Ch.111Qara-Ordo (4)

“Attack the east gate!”

“Waaaaaah!”

The Mongol soldiers attacked the east gate under Temujin’s command.

In response, the soldiers guarding the east gate began to resist.

“The Mongols are attacking!”

“Die!”

Arrows rained down upon the Mongol warriors.

Additionally, stones and oil were poured to drive away the Mongol soldiers clinging to the walls.

“Argh!”

“Guhk!”

Some Mongol soldiers fell after being hit by blind arrows.

Even if they were fortunate enough to avoid the arrows, oil and stones fell directly on their heads, leaving them in an impossible situation.

“Retreat! Retreat!”

As casualties mounted, Temujin ordered a retreat.

The mounted Mongol warriors began to withdraw, taking their wounded comrades with them.

The Liao soldiers merely shot arrows at them as they retreated but did not pursue.

This was because if they chased after them beyond the gate, the Mongol soldiers might return and launch a counterattack.

To reiterate, the Liao Dynasty was a nation established by the nomadic Khitan people.

Therefore, they understood Mongol deception tactics better than anyone.

For this reason, the Liao soldiers did not rashly pursue the Mongol warriors.

In any case, Temujin’s central army successfully retreated safely.

Looking at the warriors regrouping at the rear, Temujin began to assess the extent of the damage.

“What are our casualties?”

“One dead, ten wounded, and about five with minor injuries.”

Temujin nodded at Jebe’s report.

Then he began calculating in his mind.

Currently, the central army led by Temujin numbered around 30,000.

With 16 casualties out of 30,000, the total damage was only about 0.05%.

Before implementing his strategy of fixing the enemy’s attention on the east gate, Temujin had prepared for casualties of up to 10%.

Therefore, 0.05% was an acceptable level of loss.

“Retrieve the body of the fallen and have the 15 wounded treated at the rear.”

Jebe bowed in response.

After giving these orders to Jebe, Temujin turned his head to look at Bo’orchu.

“How much longer until the outer wall collapses?”

“It should be possible within about two hours.”

“Then we need to conduct about five more battles like this.”

Temujin quickly calculated and predicted future casualties.

Bo’orchu looked at Temujin with a surprised expression at his keen military tactics.

He wasn’t simply surprised by the accuracy of the numbers or the speed of calculation.

He was amazed by Temujin’s animal-like instinct for military tactics in this war.

While Bo’orchu wore this surprised expression, Temujin directed a question to Yelu Chucai.

“Yelu Chucai.”

“I await your command, my lord.”

“Explain again how the interior is structured after we breach the wall.”

Before engaging in battle, Temujin had received information about the interior of Qara-Ordo from Yelu Chucai.

To reconfirm this information, he instructed Yelu Chucai to explain the internal structure of the fortress.

“Inside the walls, there are residential areas and various commercial buildings. There are checkpoints along the path to the imperial palace. The palace is located on a hill and is surrounded by a small wall.”

“Can we secure space to set up trebuchets inside?”

Temujin clearly remembered the mistake the Mongol army had made during the siege of Khara-Khoto.

Therefore, he double-checked the information to avoid repeating that mistake.

“If we destroy part of the residential area, we could secure space. However…”

“That would provoke resentment from the citizens and nobles of Qara-Ordo.”

Yelu Chucai nodded at Temujin’s words.

Yelu Chucai’s concern wasn’t solely because he had been the crown prince of Western Liao.

Among Yelu Chucai’s proposed strategies was one to use him to persuade the citizens and nobles.

Currently, the interior of Qara-Ordo was in chaos due to Kuchlug’s usurpation of the throne.

However, this was only known within the imperial palace; the ordinary citizens living outside the palace were completely unaware of this fact.

Of course, rumors had spread as Kuchlug’s soldiers searched for the crown prince.

Nevertheless, they were still unaware that the emperor had died and Kuchlug had become the new emperor.

For this reason, if Crown Prince Yelu Chucai entered the city with the Mongol army, the citizens would have no choice but to follow him.

Temujin planned to use Yelu Chucai to gain support from the citizens and nobles.

Therefore, he intended to refrain from actions that would harm them as much as possible.

“Then we’ll have to attack the palace with cavalry alone.”

“You don’t need to worry about that.”

Temujin gave a puzzled look at Yelu Chucai’s words.

In response, Yelu Chucai looked at Temujin and answered.

“I remember the path I took when I escaped from the palace. If we send infantry through that route to create confusion inside the palace and then lead the cavalry toward it, you should be able to capture it easily.”

“Won’t they resist?”

“I will take the lead. No one in Liao territory would dare raise a sword against me.”

Yelu Chucai answered proudly.

