Chapter 335: Named Ross

Beidi Khan Court.

A troop of Cavalry rode slowly across the undulating grassy hills.

Tiemuta was at the very front; upon reaching the fence, he dismounted and walked toward the Khan Tent on foot.

Having withdrawn his troops from Tongguan, he led his army back.

Next, he would brew a greater plan.

"The Yan Wang's troops seized Tongguan first?" After hearing Tiemuta's words, Mule Hongzhen knitted his brows slightly.

Although he had not held absolute certainty about taking Tongguan, he was still slightly disappointed to learn that it had been obtained by Yan Wang.

Looking at the head-bowed Tiemuta, his voice rose a notch, "Then why have you returned now, instead of taking advantage of the momentum to conquer Xiliang?"

"Great Khan, that was the original plan, but Xiliang sent their Crown Prince, Tuobawen, to the country to form an alliance with our Beidi."

"An alliance? You believe the nonsense of the Xiliang people? You are becoming less and less like your younger brother." Mule Hongzhen's tone was dissatisfied.

Tiemuta's expression stiffened for a moment, "Great Khan, your child naturally would not believe Xiliang, but I simply feel that an opportunity to eliminate the Tuoba father and son is right before us. As long as they die, Xiliang will surely fall into chaos, and taking it then will not require the slightest effort, avoiding letting Yan Wang sit by and watch our Beidi and Xiliang fight."

Having said this, he walked forward a few steps and whispered a few words.

Upon hearing this, Mule Hongzhen nodded and smiled, "When the Xiliang envoy arrives, we shall do just that."

"Yes, Great Khan." Tiemuta smiled triumphantly.

"Khan, Great King Wulanba has arrived." At this moment, a guard from before the tent suddenly entered.

Tiemuta's smile vanished instantly.

Mule Hongzhen nodded at the guard; the guard went out, and Wulanba walked in.

Seeing Tiemuta, Wulanba stepped forward to embrace him and laughed, "Brother is truly formidable, having taken Xiliang so quickly."

Tiemuta squeezed out a smile and did not answer Wulanba's question, instead saying, "If we had Artillery, taking Xiliang would be even easier."

Wulanba turned to Mule Hongzhen, "This is exactly what I came to see the Great Khan about this time."

"

"Has that Missionary from the so-called Ross country agreed to teach the craftsmen the method for casting Artillery?" Mule Hongzhen leaned forward, his eyes full of anticipation.

From the mouth of this Missionary, he was no longer ignorant of the enemies from the Extreme North.

According to what this Missionary said, the pronunciation of their country's name was close to Ross.

The current monarch of that country is known as Nikolai the Great.

The place where the capital of Ross is located is called Europe Dalu.

Successive monarchs of Ross have been promoting and advocating eastward expansion; this is the reason their army arrived here.

On the snowy plains of the Extreme North, there are now many fortresses they have established.

This Missionary also spoke of other countries on Europe Dalu, but he was no longer interested.

What he cared about was still the Artillery.

Beidi possesses the world's invincible iron cavalry; if supplemented with Artillery.

Whatever Great Song, Ross, or Europe, all will crawl beneath his feet.

"Yes, Great Khan. After allowing him to preach in Ning City and Jin City, he was very happy and agreed to this matter. Your child has already dispatched a group of craftsmen to him," Wulanba said.

"Hahaha..." Mule Hongzhen laughed loudly.

For more than two months, Beidi treated this Missionary as an honored guest, and now this stone had finally been warmed.

Thinking that it would not be long before Beidi could possess the same Artillery as Yan Wang, his mood, which had been gloomy for several months, finally cleared up.

Hearing this, Tiemuta was also shaken in his heart.

However, while happy, he also felt a bit sour.

The importance of this matter was no less than conquering Xiliang.

In order not to fall behind, he must handle the Xiliang affair well this time.

Yancheng.

As soon as Chang Wei returned, he delivered the battle report to the Prince's Mansion.

Having taken Tongguan, there was no need for him to continue staying there, so he was recalled.

And while he was taking Tongguan, Qin Shan had successively captured three small passes to the west.

The entire Jinzhou was now safe and secure.

It only remained to clear out the remnants of the Xiliang routed troops within the territory.

"Although the losses were not as heavy as Xiliang's, the Prince's Personal Army still suffered over ten thousand casualties this time, among which four thousand three hundred and twelve were killed in action, and six thousand one hundred were wounded," Chang Wei said, "However, among the wounded soldiers, there were some non-combat losses; many soldiers contracted malaria." Chang Wei sighed.

Zhao Xu nodded. In ancient warfare, snakes, rats, insects, ants, heat, and extreme cold would all cause casualties to soldiers, not to mention disease.

For example, the malaria Chang Wei spoke of—in contemporary history, during the war of the Kangxi Emperor suppressing the Three Feudatories, even that Emperor could not avoid it.

It is evident that the situation among the soldiers was even worse.

"Fortunately, there was the Secret Medicine of the Prince's Mansion in the army, so the vast majority of the wounded soldiers were saved." Speaking of this, Chang Wei cast a look of reverence toward Zhao Xu.

If it were in the past, at least half of these six thousand-plus wounded soldiers would have died, but now only one-tenth of the soldiers did not pull through.

Hearing this, Zhao Xu felt some relief. Of course, Chang Wei did not mean the Secret Medicine cured malaria, but rather treated sword and blade wounds.

But even so, he still felt heartbroken.

After all, the lives of over five thousand soldiers remained forever on that land of Jinzhou.

"The compensation for the soldiers must be handled well. Whoever dares to seek private gain in this matter, do not blame this Prince for being cold-blooded and ruthless," Zhao Xu said sternly. "These soldiers sacrificed themselves and gave their lives for Great Song; their names should be remembered, and their families should be treated well. We cannot let them point at our spines and curse us from beneath the Nine Springs!"

"Your Highness, rest assured. This subordinate will personally keep an eye on this matter and send people to verify it family by family. Whoever dares to give even one copper coin less, this subordinate will personally tear them apart," Chang Wei said loudly.

On this matter, he supported Yan Wang ten thousand percent.

"Hmm, establish a Compassion Department specifically within the army to be responsible for the affairs of wounded and fallen soldiers. Also, from now on, any commoner family that has someone join the army shall be given the title of Military Family, marked on their household registration. Every festival, have the Government Office send some rice, flour, meat, and oil. Even if the soldier is killed in action, this must continue," Zhao Xu said, pondering.

Doing this is, on one hand, to strengthen the care provided to the soldiers' families.

On the other hand, it is also to raise the status of the soldiers.

In Great Song, especially in Jiangnan, Great Song soldiers have a derogatory nickname, just as they did in contemporary times, called Little Red Devil.

It is a term that belittles soldiers; it originates from the Tattooing System, which was used to prevent prisoners and soldiers in the army from deserting.

In the Great Song army, characters would be tattooed onto the soldiers' faces and filled with cinnabar.

This is the same principle as Xiliang tattooing the faces of the young men they press-ganged.

Therefore, the common people insultingly gave the term "Red Devil" to soldiers to express their contempt.

In his view, this low status of soldiers is also the root cause of the Great Song Imperial Army being "five-scum-level" in combat.

When establishing the Prince's Personal Army, Chang Wei had also mentioned tattooing, but he rejected it.

Now, he wants to completely change this.

He cannot let soldiers suffer contempt while they are risking their lives.

Furthermore, the success of one general is built upon the bones of ten thousand.

The historical records and classics document the princes, nobles, generals, and ministers; when have they ever spared any ink for these ordinary soldiers?

Since he is Yan Wang, he must change this from the root.