The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 165 Butcher
Hearing that there were several tribes around, 800 hired auxiliary soldiers, and heavy and light cavalry, everyone was excited and couldn't wait to set off.

Li Jingxiao waved his hand, telling the army to rest for one night.

Zhao Junming then reported, "Sir, we have captured 3,100 people, mostly the elderly, children, and women."

How to handle this matter is up to you, sir.

Li Jingxiao looked at the dozen or so officers and centurions in the main tent.

The crowd hurriedly cupped their hands and said, "Please give your order, sir."

Li Jingxiao rolled his eyes after hearing this.

To maintain secrecy, the best course of action would be to kill them all.

Killing prisoners of war is already ominous, but killing the elderly, children, and women is even more contrary to moral principles.

Moreover, the fact that his group had ventured deep into the grasslands could not be kept too secret.

The original purpose of this operation was to force the Tatars in Datong and Xuanfu to withdraw.

Although keeping it a secret was advantageous for his military campaign, Li Jingxiao worried that the news had been kept hidden for too long.

No matter how many Tatars we kill, by the time the news reaches Datong and Xuanfu, they may have already been captured by the Tatars.

After thinking for a moment, Li Jingxiao said, "The male offspring higher than the wheel of a cart shall be beheaded."

The women and children, along with 100 rear guards and a junior officer from the Left Garrison Command, were transported to Xingzhou Guard along with half of the cattle and sheep.

Only when these women, children, cattle, and sheep return to the Great Zhou can the court be certain that their cavalry force is not just for show.

Then, Li Jingxiao added, "Tell the mercenaries that one woman only needs two heads."

"If you're skilled enough, buying 10 is no problem."

The grasslands have a harsh living environment, and the various tribes often fight each other.

The rule has long been established: the victor takes all.

Women and children are also very unlikely to seek revenge just because a man has died.

More often than not, they rely on the victors.

Upon hearing that women could be exchanged for human heads, the dozen or so officers immediately began to discuss it.

Jia Rong and Shi Delong were worried that the censor would impeach him, and they even whispered a reminder to him.

Li Jingxiao waved his hand and said, "Let them impeach me. It would be strange if a general commanding troops in the field didn't get impeached."

Moreover, this time when I led the troops north, I not only did not have a military supervisor, but I did not even have a clerk accompanying the army.

It was entirely up to Li Jingxiao to do whatever he said.

The heavy cavalry of the Palace Guard were well-paid with high monthly salaries, but even so, many of them were still unmarried.

Among the two thousand light cavalry, the number in this situation was even greater.

Moreover, even if they were already married, it wouldn't be bad to buy these Tatar women back as servants.

If there's a pretty one, she can be a concubine.

Seeing that more than a dozen of his men were complaining that he was being unfair, Li Jingxiao had no choice but to expand the scope to the entire army.

If there aren't enough people, then keep accounts.

As for paying money, Li Jingxiao simply told them to get lost.

What he wants is a human head.

As you conquer more and more tribes, you'll naturally accumulate more and more silver.

Although tribes on the grasslands mostly bartered, their leaders and nobles still possessed jewels, gold, and silver to varying degrees.

Moreover, the closer a tribe was to the Great Zhou Dynasty, the wealthier it was.

Li Jingxiao waved for the officers to go back and tell the soldiers below his decision.

Soon, cheers erupted around the main tent.

Some who already had two heads would run straight into the prisoners and pick out the ones they liked.

They dragged him into the tent and they fought.

Li Jingxiao didn't care about this; he understood the need to vent after killing.

And without comparison, how can there be any harm?

How else can we boost the morale and fighting spirit of all the soldiers?
The soldiers watched as the officers completely ignored the matter of using women to vent their frustrations.

This immediately made most of the soldiers' eyes light up.

I wish I could kill three or five enemies myself tomorrow.

Not long after, Zhao Junming reported that he had discovered more than a hundred people who claimed to be people from the Great Zhou who had been abducted to the grasslands by the Tatars.

Li Jingxiao's face lit up with joy. After screening these people, they could be added to the auxiliary troops.

After thinking for a moment, he instructed Zhao Junming to have these Great Zhou people responsible for killing Tatars taller than a cartwheel.

Then tell them that as long as they join the mercenary team, the treatment and rewards will be the same.

Sure enough, more than 90 people joined soon.

The remaining dozen or so Zhou people were killed just like the Tatars.

Whether it was Li Jingxiao or the other officers and soldiers, they hated Erguizi the most.

The army then slaughtered sheep and cattle, had a big meal, and began making smoked jerky.

You don't need to smoke it too much; just make sure it doesn't spoil for two or three days.

The supplies that were brought were left untouched.

As for the more than two thousand horses captured, the best ones were used as military horses.

The less desirable horses were used as pack animals and given to Jia Rong and Shi Delong.

