Chapter 1 First Time Seeing Cavalry

Ye Tao saw tens of thousands of cavalry lined up in front of him for the first time. He felt that he would never forget this magnificent moment. Standing on a slightly higher hillside and looking down, it seemed that all he could see were soldiers, neighing warhorses, and various weapons standing like forests. It was as if the entire earth was covered with cheering warriors, as if their cheers could coalesce into substance.

From the hill where he stood to another rise in the distance, there was a wide passage in the middle of the crowd. In this passage, Dai Yun galloped past, holding her sword high and shouting different phrases to the warriors of each tribe. Her voice was immediately drowned out by the loud responses of the warriors. Behind Dai Yun, a line of Tie Yun (Iron Cloud) cavalry and a line of Xue Qi (Blood Kirin) army cavalry held up various flags. Some of these flags represented the current commander-in-chief Dai Yun, some represented Yunzhou, some represented Dongping, and some represented the Xue Qi army. Behind the soldiers were the bravest warriors from each tribe, holding up their own tribe's flags. They too received the cheers of the warriors.

And this was a simple mobilization ceremony. Tens of thousands of cavalry could not stay in one place for a long time. It was impossible from the perspective of logistics and daily consumption, and it was also quite difficult to maintain discipline and stability. After the mobilization ceremony, the soldiers would return to their respective tribal camps, scattered across the entire Benlang (Running Wolf) Plain. Perhaps a small number of elite warriors from some tribes would stay for an extra day under the leadership of their tribal leaders and elders to engage in some unique games and competitions on the grassland, to strengthen friendships or to resolve irreconcilable conflicts between each other.

After all, the grassland coalition was thus formed. This also relieved Ye Tao a great deal. Somewhat unexpectedly, when electing the commander of the coalition, Goran, the leader of the most powerful Soro tribe, gave up the command and instead sent his son Anluo to command his tribe's warriors. He nominated Dai Yun as the commander of the coalition, which won the support of most of the tribal leaders.

"Lord Ye..." Just as Ye Tao was admiring the magnificent momentum of the mobilization ceremony, Goran quietly came behind Ye Tao and bowed to salute.

"Chief Goran, you are too polite." Ye Tao quickly helped him up, even though he knew very well that the old man's strength was not ordinary. Trying to stop him from saluting with his own strength was absolutely impossible.

"The tribal coalition gathered by Ke'erka is still two days away from here." Goran calmly told Ye Tao the news. "The cavalry of the Xiapu tribe brought us this news. Military Supervisor Dai is greeting everyone, so I came to tell you the news first."

"Two days." Ye Tao pondered for a moment and said, "If there is only a life-and-death situation, I wonder how many of these excellent warriors will still be alive two days, three days, twenty days, or thirty days from now."

Goran's wrinkled face revealed a heroic smile: "For the seeds of your Lordship's benevolence to grow on the grassland, they need to be irrigated with blood."

Ye Tao said with a wry smile, "Where do I have any seeds of benevolence?"

Goran said firmly: "No, Your Lordship, you do. As long as those conditions you proposed... no, saying conditions is not good, it should be said that the strategies can be implemented, the tribes on the grassland can benefit greatly. What are these brave lads willing to risk their lives for? Isn't it for their families, for the people in their tribe to live better lives? We can't reason with Ke'erka and his gang of bastards now, but in a few years, when they see our lives again, they will regret not joining Your Lordship's command sooner. At that time, will they still want to fight? Come on, we are no longer afraid of them. Just being able to have enough salt and tea, how many fewer people will die in our tribes every year?"

Ye Tao responded slowly but equally firmly: "I will definitely do everything I can to ensure that these policies are implemented. Whether it is for the tribes or for Dongping, I believe that at least some of the measures will have a good effect. As for those things that everyone has not thought of, I hope everyone can work together to slowly improve them. In my opinion, war is not the best way to solve problems."

Goran nodded and asked: "Your Lordship, I heard Dai Yun say that the Xue Qi army was established by you. Why are you unwilling to lead the army to fight? You must also be a great general."

Ye Tao shook his head and said: "The Xue Qi army was not established by any one person. Everyone in the Xue Qi army is part of the Xue Qi army. Besides, even if I established it, it doesn't prove that I am a good general. The women in your tribe will help the ewes give birth to lambs, and will keep the lambs in tents to avoid wind and snow, but when the lambs grow up, they still have to be put into the flock."

Goran nodded understandingly and said: "It doesn't matter, you have Dai Yun. She is very powerful."

Ye Tao chuckled and praised: "I never thought that a girl... well, I'm used to calling her that, Dai Yun is a little older than me... I never thought that a girl could be so authoritative. Moreover, it seems that Dai Yun knows a lot of people on the grassland."

