Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 652 The New Army Has Its Own Majesty
Before the tremors of the giant cannons had subsided, the Turkic cavalry formation had already been divided into dozens of areas, with the heavy cavalry of the Great Wei charging back and forth across their battle formation like shuttles.

After five charges, the heavy cavalry were exhausted and retreated, but by this time the Turkic cavalry could hardly regroup. The disorganized cavalry was simply a joke.

The new infantry took over from the cavalry to reap the enemy's kills. Although they were outnumbered, the enemy cavalry had been cut into pieces and were unable to mount an effective defense. In addition, the new army's reaping ability was almost terrifying; they were completely emotionless killing machines.

Soon, the enemy was on the verge of collapse. Horns sounded from the rear, and the remaining Turkic cavalry immediately turned their horses around and began to retreat.

Fighting on the battlefield is easy, but pursuing is extremely difficult. The new army could only watch from afar as the Turkic cavalry disappeared on the horizon.

Emperor Jingtai sat panting on his horse, his armor gleaming in the sunlight. His eyes were faintly visible beneath his full-face helmet, but they were now almost devoid of emotion, just like the Shenji Battalion soldiers who had surprised him earlier.

His arm was throbbing slightly, but this just-right pain only served to stimulate the battle genes in his bones. After all, the Tuoba family was originally made up of generals, and bravery and skill in battle were their family's characteristics.

At that moment, he glanced back at the group of brave soldiers behind him and suddenly felt that heroic killing intent spreading.

When he led his cavalry fearlessly into an enemy force ten times their size, he finally understood why Xia Lin always said that cavalry was the romance of men, even though his military equipment and tactics had been iterated many times, he still couldn't give up these expensive heavy cavalry.

Although it was the dead of winter, the heat emanating from these men seeped out from the gaps in their armor, and even the falling snow disappeared instantly after it landed.

After confirming the retreat of the Turkic cavalry, the work of taking stock of the battlefield began. In fact, the main battlefield in Handan had become a veritable meat grinder at this time. In recent days, nearly 130,000 people had died here, including the northern and eastern siege armies and a portion of the Turkic cavalry.

Surprisingly, the damage from the giant cannons this morning was not particularly impressive, even less than that from the smaller cannons. Only three or four thousand people were affected by the six salvos. The real killing of the enemy occurred when the heavily armored cavalry and infantry charged together.

However, it must be said that the oppressive feeling brought by the heavy cannons was unparalleled. Emperor Jingtai could clearly feel that the six giant cannons had exhausted the morale of tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry in just one salvo. Apart from the horses being trampled to death due to fright, their second largest loss was being killed by the infantry who attacked with strange weapons. The number of people lost by the heavy cavalry was only the last, and was even less than the number of people killed by the heavy cannons.

But does that mean heavy artillery and heavy cavalry were useless? Actually, no. Heavy artillery dealt them a double blow, both psychologically and physiologically, while heavy cavalry left them no time to regroup. Without the support of these two expensive units, even if the infantry of the new army had more advanced weapons, dealing with such a large number of cavalry would not be an easy task. A slight mistake could even result in them being overwhelmed and having their defenses breached.

"Your Majesty, we should enter the city now." Shan Xiongxin rode up to Emperor Jingtai and whispered, "The gates of Handan have been opened."

Upon hearing the reminder, Emperor Jingtai waved his hand and said, "Gentlemen, follow me into Handan City!"

As the cavalry entered the city, the dragon flag immediately replaced Li Mi's Li-character flag, and Li Mi himself, along with all his officials and generals, knelt at the city gate entrance to respectfully welcome the emperor.

The Grand Commander was still the same Grand Commander, but the Emperor was no longer the same Emperor. Emperor Jingtai rode his strongest and most majestic steed at the head of the procession, and the streets on both sides were filled with the people of Handan.

At that moment, someone suddenly shouted "Long live the Emperor!" and in an instant, the people knelt down like the waves of the Qiantang River, and the shouts of "Long live the Emperor!" resounded throughout the city.

Emperor Jingtai's armor was covered in scars, but scars are a man's medals. He walked down the street in his blood-stained and battle-damaged armor, and no one laughed at him or his soldiers because they had all witnessed this man leading five thousand cavalrymen to break through a force ten times their size.

The hymn to humanity is the hymn to courage; the greatness of humanity is the greatness of courage.

