The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 357 The Broken Wings of the Khanate, the Devilish White-Armored Soldiers
Inside the temporary royal tent of Ferghana, a high-level military conference of the Liao Dynasty was underway.

The candlelight flickered as Yelü Zhilugu sat in the main seat, his brow furrowed as he listened to the generals' plans.

He was a politically astute individual skilled in intrigue, and while he had some knowledge of military affairs, he was far from being an expert.

With the nation in peril, he dared not give rash orders and could only turn his attention to Tayanggu and the veteran general Yelü Xiuduo beside him.

"Your Majesty, in my humble opinion, the decisive battle should be held at Chaqi." Yelü Xiuduo stood up, leaning on his cane, and pointed heavily at the map with his finger.

"Chachi is high in the south and low in the north. If the Northern Frontier Army comes from the north, our army can take advantage of the terrain to be on the high ground, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack."

"Two hundred li south of Qiachqi lies the entrance to the Ferghana Grassland."

"The grassland is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with only a hundred-mile-wide passage on the west side. Once we lose Chaqi, our army will be blocked by the Northern Xinjiang army in the Ferghana Basin, unable to escape."

Tayanggu shook his head and retorted, "General Yelü is mistaken."

"The 20,000 troops of Bahushadi are still being pursued by the Northern Frontier Army in Talas. If we hold Chaqi to the death, the Bahushadi tribe may not be able to hold out."

"It would be better to send elite troops to reinforce Taras, and coordinate with Bahushadi to encircle and annihilate the Northern Frontier Army in Taras."

He paused, a ruthless glint in his eyes: "Although the people of the Northern Frontier are fierce, our army has the advantage in numbers."

“There are plenty of Ghurs and Persians. Even if we have to exchange three or ten of their lives for one soldier from the northern frontier, we'll still be making a profit.”

"If the Gur people are gone, we can just go south and catch them again."

After saying this, Tayanggu said heavily, "Your Majesty, I request permission to lead 50,000 troops to aid Talas. We will surely be able to join forces with Bahushadi and annihilate that Northern Frontier Army."

No sooner had he finished speaking than hurried footsteps sounded outside the tent, and a scout stumbled in, his face pale: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened."

"Your Majesty! Taras..."

"The defeated soldiers of Taras have appeared, along with General Bahushadi's army..."

"I'm afraid we can't hold out."

"what?"

Chaos erupted instantly inside the royal tent. Yelü Zhilugu slammed his fist on the table and stood up abruptly, his face ashen: "Just as we were about to launch a coordinated attack from within and without, his army was defeated?"

"Bring in the defeated soldiers! I want to question them myself."

A moment later, several ragged and wounded soldiers were brought into the tent.

Upon seeing Yelü Zhilugu, he immediately knelt down with a thud, wailing with a mournful face: "Your Majesty, the people of the Northern Frontier are too powerful, too fierce."

"We have the advantage of terrain, but they are completely unconcerned about casualties. As soon as the men in front fall, the men behind immediately take their place, as if they don't care about their lives!"

"There's only one commander in the Northern Frontier Army, less than five thousand men!"

"Even with 20,000 men, we simply couldn't stop them."

Another defeated soldier added, choking back tears: "Those Gur soldiers were even more useless. They ran away as soon as they saw the northern people charging at us. No matter how good our Khitan soldiers are, they can't withstand being surrounded on three sides!"

The royal tent was deathly silent, and the generals' faces were filled with shock.

The Northern Frontier Army is still as formidable as it was six years ago, or even stronger.
Five thousand men defeated twenty thousand?

Yelü Zhilugu trembled with rage, pointing at the routed soldiers and shouting, "Gur people!"

"It's that bunch of boastful good-for-nothings again."

"They boast a lot in peacetime, but when it comes to the battlefield, they're not even as good as pigs."

He then asked, "How many soldiers are left in Bahushadi's army?"

