Chapter 86: Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry
“Eating soft rice, what does that mean?”
Seeing Li Xiao’s exaggerated expression, Xiao Yanyan was full of confusion, clearly understanding that the words “eating soft rice” definitely didn’t mean what she understood on the surface.
“It’s nothing,” Li Xiao shook his head lightly.
He casually explained, “It means I’ll have to rely on you for care in the future, to cling to your thigh.”
“Hee hee hee~”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yanyan immediately let out a light, ethereal laugh.
“My thigh isn’t thick enough to cling to.”
Li Xiao didn’t believe it: “I’ll have to measure it myself to know for sure.”
“Get lost, ahaha!”
Xiao Yanyan slapped Li Xiao’s paw, which intended to be mischievous, glared at him fiercely, and cursed with a laugh, “You scoundrel.”
“However, this position of Deputy Governor was rightfully yours.”
“Even if I hadn’t spoken, my brother would definitely have conferred the Deputy Governorship upon you.”
“In the Battle of Golden Mountain, your merit was the greatest. After a near-death struggle, you broke through the Naiman people. A Deputy Governorship feels like an injustice to you.”
Xiao Yanyan said softly.
She knew very well how dangerous it was to cross the A Lai Ridge Pass, and how arduous the march through the endless mountains afterward would be.
Even many elite troops had long since collapsed.
Yet, Li Xiao had led that hastily assembled ragtag army and persevered, successfully raiding the Naiman Great Camp.
Xiao Yanyan could fully imagine the hardships involved and clearly understood the immense pressure Li Xiao had endured.
Therefore, at this moment, her gaze towards Li Xiao was filled with heartache.
More importantly, a significant reason for all that Li Xiao had done was to prevent her from marrying a Naiman.
Thinking this, Xiao Yanyan’s hand slowly reached out and grasped Li Xiao’s hand as he was styling her hair.
Her fingers gently traced the chapped skin, imagining Li Xiao trudging through the mountains in the cold wind with his troops.
Unconsciously, her eyes seemed to well up slightly.
“What, are you crying?”
Unexpectedly, Xiao Yanyan, who had been laughing, started crying. Women are indeed sentimental.
However, feeling the warm touch on the back of his hand, Li Xiao’s heart also felt a slight tremor, a pleasant feeling.
He gently brushed away the tears from the corners of Xiao Yanyan’s eyes with his other hand, saying playfully.
“If others saw this, they’d think I’d done something to you.”
“Your brother would probably take his eight-foot greatsword and chop me to death.”
Xiao Yanyan chuckled, flung off Li Xiao’s rough hand, and said forcefully.
“It’s not that exaggerated; my brother has a very good temper.”
Good temper?
Come on, that’s only when it comes to you, his sister.
After chatting and laughing for a while, Li Xiao remembered an important matter.
“Since I’m to be the Deputy Governor, who is the Governor of Jin Prefecture?”
Although he understood Xiao Simo’s intention, which was for him to share power with the Governor,
Li Xiao didn’t want to create too tense a relationship with that person.
They could each manage their own affairs, and as long as neither interfered with the other, it would be fine.
“It’s not clear yet; my brother hasn’t decided,” Xiao Yanyan shook her head.
She took Li Xiao’s hand and placed it on her hair, letting him continue styling it.
“However, it’s bound to be one of those few people.”
“General Gu Erba, General Xiao Lintta, General Jiu Meng’an He~”
“They are all generals who followed my grandfather back in the day.”
Li Xiao nodded gently. While he wasn’t too familiar with these individuals, he had some acquaintance with them.
Gu Erba would likely be sent to the Great Desert as Governor.
Among the others, Li Xiao considered whose temperament was softer.
Li Xiao didn’t want to partner with someone who was hot-tempered, aggressive, and had a strong desire for control.
Because after the war with the Naiman concluded, Li Xiao’s main tasks in Jin Prefecture would be two.
Farming and power struggles.
Therefore, Li Xiao most hoped for someone without such a strong desire for power, someone who could turn a blind eye to his actions.
Unfortunately, such matters were not within his control.
