Chapter 265: Northern Frontier Welcomes Heroes Broadly, Xia Army Trembles In Fear Of Battle
The noon sun hung overhead, like a red-hot iron pancake roasting the land.
More than twenty Western Xia civilian laborers stumbled and fled through the withered yellow wormwood bushes, each with a panicked expression and extreme tension.
Although they were already very exhausted, hungry, and thirsty, no one dared to stop and rest.
“Don’t stop, the Northern Frontier barbarians are about to catch up, hurry up and go.” Zhao Laonian said loudly. Because of his age and experience, he had considerable prestige among this group of civilian laborers, leading them to escape together.
“The Northern Frontier barbarians’ war horses are very fast. If we dare to stop and catch our breath, we’ll probably lose our lives!”
Zhang Gouzi also ran while speaking in a terrified manner. The straw sandals on his feet had long been torn by gravel, and the blood beads seeping from his soles mixed with mud, leaving winding dark red marks behind him.
But they didn’t dare to stop at all.
Thinking of the battle not long ago, everyone felt genuine fear.
The Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry were simply too terrifying. Before they could even react, the entire Yuanchuan Granary had been breached by the Northern Frontier people.
Zhang Gouzi had even watched with his own eyes as two Western Xia regular soldiers failed to surround and attack a Northern Frontier cavalryman and were counter-killed by him one after another.
The Northern Frontier Cavalry not only coordinated closely, but their individual combat abilities were also stronger than those of the Western Xia regular soldiers.
In contrast, Zhang Gouzi and his group were really just civilian laborers responsible for transporting grain.
With the battle situation like that, they naturally turned and ran. On the way, they met others and fled together as companions.
At this moment, they had already run more than twenty li.
“I can’t make it. You guys run.”
“I can’t run anymore. Even if I’m caught by the Northern Frontier people, I won’t run.” An older civilian laborer said breathlessly.
He plopped down on the ground, insisting he couldn’t run anymore no matter what.
His action instantly triggered a chain reaction. The resolve in the other civilian laborers’ hearts also slackened instantly, and several people directly collapsed on the ground.
A youth of fifteen or sixteen years old even shed tears, saying in a hoarse voice, “We shouldn’t have come to Yuanchuan.”
“My mom said transporting grain wouldn’t kill anyone, wuu wuu wuu~”
The youth’s words made the others feel even more sorrowful, thinking of their families far away in Hedong, and they couldn’t help but shed tears.
However, someone also said, “Maybe the Northern Frontier people won’t kill us?”
“How is that possible? Didn’t they say the Northern Frontier barbarians kill everyone they see? They don’t even spare children?”
“They will definitely kill us.”
“That’s right. Earlier in the granary, I personally saw them kill many regular soldiers.”
“When we came, I remember there’s a village not far ahead. Let’s go see if there’s any food.”
The civilian laborers chattered noisily, no one daring to gamble with their own lives.
But at that moment, the sound of hooves suddenly came from the distance.
“Giddyup, giddyup~”
The civilian laborers’ discussions came to an abrupt halt, and everyone simultaneously held their breath.
Suddenly, a cloud of dust rose on the horizon in the distance.
Dozens of Northern Frontier Cavalry wearing yellow armor charged forward like streaks of golden lightning, kicking up billowing yellow sand.
Holding spears and bows and arrows, they reflected a chilling gleam in the sunlight, like a group of evil ghosts charging out from the depths of hell.
The instant they saw them, all the civilian laborers felt the hair on their backs stand on end. Zhao Laonian reacted first, saying in terror, “It’s the Northern Frontier barbarians!”
“Run!”
He shouted hoarsely, and the crowd woke as from a dream, scattering in panicked flight. But how could they outrun the war horses of the Northern Frontier Cavalry?
The sound of hooves rumbled like thunder, getting closer and closer.
In a short moment, the Northern Frontier Cavalry formed a semicircle to surround them. The white mist from the horses’ noses carried a bloody scent, pressing down so heavily that the crowd could hardly breathe.
Zhao Laonian and the others huddled together in fear, while the Northern Frontier Cavalry held bows and arrows, circling them continuously.
“Whoa whoa~”
The leader was a captain. He reined in his war horse and pointed his cavalry saber at these civilian laborers, shouting loudly, “Drop your weapons! Those who surrender will not be killed!”
