Ch.43Western Xia (5)

The horrific scene unfolding before their eyes plunged the city into terror.

And for good reason—people were watching as those who had once been their family members or friends fell from the sky toward them.

“Aaaaaahhh!”

“Th-this can’t be happening! This can’t be real!”

“The sky… corpses are falling from the sky!”

As soon as the bodies hit the ground, their limbs shattered and scattered everywhere.

The ground became soaked with blood, and witnessing this, the people fell into panic and began running in confusion.

“Save me! Please save us!”

“It’s… it’s hell! Hell on earth is unfolding!”

“Everyone calm down!”

“Follow orders!”

Despite the shouts of armed soldiers, the people couldn’t easily regain their composure.

This was because there were far more civilians inside the fortress than soldiers who could control them.

Additionally, the soldiers were people before they were soldiers.

It was difficult for them to maintain their composure while watching people they had known fall from the sky as corpses.

Gripped by fear, the people began rushing toward the government office to save themselves.

Flustered, Li Deyun stood at the highest point of the office and shouted toward them.

“Everyone calm down! Your panic is exactly what the enemy wants!”

But the people had no time to listen to such words.

Again, these were people who had abandoned their hometowns just to survive.

Therefore, they had a stronger attachment to life than anyone else.

As a result, even Li Deyun, who had shown them kindness as refugees, couldn’t stop their actions.

“Open the gates! Open them now!”

“Everyone, let’s join forces and break down the government office doors!”

Watching the refugees unite to survive, the soldiers could only shake their heads.

Under normal circumstances, breaking down the government office doors would be a serious offense punishable by severe penalties.

But the refugees now outnumbered the soldiers, so they felt no fear.

“Damn it…”

Li Deyun clicked his tongue and wore a troubled expression.

Anyone could see that the current situation had deteriorated to the worst possible outcome due to his decisions.

But he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

Right now, corpses and rocks the size of human heads were falling from the sky.

“Adjutant!”

At Li Deyun’s call, the adjutant approached him slowly with an annoyed expression, unlike his usual demeanor.

Seeing this expression, Li Deyun immediately reprimanded him.

“Why are you so slow to respond! The military discipline has become lax!”

“I apologize, General. However, because you distributed rations to the civilians, both the soldiers and we officers have been starving for a long time.”

At these words, Li Deyun’s expression changed to one of realization.

Just as the adjutant said, his face showed the strain of having gone hungry for days.

If he pushed the adjutant further in this state, it could lead to rebellion.

So Li Deyun adjusted his expression and carefully continued, as if doing the adjutant a favor.

“A-ahem. I wasn’t aware of that. But this was necessary to save the people of Western Xia. As soldiers receiving the nation’s pay, it was your duty.”

At these words, the adjutant looked at Li Deyun with an expression that clearly said, “Sure, right.”

The adjutant knew that while the soldiers and officers were starving, Commander Li Deyun had been enjoying his usual abundant meals.

But since he couldn’t express this openly, he was cursing Li Deyun with his eyes.

“This time, I’ll show special leniency and not reprimand you for your lax discipline. Take the soldiers immediately and stop the civilians from coming to the government office.”

“I will obey your orders, General.”

The adjutant bowed weakly and left the office.

Seeing this, Li Deyun looked at his staff officer with a troubled expression.

“The soldiers’ morale is poor. Is there any way to resolve this?”

To Li Deyun’s question, the staff officer could give no answer.

After all, there was no way to put spilled water back in the cup.

* * *

After the trebuchet bombardment, Munglig, who had been in charge of the artillery, approached me.

Munglig bowed and immediately began reporting the results.

“After firing various projectiles with the trebuchet, we found that accuracy dropped significantly with rocks the size of a human torso and larger.”

It seemed that because we had made the artillery lighter, it couldn’t firmly withstand the process of converting weight into potential energy.

However, judging by the lack of reports about cracks in the barrel or inability to fire again, it appeared that only accuracy was affected, not enough to cause recoil damage to the trebuchet itself.

“How did the bombardment of the walls go?”

“We fired rocks the size of human heads at the walls, but they didn’t cause significant damage. Meaningful damage only began to occur when we fired rocks the size of torsos.”

Long-range weapons generally converted weight into potential energy to inflict damage on targets.

As a result, heavier projectiles could cause more destruction.

However, projectiles that could be aimed accurately were lighter, so they couldn’t cause significant damage or aftereffects.

“It seems we need some modifications.”

Even small projectiles could cause sufficient damage to the enemy.