The routed soldiers were not sure either, because when Bahushadi sent them to request reinforcements, the army was still in a state of chaos and was hurriedly departing from the Taras caravan.

He could only hesitate slightly, looking uncertain, before saying, "About, about ten thousand people?"

Tayangu also deflated, unable to utter another word about sending reinforcements.

We know the character of these defeated soldiers; in reality, it would be good if five thousand of them managed to escape.

However, he believed that Bahushadi was not a fool and would definitely leave the Gur and Persians behind to cover their retreat, while those who led the escaped would be the elite of the Khitan and Turks.

Yelü Xiuduo sighed and advised again, "Your Majesty, now that things have come to this, we can only follow my previous plan and defend Chaqi to the death, otherwise our army will have no room for maneuver."

Yelü Zhilugu gritted his teeth and nodded, saying, "Alright, we'll do as the old general says and defend Chaqi to the death."

"But the current forces are insufficient. Where are the reinforcements from the Western Karakhanid Khanate and Khwarazm?"

"The army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate has reached Seram, and the army of Khwarazm is also approaching Transoxiana," Yelü Xiuduo hurriedly replied.

"Issue my decree, ordering them to hurry to Chaqi immediately. If they dare to delay, I will not let them off lightly," Yelü Zhilugu said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing this, Wu Yanbansu, the Vice Minister of War under his command, had a slight twitch in his eyes and quietly clenched his hands at his sides, but dared not say anything more.

Just then, another scout rushed in, his voice trembling: "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The army of the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate..."

"They appeared in Ejigan. They...they seem to be helping the Northern Frontier Army and are heading towards Bahan."

"Eastern Karakhanid Khanate?"

Yelü Zhilugu was so angry he almost fainted, pointing outside the tent and cursing, "These dogs!"

"Over the years, if it weren't for the protection of my Great Liao, they would have been wiped out long ago. Now they dare to help the Northern Frontier Army fight against me?"

"I will definitely destroy them!"

After the anger comes a deep sense of powerlessness.

The Fergana Valley is surrounded by mountains on three sides, with plains to the west and lower mountains to the east, which can accommodate large armies.

If the Liao army all went to Chaqi, Ferghana might be attacked by the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate.

Therefore, it was necessary to detach a portion of the army to resist the Eastern Karakhanid army located in Ejigan.

However, once the troops are divided, Chaqi's defenses will be weakened.

"Damn it, they're a bunch of ungrateful wretches."

Yelü Zhilugu clutched his chest, feeling a wave of dizziness.

With the Northern Frontier Army pressing in from the front and the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate stabbing him in the back from behind, and reinforcements failing to arrive, was his Great Liao Dynasty truly doomed?
The atmosphere inside the royal tent instantly plummeted to freezing point.

……

Hundreds of miles away, in the main camp of the Qin army, the tents stretched for miles, like mountains across the grassland, and the golden sun and moon battle flags fluttered in the wind, symbolizing the royal power of the Qin Kingdom.

Inside the golden tent, Li Xiao was holding a geomantic map, his fingertips lightly sliding across place names such as "Chachi" and "Sailan".

Next to the map were dozens of secret letters, some from Wu Yanbansu, the Vice Minister of War of the Liao Dynasty, and others secretly sent out by generals in the Liao army.

Every step of the Liao army's deployment was already clearly presented to Li Xiao.

"Is the army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate about to reach Seram?"

Li Xiao looked up at the generals under his command with a cold expression.

"The Western and Eastern Karakhanid Khanates were originally from the same source. If it weren't for the Liao Dynasty's interference, the Western Karakhanid Khanate would have been annexed by the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate long ago."

"Now one is clinging to the Liao Kingdom's coattails, and the other is following us; it's quite interesting."

He slammed his finger heavily on the word "Selan" on the map, a sharp glint in his eyes, and shouted in a deep voice.

"Order the Third Division to immediately turn towards Seran and wipe out this force before the Western Karakhanid Khanate's reinforcements join the Liao army."

"Order!"

