“What are our casualties?”
“There are many wounded, but most are men who can recover quickly. Those in critical condition will die soon. The dead are not too numerous.”
“Explain in numbers?”
Descriptions of many or few, recovering soon, unable to move—none of it means anything to me. Looking at old records, some write battle results like novels, but I still can’t grasp it at all.
Numbers, the most intuitive way to reach me, help me understand best. In that regard, the line from *The Little Prince*—“Grown-ups need numbers to understand”—hits painfully close to home.
“Of eight full Baekho, a number exceeding half of one Baekho has fallen. A little over fifty men.”
Baekho. The middle unit of the Mongolian decimal military system, consisting of Sibho-Baekho-Cheonho-Manho in that order. I remember from biographies that it was originally introduced by Genghis Khan, who unified the Mongols.
But in this world, did Jamuka introduce the idea that would have been Temujin’s, who would become Genghis Khan? Anyway, just like the system originally established by Temujin, troop numbers are directly linked to their names, which is very convenient.
Coming this far, I can’t help but think that Genghis Khan, who created such a system in the medieval era, truly was an extraordinary man. To the point where, if you simply benchmarked it well, you could at least hear that you were a remarkable person yourself.
“Then how many of the enemy died, fled, and were captured?”
“Shall I provide that in numbers as well? It will take a moment to tally. In the meantime, I will inform the other officers, so please entrust any urgent orders to them.”
Yesugei said it would take some time to count the enemy casualties, urgently gave orders to several soldiers, and summoned the Baekho captains. The Baekho captains would probably order the Sibho captains again to count the enemy corpses and prisoners.
While the vertically structured pyramid command system worked smoothly, for some reason I could clearly see a future where soldiers dashed about counting enemy corpses under this scorching sun, just as I had experienced as a regular soldier in my previous life.
I suppose after the rebellion is suppressed, it would be good to set aside a proper day to allow the alcohol after taking Karakoto—alcohol I had tacitly permitted during mealtimes but restricted otherwise.
While I was lost in such thoughts, Yesugei finished the tally and concluded the arithmetic lesson with a rare smile.
“The rebel casualties exceed five to six hundred, and nearly four hundred were taken prisoner. I congratulate you on a great victory.”
And in Yesugei’s voice, which seemed to appraise this as fairly well done, there was a mix of pride and satisfaction.
“Just one last question. What became of that Xi Xia general?”
With an even deeper smile, Yesugei pulled away the white cloth that soldiers had brought on a cart.
A corpse, pierced with arrows like a porcupine and killed horrifically, was wearing the armor of the Xi Xia general.
----- -----
“What will you do next? I believe the time has gradually come to seize the fortress.”
“The expected enemy numbers are now 1,500. If the scattered remnants who fled were gathered effectively, perhaps around 2,000. We are still too few to wage a siege.”
Was it Sun Tzu’s *Art of War*? It said sieges are the worst of worst strategies, and making the enemy open the gates themselves is the best strategy. It also said you need at least double the troops to conduct a siege.
And if you think carefully about scenes from dramas and movies, you know sieges are absolutely no easy feat. No matter how elite the soldiers are, if they’re hit by a stone while scaling walls, one precious soldier simply becomes a corpse.
Even if the enemy numbers have been halved, seven hundred and fifty is far too tight a constraint to assault an enemy holding the massive fortress of Karakoto.
The enemy has already fallen into a trap, so they’ll be extremely cautious. Then we inevitably need to make them open the gates themselves, but can we do that? If they dig in and fight to the death after having fought once already, we’re the ones in trouble.
“What should I do? Is it too much to hope to resolve this without increasing our casualties?”
“…That would depend on what strategy the Manho-jang holds in mind.”
Since I couldn’t seem to find an answer on my own, I stretched briefly and sat back against the chair. At the same time, I unconsciously glanced at Yesugei’s reaction; like when we first set out, he seemed intent on watching what answer I would give.
Meaning the test wasn’t completely over yet.
With my hands clasped behind my head, I decided to organize my thoughts by looking at a map briefly marked with Karakoto’s geography and fortifications, and asked.
“In sieges you’ve heard of or experienced, what methods were used? If it were you, what strategy would you employ?”
A fleeting look of disappointment crossed Yesugei’s face. In a way, it was me tossing to those who fought alongside me what I should be thinking and figuring out myself.
