The heavy rain receded, the sun rose, and a rainbow appeared in the sky.
Ergel Khan looked at the camp that was washed away by the flood with a sad face.
Ten thousand elite members of the Uighur King's tent, 20,000 elite cavalrymen of the Stele Forest Army, plus the miscellaneous troops responsible for logistics supplies, totaled 50,000 people stationed in this valley.
Yesterday's flood not only washed away nearly half of the soldiers' luggage, but also washed away Gel Khan's dream of unifying the grasslands.
It’s over! It’s completely over!
Gel Khan stood upright on the high ground, watching his generals collect the defeated army. He knew that he could not cry now.
But Manggucha and other young Uighur nobles could not bear it any longer. They cried bitterly. The flood washed away the subordinates he had brought from the tribe, and also destroyed the horses and weapons.
For Manggucha's tribe, this was an unbearable and huge loss.
"Manggucha, raise the flag of this Khan and quickly ask all ministries to gather the remaining soldiers!"
Manggucha held back his tears and immediately went to the valley after receiving the order from Gel Khan.
Gel Khan then said to his nephew Okosuni: "How many heavy cavalry are there?"
Wo Kuosuni also said with a sad face: "Only five hundred people were collected. The horse camp was washed away during the flood last night, leaving only three hundred horses, and they were all frightened."
"That's enough!" Gel Khan regained the decisiveness of his youth. He said to Okosuni: "Yesterday the Japanese Khan whipped you, today can you lead the way for this Khan?"
Seeing Gele Khan's appearance, Wo Kuo Suni immediately said seriously: "Wo Kuo is willing to die for the Khan!"
"Okay, I'll leave the heavy cavalry to you, and the light cavalry will be personally commanded by Ben Khan. Let's leave the camp now and attack the Tang army's camp!"
Wokuosuni took a breath of cold air. His camp had just been washed away by the flood, and now he was going to attack the Tang army's camp?
After Gel Khan put on his armor and mounted his horse, he raised the Khan's flag high and gathered a large number of defeated troops.
These Uighur soldiers were all in a miserable state, and some had just been rescued from the water by their companions.
But these were already the lucky ones, and more Uighur soldiers were buried forever in the Katon River.
Gel Khan said nothing, and just asked the flag guard to hold the Khan's military flag high, and constantly dispatched soldiers to rectify the troops.
Gel Khan personally took charge of the light cavalry, which was indeed much more efficient than before when it was left to the command of various heads of households.
With the flag of the Khan, the soldiers spontaneously gathered near the flag of the Khan.
By the time the sun rose in the sky, a cavalry phalanx had been put together in order.
Gel Khan suppressed the sadness in his heart. Now there are less than 4,000 people behind him. Compared with when he went on the expedition, the number of troops was reduced by more than half.
He was getting older and had not slept all night last night. Gel Khan was a little dizzy, but he still ordered someone to bring honey water. After drinking the honey water, he said to Manggucha: "Contact the queen who came upstream and downstream.
Are you in the army?"
The Uighur army that came from the lower reaches to outflank the Tang army camped behind the Tang army, so it was not affected by the flood.
Mang Gucha immediately said: "According to the Khan's order, we have contacted the rear army and immediately outflanked the Tang army's camp."
Gel Khan nodded and said to Manggucha: "Whether we can return to Yazhang City safely depends on this battle!"
After saying this, Gel Khan mounted his horse, drew his sword and said: "Give me the order, follow Ben Khan and go home!"
The orders to go home were passed down one after another. After hearing this, the sluggish Uighur soldiers cheered up and temporarily forgot about the sadness of the camp being destroyed by the flood and the brothers and sisters being buried in the flood.
I can go home! After a big defeat, everyone missed their hometown. Gel Khan's slogan of going home was very simple, but it greatly aroused the fighting spirit of the soldiers.
Naturally, the dynamics of the Uighur military camp could not be hidden from Cao Lingzhong.
Cao Lingzhong was also very decisive. He immediately led the soldiers to leave the camp and led the troops far away from the battlefield.
Pang Yawei said puzzledly: "Commander, why are you retreating? Isn't this the best time to attack the Uighurs?"
After the war yesterday, Pang Yawei was officially accepted as a disciple by Cao Lingzhong, so Pang Yawei called him the commander-in-chief.
Cao Lingzhong said: "I said: 'A soldier who mourns will win.' Now the Uighurs have just escaped from death, and their desire for survival is the strongest. If we block the Uighur army now, our army will not have the numerical advantage and will definitely not be able to stop the Uighur army who wants to return."
