Chapter 6: Wind (I)

The thick ink-like war smoke was close to the connection between heaven and earth in the north, one after another. It contrasted with the snow in the wilderness, and was clearly black and white.

Thanks to the snow on the ground, the robbers of Liao Kingdom were already discovered by scouts the moment they walked across the Juma River. Then, along the South River, beacon towers of all sizes were lit one by one by one by the defenders. The shrill warning message also sounded along the south bank of the Juma River, "Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo--"

However, the result was just as Tao Dachun and Li Shun said one night, this - is useless!

The Yiwu Army, Zhenwu Army, and other local forces of all sizes hid behind the high walls. Yizhou, Dingzhou, Shenzhou, and even further away Cangzhou, the governor, county magistrate, and county magistrate closed the door and did not dare to show their heads.

The people in the border areas suffered only. As the end of the year approached, disasters fell from the sky. All the savings in the family were instantly looted. Among them, the young and strong men who had no time to escape into the mountains were tied into strings by the Liao army like grasshoppers, dragged their horses behind them, and stumbled to the north.

When they arrive in Youzhou, they will be sold in categories according to age, physical strength, gender and appearance. Then they will become slaves of local Khitans or Han officials. Most of them will eventually die of exhaustion on strange lands and will never be able to return to their hometown again.

According to previous years, the robbers of the Liao Kingdom killed a group of people in the areas close to the border, grabbed enough money and grain, and caught enough slaves, and soon they were satisfied with retreating. However, this time, the situation was a little different.

Although some of the military governors of the Great Han Kingdom had long been notified from the senior officials of the Liao Kingdom that going south to defeat Caogu would not turn into a war between the two countries. Although some local officials of the Great Han Kingdom had already given generous gifts to the Liao generals who had beaten Caogugu, expressing their condolences. The Liao troops who had already crossed the river were all full of hopes of returning. Instead, they made up their minds and began to sweep away the forts that were all alliances and self-defense one by one.

Compared with ordinary villages in the countryside, these unorganized fortresses that allied themselves defended themselves have relatively strong resistance and will to resist. After spending money to buy peace, the villagers in the village took up the swords and guns.

However, how could the farmers who make a living by farming generally beat professional robbers? Soon, the village wall was broken and the house was ignited, and all those who refused to wait for death were cut into two pieces with one knife.

From Yizhou to Dingzhou, from Hejian to Shenzhou, various forts were quickly captured, and local forces were uprooted. Countless "heroes" who were famous were wiped out in just half a month!

However, if the same thing happens a lot, one or two accidents will always happen...

In the southwest of Dingzhou, at the foot of Taihang, between the rolling hills, two soldiers under the flag of the Liao Kingdom were walking in the snow.

The leading general was naturally a Khitan, with his surname Yelu and his name Akainu. The deputy general was a commander of the Khitan Han army, with his surname Han and his name Dezheng. (Note 1, Note 2)

The two look very similar, have similar heights, and are about the same age. If it weren't for wearing two completely different styles of armor, ordinary people would really treat them as twin brothers. However, after putting on the armor, no one dared to think that they were connected to each other's blood.

The Khitans and Han people cannot be brothers. Although the Liao emperors were swearing that he would treat the people of the world equally. But the oath was always just to listen to, but who would be foolish if he took it seriously. Today, the Great Liao Kingdom, except for the Han family, other Han people are still not qualified to be on par with the Khitans. Even if they were the Minister of the current dynasty, they were still "secret matters must not be heard of."

But there are always exceptions in everything. Just like Han Zhigu's descendants, they were never regarded as Han people by the Khitan emperors. In fact, the two generals who are responsible for leading the troops today are indeed twins.

Yelu Chiquan's father, Yelu Baocai, was originally a horse boy of the great general Yelu Liuge. Because he had been serving his master for many years, he was promoted to a general by Yelu Liuge. Unfortunately, he did not have a good life to enjoy the wealth and glory. He died in a small-scale encounter in less than two months after becoming a general. Only a newly married wife and an empty house were left.

In order not to let his loyal slave die, Yelu Liu Ge wanted to adopt a descendant for him. It happened that Han Kuangsi's fifth brother Han Kuangqi had a new pair of twin brothers. So he simply sent someone to pick him up. (Note 3)

Although Han Kuangqi couldn't bear to let it go, he did not dare to destroy the "friendship" between Han and Yelu, and could only offer one of his sons with both hands.

In the next seventeen or eighteen years, Han Kuangqi's official position rose all the way with the Han family in Youzhou, and Yelu Baocai's wife did not remarry again. The relationship between the two families became closer and closer. The twin brothers were also very lucky to grow up together in the same city. One became a young general of the Khitan Army and the other became the commander of the Han Army.

