Chapter 45: Across the Northern Frontier, Thousands of Savages!

Northern Frontier!
Territory of the Jianzhou Tatars!
A small nomadic settlement.
Several thousand Ming cavalrymen, their bodies stained with blood, had completely surrounded the settlement.
Thousands of Tatar men, women, and children within the settlement had all been gathered together in one place.
Corpses were strewn everywhere around the perimeter of the settlement.
A glance at these Ming soldiers revealed that every single one of them had a quiver slung across his back, a bow holstered to his warhorse, and a long saber gripped in his hand.
Naturally.
Their entire bodies were caked in dried blood and exuded a pungent, foul odor, making them look like feral men, yet each of them radiated an aura of fierce brutality.
Zhu Ying had been leading these soldiers in this foreign northern wasteland for over a full month now, with their days consisting solely of lightning raids, slaughter, and combat.
It is safe to say.
The battles Zhu Ying had led them through this time were unlike anything experienced in all the preceding years.
Today, the several thousand cavalrymen under Zhu Ying's command could truly be called a battle-hardened army.
"Commander."
"Over five hundred of the enemy have been beheaded."
Wei Quan rode up to Zhu Ying's side and reported respectfully.
Zhu Ying nodded.
Having followed him for so long, many things required no explicit instructions; a single glance was enough.
Zhu Ying swept his gaze over the Tatars, who wore expressions of terror and eyes filled with hatred toward him and his soldiers, yet his own expression remained entirely unruffled.
War was inherently like this.
There was no distinct boundary of right and wrong.
Had the Tatars been allowed to breach the cities and villages of the Great Ming, their methods would have been far more ruthless.
Having lived through two lifetimes, Zhu Ying knew all too well just how vicious these Tatars could be.
"The old rules."
"Anyone taller than a wagon wheel, execute them," Zhu Ying said coldly.
"This subordinate obeys."
Numerous soldiers sprang into action.
They dismounted from their horses.
And directly dragged a wooden cart out from the settlement.
"Spare us, please."
"We are just innocent civilians."
"Spare our lives... Do not kill us..."
Immediately following.
Wails and cries for mercy erupted in waves.
Would Zhu Ying pay any heed?
Would these thousands of Ming soldiers pay any heed?
Without a doubt.
No one felt any pity for them.
One by one, the Tatar males were dragged out by Zhu Ying's men and measured directly against the wagon wheel.
As long as they were taller than the wheel, even by just an inch, the verdict was a sweep of the blade.
This was the Great Ming applying their methods right back at them.
After all, this was originally a practice passed down by these northern tribes themselves; in the past, they had treated countless Han Chinese civilians in this exact manner, and even more cruelly at that—after slaughtering the males taller than the wagon wheel, the female dependents were subjected to unspeakable violations.
Within moments.
Several hundred more corpses littered the ground.
Zhu Ying took a small packet of medicinal powder from his tunic and tossed it to Liu Lei nearby.
"Understood."
Liu Lei acknowledged the order immediately.
He strode straight to the settlement's water source and dumped the powder directly into the water supply.
This was precisely the laxative Zhu Ying had acquired, and a fiercely potent one at that.
"Fall back."
Zhu Ying shouted at the top of his lungs.
"This subordinate obeys."
All the soldiers shouted in unison, quickly mounting their horses.
They followed in the wake of Zhu Ying's figure as he galloped further toward the north.
Though their force numbered fewer than three thousand men, the spare warhorses they led along with them totaled nearly ten thousand.
These were all spoils of war seized by Zhu Ying and his men, and they formed the capital that allowed them to roam freely through the territory of the Jianzhou Tatars.
As the medicinal powder was poured into the water, raging flames began to leap into the sky across the settlement; the Tatars' grain and logistical supplies were completely burned to ashes by the Ming army—anything that could not be carried away was thoroughly destroyed.
Scarcely half an hour after Zhu Ying and his men had departed.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Sweeping across the site of the recently slaughtered Tatar settlement came a force of tens of thousands of Tatar troops.
"Damnation."
"We are still too late."
"Those damned Ming bastard mutts."
"That damned Zhu Ying."
Looking upon the chaotic, devastated ruins of the settlement, Agunu was consumed by hatred.
"General."
"This is already the fifteenth settlement of our tribe to be destroyed by the Ming army, and tens of thousands of our kinsmen have suffered a tragic death."
"If this continues, our losses will escalate drastically."
A Tatar officer said with equal hatred.
"What else can we do now?"
"The cavalry of our tribe has already been wiped out by those damned Ming soldiers; we simply cannot catch up to them."
"Furthermore, there are no reinforcements coming from the Great Yuan now either; the main force of the Ming army has already launched an offensive against the Great Yuan," another Tatar officer said with extreme gravity.
"Pursue them, continue the pursuit!"
"If I do not hack this Zhu Ying into a thousand pieces and wipe out every last one of these Ming soldiers, how can I, Agunu, ever face the tribal chieftain again?" Agunu said, gnashing his teeth.
...
"Commander."
"This is already the fifteenth Tatar settlement."
"Haha."
Wei Quan said with a hearty laugh.
"Indeed."
"Acting on the Commander's orders, I have already chopped down fifteen enemy tribal banners. The Commander said these will all count as military merits for the Great Ming in the future, so we mustn't waste them," Zhuang Wei also said with a wide grin.
"Brothers."
"Don't go losing those severed ears you've collected."
"When we return to the Great Ming, these will all be your vouchers for promotion and wealth," Zhang Wu shouted as he rallied the men.
"That goes without saying."
"Thousand-Man Commander, I've already sliced off the ears of over thirty Tatars,哈哈哈, promotions and wealth here I come!"
"Get out of here, Zhao Si, you rascal are ferocious; I've only got fifteen."
"Hehe, following the Commander means not only getting the thrill of slaughtering the enemy, but also earning promotions and wealth. I am sticking with the Commander for the rest of my life; wherever the Commander goes, that's where I go. I've been in the army for six years, and I've never experienced a slaughter as gratifying as this one. These damned Tatars, they infringed upon our Great Ming, they all deserve to die."
"That's right."
"I too swear to follow the Commander to the death."
"Commander, this brother swears to follow you."
"Me too."
"I swear to follow you to the death."
"From now on, the Commander must not leave us behind; we all swear to follow the Commander to the death..."
Warhorses thundered as the cavalry galloped forward.
At this moment, these thousands of soldiers were still deep within foreign and perilous territory.
Yet every single soldier maintained high morale, completely devoid of fear.
Every last man had been thoroughly captivated by Zhu Ying, filled with a fanatical devotion to him.
Listening to their impassioned words, Zhu Ying wore a warm smile and immediately shouted in response: "Thank you brothers for your trust. Since I, Zhu Ying, have earned such trust from my brothers, I will lead you all in forging the martial might and prestige of Great Ming soldiers! I repeat: Zhu Ying will never abandon a single brother. On the battlefield, Zhu Ying will always charge ahead first; I will never hide behind my brothers, and I will never let down any brother of mine!"
"Swear to follow the Commander to the death!"
"Swear to follow..."
All the soldiers shouted with fanatical fervor.
"Good."
"Brothers."
"Night is almost upon us."
"Let's gallop for another half-hour, and then we rest." Zhu Ying laughed heartily, spurring his horse onward at a gallop.
"Understood."
Numerous Ming soldiers roared enthusiastically.
Time flew by in a flash!
Soon enough.
Night fell.
Beneath the veil of night.
There was no pitching of tents, only gathering bonfires; there was no lavish feast of meat and wine, only Zhu Ying and his men chewing on hard biscuits and water by the firelight.