“All of you go back to haul grain. If even one person runs away, this captain will chop off all your heads.”
The captain was originally from Dunhuang, his accent slightly different from that of Guanlong, but the civilian laborers could still understand him.
“It seems we don’t have to die?”
“These Northern Frontier people won’t kill us.”
“They want us to transport grain?”
“They should have said so earlier, they scared me to death.”
Hearing this, the civilian laborers instantly felt the joy of surviving a disaster.
It turned out the Northern Frontier barbarians just wanted them to be civilian laborers to transport grain.
This was simply too easy; they were originally doing this job.
Seeing these civilian laborers nodding hurriedly, the captain snorted lightly.
“Remember, if even one grain is missing on the road, I’ll chop off one of your fingers.”
“If ten grains are missing, you won’t need your head.”
“Yes, yes, yes, understood.” The civilian laborers nodded quickly.
At the same time, not far from here, Wangshe Village was also suffering the looting of the Northern Frontier Army.
The blazing sun scorched the barren fields of Wangshe Village. Zhou Erniu straightened his aching waist and wiped the sweat from his forehead with his coarse cloth sleeve.
He gazed at the patches of wilting seedlings in the fields, silently calculating how many more drought days they could endure.
By mid-afternoon, people from several nearby households sat together drinking water and resting, including men, women, elderly, and children.
In this era, work wasn’t exclusive to men; the whole family labored together, even children doing what they could manage.
But during the rest, he heard an old man in the nearby field sigh and say.
“Sigh, I heard that this year’s land rent and land tax are both going to increase.”
At these words, Zhou Erniu and the other men instantly became anxious, and the women also showed panic.
“Why?”
“What we’re paying now is already enough, and it’s increasing? Do they want us to live anymore?”
“Yeah, if it increases more, we’ll all have to beg for food.”
“Better not to farm next year, let’s all starve to death together.”
“Old Huang, where did you hear this news?”
Several people asked angrily yet with a glimmer of hope.
Old Huang said, “My nephew works in Zhuoluo City at the county office. He heard it from the masters.”
At these words, Zhou Erniu and the others instantly lost their temper, their last shred of hope gone.
Because this news was very likely true.
“Aren’t we fighting the Northern Frontier barbarians? I heard the military grain is insufficient, so they can only make us farmers work harder,” Old Huang said.
At these words, Zhou Erniu clenched his fists and hammered the yellow earth, grinding his teeth in rage.
“Damn it, why did the Northern Frontier barbarians come to our Great Xia?”
“Yeah, without the Northern Frontier barbarians, our lives could be a bit better.”
“I heard the county office is also conscripting us to be civilian laborers.”
“This time they need to conscript a lot of people. Erniu, Old Zhang, Hu Zi, we probably all can’t avoid it.”
“Sigh, being civilian laborers isn’t bad, just some hard labor.”
“Still, before leaving, let’s get these fields done first, otherwise no grain will come out!”
Zhou Erniu and the others cursed the Northern Frontier Army while burying their heads in work under the sun.
But at that moment, Zhou Erniu’s wife suddenly cried out in alarm, and the hoe in her hand clattered to the ground.
“Ah~ That’s, that’s~”
Hearing his wife’s exclamation, Zhou Erniu quickly looked up and saw billowing dust on the distant yellow dirt road, like rolling black clouds.
Dense cavalry figures flickered in and out of the dust, their yellow cotton armor glaring in the sunlight like burning flames.
“So many cavalry!”
Zhou Erniu’s eyes widened. He didn’t recognize Northern Frontier Cavalry, but even Western Xia cavalry meant disaster for ordinary people like them.
Military disaster didn’t just refer to enemy forces.
Some undisciplined armies frequently harmed the common people.
And the Imperial Court needed them to fight wars to maintain their rule, often only lightly punishing them.
So, when the common people saw armies, they instinctively felt fear.
“Run fast~” No one knew who shouted it first, and the fields erupted in chaos.
Zhou Erniu shouldered his hoe in one hand and grabbed his son in the other, running quickly toward the inside of the village.
Deafening hoofbeats came from behind, like thousands of war drums beating at once, shaking his soles numb.
