Chapter 203: The Ruler of the Great Grassland
< 203. The Ruler of the Great Grassland >
Bayatur was a warrior of a small tribe that settled in the western border of the Xiongnu.
His name, which meant “brave one” in Xiongnu, was not a simple name for a warrior.
He shared his name with the great warrior who unified the Central Plains under the Han Dynasty, defeated the 26 nations of the west, and led the Xiongnu to their golden age.
That was a name that every Xiongnu would respect with awe.
He did not receive this name because he was the heir of a powerful tribe.
It was just his parents’ wish that their child would grow up to be such a great person.
No one, not even Bayatur himself, ever thought that he would become the Grand Chanyu who would unify the Xiongnu.
His tribe was originally a weak force that barely survived by raiding in the west.
In the original history, Bayatur’s tribe could not overcome the famine and migrated to the east, where they fell out of favor with Houhan Chanyu.
Chanyu was the title of the leader of the Xiongnu, but since they were not unified, there were five Chanyus who fought each other endlessly.
If history had followed its course, Houhan would have subdued the other Chanyus and unified the Xiongnu.
But he failed to prevent the division of his power and became a vassal of Han to preserve his position.
Bayatur’s tribe was annihilated by Houhan in this process, and Bayatur, who was still young, died without showing his talent.
But Marcus changed the course of history by developing the Silk Road much more than in the original history. The influx of money from both the east and the west attracted many who wanted to take advantage of it.
At this time, the Silk Road was managed by Parthia, but it was not fully organized and there were many troubles.
Bayatur’s tribe decided to change their course to the west instead of going to the east where competition was fierce.
This decision turned out to be right.
Bayatur gained experience by raiding bandits who tried to attack the Silk Road in the west, and also by escorting merchants with Parthia’s money.
He heard that sugar and wine, which flowed into Han, came from a country called Rome, not Parthia.
‘What kind of country is Rome that makes such precious things?’
He also heard that Parthia, which used to be powerful, lost a war to Rome and lost its fertile land, becoming a minor country.
That was when Bayatur first became aware of Rome’s existence.
He wanted to know more about Rome when another war broke out between Rome and Parthia.
Parthia, which could not replenish its troops properly, hastily hired mercenaries with money.
They still had a lot of money coming from the Silk Road, so hiring mercenaries was not difficult.
Led by Parthia’s money, Scythian cavalry and Bayatur’s tribes also participated in large numbers in the war against Rome.
That war was like a revelation from God.
The Roman army he met for the first time on the battlefield was shocking and horrifying.
It was not even a war, but a brutal slaughter where he was trampled on mercilessly.
But for Bayatur, it was a valuable experience that he could not get even if he paid millions of gold.
“···Is this how Rome fights?”
What he had done until then was nothing but playing soldiers on horseback.
He felt that way because Rome’s military strength and tactics were impressive.
Especially the warrior who cut down Parthia’s soldiers like rotten straw aroused Bayatur’s fighting spirit greatly.
‘I want to fight him even if I die here!’
If his unit had not retreated, Bayatur would have drawn his scimitar and charged right away.
If Bayatur, who still lacked equipment and skills, had attacked Spartacus then, he would have died there.
But he survived and felt something changing inside him after that battle.
He found an ideal goal to pursue as a warrior and as a leader of his tribe.
He left Parthia’s army and returned to his tribe with a bow he miraculously obtained from Rome’s army in his hand.
“Give me the position of chief. I will unify the Xiongnu and become the Grand Chanyu.”
Bayatur, who had seen the vast world, felt a desire to turn the Xiongnu upside down from the roots.
He had to start from scratch.
He quickly made young warriors his followers and challenged the chief to a duel, killing him in one blow.
He smoothly took over the tribe and changed everything.
He changed the primitive stirrups that the Xiongnu used to the ones that Rome used.
And he kidnapped technicians from everywhere and started research, and finally succeeded in making a bow with similar performance to Rome’s bow.
This was nothing but luck.
But the lord of the world was decided by heaven.
