Chapter 18: Beating the Drums (I)

The sound of slaps echoing one after another filled the air, leaving Wang Xiaochun and Bida Gan utterly ashamed. Yet this tactic proved effective—peace reigned in the army for several days afterward, with no more rumors of discord between them.
Free from such trivial distractions, the Shule army grew even more united. Now they had only one goal: to reach Shule City as soon as possible! Over the past few days, the army had marched over a hundred miles westward, bypassing mountains and valleys, without encountering any real threats.
But starting this morning, scouts sent by Xianyu Yucheng reported in succession that numerous unidentified patrols had been spotted dozens of miles outside the army’s position—suspected to be the active bandits of these parts. With the grass and vegetation growing lush, Ni Xin also believed bandits might be around. But could these bandits, with their audacity, dare to attack nearly three thousand elite Tang cavalry?
Li Kuo paid no attention to this and ordered the scout camp to investigate further. By noon, Xianyu Yucheng finally brought back accurate news: the bandit group numbered around five thousand, with one rider per horse, all well-equipped, and clearly targeting them…
The thunderous sound of horse hooves shook the earth. At the edge of sight, a yellow dot appeared and quickly expanded into a bright line. This line grew thicker and thicker until, several miles away, it formed a cloud of yellow dust. The bandits charged at the Shule army with unstoppable momentum!
Even though they were well-prepared, they were still shocked upon seeing the scale of the bandits’ force. Rather than bandits, they resembled an army. Nearly five thousand riders rode tall warhorses, charging forward. Each carried a curved sword and wore leather armor, their eyes fixed straight ahead. At the center of the group, a rider held a large flag, shouting loudly.
“They’re Uyghurs!”
Bida Gan cried out loudly, tears almost bursting from his eyes. Since the fall of the Later Turkic Khaganate, only the Uyghurs in the northern steppes would embroider a silver wolf on their flags. Only they would disregard countless cattle and sheep to assemble a cavalry force of over five thousand to intercept an army from thousands of miles away!
But shouldn’t the Uyghurs be herding sheep near the Wenkun River? How did they suddenly appear in Guazhou?
“General, they’re Uyghurs! Even turned to ashes, I’d recognize the pattern on their flags!”
Bida Gan was seething with anger. These Uyghurs were cunning—having taken over the Turkic steppes, now they wanted to raid the Tang Dynasty?
“Hmm,” Li Kuo nodded slightly, showing no fear. It seemed a great battle was coming!
“Form up and meet the enemy!”

Li Kuo raised his eyebrows, took the long spear from his bodyguard, and resolutely pointed it forward. Had that spear not seen blood in ages?…
The leader of this army was named Bi Qiehe, a Yehu of the Uyghurs. Standing right beside him was his son Du Gu, who also served as the deputy commander of this cavalry unit.
They were indeed Uyghurs—more precisely, Uyghurs active in the Jinshan region. The distance from Jinshan to Dazhe wasn’t particularly long, but not short either. If it weren’t for Ge Shu Han promising to fight for them those grasslands, they wouldn’t have made such a long journey, abandoning their comfortable lives to come to this desolate place to “amuse” themselves with these Tang soldiers.
By killing these thousands of two-legged sheep, they could gain vast fertile grasslands downstream of the Yiezhi River. What could the Gelao people do about it? With the strength of the Jinshan Uyghurs, plus the support of Ge Shu Han, the governor of Hexi, even if the Gelao were furious, they could only swallow their anger!
As for Ge Shu Han? Hmph, nothing but a Turkic bastard working for the Tang dogs! The Turks had already lost their nation—what pride did he still have? If it weren’t for his generous promises, just his condescending tone alone would be enough to make one…
Hmph, let’s kill these two-legged sheep first!
“Ok!”
Bi Qiehe shouted, and the warriors bent their bows, drawing arrows, ready to strike. (Note 2) On the plain, no one could stop the charge of the Uyghur cavalry. Plain battles didn’t require any tactics—speed and numbers were everything!
When the two armies clashed, it came down to explosive power!
Two hundred paces, one hundred paces, fifty paces.
Closer, closer!
Du Gu knew his father had given the order to prepare, so he took out his five-stone oxhide bow and drew a Uyghur short-feathered arrow from behind, aiming at a Tang soldier ahead. Since he started shooting at the age of fourteen, he had never missed a single shot.
Uyghurs grew up on horseback, and their familiarity with horses even surpassed that of women with their own bellies. Thus, they could easily clamp their feet around the horse’s belly to free their hands to draw bows and shoot arrows.
The arrow struck, killing instantly!
“Pua!”
At Bi Qiehe’s command, hundreds of Uyghur short-feathered arrows whistled toward the Tang army. The feathered arrows formed a dense net, covering the Tang forces. In an instant, dozens of soldiers at the front were pierced, with cries of agony echoing everywhere. (Note 3) “Kill the Tang dogs! Kill all these two-legged sheep! Once we kill them, the Gelao people’s grasslands will belong to us!”
“Kill them all! Kill all these two-legged sheep!”

“For the tribe! May the Eternal Heaven bless us! Kill all these Tang dogs!”
Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps…
The Uyghur cavalry put away their feathered arrows and drew their curved swords.
The Tang dogs across from them seemed so fragile—just a slight swipe of the blade to cut them could easily end a life.
Boom!
The two cavalry forces collided, raising clouds of dust and sand, blocking out all light.
In an instant, close combat ensued, with the clashing of weapons producing a harsh noise. The Uyghur cavalry slashed at anyone they encountered without holding back. The scene became extremely chaotic; people were constantly knocked off their horses and trampled to death by their warhorses.
“For the tribe! By the Eternal Heaven! For the Uyghurs! Kill all these Tang dogs, and the fertile pastures will belong to us, the Jinshan Uyghurs!”
Bi Qihe narrowed his eyes tightly, a fierce glint like that of a beast shining in them.
Note 1: In the third year of the Tang Tianbao era (744 AD), the Uyghur alliance led by Guli Peilo, with the support of the Tang army, overthrew the Turkic Khaganate and established the Northern Turkic Khaganate. Its capital was located in the Orkhon River basin, and its people continued to lead a nomadic lifestyle.
Note 2: The Uyghurs spoke Turkic languages. “Oke” means “to prepare” in Old Turkic.
Note 3: “Pua” means “to shoot arrows” in Old Turkic.