At all times, the brave are always admired.

Of course, Emperor Jingtai particularly enjoyed this kind of admiration. However, at this moment, he suddenly realized that the flattery and adoration he received were nothing but false things brought about by his status. If he were to lose his status as emperor one day, those who had flattered him would be the first to rush up and skin him alive.

The admiration he enjoys today is something he earned through his own hard work and strength; it is a glory he fought for himself, something that no one can take away from him.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Liu Bilie, the Great Khan, had received news of his heavy losses, with nearly half of his cavalry perishing in the battle. However, he was not too surprised, and simply turned around with a smile to look at the generals behind him.

The men were stunned for a moment, then they all knelt down and cried out, "Khan, spare our lives! Khan, spare our lives!"

Liu Dahan ignored them and simply stepped over these generals who had always been in close contact with Yang Ying. As soon as he left, these men were immediately taken into custody by the soldiers.

As expected, Yang Ying arrived not long after. But to his surprise, the person who came forward to meet him this time was not the previous general, but the big boss behind the scenes, Liu Bilie, the emperor of the Turkic... no, he should be called the Northern Han.

Yang Ying was in a sorry state at the moment, because he had also heard about the battle situation. The Turks had lost nearly half of their forces. He used to be able to talk to those few "one of their own," but now he didn't even know that the Turkic Khan would personally appear in this place.

"Hello, Yang Zhuguo."

Liu Da Khan already speaks excellent Chinese. Of course, he is no longer the tribal leader who came from a slave and herdsman background. He is now the emperor of the Northern Han Dynasty and claims to have the blood of Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang, flowing through his veins. It would be inappropriate for him to speak a foreign language again.

The moment Yang Ying saw the Northern Han emperor, he began to plan how to deal with him. However, the problem was that he had suffered a crushing defeat this time. The people he had gathered by spending all his wealth had either run away, died, or scattered. He had no bargaining chips left.

Although the Turkic cavalry has been defeated, they can still negotiate with the Tian Wei regime. They only need to send out a few scapegoats and sign a treaty, and the matter will be over. After all, they still have a common and formidable enemy: the Tang Dynasty.

Yang Ying has no choice now. He poured everything into this battle, and now the difficulty of making a comeback is almost hopeless.

"Yang Zhuguo," Han Liu said with a smile, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war; there's no need to worry about them."

"Please enlighten me, Great Khan."

Yang Ying stood up and clasped his hands in greeting. He really didn't know what move Liu Dahan would make next, and he had no more resources left.

"In the Central Plains, the defeat ended in utter chaos. It was not entirely Yang Zhuguo's fault, but rather the enemy's strength was formidable and could not be easily shaken. In addition, Zhuguo's poor judgment of people led to today's outcome."

"What the Great Khan says is absolutely right, and I am ashamed." Yang Ying knew, of course, how he lost, but he didn't understand why even the Turks could be defeated so quickly. Now he really had to reassess his own and his opponent's abilities.

But whether Yang Ying was willing or not, he was naturally not willing, so this time he turned his attention back to the Turks.

"Great Khan, judging from the current situation, Tian Wei will not give up easily. Does the Great Khan have any other way to deal with this?"

Han Liu looked Yang Ying up and down and said, "I do have something, but I would also like to ask Yang Zhuguo to do something for me."

"Please speak, what is it that the Great Khan is referring to?"

Han Liu paused for a moment: "Do you know about Huangya Pass in the Northeast?"

"know."

"I've been wanting to deal with Goguryeo for years, but Huangya Pass is the perfect obstacle, preventing me from advancing or retreating. It has become a major concern for me. I wonder if General Yang has any good ideas?"

Yang Ying raised an eyebrow: "Ye Ji."

"Since Yang Zhuguo is powerless to help the Central Plains, why not take over Huangya Pass? The terrain there is complex, and neither the Tian Wei cavalry nor their artillery can get there. What do you think?"

To serve as a dog for the Turks.

Yang Ying's heart skipped a beat. He understood that the Khan's words meant something simple: there were some things he couldn't do himself, so he had to handle them alone.

A month ago, he would have had leverage to negotiate with the Turks. At that time, he had 400,000 men at his disposal, "strong and well-equipped," and many places in northern Hebei could provide support. But now, his 200,000 men were divided to block the enemy's northward advance, more than 100,000 were bombed and scattered, and more than 100,000 were just tricked by the world.

