[Patudo]

(I will be updating/editing).

Chapter 6-2

His escort was made up of from some hundreds of men, but they were all elite soldiers and officers. Without needing other orders, they dug trenches, raised barricades, and got ready to withstand a siege.

Shortly after, one saw dust clouds rising in the south, raised by several thousands of riders that galloped in pursuit of Jagataï and Tchila'un. Jebe had particularly good eyesight and distinguished the banners of the pursuers.

" They are the soldiers of To'oril" he shouted.

These had divided themselves in several detachments and tried to surround Jagataï and Tchila'un. The two men leaned on their saddles, and desperately whipped their mounts.

" Guo Jing!" cried Jebe. " To their aid!"

Both of them descended the hill. The small red horse, glad to meet its herdmates, arrived quickly to the front of Tchila'un. Guo Jing loosed three arrows with a rush of wind, cutting down the three closest soldiers, before interposing himself between pursuers and pursued, continuing to fire his arrows in all directions. Jebe had arrived also and his arrows flew again, swift and deadly. Nevertheless, the men of To'oril, too numerous, rushed forward like an irresistible tide.

Jagataï, Tchila'un, Jebe and Guo Jing at last reached the hill, while their companions dropped a rain of arrows on their pursuers. They did not dare to launch a frontal attack, and for the moment, waited out of range.

Standing on the hill, Temüjin observed the surroundings. Soon, the To'oril regiments came rushing from all directions. Under a yellow flag, a man climbed onto a great horse: it was Senggüm, son of To'oril. The Khan well knew that it was impossible to break the encirclement, and that it was better to stall.

" Why is Brother Senggüm afraid to approach and parley?" he cried.

Under the protection of his guards, that covered him with their shields, Senggüm approached, confident and arrogant:

" Temüjin, Hurry up your retreat!"

" How," demanded Temüjin, " did I offend To'oril, my adopted father, so that you attack me?"

" For generations and generations, said Senggüm, " the Mongolians lived in separated tribes, at the heart of which the flocks were spread and divided in common. Why do you want to run counter to the traditions of our ancestors, while mixing the tribes? My father says often that you are wrong to want to do that."

" Us Mongols," replied Temüjin, " are under the oppression of the Jin Empire, that demands of us, each year, a tribute of tens of thousands of head of cattle. Is this just? If that continues, we all will starve to death! If we do not battle between ourselves, why should we be afraid of the Jin Empire? I have always maintained good relations with my adopted father, there is no hatred between our two families. All that is the fault of the Jin, who want to sow disunity between us!"

The soldiers of Senggüm, hearing this debate, found that his words had reason.

" Us Mongolians are valiant warriors," pursued Temüjin, " why should we not go and take the treasures of the Jin? Why should we furnish tributes every year? Among the Mongolians, there are some that work a lot to husband the herds, and there are lazy ones. Why should those that tire themselves at work nourish those that do not do nothing? Why should those that sweat not have more head of cattle, and of sheep? Why do they not leave the lazy ones to die of hunger?"

At that time, the Mongolians lived according to a kind of tribal socialism: their principal wealth, the cattle, belonged to all. Now, during the last years, the flocks had increased themselves. The tribes had equally learned from the Chinese to work iron, for the manufacture of tools and weapons. Most of the shepherds wished to keep the wealth that they produced for themselves, just like the warriors that, at the risk of their lives, won battles, and did not want to divide prisoners and loot with those that did not go to war. Thus, these matters spoken of by Temüjin went right to the heart of all the soldiers.

Seeing Temüjin begin to influence his men, Senggüm cried:

" Cast down your weapons at once and give yourself up! Otherwise, it will take but a signal of my whip to rain down ten thousand arrows! You have no chance of escape!"

Guo Jing saw that the situation had became critical, but did not know what to do. He suddenly beheld, at the foot of the hill, a young officer, his armor covered by a coat of grey fur, a sabre in his hand, who proudly paraded on his war steed. He recognized Dushi, the son of Senggüm, whom he had fought in childhood. He was a villanous rascal, that had wanted to unleash the leopards on Tolui. Guo Jing did not understand why this had happened, and especially not why To'oril, Senggüm and Jamuqa wanted to plot against Temüjin. "The Khan and To'oril always lived in harmony," he said to himself, " then this means that Dushi, at the instigation of the Sixth Jin Prince, has peddled misleading and malicious lies upon the others. If I capture him and force him to accept his lies, then everyone will be able to reconcile themselves!"

Spurring his small red horse, he descended the hill and taking advantage of the surprise of the soldiers, forced his way to Dushi.

Attacking with his blade, Guo Jing leaned himself out of his saddle, the blade held above his head, with his right hand he trapped the principal artery on the wrist of Dushi. It was a movement of the famed technique "Disconnect the sinews and undo the bones" perfected by Zhu Cong, how could Dushi have withstood it? With a pull, Guo Jing snatched him out of his saddle. He heard the hissing of heavy projectiles to his left, about to fall upon him. He pressed lightly with his knees, the small red horse obeyed immediately and flew like an arrow towards the hill.

