The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 203 In half an hour, I will make the Eastern Capital fall.

Inside the golden tent, Zhang Xinghua was holding a book and giving Li Xiao a post-battle report.

"Grand Commander, in this battle our army captured a total of 8,000 warhorses, 11,000 camels, and 83,000 shi of grain..."

The royal army led by Yelü Zhixin was not the main force of the royal court.

Instead, it was a mixed army composed of 3,000 royal cavalry, 17,000 infantry and cavalry from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate, and more than 5,000 men, women, and children from the Ili Karluks.

The cavalry made up a small percentage of the force; the majority consisted of infantry from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate.

Therefore, not many warhorses were captured in this battle, but quite a few camels were used to transport supplies to the royal army.

As for those weapons, Li Xiao didn't think much of them.

The weapons forged from Hexi steel used by the Jinzhou Armory were sharper and tougher than those of the royal court.

"In addition to supplies, our army also captured 12,000 prisoners of war, including more than 2,000 Khitans, 2,000 Ili Karluks, and nearly 8,000 people from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate."

“Among them, there are fewer than a thousand adult men among the Karluks; the majority are women,” Zhang Xinghua said softly.

Upon hearing this number, Li Xiao slightly raised his eyelids and said in a calm voice, "So, at least ten thousand royal soldiers were slaughtered?"

Zhang Xinghua nodded emphatically: "At least ten thousand."

This number would be a truly staggering figure in any war.

Leaving aside the meat grinder-like war at Xiangji Temple, in ordinary wars, after two or three thousand people die, the army would probably collapse directly, with the rest scattering and fleeing or surrendering directly.

This time, the Wang Ting army suffered 10,000 casualties at the hands of the Jinzhou army, a ridiculously high casualty rate.

"It's mainly those Kuril soldiers; they're all acting like madmen in their pursuit of military merit."

"If it weren't for the intervention of the various commanders, those Kuri troops would probably have massacred the surrendered soldiers," Zhang Xinghua said solemnly.

Recalling the scene on the battlefield, even though he was over thirty years old, Zhang Xinghua couldn't help but shudder.

Curry's army is like a pack of mad dogs; in their pursuit of victory, they've become a killing machine.

Let alone this hastily assembled royal army, even the most elite Iron Falcons of Western Xia, when facing this 20,000-strong Kuli army, Zhang Xinghua believed that the Iron Falcons had a very, very small chance of winning.

"With such a terrifying 20,000 Kuli troops and nearly 40,000 Jinzhou garrison soldiers, the Xia Kingdom is probably..." Zhang Xinghua shook his head and sighed inwardly.

He vaguely understood Li Xiao's ambition. The royal court was just a stepping stone; what Li Xiao truly coveted was the vast population of Western Xia.

Once the war at Wangting ends and the Jinzhou army has some time to recuperate, Li Xiao will surely gather a large army and launch another campaign to attack Western Xia.

How could the weakened Western Xia withstand the rampage of 60,000 fierce cavalrymen from Jinzhou?

At this moment, Zhang Xinghua could only silently mourn for his homeland for two seconds.

"Since ancient times, war has always been a matter of life and death; there has never been any mercy. Once the killing begins, how can it end easily?"

"Although we lost more than 10,000 prisoners of war, Jinzhou gained a group of brave and skilled garrison soldiers."

"I'm very pleased," Li Xiao said calmly.

To him, ten thousand lives were nothing more than a cold, hard number.

"After this battle, how many soldiers in the Kuli army have taken more than three heads?" Li Xiao asked.

Zhang Xinghua stated directly, "A total of 3,128 people."

These 3,128 men did not all capture more than three heads in this battle; rather, their kills were accumulated from all previous battles, but this battle simply saw the most kills.

In addition, many people have one or two heads.

Although these Kuril soldiers cannot yet be freed from their slave status, corresponding rewards for their heads will be issued.

After they've killed three people, they'll either become garrison soldiers or unfortunately die in battle in the next war.
Li Xiao took the merit book from Zhang Xinghua, glanced through it, nodded in satisfaction, and said with a light laugh, "These 3,128 soldiers of the Kuli Army will immediately be granted the status of soldiers of Jinzhou Town."

“They were all broken up and placed into each of the ten households.”

Currently, there are thirty-eight thousand households in the Jinzhou army, which is equivalent to three thousand eight hundred ten households.

