Chapter 20: The Fall Of Sanhe Fort
The Western Regions get dark late, and dawn also comes late.
Chen Shi had already passed more than halfway when the sun of the Northern Frontier finally rose.
Hexi Fort, which had a peaceful night, gradually became lively, with clanging work sounds and shouts of feeding cattle and sheep echoing in the village.
If one ignored the reality of the Geluolu rebellion, Hexi Fort at this moment was completely a paradise isolated from the world, with villagers living quiet and peaceful lives.
At the Li Family, Li Xiao also woke up similarly, glancing at Er Hu beside him, who was sprawled out like a human-shaped big character.
His two arms and two legs were respectively pressing on Li Xiao and Da Hu on the other side.
“Damn, no wonder I dreamed of being crushed by a female ghost!” Li Xiao muttered grumpily.
He couldn’t help but glance downward; the youth was full of vigor, but fortunately, there was no embarrassment.
Although he didn’t see the female ghost’s face clearly in the dream, her figure was really good.
Li Xiao had involuntarily paid tribute to her!
“Maybe, getting a wife wouldn’t be bad~” Li Xiao straightened his shorts that had been shifted in the dream, thinking to himself.
People in this era married quite early; quite a few got married at fifteen or sixteen.
Li Xiao was considering whether to compromise with Qin Dani and the Old Lady?
Whether loli or young woman, it was still better than sleeping in the same bed with these two fools.
Li Xiao gently shook his head; the Geluolu threat still hung over their heads, so finding a wife would have to be postponed.
“Get up.”
Li Xiao kicked Er Hu’s butt.
Er Hu opened his bleary eyes with a dazed expression; he had just dreamed of a sheep ramming his butt.
“Today we’re going to cut grass, store as much fodder as possible.” Li Xiao said to Da Hu and Er Hu.
In autumn, the herdsmen of nomadic people would harvest pasture grass and store it as fodder for the cattle and sheep in winter.
Although it was summer now, the Geluolu People’s cavalry could arrive at Hexi Fort at any time. If they continued grazing at the grassland as before, it would be dangerous if the Geluolu Cavalry attacked.
So the people of Hexi Fort had been going to the grassland to cut grass these past few days, hauling it back with carts to store for the cattle and sheep.
If they really encountered the Geluolu People attacking, they could just abandon the cart and ride back on horseback.
“Oh~ okay.”
Hearing Li Xiao’s words, Er Hu was dazed for a few seconds before he and Da Hu both got up.
Each washed their face with clean water in the courtyard, then started eating breakfast.
They ate leftover horse meat from last night, paired with a bit of millet porridge.
Li Xiao also had Da Hu deliver three portions of the same breakfast to the adjacent courtyard.
Xiao Yanyan had paid for meals, so they had to treat her well.
While the Li Family was eating, Li Dashan suddenly ran over hurriedly.
“Elder Uncle, come quick and see, Da Wu, Xiao Heizi and the others are back.”
Hearing this, the Old Master abruptly stood up, his excited gaze turning to Li Dashan.
“What?”
“They’re back?”
“How many came back?”
The Old Master’s action startled the Old Lady, who quickly supported him and said angrily, “Be careful, don’t reopen your wound and bleed.”
The Old Master seemed not to hear, staring fixedly at Li Dashan, hoping to hear good news from him.
“Twenty-eight came back.” Li Dashan said.
“Twenty-eight?” The Old Master murmured softly, somewhat disappointed yet somewhat pleased.
“Good, it’s good that twenty-eight came back.” The Old Master said, slightly excited.
One hundred young and strong had gone to North Mountain to suppress the Geluolu rebellion, and previously only six had returned.
Fortunately, Li Xiao had persuaded him that the people of Hexi Fort were probably just scattered, and the others were surely on their way back.
And now, another twenty-eight had returned.
It was good news.
“Er Jiang? Did Er Jiang come back?” The Old Lady asked impatiently, while Da Hu also looked at Li Dashan with hopeful anticipation.
“Auntie, Er Jiang Ge didn’t come back!” Li Dashan’s voice grew quieter.
Hearing this, the expectation on the Old Lady’s face turned to disappointment as she slowly sat down.
These past few days, her tears had already run dry; now she only hoped her second son could return soon.
Li Xiao comforted her, “Grandma, we still have hope.”
“Second Uncle is definitely fine; maybe he had to take a detour to avoid being spotted by the Geluolu People!”
“He’ll be back in a few days.”
The Old Lady knew Li Xiao was comforting her, but she forced a smile and said, “Yes, the outside is full of Geluolu People now; Er Jiang might be hiding somewhere!”
This was the Old Lady’s only mental solace; she could only hypnotize herself with this reason to endure the daily torment.
Soon, the Old Master, Li Xiao and the others left home without finishing their meal, hurrying toward the village entrance.
At the spot where villagers had shared horse meat last night, the bonfire ashes still emitted residual warmth, and more and more Hexi Fort villagers had heard the news and rushed over.
In the middle of the open space stood a group of ragged men, their faces covered in grime, bodies filthy.
All their clothes were stained with congealed blood and mud, tattered and torn; the sheepskin jackets worn outside looked as if they had been washed in mud.
Some even had bandaged wounds and appeared very weak.
As more villagers arrived, some staggered forward urgently to these men.
“Wah wah wah wah~”
“My son~ Heizi, you’ve finally come back, wah wah wah, Mom thought she’d never see you again in this lifetime.”
