The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 85 Victory is in sight
Among the troops under Li Xiao's command, the only ones that truly belonged to him were the original coalition forces of the Seven Forts, plus the Zhelan slaves and more than one hundred people from the Feiying Fort.

Another two thousand were borrowed from other ministries.

After the war, we must return it.

But Li Xiao didn't want them to leave.

These people have followed him in battles for hundreds of miles and have experienced many battles, both large and small. Although they are far from being elite, they are by no means comparable to ordinary soldiers.

Li Xiao really couldn't bear to let them go back like this.

Besides, what Jinzhou lacks most is people, so Li Xiao plans to keep them as much as possible.

It mainly depends on their own wishes. If they are willing to stay in Jinzhou, Li Xiao will arrange for them to "die in battle."

When Dasha heard Li Xiao's question, he just shook his head and said.

"I'm not going back. I'll be wherever the captain is."

He was originally a penniless sheep slave in the desert, with no ties or worries, and there was nothing to be nostalgic about there.

On the contrary, during the time he followed Li Xiao, he kept winning battles and seized too much spoils.

In the end, Dasha would definitely get a lot of cattle and sheep, and he also snatched a beautiful and fertile Naiman woman as his wife.

He had never dared to imagine such a life before.

So I definitely don’t want to go back to the desert.

"Row!"

"Then come back to Golden State with me."

"You will have a wife and children, a warm bed, cattle and sheep, and plenty of food in the future. You deserve to enjoy this happiness."

Li Xiao chuckled.

"Hehehe, okay, okay." Dasha just smiled foolishly and nodded.

After he left, Li Xiao asked a few more people randomly.

The responses were pretty much the same.

"The sergeant has already talked to us. I don't want to go back. I want to stay with the others."

"Sir, you are a man of great ability. I want to stay and follow you."

"No, I won't go back. If I go back, I won't even have food to eat. All these cattle, sheep and women will be taken away by their owners."

Li Xiao felt very relieved to hear the soldiers' responses.

He had thought of this step from the very beginning when he was selecting soldiers.

Most soldiers are honest and simple people who do their duty. They have no worries and are the easiest to be persuaded.

There were even many slaves who had nothing and were even more reluctant to go back.

If they stayed in Jinzhou, Li Xiao would reward them with many cattle, sheep and women. If they went back, they would have to continue to be slaves, and the cattle, sheep and women would all belong to their masters.

In this case, Li Xiao believes that the majority of people will definitely be willing to stay.

Not long after, Li Xiao called all the people above the rank of 100 households to a meeting.

The first thing to do is to tally up the spoils.

"Including today's loot, we've taken about 120,000 sheep, 8,000 cattle, and over 20,000 war horses."

"Then there are the Naiman women, about 3,500 of them." Dahu said to everyone while holding a piece of sheepskin.

Because he was careful, Li Xiao handed this matter over to him.

These are the main items of income. There are also some other miscellaneous items, such as tents, sheepskins, daily necessities, etc., all piled together and there is no time to count them.

After hearing the result, Li Xiao nodded and smiled: "Three thousand five hundred women? It seems that it is enough to give each of our brothers a wife."

Three thousand five may not seem like a lot, but if they are all women who can give birth, it is a lot.

The total population of the Naiman tribe was only a few hundred thousand.

"Fortunately, I, Li Xiao, was able to fulfill the promise I made."

Everyone also laughed.

In this war, they have reaped a rich harvest, enough for everyone to live a good life.

Cattle and sheep are easy to get, but women are hard to find. The more rugged the place, the more men there are.

Girls may even be forced to die at birth.

This has led to a large number of bachelors in northern Xinjiang.

Now everyone can take a Naiman woman home, no matter whether she is a wife, a concubine, or a slave, in short, everyone will be satisfied.

"We'll discuss the distribution of the spoils after we return to Golden State."

"Uncle San, you have to take good care of our family assets. They are the lifeblood of our brothers." Li Xiao looked at Li Sanhe and smiled.

"Don't worry, even if I'm gone, nothing will happen to these things." Li Sanhe patted his chest.

Li Xiao quickly shook his head and said that it was not necessary, people were more important.

After discussing a few more things, Li Xiao looked at everyone and said, "Tell me, how many people can each of you keep?"

This is the most important thing, population is the foundation.

Li Sanhe glanced at everyone and was the first to speak: "I have personally talked with the brothers, and the majority are willing to stay, forty-two of them."

It doesn't mean that only forty-two out of a hundred people are willing to stay.

But after kicking out the soldiers who died in battle and the soldiers who were originally from Jinzhou, there were still 42 people willing to stay.

This ratio is already very high.

The situation of the other twenty-nine centurions was similar, with around thirty or forty people each. Adding them together, the total number was around twelve hundred.

As for the other 800 people, they either died in battle or had concerns in their hometowns and had to go back.

Li Xiao would definitely not stop them, so they could part ways amicably.

It is also a kind of relationship that may be continued in the future.

"One thousand two hundred people, this really surprised me." Li Xiao shook his head and smiled.

