Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 85 Kitahara Guard 1
At three o'clock in the morning, Beijiwu led six hundred cavalrymen to cover the craftsmen's arrival at Beiyuanwei. The craftsmen re-secured the ladders and patiently guarded from several hundred meters away.

The attacking force was not only the Arctic Warriors, but also the soldiers of the Northern Plains Guard.

The soldiers had drunk alcohol to bolster their courage, and the cold wind sobered them up considerably.

Fortunately, this time we were attacking the city together with Arctic Martial, which made everyone feel much more at ease.

Only by standing opposite Beijiwu can one truly understand how formidable this person is.

Now that Beijiwu is one of our own, and the leader of everyone, that sense of security warms our hearts.

When dark clouds obscured the moonlight and the earth turned pitch black, Beijiwu immediately raised a fifteen-meter-high ladder.

"Go! Go with your mouth shut!"

Beiji Wu and five other Hu people, including Wokoji, carried a ladder and ran quickly toward the city wall.

The others rushed over when they heard this. The other ladders required eight people, but Arctic Martial only needed six people in the front, middle and back.

The dark clouds in the sky lasted for more than a minute. The group ran four or five hundred meters and approached the moat, which was more than four meters wide and five meters deep.

The river was right next to the city wall, with nowhere to stand and no way to place a ladder.

Fortunately, someone ran over and lowered the floating ladder planks. The six members of the Arctic Martial Arts Team climbed the ladder and placed it in an inconspicuous location 150 meters away from the city wall.

The situation at the south gate is already quite simple. The water on the other side is deeper and wider, and the city wall was built two meters higher to defend against Mongol attacks.

Beiji Wu was not wearing armor, nor was he carrying a spear.

Two strong Hu men held the rope to secure the buoy in the water, while two other Hu men used wooden sticks to push the floating planks towards the city wall to keep the buoy from moving.

Beijiwu, carrying a long sword, quickly climbed up the twelve-meter-high city wall!
The moon rose, and the drowsy guards nearby suddenly heard some noise.

"who?!"

"Arctic Martial Arts!"

The people nearby were instantly wide awake. When the moon came out, they saw a short-haired man carrying a long knife walking towards them.

"I don't want to kill anyone. Go down and open the city gates."

"You can't stop me, don't go looking for your own deaths."

Beijiwu quietly passed by a soldier and walked towards the city wall stairs.

The soldiers were terrified and stood frozen in place.

"Open the city gates!" shouted Beiji Wu. "I am Beiji Wu of the Mountain Farmer Clan! This city has been breached by me! Open the city gates immediately! Those who surrender will not be killed!!"

"This city has been captured. All soldiers and civilians of Beiyuan, immediately hide in your houses and do not go out! To avoid killing the wrong people!"

Beijiwu shouted twice, drawing the attention of more than a hundred soldiers on the city wall to him.

More than a hundred people trembled as they watched Beijiwu climb the city wall.

"Don't stand there like idiots! Go down and open the door! Do I have to kill you all before you'll obey?!"

Arctic Martial, like a living Yama, coldly watched this large group of people.

The people on the city wall looked at this god of death with fear.

No one dared to make a move; everyone knew it was no big deal.

Even if a thousand people came, let alone a hundred, we still couldn't defeat them.

"If you don't open the door, you're asking for trouble!!!"

Beijiwu held his knife, staring at someone approaching.

The soldier immediately cried out, "Master Wu, spare my life! I'll go open the door right away!"

Beijiwu looked at the others and said, "Go together! Four or five thousand have already surrendered, a few more won't make a difference. If you all work honestly, I won't harm your families or the residents of this city!"

They looked at each other, and soon carefully moved together and headed down the city wall.

At this moment, Ögedei Khan, having bought some time for the Arctic Army, climbed up the ladder.

"Clan leader!"

Wokoji had never worshipped anyone before, but Beijiwu was the first man he worshipped to the point of complete devotion!
Beijiwu walked down the mountain with his sword in hand, while chaos reigned in the city.

"Arctic Martial Arts has entered!!"

"The mountain farmers have invaded!"

"Who dares to open the door?! Kill them without mercy!"

A commander on night duty shouted and sternly prevented the soldiers in the city from opening the gates and surrendering.

Beijiwu walked over with his long sword, no longer trying to persuade them to surrender, and directly slashed wildly at a group of elite soldiers.

The commanders and several of his men were quickly killed by Beijiwu with a few blows, and the rest of them immediately surrendered!

