Chapter 48: Raiding the Royal Court, Ten Thousand Steeds Galloping!

For Ahadu, and even more so for all the Jianzhou Tatars, being a small tribe meant they had no choice but to attach themselves to a larger one. Otherwise, in this northern frontier dominated by the law of the jungle, they would have been exterminated long ago.

Compared to other Tatar tribes, the reason the Jianzhou Tatars managed to rise to some prominence was entirely due to the backing of the Yuan court. Even though the Yuan court was in decline, in the eyes of their tribe, it remained the invincible Yuan court.

If they offended the Great Ming, their tribe could still migrate northward and distance themselves from Ming power. But if they offended the Yuan court, they would find virtually no place to survive in this northern frontier.

As a tribal chieftain, the primary consideration was the survival of the tribe itself, and this was especially true for Ahadu.

"Agunu."

"I will give you one last opportunity. You must annihilate this invading Ming army."

"And that Zhu Ying—you must capture him. It is best to take him alive; otherwise, hack him to pieces," Ahadu said coldly.

"This subordinate will not fail the chieftain's expectations."

"If I fail to annihilate Zhu Ying and the Ming army this time, this subordinate is willing to die for this crime," Agunu immediately swore.

"The Ming army possesses formidable cavalry. I am entrusting you with the last two thousand guards of our tribe's elite cavalry."

"I hope you will not disappoint me," Ahadu said, waving his hand with a resolute expression.

Presently, the Yuan court repeatedly sent envoys asking for reinforcements and ordering them to dispatch troops; to refuse would be a crime. Therefore, this force of Ming troops had to be eliminated.

***

Beneath the veil of night, the main camp of the Jianzhou Tatars was remarkably tranquil. As the most prosperous tribe within their territory, it was surrounded by numerous satellite settlements that guarded the core encampment at the center.

Combined, the population of these surrounding settlements numbered in the tens of thousands.

In the other outposts—particularly the one where Zhu Ying and his main force had previously struck—the Tatars had deployed heavy reinforcements in a well-laid trap. They were merely waiting for Zhu Ying to lead his army to raid that settlement once more, at which point the pre-arranged forces would immediately close the net, using absolute numerical superiority to crush Zhu Ying.

Although the bulk of their forces had been deployed to deal with Zhu Ying, several thousand troops still remained behind to guard the main encampment. Outside the camp perimeter, numerous Tatar foot soldiers patrolled under the cover of darkness, and their sentry posts were far more sophisticated than those of the tribes stationed closer to the Ming border.

After all, this was the heart of the tribe; the vigilance was naturally higher.

Less than two miles away from this tribe, under the shroud of night, an army resembling phantoms had gathered. Surrounding them were tens of thousands of warhorses, though they were dispersed across the terrain.

"Commander."

"In accordance with your orders, the soldiers drove the horses forward in batches. Scouts report that our movements have not alerted the garrison of the Tatar encampment," Wei Quan reported to Zhu Ying.

"Very good."

Zhu Ying nodded, his gaze fixed on the distant encampment in the darkness.

Outside the perimeter of the encampment, fires blazed brightly. Over a hundred watchtowers stood tall, and hundreds upon thousands of patrolling Tatar soldiers moved about outside.

"Are all the brothers ready?" Zhu Ying asked with a solemn expression.

"Rest assured, Commander, everything is ready."

"All necessary instructions have been given to the men."

"In this battle, even if we die, we have no regrets," the various garrison commanders declared one after another.

Zhu Ying nodded and picked up his precious carved composite bow.

"Drive the warhorses to charge this Tatar settlement."

"A charge of ten thousand horses thundering across the earth—such force is enough to shatter all of the Tatars' sentry posts in an instant."

"Our army will charge right behind the horses," Zhu Ying said in a deep voice.

"This subordinate obeys," the commanders chorused.

Once the commanders had made their final preparations and returned to their respective battalions, Zhu Ying did not hesitate. With a low shout, he ordered, "Attack!"