"What is this place? Even in the north," Goran pointed in the direction where the Ke'erka tribe was about to arrive, "Dai Yun knows a lot of people there too. When she was a child, she traveled all over the grassland. She has been to places that many tribal warriors dare not go to, climbed snow-capped mountains, and been to the extremely northern, said to be very beautiful and very cold sea. I don't know how many tribal warriors love her, but they think they are not worthy of her. Although Dai Yun is a Han Chinese, although she is a girl, she is undoubtedly the pride of the entire grassland. To put it bluntly, even if we are defeated, that bastard fat man from the Ke'erka tribe dares to kill us all, but he can only let Dai Yun go. Otherwise, someone might stab him in the back with a black knife at any time."

Ye Tao smiled dumbly and said, "So Dai Yun is so powerful, no wonder she has tamed those纨绔子弟(wan ku zi di, good-for-nothing playboys) in the Xue Qi army so well."

Goran said as if with a little heartache: "I have a daughter, about the same age as Dai Yun, and now she is the mother of three children. Dai Yun is so powerful, I don't know who dares to marry her. This time, it is the wish of everyone that she command the entire army, but it makes it even more difficult for her to marry."

Ye Tao moved his shoulders uncomfortably. He felt that Goran's eyes were looking at him with some scrutiny when he said this.

Goran did not continue this topic. He smiled and said: "Your Lordship, when the Yunzhou affairs are over, I hope you will allow me to go to Dongping and Danyang. I will entrust the tribe to my son Anluo, and I will only take a few of my retainers with me, is that okay?"

Ye Tao asked strangely: "Why not? You are a distinguished guest and our friend. At that time, my wife and I will entertain you well in Danyang."

Goran was a little surprised: "Aren't you staying in Yunzhou? You brought the Xue Qi army to Yunzhou, defeated Xiling, and are going to lead us to defeat Ke'erka's coalition. Shouldn't the imperial court hand Yunzhou over to you to manage?"

Ye Tao bared his teeth and said somewhat helplessly: "This... things are a bit complicated... By the way, what do you want to do in Danyang?"

Of course, Ye Tao couldn't explain to Goran how he came to Yunzhou and how he came to the Benlang Plain. The main reason was that he didn't take it for granted that he would be the victor and conqueror before the final battle. Even after the victory, he would not think so. Being able to return to Danyang peacefully was completely satisfying to him. Although he was attracted by the beautiful scenery and grand scenes of the grassland, and his heart was aroused by the deep-seated fanaticism and barbarism of warhorses and weapons, in the final analysis, he was still Ye Tao.

Goran sighed and said: "I want to see Dai Ye. That guy is old now too. When I was young, I fought with him and fought under him. It has been about ten years since he stopped leading the Tie Yun cavalry. I will go to him for a drink and ask him if he is interested in doing business with me."

"What business?" Ye Tao asked with a smile, "I also have some experience in doing business, and I have a good relationship with those big merchants and big chambers of commerce."

Goran chuckled and said: "Isn't it just horses, wool, and the like? Relying on those merchants who usually come here won't work. Those guys are too black-hearted. It's better to sell these things ourselves and then sell salt and tea back. I don't care if I make money or not. I just want to be able to walk around and see the world. I don't have Dai Yun's ability. If I go further north, I'm too old to withstand the cold. The south is warmer than here, so I should be able to get by."

Ye Tao laughed loudly and said: "Good. You might as well call on the people in each tribe who want to go out and see the world. There are merchants in the Central Plains, and there are actually quite a few merchants in the northwest. You guys are a little too honest. It's also good for everyone to pool money to do business. Remember to ask me to join in when the time comes."

Perhaps decades later, when Ye Tao thought of this moment, he would remember the casual agreement he made with Goran and the monopoly enterprise that gradually expanded later, but at this moment, this was just casual nonsense from two high-ranking people who had nothing to do.

After the mobilization ceremony, Dai Yun was also informed that Ke'erka's coalition was only two days away from Benlang Plain. As the commander-in-chief of the army, Dai Yun's composure impressed everyone. Although everyone trusted her and weighed the balance between the tribes, Yunzhou, and Dongping before letting her serve as commander, Dai Yun's outstanding performance quickly convinced everyone.

Although Dai Yun boosted the morale of the coalition, Dai Yun fully realized that compared with the northern tribal coalition, which was unified under the powerful Ke'erka tribe and had been working together for some time, the hastily formed Yunzhou tribal coalition still had a significant gap in combat effectiveness. In terms of horsemanship and archery, everyone was about the same. The quality of the horses was about the same. The coordination of the army was stronger for Ke'erka's coalition, while the Yunzhou coalition had the advantage in terms of weapons and equipment and understanding of the geographical environment... Moreover, the Yunzhou coalition had some advantages in terms of morale, supplies, and the upcoming reinforcements.

Therefore, Dai Yun, based on this series of advantages and disadvantages, formulated a plan to annihilate the enemy on the Benlang Plain.

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Sorry everyone, I was a little late coming back today because of some trouble. I will update one more chapter tomorrow to make up for it.