Usurpation of Mongolia: My father-in-law is Genghis Khan

Chapter 145 The Han Army's Eight Banners, displaying their might in foreign lands, crush the Kipchak Allied Forces!

Boom boom boom~~
"Charge! God is with us!"

"Kill all the Tatars!"

"For the sake of Oros!"

"Glory to the brave, death to the cowards!"

……

At Korgi's command, the Rus' people left no reserves, and 40,000 cavalrymen charged forward.

Seeing this, Wu Xian sneered: "You're courting death! Pass on my order: Plain Red Banner, Plain Black Banner, Bordered Red Banner—all of you, move out and stop them!"

"Yes!"

Boom~~
Plain red, plain black, and bordered red—the three banners of Khwarezm were in motion.

"Charge! Kill!"

"Kill all the Rus' people!"

"Break off three heads, and reward half a future!"

"Fame and fortune can be achieved on horseback; the time has come to make a name for ourselves!"

"Cut off their heads, and you'll get promoted and make a fortune!"

……

With shouts and urging their horses onward, the 25,800 soldiers of the Khwarazmian Three Banners, led by Wu Xian, bypassed the Rus' infantry and head-on confronted the Rus' 40,000 cavalry!
25,800 vs. 40,000!

On the surface, the Rus' had a huge numerical advantage, but the outcome of the war was not entirely determined by the number of people.

The Rus' cavalry was very different from the Khwarazmian Plain Red, Plain Black, and Bordered Red Banners under Zhao Shuo's command.

The Khwarazmian Three Banners were Zhao Shuo's regular army, whose main warhorses were tall and magnificent Arabian horses, and who wore iron armor. The only difference was the weapons they carried.

The Rus' people were far less wealthy than Zhao Shuo, and their cavalry equipment was a motley collection.

The nobles and their personal guards rode native forest horses. Although not as magnificent as Arabian warhorses, they were still tall and spirited.

The other cavalrymen rode steppe horses, with shoulder height similar to Mongolian horses.

Nobles and their personal guards wore conical helmets, lamellar armor, chainmail, or chainmail, and carried spears or warhammers, and were equipped with bows and arrows.

Ordinary cavalrymen wore leather armor, carried scimitars, and were equipped with bows and arrows.

In other words, the Rus' nobles and their personal guards were only comparable to the Khwarazmian warriors under Zhao Shuo. The equipment of ordinary cavalry was completely incomparable to that of the Khwarazmian three banners.

The Rus' could only hope to win by gathering all their nobles and personal guards to meet the Khwarazmian three banners head-on, and then using ordinary cavalry to harass them.

But in reality, how could that be?

By now, the Rus' people had split into seventeen principalities of varying sizes, but they nominally all respected "Grand Duke" Korgi as their lord.

In order to deal with the Mongols, they gritted their teeth and contributed all their infantry, forming an infantry force of 30,000 men.

However, the cavalry in the hands of each "prince" was their lifeline, and they had to hold onto it tightly.

Therefore, in reality, the current 40,000 cavalrymen are divided into 17 groups, each acting independently.

How can we win then?

"Kill! God is with us!"

"go to hell!"

……

The battle cries of the Rus' cavalry and the Khwarazmian three banners were completely intertwined.

Although the Rus' had a numerical advantage of almost twice that of the others, the Khwarazmian Three Banners had the advantage of discipline and equipment, and the two sides fought fiercely, with neither able to gain the upper hand in the short term.

At this time, the Rus' armored infantry faced a combined attack from the Baluk battalion and the Khwarazmian Plain Blue Banner.

After a brief moment of panic, the Rus' leather-armored infantry quickly formed a shield wall with their round shields. Behind the shield wall, spears thrust forward, blocking the scimitars of the Khwarazmian Plain Yellow Banner. However, the Han Chinese Plain Yellow Banner swiftly changed tactics, with countless cavalrymen advancing close to the enemy lines, harassing the leather-armored infantry with arrows.

In other words, a Khwarazmian Plain Yellow Banner of 8,600 cavalrymen held off more than 20,000 Rus' leather-armored infantrymen!
The Rus' 40,000 cavalry were also completely tied down by the Khwarazmian Three Banners.

The entire left wing is locked in a stalemate.

The outcome of this battle will depend on whether the Balu Battalion and the Zhenglan Banner first eliminate the Rus' armored warriors, or whether the Rus' cavalry, with their remaining strength, first break through the Khwarazmian Three Banners.

As for the reinforcements?

The Mongol central army and the Asuts kept a close watch on each other, neither wanting to make any rash moves and reveal any weaknesses.

