Ch.54Winter (5)

“Is that true?”

Emperor Yinhui of Xixia, known as the Sage Emperor who was considered a great ruler alongside his predecessor Emperor Shengwen Songzong, wore a shocked expression.

He asked the cavalry messenger again to confirm what he had just heard.

“I swear by the gods that I speak without a single falsehood.”

“Huh…”

The Xixia Emperor could only wear a dejected expression.

What made it worse was that he was hearing about Khara-Khoto being attacked by the Mongols from a cavalry messenger rather than from the city governor.

“Why hasn’t Li Deyun, the Inspector of Khara-Khoto, informed the imperial court about this matter!”

The Emperor struck his throne forcefully, expressing his anger.

Since the normally gentle Emperor was showing such rage, even the elderly ministers in the imperial court found it difficult to calm his fury.

“Hmm… it seems Khara-Khoto falling to the Mongols is only a matter of time.”

Even if the cavalry messenger had ridden all night from Khara-Khoto to Xingqing, it would have taken at least 20 days.

This meant that even if they dispatched soldiers now and organized them to send to Khara-Khoto, there was a high probability that Khara-Khoto would already be in Mongol hands.

Of course, this was assuming the worst-case scenario, and variables could exist.

Generally, it was difficult for nomads to conquer fortified cities.

Nevertheless, the Emperor had good reason to assume the worst.

The surviving cavalry messenger had informed him that Khara-Khoto had nearly been captured by the Mongols once already.

Seeing the Emperor’s worried expression, Prime Minister Wei Xiaoyun stepped forward.

“Your Majesty. It’s not too late yet. We must dispatch troops immediately to save Khara-Khoto.”

The Minister of War Zhao Yunchang, standing right beside him, shook his head.

As the leader of the military, he expressed his opposition from a military expert’s perspective.

“If we hastily send troops now, the soldiers will surely be exhausted.”

“But if we don’t save Khara-Khoto now, Xixia’s major trade route will be cut off. Don’t you realize this is a critical issue that will severely impact our national income?”

“Of course I understand that, Prime Minister. But as the saying goes, ‘when in a hurry, take the long way around.’ We should send troops only after perfect preparation to preserve our fighting strength. Only then can our forces win even if we encounter the enemy on the plains. As you know, there are only villages and no fortresses to block cavalry on the way to Khara-Khoto.”

The Prime Minister had to nod at the Minister of War’s reasonable argument.

However, his position that they needed to act immediately remained unchanged.

“I understand the Minister’s point. But we’re in an urgent situation and don’t have time to follow procedures.”

As the atmosphere grew increasingly heated, the Emperor raised his hand while looking at everyone.

The Prime Minister and Minister of War who had been exchanging opinions bowed and stopped their conversation.

“Both the Prime Minister and Minister of War have valid points. However, given the urgency of the situation, I find the Prime Minister’s opinion more appropriate than the Minister’s.”

When the Emperor supported the Prime Minister’s decision, the Minister of War bowed deeply.

In truth, the Minister also understood well why Khara-Khoto needed to be saved immediately.

Xixia’s main tax revenue came from trade along the steppe route.

If Khara-Khoto fell, it would be tantamount to losing the region that generated the largest tax revenue sustaining Xixia.

This would inevitably create obstacles for the Emperor’s ongoing internal reform policies.

“Minister of War.”

“I await your command, Your Majesty. I am ready to serve.”

“I appoint you as Military Governor in charge of Khara-Khoto and its surrounding areas. Gather troops immediately and rescue Khara-Khoto from the Mongols.”

The Emperor appointed the Minister of War as Military Governor of Khara-Khoto and its surrounding regions.

This position granted him authority almost equal to the Emperor in that region, which essentially meant the Emperor had stripped Li Deyun of his Inspector position.

“I will follow Your Majesty’s orders.”

* * *

While the Ulus was busy with war, Munglig was riding around the village on horseback.

Behind him followed Kheshig warriors with massive builds.

With these large Kheshig warriors and Munglig moving through the villages, the villagers were too frightened to do anything.

“Don’t worry! We’re not here to plunder!”

When Munglig shouted loudly, the Tangut merchant beside him immediately began translating.

The villagers near Khara-Khoto could only tremble as they looked at Munglig.

This was because it had been only a few months since the Mongols had plundered and massacred them.

Having fled to Khara-Khoto just recently due to the Mongol raids, they couldn’t easily believe his words telling them not to worry.

Yet they couldn’t resist either.

“Look at that size… weren’t Mongols usually lean in build?”

“Yeah… he looks like he could win against a bull…”

“He looks like he wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed with a sword…”

Seeing the frightened villagers, Munglig thought he should calm them down first.

So he gave orders to the Kheshig with hand signals.

