Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 150: Together
Outside Shanhaiguan, the Khitan emperor Yelü Zongzhen personally led an army of 100,000.

As the 100,000-strong army gradually gathered outside Shanhaiguan, the garrison on the city wall also quickly assembled.

"How many people came?"

Niu Zhifu, who was off duty today, quickly climbed the city wall and inquired with several officers on duty.

The group was resting in Tiezhou and came to provide support as soon as they saw the signal.

The cavalry arrived first, followed by infantry and archers who would arrive within half a day.

At this time, all parts of Tiezhou began to be on high alert, and soldiers and civilians began to enter the castle in an organized manner to take refuge and scout the situation.

Looking at the army ahead, Lin Changmao said, "No matter how many come, we are not afraid. We have 5,500 soldiers here, and 200,000 soldiers and civilians in Tiezhou behind us. Even if a million soldiers come, we can hold them off."

Niu Zhifu asked helplessly, "How many people exactly?"

Lin Changmao replied, "I don't know."

Niu Zhifu had nothing to say to him and looked at Yang Xiangyun, who was observing the enemy situation.

Wuzhou has a large population, and they are all locals. The city has also been reinforced. Therefore, Yang Xiangyun was transferred to Shanhaiguan to defend against the Khitans.

The Wu Dynasty had no shortage of generals who frequently fought battles, nor did it lack soldiers.

Because there are many positions and opportunities, capable people can easily rise to the top, and several good fighters can be transferred to places where battles are needed.

Last year during the Spring Festival, Beiji Wu was still tasked with putting out fires to destroy the Western Xia. Now that the Western Xia has been destroyed, the Turks, Mongols, and people of Xiliang have all chosen to accept the investiture from King Wu.

The imperial court's plan was to destroy the Khitans in five years, but in reality, the people below only had four years to prepare. In the fifth year, the Northern Emperor himself came to solve the problem.

Yang Xiangyun and his men always prioritized stability. Their priorities were: training troops, building fortified passes, storing grain, finding out the location of the Khitans, and waiting for Tiezhou to produce more military equipment.

King Wu also gave everyone sufficient authority and time.

The army was given sufficient food and pay, and the troops were reorganized. Those who were not qualified were sent back to farm, and those from the northern plains who were willing to fight were selected to supplement the army.

"There should be seventy to eighty thousand people."

Yang Xiangyun gave his own judgment.

Lin Changmao asked curiously, "How did you know?"

Yang Xiangyun replied, "I just went up the mountain for a while."

Shanhaiguan chose to build a fortress between the mountains and the sea, with a high point of more than 500 meters above sea level near the sea for shooting and observation.

"General!"

The sound of soldiers came from nearby. Lin Changmao and Yang Xiangyun looked over and saw two commanders of ten thousand men and one commander of a thousand men.

Xue Chonghu had made numerous military achievements, including fighting alongside the Northern Army against the Mongols and Khitans, helping them capture Luoyang, and participating in the construction of the city in Youzhou. It was not an exaggeration for him to be appointed as a commander of ten thousand households, and everyone was convinced of his merits.

Yan Shuangli was usually responsible for training troops and garrisoning, and he rarely had the opportunity to make meritorious contributions. However, if he could do the assigned tasks smoothly, he would be granted the title of commander of ten thousand households. Last year, with the destruction of the Western Xia Kingdom by the Arctic Martial Army, the title of commander of ten thousand households was truly deserved.

Wang Xiang's cavalry had several opportunities to distinguish themselves, but their performance was mediocre, and they have yet to be granted the title of commander of ten thousand households.

At this time, there were a total of seven commanders of ten thousand households in Youzhou. In addition to Xue Chonghu and Yan Shuangli, there were also Meng Hetong, Lang Wubing, and Yang Xiangyun, all of whom had followed Beiji Wu on his campaigns and made many meritorious contributions.

The five households with ten thousand households are all well-deserved, and the other two households belong to the workers and peasants.

Yang Xiangyun looked at the two commanders approaching, walked to a nearby ballista, stepped on it, and laughed, "All seven commanders have arrived; victory is assured!"

Xue Chonghu glanced around. "There are only five, aren't there?"

There were quite a few generals present, more than a dozen commanders of a thousand, but only five commanders of ten thousand.

Yan Shuangli explained to Yang Xiangyun, "These 100 ballistae with a range of 1,500 meters, along with these 40 catapults, are equivalent to having two Wanhu (a military unit) working on the job."

Yang Xiangyun nodded. "His Majesty has appointed five craftsmen households with ten thousand households each across the country, in charge of five state-owned ironworks in Tongzhou, Jinzhou, Tiezhou, Jizhou, and Jiaozhou. They have smelted steel and made heavy plows, producing five hundred tons of refined iron per day."

