Han Khan

Chapter 77, Life-saving Straw

However, Zhang Sheng looked at the corpses and flames all over the ground, but he did not feel the slightest joy in his heart.

He knew that although the battle was won, it was only the beginning.

This huge ancient Chuwuti tribe will not be defeated easily.

At this time, the Jinhan tribe only occupied the area in the center of the Great Lakes Basin and the people of the Guchuwuti tribe.

The 6,000 troops led by Altande Xuechan were still fighting a decisive battle with the Hela tribe.

Therefore, the Jinhan tribe had to act quickly, consolidate the Great Lakes basin, build a solid camp, and make defensive preparations to deal with a possible counterattack from the angry Guchuwuti army.

Only in this way can they ensure that the fruits of their victory are consolidated.

At this time, the Jinhan Guards cavalry and slave soldiers who were chasing the enemy were rushing back from all directions. In front of them were many dejected captives. If they walked a little slower, they would be whipped severely by the Jinhan cavalry on horseback.

Even many slave soldiers controlled a large number of prisoners of war from the Guchuud tribe.

Zhang Sheng watched the returning team and thought about the next plan in his mind.

He turned around and gave orders to the six priests beside him, including Zhang Zhongxian, Zhang Jinda, and Zhang Anzuo, as well as the two guards commanders Zhang Xibao and Koza:

"Kill cattle and sheep tonight, feast the soldiers, and march tomorrow, march straight ahead!"

Now we began to quickly clean up the battlefield, treat the wounded warriors and the injured slaves, and then count the casualties.

Then let the soldiers gather the captives and take care of them first. The next day, distribute slaves to the guards in combat and promote the slave soldiers. At the same time, send a large number of scouts and light cavalry in all directions to closely monitor the movements of the Guchuwuti tribe and other surrounding tribes.

We must consolidate the defense line here as soon as possible and strengthen the protection of the Great Lakes Basin, because now the offense and defense have changed. Only by defending this place can we be the masters of this land. "

"As you command, Your Highness!"

These high-ranking officials of the Jinhan tribe hurriedly followed the order and went to do their work.

When many guards heard that they would be allocated slaves in this war, they cheered.

Some of them followed Zhang Sheng from Dunhuang, and some were slaves of the Uighurs and Sai people who were conquered halfway. After joining Jin Han, they continued to make contributions and became warriors in the guards.

They fought their way up from being slaves to becoming royal guards, and followed Zhang Sheng to Jinshan and Mobei for wealth and status.

Although the Holy Emperor of the Jinhan tribe did not receive any salary as a soldier, there was a distribution of spoils after each battle.

Even the armor they wore, the horses they rode, and the bows and swords they held were almost all captured.

Especially with armor, horses, bows and swords, there are more opportunities to make merit in tonight's battle.

I heard that not only will slaves be distributed, but after we defeat Altan Xuedechan, the chief of the Guchuti tribe, tomorrow, there will also be distribution of women and livestock.

Only by following such a powerful tribe can we always win. Otherwise, a fully armed person attacking more than a hundred people will not be able to defeat them.

At this moment, on the west side of the Kobdo River, outside the Hela tribe camp, the fighting here has become much calmer than during the day. This battle has been going on for a day, and the two sides are in a stalemate, and now neither side can do anything to the other.

Altan had a large number of cavalry under his command, as well as a large number of slave infantry.

However, the Hela tribe was in a dominant position and had excellent weapons and armor, so they did not allow the Guchuwuti tribe's army of nearly 10,000 people to attack the Hela tribe's camp.

The dense and sharp arrows caused the bodies of the slaves and war horses of the Guchuwuti tribe to pile up like mountains in the trenches and outside the fences outside the Hela tribe camp.

The two sides fought all day and night, and the Guchuwuti tribe suffered nearly hundreds of cavalrymen and about a thousand slaves killed or wounded.

The Hela tribe also lost hundreds of elite soldiers and more than a thousand slaves.

As the defending party, although the Hela tribe was also a grassland tribe and lived near water and grass, they sent out a thousand elite armored cavalrymen to rush out of the camp and fight against Altan's army.

A large number of slaves and armored soldiers were guarding the camp from a high position as infantry. Their position was indeed extremely advantageous.

There were mountains on both sides, and the passage was not very wide. The infantry of the Hela tribe on the hillside made it difficult for the Guchuwuti tribe to attack for a long time. It was already late at night, and the Guchuwuti army stopped attacking, but the Hela tribe did not relax its vigilance and continued to send light cavalry and armored soldiers to patrol the valley.

