Batu (Mongolian: strong) looked at the mutilated corpse of Baiyin (Mongolian: rich) lying on the ground and wanted to cry without tears, surrounded by a cloud of ashes and desolation. The surviving people wept and searched the ruins, hoping to find the bodies of their loved ones, or something useful.

More than three months have passed since the Naadam Conference. Naadam, who brought joy to the grasslands in previous years, has brought disaster this year. At this time in previous years, young people would happily return from Han land with their harvest of gold, silver, grain, and slaves, and spend the winter in large groups. And this year, the Great Khan and the princes fought for the position of the Great Khan, and the Korqin steppe was full of the smoke of the Mongol cannibalism.

Batu's tribe was assigned to graze cattle in the northern part of the Korqin steppe. Batu has always been proud of his decision to join the Great Khan when he was young. It was precisely because of his decisive defection to the Great Khan that his tribe was assigned to graze in the meadows with fertile water and grass. And because the number of cattle and sheep increased, there was more food, and there were more cubs, the tribe became better and better. Who would have thought that the prince of Mobei and the Great Khan would compete for the throne, and their own tribe would bear the brunt and suffer from it.

Since last year, the hateful Jurchens have taken refuge in the Han people in the south and extended their butcher knives to Horqin. They are still very shameless, and they don't dare to fight against each other openly, so they will sneak attack from behind and steal chickens and dogs. First the Nen Horqin tribe, and later many Mongolian tribes on the side of the mountains were accidentally plotted and disappeared without a trace.

Because of this, the tribes directly under the Great Khan were greatly reduced, and the princes in the north also saw the hope of competing for the Khan's throne. The Naadam Conference was originally a meeting for the Mongols to celebrate the fat of cattle and sheep and prepare to go to the south to harvest the Han Chinese. The prince of Mobei took the opportunity to make trouble and fought with the Great Khan. Of course, they were no match for the Great Khan, and they were beaten back to Mobei. Unexpectedly, these bastards would make a comeback, gather people, and attack the royal court.

Batu didn't understand why the prince of Mobei was fighting with the Great Khan for the throne, and why the Mongols were killing each other, but Batu and his tribe were deeply favored by the Great Khan, and now was the time to repay. Batu organized the young man and followed the prince to crusade against those bastard princes. If it weren't for his old age, he would have gone on the expedition, and the forty-somethings on the grassland are considered very old, right?

At this time, the Jurchens were restless again, crossed the mountains, rushed to the grassland, burned and looted, and restrained a lot of the power of the royal court. I don't know if it was the collusion between the bastard princes and the Jurchens in Mobei, and they took the opportunity to attack from the north, and the royal court army was defeated and retreated, and Batu and his tribe had to pack up their belongings and go south to the royal court to "turn in".

The royal court placed Batu's tribe in the northeastern part of the royal court and rewarded the tribe with some cloth. The prince is magnanimous, and he also used real money to buy some cattle and sheep from the tribe. But what is the use of cloth? Batu: They are short of food!

Arranged next to Batu was his old friend Bai Yin, who was also Batu's cousin. The two were bare-chested brothers since childhood, and they separated when they grew up, and their relationship is very good. The two tribes also often corresponded with each other and exchanged news. Stationed there, the two brothers had nothing to do, so they drank together. Mare's milk wine is like water, but if you drink too much, you will get drunk. Wine! Water! Drink!

One day, Bai Yin said to Batu with a big tongue that the Xibei tribe in the east had approached him, and said that he could find them when he was desperate. Bai Yin also said that the people of the Xibei tribe also helped him calculate the accounts, and every year the cattle and sheep of his tribe were just enough to eat for himself, and he would only be rich when he went to Han to do business; Now the young people went out on the expedition and took with them most of the grain for cattle and sheep, and the rest was not enough for the winter. If the war continues, everyone will have to starve, and then the old people will have to be abandoned, and those over forty years old will have to fend for themselves!

