The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 175 The Decisive Battle: Artillery Unleashed, the Naiman Army Sheds a River of Blood.

Li Xiao kept muttering about Tiezi, planning to take advantage of this eastern expedition to turn Tiezi into scrap metal.

However, Li Xiao did not expect that Temujin was now in trouble and had no energy to participate in the Naiman War.

At the camp of Jamukha on the banks of the Ergun River, horses neighed and dust billowed.

Jamukha, dressed in a black sable cloak with a gleaming scimitar hanging at his waist, stood outside the tent, his gaze sweeping across the distance like that of a hawk.

At this time, the leaders of various tribes arrived one after another, and the soldiers they brought set up camp around the tents. For a time, the grassland was filled with tents, and the atmosphere was tense.

The remnant leader of the Tatar tribe, Mieguzhen, arrived riding a chestnut horse and was the first to enter the camp.

His face was full of scars, and his eyes were filled with resentment: "Brother Jamukha, that scoundrel Temujin destroyed my Tatar tribe. If I don't avenge this, I swear I will not be a man."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Taichiwu tribe members also sneered, "Temujin's power is growing stronger. If we don't eliminate him soon, he will become a great threat. Let's unite and make him know what's what."

Not long ago, the Taichiwu tribe was destroyed by Temujin, its leader Talihutai was killed, and most of its members returned to the Qiyan tribe.

But Talihutai's son escaped with some of his soldiers.

They arrived at Jamukha's army, preparing to unite with many tribal leaders to eliminate Temujin and avenge the Taichiwu tribe.

Toghtoa of the Merkit tribe echoed, "Temujin is allied with the Jin Dynasty and is attempting to dominate the grasslands."

"How could we be afraid of him? With this alliance, we will surely uproot him completely."

Jamukha listened to everyone's words and a faint smile appeared on his face.

He and Temujin were sworn brothers, and he had helped Temujin when he was at his lowest point.

When Temujin's wife was abducted by the Merkits, he himself led men to help him retrieve her.

But how did Temujin treat himself?
He took advantage of his trust to steal his followers and even shot his own younger brother.

Jamukha and Temujin are no longer the same pair of sworn brothers they once were.

Moreover, there is only one king of the grasslands.

Over the years, with the protection of Wang Khan, Temujin's Qiyan tribe has grown stronger and stronger, and has become one of the strongest forces in the eastern grasslands.

Jamukha was the leader of the Zandalan tribe, and Temujin's power directly threatened the safety of the Zandalan tribe.

Therefore, Jamukha united the people and prepared to destroy Temujin.

"Gentlemen, we are now united in our hatred of the enemy. As long as we work together, Temujin will surely be defeated!"

“I have found out that Temujin is stationed in the vicinity of the Shilianzhen River.”

"Let's combine our forces and launch a swift attack to catch them off guard."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and a chorus of approval rang out from inside the tent.

Subsequently, Jamukha made detailed arrangements for the other generals, including tasks such as reconnaissance, defense, and logistics.

After everything was arranged, he stepped out of the tent, looked at the gloomy sky in the distance, and secretly vowed in his heart: "Temujin, the contest between you and me has only just begun."

The Battle of Koyitian broke out, with Jamukha leading a coalition of nine tribes to attack Temujin's tribe.

Temujin hastily responded to the attack, and then sent people to unite with the Kereit tribe.

They persuaded Wang Han of the principle that if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold, and Wang Han was eventually convinced.

He believed that Temujin should not be allowed to be defeated by Jamukha's coalition, but he was also reluctant to give up the opportunity to retaliate against the Naiman tribe.

Therefore, Wang Han decided to stay in the Kereit tribe and send his son Sangkun to lead an army to the Naiman tribe.

Don't rush into action; act according to the situation.

If the Naiman tribe wins, continue to hold back and guard against a surprise attack from the Naiman tribe.

