Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"Thief, barbarian, humph, both!!"

Looking at the scattered wheat on the ground, Hanse bent down, picked up a grain, smelled it, and then a disdainful smile appeared on his face. This kind of old wheat was just the rations that local military households had privately sold to local tribes in previous years. These Turkic barbarians actually wanted to steal even this. It can be seen that the Turkic barbarians' lives were not very good either.

The saying goes, "You can see the whole leopard from a single spot." The fact that they fought so desperately suggests that they don't usually eat anything good. So, their previous description of bravery should probably be put in quotes.

"Sir, we've searched the area; the barbarians are fleeing eastward."

"I found this along the way, please take a look, sir."

The scout, carrying a bow and arrows and dressed in Qing Dynasty cotton armor, pulled a naan bread covered in grass roots from his side pouch. The bread was a dark color and had the distinctive smell of coarse grains. However, after carefully smelling it, Hanse noticed a hint of sawdust. He instinctively tore off a small piece and put it in his mouth, but after chewing a few times, he spat it out.

"Made from tree bark mixed with powder, haha-----"

"Heaven is helping me! Heaven is helping me!!"

Hanse was so excited he could hardly contain himself. He had initially thought these Turkic barbarians were a group of bandits from a nomadic tribe skilled in archery and horsemanship, but now it seemed they were nothing more than a group of starving men who couldn't even get enough to eat.

"No wonder they're raiding now, they're starving!!"

After Hanse realized everything, he quickly mounted his horse:

"Order the army to harass everywhere, and not to linger in battle. I'm going to wear these barbarians down and show them the might of the men of the Great Qing!!"

Upon receiving the order, the entire force of over a thousand men split into several groups, along with able-bodied men recruited from various tribes, and headed east to hunt down the "Turkic" bandits who were still roaming around.

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The river water was so clear it resembled a rippling mirror, reflecting the young faces of those clad in gray armor. Suddenly, a cold wind blew by, making the group of gray-armored men even more solemn. Together with the warhorses grazing around them, they looked like a scene from an old-fashioned ancient animation, telling the story of a battle that took place in a distant era.

"bass!!"

A frosty blade emerged from its scabbard; the curved sword was about three feet long, and two characters written in Chinese script were engraved on the hilt:

"Yuan Heng".

The two characters are taken from the I Ching's "Yuan, Heng, Li, Zhen," which is exactly the same as the name of the knife's owner, Li Yuanheng.

Lee Won-hyung stared at his reflection on the back of the knife, his eyes seeming to hold a surging tide about to burst forth.

"Brother, have some hot soup. The weather is getting colder and colder. It'll be good for your health."

Hu Wu brought a bowl of mutton soup, glistening with oil, to Li Yuanheng. The latter took it, blew on it to cool it down, and muttered something under his breath.

"How many rounds has the Qing demon chased us?"

"Including the one half an hour ago, that's four times now."

Hu Wu scratched his head with his greasy hands and asked, puzzled:

"What kind of plan is this, Brother? To only flee and not fight? What kind of logic is this? If people find out, wouldn't it diminish the prestige of Jinshan Prefecture and boost the prestige of the Qing traitors?"

Li Yuanheng chewed on a large chunk of fatty mutton in the mutton soup, ignoring the oil splattered on his lips, and pulled out a leather tube from his waist, pouring out a map made of sheepskin from inside.

As soon as the map was unfolded, two places stood out: one was the "Golden Mountain" that stretched almost the entire map, and the other was the city of Kobdo.

Li Yuanheng pointed to the location of Kobdo City:

"You can't break through this city, and neither can I. Even if all the Qing demons along the way were combined, they would still have a hard time breaking through it. So this is a dead end."

"Are we still not enough people to go with this group?"

"It was almost done, but I made two trips in the last two days and lost quite a bit."

Hu Wu lowered his head in shame.

"It's all my fault. I couldn't keep an eye on him and ruined your good time. Please punish me, brother."

Li Yuanheng chuckled, showing no resentment whatsoever. Instead, while drinking the remaining half-bowl of mutton soup, he put his arm around Hu Wu's shoulder and said slyly:

"They ran away four times, so they should be returned four times. That would be a good deal."

"Dalang!!"

Hu Wu's eyes lit up. In front of Li Yuanheng, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his muscular, strong yet rough arms, and replied in the Northwestern Mandarin commonly used in Jinshan Prefecture:

"I'm not afraid of anything, I'll do whatever you say, Brother!"

--------

"Damn it, why did this grueling job fall on us brothers? We haven't been eating or sleeping well these past few days. We've been like cattle and horses the whole way, doing the hardest work, eating the coarsest food, and we still get yelled at for slacking off. Damn it, this new garrison commander, how can he be so troublesome? He's a real pest!"

"Those pests who harm our brothers!!"

A column carrying military flags, half-clad in cotton armor, and with everyone's faces etched with exhaustion, was marching across the wasteland. Within the column, the leading officer kept uttering curses and complaints.

The core of the complaint was directed at the new Kobdo city garrison commander, Khanse, who claimed he would use an inescapable net to drive out the Turkic barbarians.

"No wonder our border troops suffer the most! We barely get paid, the weather is freezing cold, and we're constantly being swindled by these scoundrels. Sir, if this continues, the morale of our brothers will collapse!"

The lieutenant, whose helmet was adorned with foxtail grass, looked at his commander, Mo'an. His tone shifted from subdued to assertive, and finally, he spurred his horse closer, whispering:

"Sir, the brothers are exhausted after these past few days. They need to rest for a while before continuing the pursuit. There's a small lake ahead, perfect for a rest—"

Moan, who was of Mongolian descent, frowned deeply.

"But the orders we received this morning instructed us to pursue them for at least thirty li, and we've only gone ten li. I'm afraid—"

"What are you afraid of, sir? It's not just us who've been exhausted these past few days; I refuse to believe the others haven't either, and haven't been complaining!"

"Besides, if he really turns against us, I don't believe that Khansai can return to the capital alive and become his prince."

"Don't talk nonsense!!"

Mo An rebuked him verbally, but in his heart he agreed with the deputy general's statement. After all, in this vast northwest frontier, although the imperial court seemed to be the most powerful, in reality, over the years, the situation had long been reversed. Without these hardworking border soldiers, how could the imperial court resist the fierce and ruthless Dzungars? Could it rely on those pampered bannermen who lived in comfort within the Great Wall?

Putting everything else aside, over the years, every official who came had to pay tribute to them out of their own pocket. This Khanse, relying on his status as a prince, was so arrogant that he actually made his own brother, Harun, pay tribute to him. Such a wicked thing hadn't happened in decades, yet Khanse did it. If he's not a rogue, then who is? Could it be them?

"Damn it, tell the brothers to rest and eat meat. Let whoever wants to chase these Turkic barbarians go ahead, I'm done!!"

Mo An's shout instantly revived the previously dispirited morale. Everyone was saying that it's always the family that cares for each other, and that the new garrison commander was simply inhuman.

Among the other pursuing forces, one chose to rest, and even rested half a day earlier. Of the remaining two, one was still hesitating and struggling, while the other was the strongest force, led by the garrison commander Hansai himself.