Chapter 25: The Rampant Karluks

"Chief!"
"Chief!"
"Chief Aslan!"

When Aslan walked into the courtyard, the many Karluk men inside hurried out to greet him, shouting in salute.

"Hahahaha! Gentlemen, no need for such formalities. Everyone, go inside and sit!"

Aslan threw open his wolf-fur coat with both hands, his chest half-bare, and walked into the house with a hearty laugh. He sat down naturally on the stool in the center, and only then did the other Karluk leaders slowly take their seats.

"Guliya, you look a bit disheveled."

Aslan first looked at a man in his forties. He was lean and short, with a half-shaven head and small braids hanging by his temples. He was the chief of a small Karluk tribe with only three hundred people, forced to rely on Aslan’s tribe for survival.

Guliya stood up from his stool, looking somewhat annoyed. "Please forgive my lack of decorum, Chief Aslan. My scouts reported that several Han Chinese riders were spotted to the south. I led men to pursue them and have only just returned."

Upon hearing this, Aslan grew interested. "Oh? Did you catch them?"

"No, they got away!" Guliya shook his head. "Once these Han people are on horseback, they are more cunning than foxes and faster than rabbits."

Aslan didn't mind; instead, he laughed. "Hahaha! No fox is too cunning for a hunter's trap, and no rabbit is faster than the arrows of our Karluk people. It doesn't matter. They were only a few scouts. Let them go; let them tell the other Han people about the situation at Sanhe Fort. There is a saying among the Han: 'Those who submit shall flourish, and those who resist shall perish.' I want to tell every Han that anyone who does not submit to me will meet the same fate as those at Sanhe Fort."

With those words, Guliya felt relieved and nodded in agreement. The other leaders in the room chimed in with laughter.

"Exactly! 'Those who submit shall flourish, and those who resist shall perish!'"

"Those Han had better be sensible and surrender early so we can rise up together against the tyrannical rule of the Khitan."

"I actually hope those Han show some backbone; that way, we’ll have more Han women to enjoy."

"Hahaha! I must say, Han women are truly beautiful."

The room was filled with wild, lewd laughter. These men were a mix of leaders from Aslan’s own tribe and other Karluk tribes. Much like the "Nine Forts and Eighteen Villages" of the Han, the Karluks in Jinzhou were divided into many tribes. Aslan’s tribe was one of the most powerful among them. After the Battle of Beishan, the Karluks had decided to split into three forces to conquer the entirety of Jinzhou. Aslan had led five allied smaller tribes to capture Sanhe Fort with lightning speed.

"How are the Chibi and Muman tribes faring?"

After the joking, Aslan did not forget the other two major Karluk tribes. The Karluks in Jinzhou were primarily dominated by these three, with the smaller tribes acting as vassals.

"The Chibi tribe is making smooth progress; they have already subdued two Wugusi tribes."

"The Muman tribe is not doing so well; they are still bogged down attacking a Han village called Wuya Stockade."

Hearing the report, Aslan sneered at the Muman tribe. "Hmph, useless. If they can’t even take a mere Han village, does that fellow Chipu Tegin really think he can compete with me for the position of Yabgu? What a joke!"

The infighting among the major Karluk tribes was fierce. Disputes over pastures, women, or slaves could spark conflict at any time. Although the rebellion had temporarily united the three major tribes, there could only be one Yabgu—the Karluk Khan. Everyone wanted to suppress the others to claim the title.

After mocking the Muman tribe, Aslan’s expression turned serious. "The Chibi tribe, however, is a problem."

While Aslan and the Muman tribe had chosen to move south to conquer Han villages, the Chibi tribe was moving north to subdue other powers. Jinzhou was home to many nomadic tribes besides the Han and the Karluks, including the Wugusi, the Zhelan, and the Gulu. Individually, these tribes were not strong, but if the Chibi tribe absorbed them all, their power would exceed that of Aslan’s and the Muman’s, shattering Aslan’s dreams of becoming Yabgu.

"Chief Aslan, the best course of action is to move south and conquer the Han villages as quickly as possible," Guliya said, his voice low. "The population of the northern Wugusi tribes is limited. As long as we bring the Han under our control, our strength will far surpass the Chibi tribe."

There were over twenty thousand Han in Jinzhou, far more than any other nomadic group. If they could subjugate these people and draft the able-bodied men into their army, the Karluks would have the strength to fight the Khitan again.

"Yes, Guliya, you are right," Aslan said fiercely. "Once we take these Han, our military strength will dwarf the Chibi. Once we defeat the Eastern Capital's forces and finish off those two idiots, Jinzhou will be entirely ours. I will rebuild the Karluk Khanate and become the Yabgu. And you all will be the highest-ranking nobles in the land."

Aslan’s demeanor grew fanatical, his tone becoming increasingly agitated. Rebuilding the Khanate and becoming Yabgu was the dream of every Karluk leader, and now, Aslan saw the possibility of achieving this great goal. The other leaders grew equally fervent, cheering wildly as if expecting that day to arrive soon.

Once the room calmed down, Aslan issued his order. "We must pick up the pace. I have decided that we will march south tomorrow morning to attack the Han's Hedong Fort."

The leaders cheered, their faces bright with excitement. "A wise decision, Chief!"

The Battle of Beishan had thoroughly bolstered the confidence of the Karluks. In their eyes, neither the Khitan nor the Han were worth fearing. The easy capture of Sanhe Fort, with minimal casualties, had convinced them that the Han were weak. They were eager to storm the next village, seize their livestock, and plunder their wives and daughters.

"Chief, we could use the same tactics against Hedong Fort that we used on Sanhe," one leader suggested. Another nodded in agreement. "Those Han captives are more useful than we imagined! Who knows the Han better than the Han themselves? They would never suspect that the most lethal blade would come from their own people."

The Karluks laughed heartily. During the Battle of Beishan, Aslan had captured a group of Han. Some had quickly chosen to surrender, and Aslan had sent them back as "remnant soldiers" to win the sympathy of Sanhe Fort. Once inside, they had turned on their own people, helping Aslan take the fort with minimal effort. They intended to repeat this for Hedong Fort.

Meanwhile, in a cellar next to the room, a young girl listened to the discussion. Her face filled with fury and hatred, she bit her lip and whispered, "Wu Dayong..."

As the Karluks said, Sanhe Fort should never have fallen. The people there had kindly accepted a group of fleeing soldiers, never imagining that these men were ambitious traitors who had defected to the Karluks. The tragedy of Sanhe Fort was entirely the fault of these turncoats. Often, the traitors were even more hateful than the Karluks themselves.

The girl could not remember all the names of the traitors, but she knew the ringleader: Wu Dayong of Qianhe Village.

"Wu Dayong, if I can make it out of here alive, I will slaughter your entire family!" the girl hissed through gritted teeth, tears streaming down her face. Her grandfather, mother, and family had all died because of men like him. This was a blood feud that could not be reconciled. She wished she could slice those traitors into a thousand pieces and send them to the grave with her family.

She desperately wanted to warn Hedong Fort to be careful of traitors so they would not follow in Sanhe Fort's footsteps. But it was nothing more than a wish. She couldn't even leave the cellar and had to hide constantly from the Karluks. Even if she remained undetected, she would not last long without food or water.

"Father, Mother, please protect my brother, keep him alive, and pray that we can make it out of here," she murmured, looking through a ventilation hole at the overcast sky.