The general accepted the order and left, while Li Xiao's gaze swept across the Northern Frontier Army's marching route on the map.

The First Division's main force advanced from the center, the Fifth Division swept through the remaining enemy forces along the foothills of the Tianshan Mountains on the left, and the Third Division protected the flanks on the right.

The three armies are deployed in a triangular formation and are steadily sweeping through the heart of Central Asia.

Seran's marching route was right next to the Third Town, making it an easy target for Li Dongshan's troops.

Once the Western Karakhanid Khanate and Khwarazm are eliminated, Yelü Zhilugu's army will be isolated and helpless.

Meanwhile, in the desert on the south bank of the Syr Darya River within Seram, a vanguard cavalry unit of the Western Karakhanid Khanate was slowly marching under the scorching sun.

The atmosphere was oppressive and heavy, because they were the vanguard cavalry of the troops supporting the Liao Kingdom, about to face the most brutal war, and fighting for the Liao Kingdom. No one was in a good mood.

"Black Wind Valley is just ahead. Once we cross the valley entrance, we'll reach Seran City," the cavalry general shouted, reining in his horse and pointing to a narrow valley ahead.

This place is much more desolate than Qihe and Ferghana. The once rich Central Asia region has been reduced to vast stretches of Gobi Desert and scattered valleys due to intensified desertification.

Therefore, water became extremely important. Within a radius of dozens of miles, only the water source in this valley could provide drinking water for the army.

But just then, a scout rushed in with a panicked report: "General, a large number of corpses have been found in the valley, they look like merchants from our Khanate."

The general's face darkened, and he immediately ordered the entire army to halt and sent two soldiers on horseback into the valley to investigate.

The two cautiously entered the valley, and the sight before them made them gasp in shock.

"Sigh~"

"All dead?"

The ground was littered with corpses dressed in the attire of the Western Karakhanid Khanate, and the sand was soaked with blood. The ground was covered with camel footprints and cart tracks, but there was not a single camel or carriage in sight.

Clearly, the goods had already been looted.

"It was the bandits who did it. The body is completely cold; it's been dead for at least a day." A soldier dismounted and shouted after examining the body.

When the news reached them, the cavalry commander of the Western Karakhanid Khanate was furious: "These audacious bandits dare to attack our Khanate's caravans!"

When the Liao Dynasty went to war with the northern frontier, merchants from the Western Karakhanid Khanate took the opportunity to sell grain, pig iron, and other supplies to the Liao Dynasty at high prices, making a fortune.

But faced with such huge profits, the bandits naturally couldn't resist and decided to target these fat sheep caravans.

"Go into the valley and see if there are any survivors."

At the general's command, hundreds of Xikara cavalrymen slowly entered Black Wind Valley.

Seeing the corpses of their compatriots scattered everywhere, the soldiers were filled with rage. They drew their scimitars and searched for any trace of the bandits.

The general's gaze swept over the corpses, and he suddenly noticed a female corpse not far away.

She was wearing a brightly colored silk dress, with a slender figure, lying on the ground, with bloodstains beneath her.

A thought struck him, and he dismounted, stepping forward to turn the man over so he could see his face.

But just as he reached out, the "woman" suddenly opened her eyes, a flash of cold light appeared in her hand, and a short knife slashed fiercely at his neck.

"Ah~"

"Pfft!"

Blood gushed out, and the general clutched his neck, his eyes filled with disbelief.

He then realized that the other person was not a woman at all, but a short man with features of people from the eastern steppes, and was clearly not from the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

"kill!"

With a loud shout, the "corpses" that had been lying on the ground suddenly rose up, wielding short knives and hook-and-sickle spears, and charged toward the West Kara cavalry.

Some slashed at the horses' legs, while others jumped onto the saddles, pulling the cavalrymen off their horses and repeatedly stabbing them in the chest with short swords.

"We've been tricked; it's an ambush."

