The pork butcher is smoother than a pig butcher!

Chapter 254 The Little Leader's Deep-Seated Hatred

The army that was leading the westward expedition against the Hu people assembled and set off the day after the vanguard camp departed.

More than 75,000 people, a magnificent and imposing procession.

The only pity was that the cavalrymen had no horses to switch to.

Even with forced marches, traveling a hundred li a day was the limit.

Tian Jiu was extremely anxious, counting on his fingers every day to see where the vanguard battalion was.

Xiong Zhen shook his head at the sight.

"You're already a brigade commander, how can you still be so unreliable? The Kashgar Khanate doesn't have any troops stationed in the Seven Guards of Guanzhong. The vanguard battalion should be able to take down those nomadic tribes with ease."

General Tian clenched his fists and asked nervously:

“Angcai doesn’t take those foreigners from the Seven Guards of Guanzhong seriously! Deputy Commander Xiong, when do you think the Kashgar Khanate will receive news of the fall of the Seven Guards of Guanzhong? Can we arrive before they find out?”

Xiong Zhen rubbed the newly acquired short blade in his hand: "That depends on how quickly General Gan can get down from the city! And also on whether she's willing to wait for us!"

Tian Jiu looked up at the sky speechlessly:

“Ang is afraid that she will leave the garrison defense to us and lead her men to fight to her heart’s content! You have no idea how crazy she is on the battlefield! Ang also has a blood feud with the cavalry of the Kashgar Khanate at Jinzhou Pass and is thinking of having a chance to go to their territory and have a good fight.”

Xiong Zhen: "."

What's wrong with you? Isn't it good to have a chance to win without lifting a finger?

Gan Minglan, who was being talked about by the two, had already led the vanguard battalion to Heping Pass in one fell swoop.

No one longed for the imperial court to retake the Seven Guards of Guanzhong more than the garrison at Heping Pass!
This once formidable pass, known as "one man can hold off ten thousand," became a place that every general avoided after it was breached by the Kashgar Khanate.

it's good now.

After hearing the confirmed news that an 80,000-strong western expeditionary army would soon be stationed in the seven guards of Guanzhong, and that hundreds of thousands of Han people would be migrated to the seven guards to cultivate land.

Everyone at Heping Pass silently shouted in their hearts, "Marquis Ningyang, you are mighty!"

They no longer have to live in fear, worrying that their lives are hanging by a thread!

Guazhou, the first prefecture west of Heping Pass.

Previously.

The people living here are mostly of the Eastern Yugur ethnic group.

The Eastern Yugur people had good relations with the Han people, and this branch of the tribe that migrated eastward to this area had a more favorable view of the Han Chinese court in the Central Plains.

Later, the Han Chinese court relinquished its jurisdiction over the Seven Guards of Guanzhong and retreated to Heping Pass.

Furthermore, because the Eastern Yugur people's faith (Tibetan Buddhism) differs from that of the Kashgar Khanate (Islam), they are unwilling to convert.

When the Kashgar Khanate attacked Heping Pass last year, the Eastern Yugur people were used as an appetizer before the big battle.

The merciless slaughter by 80,000 iron cavalry resulted in the near extinction of one-tenth of the Eastern Yugur tribe in Guazhou.

Arahunsali was a young boy who miraculously survived the scimitars of the Kashgar Khanate's archers.

He had just turned twelve when he went from being the youngest grandson of the tribal chief to an orphan overnight.

The Eastern Yugur people are an ethnic group whose main occupation is animal husbandry.

They are particularly skilled at raising livestock such as sheep, cattle, and horses.

Arahunsari still remembers that day when he was herding his sheep and horses home, he witnessed a massacre that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

The house was burned to ashes by a fire.

The chief's grandfather, father, mother, and younger siblings were all lying on the ground in a mess.

Some had their heads chopped off.

Some of them had a large hole in their chest.

Even his youngest sister's body was split in two.

Their deaths were gruesome, and without exception, their eyes could not be closed no matter what they did.

Six months have passed since that nightmare.

Arahunsari, who lost his family, never smiled again.

No more than fifty members of the tribe, like him, survived the disaster; most of them were shepherds who worked from dawn till dusk. The young children had no choice but to band together and stick together for warmth.

All livestock became the collective property of the tribe.

They also took turns working as herders, milkers, and dairy processors.

Arahunsali, like his grandfather, the chief of his tribe, diligently cared for his people.

At such a young age, he has shouldered responsibilities that he should not have to bear at his age.

After the harsh winter, the summer pastures come alive with life.

On this day, just as the sheep and horses were grazing happily, countless cavalrymen emerged from the eastern desert.

The dust kicked up by the horses' hooves and the noise they made terrified the shepherds.

"Chief, Chief! Those people came from the east?"

"Oh, they're coming from Heping Pass! Could they be the Han army from Bei?"

"Ah! They...they wouldn't be here to steal our tribe's livestock, would they?"

Arahunsari forced himself to calm down, his mind racing:

“Our Eastern Yugur people have always been on good terms with the Han people. We have never been bullied by the Han army since we moved to the vicinity of Heping Pass. It is not worth it to send so many cavalrymen just for a few thousand sheep.”

"But, but they're coming towards us! They saw us!"

As the soldiers drew ever closer, the shepherds trembled and unconsciously knelt down with a thud.

Even Arahun Sari, who believed that the Han people had no ill intentions towards them, could not escape the prevailing customs.

They were nothing but ants in the face of these cavalrymen.

Death seemed to have never been so close to them.

Let alone a child, who wouldn't be afraid of death in the face of absolute power?

The sound of horse hooves is getting closer.

The grass was trembling.

The sheep and horses in the tribe had long since fled and disappeared without a trace.

The remaining shepherds had gone from kneeling on both knees to prostrating themselves on the ground.

Embrace the unknown possibilities with the utmost submission.

suddenly.

A pleasant female voice came from above: "Get up quickly, does anyone here speak Chinese?"

Almost all the Eastern Yugur people can understand Mandarin, and a small number can even speak it.

The woman's voice startled the shepherds, who all looked up.

Looking up, I was stunned.

Fairy!

They saw celestial beings!
The cavalrymen at the front of the column all saw the little tongues in the mouths of these shepherds.

They looked so pathetic, much dumber than when they first met General Gan!
The cavalrymen were overjoyed.

“I’m telling you brats, get up right now! Our general wants to speak with your chieftain.”

Chieftain Arahunsali trembled as he got up from the ground and replied in broken English:

"I am... I am Arahunsali, the leader of the Eastern Yugur tribe. May I ask what business General Tianxian has with me?"

Gan Minglan: "."

Arahunsa, the young chieftain of the Eastern Yugur tribe, never imagined that the opportunity to avenge his family would come so soon!

Before he even grew up, opportunity came knocking on his door.

In any case, this day was incorporated into the annual revenge festival by the Eastern Yugur people in the years that followed, a day for slaughtering sheep and cattle and celebrating with singing and dancing.

At this time, they are acting as collaborators.
(End of this chapter)