ner, partly, no
doubt, out of sincere gratitude to them for having been the means,
probably, of saving him and his army from destruction, and partly for
effect, in order to impress upon his followers a strong conviction
that any great services rendered to him or to his cause were certain
to be well rewarded.

Temujin now found himself at the head of a very large body of men,
and his first care was to establish a settled system of discipline
among them, so that they could act with regularity and order when
coming into battle. He divided his army into three separate bodies.
The centre was composed of his own guards, and was commanded by
himself. The wings were formed of the squadrons of his confederates
and allies. His plan in coming into battle was to send forward the two
wings, retaining the centre as a reserve, and hold them prepared to
rush in with irresistible power whenever the time should arrive at
which their coming would produce the greatest effect.

When every thing was thus arranged, Temujin set his army in motion,
and began to advance toward the country of Vang Khan. The squadrons
which composed his immense horde were so numerous that they covered
all the plain.

In the mean time Vang Khan had not been idle. He, or rather Sankum and
Yemuka, acting in his name, had assembled a great army, and he had set
out on his march from Karakorom to meet his enemy. His forces,
however, though more numerous, were by no means so well disciplined
and arranged as those of Temujin. They were greatly encumbered, too,
with baggage, the army being followed in its march by endless trains
of wagons conveying provisions, arms, and military stores of all
kinds. Its progress was, therefore, necessarily slow, for the troops
of horsemen were obliged to regulate their speed by the movement of
the wagons, which, on account of the heavy burdens that they
contained, and the want of finished roads, was necessarily slow.

The two armies met upon a plain between two rivers, and a most
desperate and bloody battle ensued. Karasher, Temujin's former tutor,
led one of the divisions of Temujin's army, and was opposed by Yemuka,
who headed the wing of Vang Khan's army which confronted his division.
The other wings attacked each other, too, in the most furious manner,
and for three hours it was doubtful which party would be successful.
At length Temujin, who had all this time remained in the background
with his reserve, saw that the favorable mom