However, all the Baekho captains attending the military council pondered deeply as if pretending not to notice the silence between Yesugei and me, and among them a Baekho captain with a bushy beard raised his hand.
“What of using prisoners and civilians as vanguards?”
----- -----
“Would you explain?”
Using prisoners and civilians as vanguards. I know what this means. Yet the reason I ask again… could it be that I just want to believe I’m different from these people, that I didn’t think of such an idea?
“There is no need to think deeply. Conscript the prisoners we captured this time and nearby Xi Xia civilians to send forward and absorb arrows and blades. That alone can reduce the losses of our soldiers that the Manho-jang worries about.”
Even without checking a mirror, I could already see myself answering with an uncomfortable expression to the Baekho captain’s words.
Why can’t we? Because the moment we break the premise that we spare those who surrender, the rebels will permanently erase surrender as an option in their heads.
I still haven’t given up on making them lay down their arms willingly. You could say I don’t want to use the same methods as the Mongol army called devils in original history.
If someone asked what hypocrisy this was, coming from a scoundrel who cheerfully ordered soldiers to kill in battle and burned prisoners alive to provoke a general, I’d have no answer. But even if they had spurned the chance for peace, I felt I shouldn’t just abandon it outright.
Perhaps I was afraid that at some point, I’d come to take it for granted that I was throwing away my humanity among these uncivilized and barbaric times and people.
“Let’s do this.”
Unclasping my hands, I straightened my posture and pulled my back from the chair, and the Baekho captains also began to listen intently.
“First, let’s take those prisoners and exchange them for water and provisions.”
“What is the reason? We are not particularly lacking in water or provisions.”
A young Baekho captain retorted that even if it was borts today, borts tomorrow, and borts the day after, they had brought enough to last several months, and water could be procured from nearby as much as needed.
“Well, of course… unless there are springs, farms, and pastures inside Karakoto, water and provisions won’t spring from nowhere, will they? Yesugei, is there any way to obtain water and provisions inside Karakoto? Springs, perhaps?”
“Not that I know of. I believe the Khan had all springs blocked when he pacified the region.”
When I shrugged, the Baekho captain who asked nodded as if understanding. But perhaps curious about the only remaining option, the middle-aged Baekho captain sitting beside him frowned and spoke.
“What if they do not accept?”
“The likelihood they’ll accept is high. In my opinion.”
If they refuse the prisoner exchange request, it implants the perception that “if you’re defeated and captured in battle, you’re abandoned by your allies.” If the leaders show an attitude of “if you’re caught by the enemy, just die,” how could the soldiers’ morale be good?
“We also deplete their supplies in the process.”
“But if they truly do not accept—”
“Then.”
I looked outside the ger, gazing at the prisoners captured in the camp, tied up in a line like dried fish.
“We’ll have to use them as shields and start the siege. What choice do we have?”
----- -----
“Did you say a prisoner exchange?”
“You heard correctly. If you wish, we can allow you to verify freely. However, you’ll understand that our personnel must accompany you to prevent any foul play?”
When I ordered soldiers to approach Karakoto and wave flags to send a message requesting dialogue again, they returned saying the Xi Xia rebels had refused outright and shot arrows at our soldiers.
So I had to take ten captured prisoners like shields and ask again if they would talk before finally arranging a meeting. Tsk, did they have to make me out to be the bad guy to feel satisfied?
“How many are there?”
Seeing how openly his attitude showed suspicion about the intentions of the cruel and vicious Mongol army bringing up prisoners, isn’t this man too honest?
“About four to five hundred? That is roughly the number we have confirmed for now.”
He flinched. If they were to exchange a number of soldiers equal to one-fourth, perhaps even one-third, of those remaining in Karakoto, what exactly did they want in exchange? The Xi Xia rebel envoy’s face hardened, as if the question had reached that point.
“What do you want?”
“Mm… water and provisions? I think we’ve lingered here too long.”
“We’ve lingered here too long.” Depending on how one heard it, it could feel like our prepared food and water had run out, so we couldn’t even feed ourselves let alone their prisoners, and thus wanted to trade.
But the envoy was openly conflicted. He must have been wondering whether the others in Karakoto would accept a trade where they handed over water and provisions in exchange for sending back four hundred prisoners alive.
