Chapter 23
The Third Hotcangara Campaign 9 K
(KY, MO, AR, TN, MS 1377)
Juchi was glad to see me, but hardly had time for idle chatter during a campaign. I gave Shingabaossin the corrected map so he could fix up the tumen map and told him to make extra copies of the new parts and send them to the other tumen on campaign. It seemed that Juchi’s Foxes and the new Martens were strung along the northern limits of the Hotcangara territory. The two plains tumen were sealing off the western escape, and the Otters, backed by some Tsoyaha irregulars, were sealing off the eastern escape route. My Wolves, the Wildcats, the Deer, and the Kestrels were forming a line along the southern limits of their territory and would then drive them up and into the waiting line in the north. As the eastern line narrowed, the Otters would reinforce the northern line. It turned out that the spies had found a few cities and many smaller towns. The southern line would reduce the towns and cities in their path and drive any escapees into the trap in the north. Kaidu wanted to destroy them all without giving them the usual ultimatum, but Givevneu had convinced him that he should give them a chance since it was likely all were not involved in the treachery. We decided that it would be best if I crossed back over the river and rode with the plains tumen downriver and cross back when I came upon the Wolves. They were to be the left flank of the line. I supposed these things happen, but it was frustrating to have to retrace my steps. If I had dawdled a bit, my tumen would have come to me. In any case I would find Kaidu along the southern line.
I took my leave and gave the bad news to my escort. I took the copies of the map for the southern tumen with me, and we went back down to the river. The boats and men were still there waiting to see if there would be any dispatches to take back to the Cranes. They ferried us back across the river, and we camped for a day waiting for the Cranes to come down. They quickly mounted us up and brought us along with them. Since they were behind schedule, Khassar was making forced rides of about ninety li a day. This would have destroyed the horses, since the going was not easy through the woods, except that the Plains Ordu each had about six horses per man and by changing horses four or five times a day, they were able to handle the rush. I showed Khassar where the Taunika villages began so we would stop short of them, and as we got near some six days later, I stayed with the lead elements so that I could reassure the Taunika that we weren’t after them. We had made no pretense of infiltration on this ride, but had gone crashing through the woods making enough noise to scatter anything in our path. Occasionally we could see boat activity on the far side of the river, but no one ventured over to our side.
When we were close enough to the Taunika, my escort and I went ahead alone to them. I explained the situation, and they were very grateful that I had come. They had heard that a large force was on the east side of the river a little farther upstream. I sent a message back to Khassar that all was explained and that the Taunika would happily help in any way they could. I suggested that they might pick up any fugitive Hotcangara they found on the river. I also told Khassar that I would be crossing back to the east bank and, therefore, would be out of his hair. We each kept two horses and swam them along behind us as the Taunika ferried us across on their boats. I only took Smoking Mirror, Thliotombi, and three others with me. As we reached the other side, the Taunika there were also greatly relieved to hear the reason for the invasion. They had guessed that the invaders were Mongols since they had horses like I had, but they were very nervous to have such a large force so near and had been making quite a few sacrifices in their temples, just in case the Sun Gods were angry with them.
I was a bit puzzled to hear them refer to the sun gods in the plural and remarked on it to Smoking Mirror. He said that they have an image of a frog and a female, which they collectively view as representing the sun. He had no idea where they got such an idea, since their neighbors had images, but not as representations of the sun. The people of Natchez and his Kadohadacho used a sacred stone to sacrifice to the sun and as such it represented him, but he was male and not a frog. Of course, he added, Ayo-Caddi-Aymay, the Kadohadacho god, was more than the sun; he represented the sky, the stars and the moon as well. He felt the Mongol god Tengri was an underdeveloped version of Ayo-Caddi-Aymay. I sincerely hoped that Tengri would never achieve such “development” either. Their cult was excessive.