Understanding the command, the Kheshig warriors stood in front and suddenly removed their upper garments.

The Tangut women screamed and covered their eyes… but peeked through their fingers to examine the Kheshig’s upper bodies.

“Oh… my goodness…”

“Their bodies… are so firm…”

In response to the married women’s reactions, their husbands scolded their wives with surprised expressions.

But the women’s reactions didn’t easily subside.

Anyway, in this heightened atmosphere, the Kheshig suddenly struck a pose.

“Cha-ap!”

The Kheshig struck a magnificent pose that fully displayed his pectoral muscles.

As his bulging pectoral muscles glistened in the sunlight, everyone was impressed…

“…What are they doing…”

“What… what is this…”

The murmurs of confused men mixed with the delighted sounds of women.

Seeing this, Munglig dismounted with a satisfied smile.

“Do you see? If you join our Ulus army, you too can have bodies like this!”

“…”

“…”

No Tangut responded to Munglig’s words.

Confused, Munglig looked at the merchant.

“Did you translate correctly? Usually people should respond to this.”

“I… I translated correctly, sir.”

“Really? Then… perhaps one isn’t enough.”

Normally, a person would read the atmosphere and realize that people were bewildered.

But Munglig was different. Having trained the Kheshig and exercised for a long time, his concept of normal was quite distorted.

So he simply thought it was because the muscles weren’t impressive enough.

“All of you, strike your poses.”

“Yes!”

“We obey your command!”

At this, all the Kheshig dismounted and struck poses like the first one.

The villagers couldn’t help but admire these unusual poses where each warrior showed off their best features.

“…I don’t know what this is, but it looks impressive.”

“Yeah. I can somewhat understand why the women like it…”

Seeing the villagers’ reactions, Munglig let out a hearty laugh.

“Haha! Everyone has come to appreciate the beauty of upper body muscles. Just as my brother said, it’s muscles over violence.”

Yesugei had never said such a thing to Munglig.

He had only ordered him not to cause great harm to civilians.

Munglig was simply misinterpreting this.

“Do you want to be like this too? If you serve the Ulus, I’ll provide meat every day and drinks made by the Khan himself!”

“They’ll give us food?”

“Really…?”

Some people began to stir.

This was because even in wealthy Khara-Khoto, many people couldn’t eat even one meal a day.

Most of those who went hungry were children who had lost their parents.

When told they would be given meat if they became soldiers, they couldn’t help but be tempted.

Unconsciously, they began to approach Munglig.

“Is… is it true…?”

“If we really serve the Ulus, will you… give us meat?”

“Yes. I promise as a warrior of the steppe.”

“Then… I’ll do it.”

“I… I want to do it too.”

Hearing the young boys’ words, Munglig nodded with a hearty laugh.

“Welcome to the voluntary enlistment! Boys!”

* * *

The conquest of Khara-Khoto was progressing steadily.

However, because they had missed the soldiers stationed around Luzhou, a constraint that wasn’t originally there had been added.

That constraint was the need to conquer Khara-Khoto before enemy reinforcements arrived.

“Building a dam at Luzhou to drown the enemy would take too much time, Shanyu.”

I nodded at Elunka’s explanation.

Originally, I had planned to build a dam at Luzhou to drown the enemy in order to minimize casualties.

But due to my mistake, this tactic could no longer be used.

As a result, I had to focus more on conquering the east gate using trebuchets.

“When do you think we can take the east gate?”

“According to Bulqa Khan’s report, it could be as early as before sunrise today.”

“Good. As soon as we breach the east gate, we’ll send in cavalry to capture the city governor.”

Among the methods to quickly conquer a city, capturing the governor was by far the most effective.

If the governor was captured, the enemy would essentially lose their commander.

While I was thinking this, a messenger urgently approached me.

After bowing, he began his report.

“Shanyu, the east gate has fallen.”

The east gate had fallen faster than expected, leaving both Elunka and me puzzled.

“That was quicker than expected.”

“That’s because… all the soldiers guarding the east gate disappeared.”

“The soldiers guarding the east gate disappeared?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head at the messenger’s strange report.

Unlike me, Elunka seemed to realize something and made an expression of sudden understanding.

“It seems there’s an inner citadel inside the city.”

At the mention of an inner citadel, I belatedly realized the implications.

If the enemy were to make a stand in the inner citadel, it would become a headache.

Among many reasons, the biggest was that we couldn’t set up trebuchets inside the city.

I had prepared tactics to block Luzhou with this situation in mind.

But as mentioned earlier, by the time we drowned the enemy with this tactic, there was a high possibility that enemy reinforcements would arrive.

If enemy reinforcements came, the situation would be very unfavorable.

The worst-case scenario would unfold with our forces caught between enemy forces.

I could feel my mistake growing larger by the moment.