If the Naiman tribe is defeated, take this opportunity to attack and seize the Naiman tribe's land and people from the Jinzhou army.

But if both sides suffer heavy losses, hehe~
Wang Khan would directly abandon Temujin, lead the Kereit army westward, forcefully annex the Naiman tribe, and even want to visit the Liao Kingdom's Jinzhou.

At this moment, Li Xiao was completely unaware of the war in the eastern grasslands, and it was just a pity that he couldn't see Tiezi.

How he longed to chop off Tiezi's head with his own hands!
Meanwhile, facing the overwhelming Jinzhou army, the two brothers, Tayang Khan and Buyiluk Khan, once again joined forces.

"Bai Buhua, you've gotten even fatter since I last saw you all winter."

"He's almost turned into a fat pig."

From a distance, Buyirukha Khan, riding on his horse, began to mock Tayang Khan.

Upon hearing this, Bai Buhua's face instantly darkened, and he gritted his teeth and shouted, "Damn bastard!"

Every time we meet, the first thing Toqto'a Bolor says is to mock his own weight.

He even said that he could no longer ride a warhorse and should relinquish the throne of the Sun Khan as soon as possible.

"Toghto Bolor, don't be so smug. No matter what, I am the rightful Khan of the Sun."

"What is there to boast about in the Khanate you seized by despicable means?"

The two brothers would bicker as soon as they met, but in reality, they had a love-hate relationship.

This is entirely the behavior of Yan Yuqiang, the brother.

"Hmph, Bai Buhua, don't think I've forgiven you."

"I just don't want the century-old foundation of my Naiman tribe to be destroyed in our generation," Buyiruhei Khan said with a snort.

Sun Khan's expression softened, and he said in a deep voice, "Yes, no matter how much we fight for power, we are still brothers."

"But the people of Jinzhou are going to wipe out our Naiman."

Bu Yilu Heihan sneered, "I heard that Xiao Simo was seriously injured and has been holed up in Ye Mili without coming out. I didn't expect that he would send a greenhorn like him."

Upon hearing this, Tayang Khan frowned slightly and said, "Toghto Bolor, don't let your guard down."

"This time, the Jinzhou people came with great force and have already wiped out more than a dozen tribes. They are not easy to deal with."

The two then discussed their battle plan.

The counter-espionage plan is definitely not going to work. Although Li Xiao, the governor of Jinzhou, is a young upstart, he is not stupid.

Xiao Simo has already been fooled once, so Li Xiao will definitely not trust Tuotuo Boluo again.

Therefore, the two brothers had no choice but to fight head-on.

In large-scale military operations like this, every move you make may be under the enemy's surveillance, leaving little room for clever strategies.

Ultimately, we must rely on solid, undeniable strength.

After saying this, Buyiruq Khan thought of Jamukha's envoy.

“Those people in the eastern part of the grasslands are getting restless again.”

"Not long ago, Jamukha sent someone to contact me, preparing to deal with the Qiyan tribe together."

Upon hearing this, Tayang Khan's face immediately showed a disdainful expression: "Zhamukha of the Zandalan tribe?"

"Isn't the leader of the Qiyan tribe named Temujin?"

"Hmph, a bunch of stinking barbarians."

Although they lived on the same grasslands, the Naiman people considered themselves descendants of the Turks and looked down on the tribes in the east.

Even the Kereit tribe was, in the eyes of the Naiman, nothing more than a relatively powerful but lowly race.

They are not as noble as the Naiman people.

“His name is Temujin, a very capable young man, Wang Khan’s adopted son,” Buyulukhai Khan nodded and said.

"I had already been persuaded by Jamukha and was preparing to lead my army to the east."

"I didn't expect the people from Jinzhou to come looking for trouble~"

Historically, the northern Naiman army of Buyirukhan also participated in the Battle of Koytien.

After his defeat, he was also the one who suffered the most from Temujin's pursuit.