At that moment, a Northern Frontier Cavalryman suddenly drew his bow and nocked an arrow. With a “whoosh,” the arrow streaked through the air and embedded directly in the ground in front of Zhou Erniu.
The powerful force made the fletching tremble violently.
Seeing this, Zhou Erniu turned pale with fright and quickly stopped in his tracks.
“Swish swish swish swish~”
As more and more Northern Frontier Cavalry drew bows and nocked arrows, they soon controlled all the common people in the fields.
The Northern Frontier Cavalry leisurely withdrew their arrows while surrounding these common people.
“You lowly people listen up. Standing before you are grandpas from the Northern Frontier.”
“Now, you are all slaves of the Northern Frontier grandpas.”
A middle-aged man dressed as a Western Xia petty official rode on a nag horse, looking down arrogantly at Zhou Erniu and the others as he spoke.
He was one of the clerks responsible for Yuanchuan Granary. When the granary was breached, he surrendered to the Northern Frontier Army first.
Becoming an honorable “traitorous dog leg.”
Eager to perform in front of his new masters, he immediately thought of using his familiarity with the area to lead the Northern Frontier Army to loot the surrounding villages.
The first stop was Wangshe Village.
Hearing that these cavalry were the Northern Frontier Army, Zhou Erniu and the others’ faces changed dramatically.
“What? They’re from the Northern Frontier?”
“Weren’t they still fighting in Hexi? Did they fly here?”
“I heard the Northern Frontier barbarians kill without mercy, very ferocious. They won’t kill us all, right?”
During this time, Western Xia had been demonizing the Northern Frontier, so when Zhou Erniu and the others heard it was Northern Frontier Cavalry, they were all scared breathless.
His wife and child in his arms trembled, crying softly.
Fortunately, at this moment, the petty official continued with his head held high, “But don’t worry, the Northern Frontier grandpas won’t kill you, and they’ll even reward you.”
“As long as you obey obediently and work honestly, the Northern Frontier grandpas keep their word and will divide at least twenty mu of land to every household.”
“The landlords of these fields will naturally be the Northern Frontier grandpas.”
“But they’ll only collect two-tenths land rent and two-tenths land tax from you. The remaining six-tenths of the grain is yours.”
Hearing this, Zhou Erniu and the others were instantly stunned.
Six-tenths?
They knew that the farmland they rented now had an annual land rent of five-tenths and five-hundredths, and that was just for ordinary farmland. Good land could reach six-tenths, even seven-tenths.
Plus the Imperial Court’s land tax, after a year of hard work, the common people got nothing.
Starvation deaths happened frequently.
Zhou Erniu’s son had starved to death in the famine two years ago.
So, when he heard that renting and cultivating Northern Frontier public land would leave them with six-tenths of the income, his eyes lit up.
“Really?”
“Of course it’s real,” the petty official said matter-of-factly.
“Northern Frontier grandpas mean what they say—one spit, one nail.”
“Moreover, this comes directly from the Great Protector himself.”
“What status does he have? He wouldn’t deceive you lowly people.”
Hearing the petty official’s words, these common people believed a bit more, and many were tempted.
Besides, with the Northern Frontier Army’s blades at their throats, they had no room to be picky.
Disobey, and they’d be killed outright.
At this time, the Northern Frontier soldiers had already retrieved the arrows they had just shot.
Then, a deputy chiliarch rode forward, his indifferent gaze sweeping over these common people.
Although they still showed fear, he could see ambition and hope in some of their eyes.
Sun Dachuan’s lips curved into a faint, ambiguous smile, and he said indifferently, “I am Sun Dachuan, deputy chiliarch of the Northern Frontier First Garrison.”
“What Clerk Liu just said is all true.”
“We Northern Frontier broadly recruit heroes from under heaven, regardless of origin. As long as you’re willing to serve the Northern Frontier—whether mounting up to kill the enemy, transporting grain, forging armor, training horses, farming, or even cooking and tending fires.”
“Not only will you keep your entire family safe, but you’ll eat your fill every day, have more silver, more women~”
With that, Sun Dachuan casually tossed out a money bag, which clinked as it hit the ground.
“This is one string of copper coins. Whoever tells me where the grain in the village is, this money is theirs.”
