Ch.65Plains Battle (6)

# “Our forces have achieved victory, Your Excellency!”

The adjutant spoke to Zhao Yunchang with genuine joy.

Unlike the adjutant, however, Zhao Yunchang’s expression was grim.

“Why… why do you look troubled, Your Excellency?”

“While our forces have certainly won… no, never mind.”

Zhao Yunchang started to speak but had to stop himself.

This was because all the soldiers were watching him.

In such a situation, he couldn’t utter the word “defeat.”

There were several reasons why Zhao Yunchang was thinking about defeat.

First was the fact that Western Xia’s iron cavalry had been annihilated.

The complete destruction of the iron cavalry wasn’t yet confirmed.

But judging from the recent battle situation, the iron cavalry’s defeat was practically a foregone conclusion.

If the iron cavalry had survived, the Mongol cavalry couldn’t possibly be here.

Therefore, Zhao Yunchang had to acknowledge that the cavalry forces within his unit had been lost.

Second was the fact that the Mongol cavalry wasn’t like typical nomads.

The enemy deployed a crane wing formation like Central Plains people, which differed from typical nomads.

The crane wing formation was a tactic deployed in infantry versus infantry combat.

Yet they deployed it with cavalry, which left Zhao Yunchang astonished.

Of course, since there was only one anvil, it couldn’t be considered a perfect crane wing formation.

But the way the enemy’s main force concentrated firepower on the rear when Western Xia’s forces fell into confusion, based on mobility, was close to a crane wing formation.

This forced Zhao Yunchang to deploy a defense-in-depth strategy, placing few troops on the hill that served as the front line and more troops on the hill that served as the rear.

While this was an appropriate tactic to overcome the current situation, it had clear disadvantages.

“…We’ll be short on time.”

How long the supplies would last was the biggest concern.

The number 100,000 represented both the unit’s combat strength and the number of people consuming supplies.

Since supplies were limited, they needed to settle things quickly.

Unlike Zhao Yunchang who was deep in thought, the adjutant who spoke to him had no idea what the minister was thinking.

So he could only watch the minister’s expression carefully.

“We have only one option. Position infantry halfway up the hill and change all weapons to spears.”

“S-spears, you say?”

“Spears can’t subdue cavalry, but they can at least counterattack.”

At these words, the adjutant nodded with an understanding expression.

Since spears were longer than swords, they could secure enough distance to interfere with mounted cavalry.

And spears were easier to handle than swords.

Of course, both swords and spears became difficult at advanced levels, but spears were far easier to handle at the beginning stage.

This was why Western Xia soldiers had been able to repel the Mongol cavalry using spears in the recent battle.

“But won’t there be gaps when forming the defensive formation?”

“Even if gaps form, we’re on a hill, so enemy cavalry will inevitably slow down.”

After Zhao Yunchang’s explanation, the adjutant bowed and moved to relay the orders.

Watching the adjutant leave, Zhao Yunchang turned his head to look at the opposite side of the hill where Western Xia forces were stationed.

“…If we had occupied that place, we could have at least counterattacked.”

Regrettably, leaving the hill had been nearly impossible since the moment the iron cavalry was annihilated.

While thinking this, something gradually came into Zhao Yunchang’s view.

“That’s…”

He noticed a massive structure built on top of the hill.

Upon this belated discovery, Zhao Yunchang looked at his soldiers and urgently issued orders.

“Everyone, take cover! Get down from the hill!”

Until just moments ago, Zhao Yunchang had ordered them to defend the hill.

So the soldiers looked puzzled at their commander’s sudden change of orders.

“What’s going on?”

“Why is he suddenly telling us to retreat again?”

“I want to move quickly, but… ugh…”

The Western Xia soldiers hadn’t properly recovered their strength after the battle.

Additionally, fatigue from the long march made it difficult for them to even stand properly.

In such a situation, responding immediately to orders was challenging.

But they had to move because it was a superior’s order.

So the soldiers used their weapons like walking sticks to get up.

Whoooooosh

“What’s that sound?”

“It feels like a shadow has formed in the sky…”

“Yeah…”

The Western Xia soldiers looked up at the sky as they spoke.

The sky, which had been full of clouds, was gone, and stones the size of human torsos were flying toward them.

“S-stones!”

“C-catapults! Run!”

The soldiers belatedly spotted the projectiles and fled for their lives.

But their reaction was too late, and casualties began to mount where the stones fell.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Gah!”

“Ugh.”

Seeing soldiers being crushed to death by the stones, Zhao Yunchang raised his weapon and shouted loudly.

“Don’t panic! Move diagonally as much as possible!”

The minister ordered them to move diagonally.

He gave this order because if soldiers rushed down the hill all at once, secondary casualties could occur.

Rolling down the hill or being trampled by soldiers coming down from above—such casualties would not only reduce their numbers but, more importantly, lower morale.

