novelraw Chapter 671 441: Nomadic Empire
Chapter 671 441: Nomadic Empire
"This token serves as proof!"
The man shouted loudly, "I am the Night Scout Banner of Datong Guard. His Majesty the Emperor is besieged by the Tatar Chief Esen at Tumu Castle. I implore the envoy to rescue him quickly. If you achieve merits, promotions and rewards, gold, silver, and wealth will follow."
Losa frowned and said, "Such a major event as the Emperor being besieged, and instead of sending the Jinyi Guard, they dispatch you, a mere Banner, to seek help? How do I know you aren't trying to deceive us into a Northern Yuan Tatar trap?"
Night Scout Banner were scouts during the Ming Dynasty, specialized in external reconnaissance and military intelligence.
They occasionally engage in assassinations, infiltration, and night raids on enemy camps, belonging to the regular military structure. Many frontier wooden castles and watchtowers have Night Scout Banner units.
The middle-aged man's lips were chapped, and he said angrily, "The military situation is urgent. Night Scout Banner, Jinyi Guard, dozens to hundreds of people spread out to break the siege, I was lucky to escape, am I supposed to find another Jinyi Guard?"
Losa's tone softened a bit, though others were not accustomed to his attitude.
Charles drew his weapon swiftly.
Losa waved his hand, "No matter, Hans, give a water bag to this Night Scout Banner."
The man raised the water bag and gulped down several mouthfuls before continuing, "I implore the distinguished envoy to move immediately and lead the troops!"
"I know you are anxious, but don't rush. Such matters of war cannot be handled so hurriedly."
The Banner muttered, this foreign prince is quite cultured, quickly saying, "The military relies on divine speed. Although the envoy marches separately from the Emperor, they are interdependent. The Wala Tartars eat raw meat and drink blood, killing ruthlessly. If the Emperor's army falls, wouldn't the envoy's group also be in peril?"
"Please wait a while. Deployment is heavily reliant on intelligence. Without scouting the enemy's movements in advance, my mere thousand-plus soldiers would be devoured by tens of thousands of Tatar Iron Cavalry."
Seeing Losa's continual evasiveness, the Night Scout Banner was infuriated, "These foreigners are indeed ungrateful wolves. Our legitimate Emperor of Great Ming has treated you with kindness, bestowing gifts multiple times, and now His Majesty is in distress, and you still hesitate?"
Expecting a bunch of foreign tribute envoys to save the emperor, what could be more unreliable?
Yet, presently, except for the guard led by this foreign envoy, there is no one else who can rush to aid swiftly.
There are only seven thousand soldiers in the Xuanfu North Road, scattered across seven wooden castles. Even if they are all mobilized, how long can they last under the hooves of the Tatar Iron Cavalry? Instead, this foreign envoy commands a troop of elite armored cavalry, limited in number but exceptionally powerful in combat.
"His Majesty's grace, I remember wholeheartedly."
Losa spoke these words, but was inwardly unimpressed.
Grace, nonsense, this foreign prince is just a simple character, what benefits has he ever gotten from Zhu Qizhen? Even if he had, it would probably amount to some monetary rewards, at best hiring some mercenaries.
Everyone knows that if mercenaries could be relied upon, pigs would fly up trees.
When he played the role of Charles VII, those unpaid mercenaries ran rampant in the countryside, slaughtering indiscriminately, more brutal than invading foes.
Losa didn't take offense at the Night Scout's verbal attacks, calmly saying, "Let's first discuss the current situation. His Majesty the Emperor is besieged at Tumu Castle, how many supplies and provisions are there? What is the number of the Wala Tatar invaders? How equipped are our forces, how many firearms? If we hold firm defense, how long can we last? Without knowing any intelligence, truly proceeding blindly would only betray the Emperor's grace."
Seeing Losa's logical approach, the Night Scout Banner gradually calmed down.
"Please forgive me, Sir, for my earlier rudeness. His Majesty personally leads the Capital Camp army to Tumu Castle, surrounded by the Tatar Chief Esen's army, a truly dangerous situation..."
Losa was somewhat puzzled, "Ha, when we set off, I heard the Tatar forces were no more than tens of thousands, while our Great Ming Capital Camp elite numbered near two hundred thousand. How did we fall into the encirclement of the Tatar Chief Esen?"
He wasn't pretending to be doubtful, genuinely uninformed about the specifics of the Tumu Castle battle.
Common sense dictates that a siege usually involves the adversary being numerous and us being outnumbered.
Although the Capital Camp is primarily infantry, if relying on defensive vehicles and wooden castles, how did it end up surrounded by the Wala forces with less facing more?
"Sir may not know..."