Most of the Beiyuan Guards were still asleep. By the time they arrived, the city gates had already been opened by the surrendered soldiers, and more than a thousand mountain peasant soldiers stormed into the fortress.

"I am the Northern Warrior. This city has fallen. Those who surrender will not be killed! The civilians will not be harmed!"

Beijiwu stood on the main street and shouted, "Everyone, just go to sleep peacefully!"

"Northern Martial Arts: Do not kill the people of the Northern Plains!"

Blood was still dripping from the longsword; Beijiwu had already killed more than a hundred people.

"Hold the two city gates firmly! Instruct the soldiers to continue their night watch, not to disturb the people, and to wait on the city walls until dawn. After dawn, we will attack the general's mansion!"

"As ordered!"

None of the more than a thousand soldiers who joined the army at the same time achieved any merit, but they were all excited and thrilled.

Such a large fortress was easily captured by Arctic Martial!
Many of the surrendered soldiers of Kitahara-e no longer have to worry about being separated from their families!
Around four or five in the morning, as the sky gradually brightened, the more than one hundred dead were carried to a courtyard specifically for the wounded.

Beijiwu rode into the city with more than a thousand men. Since it was the Northern Plains army fighting the Northern Plains army, the remaining Northern Plains army quickly surrendered as well.

General Hong Enzhong, commander Yang Xiangyun, commander Lü Siming, and the governor and censor were all trapped in the general's mansion.

As Beiji Wu and his group approached the General's Mansion, more than twenty archers stood up from the courtyard wall.

The archers, with their iron bows at their sides, fired a volley at Beiji Wu and his men. Beiji Wu used his sword to deflect the arrows and led his group in a retreat.

Seeing the dozen or so dead soldiers on the ground, Beijiwu cursed, "Fire arrows!"

Behind Beijiwu, over a hundred men drew their bows and arrows and swiftly returned fire. "Shoot together! Those with bows and arrows, surround this courtyard! Shoot them all in!!"

Arctic warriors angrily cursed.

Five or six hundred archers moved together, and a large number of arrows were shot into the courtyard of the general's mansion as if they were free. Before long, a lot of screams came from inside.

"Shoot! Don't stop! Shoot these corrupt officials to death!!"

Beiji Wu had no sympathy for the people in the General's Mansion; he wanted them all dead!
A minute later, a man's shout came from inside.

"Master Wu, spare our lives! We have already bound the General and Commander Yang, please spare our lives! I am willing to surrender! I previously bought your leopard! Please, for the sake of our past relationship, spare my life!"

Upon hearing this, Beiji Wu raised his hand, allowing the exhausted archers to rest.

"Get out here yourself!"

"Yes, Master Wu!"

A little over a minute later, the gates of the General's Mansion were opened, and Commander Lü Siming, along with his personal guards, brought out two old men and a middle-aged man, all tied up.

General Hong Enzhong remained silent at this moment.

Yang Xiangyun cursed, "Lü Siming! You heartless bastard! You disloyal, unfilial, and unjust scoundrel!! You'll die a horrible death!"

Lu Siming raised his hand and slapped Yang Xiangyun across the face. "Still talking? If you hadn't insisted on offending Master Wu, none of this would have happened!"

Feeling humiliated, Yang Xiangyun cursed, "Bah! This traitor will rebel sooner or later! And you, you traitor, you won't get away with this either!"

Beijiwu, too lazy to watch people argue, said directly: "Alright, you two are a general and a commander, right? A general gets 1,000 taels, a commander gets 100 taels. Give me the money and I'll let you go back to the court. Anyway, you didn't surrender."

"I'll let you go once I get the money, and I'll also give you a horse."

Hong Enzhong immediately looked up, "Is this true?"

“If I want to kill you, I’ll just kill you directly. There’s no need to lie.” Beiji Wu nonchalantly pointed to the people behind him. “Look, the five or six thousand soldiers under my command were all captured in the last few days. I’m not a person who likes to fight and kill. If you had given me food a few days ago, we would have lived a good life in the mountains.”

Lu Siming was shocked, never expecting the Arctic Martial Arts Association to release people.

Yang Xiangyun stopped cursing and waited quickly.

Hong Enzhong said, "I can give you ten thousand taels of silver. If you withdraw your troops now, I guarantee I will plead with the court to let this matter go!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "I will not entrust my life and death, or the happiness and future of these brothers who have surrendered to me, to people like you. Human hearts are unpredictable."

