Chapter 59: The End of the Moman Tribe

Not long after, the Eastern Capital Army broke camp and set out. Li Xiao also rode out of the main camp.

“The Fortress Lord is out.”

“Fortress Lord, are you okay?”

“Brother Da Long, the Khitans didn’t do anything to you, did they?”

Seeing Li Xiao, the one hundred Hexi cavalry outside the camp instantly surrounded him, protecting him in the middle, asking questions all at once.

Regarding this care, Li Xiao also felt slightly comforted in his heart, laughing loudly: “What could happen to me?”

“The Khitans dare not do anything to me.”

“Let’s go, talk after returning.”

Soon, Li Xiao led the one hundred Hexi cavalry galloping towards Ta Village.

After returning, Li Xiao immediately called Qin Kaishan and others over to hold the supreme military conference of the seven fortresses.

“Xiao Simo is not a simple person; deep-minded, very domineering, and even more ambitious.”

“In addition to the fifteen thousand cavalry from Yin Mountain and Beihai, Xiao Simo also summoned five thousand troops from the Desert, which are also on the way.”

Li Xiao briefly introduced Xiao Simo and other news obtained from the big tent.

Hearing this, the expressions of Qin Kaishan and others became serious.

“Twenty thousand troops?”

“The number of our Han people in Jin Prefecture combined is only about this much!”

“Is this Xiao Simo really going to attack the Naimans?”

“If a war starts with the Naimans, our Jin Prefecture will suffer.”

Qin Kaishan and the others said with worry.

Li Xiao shook his head gently: “This war is inevitable; none of us can stop it.”

Although there were irreconcilable contradictions between the Naimans and Western Liao, historically, the two sides rarely fought a head-on war.

But now, because of Li Xiao’s appearance, the annihilation of Aslan’s tribe brought the situation in Jin Prefecture under control.

Xiao Simo’s Eastern Capital Army would not be dragged into the quagmire of war in Jin Prefecture unable to extricate itself.

He already had absolute certainty to eliminate the Karluks, then wave his army straight at the Naimans.

This was a war that shouldn’t have existed in history.

But it was about to happen soon.

So much so that Li Xiao had to suspect that future developments would probably deviate from the historical trajectory.

For example, would Xiao Simo succeed in rebelling?

“What should we do?” Luo Ping asked with a frown.

Li Xiao snorted: “What else can we do? Do we still have a choice?”

“Xiao Simo’s twenty thousand troops are right in Jin Prefecture; could it be we still want to play safe, or be half-hearted?”

As these words came out, everyone sighed helplessly.

In the face of absolute strength, any conspiracy or scheme was nonsense.

“Get ready; break camp this afternoon and follow the Eastern Capital Army to suppress the Karluks,” Li Xiao said.

Hearing this, everyone nodded and left.

This time, the Eastern Capital Army would attack the Moman tribe and the Qibi tribe simultaneously.

And the task Li Xiao received was to assist in attacking the Moman tribe at Wuya Village.

But at this time, the Karluks of the Moman tribe had not yet realized the seriousness of the matter, still immersed in the longing for a better future life.

“Wuguli, your flock over there is about to scatter, be careful,” an old herdsman waved his whip and shouted loudly to a young Karluk in the distance.

The young man named Wuguli laughed nonchalantly, turned on his horse, and lashed out with his whip.

Directly cursing: “Lowly Han people, you are too slow.”

“Go bring those sheep back; if one sheep is missing, I’ll chop off your feet.”

The whip made of sheepskin was very tough, instantly leaving a bloody mark on a person’s body. The two Han people beside him were in rags.

Their bodies scarred, after being whipped, they gritted their teeth tightly, hiding the emotion of hatred in their hearts, and hurried to chase the flock.

To prevent them from escaping, the Karluks simply didn’t allow them to ride horses.

“Haha, these Han people run really slow, not even as good as my dog.”

Looking at the backs of the two Han slaves, the Karluk named Wuguli snorted lightly, his face full of disdain.

While the old herdsman chuckled lightly, only instructing: “Don’t beat them to death, otherwise there won’t be enough people to look after your sheep.”

Such were the rules of the grassland; who told these Han people to lose the battle and become slaves of the Moman tribe?

The old herdsman didn’t care about this, turning his head to look after his own flock.

“If days in the future could always be like this, that would be great.”

Originally, he was just an ordinary herdsman, relying on a dozen sheep to support a large family, living very strenuously.

But unexpectedly, after defeating the Jin Prefecture Army and capturing Wuya Village, the Moman tribe suddenly became rich.

Even the old herdsman was distributed dozens of sheep.

Life became wealthy instantly, and he was smiling every day.

“Uncle Nielun, do you think we can win?” A Karluk boy leaned over and asked worriedly.

The old herdsman’s cloudy eyes looked toward the horizon, and he chuckled: “Don’t worry, the Yabgu has already sent people to ask the Naimans for help.”

“Even if the Eastern Capital Army arrives, we will be fine.”

Behind the Karluks were precisely the Naimans.

Since Aslan’s tribe was destroyed, the offensives of the Moman tribe and Qibi tribe were also frustrated successively.

So the chiefs of the two tribes calculated that relying on themselves, they probably could no longer integrate the Jin Prefecture Han people to confront the Eastern Capital Army.

They could only ask for help from their financial backer, the Naimans.

