Ch.41Western Xia (3)

“Aaaaargh!”

“P-please spare me! Please spare me! If you spare me, I’ll… I’ll give you everything!”

The Mongol warriors lowered their weapons as they watched the Tangut people begging for their lives, rubbing their hands together in desperation.

Then they pointed their swords in the direction of Khara-Khoto, communicating with those who didn’t understand their language.

The people immediately understood what the Mongol warriors meant.

After bowing, they began fleeing toward the city with their families.

Bulqa Khan shouted loudly as he watched numerous Tangut people leaving the village.

“Kill those who resist the ulus, but spare those who surrender!”

While he was giving orders, a gap in security formed, and several Tangut soldiers responsible for maintaining order charged at Bulqa.

They began attacking Bulqa Khan with their spears.

“Ha! Did you think you could do anything to me with those toothpicks?”

Bulqa Khan swung his sword at the spears thrust by three adult men.

The spear shafts snapped like sorghum stalks.

“I-impossible.”

“W-what is this…”

Bulqa Khan laughed loudly at the shocked Tangut soldiers.

“Haha. You look like children playing games!”

Mongol soldiers nearby approached at Bulqa’s shout.

Sensing something was wrong, the soldiers belatedly began to surrender.

“P-please spare us!”

“W-we were just following orders.”

Bulqa couldn’t understand their words, but he got the general idea of what they were saying.

However, as a warrior of the steppe, Bulqa wasn’t generous enough to show mercy to those who had raised weapons against him.

“It’s too late to surrender! You infants!”

At his words, the Mongol warriors surrounding them threw ropes at the soldiers.

The ropes, cutting quickly through the air, caught around their necks.

After confirming that the ropes were secured around the enemy’s necks and arms, the warriors began pulling.

“Guh… gack…”

“Kuh…”

The Tangut soldiers found themselves being dragged like animals with their necks strangled.

Seeing this, Bulqa laughed loudly and ordered his soldiers.

“Show them exactly what miserable end awaits those who resist the ulus!”

At Bulqa’s command, the warriors took off with the ropes in hand.

The enemies, unable to breathe properly with their necks being strangled, had no choice but to be dragged along.

“Gack… gaaack…”

“P-please… s-spare…”

Though they struggled to survive, humans couldn’t overcome the strength of horses.

So they remained trapped at the boundary between life and death, suffering terrible agony while being strangled.

“Do not resist the ulus! People of Tangut! Remember that your lives were spared thanks to the Khan’s mercy!”

At Bulqa Khan’s shout, the warriors turned toward the evacuation route where people were fleeing.

Hearing the groans of soldiers being dragged by warriors, the people could only turn away or shut their eyes tightly in fear.

“S-such cruelty…”

“H-hic… ugh…”

“Waaaaaah!”

“D-don’t cry, baby. Please don’t cry.”

Parents could only watch nervously, afraid that their babies’ cries might upset the Mongol warriors. Some parents even covered their crying children’s mouths, worried that the cruel swords might take their children’s lives.

The Tangut people were terrified by the Mongols’ brutal retaliation.

And fearing they might end up like that, they didn’t even dare think of resisting.

* * *

Screams of terror and agony echoed everywhere.

I could only calmly observe the battlefield while hearing these sounds.

That was because I was consumed by the thought that these people had resisted us,

and we, as the strong, had merely given appropriate punishment to the weak.

“…Seeing that I don’t even feel guilty… I must have completely adapted to Yesugei’s body.”

Some indescribable emotion enveloped me.

Before being transported to this world, I had been an ordinary office worker commuting to my company.

So naturally, I should have felt guilt upon witnessing such horrific scenes.

But instead, I felt only calm detachment.

Of course, it wasn’t that I had no sympathy for them at all.

It’s just that the sympathy wasn’t enough to make me stop the violence against them.

“…I noticed it after the bokh when we hanged the enemies…”

The memory of brutally killing those who had shown hostility toward me flashed through my mind.

Recalling that memory, I thought the current situation was less severe than that time.

Because at least we weren’t hanging them upside down to drain their blood.

In the modern world, this would be worthy of condemnation.

But I wasn’t living in the comfort of the modern world; I was living the harsh life of the steppe. And this world wasn’t modern but medieval, where violence existed.

While I was thinking this, Munglig approached me.

“Khan, as you commanded, we have plundered all the villages near Khara-Khoto and the surrounding areas.”

“Good work. Gather all the spoils in one place and send them to Khamag Mongol.”

“I will obey your command.”

Again, this expedition wasn’t one where the entire ulus was mobilized, but rather one conducted by Khamag Mongol itself.

Therefore, it was right that our tribe should take these spoils.

“And have you confirmed that all refugees are heading to Khara-Khoto?”

“Yes. Most refugees are heading to Khara-Khoto. However, warriors have confirmed that some refugees are heading to Xingqing.”

“Let them go. They’ll die before crossing the desert anyway.”

Khara-Khoto was located near the Gobi Desert.

From here to Xingqing, the capital of Western Xia, was a distance of about 780 km.