"Stop talking nonsense. I will handle the things in the treasury myself. The Beiyuan Guard is mine now. I will not go on a killing spree. On the contrary, I will manage this place well."

"Commander Lü, if you commit suicide now, you can save your family's lives. All of you officials have your families back in your hometowns, right?"

"Of course, if you don't care about your family, then continue to serve me here. I'm quite short of talent here. Anyway, everyone has surrendered, so no one will bring this up."

Lu Siming looked conflicted. He should have had his men tie him up; that way, they could have gone back together.

After hesitating for three seconds, Lü Siming decisively knelt down, "This humble general is willing to serve Lord Wu!! From now on, I will settle down and build a career in Beiyuan County!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Alright, men, take these two prisoners to Tiger Mouth Fortress and imprison them in the same cell as that commander from Tongzhou. Search them first, and keep all the valuables!"

“Yes, ma’am!” Ai Dake was the first to go up and help with the body search.

Both high-ranking officials, knowing they could live with dignity, refrained from resisting.

If they hadn't surrendered, their families wouldn't have been implicated. Although they were defeated, it was because Beiji Wutai was so capable that they and the others persevered to the end.

A dagger, poison, a suicide note, a jade pendant, and a gold bag were found and placed in a box.

Beijiwu then said, "Seeing how well you two cooperate, I'll give you some extra help. General, you can choose ten men to go back with you. It would be best if they didn't have any relatives in Beiyuanwei. Anyway, those whose relatives are back home won't help me with anything. It's better if they go back with you directly, so you don't get robbed by bandits on the way and then blame me."

Hong Enzhong was overjoyed. If his ten trusted confidants were still around, he could quickly rebuild his own team.

“Good!” Hong Enzhong immediately selected the people.

None of the chosen people refused Hong Enzhong; they all agreed to leave with him.

These guards could not take their property and women with them, nor could they take their warhorses, weapons, or armor.

After all the silver was taken, these people were also tied up and, along with the two bound men, were put onto two donkey carts and packed up to go to Hukoubao.

After they left, Lü Siming asked, puzzled, "Sir, why did you let them go?"

Beijiwu said, "Let's ease the situation, buy some time, and since his men have all left, all the wealth here is still here, saving me the trouble of looking for his cronies."

Beijiwu instructed the others, "Clean up inside. Commander Lü, I broke through the city gate myself. If you want to continue as commander, help me earn some merit, such as helping me take down a few garrisons!"

Lu Siming quickly replied, "Please rest assured, sir. Although I am only a commander of the Beiyuan Guard, I have a good relationship with the Shishankou Commandery. I am willing to go to the Changcheng Commandery in person. If the commander there is disobedient, I will tie him up!"

The entire battle was fought between the Beiyuan Guards, essentially allies fighting each other, resulting in a very high surrender rate.

After controlling Beiyuanwei and Hukoubao, one can manage a large number of villages and military households near the two regions.

As a fortress that could trade horses with the grasslands, Beiyuanwei naturally also had access to the grasslands, but the best route was still Changchengwei.

"Good! You shall immediately take a thousand soldiers to persuade the Great Wall Commander to surrender. Whether the Commander surrenders or not is irrelevant; I want that Commander's garrison!"

"According to the order!"

Lü Siming retained his military power and subordinates.

However, Beijiwu didn't care about these things. He had too many subordinates and couldn't manage them all.

Seeing that Beiji Wu seemed to be alright, Lü Siming reminded him, "Sir, your brother is still in the city; the general didn't kill him."

Beijiwu said nonchalantly, "Don't worry about him, just go do what you're supposed to do."

"If you want to stand out from the crowd and bring honor to your ancestors, you have to show some ability."

Lü Siming immediately replied, "Yes, sir! Rest assured!"

Beijiwu said, "Just call me the chief, just like them. Those who surrender can join the mountain farmers if they want, or not if they don't. We won't force them."

"Ai Dake, take ten cavalrymen and tell the villagers in the nearby villages to just go about their normal work and live their normal lives. All usurious loans of more than ten taels of silver will be waived."

"Many people died in the city this time. For all the families of the deceased, ten taels of silver will be given as compensation. If they are orphans or widows, or those who came to visit relatives but have nowhere to go, come to the county government office and I will help them settle down."

Ai Dake replied, "Yes, sir!"

Beijiwu then sent people to fetch the women, bringing the women of the Shannong tribe from Hukoubao to the stronger Beiyuanwei.

(End of this chapter)