Incidentally, 2 of the worst horses were eliminated from the army and transported back to Jizhou.

Having too many horses is not a good thing either.

At night, while Li Jingxiao was cultivating, he glanced at his character's level.

Level 35 (39810/4).

Every day, even when the army was on a long march, Li Jingxiao would play chess with the two female demons before resting at night.

Like Liu Cuitong, Hu Xian'er had long since given up on the idea of ​​winning against Li Jingxiao.

That means you can reliably earn 2 experience points every day.

As for skills.

During this period, I mainly practiced the Lightning Thunder Fist, and it has already reached the Great Perfection (3985/1).
The next morning, Li Jingxiao watched as 200 logistics soldiers and a small flag officer from the Left Garrison Command drove away thousands of cattle and sheep, 1 horses, and more than 2 women and children.

Moreover, among these women and children, more than 300 young women have become the women of the 800 auxiliary soldiers or heavy and light cavalry.

Many women accepted this identity quite naturally.

They took the initiative to assist in driving away cattle and sheep.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao ordered these women to dismantle their tents and take with them the equipment that the army didn't want, and head south together.

This action immediately attracted several hundred more women and children, who took the initiative to undertake the relocation work.

Only those who have nothing are fearless.

These Tatar women certainly couldn't bear to part with their tents, carriages, cooking pots and pans, and so on.

In their eyes, this is property, and with a new man and property, they naturally won't run away easily.

Li Jingxiao even felt that if anyone tried to escape during the southward journey, they might be caught or even killed by these Tatar women who had already accepted their new identities.

Li Jingxiao wouldn't care if someone actually escaped.

Once the returning troops had gone far away, Li Jingxiao led his army north to attack the next Tatar tribe.

After a day's march, when they were only 40 li away from their next target, the army set up camp again in a sheltered spot.

To conceal their whereabouts, they did not light a fire to cook.

We can only eat the dried beef and mutton that was smoked yesterday.

Moreover, when they conquered the previous tribe, they found quite a lot of dried sea buckthorn.

During the Yuan Dynasty, this stuff was already used to replace soybeans, black beans, and wheat bran for horses. Even for humans, it was a source of vitamins and protein for the grassland people who mainly consumed dairy products.

At 3 a.m., the army began to prepare again.

The logistics team remained at the camp, while 3800 cavalrymen quietly left the camp.

Fortunately, most of the captains and strongmen of the Left Garrison Command were former border scouts, and their results in scouting, leading the way, and ambushing Tatar night sentries were excellent.

In particular, the twelve guards around Li Jingxiao not only learned the complete "Five Tigers Severing the Gate Saber" technique.

He also drank Monkey Spirit Wine several times. At this point, his internal strength cultivation was comparable to that of a martial arts hero who had cultivated internal strength for four or five years in the martial arts world.

Li Jingxiao then brought out twelve Wusun horses that had been obtained through the game for them to ride.

With +2 speed, +1 physique, and +1 endurance, the night sentry chasing the Tatars could do it so easily.

They proceeded slowly, stealthily making their way to a point 10 miles from their target, where they began to don armor, wrap the horses' hooves with strips of cloth, and feed and rest the horses.

After an incense stick had burned, the army set off.

This time, things went even more smoothly. The army marched slowly, and they were not discovered by the tribe until they had traveled three miles.

Then more than 860 auxiliary soldiers began to charge, followed by heavy cavalry.

The light cavalry were divided into four groups, running and shooting arrows from the left and right.

They should inflict as much casualties as possible on the enemy forces, and only when the heavy cavalry reached the center of the tribe should they advance from four directions.

After a massacre that was a foregone conclusion, Li Jingxiao sat down in the main tent once again.

He listened to his subordinates' reports and also arranged for people to treat the wounded.

They tallied the spoils, distributed the silver, and allocated the women.

To Li Jingxiao's surprise, several hundred Tatars actually volunteered to join the mercenary team.

But Li Jingxiao dared not trust these people.

He had just led his army into their tribe and slaughtered them indiscriminately.

Only a fool would accept these Tatars who would rob them of their women, cattle, sheep, and wealth.

He ordered the cavalrymen, who had not scored a single kill in the two major battles, to be responsible for carrying out the executions.

Li Jingxiao rested for two days in this tribe to allow the horses to recover their strength.

Otherwise, if they are not defeated by the enemy, their warhorses will be worn out from continuous fierce battles.

The people from the Left Garrison Command are in for a busy time this time.

They not only had to scout out the surrounding area, but also assassinate Tatar spies.

The men of the Left Garrison Command also received rewards for killing enemies, so these guys were quite enthusiastic.

On the third day, they continued to drive women, children, cattle, sheep, and culled horses southward.

Only then did Li Jingxiao receive a message from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, saying that several tribes in the west were already gathering herdsmen.

They planned to unite to resist the large army while buying time for the tribe to migrate.

