Immediately sound the horns, turn around and counter-attack!" All the officers rode off with their orders. Within seconds, the Mongol troops began retreating on all fronts.
The enemy soldiers let out a great collective howl and, upon seeing Temujin's White Feathered Banner being raised high on the top of the hill, shouted in unison: "Capture Temujin…Capture Temujin!" Like ants, the opposing army began charging up the hill, completely ignoring the retreating Mongol troops. Horses and men charged with abandon; a yellow fog surrounded the hill from the dust they kicked up.
Temujin stood at the top of the hill, not moving and resolute. A score of foot soldiers held up their shields and were protecting him from arrows flying from all directions. Temujin's sworn brother Kutuku and standout general Jelme, along with three thousand elite troops, were defending the base of the hill with everything they could muster, determined to the last man.
Amid the flashing of blades and spears, the cries of battle were shaking the earth. Witnessing this, Guo Jing was at the same time excited and scared.
After an hour or so of intense fighting, and under the relentless charges of tens of thousands of enemy troops, Temujin's elite guard of three thousand had suffered about four hundred casualties 74
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while cutting down more than ten thousand enemies. Looking out, Temujin saw that even though the battlefield was covered with enemy bodies and rider-less horses running aimlessly, the number of enemy arrows flying in was still intense. On the northeastern end of the battle, the enemy attack was especially fierce and the defense looked closer and closer to collapse. "Father," Ogedai, Temujin's third son, anxiously asked, "is it time to raise the banner?"
"Their troops aren't tired yet!" Temujin answered gravely, not moving his eyes away from the battle, even for a moment.
By now there were three black banners at the northeast end of the battle, indicating that the enemy had gathered three standout generals there to command the troops. The Mongol defenders were steadily dropping back. Up the hill came Jelme, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Khan, we can't hold them any longer!"
"Can't hold them?" Temujin angrily shouted back. "What kind of man are you?"
Jelme's expression changed and he grabbed a saber from one of the foot soldiers. With a shout, he charged into the enemy formation. Fighting with utter abandon, he carved a path of blood to the black banners. The enemy commanders, seeing his ferocity, immediately pulled hard on their reins and backed away. Jelme, with three swings of his saber, cut down the three men that were carrying the banners. Throwing down his saber, he wrapped his arms around the three banners, took them back to the top of the hill, and stuck them into the ground upside down. Seeing this incredible display, the enemy’s morale was rocked. The Mongol troops responded with fury and the hole in the defense on the northeast end was quickly plugged.
After more fighting, an enemy general with a black cape suddenly appeared in the southwest corner.
Not wasting a shot, he quickly took down a dozen or so Mongol soldiers with his bow and arrows.
Two Mongol officers turned and charged at him with their spears. Using only two arrows, he easily shot the two officers off their horses.
"Such amazing skill!" Even Temujin had to praise him after seeing that. By now, the general with the black cape had fought to near the foot of the hill. With the faint twang of a released bow, an arrow hit Temujin in his neck. Another arrow quickly followed, heading straight for Temujin's stomach. Realizing that he had been hit and another arrow was coming, Temujin immediately pulled hard on his reins, making his horse rear up on its hind legs. The arrow buried itself into the horse's chest all the way to the feathers, knocking the horse to the ground. Seeing the leader hit and falling, the Mongol troops were shocked. Screaming at the top of their lungs, and pouncing on the opportunity, the enemy charged forward like floodwater.
Ogedai had just finished helping his father pull out the arrow in his neck and was tearing off his shirt to bandage up the wound when Temujin shouted: "Forget about me, defend the hill!" Nodding quickly, Ogedai turned and immediately shot down two enemy officers.
Kutuku was commanding his troops guarding the west side of the hill, but, because they had run out of arrows and spears, he had to retreat. Jelme's eyes turned red as he saw him: "Kutuku, are you going to run like a scared rabbit?"
"Who's running?" Kutuku smiled back, "I ran out of arrows."
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Temujin, still lying on the ground, took a handful of arrows and tossed them over to him. Kutuku quickly put an arrow onto his bow and shot the closest black bannered general off his horse.
Quickly charging downhill, Kutuku grabbed that general's horse and returned.
