Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 204 Barbarian Iron Cavalry (Many thanks to Yong Su for being the Alliance Leader)

The animal-skin short coat reeked of a foul, fishy stench.

Their hats looked particularly strange, as if they were wolf heads chopped off, skinned, tanned, and worn on their heads. Although they could keep out the cold, at first glance they looked like a pack of wolves running wildly in the snow. The warhorses they rode were even more magnificent, with brown and black manes and strong limbs. Even in the midst of heavy snowfall, they still moved with incredible speed.

People from the Central Plains wouldn't dress like that.

There was only one kind of barbarian tribe in Liaodong, and that was... the Jurchen.

Several hemp ropes were draped around the neck of the warhorse, with human heads tied to the ends of the ropes. As the warhorse galloped, blood dripped down, indicating that the heads had been severed not long ago. The faces of the severed heads even showed expressions of terror and despair.

To the barbarians, the heads of Han people were a symbol of honor.

Whoever could cut off the heads of more Han Chinese from the Central Plains would have a higher status in the tribe and be worshipped by more people.

Behind several warhorses were some women. Their limbs were bound and their mouths were gagged. The warhorses made whimpering sounds as they were jolted, and their eyes revealed deep fear.

They are still alive.

But they all understood that falling into the hands of these brutal barbarians would mean a worse fate for them than for the men who had their heads chopped off. A middle-aged woman, seemingly unwilling to suffer humiliation, struggled desperately, finally losing her balance and falling to the ground with a thud.

The warhorses and barbarians behind them showed no sign of stopping, and with a thud, the horses' hooves trampled on the woman's head.

The skull cracked instantly.

The ground, already covered with a thin layer of snowflakes, was stained with large patches of scarlet.

Rumble, rumble!

As the horse's hooves passed, snowflakes flew everywhere.

As the snowflakes grew heavier, the group of barbarians frowned. Despite their excellent horsemanship, the conditions, especially in the dead of night and with heavy snow, made them extremely vulnerable to danger. So they found a village to stop in.

Unfortunately, almost all the thatched and wooden houses in the village were burned down.

Even though a few brick houses were not burned down, they were still ruins, unable to keep out the biting cold wind outside, and snowflakes were still falling from the dilapidated roofs.

"Damn it... those Wuji tribe thugs are too ruthless. They not only robbed us of our food, money, and women, but they even burned down our houses, leaving us with nowhere to shelter from the snow."

A man was cursing and swearing.

His scarlet eyes stared at the woman in the corner.

The women were terrified and kept shrinking back.

Normally, he would be very interested in these fair-skinned and delicate women from the Central Plains, but it's too cold now.

He was so cold that even though he wanted to, his body wouldn't allow it.

He wanted to go outside and gather some firewood to build a fire for warmth, but he was too lazy to leave the dilapidated house. The walls, though broken, at least offered some shelter from the wind and snow; outside, the biting wind was like a knife, whipping at him fiercely. The barbarian man finally looked away, his face still filled with resentment: "Little prince, the grain we plundered this time was far too little, not enough for the tribe to survive the winter. What should we do?"

The Jurchen were not a unified country, but rather an alliance formed by a combination of many tribes.

The leader of the alliance was the Great Khan, whose status was equivalent to that of a king.

Currently, the Great Khan of the Jurchens is Wanyan Guangzhi, who came from the Wuji tribe!

At the same time, the Wuji tribe was the most powerful tribe among the many tribes of the Jurchen.

Besides the Wuji tribe, there were six other major tribes: Heishui, Mohe, Baishan, Boduo, Anchegu, and Funie.

This group of barbarians was not one of the seven major tribes, but the Haoshi tribe, an inconspicuous small tribe with a population of no more than ten thousand, including the elderly and children.

Previously, the Jurchen cavalry plundered all of Pingyang except for the prefectural city. Although they seized a large amount of money, cloth, coke, tea, and even male slaves and women, these resources were almost all divided up by the seven major tribes. Small tribes like Haoshi received very little, which was not enough to help the tens of thousands of people in the tribe get through this difficult winter.

When supplies run out, the elderly in the tribe will retreat into the deep mountains to die, leaving the food for the strong young people and children.

This year's situation is even worse; winter came earlier than usual, and the food problem is more severe. Not only the elderly in the tribe, but even the women may have to go deep into the mountains to await their deaths.

The Great Khan of the Haoshi tribe once went to the Wuji tribe to pray that the Great Khan would distribute some grain. However, he did not receive any grain and was instead whipped by the Great Khan, returning to his tribe covered in wounds.

Prince Wugucha of the Haoshi tribe could not bear to see such a tragedy, so he led a group of cavalrymen into the territory of Ningguo.

Wugucha was only nineteen years old, but because he lived in a place like Haixi, he looked much older than his age. Hearing his subordinate's voice, he only frowned and said, "Don't say anything useless. If there isn't enough food, then come more often."

“There should still be many Han Chinese from the Central Plains living in the mountains and forests.”

"If all else fails, we can capture more Han Chinese and take them back with us."

The subordinates remained expressionless upon hearing this, but their throats bobbed involuntarily as they looked at the woman in the corner as if she were a piece of jerky.

Ignoring the changes in his subordinates, Wugucha simply leaned against the wall, squinted his eyes, and drifted into a light sleep.

Time passed by minute by minute.

Before I knew it, the snowflakes in the sky gradually thinned out, and the bright moon, which had been hidden by dark clouds, reappeared in the sky. The moonlight shone down, and the whole world was as bright as day.

As dawn breaks, a ray of rosy dawn spreads across the land like a giant red ribbon, turning even the thick snow on the ground into a golden hue.

The barbarian cavalryman opened his eyes, and without washing up, took out stiff jerky from his waist, cut it into small pieces, and stuffed it into his mouth to chew.

