Section Eighteen (Part One)

On the very day the Mongol army launched its surprise attack, the Han cavalry immediately mounted a counter-offensive. Zhao Liangdong recruited a large number of guides from the surrendered troops in Jing County and replenished the cavalry brigade’s ranks. Under the command of Mu Dongcheng, two thousand Han iron cavalrymen charged recklessly toward the Daizhou prefectural capital. Appearing suddenly at Dou Village and Dongye, they annihilated the three hundred Dzungar guards stationed at this transit hub within an hour. Following this minor victory, the Han army did not linger for a moment; Mu Dongcheng ordered the execution of all prisoners and wounded enemy soldiers, drove the villagers from their homes, set fire to this vital transportation hub until nothing but ash remained, and then led his troops into the Wuniu Mountains.

Upon receiving the battle report, the Mongol cavalry reacted instantly. The Eastern Route Army under Said, which had been skirmishing on the outskirts of Jing County, immediately turned back. Dividing his thousands of cavalry into several groups, he began a systematic, net-like search of the rear. The flames of war quickly spread from Jing County, drawing several towns in Daizhou Prefecture that had been watching from the sidelines into the conflict. The next day, a Mongol search party encountered the cavalry brigade, leading to a fierce battle. The Mongol soldiers split into loose skirmishing formations, signaling from high ground while fighting desperately to entangle the Han troops, refusing to let go. However, due to the Han army’s numerical superiority, this small Mongol detachment was annihilated in a short time. Under the cover of night, Mu Dongcheng personally led the rearguard, maneuvering to outwit the main Mongol force that had arrived in response to the distress signals. Fortunately, the guides were familiar with the terrain, and it was not until midnight that the cavalry brigade’s rearguard successfully broke contact with the enemy.

Hatred accumulated with every clash, and the nature of the war soon shifted from a pursuit to a struggle for control over local factions. To ensure the cavalry brigade received provisions and passage, Zhao Liangdong issued a plethora of appointments, naming a vast number of gentry, landlords, and forest bandits in the Daizhou war zone as local officials of the Great Han government. Conversely, in order to quickly eliminate or expel the Han cavalry, the Mongol army also had to secure intelligence support and political allegiance from these same local powers.

The Daizhou gentry, who had always practiced a strategy of fence-sitting, found themselves in a dire situation. They had never encountered such circumstances; in their past experience, armies passing through rarely troubled them, and even the victors would show them enough goodwill to ensure the stability of newly conquered lands. But this time was different. Neither the Han nor the Mongol armies were benevolent; in this war, they were forced to declare their political stance and stake their entire livelihoods on one side to survive.

It was the Fifth Army’s cavalry brigade that changed this pattern of shadow warfare. At this point, the Mongol army felt the strain of limited manpower. To consolidate their front, the fifteen-thousand-strong Mongol force split into two: the Khalkha troops, under the command of General Bali, remained in Jing County to monitor Zhao Liangdong’s main force, while Said led six thousand troops to deal with Mu Dongcheng. Compared to the cavalry brigade, Said’s forces were undoubtedly superior in numbers, yet Mu Dongcheng refused to engage him head-on, keeping his distance and engaging in guerrilla warfare across the rugged mountains.

Even more chilling was the fact that in terms of individual and small-unit combat effectiveness—whether in mounted archery skills or the ability of junior officers to command their troops—the Mongol army proved vastly inferior to the Han. The Han soldiers’ fighting spirit, which bordered on the psychotic, instilled deep fear. After suffering several major losses, Said no longer dared to split his forces for multi-pronged encirclement.

To compensate for this manpower deficit, the Mongol army was forced to strictly order the hesitant turncoat troops to join the fray. To "boost morale," the Dzungar Eastern Route commander, Bali, personally led two thousand iron cavalry back from the Jing County front to compel the turncoat forces into action. Thus, tens of thousands of "newly surrendered" troops were forced to march toward Jing County.

Such a massive mobilization could not be hidden from the Han generals. Upon receiving news of the turncoats' eastward advance, Zhao Liangdong immediately issued an attack order to Mu Dongcheng. The Han cavalry assembled overnight, departed from the southwest of Daizhou, navigated the narrow trails of the Wuniu Mountains, and suddenly appeared on the Tieling line at midnight. Two thousand cavalrymen, brandishing torches and shouting loudly, charged into the enemy's flank. In the darkness, chaos ensued. The Han iron cavalry struck like lightning, penetrating the core of the camp within minutes. While cutting down and driving away the panic-stricken enemy, they scattered torches to ignite tents and supplies. Under this sudden and ferocious blow, the twenty thousand troops of the turncoat army’s left wing disintegrated instantly. Hearing that the Han army had arrived, leaders of all ranks were the first to steal horses and flee, with not a single person daring to organize a defense. Confusion spread like a plague from the heart of the camp to every corner, accompanied by heart-rending screams and the earth-shattering thunder of iron hooves. Amid the chaos, no one knew how many enemies had broken in or from which direction to resist. The roaring flames lit up the entire camp, and tens of thousands of men, driven by two thousand cavalrymen, abandoned all weapons, armor, and supplies to flee. After breaking the enemy, the Han cavalry brigade split up to pursue and slaughter them, with groups of only a few hundred iron cavalry charging into enemy forces several times their size in a relentless, desperate assault.

The enemy was struck with terror; not one of the tens of thousands dared to turn back. Across the mountains and plains, the retreating soldiers trampled one another in a frantic rush to escape. The brutal Han cavalry trampled the moaning, dying wounded into the mud, biting at the heels of the fleeing mob, refusing to take prisoners, and cutting down every straggler. Under the cavalry brigade's frenzied slaughter, corpses littered the land east of Tieling, and the yellowish dirt road was dyed crimson.

By daybreak, the twenty thousand troops of the turncoat army’s left wing had ceased to exist.

The fleeing soldiers were scattered and sparse. News of the collapse of the left wing spread rapidly throughout northwestern Shanxi. The other two turncoat divisions immediately halted upon hearing the news and retreated into defensive postures, refusing to step one inch further, no matter how the Dzungar military supervisors urged or threatened them.

This time, the Mongol army no longer pressed the turncoat troops to follow their movements. Dzungar Eastern Route commander Bali recalled Said’s forces from their pursuit of the cavalry brigade, abandoned the Daizhou counties they had been fighting over, and gathered the entire Mongol army to advance slowly toward the county seat of Jing County.