Sturdy fortresses are mostly breached from within first.
Sun Dachuan did this to buy horse bones for a thousand gold, and the effect was very good—many common people’s eyes showed eagerness.
But Zhou Erniu stepped forward first, carefully picking up the copper coins. Seeing the surrounding soldiers didn’t move, he spoke in a deep voice.
“I’ll take you there.”
The fields of Wangshe Village basically all belonged to one household.
The Wangli Family!
From the name, one could tell it was a Tangut family.
Originally just an ordinary Tangut slave, he followed Li Yuanhao in making great contributions, so Li Yuanhao granted the land around Wangshe Village to the Wangli Family.
The surrounding common people were basically tenants of the Wangli Family, but practically no different from slaves.
After a year of hard cultivation, each mu yielded just over two hundred jin of grain, half going to the Wangli Family, and the other half for taxes.
Starvation deaths happened frequently—the same year Zhou Erniu’s youngest son starved.
He had also been beaten by evil slaves for not paying the Wangli Family’s land rent.
In the end, his eldest daughter voluntarily sold herself to save Zhou Erniu.
But ten days after entering the Wangli house, her daughter died suddenly, and even her corpse wasn’t returned.
So, Zhou Erniu harbored only hatred toward the Wangli Family.
He was eager to redirect the disaster, persuading the Northern Frontier Army to target the Wangli Family.
“Military officers, the biggest landlord in our Wangshe Village is the Wangli Family. Their compound is right ahead in the village, and it has a lot of grain.”
Zhou Erniu emphasized the Wangli Family’s wealth and cruelty, and most importantly, they had a caravan, meaning lots of camels and horse carriages.
Sun Dachuan nodded in satisfaction.
The Great Protector sent them to loot the surroundings, targeting not these ordinary common people, but the rich and powerful households.
The Northern Frontier Army needed large numbers of cattle, horses, carriages, and camels to transport grain—things only rich households had.
As for those common people, they were all poor wretches who couldn’t even eat their fill—what was worth robbing?
So, upon hearing about the Wangli Family, Sun Dachuan laughed and said, “Good, that string of copper coins is yours.”
“Take us to that Tangut bald dog’s house. This general will avenge you.”
With that, Sun Dachuan left a few soldiers to guard these common people and led most of the men to the Wangli Family’s compound.
It was called a village, but really just a circle of earthen walls, housing the Wangli Family people and servants.
Soon after, the compound was breached, and all the Wangli Family members and slaves were captured.
“Pa pa pa pa~”
“Will you talk? Will you talk?”
“Aaaah~”
In the courtyard, successive screams rang out.
The current patriarch of the Wangli Family, Wangli Asha, had his hands tied to the beam. A Northern Frontier soldier was viciously whipping him with a whip.
Unused to such torment with his tender skin, he begged for mercy after just a few lashes, “I’ll talk, I’ll talk.”
“There’s a cellar under the third room in the back courtyard. The silver is all hidden there~”
“And grain—besides in the side courtyard warehouse, there’s another courtyard at the village entrance, full of grain~”
“Stop hitting, I’ve told you everything.”
Wangli Asha wailed in pain, seemingly confessing a lot.
But Sun Dachuan was still unsatisfied. While sending people to search the locations he mentioned, he said, “Keep hitting.”
“This bit of money and grain isn’t even enough for our brothers’ horse fodder for coming this far. Sending off beggars?”
Afterward, Wangli Asha’s cries became even more miserable.
Meanwhile, Sun Dachuan led men to the back courtyard, where the Wangli Family’s women were held.
Most were maidservants, a few were Wangli Family women.
“Pretty women all go to the magnates’ houses!”
Looking at these women, Sun Dachuan sighed softly.
Like Zhou Erniu’s wife and the others he’d seen before—rough-skinned, dark-faced, far from pretty.
But the women in the Wangli Family’s inner quarters were all prettier than ordinary wives, even the least attractive.
For poor families, having a daughter too pretty was a curse.
“You, you, you~”
Sun Dachuan casually picked a few of the prettiest women.
These few he planned to present to Li Xiao, Thin Monkey, and others.
For himself, he also selected a particularly pretty one—she was Wangli Asha’s daughter.