The Kipchaks, however, saw an opportunity.

The Khwarazmian army, with fewer than 50,000 men, was locked in a fierce battle with 70,000 Rus'. Doesn't that mean Zhao Shuo didn't reinforce the Khwarazmian army with a large number of conscripts? If so, the largest number of conscripts must be in the Han army opposite them!
The Han army on the other side should number around 60,000.

The Kipchaks now have an army of 70,000!

With both superior troop strength and combat power, when is a better time to attack the Han army?

The nominal leader of the Kipchaks is Khutan Khan.

Khutan Khan's daughter married Michislao, the most powerful warrior among the Rus' people and a prince of the Galician principality. It was precisely because of this relationship and the principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold" that the Kipchaks persuaded the Rus' people to help them.

Because of his great achievements, Hutan Khan was elected as the leader by the Kipchak tribes.

He shouted, "We were wrong before. The army with the most recruits is not the Khwarazmian army, but the Han army! Charge! Break through the Han army on the other side and breach the enemy's left flank!"

"Charge, warriors of the Kipchaks!"

"Kill all these invading alien races!"

"Kill all the Mongol lackeys!"

……

Seventy thousand Kipchak warriors roared and launched an attack on the Han Chinese Eight Banners.

The Kipchaks' tactics were actually similar to those of the Mongols in the past.

They advanced like peach trees in the mountains, formed a battle array like a lake, and attacked as if they were drilling through a hole.

The army was divided into small teams of thirty to fifty men. If the enemy formed a battle formation, the small teams would first harass the enemy's formation. Once the enemy's formation became disorganized, the main force would concentrate its attack to penetrate and break through the enemy's lines.

If they encounter an army of the same style, it will be a small team of thirty to fifty men fighting each other to see which side is more skilled in archery and horsemanship, better equipped, and more courageous in battle.

If they encounter a large cavalry force from the enemy, these small squads will quickly assemble and form large cavalry units to fight against them.

Their experience in hunting on the grasslands made these grassland warriors very cooperative, requiring almost no command.

Furthermore, it must be noted that although the Kipchaks were a nomadic people, they were far wealthier than the Mongols of the past. They controlled vast stretches of grassland, enabling them to trade with the Western Liao, Khwarazmian Empire, and Europe. Due to the constant turmoil in the Persian region, they also absorbed many skilled artisans from Persia.

Therefore, about half of the Kipchak warriors wore iron armor.

Their helmets were particularly distinctive.

In other regions, helmets and faceplates were simply covered by a piece of iron.

The Kipchak helmets and visors, however, had noses, mouths, and exaggerated beards, making them look like grotesque demons.

Ordinary soldiers, seeing the approaching columns of Kipchak cavalry, were filled with fear even before the battle began. Historical records indicate that Jochi greatly admired these Kipchak masks, not only promoting their use but also making technological improvements. Later, the "Kipchak mask" became the symbol of the Kipchak Khanate.

Of course, the Han Chinese Eight Banners were not ordinary troops, and they had no fear of the exaggerated helmets and masks of the Kipchaks.

"The Han army, in plain red, plain blue, plain black, bordered red, bordered blue, bordered yellow, and bordered black banners, will launch an attack! Note that you should first divide them into thousand-man squads, divide the Kipchaks as much as possible, and then devour them piece by piece!"

Shi Tianni not only issued the order decisively, but also did not use his full strength, only deploying the seven banners of the Han army. He left the directly subordinate Plain Yellow Banner as a final reserve force to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

His orders were also very much in line with the actual situation of both armies.

Although the Han Chinese Eight Banners had undergone long-term training, they were not at a disadvantage in individual combat strength compared to the Kipchaks, who had grown up on horseback. If they were also divided into small teams of thirty to fifty men, even with the advantage of Arabian warhorses, the Han Chinese army might not be able to gain any advantage.

The Han army's greatest advantage lies in its discipline.

They not only cooperate closely, but they are also willing to pay any price, including their own lives, to complete orders.

Thirty Han Chinese Eight Banner soldiers might not be a match for thirty Kipchak warriors.

But a Han Chinese Eight Banners commander could defeat a thousand Kipchak cavalrymen!

As for why Shi Tianni didn't just send out 10,000-strong units directly, if the Kipchak cavalry found the Han army too formidable, they would only engage in harassment, resulting in a stalemate in the short term. In the long run, the Kipchaks might simply flee.

Deploying teams of thousands of people is the wisest choice.

"Under the Prince Consort's command, there is no retreat!"

"The Eight Banners Han Army is invincible!"

"The time to make achievements and build a career is now!"

