Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 107: The best strategy is to attack the enemy's plans, the next best is to attack their alliances
The pass was not surrounded because this temporary nomadic settlement was surrounded.

A cavalry team of more than a thousand people surrounded the settlement where Xia Lin was. The groups of tall horses looked majestic. Xia Lin stood there with his hands behind his back looking at these people.

These cavalrymen are the superior people on the grassland. They ride horses, wear armor, and are fat and strong. They are fundamentally different from the ordinary herdsmen around them who are trembling and in tatters.

They shouted angrily, which translated to mean: "You poor devils, how dare you take things that originally belonged to Master So-and-so and do business with the Han people? You are really too rude now. Master So-and-so is very unhappy and is determined to punish you."

This is what Xia Lin heard, but because the wind was strong on the grassland and the people there had obvious accents and spoke quickly, he could not hear clearly the difficult-to-pronounce name of Longzhang.

But judging from the current situation, no matter how dumb he is, he understands what happened here. In fact, to put it bluntly, the people on the grassland are basically tribal, with small tribes under the big tribes. Over time, a manager will be born in an area, and this manager controls the logistics, economy and all other livelihood factors in the area under his charge.

This is actually an order that is born naturally in chaos, and it is definitely good at the beginning. But just like Dong Zhuo, the young Dong Zhuo was chivalrous, wise and brave, and even defeated the Huns, but once he tasted the power, the dragon-slaying boy would most likely become a dragon.

When Xia Lin heard the cavalry leader repeatedly calling these herdsmen poor devils, he knew that a strict class system had been formed on the grassland, and its degree was even worse than that of the Wei Dynasty in the Central Plains. After all, even in the Wei Dynasty, those corrupt officials did not dare to call the people poor devils and pariahs so openly.

They did not make things difficult for Xia Lin's caravan, because the armor they were wearing and the swords in their hands were all brought by the Han caravan. Xia Lin also noticed this and felt amused in his heart, because if he was considered to be aiding the enemy, then what about those people who transported armor, steel swords, bows and arrows to the grassland?
Looking back at the shepherd girls and children who were huddled together and trembling with fear in their eyes, and at the man who had fire in his eyes but dared only to clench his fists as he watched the cavalrymen carrying their life-saving supplies for the winter, Xia Lin lowered his eyelids and put his hands in his sleeves, listening to the cavalry master's lecture, his mind working rapidly.

Originally, Xia Lin really just wanted to exchange some oil and fur for the fur and take it back to make some money, but now there was an opportunity in front of Xia Lin, and a person flashed through his mind - Wang Xuance of the Tang Dynasty.

He looked back at the men behind him with hatred in their eyes, adjusted his expression, pulled his hands free, and walked up to the cavalryman who was giving the lecture, shouting in Jie language: "Why did you take their things? Without these fuel and food, how can they survive the winter? Aren't they your compatriots?"

The cavalryman lowered his head and looked at Xia Lin: "Han people?"

"I'm just a businessman who came here to do business with them." Xia Lin still shouted, "We're not trading any contraband, just something that can save someone's life."

"Life-saving stuff? If you want to survive, go and rob the Han people at your checkpoints! How can you use my stuff to buy their chance to survive?" The knight picked up a can of fruit and sniffed it, then tilted his head back and poured it into his mouth. After savoring it for a while, he said, "How can these poor bastards deserve to enjoy such good things?"

Xia Lin was determined at this moment. He went up and grabbed his reins, shouting at the top of his voice: "Do their lives not matter? Attacking a city means death. They just want to survive. What's wrong with them!?"

The thing that cavalrymen hate most is someone touching their reins. The knight didn't even listen to what Xia Lin said. He instinctively picked up the whip and hit him.

"Ah!~"

Xia Lin suddenly screamed and took a few steps back to the ground.

The cavalryman looked down at his whip and then at Xia Lin on the ground: "???"

He didn't use much force, really didn't use much force... The master said that merchants are friends and should not be hurt. The whip just now made a loud sound, but it might burn you in the summer, but it wouldn't hurt you at all in the winter. How could he...

Xia Lin's miserable condition was seen by everyone. You have to know that there are at least 30,000 to 40,000 people gathered here, otherwise he would not have been discovered by the boss of this area. Everyone has seen what Xia Lin has done here in the past few days. Everyone respects him as a Han Bodhisattva, and just now he was beaten up when he shouted at the top of his lungs to defend himself.

Do you really think there are no brave men on the grassland? Suddenly, an arrow shot out from the mountain of tents and hit the knight squarely in the face. With a scream, the knight fell off his horse.

This was a lively scene. Xia Lin saw that the captain was crawling to the side, and then the cavalrymen surrounded him. When they saw that the knight captain was lying on the ground and was dying, these noble soldiers were not polite and drew their swords to kill him.

