Ch.40Western Xia (2)

# Western Xia

Located to the west of the Jin Dynasty, Western Xia.

A nation also known as Great Baekgo or Western Xia, it existed as a balancing power between the Liao Dynasty, Jin Dynasty, and Song Dynasty.

Thanks to this geographical advantage, Western Xia could engage in trade between these three nations.

This allowed Western Xia to accumulate wealth while enjoying a period of peace.

However, as history proves, when wealth accumulates, those who covet it inevitably appear.

“What? The Mongols are invading?”

The messenger bowed at the man’s startled voice.

Then he slowly began to explain the situation.

“Yes, General. The Khamag Mongol barbarians are currently attacking nearby villages.”

“They’ve targeted the farming season.”

General Li Deyun, who was in charge of Western Xia’s northern border, interpreted the Mongol invasion this way.

This made sense because Mongols routinely attacked settled populations.

They typically raided villages around fortresses during farming seasons.

In this manner, they would plunder food supplies about twice a year.

Therefore, he viewed this Mongol raid as another attack targeting the farming season.

“But I thought they had been quiet until recently…”

Until last year, the nomads had shown no signs of raiding.

Unable to know their internal affairs, Li Deyun had merely assumed there were problems within the steppe.

“Still, nomads won’t be able to breach our fortress.”

Li Deyun nodded at his advisor’s words, breaking from his thoughts.

No matter how fast the nomads rode on horseback while plundering, it was impossible for them to raid inside the fortress.

For this reason, whenever nomads came to raid, they would open the fortress gates to bring in residents from outside.

They would then protect the residents inside the fortress, and after the nomads retreated, send them back to their original homes.

This was Western Xia’s standard response to raids.

“You’re right. First, open the gates and evacuate the people inside.”

Opening the gates to protect the people wasn’t just because Li Deyun was a general who valued human lives.

In Western Xia’s situation with limited population, it was essential to protect the workforce to secure supplies for the fortress.

Additionally, if Mongol nomads kidnapped citizens, there was a risk of internal information being leaked.

For these comprehensive reasons, Li Deyun quickly ordered the evacuation of the people.

“I receive the general’s command.”

After giving the order, Li Deyun had his attendant help him put on his armor.

The advisor standing beside him carefully offered a suggestion.

“General, wouldn’t it be good to inform the court about this?”

“If informing the court would change anything, I would have sent a report long ago.”

The advisor could only nod at Li Deyun’s words.

This was because Western Xia was currently divided into several factions.

Western Xia had a structure where the ruling class was Tangut, but the ruled class was Han Chinese.

Due to this dual structure, there was subtle friction between Tangut nobles and Han Chinese officials in Western Xia.

This friction intensified during Emperor Huizong Kangding’s time.

However, through various reforms under Emperor Shengwen, the predecessor to the current Emperor Shengde, these conflicts had been largely resolved.

“But even though the current emperor is ruling wisely, he’s appointing too many Han Chinese officials…”

The advisor spoke these words while watching Li Deyun’s reaction.

Li Deyun, a Tangut noble by birth, responded in apparent agreement.

“We cannot just stand by and watch our influence diminish, can we?”

As a nobleman holding traditional power, it was natural for Li Deyun to express antipathy toward the emperor’s policies.

No matter how much Emperor Shengde was creating political stability through wise governance, it was unpleasant for someone who had to give up his own interests.

For these reasons, Li Deyun occasionally showed resentment toward the emperor.

Consequently, despite being a capable general and the emperor’s relative by marriage, Li Deyun was demoted to the frontier.

With this background, Li Deyun harbored negative feelings toward the central government.

“Let’s end this conversation here. Focus on moving as many residents as possible into the city before the Mongols plunder the villages.”

At his words, the advisor bowed and led people outside.

Left alone, Li Deyun looked outside and muttered quietly to himself.

“Something about these nomads’ raid bothers me… but it’s probably nothing serious.”

Li Deyun dismissed it as just another routine raid by the Mongols.

Though something bothered him, he shook his head as if it were nothing and went outside.

* * *

It felt different being on the battlefield after so long.

“So this is Western Xia.”

“Yes, Khagan.”

A man beside me was guiding the way.

This man was none other than a Tangut merchant.

In actual history, the Mongol Empire actively used local merchants as spies.

Merchants traveled extensively and knew the regions well, plus they had their own shortcuts.