If they accepted, the water and food problem would become glaringly obvious for rebels who already had to feed civilians. If they refused, the scale of captured prisoners was considerable and would clearly harm morale.
So decide. Whatever choice you made, I would respect it accordingly.
“We need time to consider.”
“…Yes, it would be best to consider sufficiently and decide.”
Pointing beyond the door of the ger where Karakoto was visible in the distance, I left the envoy with a final message to deliver upon returning.
“Let’s meet again at this time tomorrow. Please have your answer prepared by then.”
Adding to that, I told him with a smile that no response would be taken as refusal and we would proceed our way, so the envoy’s expression darkened further as he began returning to the fortress where many awaited.
----- -----
“How do you think they will respond?”
“Needless to say. You think we can trust them? If we prepare water and provisions, the corpses of prisoners will greet us. Thus, I oppose.”
“I think differently. Did they not already enter the camp and show that the other prisoners were alive?”
The rebel command held a cold yet heated atmosphere. Because the words thrown by the girl who called herself the Khan’s granddaughter and appeared bearing a golden tally on her sword had become a burning topic.
“Even that must be deception, not worth a moment’s consideration!”
“Think carefully. It amounts to a quarter of our troops. And what meaning would there be in keeping them alive only to show the envoy? I hear they even treated the wounded, splinting them—”
“Why do you not see that it is all pretense and deception!”
The general who had lost all family and relatives in the Mongol invasion and been left alone slammed the table and stood; the general opposing him on the other side twisted his mouth.
“It is but pretense and disguise… Then need we do more than go again tomorrow and see? Read the letter sent by that Mongol commander carefully.”
The letter the envoy had brought back from the Mongol camp today stated plainly that the decision was to be made by tomorrow, and the preparations were to be postponed by a week. Somehow, it felt different from the headstrong Mongols they had witnessed until now—
“One could sense a scheme at work.”
A general who had been quietly listening to the war of words between the two stroked his beard and fell into thought, but in the end, he, too, reached a conclusion.
*What if it is true? If they truly spare the soldiers and send them back?*
With the forces inside the city at 1,500, having over four hundred soldiers join them was not easy to refuse; likewise, abandoning the prisoners like this and making real the premise that “those captured are abandoned and ultimately die” was just as difficult a choice.
The only flaw was the demand for water and food, now nearly impossible to obtain any longer in this desert; yet the gains and losses of the first two matters held worth enough to choose even while fully enduring that loss.
Moreover, that they wanted water and food rather than the precious metals and jewels that Mongols so coveted—did this not mean they had already reached their limits in more ways than one?
At any rate, a Mongol army that had reached its limit could neither surround this city and launch an all-out assault nor continue to hold out and wait. And once they retreated, all one need do was open the city gates, replenish supplies, and continue their rebellion—
—since asking for provisions was ever the choice of those driven into a corner; the advantage was still held by the Xixia people.
“…Let us accept it. It is not as if we have any other way.”
“I am of the same mind. Who can say? Perhaps this shall become their short-sighted blunder?”
As the atmosphere of the meeting had already shifted toward accepting the deal, the general who had cried out in opposition simply stood, left a few words, and walked out of the room.
“Remember my words well… Those things are not people, but beasts….”
----- -----
“Here it is. The water and food for four hundred men to last twenty days, as you demanded.”
“Inspect it closely. See if anything is lacking… Or if they covered the top with grain and filled the bottom with sand.”
Saddled with a military supply corruption investigation they had never imagined, the soldiers scrutinized the water and food with eyes ready to pop out, combing through them for any deception, and by the time the inspection was drawing to a close, the sun had already begun to set.
“There is no deception. If only our Ortok—the merchant guilds of the Mongol regions—were treated this honestly…”
“You heard? The deal is concluded. Take all the prisoners. I cannot imagine how troublesome it must have been keeping them.”
As the prisoners I had freed from the camp with my idle chatter took refuge inside Karakoto, supported and guided by their Xixia rebel comrades, Yesugei came bearing torches to beat back the darkening night.
“Myriarch, I have prepared everything as you instructed.”
“Then… shall we be on our way?”
The last soldiers disappeared into Karakoto, and as the sound of the city gate being firmly barred soon reached me, I stepped forward—
and began setting fire to all the provisions the Xixia people had handed over.
Yeah, what matters is the message. I’ll only burn my share, so you lot watch and think hard.