Batu originally only talked nonsense as Baiyin, but he didn't expect that Changshengtian still failed to bless Batu, and now it is about to enter winter, and the war has not yet ended, and the royal court has not allocated materials for winter, so it doesn't even mean anything. Both sides accused each other of being unruly and carrying out sneak attacks. Batu's mind also came alive.

The day before yesterday, Batu and Bai Yin were drinking, and they drank until the moon rose overhead. Most of the people slept, but the two of them weren't very drunk. Suddenly, the two of them were stunned, and their bodies felt a slight tremor from the ground. The tremor turned into a vibration, getting stronger and closer. Enemy attack!

In this case, everyone can get on their horses and run. Unfortunately, all those left in the tribe are old and weak, women and children. In the hearts of the old ladies (women: women, old ladies: married women, old ladies: a group of married women), home comes first, even if they flee, they have to take their things away, and they don't care whether the situation is critical or not, they are all packing up their things indiscriminately.

There was no way, Bai Yin asked Batu to take the cubs to run first, and cut off himself. The reason is very simple, I am an older brother, you are a younger brother, I am old, I can no longer be a woman and a cub, you just gave birth to one this year, and you can still do it, so you must live. Batu didn't say much, but shouted loudly, and let people run after him, and Bai Yin took a few old fellows who had volunteered to stay, picked up a manure shovel, a pitchfork, or a stick, and went up in the direction from which the enemy came.

Batu ran more than three miles before he dared to look back, and the camp was already on fire, and the screams, cries, and clamours could still be faintly heard. There were forty or fifty people who ran out with Batu, all of them little cubs, young girls, and some "old people" who were about the same age as themselves, and the older ones had already followed Bai Yin to resist. A force of cavalry had already passed through the camp and rushed towards him, but Batu did not dare to stay any longer, and beckoned the men to continue fleeing.

I don't know how long I fled, but the pursuers did not continue to chase and retreated. Batu could swear to Changshengtian, he clearly heard that the pursuers were all speaking Mongolian, they must be those bastards in Mobei! (Mobei Sanbu cried and fainted: With our intelligence, can we think of such a tall and most powerful way to fight as a long-distance attack?) The strength and direction of the attack are just right! Wronged! We are the pullers who carry the black pot for others! ）

For two days, Batu and the others did not dare to go back, so they wandered in the nearby wilderness like lonely ghosts. It wasn't until the old friend who had gone back to listen to the news came back to report that the enemy had withdrawn, and no one else had been seen for dozens of miles, that Batu dared to return to the camp with the group.

In the past two days, Batu's old cold legs have flares up again, and a heavy snowstorm is coming, and he must make a decision immediately, otherwise the rest of the people will be finished. Bai Yin said that the Xibei tribe was at the foot of the mountain to the east, and they would take in the tribes who had taken refuge, and Batu planned to take the rest of the two tribes to take refuge in the past. As for the young people who went to war, they don't care for the time being, it's important to keep these people now!

Having made up his mind, Batu immediately gathered everyone together and assigned the work. In the past two days, Batu has found some more lost people, and the remaining people of the two tribes are almost a hundred. Batu arranged the girls to find useful things and leftover food in the ruins, and a few old men took small cubs to collect scattered cattle and sheep around, and the rest started digging pits to bury the corpses.

At noon, everyone ate something indiscriminately and set off towards the east. There was no Lele cart, no yurt, a pitiful little luggage behind the horses, and dozens of cattle and sheep that were recovered, and the team was particularly desolate......

Such stories continue to appear in the Horqin grassland. In order to survive, more and more crippled tribes went all the way east, to the foot of the Great Khing'an Mountains, and took refuge in the Xibei tribe, which remained "neutral" in the war. At the foot of the mountain, tens of thousands of troops are gradually gathered!

……

Many years later, Lao Batu couldn't walk anymore, and he liked to brag to his grandchildren the most: how he made a quick decision back then, and decisively took refuge in the Heavenly Khan, so that you can enjoy such a beautiful life now...... The old man has many grandchildren, Akagi Jiyasu, Akagi Jiko, Mitsui Nobita, Miyagi Shizuka......