For merchants, cooperating with the Mongol Empire was beneficial because they received privileges in return for their help.

Additionally, there was another reason.

Most merchants were persecuted in settled nations.

Unless it was a steppe nation, most settled countries tended to be wary of outsiders.

Naturally, from a nation’s perspective, merchants who moved around for trade and followed profit were viewed with suspicion.

Apart from this, since they could potentially act as enemy spies, settled nations disliked merchants who traveled without nationality.

In actual history, merchants often served as spies, so the stance of settled nations was understandable.

Anyway, due to these merchants’ circumstances and the interests of the invading Mongols aligning perfectly, merchants could be used as spies and guides like this.

“This is the fastest route to Khara-Khoto.”

Khara-Khoto, one of Western Xia’s cities, was located on the border between Western Xia and the steppe.

Being near the Gobi Desert, the entire outer perimeter was surrounded by walls made of earth.

It looked like a sand castle that might collapse at any moment,

but it was clearly a fortress that had stood in that position for a long time, defending against nomadic invasions, so it was better to be cautious.

“I see. But the place looks barren, yet there seem to be many wheat fields around. Do you know why?”

At my question, the Tangut merchant bowed and pointed to a corner.

“If you look over there, there’s an oasis. Western Xia receives water through a channel dug from that oasis to Khara-Khoto.”

The oasis he mentioned was exactly that—an oasis.

Tangut merchants usually dealt with Han Chinese merchants in Western Xia, so they used the Chinese term for oasis.

“So they get water from there…”

While I was thinking, Munglig, who had been scouting the surroundings, approached me.

He immediately began reporting what he had observed.

“Great Khan, as you predicted, after attacking the villages near Khara-Khoto, other villages heard about our invasion and are heading toward Khara-Khoto.”

“Are the gates open?”

“Yes, they are.”

When dealing with nomads, the most important thing was to secure as much manpower as possible.

Although it had the disadvantage of quickly consuming supplies inside the city, it was better than losing potential manpower to nomads.

Additionally, since ordinary nomads lacked the technology to scale walls, this was a perfectly reasonable response.

Based on this, I could guess that the general in charge of Khara-Khoto was a commander who handled nomads quite well.

“It will be difficult to attack Khara-Khoto right away.”

Jadaran Elunka, who was right beside me, nodded in agreement with my words.

Then, looking at me, he expressed his thoughts.

“Fortunately, since no messengers have left Khara-Khoto, the probability of Western Xia sending reinforcements seems very low.”

Indeed, people were only entering Khara-Khoto, not leaving.

This meant that the general in charge of Khara-Khoto was treating our attack as a simple raid.

“If they’re treating it as a simple raid, that’s even more advantageous for us.”

If Western Xia’s central army didn’t come to support, we could try various strategic approaches against Western Xia.

Until now, the Mongol army had only fought on the steppe and lacked experience in proper warfare against settled populations.

Additionally, I had won many battles through brute force rather than strategy.

As a result, I was quite lacking in ability as a commander.

Of course, being a modern person, I had broad but shallow knowledge. Thanks to this, I vaguely knew how outstanding commanders led their armies.

But this was only knowledge in my head, so there was no guarantee of victory just by imitating the tactics of historical figures.

I couldn’t practice against major powers like the Jin Dynasty to make up for this lack of ability.

But in the case of Western Xia, even if we were defeated, they couldn’t pursue us if we fled to the steppe.

Therefore, Western Xia could be seen as a good practice opponent for the Mongols.

“Chalukhab, Bulqa, and Hulitu.”

“Command us, Great Khan.”

The khans leading tribes belonging to the Khamag Mongol also participated in this raid.

I gave them orders.

“Plunder all villages near Khara-Khoto as much as possible, but only take goods and let the people live and go to Khara-Khoto.”

“You want us to only plunder goods?”

At Bulqa Khan’s question, I nodded.

Then I began to explain the reason.

“They need to head to Khara-Khoto so that supplies inside the city are consumed quickly.”

I was planning to use a strategy often employed in RTS games.

It was a tactic to overload enemy supplies by destroying supply depots that maintain population.

In reality, the Mongols used this tactic when attacking Western Xia.

If the enemy hadn’t opened their gates to protect the people, I wouldn’t have used this tactic.

But now, the general in charge of Khara-Khoto fortress was accepting refugees heading to the city.

In other words, it was the perfect situation to use this tactic.