The conflict was no longer imminent. This was a resistance that was necessary for survival. Soon the men of the tribe rushed out together. Long-standing resentment and the desire to survive made their blood boil. The cavalry were powerful but they were also trained in blood and fire. The scene was tragic, with scimitars and horses, blood and the setting sun.

Xia Lin was standing by and watching the fighting in front of him, watching those mighty cavalrymen being pulled off their horses one by one and either hacked to death or having their heads trampled by horses' hooves.

He didn't say a word the whole time, but he was secretly shocked by the fighting power of these grassland men. It turned out that the warriors who grew up in extreme environments were very terrifying. Now it seems that the Wei Dynasty... especially the soldiers in the south of the Wei Dynasty, are most likely strawberry soldiers. If it weren't for the soldiers in the north who worked hard to guard it, the Wei Dynasty would probably have been beaten to the west of the Yellow River long ago.

By the evening, the battle was over. The herdsmen had killed all the 1,000 cavalrymen at the cost of nearly 5,000 casualties. The ground was full of wounded soldiers howling in pain. Xia Lin was directing women and children to save people while shouting for Lao He to make medicine quickly. The whole place was in a state of panic. The remaining young and strong were cleaning up the battlefield. They took away the cavalrymen's swords, armor and even clothes. During this process, Xia Lin heard them talking and found out that the leader's name was Chabie. No wonder he always thought it was "caobicaobi" when he heard them talking just now. Xia Lin thought it was too down-to-earth...

After the final inventory of the battlefield, 820 horses, 1,140 steel swords, 1,072 sets of armor, and some other supplies were seized.

It was really because these cavalrymen underestimated the enemy, otherwise how could these light infantrymen without even armor possibly defeat the cavalry? One charge would cost them a large piece of meat.

Although this is considered a great victory, it is impossible to conceal this matter. Lord Chabie will get the news soon, and then a larger-scale encirclement and suppression will be imminent.

So all of them, including Xia Lin, gathered in the tent in the center again, and the chiefs of each tribe got together to discuss what to do next.

In fact, everyone was just impulsive just now, and now thinking about it, they are just scared.

After a long silence, Xia Lin spoke up, "We only have two options now. One is for you to follow me and join the Han people. You can herd horses and sheep in Yanyun. The other option is for us to go north and kill Lord Chabie and replace him. Dispersing is definitely not an option, as you will be killed one by one. But surrendering here is not an option either. Choose one of these two options."

The clan leaders immediately started a discussion. Although they were less educated, they were not fools. They knew that what Xia Lin said was true, and that they had caused a big disaster this time. Master Chabie would not just let it go.

But they didn't trust the Han people either, they only trusted Xia Lin. So after they gathered together to think about it, everyone decided to go north...

Give it a try!
From this we can see the bellicosity and warlike nature in the blood of these herdsmen. From the way they were ready to fight, Xia Lin knew that there would probably be a series of fierce battles to come.

But since they have made this decision, Xia Lin can't say anything.

Since we are talking about the Northern Expedition, then let’s go on the Northern Expedition!

Soon, some strong herdsmen rode on horses, put on armor and carried swords, and instantly became warriors. Xia Lin assigned combat tasks to each clan leader on a simple map in the big tent.

"There are seventeen major tribes along the way. We will eat them one by one! We Han people have a saying, whoever doesn't let me farm, I will farm him. After we clear all these people, you can call the shots in Mo Nan. Chanyu probably won't say anything. The grassland is a place where the fittest survive. Tomorrow morning, we will split our troops into two groups. We will first take Jiaqian and then Nagqu. We can't give the other side any time to react. We must be quick, accurate, steady and ruthless!"

The next morning, the two cavalry units quickly prepared to launch a surprise attack on the Jiagan tribe which was a little further away, while the subsequent infantry prepared to attack the Nagqu tribe which was closest. Once the two sides surrounded the two tribes, there was basically no way for them to escape.

The bravery and fighting skills of the grassland people combined with the strategic deployment of the old man Xia Lin can be called terrifying in this area.

Three days later, Yanmen Pass.

"Report! The spies have reported that Xia Lin, the seventh-rank county magistrate of our army, has led 80,000 people from 72 tribes of the grassland to the north to attack the Chabie tribe."

"Ah?" Guo Ying dropped the bowl and chopsticks in his hands. "Say it again? Where did he go?"

"Report to the general, go north to attack the Chabie tribe."

Guo Ying blinked his eyes: "There is no joking in the army."

At this moment, another scout rushed in, dragging a gem scimitar in both hands: "Report! Xia Lin, the seventh-rank county magistrate of our tribe, presents a scimitar to the chief of the Naqu tribe."

A few minutes later, before Guo Ying could react, another scout rushed in with a bag in his hand: "Report! Xia Lin, the seventh-rank county magistrate of our army, offers the head of the chief of the cadre!"

“Ah???” Guo Ying stood up quickly, his mouth wide open in shock, his tone and demeanor exactly the same as his brother Lao Guo’s: “It’s not… him… ah???”

(End of this chapter)