Ch.66Plains Battle (7)

“Look over there! The enemy commander is trying to surrender!”

“Victory is ours!”

“Haha! Even an army of 100,000 was nothing!”

Despite still being in battle, the khans couldn’t hide their joy at the enemy commander’s surrender signal.

And for good reason—they had crushed an enemy force of 100,000 with far fewer soldiers.

It was the kind of overwhelming victory you’d only read about in novels.

So their celebration was understandable.

But watching this, I shook my head.

“Everyone, don’t let your guard down. The battle is still ongoing.”

“But the enemy is requesting surrender, isn’t he?”

“That’s right. Hasn’t the battle already ended?”

I shook my head at the khans’ objections.

Then I pointed my sword at the many Western Xia soldiers still remaining.

“The enemy still outnumbers us. Do you think we can control all of them?”

“…”

“…”

The khans, drunk on victory, finally came to their senses at my words.

Accepting the surrender of soldiers we couldn’t control would be tantamount to suicide.

Of course, the enemy forces visible now seemed to have no will to fight.

But this was temporary—once they drank water and recovered their strength, they could turn their swords against us.

I’ll say it again: the enemy outnumbered us three to one.

This meant that even if we divided them up to manage them, we could still be surrounded at any moment.

This wasn’t something that could be solved by simply taking away their weapons.

“Now is not the time for mercy.”

In modern terms, continuing to attack surrendering soldiers would be unacceptable.

But this wasn’t a world where the Geneva Convention or prisoner protocols existed.

Therefore, we had no reason to accept the enemy’s surrender at face value.

“Continue the battle.”

The khans who received my order bowed their heads and began to take up their weapons again.

Then they led their troops and continued the attack.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Kuhk…”

“P-please… spare me!”

The screams continued.

I calmly watched the enemy commander on the hill while listening to those sounds.

“You thought you could hold us back here, but that won’t be possible.”

The enemy forces had begun to collapse, but they still outnumbered us.

In such a situation, the surrender of someone who appeared to be a high-ranking official meant only one thing:

He was offering 80,000 soldiers and his own life as sacrifices to delay our advance toward Xingqing.

There was no other explanation for the current situation.

Of course, if the enemy commander had been someone who only thought of himself, like Li Deyun, he wouldn’t have made such a decision.

But considering how he had sent cavalry to occupy the hill to buy time,

and had resisted us with every available method when we suddenly attacked, it was clear this enemy commander was never going to genuinely surrender to us.

“In the end, only slaughter remains.”

Of course, it was impossible to massacre the entire enemy force.

That’s why we needed to reduce their numbers to a level we could control.

It was harsh for those who threw down their weapons and surrendered,

but if we didn’t do this, we would be the ones devoured.

“Half… exactly half.”

I said this to steady myself.

Then I took a deep breath and looked out at the battlefield where merciless slaughter was taking place.

* * *

Countless bodies spread across the plain.

Massive eagles had settled on each corpse.

There were so many bodies that each eagle could claim two corpses for itself.

It was a scene of horrific massacre.

I barely managed to swallow the bile rising in my throat as I looked at the enemy commander who had been dragged before me.

The commander’s expression was enigmatic.

It wasn’t a pleading look like Li Deyun’s, nor was it the expression of someone seeking a position like Li Byeongsang’s.

He simply wore the expression of someone who had found liberation from something.

I just stared at him calmly.

After some time, a Tangut merchant who would serve as interpreter approached my side.

Seeing that someone had arrived to interpret, the commander suddenly let out a long sigh.

Then he began to laugh loudly.

“Hahahahahahaha!”

At his laughter, the soldiers beside me moved to restrain him.

I raised my hand to signal that it was fine.

Seeing this, the commander laughed loudly once more before looking at me and speaking.

“Great ruler. One without blood or tears. I have submitted to you.”

“Do you resent me?”

The commander shook his head.

Instead, he bowed his head with a sorrowful expression.

“No. It was my fault for leading my soldiers to their deaths. Because of my poor command, they now wander in the netherworld.”

“Do you regret it?”

“I do regret it. If I hadn’t underestimated you… if I hadn’t sent the cavalry and instead had those forces occupy the opposite hill… I have such regrets. But that’s all in the past now.”

He was certainly a man with broad strategic vision.

Looking at him, I continued with an interested expression.

“I was greatly surprised when you first tried to surrender.”

“Hahahahaha!”

“…”

“Don’t lie, ruler of the four seas. I was merely dancing in the palm of your hand.”

Then he began to cough dryly, as if his throat was parched.

I signaled to an attendant to bring him water.

