Chapter 130: Slaughter!

The next morning, the weather was still pleasant, with a gentle breeze blowing.

The grass and trees beside the city of Hetu Ala swayed lightly in the wind, as if performing some sort of ritual.

On a dirt slope outside the city, thousands of elite cavalry reined in their horses and stood on the hillside, their gazes fixed intently on the small fortress ahead.

Suddenly, the wooden gate creaked open, and a troop of over a hundred Battle Soldiers walked out from within.

Leading them was none other than Shuerhachi.

He exited the city gate, raised his hands high, and signaled to the Ming Army.

Then, leading his men, he stepped on the fine grass covered in frost, moving forward step by step toward the Ming Army camp.

"Leader, my eyelid has been twitching; something isn't right," a minor leader glanced at the well-equipped Ming Army ahead and couldn't help but warn cautiously.

"This is a solution born of necessity; acting as cannon fodder for them is still better than falling out with them right now," Shuerhachi shook his head, but his feet did not stop.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what is it?" Shuerhachi asked coldly.

"These... these guys never intended to leave us a way to live from the very beginning," the minor leader said, his teeth chattering as if squeezing the words from the depths of his soul.

Shuerhachi shivered, his steps faltering; he looked up at the Ming Army in the distance, then looked back at his clansmen, shaking his head repeatedly: "Impossible, impossible, we are much more useful alive than dead."

"The Li father and son are still counting on us to be their cannon fodder."

"Leader, the clansmen around our city have been slaughtered to the last; this time, the Ming Army seems to be playing for real."

"And what can be done about it? Things have reached this point; can we still go back and hold the city?"

Shuerhachi glared at his men and quickened his pace forward.

After walking about one li across the grassland, they were now only four li away from the Ming Army's position.

Before Shuerhachi could even heave a sigh of relief, the ground ahead suddenly trembled.

Immediately following, a gale rose from all directions, sweeping up grass roots and gravel into the air to form a small tornado.

Inside the tornado, the Ming Army cavalry, wielding steel sabers and looking fierce and menacing, came charging toward them with roars and howls.

"Kill! Leave no one alive after breaking the city!"

"Kill the barbarians, seize the grain, seize the money, seize the women!"

"Kill!"

In just a few breaths, the cavalry had already galloped forward over a hundred meters.

Shuerhachi was stunned, frozen in place, his blood-red eyes filled with disbelief, and he couldn't stop muttering: "Impossible, impossible, Li Rusong promised me that as long as we surrendered, he would spare us."

"Impossible, impossible."

"Leader, stop saying it's impossible! We've been tricked by the Ming dogs! Brothers, let's fight them to the death; even if we die, we'll drag some Ming dogs down with us!" Someone shouted, and the anger within the Jurchen ranks was completely ignited.

They were barbarians by nature, believing only that whoever had the bigger fist held the truth.

As the saying goes, "The longer it accumulates, the more violent the eruption."

The anger from years of being bullied by the Ming Army was all triggered at this moment. They raised the steel sabers in their hands, their faces twisted, and even in the face of the cavalry charge, they resolutely met them head-on.

"Boom!"

The cavalry in the lead collided with the crowd; there was almost no hesitation. The high-speed warhorses, carrying sabers, broke through armor and flesh, sweeping past the enemy's bodies as if slicing through vegetables.

"Ah!"

Screams erupted one after another.

The sabers were stained with a watermelon-red liquid; the Jianzhou Jurchens fell to the ground one by one, trampled by the horses behind.

The sound of breaking bones, mixed with roars from the depths of their souls, echoed out.

In just a single charge, more than half of the five hundred men were lost. Shuerhachi, with blood-red eyes, waved his arms and shouted: "It's a misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding! I want to see your General Li! I want to see General Li!"

"Misunderstand your mother's leg!"

A roar of rage erupted. Shuerhachi felt a chill at his neck, and then he personally watched his own body gradually topple over.

On his severed head, his blood-red pupils were filled with disbelief.

"Leader!"

