Colonial Era: From Remnants to European Dominator

"This meat smells so good, I wonder if it's ready yet?"

"We've been exhausted for so long. If it weren't for Lord Mo'an's compassion for us brothers, we'd probably still be suffering, and there wouldn't be this delicious meat to enjoy now!!"

"Hanse is a real scoundrel!!"

The charcoal fire emitted not only smoke but also the ever-rising aroma of meat. Although the meat consisted of only the flesh of a few packhorses that had died in the pursuit, the mere smell of it warmed the hearts of these exhausted border soldiers, and even enlivened the atmosphere.

"The meat's here! The meat's here!"

A joyful shout rang out, prompting cheers and even quickening the pace of already weary legs.

"My lord, I have reserved a good piece of meat for you."

Mo An had just stuck his chopsticks into the bowl when he heard:

"Kill them all!!"

With a loud bang, the earthenware bowl shattered on the ground. The Turkic language that reached his ears filled him with immense panic, and his hand, which had drawn his sword, trembled slightly. However, he quickly regained his composure and began to command the soldiers around him:

"Form ranks, gather your horses and arrows, and together with me, kill these Turkic barbarians, chop off their heads, and use them as chamber pots!!"

Soon, the somewhat chaotic crowd began to calm down, the warhorses returned to their positions, and arrows were densely nocked onto the bowstrings. The calmness and composure of the border troops reappeared on this wild land after several years.

"Whoosh!!"

A dense volley of arrows came, and the first seven or eight border soldiers were instantly pinned to the ground. When the second wave of arrows came, rows of round shields covered with iron plates stood at the forefront.

Meanwhile, behind them, accompanied by the neighing of warhorses, wave after wave of arrows, even denser than those on the other side, streaked across the sky filled with the aroma of meat, their trajectory so beautiful yet so deadly that they burst forth at speeds that even the limits of human endurance could hardly match, appearing on another equally wild, yet equally deadly, land.

"Hold on! Anyone who retreats will be executed!!"

A row of strong tribal men, clad in leather armor and grey trousers, stood at the forefront, bows and arrows in hand. Surrounding them were Jinshan Prefecture guards and their Eagle Division personal guards, all dressed in full grey armor, mounted on warhorses, scimitars drawn, ready to join the battle at any moment.

"Brother, but—"

Hu Wu looked at Li Yuanheng, who remained silent, and tried to speak several times, but was stopped by his gaze.

As time went on, the arrows rained down wave after wave, and the number of dead and wounded kept appearing on both sides of the battlefield. Compared to the border troops who had shields to protect them, the tribal strongmen who were only wearing leather armor suffered a much worse fate. At first, there were only a few people, then a dozen or so, and later, no fewer than seventy or eighty were hit by arrows. Although they were wearing leather armor, the wounded outnumbered the dead. However, in this desolate wasteland where food and clothing were scarce, the preciousness of herbs was self-evident. Even if they had prepared beforehand, it was estimated that half of them would not survive.

In Hu Wu's eyes, almost half of all his efforts over the past few days had been wasted, while in Li Yuanheng's eyes, this other half was exactly what he wanted:

"Shoot one last round, then charge!!"

"Yes, Da Lang!!"

Hu Wu's face lit up with joy. He had just finished firing a volley of arrows and hadn't even had time to nock the arrows when dozens of riders were released.

"Enemy cavalry, prepare!!"

The Kobdo border army, commanded by the Mongol Moan, was no pushover either. Upon noticing the cavalry attack, they immediately organized their own cavalry to fight back.

Before they could even make contact, the group of Turkic cavalry seemed to circle around them several times before suddenly appearing to their side or rear.

"Oh no, the supplies!!"

Mo An's expression changed instantly. Just as he gave the order to stop them, rows of red-glowing "fireworks" crashed into the supply pile behind him like waves.

"Put out the fire! Don't chase! Don't chase! Put out the fire!!"

Mo An reacted quickly, but unfortunately the fire burned too fast, at least twice as fast as a normal fire. Before long, the entire side and rear were surrounded by flames, and the men and horses came to a halt.

"What a wonderful fire! If it weren't for Da Lang slaughtering a sheep for oil, we wouldn't even be able to see such a fire!!"

Looking at the firelight, Hu Wu was as excited as a playful child, waving his arms and laughing.

"Put out more, let me see enough, burn these Qing demons who are worse than pigs and dogs!!"

Mo An, who witnessed all of this, seemed to age ten years in an instant, and actually knelt on the ground, letting out a childlike wail:

"With the army decimated and supplies destroyed, the defeated general will likely face certain death!"

At this time, Emperor Qianlong was in power. Although corruption had long been rampant throughout the country, the law was becoming increasingly strict. Not to mention a border general like him with no background, even a garrison commander who was born a prince would be stripped of his title and demoted if he suffered a defeat, and would be sent to the capital to be punished.

After all, in the eyes of that robot emperor Qianlong, there was always a very simple evaluation system for merits and demerits. If you made a mistake, you would naturally be punished, and if you made a merit, you would naturally be rewarded. The so-called Ten Great Military Achievements were not entirely accumulated by his father and grandfather. This robot-like system of rewards and punishments was naturally a great achievement.

Before Mo An could even fight back, the Turkic bandits on the other side withdrew. Just as he was about to give chase, they disappeared without a trace. They came and went in a hurry.

"Sir, don't chase after them. The supplies are burned, but that's okay. It's not like they can't be replaced."

"What do you know? Losing supplies in the heat of battle causes immense suffering to the army. Even if I manage to keep my head, do you think I can keep my position? How can I explain this to a scoundrel like Khansai, or to the imperial court, without hunting down a few heads?!"

