Chapter 224: Fierce Tiger Unleashed, Rivers Of Blood
The City Lord’s Mansion.
The bride, Aliya, was wrapped in a layer of crimson gauze, her veil embroidered with exquisite patterns in gold thread, revealing only her apricot-shaped eyes adorned with indigo eyeshadow.
Her bare feet trod on a wool carpet, the silver bracelets on her ankles tinkling like music with every step.
Her captivating gaze, her exquisite beauty, and her graceful figure were enough to utterly enchant the groom opposite her.
According to the wedding customs of the Uyghur people, the groom should shoot three arrows without arrowheads at the bride, symbolizing a lifelong union.
However, the groom nearly missed the target twice, eliciting peals of laughter from the surrounding guests.
“Looking so clueless, how will you spend your wedding night, hahaha~”
A noble even joked, “Lord of the City Ahmed, your son’s archery skills are rather lacking! It would be best to practice more tonight.”
“Hahaha~”
The noble guests around them let out good-natured laughter, and Ahmed shook his head with a wry smile, “Aliya is too beautiful; she has completely captured my son’s soul.”
But just as Ahmed was about to raise his wine cup to cover his embarrassment, he suddenly noticed the wine within the cup trembling slightly.
“Hmm?”
On the other side, the bride, Aliya, also felt a sense of unease. Standing barefoot, she could faintly feel the ground beneath her feet gently shaking.
She raised her head in confusion, looking towards the sky, wondering what was happening.
But in the next second, a Uyghur soldier, staggering, rushed into the courtyard.
Panting heavily, his expression filled with terror, he shouted loudly, “General, General.”
“Cavalry, there are so many cavalry outside.”
Instantly, all the music at the wedding venue ceased abruptly, and everyone stared at Ahmed with stunned expressions.
“What?”
“Where did the cavalry come from? How many are there?” Ahmed’s expression turned furious, his gaze ferocious as he looked at the soldier.
He hadn’t expected anyone to disrupt his son’s wedding day.
“From the north, charging down from the mountains, red, so many, so many.”
The personal guard panted, speaking intermittently.
As his words fell, the scene erupted in an uproar.
“Rumble~”
Then, a clamor of voices arose, guests whispering amongst themselves with fearful expressions.
The bride on the other side also looked utterly disbelieving.
Her mind flashed back to the day Gaochang fell, and her tender body, wrapped in light gauze, began to tremble uncontrollably.
“Dong dong dong dong~”
The urgent sound of bronze bells rang out from the city walls. Hearing the commotion, the Uyghur soldiers inside the city quickly grabbed their weapons and ascended the walls.
The sight that followed left everyone dumbfounded.
In the distance, the horizon suddenly split open with a crimson fissure, like molten lava spewing from hell.
Thousands of Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry charged down the mountain ridge, the clashing of armor and the neighing of warhorses tearing through the tranquility of Kashar City.
“Boom boom boom boom~”
Waving crimson Sun and Moon Battle Flags, they surged like a crimson tide under the rising sun across the wasteland, trampling the land, which trembled slightly.
Wherever their iron hooves landed, columns of yellow dust rose thirty feet high, dyeing the clouds at the horizon a crimson red.
On the city wall, the Uyghur soldiers’ hands, clutching bows and arrows, began to tremble, and dust rained down from the battlements as they shook violently.
A veteran who had participated in the war of Gaochang stared fixedly at the vast expanse of crimson flood descending upon the mountainside, his pupils constricting sharply.
He roared in terror, “It’s the Jin Prefecture Army.”
“The Sun and Moon Battle Flags, the Sun and Moon Battle Flags are here.”
“Crimson devils.”
The other soldiers also looked on in panic, watching the approaching Sun and Moon Battle Flags, but could only try to encourage each other.
After all, Kala Shar was located on the edge of the Taklamakan Desert, a relatively isolated geographical position.
The last war they had experienced was a century ago, the war of faith between the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate and the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom.
The two states shared the same roots, their ancestors being the Uyghur people who once dominated the northern grasslands. However, after arriving in the Western Regions, their beliefs diverged.
The Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate, which believed in Allah, wanted to annex the Gaochang Uyghur Kingdom, which believed in Buddhism, but ultimately failed to achieve unification.
When Yelü Dashi launched his Western Expedition, the Kingdom of Qocho surrendered directly, so no war occurred.
Kala Shar had enjoyed prolonged peace and had forgotten the threat of war.
When the Jin Prefecture Army appeared, the entire garrison descended into panic.
“Shoot! Shoot quickly!”
The Centurion’s roar cracked, but as the first volley of arrows shot into the sky, they were immediately swallowed by the cavalry shields raised by the Jin Prefecture cavalry. Even when hitting cotton armor, they were difficult to inflict damage.
At the same time, the Jin Prefecture Army counterattacked, their legs like iron clamps controlling their warhorses, drawing and shooting their bows.
Countless arrows flew towards the city wall.
“Pfft” sounds mixed with screams erupted. Someone was hit in the throat, their hands clutched tightly at their neck, blood gushing from between their fingers.
Someone was pierced through the shoulder blade by an arrow, falling like a kite with a broken string, knocking over a companion beside them and tumbling down the steep city steps.
Someone was shot in the knee and crawled through the blood, dragging a broken leg.
Someone clutched a profusely bleeding wound in their abdomen, desperately grabbing a companion’s sleeve but gradually losing strength.
“Ahhhh~”
Screams echoed one after another, and the city wall was a scene of utter devastation.
Under the cover of the arrow rain, the Jin Prefecture soldiers rushed to the foot of the city wall, throwing ropes, and iron hooks embedded into the wall.
A Uyghur soldier prepared to come forward to cut the rope, but was shot in the throat by a Jin Prefecture soldier behind him and fell off the wall, clutching his neck.
The Jin Prefecture soldiers, however, stepped on their warhorses, pulled on the ropes, and climbed onto the city wall with remarkable speed.
The main reason was that Kala Shar had not experienced war for a long time, the soldiers lacked the courage to fight to the death, and the city walls were in disrepair, with an average height of only over four meters.
It was completely unable to stop the Jin Prefecture soldiers from climbing.
“Roar roar roar~”
The first to climb up was a Sergeant, who drew his fine steel saber and directly cleaved the chest of a soldier in front of him. His face, splattered with blood, was filled with ferocity, and he let out a beast-like roar.
This scene terrified the Uyghur soldiers who were preparing to charge forward, instilling fear in their hearts.
During this moment of hesitation, two more Jin Prefecture soldiers climbed onto the city wall.
The three of them worked together to clear out all the defenders on this section of the wall.
Being able to fight ten men to one was not fantasy.
The Jin Prefecture garrison soldiers possessed strong physiques, sturdy armor, sharp weapons, and a fearless spirit.
In contrast, the Uyghur soldiers lacked training, their equipment was of poor quality, and they were cowardly. Despite having numerical superiority, they were still being chased and cut down by the Jin Prefecture soldiers.
Soon, a ten-man squad, covered in blood, rushed down from the city wall.
The first three soldiers walked with shields in one hand and sabers in the other.
The second line of soldiers followed with spears, and the remaining soldiers were all drawing and nocking arrows.
As they advanced, they killed many defenders. Towards the end, the Uyghur soldiers saw them from afar and turned to flee.
By the time they reached the city gate, they found no Uyghur soldiers there.
“Ga ga ga~”
The dilapidated city gate let out a piercing creak and was slowly opened.
Outside the city, the large contingent of Jin Prefecture cavalry let out angry roars upon seeing this.
“Roar roar roar~”
“Kill~”
A Chiliarch waved his saber, roaring ferociously.
The thousand Jin Prefecture soldiers under his command, like a crimson tide, surged into the city.
The defenders inside the city immediately let out terrified screams.
“They’ve entered the city.”
“Buddha, please save us.”
“Don’t run, stop! Block the breach.”
“Recapture the city gate.”
“My quiver is empty! Does anyone have arrows?”