Each of the 3,128 households would have an additional Kuli soldier added to it. The purpose of this was to prevent these Kuli soldiers from banding together.

At the same time, we will create a living environment dominated by Han Chinese to facilitate their better integration into the Jinzhou Army, learn Chinese, and become Han Chinese.

"In addition, one household from each of the ten households that accept the Kuli army must be selected to form three new thousand-household units, totaling more than 3,100 households," Li Xiao ordered.

This is equivalent to dispersing the original three thousand Kuli soldiers to the grassroots level and instead establishing three thousand-household armies mainly composed of the original town soldiers.

Besides assimilating the Kuril army, it was also to settle the generals who had made contributions this time, such as Wei Xuan.

He was one of the three thousand-household commanders, and Yang Shouzhen, for example, was also qualified to become a hundred-household commander.

"The pensions for soldiers who died in battle should also be promptly communicated to the Grand General's Office and distributed back to their families."

"As for the fallen soldiers of the Kuril army, their bodies should be collected and properly buried."

……

Just as Li Xiao had finished arranging the post-war matters, Tie Tou walked into the tent and said in a deep voice, "Grand Commander, the Eastern Capital has sent people over again."

"Ok?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xiao raised an eyebrow slightly: "It seems those guys are already itching to kill Bendu."

Just two days ago, Dongdu sent two soldiers to Dongdu to discuss combat matters with Li Xiao.

However, through Xiao Simo's personal guards, Li Xiao already knew what had happened in Dongdu.

Who would still believe the nonsense from Dongdu?
However, although he ordered the two soldiers to be interrogated by torture, he got nothing out of them.

After all, their status was too low, and they only knew the surface-level information.

It's not as useful as the information Xiao Hetu revealed.

Through torture, Xiao Hetu confessed that he and his son were behind all the events in Dongdu.

His father, Xiao Pulayelu, is currently in Dongdu.

"The one who has come this time is Niejida, the deputy commander of the royal guards. Would the Grand Commander like to see him?" Tie Tou asked.

Li Xiao shook his head slightly: "Just a traitor, gone."

"Arrest him immediately and hand him over to the Embroidered Uniform Guard for interrogation."

"Oh right, let's call Senah over too. I'm sure he'd like to see his old friend as well."

"As ordered!"

Tie Tou nodded emphatically, then turned and left.

Zhang Xinghua sighed softly, "One wrong step and you're plunged into an abyss."

He then turned to Li Xiao and said, "Grand Commander, we should surround the Eastern Capital as soon as possible. Otherwise, if Xiao Pulayelu does not see Niejida return for a long time, trouble may arise."

The fear is that Xiao Pulayelu might see things are not going well and take his men and run away.

Finding it again on this vast grassland is not an easy task.

"Hmm~"

Li Xiao nodded slightly, his gaze turning towards the direction of Dongdu.

The scene of my first visit to Dongdu is still vivid in my mind; it was in Dongdu that I married Xiao Yanyan.

But now everything has changed; it is no longer the Eastern Capital it once was.

"Tomorrow morning, the army will set off to surround the Eastern Capital and wipe out the treacherous officials."

"It's time to restore peace and tranquility to the northern frontier," Li Xiao said in a deep voice.

……

At this moment, Nejida stood in the camp with two soldiers.

Around him stood a dozen or so soldiers of the Wuwei Army, all dressed in yellow cotton armor with red trim. They all held their cavalry sabers, remained silent, and stared coldly at Nejida.

He exuded a powerful aura, which seemed to solidify and put immense psychological pressure on him.

The two soldiers behind him were already trembling uncontrollably, and Nejida herself was in no better shape.

He appeared strong and composed, but inside he was panicking terribly.

"Sigler~"

"How could the Jinzhou soldiers' murderous aura have become so terrifying?"

"Even the White-Armored Army of the past didn't have such imposing presence, did they?"

As Xiao Simo's deputy commander of personal guards, he had close contact with the former White Armor Army.

The current Wuwei Army was formed by expanding upon the original White Armor Army.

However, after so many battles, the Wuwei Army has become more elite and powerful, and its momentum far surpasses that of the original White Armor Army.

Therefore, facing such a menacing and menacing military force, Nejida felt a chill run down his spine.

Fortunately, footsteps could be heard in the distance.

Nejida immediately breathed a heavy sigh of relief, having thought he would be summoned by Li Xiao.