We went along the bank to the north and finally came upon my Wolves about a day later. They welcomed me back enthusiastically and commiserated with me for missing all the action. I found Temur and told him to remain in command since he had led them all this way. I could see a light come into his eye and knew I had made the right decision. I did ask him to bring me up to date as we moved forward, and I would then go on to find Kaidu. He said that some of the Hotcangara had revolted under a disgruntled war chief, Wabokieshiek. He had tried to win them all over to his revolt, but only got a few thousand. They left their villages so as not to invite reprisals and tried to gather up enough strength to attack one of the Ordu. That failing, they decided to march on Murenbalikh and kill our governor and his staff. They hoped some sort of victory would rally the rest of the tribe to their cause. As it happened, we were informed every step of the way, and they were crushed between the Wolves, the Deer, and Kestrels. The Falcons moved across the river to protect Murenbalikh, but weren’t needed. All this did delay the present campaign a bit though. I praised Temur for his victory and for his subsequent march around the Hotcangara to his present position. He puffed up a bit and smiled a little, justly proud of his accomplishments. I took my leave of him and went off to find Kaidu.
I found Kaidu among the Wildcats, the only new tumen in this line. He was glad I had rejoined them and anxious to hear about my trip. I briefed him on it and brought in Thliotombi to meet him. Once he had gone, Kaidu asked if all of them had the weird heads. I told him that all the southeastern tribes I had met so far did, as did some of the Hasinai. But I told him how easily the Pansfalaya would fit into the Mongols otherwise, and the head deformation might go the way face painting had with the tribes that joined us. Over the years, the Ocheti shakowin had become more Mongol than the Mongols as had some of the others. The only way one could tell them apart was because they were taller, (and, in my opinion, better looking). One generation could end the head deformation. He was glad to hear that since he found it somewhat distracting.
He brought me up to date on what had happened. The southern Hotcangara had been in constant touch with the rebels and lain low all summer long not disturbing the Tsoyaha or the Ordu at all. They had even come out to trade with the Tsoyaha who informed them that they were now confederated with us. A few days later (the very day the revolt began), they attacked the same village with whom they had traded, killing a few dozen of them. Kaidu couldn’t believe anyone would challenge us in such a way, but they had. Now he wasn’t sure what they were up to, since we had been steadily advancing and had yet to run into any of them. Some elements of our line would reach their first settlement in about two days. I asked if anyone was watching our rear as we advanced since there were potentially hostile forces there, especially the Pansfalaya’s relatives, the Chikasha.
“By Tengri, the horses!” he shouted. “Thank you Raven, you have saved us a humiliation. Send in dispatch riders immediately.”
I ran out, grabbed a few riders and ushered them in to Kaidu. He dashed off notes to each of the commanders, and the riders rushed off. Then I told him that I felt it would be unfair to take over command of the Wolves from Temur this late in the campaign, so I could remain with him. His eyes narrowed, and he looked at me searchingly for a moment. Then he said I never ceased to amaze him and dismissed me for the moment suggesting, almost as an afterthought, that I help my brother-in-law Ussu, the commander of the Wildcats. I was surprised to hear that Ussu had been made a commander, since he had never betrayed much intelligence all the time I knew him. When I found him, he was quite relieved to see me.
“Raven!” he shouted. “Have you come to take over?”
“No, of course not,” I replied. “Just to help you. You don’t want to give up your first command, do you? It is quite an honor that Kaidu selected you.”
“No, no.” He shook his head emphatically. “It was most certainly an accident. Kaidu’s nephew Jebei was the commander. He was badly wounded by one of our own men during training, so I’ve only taken over until his recovery, which is taking a long time. I had to lead the men across the Wazhazhe myself. If you hadn’t trained all those map people of yours, I would have never found it. Then there were no boats and spring floods, and to add to the humiliation, the Martens were across days before us. I didn’t realize there was a ford. Then I had no idea what to do all summer long and had the men scattered all over the place hunting when the campaign started. This entire affair has been a disaster. Why do you think Kaidu is with us?”
“Well, you’re in a central location,” I groped, “surely he’s with you so that he can maintain overall command.”
“Oh no,” he insisted. “You don’t know about the march down here. We were supposed to lead it, but it took so long to get the men back together that the Wolves lead. Then I got way behind the Wolves and in the way of the Kestrels. It was so hard to be sure where we were in the forest, even though all we had to do was follow the West Tsoyaha River upstream until it turned east. I kept thinking each meander was the turn, and then I missed the real turn and went too far southeast. Ever since Kaidu has been with us, I must run all my orders through him. That is, he runs all his orders through me. He won’t even let me give any orders. You must take over before my humiliation is discovered.”
