The Chler had chosen their moment well, and luck had been with them too — for not long after they struck the Black Warrior supply convoy, the Iron Crane cavalry that Ye Fulie had summoned arrived as well.

When the Black Warriors had invaded the Central Plains the last time, the Iron Crane cavalry had also come — only that time the city had not fallen, and cavalry had been of no use.

They had believed they would be able to sweep the Central Plains back and forth with their mounted warriors, but the Black Warriors had retreated in failure and they could only withdraw to the grasslands with regret.

The Iron Crane tribe, as the current dominant power on the steppe beyond the passes, commanded a vast cavalry force and stood unchallenged across the grasslands.

Yet even so, they dared not disobey the Black Warrior Empire’s summons — a hundred and fifty thousand Iron Crane cavalry had made the long journey here.

With this cavalry in hand, Ye Fulie no longer needed to worry about the Chler mounted forces.

A hundred and fifty thousand Iron Crane cavalry standing right there — no matter how bold the Chler were, they would not dare provoke them.

With that settled, Ye Fulie could now concentrate fully on attacking Northern Mountain Pass.

On the walls of Northern Mountain Pass, Li Chi raised his spyglass and surveyed the enemy’s positions, and he saw the Iron Crane cavalry formation.

A tide of horsemen that seemed to cover the earth itself was moving in the direction of Unnamed Mountain.

Xiahou Zuo’s brow furrowed deeply, for this battle was unfolding differently from what he had anticipated — and differently from the usual Black Warrior way of fighting.

In times past, after suffering repeated heavy blows, the Black Warriors would typically have been preparing to withdraw by now.

The Chler had burned their provisions not long before, and that would have been the moment — the Black Warriors should have pulled back at that point.

Yet Northern Mountain Pass had held against every assault, and every day the Black Warriors took losses of no small number — yet still they came, day after day without pause.

What Xiahou Zuo did not know was that Ye Fulie had written the Black Warrior Sovereign a letter more than ten pages long.

After receiving the letter, the Black Warrior Sovereign sent back his reply: no matter how Ye Fulie chose to fight, or how long it took, he would give Ye Fulie unconditional support.

With such backing, what did Ye Fulie have to fear?

The Black Warrior Empire’s might was immense. No provisions? Provisions would be sent. Heavy soldier casualties? More would be mobilized. Warhorses all seized? Then simply summon a hundred and fifty thousand cavalry.

With support like that, Ye Fulie had no grounds to consider retreating.

“Our own losses here are significant as well… every day, the losses are great.”

Xiahou Zuo’s voice held a note of heaviness. “There is still no word from the Yanzhou front. I have no way of knowing how Shen Shanhu’s battle is going.”

Li Chi gave a sound of agreement but said nothing.

Xiahou Zuo said, “The Grand General’s side cannot spare any more troops, and neither can Yuzhou. The forces from Jizhou are already in Yanzhou.”

He looked toward Li Chi. “If the Black Warriors push for another month, our fighting strength will be nearly exhausted.”

Li Chi gave another sound of agreement.

Just then, a messenger came hurrying toward them, clearly dusty from a long journey.

“Report!”

The messenger dropped to one knee. “My lord — urgent report from Liangzhou.”

Li Chi took the military report and read it. His brow furrowed even more deeply.

Grand General Dantai Qi of Liangzhou had been preparing to divide his forces and come to reinforce them, but before he could set out, the Western Regions peoples — apparently at the Black Warriors’ instigation — had formed a coalition of ten kingdoms with an estimated force of five or six hundred thousand, and had already massed outside Liangzhou.

So the forces at Liangzhou could send no reinforcements.

Li Chi read to the end and passed the report to Xiahou Zuo. Xiahou Zuo read it and passed it to Dantai Yajing.

“Dantai — head to Liangzhou.”

Li Chi said.

