Chapter 107: Harsh Winter Approaches, Corpses Litter The Wilderness
The Uliji Tribe is one of the largest tribes in the “Wusun lineage” of Jin Prefecture.
With over a thousand people, there are around four hundred men capable of fighting.
Its leader is named Uliji, who has always been known for his greed and ferocity. In past years, he has frequently clashed with the Han People’s Fortifications.
This time, they appeared at Sanhe Fort with a very simple goal: grain.
At this moment, in the midst of Uliji’s troops, a burly man with a face full of savage flesh rode on a black war horse, his gaze fixed from afar on the young and strong men of Hexi Fort.
He was none other than the leader of the Uliji Tribe, Bat Uliji.
In the previous war against the Naiman People, he fought bravely and earned merit, and was appointed Chiliarch by Xiao Simo.
In Jin Prefecture, he was also considered a powerful vassal lord with high status and authority.
Therefore, at this moment, he was fully qualified to despise the Hexi Cavalry led by the Old Master: “A bunch of old things, and a bunch of kids who haven’t been weaned yet, daring to compete with us for grain?”
Then, he turned his head to his subordinates and said, “Tell them that this place has already been occupied by our Uliji Tribe. If they know what’s good for them, they should get lost quickly. Otherwise, today we’ll make sure you all die here!”
While his subordinate went to issue the warning to Hexi Fort, Uliji’s mind recalled a scene from not long ago.
That day, the High Priest found him and relayed the deity’s will.
It was just one sentence: “Harsh Winter is coming, with corpses filling the wilderness.”
According to the High Priest’s explanation, it was because that year, the slaughter in the Northern Frontier had been too heavy. The war between the Liao Army and the Naiman People had brought devastation to all living things, angering the deity.
Thus, the deity sent down punishment: five months of continuous heavy snow in winter.
At that time, the Northern Frontier would be covered in white disaster everywhere, with both people and livestock perishing.
Uliji was completely terrified by the scene described by the High Priest.
If Jin Prefecture really faced five months of nonstop heavy snow, then his Uliji Tribe would surely freeze into ice sculptures on the grassland or starve to death.
Therefore, to survive this catastrophe, Uliji could only stockpile more grain and prepare firewood.
Just at that moment, someone told him that a Han People’s Fortifications called Sanhe Fort had been wiped out by the Geluolu People.
Their grain had become ownerless and could be harvested perfectly for the winter.
Thus, for the survival and continuation of the tribe, Uliji brought his tribesmen to Sanhe Fort.
Looking at the Han cavalry in the distance, Uliji thought to himself darkly, “I hope these Han People are sensible.”
Because if it weren’t for this prophesied heavy snow disaster, he really wouldn’t want to come to Han territory.
Nothing else, just because a ruthless man had emerged among the Han People.
Jin Prefecture Deputy Governor Li Xiao.
Although this man was not very old, he was brave and skilled in combat. He led his army to pursue and kill Buyiru Khan until he was disheveled and even captured the Naiman Prince Qu Chulü alive.
He could absolutely be called a fierce man with illustrious military merit.
If there was no need, Uliji didn’t want to offend Li Xiao.
But there was no choice!
Winter was approaching. Not only did the Uliji Tribe need grain; other tribes needed it too.
With Sanhe Fort’s grain, Uliji would have the ability to bestow favors on those few Centurions who had just submitted to him, making them serve him.
And this was also the reason he dared to offend Li Xiao.
Although Li Xiao was the Deputy Governor and brave and skilled in combat, Uliji was not to be trifled with either.
As one of the Eight Great Chiliarchs of Jin Prefecture, even Xiao Lintta treated him politely and constantly bestowed favors to win him over.
Li Xiao, a mere Deputy Governor, might have a higher official position, but he was still a bit short of being able to fully control him.
Uliji believed he had the qualifications to bargain with Li Xiao.
Most importantly, he had already received a promise from Jin Prefecture Governor Xiao Lintta to keep Li Xiao delayed at Wuya Village.