But when he saw who it was, his eyes narrowed instantly.

"Sigler!"

"How could it be him?" Nejida thought in shock.

Approaching from afar was a group of soldiers dressed in white cotton-padded coats; they were none other than the Jinyiwei of Jinzhou.

However, walking ahead of the Embroidered Uniform Guards was an old acquaintance of Nejida, the commander of the personal guard, Senahei.

"Nejida, you scoundrel, you didn't expect to see us here again, did you?"

Sena strode over, glaring menacingly at Nejida and roaring.

"You, you, you~"

Nejida was indeed shocked, looking as if he had seen a ghost.

"How did you end up in the Jinzhou army?"

He pointed at Senahei and asked, his voice lacking confidence.

Senah stepped forward, looked at him coldly, and said, "Why can't I be in the Jinzhou army?"

“Not only am I here, but the Queen is also in the army, and even the King is in the army right now.”

"What? The King is here too?" Nejida's face was filled with horror.

He quickly looked around, appearing guilty.

The fall of Dongdu was directly related to him. If he hadn't pretended to surrender to Xiao Dalu and helped him imprison Xiao Simo, the Dongdu army wouldn't have so easily allowed the Beihai army to enter the city and restore order.

But on the night the Northern Army entered the city, Xiao Simo disappeared without a trace.

I originally thought he was still hiding somewhere in the Eastern Capital, but I never expected him to come to the Jinzhou army.

"This, this, this, how is this possible?"

Nejida was pale and kept shaking his head in disbelief.

According to Xiao Pulayelu, if Xiao Simo were in the Jinzhou army, then the Jinzhou army would not have been attacking the royal army, but would have already surrounded the Eastern Capital to retaliate.

Therefore, at this moment, Nejida had already cursed Xiaopulayelu's ancestors for eighteen generations in his heart.

This old bastard sent him here to die.

"Hmph, I'll take you to see the King in a couple of days," Senahei snorted.

Immediately, Zhang Shitou ordered the Imperial Guards to take Niejida and the two soldiers away. Through interrogation of Xiao Hetu and his guards, they learned some of the situation in Dongdu City and the existence of the mastermind, Xiao Pulayelu.

But as one of the participants in the Dongdu Incident, Nejida certainly knew more details.

Zhang Shitou planned to make him confess everything in one night.

……

The Eastern Capital.

Since Nejida left, Xiaopulayelu came to the city wall, looking south, pacing back and forth, his anxiety evident.

When Han Jianu hurried over, Xiao Pulayelu quickly stepped forward and asked, "How is it?"

Has there been any news from Nejida?

"My lord," Han Jianu said softly, gently patting his chest, "Negida has already entered the Jinzhou military camp."

"But the scouts of the Jinzhou army are very skilled. Our men can't get close at all. We don't know what the situation is."

Hearing this, Xiao Pulaiyelu frowned even more deeply, clenched his fists, and whispered to himself, "It's alright, Nejida will definitely be able to bring Li Xiao here."

Then, he looked at Han Jianu and said, "Arrange for a team of our men to be ready so that we can take control of Li Xiao as soon as he enters the city."

"In addition, continue to gather intelligence on the Golden State Army. If Nejida returns, report immediately."

"As ordered!"

Han Jianu nodded emphatically and turned to leave.

Xiao Pulaiyelu stood on the city wall, gazing at the distant land, his mind in turmoil.

He was considering what to do if Li Xiao already knew the truth.

With the Jinzhou army's fighting power so terrifying, could the eight thousand soldiers of Dongdu City be a match for them?
Withdraw from the Eastern Capital?
"Wait, wait a little longer," Xiao Pulaiyelu murmured to himself.

He had been planning and scheming for ten years, and was finally about to reap the rewards of victory. He was really unwilling to give up the Eastern Capital at this time.

Moreover, although the Eastern Capital is not particularly tall, it is protected by city walls and guarded by eight thousand elite soldiers.

The Jinzhou army, mainly composed of cavalry, would find it by no means easy to conquer the eastern capital.

Conversely, if they abandon Dongdu City and encounter the Jinzhou army on the grasslands, then the Northern Navy's advantage will be completely lost.

That night, Xiao Pulayelu couldn't sleep at all, and only managed to fall asleep around midnight.

But after only a short while, he suddenly sat up in bed and shouted loudly to the guards outside the room, "Someone come here!"