……

The Han army's seven banners were divided into seventy thousand-man squads, shouting as they charged swiftly towards the seventy thousand Kipchak cavalry that had spread for five or six miles.

Their current objective is not to kill as many Kipchaks as possible, but to complete their mission: to divide the Kipchak cavalry into two groups, preventing them from escaping or making contact. Then, they would concentrate their superior forces to devour them piece by piece.

"Stop them! Kill them!"

Upon seeing the Han army's formation, the Kipchaks, who had been covering the mountains and plains, quickly changed their formation.

Seventy thousand-man squads, consisting of iron-clad Kipchak warriors in front and leather-clad warriors behind, marched towards the seventy Han army commanders.

Seventy teams vs. seventy teams!
750 Han soldiers vs. 1,000 Kipchak soldiers!

Whoosh whoosh!
When they were only a hundred paces apart, both sides unleashed a volley of arrows simultaneously.

The Han army's warhorses continued to accelerate!
Eighty steps!
Fifty steps!
By now, the Kipchak warriors' eyes were filled with shock.

They certainly have reason to be shocked.

In cavalry duels of this era, the strategy involved either forming orderly ranks, tacitly avoiding direct confrontation, and launching attacks as the two armies passed each other. The attack was swift and decisive, with no reduction in speed.

When they reached a distance of a hundred paces, both sides would slow down in perfect unison, and the soldiers of the two armies would engage in fierce combat.

There were also exceptionally brave generals who, with dozens of personal guards, would charge straight into the enemy ranks at full speed, but this was by no means the norm and rarely happened on the battlefield.

But what about now?
Not a single one of the seventy Han army units showed any intention of backing away from the front, nor did a single one slow down!
Their formation was also quite strange.

Each commander of a thousand men formed a neat square formation, with the cavalrymen standing very close together, their stirrups almost touching on the left and right, and the distance between them no more than three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

The entire cavalry force, like a series of moving cities, was fiercely charging towards the Kipchak army's thousand-man unit!
what happened?

Why don't they slow down or avoid a head-on collision?

Are they willing to trade their lives for each other?

For ordinary soldiers, wouldn't such a direct collision between the two sides be tantamount to mutual destruction?
is this necessary?

The Kipchak cavalry were utterly perplexed.

However, little did they know that this tactic was not uncommon in the East.

Iron Buddha!
Legend has it that the Jin dynasty's Iron Pagoda formation was linked together by iron chains, creating a perfectly synchronized army capable of shattering enemy lines. However, this is practically impossible. If one rider's horse was shot and killed, wouldn't all the other riders on the chain be implicated?

In fact, in the early years of the Jin Dynasty, strict military discipline was used to unite all the soldiers into one, as if they were linked by iron chains and attacked like thunder, which is why the world has such a big misunderstanding.

Although the Han army's Eight Banners only wore iron armor on the men, not on their horses, they still borrowed tactics from the Iron Pagoda. Yes!
The Han Army Eight Banners are determined to fight the enemy to the death with their excellent military discipline. Do you dare to accept the challenge?
"go!"

Although the Kipchaks were also steppe warriors and relatively free-spirited, they had been living a comfortable life for too long and didn't see the need for a direct fight. Immediately, about fifty units of a thousand men turned their horses and galloped to the side, clearing a path for the Han army. The Han army did not pursue, but instead quickly advanced, seizing advantageous terrain.

There were also about twenty Kipchak thousand-man teams that refused to believe in evil.

"What are you afraid of? Let's fight these Easterners!"

"Kill them all!"

"Let's meet force with force! The Kipchak are invincible!"

……

Nearly twenty Kipchak detachments of a thousand men each accelerated again and charged fiercely towards the Han army opposite them!
"Attention, guns raised!"

Guo Dehai, the first commander of the Han Army's Plain Red Banner, saw the Kipchak 1,000-man unit opposite him advancing instead of retreating, and coldly snorted before issuing his order.

"Yes!"

Seven hundred and fifty soldiers raised their spears horizontally, the tips pointing straight ahead, gleaming with a blinding cold light in the sunlight.

The warhorse continued to accelerate!
Thirty steps!
Ten steps!

Zhang Mancang, the head of the ten households of the Plain Red Banner, was at the very front of the entire team. At this moment, he could clearly see the ferocious masks of the opposing Kipchak cavalry and the bloodthirsty light in their eyes.

However, he felt no fear.

What are you afraid of?
Even if he died in battle, the prince consort's generous pension would be enough to ensure his family's comfort.

Besides, he even slept with the princess of Khwarazm, so his life was totally worth it!