Allowing him to quickly take away Sanhe Fort’s grain.
And this was the condition he had negotiated with Xiao Lintta: he wanted Sanhe Fort’s grain, and in exchange, he would fully side with Xiao Lintta from now on.
In fact, Uliji had no choice at all.
Li Xiao was a Han man and had his own base in Jin Prefecture. Even if these nomadic tribes submitted to him, they wouldn’t be valued.
In contrast, Xiao Lintta, as a parachuted appointee, urgently needed support from local forces.
Following Xiao Lintta would actually offer more prospects.
So, Uliji no longer cared about Li Xiao’s attitude. Even if he didn’t offend him now, they would inevitably fall out later.
The political struggle in Jin Prefecture had already begun.
He, Uliji, couldn’t avoid it at all.
Thinking this way, the messenger Uliji had sent to relay the message returned. Seeing his angry expression, Uliji knew the talks had broken down.
“Chieftain, these Han People are extremely arrogant.”
“They say we are bandits and robbers. Sanhe Fort is Han territory, the grain here is all theirs, and we won’t take away a single grain today.”
Hearing this, Uliji chuckled and shook his head, sneering.
“Bandits? Robbers?”
“Haha, they sure see through us.”
They had come to Sanhe Fort precisely to act like bandits and robbers!
“This grain, we will definitely take it all. Want to stop us?”
“With just those bearded soldiers?”
It wasn’t that Uliji looked down on them.
If Li Xiao were here today, he wouldn’t say a word and would just take his people and slip away.
But with just this group of worn-out old folks, Uliji truly didn’t take them seriously.
After all, most of the soldiers under him were warriors who had just survived the great war against the Naiman People, emerging from mountains of corpses and seas of blood.
“E Tu Lu, take men to drive away these Han People.”
“Amo, you take the others along with the women and children of the tribe to harvest the grain.”
“Work day and night without rest. Within three days, all the grain in this fortress must be harvested and taken away.”
Uliji instructed his subordinates.
Soon, the troops of the Uliji Tribe began to move, charging toward the people of Hexi Fort.
Seeing this, the Old Master’s expression was very grim as he stopped the crowd’s impulse to fight desperately.
“As long as the green hills remain, there’s no fear of running out of firewood.”
“All of you stop for this old man. Don’t go fucking courting death.” The Old Master shouted loudly.
Although they weren’t afraid of death, they couldn’t actively seek it out.
Earlier, the distance was too great, and they hadn’t seen clearly.
Only after the Uliji Tribe’s soldiers assembled did the Old Master realize how many people this tribe had.
All the male laborers and young and strong men were actually there?
At least three or four hundred, more than twice their number.
You see, the main force of Jin Prefecture’s Han Tribe was still at Wuya Village undergoing reorganization, leaving only old, weak, women, and children.
The Old Master had thought the Uliji Tribe’s situation would be similar.
But unexpectedly, the opponent’s young and strong men had all returned.
“Something’s off about this situation.” The Old Master muttered to himself.
Was there really such a coincidence?
It felt like they were being targeted.
Thus, facing nearly three hundred enemies brimming with killing intent, the Old Master indeed issued the order to retreat.
At this time, the most important thing was to preserve strength, not engage in this meaningless, fruitless, brainless slaughter.
Anyway, the Uliji Tribe’s goal was this grain, and they couldn’t take it away in a short time.
The Old Master decided to wear them down.
“Damn it, worst case, this old man will set all this grain on fire and not let these dog bastards have a single bit.”
The Old Master said viciously.
Otherwise, if these Uliji People really robbed the grain and tasted the sweetness, they would come even more fiercely next year.
These nomadic tribes had to know that Han People’s bones were hard—what couldn’t be kept would be destroyed rather than let them take it.
In the time that followed, the Hexi Cavalry and the Uliji Tribe’s troops engaged in guerrilla warfare around Sanhe Fort.