He had been the crown prince of the Liao Dynasty.

* * *

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Massive boulders crashed into the wall.

Each time, portions of Qara-Ordo’s outer wall crumbled.

“Move! Hurry!”

“Damn it! We can’t go!”

The walls of Qara-Ordo were long on the east gate side and short on the south and north sides.

As a result, the outer walls were curved. When these sections collapsed, it became impossible to move along the top of the wall.

Of course, there was the option of jumping across.

But in a battlefield where Mongol arrows were raining down, such impulsive action was tantamount to suicide.

Therefore, they had to come down from the wall to move.

This effectively isolated the south gate.

Once isolated, Mongol arrows began targeting the lives of soldiers near the south gate wall.

Swoosh!

“Guh!”

“Enemy attack!”

“Duck your heads!”

They tried to duck to avoid the arrows, but the arrows were faster than their movements.

“Aaaagh!”

“Gurgle…guh…”

Some soldiers fell from the wall after being hit in the leg, while others died spitting blood after being shot in the neck.

The commander in charge of the south gate couldn’t respond properly to the situation.

“What should I do…”

While he was pondering, the Mongol army approached the south gate.

“It’s the Mongols!”

“Damn! The Mongols have occupied the area in front of the south gate!”

Amid the confusion, what appeared to be the main Mongol force occupied the area in front of the south gate.

This only intensified the chaos among the Liao soldiers.

In this situation, one soldier’s face turned deathly pale.

“Th-that…flag…”

“What…what’s wrong?”

“What did you see that frightened you so much?”

“The moon and crescent…! Gurkhan…! The ruler of the steppes is here!”

Overcome with fear, the man trembled and tried to flee.

But since they were in the middle of a war, it was nearly impossible for him to escape.

“Gurkhan…!”

“That flag is…Ulanbaatar’s flag…!”

The reputation of the Red Warrior, Ulanbaatar, had spread widely within the Liao Dynasty.

This was because he had survived a near-death experience and unified the fragmented Mongols in a short period.

Building on this momentum, he had attacked and conquered Western Xia, so people living in Western Liao, which shared a border with the steppes, couldn’t help but know about Gurkhan.

As the soldiers fell into fear merely at the appearance of Gurkhan, the commander had no choice but to fall into deep contemplation.

If they continued fighting in this state, they wouldn’t be able to fight properly.

So the commander raised his hand and ordered his soldiers to retreat.

“Abandon the south gate. Come down from the gate and join the east gate!”

The soldiers were greatly surprised by the order to abandon the south gate.

But his choice was extremely wise.

It was better to join the main force at the east gate and resist rather than remain isolated and die.

At the commander’s order, the soldiers hurriedly began to descend from the south gate.

As they came down, they saw soldiers who appeared to be reinforcements standing before them.

“Reinforcements!”

The one leading them was none other than Kuchlug.

He merely looked at the soldiers retreating from the south gate without saying a word.

Again, the soldiers on the wall were still unaware that Kuchlug had become the emperor of Western Liao.

Therefore, they just tilted their heads and looked at Kuchlug.

“How insolent! How dare you not show proper respect before His Majesty!”

At the words of Kuchlug’s adjutant, the commander rolled his eyes to assess the situation.

At that moment, the adjutant, to set an example and maintain discipline, cut down a soldier who had not yet prostrated himself.

Shocked, the south gate commander and his soldiers immediately prostrated themselves.

“I never ordered you to retreat. Why are you retreating?”

To Kuchlug’s question, the commander answered with his head bowed.

“The Gurkhan of the steppes appeared at the south gate. So we were joining the main force…”

“So Gurkhan is there.”

A sinister light began to shine in Kuchlug’s eyes.

Having a grudge against Gurkhan, Yesugei, Kuchlug emanated an aura as if he would kill him immediately.

“Return to the south gate. And prepare to open the gate.”

“The…gate, you say?”

“Yes. I will personally eliminate Yesugei.”

Kuchlug was consumed by anger.

Therefore, it was difficult for him to make rational judgments.

From the beginning, his usurpation of the throne was not for personal glory.

It was to use the military power of the Liao Dynasty to take revenge on Yesugei.

Therefore, he had no intention of missing this golden opportunity.

But this was only Kuchlug’s perspective.

The noble’s private soldiers who had been summoned under Kuchlug’s command looked at him in confusion.

“What are you doing! Follow the imperial order immediately!”

As Kuchlug drew his sword, the south gate commander had no choice but to follow the order.

Thus, the tightly closed south gate began to open slowly.

As the gate opened, Kuchlug smiled and looked at the man beside him.

“Finally, I meet you, Yesugei. I’ve been sharpening my blade of revenge to take your head.”