Li Jingxiao smiled and thought, "Only a fool would confront them head-on."

My goal is to create chaos; if things don't work out, I'll head east.

If these Tatars dare to pursue us again once we return to the territory of Xingzhou Guard, then we will join forces with the people of Xingzhou Guard to attack them.

If the enemy numbers are too many, we can simply retreat to Xingzhouwei.

They relied on the city walls to wage a protracted war against the Tatars.

They could even retreat south back to Shanhaiguan.

Therefore, Li Jingxiao completely ignored the tribes in the west and led his army north, attacking the tribes large and small along the way.

Sometimes, they even dared to go west and attack those medium-sized tribes.

If a large Tatar army is detected, then head east.

Anyway, the east is the territory of the Haixi Jurchens, and many of their leaders have received rewards from the Great Zhou.

He was given official titles such as Governor-General, Governor of Gold Affairs, Commander-in-Chief, Thousand-Household Commander, Hundred-Household Commander, and Garrison Commander.

During the reign of Zhu Di of the Ming Dynasty, Tashanwei, Huerhaiwei, and Talumuwei were also established here.

The Great Zhou inherited the sphere of influence of the former Ming Dynasty, and when the retired emperor ascended the throne, he also granted titles to the Haixi Jurchens.

And about twenty years ago, they agreed to allow the Haixi Jurchens to migrate south.

This led to the formation of dozens of tribes of varying sizes, the largest of which were the Ula, Hada, Huifa, and Yehe tribes.

Li Jingxiao also sent someone to contact the Hada tribe.

However, to Li Jingxiao's surprise and delight, about seven years ago, the Khan of the Hada tribe was killed by his own people.

His descendants scattered, and the eldest son, Wang Zhong, led his men to settle in Hada River, where he always thought about how to take revenge.

Unfortunately, despite years of hard work, they were constantly oppressed by the Tatars and had to fight with their father's killer from time to time.

The clan has only a little over six thousand members.

Of these 6,000 people, 3,000 were actually able to be mobilized as soldiers.

If it's the limit, four thousand is not a problem.

It can be said that, apart from the elderly and children under the age of 12, the entire population is mobilized for military service.

However, Wang Zhong's eldest son, Wang Tai, also led a portion of his clansmen to escape to the mountains west of Suiha City and settled down.

Because things were relatively stable, Wang Tai's strength was actually much greater than that of his father, Wang Zhong.

Li Jingxiao naturally set his sights on Wang Zhong.

In this month, Li Jingxiao's name has spread throughout the entire grassland and the Nine Borders.

But by this time he had already led his army to Saihanba Grassland, 60 miles east of Duolun Lake.

It's called a grassland, but it's actually a mix of meadows and large pine forests.

Hiding in the pine forest, they couldn't find any trace of Li Jingxiao's large army.

In that month, Li Jingxiao destroyed nine tribes of varying sizes. If you include the two tribes he conquered when he entered the grasslands, that makes eleven.

At least 1.5 Tatars were killed directly.

After attacking the tribe, they killed approximately 1 men.

Although the number of people killed was not large, the panic it caused was considerable.

Especially during the latter part of this month, when Li Jingxiao was deep in the grasslands and surrounded by dangers, he was unable to move women, children, cattle, sheep and horses.

Not only did he order the killing of all those who couldn't be taken away, but he also built four mounds of Jingguan on the grassland.

While intimidating the Tatars, it was also intended to provoke them.

Most of the officers under Li Jingxiao's Left Garrison Command were night scouts, and their ability to detect enemy movements was indeed excellent.

But Li Jingxiao's real confidence came from the "Mysterious Light Technique," which he used to guide him to any place he had seen or visited.

The Mystic Light Technique is like a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft transmitting images back to the screen, appearing on the water and walls.

That's why Li Jingxiao was able to easily escape the encirclement with his army despite being surrounded and pursued by so many Tatars.

They also conveniently wiped out one or two tribes to replenish their supplies and horses.

Meanwhile, Li Jingxiao also secretly stored 5 slaughtered and abandoned sheep and 1200 cattle in the inventory.

Therefore, wherever the army passed, the Tatars within a radius of two or three hundred miles either fled north or migrated west.

When the Tatar army in Datong and Xuanfu learned that their stronghold had been wantonly trampled by a cavalry force of the Great Zhou, they were shocked.

The Tatar tribes in the north have formed two cavalry units with more than 10,000 men each, and more than a dozen Tatar cavalry units with more than 1,000 men each, searching everywhere for Li Jingxiao's whereabouts.

As time went on, more and more people came to hunt him down.

Li Jingxiao used the "Mysterious Light Technique" to check behind him and found at least six groups of Tatars relentlessly pursuing him.

They had no choice but to lead their large army northwards unexpectedly for three days straight.

After escaping the encirclement, they headed east and hid in the pine forests of Saihanba.

(End of this chapter)