Volume 1: Kyoto Winds and Clouds Chapter 46: Under Cover of Night, Umaru is Attacked

  For Zhang Fei, a small tribe of nearly a thousand people was not enough. Before an hour had passed, Zhang Fei's messenger came to tell Liu Zhong that the small tribe had been annihilated. Liu Zhong brought Shi Ah to the front of the small tribe's camp, and saw corpses all over the ground, including men, women, and even some children.

  "Sir, isn't this a bit too cruel!" Shi Ah looked at the corpses all over the ground and saw that there were even some children among them, his heart couldn't help but feel unbearable, and his chivalrous spirit began to surge again.

  "Damn it!" Zhang Fei originally thought so too, after all, killing children wasn't a glorious thing to do. But something happened that changed his mind. All of a sudden, Zhang Fei said: "Shi Ah, don't underestimate these kids. Do you know that in this battle, only ten soldiers under my command were injured, and three of them were wounded by these little brats!"

  "What?" Sha A exclaimed in surprise: "Our soldiers are well-trained, how can they be injured by these little kids!"

  "This is not surprising! If you can't defeat them head-on, they'll resort to sneak attacks!" Liu Zhang saw Shi Ah and couldn't help but laugh: "Foreign tribes have always been known for their ability to mobilize every single person, including the old, weak, women, and children, to fight against their enemies. Meanwhile, we Han people often overlook these children and women, treating them as our own citizens. But they are all wolves in sheep's clothing, waiting for an opportunity to bite us hard. Those soldiers couldn't bear to kill them, but they could bring themselves to sneak attack those soldiers who wanted to spare their lives! As the ancients said: 'Those who are not of our kind must have a different heart!'"

  "But..." Shi Ah knew that these foreign children had died with resentment, but he still couldn't let go.

  "No need to hesitate!" Liu Zhang said with a smile: "Think of those compatriots killed by the foreign tribes, think of the sufferings of the people in Youzhou, and then think of how these foreigners treat our Han children. If you can't bring yourself to kill them all, are you going to spare their lives so they can come back and kill more of our Han compatriots?"

  Shi Ah was speechless, he knew that Liu Zhang's words were reasonable, but seeing so many children being killed, his heart still had some mercy. It has to be said that the hearts of Chinese people are really too soft. Others don't feel pity, but as an outsider, they feel pity for others. Sometimes, Liu Zhang couldn't understand the thoughts of his own compatriots!

  Don't bother with the bodies, Liu said to Zhang Fei: "Order someone to add one more slash to each corpse, to prevent anyone from pretending to be dead and escaping. Our plan to raid Wuhuan Mountain must not be leaked!"

  "Yes!" Zhang Fei took the men to add more wounds to the corpse, while Shi Ah frowned but didn't speak. He also knew the principle of not being merciful with those who don't wield weapons, he just hadn't expected Liu Zhang to be so ruthless.

  Liu Zhang led Zhang Fei and Shi Ah to slowly approach Wuhuan Mountain. Within the Korla Grasslands, there were over a hundred large and small tribes. Every time Liu Zhang encountered a tribe, he would have Zhang Fei or Shi Ah lead troops to annihilate them. At first, Shi Ah was somewhat reluctant. When those foreign children revealed wolf-like ferocity in their eyes, Shi Ah understood that this was a world where if you didn't kill others, they would kill you. For the future of Great Han and for the people of Great Han, Shi Ah decided that even if it meant becoming an executioner, he would eradicate these savage foreigners! Of course, in the eyes of the foreigners, Shi Ah was also savage! However, Shi Ah no longer cared!

  After marching on the grasslands for nearly three months, Liu Chao annihilated dozens of large and small tribes, killing over a million Wuhuan people, and obtained countless cattle, sheep, and horses. Of course, Liu Chao was not foolish, he did not kill all the people. For the sake of these resources, such as cattle, sheep, and horses, Liu Chao kept all the Wuwan horse slaves and Han Chinese slaves. The horse slaves were managed by the Han Chinese slaves, who found a place to raise the captured cattle, sheep, and horses.

  After dealing with the spoils of war, Liu Zhang left a small team to watch over the slaves, but he didn't know that those Han slaves wouldn't run away. Because they had been oppressed by foreigners for a long time, and the grasslands were far from the Han people's territory, they had developed a submissive personality, and those who dared to resist simply couldn't survive.

  Liu Bei, accompanied by Zhao Yun and Zhang Fei, stealthily infiltrated the Wuhuan Mountains under the cover of night. Neither the Quli Ju nor the nobles of the Wuhuan Mountains had expected that a Han army would be able to reach their sacred royal territory.

  "Shi Ah, the map you drew for me, how is it?" Under the cover of night, Liu Zhang called Shi Ah over and Shi Ah immediately presented a map. Liu Zhang looked at it and said: "This broken mountain has so many roads up and down, it seems that annihilating Wuwan Wangting will be somewhat difficult!"

  "Prince, your ambition is too big!" Shi Ah heard Liu Zhang's words and couldn't help but smile bitterly: "This Wuman King Court, at least has tens of thousands of people, how can we possibly annihilate them all? We have less than 8,000 people!"

  "Hmph! Let's play big then!" Liu Zhang said with a somewhat gloomy tone: "Yide, you lead the troops to kill and set fires everywhere, causing chaos on the mountain. Especially those large livestock like cows and horses, they can also be very deadly when running wildly. Shi Ah, follow me to directly attack the nobles' residences, try to kill as many as possible. This time we can't care about Han people slaves, otherwise we'll also get trapped in the mountains. When dawn breaks, no matter what the outcome is, gather at the foot of the mountain. Got it?"