Since Tongju surrendered, the blacksmiths there have acquired the technology of iron smelting from coke and have been busy improving production ever since.

Tongzhou itself is a coal-producing area and has many skilled blacksmiths.

There were two periods of rapid development. One was when the people of Jincheng came to join them. Taking advantage of the drop in water level of the Fen River and the abundant coal resources in the area, production increased dramatically, and all aspects were gradually improved.

The second period was after the occupation of Luoyang. With the addition of Luoyang blacksmiths, many veteran blacksmiths from government-run enterprises had the opportunity to exchange ideas, express their understanding of new technologies, and quickly adopt and improve them through verification.

The Arctic Army relies solely on brute force in warfare, but focuses more on the development of industry and agriculture. If blacksmiths want to meet the Arctic Army, they can have the person in charge contact them.

This emphasis has created a significant advantage, allowing folk artisans to put their accumulated skills to good use.

The largest ironworks was in Handan, where there was coal, iron, and blacksmith shops, as well as a large number of skilled workers.

Backed by the Zhanghe and Fuyanghe rivers, it can drive large-scale water pumps with more stable efficiency than the tributaries of the Yellow River.

It was only in the second year of the Wu Dynasty that this place began to be formally developed, and now, in the autumn of the third year, it has entered a period of vigorous development.

Every improvement, every blast furnace and waterwheel built, significantly increases production.

Pig iron was used to forge agricultural tools and military equipment, while wrought iron was used to manufacture precision tools and parts. The applications of ironware were increasing, and the production of military equipment was also extremely rapid.

Everyone looked at the ballistae and catapults placed on the city wall. The Wen Dynasty had always had such weapons, which were used to attack Beiyuan City.

However, it's not very useful when dealing with Arctic warriors, as Arctic warriors never defend their cities.

The others were not as brave as Arctic Warriors.

As generals who had distinguished themselves in defending the city, Yang Xiangyun and Lin Changmao, the garrison commander of Feihu Pass, were well aware of the destructive power of this kind of thing.

Xue Chonghu looked at these things and said with a smile, "When I first witnessed the power of this thing, I was just a lowly soldier."

They should be called prisoners of war, having recently surrendered.

The generals all smiled. None of them were genuine mountain farmers; they had all been subdued by Arctic martial arts.

Surrender or die; that was the choice we were given from the beginning.

Although there was a period of loss after surrendering, as Beijiwu helped bring his family over, provided them with housing and land, and more and more "one of his own" joined the group, he stopped caring about the past.

Especially after the Northern Warlords took control of the Central Plains, they stopped thinking about this.

When Xue Chonghu brought this up again today, everyone looked around at each other amidst their laughter and conversation, and discovered that there were all sorts of people here, from all walks of life.

As everyone was chatting and laughing, the soldier on guard nearby immediately said, "General! The Khitans have sent men!"

Even after hearing this, the dozen or so generals still wore faint smiles on their faces.

"Let's go take a look," Yang Xiangyun said, and several households walked to the side and looked down.

Because it was only built a little over a year ago, although it has a geographical advantage, the height of the city walls and the depth and width of the moat are not as good as some famous fortresses.

On the city wall, which is seven or eight hundred meters long, there is a ballista or catapult placed every four or five meters.

One hundred ballistae and forty catapults would require nearly a thousand people to control, and with the addition of five or six hundred archers, the defensive capability would be very high.

The first crenellations allowed for direct arrow shooting towards the city walls, while the second cavalry ramps behind were used for volley fire. Every ten meters or so, there were also six archers in arrow towers for reconnaissance and supplementary firepower.

The Khitans also acquired some of the weapons that the Wu Dynasty army had.

Two kilometers outside the city, a large number of Khitan troops had gathered, and several areas were specially cleared out in the crowded ranks for the use of catapults and ballistae.

The Khitans possess five catapults and five ballistae, all spoils of war acquired from the Wuchao Pass during the Spring Festival this year.

The culprit who caused the weapons to be seized did not die; instead, he rode up to the front on horseback.

"Generals on the city walls, open the gates and surrender! The Khitan King is a holy ruler. If you surrender, you will receive many benefits!"

The former Duke of Yan was now dressed in Khitan clothing, and apart from his hair not having fully grown back after being cut, he looked much older.

Seeing that the man was still alive, Xue Chonghu shouted angrily, "You old beast! You've made one mistake after another, losing the city and sending away elite troops. The Emperor has spared your whole family's lives and wealth, but has suspended your salary for three years!"

