conquer the Zhongyun people of Shanshan.

This is the story of the Gaochang Uighurs.

At this time, the Jin Han people had crossed the Gobi Desert, crossed the Bulgan River, and were traveling through the Jin Mountains. They saw towering mountains on both sides and the rugged road ahead.

Zhang Sheng waved his hand and signaled everyone to take a rest.

At this time.

"Your Highness, Captain Koza sent several scouts to report back! They said they have something important to report." said a guard beside him.

"Call him forward!"

"As ordered!"

At this time, the central army led by Zhang Sheng was moving slowly because many slave soldiers were walking on foot!

He was looking at a simple map obtained from the Uighurs. At this time, the central army was located in the Gobi Desert, at the foot of a mountain called Eji Haierhan by the Tatars.

There are nine pot-shaped pits on the right side of the mountain. When the water in the upper pit is full, it flows to the lower pit, forming a small waterfall with a drop of forty to fifty centimeters. Just because there is water here, Zhang Sheng ordered a rest.

At this time, the scout guard Zhang Langjie, holding a head in his left hand and dragging a captive with both hands bound in his right hand, approached Zhang Sheng, knelt on one knee and said: "Your Highness, Commander Koza ordered me to report the situation ahead!"

"Jeri, what's going on ahead?"

Zhang Langjieri, who was of Tibetan descent, was originally a Tibetan slave who escaped from Liangzhou to Dunhuang. Fortunately, he was taken in by Zhang Sheng.

Because of his strong physique, excellent riding skills, and proficiency in spear, bow and arrow, and lasso, he is indeed an excellent scout.
He had fought in the battles against the Kucha Uighurs and Yizhou, and was extremely brave. Because of Zhang Sheng's "apparition", he was a fanatical warrior of the Holy Religion, and was now promoted to the head of a hundred households.

So he begged Zhang Sheng to give him a surname, because as a Jin Han warrior, how could he not have a surname? Zhang Sheng could not bear the harassment and gave him the surname Zhang, so he was named Zhang Langjie, which sounded like both Han and Fan.

"Your Highness, we have already checked the situation a hundred miles ahead. There are three camps there, just to the right of the Bulgan River!"

After hearing this, Zhang Sheng said, "Okay, let's get up and talk, Jie Ri, tell me the details of these three departments."

Zhang Langjie replied quickly:

"As you command, Your Highness.

The tribe directly in front of us is called the Xidan tribe, which has more than 200 tribesmen.

The tribe on the left, near the upper reaches of the Bulgan River, is called the Burhan tribe, and its people also number about two to three hundred tents.
As for the tribe in the middle reaches of the Bulgan River, it is called the Jiluo tribe. It is a large tribe with more than 800 people. "

Zhang Sheng didn't know where these three tribes, the Jiluo, Abuhan and Xidan, came from, and he had never heard Koza mention them before.

But after listening to Zhang Langjie's report, he learned that the Jinhan tribe had finally arrived at Jinshan after more than ten days of crossing mountains and deserts.

Looking at the captive in front of him, Zhang Sheng asked in Uighur: "Who are you? Which tribe are you from?"

The prisoner in front of him only had a braid on his head, and the hair around it was shaved off. No wonder Zhang Langjie was holding a human head in his hand. This was indeed much more convenient.

The prisoner kneeling on the ground was filled with fear.

He was originally patrolling near the Bulgan River when he was suddenly attacked by unknown warriors wearing full iron armor. The tribal warrior who was patrolling with him was beheaded because he shot arrows at the enemy.

I was also caught and brought here.

He had just been observing this huge camp that suddenly appeared in the valley. His eyes widened as if he wanted to engrave everything here in his mind.

There were countless cattle, sheep and people in the camp. These people wore colorful clothes and ate a variety of food, many of which were new and strange things he had never seen before. He thought to himself, "This must be a very powerful tribe."

Then he saw many cavalrymen wearing shining iron armor and iron helmets, armed with sophisticated weapons, patrolling vigilantly around the camp.

Just one look and he was already scared out of his wits.

Because in his tribe, only the leader and a few of the most powerful warriors had iron armor.

Moreover, in the entire tribes around the Bulgan River, there were no more than 100 armored warriors.

However, at this moment, he saw that there were five or six hundred armored warriors patrolling in this powerful tribe, which shocked him. He couldn't help but wonder: "Where did this tribe come from? Tatars or Uighurs? How many batuls do they have?"

Then he kept looking at the warrior who caught him, and spoke to a man in the distance who was also wearing an iron helmet and iron armor, kneeling on one knee.

He knew in his heart that the person in front of him must be the leader of this powerful tribe.

At this moment, the leader stood up and walked towards him step by step. When he got close, he asked him questions in standard Uighur language.

He looked up in horror. Could it be that the Uighurs had returned? Would they kill him and all the men in the tribe? His body began to tremble uncontrollably.