Dantai Yajing shook her head. “If I leave at this moment, things here will become even harder. My father is not something to worry too much about — he has fought the Western Regions peoples for half his life. They are no match for my father.”

Li Chi moved to persuade her again. Dantai Yajing shook her head. “Whatever happens, I will not leave. I believe the Western Regions peoples are only afraid of the Black Warriors — they had no choice but to form this coalition — but they also fear my father and would not dare launch a real offensive. Most likely they only want to tie my father down and prevent him from reinforcing you.”

Yanzhou was under fierce assault from the Bohai people. Now the Western Regions peoples had come to Liangzhou. The entire northern border was under pressure from foreign enemies on all sides.

Li Chi was shouldering the burden of holding off three separate external threats alone — the situation was truly desperate.

Everyone on the wall fell into silence. After a long while, Li Chi said to Xiahou Zuo, “For now, don’t tell the soldiers about the foreign threat to Liangzhou.”

“Understood.”

Dantai Yajing said, “The Yanzhou situation…”

Xiahou Zuo, “Don’t say anything about that either. We don’t even have any news to give.”

The three looked at one another, and silence settled again.

Two days later, to the northeast, the Black Warriors launched an assault on Unnamed Mountain.

Following the usual pattern, the Chler had the advantage of their cavalry — able to counter-charge when needed and use the terrain’s height to push the Black Warriors back.

But this time, a hundred and fifty thousand Iron Crane cavalry stood watching from below, and the Chler cavalry dared not charge out recklessly.

On the hillside, Black Warriors were swarming upward in dense masses. The crushing weight of that sight made every one of the Chler defenders’ faces go grim.

“If only we had known…”

An elder of the Chler tribe opened his mouth and got that far, then swallowed the rest. What he had almost said was: if only we had known it would come to this, perhaps we should never have staged the uprising back in the Black Warrior camp.

But how could he say that aloud?

At that time, the Great Khan Bulegedi was being tormented to the point of death. If they had not risen, the Great Khan would have died — and they would have all died too.

“When our provisions were scarce, none of you were afraid. Now that we have enough provisions, you lose your nerve?”

Shuyang Chuan swept his gaze across the assembled tribespeople, his voice growing stern. “If our ancestors, when they first met with setbacks, had simply bent the knee and surrendered, there would be no us — we would have perished long ago, our people utterly destroyed.”

He pointed toward the Black Warriors below. “If you kneel and beg the Black Warriors for mercy, do you think they will show it? Of the thirteen Chler tribes that stayed behind, seven have already been massacred to the last person. Was it that we did not kneel enough back then?!”

Bulegedi heard out Shuyang Chuan’s words and raised his curved blade. “Only by fighting to the death is there any hope of survival.”

The Black Warriors came. The Chler, using their fortified walls and the bows and arrows the Ning army had left them, drove the Black Warriors back time and again — but the supervisory troops behind the Black Warrior lines were more merciless still, forcing those who had retreated to turn and charge back up again.

“Great Khan.”

Shuyang Chuan wiped the sweat from his forehead. “This cannot go on. You hold the city with the others — I will take the cavalry and ride down.”

Bulegedi said, “You are the Great Khan now. You cannot take such risks. I will lead the cavalry charge.”

Before Shuyang Chuan could say another word, Bulegedi had called out, “Sasan — let’s go!”

His son Sasan answered, shot a quick sideways glance at Shuyang Chuan — disdain still clear in his eyes — then fell in step with his father.

“My son.”

Bulegedi walked and spoke at the same time. “We, father and son, must be at the very front of every charge. This is not fair to you — I have not passed the title of Khan to you, yet you must ride out in front like a Khan…”

“Father!”

Sasan said, “You gave the Khanship to Shuyang Chuan, and as a man I cannot pretend to accept that — a man should not pretend. But the men of our family, Khan or not, ride in front. Father taught me that when I was still small.”

“Right!”

Bulegedi clapped his son on the shoulder. “This time is different. If I get surrounded and trapped — if you can bring the cavalry back, do not worry about me.”

