Ch.42Western Xia (4)

Many people were running across the desert.

They were sprinting for their lives with desperate expressions.

“Aaaagh!”

“Guhk!”

Ropes flew over their heads.

As the ropes caught their necks, bodies, or legs, they fell to the ground.

Most of those who were caught were males, ranging from boys to middle-aged men.

The ones capturing them like hunters during a drive hunt were none other than Mongol soldiers.

“Drag them away!”

“You will fight for the ulus!”

As the men were dragged away, the elderly, women, and children who were left behind began to wail.

“My son! My son!”

“Please! Spare our son! Please!”

“Papa! Papa!”

The Mongols and the Tangut people couldn’t even communicate with each other.

So despite their desperate cries, the Mongol soldiers just stared at them without showing any reaction.

“We have no business with you. Head to Khara-Khoto.”

“Do not resist. The Khagan’s orders are absolute.”

Despite the Mongol soldiers’ words, the refugees remained motionless, tears streaming down their faces.

Finally, one soldier had to draw his sword and approach them.

“We have no intention of taking your lives. Head to Khara-Khoto.”

“I won’t leave without my son.”

“I… I cannot go like this.”

Though the Mongol soldier couldn’t understand the Tangut language, he immediately understood that they refused to move because of the men.

Thinking he needed to make an example, he gestured for the men to be brought forward.

“Bring him here.”

A man caught in the ropes was dragged forward to stand before his family.

Standing before them, he cried and spoke to his family.

“Go to Khara-Khoto! Please! I’ll be fine. Please go to Khara-Khoto!”

“How can we leave you behind!”

“Son! Come with us! Please!”

Watching the wailing family, the Mongol soldier pointed his sword at the man’s neck.

Then, looking at the Tangut people once more, he muttered quietly.

“If you don’t leave, this man will die.”

With those words, he slightly cut the man’s neck with his sharp blade.

Blood began to form at the man’s neck.

“Ugh… Go! Please! Go before they change their minds!”

“Huh… huhuk…”

“My son…”

At the man’s cry, his family finally had no choice but to head toward Khara-Khoto.

Watching them leave, the man wept and couldn’t hide his anger toward the soldier.

“Huhuhuk… You damn Mongols! What have we done wrong!”

Though the soldier couldn’t understand his words, he understood the anger.

Looking at the man, he spoke:

“We were born on the steppe. You were born behind walls. We are wolves who must hunt to survive, and you are sheep. Wolves starve if they don’t hunt. I have no intention of starving.”

After saying this, the soldier dropped a dagger in front of the man.

Then he continued speaking while looking at him.

“Live. The one who survives is the victor. The steppe welcomes the strong, and if you survive, we will respect you as a wolf like us.”

The man couldn’t understand the soldier’s words, but as if entranced, he could only stare at the dagger placed before him.

Whether to kill the soldier with this dagger, take his own life, or survive and prove his worth.

It was entirely up to him.

* * *

I looked at the hundreds of forcibly conscripted soldiers.

Most of them were farmers who had never held a sword in their lives.

Therefore, giving them weapons and sending them toward Khara-Khoto would be foolish.

“Send someone to Khara-Khoto as soon as dawn breaks tomorrow.”

“You mean a person, sir?”

I nodded in response to my adjutant’s question.

“Yes. I intend to offer them surrender.”

In fact, one of the tactics frequently used by the Mongol Empire was the surrender tactic.

One might wonder why offering surrender is considered a tactic,

but the very act of offering surrender served as a catalyst for dividing the enemy internally.

When surrender was offered, the enemy would inevitably split into pro-peace and pro-war factions.

This would cause internal conflict, and during that time, we could gain time to move troops recruited from nearby areas to the front of the enemy walls.

In other words, it was beneficial whether they accepted surrender or not.

“Who do you intend to send to offer surrender?”

However, given these strategic objectives, the probability of an envoy returning alive was very low.

Usually, they would return with their heads cut off, so naturally, important figures couldn’t be sent as envoys.

“Select a suitable person from among the Batur.”

The Batur I mentioned here meant “warrior,” the same meaning as my name, Batur.

However, when viewed from the perspective of the entire tribe, the meaning was slightly different—it referred to soldiers who had caused problems.

Typically, those who became Batur were individuals who had assaulted comrades in their ten-man unit or deserted during battle.

To discipline such individuals, they were made to become shock troops and fight on the front lines when battles began.

In other words, they were essentially suicide squads.

On the Mongolian steppe, such individuals were used in battle, and if they survived a certain number of battles, their crimes would be forgiven.

This made them perfect pawns for offering surrender to Khara-Khoto.

“I will obey the commander’s orders.”

After the adjutant left, he soon selected several Batur to head toward Khara-Khoto.