Several Jurchens let out a painful wail, and then they became exceptionally enraged.

A squad of cavalry noticed them, smiled coldly, turned their horses, and suddenly squeezed their horses' bellies with their legs, charging straight at the few isolated Jurchens.

The men gripped their steel sabers tightly and roared as they met them.

The blades passed, and heads flew.

Blood-red liquid sprayed into the sky, draping the tender green grass in a red veil.

This was a one-sided slaughter.

The battle lasted only two quarter-hours, ending with the fall of the last Jianzhou Jurchen soldier.

The Ming Army trampled over the corpses covering the ground and broke into the city of Hetu Ala.

At this moment, the city was like a woman stripped of her clothes, exquisite and beautiful.

"Do not sheathe your blades until sunset!"

The Regional Assistant Regional Commander in charge of the team took the lead, shouting with all his might. The soldiers behind him, their blood boiling like beasts, poured into the houses on both sides like mercury spilling onto the ground.

Before long, screams, roars, and curses erupted everywhere in the city. Li Kui personally led a squad of men to occupy a wine and meat shop along the street.

The owner, Hero, saw the intruders, raised his steel saber, and slashed down fiercely.

Li Kui drew his long saber and blocked it in front of him; only a "clang" was heard.

Li Kui's face flushed red as he felt a tremendous force transmitted through his arm.

Hero gritted his teeth and pressed down hard with both hands on his saber; Li Kui's body bent downward like a spring. The soldiers beside Li Kui saw this and immediately swung their blades to slash forward; Hero withdrew his saber to block.

After a clash, Hero stepped back, and Li Kui also caught his breath. He clutched his chest and shouted in a deep voice: "I said it before, I ate your wine and meat, so one life for one life."

"I don't need that!" Hero's eyes widened in fury, and he cursed, "You greedy Han dogs, sooner or later, you too will be bullied by others."

"The weak are prey to the strong; this world has always been this way." Li Kui replied to him with an expressionless face, "Never mind people; even a dog that grows a bit taller and fiercer can snatch the biggest portion when fighting for food."

"My fist is bigger than yours, so what I say is right."

"You... you will meet with retribution." Hero let out a painful, mournful cry.

"Hehe... even if we meet with retribution, it will be after you die. If you put down your blade now and follow us obediently, we can still spare your life. Otherwise, today's Hetu Ala will be your graveyard."

Upon hearing this, a flash of struggle crossed Hero's face.

Li Kui continued to persuade him to surrender: "You are different from them. We Han people have an old saying: those who understand the times are outstanding. You are merely a commoner in the Jianzhou Guard; what does the rise or fall of the Guard Post have to do with you?"

"Come with me to the Han lands; I guarantee you will live more comfortably than you do here."

"Then tell those beasts outside to stop first," Hero gritted his teeth and cursed.

"You know, I cannot make that call." Li Kui shook his head repeatedly.

Right now, these soldiers were blinded by bloodlust; let alone him, even if Li Rusong came, he might not be able to hold them back.

After a moment of silence, Hero raised his face to look at Li Kui and asked in a hoarse voice, "I want to know, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why slaughter my people?"

Hearing this, Li Kui looked around, and the soldiers beside him burst into laughter.

Shaking his head, Li Kui looked at Hero as if looking at a fool and said, "When your Jianzhou Left Guard annexed the Jianzhou Right Guard, why didn't you ask why?"

"What, you are allowed to annex others' land, but others aren't allowed to come and attack you? What kind of logic is this, damn it?"

Hero was full of shame and did not know how to retort.

"If you must ask for the 'why and wherefore,' it is only that you are too weak. Weakness is a sin!" Li Kui slapped the table, his voice rising a few notches, and shouted, "I gave you a chance. Now I will count to three; put down your steel blade, and I will spare your life."

"Three."

"Two."

The shouting, like a death warrant, mixed with the screams of his companions, reached Hero's ears.

With a "clatter," he dropped his weapon, squatted on the ground, and covered his face with his hands, sobbing.

Li Kui let out a long sigh.

