Chapter 1481: Wujian

After a few days of rest, the Soldiers had reached their peak state. Now, the enemy's location was basically clear, and through coercion and inducement, they had obtained several Slaves willing to serve as guides. It could be said that everything was now prepared.

From the location of the Western Development Group to the current site of their Tribal Alliance, it only takes seven or eight days, because there is no need to follow the path to the Golden Autumn Gathering; one can simply head north, making the journey a bit shorter.

As for the terrain, they had also gained a basic understanding. The cattle could be brought along, and the Cavalry could also play a certain role, though the cattle would be a bit of a burden if fighting in the mountains and forests. Fortunately, the place where their tribe lived was relatively open and flat, primarily consisting of Grasslands, which was exactly the right place for the cattle to be useful.

The Soldiers led by Hun who had injuries on their bodies were left behind to be responsible for garrisoning the Western Development Group. After all, they still had to keep an eye on so many savages; if something happened to the Western Development Group, not having enough combat power would be a problem.

The rest, who were uninjured and whose combat power remained intact, all set out with Zhang. Hun had already figured out the correct way to use the Cavalry and had compiled it into a report left at the Western Development Group, but he was also explaining it to Zhang, hoping to continue testing and perfecting this combat method in the upcoming war.

From Hun's description, Zhang had already understood the feasibility and future of such a combat method. Naturally, he was willing to try it, and once the combat method matured, when Huaxia had enough warhorses to form sufficient combat power, they could use warhorses, which would be able to play a stronger and better role.

The Tribal Chief of the Wulenge Tribe was still locked up in the Western Development Group. A cave dwelling had been dug for him alone, and a fence door had been installed, trapping him inside like a prison.

He was given food and drink normally every day; he was not left to starve. This was because his status was quite important. Bosa was dead, but his information had already been extracted. This time, this Tribal Chief was evidence that could be taken back to Huaxia to claim a reward; a living Tribal Chief was, in any case, more useful than a dead one.

To prevent him from contacting other savages, he was placed in a relatively remote location, making it impossible for him to communicate verbally with other savages. However, he could see his own tribesmen, who had already begun to become bare, with no hair left. Such a change undoubtedly caused the Tribal Chief to collapse; besides despair for the future, he also felt shame.

The Tribal Chief was slightly better off. To maintain the appearance a normal Wulenge tribesman should have, no treatment was performed on the Tribal Chief; he was kept in that state. Once they reached Huaxia, everyone could be allowed to visit and see what the Wulenge savages looked like, what kind of image they had, and let everyone broaden their horizons.

But this way of handling things was probably more shameful than shaving heads and stripping off clothes. Treating him like an animal to be displayed—the Tribal Chief did not yet know what he would face, nor did he know that his tribe was about to be breached.

He believed that his tribe was on the territory of the Wulenge Tribe and generally no one dared to provoke them, not even Huaxia. He felt his situation was purely bad luck, having run into Huaxia's territory; even if he was captured, it was somewhat deserved. But if Huaxia were to run into the Wulenge Tribe's territory, it would likely be them who would suffer; the Wulenge Tribe's combat power was not weak, let alone in their own base camp.

He just did not expect that so many Wujian had emerged from his tribe. One by one, for the sake of survival and their own future, they were all willing to betray their own tribe. And what Huaxia promised them was merely the status of a Lowly Slave who could eat their fill and dress warmly, and could act as a Leader of their own people to manage their own people.

They did not know what a Lowly Slave meant; they only heard that they could eat their fill, dress warmly, and also be a Leader. For them, this was already enough—enough to betray their own tribe.

Because Lowly Slave was a new class established by Huaxia, lower than a Slave. Such an order that could promote a person's status could only be approved by the Royal Family and the Ministry of Revenue. Even if Zhang had immense power and a high position in Huaxia, he did not have the qualification to change a person's class at will. If he went to tell Baifeng, Baifeng would certainly be willing to give him this face, but that did not mean he could do it himself.

However, demoting a prisoner of war by one class was perfectly fine. The initial disposal power of prisoners of war was in the hands of the military. If they felt the prisoner's attitude was good or their utility was high, let alone Slaves, even letting them be ordinary people was possible.

But just like that tribe before, if they did something harmful to Huaxia, they could be demoted to Slaves because they had not yet entered the Huaxia household register. Once they arrived in Huaxia, they would be managed by the Ministry of Revenue, and the Military Department would have no qualification.

An ordinary person or a Slave was registered. If an unregistered adult ordinary citizen or Slave suddenly appeared, their origins had to be strictly investigated to see what their situation was.

Zhang relied on these insignificant benefits to make these savages act as Wujian, and they were very proactive. One by one, they scrambled to walk at the front to lead the way. Because they had a Compass, they could record the direction of travel, the positional difference between the starting point and the destination, and how far they had traveled in a notebook every day, all carefully recorded.

The Soldiers would also carry out simple map drawing along the way, sketching simple contour topographic maps. In the future, these would be things Huaxia could use abroad. A rough map was more important than a Compass; after all, as long as one had it, one could safely go to places one had never been before.

For Huaxia, every place with a rough map was Huaxia's territory. Moreover, the place they were walking now was originally Huaxia's territory, inherited from the Jiangshui Tribe, only to be occupied by the shameful Wulenge Tribe. This time, they must take it back.

By the time they were close to the mentioned settlement, the vegetation had changed significantly, and even the soil quality felt different. The biggest problem plaguing the army was water sources. Now, where they were, water sources were in relatively distant places, and each water source was far apart; sometimes they even had to cross one or two more mountains.

Fortunately, although they were far apart and few, the water volume was sufficient each time. Zhang could identify that they were all Snowmelt, which then gathered into rivers in the valleys.

The place where they were now was still relatively flat, and they could see the continuous Snow mountains in the distance, which were very spectacular. However, the land here was dry and a bit rough; there was plenty of Grass, but relatively few trees. No wonder they had to graze in such a place; relying on hunting alone, it was completely impossible to support so many people.