“Better yet,” I suggested, “I’ll act as your second in command, and give all the orders in your name. You can just sit on your horse and look dignified until we come to attack; then you can lead. No one is braver in battle than you.”
That was not an exaggeration either. He was fearless in battle. When we were small, if someone told him there was a tiger in a bush, he would rush in to do battle. Fortunately, we were only teasing him or he would not have still been among us. There was no question of his bravery, but he was not very bright and completely indecisive about mundane matters. He was pitifully grateful that I would help him out. I had a feeling that this command would be his last. It didn’t take Kaidu long to realize what our arrangement was. The men began to move with confidence, the leaders with authority. The tumen moved as one man relentlessly northward with a strong detached force guarding our rear. It was amazing how totally a weak commander can ruin a good army. Before long, Kaidu no longer rode with us, but moved among the other tumen in the Ordu as well.
We came upon our first town around midday. It was not very large but did have a palisade covered with a clay whitewash, a few houses on mounds, and a large open area in the center. Eerily, it was completely deserted. We set it on fire, then left and continued north. When we started our northward march, each tumen had to cover about seventy-five li, but as we progressed northward the Otters’ westward progress enabled us to close up our lines as we enabled them to close up theirs, and by the time we reached the first settlement, we were only covering about forty-five li.
The next settlement was also deserted. It was not large, but to our west, the Wolves found a large city on the bluff above the first landing area I had seen. It too was deserted. All along the line the Hotcangara settlements were empty and there was no sign of them. The third settlement had no palisade but was also deserted, and it too was fired. Finally, as we approached the fourth settlement, a few of our men paid the price for hastily assuming it, too, would be deserted. Again there was no palisade, and the arrows seemed to be coming from their houses, so these were quickly set ablaze with fire arrows. Those who were flushed out were mostly quickly dispatched, but a few got away. It turned out that they were merely a rear guard, no more than a hundred of them. We pressed on northward, by now our front was only thirty li wide. Word was passed along that the other tumen had also finally encountered some rear guard action.
I began to have misgivings about the ease of this campaign against what should be a desperate foe. I called in Smoking Mirror and Thliotombi and asked them about this group of Hotcangara. They confirmed that they were not afraid to fight and were very likely preparing a trap. They would retreat if in an untenable position, but only to fight later when they deemed the odds better. The several towns had been known to band together and defeat larger forces than their own, although never a force as large as ours. Thliotombi mentioned that they were probably waiting for word from their head shaman before they attacked. The shaman supposedly could make it rain, ward off witchcraft, and predict the future. He thought they might have hesitated since the Mongols were from the west and all witchcraft came from the west in their beliefs. I asked if he shared that belief, but he said that the Pansfalaya had not adopted the beliefs of their neighbors. He added that they consider fire very sacred, a manifestation of the Sky God. I thanked them and went to see Kaidu.
“I think we’re being lured into a trap,” I said when I found him. “This has been too easy, and I’m sure they are planning a very unpleasant surprise for us before we reach their last settlements.”
“I’m sure they are”—he shrugged—“but what of it? What can they possibly do to us that we couldn’t handle?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I have an idea. Why not have three of the Ordu in our line stand fast and send the Otters around to the north line with the Deer replacing their position? Then we could have the north line close in on them from an unexpected direction and thwart their plans.”
“I like the plan,” he nodded. “You do have some strategic potential, Raven. Get the tumen mounted up. We’ll pull the three remaining in the southern line back to the last creek whose banks had been cultivated and spread them out a little. That will give them some open fields of fire. And we’ll send the others as you suggest. Send in a dispatch rider. I’ll send the northern line the orders. You get the southern line in position.”
I ran out and sent in the rider, then ordered messengers to send up each tumen’s horses, and told Temur, Chagatai, Togun, and Ussu to mount up their Ordu and pull back to the last creek. Kaidu decided to move around to the northern line and went to make sure the Otters moved quickly. He put me in charge of the southern line. By nightfall the southern line was in position and Chagatai was moving his Deer in the Otters’ wake. I kept thinking about what the Hotcangara were planning, but I figured, or rather, hoped that our stopping would either embolden them to attack, or confuse them into capitulating. Either result would be to our advantage.