“Father — if I am the one who gets trapped, and you can bring the cavalry back, then do not worry about me either.”

Father and son looked at each other for a moment, then strode toward their warhorses.

The Black Warriors’ assault was growing ever more ferocious. If they did not use the cavalry to charge down and break the pressure, even the wooden walls would not hold against them.

But with a hundred and fifty thousand Iron Crane cavalry waiting below the mountain, everyone knew — this charge down the slope might not bring them back.

“The Chler will always be the eagles that soar highest on the grasslands!”

Bulegedi cried out, and mounted first, charging forward. Sasan followed right behind him.

The gates of the wooden fort swung open, and the cavalry thundered out.

As always, a cavalry counter-charge from the high ground carried a tremendous advantage. The warhorses’ speed was ferocious, and the descent carried them crashing into the Black Warriors — driving them back in a rout.

Their horses swept through the Black Warrior lines like a torrent. Their curved blades drew blood with every stroke.

The cavalry surged down like a flood, and the Black Warriors began to pull back.

Below on the plain.

The Iron Crane commander was Wurwa, the blood brother of the Iron Crane Khan — in the Iron Crane tribe, princes of that rank were called Special Nobility.

Seated high on his tall horse, Wurwa raised his spyglass to watch. When he saw the Chler cavalry charging down, the corners of his mouth curved upward, almost involuntarily.

He handed the spyglass to his aide, drew his curved blade, and leveled it toward the front.

The vast Iron Crane cavalry force began to move forward, gradually gathering speed, forming a surging tide of their own.

This clash was inevitable. The moment the Chler cavalry dared ride down, the Iron Crane cavalry would be there to cut them off.

“The Iron Crane cavalry — unmatched under heaven!”

Wurwa shouted and leaned into the charge.

Two torrents of riders collided, and for every man the clash lasted only a single instant.

The moment cavalry swept past each other, the blade decided life or death.

Wind howled past the ears. The enemy before them was hungry for blood.

The Chler were born riders — but their equipment was far inferior to the Iron Crane cavalry, and their numbers could not compare.

Sasan knew: if he did not do something, his father would never make it back. Between father and son, at least one of them had to return.

“My men!”

Sasan shouted at the top of his voice. “Follow me — straight for the Iron Crane banner!”

With his followers beside him, Sasan charged headlong toward Wurwa.

“Ha ha ha ha ha.”

Wurwa saw a force of barely a thousand or eighteen hundred Chler cavalry charging directly at him, and he burst into open laughter.

“Destroy them.”

Wurwa swept his blade forward, and the well-equipped Iron Crane cavalry bore down upon them like a millstone.

In the moment he saw his son leading troops in a charge against the Iron Crane central command, Bulegedi understood — his son was sacrificing himself.

He was a father. He could not simply turn and flee.

“Diebu!”

Bulegedi called to one of his generals. “You take the cavalry back — I will not accept any argument!”

With that, Bulegedi led his personal guard in pursuit of his son.

Very quickly, those Chler warriors were swallowed by the Iron Crane cavalry — like countless brave small boats rushing into a storm, and disappearing within it.

Diebu led the majority of the Chler mounted warriors back up the mountain. As they looked back, they saw within the vast sea of enemy cavalry a churning of crimson waves.

Not long after, the Iron Crane cavalry arrived below the mountain.

Wurwa reined in his horse at the foot of the slope. He pointed forward with one hand. Two of his subordinates rode up, raising what hung on their curved blades up higher.

They were the heads of Bulegedi and his son Sasan.

“Ah!”

On the walls above, Shuyang Chuan’s eyes went blood-red as he let out a raw, tearing cry. Then, slowly, he knelt to the ground.

Every one of the tribespeople knelt.

The clouds overhead grew heavier and thicker. Perhaps the sky too was weeping for the passing of their Great Khan.

—