"You actually surrendered to the Khitans?! The Khitans gave your family millions of acres of land, and even made you, you old beast, a king?!"

Lang Wubing said directly, "Stop talking! Fire the arrows! Shoot this old beast to death!"

Upon hearing Wanhu's order, the nearby soldiers immediately aimed an arrow at the Duke of Yan and fired it.

The Duke of Yan had been on guard against his superiors for a long time, and when he sensed that things were not going well, he immediately spurred his horse and fled back to his position.

"Your Majesty!" The Duke of Yan offered a suggestion to the Khitan King not far away: "The garrison in the city consists of some inexperienced young men. Shanhaiguan has only been built for a little over a year. As long as we launch a strong attack, we will surely break through!"

Opposite the Duke of Yan were the Emperor of the Khitan and many famous generals.

Before the Khitan emperor Yelü Zongzhen could speak, Yelü Dalu said, "This place used to be our Khitan territory, and there was no Shanhaiguan Pass. Today, we will make all the Han Chinese and mountain farmers here sink into the sea along with Shanhaiguan Pass!"

Yelü Zongzhen also did not take Shanhaiguan seriously.

Youzhou was once the territory of the Khitans, but it was seized by the Northern Wu.

"Attack! Flatten this Shanhaiguan Pass! Loot for half a month!"

Following Yelü Zongzhen's order to attack, the other Khitan generals launched their operations one after another.

The claim of looting for half a month is not just idle talk.

This time, the main purpose is looting; there are no immediate plans to defend the city.

The story of the Arctic warrior conquering a country in a single day had already spread to the Khitans and various tribes of the northern grasslands through the Mongols.

This event confirms the truth that Beiji Wu slaughtered 50,000 Khitan cavalry in a single day, and also confirms the rumor that Beiji Wu killed nearly 20,000 Tatar cavalry in a single day, and that the Tatars surrendered quickly enough to avoid being completely wiped out.

Faced with such top-tier combat power as the Arctic Warriors, the Khitans had no intention of fighting to the death; they simply came stealthily to plunder and then fled back to the grasslands.

The sheer brilliance of annihilating 50,000 cavalry in a single day was so overwhelming that neither the emperor of the Wen Dynasty nor the Khitan emperor wanted to fight the Northern Wu again.

In particular, the Wen Dynasty emperor, who had suffered repeated defeats, had long been defeated and collapsed.

The existence of the Arctic Wu prevented the Khitans from having any intention of occupying the land, but poverty and profit drove the Khitans to raid southwards.

The Duke of Yan, holding a long sword, rode on his horse and shouted, "Move forward! Anyone who stops will be killed!!"

Behind the Duke of Yan was a row of archers, and fifty meters in front of him were Han Chinese who had been driven there by the Khitans and Han Chinese.

These Han people were mostly women and the elderly, including old women who looked like beggars and children as young as five or six.

The ragged Han Chinese prisoners, threatened by sharp weapons behind them, cried out as they approached the city wall.

The people on the city wall were waiting for orders; at this point, they no longer wanted to make their own decisions.

A common tactic of the Khitans was to incite Han Chinese to attack the city, using the lives of captured women and children to deplete the defenders' arrows and break the morale of the already fragile defenders. As the women and children approached the moat, they shouted loudly.

"Sir! Help!"

"Save us! Please, sir, save us!"

"We are Han Chinese, and we were forced to come here by the Khitans."

"I want to go home!"

The cries of the elderly and children caused those on the city wall to have conflicting thoughts.

Meng Hetong, who seemed the most agreeable, calmly gave the order.

"Fire arrows!"

Whoosh!
According to the rules of the mountain farmers, anyone wielding a weapon on the battlefield is considered an enemy.

Several Wanhu (units of households) had fought alongside Beijiwu. The mountain farmers did not distinguish between Han Chinese, non-Han Chinese, and mountain farmers; they only distinguished between their own people and their enemies.

Anyone who gets in the way, even if they're unarmed, should be killed.

The Northern Army has always acted this way; if they find someone in the way or causing trouble, even those Khitans who surrendered in the past will die.

Yelü Zongzhen looked at the Han people killed by the farmers on the mountainside and gestured for his men to shout a message.

A loud-voiced general went over and shouted, "Han people in the city, do you see this? This is how the mountain farmers treat Han people! Surrender quickly and join us in killing the mountain farmers! We'll enjoy wealth and glory!"

Lin Changmao shouted loudly, "There are only mountain farmers in the city, not a single Han Chinese! We soldiers here, the lowest rank is paid five thousand coins a month, three meals a day, and meat once a week. We are well-fed and warmly clothed. Are we supposed to eat wild grass and gnaw on tree bark with you Khitans?!"

