The Demon-Slaying Grandmaster

Chapter 167 Inscription on the Shore of Jingguan Lake
The resistance encountered by the heavy cavalry during their second charge was significantly weaker; Li Jingxiao alone killed more than twenty men with his copper cudgel.

With him as the commander and a super general leading the charge, the morale and penetration ability during the charge were significantly stronger.

No matter how powerful the Tatars were, they couldn't withstand more than two or three blows from him.

Therefore, the second charge not only killed at least six or seven hundred more people.

The morale of the Tatars was completely shattered.

Seeing that the Tatars had lost all fighting spirit, the light cavalry and mercenaries were not about to let go of the opportunity to take their heads.

They gave these Tatars no chance to surrender, and charged forward in a swarm, constantly waving their scimitars and spears.

After leading his heavy cavalry to once again break through the entire battlefield, Li Jingxiao led his cavalry back in a circle. Li Jingxiao stood on a small hill on his horse.

Seeing that the Tatars were completely outmatched on the battlefield and had been scattered, he lost all interest in killing.

He waved to the heavy cavalry behind him, indicating that if they wanted the heads, they should go and grab them themselves.

Soon, groups of three to five heavy cavalrymen charged forward, their eyes bloodshot with rage.

Many men simply dismounted, threw away their spears, drew their swords, and slashed like heavy infantry until not a single Tatar remained standing.

The army then regained its senses, and suddenly someone raised his knife and roared.

The soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty across the battlefield also raised their swords and cheered.

When they saw Li Jingxiao standing on the hillside with his sword drawn, they cheered for him.

Seeing that morale was high and the army had regained its composure after venting their anger, Li Jingxiao couldn't help but raise his bronze cudgel in agreement.

The cheers suddenly grew even louder.

After a while, three thousand logistics soldiers caught up and began to clean up the battlefield.

The officers of the Left Garrison Command also began to treat the wounded.

Incidentally, the surviving Tatars finished him off with a fatal blow, then looted the corpse, stripping off all the armor, gold, silver, and weapons, piling them up, waiting for the Left Garrison Commanders to come and take inventory.

No one dared to keep it for themselves.

Not only because Li Jingxiao had carried out the order many times that soldiers should take 6% of the spoils of war.

Also, in the past month, more than a dozen people who dared to hoard spoils of war had been personally beheaded by Li Jingxiao in front of the army.

After the officers in charge, including the captain, centurion, and flag bearer, were also whipped, no one dared to hide anything anymore.

As the night passed and dawn broke, Li Jingxiao ordered a fire to be lit and a meal to be prepared.

After the soldiers had eaten breakfast and rested until noon, Li Jingxiao ordered people to collect the silt from the lake.

At the foot of a cliff on the west side of Duolun Lake, the casting of a mound of Jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese statue) began.

This is not only the fifth Jingguan (a type of mound of skulls), but also the largest one in the past month or so.

It took more than 7,000 soldiers a full day and a half to build this enormous mound of skulls.

Li Jingxiao also used his lightness skill to fly more than ten meters up and carve on the cliff face with his sword.

In the seventh year of the Longde reign of the Great Zhou Dynasty, Li Jingyou was appointed as the Right Commander-in-Chief of the Five Armies Commandery, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Senior Protector of the Army, General of Huaihua, and Hereditary Marquis of Xing'an.

He led an army of four thousand, fought across a thousand miles, and won twelve battles in twelve battles.

A mound of Jingguan (a type of human pyramid) was built on the shore of Lake Duolun to suppress the barbarian tribes from all directions.

After the officers and commanders read the announcement, the soldiers' gazes toward Li Jingxiao became increasingly fervent.

Li Jingxiao mounted his horse and stood on a hillside, surveying the army several times.

Suddenly, he shouted to the troops, "May the Great Zhou be victorious!"

The entire army drew their swords and raised them high, shouting "May the Great Zhou be victorious!" at Li Jingxiao.

Just two words were enough to make the 4,500 soldiers and more than 3,000 logistics soldiers present lose their voices.

Before Li Jingxiao set out on his expedition, he had even considered inscribing a stone on Yanran Mountain, drinking from the vast sea, and sealing the wolf's lair.

Unfortunately, reality told him that Lake Duolun was at least three or four thousand miles away from Langjuxu, which would later become the Kent Mountains.

It is even further away from Yanran Mountain and the vast desert.

Even if the race goes smoothly all the way, it will still take one or two months.

Not to mention that around the main army, there were five Tatar cavalry units with numbers ranging from several thousand to tens of thousands, who wished they could tear him apart.

If you continue north, you will most likely encounter the main Tatar force retreating from Datong and Xuanfu, blocking your way back.

No matter how much Li Jingxiao wanted to make a name for himself in history, he dared not risk the lives of more than seven thousand soldiers.

Moreover, Li Jingxiao knew very well that after fighting abroad for so long, the morale and fighting spirit of the army had been sustained only by continuous victories.

If you then send them three thousand miles deeper into the colder heart of the grasslands, some of them will definitely develop a war-weary mentality.

It would be better to stop while things are going well, so after completing the fifth mound of skulls, Li Jingxiao quickly shouted "Return to the capital".

The entire camp erupted in cheers once again.

They all walked with a lighter step and became more proactive in their work.

As it turned out, the army was already exhausted from its journey.

After twelve matches, the army indeed lost the desire to continue fighting.

Especially when they were encircling and annihilating the six thousand Tatars, Li Jingxiao could clearly feel that the army was too frantic in the fighting.

If it weren't for building a mound of skulls and writing the words "to pacify the four directions," which boosted morale...

Perhaps the army, exhausted from a major battle, has already developed a war-weary mentality.

Moreover, to be honest, of the 4500 main force soldiers who survived these twelve battles, each had at least a hundred taels of silver on them.

Many of them had four or five hundred taels on them.

Three thousand logistics soldiers, at least several dozen or even a hundred taels.

Li Jingxiao's inventory also contained gold, silver, and jewelry worth tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Even if they can't take them with them, there are still 1.2 slaughtered cattle and sheep.

Even the carcasses of horses numbered over a thousand.

In an era when a dozen or so taels of silver could feed a family for a year, Da Jun was indeed well-fed by Li Jingxiao.

At this moment, anyone who tries to stop the army from returning home will surely inspire the entire army with the courage and determination to overthrow everything.

However, Li Jingxiao was not without worries. Several months ago, 10,000 Tatar cavalrymen had been patrolling the border of Goryeo.

What if we encounter this unit on our way back?

Even if a head-on confrontation could defeat the opponent, the casualties would be considerable.

That's why Li Jingxiao thought of having Jia Rong contact Wang Zhong, the leader of the Hada Jurchen tribe.

They not only wanted to obtain more intelligence, but also wanted to use the Jurchens as helpers and cannon fodder.

After returning to the pine forest and resting for a night, the army set off eastward the next day.

It was only at this time that the Tatars discovered the Jingguan (a mound of stones) on the shore of Lake Duolun.

When a Tatar army of 10,000 men arrived at Duolun Lake in the afternoon, their faces turned extremely grim upon seeing the mound of Jingguan (a traditional Tatar formation) and the inscriptions on the cliff.

They wanted to destroy the stone carvings left by Li Jingxiao, but because they were more than ten meters above the ground, they had to cut down trees from dozens of miles away to build a wooden frame.

It's simply impossible in less than three to five days.

But the scouts said that the great battle should have happened a day or two ago, and if they stayed here, the Zhou people would have gone even further.

In the end, the desire for revenge prevailed.

However, as the Tatar army pursued eastward, several Tatar leaders soon noticed that the soldiers were traveling much slower than before.

Even with repeated urging, they still ran for a while, but their speed unconsciously slowed down again.

After discussing the matter, the leaders and generals quickly realized that their men were terrified by the fact that six thousand of their own people had been wiped out by the Zhou army.

That phrase came to mind.

The statement "leading an army of four thousand, fighting across a thousand miles, winning twelve battles in twelve battles" would be an even greater blow to morale.

No one wants to face an invincible enemy, especially one so different from the old imperial army. The blatant construction of the Jingguan (a mound of skulls) showed no fear of future historical records or imperial accountability.

The leaders and soldiers suddenly realized that even if they caught up, it might just be the same as what they said: turning twelve battles into thirteen and winning all of them.

Even if we win, the casualties will be significant.

After all, in the leaders' minds, the army led by Li Jingxiao was ridiculously strong.

It's unbelievable that four thousand men could annihilate six thousand cavalry.

But that enormous mound of skulls proved Li Jingxiao's words.

The grasslands are cruel; if too many of their soldiers are killed or wounded, these leaders will most likely be annexed by others when they return.

So although the leaders didn't say anything, they noticeably slowed down when they marched again.

Moreover, they would order a rest after walking only ten or twenty miles.

During the previous pursuit, they ran at least 130 or 140 li every day.

Occasionally, I would run more than 170 li in a day, but now, I only walk about 80 li a day.

Moreover, they ran more than 50 li in the morning, but in the afternoon they only walked more than 30 li.

When the Tatar scouts followed Li Jingxiao's army to the vicinity of the pine forest, they discovered a large number of hoofprints disappearing into the pine forest.

Upon returning and reporting back, the 10,000-strong Tatar cavalry was extremely nervous.

I didn't dare go into the large forest at all.

Not only did they send people to notify other troops, but they also retreated more than ten miles and set up camp on a hillside, waiting for reinforcements to arrive.

After a few rounds of travel, when they had gathered 30,000 men, Li Jingxiao had already led his army for three days.

It's practically impossible to catch up.

Even if they catch up, they will definitely be just as exhausted as those six thousand Tatars before them.

If that's the case, Li Jingxiao will definitely dare to launch another sneak attack.

Even if we can't wipe them all out, we can just kill them two or three times and then leave.

For the past three days, Li Jingxiao has also been using the "Mysterious Light Technique" to observe what's behind him.

Finally, they determined that the nearest Tatar unit was at least three days' journey away.

Moreover, the tens of thousands of Tatars were moving slower and slower, which finally put my mind at ease.

Now, the only ones we need to guard against are the Jurchens and Uriyangkhai Mongols to the east.

However, the Uriyangkhai tribe was much smaller in power compared to the Tatars and the Oirats.

They have always maintained a friendly attitude towards the Great Zhou.

To put it bluntly, the Uriyangkhai were afraid of being annexed by the Tatars, so they could only maintain good relations with the Great Zhou in order to obtain support such as food and ironware.

However, the Great Zhou Dynasty rarely paid any attention to the Uriyangkhad tribe.

Li Jingxiao was a person from later generations, so he knew that the rise of the Jurchens would pose a great threat to the Great Zhou.

However, from the perspective of the Great Zhou court, the Jurchens were worth winning over at this time, serving as pawns to restrain the Tatars and Uriyangkhai.

Historically, Nurhaci's rise to power was thanks to Li Chengliang's policy of supporting bandits to maintain his own authority.

On the fifth day of the army's retreat eastward, the scouts returned and reported that they had encountered Jia Rong and his men who had returned.

Half an hour later, Jia Rong appeared before the army on horseback with about a hundred support soldiers.

He dismounted and bowed to Li Jingxiao, saying, "My lord, I have already reached an agreement with Wang Zhong."

He will gather 2 cavalry to fight alongside you against the Tatars.

Li Jingxiao praised Jia Rong with a smile, making the boy grin from ear to ear.

Little did they know, Li Jingxiao secretly felt a pang of regret.

Although they were constantly worried about being overtaken by the Tatars, their hearts were conflicted.

Li Jingxiao secretly hoped that the Tatars would relentlessly pursue them.

Moreover, he built a mound of jingguan (a type of ancient Chinese statue) on the shore of Duolun Lake and inscribed it on a stone, writing down his achievements of twelve battles and twelve victories.

For them, this was something that would make them famous throughout history, but for the Tatars, it was an indelible shame.

Logically, the Tatars should have pursued him relentlessly.

Moreover, he used the Mystic Light Technique to constantly observe the situation of the Tatar pursuers, looking for an opportunity to lead his army to launch a surprise attack on the Tatars.

Having annihilated the pursuing forces a second time, the Tatars naturally dared not continue the pursuit.

If Wang Zhong had brought the Jurchens to support them, they might have been able to launch a counterattack.

They directly defeated the more than 30,000 pursuing troops, and then took the shorter route through Xingzhouwei southward back to the interior.

Unfortunately, the Tatars moved as slowly as a tortoise.

So much so that now that Wang Zhong has brought 2 men, Li Jingxiao has yet to find a reason to wear down this Jurchen force.

Fortunately, ideas are one thing, but reason prevailed.

When I left the capital at the end of February and arrived at Zhenjiang Fort, I heard that there was a Tatar cavalry force of 10,000 men that was holding back Liaodong Town and confusing the court on the eastern front.

Now that I am returning east, these 10,000 Tatars are an obstacle in my way.

With a clear goal in mind, Li Jingxiao naturally became much more enthusiastic towards Wang Zhong.

The army continued eastward for two more days, and scouts reported that about two thousand Jurchen cavalry and a small tribe of several hundred herders had set up camp by a small lake about 30 li away.

Li Jingxiao naturally didn't trust Wang Zhong so easily, and ordered the scouts to continue reconnaissance to the east, north, and south.

The army slowed down, and what should have been a journey of one hour took Li Jingxiao a full three hours.

It was already dark when we finally walked 20 li (approximately 10 kilometers).

They were relieved only after scouts from three directions reported no abnormalities.

But Li Jingxiao was not in a hurry to meet up with Wang Zhong.

Instead, he ordered his men to set up camp.

Ten miles away, Wang Zhong, who had been waiting all day, couldn't help but feel anxious.

The fact that the Great Zhou army is moving so slowly clearly shows that they don't trust us.

Fortunately, Wang Zhong knew that if he were in that situation, he would also be extremely careful.

After all, judging from the news coming from the grasslands, the Tatars hated this Grand Commander to the core.

Therefore, it's perfectly normal for Zhou Jun to be cautious since he's still in danger.

But Wang Zhong began to regret his decision and agreed to Jia Rong's request from Ningguo Mansion to lead his troops to follow that Grand Commander.

If the Tatars find out, they won't be able to do anything to that Marquis, and they'll most likely vent their anger on the Hada tribe they lead.

But what if someone dares to play tricks on that marquis, promising to lead troops to follow him but then failing to show up?

There's no guarantee that the man won't lead his army to attack us.

Given this man's tendency to slaughter Tatars at the drop of a hat, the Hada tribe will certainly not fare well either.

Not to mention, Lord Jia of Ningguo Mansion had said that he would not send troops if he did not do so.

Once the Marquis returns to the capital with his army, he will advise the emperor to appoint his enemy as the Deputy Commander of Tashan Guard.

At that time, already at a disadvantage, he would have no choice but to lead his people to continue migrating.

Who knows how many years it will be before I can return to my homeland.

We may never be able to go back.

Moreover, once they migrate, their opponents may take the opportunity to follow and hunt them down.

Therefore, Wang Zhong had no choice but to come.

Otherwise, do you really think the Jurchens would be so easily obeyed?

(End of this chapter)