"Brothers!"

"Charge!"

"Charge!"

The commanders roared at the top of their lungs.

Immediately following:

"Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!"

The soldiers shouted hoarsely, swinging their horse whips to lash at the surrounding mounts.

Instantly, a chorus of piercing neighs pierced the night.

Tens of thousands of warhorses surged forward in an instant, thundering toward the Tatar encampment.

Ten thousand horses galloping at once—what a magnificent and overwhelming spectacle!

The entire night sky was swallowed by the roar of the stampeding hooves.

"Charge!"

With a low cry, Zhu Ying raised his saber and surged forward.

"We swear to follow the Commander to the death!"

"Kill!"

All the soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs, following the wake of the stampeding horses as they charged toward the Tatar camp.

Inside the Tatar encampment, the patrolling soldiers looked on in panic and confusion toward the direction of the thundering hooves. Many Tatars sleeping in the watchtowers were also jolted awake.

"Not good!"

"Enemy attack!"

"It's the Ming army! They are attacking!"

"They didn't raid our outer tribes; they've come straight for our main camp!"

"Quick... report this to the chieftain at once!"

"Set up the defense lines! Hurry, set up the defenses..."

Tatar soldiers screamed in frantic panic.

In that instant, chaos erupted. Everyone was gripped by terror.

Yet the Tatar troops guarding the main camp were part of their elite, having undergone tactical training imparted by the Yuan court.

At the vanguard of the camp, Tatar soldiers on the watchtowers frantically nocked their bows, while those within the encampment rushed to assemble, preparing bows, spears, and arrows with extreme vigilance.

"Release arrows!"

As countless warhorses surged forward out of the darkness, only the shadowy silhouettes of charging beasts could be seen, resembling a vast torrent of tens of thousands of Ming cavalry descending upon them.

From the watchtowers and behind the hastily bolted gates of the camp, the Tatar soldiers unleashed a storm of random arrows, shooting frantically into the dim night toward the thundering mass.

Caught in the volley of random arrows, many warhorses were pierced through and emitted agonizing cries. Yet horses are not men; even after being struck, they could not stop, driven by momentum to continue charging forward alongside their herd.

In the blink of an eye, the tide of horses reached the outer gates of the camp.

Facing the watchtowers and the wooden palisades ahead, the horses were driven relentlessly onward, crashing into them without regard for their lives.

Crash, crash, crash!

A series of violent impacts rang out.

Numerous warhorses smashed directly into the wooden gates, leaving them trembling and on the verge of collapse, while others slammed heavily into the surrounding barricades.

Against fortified city walls, a stampede of ten thousand horses would amount to nothing more than throwing lives away. But this was a Tatar settlement—a northern tribal camp—so how could their wooden palisades and stockade gates ever compare to true city walls?

"Oh no!"

"These are warhorses driven by the Ming army!"

"The barricades are about to break, and the gates won't hold!"

"This is bad..."

Countless Tatar soldiers inside shrieked in terror, especially those who had desperately braced themselves against the gates to hold them shut, only to bear the full brunt of the charging horses' kinetic energy.

Finally!

The wooden barricades and gates of the Tatar encampment reached their absolute breaking point.

Boom!

The camp gates were smashed wide open by the sheer momentum of the stampeding horses.

"Ah... Ah..."

Hooves pounded the earth, trampling ruthlessly over everything in their path.

Countless Tatars uttered agonizing screams as they were trampled to death beneath the hooves of the charging beasts.

"The Commander is truly brilliant!"

"Gathering these warhorses not only gave us mounts to ride, but also magnified our army's shock power in storming the camp."

"A stampede of ten thousand horses—this is equivalent to the frontal charge of tens of thousands of troops!"

"In this battle,"

"We will surely leave the Tatar main camp without a single piece of armor intact!"

"Brothers!"

"Charge!"

"Kill..."

Watching the sea of horses shatter the Tatar defenses, countless Ming soldiers cheered and roared with excitement.