Most Khitans didn't understand what the two sides were shouting, otherwise their morale would have collapsed.

Yelü Zongzhen was fluent in Chinese, so he gave orders directly in Khitan.

"attack!"

After their psychological warfare failed, the Khitans launched a formal attack.

The army began to change its formation. In addition to catapults and ballistae, the Khitans also introduced shield carts (mobile shelters) and goose carts (for climbing city towers) made by Han craftsmen.

As the horn of attack sounded, catapults began hurling boulders at the city walls.

Just as the Khitans' five catapults launched huge stones forward, forty 100-pound stones simultaneously flew out from the city wall in front of them.

The Khitans seized military equipment developed by the Wen Dynasty, while the Wu Dynasty seized military equipment transported from various regions.

The military equipment of the Wu Dynasty was still mainly made of wood, with iron supports and springs used in key positions.

A circular spring is too difficult to make, but a zigzag spring made of layers of folded iron sheets can be made by hand.

Due to design flaws and its low position, Wen Chao's catapult launched stones in a straight line, much like a baseball player's straight throw.

The catapults of the Wu Dynasty would throw stones into the air and let them fall.

The two styles look similar, but in fact there are clear differences in the angle and stem length.

Huge rocks flew down from tens of meters in the air and crashed into the Khitan command post.

"careful!"

"Protect the king!"

The guards screamed in terror.

The shield bearers held their shields to protect the Khitan king, and huge rocks flew from the sky toward them. The entire army could no longer maintain its formation, and the cavalry and infantry instinctively fled.

The artillery array composed of forty giant stones, along with the downward-firing of one hundred ballistae, inflicted immense damage on the Khitan's elite troops and frontline commanders in an instant.

Yelü Zongzhen watched as a stone the size of a deer fell on the head of his younger brother, Yelü Qige, smashing the exceptionally intelligent boy to pieces.

Yelü Zongzhen's eyes widened, and he quickly retreated under the protection of his personal guards.

The sturdy shield carts and the goose carts, which could fire from a high vantage point, became the main targets of the ballistae.

After a volley of fire, the Khitans suffered hundreds of casualties, and most of their few engineering machines were destroyed.

The archers began to take over, unleashing a volley of arrows at the Khitan soldiers below who refused to retreat.

At this time, the first batch of siege soldiers arrived outside the moat and began to use shields to block the shots from above, and threw a large number of corpses into the moat to fill it up.

The moat was poorly designed; although the water inside was deep, it couldn't flow.

The Khitans were unaware that the water was six or seven meters deep. Their original plan was to use shield carts and archers hidden behind them to shoot at the defenders more than ten meters high, and to use goose carts, which were like mobile arrow towers, to conduct scouting and provide protection for those below.

Then the cavalry and infantry can quickly fill in the earth, set up ladders, and quickly enter the city to plunder and kill those weak Han people.

The fact that Beiji Wu had annihilated 50,000 elite Khitan troops terrified the Khitans, but the fact that the Duke of Yan and the Duke of Wei led an elite force of the same size as Beiji Wu to their deaths gave the Khitans back their courage and confidence.

The archers fired three volleys, killing over a thousand people in the vicinity.

The weapons opened a second round of firing.

The ballista fired first, piercing through the approaching archers from a distance.

The catapults were still targeting the elite troops in the rear, especially the royal guards protected by densely packed shield bearers.

Individually, the power and accuracy of the cannonballs were problematic, but when fired in rapid succession, the massive stone-like projectiles, like death knells, caused chaos and defeat for the elite troops three miles away.

Seeing this scene, the several thousand households were completely convinced of the five craftsmen appointed by the Arctic Martial Arts Academy.

Meng Hetong frowned and quickly made a decision.

"Leave 1,500 men to guard the city, and the rest of you will lead 4,000 cavalry out of the city. Who wants to go?"

Meng Hetong left the battlements and looked at several households of ten thousand and one thousand.

Wang Xiang immediately replied, "This humble general is willing to lead the iron cavalry into battle!"

Wang Xiang lacked opportunities to make merits, and the Iron Cavalry was too slow, unable to keep up with the speed of the Arctic Warriors.

The iron cavalry was originally supposed to be the main force to break through the formation, but Beijiwu, with his light cavalry, could do so faster and better.

When the Arctic warriors were not present and there was a lack of opportunities to fight, the iron cavalry were generally not allowed to go into battle alone.

Iron cavalry was a high-level troop type that wasn't very useful, and even Wang Xiang couldn't be granted the title of ten thousand households.