The commander who received the water just looked at it without drinking.

“My soldiers died without even proper water to drink. I shall die the same way.”

“Do you wish to die?”

“Yes. I sacrificed 40,000… no, even more lives to hold back a devil like you. I must pay for my sins.”

The commander who had attempted to surrender had, as I predicted, feigned surrender to delay me.

But perhaps because I had anticipated his scheme and countered it, he couldn’t drag things out for long.

“What is your name?”

“I am Zhao Yunchang, Minister of State and Military Governor of Great Baekgo.”

“I admire your determination to use any means necessary for your purpose, and your spirit. Would you not serve the Ulus?”

Zhao Yunchang silently looked at me for a moment.

Then he shook his head.

“If I had been born on the steppe like you, I would have considered it an honor to follow you. And I would have told my son and my son’s son to consider it an honor as well.”

“…”

“But I am a citizen of Western Xia. And as a citizen and Minister of State of Western Xia, I have a duty to protect it. So I cannot follow you.”

Zhao Yunchang was an exceptionally talented individual, which was regrettable.

That’s why I made him one more offer.

“If you surrender, I can make you king of Western Xia. Then the people of Western Xia will continue to survive and see their descendants.”

“I will not become king.”

“…”

“I only wish to be buried in this land as a criminal, as a nameless person, alongside the other soldiers.”

From his polite refusal, I could sense immediately that I could not persuade him.

I nodded and stood up.

“When you die, I will have you buried according to Western Xia customs. Is there anything you wish for before you die?”

At my question, Zhao Yunchang seemed to contemplate for a moment.

Then, as if he had made a decision, he suddenly prostrated himself before me and cried out loudly.

“Ruler of the four seas! Master of the world! Please show mercy to Western Xia!”

“Are you asking me not to attack Western Xia?”

“I know that is impossible. But I only wish for the people of Western Xia to live on as your subjects.”

“…”

“We have paid for our sin of blocking the great ruler’s path with half our lives. So please… do not take the lives of the innocent people of Western Xia.”

“…I understand.”

Having heard my words, Zhao Yunchang, still prostrated, began to bang his head on the ground.

As he did so, he began to recite Buddhist scriptures in a loud voice.

“One bound by sensory perception goes high and low by his own volition. But one with vast wisdom understands truth through wisdom and does not go high or low. Whatever being one wishes to see, hear, or recognize, one does not form relationships with any of those beings. Seeing thus and acting with an open mind, how can one be judged in this world? One does not create fiction, does not prefer, and does not proclaim ultimate purity. Releasing the bonds of attachment, one desires nothing in the world. The holy one transcends boundaries, knows and sees without attachment. One is calm in desire and does not dwell on the departure of desire. In this world, there is nothing worthy of attachment as supreme.”

It was a Buddhist scripture passage I had heard from my maternal grandfather in my childhood.

I never expected to hear it from an enemy commander.

While I was thinking this, a sickening thud was heard.

With that sound, bright red blood flowed onto the ground. And Zhao Yunchang, who had been banging his head, moved no more.

I silently looked at his corpse.

Then I turned to Munglig and spoke.

“Bury him in the ground and erect a tombstone for him.”

Mongolian custom was sky burial—letting birds tear the body apart to ascend to heaven.

Therefore, they did not bury bodies separately like settled peoples.

Even if they made a grave, they would simply place stones on the body and leave it for wolves to eat.

I had no intention of giving Zhao Yunchang a nomad’s death.

That would be too cruel for the soul of someone who had lived his entire life as a Western Xia citizen, as a settled person.

A grave with soft soil and a tombstone to remember him by was more appropriate for him.

“I obey your command.”

Munglig bowed and dragged Zhao Yunchang’s body outside.

As soon as Munglig left, Jadaran Elunka entered the ger.

“We’ve scouted around Xingqing, but they haven’t gathered forces yet, perhaps because they haven’t heard about the defeat of the 100,000-strong army.”

The news of the defeat of the 100,000-strong army led by Zhao Yunchang had not reached Xingqing.

The blood of 40,000 men had soaked this land, so any Western Xia soldiers who saw this would have been terrified and headed somewhere other than Xingqing.

Of course, this was just my speculation.

It would have been impossible for survivors to return to Xingqing, hundreds of kilometers away.

Anyway, that wasn’t what was important now.

What mattered was that Xingqing still didn’t know about Zhao Yunchang’s defeat.

“Gag the prisoners. We’re heading to Xingqing.”

Xingqing, the capital of Western Xia.

If we captured it, Western Xia would have no choice but to become part of the Ulus.