Yanmo Mountain.

The stronghold of the Xueyantuo.

If we consider the future, this mountain range would have another name: the Altai Mountains.

The Xueyantuo were originally one of the Tiele tribes, and their customs and language were largely the same as those of the Turks. They were originally subordinate to the Turks.

However, with the decline of the Turks and the support of the Tang Dynasty, the Xueyantuo rose to prominence and became the most powerful of the Tiele tribes.

No matter how powerful they became, they always regarded Yanmo Mountain as their ancestral home.

Li Jue's destination was Yanmo Mountain!

In fact, Li Jue had been keeping a close eye on the movements of the Xueyantuo. When he learned of the chaos among the merchants in Shuozhou City, he almost guessed that the Xueyantuo would attack Shuozhou.

He never expected that his ninth uncle would be captured by Xueyantuo and sent abroad as a student!

However, even if he knew, it wouldn't affect Li Jue's established strategy. He had already left the impression that Xiazhou City was not to be trifled with through a series of battles.

Now that he has learned that Xueyantuo is attacking Shuozhou, he can take his men to raid Xueyantuo's stronghold.

Many people don't know that the Tang Dynasty actually had many armies composed of Turks.

Zhishisi Li was a typical Turkic general.

Therefore, Li Jue had no shortage of guides.

Li Jue led the Xiazhou army and reached the area around Yanmo Mountain in just over ten days. Li Jue looked at the tents and cattle and sheep stretching for dozens of miles at the foot of the mountain, and his eyes were filled with golden stars.

"Soldiers, your day of riches has arrived!"

Upon hearing this, everyone cheered and shouted, and their shouts naturally attracted the attention of the Xueyantuo people.

Now that things have come to this point, neither the Tang Dynasty nor the Xueyantuo need to hide anything anymore.

War was imminent, and the Tang army rode off on their warhorses, sweeping down from their high ground. The elderly, children, and women of the Xueyantuo tribe took up arms and, together with the remaining 10,000 able-bodied men of the tribe, launched a fierce attack on the sudden Tang army.

Their scimitars, however, left only shallow white marks on the Tang soldiers. In contrast, the Tang soldiers' steel blades, when they tore through their armor, took away not only blood, but sometimes an arm or a hand.

This massacre by the steel torrent ended quickly. After all the able-bodied warriors of Xueyantuo were killed, the remaining old, weak, women and children voluntarily laid down their weapons and waited to become the spoils of the conquerors.

This is actually a rule on the grasslands.

Tribal wars on the grasslands usually involve the capture of women and children.

Therefore, women and children are generally not killed unless they resist.

As for the elderly...

It depends on the situation. In a good year, they might become slaves, herding cattle and sheep for their new masters. In a bad year, they would be killed to conserve food.

They were lucky to encounter the Tang army, which had no shortage of food.

Tang Jun tied them all together with ropes, then led them and herded the cattle and sheep back the way they came.

As for the tents that couldn't be taken away, Li Jue burned them.

The journey back was arduous, with constant small groups of cavalry harassing them, making it difficult to defend against.

However, the Tang army guarded the military merits that were within their grasp very closely and would never let a single Xueyantuo person escape.

If all else fails, we'd rather kill them than let them escape!

However, even with their eyes wide open, the Tang army could not defend against attacks that came at any moment.

Left with no other choice, Li Jue had to split his forces with Zhishi Sili.

“General Zhishi Sili, if this continues, none of us will be able to get back.”

"Why don't I lead three thousand elite cavalry to block their retreat, while you take the rest of the men and these hundreds of thousands of prisoners back?"

Zhi Shisi immediately objected upon hearing this.

"No, no, no, this is too dangerous. Let me lead the men to cover the rear!"

Li Jue smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"I'll do it!"

"I'm younger and more agile. If all else fails, I can just ride away on horseback. I'll definitely make it back to the Tang Dynasty!"

"Eldest grandson, the Xueyantuo have already captured one of the Tang Dynasty's crown princes. You absolutely cannot..."

Li Jue snorted coldly upon hearing this.

"I know what's important!"

"If I am defeated, I would rather commit suicide than be captured by the Xueyantuo!"

Zhi Shisi nodded upon hearing this, and then gave Li Jue another two thousand men, finally stopping when he had gathered five thousand men for Li Jue.

In fact, if it weren't for the immense pressure of guarding the cattle, sheep, and prisoners, Zhishi Sili would have wanted to give Li Jue 20,000 men!

However, for Li Jue, five thousand elite soldiers were enough.

After all, he wasn't fighting a tough battle; he would fight if he could, retreat if he couldn't win, and run if all else failed...

But as the fight went on, Li Jue realized something was wrong.

In a pursuit battle one afternoon, Li Jue led 5,000 elite cavalry to easily scatter the 3,000 Xueyantuo cavalry who came to intercept them, and killed more than 700 of them.

The troop strength on both sides is roughly equal.

But when the battle casualties were tallied after the war, they only had three wounded on their side, and no one was killed in action...

"This shouldn't be the case. Are the Xueyantuo people really that weak?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Shisan laughed heartily.

"The eldest grandson of the Xueyantuo was never much to begin with!"

"What do you mean?"

"More than twenty years ago, the Xueyantuo had to pay tribute to the Turks every year."

"Our Great Tang defeated the Turks, and the Xueyantuo, despite occupying so much of the Turkic territory, failed to develop, which is enough to prove their incompetence."

"Uh..."

Li Jue disagreed upon hearing this. No matter what, Xueyantuo was a powerful nation that dominated the Western Regions. He did not believe that Xueyantuo could be so weak.

really!

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!