"Great Taiji, Thousand-Household Adili reports that our vanguard has already captured Hozhou and Yanghecheng'er, and is currently advancing towards Liu City," a military report arrived as Sultan Sulitang sat upright in the central army tent.
After conquering Turpan City, he joined forces with the Tuoli tribe from Kunmishi City, concentrating eighteen thousand troops to advance on Liu City, with the three thousand surrendered soldiers of Thousand-Household Adili, a surrendered General from Turpan, as the vanguard, and fifteen thousand Mongol Army as the rear support.
Using surrendered troops to lead the charge was a favored tactic of many conquerors, and it proved to be effective.
Many surrendered troops, in order to gain merit in front of their new lord, displayed extremely strong combat power.
This Thousand-Household Adili was just like that; ever since submitting to the Mongol, his combat power exploded, consecutively capturing Hozhou and Yanghecheng'er, and arriving directly beneath Liu City.
"Thousand-Household, our army has advanced deep into Liu City, should we wait for the Great Taiji's main army to arrive before attacking the city?" Hundred-Household Manlaier asked for instructions.
Adili stroked his Mongol-style beard; ever since surrendering to the Mongol, his every action had become more like a Mongol than the Mongol.
Mimicking the posture often used by Huit Tribe Great Taiji Sultan Sulitang, he raised his horse whip and pointed towards Liu City, "A mere small city, why does it need the Great Taiji to act, I will take it myself!"
"Dong ~ dong ~ dong ~" The advance drums, urgent and rapid.
The infantry followed behind the Shield Carts, with scaling ladders pushed behind them.
Above the city wall, Prince Babai of Turpan saw Adili riding on a tall horse and cursed, "Sooner or later I'll slaughter this dog who has forgotten his ancestors!"
"Fourth Brother, don't be anxious, wait a little longer," Prince Sulitang continued observing the enemy formation, then suddenly smiled, "The enemy numbers are not many, there are birds landing above the dense forest outside the city, it seems there is no ambush, it should be an isolated army that advanced recklessly for merit.
We can sally out and strike them!"
Having said that, this prince immediately arranged: Babai and Ismail would sally from the east city; Hu Bofeng and Musa Lang would sally from the west city; he himself would lead an army from the north city, attacking the "Mongols" from three sides.
"Dong ~ dong ~ dong ~" The advance drums sounded again, but it was the drumbeat and rhythm of the Turpan army.
As soon as the battle began, Hundred-Household Manlaier saw a ball of fire, fiery red armor, a fiery red horse, and a blood-red great spear with an iron lump attached to the tip, like a spear and yet like a hammer.
"Bang!"
Manlaier heard the sound of bones being smashed by the iron lump, and then lost consciousness, sinking into endless darkness.
Adili panicked, turned his horse and fled, retreating wildly for thirty li.
Just as he was in a daze, another army appeared ahead, majestic and spirited, with the "suld" pattern printed on their black military banners.
"Thousand-Household, look, the true Mongol Army has arrived," his confidant reported with ecstasy.
In the eyes of these surrendered troops, the Mongols were invincible; whenever they fought, as long as the true Mongol Army was present to back them up, their morale could instantly increase a hundredfold.
"Uh, the true Mongol Army?"
Adili looked carefully, overjoyed, and his lost soul returned.
He spurred his horse towards this army, shouting loudly, "Your servant Adili greets the General."
"Hmph," "Tsk," two disdainful sounds came from two different bodies.
These two Generals, one named Sabir and the other named Bolu Zhi, were actually not true Mongols either, they were also just surrendered Generals.
One surrendered at Chalish and the other at Kucha in previous years, and because they surrendered early, they naturally had higher status than other surrendered Generals.
In fact, in Sultan Sulitang's southern conquest army, only half were true Mongols, the other half were Yarkand from Chalish and Kucha, and due to different factions and seniority, there were also conflicts among these Yarkand people.
Divide and rule was precisely the method often used by Huit Tribe Great Taiji.
Upon seeing these two, Adili was extremely disgusted; he had thought the true Mongol lord had arrived, but unexpectedly it was these two fake Mongols, bah!
What garbage!
He only obeyed the true Mongol lord, and did not buy into the fake Mongols.