A Sergeant was shaken and fell to the ground. Looking at the red-armored cavalry surging in like a tide, he pointed his broken spear towards the sky and cried out, “They are demons! Red-armored devils crawling out of hell!”
The Uyghur soldiers lacked training and their weapons and equipment were incomplete. Even though a small number of soldiers were still resisting, they were quickly pierced through the chest by the well-equipped Jin Prefecture cavalry.
In the City Lord’s Mansion, Ahmed had just donned his armor and, with his personal guards, was preparing to gather more young and strong men to defend the city walls when he suddenly heard the news of Kashar City’s fall and the Jin Prefecture Army’s entry.
He felt as if struck by lightning.
Moments later, the gates of the City Lord’s Mansion were kicked open, and a soldier wearing dark red cotton armor, riding a tall warhorse and holding a spear, appeared before everyone.
It was a young face, and with a disdainful gaze sweeping over the hundreds of nobles in the mansion, he let out a cold laugh.
“Hahaha~”
“Kill~”
In the next second, over a dozen more formidable Jin Prefecture cavalry appeared behind him and charged unscrupulously into the crowd of nobles.
Piercing screams and pained wails erupted one after another.
The noblewomen who had once held positions of high status were now like panicked wild chickens, holding up their skirts and fleeing in disarray.
The corpulent nobles, watching the growing number of corpses, found their legs going weak and didn’t know where to run.
Seeing the situation, the groom also showed fear, grabbed the bride’s arm in panic, and said with a trembling voice, “Aliya, let’s run.”
“Get out of here.”
Only City Lord Ahmed remained calm. Watching the Jin Prefecture soldiers killing nobles and servants with impunity in his mansion, his heart ignited with rage.
He roared furiously, “Stop.”
“I am Ahmed, I want to see your general.”
However, the Jin Prefecture soldiers paid no heed to his nonsense, and some even charged towards him.
“Utterly arrogant, I, Ahmed, am not a lamb to be casually kneaded!” Ahmed roared in anger.
Saying this, he drew his saber, ready to fight and teach these damned Jin Prefecture soldiers a lesson.
But in the very next second, a dull thud, ‘bang,’ was heard, and Ahmed’s body was sent flying backward heavily.
The armor on his chest was pierced by an armor-piercing cone, and blood flowed out uncontrollably.
The young Jin Prefecture Centurion looked at his corpse and said dismissively, “That’s it?”
Wielding a broken knife, not even having a horse, he dared to confront fully armed cavalry?
Calling him suicidal would be praising him.
With that, he tossed aside the body like trash and continued to pursue other Uyghur soldiers, no longer paying them any attention.
On the other side, the groom, who had already fled far away, witnessed Ahmed’s death with grief, and screamed hysterically, “Father~”
The death of Ahmed, the City Lord of Kashar, in front of everyone, was indeed a tremendous shock to these nobles.
These Jin Prefecture soldiers in red armor had, in their eyes, become demons.
“Ahhhh~ Why are they doing this to us? Why did they kill my father~”
The groom roared in anger, and just as he was about to draw his saber and fight the Jin Prefecture army, he saw three Jin Prefecture cavalry charging towards him.
Their blood-soaked faces displayed terrifying grins like demons.
The groom, whose fighting spirit had been ignited, felt as if a basin of cold water had been instantly doused on him, and his cowardly and timid nature immediately returned.
Grabbing the bride’s hand, he said in terror, “Let’s go, we need to run.”
“Aliya, run.”
However, how could they outrun warhorses.
Within a few breaths, a cavalryman rushed forward and directly knocked the groom flying.
Then, he reached out and snatched the beautiful bride onto his horse.
“Hahaha~”
“Save me~”
Not far away, the groom lay on the ground, feeling like his internal organs had been dislodged. His once loyal servants had all scattered like birds and beasts.
Only with tears and blood in his eyes did he look at his wife, reaching out his hand, but unable to grasp her.
“Aliya~”
Outside the city, the setting sun cast a bloody afterglow on Er Hu’s body, with the Sun and Moon Battle Flag fluttering behind him.
The cries and the clash of weapons from within the city surged like a tide, mixing with the smell of blood wafting out of the city, yet failing to shake his mountain-like figure.
