OBS Chapter 873 Nervous
Chapter 873 Nervous
Chapter 873 Nervous
Qu Chuli looked at the Tatars who were laughing across from him, and laughed back in anger: "Humble slaves, cherish the time you have left."
On the Tatar steppe, the rise of every new tribe meant a reshuffle of power. Before unifying the Tatar steppe, the Qiyan tribe was far inferior to the Naiman tribe in terms of power and pastures.
These laughing Tatars were all new military nobles who rose to power on the blood and corpses of the Naiman tribe. Many of them were even slaves of the Naiman tribe. They had long been enemies of Qubilai.
A bonfire was lit on the top of the hill.
The shaman, wearing a silver crown and holding a human skin drum, performed an ancient and mysterious dance around the campfire.
The accompanying shamans poured the meat, milk and wine in the bowls and basins into the bonfire. The flames were also quite magical. After these offerings were thrown into it, they instantly turned into a mysterious green smoke and went straight up to the sky with the wind.
boom!
A strong wind arose.
The flags that were originally swaying slightly were suddenly blown all over the place by the strong wind, and dust flew everywhere. The Khitan soldiers who were wearing masks were fine, as they only felt the clanking sounds of their helmets being hit by the sand.
Those without helmets or visors couldn't even open their eyes.
A raging fire of revenge burned in Quchuli's eyes, as if he saw again the scene of the great grassland war where the Tatars raised their butcher knives and slaughtered their own people at will.
He roared like thunder: "It's the Tatar shaman, Master Jueyuan, please subdue the demon!"
"I am here!"
The eminent monk from the Eastern Huayan Sect, who had been worshipped by the Liao Dynasty for generations, looked up solemnly. Originally, he was just an ordinary, withered old monk, but at this moment, his eyes suddenly widened, like the angry eyes of a diamond: "How dare you, evil creature!"
His whole body was shining with golden light, and his hands were in the seal of wisdom fist. From a distance, he looked like a kind-looking golden Buddha sitting cross-legged.
The big Buddha raised his hand and pressed it towards the sky. Faintly, it seemed as if a struggling black spirit was captured in his hand.
The shaman who was dancing on the altar was struck hard all of a sudden, and the blood spurting out of his mouth dyed his robes red.
The accompanying shamans wanted to step forward to help, but were knocked away by his drumstick.
"Keep placing the sacrifices!"
As he spoke, he staggered and jumped up again.
The bonfire grew more and more vigorously as more offerings were thrown into it.
Dark clouds began to gather in the sky, and flashing arcs of electricity jumped among the clouds.
This is the great power born from the "sky" that many nomadic peoples worship.
Even among the Turks who migrated westward to Asia Minor, many still held on to their belief in "Eternal Blue Sky".
In the past, when the Tatars conquered other nomadic tribes, as long as they demonstrated the power of driving thunder, the enemies would not even have much courage left to continue fighting.
boom--
The rumbling thunder frightened the Khitan cavalrymen so much that their faces turned pale and their mounts became restless.
Although there are many Khitan people who believe in Buddhism, Nestorianism, and Zoroastrianism, in fact most of them have a pan-belief attitude towards these sects. Deep in their hearts, they still retain the nomadic people's awe of "Heaven".
This is an inherent characteristic of nomadic people who live by following water and grass, and their lower "ability to resist natural disasters" than agricultural people. No matter how powerful a tribe is, it can be easily destroyed by a snowstorm or a flood.
"The fighter planes are coming!"
Subutai, who was standing in front of the battle formation, laughed and said, "Thanks to the help of Changshengtian, the Khitan children have been frightened out of their wits. Pass on my order, all light cavalry units should advance on their own!"
Following Subutai's order, except for his own Qiexue army that was lined up around him, Tatar light cavalry from various units began to join the battle.
They rode on short horses, drew their bows, and shot from a distance at the Khitan cavalry on both wings.
