Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 581 Watch closely, I'm here to avenge the Anxi army!
Khotan was a Buddhist kingdom in the Western Regions.

It is world-renowned for its Hetian jade and silkworm breeding and textile industry.

The country was established at the beginning of the Han Dynasty, and the Anxi Protectorate was set up during the Zhenguan era.

It governed four towns: Kucha, Yanqi, Shule, and Khotan, which were the famous Four Towns of Anxi.

For more than a hundred years afterward, the Tang Dynasty and Tibet engaged in a fierce tug-of-war in the Western Regions.

When the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, the main forces of the Anxi Army and the Beiting Army were transferred to the Central Plains to fight a decisive battle against the rebels.

These two main forces, which can be considered the most elite armies in the world, were ultimately wiped out in the Battle of Xiangji Temple.

Tibet seized the opportunity and launched a large-scale invasion while the Tang Dynasty was in turmoil, severing the Tang Dynasty's connection with the Western Regions.

For decades afterward, the Anxi Army, which remained in the Western Regions, fought a protracted war with the Tibetans.

The Tang army was elite, with soldiers who were brave, well-trained, and well-equipped.

However, their connection with the local area was severed, and they had almost no manpower to replenish their ranks.

Meanwhile, the Tibetans continuously descended from the plateau, like an endless tide.

In the sixth year of the Zhenyuan era, the Tibetan Empire launched a major invasion of the Western Regions.

Its main force headed straight for the Beiting Protectorate, and together with the Shatuo and other tribes, seized all of Beiting except for Xizhou.

Meanwhile, a separate force launched a fierce attack on Khotan, eventually breaching this outpost that had been resisting the Tibetan invasion.

‘Buzz buzz~~~’

In the clear sky, a small plane circled over the still-smoke-filled capital of Khotan.

One hand controls the joystick, the other holds binoculars, and one looks at the ground through the porthole along the forest road.

There were many people and livestock on the ground, both inside and outside the city.

They also spotted a giant, strange bird in the sky, and many people chased after it on horseback.

Lin Dao's gaze was fixed on an open space outside the city.

The place was piled high with corpses, like mountains.

He lowered his altitude again to get a closer look.

The corpses were mostly wearing standard Tang army armor, and many Tibetans were stripping them of their armor.

Then, wielding a sharp blade, he chopped off the white heads one by one, piling them up together.

Lin Dao put down his binoculars, his eyes filled with a fierce glint.

What a courage!
After finding an open space, Lin Dao piloted the plane to land.

Wow~~~

Several white-haired soldiers in the cabin vomited again.

The contents of my stomach had long been vomited out; what I vomited first was bile.

"Stay here."

Lin Dao got up, picked up his heavy travel bag, opened the cabin door, and before going out, he instructed, "I'll take care of things outside. You all get some rest."

Even if they weren't airsick, Lin Dao couldn't take them to war just because of their full heads of white hair.

With grim expressions, Han Wang and the others struggled to get up. There were thousands upon thousands of Tibetan bandits outside; how could they let Lin Dao face them alone?

But their bodies simply couldn't take it, and they didn't know how to unbuckle their seatbelts, so they were sweating profusely.

After getting off the plane, Lin Dao glanced at the group of Tibetans riding towards him on horseback not far away, unzipped his jacket, took out a machine gun, and skillfully checked and prepared to fire.

The number of Tibetan cavalry approaching was small, only about a hundred.

They rode horses, carrying bows and arrows and slings, with quivers and stone bags at their waists, and holding swords and short spears in their hands, and shields held at an angle.

Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays can cause the face to turn purple.

He had a rugged appearance but sharp, piercing eyes.

This is completely different from the image of the Indian actor in the movie, who is shirtless, wearing a cloth, and is all black like a Blake.

The Tibetan cavalry gradually slowed down and sent out several groups to surround the aircraft.

Everyone was armed, and they could spur their horses at any moment to charge or escape.

This shows that these Tibetan soldiers were well-trained.

Someone rode forward, but reined in his horse when he was about ten paces away.

He shouted at Lin Dao, "Who are you?"

"Is this the giant bird you keep?"

Lock the ammunition belt, pull the bolt, and release the safety.

Lin Dao, who had been busy with his head down, finally looked up after he had finished all the preparations.

"I am~"

"Slaughter your people!"

'Zzzzz~'

The gun barrels spewed out a terrifying hail of bullets, and those who stepped forward to ask questions were instantly covered by dozens of bullets.

Both the man and the horse shook violently, as if they were doing a head-shaking dance.

He held the machine gun level, the muzzle constantly moving to spew out tongues of fire.

The spent cartridge cases flew everywhere, emitting white smoke as they fell to the ground and quickly piled up.

The Tibetan cavalry quickly recovered from the sudden attack.

Some were brave, or perhaps they didn't understand what it meant for cavalry to face machine guns, and they simply brandished their weapons and charged forward on horseback.

And of course, there are those who turn their horses around and run away immediately.

But whether they charged in or fled.

As long as they appear in Lin Dao's line of sight and within the effective range of the machine gun, they will be met with a burst of bullets.

He is truly skilled with firearms.

He's used it so much that he's extremely experienced. And because of his strong physique, recoil and muzzle rise are practically nonexistent for him.

A single burst of fire usually consists of at least a dozen shots, hitting both the rider and the horse.

The roar of the machine gun shocked countless people.

Han Wang and the others on the plane finally found their weapons, cut their seatbelts, and staggered out to help.

When they were going down the gangway, Han Wang, who was the first to come out, even fell down.

