Chinese New Year

Chapter 1439 Mercenaries

The gong finally rang out at dusk.

The Silver Spear Army soldiers, who had been attacking fiercely and repeatedly leaping onto the city walls to fight, immediately stopped their attack and began to retreat slowly.

Yuchi Poluo looked over and saw that there were still a few Liang soldiers leaping on the city wall. Seeing that there was no way to retreat, they did not surrender, but fought with their last bit of courage until the very last moment. One of them even broke through the blockade and jumped off the city wall wearing iron armor. After struggling on the ground for a while, he finally stopped moving.

The battle beneath the city walls was likely to end even sooner.

The thousand-plus Kucha soldiers who went out to sabotage the siege equipment were almost completely wiped out. The last two or three hundred fled to the city gate, crying and begging for the city to be opened, but unfortunately no one answered.

Liang soldiers pursued them, slaughtering them indiscriminately until a volley of arrows was thrown from the city walls, at which point they retreated, covering each other's retreat.

The entire battle was conducted in an orderly manner. Although it was only a failed attack, it showed you how a well-trained army fights.

“If I had such troops, I would have destroyed Shule long ago. Why bother with their pretense?” Yuchi Poluo sighed and said.

Behind him stood seven or eight young members of the Yuchi family, all gazing longingly at the group of imposing silver-armored warriors in the wilderness, secretly wishing they were among them.

Some even gave up their royal status, wanting only to visit the legendary Luoyang. If they could gain the favor of the Han emperor and be promoted to a close attendant, their lives would be worthwhile.

Or, being a proton wouldn't be bad either...

“The Kucha army is not strong, but it is not a rabble either.” Yang Qin withdrew his gaze and said, “The King of Kucha is also a cautious man. I thought he would go out to fight in the open, but I didn’t expect him to defend the city.”

“Grand Commander, I don’t think that fellow Bo Shun will leave the city,” said Yuchi Poluo.

"Why?" Yang Qin asked.

“He must be waiting for reinforcements,” said Yuchi Poluo. “Wensu and Yutou are small and weak, and have already been destroyed, so we won’t mention them. But there is a branch of Kuaihu who roam west of the snow mountain. Their fierce and agile nature is awe-inspiring. It seems that their ancestors and the people of Kucha were of the same clan and intermarried. Bo Shun must have gone to ask for help.”

"Oh? There's such a tribe?" Yang Qin was taken aback. The Sogdian who had led the way hadn't mentioned it. So he asked, "Is it a large country or a small country?"

"It's a small country," said Yuchi Poluo. "I've heard that their people are skilled warriors with excellent equipment. They were initially subordinate to the Xiongnu, but later migrated west. They first went to Gaochang, where they made a living by fighting for others, hence the misconception that they were a branch of the Cheshi. They migrated west again, eventually settling west of Yanqi during the Taikang era of Emperor Wu of Jin. The King of Yanqi married a woman from the Kuaihu tribe, and they had a son named Longhui. After Longhui ascended the throne, with the help of his maternal clan, he defeated his long-time enemy, Kucha, and established himself as the King of Kucha. He also sent his son, Longxi, back to Yanqi to become the King, and father and son jointly ruled two countries. However, Longhui was soon assassinated, Kucha was restored, and the Bo clan became king. The strength of Yanqi, which Longxi ruled, was less than half that of Kucha, and the Kuaihu people had already migrated west and, having been heavily bribed by the people of Kucha, were unwilling to help, even to this day."

After listening, Yang Qin thought to himself, "So there's more to this story than meets the eye. You wouldn't know unless you asked a local, and even then, only someone from the local upper class would understand. Ordinary people would hardly comprehend the intricacies involved."

“Back then, Long Hui was able to conquer Kucha, which must have been thanks to the help of the Kuaihu people. A tribe that specializes in fighting for others—that's quite interesting,” Yang Qin said. “Where have the Kuaihu people migrated to now?”

“I’m not entirely sure either.” Yuchi Poluo said somewhat awkwardly, “It’s probably in the mountains west of Yanqi and Kucha. There are only about 10,000 people, and at most 5,000 warriors.”

Yang Qin didn't ask any more questions. He didn't even consider such a small amount of strength a threat.

Without a fixed territory, they constantly migrated, moving westward from the grasslands north of the Central Plains, fighting for the Cheshi and Yanqi kingdoms in exchange for commissions. This Kuaihu was truly unique.

Their fighting strength was probably not weak, after all, they had been fighting for many years; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to defeat the stronger forces and conquer Kucha back then. However, after the mercenary contract ended and the Kuaihu soldiers left, the people of Kucha were not very cooperative. As soon as Long Hui was assassinated, Kucha immediately restored its kingdom, and Yanqi couldn't do anything about it.

Kuaihu? Heh, Yang Qin didn't care at all. Even if you send thousands of people, so what?

There are too many tribes that are skilled in cavalry warfare; Yang Qin has seen no fewer than ten in his life.

Which of those Xianbei servants in the Northern Route Army was weak? They'll face you when they arrive.

On the night of the ninth and the tenth, the east and west sides of the city launched two more attacks. The people of Kucha were in a bit of a mess, but they managed to hold on.

Seeing this, Yang Qin knew that he could not take the city quickly, so he ordered the Silver Spear and Black Spear armies to stop attacking and instead escort prisoners from various places to the city walls to persuade them to surrender.

After failing to achieve their goal, they launched a new and fierce attack on the 14th, spearheaded by the people of Kucha.

The armies of Khotan, Shule, and Gumo, who surrendered after resisting for several days, gradually gathered. They drove away the remaining able-bodied men of Wensu and Yutou and ordered them to launch an attack from the north of Kucha.

For a time, the blood of the Kucha people flowed both on and around the city walls.

On the 17th, just seven days into the siege, Yang Qin received a report from the rear: enemy cavalry appeared more than 200 li to the west, harassing our able-bodied men transporting grain and fodder, resulting in the deaths of hundreds.

Yang Qin dared not delay and ordered Yin Xi to mobilize the main force of the cavalry to pursue and annihilate this suddenly appearing enemy.

******
Amidst the vast expanse of yellow sand, the river rushes swiftly, making a gurgling sound.

Sometimes you might wonder why the river flows so fast and swiftly in a dry and water-scarce place.

Along the banks of the reeds and bushes nourished by the river, a cavalry force of several hundred men seemed to have suddenly received some news and immediately stopped.

The leader lay on the ground and listened, but seemed to have no clue. Then he turned around and gave a few instructions.

The language is difficult to understand and the intonation is strange, making it hard to figure out.

Judging from his appearance, he had black hair, a bushy beard, a high nose, and deep-set eyes, clearly not a person from the Central Plains.

Looking at their attire, they mostly wore brightly colored robes from the Western Regions, pointed hats, and the armor they were putting on was mostly chainmail, which was rarely seen in the Central Plains.

Most people actually wore two layers of armor, with lamellar or leather armor underneath and chainmail on top, which was quite extravagant.

The warhorses were brought over and distributed to everyone. They varied in height, weight, and even age; some were clearly fourteen or fifteen-year-old boys, while others had graying beards—in truth, they were probably only forty years old.

It was obvious that they were not handpicked elite soldiers, but rather a force organized by clan. However, they were well-trained, their movements were clean and efficient, and the soldiers trusted their officers, who in turn knew their men very well.

This effect cannot be achieved through training alone; most of them have experienced many battles, and some even make a living from them.

In terms of weapons, they had both long and short ones, with each person carrying a bow, and they often had strange throwing weapons stuck in their bodies.

After everyone had finished getting ready and donning their gear, the officer gave an order and led over a hundred men to head west.

Three hundred men followed closely behind, well-equipped and in high spirits.

Dozens of people lagged behind, holding multiple reins and leading hundreds of horses for replacement, thus creating a slight distance between them.

They did this for a reason.

Soon, a caravan appeared in the dust to the south: about three hundred horse-drawn carriages and donkey carts of various sizes, along with more than two hundred camels.

The coachmen and drivers panicked and immediately stopped, frantically organizing a defense: essentially trying to surround the carriage and hide in the middle.

Their escort consisted of over a hundred cavalrymen, whose uniforms were a motley collection and whose hair was disheveled, suggesting they were not a regular army but rather people from the Di and Qiang tribes. However, their courage was commendable; seeing hundreds of enemies charging towards them, they showed no fear, mounted their horses, and charged forward with long spears in hand.

The smoke and dust grew thicker.

The sound of the flowing river was also drowned out by the dense sound of horses' hooves.

In the distance, someone looked up from a house made of rammed earth, then quickly disappeared without a trace.

The cavalry of both sides rapidly approached, with arrows constantly flying out from their respective ranks.

With heavy armor protecting them, the weak horse archers could hardly penetrate them, and only a few unlucky ones were hit on their horses and fell off.

The Di-Qiang tribesmen mostly wore only leather armor, so the losses were significant.

This single round of shooting has already largely determined the outcome of the game.

But that wasn't all. As the two sides drew closer, a number of spears and axes suddenly flew out from the yellow sand to the east. They were accurate and ruthless, smashing the formation of the hundred or so Di-Qiang light cavalry into pieces and leaving them disoriented.

The enemy's main force charged in, unleashing a barrage of swords and spears, and completely routed the last remaining Di-Qiang light cavalry.

The able-bodied men in the grain transport team were all dumbfounded.

What kind of fighting style is this? Throwing weapons the moment you meet someone in combat? Who taught them that?

However, they had no time to be surprised, because another cloud of dust appeared from the east, indicating that enemy reinforcements had arrived.

It's over! This is the subconscious thought in everyone's mind.

Then, feeling a surge of anger and resentment, he thought, "If you won't let me go home, I'll fight you to the death!"

The scattered Di and Qiang light cavalry lost the courage to continue fighting and fled in all directions.

Some people panic and rush to the riverbank or desert, where they have no chance of survival.

Some, however, remained relatively clear-headed and fled frantically westward, notifying the grain transport teams ahead to prepare, and most importantly, informing General Yin, who was searching for traces of the enemy.

On October 21st, the sky was overcast and the sandstorm picked up.

Yin Xi, the commander of Luoyan, who was advancing along the river, received a message that had been relayed through multiple channels: it seemed that the Kuaihu tribes had split into several groups and were harassing the supply lines.

As for the number of people, opinions vary.

Some say there were only a few hundred riders, some say a little over a thousand, and others say there were two or three thousand.

Yin Xi first dismissed the claim of several hundred cavalry, estimating that the enemy force numbered around two thousand.

The Kuaihu were a small country that constantly migrated, so they were lucky to have a few thousand soldiers. Moreover, this strength must have been achieved through the continuous conquest and annexation of scattered tribes.

He then analyzed the troops at his disposal: the Luoyan Army had brought 5,000 cavalry, plus several hundred left and right elite cavalry guards, and 2,000 elite cavalrymen from Youzhou. That was enough.

The problem now is how to catch this enemy.

He had a suspicion: although many towns and villages in Yanqi and Kucha had surrendered, it was hard to say what they were really thinking. There must be someone secretly providing supplies to the Kuaihu.

Based on this judgment, things become easy.

Follow the main water sources and conduct focused reconnaissance in areas with large populations; you will surely find something.

Moreover, he had a feeling that this arrogant guy seemed quite confident and domineering, completely disregarding others, which was also an opportunity.

(End of this chapter)