If he hadn't served the prince consort with all his might, he would have been nothing more than a poor farmer in Hebei, and he would never have had such a wonderful life.
Moreover, they might not even die.

Yes, it's a head-on battle between the two sides now.
However, the "Iron Pagoda" style of warfare involved long and rigorous training for the Eight Banners soldiers. In contrast, the Kipchak army before them relied solely on sheer bravery to fight head-on. Their ranks were not only uneven, but they also could not form the dense formation with stirrups almost touching each other, as the Han army did.

In other words, one Kipchak cavalryman was almost facing three Han cavalrymen head-on.

This is Zhang Mancang's chance to survive.

boom!
The two cavalry forces collided violently!

Under the immense force of the warhorses' impact, the soldiers who charged head-on at the front, whether from the Kipchak army or the Han army, were almost all killed in the process.

The Han army's front column consisted of about thirty men, and because their formation was much denser than that of the Kipchaks, ten of them died on the spot!
The cavalry quickly filled in!
Boom boom!

The two sides collided with two more lines, and twenty soldiers from each side were killed on the spot, with soldiers quickly filling in for them.

Of course, after these three brutal collisions, and due to the presence of the centaur corpses, both sides had to slow down.

The real battle has begun.

"kill!"

Zhang Mancang was incredibly lucky to still be alive. He spurred his Arabian warhorse forward, his spear thrusting viciously towards the enemy.

The armor of the Kipchak soldier opposite him was much more magnificent than that of the other Kipchak warriors, so he was likely a nobleman of the Kipchak army.

"go to hell!"

The Kipchak nobleman was highly skilled in martial arts. He dodged to the side, and his spear, as fast as lightning, pierced straight into Zhang Mancang's heart.

If it were a duel between the two, Zhang Mancang would probably have to give up on the spot.

However, at that moment, Zhang Mancang's two comrades-in-arms attacked almost simultaneously, thrusting their spears viciously at the Kipchak nobleman from the left and right.

The nobleman quickly sheathed his gun and parried it.

Dang Dang!

With two crisp sounds, the two spears were deflected by the Kipchak nobleman.

But at this moment, Zhang Mancang's spear struck again, the tip of which was less than three inches from the nobleman's choked throat.

puff!
The spear pierced straight into the nobleman's choking throat!

Pfft!
The Kipchak nobleman stared wide-eyed, his face full of resentment, and fell off his horse.

"kill!"

Zhang Mancang, without even thanking his comrades beside him, spurred his horse forward.

Puff puff!
They broke through seven enemy lines in succession.

By this time, Zhang Mancang had killed another man, but his left arm had also been slashed by an enemy soldier's long sword. Although his armor protected him from the wound, the immense blunt force of the blow had caused him so much pain that he couldn't lift his left arm, and his right arm was also severely impaired.

How many more enemy lines could they possibly break through before they were killed in action?

Double? Triple? Or just one?
Zhang Mancang was uncertain, but having already resolved to die in battle, he still spurred his horse forward.

However, he did not encounter any enemy troops after that.

"Come on!"

"We're at a huge disadvantage by working so hard!"

"We'll shoot them with arrows from a distance!"

"We can't fight like this! The horsemanship and martial arts skills of the grassland warriors won't be fully utilized!"

……

The remaining Kipchak warriors cried out in terror and quickly broke away from the Han army, fleeing towards the flanks.

Unfortunately, the initial head-on clashes did result in a one-for-one exchange. However, in later battles, due to the Han army's dense formations, it became a situation where two or three Han soldiers were needed to take down one Kipchak soldier. It took approximately three or four Kipchak soldiers to save the life of one Han soldier.

That's such a huge loss.

The Kipchak soldiers behind them, not wanting to continue this unprofitable venture, chose to avoid the Han army's advance.

At the same time, this also sealed the fate of the Kipchak army's slide towards defeat.

There was no other way; not daring to engage the enemy cavalry head-on on the battlefield was the original sin, and it meant completely losing the initiative in the war.

Hula la~~
Shi Tianni waved his command flag, directing the seventy Han army commanders to charge left and right, constantly dividing the Kipchak army and patiently and slowly shrinking their area of ​​operation.

The Kipchak army was all too familiar with this scene.

Hunt!

They did something similar when hunting wild animals on the grasslands, except the animals posed no real threat to them; they simply tightened their encirclement. The Han army, however, was very patient, dividing them into multiple encirclements, avoiding pushing them too far to force them into a desperate struggle, and ultimately leading them to their demise.

"Let's go! Let's go!"

"Run!"

