Chapter 88: Vital Weapon of the State

After Buermahei ordered the surrender, the battle ended quickly.

Li Xiao also ordered his soldiers to stop the slaughter.

Li Dashan and the others swiftly brought their men to encircle them, catching all the Naimans in one net.

Soon, under Li Xiao’s command, the Naimans were forcibly disarmed and their warhorses confiscated.

The able-bodied men were locked up separately from the women, children, and the elderly.

Men were also sent to drive back the Naimans’ cattle, sheep, and warhorses, and to gather the spoils of war.

Taking advantage of the time before the sun had completely set, they set up camp and arranged defenses.

By the time they finished everything, the sky had already turned completely dark.

In the temporary camp, tents had been pitched one by one, and piles of bonfires illuminated the area brightly.

The soldiers were boiling horse meat in iron pots, eating their dinner.

Li Xiao, however, had taken off his iron armor and put on a sheepskin coat. Sitting by the bonfire, he held a Divine Arm Crossbow and studied it carefully.

“The structure of this thing isn’t actually complicated,” Li Xiao said softly.

It was mainly composed of three parts: the arm, the bow, and the trigger mechanism.

The structure was simple and easy to disassemble.

Moreover, the materials required weren’t excessive; compared to making a strong bow, it just required a few more components.

“When I return to Jin Prefecture, I can try to manufacture one,” Li Xiao said to himself.

After putting down the Divine Arm Crossbow, Li Xiao summoned Buermahei and Guerba.

“I am Li Xiao, a Thousand-Man Commander of Jin Prefecture.”

Li Xiao stood up, his hands clasped behind his back, staring at the two men as he spoke in a deep voice.

“Greetings, my Lord.”

Buermahei and Guerba hurriedly bowed.

Although Li Xiao’s age surprised them somewhat, they didn’t dare to show the slightest disrespect in their hearts.

They even felt that the expressionless young man standing by the fire brought them a pressure more terrifying than Tayang Khan.

His deep gaze was like knives, constantly sliding over their bodies.

“These Divine Arm Crossbows, and these twenty suits of Toadskin Armor—what is the story behind them?” Li Xiao looked directly at the two and asked in a flat voice.

Among the spoils this time, besides the one hundred Divine Arm Crossbows, there were also twenty suits of Toadskin Armor.

The moment he saw these items, Li Xiao knew he had struck it rich.

This battle was definitely not fought in vain; the harvest was astonishing.

Just the value of these twenty suits of Toadskin Armor alone could rival the flocks of an entire tribe.

Toadskin Armor was also called Cold Forged Armor.

It was the strongest armor of this era. In fact, throughout the entire history of ancient armor, Toadskin Armor was a unique existence.

About a hundred years ago, a Qiang tribe within the territory of Western Xia mastered a unique forging technology—the cold forging technique.

Armor plates forged using the cold forging technique were far stronger than ordinary iron plates, yet their thickness was half that of ordinary plates.

Therefore, the Western Xia people used cold forging technology to forge armor, which was called Toadskin Armor.

Its appearance could be called the pinnacle of armor-making technology.

Every suit of Cold Forged Toadskin Armor was enough to become an heirloom of a noble family.

Because not only was its defense astonishing—far exceeding ordinary iron armor—but its production cost was also extremely expensive.

Each leaf of the Toadskin Armor often required a craftsman to hammer it continuously for several days to produce.

And how many leaves were needed for a single suit of armor? Thousands.

Therefore, the value of the twenty suits of Toadskin Armor captured this time was absolutely immeasurable.

Each one could be treated as a family treasure.

“These Divine Arm Crossbows and armors were all procured from Blackwater City by Guerba under Tayang Khan’s orders. This lowly one does not know the specific details.”

Facing Li Xiao’s inquiry, Buermahei spoke first.

Since he had already surrendered, there was certainly no need to hide anything.

Cooperating honestly might even win some benefits for his tribe.

After hearing him finish, Li Xiao turned his gaze to the small Naiman man beside him.

He was around thirty years old, with a thin physique, but he looked somewhat shrewd.

“This…”

Guerba felt helpless inside and revealed a bitter smile.

He hadn’t expected things to reach this point at all.

Although he was Tayang Khan’s man, he also wanted to live, so he confessed honestly.

“These one hundred Divine Arm Crossbows and twenty suits of Toadskin Armor were all bought from the Army Commander of Blackwater City.”

Li Xiao was slightly surprised. “The Army Commander of Blackwater City?”

Guerba thought Li Xiao didn’t know Blackwater City, so he explained, “Blackwater City is located north of Jiuquan and south of the Gobi Altai.”

“It is a key military town in the northwest of Western Xia.”

“The Army of Pacifying Yan, one of the Twelve Military Commissions of Western Xia, is located there.”

The Twelve Military Commissions of Western Xia were equivalent to twelve regional military districts.

When Li Yuanhao established the Army of Pacifying Yan back then, he had stationed an army of thirty thousand there to defend against the nomadic peoples of the northern steppe.

However, nowadays, it was unknown how many remained.

” The Army Commander of the Army of Pacifying Yan actually sold items like Divine Arm Crossbows and Toadskin Armor to your Naiman tribe?” Li Xiao said speechlessly.

Both of these items could be called “Vital Weapons of the State”—yet they sold them to an enemy country?

Hearing this, Guerba chuckled. “Who in this world doesn’t like money? The Army Commander of the Army of Pacifying Yan is also human and has to consider the army under his command.”

“The Western Xia imperial court has delayed issuing food and pay for a long time. They can only sell off the surplus military ordinance.”

