Chapter 49

On the second day of the eleventh month in the fifth year of the Chongzhen era, the grasslands were already filled with a chill. For the residents living on the grasslands, autumn was coming to an end. For the nomadic tribes, winter was their greatest enemy, so both adults and children were busily preparing for it. It was during this time that Yueyang and Li Yuan arrived at the科尔沁部落.

In Mongolian, "科尔沁" means "bowmaker." Historically, the科尔沁 grasslands were the territory of Genghis Khan's brother, Hasar. Today, the科尔沁 tribe has over ten thousand soldiers capable of battle and is one of the largest tribes in Mongolia.

Yueyang and Li Yuan's large caravan was a prominent target, so they were discovered as soon as they entered the科尔沁 territory.

The Mongols typically lived a nomadic life, moving to where the grass and water were abundant. When Yueyang entered the科尔沁 territory, he saw an endless expanse of cattle, sheep, and horses, along with countless tents. Under the blue sky, numerous herders were busy on the grasslands, urging their livestock to fatten up before winter. The women and children were also busy stockpiling hay, presenting a scene of bustling activity throughout the tribe.

Li Yuan pointed to the busy herders and was about to say something to Yueyang when they suddenly heard a series of urgent horn calls. The horns, made from ox horns, produced a deep and resonant sound that carried far across the grasslands.

"Uuuu..."

As the horn calls sounded, the previously busy tribe immediately became agitated. Soon, people began to mount their horses, and within a short time, over a thousand people had gathered and were galloping toward Yueyang's caravan.

Seeing this, Yueyang initially joked to Li Yuan, "Mr. Li, it seems you have quite a reputation. They've come out in such a grand formation to welcome you!"

"I... This... It can't be to welcome me!" Li Yuan's expression changed. He knew himself well and was aware that he was just a small merchant, not someone who would warrant such a grand welcome from over a thousand Mongol cavalry. That would be more fitting for a prince or noble of the Later Jin.

After a while, Yueyang realized something was wrong. Although he wasn't an expert in cavalry tactics, he knew enough to see that these Mongol cavalry didn't look like they were coming to welcome them; they looked like they were coming to fight.

Seeing this, Yueyang quickly pulled out a telescope from his waist bag and looked ahead. Soon, they saw that about a thousand meters away, the Mongol cavalry were mounted on their horses, with various curved swords and long swords hanging from their waists. Some had already taken out their ox-horn bows and were nocking arrows, the sharp arrowheads pointing directly at them.

Seeing this, Yueyang immediately became as agitated as a cat with its tail stepped on. Without hesitation, he pulled out a whistle from around his neck and blew it hard!

"Beep... beep beep beep... beep... beep beep beep..."

During the training of his militia, Yueyang placed great emphasis on the rapid response of his troops. He had put a lot of effort into training them in this area. As soon as the whistle sounded, the militia soldiers, who were originally surrounding the caravan, reflexively looked in the direction of the whistle and quickly ran toward Yueyang. Within less than three minutes, a thousand soldiers, led by junior officers, had formed a five-row square formation facing the direction from which the Mongol cavalry were approaching.

Seeing the soldiers form their ranks, Yueyang angrily shouted at Li Yuan, "Old Li, you always say how familiar and friendly you are with the科尔沁 tribe. Why are they treating us like this? If you don't explain this to me, I won't let it go!" In his agitation, Yueyang couldn't maintain his politeness, and a string of curses slipped out.

At this moment, Li Yuan was also confused and stammered, "I... I don't know either. They've never acted like this before when I came!"

"Hmph, we'll settle this later!" Seeing the Mongol cavalry getting closer, Yueyang knew it wasn't the time to argue. He coldly snorted and ignored Li Yuan. Meanwhile, the cart drivers and assistants had formed a large circle with all the wagons, creating a defensive perimeter. Although hastily formed, it still provided some obstruction to the cavalry's advance.

Yueyang walked to the side of the formation, continuously issuing orders. Soon, the first row of pikemen took out their shields from the wagons. These were not the small round shields used by shield bearers but large steel shields, one meter wide and 1.5 meters high, weighing over thirty kilograms each. Each shield had a sharp iron spike at the bottom, which, when driven into the ground, formed a solid wall of iron, capable of withstanding the shooting of strong bows and crossbows.

These heavy shields were specially made by Yueyang in a modern steel factory to defend against cavalry and archers, and they were now proving useful. Two hundred heavy shields formed a steel wall over two hundred meters long, with two hundred pikemen crouching behind them. Behind the pikemen were five hundred shield-and-sword soldiers, each holding a repeating crossbow aimed diagonally upward. At Yueyang's command, a barrage of sharp arrows would rain down on their enemies.

"Five hundred meters... four hundred meters... three hundred meters... almost there..." Yueyang was holding a telescope, constantly observing the distance of the approaching cavalry.

This time, Yueyang wasn't unprepared. For this journey, he had not only had Jia Wenmao from the steel factory make hundreds of heavy shields but also five hundred repeating crossbows.

These repeating crossbows were very powerful, using modern high-strength springs and mixed metal strings as their power source, capable of piercing the armor of soldiers at a distance of 150 meters. They also had a fast firing rate, able to shoot ten arrows in ten seconds by winding the string with a lever. For the people of this era, such a firing rate could be considered a covering fire.

Because of the power of these weapons, Yueyang was confident that if the enemy entered the range of his repeating crossbows, he could turn the over a thousand Mongol cavalry into sieves!

"Prepare, wind the crossbows... prepare..."

As the Mongol cavalry got closer, several junior officers in the formation loudly issued orders. Many had already raised their hands, ready to fire as soon as the enemy was within range.

Just as a major battle was about to break out, the speed of the leading row of Mongol cavalry suddenly slowed down. They soon began to move to the sides and stopped about three hundred meters from Yueyang's caravan.

A middle-aged Mongol man rode forward and loudly called out in Chinese, "Is this the caravan of the Li family from Shanxi? Is Mr. Li present? Please come forward to speak!"

"Damn, why did they stop?" Yueyang was frustrated, seeing that he could have dealt a significant blow to the enemy. He irritably shouted to Li Yuan, who was nearby, "Hey, they're calling you. Go over there!"

"Oh... oh..."

At this moment, Li Yuan finally realized what was happening and quickly rode forward, shouting to the Mongol man, "Is that you, Brother Wudamu? I'm Li Yuan from Yingzhou, Shanxi. What are you doing? Why are you attacking our caravan?"

The Mongol man named Wudamu sternly replied, "Hmph... You have the nerve to ask why we're attacking you? I want to ask you what you're doing here with so many soldiers in our科尔沁 tribe. Are you planning to start a war with us? Don't think that just because winter is coming, our warriors can't wield their swords. If you make any move, our科尔沁 warriors will tear you apart like rabbits!"

"Ah... war? Winter?"

When Wudamu spoke, Li Yuan was initially puzzled, then he looked at Yueyang and the fully armed soldiers, and finally understood. The科尔沁 tribe had misinterpreted the presence of Yueyang's fully armed soldiers as a provocation, leading to this reaction. It seemed Yueyang had overdone his show of force.

Understanding the reason, Li Yuan glared at Yueyang and quickly rode forward, shouting, "Brother Wudamu, you've misunderstood. We're not here to fight. We're here to do business! These soldiers are my friend's guards, and their only purpose is to protect the caravan!"

As he spoke, Li Yuan approached the front of the enemy formation and nervously explained to the Mongol man named Wudamu...

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