Iron Dynasty

The cool evening breeze rustled the pasture grass, and a strong smell of blood assailed them.

When the remaining barbarian cavalry knelt and surrendered, the gunfire on the battlefield gradually subsided.

At this moment, the battlefield was unusually quiet. The soldiers even held their breath carefully. They could not believe that the hellish scene before them was something they had created.

In the encirclement, the ground was covered with the corpses of barbarian cavalry. Ownerless warhorses wandered in terror in the setting sun. Blood stained the pasture grass, and streams of blood flowed from higher ground to lower ground.

Out of 160,000 barbarian cavalry, 140,000 fell under gunfire, with only 20,000 surrendering. They won this war, and they won very thoroughly.

Facing this scene, the soldiers did not feel ashamed. Every barbarian soldier who died here was not innocent. The millions of wronged souls who died at their hands were proof.

A brutal nation would ultimately be brutally ended. This was the price they had to pay.

“Clean up the battlefield. Any barbarian cavalry who dares to resist will be killed without mercy.” Niu Ben’s voice was cold.

Luo Quan laughed at this moment. “I thought you were going to kill them all!”

“Keeping them can at least help build railways in Guandong. These surrendered barbarians are no longer barbarians; they are just slaves.”

Luo Quan nodded. “Yes, the barbarian soldiers of the past would never surrender. It seems these ones are truly terrified.”

After a pause, he looked at the barbarian camp. There were still hundreds of thousands of barbarian herders inside, and they had watched their cavalry being slaughtered.

Niu Ben narrowed his eyes. “These are the herders of the three major tribes. The cavalry of all three major tribes are dead. They will definitely hate us. They cannot be kept!”

Luo Quan was stunned for a moment. At this moment, he suddenly remembered what Niu Ben had said that day. Just as he said, this time he was truly ruthless.

No sooner had Niu Ben finished speaking than Qi Guangyi’s voice suddenly came. He said, “General, wouldn’t it be a pity to kill these people? Why not make them slaves?”

Looking at the sky that was about to turn dark, Niu Ben smiled strangely. He said, “Then tomorrow, we will enter the camp together, and then you can make your final judgment.”

Qi Guangyi looked at Luo Quan, showing a strange expression, while Luo Quan shook his head helplessly.

However, he was also very tired after a day of hard fighting, so he stopped asking and went back to his camp to rest.

The next day, as the sun rose, he walked out of his tent. At this time, Niu Ben and Luo Quan were already waiting for him.

Niu Ben said, “Let’s go. Let’s see these herders.”

With that, the three of them walked towards the barbarian camp together. By this time, the barbarian herders had already gathered in the camp. When they arrived, pairs of terrifying eyes stared at them.

Qi Guangyi stopped in front of the herders. He saw deep-seated hatred in their eyes, which made him very uncomfortable.

But even so, he still felt that these herders should not be killed. Looking at a six-year-old barbarian boy standing at the front, Qi Guangyi asked, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

The little boy said without hesitation, “When I grow up, I will herd sheep and marry many wives.”

“Oh, why do you want to marry so many wives?” Qi Guangyi asked curiously.

“So I can have many children to be cavalry and kill all the people of the Great Yu Empire.” The child’s innocent words revealed a chilling coldness.

Qi Guangyi’s eyes immediately changed. He slowly stood up, his cold gaze fixed on these barbarians, without a trace of emotion.

Niu Ben then said, “Qi Guangyi, do you understand now? A man has no intention of harming a tiger, but a tiger has the heart to eat a man. For thousands of years, the Central Plains dynasty has always naively believed that the surrounding barbarians would treat us with the same benevolence and virtue as we treat them. But what is the truth? They regard our benevolence and moral influence as weakness that can be bullied. As long as they have a chance, they will come and take a bite out of us, and that is reality.”

Qi Guangyi closed his eyes, then slowly nodded. In dealing with these issues, he was still somewhat less experienced than Niu Ben.

Luo Quan patted Qi Guangyi’s shoulder. “You are already very outstanding, but a general must be heartless and only consider the victory or defeat of war. His Majesty appreciates you very much and is also very clear about your shortcomings.”

“Yes, General.”

Qi Guangyi sighed. No sooner had he finished speaking than a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out, followed by screams from the barbarian camp. Qi Guangyi looked and saw that more than a dozen barbarian elders were holding bows and arrows, preparing to launch a surprise attack to kill them.

This scene made Qi Guangyi completely understand Niu Ben’s words. The surrendering barbarians chose to kneel. They had completely lost their dignity and would be obedient slaves. However, the herders in front of him would multiply with hatred, and decades later, they would wield their butcher knives again with that same hatred.

More than a dozen elders were shot dead, and the barbarians instantly became agitated. In a flash, they charged at the Great Yu Empire’s soldiers who had opened fire.

“Fire!”

Niu Ben ordered.

Under his command, the already prepared machine gun company immediately opened fire, and a crossfire covered the charging barbarians.

This time, Qi Guangyi did not flinch but coldly watched everything happening in front of him. The words of the barbarian child echoed in his ears again and again.

“Not of my race, their hearts must be different!” he slowly murmured, his gaze gradually firming.

Niu Ben glanced at Qi Guangyi, a satisfied expression on his face. He led Luo Quan and Qi Guangyi back to the camp. This time, they had fought a brilliant battle by annihilating the three major tribes and the barbarian cavalry reinforcements.

However, this was still far from destroying the Golden Tent Khanate. The Great Khan of the Golden Tent Khanate was still enjoying himself in the Golden Tent. As long as the Great Khan was still alive, the threat from the grassland would remain.

“The rifle cavalry performed excellently this time, proving that establishing this type of cavalry is necessary. However, their small numbers are a drawback. Now that the three major tribes have been annihilated, the army’s supply line will be stretched if they continue westward, which will be a problem for the infantry. Therefore, I think the remaining battles can be left to the rifle cavalry. I will apply to His Majesty to expand the rifle cavalry to 30,000. What do you think?” Niu Ben said to Qi Guangyi.

Qi Guangyi nodded. The journey from Raozhou to the Golden Tent stretched for thousands of miles, and only cavalry could move freely in such a vast area. Now that the barbarians had suffered heavy losses, the remaining cavalry would not be a match for 30,000 rifle cavalry.

Luo Quan continued, “Of course, we also have many tasks. We need to lead the army to clear out the grassland around Raozhou and, by the way, establish the Raozhou Protectorate to govern the thousand-mile grassland west of Raozhou, so as to raise a large number of cattle and sheep for the country. The two of us will be specially engaged in herding on the grassland from now on.”

Qi Guangyi laughed when he heard this. He said, “Two generals, don’t joke. Then you two will be no different from the Production and Construction Corps.”

Niu Ben and Luo Quan looked at each other, and he said, “That’s exactly it. Military farming is also a fighting force.”