If it weren't for Tayang Khan sending troops to support him in time, Buyiruq Khan might have been captured by Temujin back then.

Now, Li Xiao has indirectly helped Temujin by restraining Buyirukhan and relieving his stress.

However, on the other hand, the Kereit army did not commit the majority of its troops to the eastern front as it had historically done.

Instead, they reserved some to deal with the Naiman people.

Therefore, Temujin's situation was not much better than in history.

"Let those barbarians fight it out themselves. It would be best if they were all wiped out, then the grasslands would be peaceful," said Sun Khan with a look of disdain.

Subsequently, the troops of the two brothers, Taeyang Khan and Taeyang Khan, joined forces to prepare to repel the attack of the Jinzhou army.

Among them, Tayang Khan's army numbered about 20,000, and Buyiluk Khan's army numbered nearly 15,000.

Faced with the overwhelming Jinzhou army, the two brothers mobilized all their forces and went all out.

……

The sounds of killing ceased amidst the rolling hills of Mount Ulanhuhe.

Just now, scouts from the Jinzhou Army and the Naiman Army had a small-scale skirmish here.

The Jinzhou army was fully armed, wearing thick cotton armor and carrying powerful bows and long spears.

In close combat, the Naiman's spears posed little threat to their cotton armor, while the hook-and-sickle spears forged from Hexi steel easily pierced through their leather armor.

In just a few short exchanges, eight of the ten Naiman men were killed.

Seeing this, the remaining two turned and ran away in terror.

But as several arrows were shot out, both of them fell off their horses.

"Cut off their heads and count them as battle merits. Search them carefully for anything valuable, and take all their warhorses away," the scout ordered.

Scouts are the most dangerous unit; the reward for killing an enemy scout is twice that of a regular soldier.

Therefore, the heads of these Naiman scouts are very valuable.

Soon, the results of the scouts' reconnaissance were presented to Li Xiao.

“The fact that our scouts are encountering the enemy more and more frequently indicates that the main force of the Naiman is very close to us,” Da Hu said in a deep voice.

"Unfortunately, we were unable to ascertain the exact strength of the Naiman's forces," Erhu said.

Li Xiao shook his head slightly: "It's only about thirty or forty thousand people."

"Even if they all come, my Jinzhou army doesn't care."

After all, Li Xiao has brought artillery with him this time, which will definitely give the Naiman people a surprise.

"Let's not wait any longer, let's prepare for the final battle!" Li Xiao said.

Ideally, the Naiman tribe should be wiped out in one decisive battle.

……

Three days later, the main force of the Jinzhou army met the main force of the Naiman army in a river valley plain.

Contrary to expectations, the meeting didn't end in a fight; instead, both sides were making final preparations.

The Jinzhou army was located to the west, while the Naiman army was located to the east. It was noon, but the wind was howling and the weather was still very cold. Most of the Naiman soldiers were wearing sheepskin coats, their faces were purplish-red from the cold, and their hands and faces were covered with frostbite.

Even the lowest of the low, those of low status, were only wearing thin, tattered sheepskins, shivering in the cold wind.

But Taeyang Khan was completely indifferent to the feelings of the lower-ranking soldiers, and couldn't even see them.

At this moment, he was sitting on a luxurious chariot, standing on tiptoe and looking at the Jinzhou army opposite him.

"Why are those barbarians from the northern frontier wearing such brightly colored clothes?"

"There are red ones, yellow ones, and white ones?" Sun Sweat asked, frowning.

He then sneered disdainfully, "These people from Jinzhou, are they here to put on a show?"

The apparent mockery was merely a means to boost morale; in reality, Taeyang Khan had elevated the importance of the Jinzhou army to the highest level.

According to the information brought back by scouts during this period, the Jinzhou army is very strong.

In scout engagements, the Naiman rarely gain the upper hand unless they have a numerical advantage.

"I hope the northern barbarians are only good at scouting," Sun Khan thought to himself.

