Chapter 53: You Really Are A Talent
Endless bonfires burned in the dark night, illuminating this chaotic land.
No dripping blood, no clashing of blades.
There were only the uneasy neighs of war horses and the joy of the Hexi Cavalry after their victory.
“Separate all the captives from their war horses, detain them individually, and confiscate all their weapons.”
In the dark night, Li Xiao wore armor and held a horse spear, riding on horseback as he patrolled and loudly commanded.
Behind him, Thin Monkey and Tie Tou followed closely like loyal guards, holding torches and spears.
The battle was over!
When the Hexi Cavalry completed their encirclement of the Zhelan People.
Using three times the number of torches, they caused the Zhelan People to mistakenly overestimate the number of Hexi Cavalry, creating great panic and psychological pressure for the Zhelan People.
At this moment, the battle was already without suspense.
The vast majority of Zhelan People dismounted and surrendered.
The few who stubbornly resisted or tried to flee were all shot dead by the Hexi Cavalry.
In the end, the Hexi Cavalry defeated this Zhelan cavalry force at almost no cost in casualties.
Following Li Xiao’s orders, the Hexi Cavalry quickly sprang into action.
They gathered the Zhelan People’s war horses together, forced them to discard their weapons, and then squat on the open ground on the other side.
But those who disobeyed were shot dead on the spot.
Soon, Lin Dazhuang rode over and reported to Li Xiao: “Fort Master, the captives have been counted: a total of three hundred and eighty-two people.”
Three hundred and eighty-two people?
Quite a few indeed!
Fortunately, these Zhelan People were coerced into surrendering.
If these Zhelan People had fought to the death, even though Hexi Fort and Tazhai had the advantage in numbers, there would inevitably have been significant casualties.
Not worth it.
At this moment, Li Xiao once again recognized the importance of that saying.
The jianghu is not about fighting and killing; it’s about human relationships and etiquette.
Grasping the enemy’s psychology can help reduce a lot of trouble and losses for oneself.
Subduing the enemy without fighting is always the first choice in battle.
“Dazhuang, take that slave from earlier and pick out a group of the highest-status people from these captives.” Li Xiao instructed.
Hearing this, Lin Dazhuang’s face twitched slightly, instantly realizing what Li Xiao intended to do.
Force those low-level captives to submit a pledge of allegiance.
It had been done the same way before at Hou Village, and Lin Dazhuang had even led the way.
Now, it was the turn of these Zhelan People to offer their loyalty.
“Understood~” Lin Dazhuang nodded solemnly with a serious expression.
Not long after, Lin Dazhuang selected a group of Zhelan nobles from the captives, then brought two tightly bound captives to Li Xiao.
“Kneel!”
Lin Dazhuang shouted loudly at the two.
These two were Nie Erdu and the Khitan Supervisor named Kuo Tu.
Facing Lin Dazhuang’s shout, Nie Erdu ignored it and looked toward Li Xiao’s face, seemingly surprised by Li Xiao’s age.
He frowned slightly and let out a light hum, as if his attitude was very tough and disdainful.
But then Tie Tou struck him on the leg with a stick from behind.
With an “Ah~” cry of pain, Nie Erdu collapsed to the ground.
As for the other Khitan, he was even more arrogant.
“I am a Khitan person, a supervisor sent by the Eastern Capital Governor’s Mansion.”
“You Han people are simply audacious.”
“Release me quickly, or Lord Xiao will not let you off.”
The Khitan struggled constantly, but the ropes bound him tightly, and then two Hexi youths forcibly pressed him down to kneel on the ground.
He kept cursing angrily from his mouth, with an extremely arrogant attitude.
“What is this guy saying?”
Although Li Xiao couldn’t understand, from the guy’s expression, it seemed to be extremely insulting.
He was about to have someone kill this guy on the spot, but the slave from before whispered: “Master, he is a Khitan supervisor, asking us to release him.”
Li Xiao had already asked this slave’s name before; it was Hutu.
He was from a Central Asian nomadic tribe, captured as a slave from childhood, passed around, and eventually fell into the hands of the Zhelan People.
In short, this guy’s life was quite tough.
Now he had decisively acknowledged Li Xiao as his new master.
“You even understand the Khitan language?” Li Xiao said, glancing at Hutu.
Hutu smiled lightly and lowered his head slightly: “Hutu’s former master was a Khitan person.”
“So, your Chinese language was also learned from a previous Han Chinese master?” Li Xiao said.
Hutu nodded hurriedly.
He felt like he was a language genius; every time he followed a new master, he learned a new language.
Li Xiao nodded lightly, then asked casually: “Did your previous two masters die?”
Hutu was stunned, not understanding, carefully glanced at Li Xiao’s expression, and shook his head: “No, they didn’t.”
“They should be living well now.”
Oh, that’s fine then!
Li Xiao nodded lightly, relieved.
After all, this slave had a tough life; fortunately, he wasn’t a lone star of calamity.
