sovbooks Chapter 24 Oirat Four Scattered Pieces
Chapter 24 Oirat Four Scattered Pieces
"Hurry, hurry up! The Oirat people reached Yumen Pass yesterday and are attacking the city now. Their soldiers are waiting for us to come to their rescue."
On the shady side of a sand dune in the desert, Zhao Zhong shouted in a hoarse voice to his soldiers who were stuffing snow into water bags.
"Those Oirat bastards are really fast runners. We've been trying our best to keep up, but they've still managed to get ahead of us."
Zhao Zhong pursed his chapped lips and couldn't help but mutter something under his breath.
"Set off!"
After the soldiers tied water bags filled with snow to the horses' bellies, Zhao Zhong immediately mounted his horse and gave the order. As the sound of hooves faded into the distance, only a scene of devastation remained in the vast, flat desert.
"How far are we from Yumen Pass?" Zhao Zhong asked his personal guard, taking a small sip of the cold snow water.
"We are still more than 100 li away from Yumen Pass. At our current marching speed, we should be able to arrive tonight."
"Then tell the soldiers not to be stingy with their horses; we must reach Yumen Pass tonight."
Zhao Zhong's graying temples swayed in the cold wind, and a hint of urgency was revealed in his determined eyes.
During the journey, horses would frequently fall to the ground in the column. If the soldiers were not injured, they would immediately get up, unload their packs from the horse's back, and then take another horse.
Wounded soldiers would receive some treatment and then be strapped to horses to continue their journey.
They hurried along, and finally encountered the scouts sent by Yumen Pass before nightfall.
"How is the situation on your side now?" Zhao Zhong asked hurriedly after the scout was brought up.
"Reporting to the Commander, the Oirat people have launched a fierce attack on Yumen Pass for two consecutive days. Today they even used cannons to blast down a section of the city wall."
"At this moment, General Liu is leading his men to resist the attack of the Oirat people."
Hearing that Liu Hu and the others were in such a critical situation, Zhao Zhong couldn't help but feel nervous.
"What's the current situation? Have the Oirat people already breached the pass?"
"No, General Liu Hu led his men in a desperate resistance and held the Oirat people at the breach."
"Lead the way immediately!"
"yes!"
Although it was late and freezing cold, the Oirat people did not seem to want the garrison at Yumen Pass to have a moment's rest.
For two days, their attacks on Yumen Pass never stopped; one wave retreated and another immediately followed.
Yesterday, Liu Hu was able to repel the enemy with the cannons on the city wall, but the little gunpowder left was used up in just one day.
During the day, the Oirat people seemed to have noticed that the defenders' artillery was malfunctioning, and then took the opportunity to bombard Yumen Pass with their cannons.
No matter how thick the rammed earth wall was, it could not withstand such an attack from the Oirat people. As the rammed earth pieces fell off one by one, a section of the wall was eventually blasted down by cannon fire.
This was the most dangerous moment Liu Hu and his men had encountered since the start of their campaign, as large swarms of Oirat people stormed into the pass along the collapsed city walls.
Although Liu Hu had driven them out of the pass, the Oirat people seemed endless, constantly pouring into the gap.
Liu Hu fought for a long time, and his arms were almost too heavy to lift.
But he knew he couldn't rest for a moment. If the Oirats were to breach the pass, the people of the Western Regions and the Han Chinese who had once been slaves to the Oirats would immediately collapse.
Despite the tens of thousands of troops still inside the pass, they are only held up by Liu Hu and the Zhou army he brought with him, as well as the few thousand Western Region people under Putila's command.
Once these people fall, the other tens of thousands of people will be lambs to the slaughter for the Oirat people.
"kill!"
Liu Hu secretly drank some spiritual water from his spatial storage, instantly regaining his composure and charging towards the oncoming Oirat warriors.
Led by Liu Hu, the defenders raised their weapons and fought against the charging Oirat soldiers.
"Cunmeng! Cunmeng! How are the grain supplies inside the pass?"
Liu Hu, who was in the middle of a fierce battle, suddenly felt a lightness around him. When he came to his senses, he found that Hu Cunmeng, who had gone to deal with the grain supplies, had brought his men to provide support. He then hurriedly asked what was going on.
"Don't worry, all the granaries are fully stocked with kerosene and can be set on fire at any time."
With a cold face, Hu Cunmeng killed an enemy with his knife, then silently stood behind Liu Hu to protect him.
He knew he wasn't strong enough, and charging ahead to fight the Oirat people in close combat would only cause trouble for Liu Hu, so he might as well protect him from behind.
That way, even if I die, I won't distract Liu Hu immediately.
Putila and his men blocked the western side, killing many who had tried to escape.