One side chased, the other fled.
Once the Uliji Tribe stopped, the Hexi Cavalry quietly returned, avoiding battle with the enemy main force and instead attacking the ordinary herdsmen harvesting grain.
Specializing in striking weak points.
The Uliji Tribe was extremely frustrated.
“Chieftain, at this rate, we definitely won’t finish harvesting the grain in three days,” a subordinate complained.
Uliji’s face was equally heavy, the pressure in his heart growing greater.
Because Jin Prefecture Han Tribe’s reorganization was nearly complete, Li Xiao would soon return, and Xiao Lintta couldn’t delay much longer.
And just at that moment, the High Priest brought him a message.
“The deity has told me the origins of this Han cavalry. They come from Hexi Fort, forty li away.”
“And at this moment, Hexi Fort has few garrison troops left.”
“Great Uliji Yelü, you only need to lead a cavalry force and make a feint toward attacking Hexi Fort, and these Han People will surely retreat without fighting.”
The main reason Uliji found the Han People so hard to deal with was his lack of understanding of their internal situation.
He couldn’t even distinguish between this fort and that village.
In his view, all Han People were Li Xiao’s people.
Now that he knew the Han People’s weakness, he hesitated no longer.
He left two hundred soldiers to continue guarding the women harvesting grain, and personally led two hundred men to Hexi Fort.
Sure enough, upon discovering Uliji’s intentions, the Old Master instantly lost his composure.
“Damn it, how did the Uliji People learn about our Hexi Fort?”
The Old Master’s face was fierce, extremely angry.
In his whole life, what he hated most was someone using family members to threaten him.
But there was no way around it; the enemy had now seized his weakness.
Hexi Fort was left with only women and children. Once Uliji arrived with his men, Hexi Fort would truly be in danger.
“Let’s go back.”
Helplessly, the Old Master could only take his men and return to Hexi Fort first.
He didn’t choose to ambush the Uliji cavalry midway—that would be pointless.
Instead, he chose to hold Hexi Fort, relying on its defensive works, which were sufficient to block the enemy.
In fact, if Uliji dared to send men to attack, they could absolutely annihilate them several times over.
However, Uliji clearly wouldn’t attack Hexi Fort; his goal was just the grain.
But looking at the endless golden wheat fields outside Hexi Fort, he still sighed.
“Are the Han People really a race favored by the deity?”
“Why can they both grow grain and herd sheep?”
Grain and cattle and sheep complemented each other.
In winter, the nomadic tribes’ cattle and sheep froze to death in large numbers, but the Han People had plenty of grain stored in their rooms, with no worries about food or drink.
Although nomadic people also grew grain, their methods were extremely primitive.
They just scattered seeds on the ground and left them, returning the next year to harvest.
The result was obvious: yields too low, barely enough to fill the gaps between teeth.
So, the Han People’s farming skill made Uliji very envious.
“In the future, we should also make every tribesman learn to farm. That way, we won’t have to worry about food.”
Uliji said firmly.
At this moment, he simply saw the Han People’s situation of growing grain without worrying about food.
He hadn’t considered at all why many Han People in the Central Plains still starved to death.
Once nomadic people started farming, they too would go hungry.
This goal was too grand; it was just Uliji’s idea.
The most important thing now was to harvest Sanhe Fort’s grain.
“It’s a pity about this Hexi Fort’s grain,” Uliji said softly.
Because Sanhe Fort’s farmland had been untended, weeds had long grown everywhere.
The grain’s growth was far inferior to Hexi Fort’s grain fields.
So, looking at the endless farmland south of Hexi Fort, Uliji’s eyes were full of covetousness.
In the end, he decided to detach one hundred soldiers to harvest Hexi Fort’s grain, while the remaining one hundred continued to blockade Hexi Fort, preventing those inside from sneaking out to attack.
In three days, harvest as much as possible, and return to Sanhe Fort as soon as time was up.
Bringing the grain harvested there, to hole up for the winter.