In this situation, moving diagonally meant they weren’t walking straight ahead, so they could control their speed.

Though not a major change, it could at least minimize casualties, which was why Zhao Yunchang had issued such an order.

“Move diagonally and regroup at the center of the hill!”

Reorganizing an army during battle was difficult.

But in the current situation, if they didn’t regroup, they would become prey for the enemy cavalry at the bottom of the hill.

Therefore, they had to quickly reorganize the army even if casualties mounted.

“Spearmen defend the front, and archers support from behind!”

At the commander’s order, spearmen at the center of the hill began to form a formation with their spears.

Thanks to this, the archers behind could move under the protection of the spearmen.

“Casualties continue, but… if we maintain this…”

The catapult attacks looked devastating, but fortunately, their accuracy was poor, so the actual damage was minimal.

Zhao Yunchang thought that if they maintained this position, they could at least preserve their forces.

Just as he was thinking this, a large man wearing a red cloak suddenly appeared at the bottom of the hill.

“…Yesugei…!”

Zhao Yunchang muttered in a low voice as he looked at the man in the red cloak.

The one who unified the steppes.

Given his stature, his eyes seemed to emit a fierce light.

“Did you think you would be safe after invading our land? Western Xia will not fall!”

Zhao Yunchang said this to reassure himself.

Yesugei, seeming to understand Zhao Yunchang’s words, laughed loudly as he looked at him.

A laugh so loud it made the ground shake.

It was so loud that Zhao Yunchang was bewildered.

Unlike the minister, Yesugei maintained a calm expression.

“What’s so funny?”

In response to Zhao Yunchang’s muttering, Yesugei smiled and pointed to the middle of the hill.

At this, the minister looked where Yesugei was pointing.

“Aaaaargh!”

“M-Mongols are already here!”

“S-save me!”

The Mongol cavalry had already penetrated the flanks, the weakness of the spearmen.

Seeing this, Zhao Yunchang couldn’t help but look surprised.

“H-how already…”

It was almost impossible for cavalry to climb a hill.

Of course, this meant they couldn’t reach the top of the hill, but they could climb the middle part with its gentle slope.

“We need to defend the f-flanks… no, we need to defend the rear… ugh…”

Zhao Yunchang was completely cornered and couldn’t figure out what to do.

This was because the Mongols’ trap wasn’t just one layer but multiple.

If they went up the hill, they would inevitably face catapult attacks.

If they moved to the middle and formed a defensive formation to resist, they would expose their flanks to the Mongol cavalry that had climbed to the middle, suffering heavy casualties.

And if they went down, that devil-like Yesugei would surely slaughter the Western Xia soldiers.

“There’s no choice. We must form a last stand and defend to the end.”

All Zhao Yunchang had left was a final resistance.

With this in mind, he gripped his weapon tightly and steeled himself.

“Soldiers of Western Xia! Do not yield! We outnumber them! If we hold here, we can win!”

It was a desperate situation with all avenues blocked.

In such a desperate situation, they had no choice but to fight for their lives.

Just as they were about to make their final stand, the Western Xia soldiers suddenly began to stir.

“T-there’s a gap toward Liuzhou…!”

“The Mongols aren’t catching those fleeing that way!”

“D-damn it, rather than dying here, I’d rather go to Liuzhou and drink my fill of water before dying!”

The Western Xia soldiers were exhausted from the extreme stress of battle.

With thirst added to this, their will to fight inevitably diminished.

If there had been no escape route, the Western Xia soldiers would surely have fought for their lives.

But with an escape route open, especially toward Liuzhou, there was no reason to continue fighting.

“I-I want to r-run away!”

“I don’t want to die!”

“I-I want to live!”

So the Western Xia soldiers threw away their weapons and began to flee through the escape route created by the Mongol army.

“Don’t run away! Stand and fight!”

The great army of 100,000 collapsed like a sand castle.

Despite Zhao Yunchang’s cries trying to stop them, he couldn’t prevent the army from disintegrating.

“Ugh…”

It was a situation where defeat was obvious to anyone.

At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the Mongols would raid Xingqing, the capital of Western Xia.

If that happened, not only the families of the soldiers but also Zhao Yunchang’s family would likely not survive.

This was something the minister could never accept.

So he made a decision internally.

The Mongol forces were at most around 30,000.

But Western Xia still had 80,000 soldiers left, despite the mounting casualties.

“…It’s impossible for 30,000 soldiers to control all 80,000.”

Zhao Yunchang muttered to himself.

Then, after steeling his resolve internally, he nodded.

“Even if I bear the disgrace of being a surrendering general, I will hold back the Mongols heading toward Western Xia until the end.”

After saying this, the minister took out a white cloth he had been carrying at his waist.

Then he tied the white cloth to his sword and raised it high.

A clear sign of surrender.

At Zhao Yunchang’s surrender, the Western Xia soldiers threw away their weapons and began to surrender.