Although he had urgently recalled the 200,000-strong army that had marched south, Handan had fallen, and his only option was to flee; there was no other way. He planned to take advantage of the bitter cold and the enemy's inconvenient supply lines to escape, and the Khan's words gave him a glimmer of hope.

"You still have two hundred thousand men," Han Liu laughed. "But I will have to bow down to the emperor of Tian Wei because of your contempt and arrogance. Yang Zhuguo, defeat is defeat. I will cede the grasslands, but who knows when I will be able to take the Yan-Yun land you promised me."

Yang Ying lowered her head and said, "Khan, please rest assured, I will definitely learn from this painful experience. I just never expected the other side to be so cunning."

"Cunning? Not at all. What I see is not the enemy's cunning, but your lack of ambition, Yang Zhuguo. Li Mi's troops have already suffered a crushing defeat, yet you are still so arrogant, thinking you can suppress them with ten times the strength. My cavalry are also other people's children and other people's fathers. How am I supposed to face their families?"

The Khan's composure was truly remarkable. He showed no impatience whatsoever when he said this, but instead looked coldly at Yang Ying and said, "Therefore, Yang Zhuguo, how you handle this situation is of utmost importance."

"Great Khan, I understand. I will begin my journey to the northeast from this very day."

"Hurry up, I need a place outside the pass, while you need a place to settle down and make a living."

"clear."

Yang Ying ran away. Of course he could run away. This was his plan from the beginning. But plans can't keep up with changes. He originally said he would seek refuge with the Turks, but now the Turks obviously don't want to have anything to do with him. Instead, they want to use his remaining troops to open up the last pass from the grasslands to the northeastern plains.

But what could he do? He was being treated like a dog, and he couldn't beat them in a fight. If he didn't obey the Khan, the Khan would offer him up as a bargaining chip at the negotiating table.

Suddenly, Yang Ying realized a harsh reality: she was at the mercy of others, while they were enjoying their meal at the head table, and she wasn't even a servant; at best, she was just a beautifully packaged dish on the table.

Meanwhile, on the other side, someone quickly walked up to Emperor Jingtai and whispered in his ear as he addressed the people of Handan: "Your Majesty, Yang Ying has fled north. Just now, a special envoy from the Northern Han arrived and knocked on the door on behalf of Emperor Liu Bilie of the Northern Han, saying that he wishes to see Your Majesty."

"Meet him? Since he wants to meet him, then let him meet him."

Emperor Jingtai dismissed the question with a casual remark, which led some to question why, after such a great victory, he still chose to negotiate.

Please, what appears to be a glorious battle to them is actually a one-sided massacre orchestrated by logistical support and heavy equipment. What can we do if we don't negotiate? Their equipment can't move without water transport, and they've already used up more than half of their supplies, including bullets and shells. If the fighting continues, their logistics will collapse, and they won't be able to continue their pursuit. Our side consists mostly of heavy cavalry and infantry, with only a small number of cavalry sent to scout.

Using infantry to chase enemy cavalry? And stretching the supply line to two thousand miles? Isn't that just asking for trouble?

When they arrived, Xia Lin had already made a deduction, saying that their current supply line could not exceed a thousand miles at most, so they needed a springboard like Xuzhou. The last time they fought against the Western Turks, it was the same. They were supplied by various protectorates in Chang'an along the way, and the supply line never exceeded a thousand miles. This was the only way to ensure the supply of military supplies.

However, outside this area, a direct confrontation is still possible, but if this relatively small elite new army is reduced to only two or three tenths, Daosheng might as well jump into the Suzhou River when he returns.

The battle line had reached its limit at Handan. Negotiating with the Turkic Khan would allow them to gain the greatest benefit with the least loss. The task of pursuing Yang Ying's remnants would then be left to Guo's army in Jinyang, as had been planned beforehand.

Try to lead them to the Chang'an and Longcheng area, leaving the troublesome issues to the Li Tang dynasty.

Their most important task right now is to rest and recuperate in Handan City in preparation for the negotiations. After all, even if the soldiers can afford to eat poorly, their warhorses cannot afford to go hungry.

"Go and inform Li Mi to wait for me at the military affairs office."

(End of this chapter)