Since they didn’t have much food, if they tried to flee instead of heading to Khara-Khoto, they would be doomed to wander the desert.

Therefore, the Batur had no choice but to head to Khara-Khoto to survive.

Even if their lives were in the enemy’s hands.

* * *

Upon hearing the Mongols’ offer of surrender, Li Deyun blinked, wondering if he had misheard.

This was because nomads typically only plundered and rarely offered surrender like this.

Originally, nomads didn’t even have time to offer surrender,

as once the plundering was over, there was nothing more to gain from the plundered area, so they had to return to the steppe.

But now, unlike usual, they weren’t leaving and were telling Li Deyun to surrender, which was exasperating.

“Do you understand what you’re saying?”

The official translated Li Deyun’s words directly to the Mongol envoy.

The envoy proudly nodded and replied.

“The Khagan of the Yeke Mongol Ulus is merciful and has spared those who resist the ulus. If the city surrenders, you will be allowed to leave with a certain amount of property.”

“Hahaha! The Mongols have gone mad!”

Li Deyun laughed loudly and pointed at the envoy.

Then, changing his expression, he raised his hand and ordered a soldier.

“If I send your head back, your leader, who feeds horses, will immediately understand how firm my resolve is.”

So the soldier was about to behead the envoy.

At that moment, the envoy laughed loudly and pointed at Li Deyun, shouting.

“How foolish! How dare you, born as a sheep, defy the will of the wolf!”

Hearing words that were clearly insulting Li Deyun, the soldier was surprised and tried to behead the envoy.

As the soldier raised his sword, Li Deyun raised his hand to momentarily stop the soldier’s action.

“You say I’m a sheep? Then I’ll be a sheep that slays wolves.”

“Your delusion knows no bounds.”

Despite his life hanging by a thread, the envoy’s confident demeanor made Li Deyun shrug.

Since all the officials’ eyes were on him, he made a proposal to the envoy to enhance his political influence.

“Death is fair to all, but it seems unfair for only you to die like this. I can alleviate that injustice.”

After taking a moment to catch his breath, Li Deyun looked at the envoy and smiled.

“I have the power to save you. If you tell me information about the Mongols, I will spare your life and give you an official position to serve me.”

Despite Li Deyun’s sweet offer, the envoy firmly shook his head, indicating he had no such intention.

Then, looking at Li Deyun, he replied.

“Have you ever seen a wolf following a sheep? I do not fear death.”

In truth, the envoy wanted to accept the offer,

but since his entire family was on the steppe, he couldn’t.

If he accepted, not only he but his entire family could be ruined.

Conversely, if he died, the Khagan had promised to forgive the envoy’s sins and take care of his family.

Therefore, the envoy had no choice but to choose to die honorably rather than dishonorably.

However, Li Deyun had no way of knowing this.

Therefore, he found it difficult to tolerate the envoy’s arrogant behavior any longer.

“This bastard…! Kill him immediately and send him to the leader of those monsters!”

Thud.

With those words, the Mongol envoy’s head was separated from his body and rolled on the floor.

Li Deyun’s eyes met those of the fallen envoy.

The eyes of the now-corpse seemed to be staring directly at Li Deyun, as if saying he would be next.

* * *

“Khara-Khoto has sent a reply.”

Yesugei nodded calmly as he looked at the envoy’s head placed before him.

“Remove this man’s sins and give his family two horses, one cow, one sheep, and one goat.”

It was quite a generous amount of wealth for the value of one adult male.

The reason for such generous compensation was to set a precedent so that others would volunteer in the future.

Anyway, this wasn’t the important issue right now.

Therefore, Gurkhan continued giving orders, focusing on attacking the enemy.

“Quickly! Move quickly!”

“Move diligently! Slaves!”

“Aaaagh!”

“Huh! Huh!”

The warriors were whipping the slaves.

The reason they were driving the warriors so hard was to install the trebuchets before sunset.

The person overseeing the installation of these trebuchets was none other than Gurkhan’s right-hand man, Munglig.

“Move quickly! We must finish the deployment before sunset!”

At Munglig’s shout, an adjutant approached.

After bowing, he began to report to Munglig.

“The trebuchet deployment will be completed soon.”

“Good news. As soon as the preparations for firing are complete, start firing the lightest things at the enemy.”

“The lightest things… should we start with stones?”

At the adjutant’s question, Munglig shook his head.

Then he pointed to a pile of corpses in one corner.

They were people who had paid the price for refusing to be conscripted into the Mongol army.

“Load the corpses and fire them. Corpses are lighter than stones.”

At Munglig’s order, the adjutant nodded and relayed Munglig’s orders to the soldiers.

Munglig turned to look at Khara-Khoto.

He intended to show what the fate of those who resisted the Mongols would be.