The Xikara cavalrymen screamed in terror and hastily swung their swords to fight back, but the valley was narrow and the cavalrymen could not maneuver properly and could only passively take the beating.

"Kill~"

Just then, deafening shouts of battle erupted from both sides of the valley.

"Boom boom boom~"

Hundreds of northern cavalrymen clad in white armor charged out like two long dragons, their horses galloping and dust billowing in the air. They held bows and arrows, raining down arrows on the western cavalry.

"Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!"

The roars of the Northern Frontier cavalry were wild and untamed. They charged forward on horseback, and with each slash of their sabers, more and more Western Kara cavalrymen fell.

"We've fallen for their trap! Run!"

"Ah~" "Damn it, hurry back and report to the General."

Soldiers of the Western Karakhanid Khanate fell one after another, blood splattering everywhere, screams echoing incessantly.

The remaining soldiers cried and screamed as they retreated toward the valley entrance, but unexpectedly an iron chain suddenly appeared on the ground, tripping the warhorses' front hooves.

"hiss~"

The warhorses neighed and fell to the ground, the cavalrymen were thrown off balance and were instantly surrounded and killed by the northern border soldiers.

The battle was over in less than fifteen minutes.

Inside Black Wind Valley, the vanguard cavalry of the Western Karakhanid Khanate was almost completely wiped out, with only a few prisoners being escorted by soldiers from the northern frontier.

A centurion from the northern frontier wiped the blood off his saber, looked towards the valley entrance, and smiled.

"Hahaha~"

"I thought these soldiers from the Western Karakhanid Khanate would be troublesome, but I didn't expect them to be so brainless."

"So weak~"

A force of one hundred households, or two hundred cavalrymen, surrounded and annihilated four hundred cavalrymen from the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

This was a resounding and exhilarating victory.

However, the main force of the Western Karakhanid Khanate's reinforcements was still behind them; this was just an appetizer, and the real battle was yet to come.

At the same time, Zhao Dadao, the commander of the Third Town, was leading five thousand cavalrymen, rushing towards Seran like an iron torrent.

Upon receiving the report of the successful ambush, he was overjoyed and slammed his fist into the saddle: "Good! Well done!"

This was the first clash between the Qin army and the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

Previously, the strength of the Central Asian country's army was unclear, but this small-scale engagement has finally given us a rough idea of ​​its capabilities.

He immediately issued a notice to the entire army, commending the vanguard soldiers, and at the same time sternly ordered: "Accelerate the advance, take advantage of the chaos of the Xikara people to crush their main force in one fell swoop, and do not let them get a single step closer to Chachi."

A fire burned in Zhao Dadao's heart, driven by an urgent desire to make a name for himself.

The first, second, fourth, and sixth divisions of the Eastern Expedition swept through the battlefields of the Xia and Jin states, capturing countless spoils.

The soldiers amassed huge sums of loot, while the generals were promoted or transferred to important positions, their futures bright.

In contrast, the Third and Fifth Towns, which remained on the western front, were practically treated like stepchildren.

Having been confined to the lands of Qihe and Yinshan for a long time, although there were occasional skirmishes, they were only minor skirmishes and it was difficult to accumulate enough military merits.

Seeing his fellow soldiers from the Eastern Front who enlisted at the same time being promoted to commanders of thousands and tens of thousands, while he was still stuck in the position of deputy commander or even centurion.

The soldiers under his command inevitably harbored resentment, and their morale urgently needed to be boosted.

"Destroy the army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate and make these ignorant and meddlesome fools realize the reality."

Zhao Dadao gritted his teeth, thinking that this would be a crucial battle for him and the Third Town to prove themselves.

Meanwhile, in the main camp of the Western Karakhanid Khanate, the commander-in-chief Arslan received the devastating news that his vanguard cavalry had been completely annihilated, and he was so shocked that he dropped his riding whip to the ground.

"What? Four hundred elite cavalrymen were wiped out by two hundred Northern Frontier soldiers? How is that possible?" He muttered to himself, his face ashen.