To be honest, the Hela tribe was at a disadvantage at this time because it had a small population and all the slaves were plundered from the Ubili tribe to the north of the Hela tribe.

There are only about two thousand slaves in total, and more than a thousand have died today. If the slaves suddenly rebel at this time, the Guchuwuti tribe to the east of the camp will definitely not miss the opportunity to break into the camp.

"What did you say? The camp of the Guchuwuti tribe was just occupied by an unknown tribe?"

At this time, in the camp of the Hela tribe, the leader Erkeshijin listened to the report from his scouts in shock.

Originally, he was still anxious and worried about how to resist the greedy Altan, and he even killed dozens of disobedient slaves.

He was pacing in the big tent, thinking, when he suddenly heard the scout who was investigating the situation in the camp of the Guchuwuti tribe at the foot of the mountain, running back in a hurry to report to him.

Erkeshijin, the leader of the Hela tribe, hurriedly asked his scouts:
"Are they the Mengwu Shiwei people from the Yanran Mountains in the east?"

The scout also quickly replied to the leader:
"Shijin, I don't know who those people are, but they came from the Jiluo tribe in the south and marched to the Great Lake Basin at night."

irkin: irkin is the title of tribal chief in Tiele language. Later, it was used to refer to those tribal chiefs of the Turkic Khanate who were not of Blue noble origin, that is, those Turks with different surnames. It was also the title of the tribal chief of the western Wunushibi among the ten-surname Western Turks.

Hearing this, Erke said to himself:
"It seems that the other party knew that the defense of the Guchuwuti camp was very empty at this time, so they went to attack and plunder them."

Then he asked the scout:
"How many troops did you detect on the other side?"

"A lot, about 50 thousand households.

When they raided the Guchuwuti tribe, they dispatched 4 cavalrymen and 4 infantrymen.

Moreover, all those cavalrymen were wearing iron armor, holding lances, hammers, bows and arrows, and sabers in their hands. Both their weapons and armor were extremely elite, much like the Gaochang Uighurs south of Jinshan.

Even many infantrymen have leather armor." The scout replied hastily.

"How many??"

Erke looked at the scout in shock. He couldn't imagine what the scout would say.

Four thousand armored cavalry!!!
The scouts completely exaggerated the strength of the Jinhan tribe. In the early days, the Jinhan tribe had five or six hundred sets of iron armor and five or six hundred sets of leather armor. After conquering and plundering the Kucha Uighurs and Yizhou Uighurs, they obtained almost two thousand sets of iron armor, many of which were damaged in the battle.

At this time, in the entire Jinhan tribe, there were only about 3000 guards wearing suitable chain mail and iron armor, and the rest were wearing leather armor.

Of course, tonight the Jinhan tribe defeated more than a thousand cavalrymen in the Guchuwuti tribe’s camp, and they must have been able to seize some armor.

But not all of them were iron armor. Since arriving in Jinshan, Zhang Sheng has seen that many warriors on the grassland wore iron armor. They were all lined with cotton or fur, with leather armor on the outside, and then an iron plate was tied to the chest and back with belts as a breastplate and back armor. This was the iron armor of nomads.

It’s not impossible!!!
“Now take a few more light cavalry, a box of gold and a box of mink fur, and go to the Great Lakes Basin.

Find the leader of that tribe and tell him that I am Shijin of the Hela tribe. I ask him to join the Hela tribe in attacking the Guchuwuti tribe from both sides. As long as he defeats the Guchuwuti tribe, I will be willing to submit to him. "

"As you command, wait!"

The Hela tribe was at a disadvantage in this battle, and Erke seemed to have grabbed a life-saving straw at this moment.

He hurriedly sent out scouts to the Great Lakes Basin to seek reinforcements.

But the Hela tribe did not know which force the other party was, so they could only use this condition as an exchange.

Because the Guchuwuti tribe still has more than 6,000 elite soldiers at this time, and they can fight him!
But at this time, in the camp of Altan of the Guchuwuti tribe on the east side of the valley, many tribesmen who had escaped from the camp were crying and reporting to Altan De Xuechan in the tent.

"Master Jijin, our camp at the foot of the mountain was attacked at night by an unknown tribe from the south.

The tribesmen suffered heavy casualties, and the thousand elite cavalrymen you left behind in the camp were also wiped out. At this time, the entire camp was occupied by the enemy. Lord Jijin...

(End of this chapter)