Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 83 Captive
The Tongzhou Guard army finally approached Hukou Fort.

Niu Zhifu and Ma Weiming led their elite troops in the vanguard and rearguard respectively, supporting each other from both sides.

The two thousand-strong army advanced in formation, their heads and tails visible at a glance.

To prevent being ambushed, the vanguard of over fifty cavalrymen advanced side by side, each leaving a distance of one and a half meters between them.

The gates of Hukoubao were wide open, and Meng Hetong, along with more than fifty men, waited for the Tongzhou army outside the moat.

The army from Tongzhou is at the city gates!

Niu Zhifu rode his horse closer to Meng Hetong, maintaining the order of the military formation until this point.

Meng Hetong and his men bowed and said, "Greetings, Commander!"

Looking at the fifty-odd people in front of him, the wide-open city gate behind him, and the nervous woman on the city wall.

"Why are there women on the city wall?" Niu Zhifu asked this first.

Meng Hetong replied, "That's how it is in Beiyuan County. There aren't enough men, so women are sent to guard against the Mongols. Now everyone is protecting the General, so there are only three or four hundred old, weak, women and children left in the city."

Niu Zhifu sensed the man's resentment and frowned, scolding him, "Who are you? Why were you sent to guard the city gate? You didn't even ask who we were before opening the gates to welcome us. If we were villains, would Yang Xiangyun's place still be safe?"

Meng Hetong lowered his head and replied, "A scout just came and told me that reinforcements from Tongzhou were coming, so I opened the gate to welcome them. I've been in the army for three or four years and I recognize military uniforms."

Niu Zhifu roared in anger: "How dare you talk back?!"

Lang Wubing, who was standing next to Meng Hetong, raised his head and looked angrily at the group of corrupt officials who bullied people all day long.

Everyone else lowered their heads and dared not speak, but Lang Wubing looked at them with hatred.

Seeing this, Niu Zhifu immediately drew his sword: "Men! Cut down this brat who disrespects me!"

Upon seeing this, Meng and the others became tense.

They were all outside the city at this point, and they couldn't escape even if they wanted to.

Just when everyone was extremely tense, a soldier from Hukoubao couldn't withstand the immense pressure and quickly knelt down.

"Lord Commander, spare my life!!"

Just as the soldier was about to defect, he heard a man's voice from behind.

"You corrupt official! You're bullying my subordinates, aren't you?"

The voice of Beijiwu came from the city wall.

Everyone looked at Beiji Wu, who stood at the entrance of the city wall, coldly looking down at the people below.

"Meng Hetong, bring your men back!"

"Yes! Your lord!"

Arctic Warrior was wearing a helmet at the time, so no one else could see his face clearly.

Meng Hetong led the kneeling man back to the city gate quickly.

Niu Zhifu squinted at the person above him.

"Who are you? How dare you disrespect this official!"

Looking down, Beiji Wu waited for Meng Hetong and the others to enter before shouting, "Beiji Wu! Come in if you want, or get out if you don't!"

Upon hearing that the other party was Beiji Wu, Niu Zhifu immediately cursed, "Traitor! Dare to come down and fight me to the death?!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "The city gates are already open, why don't you dare to come in? More than two thousand people, and you don't even dare to attack an open garrison?"

Niu Zhifu cursed, "You spineless coward! If you have the guts, come down and fight me to the death. If you're scared, come down and surrender, and I'll spare your life!"

Arctic Martial asked, "If you are defeated, are your men willing to lay down their weapons and surrender?"

Niu Zhifu wouldn't agree to such a brainless thing; he was only thinking about quickly luring Beijiwu down to ambush and kill him.

"Of course I'd like! If you can beat me, everything is negotiable!"

Upon seeing this, Beiji Wu jumped off the city wall.

Holding a lance in his hands and wearing heavy armor, he leaped directly off the six-meter-high city wall.

Niu Zhifu and the soldiers around him were stunned!
You really dare to come down?
Niu Zhifu, who had originally intended to provoke Niu Zhifu, soon revealed a look of great joy.

"Grab him!!" Niu Zhifu had no intention of going himself and quickly ordered his men to capture the man.

Beijiwu landed near the city bridge, strode across the moat, and rushed towards a spot fifty meters ahead!
Two elite cavalrymen, each wielding a four-meter-long, sharp lance, charged toward the Arctic Warrior.

The four-meter-long spear had a meter of shaft between the two cavalrymen's hands, so the actual length extending beyond the shaft was less than three meters.

Beijiwu held a horse spear in one hand, with the other hand wedging the end of the long spear under his armpit, and thrust the long spear at a cavalryman with his right hand.

The sharp iron pierced the horse's neck with a thud. Then, Beijiwu forcefully pulled the long spear out of the horse's neck with both hands. The horse, in pain, moved away from Beijiwu, and the rider fell to the ground.

Another knight was killed instantly by Arctic Warrior, posing no threat whatsoever. Arctic Warrior took two steps forward, and after covering that distance, he gripped the end of his spear once more.

As six cavalrymen charged toward him from the front and sides, Beijiwu used all his strength to swing his long-handled lance 240 degrees from bottom to top!
A crescent-shaped flash of silver light appeared, and all the nearby people and horses were hit.

With a single sweep of his spear, men and horses were shattered!