But he had to answer, so he raised his head tremblingly and answered:
"My powerful nobleman, I am a Naiman from the Xidan tribe near the Bulgan River. I don't know how I have offended you. Please have mercy and forgive me!" After that, he kowtowed on the ground and begged for mercy.

"Oh, Naaman? How many tribes do you have? Who is your leader?"

Zhang Sheng was shocked. How could the Naiman people appear at this time? How could the Naiman people, the tribe that believed in Nestorianism and whose leader was the Naiman people ruled by Wang Han, appear now?

Shouldn't it be more than two hundred years since the time when the Condor Heroes lived?

"The Xidan tribe I belong to is relatively small, with only about 200 tents and more than 1,000 people. My leader is named Zawankad," he replied quickly.

Zhang Sheng slowly said, "Don't be afraid, I won't kill you.

Now, I hope you can answer a few questions for me honestly. "

When he heard that he would not be killed, he immediately said respectfully and happily:
"Your Excellency, please tell me everything I know!"

Zhang Sheng asked him in confusion: "Where did you Naiman people come from? Also, where did the Basimi people here and the Khitans or Khakass people who went south go?"

When the prisoner heard Zhang Sheng mention Basmil and Khitan in Uighur, an expression of extreme shock appeared on his face, and he stared at Zhang Sheng, as if he could not believe what he heard.

After a while, the prisoner took a deep breath and said to Zhang Sheng in a calm tone: "Sir, you are knowledgeable and talented!
Actually, most of us Naimans are the Basmi and Khitans you mentioned, as you said. But now we are all called Naimans, which means eight tribes!

Our ancestors followed the previous Aje Khan and went south from the mother river, the Yenisei River. After defeating the Uighurs, our ancestors migrated to Jinshan.

After that, we conquered the Basimi and Uighur people who were grazing here, and then we, the Khitans, grazed and migrated with the Basimi and Uighur people, and eight Khitan tribes were formed, calling themselves Naiman. "There was some surprise in his voice.

Zhang Sheng was also stunned at this time. So that's how it was. The Naiman people got this name after the southward migration of the Khitan people and the fusion of the Basmils and the Uighurs.

Then he asked:
"What about Kutlug Yar Khan? Where is his tribe?!"

"Khan Gutuluyaer is dead, and Ubili's great leader, Sevinchi, and the leader of the Uriankhai people of the Dubo tribe, Qizili Ouli, have betrayed the Khan.

The two tribes joined forces with Ulan Gum, the leader of the Tatars who had migrated from the east, and together they defeated the Khan's tribe and killed him. The Khan's people and livestock were either annexed by them or fled back to the Yenisei River.

The Yenisei River is the ancestral land of all the Kyrgyz people, but we Naimans don't want to go back. There are swamps and wetlands everywhere, the winters are long and cold, and we can only survive by hunting.

The current leader of the Kyrgyz in Yenisei is the Khan’s brother, Kozel Ulu, but he does not have the title of Khan and only calls himself Ulu.

Zhang Sheng understood everything and motioned Zhang Langjie to come over and said:
“You lead the scouts to change horses immediately and go to Captain Koza to deliver my order.

Let him set up a camp on the Bulgan River where Jinhan's troops will be stationed.

Don't engage in battle with the Xidan, Jiluo and Burhan tribes unless they attack you."

Zhang Langjie immediately took the order and left.

Zhang Sheng turned to look at the Naiman and continued to ask: "What is your name?"

"In reply to your words, my name is Wugunai." Zhang Sheng nodded slightly.

"Okay, Ugunai, I will let you go now. Tell your leader that I am the nephew of Kutulu Yar Khan, the Princess Asili and the Prince of Dunhuang, the special agent of the Wanhu of the Jinhan tribe, and the Son of Heaven of the Holy Religion. Tell him to come to the Bulgan River to see me as soon as possible."

Ugunai looked at Zhang Sheng in shock. From the long string of information, he only remembered that the person in front of him was the nephew of Kutlug Yar Khan.

Wugunai kowtowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you for not killing me, sir. I will definitely pass the message to the leader."

Zhang Sheng waved his hand, "Go ahead."

Wugunai left in a hurry as if he had been pardoned. Zhang Sheng looked at his back, thinking about something.

He knew that the road ahead might not be peaceful, but he was not afraid.

The Jinhan tribe has gone through untold hardships to reach this golden land, and they are determined to gain a foothold here.

Even if the main force of the Khitan people withdrew from Jinshan and returned to the Yenisei River, he would still stay in Jinshan. At this time, the Mid-Autumn Festival had passed and winter was about to come. He could only make other plans when the grass turned green again next year.

Continuing the migration without any gain would inevitably cause Jin Han to suffer heavy losses.

(End of this chapter)