This is the classic tactic of the Tatars, where they attack first with horse archers, using horse archery, harassment and disruption of the enemy's formation, and then use heavy cavalry to charge the enemy formation with thunderous force.
The Khitans listened to the thunder in their ears, and from time to time their companions were shot down by the Tatars' exquisite archery skills. Although these Tatar light cavalry were not equipped with heavy armor, the craftsmanship of the horse bows in their hands was extremely sophisticated.
The Tatar army, which has now occupied the territory of the Great Jin Dynasty and is in opposition to the Southern Song Dynasty in the north and south, has a level of military equipment that is fully capable of crushing the countries in Central Asia.
The light cavalry of the various Khitan tribes tried to launch a counterattack, but their horse bows were indeed weak compared to those of the Tatars, and their archery skills were far inferior. The arrows they shot either failed to hit their targets at all, or even if they did, they could only pierce the felt robes worn by the Tatar light cavalry and could not even penetrate the leather armor underneath.
Not only could they take the beatings without being able to fight back, coupled with the might of thunder, the morale of the Khitan cavalry dropped visibly.
Seeing that people's hearts were in turmoil, Qu Chulug could no longer bear it and shouted: "Warriors of the Naiman tribe, warriors of the Six Courts, for the sake of the Liao Dynasty, for revenge, launch an attack on the Tatars on both wings!"
After he said that, he glanced at the livid face of Master Jueyuan beside him, knowing that the competition between this Buddhist monk and the Tatar shaman had reached a very critical point. Otherwise, the thunder above his head would have fallen long ago.
Previously, in the decisive battle between the Naiman and Tatar tribes, their own shaman was killed by a thunderbolt, which caused their army to lose its morale and be defeated without a fight, as they thought they had lost the protection of the Eternal Heaven.
He rode his horse to the main camp of the Gongfen Army and came to Yelu Zonghan and said: "General, the key to the current battle depends entirely on whether the Gongfen Army under your command can defeat the Qiexue Army of the Tartar chieftain."
Although Yelu Zonghan looked down on Quchelug, he also knew that this battle was related to the future of the Khitans. Once they were defeated, the subordinate tribes would immediately defect to the Tatars.
The huge Liao Dynasty in the Western Regions would be directly crushed to dust.
"I know what I'm doing, so I don't need your nonsense."
He clenched the reins tightly, but in his heart he kept praying that the backup plan he had prepared earlier would come in handy at the critical moment.
It was difficult to determine the winner in a short period of time in the fight between the light cavalry, but the gap between the two sides was already apparent from the very first moment of the battle.
Neither Quchuli nor Yelu Zonghan felt that their light cavalry could defeat the enemy.
Yelu Zonghan finally lost his patience and ordered: "Light the fire, send a message, and immediately have Ivan's men attack from behind. We will attack the Qiexue army from both sides!"
"General, no hurry!"
Qu Chulu stretched out his hand and pressed on Yelu Zonghan's reins: "The Ivan tribe is a surprise force, but their combat effectiveness is not strong. We need them to take action at a more critical moment, not now!"
Yelu Zonghan was stunned. Wasn't this Qu Chulug at odds with Ivan? Was it possible that the Ivan he had seen before was just an act?
"General, don't think too much. The outcome of this battle is of great importance. As the Han Chinese say, we are all grasshoppers tied to the same rope."
As he was speaking, a melodious horn sounded again from the Tatar army's headquarters.
Those heavily armored cavalry that were like iron towers finally began to move. They advanced like a wall, and their movements were so uniform that it was frightening. This kind of discipline was absolutely unparalleled among the nomadic cavalry in this era.
Yelu Zonghan opened his mouth in shock. As they were all from nomadic tribes, he knew better than anyone else how rare it was to have such discipline.
Qu Chuli smiled bitterly: "Look, General, this is the most terrifying thing about the Tatars. I swear, their army is different from any army you have ever faced!"
(End of this chapter)