The screams of soldiers and the neighing of warhorses echoed across this desolate battlefield.

The air seemed to freeze.

Niu Zhifu and his guards looked at the seven or eight pieces of corpses that had fallen to the ground, and for the first time, they had a terrifying understanding of what it meant to be able to fight against a thousand men single-handedly.

Beiji Wu had no time to hesitate. He strode forward, his long spear quickly killing more than ten people in the chaos.

"kill!"

Meng and his men charged out of the city wall again, swords in hand.

Following them were the Hu cavalry and the Beiyuan spearmen, and the Hukou infantry.

The two groups quickly mingled together, and the archers in front, having lost the cover of the cavalry, were immediately exposed to Beijiwu.

"Lay down your weapons and we will spare your lives!"

With a shout, Beijiwu seized a warhorse from a cavalryman and began a new round of mowing.

Niu Zhifu had no way to escape and knew there was no way to retreat. He held his long spear with both hands and thrust it at Beijiwu.

"Traitor! Prepare to die!"

Beijiwu knocked the man's weapon away in one swift motion, then slammed his lance into the man's armor, knocking the middle-aged man off his horse.

Beijiwu shouted, "The Thousand Households have surrendered! Lay down your weapons and surrender now!! Mountain Farmers, stop and retreat!!"

Upon seeing this, people nearby quickly separated to both sides.

After seeing Niu Zhifu knocked off his horse by Beiji Wu and witnessing Beiji Wu's unstoppable prowess, the people nearby gradually laid down their weapons.

"No surrender!" Niu Zhifu shouted, but he was quickly subdued by Meng Hetong and others and pinned to the ground.

Beijiwu shouted, "We, the Mountain Farmers, keep our word! These Tiger Mouth Army, Northern Plains Army, and Gaoliu Army soldiers over there have only surrendered a day or two ago. If you surrender, I will not kill you! If you want to go back, you can. If your lord is willing to pay a ransom for you, I will let you go!"

"Anyone who dares to run now will be caught and killed without mercy!"

After their commander was captured, the soldiers at the front, not wanting to die, laid down their weapons and surrendered.

The hundreds of men in front laid down their weapons. Seeing that things were not going well, Ma Weiming immediately led his personal guards and rode away at full speed, fleeing the area.

"General Ma has escaped!"

Shouts came from the soldiers in the rear, and soon the central army also lost the will to resist, laid down their weapons and surrendered along with the main force.

Warfare is all about elite troops. Even the three or four hundred elite soldiers of Niu Ma Er Jiang couldn't stop Bei Ji Wu. The rest of the ragtag troops, seeing that the two men had escaped, naturally wouldn't fight to the death.

Beijiwu shouted, "Take up your weapons and go into the city. Leave ten men to dig a hole and bury your friend's body. After you're done, you can walk home on your own. By the way, tell Tongzhou Guard to pay the ransom. Five taels of silver for an ordinary soldier, but give this commander one hundred taels."

"Poor thing, unwanted, unloved, and uncared for, join the Mountain Farmers tribe and follow me! You'll have no worries about food and drink, and you'll get land, houses, and women!"

Arctic Warrior loudly mocked the lowly soldiers who had no one to redeem them.

After confirming that the Arctic Martial Arts Association would release him, Niu Zhifu remained silent. However, when he was being tied up and taken back to the city, he would still make a few defiant gestures to show his dignity.

After capturing more than a thousand people, Beijiwu's army numbered over two thousand soldiers, with two to three thousand family members and craftsmen. There were not enough houses for five thousand people.

Meng Hetong came to Beijiwu's side, knelt down and said, "Chieftain, this servant is incompetent and has ruined your plans!"

Beijiwu laughed and said, "You're not from a military family, and you haven't been mentored by any famous generals. You're not a born military talent, so it's normal for you to have problems."

"Seeing that you managed to fight your way out with your men, your loyalty and bravery are commendable. From now on, you will be a centurion."

Meng Hetong said gratefully, "Thank you for your kindness, Clan Chief! This servant will serve you with my life!"

Beijiwu was in a good mood. "Since you've been here for quite some time, go and talk to the villagers nearby. If any of them have lost their husbands, I will provide some compensation. You can live your life in peace from now on."

"The war won't affect them. There's enough food in the granary for a year. If any family is struggling to make ends meet, they can have their family members come to you. You'll be responsible for comforting the people here."

Meng Hetong replied, "Yes!"

Beijiwu added, “We, the mountain farmers, are not rebelling, but for peace and to build a good place where farmers can live well. As long as the people in the county support me, I will not kill people indiscriminately.”

“Release one hundred soldiers whose homes are in the county and who still have families. Those who are willing to leave can leave their weapons, horses, and armor and go back to reunite with their families. Those whose families are not here should obediently follow me, otherwise they will still be bullied when they are alone.”

Because they couldn't manage a force of several thousand people, and knew that too many people would inevitably lead to chaos, Arctic Martial began to systematically release a group of people, leaving only those who dared to fight.

People with families are easy targets for spies, so sending them back would save a lot of effort, and besides, there really isn't enough room for that many people here.

Furthermore, once these people return, collecting taxes in their villages will become much simpler, significantly reducing the cost of tax collection and conscription.

(End of this chapter)