"Go and see what happened?"

The sky was just beginning to brighten when a horn sounded in the eastern capital.

The voice was urgent and tense; something big must have happened.

Xiao Pulaye Lu hurriedly got up and dressed. Just as he stepped out of the inn, the guards returned from the city wall.

With a terrified look, he said urgently, "Something terrible has happened!"

"My lord, the Jinzhou army is attacking."

"They are besieging the Eastern Capital."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pulayelu was shocked, his eyes widening in disbelief: "What?"

"The Jinzhou army arrived so quickly?"

After entering the Jinzhou military camp, Nejida disappeared without a trace.

At this moment, Xiao Pulaiyelu finally realized that he and his group had been exposed and all their plans had failed.

It's no longer possible to lure Li Xiao into the Eastern Capital.

"Quickly, get to the city wall."

"quick."

Xiao Pulaye Lu hurriedly mounted his horse and led his men toward the south gate.

Alida had already arrived at the city wall ahead of time. He was now holding the stone of the wall with one hand and gripping the sword at his waist with the other. His knuckles were white, and he was looking out of the city with a solemn expression.

"how's it going?"

How many soldiers from Jinzhou have come?

Xiao Pulaye Lu hurriedly walked up the city wall, and almost tripped and fell because he was in such a hurry.

Ali didn't even glance at him, simply turning his back to him coldly and saying, "See for yourself."

At this moment, the rising sun dyed the horizon blood red, and on the grasslands outside the Eastern Capital, the earth trembled with a series of dull tremors, as if a million giant hammers were beating drums on the ground.

"Woooooooo~"

Immediately afterwards, the bugle call of the Jinzhou army rang out from the top of the city wall of the Eastern Capital.

A cloud of yellow dust rose on the horizon, obscuring the sky. The Jinzhou army's sun and moon banners fluttered in the morning breeze. Thousands of Jinzhou cavalrymen trampled through the morning dew, surging towards the city of Jinzhou with overwhelming force.

Leading the charge were thousands of soldiers clad in armor of yellow, red, and white.

They were completely clad in armor, wearing helmets with plumes, their rough and arrogant faces barely visible as they charged forward indifferently.

The spears, like a forest, gleamed coldly in the morning sun, pressing down on the city wall like three torrents of steel.

Surrounding the cavalry of the three towns were numerous nomadic cavalrymen, dressed in tattered fur coats with fur trim, and with scimitars and leather pouches hanging from their waists.

Without wearing horse armor, he could draw his bow and shoot arrows while galloping, simply by squeezing his legs against the horse's belly. When riding, he would let out a wolf-like howl, giving the enemy a great psychological fear, just like a savage.

"These are the elite troops of Jinzhou directly in front of us. The armor they wear is impervious to swords and spears, making them extremely difficult to deal with."

Ali Da stared intently at the Jinzhou army outside the city and spoke in a heavy voice.

During his western expedition, he had contact with the Jinzhou army, so he had some understanding of this type of armor.

It is lighter than iron armor, but its sturdiness is not much weaker.

It was originally thought that only the thousand or so white-armored soldiers of the Jinzhou army could wear this kind of armor, but now it seems that Ali Da underestimated the Jinzhou army.

At a glance, there were no fewer than three thousand soldiers in cotton armor outside the city, not to mention the numerous nomadic cavalrymen as well.

"News has come from both the East and West cities that traces of Jinzhou cavalry have also appeared there."

"Currently, only the North Gate is relatively safe. If you want to leave, you can take people out through the North Gate."

Ali said in a calm voice.

However, the moment Xiao Pulaiyelu heard these words, his face darkened instantly. He snorted coldly and refused to look at him again.

He said coldly, "You don't need to worry about it. I will live and die with Dongdu City."

Upon hearing this, Ali gave a disdainful sneer.

They called it a matter of life and death, but in reality they were worried that the Jinzhou army was surrounded on three sides but one side was missing, so they ambushed a large number of troops at the north gate to ambush those who came out of the city.

Therefore, Xiao Pulaiyelu believed that staying in the city was definitely safer than escaping.

"Huh? What are they going to do?" Xiao Pulayelu looked outside the city and suddenly said in surprise.

The Jinzhou cavalry had already approached the city and were reining in their horses to surround the city walls, but only a dozen or so nomadic cavalrymen suddenly broke away from the main force and charged to the moat.

