Chapter 1073: Destroying the Enemy's Stronghold

"General, we have annihilated over a thousand Northern Di cavalrymen guarding the camp, and we have now secured the entire Silver Moon Royal Tent."

Just as Chen Hu was feeling suspicious, a squad of cavalry came over from the direction of the tents to report to him.

Nodding, Chen Hu tilted his head to listen to the gunfire that was still continuing, and asked, "Are there still Northern Di people continuing to resist?"

"Yes, General." The cavalry commander frowned slightly, "Since we fought our way here, many of the Northern Di people in the tents, regardless of gender or age, have picked up weapons to assist the Northern Di cavalry in fighting us. Some soldiers were caught off guard and were even injured."

"Stupid. After the battle, these careless soldiers must be severely reprimanded." Chen Hu said angrily, "Go back immediately and tell the soldiers: show no mercy to those who resist!"

"Yes, General." The cavalry commander turned and left.

Chen Hu let out a heavy breath and followed behind the cavalry commander toward the tents.

Toward the Northern Di, he did not have a shred of pity.

Because the scenes of his father and younger sister dying tragically had circled in his mind like a nightmare for all these years.

Do not preach kindness to others if you have not suffered their pain!

This was also the reason why he had such an iron-blooded heart in every war against the Northern Di.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

Not long after the cavalry commander's figure disappeared, the gunfire suddenly became significantly more intense.

When Chen Hu arrived, many corpses were already lying on the pasture of the Silver Moon Royal Tent.

There were Northern Di soldiers, as well as ordinary Northern Di herdsmen.

And the slaughter by the gun cavalry was still ongoing; anyone who refused to kneel and surrender was shot dead one by one.

Under the cold-blooded massacre of the gun cavalry, many Northern Di people finally became afraid.

At this moment, they finally realized that the Song People, who in their eyes were only fit to serve as slaves for the Northern Di, had changed.

They were no longer cowards who would run away like rabbits upon seeing them, but had turned into fierce, vicious wolves.

Facing the Song soldiers with their indifferent expressions, who would shoot them at any moment, some Northern Di people finally knelt on the ground and raised their hands.

Immediately after,

One by one, the Northern Di people chose to surrender.

Facing lambs, they would brandish their butcher knives.

But facing wolves, they felt only fear in their hearts, seeking only to survive.

The gunfire continued for a while longer, and finally, it completely subsided.

By this time, it was already late evening.

At the same time, the cavalry duel had also ended.

The gun cavalrymen walked over, escorting a group of shivering Northern Di youths.

And the battlefield behind them was littered with the corpses of Northern Di cavalrymen.

The riderless warhorses lowered their heads to graze, the red glow of the sunset cast upon them, looking like blood.

"Keep all the surrendered Northern Di people together." With the battle settled, Chen Hu gave the order.

The population of a Northern Di royal tent was initially around six hundred thousand.

After so many years of war, the population of the royal tent had been reduced by more than half.

After all, the population of the royal tent included both Northern Di people and the Servant Soldiers they had captured.

Over these years, not only Northern Di soldiers but also Servant Soldiers had suffered extremely heavy casualties.

The population of the royal tent naturally dropped significantly.

However, even so, the remaining population was still considerable.

Excluding those they killed and those who fled, there were eighty thousand who surrendered alone.

With such a population, if the Northern Di were given time to recuperate, they could recover their vitality in twenty or thirty years.

This was also the reason why they had to "plow the courtyard and sweep the lair" this time.

They could absolutely not tolerate the continued existence of hidden dangers in the North Territory of the Great Song Dynasty.

"General, the Song People in the Silver Moon Royal Tent have been counted; there are twenty-one thousand in total." At this moment, a cavalry Captain walked over and reported to Chen Hu.

"Only twenty-one thousand left, huh." Chen Hu suddenly sighed faintly.

Since the founding of the Great Song Dynasty, no fewer than three million Song People had been captured by the Northern Di.

These people were distributed to various royal tents to serve as slaves; women as maids doing the heaviest manual labor, and men as herdsmen for the Northern Di nobility during peacetime, and as Servant Soldiers during wartime.

Fortunately, these Servant Soldiers were never willing to risk their lives for the Northern Di.

When fighting, they were often the first to surrender.

Currently, there were over three hundred thousand surrendered Servant Soldiers within the Great Song Dynasty.

These Servant Soldiers were all currently assigned to Official Manors to engage in farming.

And the Song People they rescued from the Silver Moon Royal Tent this time were mostly the elderly, women, and children.

Perhaps their husbands and sons were currently in the Great Song Dynasty.

Thinking of this, he said to the commander, "Register all their names so they can find their relatives."

Toward these Song People, their attitude was naturally different from how they treated the Northern Di.

These Song People had been enslaved by the Northern Di until now because the previous Imperial Court of the Great Song Dynasty was incompetent.

It was the Great Song Dynasty that owed them a debt.

Precisely because of this, their Emperor Zhao Xu already had an excellent plan to control the Grassland while allowing them to spend the rest of their lives in peace.

The reason they did not slaughter all the Northern Di but kept captives was also to serve this plan.

And the content of this plan was very simple: to establish government-run pastures.

Let the Song People who had lived on the Grassland for so many years and were already accustomed to life on the Grassland act as managers of the pastures.

At the same time, distribute the Northern Di captives to them to manage and operate the Grassland.

In this way, after they take the Grassland, the Grassland's animal husbandry will not be affected, and they will be able to provide livestock to Great Song immediately.

Of course, their Western Regions Protectorate will provide protection for these pastures to ensure the safety of the Grassland.

That night, the Great Song soldiers slaughtered cattle and sheep, lit bonfire after bonfire, and ate, drank, and laughed with the rescued Song People.

The rescued Song People were laughing and crying at the same time.

They had been enslaved like livestock until now, and had originally become numb, with no desire to live.

They never expected that one day their own kin would strike into the Grassland and rescue them.

From now on, their lives finally had something to look forward to.

And upon learning that all of Great Song's current changes were due to the current Emperor of Great Song, Zhao Xu.

They insisted on kowtowing in the direction of Yancheng, and the Gun Cavalry could not stop them no matter how they tried.

Thus, they spent the night in laughter and tears.

The next day, the Gun Cavalry woke up and immediately organized their equipment while feeding forage to the Warhorses.

The small Silver Moon Royal Tent was merely a gecko blocking the path before the Khan Court, easily crushed to death.

Next, they had to continue advancing until they searched out the Beidi Khan Court.

This journey would be long, perhaps with over a thousand li of road left to travel.

But no matter how arduous, they had to end the Beidi rule over the Grassland.

They left behind one thousand Gun Cavalry to detain the Beidi captives and prevent them from causing trouble.

Chen Hu then dispatched Cavalry to deliver a message to the White Tiger Army.

According to the plan, after they took the Royal Tent, the White Tiger Army would temporarily take over the captured Royal Tent for them while establishing state-run pastures.

Once the war came to a pause, the White Tiger Army would withdraw from the Grassland, and their Western Regions Protectorate would take over.

With orders issued one after another, Chen Hu led the main force to continue heading north.

He was very clear that the battle at the Silver Moon Royal Tent had likely already alerted the Beidi.

It would not be so easy to launch a surprise attack from here on out.

And the Beidi Khan Court might also relocate because of this.

But even so, they still had to continue the pursuit.

If the Khan Court is not broken, we shall not return!

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