Chapter 51: The Despair of the Tartars! The Terror of Agunu!

Countless Tartars were struck with absolute terror.

To them, Ahachut was not just their king, but their very backbone.

Now, Ahachut was dead.

Their king was dead.

The impact of this could not be described as anything less than massive.

At this moment, the name Zhu Ying was also thoroughly etched into the hearts of every Tartar, filling them with dread.

"The Commander's divine might!"

"We swear to follow the Commander to the death!"

"Kill!"

As Zhu Ying struck down Ahachut, the thousands of soldiers behind him erupted in spirited cheers.

Such a feat was far more difficult than taking a general's head amidst ten thousand troops, yet Zhu Ying had achieved it.

He had led them in a charge into the Tartar clan's compound, led them to slay countless Tartars, and had personally executed their leader.

With such a victory, how could they not be exhilarated?

"Brothers!"

"Kill!"

Zhu Ying wasted no time; raising his blade once more, he let out a roar and charged.

Though the objective had been achieved, this place was still not somewhere they could linger.

They had to withdraw quickly.

"We swear to follow the Commander to the death!"

"Kill!"

The soldiers shouted in unison, continuing to charge alongside Zhu Ying.

They tore through the Tartar compound, leaving a trail of carnage that resembled a purgatory of blood.

They did not merely kill.

Many soldiers carried torches, rapidly setting fire to the Tartar tents and tossing flames everywhere.

When dealing with enemies, one must be cruel to the very end, destroying everything they possessed. Only in this way would they never dare to invade the Great Ming again.

When facing enemies, one must treat them with blood and brutality; if you kill them until they are terrified, they will not dare return.

To try and reform them with benevolence or morality would be nothing short of a joke.

When facing a murderous executioner, would you try to reform him? Would you see if he could be moved by your kindness?

In the depths of Zhu Ying's heart, the Han people were supreme, and those who invaded were to be met with death. Zhu Ying knew history well, and more importantly, he knew the suffering of the Han people in history—how many of his people would die under the slaughter of foreign tribes.

Since he had arrived in this era, Zhu Ying was determined to change it.

After all, as the eras changed in the future, Zhu Ying could attain immortality.

When that day truly arrived, with Zhu Ying present, none of this would ever happen.

This was the confidence in Zhu Ying's heart, rooted in his understanding of history.

...

Under the cover of night, time passed quickly.

Zhu Ying's surprise raid on the camp did not occur in the dead of night, but rather around the hour of dawn.

The next day!

The sun began to rise.

It was currently early autumn, and by dawn, a chilling wind was already blowing across the northern frontier.

By this time, the Tartar compound had undergone a catastrophic transformation.

"Dalang, get up, ah..."

"My child!"

"Damned Ming people, you deserve to die!"

"Husband..."

Wailing and lamentations echoed throughout the entire compound.

It was a scene of utter devastation.

What was once the most prosperous tribe of the Jianzhou Tartars was now a chaotic mess.

Corpses were everywhere, and blood stained the ground in every direction.

Tents had been trampled and destroyed, and bodies lay charred to a crisp alongside tents burned to ash. Even though some time had passed since the battle, fires still flickered everywhere.

Following this battle, more than half of the Tartar compound had been destroyed, and the Tartar casualties were heavy.

Due to the injuries from being trampled by warhorses, even those still alive would not last long.

Then there were the blades of the Ming soldiers.

Their blades had not been cleaned; the Ming soldiers who had survived such a long battle carried the lives of many enemies upon them. To use modern terms, their blades were "tetanus blades!"

Those who had been struck by a Ming soldier and were lucky enough not to die on the spot would likely perish from infection.

At this moment, the entire Tartar compound was occupied with saving people and clearing the wreckage.

As for the location of Ahachut's headless corpse, the few surviving Tartar soldiers had all knelt before it, weeping uncontrollably.

After a period of time, the sound of approaching footsteps swept toward them.

Hearing these footsteps, panic surfaced in the eyes of many Tartars, fearing that the Ming army was attacking once again.

But upon seeing clearly, they breathed a sigh of relief.

It was Agunu leading his troops back for reinforcement.

When he saw the current state of the compound, Agunu froze.

The many Tartar generals and personal guards behind him were also stunned.

The fences outside the compound had almost all been breached, the watchtowers were mostly ruined, corpses were scattered everywhere, bloodstains were omnipresent, fires still burned, and the sounds of wailing and crying echoed through the entire compound.

"How could this happen?"

"How could those damned Ming troops attack our compound?"

"Weren't they near the Red Flag tribe?"

Looking at the devastation, Agunu's eyes turned bloodshot, filled with infinite rage.

He felt like a clown, toyed with by Zhu Ying without even realizing it. He held almost the entire main force of the tribe in his hands, and he had foolishly set a trap to lure Zhu Ying into a pocket, but the irony was that he had been completely played.

Zhu Ying had intentionally lingered around the Red Flag tribe, making it appear as though he intended to continue raiding those tribes, all to draw their attention away so he could strike their compound instead.

"Chieftain."

"The Chieftain will be fine."

Coming back to his senses, a look of worry appeared on Agunu's face.

But in the next moment, a Tartar centurion, covered in blood, ran out from the compound.

"General Agunu!"

"It's bad!"

"The Chieftain... the Chieftain... he was... he was beheaded by the Ming general Zhu Ying!"

The centurion wept uncontrollably, wailing loudly.

As soon as these words fell, Agunu's expression changed drastically. He lunged off his horse, rushed to the centurion, grabbed him, and roared, "What did you say? Say it again!"

"The Chieftain... the Chieftain was beheaded by Zhu Ying!"

"The personal guards protecting the Chieftain were almost all slaughtered by the Ming army; fewer than five hundred survived!"

The centurion knelt on the ground, reporting in utter terror.

Hearing this again, Agunu stumbled backward, his face filled with horror, despair, and grief.

"Where... where is the Chieftain?" Agunu asked with a trembling voice.

"Inside the compound," the centurion replied, his voice also shaking.

Agunu immediately stumbled toward the compound.

"Have the men save the wounded! Quickly!" a deputy general shouted.

He then rushed into the compound, and the many Tartar generals behind him did not dare hesitate, dismounting and following Agunu in haste.

When they reached the site of the main chieftain's tent, the area had been completely leveled. Corpses were scattered everywhere, charred bodies lay amidst piles of ash.

Hundreds of lucky surviving Tartar soldiers were kneeling before a headless corpse, wailing and crying.

Sorrow shrouded the entire Jianzhou Tartar compound.

When Agunu arrived and saw that headless corpse, terror washed over his face...