"Prepare to fire the arrows," Ali said, raising his hand with a serious expression.

However, these nomadic cavalrymen were not there to attack the city. Instead, they rushed to the front of the moat, untied their packs from their horses, and threw them directly onto the city walls.

A leading cavalryman shouted, "Listen up, men! This is a gift from our Grand Commander!"

However, Ali Da and Xiao Pu La Ye Lu's expressions changed drastically the moment they saw the packages.

You can clearly smell the stench of decay mixed with the smell of rust.

Without a doubt, these packages contain human heads.

Xiao Pulayelu's face turned pale as he thought of something terrible. He said to the guards beside him, "Quickly, open them all up."

When the guard opened the first package, Xiao Pulaiyelu clenched his fist instantly.

There was indeed a human head inside, and it belonged to someone he knew.

Xiao He suddenly beheaded one of his guards.

The other bags were mostly the same. These guards had followed the Xiao family father and son on their wanderings in the frontier for many years and were loyal to the end. They were no longer worth trying to persuade to surrender.

So he was beheaded.

When the last two packages were opened, the heads that rolled out belonged to Niejida, the deputy commander of the royal guards, and Xiao Hetu.

Xiao Pulayelu stared blankly at Xiao Hetu's severed head, his face pale and bloodless.

He tried to go forward and pick up the head, but he stumbled and fell to the ground.

Soon, Xiao Pulayelu held Xiao Hetu's head in his arms, tears streaming down his face, too grief-stricken to utter a sound.

But his eyes revealed madness and ruthlessness.

"Li Xiao, I will tear you to pieces to avenge my son."

Soon, all four gates of the Eastern Capital were surrounded by Jinzhou cavalry.

The reason why the North Gate was overlooked at the beginning was not because we wanted to leave one side open when we surrounded the other three; it was simply because the Jinzhou cavalry had not yet had time to rush to the North Gate.

However, after the vanguard of the Jinzhou army completed the encirclement of Dongdu, they did not rush to attack the city, but waited for the arrival of the main army.

It wasn't until the afternoon that the main force of the Jinzhou army arrived at the outskirts of Dongdu. The reason they were moving so slowly was simply because there were more than 10,000 prisoners of war from the Eastern Karakhanid Khanate.

Another issue is that the relocation of the artillery takes time.

Outside the South Gate, the Jinzhou army was densely packed across the land, with three thousand Wuwei soldiers at the core. Their bright yellow cotton armor with red trim stood out starkly against the green grassland.

The golden sun and moon battle banner fluttered gently in the wind. Li Xiao, dressed in dark gold cotton armor with black trim, stood beneath the banner, riding a tall warhorse.

Holding a telescope that can see a thousand miles, he silently observes the movements on the city wall.

The area was filled with soldiers, most of them wearing leather armor, carrying bows and arrows, and with resolute faces. Even when surrounded by tens of thousands of Jinzhou soldiers, Li Xiao did not see much fear on their faces.

"The Northern Navy and the Eastern Capital Army were both elite forces in our northern frontier. It is such a pity that they were lost in the civil war."

Li Xiao put down the clairvoyance device, shook his head gently, and sighed.

Li Erjiang, who had led the vanguard to surround the Eastern Capital, stood aside and said in a deep voice, "It was all Xiao Pulayelu and Alida's doing."

"Under their deception, the soldiers of the Eastern Capital Army and the Northern Navy will only believe that our Jinzhou Army has launched a rebellion to capture the Eastern Capital and overthrow Xiao Simo."

Ordinary soldiers have difficulty distinguishing between good and bad people; they can only blindly obey their commanders' orders.

For those in power, soldiers are merely tools to achieve their political goals.

As for how many soldiers lost their lives for their ambitions in the process, they wouldn't care at all.

"Should we try to persuade the soldiers in the city to surrender and explain the truth?" Zhang Xinghua asked cautiously.

Li Xiao tossed the clairvoyant device directly into his arms and sneered, "It's unnecessary; it'll only be a waste of time."

"There is only one way to get these soldiers to turn over a new leaf."

"Take down the Eastern Capital," Li Xiao said coldly, his gaze fixed on the high city walls in the distance.

Then, he shouted to his personal guards, "Go check on the Shenji Battalion and see if the Shenwei Cannons are ready!"

"I want to see the Eastern Capital fall within half an hour."

(End of this chapter)