He had heard in his early years that a rebellion had broken out in the northern border of the Liao Kingdom, with Xiao Simo, the Grand Prince of the Six Courts, vying for the throne with Yelü Zhilugu. The northern border army was powerful and had caused the Liao army a lot of trouble.

After Xiao Simo died, his brother-in-law Li Xiao, a Han Chinese, took up the banner of rebellion and managed to make the Northern Frontier Army even stronger.

However, the Western Karakhanid Khanate was far from the northern border.

These sultans and generals of the Western Karakhanid Khanate never truly cared about the northern frontier, believing it to be too far away for them to encounter.

Unexpectedly, in their first encounter, he was stunned by a sudden blow from the opponent.

"Two hundred men against four hundred, all wiped out... Is the Northern Frontier Army really this ferocious?"

Arslan felt a surge of fear and doubt: "Such terrifying fighting power, can my 10,000 troops really withstand it?"

"Can the Liao Kingdom really deal with them?"

Yelü Zhilugu promised the Western Karakhanid Khanate great rewards to persuade them to send troops, but all of this was based on the premise that they could win.

Arslan dared not imagine the consequences of defeat, and a fear of war began to spread.

However, Zhao Dadao would never give him time to hesitate.

He desperately needed the heads of the West Kara people to pave his way to promotion.

Just as Arslan was caught in a dilemma, a cloud of dust rose on the horizon, obscuring the sky; the main force of the Qin army had arrived.

"Boom boom boom~"

White sun and moon battle banners fluttered in the wind as Qin cavalrymen, clad in uniform white cloth armor, surged forward like a tide.

Its surging momentum carries a sense of boldness and fierceness, while a chilling aura washes over you.

"Ho ho ho ho~"

"Kill~"

Upon witnessing such a savage and ferocious scene, a commotion arose within the West Kara army ranks. The soldiers, their faces filled with fear, whispered among themselves, "Allah, these devils from the northern frontier have arrived."

"Many soldiers in white armor."

"I heard from the Liao people that these white-armored soldiers are very powerful."

Arslan, trying to remain calm, shouted at those maintaining order: "Don't panic! Form ranks and prepare to meet the enemy!"

To be on the safe side, he first sent an envoy to the Qin army's front lines to negotiate.

The envoy approached Zhao Dadao's horse with trepidation and explained his purpose: "Honorable General, we are not begging for surrender, but rather proposing a ceasefire."

"We did not intend to be enemies with your country, but we were coerced by the Liao emperor and had no choice but to do so."

"Perhaps we don't have to fight to the death. We can fight a 'tacit battle,' confronting each other here without actually fighting."

"Once the main battlefield in Liao territory is decided, if the Liao army is defeated, we will withdraw our troops. This will avoid unnecessary casualties and achieve the best of both worlds..."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Dadao scoffed and interrupted dismissively, "Hmph, a tacit agreement?"

"Dream on! Go back and tell your general to wash his neck and prepare to die!"

In his view, these Western Karakhanid Khanate troops were like lambs on his chopping block; how could he let them go so easily?

The messenger returned in a sorry state.

Arslan was furious when he learned that Zhao Dadao had refused so readily: "You ungrateful bastard!"

“I was trying to give them a way out and spare their lives, but they dared to humiliate me like this.”

"Since they want to see the real deal, then let these barbarians from the northern frontier witness the true power of the Karakhan warriors."

On the vast and desolate Gobi Desert, the two armies faced each other, the atmosphere as tense as a taut bowstring.

"Knock knock knock knock~"

"Woooooooooo~"

Amidst the sounds of war drums and horns, the Western Karakhanid army, relying on traditional tactics, launched an attack by sending out light cavalry first.

Tens of thousands of light cavalrymen, clad in leather or chainmail, shouted "God is the greatest," spurred their horses, and charged toward the Qin army lines like a swarm of locusts, raising dust that blotted out the sky.

"Ho ho ho ho~"

"Kill~"

"For Allah, for God."