He would have to rely on Xiao Yanyan, his ‘thigh’, for that.
“Among these people, whose temper is better?”
Xiao Yanyan thought for a moment and shook her head: “None of them are particularly good.”
Indeed, in the environment of nomadic peoples, those with weak temperaments could not reach the position of commanding generals.
So Li Xiao changed his approach.
“Regarding the troop deployment against the Naiman this time, Lord Xiao took good care of me.”
“He placed my troops in the rear, doing the easiest work.”
“Heh, it wasn’t that you were worried about me, and you specifically went to plead with your brother, was it?” Li Xiao looked at Xiao Yanyan and said with a smile.
“Not at all,” Xiao Yanyan scoffed.
“Who’s worried about you, you fellow.”
“Shameless.”
“Besides, my brother never lets me get involved in matters of war. Even if I wanted to say something, he wouldn’t listen.”
While pulling her hair to the front and starting to braid it, she said softly, “It was General Xiao Lintta.”
“He said your troops suffered significant losses at Golden Mountain and should have a good rest, so he didn’t let you participate in the most dangerous battles.”
Upon hearing this, Li Xiao suddenly realized and chuckled, “He’s quite a good person.”
Xiao Lintta?
So it was that old geezer.
Li Xiao certainly didn’t want to participate in the main assault; he just wanted to preserve his strength honestly.
Xiao Lintta’s actions coincided with Li Xiao’s intentions, and objectively, he had helped Li Xiao.
However, subjectively, Xiao Lintta was suppressing Li Xiao.
He didn’t want Li Xiao to gain greater merit.
This could only mean one thing: he was an old geezer with a strong desire for power.
“Yes!”
“General Xiao Lintta is a good person. After my grandfather passed away, it was he who led people to stand guard at the Xiao family day and night, preventing some nefarious individuals from taking advantage.”
Xiao Yanyan nodded.
She then recounted more past events to Li Xiao, detailing how these old generals had ties with the Xiao family and so on.
From her words, these individuals seemed very trustworthy.
But unfortunately, hearts are hidden.
Perhaps their past loyalty was unquestionable, but what about now?
It wasn’t until it was almost dark that Li Xiao, who had expected Xiao Yanyan to let him stay the night, was still kicked out of the tent.
Helpless, he could only lead his men back to his own camp.
For the next few days, Li Xiao continued to lead his troops in sweeping operations, preparing to plunder as many cattle, sheep, supplies, and women as possible from the Naiman grasslands.
Unfortunately, the local Naiman tribes had long since fled far away.
In the end, only a Naiman tribe that had come from the southern Gobi was discovered by Li Xiao’s scouts.
“With the war having reached this point, there’s still a Naiman tribe foolishly heading north?” Li Xiao said in surprise.
The army’s current location was already deep within Naiman territory, towards the south.
There was no choice; the tribes to the west were either annihilated or had already fled, so Li Xiao had to try his luck in the south.
However, his time for free sweeping was running out; he had to return to the Khitan camp the next morning to prepare for the impending decisive battle.
“Looking at the direction they’re heading, towards the Naiman Khanate, they should have been summoned by Sun Khan,” Da Hu said in a low voice, standing mounted nearby.
Li Xiao nodded gently. The Northern Frontier Army was awaiting the arrival of Buyiru Khan’s army, and Sun Khan was also continuously drawing troops from various tribes.
Both sides were silently accumulating strength, preparing for the final decisive battle.
Striking and eliminating the converging Naiman troops was also Li Xiao’s task.
“A tribe of over two thousand people, a real fat sheep,” Li Xiao murmured.
Then his expression turned grim, and he ordered, “Relay to all units: finish the battle before dark.”
“Understood!”
The units began to act, preparing to encircle and suppress this Naiman tribe.
…
This was a Naiman tribe that originally lived at the foot of the Altai Mountains in the Gobi Desert.
A month ago, they received an order from Sun Khan to mobilize three hundred strong young men from the tribe to go to Golden Mountain to participate in the war against the Liao State.
