Water Margin: The opening scene involves assassinating Emperor Huizong of Song and forcibly taking L

"Boom boom boom!"

Wu Jie's army continued to bombard the city walls, and the remaining soldiers inside the city were terrified.

Many of them had fled from Liangzhou, riding their horses at breakneck speed, and along the way they took all the warhorses and livestock from the Shandan horse farm with them.

The city now has nearly 100,000 horses, and other livestock have no fodder at all.

The soldiers slaughtered cattle and sheep for every meal, and many livestock had already starved to death.

Chapter 3829 Providing a Wife

"I'm going to the Western Regions, are you coming?" Wei Mingyan asked directly.

The generals remained silent.

Wei Mingyan angrily said, "The Ming army has cannons; the city walls will collapse sooner or later."

"We can't even win in open field battles, are we all just going to stay here and wait to die?"

"Yelü Dashi also wrote to you, didn't he?"

“As long as he goes to the Western Regions, he will allocate grasslands.”

"His land is full of foreigners, they'll definitely treat us well!"

One of the generals said, “My family is all in Blackwater City; I only brought my son and nephew with me.”

"Are we just going to flee to the Western Regions now, leaving our families behind?"

Wei Mingyan said directly, "My family is in Ganzhou City. If we break out now, the old, weak, women and children will definitely not be able to escape."

"Like you, I will also lose my family, but I can marry many women of different ethnicities if I go to the Western Regions."

"You've all heard that surrendering will get you killed, and the enemy commander is a madman!"

The general lowered his head in thought, seemingly reluctant to leave his wife and children.

“I am willing to follow the general to the Western Regions,” another general said.

This person's hometown is in Suzhou. On the way to escape, he was able to pick up his family and even had the opportunity to take away valuables.

Several more generals from Shazhou and Guazhou agreed.

Wei Mingyan looked directly at one of them and asked, "Where is your Zhang family?"

Zhang is a prominent surname in the Hexi Corridor, and many commoners share this surname.

Although the person in front of me is not a direct descendant of Zhang Yichao, he is a descendant of Zhang Yichao's clan.

"Let's go." The Zhang family member sighed.

As dusk approached, the Ming army ceased its bombardment and gradually withdrew to their camp.

The Ming army camp was divided into two locations, both situated along the Heihe River, otherwise it would have been difficult to obtain water.

Just as the Ming army returned to their camp for a meal, all the gates of Ganzhou City were opened, and countless generals led their cavalry out.

They tricked the soldiers into believing that the army was going to massacre the city, which led to the civilians who were supposed to receive land and pastures being deceived into fleeing to the Western Regions as well.

The Ming army also shouted into the city that ordinary soldiers could be allocated farmland, pasture, seeds and livestock, but the Western Xia soldiers inside the city did not believe these words.

Not only were the Western Xia soldiers fleeing, but also many elderly, weak, women and children, and anyone who could ride a horse were fleeing.

Anyway, the city has no shortage of horses, so the entire Shandan Horse Ranch was moved here.

They ran wildly along the north bank of the Heihe River, setting fire to grain supplies and houses before leaving.

Wu Jie dispatched all his cavalry to pursue the enemy, and also sent his infantry to capture the city and put out the fire.

More than 30,000 Western Xia soldiers and civilians who were slow to escape were intercepted by Ming cavalry.

The group consisted mostly of the elderly, women, and children, as well as many Western Xia infantrymen who were not skilled riders and could not run fast on horseback in a sudden escape.

The fleeing Western Xia soldiers and civilians arrived in Suzhou without stopping.

Those with families went to fetch their loved ones, while those without families abducted civilians, ransacked Suzhou City, and continued their escape.

Five thousand elite Ming cavalrymen pursued them, but those men dared not fight back. They abandoned a large number of people and supplies and continued to flee westward in a panic.

Then, they looted and plundered Guazhou and Shazhou, burning down all the houses in the two cities, and went straight to Hami to seek refuge with Yelü Dashi.

Yelü Dashi is about to engage in a decisive battle with the Seljuks!

……

In the spring, Seljuk Sultan Sanjar led an army of 150,000 to conquer Khwarazm, and claimed to have an army of 300,000.

King Ajaz of Khwarazm was greatly alarmed and immediately sent messengers to Yelü Dashi for help.

Chapter 3830 Western Liao

Yelü Dashi didn't foolishly go to the rescue; instead, he once again used the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao."

He ordered troops of all ethnic groups to assemble in the Fergana Basin, while the Gaochang army remained in Hami to guard against the Ming Dynasty pursuing the Western Xia and launching an attack.

Sanjar's true intention in attacking Khwarazm was to force Yelü Dashi to send troops.

Then they would surround and attack the reinforcements, waiting in ambush to finish off the Western Liao army.

One strategy is to besiege a point and attack reinforcements, while the other is to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.

Ultimately, Sanjar couldn't withstand the pressure, because he had to go and save the Western Karakhanid Khanate.

However, Yelü Dashi did not necessarily intend to save Khwarazm.

Samarkand was a fortified city, and Yelü Dashi did not waste his troops on a fierce attack, but instead besieged the city and waited for the Seljuk reinforcements to arrive.

When Sanjar led his army close, Yelü Dashi immediately retreated north.

North of Samarkand lies a long, narrow steppe called Qatwan.