Meng Hetong looked at the other four commanders and said, “His Majesty has not set up a special garrison commander for Shanhaiguan here. It is up to us five commanders to decide. The minority shall obey the majority. I would like to hear your opinions.”

Yang Xiangyun frowned and said, "It's a bit risky. His Majesty said that we should prioritize safety, so I don't agree."

Xue Chonghu also felt it was somewhat risky, and then looked at the city guards nearby who were loading ammunition.

“I don’t agree either. There are at least 70 or 80,000 troops outside. We have too few people here. Even if we win, we will lose a lot of troops. Since His Majesty has decided to eliminate the Khitan, there is no need to rush this moment.”

Xue Chonghu directly opposed the idea, arguing that even if they won, there would be little benefit, and if they lost, it would affect the entire war situation in Youzhou.

Yan Shuangli had the same considerations.

"I object too."

After the three Wanhu (a high-ranking official) disagreed, Lang Wubing, the last of the three, no longer cared what opinions he might have.

Lang Wubing immediately said, "I agree! The Khitan army is in disarray right now. A surprise attack at this moment will surely crush the Khitan army and win a great victory! If His Majesty were here, he would definitely do the same!"

Yang Xiangyun laughed and said, "If His Majesty were here, we would have already rushed out. Why would we be afraid of dying?"

Wang Xiang and the nearby commanders all wanted to make a name for themselves, but the three commanders disagreed with taking the risk.

Meng Hetong, accommodating everyone's opinions, said, "In that case, let's prioritize stability and work together to defend the city! Now that we have a large army, let's divide into two teams and take turns defending, so that the Khitans won't take advantage of our fatigue."

Everyone nodded and began to discuss the defense.

Just when things seemed to have settled down, Niu Zhifu asked, "Generals, if the Khitans fail to capture the city after a prolonged siege, they will surely divide their forces to attack other places. What will we do then?"

Wang Xiang knew he had a chance to make a contribution.

Yan Shuangli said directly, "Don't worry, I'm in charge of the other two passes, and my two deputy generals are stationed there. Even if something goes wrong, Tiezhou has already fortified its castles and fortresses. We can take action as soon as something happens."

Yang Xiangyun added, "There are no problems in Wuzhou either. The Beiyuan Army is there, and they have already harvested millet. If any of the passes are attacked, the cities can quickly send tens of thousands of troops to support them."

The population of Yamago Kyushu has reached nearly three million, including a large number of newborns and immigrants.

Those men are not good at fighting, but they are fine at defending their home. After the city falls, there are bunkers everywhere, which can quickly mobilize elite troops to capture the invaders.

Meng Hetong immediately ordered the dispute to end, saying, "Stability is the priority. Try to minimize casualties. Once His Majesty has the time, annihilating the Khitans will be a piece of cake!"

Adventure could indeed directly repel the Khitans, but it's unnecessary. For now, we can just keep whittling down their numbers; those stones and iron tools aren't worth much anyway.

The Khitans were not a life-or-death threat, and the Wu Dynasty did not need a victory to boost morale; all they needed was time.

More accurately, the Arctic warriors needed time to resolve industrial and agricultural issues before they could eliminate the relatively easy Khitans.

The Khitans posed only a moderate threat to the Wu Dynasty, mainly due to the great distance. If they were within a three-day journey, the Northern Wu Dynasty would have wiped them out long ago.

The nearby soldiers continued to fight under the command of the commanders. Each flag commander was responsible for a siege machine, while more people were responsible for rotating and transporting supplies such as ammunition, arrows, lunch, and medicine.

While everyone was discussing how to deal with the unexpected event, a personal guard came over.

"General, the monthly report for the mountain farmers has arrived. King Wu has decreed that next year, wages for all workers will be increased by one-tenth, regardless of whether they are mountain farmers or Han Chinese!!!"

Everyone looked at the Mountain Farmers' Daily newspaper in the soldier's hand.

Yang Xiangyun reached out and took the newspaper from his subordinate, quickly searching for news.

Several other households nearby also came over to look, and when they saw the written agreement about the wage increase, they all smiled with relief.

"Tell the good news to the outside world!"

"Yes!"

The mountain farmers were in high spirits, not only because of the one-tenth of their wages, but also because of the encouragement from King Wu.

For many soldiers with parents, wives, and children, a one-tenth increase in salary not only benefits themselves but also their families who also serve King Wu, effectively increasing their family income by more than one-fifth.

They were repelled when they attacked the previous pass, and the Khitans' nighttime raid was also repelled. After losing tens of thousands of soldiers, they finally realized that they could not win.

Undeterred, the Khitans withdrew to the grasslands after a three-day stalemate.

(End of this chapter)