Then, I looked up at the sun again. It was noon, and the sun was directly south.

However, this time was very unfavorable for the Naiman army.

Because if the delay extends into the afternoon, the Naiman army will be facing the direction of the sun, which will greatly affect their combat effectiveness.

So Tayang Khan immediately ordered, "Order General Komdor to attack!"

On the other hand, the Jinzhou army was basically arranged into three parts according to the military towns.

The first garrison personally led by Li Xiao was the central army, flanked by the other two garrisons on the left and right.

In the very center of the army, amidst a vast yellow sea, Li Xiao stood on a high slope, his horse at the foot of the hill.

Compared to the yellow cotton armor of ordinary soldiers, his cotton armor had a red strip of cloth wrapped around the seams at the edges, and the chest and shoulders were also embroidered with his unique pattern as the Grand Commander of Jinzhou.

The edges of the yellow-tasseled helmet were also carved with patterns of the sun, moon, mountains, and rivers, which were very exquisite.

In this way, Li Xiao wouldn't stand out in the vast army, but he would still be easily recognizable to ordinary soldiers.

"The number of Naiman troops seems a bit small."

Li Xiao held a telescope, observing the opposing army, and muttered to himself.

"The combined armies of Tayang Khan and Buyiluk Khan only number 25,000?"

Having fought so many battles, Li Xiao could roughly estimate the enemy's numbers at a glance.

He immediately ordered, "Send out scouts to expand the search area to at least thirty li behind our lines."

"As ordered!"

Li Xiao could roughly guess what kind of schemes and tricks the Naiman people were planning.

It's nothing more than ambushes and sneak attacks from behind.

However, Li Xiao was already prepared.

"Sun sweat?"

"I'll eat you up first."

Li Xiao held a telescope and looked at the chariot in the Naiman army.

You can vaguely see what Baibuhua is doing, but unfortunately you can't see his facial expression.

Just then, a deep horn sounded across the grassland.

"Woooooooo~"

"The Naiman people have attacked."

Through the telescope, Li Xiao saw that as the horn sounded, the soldiers at the forefront of the Naiman army began to urge their warhorses forward.

"Armored cavalry!"

The first wave of attacks consisted of armored cavalry from the Naiman, numbering approximately eight hundred.

That's already a lot.

After all, Xiao Simo's Hupu camp only had a thousand members.

Eight hundred Naiman heavy cavalrymen began their march, their speed increasing rapidly, raising clouds of dust behind them, like a moving city wall, as they surged towards the Jinzhou army.

"Boom boom boom~"

A deep rumble echoed across the land, making the soil tremble beneath their feet, and some of the warhorses in the Jinzhou army began to wheeze restlessly.

Li Xiao then said, "Send the order to the Shenji Battalion to prepare."

More than twenty cannons have been cast in Jinzhou, which are essentially upgraded versions of the ancient red-coated cannons.

Li Xiao selected a group of young soldiers and taught them how to fire artillery.

Furthermore, a separate unit was established within the Jinzhou army, named the 'Shenji Battalion'.

It was directly commanded by Li Xiao.

At this moment, twenty cannons had already been moved to the forefront of the Jinzhou army.

They were lined up in a row, several dozen meters apart.

After receiving Li Xiao's order, Liu Zhong, a centurion of the Shenji Battalion, held a command flag high and shouted, "Prepare the artillery positions!"

At that moment, all the artillerymen became extremely tense, their palms sweating profusely.

Although they had practiced extensively around the horse farm, this was their first real live-fire exercise on the battlefield.

Moreover, they were at the very front of the army.

Faced with the overwhelming and terrifying momentum of the Naiman heavy cavalry, who wouldn't feel nervous?

If the Naiman cavalry charged over, these artillerymen would definitely be the first to die in battle.

The waiting time was always long, until the Naiman heavy cavalry charged into the range of the cannons.