He rode his warhorse, lowered his gaze, and gently stroked the hilt of his saber at his waist, his fingertips caressing the lion head pattern carved on it.
The Chiliarch Jiang Youtian behind him asked, “Myriad Household Commander, should we kill all these nobles? Or reduce them to slaves?”
Before he finished speaking, Er Hu cast a cold glance at him and snorted, “Slaves will be captured, and these nobles must not be spared either.”
“We only have three thousand cavalry; if we don’t establish our might fiercely, how will the towns behind us behave?”
Among Yelü Zhixin’s twenty thousand troops, a portion had been sent from Kashar City.
Xiao Helun’s death and the massacre of over a thousand Eastern Capital soldiers also made Kashar City complicit.
But what truly drove Er Hu to kill was his consideration for the overall strategy.
Er Hu’s objective for this southern invasion was simple: looting.
After all, with his meager three thousand cavalry, it was impossible to defeat the Eastern Kara-Khanid Khanate.
Attacking city by city would be too slow, and his own losses would inevitably be considerable.
But by establishing his might in Kashar City, the other towns would undoubtedly be terrified upon receiving the news.
At that time, Er Hu would only need to offer terms of not attacking the city, ordering them to hand over treasure, grain, women, and slaves.
Those Uyghur nobles would eagerly agree.
After all, they would only be sacrificing some treasure and the lives of lowly people. As long as they and their descendants could continue to act tyrannically in their territory, what did it matter if they sacrificed the interests of some lowly people?
The lives of lowly people are not called lives.
Kashar was the chicken Er Hu had chosen.
Hearing Er Hu’s explanation, Jiang Youtian nodded gently, and with an expression of admiration, said, “The Myriad Household Commander’s foresight is profound; this subordinate is impressed.”
“Heh heh~”
Er Hu chuckled softly, patted Jiang Youtian on the shoulder, and said, “Old Jiang, although you are older than me, you still have much to learn in terms of strategy.”
“If one only knows how to fight and kill, at most they are just a fierce general, and their rank will cap out at Chiliarch.”
“To become a Myriad Household Commander, one relies on their brain,” Er Hu said with a chuckle, pointing to his head.
These methods were all learned from Li Xiao.
In Er Hu’s opinion, his Elder Brother was the most skilled Commander of cavalry in the entire Western Regions, comparable to those masters of Military Strategy in the Central Plains.
However, Jiang Youtian noticed that since Er Hu left Li Xiao and began leading troops alone, he had become much more ferocious.
His killing intent was heavy, and he was prone to utter annihilation.
Jiang Youtian considered himself quite brave, but he never expected Er Hu to be even more fierce.
“It seems this is the true nature of a Myriad Household Commander; he was actually restraining himself when he was by the Great Protector’s side!” Jiang Youtian thought to himself.
Without Li Xiao’s supervision, Er Hu completely unleashed his nature, and his bloodlust was fully exposed.
He might even turn into a butcher in the future.
“Heh heh, a fierce tiger released from its cage; the foreign races of the Western Regions are about to see rivers of blood,” Jiang Youtian mused to himself.
Just then, a low horn sound echoed from the west of Kashar City.
Er Hu’s eyebrows twitched, and he said indifferently, “Someone escaped from the West Gate.”
“Old Jiang, take five hundred men and intercept them.”
“As you command,” Jiang Youtian replied heavily, then led the five hundred cavalry behind him towards the west of the city to intercept the Uyghur People.
Not long after, Er Hu also dispatched men to the East City and South City.
It was enough to stop most of them; it wouldn’t matter if some Common People escaped, as they could carry the news of Kashar City out.
It wasn’t until dusk was approaching that Er Hu, stepping through the setting sun, entered Kashar City.
Tonight, the Jin Prefecture Army would revel in the city all night.
However, Er Hu soon received a report: “Kashar City has been controlled, but some Common People have fled to the temple.”
“A group of monks are blocking the temple gate, telling us to stop killing.”
Hearing this, Er Hu’s eyebrows shot up, and he said angrily, “What is Zhao Shunzi doing?”