……

It was impossible for a large force to escape; the Han army would mobilize a large army to intercept them.

However, when these troops scattered into smaller groups and fled, the Han army often couldn't keep up with them. Moreover, too many could escape, otherwise the entire army would collapse, and even with the Han army in hot pursuit, they still wouldn't be able to escape.

Now it's all about who can escape the fastest; it's better to die for your comrades than yourself!
Approximately eight thousand Kipchak soldiers, seeing the opportunity, fled the battlefield in groups of several dozen.

But as they fled, the Han army gradually formed encirclements.

By mid-afternoon, the Kipchak cavalry had been divided into thirteen completely disconnected areas, making escape impossible even for small groups. The next step was to see how Shi Tianni deployed his reserves to gradually annihilate these thirteen Kipchak forces.

"How to do?"

By now, Asuk Khan Hanghusi was drenched in cold sweat.

The original plan of the three-ethnic coalition was that after the Kipchak and Rus' people on the two flanks achieved victory, they would join forces with the Asud to launch a fierce attack on the Mongol central army and win the battle today.

However, the Rus' armored infantry has now been wiped out by the Khwarazmian people, and the situation is deteriorating rapidly in a way that is extremely unfavorable to the Rus.

The Kipchaks were divided by the Han army, and their situation was very unfavorable.

What can Hanghusi do?
Commanding a large army to rescue the Rus' or Kipchak people? Any movement of his troops would surely invite a swift and fierce attack from the Mongol army!
If we don't rescue the left and right flanks, the Asudans will only face a slow death!
He truly regretted agreeing to help the Kipchaks fight the Mongols, which resulted in the deaths of so many Mongol warriors and created an irreconcilable enmity with the Mongols.

Otherwise, even if they couldn't defeat the Mongols, wouldn't it be enough to just surrender to them?
The Mongols had Han Chinese troops and Khwarazmian troops under their command, so why couldn't they have an Asud army?
Being a mercenary has always been a tradition among the Assu people!

Now, the Asu people are facing the danger of extinction!

Of course, it's too late for him to regret it now, because he knows the rules of the Mongols. Surrendering now would mean certain death, and the Mongols would just kill them all.

Hang Husi's hesitation didn't last long.

"Run!"

"We've lost!"

"Go back to your territory and reorganize your troops!"

"We cannot scatter the elite Rus' troops across the steppes!"

"This war had nothing to do with the Rus' people!"

……

Amidst the terrified screams of the Rus' nobles, the left wing of the three-race allied forces was the first to falter.

In fact, it's quite remarkable that the Rus' people have managed to hold on until now.

The Khwarazmian Five Banners were Zhao Shuo's regular army, known for their strict discipline and ability to withstand heavy casualties, unlike the Rus'.

They were a coalition of seventeen principalities.

By now, Prince Mistislav of the Principality of Chiva, Prince Yuri of the Principality of Yaroslavl, Prince Mikhail of the Principality of Chernigov, and Prince Vladimir of the Principality of Smolensk have all been killed in action.

Four out of seventeen rulers have died!
Their elite lamellar infantry were also wiped out by the combined forces of the Khwarazmian Plain Blue Banner and the Baluk Battalion. With these 10,000 elite troops freed up to join the siege of the three Khwarazmian banners, how could they possibly continue to hold out?

So what if the Rus' people are very brave? Most rulers value their lives very much!

A dozen or so kings, under the protection of their personal guards, fled frantically into the distance.

A portion of the Khwarazmian Five Banners troops pursued the fleeing princes, while the remaining troops continued to besiege the remaining Rus' forces.

With the escape of these dozen or so princes, the morale of the Rus' people must have plummeted.

It will probably take less than an hour for the left wing of the three-race allied forces to be completely defeated.

"Fight!"

Hanghusi finally made up his mind and said to the nobles of the Asu beside him, "We Asu people have already offended the Mongols to the death, and they will definitely not let us go. The situation is critical now, and the only way is to survive. Everyone, follow me to attack the Mongol central army. Either we die on the battlefield, or we defeat the Mongol central army and survive."

"Alright, let's fight the Mongols!"

"Even if we are defeated, we must die like men!"

"In this battle, there is no turning back. Anyone who dares to retreat even half a step will be a sinner against the Asu tribe!"

"If we can turn defeat into victory, our Asu tribe will be the overlords of the entire grassland! God is with us, victory belongs to the Asu tribe!"

……

Many nobles responded enthusiastically.

Boom~~
Forty-five thousand Asu warriors, with the resolve to defend their homeland and fight to the last, charged fiercely towards the Mongol central army.

(End of this chapter)