Liu Zhong, the centurion of the Divine Machine Battalion, slammed his command flag down and shouted:
"Launch!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the artillerymen lit the cannons. A few seconds later, the twenty cannons roared deafeningly, and flames shot out from the muzzles like giant dragons.

"Boom boom boom~"

"Boom boom boom~"

The continuous roar was terrifying, as if the sky were collapsing and the earth was splitting apart. All that could be seen were streaks of flame spewing from the cannons, like the most dazzling fireworks of this era.

The world was silent except for the terrifying roar of cannons.

The earth trembled violently as cannonballs, carrying the scent of death, crashed into the Naiman heavy cavalry formation like meteorites.
The Naiman cavalry at the forefront were directly hit by the cannonballs. The men and their horses were instantly blown away by the shockwave, and fragments of limbs and horse bones flew everywhere, creating gaps in the cavalry formation filled with blood mist.

Immediately afterwards, more shells fell, some hitting the ground and rolling forward, instantly breaking the legs of warhorses.

Even worse, many were directly hit, and both the people and their horses were reduced to pieces.

In an instant, the Naiman cavalry at the forefront were thrown about, their cries of pain and terror rising and falling.

"what happened?"

"Damn it, what is that sound?"

“Ahara, it is Ahara who is angry.”

“Ahala is blaming us for fighting the Golden State people.”

The Naiman cavalrymen screamed in terror, and the soldiers at the forefront of the charge came to an abrupt halt, thrown into chaos.

The cavalry behind were also thrown into disarray by the sudden attack. The frightened warhorses neighed and reared up, throwing their riders off the ground.

Even worse, the warhorses, startled, went berserk and ran wildly, crashing into the corpses of fallen heavy cavalrymen in front of them, causing another wave of chaos and disarray.

At this moment, the cavalry formation was like a sand dune blown about by a strong wind, falling into chaos.

Standing on high ground, Li Xiao saw this scene through his binoculars and a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"The effect is pretty good."

Meanwhile, the Golden State Army soldiers around them were equally shocked.

"My God, is this the power of artillery?"

"The Naiman heavy cavalry simply cannot charge forward."

"How can it shoot that far? Even a crossbow couldn't reach that far."

"Excellent! With these cannons, who can stand against our Jinzhou army?"

The soldiers in Golden State were overjoyed.

They had known about the existence of the Divine Machine Battalion for a long time.

I also saw these twenty cannons, but I didn't quite understand why we went to such great lengths to transport them from Jinzhou.

Now they understand.

It turns out that the power of artillery is terrifying.

They can rout the enemy from a kilometer away, or even leave them with no trace of their bodies.

Compared to the Jinzhou army's surprise, the Naiman people on the other side were completely terrified.

The moment the cannons fired, Taeyang Khan stood up from his chariot, his shocked gaze fixed on the front lines.

Immediately afterwards, the Naiman heavy cavalrymen were seen falling over and their horses were thrown into chaos.

Sun Sweat's face was blank; he couldn't believe what he was seeing and kept muttering to himself.

"how is this possible?"

"Why is this happening?"

"What on earth is that?"

As the Naiman Sun Khan, he had some understanding of gunpowder, but the limitations of his time made it impossible for him to connect gunpowder with the horrific scene before him.

The scene before him was completely beyond Tayang Khan's poor comprehension, and his first thought was that Ahala was angry.

At that moment, the Shenji Battalion's artillery was loaded and began the second round of bombardment.

"emission"

Liu Chong shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice ringing out loudly amidst the roar of cannons and the shouts of battle.

Compared to the tension of the first time, the artillerymen who fired the second shell appeared much more composed.

They witnessed the destructive power of artillery, and their fear of facing the Naiman heavy cavalry dissipated considerably.

They knew that all they had to do was keep loading shells and firing them.

The Naiman cavalry will surely suffer a bloodbath.

(End of this chapter)