The air had been quite still since I joined the campaign, and the march had been rather uncomfortable and oppressive. Still it had not rained, although the sky was overcast. Suddenly, a fresh cool dry wind picked up, gently, at first but with increasing force out of the north. The sky began to clear, and we very much enjoyed the change. Before long, we began to smell burning wood, vaguely at first, but growing stronger. The land was fairly flat here, with little more than low hills offering no real vantage point. I sent one of the men to climb the tallest tree he could find to try and see if the whole woods were on fire. I pulled the men back to the south side of the creek after first having them clear away anything that might burn on both sides of the creek and pile it at the edge of the wood line north of the creek. The man up the tree could see nothing but smoke. I sent word to Temur and Togun of my discovery and suggested they do as I had. Togun congratulated me on my keen grasp of the obvious, but Temur was more polite merely assuring me that he had things in hand.
The wind-driven smoke began to reach us in earnest. We dismounted and moved the horses back over one of the lines of little hills, but in easy reach and well guarded. We began to choke on the thick smoked and had to breathe through wet rags. Our firebreak seemed to be holding, although occasionally some of the grass on the far side of the creek caught fire and quickly burned out. The line at the edge of the wood where we had piled up combustibles became quite a conflagration. Some of the trees fell forward, but did not cross the creek. An occasional ember blew over to our side of the creek, but our men quickly ran out and extinguished it. It was fortunate for us that the Hotcangara had cleared so much of the creek valley for their fields. As the fire began to die down, I realized how close we had come to disaster. Had we been where we would have been if we continued north, we would have been hard-pressed to outrun that fire. It sort of made sense, a sacred fire to burn out the western “witches”—very clever of them.
I had the men lie low and wait out of sight for the advance of our foe. As I expected, they couldn’t even wait for the fires to cool, but could be seen approaching gingerly through the smoldering ruin of the forest all along our line. When they reached the settlement clearing, they could see that the woods on our side were not burned, and they began to hesitate, peering toward us suspiciously and talking among themselves. They were out of earshot, but I wished I could have heard them. I wonder what they thought had happened to us, since we were not charred remnants in the wood, the fire had not gone as far as they expected, and they could see no sign of us. The warriors began to accumulate in the hundreds across the creek in front of my position, but none moved to cross. Finally, one of their leaders raised his javelin and let out a sort of scream then rushed across the creek. His cry and gesture was repeatedly his fellows who then followed closely after him. As soon as he got close enough to see us, we opened fire. The first volley was devastating. Not only did very many fall but also the rest were seized with panic and routed completely. I ordered up the horses only to discover that the force guarding them was under attack from the south and was repelling it only with difficulty. I reinforced them, we mounted up and I sent Ussu with the rest of the men to pursue the fleeing Hotcangara. They had no chance in the charred woods, virtually devoid of cover, against our mounted warriors and the slaughter was great. Ussu stopped only because it was getting dark and he didn’t want any of the enemy escaping through our extended lines.
Meanwhile, the force behind us fought stubbornly, and I got the idea to use Hotcangara strategy against them since the wind was still blowing strongly from the north. I had the men set the underbrush on fire in front of them, and before long, the fire spread south. Seeing the danger, the attackers fled, and I mounted up our men and joined Ussu. I made sure we were in contact with our neighboring Ordu, that our line was continuous, and that our rear was covered before we turned in. The Wolves and the Kestrels had also been attacked from the rear, and their pursuit of the Hotcangara was delayed until they noticed my ploy and copied it. The attackers were not Hotcangara. I had seen enough to recognize them as Chikasha. They would pay for their imprudent alliance.
The next morning, we took up the pursuit of the Hotcangara again. Soon we came upon their last settlement. Our northern line was emerging from the woods to the north just as we breached the charred remnants of woods on the south. Between us was their last city. It was quite large and palisaded, but not large enough for all the refugees. All around the wall there were circles of warriors surrounding women and children. Cut off on the west by the Missi Sipi and hemmed in from the north, south, and east, they had consolidated for their last stand. We concentrated our forces and held our ground while one of the Tsoyaha delivered the ultimatum from a safe distance. One of the warriors rushed him but was cut down immediately. They were asked if that was their final answer. Their faces were a study in fear, anger, defiance, bewilderment, and despair. For a while they made no move; then one of their elders put down his weapons and stepped forward. I moved up a little so I could hear him.