As the saying goes, brothers fight and father and son fight. This time the army went south to "kill the grass valley". After Han Kuangsi, the Privy Councilor of the Southern Court, asked for instructions, he simply put the two brothers together. Let them cooperate with each other, advance and retreat together, and seize this rare opportunity for training together.

"If you ask me to say that Master Privy Councilor's move is purely unnecessary. If he doesn't put us together, we brothers will be separated?" Yelu Chiquan was not very grateful for the kindness of the elders. While turning his head to watch the rolling snow scene, he complained, "A Han army like this is already highly respectful to them. He can't use a battalion of troops. Now he wants you to take a battalion, and I take a hundred cavalry, which is simply a waste of kung fu!"

"Brother, shhhh..." Han Dexin quickly raised her fingers to her lips and pretended to be silent. "Don't say much. I guess my third uncle sent us to come together, mainly to seek peace of mind. After all, if we can capture that person alive..." (Note 4)

"It's just a Han dog, I'm raising my hand to Raul! Just watch it later, I'll show you what it means to break the thief in one go!" Yelu Chiquan curled his lips and interrupted loudly, without caring about the feelings of his younger brother and the soldiers around him.

"If he dares to go out to fight in the field, of course, my elder brother can capture him in one go!" Han Dexin was very well-educated. She smiled and said very tactfully, "But if he hid in the fortress and couldn't come out, he wouldn't be able to take the ladder and do miscellaneous things like crashing, so you can't do it yourself!"

"You are right!" Hearing Han Dexin's words readily, Yelu Chiquan nodded with a smile, "Then let's make the decision, and the field battle belongs to me. If there is a victory..."

"Old rules, brother, I will take it first!" Han Dexin expressed her willingness without thinking.

"Okay! But don't worry, I will leave at least half of it for you. I will not treat you guys differently like others!" Yelu Chiquan accepted the other party's kindness without hesitation, shook his body, and looked at him with a look.

The Han soldiers around him felt upset, but no one dared to speak. This is the rule of the Great Liao Kingdom. No matter how much troops or efforts are sent, as long as the Khitan army and the Han army fight side by side, most of the military achievements and spoils will be the former. Like Yelu Chiquan, who is willing to leave a small part of the Han army, is already very rare. If it were someone else, everyone would probably not even drink "soup".

The Khitan soldiers around were not very satisfied with the "distribution plan" publicly reached by the two young generals. Although they were named First Battalion, the actual number of soldiers was less than one yuan. However, their combat effectiveness could never be calculated based on the number of soldiers. More than 80 Khitan cavalrymen set up their formation, enough to tear ten times the Han army into pieces. Moreover, behind each regular soldier, there was an auxiliary soldier of the same clan and a Caogu?

"Oh--" A ten general of the Han army looked at the footprints on the snow behind him and sighed secretly. The road was taken by himself. He followed one step after another, and kept it behind him. To this point, no wonder others were there.

"Hmph!" A Khitan team coach snorted coldly at the blue sky around him. At the same time, he swears silently in his heart. "When you look back, you must go to Tiyin to file a lawsuit, and let the boy surnamed Han go back to his own home and give up the position of the young general! Who is he a descendant of the Yelu family? Thinking about the time when Yelu Liu Ge protected him, the bloodline was in chaos! Now Yelu Liu Ge has been disrespectful, why should he still let him occupy the place that should belong to Yelu Boniko's tribe?"

Note 1: The Liao Dynasty's military system has been evolving, with great changes before and after, and there are also differences between real and empty positions. In order to facilitate readers, the simplest type is chosen. Ten people are teamed, ten generals (Khitan: team commander), ten teams are one capital, and the head of the capital (Khitan: military academy), the fifth capital is the first battalion has commander (Khitan: small general), the fifth battalion has commander (Khitan: military commander, general), and the 10th army is one wing commander (Khitan: military supervisor, detailed and stable). The Jiedushi (large and stable) is in charge of left and right sides. Among them, the Khitan military positions also change according to the strength of the tribe. Some tribes have only a few hundred people in total, and the generals at all levels are useless. There are more officials than soldiers, and there are not many people under the general.

Note 2: Yelu, the Khitans originally had no surnames, only tribes and names. Later, influenced by the Central Plains culture, they quickly took their own surnames. Because of hero worship, there were generally only two surnames, Yelu and Xiao. Other Suns, Lis, etc., gave surnames to the Central Plains emperors. Han was from the Central Plains. The proportion of the latter three surnames was very small.

Note 3: Han Zhigu's family was not in high status in the Liao Kingdom at first. Therefore, marriage and interaction were mostly branches of the Yelu family and Xiao family. Later, Han family quickly became successful because of the "outstanding contributions" of Han Zhigu and Han Kuangsi and his son. Their family quickly approached the upper class of the Khitan family.
Chapter completed!