Mo An pushed away the deputy general's comforting hand, his eyes flashing with determination, then he seemed to have made up his mind:

"A general order to the entire army: The Xiyun tribe, a rebellious and treacherous group, are bastards of the Turks. They colluded with the Turkic invaders to launch a surprise attack on our army. They were later apprehended by our army. In this battle, hundreds of Turkic traitors were killed, and the remaining hundred or so fled to the mountains. Our army achieved a great victory, which can be said to have demonstrated the power of our Great Qing Dynasty."

The lieutenant opened his mouth, hesitated for only a few seconds, and then gave the order.

The soldiers who received the order were somewhat "surprised," but they still vented their anger on the Xiyun tribe soldiers in the ranks. In just a short while, dozens more Xiyun tribe members were killed.

The poor strong men of the Xiyun tribe explained themselves from beginning to end, but in the end they still died under the blades of these "heavenly soldiers," which became their so-called war merits.

After doing all this, the enraged border army sharpened their swords and headed straight for the Xiyun tribe's garrison.

When the slaughter came, the Xiyun tribe was still cooking meat and brewing wine, preparing to reward and pay tribute to the Qing Dynasty's heavenly soldiers. They were completely unaware that their own death was imminent, and were still dreaming that the court would reduce their tribute in the future and that they would live a better life next year.

--------

"The crime of tampering with secrets??"

"Sir, we really didn't! We really didn't!!"

Chief Xiyun Alin of the Xiyun tribe knelt on the ground, repeatedly explaining in the local Turkic dialect to the furious border general before him, only to be met with:

"Hmph, that's the language of those Turkic traitors, utterly filthy. Looks like he truly is a Turkic monster!!"

Mo An pulled out an arrow and plunged it into happy Yun A Lin's throat. The latter's eyes widened in disbelief, and when the arrow was pulled out, blood spurted out, covering his face.

"Pass down the order: the crimes of the Xiyun tribe are inescapable. Their chieftain, Xiyun Alin, was a remnant of the Turks who attempted to ambush his superior and has already been executed by me. The rest of them are also guilty of capital offenses."

"Following the previous extermination of the Turkic remnants, we have now destroyed the demon's lair. The men of our Great Qing truly possess the heroic spirit of our ancestors who entered the pass. The border troops are mighty! We should naturally send news of the city's destruction and celebrate with the whole world!!"

"Sir, the brothers have been working hard these past few days, shouldn't we—"

The lieutenant whispered a reminder in Mo An's ear.

Mo An's eyes flickered slightly. He wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve, his breathing deep and heavy, like a demon king.

"Tell the brothers that they are to be given half a day's leave, half the money, and that the livestock and provisions will be confiscated to offset the cost of supplies. They may take whatever else from the tribe they wish!"

"Your kindness, your kindness—"

When the news spread, the border soldiers outside, along with the able-bodied men of the Feixiyun tribe who had accompanied them, cheered.

After all, soldiers are paid for their food, that's an ancient saying. If they could also get some extra money, who wouldn't like that? Especially since there's also "family property."

Before long, on this land where the Xiyun tribe had lived for over a decade, the stench of blood and the wails of tribal women continued to resonate.

These heavenly soldiers, however, were like a bunch of paupers, eager to dig three feet into the ground and even empty the graves, just to get a few more taels of silver to take home.

As for the lives lost by the Xiyun tribe, and the history of their arduous development in this northern part of the Western Regions, who will remember or know?

Even if they knew, it was nothing more than a "request for merit" sent to Hanse.

"Hmph, what a crime of treason! Does Mo An really think I'm a fool? He has no idea what he's committed!"

"What a resounding victory!!"

Having returned to Kobdo to rest, Khanse clutched a letter written in Mongolian, his eyes blazing with fury that seemed to want to devour someone. This terrified several delicate, large-faced Mongolian beauties from beyond the Great Wall, who fled from the inner courtyard.

"My lord, these were delivered together. Please take a look."

He opened the wooden box, revealing a dark purple mink pelt. As Hanse's hand traced the soft, delicate fur, a fleeting glint of greed flashed in his eyes, but it quickly vanished.

"He's shameless himself, does he expect me to become shameless too?"

Having said that, he waved for someone to put the wooden box into the treasury, intending to take it back to the capital later to pay tribute to the banner lord and find another path to advancement.

"Tell Mo An, if you don't want anyone to know, then don't do it in the first place. If this delays my important business in the future, then this matter will become his death knell!!"

However, to Hanse's surprise, his order had barely been issued for an hour or two when news of the destruction of supplies in various places began to arrive:

"Useless, all of you are useless, a bunch of good-for-nothings!!"

"I wish I could chop all those bastards to pieces!!"

Hanse was so angry that he couldn't eat and spent his days cursing the Kobdo border troops, whom he called "beasts."

As the saying goes, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news travels a thousand miles. Before things had even calmed down in Hanse, more news arrived:

"Sir, the grain and provisions destined for us have been seized by the Turkic barbarians. The grain transport officer's head is still stuck in the ground, and his mouth is stuffed up—"

"What did you stuff in there? Tell me now!!"

Hanse stared at the guard with bloodshot eyes, his fists clenched so tightly he looked like he wanted to devour him, which terrified the guard into stammering an answer:

"Shit, it's dog shit!!"

The grass radical in Han Sai's mouth instantly slipped out, and he went into a frenzy, muttering incessantly:

"Turkic traitors, Turkic barbarians, barbarians from beyond the Great Wall, a bunch of beasts among beasts, I'll skin you alive and chew your bones to pieces!"

"You beast, you beast!!"