He instantly straightened his back, standing tall on his horse.
"Yo, isn't this Thousand-Household Adili? A dignified vanguard, how did you end up like this?" Bolu Zhi asked mockingly.
"Yes, our Mongol Army is invincible, how dare you abandon your armor and lose our Mongol Army's might?"
Sabir and Bolu Zhi mocked and ridiculed, as if they were truly Mongols.
Adili sneered inwardly, why are you two so proud, you are both surrendered Generals like me, do you really think of yourselves as Mongols?
But on his lips, he was polite, "Your servant encountered the main force of Turpan, with too few soldiers to resist, I ask the two Thousand-Households for assistance."
Sabir and Bolu Zhi brought four thousand surrendered soldiers, plus the two thousand who fled back from Adili's defeated army, for a total of six thousand troops.
The two discussed it and both thought that the troops they had were capable of a battle, so the united army charged towards Liu City.
Seeing the enemy return, with numbers several times greater than last time, Sultan Sulitang, Babai, Ismail, and Musa Lang looked solemn.
Only Hu Bofeng laughed heartily, "If we are to fight, then fight, what does it matter whether there are many or few people.
Your servant is willing to lead a thousand cavalry out of the city and have a good fight!"
Yes, since we have to fight sooner or later, why worry about the number of people?
Moreover, there were also ten thousand troops in the city, and although not as elite as the Mongol Army, they had a numerical advantage, so what was there to fear?
Sultan Sulitang quickly made up his mind, deliberately praising Hu Bofeng loudly to everyone, "General Hu Bofeng is indeed a hero of our Turpan, well said!
If we are to fight, then fight, what is there to fear?
Prince is willing to die with the General!"
Having said that, he immediately ordered someone to help him put on his armor, looked around arrogantly, and ignored everyone else.
Self-esteem was hurt!
Your Highness, you are a hero, and we Your servants are not cowards either!
In shame and indignation, the Generals all shouted loudly, "Your servants are willing to fight to the death with Your Highness!"
The battle unfolded in the western part of Liu City.
It was fierce!
At the start of the battle, Hu Bofeng charged directly into the Mongol center, followed closely by the army led by Sultan Sulitang, while Generals Babai, Ismail, and Musa Lang all fought bravely.
There was no formation, it was a chaotic melee, fighting with their lives.
After fighting for an hour, Sabir and Bolu Zhi could no longer hold on, no wonder Adili was defeated, the enemy's offensive was too fierce!
"Huh? What is Adili doing?" Bolu Zhi suddenly shrieked.
Sabir looked back and saw Adili leading his army to retreat, "This coward, retreat!
Quickly retreat!"
He roared, pulling Bolu Zhi to escape.
Chasing the fleeing enemy for over ten li, it was already dusk in the blink of an eye.
Sabir and Bolu Zhi caught up with Adili, merged into one group, and fled miserably for their lives.
Before their eyes appeared a large army of over ten thousand men, and a large pure white "suld" military banner appeared before them.
"True ~ true ~ true Mongol Army?"
Sabir was so surprised that he couldn't speak fluently; among the surrendered Generals, he had surrendered to the Huit Tribe the earliest and had the highest status.
It was indeed Sultan Sulitang's main army, the genuine true Mongols.
"Your servants greet the Great Taiji," Sabir pulled Bolu Zhi and Adili forward to pay their respects.
"Hmph, hmph hmph!" Sultan Sulitang sneered repeatedly, making the old minister Nasutu beside him tremble with fear, the Great Taiji was going to kill people!
"How dare you lose our army's might, drag them out and behead them!" The young voice was powerful without being angry.
"Great Taiji, spare our lives!" Inside the great tent, there was a wailing of ghosts and wolves.
Nasutu stepped forward, "Great Taiji.
It is better to make use of their mistakes than their merits, why not let these three Your servants atone for their crimes by achieving merit?"
Sultan Sulitang's anger subsided, "Since you are pleading for them, tomorrow let them attack the city.
If they fail to take it again, they will be immediately beheaded!"
"Thank you Great Taiji for sparing our lives!"
The voices of Sabir, Bolu Zhi, and Adili shook the mountains and rivers; with the true Mongol Army present, they felt an infinite surge of power throughout their bodies!