This number was somewhat unexpected, a little more than I had imagined.

He was both happy and depressed.

Because he had to find a way to make these 1,200 people die in battle reasonably, and also compensate the nomadic leaders with double the amount of cattle and sheep.

Happy and painful.

A few days later, Li Xiao received an order from Xiao Simo and took his men to Xiao Simo's camp to attend the highest military meeting in the northern border.

Li Xiao could also guess the general topic of the meeting.

The Liao army was getting closer and closer to the Naiman Khanate.

The atmosphere in the army became even more grim, and everyone knew that a major war might break out again.

Today will definitely be the day for a military meeting on the battle plan.

But unexpectedly, when Xiao Simo walked into the big tent, he informed everyone of an unexpected news.

"Buyiluhei Khan has personally led an army of 10,000 southwards and has sent envoys to discuss with me a joint attack on Taiyang Khan."

Xiao Simo sat on the top bed and said with a smile on his face.

These days, Xiao Simo has swept away his past troubles and is now full of joy and pride.

After the Jinshan defense line was breached, the Naiman tribe was like a naked woman, and could only allow herself to be taken advantage of.

Victory is just around the corner.

After hearing Xiao Simo's words, the generals in the tent all laughed.

"Wasn't this guy Buyiluheihan quite arrogant before? Now he actually sent someone to contact us on his own initiative." Xiao Tuladuo laughed.

"Seeing that we were on the verge of victory, he just wanted to get a piece of the pie." Xiao Linta shook his head in disdain.

The other Khitan generals all slammed him, saying, "That bastard overestimates his own status. Even without Toghto Boluo, our Northern Frontier army would still be able to capture Jinshan."

"You're such a fool! You still want to marry the princess? Why don't you look in the mirror and see what you look like?"

Xiao Simo listened to the generals' words, nodded silently, and smiled gently.

Seeing that the victory of the Liao army was in sight, Buyiluhei Khan could no longer sit still and chose to march south directly, fearing that if he was a step late, the entire Naiman tribe would be swallowed up by Western Liao.

His only request was that the Liao Kingdom recognize his status as the Naiman Khan.

Xiao Simo had no objection to this.

"Although Buyiluhei Khan is a greedy person, the forces under his command are still strong and should be used by our army to fight against the Naiman tribe." Xiao Simo said in a deep voice to the generals.

The tone was set to accept Buyilukhei Khan's army to form an alliance.

Originally, in order to preserve his own strength, Xiao Simo did not intend to fight to the death with Taiyang Khan.

He just wanted to weaken the strength of the Naiman tribe, reap some benefits and leave.

But now, with the addition of 10,000 new troops from Buyiruhei Khan, our strength has been greatly enhanced, and we can gain more benefits.

Perhaps, the Naiman tribe can be made to submit to the Liao Dynasty again.

The Naiman tribe was once a vassal tribe of the Western Liao Dynasty. However, when Yelu Zhilugu came to the throne, he took advantage of the domestic turmoil in the Western Liao Dynasty and the Naiman tribe broke away.

Now if he could return to his allegiance again because of Xiao Simo.

Then the difference in ability between him and Yelu Zhilugu would be obvious, and Xiao Simo's prestige in Western Liao would be greatly enhanced.

"Is Taiyanghan Baibuhua? It's better to stay." Xiao Simo thought secretly in his heart.

After this war, we cannot allow Buyiluhei Khan to dominate the Naiman region. It is best to let these two tigers continue to fight.

It is more beneficial to the northern border.

Next, the generals discussed how to use Buyiluhei Khan's army to fight this battle. Some even suggested completely destroying the Naiman tribe to eliminate the threat to the northern border forever.

Li Xiao sat in the tent, gently drinking kumis, but his brows were slightly furrowed, and he looked like he was worried about something.

"Is Buyiluhei Khan's surrender true or false?" Li Xiao pondered in his heart.

This was a war that had never happened in history, and history books could not provide Li Xiao with an answer.

But it can provide him with a reference.

According to historical records, in 1202 AD, Buyilukhe Khan responded to Jamuka's call and formed an alliance with the Mongolian tribes. He fought a fierce battle with Temujin and the Kerait army in Khoyitan.

In the end, Temujin won and led his army to hunt down Buyilukhei Khan's followers.

At the critical moment, it was Taiyang Khan who sent Koksengwu to lead a large army to stop Temujin and rescue Buyilukhei Khan.

A few years later, Taiyang Khan was defeated and died in battle. Buyiluhei Khan took in Quchulu and even handed over his troops to him for command after his death. This gave Quchulu the capital to launch a coup in Western Liao.

From these things, Li Xiao concluded that the relationship between the two brothers, Buyilukhei Khan and Taiyang Khan, was not as bad as it seemed.

"Brothers are hiding behind the walls, but are you defending yourself from the humiliation outside?"

"If this is true, then the next battle will be dangerous." Li Xiao said secretly in his heart.

He looked at Xiao Simo and others in the big tent with a heavy gaze. Everyone had a strong and confident smile on their face, as if victory was in sight.

(End of this chapter)