Chapter Ninety-Six: Redeployment

By the time Wang Pu led his army to G'er Hai, dusk was already falling.

The two small Horchin tribes that had been grazing beside the lake had been wiped out to the last man by the six hundred vanguard horsemen disguised as Jurchen troops. When the main cavalry column arrived later, the vanguard had already slaughtered several hundred fat sheep and was roasting them over the fire. The air was heavy with the fragrance of mutton and cumin.

Wang Pu reined in his horse and called over his shoulder, "The whole army rests here for half an hour. Eat while you can!"

A dozen personal guards galloped off at once to relay his order in turn. More than three thousand soldiers dismounted, first leading their starving, thirsty horses to the lake for water and grazing, then gathering around the fires already set up by the vanguard. They cut thick slabs of mutton with their sabers and ate greedily.

Wang Pu swung down from his horse. Just as he reached the fire, Lu Liu stepped forward two paces, tore a fat sheep's leg from the roasting carcass, and brought it before him.

"General, please eat," he said.

Wang Pu shook his head. "You eat first."

Lu Liu scratched his head in some confusion and had no choice but to put the leg back over the fire. Xiao Qi had already taken two hundred household guards and escorted Zhen Youcai back to Datong. The task of attending to and protecting Wang Pu now fell to Lu Liu. Suddenly burdened with such responsibility, he could not help feeling tense.

But Wang Pu had no mind to concern himself with his new captain of guards. His thoughts were entirely on the Horchin.

To draw off the Horchin cavalry that followed behind, while also avoiding a direct battle under unfavorable conditions, was no easy task. The best course was to keep them moving, wear them down with constant marching and pursuit, and then strike when horse and rider were both exhausted.

But how was he to move the Horchin?

Wang Pu's eyes fell on the map.

Maps in ancient China were drawn very crudely. Mountains, rivers, and lakes were grotesquely distorted and served only for viewing, not for any military use. The map in Wang Pu's hands was no different. Fortunately, before the campaign he had found a number of smugglers familiar with the Mongolian terrain and had had them mark the distances and directions between the major tribal settlements.

Important places such as Guihua City, Sanburchuan, Yanger Hai, and G'er Hai were all marked as well.

The route Wang Pu had carefully chosen ran eastward from Yanger Hai all the way to G'er Hai, then turned north and plunged straight into Sanburchuan. Though circuitous, it would avoid a head-on encounter with the main Horchin cavalry and would also serve the purpose of drawing them out. It was a plan that accomplished two things at once.

Ninety-Nine Springs lay between Sanburchuan and Yanger Hai.

Just as Ukeshan's second son, Sogar, led the eight thousand riders assembled at Sanburchuan to Ninety-Nine Springs, he ran into Banktu's eight hundred battered survivors.

The brothers met before the battle line. Sogar cried out in astonishment, "Big brother, what are you doing here?"

"Second brother, say nothing more," Banktu said. "A large force of Ming cavalry is trying to raid Sanburchuan. Father's in danger. We must turn back at once."

"What?" Sogar exclaimed. "Ming cavalry is raiding Sanburchuan?"

Banktu said, "Those Ming horsemen are terribly cunning. They first marched east from Yanger Hai toward G'er Hai, then turned north from there and struck straight for Sanburchuan! Worse still, each of them rides three horses in rotation. They can cover three hundred li in a day and a night. By noon tomorrow at the latest, they will be at Sanburchuan."

"In that case... even if we hurry back with all speed now, we still won't be able to reach Father before those Ming cavalry do," Sogar said hesitantly. "Besides, Father only ordered us to go to Yanger Hai and rescue the Tumed people. Without his command token, I dare not make a decision on my own."

The Horchin horsemen on this expedition had each brought only one warhorse, so they were certainly slower than the Ming cavalry riding three horses in rotation. That was why Sogar said this.

Banktu barked, "What matters more, Father's life or rescuing the Tumed?"

Sogar said, "Of course Father's life."

"Then why hesitate? Hurry back to Sanburchuan."

"But Sanburchuan is so vast. The Ming may not be able to find the khan's court," Sogar said.

"You're muddled, second brother," Banktu snapped. "Wouldn't the Ming simply seize a herdsman to guide them?"

"All right then," Sogar said helplessly. Raising his voice, he shouted, "All troops obey! Return to Sanburchuan!"

At Sanburchuan, the Horchin khan's court.

Just after noon, Prince Ukeshan of Khoshuu Chorektu summoned his dozen concubines into the great tent for wine, laughter, and pleasure. Though the weather outside was freezing, within the tent it was warm as spring. The dozen concubines wore only thin Mongol robes, and as they moved, the fair curve of breast and hip could be glimpsed, faint and alluring.

"My lord, let me toast you," said one concubine.

She was plump of figure and strikingly voluptuous. She leaned her whole body into Ukeshan's arms, casting him flirtatious glances while rubbing her hot flesh against his lower abdomen in relentless provocation. Ukeshan's heart stirred, and he could not help remembering the wild delight of riding that wanton woman beneath him the night before.

He reached out and pinched her fiercely, chuckling low. "You little slut, in heat again, are you?"

Before he could go on, an urgent voice suddenly called from outside the tent.

"My lord!"

"Is that Bart?" Ukeshan pushed the seductive concubine from his arms and rose. "Come in."

As the tent flap was lifted, a biting wind howled inside. The lightly clad concubines shrieked and fled to sheltered corners. When Ukeshan turned, he saw a tall, powerful Mongol youth stride in. This youth was the captain of his guard, commanding Ukeshan's two hundred retainers.

Ukeshan's concubines all shot the youth coquettish glances, but he did not even look at them.

The youth entered, knelt on one knee before Ukeshan, and said loudly, "My lord, a herdsman has just reported that a large force of Ming cavalry has appeared ten li south of the khan's court!"

"What?" Ukeshan's expression changed. "Bart, what did you say?"

"My lord, a large force of Ming cavalry has appeared ten li south of the khan's court!"

"Where did they come from?" Ukeshan thundered. "Why didn't the herdsmen along the route spot them? Why are we only hearing of this now?"

"My lord," Bart said gravely, "the Ming cavalry came too fast. They are almost charging straight at the khan's court. They may very well have Mongolian guides among them! The herdsmen did not fail to report. They had already ridden hard to bring word, but by the time they arrived, the Ming horsemen had nearly reached us!"

"Quick!" Ukeshan roared without hesitation. "Immediately assemble three thousand iron guards—"

He broke off, suddenly remembering that the three thousand iron guards had already been taken by Banktu to Yanger Hai.

"My lord," Bart reminded him in a low voice, "the three thousand iron guards have already gone to Yanger Hai with the young prince!"

As his words fell, several nobles of the Horchin tribe burst in in a commotion, shouting, "My lord, something terrible has happened! A disaster!"

"Why are you panicking!" Ukeshan cursed in fury. "It's only a few Ming cavalry. Aren't they still ten li away? What are you so frightened of?"

"My lord, it's dreadful," one noble said, his face white as ash. "Not a few—ten thousand riders!"

Bart said coldly, "There are not ten thousand riders, only four thousand."

"Four thousand is still more than we can withstand," the noble said miserably. "My lord, you should never have sent the three thousand iron guards to Yanger Hai, and you should never have gathered all the able-bodied men in Sanburchuan and sent them there as well. What do the Tumed people's lives have to do with us Horchin?"

"My lord, we had better leave at once," Bart urged. "If we do not go now, it may be too late."

"I'm afraid it's already too late," the Horchin noble who had spoken before said bleakly. "My lord, listen—hoofbeats! The Ming cavalry has already arrived!"

At that, Ukeshan's face changed drastically. He and Bart, together with several nobles, rushed outside the tent. There, on the empty southern plain, black masses of Ming cavalry had already appeared, rolling forward like storm clouds in the sixth month. The great banner flying before the Ming line was now less than three li from the khan's court.