By the time he struggled to his feet, Lin Dao had already finished his work and called it a day.

Of the hundreds of Tibetan cavalrymen, except for a few who escaped from the back of the plane, all the others lay dead in pools of blood. Han Wang was dumbfounded.

Staring in astonishment at the machine gun in Lin Dao's hand, whose barrel was still smoking, he exclaimed, "What kind of divine weapon is this?!"

"That's called being able to sing and dance with a gun."

Lin Dao put down his gun. "With this, those who ride horses will only be able to sing and dance from now on."

"Singing and dancing with guns?" The white-haired soldiers looked at each other, they had never heard of such a thing.

"Woo woo woo~"

A low, mournful bugle call echoed from the distant city wall of Khotan, which bore obvious signs of damage.

‘Dong dong dong~’

The Tibetans beat their leather drums and began to gather their troops.

After glancing at the distance, Lin Dao withdrew his gaze and asked, "How many Tibetans are attacking the city?"

"At least 10,000 people!"

Han Wang stared eagerly at the machine gun, exclaiming, "The Immortal Master has a divine weapon in his hand!"

"One is not enough." Lin Dao waved his hand. "This is air-cooled, not a water-cooled Maxim."

Under high-speed firing, air-cooled machine guns require frequent barrel replacements.

It would be difficult to wipe out all ten thousand enemy troops.

"Go back and wait."

Lin Dao waved his hand again, "Watch closely, I'm here to avenge the Anxi army!"

The first to appear were more than a thousand Tibetan cavalrymen.

The cavalry, assembled into a unit, were all wearing leather armor and helmets, and some of their horses even had horse armor on them; these were heavy cavalry.

Having been able to contend with the Tang Dynasty for a century, the Tibetans were no less formidable in combat.

They not only possessed superior weapons and armor, but also their unique Urdo, and a large number of warhorses.

Surprisingly, the Tibetans were also known for their formidable cavalry fighting prowess.

This time, only a little over a thousand cavalrymen appeared. It wasn't that the Tibetans lacked cavalry, but rather that this Tibetan army was attacking the city, so naturally they wouldn't bring many cavalrymen.

Apart from that, most of the cavalrymen were dressed in standard nomadic attire.

Experienced forest rangers can even distinguish tribes such as the Karluks and Shatuo.

These were the vassals of the Tibetans, or you could say they were opportunists, or even cannon fodder.

Lin Dao put away the machine gun, picked up his travel bag, and disappeared.

When he returned, he was already sitting inside a chariot.

On the roof of the vehicle was a quadruple machine gun.

He had originally planned to open a large airport or work in the construction machinery industry.

However, the environment and terrain outside the capital city of Khotan were not very suitable.

The buildings, farmland, water conservancy facilities, roads, mulberry groves, rivers, and so on are quite complex.

This is a traditional skill of the people of the Central Plains. Wherever they go, they cultivate the land, build houses, construct roads and water conservancy facilities, and bring civilization and prosperity to the local area.

"Instead of herding cattle properly on the plateau, you have to become a bandit."

Start the vehicle and power on all subsystems.

After the system performed a self-check, Lin Dao started the chariot. "Since we're here to be bandits, let's bury ourselves here!"

The tank engines roared as it moved towards the cavalry formation.

The cavalry group that was assembling was clearly in turmoil.

They were mainly concentrated in the cannon fodder tribes, but the Tibetans quickly suppressed them.

Hooves thundered as a large number of Karluk Shatuo cavalry, along with many other unnamed barbarian tribes, charged forward.

A thousand or so riders—that doesn't sound like much.

But when the riders and horses run together, the momentum is astonishing.

The iron cavalry trampled the earth, making it seem as if the ground itself trembled.

The cannon fodder used the traditional skills of nomadic tribes to fly kites around the area.

Nomadic cavalry rarely engage in frontal charges.

Either you're forced into a corner, or the other side is just too weak.

Otherwise, their tradition is to use their skillful horsemanship and a large number of horses to constantly harass and fire arrows, changing horses to harass back and forth, forcing the opponent to break down.

This approach can be quite useful at times.

However, when faced with powerful cavalry forces like the Han Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, and even the Tibetans, they were simply outmatched.

Hundreds and thousands of cannon fodder circled around the tank.

'Whoosh whoosh~'

The broken bows in their hands kept shooting out rotten arrows, which clattered as they landed on the chariots, only managing to scratch the paint.

These people, of course, wouldn't understand what armor steel is.

Lin Dao did not fire, but drove straight toward the Tibetan cavalry.

He was worried that if he opened fire, he would scare away the Tibetan cavalry.

If they scatter and flee, it will be troublesome to chase them.

As the forest road came to a close, the Tibetan heavy cavalry did not retreat, but instead charged forward in a mighty force.

They first used slings to launch stones, followed by long-range attacks with arrows.

But the result was the same as the other rabble; they couldn't break through the defenses at all.

Some Tibetan cavalrymen got impatient and simply rode up to chase after the chariot, waving their weapons to slash and smash it.

Sparks flew everywhere.

Some brave and reckless individuals, relying on their excellent horsemanship, even leaped onto the chariots while riding alongside them at the same speed.

He was wielding a sharp blade but could not see anyone. Then he was attracted by a quadruple machine gun shaped like a field and began wildly slashing with his weapon.

Lin Dao, who witnessed this scene through the camera, could no longer wait.

The quadruple-mounted machine gun started spinning, and as it moved, it knocked the Tibetan man off the tank, half of his body getting caught in the tracks.

The next moment~
A metal storm is sweeping in!

(End of this chapter)