“Master, that person is the chieftain of the Zhelan Tribe, Nie Erdu; his son was killed by Master…”
“This Khitan supervisor is named Kuo Tu; he loves gold and silver treasures a lot, and Nie Erdu gave him many treasures.”
Hutu introduced the two’s identities to Li Xiao.
Li Xiao had no interest in this chieftain named Nie Erdu and nothing to ask him.
On the contrary, he was very curious about this Khitan supervisor.
“Go ask him: how many Eastern Capital Army troops have come? Where are they? How many routes did they split into?” Li Xiao said to Hutu.
These matters were very important; Li Xiao urgently needed to know.
Then, Hutu exchanged words with Kuo Tu in the Khitan language, and said to Li Xiao.
“Master, he refuses to say anything, just clamoring for us to let him go, or we’ll face severe punishment.”
Li Xiao had already seen the Khitan’s toughness through his body language and expressions.
He had been thinking of torturing the Khitan to extract the intelligence he wanted.
Unexpectedly, Hutu said: “However, Master, although this Khitan won’t talk, I know some things.”
“Oh?” Li Xiao became interested in this new slave of his.
He nodded: “Tell me~”
“I heard Nie Erdu and the Zhelan nobles say before that for this eastern expedition, there are five thousand troops from the Khitan Sixth Courtyard Department.”
“Plus troops gathered from the Yin Mountains and the North Sea, totaling ten thousand, so the eastern expedition army is around fifteen thousand in total.”
“They are probably split into two routes; the troops from the Yin Mountains, with the Zhelan Tribe as the vanguard, and the main force should still be sixty li away.”
“As for the troops from the North Sea, this slave doesn’t know.”
Although what Hutu knew wasn’t detailed, it was enough for Li Xiao.
But what surprised Li Xiao was the number of Eastern Capital Army troops.
“Fifteen thousand people?”
What are the Khitan people trying to do?
The number of Geluolu rebels in Jin Prefecture was only around three thousand at the start.
Now, after Li Xiao wiped out the Aslan Tribe, their numbers were even fewer.
Mobilizing fifteen thousand troops to suppress them—was it really necessary to bully them like this?
But then thinking of the Naiman People supporting the Geluolu rebellion, Li Xiao’s expression turned serious.
“They’re not planning to go to war with the Naiman People, are they?”
The Naiman People were not comparable to the Geluolu people in Jin Prefecture.
That was a super large tribe in the western Mongolian Plateau; although it had split a few years ago, it still had over a hundred thousand tribesmen and could easily field over ten thousand cavalry.
If they went to war with the Naiman People, Jin Prefecture would be in danger, directly turning into a battlefield for tens of thousands.
“Ask him if the Eastern Capital Army is preparing to go to war with the Naiman People?” Li Xiao asked urgently.
After exchanging a few words with the Khitan supervisor again, Hutu shook his head at Li Xiao: “Master.”
“He says he doesn’t know, and even if he did, he wouldn’t tell us.”
Damn~
Li Xiao’s fiery temper flared up, wanting to kill this Khitan on the spot.
But Hutu said at that moment: “However, Master, I have some knowledge.”
Seeing Li Xiao’s serious gaze glance over, Hutu hurriedly said: “When the Eastern Capital Governor’s Mansion issued orders to the Zhelan Tribe, they specifically instructed to prepare more winter clothing.”
“And they also asked if anyone knew the Naiman language.”
Hearing this, Li Xiao stared straight at Hutu, stroked his chin, and said: “You don’t understand the Naiman language too, do you?”
Being stared at by Li Xiao like this, Hutu felt a bit nervous; after all, he had just submitted, and didn’t yet know his new master’s temper.
He could only nod cautiously: “Yes, I understand a little of the Naiman language~”
“Ha~” Li Xiao laughed outright.
He had just asked casually, but this guy actually knew it.
What was this?
“You really are a talent, damn it.” Li Xiao pointed at Hutu with his horsewhip.
What was most important in the 13th century?
Talent!
Those who could strategize from the tent and win battles a thousand li away were talents; those who could deploy troops, form arrays, and lead armies well were talents; those who could manage logistics and civil affairs well were also talents.
And someone like Hutu, who knew multiple languages, was an even rarer talent.
Unexpectedly, after one battle, he was given such a gift.
Honestly, Li Xiao was a bit envious of Hutu’s language talent.
Unlike himself; although he was a transmigrator, besides some half-baked English, he only knew a bit of Kazakh.
“I should learn more foreign languages,” Li Xiao thought to himself.
The first one would definitely be the Khitan language, since the Western Liao was ruled by Khitan people, and there would be many dealings with them in the future.
Master the Khitan language, and you can travel the Western Liao without fear.
But who to find as his Khitan language teacher?
Li Xiao seemed to forget about Hutu, as a graceful figure appeared in his mind.
“She should be a good teacher, right?” Li Xiao’s mouth curved up slightly as he thought to himself.
“Someday when there’s a chance at night, I must take the initiative to visit and ask for lessons.”
Mainly, Li Xiao really liked learning foreign languages.
