Ch.282Defeat (1)

The Karaunis unit led by Bagi reached the entrance to Sichuan after moving through Western Xia.

When they arrived near the border, Jin Dynasty soldiers who noticed them began to move quickly.

“The enemy has noticed our movement. Everyone prepare for battle.”

At Bagi’s shout, the Karaunis raised their swords and shields.

Although they were raiders, they were closer to mountain troops since they mainly operated in mountainous regions.

As a result, most of their weapons were close-combat weapons.

In contrast, the Jin Dynasty had long-range weapons like bows and arrows.

Additionally, they possessed powerful gunpowder weapons comparable to those of the Song Dynasty.

“Attaaaack!”

When Bagi’s order fell, the Karaunis charged forward.

As they rushed in, the Jin Dynasty soldiers responded as if they had been waiting for this.

“Show these stupid Mongols the terror of the Jin Dynasty!”

“Die!”

Thus, a battle unfolded in the mountainous region.

Watching this battle, Wanyan Shengyu observed the enemy commander and then muttered quietly.

“If we win this battle, don’t kill the enemy soldiers. Capture them all.”

“All of them, sir?”

“Yes. I will persuade them to join us.”

The soldier could only tilt his head at Wanyan Shengyu’s words.

This was because Mongol soldiers were typically difficult to recruit.

“They are difficult to persuade. How will you…”

“The enemy commander moves alone while his soldiers maintain distance as they charge.”

At Wanyan Shengyu’s words, the soldier looked where he was pointing.

As he said, the enemy commander was bravely leading from the front, but the soldiers behind weren’t properly following him.

“This means there’s division within the enemy. The commander losing leadership means he has lost the hearts of his soldiers.”

“As expected of a great general.”

Wanyan Shengyu nodded at the soldier’s words.

Then he turned his head to look at the battle line again.

“The enemy is a raiding party composed of multiple ethnicities. They excel at frontal attacks but are weak against flank attacks, so focus on attacking their flanks!”

As Wanyan Shengyu’s order was given, the Jin Dynasty’s armored cavalry began to move.

When they moved, the Mongol soldiers who detected this became confused.

“Jin Dynasty armored cavalry!”

“The enemy is trying to attack our flanks!”

“General! The enemy is trying to attack our side!”

Bagi nodded at the Mongol soldiers’ cries.

Then he raised his hand and continued his orders.

“Implement flank defense!”

Accordingly, the Karaunis gathered at the flanks where the cavalry were expected to attack.

As soldiers gathered there, the armored cavalry, as if mocking their actions, stopped their charge and began circling around them.

It became a situation where one Karaunis unit was surrounded by ten cavalrymen.

“If we continue like this, we’ll suffer great damage from the enemy’s long-range attacks. Break through the encirclement now!”

At Bagi’s shout, the soldiers tried to change back to a charging formation.

But the cavalry weren’t going to just watch this happen.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

“You pathetic Mongols. Did you think we were blind?”

The cavalrymen used their spears from horseback to tear through the Mongol army.

This caused the Mongol forces to inevitably scatter.

As mentioned repeatedly, it was absurd for regular infantry to defeat cavalry attacking from a much higher position.

In other words, since infantry would definitely lose in one-on-one combat, they needed to use encirclement tactics to deal with cavalry.

To deploy these encirclement tactics, sacrifices were naturally needed.

This was because for the encirclement to work properly, several infantry had to capture the attention of the cavalry.

“Our casualties are severe. Second Army Karaunis! Step forward now!”

At Bagi’s shout, the Karaunis’ expressions twisted.

The unit currently facing the cavalry was the Mongol-origin Karaunis led by Bagi.

Therefore, given the battle situation, it made sense for the Mongol Karaunis to draw the cavalry’s attention.

Yet he was deliberately calling for the Second Army, which was composed of soldiers from Afghanistan, so these men couldn’t help but seethe with anger.

“Using us as sacrificial lambs?”

“After all that oppression?”

Unaware that the Second Army’s mood was turning ugly due to the urgent situation, Bagi urged them to follow his orders.

“Move now! You slugs! We cannot lose this battle because of you!”

It was clearly Bagi who had initiated this battle.

But now that defeat seemed imminent, he was shifting the blame to his soldiers.

Seeing this, the Karaunis began to refuse Bagi’s orders.

Seeing this, Bagi shouted angrily and condemned the Second Army.

“What are you doing! You bastards! Because of you…! Ugh…!”

Since the Second Army wouldn’t move, naturally Bagi’s First Army became the target of the Jin Dynasty’s armored cavalry.

“Aaaaargh!”

“S-save me!”

The Mongol soldiers screamed and resisted.

But the soldiers from Afghanistan merely watched them without offering any help.

“You’re disobeying orders!”

At Bagi’s shout, a man stepped forward.

He looked at Bagi with a calm expression.

“A person like you deserves to die here.”

“You treacherous bastards… after all I’ve done for you…!”