Originally, he did not want to deal with these matters, but he thought that saving one person could be considered as offsetting the sin of killing one.

"Amitabha." He pressed his palms together, shouted clearly and roundly, and then sat on a stool, letting the slaughter continue.

The slaughter lasted until evening.

The blood-red sunset cast its afterglow, making the blood and flames on the ground appear even more eerie. To prevent any fish from slipping through the net, the Regional Assistant Regional Commander in charge of this battle threw down a great fire.

In an instant, the entire city became an ocean of flames.

A charred, foul smell drifted out along with the north wind.

The soldiers present seemed to have long been accustomed to this; they only glanced back at the city, their warhorses laden with spoils on both sides, and rode back.

Two days later.

The garrison office of Fushun City.

Li Rusong sat upright in the main seat, with Zhang Yunxiu and Li Rubai sitting on either side.

Taking a small sip of tea, Li Rusong picked up a battle report and read it with a smile: "On the second day of the fourth month of the twelfth year of Wanli, the Jianzhou Guard ignored the heavenly might of the imperial court and wantonly killed two of our scout cavalrymen in Fushun City.

On the sixth day of the fourth month, Liaodong Assistant Regional Commander Li Rusong led the army to punish them. The Jianzhou Guard refused to submit to the royal transformation and held the city to the death. The Liaodong troops fought bravely, breaking the city in three days and beheading three thousand."

"Good." Zhang Yunxiu clapped his hands with a smile after hearing this, "General Li is a master of strategy, and the Battle Soldiers under his command are brave and skilled in combat. Beheading three thousand barbarians this time is truly a great achievement."

Li Rusong waved his hand with a smile and said modestly, "This is all thanks to the brothers under my command fighting to the death, which allowed me to pick up some credit. It is nothing, really nothing."

"General Li is too modest. When I return, I will certainly state the General's bravery before the Emperor."

"Then I thank you, Minister Zhang."

As Li Rusong spoke, he waved his hand. The servant understood and turned to leave, returning shortly with two half-meter-tall golden-threaded birdcages.

On the perches inside, each stood a magnificent eagle.

"These are the divine eagles of Liaodong, known as Gyrfalcons, the kings of all eagles. Minister Zhang, take these back as a tribute for the Emperor."

Zhang Yunxiu glanced at the two large eagles, seeing that they were each massive in stature, with brightly colored feathers and claws like sharp blades, their pair of yellowish-brown beast eyes filled with unruliness.

He could not help but praise: "Truly the finest among eagles; such quality is rarely seen."

"If Minister Zhang likes them, in a few days, I will order men to catch one for you as well." Li Rusong looked calm and composed, then suddenly changed the subject to business: "It is not that I am complaining, but this Liaodong is indeed a bitter and cold place."

"Although we took the Jianzhou Guard in this battle, the loss of troops and horses was still quite significant..."

Zhang Yunxiu knew he was asking for money, so he immediately patted his chest and guaranteed: "General Li, rest assured. When I return, I will definitely resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Also, once the sea transport reaches a certain scale in the future, large ships will travel directly from Bohai to Liaozhou Bay, and it will be much more convenient to resolve your military supplies in Liaodong."

Bohai reaches Dengzhou and Laizhou in the south, connects to Hebei in the west, and reaches Liaodong in the east. With such convenient sea transport, as long as the Great Ming navy develops, it will be all benefit and no harm to Liaodong. "Then I thank the Emperor and Minister Zhang in advance." Li Rusong cupped his hands and said with a hint of a joke.

"What thanks are needed? This Liaodong is located in a remote area. If it weren't for the General and these soldiers sleeping in the wind and drinking snow without complaint, how could there be peace in Jingshi?" Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand and added, "The safety of this northeastern corner depends entirely on the General and his son."

Li Rusong and Li Rubai looked at each other and said in unison: "As long as the Emperor trusts us and the imperial court relies on us, we will stay here and guard this northeastern gate for the imperial court!"

Zhang Yunxiu nodded with a smile and then left Fushun City with Han San.

(End of this chapter)