  "Understood!" Zhang Fei nodded and said: "Big brother, rest assured! If I don't stir up a storm here, my name is not Zhang Fei!"

  "Alright!" Liu Zhang patted Zhang Fei's shoulder and said: "Split up and act separately, wait for my signal, then you can start!"

  Liu Zhang finished giving orders and quietly led Shi towards the gathering place of the nobles. The nobles of Wuman were just like those of the Han, fond of luxury. If it weren't for the fact that the Han lived in houses while the Wuman people lived in tents similar to Mongolian yurts, they could be said to be no different.

  Liu Zhang reached a brightly lit tent and quietly tore open a small slit, only to see singing and dancing inside. A burly man was loudly saying to the man in the main seat: "General Xiao Wang, General Qiu Li Ju has gone to Da Han to cut grassy valley, why don't you go?"

  "Sharp King replied, 'I'm going, who will watch you bunch of rabbits? Other places can be chaotic, but here is the royal court, it absolutely cannot be chaotic. If it's chaotic, Lord Qiu Li Ju won't forgive me.'"

  "Haha..." After a burst of laughter, another person said: "King Xiao, you and Qiu Li Ju are too cautious! With the Han army, if they could fight to Wuhuan Mountain, our Wuhuan people would have been destroyed long ago. Those Hans... are heaven's gift to..."

  The Great Khan's words were cut off as he suddenly stopped, an arrow lodged in his throat, the bright red blood was so eye-catching. The sharp king on the main seat exclaimed: "Who is it that dares to be presumptuous in my Wuman King Court?"

  "Zhilah!" The large tent was torn open by a long sword, and cold wind poured in. Under the stimulation of the cold wind, the Wuwan nobles' intoxication slightly sobered up! Liu Zhang led Shi Ah into the tent. King Xiang laughed loudly: "I thought who would be so bold, it turned out to be two kids who haven't even grown their hair yet. You little ones, which tribe are you from, how dare you be so bold!"

  "We are the Great Han!" With Liu Zhang's order, hundreds of soldiers wearing Han armor rushed into the tent. The sharp king sitting in the main seat was suddenly shocked, he drew out his precious sword and cut open the tent to leave. But the tent had already been surrounded by Liu Zhang's men, he killed a bloody road and rushed down the mountain, he wanted to ask for reinforcements.

  Liu Zhang drew his bow and shot an arrow at the fleeing Xiao Wang. Perhaps it was a premonition, or perhaps Xiao Wang was originally an expert in evading arrows, he dodged to one side, and the long sword pierced his shoulder but avoided the vital spot. By the time Liu Zhang thought of shooting another arrow, Xiao Wang had already disappeared! Liu Zhang put away his bow with some regret and said: "Shi Ah, send out the signal! Kill!"

  The nobles in the tent were quickly killed, after all, there are not many masters like Xia Wang. Liu Zhang collected things from the big account, Shi A checked the big account. The raging fire was ignited on the top of the mountain, and even the waist of the mountain could be seen very clearly. Zhang Fei hid in the dark, looking at the big fire on the top of the mountain, he laughed and said: "Brothers, these Wuhuan people owe us Han people something to pay back, kill all the Wuhuan dogs!"

  "Kill! Kill!" The cries of killing shook the sky, and all the Han soldiers were boiling. They were like a swarm of locusts, wherever they went, the tents would be burned and people would be killed. In an instant, the top of Wuhuan Mountain became a purgatory, with cries and wails everywhere. Under the reflection of the flames, the Han soldiers were all covered in blood, as if they were devils from hell.

  Wooo... Wooo... Wooo... Wooo

  At last, the Wuhuan people sounded the horn for battle, but the entire Wuhuan Mountain was already in chaos. The Wuhuan people were eagerly fleeing down from the top of the mountain. Only a few veteran soldiers who had experienced many battles gathered together under the call of the horn. However, these people were soon scattered by Zhang Fei. Although Zhang Fei was only thirteen years old, his qualities as a fierce general had already been revealed. The iron spear that was fearless and unyielding to death, although not as good as Liu's treasured Jue Ba Snake Spear, was still something that the Wuhuan people who lacked fighting spirit could not withstand.

  The fire on the mountain top was getting bigger and bigger, and from the foot of the mountain, the entire Wuhuan Mountain looked like a giant torch. The earliest killer, King Xiao, stood at the foot of the mountain, looking at the flames on the mountain top, with anger, despair, and hatred in his heart. What he couldn't understand most was where these Han troops came from, how many people they had, and why there was no intelligence until now, as if they had descended from heaven! However, he soon knew why no one came to report the news.

  The Han army made a surprise attack on Wuhuan Mountain, which was a shame for the Wuhuan people. The king of the Xianbei people had to go to find the king of the Wuhuan people, Qiu Liju, to take charge. He originally wanted to borrow some horses and dry rations from a small tribe, but after searching for nearly ten miles, he didn't discover a single tribe, only some residual ash and corpses...

  Xiang Wang suddenly understood that the Han army had already cleaned up the small tribes near Wuhuan Mountain before going up the mountain, and no one was left alive to report back. Under duress, Xiang Wang returned to Wuhuan Mountain, secretly stealing a few horses and some dry rations to head towards Youzhou. He believed that the great Uwan leader Qiu Liju would definitely avenge the Uwan people.