We have no choice but to block them. If we don't stop these people from escaping, even more will follow and flee. In that case, Liu Hu and his men will collapse on their own without the Oirat forces even having to come to fight them.
Only by cutting off their escape route will those people completely abandon their last shred of hope and join Liu Hu and his men in guarding the pass.
"General, General, good news! Scouts report that reinforcements are less than thirty li away from here."
Just as Liu Hu and his men were fighting, a loud shout suddenly came from behind.
"What?" Liu Hu didn't hear clearly at first, as he was focused on fighting the Oirat people, but Hu Cunmeng, who was behind him, heard it clearly.
"General, did you hear that? Reinforcements have arrived! The Marquis of Zhongyong has brought the imperial army to support us."
"They're less than thirty miles away from us!"
Hu Cunmeng, who was overwhelmed by the crisis before him, couldn't help but shout at Liu Hu with reddened eyes after hearing the message.
"Be careful!"
Seeing that he had lowered his guard due to excitement and was stabbed by a Oirat man with a long spear from the side, Liu Hu couldn't help but shout.
He then strode forward, grabbed the spear that was thrusting at Hu Cunmeng with one hand and pulled hard, while his other hand swiftly brought down his knife, beheading the Oirat man.
"Are you out of your mind? You dare to get distracted on the battlefield!" Liu Hu shouted as he kicked away another enemy who lunged at him.
But Hu Cunmeng completely ignored his words. Instead, he took a deep breath, rushed onto a pile of corpses, and shouted to the Great Zhou garrison, "Did you all hear that? The Marquis of Zhongyong is leading the imperial army, and they are within our reach..."
However, before he could finish shouting, a bowstring suddenly rang out in the darkness, and a sharp arrow pierced through his body.
"Cunmeng..."
Upon seeing this scene, Liu Hu immediately shouted loudly. As he watched Hu Cunmeng fall into the pile of corpses, his eyes turned red.
Hu Cunmeng was a general he valued highly; he was the first person he had met since his transmigration who had unique insights into the application of firearms.
Ironically, just before the imperial reinforcements arrived, he fell to an enemy arrow.
This was unbearable for Liu Hu. He drew his sword and killed a Oirat soldier, then rushed towards the spot where Hu Cunmeng had fallen.
"die!"
With bloodshot eyes, Liu Hu hacked and slashed at all the enemies who stood in his way, ignoring the cheers that boosted morale upon hearing the news of reinforcements' arrival.
Faced with the suddenly surging morale of the defending troops, the Oirat people finally couldn't hold on and retreated.
"Cunmeng, Cunmeng!" After the Oirat people retreated, Liu Hu rushed to the pile of corpses, pushed aside the bodies on top, and pulled Hu Cunmeng out from among them.
At this moment, Hu Cunmeng had an arrow stuck in his body, his face was deathly pale, and his eyes were closed. He looked no different from the corpses around him.
Liu Hu quickly checked his breathing and found that he was still breathing, which immediately put his mind at ease.
"Each commander should organize manpower and hurry to treat the wounded. There's no time to repair the breach. Just pile up the Oirat corpses there; at least that will hold them off for a while."
After giving the order, Liu Hu carried the unconscious Hu Cunmeng and hurriedly ran back to his tent...
"Commander, I have completed my mission of cutting off the Oirat people's supply lines and have come to report back."
With Zhao Zhong's arrival, Liu Hu could no longer act unilaterally as before.
Facing the veteran general who had rushed to his aid, Liu Hu respectfully stepped forward to hand over his orders.
"Good job, lad!"
When Zhao Zhong saw Liu Hu, he breathed a sigh of relief and wanted to pat him on the shoulder, but seeing that Liu Hu was covered in bruises, he held back.
"Commander, you flatter me. If it weren't for the fact that the General held back the main force of the Oirat, I would have been buried here long ago."
From the battles with the Oirat elites over the past two days, Liu Hu has come to a complete understanding of the difference between the Oirat main force and other troops.
This was only after losing most of their siege equipment and their exhausted army running out of supplies.
If he had faced such an enemy from the very beginning, Liu Hu believed he definitely wouldn't have lasted this long.
"Alright, kid, stop being modest."
"You deserve the most credit for defeating the Oirat this time."
"If you hadn't led your troops deep behind enemy lines and cut off the Oirat's supply lines, who knows how this battle would have turned out!"
Zhao Zhong waved his hand, interrupting Liu Hu, and then said hesitantly, "When I came here, I received orders from the commander-in-chief to put me in charge of Yumen Pass and you in charge of Yang Pass."
"Are you still able to fight?"
"Yes!" Liu Hu replied immediately.
Although he still had dozens of wounds on his body, he was not worried at all.