"Brother, you are really something!" Temujin praised.
Covered with blood from head to toe, Kutuku quietly asked: "Can we raise the banner and sound the horns?"
"The enemy still isn't tired yet, just a bit longer." Temujin said, blood streaming down his palm that was pressing hard on the wound in his neck, trying to stop the bleeding.
Upon hearing that, Kutuku dropped to one knee and begged: "We owe our lives to you and have no reservations about dying here. But Khan, please, you have to take care of yourself."
Temujin shakily stood up, took the reins of the horse from Kutuku, and struggled mightily before finally mounting the horse. Waving his saber and shouting, "Hold the hill!" at the top of his lungs, he cut down three enemy soldiers that had charged up the hill. Seeing Temujin reappear, the opposing army's morale was shaken once again and the momentum shifted and they began to fall back down the hill.
"Raise the banners! Sound the horns!" Temujin commanded, seizing on the fact that their enemy's morale was at a low.
The Mongol army let out a collective howl as an officer climbed onto a horse, stood up, and raised the white feathered banner up as high as he could. The horns from all corners sounded.
Immediately, the screaming of men drowned out the horns as row after row of Mongolian solders suddenly appeared from far away and approached with lightning speed.
The enemy outnumbered the Mongols, but they were gathered around the hill. As soon as the soldiers on the outer edge began to fall back, the middle of their formation became chaotic. The general in black, noticing that the tide was turning, immediately began giving orders in hopes of rallying his troops. But the formation had already collapsed and the soldiers had no desire to fight any longer. Within an hour, the army had been smashed into pieces; those who weren't killed were running for their lives. The general in black, riding his black horse, turned and joined them.
"Fifty taels of gold for the man that catches that scoundrel!" Temujin shouted. This immediately sent several score of Mongolian elites after him.
The general in black, not missing a shot, turned and shot down about a dozen or so pursuers one after the other. The rest of the pursuers did not dare get too close and, in the end, let him get away.
Seeing all this from inside the bushes, Guo Jing was in awe of that general's bravery and skill.
The battle was a complete victory for Temujin, destroying more than half of his nemesis, the Tatars, army. Surveying the battlefield, Temujin’s memories of his past flashed before his eyes again: the poisoning of his father, being captured by the Taijiuts, and all the torture and shame he went through at their hands. Although his mental wounds were still not healed, his joyful heart was filled with the sweet taste of revenge. Unable to hold it in any longer, he leaned back and laughed in triumph. Every soldier joined in with cheers, which shook the earth as they began to organize into formations and leave the battlefield.
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Guo Jing waited until even the gravediggers had left due to darkness before he came crawling out of the bush. It was midnight when he got home and his mother, who was on the verge of a nervous breakdown waiting for him to come back, was overjoyed to see him. Guo Jing described what had happened to his mom, as best as he could. Li Ping, seeing his face alight with joy and amazement and without a trace of fear, thought to herself, that even though he was just a kid and a bit dumb, he was still very much like his father in this respect. Bittersweet feelings filled her heart.
Two mornings later, Li Ping went off to the marketplace 30 li away with two hand made wool blankets. Guo Jing was guarding the sheep out in front of his house when his mind wandered back to what he had seen two days ago. Deciding to have a little fun, he raised his shepherding whip and began waving it around. Riding on his little horse, shouting at the top of his lungs, and moving the flock around, he felt just like a general commanding his own troops into battle. Just as he was really getting into it, he suddenly heard the sound of horse hooves from the east. A solitary horse slowly approached with a person lying on its back. The horse got close and stopped, causing the man on the back of the horse to lift his head and look up. The sight of the man made Guo Jing shriek in fear.
The man's face was covered with mud, dirt, and blood. It was the general in black that he had seen the day before yesterday. In his left hand was the bottom half of what had been a saber, which was stained purplish red with blood. The bow and arrows that he had fought so many foes with were gone. It looked as if he had another encounter with his enemies after escaping two days ago. His left cheek had been slashed open and was bleeding profusely. His horse was injured as well. His body shuddered as his blood-shot eyes fell upon Guo Jing, muttering in a hoarse and exhausted voice: