Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 121 Snow Water
It was two days later when Borjigin arrived at the battlefield with 15,000 cavalry.

Blood was everywhere on the ground, and carnivores such as wolves and bears were frequently seen here.

Borjigin's men continued to capture stray horses, and as they got closer to the battlefield, they were able to find more and more warhorses.

"Great Khan, these are all Khitan horses, and the dead on the ground are also Khitans."

Both the Khitan people and their horses have very distinct characteristics. The warhorses of the Shan Nong people were mostly obtained from the Mongols and Han Chinese.

As Borjigin continued onward, one of his men rode up on a fast horse.

"Great Khan! There's a Khitan corpse ahead!"

Borjigin cursed, "Do I need to be told about a corpse? There are Khitan corpses everywhere here!"

The young cavalryman described in horror, "That man's body was cleaved in two; I have never seen such a gruesome corpse!"

Borjigin became curious and exclaimed, "Take me to see!"

The young man led Borjigin and the other warriors to the back of the hill, and soon they saw a man lying face up to the sky, resembling a tree branch.

When they saw the man split in two, everyone was filled with fear, as if they could imagine how this Khitan man had died.

"It must have been the chieftain of the Mountain Farmer tribe who did it! There's no mistake!"

Borjigin was absolutely certain that this was the work of the Arctic Army!
The group quickly continued walking forward, and after walking for half an hour, they saw the team loading the trucks.

The soldiers of the mountain farmers are loading the corpses of the Khitans onto carts and transporting them back.

When Yang Xiangyun saw Borjigin coming over, he greeted him and said, "The chieftain told me that you would come. This time, the Khitans came without food or supplies, so there are no spoils of war. You can take the horses outside back with you. We will collect the corpses here and then go back to guard the city to prevent the spread of plague."

Borjigin asked, "What are the mountain farmers going to do with these Khitan corpses?"

The corpses are burned to ashes, which are then used to fertilize the fields.

Yang Xiangyun replied, "The clan chief said that the flesh and souls eaten by the Khitans should be returned to their homeland. After being burned, they will return to dust and ashes, and will not be mixed with flesh and blood."

Borjigin nodded, and said thoughtfully, "I see."

Yang Xiangyun didn't have much to say to those who had attacked him before, and continued to supervise the others.

Borjigin asked, "Is the chieftain here?"

Yang Xiangyun replied, "The Khitans in the northeast dare not come over, the Jizhou troops in the east cannot take Feihu Pass, and there is nothing going on in the west. The clan chief should go back to the south to deal with the remaining 250,000 troops."

Borjigin asked curiously, "How many Khitans died?"

Yang Xiangyun raised the corners of his mouth, "More than 50,000 people came in total, and more than 49,000 died."

Borjigin was incredulous. "Killed so many? Didn't they surrender?"

The Arctic warriors were certainly capable of defeating the Khitans, but Borjigin wondered why they were all killed.

Yang Xiangyun replied, "They thought they could win, so they kept fighting. In the end, half of our 5,000 men were killed. We fought from afternoon until night, and we couldn't care less about anything else. We didn't stop until everyone was dead."

“We just transported back more than 10,000 bodies in the past two days. The county sent 3,000 people to help. There are 50,000 to 60,000 bodies in total, including people and horses. We don’t have time to deal with the lost horses right now. Take them back with you once you get them.”

Borjigin nodded. "According to the agreement with the mountain farmers, I will take one-tenth of what I received, and the rest will be left to you."

"it is good."

Yang Xiangyun agreed. At this time, the mountain road and dirt road were very difficult to travel, and warhorses were needed to carry the ashes back.

As for the warhorse's carcass, it would have to be hauled back by cart.

The dead Khitans were piled up together and then cremated collectively.

What can't be processed will be left unprocessed; wolves, wild animals, and birds will collect them.

For at least three or four years, no one would be willing to take this route. The news of the killing of 50,000 Khitan cavalry in the Arctic Battle of Wuye was relayed back to Khitan territory through the mouths of Khitan deserters.

In Shangjing City, 700 miles away from the battlefield, the Khitan nobles temporarily stopped their singing, dancing and banquets.

Two hundred thousand elite cavalrymen, and fifty thousand were wiped out!
Moreover, it was a battle of 50,000 against 5,000. In the open field battle on the grassland, they only killed two or three thousand of the enemy, while the 50,000 cavalry were almost completely wiped out!

The name "Mountain Farmer" is etched in the hearts of every Khitan person.

When news of the Shan Nong tribe killing 50,000 Khitan cavalry reached the south, the pressure shifted to the Wen Dynasty army.

The thirty-year-old Duke of Qin, accompanied by members of the Li family, was discussing matters with several generals in the city.

"To kill Beiji Wu, we must have a group of elite warriors hold him down so he cannot escape, and then the rest of us can swarm him and shoot him to death with a hail of arrows!"

"That's easy. As long as he comes out, we'll make sure he dies!"

"Beiji Wu should be arriving soon. Have you brought Yan Shuangli's family, the garrison commander of Yanmen Pass, with you? Have his parents and son go to the city walls to persuade him to surrender!"

"We have already sent people to bring them over. Once His Majesty's army arrives, we can attack Yanmen Pass."

"His Majesty has decreed that those Jinzhou merchants be executed along with their entire families for treason, their property be confiscated and used to fund the military, and the women be sent to serve as military prostitutes."

"I'll take care of it!"

"Such a good thing is not for you. The people from the Prince of Jin's residence have already taken care of it."

"Judging by the time, His Majesty will be arriving soon, in the next few days. Once His Majesty arrives, the Bai family will surrender Yanmen Pass!"

As spring arrives and flowers bloom, and with the coordination of various parties, more and more troops are gathering in the Jinzhong area, and the daily consumption of food and fodder for the people and horses is also increasing.

The snow on the mountain melts into streams, which converge in the central Jinzhong Valley.

Last year, the bodily fluids from the frozen corpses in various parts of Jinzhou flowed together with the melting snow to form rivers.

The crystal-clear stream, fed by the melting spring snow, became a source of sweet, clean water trusted by the horses and soldiers.

Within three to five days, with a large number of soldiers suffering from diarrhea and fever, Wen Chao's morale quickly collapsed.

Most people were exhausted, and as the temperature rose, the water level in the city began to rise in just over a day.

A large amount of water, seemingly from nowhere, rose higher and higher.

Everything was fine in the morning, but by the afternoon, 200,000 people were trapped in the disaster area, and warhorses and oxen quickly drowned in the water.

The floodwaters receded at night, leaving behind a large number of corpses and mud.

There was no clean water available, no fuel for heating, and no suitable burial place for the large number of cattle, horse, and human carcasses. In addition, more and more people were infected with the plague.

Jinzhou Log: In the third year of the Wen Dynasty, the spring snow melted, the Fen River breached its banks, and the plains of Jinzhong were flooded to a depth of more than ten feet. Houses were submerged, crops were destroyed, countless livestock drowned, mountains collapsed and valleys were buried, and thousands of people died.

***
The plague and floods blocked the grain transport route due to mudslides, making the mountain roads muddy and difficult for vehicles and horses to travel.

Before the 250,000-strong army and 50,000 warhorses even began their assault on the city, 50,000 had already perished.

As the plague worsened, the Wen Dynasty people had no time to collect the corpses and quickly evacuated from Daizhou, Xinzhou, Jinzhong and other places.

The floodwaters flowed from north to south, rushing towards the low-lying areas in the south, causing the most severe damage to the laborers and generals in the rear.

The plague raged, roads were blocked, and the food, drink and toilet needs of more than 200,000 people led to heavy losses within a month. Of the 250,000 troops, less than 100,000 returned.

The nobles and generals who contracted the plague fled home to rest, and the plague began to break out in Luoyang. The ruthless emperor dared to order the killing of these people, and that very night someone took his life.

Destiny belongs to the martial!

The Wen Dynasty no longer had the strength to attack the Shan Nong tribe, and even people in various parts of the south began to harbor rebellious thoughts.

(End of this chapter)