Chapter 937 - 160: Ivan’s Battle for Fame
The two thousand-man Qesem Army, fully equipped, launched a charge directly at the ten-thousand-strong Palace Division Army.
Although they were outnumbered, these elite soldiers, composed entirely of nobles’ descendants from various departments, showed not the slightest hint of fear in their eyes. It was as if the equally elite Palace Division Army were merely a flock of lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Subotai was at the forefront, charging ahead.
As the Qesem Army launched their charge, the Tatar light cavalry, which had been fiercely attacking the Qidan army on the flanks, also began to encircle the Palace Division Army’s two wings.
In contrast, the Six Departments cavalry, already sent out, hurried back to support, but found themselves far behind the pace.
Yelv Zonghan, his expression bewildered, saw that as the central army sitting in command, the Palace Division Army was on a local battlefield, seemingly already surrounded by the two thousand-strong Tatar army. Meanwhile, their own superior forces were temporarily tied down by the Tatars’ Vassal Army, unable to provide any support.
The only plan now is to find life from certain death!
As long as the central army can hold out long enough, when the cavalry of the Six Departments and the Vassal Army come to support, it will be the Tatars who will be caught from both sides!
"For the Great Liao, for Ju’er Khan, sons, charge with me!"
Yelv Zonghan gritted his teeth and gave a thunderous order.
The Palace Division Army, with two thousand armored cavalry as the core and eight thousand light cavalry as the flanks, launched a desperate charge towards the two thousand Qesem heavy cavalry coming at them.
Ivan, ambushed in the mountain hollow, listened with his ears erect to the sounds of battle around him.
"When do we make a move?"
Fulk asked with some unease.
Since all the warhorses of Ivan’s unit had been borrowed, Ivan’s unit was now bound to the fate of the Qidan people. After all, their two legs could never outrun four legs, and they couldn’t stay hiding in the mountain hollow forever.
"The horn hasn’t sounded yet, it seems the Qidan people are still holding strong."
Ivan sneered. In fact, even if the Qidan people sounded the horn, he wouldn’t lead an immediate attack.
But since they haven’t sounded it, it means Yelv Zonghan doesn’t see them as disposable pawns to be discarded; the Qidan’s ship, although broken, hasn’t reached its end, which is a good thing.
He poked his head out from beneath the felt cloth several times to look around, but could only see a vast, billowing yellow sand, coupled with the dense clouds in the sky, and being in the low-lying mountain hollow, it was impossible to see how the battle was going.
Ivan wasn’t in a hurry, so he simply tucked his head back, closed his eyes, and continued to listen.
Fulk watched anxiously; he had no affection for the Qidan people, but if they were defeated, the best outcome for him and his people was becoming slaves to the Tatars.
"Patience, my brother."
"Listen, the battle hasn’t reached its fiercest yet, we need to stay calm, wait until the main force of the Qidan clashes with the main force of the Tatars, that will be the time for us who fight on two legs to show our strength."
Ivan didn’t know if the yellow sand and clouds could obscure the vision of the Tatars, but he didn’t dare to gamble, because in the time they launched their charge and reached the Tatars, they would be at their most vulnerable.
If they failed to catch the enemy’s main force, out in the open plains, they would all become live targets for shooting.
Suddenly, there was a loud bang.
The cries and neighs suddenly rose sharply.
Fulk’s eyes lit up: "How about now, is it time to fight?"
Ivan shook his head. He was clearly very tense, his arm, hidden in his sleeve, trembled uncontrollably: "Pass my order, everyone await my command and prepare for battle!"
Get ready for battle, not charge immediately.
...
Kuchulu’s eyes were red as he swung a giant wolf fang club, knocking a Qesem soldier in heavy armor off his mount.
A dozen of his personal guards from the Naiman Tribe surrounded him, following the cavalry of the Palace Division Army, tangling with the Qesem army.
He could feel that the fighting power of both sides was on completely different levels.
Having lived in peace for a long time, the gradually decadent Qidan nobles, though their weapons and equipment were not much inferior, on the personal martial arts level, were no match at all for the more formidable Qesem Army, surpassing even the Jin Kingdom’s Iron Pagoda.
Those light cavalry in the Palace Division Army, no matter how hard they tried, couldn’t pierce the enemy’s armor.
Clearly, although their side outnumbered the enemy, he only felt that the black mass of fully armored cavalry before him was the more numerous side, like an iron wall, advancing with an overwhelming force, crushing everything in its path to pieces.
Having swallowed the whole Tatar Grassland and defeated the Great Jin’s Tatars, they were no longer the Kiyat Clan Kuchulu remembered.
Envy and hatred, like a venomous snake, coiled in his heart; if the Naiman Tribe had unified the Tatar Grassland back then, it would be his Great Tartar Country possessing such a strong army now, and occupying the prosperous Central Plains.
"Hold on, hold on!"
"Warriors of the Liao Kingdom, citizens of Qishou Khan and Kedun, for the glory of our ancestors, fight these Tatar dogs!"
Yelv Zonghan had long since been consumed by the fury of battle. His personal guards were falling one by one beside him, the front ranks of cavalry from both sides melting away like ice and snow, but his side was disappearing at an alarmingly faster rate.
A long horn blast resounded again from the mountain.
The White Wolf King, squatting on the hilltop, suddenly raised its head and let out a long howl.
Wolves the size of small calves appeared behind it. Following the White Wolf King’s command, they leapt down the steep cliff, charging towards the Qidan army.
These unarmored beasts, even though they were larger and faster, would not be a threat to Yelv Zonghan under normal circumstances.
After all, such beasts were too common on the grassland, and any nomadic tribe would have countermeasures to deal with such large wolf packs.
But the timing of these wolves’ appearance was too precise, and there were so many of them.
"It’s over, not only did I arrange for an ambush, but the Tatars have one too!"
Yelv Zonghan felt a wave of darkness before his eyes.
The twenty thousand main force of Tatars, this was well-known intelligence, absolutely infallible. Even with the Western Liao Dynasty’s loose governance over its territories, there wouldn’t be a single loyalist who couldn’t relay the number of Tatars invading.
But who would have thought the Tatars had an additional army made up of wild wolves?
Kuchulu was not surprised by this; he had long known the Tatars could command wolf packs, he just didn’t expect so many.
After all, wolves eat meat, where did they get so much meat to feed them?
Bam—
He crushed the skull of a pouncing evil wolf with one blow, splattering brain matter everywhere.
But in an instant, a black lightning-like evil wolf knocked one of his personal guards to the ground. Although it was quickly trampled into mush by incoming hooves, one could still see that its enormous wolf jaws were locked onto the deceased’s neck.