Military ordinance was basically issued according to the headcount; how could there be a surplus?

They were pocketing the pay of ghost soldiers, of course.

Li Xiao shook his head, understanding the situation of the Western Xia army.

Corruption, smuggling to the enemy, the court owing wages, and generals drinking the soldiers’ blood.

The Western Xia army was already doing everything that armies did at the end of every dynasty.

One could well imagine how much their combat power had collapsed.

Signs of a fallen nation!

However, Li Xiao then thought that even if the combat power of the Western Xia army was like this, the Mongols still fought seven times before completely destroying Western Xia.

“Perhaps the Mongol cavalry of this period doesn’t have such exaggerated combat power yet.”

When did the combat power of the Mongol cavalry multiply?

After conquering the Central Capital of the Jin State.

Only after capturing a large number of craftsmen from the Central Plains and looting countless supplies did they train the Mongol Iron Cavalry’s combat power up to that level.

The current Mongol cavalry was probably not much stronger than the Naimans.

“Can you get more Toadskin Armor from Western Xia?” Li Xiao asked, looking at Guerba.

Hearing this, the Naiman man’s face instantly turned bitter.

“That… might be a bit troublesome.”

“Toadskin Armor is very precious and extremely difficult to make. These twenty suits are likely all the Army of Pacifying Yan had.”

“If it were other military equipment, I could probably get some,” Guerba said softly, glancing at Li Xiao’s face from time to time.

Noticing that Li Xiao’s expression seemed a bit displeased, he immediately added, “Although Blackwater City doesn’t have any, I could go check the two Military Commissions in Ganzhou and Guazhou.”

“Perhaps they have surplus Toadskin Armor in their hands.”

Guerba had to demonstrate his value and make himself a useful person.

He was terrified that Li Xiao would despise him for wasting food and chop him down in a moment of unhappiness.

Hearing a satisfactory answer, the frost on Li Xiao’s face instantly receded. When he looked at Guerba, he immediately revealed a smile as bright as the scorching sun.

“Hahaha.”

“Your name is Guerba, right?”

“You are a talent.”

“Jin Prefecture needs talents like you.”

“Anyway, Tayang Khan is about to be finished. From now on, you will work for me,” Li Xiao laughed happily.

Hutu, who was responsible for translating the Naiman language nearby, felt these words sounded very familiar.

Wasn’t that exactly what Li Xiao had said to him back then?

This is bad; this Naiman is here to compete for favor.

Immediately, Hutu’s gaze toward Guerba became somewhat unpleasant.

Guerba, having received Li Xiao’s assurance, instantly breathed a sigh of relief—he wouldn’t die for the time being.

A smile slowly appeared on his face.

He hurriedly said to Li Xiao, “Thank you, my Lord, for sparing my life. This lowly one will definitely do his utmost to work for my Lord in the future.”

Li Xiao nodded with satisfaction.

This Naiman named Guerba was relatively familiar with Western Xia affairs; he was indeed the talent Li Xiao needed.

After all, Li Xiao was very covetous of the fat piece of meat that was Western Xia.

Once he gained a firm foothold in Jin Prefecture, Li Xiao would have to try to make contact with Western Xia.

In Western Xia, not only were there many Han Chinese, but it was also a militarily industrial power with a large number of craftsmen.

Its industrial technology level was almost comparable to the Song State.

If he could swallow Western Xia, then the power under Li Xiao’s command would undergo a qualitative transformation.

However, the current Li Xiao could only fantasize a little.

To achieve this goal, considerable effort was still required.

After accepting Guerba, Li Xiao turned his gaze to Buermahei.

This tribe originally lived at the foot of the Gobi Altai Mountains, not far from Western Xia.

Even during times of scarcity, they often went south to loot Western Xia villages.

Li Xiao had found some Western Xia Han slaves in his tribe.

In the process of contacting Western Xia in the future, this Naiman tribe also had utilization value.

“Your tribe is no longer Naiman people from now on, but people of my Jin Prefecture.”

“You will listen to my orders in the future.”

Hearing this, Buermahei also breathed a sigh of relief.

He hurriedly expressed his loyalty, saying, “As you command.”

“From now on, the Huoerma Tribe will obey my Lord’s orders in everything.”

Most people in nomadic tribes did not have the concept of country or nation.

It was only because the Naiman tribe was strong that the Huoerma Tribe had attached itself to the Naimans.

Now that the Naiman tribe was about to be finished, the Huoerma Tribe didn’t mind changing to a new boss.

As long as the tribe could continue to survive, everything else was not a problem.

“Go and comfort your clansmen properly. Our Liao army is not your enemy, and we will not do anything to you.”

“Tomorrow morning, select all the able-bodied men in your tribe to accompany me to war against Tayang Khan.”

Li Xiao said to Buermahei in a deep voice.

The Huoerma Tribe had nearly six hundred able-bodied men, which was not a weak combat force.

If they dared to betray him, Li Xiao would immediately have people slaughter all the old, weak, women, and children of the Huoerma Tribe.

“Yes, as you command.”

After Buermahei and the other man left, Li Xiao issued an order to everyone.

“Tell your men to control what’s in their pants.”

“This Naiman tribe is different.”

“No one is allowed to touch the women of this tribe.”

Facing previous Naiman tribes, Li Xiao’s army had mainly focused on looting.

But now, with the change in the situation, Li Xiao could not consistently use hardline measures against the Naimans.

He had to use both the carrot and the stick.

Facing these Naimans who surrendered, Li Xiao would prioritize pacification, incorporating them as wings and claws for his own warfare.