Han Khan

Chapter 149: The Right Wing Returns in Triumph
It is now October and the snow has begun to fall.

With the howling north wind, Mobei finally entered the severe winter season.

The three right wing troops of Jinhan, led by Zhang Xibao, had already crossed the continuous mountains and entered the valley near the watchtower on the north side of Jinhan's camp.

Zhang Xibao looked back towards Jinshan and the invisible Sayan Mountains. Winter was approaching and their journey was extremely difficult.

But no prisoners of war or slaves escaped, because all the supplies were taken away by the Jinhan cavalry. Without livestock, food, bows and swords, how could they survive in this cold winter? The winter in Mobei was much more terrible than being a slave. Hunger, wild beasts and cold, which one would not kill you?
Beside them were more than 30,000 Ubili prisoners of war, hundreds of thousands of livestock, and more than 300 high-wheeled carriages, all heading towards the Great Lake Camp like a long dragon.

There was no snow in the valley at this time. Although the grass and trees were yellow, it was much warmer than in the mountains. The temperature was even similar to that of Dunhuang in winter.

At this time, Zhang Xibao thought, Your Highness is really wise. He led us to fight against the Guchuwuti tribe continuously, and finally captured this winter pasture valley where the mountains blocked the wind and snow to avoid the cold wind and blizzard in winter.

At this time, the guards patrolling near the watchtower discovered Zhang Xibao's army and hurried forward to investigate. When they saw the fluttering holy flags and the livestock stretching from the sky to the ground, the guards were overjoyed.

Some soldiers hurried to greet Zhang Xibao, while others rushed to the temple camp fifty miles to the south. They wanted to report to His Highness that the Chief of the Guards, Zhang Xibao, had returned triumphantly with the right wing.

Looking at the soldiers coming to greet him, Zhang Xibao sighed:
"We have finally completed this journey. No wonder the Hu people in the northern desert often go south to plunder the Central Plains. It is so hard. Hunger and coldness shroud the herdsmen all the time. Fortunately, we have captured enough supplies, otherwise we don't know whether we can return to the Great Lakes Basin!"

"Yes, Commander, no wonder the Hu people have to bring their entire families and all their livestock and supplies to fight together. It is for the purpose of having supplies along the way. But if they are defeated, they will be completely swallowed up by the enemy. It's really a world of difference every ten miles. What's more, we are now thousands of miles away from Dunhuang!" said Luo Wenda on the side.

I saw a tall figure covered in solid iron armor, riding a majestic brown warhorse, galloping towards me in a heroic manner.

When he arrived in front of Zhang Xibao and others, he jumped off his horse swiftly, knelt on one knee, saluted with his hands, and said in a loud and respectful voice: "Greetings to the commander of the imperial guards, congratulations on your triumphant return!"

When Zhang Xibao and Luo Wenda saw this person, they were immediately delighted. Luo Wenda smiled and said, "Sa Huitong, it turns out that you are in charge of patrolling!"

It turned out that this warrior named Sahuitong was a Sai slave captured by Jin Han when he attacked the Uighurs in Qilian Mountains.

Because of his bravery and good fighting skills, and his utmost loyalty after converting to the Holy Religion, he was highly appreciated by His Highness.

His Highness not only personally gave him the Chinese name Sahuitong, but also granted him the status of a warrior.

Sahuitong, whose real name is Saru, heard what Luo Wenda said and quickly replied respectfully: "Captain Luo, I am now serving as the battalion commander because of your trust.

Today it happens to be my turn to lead a battalion to patrol near the watchtower."

Luo Wenda, who was riding on horseback, nodded with satisfaction and said encouragingly: "Serve His Highness well. If you make contributions in the future, His Highness will definitely not be stingy with your rewards!"

Zhang Xibao asked excitedly, "Has your highness returned to the camp? Has the left wing led by Koza returned?"

Sahuitong quickly replied: "Reporting to the head of the Imperial Guard, Your Highness has been back for half a month. Under Your Highness's leadership, we defeated the Dubo tribe and captured about 40,000 prisoners of war and more than 300,000 cattle and sheep.

In addition, we also incorporated the forest tribes near the Tannu Mountains, the Eastern Sayan Mountains and the Yenisei River, and reorganized them into thirteen battalions of our Jinhan there, with a regiment led by the commander Yanzhi, who was responsible for supervising the camps there.

Moreover, after hearing that Your Highness had defeated the Dubo tribe, the more than 2,000 remaining Kyrgyz tents in the Yenisei River took the initiative to lead their troops to the Dubo tribe camp and submitted to Your Highness and my Jinhan tribe. They were reorganized into seven camps by Your Highness and brought back to the Great Lakes Basin!
Now all the Khitans are under the command of His Highness, Jin Han."