Rumor had it she was notoriously wicked, more than once directing evil slaves to kill, destroying many families.
Sun Dachuan planned to whip her thoroughly, so she’d never dare do evil again.
The next morning, Sun Dachuan returned to Yuanchuan Granary with his spoils.
The grain was only a little over a thousand shi, all robbed from the Wangli Family, along with quite a bit of gold, silver, and copper coins.
Most importantly, there were over a thousand common people, men, women, elderly, and children all included.
At the same time, other Northern Frontier Army troops also returned one after another.
They had swept clean almost all the surrounding villages. Except for those who fled into the deep mountains and forests, the rest were all brought back by the Northern Frontier Army.
Meanwhile, in Li Xiao’s golden tent, there were also some more women.
Though not devastating beauties, they were much better than ordinary women.
All presented by his subordinate generals.
Li Xiao accepted them all.
Even if he couldn’t use them all himself, rewarding them as items to meritorious officers would better show Li Xiao’s care.
Meanwhile, news of the Yuanchuan Granary attack quickly spread east of the Yellow River.
The first to receive the news was the Baotai Military Command north of Roulang Mountain.
It coordinated east-west with the Henan Military Command in Zhuoluo City, jointly guarding against the Jin Dynasty to the south.
“What?”
“Yuanchuan Granary was attacked?”
The Baotai Military Command commander was shocked upon hearing this.
Yuanchuan Granary held over three hundred thousand shi of grain!
Moreover, the Imperial Court had conscripted many civilian laborers, carriages, horses, and camels for transporting it, all at Yuanchuan Granary!
Now all in the hands of the Northern Frontier barbarians?
“Absolutely true, Lord!” The envoy from Zhuoluo City said urgently.
“Zhuoluo City has only seven thousand troops, most just recently conscripted civilian laborers.”
“We really can’t retake Yuanchuan Granary.”
“Our commander specially sent me to report. Please urgently dispatch troops for support, Lord.”
Hearing this, the Baotai Military Command commander looked grave and asked deeply, “How many troops do the Northern Frontier barbarians have?”
To emphasize Zhuoluo City’s dire situation, Yeli Wajie had specifically instructed him to exaggerate the Northern Frontier troop numbers.
If Zhuoluo City truly couldn’t hold, it would lighten his own responsibility.
Thus, the messenger said without hesitation, “At least thirty thousand cavalry.”
“Hiss!”
“What, thirty thousand?”
At these words, the Baotai Military Command commander instantly drew in a sharp breath.
His face changed dramatically—how the hell were they supposed to fight this?
In previous wars, the Baotai Military Command had nearly ten thousand elites annihilated in Hexi.
It was like their spine was broken. Though they hastily conscripted, they were just civilian laborers.
Having him lead a rabble into open battle with thirty thousand Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry.
What difference from suicide?
“The Baotai Military Command bears the heavy responsibility of guarding Great Xia’s Southern Xinjiang. Without orders from His Majesty or the Bureau of Military Affairs, how can this commander arbitrarily mobilize the army?”
“Rest here first. This commander will immediately send someone to Xingqing Prefecture to report.”
With that, without giving the messenger a chance to retort, he had him escorted out.
Then, the Baotai Military Command commander looked toward Zhuoluo City and muttered, “Yeli Wajie, it’s not that brother won’t help you, but this battle can’t be fought.”
“I can’t lead the Baotai Military Command brothers to their deaths.”
“Great Xia is at a moment of life and death. We must preserve every bit of strength for the counterattack.”
“Hope you fend for yourself!”
He had decided: unless large-scale Imperial Court reinforcements arrived, the Baotai Military Command absolutely could not easily enter Hexi.
“Come here!”
“Here!”
The Baotai Military Command commander summoned his confidant and whispered instructions.
In summary, just one meaning.
If signs of the Northern Frontier Army continuing east appeared, immediately burn the Yellow River pontoon bridge.
Absolutely prevent the Northern Frontier Army from crossing the Yellow River.
Otherwise, with the Baotai Military Command’s rabble, they couldn’t stop the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry’s charge.
If the Baotai Military Command fell, Great Xia’s Southern Xinjiang would be entirely lost, and Xingqing Prefecture would be directly exposed to the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry’s blades.