“You took care of us? That’s laughable. The saying that filthy, despicable people don’t recognize their own faults, blame others, and only remember what they’ve given to others must have been about you.”

“H-help me now. If you do, I’ll forget about this insubordination. N-now…!”

The desperate Bagi begged the squad leader for his life.

The squad leader shook his head.

“We’ll die at the hands of Jin Dynasty soldiers either way. Bagi. Don’t die shamefully, die like a warrior.”

“I-I don’t want to d-die… Aaaaargh!”

At that moment, Bagi’s heart was pierced by a spear thrust by an armored cavalryman.

With his heart pierced, Bagi slumped down and could no longer speak.

When Bagi died, the Afghan soldiers cheered.

But the squad leader had to admonish them.

“Our deaths are not far off. Brothers, come to your senses.”

At the squad leader’s shout, the Karaunis faced reality.

They weren’t Mongols, but they were soldiers serving Mongolia.

Therefore, it was natural for Jin Dynasty soldiers to want to take their lives.

Realizing this belatedly, the Karaunis could only wear dejected expressions.

The squad leader gripped his sword again, leaving behind the Karaunis who had come to their senses.

“I don’t plan to die easily like this.”

Saying this, he moved forward, hoping to take at least one Jin Dynasty soldier with him as a companion in death.

At that moment, suddenly a loud shout was heard from somewhere.

“Throw down your weapons! If you throw down your weapons, we will spare your lives!”

“Don’t resist! Our enemy is Mongolia, not you!”

The Karaunis began to panic at the Jin Dynasty soldiers’ shouts.

Hearing this, the squad leader urged his soldiers not to waver.

“Get a grip. If we throw away our weapons, we lose our means of protection.”

However, the likelihood of soldiers who had already lost their will to fight following the squad leader’s words was very low.

As a result, some soldiers began to surrender by throwing down their weapons.

“S-save me.”

“Please spare my life.”

As one or two surrendered, all the soldiers, influenced by this, began to surrender.

Mongolia’s defeat.

Jin Dynasty’s great victory.

* * *

The Karaunis who surrendered to the Jin Dynasty couldn’t help but be surprised.

This was because they had expected to be summarily executed after surrendering.

Contrary to their expectations, the Jin Dynasty treated them well.

“You are merely victims.”

“It’s the fault of the Mongols, not yours.”

By separating them from the Mongols in this way, they could only be grateful from their position.

As a result, most of the Karaunis inevitably became cooperative with the Jin Dynasty.

Meanwhile, Wanyan Shengyu personally came to meet the squad leader.

“Can you speak the Song Dynasty language or the Jin Dynasty language?”

“I can speak the Jin Dynasty language.”

The squad leader nodded and answered Wanyan Shengyu’s question.

Satisfied with his answer, Wanyan Shengyu smiled and continued.

“Release this man.”

At this, soldiers approached and removed the squad leader’s shackles.

“What is your name?”

“I have no name.”

“I see. Then may I give you a name?”

The squad leader said nothing.

Seeing this, Wanyan Shengyu thought for a moment and then spoke to him.

“Wanyan Husha. Do you like it?”

“…I know that Wanyan is a noble family name in the Jin Dynasty. Why would you give me such a surname?”

“It’s simple. Because I’m trying to win your heart.”

“Someone as lowly as me?”

“Yes. To get the information you have, I can give you everything I can offer.”

Wanyan Shengyu frankly and directly revealed his intentions.

Despite his behavior, the squad leader, now Wanyan Husha, remained calm.

“I don’t know much.”

“I want to know which route you followed to get here.”

“…”

Wanyan Husha didn’t readily answer.

Seeing this, Wanyan Shengyu gestured to a soldier.

The soldier then placed a chest that looked quite heavy in front of Wanyan Husha.

“Open it.”

Wanyan Husha opened the chest.

Inside were items far more valuable and expensive than the many treasures he had acquired as a raider.

“If it’s not enough, tell me. I’ll bring more.”

“This is unnecessary.”

“Then what do you need? If you need an official position, I’ll give you one. If you need women, I’ll find you a beauty beyond compare.”

“I don’t need any of that.”

Wanyan Husha shook his head.

Then he looked at Wanyan Shengyu and spoke.

“Please release my brothers.”

“Will that be enough?”

“Yes. If you do that, I will owe you not only my life but also the lives of my comrades.”

Wanyan Shengyu laughed heartily at Wanyan Husha’s answer.

Then he nodded as if pleased.

“Good. I’ll give you an official position and place your comrades under your command. And I’ll also give you the promised treasures and women.”

“…I pledge my loyalty.”

Wanyan Husha bowed to express his gratitude.

Then he stood up and handed something to Wanyan Shengyu.

“What is this?”

“It’s a map showing the fastest route to Western Xia.”

Wanyan Shengyu looked at the map Wanyan Husha had given him.

This would be enough to turn the tide of war.