“When we are attacked,” he began, “we retaliate in kind, avenging our losses. Sometimes we kill more than we lost. But we have never all but destroyed a people in retaliation for a raid on our allies. What sort of beasts are you to send a whole nation into the spirit world? Have you no fear of the Creator? Does not his light shine on us as well as you? Why have you done this evil thing? What kind of witchcraft turns back the sacred fire?”
“Anyone,” Kaidu coldly replied through the interpreter, “who dares attack an ally of ours forfeits his right to exist under the Blue Sky. We don’t need witchcraft to defeat a minor force such as yours, just better tactics. For now, you may surrender and try to earn back that right, or die where you stand. The choice is yours.”
“How would we earn back that right?” the elder asked.
“By living in peace with your neighbors under our protection and under our orders,” Kaidu answered sharply. “You would be allowed to hunt and farm in peace for a year. Then your young men would come to us for training, and in time, you would become part of our ‘tribe,’ or, should you attempt any treachery, we would finish you off. None of your neighbors will miss you, and neither would the Blue Sky regret your passing. You have until the sun is directly above us to decide.”
The man seemed older as he returned to his people. They had all heard, of course, but there was still some discussion of the matter, and much disagreement from the look of it. In time we could see that they were splitting into two groups. Even many of those in the city began to come out. Most of the women and children and many of the men formed one group, and these dropped their weapons and moved toward the interpreter. The other group contained many of the older people, the majority of the remaining warriors, all of the elites, and even a fair number of the women and children. All these filed into the city and stared out at us over the palisade with hatred and defiance. The elder was with this group. Word was passed that this group wished to die. Once the other group had passed through our lines, the remaining Hotcangara yelled their defiance. Some even jumped down from the wall and rushed us. Few of these got even halfway to our lines. The city was quickly fired with barrages of fire arrows, and finally the rest of them came out to be cut down. It was an impressive show of bravado, but a stupid one as well. As the old saying went: “Courage combined with arrogance is always fatal.”
We gathered up our arrows and finished off any wounded. Then we tore down the palisade. The remnant of the tribe was left to rebuild the city we had just destroyed except for the palisade, since that would keep them in easy reach and defenseless. The Martens set up camp near the Missi Sipi above the large boat-landing site, the Wildcats were detailed to destroy the Chikasha, and the other Ordu returned to their camps.
Since Jebei was still not recovered, I was sent to lead the campaign, and Ussu was reassigned to the Owl Ordu. When we finished, we were to camp on the West Tsoyaha River at a point more or less due east of the Martens. I asked Thliotombi if he could guide me to the Chikasha towns and he agreed. It took us four days to clear the last of the burned forest. I switched to infiltrative advance, and it was three days later before we reached the first of their villages. It was deserted. They had two types of houses and some storage huts strewn all along a creek in a haphazard fashion for some distance. The houses included both a summer and a winter variety. The former were made of wood and cane and covered with a kind of whitewash. The latter were of mud daub in a round shape with thatch roof. They had a small door and a winding passageway leading into a central room cut about a foot into the ground with a hearth in the middle surrounded by decent-looking benches, beds, and stools made of cane. They had taken all of their food with them, so I had the men burn the village.
We found and burned a few more deserted villages; then suddenly we came upon an incongruous palisade between two creeks. It was not a solid palisade, but there was space between the logs so that the warriors could fire at us and still have some cover. It was obvious that they didn’t understand the range of our bows or the usefulness of our horses. I had about a quarter of the men advance slowly toward the palisade on foot and had the rest of the men ride around the barrier and pour an enfilading fire into them at range from the flanks and rear. We were able to screen our movements with the terrain, and, with their attention focused on our advancing bait, they were completely surprised by the flank attack. They did not run immediately but tried to find cover and return fire. Some tried to charge but did not get far. Soon the trap was closed behind them, and we fired into them until none were left. We picked up our arrows and dispatched the wounded before continuing.