The Katwan Grassland is surrounded by mountains to the north and south. Sanjar led his troops in pursuit, forcing Yelü Dashi to the edge of the grassland bordering the mountains.

Yelü Dashi seemed to have no way out, and Sanjar was full of confidence to fight a decisive battle.

He even placed the queen and scholars in the central army to fight alongside them.

He also commissioned painters and poets to prepare works about his great victory.

The 150,000-strong Seljuk army was not all brought into battle.

Just as Yelü Dashi had to guard against the Ming Dynasty, Sanjar had to guard against Khwarezm.

Ajis, that troublemaker, was once Sanjar's favorite general, and his fighting ability was still quite formidable.

A full 50,000 Seljuk troops were left in the west to guard against any trouble caused by Ajaz.

The army of the Western Karakhanid Khanate had already been decimated by Yelü Dashi.

They could only remain in Samarkand to defend the city and guard the supplies.

Therefore, the Seljuk forces in the final battle numbered just over 100,000.

The total force of the Western Liao in the decisive battle was only a little over 70,000—to be precise, 80,000.

Approximately eight thousand Karluk mercenaries were hidden in the valley by Yelü Dashi beforehand.

They had been hiding for two whole months without coming out, a fact that Sanjar was completely unaware of.

……

The decisive battle is about to begin.

Yelü Dashi summoned all the generals of various tribes and addressed them: "I have explained all the principles to you and to your soldiers. Now I will repeat them once more."

"The soldiers who came with me from the northern desert must still remember the hardships they endured along the way."

"If we lose this battle, there will be nowhere left to live in the world. We have nowhere to go."

"Everyone has only one choice: to die here!"

"As for the soldiers of the Karakhanid Khanate, my rule is enlightened and benevolent; even when they capture a major city, they do not loot or kill."

“But who is the other side? It’s Sanjar, the Seljuk Khan. If we lose this battle, he will rule the entire Karakhanid Khanate.”

“He would plunder cities and villages, leaving his trusted men to serve as lords and shepherds.”

"Everything you have will be taken away by the Seljuks."

“I’m not trying to scare you. You’ve all heard about what happened to Khwarezm last year.”

"As for the Karluk army, I will give you every single gold coin I promised, and you will not have to pay tribute for the next three years!"

"This is the battlefield I chose last year. As long as you all lead your troops to fight to the death, the enemy will surely fall into the trap."

"We will win!"

The overall battle plan had already been communicated to the generals of all ethnic groups.

Chapter 3831 Great Victory!

Although it was extremely risky, the chances of victory were great, and the generals shouted together, "Victory! Victory!"

The next day, the two armies lined up in battle formations that were remarkably similar.

They divided their troops into three armies: left, center, and right, and then sent out light cavalry to shoot arrows.

The Western Liao had a total of 2000 heavy cavalry, positioned behind the right flank of their army.

The Seljuks, however, had 5000 heavy cavalrymen positioned behind their central army.

The battle began, with both sides sending out light cavalry to engage in combat.

The Western Liao light cavalry were outmatched and quickly retreated to the flank and rear of the infantry formation.

Seljuk light cavalry swept through the Western Liao infantry formation in turn, constantly firing at the Western Liao infantry who were using shields to block arrows.

Soon, Sanjar discovered that the right wing of the Western Liao was unstable, so he ordered: "The enemy's right wing is the weakest. Move the entire army over there and concentrate our forces to break through the right wing!"

Thus, the Seljuk army, consisting of the left, center, and right wings, slowly advanced towards the right flank of the Western Liao.

The three armies of the Western Liao, namely the left, center, and right armies, also slowly moved to the right as a whole.

However, because the order was given relatively late, the movement was not fast enough, and the Seljuk army seized the initiative.

Left with no other choice, Xiao Wulila led the right wing of the Western Liao army to retreat into the valley behind them, and fought desperately to defend the valley entrance.

The Seljuk left and center armies launched a fierce attack on the Western Liao right army defending the valley entrance.

Once that Western Liao army is defeated, the outcome of this great battle will be essentially decided.

"It's up to you!" Yelü Dashi said to Li Tiansheng.

"I will not give up even if I die!"

The Han Chinese general Li Tiansheng led the only 2000 heavy cavalry of the Western Liao Dynasty to outflank and encircle the Seljuk forces from the rear.

Yelü Dashi himself led his central army to flank the nearest Seljuk central army.

Xiao Chala Abu led the left army of the Western Liao to flank and outflank the right army of the Seljuks.

The battlefield situation quickly changed: the Seljuks drove a Western Liao army into a valley.

The Western Liao, however, turned the tables and partially surrounded the Seljuk army.

Specifically as follows—

The right wing of the Western Liao retreated to the valley entrance, where it was fiercely attacked by the left and central armies of the Seljuk army.

The central army of the Western Liao attacked the central army of the Seljuks from the flank.

The Western Liao left wing attacked the Seljuk right wing from a flank.

The two sides' heavy cavalry clashed.

Sanjar remained calm in the face of danger and quickly mobilized his troops to counterattack.

He detached a portion of his central army and personally led the troops to meet the Western Liao central army.

They also sent a portion of the Seljuk right wing to fight alongside the Western Liao central army, which was attacking from the flank.

Then divide the Seljuk heavy cavalry into two: one part will engage the Western Liao heavy cavalry, while the other part will cooperate with the remaining friendly forces to attack the Western Liao left flank.