"
"Moreover, the Uighur army downstream has not been damaged. If it is entangled by the Uighur army and attacked from both sides, it may be in danger of overturning."
"So the best thing to do now is to wait for the Uighur army to return eastward, and our army will continue to pursue them from the rear. If the Uighurs are anxious to return to Yazhang City, we will bite off a few pieces of meat!"
Pang Yawei was filled with admiration. As expected, Cao Lingzhong was right. Although the equipment of the Uighur army today was dilapidated, their morale was high and their troops were in good order. It was actually a bit more difficult to deal with than the previous few days.
Cao Lingzhong watched the flag of the Uighur Khan passing by the Tang army's camp. Soon, a Uighur army appeared from behind the Tang army's camp.
Pang Yawei admired Cao Lingzhong even more, and the Uighur army went straight to the east of Yazhang City without stopping.
Next, Cao Lingzhong immediately mounted his horse and led the Tang Dynasty Qingqi to pursue the Uighur army.
Along the way, they chased the enemy northward, and did not stop until the Tang army entered the core area of Uigur rule.
Taking stock of the results of the battle, the Tang cavalry devoured thousands of Uighur troops who had broken off the rear. The Uighur Khan even left a lot of baggage, cattle and sheep, to delay the Tang army's pursuit.
Great victory! This unprecedented victory made the Tang army rejoice, and documents reporting the victory were sent from the grassland to the palace of King Jianning.
This battle destroyed the elite heavy cavalry that the Uighur Khan had worked so hard to build. The Uighur Khan also lost more than half of the 10,000 elite troops in the royal tent who suppressed the grassland. The three major stele forest armies that suppressed the grassland also lost less than half.
Gel Khan himself rode on horseback and returned to Yazhang City with the remaining soldiers.
Prince Edijian, who had received the news in advance, led the nobles of the Yazhang City palace to greet Gel Khan outside the city.
Gel Khan was overjoyed to see his son, and entered the palace of Yazhang City side by side with his son.
He stepped back, took the hand of his son, Prince Yi Dijian, and said:
"My father is a Uighur sinner."
Prince Yijijian wanted to comfort his father, but Gel Khan took his hand and said:
"More than half of the elite troops in the Royal Account have been lost. The three major Stele Forest armies cannot let them return to the Stele Forest."
Prince Yi Dijian immediately said: "My son will let Ye Hu from the three major stele forest armies stay in Yazhang City and win over them with high-ranking officials and generous salaries."
Gel Khan nodded and continued: "What should we do with the rest of the tribal troops?"
Prince Yijijian said: "There will be rewards for merit and punishment for demerits. The rewards and punishments must be clear. However, the armies of those big tribes must plant crimes to prevent them from returning, otherwise there will be rebels all over the grassland."
Gel Khan looked at his son with great joy, and then asked: "Where are you with Datang?"
Finally, when it came to the key issue, Prince Yijijian immediately said: "Maintain the treaty between Tang and Hui, and maintain goodwill towards the Tang Dynasty."
Gel Khan looked at his son with great joy and said: "You will continue to pay tribute to the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty. In addition, you ask to marry a Princess of the Tang Dynasty as your official wife."
Prince Yijijian looked at Gele Khan in surprise. The old Khan showed a hint of fatigue and finally asked: "Your brother Ye Hu, what are you going to do with him?"
Prince Yidijian fell into thinking. He looked at his father Khan and said: "If my brother is willing to serve the Uighurs, my son can tolerate him."
Gel Khan shook his head and said: "When Ye Hu leads his troops back to the grassland, I will use my will to kill him."
Prince Yidijian looked at his father in surprise, and Gel Khan said tiredly: "From now on, you will be the Khan of the Uighurs. The alpha wolf in the pack must maintain authority, and there cannot be two in the pack.
The alpha wolf.”
Prince Yijijian was startled. He immediately knelt on the ground and said, "My son has no intention of usurping the throne of Khan!"
Gel Khan said with a smile: "I know your ambitions. Go and call all the princes, ministers, and generals to come in. I will pass the throne of Khan to you under their witness."
Gel Khan summoned his ministers and announced in person that he would pass the throne of Khan to his son, Prince Yidijian.
Yi Dijian accepted the position of Khan, named Mouyu Khan, and respected his father Khan as the Great Khan.
After the ceremony to take over the new Khan was held, Gel Khan finally couldn't bear it any longer. He closed his eyes and passed away forever.
Mou Yu Khan held his father's body and cried bitterly, and the entire Yazhang City couldn't stop crying.
Gelu Khan has returned to the Heaven of Immortality!