Free Web NovelChapter 2128: Chapter 1551: Such a Massive Fortress—Is This Really Your Village?!
"Great Divine Spirit! Such a large fortress? Is this really your village?"
"Yes, indeed! I’ve lived in this village since I was born, for over twenty years. This is definitely my village, it’s the village of our Du’erbi Tribe!"
"I mean, is this a village you guys built?"
"Ancestor witnessed! I have no idea who built it, but it wasn’t me, nor was it built by Amma. Maybe it was made by my Grandpa Mafa whom I haven’t met? But the solid rammed earth and stone bricks of this village, if Grandpa built it, it seems rather impossible?..."
"...?"
Three days had passed since the ambush and capture. The Kingdom’s troop of one hundred fifty men captured thirty-three strong men of the Du’erbi Tribe, only killing one, yet a total of seven or eight were injured, and were well bandaged by the Kingdom’s Warriors. In addition, the Kingdom obtained seven skinny horses, which couldn’t be ridden yet and needed to be raised along the way.
Maha Agudah had eaten a meal of dog meat and two meals of horse meat, and in anger took out the whip to lash Maha Wushu again. This Great Chief’s authority grew day by day, and with the divine blessing of the Kingdom Priest. Wushu didn’t dare to run this time and had to obediently accept his fate.
And after that solo challenge, the Du’erbi Tribe’s Chieftain Wudou Wen was downcast and became Agudah’s horse handler. Although he wasn’t very bright, his strength was unmistakable, and he adhered to his bet, leading the horse as promised. Agudah trusted him, and seeing his robust physique, asked Zuwaro for a set of Iron Armor Iron Weapons, and granted it to him, thus winning over this Warrior Chieftain’s heart.
The annexation of the Shengshu Jurchen Tribes was pragmatically simple. Everything revered strength, survival was paramount. When a Great Tribe annexed a smaller tribe, as long as there was food and drink, they would contribute effort in war, and the integration was swift. Wudou Wen buried the fallen members of his tribe carelessly, lacking much sadness, and turned to continue leading Agudah’s horse.
Their next target was the "village" of the Du’erbi Tribe. According to Wudou Wen, that village lay along the river, heading west, reachable in three or four days.
August marked the end of the rainy season, with drizzle intermittently pouring down, leaving everyone thoroughly soaked, and the horses not moving well. Niuman River was swollen, rushing westward like a silver dragon winding through the vast Black Water Forest Sea. It originated from Xing’an Ridge, with the valleys of Xing’an’s mountains to the east, connecting with the Small Xing’an Ridge’s branches to the south, and flowing westward into the middle reaches of the Heilongjiang, linking to the Nenjiang Plain.
In the vast Outer Northeast Forest, if the Heilongjiang from southwest to northeast was the best route northward, then the Niuman River heading from northeast to southwest was a rare shortcut southward.
Where the continuous barrier of Xing’an Ridge opened a gap, and when Niuman River had just flowed out of the mountain range, it met another descending river in a valley, forming a significant place caught between two rivers. This critical point bordered by rivers happened to have a low hill nearby, becoming the key to controlling the upper reaches of the Niuman River... this was the destination for everyone’s advance.
The tribe camp of the Du’erbi Tribe lay atop this river-bound low hill. But as everyone paused to look, those earth walls of stone bricks, the watchtower stone forts, were large enough to house a thousand people, compared to the hundred tribespeople barefoot on those walls wrapped in hides... no matter how you looked, it couldn’t be the local tribe that built them!
"East Sea Chief Divine! A one-and-a-half-zhang high rammed earth wall, built on a ten-zhang high hill, with the four corners strengthened by bricks and stones? Behind the wall are two lookout archery turrets?... There should be one at each corner, but half has collapsed... Further back, those exposed wide houses should be barracks or warehouses? There should be more, the rest might have collapsed... Chief Divine witnessed! This is no Shengshu Jurchen village, this is definitely a Ming Dynasty Guard Station Mountain Castle!"
Chief of Harman Ali was excited, gazing up at the Guard Station Fortress on the low hill with a sense of nostalgic familiarity. He muttered, first gazing at the surrounding minor mountains, indeed spotting two damaged brick stone remnants, surely corresponding lookout posts and watchtowers, though now collapsed. Then he hurried forward, reaching the foot of the low hill, once again discovering the smoothed ditch outlines by time, alongside the lush millet fields. Afterwards, he searched thoroughly, but failed to find any stone tablet bearing the Guard Station’s name, thus containing his excitement, and turned to ask the "Bear" Chieftain Wudou Wen.
"Wudou Wen! This must be Turuting Mountain Guard, right?! The Guard building a fortress on the Niuman River, there’s only Turuting Mountain Guard! Your ancestors were Commander of Turuting Mountain Guard? Or Deputy Commander of Turuting Mountain Guard?..."
"Ha? Turuting Mountain Guard? Commander? What’s that?..."
"That’s the official of Ming Dynasty!"
"The Southern legend’s Ming Dynasty? I’ve heard about the Ming Great Tribe, but never seen it. Seems far away... what is an ’official’?..."
Wudou Wen looked confused, listening in confusion, his head aching. Seeing the pointed expression of his counterpart, Ali helplessly tugged at his short hair, and asked again.
"Wudou Wen, do you recognize words?"
"Words? What are words?..."
"...Is there a Mafa in your village aged fifty or sixty?"