"Your Highness is truly extremely brave. We are far behind you!" Zhang Xibao patted Sa Huitong's shoulder excitedly.

"We have won a great victory in this expedition against the Ubili tribe. By the way, how is the Koza Brigade Commander?"

As Zhang Xibao and Koza were responsible for the operations on the eastern and western fronts respectively, they both had equal status in the Jinhan tribe and were both leaders of a guard regiment. Now that he had defeated the Ubili tribe, he must be very curious about how Koza was doing. He was secretly competing with Koza!
"Reporting to the captain of the guards, Lord Koza has not returned yet, and I don't know what the situation is!" Sahuitong responded.

"Okay, you guys continue patrolling. I'll go back to the camp first and report the battle situation to His Highness!"

"Yes, sir!" Sahuitong looked at Luo Wenda and others with envy. But in a flash, he thought again: "I followed His Highness to attack the Dubo tribe, killed many Dubo people, and learned to speak elegant language through long-term efforts, so I was able to take the position of battalion commander.

Thanks to the favor of His Majesty Haotian and the trust of His Highness, he is now not only the battalion commander.

Because of his merits and his ability to speak elegant language, he married a plump and strong widow of the Tang family who had a son. He owned hundreds of cattle, sheep, and horses, and had more than a dozen slaves serving him.

This is much better than being a slave in Tugelda before, it's a world of difference!

As he thought about these wonderful things, a feeling of joy surged in his heart.

He knew that if he could continue to work hard and make more contributions, he would have the opportunity to become the leader of a regiment in the future. Especially now that Jin Han has resurrected so many of his followers, it is certainly impossible for all of these people to be assigned as slaves. His Highness will definitely continue to expand more battalions and regiments.

Moreover, when I and that Tang widow give birth to a son, as a battalion commander, my son will have the opportunity to join the Royal Guards of His Highness. What an honor that will be!
When he thought of this, he no longer envied others, but was full of expectations for the future.

Although I am not a Tang person, my son has Tang blood. His Highness is very generous to us. He did not let us be slaves forever. He rewarded those who made contributions generously, whether it was official positions, armor and weapons, or slaves.

"We are lucky. We followed the right people." He said, looking at his companions.

"Yes, we followed His Highness all the way here, migrating from Dunhuang, Qilian Mountains, and Yizhou, killing enemies and making great contributions. His Highness never cares about our background. As long as we have made contributions, we will be rewarded." The others nodded in agreement.

Especially the many Jinhan people who were born as slaves, they knew in their hearts that if it were not for such a generous prince, they might still be struggling in misery and leading a precarious life.

"Be loyal to His Highness and try to learn more elegant words. Okay, everyone continue to patrol and be alert to the surroundings at all times. If there is any special situation, hurry back to the watchtower to report!" said Sahuitong.

Everyone responded in unison: "Yes, sir!" Then they drove their horses and marched quickly to continue patrolling.

This situation is very common in the Jinhan tribe nowadays.

Zhang Sheng was never stingy when it came to soldiers who had made contributions, and would never reduce the rewards they deserved.

From slave soldiers to regular soldiers, then to civilians, then to heads of ten households, heads of a hundred households, and finally to battalion commanders, regiment commanders, and so on, each level is a leap, and these leaps are all based on military merit.

As the conquest of other tribes continued, Jinhan's population would surely increase rapidly.

Therefore, Zhang Sheng needs more people to identify with Jin Han, be willing to become Jin Han people, and help him manage and control more and more people. Only in this way can the stable development of Jin Han be ensured.

Only in this way can the concept of Jin Han people become a real reality.

Although there are various tribes speaking Hu languages ​​under these Jin Han people, their numbers are definitely the majority.

However, this is exactly the responsibility of the Holy Religion.

The Holy Church not only provides medical treatment and holds daily prayers, but also organizes important ceremonies such as weddings, funerals, and baptisms.

In addition, the Holy Religion needs to continuously select intelligent children from among its tribesmen and educate them in the elegant language, sacred texts, and teachings of the Holy Religion, thereby attracting more tribesmen to actively learn.

As the leader of a region, Zhang Sheng promoted those tribesmen who converted to the holy religion, were able to use the elegant language and write the sacred texts proficiently, and gave them generous benefits as an incentive, thereby further guiding other tribesmen to actively learn the elegant language and the sacred texts.

I believe that under this strategy, more and more tribesmen will voluntarily devote themselves to the study of elegant language and sacred texts.

(End of this chapter)