But the Mongol army operated trebuchets not to harm enemy infantry but to destroy fortress walls.

Combat against personnel could be resolved by deploying fast-moving cavalry.

This meant we needed trebuchets that were light yet capable of launching projectiles at least the size of a human torso.

“Good work.”

“Thank you, my lord.”

This battle had allowed us to determine the approximate specifications of the trebuchet, including its range, the allowable range of projectiles, and how many shots it could fire.

This was valuable military intelligence that would greatly benefit the Khamag Mongol and, by extension, the Yeke Mongol Ulus.

In any case, we had achieved the objectives of the battle.

Of course, there were still many tactics we hadn’t tried,

but those needed to be saved for when we completely conquered Khara-Khoto, so we couldn’t use them now.

Therefore, it was time to order a withdrawal.

“Send another envoy to Khara-Khoto to offer surrender terms, and we’ll prepare to retreat.”

At my words, Munglig looked at me with a surprised expression.

“Retreat, my lord? We have the advantage now—wouldn’t it be better to occupy Khara-Khoto?”

Instead of answering Munglig’s question, I looked at Elunka.

Elunka then stepped forward and began explaining to Munglig on my behalf.

“Even if we occupy Khara-Khoto with 300 cavalry, it would be difficult to maintain control for long.”

“I understand the strategist’s point. But isn’t it a waste to leave after coming this far?”

“Unless we completely destroy the walls, occupying that fortress would be like putting shackles on our cavalry’s feet, Lord Munglig.”

“Shackles… Indeed, there’s no guarantee that warriors of the steppe would be as good at defending a fortress as settled people… I was hasty, Counselor.”

Munglig nodded, seeming to accept Elunka’s explanation.

As Elunka said, the current Mongol army was still in its early stages and lacked proper infantry units.

In the original history, the early Mongol army also faced this issue, which is why they mostly accepted surrenders or destroyed cities rather than occupying them.

Of course, our situation differed from the original history because we had trebuchets that made occupation possible,

but since we didn’t have the troops to immediately defend the captured fortress, it was better to retreat for now.

“Tell the other khans to prepare for retreat soon.”

At my words, Munglig bowed and mounted his horse.

After he disappeared, only Elunka and I remained.

The two of us silently gazed at Khara-Khoto as if by agreement.

“Do you plan to make a move on Khara-Khoto this winter?”

“As expected of you, Elunka. You know my mind exactly.”

At my words, Elunka bowed and continued.

“I merely guessed based on how your eyes changed after hearing the merchant’s words, my lord.”

Oasis.

A word transliterated from Chinese characters.

Typical oases formed at points where groundwater surfaced.

However, oases near the Gobi Desert were mountain-foot oases, created when snow accumulated in high mountain areas melted, seeped into the ground, and emerged at certain points.

This meant that unlike Middle Eastern oases, which maintained a constant water level, the water levels of oases in this region changed with the seasons.

This was because there was no chance of perennial snow melting during the cold winter.

“When the water level of the oasis drops, I plan to block it and dry out Khara-Khoto.”

This was actually a tactic that could be implemented now.

However, the Mongols’ civil engineering and construction technology was poor, so they lacked the technical ability to block an oasis with high water levels in autumn.

For this reason, we had to aim for winter.

While I was conversing with Elunka, the merchant who had been our guide approached me.

Beside him stood another merchant with an unfamiliar face.

“Great Khagan, as you commanded, I have brought a Uyghur merchant who travels to and from Xingqing.”

The introduced Uyghur merchant immediately prostrated himself before me.

He greeted me in a posture that was essentially a full kowtow.

“It is an honor to meet the lord of the four seas. I am Husayn al-Kashgari, a merchant who travels to and from Xingqing.”

Hearing a surname that sounded familiar, I couldn’t help but tilt my head in curiosity.

So I asked about his father.

“Was your father also a merchant?”

“No, my father was a scholar, and my grandfather was a man who compiled dictionaries in Baghdad.”

At Husayn’s words, I belatedly realized where I had heard his surname.

It was because I had heard it repeatedly from a guide during a business trip to Turkey.

His grandfather’s name was none other than Mahmud al-Kashgari, the man who created a Turkic language dictionary.

In modern times, it was said that without his book, the Turkic dictionary, we would not know the origins of medieval Turkic language, history, and culture.

In any case, this Husayn standing before me was the grandson of a linguist and geographer who had made significant contributions to Turkic culture.

Finding someone suitable for organizing language and writing when integrating the interior after conquering Western Xia, I couldn’t help but smile.