The soldiers of Senggüm cried: " Fire arrows!" Guo Jing placed Dushi behind his back, using his body as a shield, so well that the enemies did not dare to fire.

Arriving at the summit of the hill, Guo Jing threw Dushi to the ground while laughing: " Great Khan, this rascal is surely the person responsible for this treachery! Let us make him acknowledge it!

Temüjin, very happy, pointed his lance on the chest of Dushi and shouted in the direction of Senggüm:

" Move back your men two hundred yards!!"

Senggüm, upset and worried to see his well armed son fallen to the hands of the enemy, not put that to do to back up his army. He ordered to encircle the hill by ordered ranks of wagons, so that the horsemen of Temüjin were unable to sally out.

On the hill, Temüjin praised Guo Jing warmly, and ordered him to tie the prisoner's hands behind his back.

On threee occasions, Senggüm sent a messenger to negotiate: if Temüjin released Dushi and went, his life would be spared. Each time, the Khan cut the ears of the messenger before he returned to his master.

The sun descended to the horizon. Fearing that Senggüm would use the dusk to attack, Temüjin ordered that all should redouble their vigilance.

Towards midnight, a man clothed in white went on foot to the bottom of the hill:

" I am Jamuqa," he cried. " I wish to see my sworn brother Temüjin."

" In that case, climb up!" said the Khan.

Jamuqa ascended slowly and beheld Temüjin standing at the top of the slope. He advanced and made to embrace him, but the Khan did not let his guard down and said roughly:

" You consider me again to be a brother?"

Jamuqa sighed and seated himself cross-legged.

" Brother," he said, " you already are the chief of a tribe, why do you have this excessive ambition to wish to unify all the Mongols?

" What do you believe?" replied Temüjin.

" The chieftains of the tribes say: our ancestors lived thus for hundreds of years, why does Temüjin want to change the traditions? Heaven will not allow it!"

" Do you yourself remember the history of our ancestor Lady Alan-Qo?" Temüjin said. " She had five sons that were in discord. She asked all of them to come eat with her. Then she gave an arrow to each, asking them to break it. This they did very easily. Next, she tied five arrows together, and demanded again that they break them. Each tried in turn, but none were able to break the five arrows. Do you recall what she said to them then?

" If you are disunited," said Jamuqa in a low voice, you can be broken by those of no importance, as a single arrow. If you unite yourself, you will be as solid as the five arrows together and no person will break you."

" Well," said Temüjin, " you yourself remember that. What then happened next?"

" Next the five sons united their efforts and conquered an immense territory. They are the ancestors of our Mongol tribes."

" Exactly! Both of us are brave and heroic, why not unite all the Mongolians? If we do not quarrel amongst ourselves, we will be sufficiently strong to destroy the Jin Empire!"

" How?" asked Jamuqa, " The Jin Empire is so powerful- its armies and wealth are innumerable! How could us Mongolians attack them?"

" Then you prefer to undergo the oppression of the Jin?"

" The Jin Empire does not oppress us," protested Jamuqa. " The emperor has even made you a "conquering general"!"

" At first," Temüjin said vigorously, " I believed also that they had good intentions. But the greed of the Jin has no limits, and each time they demand more of us: first they want cattle, next horses, and now they ask that we send soldiers to help them make war. But the country of the Song is far removed from our lands! Even if the Song dynasty falls, all the lands conquered will belong to Jin alone. We will lose warriors, to win what? Since when would our cattle stop eating the green grass of our plains to go eat the sand on the other side of the mountains? If we must battle, it should be only against the Jin Empire!"

" To'oril and Senggüm do not want to betray the Jin."

" To betray?" mocked Temüjin. " Betray? And you?"

" I beseech you, brother, not to let your anger get the better of you: release Dushi, and Senggüm, I myself will guarantee, will leave you to set off again in security."

" I have no confidence in Senggüm, and I have no confidence in you!"

" Hear the words of Senggüm," said Jamuqa. " If a son dies, other sons again can be born. If Temüjin dies, there will be no longer be another Temüjin in the world! If you do not release Dushi, you will never see another sunrise!"

Temüjin knew well the character of Senggüm and of Jamuqa. If it fell between their hands, he knew well that he would have no chance of survival, while, if To'oril was there, he might possibly live. He brandished his sabre and whirled around.

" I would rather die in battle," he cried, " than ever to surrender! Under heaven, there is only a Temüjin who will die on the field of honour, and no Temüjin that flees!"

Jamuqa said:

" You give the whole of the loot to the warriors, saying that it belongs for them, and not to the entire tribe. The chieftains of the tribes consider that you do wrong, that you run counter to our traditions."

" But the young warriors are delighted!" said Temüjin harshly. " The chieftains pretend that the treasures of war cannot be distributed equitably to each, so then they keep all for themselves. Such practices insult the warriors that risked their life to support them. When we are at war, do we need stupid and greedy chieftains, or do we need young courageous warriors?"