“Husband, I thought you didn’t want us mother and kids anymore!”
“Dad, you’re not dead? You’re still alive~”
The village entrance of Hexi Fort soon turned into a family reunion gathering.
These returned young and strong reunited with their family members, with endless words and tears.
The villagers who didn’t find their loved ones showed disappointment, looking enviously at the reunions before them.
“They laugh who lie drunk on the battlefield; since ancient times, how many return from conquest.”
Seeing the scene, Li Xiao couldn’t help murmuring softly.
No matter the time, war is cruel.
But in this chaotic world where the strong rule as kings, no one can avoid conflict unless they willingly become someone’s slave and be bullied for life.
In Hexi Fort, everyone could accept dying in battle; even before this expedition, many had prepared for death in battle.
But what they couldn’t accept was dying in battle without meaning.
In this Battle of North Mountain, due to poor command by the Khitan People, Hexi Fort nearly had mourning in every household.
This disastrous defeat, which shouldn’t have happened, was the reason for much anger and dissatisfaction among the Hexi people.
So Li Xiao also silently summed up lessons from this war, trying to avoid similar incidents in the future.
“War is a matter of vital importance to the state, the field of life and death, the way of survival or destruction; it must be thoroughly examined!”
Watching the crowd reunite at the village entrance, a faint look of relief and gratitude appeared on the Old Master’s face.
Although Li Erjiang and most of Hexi Fort’s young and strong hadn’t returned, having twenty-eight return avoided tragedy for twenty-eight families, which was good.
The twenty-eight who returned all showed silent and pained expressions upon seeing the Old Master arrive.
“Fort Master, we’re back.”
Standing at the forefront of the group was a middle-aged man surnamed Wu, the eldest in rank, called Da Wu.
He looked at the Old Master, lips pursed, voice trembling as he spoke.
His expression downcast, eyes brimming with moisture.
Behind him, the twenty-odd men were the same, some even sobbing softly.
“Good to be back!”
“It’s good that you’re back.” The Old Master kept nodding, breathed a gentle sigh of relief, and said happily.
Next, the Old Master asked about important matters, then sent these people home.
“Go home first and rest, eat a good meal, and sleep.”
“Yes, Fort Master.”
Da Wu, Xiao Heizi and the others nodded lightly and went home respectively.
The surrounding villagers also dispersed one after another; at this moment, the atmosphere in the village was no longer as oppressive as before.
The return of these twenty-eight young and strong gave the other villagers more hope and confidence.
“Grandma, now you know Second Uncle is alive; you should be happy.”
Li Xiao looked at the Old Lady beside him who kept wiping tears and said softly.
Just now, Da Wu and the others had also told everyone a piece of news.
Li Erjiang had indeed been hit by several arrows at first, but none were fatal.
Later, he led a group of Hexi Fort’s young and strong, carrying Li Dahai’s corpse, and broke through the Geluolu People’s encirclement amid the chaos.
But afterward, they encountered pursuit by the Geluolu People, and Da Wu and the others lost contact with Li Erjiang’s group again.
So, Li Erjiang was probably alive.
Upon hearing this, the Old Lady was naturally happy, and tears flowed from her dry eyes again.
“Happy, I’m very happy.”
The Old Lady wiped her tears while saying in a trembling voice.
After returning home, the three Li Xiao brothers hitched two horse carriages and left the village.
Heading to the northern grassland to cut grass.
Over the entire day, the three made seven or eight trips back and forth, finally cutting nearly enough fodder.
“After this cart of fodder, it’s enough for the family’s cattle, sheep, and horses to eat for five or six days.” Er Hu set down his sickle and threw a tightly bundled stack of fodder onto the horse carriage.
The carriage was now full of such tightly packed haystacks, over a person’s height, loaded to the max.
Saving transport time.
“Five or six days pass in a flash; who knows when the Geluolu rebellion will end.” Da Hu said softly.
“Next time, it might not be so easy to come out and cut grass.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao stood on the carriage, gazing into the distance, and said calmly, “It might also be that the Geluolu rebellion won’t last a few more days, and next time we can drive the cattle and sheep out to graze.”
As he spoke, Li Xiao’s gaze remained fixed on the distance.
Under the afterglow of the sunset, the originally verdant grassland turned into a golden expanse, spectacular with spots of color.
But faintly, a few small black dots could be seen appearing in the distance.
“Someone’s coming.”
Er Hu also noticed, instinctively running to his horse and drawing the knife from the horseback.
“Geluolu People?” Da Hu asked softly.
Li Xiao shook his head lightly, signaling Er Hu not to be so tense.
“Doesn’t seem like Geluolu People.”
As the black dots grew clearer, their figures more familiar, Da Hu suddenly shouted, “It’s Third Grandfather.”
“They’re back.”
Li Xiao and the other two quickly went to meet them.
“Third Grandpa~”
“Whoa~”
Third Grandfather and the several Hexi young and strong behind him slowly reined in their horses.
“Third Grandfather, didn’t you go to contact the other villages? How did it go?” Li Xiao asked loudly.
Although Third Grandfather still instinctively treated Li Xiao as a child, considering that Li Xiao had now become the Fort Master of Hexi Fort.
And was starting to take over Hexi Fort’s affairs, he turned his stern face to Li Xiao and said:
“Da Long, hurry back to the village.”
“Sanhe Fort has been broken through by the Geluolu People.”
“What?”
Hearing this, the three Li Xiao brothers were all shocked.