Before long we came to their main city. It was not palisaded, and we soon had it surrounded. One of their chiefs came out to ask why we had attacked them. I was amazed at the gall. I reminded him that his people had attacked us in the rear during our campaign against the Hotcangara. At this point their lives were forfeit and bravado or senility was no excuse. He asked if we would allow the women and children to leave the city. I told him that either all surrender or none surrender. He cursed me and returned to his people. We began sending fire arrows into anything that looked like it might burn and eventually they made their charge. Even some of the women and children were armed and screaming as they rushed us. With the usual drill, almost all were cut down en route to our lines, but a few made it close enough to be dispatched with club, axe, or sword. When the fire had burned out, we finished off any survivors in the town and again picked up our arrows. The remaining Chikasha villages surrendered as we approached, except for the last one. I ordered those left to take whatever food they had and march northwest. I settled them near the Missi Sipi about a day’s march north of the Martens. During the winter, a few strays who had slipped through our lines rejoined the Chikasha camp, but they never revolted and in time gave us some of our best warriors.
Thliotombi wanted to return to his people and tell them what he had seen, and I thought it might help our case, but just to be sure I asked him what he thought about us. He said that except for the fact that we were so ugly, he felt very much at home with us. Since I had established that he was not one to pull any punches, I asked him if he thought his people would be more likely to join us now. He said that much would depend on how each town’s shaman viewed the matter. They could see the future, he assured me confidently, and would know if joining would be the best thing for them. Of course, he added, each individual would still decide for himself, and he for one wanted to join us, ugly or not.
I asked him if he thought I might be able to set up a meeting with the various chieftains of the people to the east of his people. He said that it would be easier to call a meeting between a wolf and a panther. The chieftains were of varying power, and all were very jealous of their power. They would not even consider doing anything in concert with their neighbors except attack a third. I would just have to visit each one separately. I asked if there were any groups that were particularly large and perhaps more prestigious. He said that there was a prominent chieftaincy not far from Pansfalaya frontier that was ruled by a people related to his, at least in language. His town usually traded with them in the winter, since they always had a rapacious appetite for luxuries, so it would be no problem to suggest that they give us an audience. Since his horse was a gelding, I let him keep him. Perhaps the horse would help tip things in our favor, but it was hard to tell how the shaman would view us. Mystic types were completely unpredictable.
I settled the Ordu in its camp just as the almost-recovered Jebei joined us. I turned them over to him and started back to the Eagle Ordu. I caught up with Kaidu in the Owl Ordu and brought him up to date. He praised me lavishly for all my service in the recent campaign and shocked me by promoting me to his council. It was a largely honorary position, but it carried with it rank above tumen commanders. At the moment only Donduk and Givevneu were in the council. It was a heady honor and wholly unexpected. He had given Temur command of the Wolf Ordu. He was very proud and greatly appreciated it when I sent him my commander’s helmet. It was only fair, of course, but I would miss the Wolves. I suspected that the “promotion” would mean quite a few more journeys. Juchi had been put in overall command of the eastern Ordu that was still keeping an eye on the Mingue. Donduk was recalled to the Eagle Ordu. Togun was put in overall command of the Ordu in the lands south of the Wazhazhe River while remaining in command of the Kestrels. Wanbli Sapa, the first local raised to the rank, replaced Juchi as commander of the Foxes. He was assigned a second in command who could help him with administration, but he was quite sharp and wouldn’t need help for long. Both Juchi and I were quite happy for him.
We got back to the Eagle Ordu in late fall. Paula and the children were fine, but she was disappointed to hear that I would likely have to leave again for the southeast, since she wanted to visit Mathilde. Still, she was proud of my promotion and hoped that it might mean I would be with the family more. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it was probably just the opposite. Once I had all the maps in order, I went to see Givevneu. I found him in his yurt earnestly studying some notes of his. As always he smiled broadly as soon as he saw me.
“Raven!” he said warmly. “Who would have thought that refugee from Khanbalikh would become the third council member? Of course, who would have thought back then that there would be a council?”
“Why do you suppose,” I asked, “Kaidu would give me ranking above all his own sons? Might they not resent it?”
“In answer to the