“Little Luoga, rest assured, the Naimans have probably already deployed troops at the Altai Pass.”

“If the Eastern Capital Army dares to come, we will join the Naimans and teach those Khitans a severe lesson.” Wuguli rode his horse to the two and said with a loud laugh.

“After defeating the Eastern Capital Army, the entire Northern Border will open its doors to us.”

Wuguli was confident and had great expectations for the Naimans.

Mainly because the chief of the Moman tribe constantly brainwashed them to avoid fear among the tribesmen, preaching the theory of inevitable victory in war.

Young people like Wuguli believed it to be true.

“But even if we defeat the Khitans, aren’t there still the Naimans?”

“When can we Karluks truly rebuild the Khanate?” Little Luoga wondered.

The Khitans left, and the Naimans would oppress them again; why was the fate of the Karluk nation so tragic?

“Don’t think so much; these are just tests on the road to rebuilding our Karluk Khanate. We will definitely succeed.” The old herdsman smiled and said to Little Luoga.

But in the next second, the smile on his face slowly disappeared, and his expression began to become somewhat puzzled.

A burst of low roaring seemed to come to his ears. Looking up at the sky, it was cloudless, soaked in red glow.

“Getting old, ears are starting to go deaf.”

The old herdsman shook his head lightly with a smile; he thought he was having auditory hallucinations.

But soon, the flock beside him seemed to feel something too, howling constantly.

Thousands of cattle and sheep were restless, looking terrified, scrambling to flee in all directions; the old herdsman and the others couldn’t control them at all.

But he was in no mood to care about the flock anymore. At this moment, he finally understood he was not hallucinating, but a situation had truly arisen.

“Enemies!”

The old herdsman shouted in terror.

Quickly mounting his horse, a pair of black hands like tree bark gripped a bow tightly like pincers.

Karluks growing up on the grassland were too familiar with this situation; this was the sound of a huge herd of horses raiding.

And the surrounding Karluks quickly gathered toward the old herdsman.

“Where did this large cavalry unit come from?” Wuguli said in shock.

Others were also puzzled: “Listening to this sound, there are probably thousands of people; it’s impossible for Jin Prefecture to still have so many cavalry troops.”

“Could it be the Eastern Capital Army?”

The old herdsman’s face full of wrinkles became extremely solemn.

Looking in the direction the sound came from, he said in a deep voice: “We are in trouble.”

“Go back quickly.”

Daring not to delay, ignoring even the flock outside, these Karluks all couldn’t wait to run inside Wuya Village.

And learning the lesson of Sanhe Fortress being raided at night, everyone from the Moman tribe squeezed inside Wuya Village.

No one dared to set up tents outside the village anymore.

At this time, all Karluks in Wuya Village were alerted. They all picked up weapons and came behind the moat.

All with nervous and solemn expressions, gazing at the direction the sound came from in the distance.

When the roaring sound became louder and louder, they finally saw the shadow of this army.

Faces full of disbelief, the old herdsman’s dry lips finally erupted with a roar: “It’s the Khitans, the Eastern Capital Army is here.”

At this moment, the entire Moman tribe fell into panic.

The Naiman reinforcements they expected didn’t arrive; instead, the Eastern Capital Army came.

The boundless army, like a dark cloud, directly surrounded the small Wuya Village.

Under the coverage of powerful force, the Karluks of Wuya Village were like a small boat in a storm.

Capizing was imminent.

“Damn it, I said long ago we should leave Jin Prefecture as soon as possible and defect to the Naimans.”

“You said shit earlier; you said the Eastern Capital Army wouldn’t come so fast.”

“Clearly you were reluctant to part with the Han cattle, sheep, and women, and wanted to conquer another Han fortress before leaving.”

“Alright, what’s the use of saying this now?”

“Send people quickly to ask the Naimans for help.”

“That’s right, Khitans won’t break into the village so easily; we can definitely hold on until the Naimans arrive.”

With the arrival of the Eastern Capital Army, the people of the Moman tribe panicked constantly, clamoring, blaming each other, in a mess.

Actually, when they first discovered the arrival of the Eastern Capital Army, the people of the Moman tribe still had a chance to escape.

But most people were reluctant to part with their cattle, sheep, and wealth.

And also believed the Naimans would come to save them, so they tacitly didn’t leave but chose to stick to the village.

On the other side, Xiao Simo, wearing a big coat, stood on a high slope, looking at the outline of Wuya Village from afar.

Shaking his head gently, he said: “These Han people are troublesome. In the Central Plains, they liked building city walls; coming to the grassland, they actually made so many walls and moats too.”

A Khitan general beside him heard this and laughed loudly: “No choice, Han people have always been this timid!”

Khitans had ruled the Han people of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun for hundreds of years, and deep down still held a great sense of self-superiority over Han people.

“Great King, let’s fight~”

“Great King, let my men go; before dark, we can definitely take this village.”

“Great King, let me~”

Khitan generals requested battle one after another, but Xiao Simo shook his head: “We Khitan warriors are eagles on the grassland and should fight unrestrainedly.”

“This kind of attacking cities and seizing strongholds should be left to others!”

Saying that, Xiao Simo looked at his personal guard: “Pass the order.”

“The Jin Prefecture Han Division, along with the Woliejian, Halatu, Hechila, and other left and right divisions, attack Wuya Village together.”

“Before dark, I want to see the leader of the Moman tribe kneeling in front of me.”

(End of this chapter)