They were also to help escort a batch of important military equipment to Golden Mountain.
Thus, the entire tribe began migrating northward.
Although it was the men who were drafted, they could not leave the old, weak, women, and children behind alone. Being so far apart, they feared a raid on their homes.
Consequently, the entire tribe, over two thousand people, set off en masse towards Golden Mountain.
It took them more than half a month to reach the central region.
By normal standards, they weren’t late, as wars usually lasted for several months.
However, halfway there, they suddenly learned that Golden Mountain had fallen.
Sun Khan ordered them to gather towards the Khanate.
Upon hearing this news, the Naiman people were stunned.
When had the Naiman army become so vulnerable?
There was no choice; the mission had to be completed, so the tribe began to march towards the Royal Court.
Little did they know, they were stepping into an abyss, step by step.
As they were walking across a grassland, the horses in the tribe first began to stir restlessly, whinnying softly.
Immediately after, the sheep began to scatter, and a low rumbling sound could be faintly heard, growing clearer.
The Naiman people, who grew up on the grasslands, were all too familiar with this situation: it was a massive herd of horses on the move.
At least several thousand strong.
The leader of the tribe, named Bu Ermahei, his face immediately turned grave. He shouted for the herdsmen to prepare for defense and battle.
“Could it be the Khanate’s direct ten thousand cavalry?”
“We are already close to the Khanate; only the Khanate’s army could have such momentum,” Bu Ermahei said grimly.
He looked at a man beside him, an official from the Royal Court named Gu Erba.
He was on a mission to Western Xia on behalf of Sun Khan.
Bu Ermahei’s tribe was also ordered to protect Gu Erba and a batch of important military equipment to Golden Mountain.
“It must be the Khanate’s ten thousand cavalry; Sun Khan must be launching another major operation,” Gu Erba said confidently, listening to the approaching hoofbeats.
This was already the heartland of the Naiman; only the Khanate could organize such a large cavalry force.
As for the Liao people?
Although they had broken through Golden Mountain, Gu Erba believed that the Liao army must have suffered considerable losses and couldn’t have reached the Khanate so quickly.
“What is the Khanate army going to do? The Liao army is to the west!” Bu Ermahei asked, puzzled.
“Perhaps they’re planning to take a detour through the southern Gobi to stab the Liao people in the back,” Gu Erba laughed heartily.
“Tell the herdsmen to move the sheep aside; don’t block the Khanate army’s path.”
Seeing Gu Erba’s relaxed demeanor, Bu Ermahei, as the tribal leader, remained calm.
His grave expression fixed on the distance, feeling the vibration of the ground beneath his feet, his unease grew.
Years of hunting and nomadic experience told him that this matter was not so simple.
Thus, he quickly dispatched several cavalrymen to investigate the situation and confirm whether it was indeed the Khanate’s army.
As the rumbling grew louder, Bu Ermahei finally saw the silhouette of the army.
Under the sun’s rays, the army was bathed in a sacred radiance, only dark shapes visible.
“This must be Sun Khan’s personal guard of ten thousand cavalry; only they can possess such aura!” Gu Erba laughed heartily as the army drew nearer.
Even now, he still believed that it was the Khanate’s Imperial Guard arriving.
Besides this army, no other cavalry in the entire Naiman could march with such speed and stability.
But Bu Ermahei was not as optimistic.
Especially since the few cavalrymen he had sent to scout were now frantically returning.
Shouting loudly, “It’s the Liao people.”
“Prepare for battle.”
Upon hearing this shout, Bu Ermahei’s eyes widened, his face instantly turning ferocious and terrifying, and he said angrily.
“Damn it, it’s the Liao people.”
Gu Erba beside him was also instantly stunned, looking incredulous, and murmured.
“Liao, Liao State, army?”
“Impossible~”
Immediately afterward, they finally saw the appearance of the army clearly. Although they were also wearing sheepskin coats, their attire was definitely not that of the Naiman.
The aura that washed over them made the herdsmen, who had lived in ease for years, feel the scent of death, and despair began to spread.
“Prepare for battle~” Bu Ermahei roared.