This unexpected achievement was an opportunity to boost the confidence of Bayatur and his tribesmen.
“We don’t need weak Chanyus who look at Han’s face anymore. From now on, I will show you a new world.”
The Central Plains was no longer the center of the world.
The strongest and richest country in the world was not in the Central Plains either.
The impact of this recognition was enormous.
Bayatur attracted many tribes by presenting a new goal and dream for the Xiongnu.
Of course, this was possible because he had his own military and tactical skills to back him up.
He went through countless battles and became stronger without limit.
His growth did not stop until he reached a level comparable to Rome’s general who shook his world.
His tactics using archers also improved day by day.
He also tried to reproduce the sophisticated formation and organic movement that Rome showed.
Bayatur soon became a powerful force that no one could ignore in the Xiongnu.
The five Chanyus became his prey one by one.
Bayatur, who devoured the weakened Chanyus, subdued all the Chanyus except Houhan in less than three years.
Houhan, who felt threatened, planned to confront Bayatur with Han’s help.
But this backfired.
Bayatur, who obtained this information quickly, led his warriors and stormed into Houhan’s camp.
“It is absurd for Houhan, who abandoned the pride of the grassland and became a pig of Han, to claim himself as Chanyu. I will show no mercy to those who follow him as they are also Han’s dogs!”
Houhan’s soldiers could not dare to resist against Bayatur’s momentum, who came down with 120,000 cavalrymen.
To be honest, they could see that Houhan, who wanted to become Han’s vassal, and Bayatur, who wanted to build a powerful empire by unifying the Xiongnu, were not in the same league.
Soon, the tribes that followed Houhan fell into Bayatur’s hands one by one, and the Xiongnu were unified again after decades.
Bayatur cut off Houhan’s head and sent it to Han, showing clearly that he would not look at Han’s face anymore.
The unified power of the Huns was a literal emergency for Han, who knew it from experience.
An enormous number of troops began to gather at the border between Jangseong and the Huns.
But contrary to expectations, the Huns did not attack Han.
For Bayatur, the leader of the Huns, Han was nothing more than the second most appetizing prey in the world.
The place he wanted to get his hands on most was further west.
“Listen to me, all of you! I am Bayatur, the one and only great leader of the Huns. Until now, we have known that the center of all civilizations was that central plain.
But now it is time to turn our eyes to a wider place. To the west, there is a great nation that is more prosperous and has more food than that central plain.
I have personally faced their army and their swords when I was young. They are the true center of the current world and the real prey that we should devour. Let’s go west. A land of gold with unimaginable wealth awaits us!”
“Ooooh!”
“Let’s follow the great leader!”
The Hun army split into three large chunks and marched westward.
The journey was smooth.
No one could stand against the Hun cavalry, who were armed with new bows and saddles.
The small countries and tribes in the west were swept away like dust without any resistance.
Bayatur killed anyone who resisted, and spared only those who surrendered before fighting.
The people who lived in the middle ground between Rome and the Huns were pushed westward like dust swept by a broom.
The first ones to resist the Huns were the Scythians, who had settled in the north of Parthia.
But the Scythians, who were already in decline, could not stop the Huns, who had become much stronger than their heyday.
Bayatur continued to march his 100,000 cavalry westward and went south with the rest of his cavalry to face the Scythians.
Within a week, the tribal leaders of the Scythians knelt before Bayatur and bowed their heads.
Some tribes refused to be subjugated and went down to Rome’s territory, but reports came that they were all killed there.
Bayatur decided to take a break here and prepare for a while.
“Now that they have been pushed back by our strength, they will have to pay attention to our existence. First, let’s withdraw our troops from the front and accumulate enough food for our expedition.”
“I will obey your command, great leader.”
The successors of the four leaders who had become Bayatur’s confidants moved as ordered.
They thoroughly indoctrinated the tribes who surrendered to the Huns, and pulled back their troops far away to avoid the eyes of Roman scouts.
And they destroyed nearby small countries and collected food to prepare for the upcoming war.
The power under Bayatur was not only composed of Huns.
