Zhao Changhe had declared that within seven days, all the tribes must make a pilgrimage to the Sacred Mountain, not bothering to even consider whether distant tribes could even make it in time or if the demand was reasonable. But when a war is on both sides, the loser has no right to complain and the winner has the privilege of making unreasonable demands. Such are the ways of life.0

For Vulture Beak, this timeline was a clear marker. After the pilgrimage, the Han forces would undoubtedly begin their withdrawal. The empire would never keep its army stranded in Mobei, starving on sand for an indefinite period.0

At most, they would leave behind a light cavalry force of a few thousand men, supporting Batu and other defectors in establishing vassal states. These vassals would then be tasked with eradicating any tribes that “dared to defy the pilgrimage decree.” The various Grasslands tribes would be forced into yet another cycle of internal warfare, bleeding each other dry for the next century. That was the true strategic victory the Han dynasty sought.1

The most dangerous period, therefore, was these few days leading up to the pilgrimage. If they could endure it, the only enemies left to deal with would be Batu’s forces, and Batu was hardly a threat to them.0

Vulture Beak released his tribe’s vultures for aerial patrols, but they kept their distance from the Sacred Mountain, only circling within a few hundred li of their own territory. Six, seven days passed, and all remained quiet.0

Mobei was vast....0