The Sui Dynasty's chess game

Chapter 862 The Destruction of the Khitan
"Woo——"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Bugles sounded continuously in the Sui army ranks, indicating an enemy attack, followed by the thunderous beat of war drums.

The 50,000-strong army quickly formed ranks. At that moment, a black line appeared ten miles away, and 20,000 Khitan cavalrymen charged in.

They did not stop their advance, clearly intending to take advantage of their cavalry's high mobility and launch a head-on attack on the Sui army, who had come from afar and were not yet prepared.

The main force of the Sui army consisted of 30,000 infantry and 20,000 cavalry, among whom 6,000 arrow and thunder soldiers were ready. They were lined up in three rows, with 3,000 arrows and thunders coldly pointing at the enemy.

Behind the Arrow and Thunder Camp were 24,000 spearmen, 4,000 of whom were responsible for protecting the emperor, forming a tight spear formation.

There were 10,000 cavalry on each side, led by Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji. The army was ready.

The Khitan cavalry had already advanced to within a mile, and the overwhelming force of 20,000 men galloped across the grassland, causing the earth to tremble.

Li Jing ordered, "Pass down the order: the arrows and thunderbolts will explode upon landing!"

"Arrows and mines ready, first red line!" the commanding general shouted, raising a flag.

At this moment, the 20,000 cavalry had already charged to within 300 paces, getting closer and closer, and were now within 250 paces.

"ignition!"

The soldiers lit the matchlock, which hissed and burned until it reached the first red line. The soldiers immediately gave the order, "Fire!"

A series of crossbow bolts rang out, and three thousand arrows shot into the air, like a dense swarm of locusts, rushing straight towards the Khitan cavalry.

The Sui army's heavy crossbowmen immediately lay down and cocked their crossbows, preparing for a second shot.

The arrows and lightning bolts arrived instantly overhead. The Khitan cavalry were prepared and quickly rolled over to hide under their horses, unaware that their commander had anticipated their move.

Three thousand arrows and grenades landed and exploded one after another. A series of explosions were like thunder and lightning. In an instant, shrapnel flew everywhere, poison nails shot out, and smoke filled the air.

The Khitan cavalry were blown to pieces, their cries and screams echoing through the air, and the 20,000 cavalrymen were thrown into chaos.

Just then, a second volley of arrows rained down, exploding amidst the dense cavalry ranks, and a third volley was already prepared.

The Sui army's arrow and thunder battalion's arduous training has yielded results. They can fire five rounds of arrows and thunder in a very short time, and generally will not fire a sixth round. The enemy will collapse after three rounds, and the fourth and fifth rounds will completely collapse the enemy army.

Of the 20,000 cavalrymen, 30% were killed or wounded by the bombs. These herders, who had formed the cavalry, were utterly terrified and turned their horses around to flee for their lives.

"Cavalry charge! Slaughter without mercy!"

At Li Jing's command, Yuchi Gong and Hou Junji each led 10,000 cavalrymen out to charge, and 10,000 spearmen followed suit, stabbing the wounded but not yet dead Khitan soldiers.

The bridge over the Luo Ruoshui River was engulfed in flames. After capturing thousands of herdsmen, the Sui army, led by Qu Tutong, ordered the bridge to be burned. Dozens of bags of oil were sprayed onto the bridge, and the flames instantly engulfed it, extinguishing the Khitans' hopes of escaping north.

The Tuohechen River to the south was easy to cross, but 30,000 Sui soldiers had already laid a trap there, and the nobles were captured as soon as they crossed the river, with no way to escape.

The Sui army swept in, storming into the residential area, terrifying the Khitan women and children who knelt before their tents, begging for mercy.

The Sui army continued to pursue the fleeing Khitan cavalry, whose numbers dwindled until finally several thousand men removed their armor, weapons, and horses and fled back to their homes, at which point the war finally ended.

In this battle, more than 15,000 Khitan cavalrymen were killed, and millions of cattle and sheep, millions of sheepskins, tens of thousands of taels of gold, more than 200,000 taels of silver, and more than 20,000 large tents were captured.

The Khitan chieftain and all the nobles, totaling over three hundred people, were captured. Xiao Xia immediately ordered the execution of all male Khitan chieftains and nobles, sparing neither the old nor the young. Tens of thousands of Khitan people were sent to Hebei and the Central Plains for resettlement, and the Khitan people disappeared from the annals of history. Having destroyed the Khitan, Xiao Xia had no interest in the remaining Xi and Xi tribes, leaving them to be completely eradicated by Li Jing and Qu Tutong. Xiao Xia then went to inspect Liaodong and the peninsula.

That morning, Xiao Xia arrived at the easternmost coastline, which was later called Vladivostok after being occupied by Russia.

During the Sui Dynasty, a large area here was originally the territory of the Sumo Mohe people. However, a plague in the eighth year of the Daye era made this area a disaster zone, killing countless people. The Sumo Mohe tribes fled north and never dared to return. This area naturally became part of the Sui Dynasty's territory.

Looking towards the bay, Xiao Xia said to Luo Shixin, who was accompanying him, "Use three years to do a few more things for me!"

"Your Majesty, please give your orders!"

Xiao Xia pointed to the bay and said, "First, we need to build a seaport and a seaport city here, and station at least two thousand troops. In the future, when the Sui Dynasty fleet sets sail for the New World, it will depart from here, which will save us two months of sailing time."

"Your subordinate obeys!"

Xiao Xia then pointed to the opposite side of the sea and said, "There is a large island in northern Japan, which is currently uninhabited. Its area is twice that of Guanzhong. It is also a necessary stop for our fleet to reach the New World. You can recruit Japanese people to build a supply garrison in the northwest corner of the island, facing the garrison on the Kamchatka Peninsula. This will facilitate the supply of the fleet. The third option is to expand the garrison on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The number of people does not need to be increased, but the amount of supplies should be increased."

"Your subordinate will certainly comply!"

Xiao Xia nodded and said, "The most crucial thing is to destroy the Mohe and Shiwei tribes. There's no need to rush. We'll gradually eliminate them over five years. We'll use our methods to destroy the nobles and leave the common people. Their population is small, at most a few hundred thousand. We'll relocate them all to western Liaoning and let them live among the Han people. We'll convert them all over over ten years."

Xiao Xia turned to look at Yang Gongren, who quickly replied, "Your Majesty, I understand. We will use education to cultivate their descendants into subjects of the Great Sui Dynasty."

“A very important point here is settlement. Once settled, the tribes cease to exist and the family system is replaced by the county government. Over time, they will no longer have the idea of ​​tribes or identify with them. That is when the transformation is considered successful.”

Xiao Xia was very confident. Historically, after Dae Jo-yeong established the Balhae Kingdom, he successfully transformed the Mohe people from a tribal system to a kingdom system, with local officials managing the people instead of tribes managing them. This was the fundamental difference.

After inspecting the easternmost bay, Xiao Xia's team turned south again, heading towards the new Liaodong Peninsula.

In Luoyang, a tense meeting was being held in the Hall of State Affairs, and the fifteen-year-old Crown Prince Yang Chu was also in attendance.

Although the Crown Prince attends the Council of State Affairs, he only has the right to listen in and not to participate in decision-making. He is not yet an adult, and the power to oversee the country is in the hands of his mother. Only when he turns twenty and the emperor goes out can he officially oversee the country.

Today, the Council of State Affairs has two agenda items. One is to send fertilizer from Hexi and Camel Camp to the seven prefectures and one county in the Central Plains to enrich the land. This is simple, and everyone has agreed.

The second issue is dredging the Luo River, which is an old issue that has remained unresolved for two years. The Luo River was dredged once during the Daye era, but that time the problem of large seagoing ships entering Luoyang was not taken into account, so the dredging width and depth were insufficient. This time, the Luo River needs to be widened by another ten zhang and deepened by five zhang.

Liu Wenjing said, "Now that our finances are relatively abundant, we can take this opportunity to dredge the Luo River again. In addition, the debate last year was unresolved, mainly about whether or not to widen the city of Luoyang as well. Everyone had different opinions. After the investigation by the Water Conservancy Bureau and the Ministry of Works, it was suggested that the Longchi Pond in the east of Luoyang be widened and deepened, and a warehouse complex be built along the river. This way, there would be no need to breach the city of Luoyang. The Emperor also agreed to this plan before he left. Everyone should have seen the detailed plan from the Ministry of Works. Is there anything that needs to be changed or added?"

Fang Xuanling raised his hand and said, "I will only say one thing. Because the investment is huge, I suggest that the expenditure be reviewed in stages, rather than waiting until the construction is completed before reviewing it."

Liu Wenjing nodded. "Financial expenditures can be discussed separately. Now, let's vote on the project itself!"

The plan was sent to all the prime ministers a month ago. After a month of repeated revisions, the final draft has now been completed, and it's time for the final vote.

"Please raise your hand if you agree with the current plan?"

All five prime ministers raised their hands. Liu Wenjing nodded and then asked Yang Chu with a smile, "Does Your Highness have any suggestions?"

This is to show respect to the Crown Prince. Although the Crown Prince does not have decision-making power now, he is the heir apparent and the future ruler of the Sui Dynasty, so everyone should give him enough respect.

Yang Chu slowly said, "I have also read the plan. It has already been revised seven times. If we drag it out any longer, there will be no end to it. I agree that if new problems are found during construction, we can discuss and resolve them together."

Liu Wenjing struck the gavel, "Unanimously approved! It can be officially implemented after being submitted to the Empress for approval!"

(End of this chapter)