“Can’t even handle such a small matter?”
“Kill all those bald donkeys, and smelt all the Buddhist statues in the temple.”
“A bunch of bald donkeys who do nothing all day and only pretend to be divine and practice sorcery, they should have all been killed long ago,” Er Hu said coldly.
The Common People of Jin Prefecture did not believe in Buddha, nor did they believe in Allah; their only faith was in Heaven and their ancestors.
All Buddhist statues were smelted into gold, and there was no difference in treatment between the bald donkeys and the Common People.
If they were willing to work, they would be given a meal; otherwise, they would be killed directly.
Er Hu was also influenced by Li Xiao, and showed no mercy towards these monks.
Soon, the Jin Prefecture Army stormed into the largest temple in the city.
An old monk wearing Red Sandalwood Prayer Beads sat cross-legged in the hall, with numerous Uyghur People behind him.
He clasped his hands together, and with a compassionate expression, said, “Benefactor, do no evil, practice all good deeds, lay down your butcher knife, and become a Buddha~”
However, before he could finish speaking, he heard a Centurion sneer, “Noisy~”
“Old bald donkey, go be a Buddha with your mother.”
With that, before the old monk’s astonished gaze, his Cavalry Saber sliced across his neck.
The crisp sound of broken prayer beads mixed with a muffled groan, blood spurted out, his head hung on his chest, and the old monk’s corpse fell heavily into the hall.
“Brothers, charge~”
“Overturn the Buddha statues~”
The Centurion laughed wildly, his blood-stained Cavalry Saber pointing at the golden body of the Buddha statue.
In Gaochang City, he had once followed Li Xiao in excavating local temples and smelting Buddha statues; at that time, he was still a Captain.
Now, he had become a Centurion.
In the past, he also believed in Buddha, but he was bullied and lived in poverty.
Now, he desecrated Buddha and instead was promoted and prospered, his fortune flourishing.
Thus, it seemed Buddha was also a bully who favored the strong and feared the weak.
Seeing that the Jin Prefecture Army dared to kill monks, the other monks stopped posturing.
They all knelt in fear, begging for mercy.
These monks usually plundered the people’s wealth, eating heartily.
The more so, the more they clung to life and feared death.
……
The Dark Night and sin seemed to merge into one, casting a bloody veil over the ancient town.
In the City Lord’s Mansion, the groom had his hands and legs broken and was hung from a beam.
Not long after, a commotion of shouts was heard from the City Lord’s Mansion.
Er Hu walked out of the room with his shoulders bare, frowning and asking, “What is going on?”
A Personal Guard immediately reported, “Reporting to the Myriad Household Commander, there are assassins in the mansion.”
“Perhaps some of the original Uyghur People were not completely cleared out.”
Upon hearing this, Er Hu’s eyes widened, and he kicked the Personal Guard Captain, angrily asking, “How did you do your job?”
“Catch the assassins immediately.”
“Yes, Myriad Household Commander~”
The Personal Guard Captain gritted his teeth, hating the assassin to death.
Taking an enemy general’s head from amidst a myriad of troops was ultimately just a fabricated story by storytellers.
In reality, the great army’s Commander was guarded by tens of thousands of soldiers; even if one impersonated a soldier to get close to the Commander, it was difficult to evade the search of the Personal Guards.
Unless it was a betrayal by someone close, assassination within the military was difficult to achieve.
Shortly after, the Personal Guard Captain reported, “Myriad Household Commander, the assassin has been caught, only one person.”
“According to the captive’s confession, this person is the bride’s Elder Brother, originally the son of a Noble from Gaochang City.”
Hearing this, Er Hu glanced at the woman in the room and sneered.
“Do these people really think my Jin Prefecture Army is just for show.”
“Hmph~”
“Kill him~”
Er Hu said coldly, showing no regard for the woman, daring to be an assassin meant being prepared to be killed.
Er Hu was not a forgiving person.
Having left Li Xiao’s restraint, his bloodlust grew stronger.
Freed from Li Xiao’s restraint, his desire to kill grew stronger.