This is venison.

A favorite food of the barbarians.

Eating too much will cause your body to unconsciously emit a fishy smell, but compared to the smell of not bathing for years, it is not very noticeable.

After a quick bite to fill their stomachs, the hundred-plus cavalrymen rose in unison, mounted their horses, and Wugucha turned his gaze to the nearby mountains, seemingly searching for a route to raid the area.

His animal hide was somewhat tattered, likely from when he abducted a woman, cleaved by her husband with a woodcutter's knife. Fortunately, the hide was tough, and his body remained unharmed. Of course, the man's fate was equally grim; he had half his face sliced ​​off, then his legs were tied to a horse, and by the time the warhorse stopped, only bare white bones remained. The tattered hide revealed half of his solid, iron-like chest. A colorful sash adorned his waist, and a half-draped shawl of fine silk draped over his shoulders, shimmering in the morning sun.

This is an attire reserved for nobles.

That single piece of silk could be exchanged for thirty Han slaves within the tribe.

Its sturdy chest was covered with thick chest hair, and between the chest hairs was a bluish-gray yakuru, or in Han Chinese terms, a gyrfalcon, with sharp claws and an open beak, as if it were emitting a loud cry, lifelike.

Barbarian worship was not uniform; different tribes had different beliefs.

Some people worship crows; among barbarian tribes, crows represent good fortune and guidance.

Some people worship wild boars, as they represent survival and strength.

Some people worship tigers and black bears, as these represent divine power and continuity.

But the most worshipped creature is the gyrfalcon, which represents bravery and rise.

Ugucha's face was cold. He knew he had to achieve something. As the youngest son of Jilie Khan, he had very little advantage in competing for the throne. That's why he risked his life to lead more than a hundred loyal subordinates into the land of Ningguo.

If he can bring back enough food, he will gain the support of a large number of his tribesmen.

The Han people were weaker than he had imagined. After several days, although he hadn't managed to seize much grain, he hadn't encountered any significant resistance.

In his view, his brothers were a bunch of cowardly fools, as timid as rabbits. They didn't even have the courage to set foot on Han Chinese territory. They only knew to follow the rules passed down from their ancestors and let the elders go into the mountains to die.

But he was different… He had a true ambition. He was like a gyrfalcon soaring in the sky, seeing farther than any of his kind.

Although Haixi is their birthplace, living in such a harsh environment is nothing more than a cycle of disasters. If they want to free their people from this suffering, there is only one way: to take control of the Central Plains.

Why should that fertile land be occupied by the Han people?
Of course, his brothers were more or less capable, for example... their ability to judge women. The Goryeo and Silla concubines that his brothers bought at high prices made him very excited.

Recalling those soft bodies and hot breaths, a surge of heat rose in my lower abdomen.

Just as some random thoughts were arising in his mind, Wugucha's eyelids suddenly twitched. In the distance, a wisp of smoke came into view. His lips twitched, revealing an extremely ferocious smile. His eyes were cold and sinister, like the gaze of a beast that had spotted its prey: "Everyone, listen to my command."

"Heading towards the direction of the cooking smoke, we will press on with all our might and leave no one alive."

……

Taiping Town.

There wasn't a breath of wind, and wisps of smoke rose straight up from the chimneys.

Long hours of training have instilled in heavily armored soldiers the habit of eating extremely quickly.

Their helmets were filled with hot water. They stuffed the dry fried noodles into their mouths and swallowed them down with a mouthful of hot water.

Even Song Yan ate the same food. The so-called fried noodles were not the beef fried noodles or egg fried noodles of modern society. They were simply wheat, buckwheat, and other similar things ground into powder, then fried, and packed into cloth bags for long-term preservation.

When eating outdoors, a bite of fried noodles and a sip of water make for a simple meal.

Although it's called flour, it's naturally not as fine as flour from the 21st century. It contains particles of all sizes, and as it went down Song Yan's throat, it felt like his throat was about to be torn apart.

Just then, a scout suddenly appeared: "Report!"

"General, barbarian cavalry have been spotted heading towards Taiping Town from three miles away!"

In an instant, everyone's expression changed drastically.

Song Yan wiped the food out of his mouth, poured the hot water out of his helmet, and stood up abruptly, his fingers already gripping the battle sword beside him.

Even the other heavily armored soldiers changed their expressions.

For the people of Ningguo, cavalry was a persistent nightmare.

The soldiers of Ningguo, facing the iron weapons of the Xiongnu and Jurchen, were almost all destined to be slaughtered. Only by relying on the city walls could they have a fighting chance.

Highly adaptable, extremely mobile, and possessing immense impact, cavalry became a virtually invincible force, especially in open field battles. Even though these heavily armored soldiers had previously slaughtered Japanese pirates like dogs, they still felt an instinctive fear when encountering Jurchen cavalry.

Song Yan pursed her lips: "How many people?"

"About a hundred people."

Suddenly, Song Yan's eyelid twitched.

Damn it, that scared the hell out of me.

I thought it was a large cavalry army, but it turns out there were only about a hundred people.

Song Yan's gaze swept over the dark mass of heavily armored soldiers all around. A hundred or so cavalrymen dared to charge at my thousand heavily armored soldiers? Who gave you the courage?

Even the soldiers couldn't help but feel relieved.

"All of you, listen up, Mahan. Your men will be divided into groups of three, and three groups will form a team. Find cover on your own and block all exits from Taiping Town."

"Remember, I want their horses!"

Not a single horse can be left behind.

Upon receiving the order, Ma Han quickly led his men and disappeared into the ruins.

Then, Song Yan's gaze fell upon the remaining heavy infantry, his expression a mixture of excitement and madness:
"Is there anyone who dares to go crazy with this general?"

(End of this chapter)