Ukeshan's court stood upon a rise of ground. To the north, west, and east there were steep cliffs; only the south side offered a gentle slope, narrow at the top and broad at the bottom, through which horsemen could pass. At this moment, there was clearly no time to break out. By the time they rushed down the rise, they would collide head-on with the Ming. That would be no different from courting death.

Now there was only one choice: hold the court and await reinforcements.

"Quick!" Ukeshan shouted over his shoulder at Bart. "Send all the wagons and fences in the court at once. Block the southern road. Under no circumstances must the Ming cavalry be allowed to charge up the slope! Also send men down from the northern cliff and race to the Xilamuren River as fast as possible. Have Tagar bring troops at once to rescue the court!"

"Yes!"

Bart roared his assent and turned away.

Before the Ming formation.

As Wang Pu galloped forward, Lu Liu, holding the great banner behind him, suddenly cried out with effort, "General, look! The Mongol camp, on the hill ahead!"

"Suit banners!" roared the scarred-faced man riding beside Wang Pu. "There are suit banners planted atop the Mongol tents. General, that must be the Horchin khan's court up ahead!"

Suit banners?

The symbol of the Mongols' war god.

Legend said that wherever Genghis Khan's suit banner pointed, all Mongol cavalry would charge, and victory would surely follow. Since Genghis Khan's time, only the direct descendants of the Golden Lineage had been allowed to plant a suit banner atop their tents, as a sign of nobility.

"Whoa—"

Wang Pu suddenly raised his right arm high and slowly reined in his horse.

Lu Liu, close behind him, hurriedly lifted the great banner high into the air and shouted at the top of his lungs, "The general has ordered the whole army to halt! Halt at once!"

"Whooo—"

At once, the dozens of mounted guards behind Lu Liu raised their horn trumpets and blew with all their might. The deep, distant sound of the horns rolled across the sky, and the surging Ming soldiers pulled up their mounts one after another, then spread slowly to both flanks, taking the great banner in Lu Liu's hand as their guide.

In less than a moment, the rolling advance of the army had come to a complete stop.

Big Beard, Scarface, Monk Zhang, and Tang Sheng rode up before Wang Pu. Monk Zhang said loudly, "General, the two Mongols we captured told us as well. This is indeed the Horchin khan's court. They also said the terrain here is perilous: to the north, west, and east are all cliffs, and only the gentle southern slope can be climbed."

Wang Pu narrowed his eyes and looked for a moment. A crafty gleam suddenly flashed across his face. Looking back, he ordered, "Scarface!"

Scarface and Tang Sheng urged their horses forward and said, "Your humble servants are here."

Wang Pu said, "Take a thousand men to the woods on the right and cut timber. Build more chevaux de frise."

"What?" Scarface said in astonishment. "General, what do we need chevaux de frise for?"

"Less talk," Wang Pu snapped. "That is an order. Go."

"Yes!"

Scarface had no choice but to obey and leave.

Wang Pu continued, "Tang Sheng."

Tang Sheng said quickly, "Your humble servant is here."

Wang Pu said, "Take a thousand men and dig as many horse traps as you can in front of the southern slope. The messier, the better."

"Horse traps?" Tang Sheng asked in confusion. "General, there are hardly any Mongols left up there. They wouldn't dare charge down anyway. Why dig horse traps?"

Wang Pu said quietly, "That is an order."

"Yes."

Tang Sheng answered and also rode off to carry it out.

Wang Pu then said, "Monk Zhang."

Monk Zhang hurriedly replied, "Your humble servant is here."

Wang Pu said, "Take five hundred-man units to the hillside and block the Mongols on the mountain. Remember, without my order, you are not to attack on your own."

"Yes."

Though puzzled, Monk Zhang still accepted the command and left.

Wang Pu then turned to Lu Liu and said, "Lu Liu, send two hundred-man units to scout thirty li in every direction. If you find a large force of Mongol cavalry approaching, fire signal arrows by day and fire arrows by night!"

"Yes."

Lu Liu also departed on his mission.

Seeing that everyone else had been given tasks while he alone had nothing to do, Big Beard grew anxious and asked Wang Pu, "General, then what should I do?"