The Night Scout Banner calmed down, realizing Losa wouldn't take action without understanding the detailed situation, and began explaining clearly to Losa.
After hearing the Banner's explanation, Losa's expression became much grimmer. This Great Khan Esen has advanced relentlessly, raising the butcher's knife time and again after capturing cities, terrifying many fortress commanders into cowardice.
In Huailai, Longqing, and other places, dozens of fortress commanders abandoned their positions without a fight, allowing the Tatar leader Arashiyuan to thrust forward, cutting off the Emperor's imperial carriage and the retreat of the Capital Camp elite, naturally also encompassing the supply route.
This nomadic cavalry, with some jerky and cheese on the saddle, could ride deep and fast, raiding and foraging from the enemy, but it was too difficult for the farming nation's army to achieve.
Therefore, over a hundred thousand elite troops from the Capital Camp, at this time had their supply lines cut. Furthermore, due to the constant harassment from small-scale nomadic cavalry raids, the Ming army, which was already preparing to retreat, was exhausted and hungry upon reaching Tumu Castle.
Adding to that, the Wala's flanking attacks, with almost all their members being archery-savvy nomadic cavalry, if not for his involvement, the outcome of this battle would be almost predictable.
Moreover, the Wala people were formidable adversaries.
Losa originally thought that even if the Wala inherited the Northern Yuan legacy, it would just be a dying dynasty struggling to survive, having won at Tumu Castle, lost to Yu Qian, and soon after splintering.
Who would have thought, it was a force that opened the Western Regions' gates, able to purchase large quantities of armor from various Central Asian countries, and now has even subdued the Jurchens and Duoyan Three Guards, nearly unifying the entire Northern Nomadic Empire!
In this battle, the original cavalry led by Yexian, the Grandmaster of Wala, exceeded fifty thousand, and the vanguard of Arashiyuan exceeded ten thousand. If you count the titular Northern Yuan Great Khan, Tudubuhua, who was attacking Liaodong, Wala's forces were nearing a hundred thousand. Such an army, if appeared in Europe, would instantly become a new Whip of God.
If Constantine XI could gain the help of the Wala, not only could he defend Constantinople and restore Greece, but reviving the Justinian's Empire wouldn't be a mere fantasy.
Losa felt a pang of frustration; the Ming army being beaten at their doorstep, although partly because "Wala Exchange Students" quickly led the expedition with only ten days' preparation, the fact remains that the Ming army's combat power was incomparable to its peak era.
The army I brought had over two hundred Winged Cavalry, over two hundred Imperial Knights, over two hundred Armored Archers, over two hundred Iron Cavalry, over five hundred Monastic Cavalry, fifty Kurdish Cavalry, and less than twenty Sipahi Cavalry.
In total, the cavalry barely exceeded a thousand, and the discrepancy with the enemy was overwhelming.
Even if we had Extraordinary Combat Power, did the enemy not have it as well?
Moreover, Jeanne and others remain unaccounted for.
...
While Losa was troubled, Jeanne, riding her blood-sweating horse called "Grape," was leading on the plains.
Furin, sounding bored, said, "Where exactly are we?"
Prajna thought for a moment and replied, "We should be on the Tatar Grassland."
Lavinia asked, "Miss Furin, didn't you place a mark on Losa, like the one you put on Miss Nina back then? This place is so vast, without a reference point, how are we supposed to regroup with him?"
Furin shook her head, "The master doesn't want me to place a mark on him."
Riding on horseback, Jeanne secretly rolled her eyes; of course, they can't let you place a mark, or else wouldn't you find out that Losa spends quite some time in her room daily or every few days?
Jeanne casually said, "Don't worry, according to the rules, as long as we follow the path forward, it won't be long before we meet up."
Furin snorted, "Nonsense, last time we were directly transported to Texas, thousands of miles away from where the master was."
Jeanne shrugged, "But in the end, didn't we still meet up?"
"There's a small castle ahead!"
Cherinita suddenly spoke, pointing into the distance. Though the naked eye could only see a small rise, everyone present was not an ordinary person and naturally saw the castle Cherinita mentioned.
Getting a bit closer.
The small castle revealed its full appearance.
It was indeed very small, built on a hill, appearing quite humble.
Furin frowned, "So shabby, don't mention comparing it to our Blood Royal Court's ancient castle, this is not even better than the castle of a medieval noble."
"This isn't a castle, it's a watchtower, just a lookout to scout enemy movements, generally manned by only a dozen people."
Prajna explained in a low voice.
During her time as the Gatekeeper of Hell, she had a colleague newly transformed from a soul into a member of the Ghost Race who was a Ming Dynasty general, so she had some knowledge of these matters.