I roughly knew this geographical information because I used to browse the internet, looking at various parts of the world when slacking off at work.

780 km was the distance from Busan in our country to Dalian in China.

It was nonsensical to think of walking such a long distance without food.

Therefore, there was no need to chase after those who chose death.

“Now all that remains is for the refugees to create chaos inside Khara-Khoto.”

Accepting refugees.

As mentioned earlier, in this era, this tactic had more strategic reasons than humanitarian ones. Therefore, its advantages and disadvantages were clear.

The advantage was that by not losing manpower, the area could be quickly restored when nomads retreated.

But this advantage only applied when nomads finished their plundering and returned to the steppe.

“Elunka.”

“I am ready to receive your orders, Khan.”

“Return to Khamag Mongol and bring the gers here.”

“The gers? How many gers would you like me to bring?”

“Enough for the warriors to stay in will be sufficient.”

A ger was both lodging and barracks, as well as a military camp.

Therefore, it wasn’t a problem for several people to stay together in one small ger.

With our current force of about 300 men, about ten gers would be enough to solve the accommodation and meals.

“I will obey the Khan’s command.”

With that, Elunka, having received my orders, began leading warriors toward Khamag Mongol.

As Elunka moved away after receiving my orders, Munglig, who was beside me, carefully asked a question.

“Brother.”

Munglig was calling me brother even during the war.

Using this form of address meant that this was a personal question between brothers, not between a Khagan and his subject.

“What is it?”

“Are you planning to set up a campsite here like sedentary people?”

“Campsite… it would be more accurate to say we’re moving our barracks here.”

At my words, Munglig tilted his head in confusion.

This was because Munglig was born a nomad. Therefore, he didn’t understand the concept of barracks, which was part of sedentary culture.

Generally, most nomads were warriors, so there were no barracks that separated laborers and warriors.

Anyway, apart from this, I was thinking of setting up gers, which were barracks and lodgings, here. In gaming terms, it was similar to setting up an advanced barracks in front of enemy territory.

Modern people might find this strange.

Because this wasn’t a game, and setting up barracks here wouldn’t allow us to produce soldiers by consuming resources like in a game.

Of course, for a normal country, this would be true.

But Mongolia wasn’t such a normal country.

“From three days later, we’ll capture all the refugees.”

If they hadn’t fled during the long period of three days, it was essentially the same as refusing our orders. There was no reason to show mercy to such people.

“All of them, you say?”

“Yes. I plan to conscript them and use them as arrow fodder.”

Forced conscription.

Mongolia was essentially a country like a massive moving barracks.

* * *

Numerous refugees headed to Khara-Khoto to escape the nomads’ plundering.

When they arrived at Khara-Khoto, various problems began to arise within the city.

“Please, I beg for some food. We’ve been so hungry… traveling such a long way.”

“W-water… please give me water.”

“We need a place to sleep. We haven’t slept at all.”

As soon as the refugees arrived at Khara-Khoto, they began requesting food, drink, and shelter.

In response, Li Deyun ordered the release of supplies to alleviate the refugees’ suffering.

But this was only a temporary measure, as the number of refugees flooding into Khara-Khoto continued to increase.

Because of this, the people living in Khara-Khoto also began to express their discontent.

“The refugees stole my cow!”

“They ruined my garden! Please punish them.”

“Refugees have occupied my house. Please send soldiers to drive them out.”

Since the refugees were desperate for food and survival, they readily engaged in theft.

As a result, the city’s public order rapidly deteriorated.

“General, it’s not too late. We should not accept any more refugees.”

At his advisor’s suggestion, Li Deyun couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

If he stopped accepting refugees now, his political position could become uncertain.

He had already been pushed to the frontier,

but if the entire city was shaken by the plundering of a small number of nomads, the emperor might completely expel Li Deyun.

Additionally, there was the problem of the atmosphere within the city becoming ominous.

If he suddenly stopped accepting refugees after already accepting so many, there was a possibility that the refugees already inside might rebel.

Of course, it was possible to suppress them with military force,

but he didn’t want to show such a decline because of small-scale nomads who would retreat after a short while anyway.

“This is just a temporary phenomenon. Release even the war supplies we’ve stored to feed the refugees and provide them with places to sleep by giving up the barracks.”

“General! If you do that, the soldiers will surely resent it!”

Li Deyun’s order was essentially forcing sacrifices on the soldiers responsible for the city’s security.

Therefore, the advisor couldn’t help but express concern about Li Deyun’s order.

“I am the overseer of this place. So follow my orders.”

With Li Deyun’s firm determination expressed in one sentence, the advisor had no choice but to bow and follow the order.

As even military supplies were released, the city’s security quickly recovered,

and naturally, the refugees began to praise Li Deyun.

“Long live General Li Deyun!”

“Our life-saving benefactor!”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

Li Deyun happily waved his hand at the refugees’ support.

Unlike these refugees, the soldiers who were forced to sacrifice and the original residents of Khara-Khoto couldn’t help but frown.