"Destroy these heretics."

Their tactical intention was to use the mobility of light cavalry to harass and fire, exhaust the enemy's strength, disrupt their formation, and then seize the opportunity to launch a fatal blow with heavy cavalry.

However, before the Xikara light cavalry could reach the Northern Xinjiang army, an unexpected change suddenly occurred in the Northern Xinjiang army's well-prepared formation.

The cavalry in the front row separated in perfect unison, revealing a large number of infantrymen behind them, each wielding a strange crossbow.

A Qin army commander roared and ordered, "Divine crossbows—fire!"

In an instant, a dense barrage of crossbow bolts roared out like a deadly rainstorm.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa~"

These crossbow bolts had an extremely long range and were incredibly powerful, easily penetrating the leather armor and even chainmail of the Western Kara cavalry.

"Ahhhhh~"

"The people of northern Xinjiang have released their arrows."

"Help~"

"Damn it, how can their arrows shoot this far?"

Screams rose and fell, as the cavalrymen at the front fell from their horses like harvested straw. The horses neighed and the screams of men wounded by arrows were deafening.

Those cavalrymen who had survived the initial attack were terrified and turned their horses around to flee in disarray, instantly thwarting the first offensive.

Arslan stared in disbelief from afar, his voice trembling: "What...what kind of weapon is that?"

"How could it possibly shoot that far?"

The Shenbi crossbow was developed by the Han people and was a powerful weapon specifically designed to counter cavalry with infantry. For the Western Karakhanid Khanate, which was confined to a small corner of the country, it was simply unheard of.

Before the Xikara people could recover from the crossbow bolts, a sound that chilled them to the bone rang out from the Qin army ranks.

Dozens of Tiger-shaped cannons lined both sides of the Northern Frontier Army. Although the cannon barrels were short, their dark muzzles still exuded a powerful deterrent force.

A commander shouted angrily, "Fire!"

More than forty cannons unleashed a chorus of fire: "Boom boom boom boom!"

The shells, trailing smoke, pierced the sky and exploded amidst the dense formation of the Western Kara army.

The exploding bullets fired shrapnel and nails that flew wildly, leaving blood and flesh flying everywhere, and people and horses falling over.

"Ahhhhh~"

"Help~"

"What the hell is this?"

"Puff puff puff~"

The Xikara soldiers, who had never seen cannons before, were completely thrown into chaos and panic. Many were terrified, thinking they had angered the gods, and knelt down and cried out.

“It is Allah’s punishment that we angered Allah by helping the infidel Liao Kingdom fight.”

After just a few rounds of artillery fire, the morale of the Western Karakhanid army completely collapsed, and the soldiers, ignoring their generals' reprimands, began to scatter and flee.

Seeing this, Zhao Dadao knew that the time to win had come. He drew his long sword and pointed it straight ahead: "All troops, attack! Encircle from both sides and leave no one alive!"

"Kill~"

Five thousand Qin cavalry units surged forth from both flanks like a burst dam, relentlessly pursuing and killing the already routed Xikara army.

The Gobi Desert instantly transformed into a battlefield, filled with the glint of swords and the deafening roar of battle.

The soldiers of Xikara had no fighting spirit and only cared about escaping, and were cut down and captured in large numbers.

The battle ended quickly, and the commander-in-chief, Arslan, was captured alive in the chaos and brought before Zhao Dadao's horse.

Forced to kneel on the ground, their previous arrogance vanished, replaced by boundless fear. They repeatedly kowtowed and begged for mercy: "General, spare us! General, spare us! We are willing to surrender, we are willing to surrender!"

Zhao Dadao, mounted on his horse, coldly looked at the trembling defeated generals below, a smug smile on his face.

With just one commander of ten thousand men, he annihilated the Western Karakhanid Khanate's army of ten thousand. This achievement was enough to make him proud in front of the king and throughout the entire northern frontier.

The soldiers of their Third Division were no cowards either.

(End of this chapter)