"A fifty or sixty-year-old old fellow? No! How could anyone live that long?... The oldest in the village is a lame old man, seemingly around forty years old, probably about to die... but he only knows how to grow barnyard grass and dig wild vegetables, never mentioned any Ming Dynasty or Guard Station... Why do you ask about this?..."
"..."
Ali was speechless, a sense of desolation arose in his heart, his emotions calming down. He silently gazed at the Empire’s former Guard Station ruins, reflecting on the journey through the forest sea, sighed quietly.
"Oh Chief Divine! The Du’erbi River Guard, Turuting Mountain Guard... all these Xing’an Ridge Guards established by Emperor Yongle have completely vanished now!..."
"Screech! Screech!~~"
A mountain eagle flew across the vast Northeast Forest, overlooking the endless expanse. It seldom saw so many two-legged beasts gathered in the northern forest, instinctively sensing danger, it soared even higher. From its high-altitude perspective, the eastern Xing’an Mountains, the extending Niuman River, the sparsely treed western mountain land, and the faintly appearing Nenjiang Prairie together sketched a grand and vast landscape of thousands of miles!
Only from this height can one understand the strategic value of this critical area, located at a significant elevation and locking the Niuman River!
When the Empire completely controls the vast lower Heilongjiang River and the Xing’an Ridge mountain range, it can use this critical mountain area to overlook the western middle reaches of the Heilongjiang River and the Nenjiang Plain where the Mongolian tribes reside. If the Empire has enough strength to control the entire expansive Heilongjiang River, it could make the Niuman River a shortcut connecting east and west. But if the Empire pulls back from the lower reaches of Heilongjiang, maintaining this distant Guard Station on the remnants of Xing’an Ridge would be of no use, only a waste of money and grain...
At this moment, Ali beneath the low mountain Guard Station didn’t know this. But he was well aware that the Du’erbi River Guard and Turuting Mountain Guard hadn’t appeared in the southward tribute mission for many years. And with the shock of the wild men’s southward advance, the other Guards in the Northern Land could barely manage themselves, all considering moving south. After all, even the Empire had retreated, so who would care about the survival of this remote place?
"Ah, the Yongle Period..."
Ali remained silent for a long time, letting out a profound sigh. But soon, he shook violently, realizing something.
"No, that’s not right! Du’erbi River Guard? ...Du’erbi Tribe?..."
"Great Divine Spirit! This is really a treacherous village, it’s evidently hard to attack!"
On the other side, Maha Agudah frowned, standing shoulder to shoulder with Zuwaro, gazing at the camp high on the mountain with a solemn expression. This Mountain Fortress Guard left by the Ming Dynasty appeared dilapidated, with collapsed areas and mottled earthen walls. But with this terrain and the height of these earthen walls, it completely exceeded the overlooked attack capabilities of the Jurchen tribes of the forest!
Currently, on these earthen walls, just a rough look, there were at least eighty to a hundred tense and uneasy tribespeople. Even if there were only thirty archery-capable strong men, and the rest were teenagers and stout women only throwing stones... truly attacking by climbing would likely deplete the hundred and fifty elite warriors brought this time, and might still not succeed in taking it! This Southern Great Ming’s left fortress, whether in terms of location or the solidity of its construction, really left nothing to be desired!
"Wudou Wen, you are the chieftain of the Du’erbi Tribe, go and call your village to open the gate!... Wudou Wen? You dumb bear, didn’t you hear?!"
"Me?... Make me shout at the gate?..."
"You are the chieftain, of course it’s you! ...Does your broken and penniless village really have anything worth us wanting? Go quickly!..."
"Wudou Wen, why hesitate? Since you’ve followed me, you are one of us, I will never harm you! ...Quickly open the gate! Let the people and horses into the village for a good rest for two days! Also, let your few injured strong men lie down quickly and heal..."
"This? Master, the village is poor... so many people going in, it can’t afford to feed them..."
"Great Divine Spirit! You idiot bear!... We’ve brought food, we won’t eat the village’s, and we’ll give you some! We’ve brought salt ourselves, and we can give your village two bags!..."
"Ah? Not eating the village’s, and still giving salt?"
Wudou Wen stared blankly, tilting his head in suspicion as he looked at Maha Agudah. His foolish, greedy bear-like expression nearly made Agudah laugh. Zuwaro also shook his head with a smile, instructing Hu Nu.
"Throw him a bag of salt! Yes! Let him carry it himself; after all, he’s strong!..."
"Ah! It’s really salt? Hmm! Why is this salt white and not gray? Ah! So salty, not bitter at all?!..."
Wudou Wen cradled the salt bag, dipped his head in to lick it, screamed from the saltiness, yet didn’t want to spit it out. His eyes finally brightened, holding the hundred-pound salt bag, he rushed to the village in front of the low mountain, shouting to the tribe’s people on the earthen walls.
"Open the gate! Quickly open the gate! Your chieftain has returned from hunting, bringing salt and food!"
"Yes! The armored leader below is not an enemy!... He is... he is my Master... and also your Great Chief!..."
Upon hearing such a shout, the scantily clad, sallow-skinned Jurchen tribe hesitated for a moment, glanced at each other, and slowly put down their rough wooden bows and arrows, laid down their chaotic bone knives and stone hammers. Then, amid a chaotic argument and Wudou Wen’s bear-like roars, the heavy wooden gate of the village finally creaked open. Subsequently, over a hundred Kingdom’s Warriors and Jurchen Cavalry impatiently filed in. This Guard Station Mountain Fortress which had stood unassailable on the low mountain for a hundred years finally fell into the Kingdom’s control!