With lapis lazuli, it won't be long before we can ride horses back into battle.
Although he regretted not being able to participate in the upcoming decisive battle against the Oirat, he knew that what he and his men needed most at this time was rest and recuperation.
"Alright, leave all the newly recruited troops here, and take the rest with you. I'll send you another two thousand elite troops."
"Thank you, Commander!"
With the arrival of reinforcements led by Zhao Zhong, the Oirat people finally quieted down.
Nothing happened that night, and Liu Hu slept well. Early the next morning, after bidding farewell to Zhao Zhong, Liu Hu led three thousand Zhou soldiers on their way.
Don't underestimate these three thousand men. They are all elite troops from the Lantian Camp and the Hexi Army. With the addition of these three thousand men, Liu Hu is full of confidence in defending Yangguan.
After all, Zhou Jun's main force was only two hundred li away from here, and the Oirat people could not afford to delay any longer.
"Chief, the Khoshut tribe has not launched an attack yet. I have discovered that the soldiers guarding the supplies in the rear have all been replaced by Khoshut troops today."
At this moment, in the Oirat camp, the leader of the Torgut tribe listened quietly to his subordinates' report, tapping the table in front of him with his fingers, his eyes closed, seemingly lost in thought.
At this moment, every decision he makes is related to the ultimate fate of the 20,000 elite tribesmen here.
The Duerbote tribe was located just west of Yumen Pass, and they could easily abandon other tribes, bypass Yumen Pass, and return to their own territory.
Gushi Khan's territory was not far from here, except for their Torghut tribe, which was far away in the western part of the Western Regions.
If the other two tribes really treat them as expendable pawns, then their Torghut tribe will be truly finished.
"Order the troops to immediately regroup, prepare three days' worth of provisions, and we will head north to the desert immediately."
"Great Khan, what are you trying to do...?"
The general looked puzzled after hearing the order.
"Gushi Khan may flee with the provisions, and we cannot continue to sit idly by and wait for our doom."
"Three days is enough for us to cross the desert. Once we reach the territory of the Durbet tribe, we won't have to worry about supplies."
"What if the Khoshut tribe refuses to give it to us?" the general asked hesitantly.
"What are those things you're carrying for?"
The Torgut leader looked at his subordinates with disdain, and anger rose in his heart.
At this point, why bother with that nominal Khan? If they don't give it to us, why don't we just take it?
Once he returned to his territory, he would lead his people on a long journey.
This time he finally understood that it was no longer possible to rely on the various Oirat tribes, each with their own agendas, to resist Zhou's army.
Their Torghut tribe alone was no match for Zhou's army.
Rather than becoming victims of Zhou's army, it's better to continue westward, where there are plenty of grasslands and slaves.
With the Torgut tribe's movement and the Khoshut tribe's delayed attack, the Durbet tribe also noticed the anomaly.
"Fine, we've been fighting tooth and nail up front, and they actually want to escape?"
The leader of the Duerbote tribe was furious. Their former underling, the Huit tribe, had been abandoned. Was it finally their turn to be abandoned?
If we're talking about who suffered the biggest losses this time, besides the Huit tribe which has already been wiped out, it's them.
After several raids by Liu Hu and his men, the Durbet tribe in the eastern part of the Western Regions lost a large number of tribes and slaves.
If he hadn't been thinking about needing help from other projects in the future, he would have left long ago.
"Since that's the case, then don't blame me for being impolite."
"Immediately gather my troops and send them to the rear to collect provisions. If necessary, we can even seize them directly."
He knew now was not the time to hesitate. The grain supplies were already scarce, and if the other two units took all the grain, he and his soldiers would be left to starve.
However, the Durbet tribe was a little late. By the time his troops were assembled, the Khoshut and Torgut tribes had already divided up the remaining provisions and headed north.
"Commander, our scouts have reported that Gushi Khan and the Torgut tribe, numbering over 30,000, broke camp and headed north this morning."
Zhao Zhong, who was arranging the defense, was stunned when he heard the news.
"Did Gushihan run away?"
Good heavens, they were still launching a fierce attack on Yumen Pass just before the latest.
He was even thinking about whether he could put on a good show of capturing the enemy chieftain, but who would have thought that the enemy would escape.
"Did you see Gushi Khan's great banner?"
"According to reports from scouts, Gushi Khan's Suluding and Great Banner also accompanied the army northward."
"We must immediately prepare for war. They've already given us a chance to escape. If we let the cicada shell float away too, we'll be the laughingstock of everyone else."
"There are only about 10,000 Durbet troops left outside the city, and they have run out of food. Let's go and eat them."
Zhao Zhong thought for a while, and finally decided to eat the meat in front of him first, as for Gushi Khan...