They had absorbed many nomadic peoples as they marched westward and continued to expand their power.
Finally, he reached the Volga River basin and succeeded in unifying all the nomads of the northern plains.
He performed a ritual dedicated to Tengri, the god of heaven, in front of all four leaders and hundreds of chiefs of the plains.
“I am Bayatur. Until now, I have been called the great leader of the Huns, but from now on I will be called Supreme Senior Warrior, who rules over all of the plains.”
From east to west, from Changshan Mountains to Volga River, a vast plain stretched endlessly.
It was indeed an unprecedented emergence of a huge power that conquered all of the plains.
Supreme Senior Warrior, who had gained enough power to cover the entire plain, did not become complacent and kept an ear out for Rome’s movements.
According to his investigation, Rome was ruled by three emperors.
The Huns divided them into North Emperor, East Emperor, and South Emperor according to their territories.
The most troublesome one was Marcus, the East Emperor.
Bayatur knew how powerful Marcus’ army was from his experience in Parthia war.
Moreover, he knew well that his territory was the richest land in Rome.
It was the most tempting land, but it would also be able to produce an enormous number of troops with such productivity.
It would not be easy to conquer it either.
Moreover, Marcus was the first one to be wary of Hun invasion and sent out reconnaissance teams.
Bayatur scrapped his original plan of pushing through here.
He was wondering how to do it when fortunately he heard news that North Emperor and South Emperor who had just succeeded the throne were at war.
Bayatur decided that it was time to start the war.
He replenished his food supply for the last time and attacked the western region of Han to deceive them.
The western region of Han, which was swept by tens of thousands of cavalry, was swept away like fallen leaves without any resistance.
The Huns took all the goods from the western region of Han and wiped out all the bandits and horse thieves around the Silk Road to secure their supply lines.
And they collected a small amount of toll from the passing merchants to reassure Rome.
Everything was ready.
Bayatur led his main force and began to march toward Germany.
At the same time, he ordered the tribal leaders of the Scythians who had fallen to his vassals to invade the area ruled by Marcus with their armies.
“Your goal is not to win, but to tie the East Emperor to his land. Avoid frontal battles and focus on distracting him. In addition, the leader of the Kaidu tribe will lead 20,000 cavalry for a special mission.”
If the 40,000 Scythian cavalry and the 20,000 special forces completed their mission smoothly, this plan would succeed.
The united army of nomads, which had gathered a thousand years earlier than the original history, finally began to march toward Rome.
The might of the cavalry that stretched endlessly on the plains was beyond words.
The sound of their galloping hooves was like thunder.
The ground shook and the sky seemed to hold its breath as they moved.
“We’ll see the river that Rome uses as a border in half a day. They’ll probably notice us before we cross it.”
Bayatur nodded slowly at his subordinate’s report.
He also knew the geography around him perfectly.
“It’s not easy to cross a large river with cavalry. Unless they’re blind and don’t watch it.”
“Yes. There are a few places where the river is not very wide, but there are enemy sentries there.”
“The problem is after crossing the river. The Germanic region has a lot of forests, which is not a good terrain for cavalry to run freely. If we waste time here, we’ll only suffer more losses.”
“Then we have to break through quickly.”
“Yes. So I’ll say it again. Don’t accept any surrender. Kill everyone you see and move forward as fast as you can.”
“We obey the command of Supreme Senior Warrior!”
All the tribal leaders bowed their heads and shouted loudly at Bayatur’s order.
A satisfied smile hung on Bayatur’s lips as he looked at his subordinates who flashed their eyes with killing intent.
He slowly aimed his round sword at the Germanic land that was visible in the distance.
This sword tip would bring down Tengri’s wrath on the greatest empire on earth.
“Go, warriors of the plains! Trample and destroy everything you see! Rome is ours!”
200,000. The door to a great war opened, where Mars, the god of war of Rome, and Tengri, the god of heaven of the plains, would clash with an unprecedented scale of cavalry.
< 203 The Ruler of the Great Grassland > The End
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