The Trouble of Having Too Much Loot

Northern frontier, the Golden Tent Royal Court.

"Word just came in that the enemy's main army has entered the northern frontier. They're less than a thousand li from us.

Everyone's moving far too slowly. After wasting all this time, they're still dawdling in Dragon Spine Province!"

Silas scolded them, his face full of dissatisfaction.

The Tuwu People had suffered enough from poverty. After entering Dragon Spine Province, they wanted to loot everything in sight.

They didn't even spare the slave quarters.

Whenever they came across a nobleman's or a wealthy merchant's mansion, they stripped it clean, as though digging three feet into the ground wasn't enough.

Such meticulous work naturally yielded a rich haul.

The only drawback was that the army advanced too slowly.

Everyone had focused on plundering, ignoring the enemy reinforcements on their way and failing to sweep through the northern frontier at once.

"Great Khan, let the enemy come.

If we can fight them, we fight. If we can't, we retreat.

We've plundered plenty this time anyway, enough to live well for a couple of years when we get back.

Either way, we won't lose out!"

Baldwin answered with a smile.

The khanate's finances had always been in terrible shape. The cattle, sheep, and horses collected from the grasslands were nowhere near enough to cover its daily expenses.

In the past, they had always wished they could split every coin in two before spending it.

To cover the deficit, the Ministry of Finance had even partnered with unscrupulous merchants, throwing the doors wide open to smuggling.

Only by exploiting the grassland tribes through trade had it barely managed to keep the khanate running normally.

This raid south had directly changed the khanate's awkward situation of spending more than it earned.

Thirty percent of the mountain of spoils would go into the khanate's public coffers.

At grassland prices, their value in cattle, sheep, and horses would equal several years of the khanate's revenue.

Even if the sheer volume of plundered goods affected prices in the short term, it was still a fortune.

After all, most of the goods they had plundered could be stored for a long time.

As long as they were kept properly, they wouldn't spoil for three to five years, and lasting eight or ten years wasn't out of the question.

Once people grew rich, their outlook changed.

Most of the Tuwu People had little interest in expanding their territory. All they cared about were the pastures on their own doorsteps.

Having achieved their goal of escaping poverty through plunder, they had lost interest in invading farther south.

No matter how much they seized, it only counted as real income once they got it back to their tribes.

Moving the spoils in the camp alone would take several trips back and forth.

If they kept looting, even safeguarding the goods would become a problem.

The change in outlook directly affected the decisions of some of the khanate's leaders.

They had gone from insisting on marching south to wanting to quit while they were ahead.

"Nonsense!"

"We finally managed to break through Dragon Spine Pass after all that effort. If we withdraw just like that, won't our sacrifices have been for nothing?"

Bennett, the minister of military affairs, immediately retorted.

Where there were people, there was conflict, and the Golden Horde Khanate was no exception.

In peacetime, the government held sway; in wartime, the military did.

Having just tasted the benefits of holding great power, some were naturally unwilling to withdraw and go straight back to the way things had been.

"Bennett, how can you say the sacrifices were wasted?"

"We successfully demolished Dragon Spine Pass, opening the road south into the empire. It will take the enemy at least two years to repair the pass.

During that time, we can march south again whenever we want and interrupt their work.

Besides, our camps are already packed with spoils from the fighting so far.

If we had to buy them through smuggling, we probably couldn't afford this many goods even if we sold the whole khanate.

This winter, our people won't have to suffer from cold and hunger anymore..."

Baldwin went on and on about what they had gained.

Their victory had been so spectacular that he truly couldn't find a reason to keep fighting.

Conquering the Holy Glory Empire was just a political slogan.

The Tuwu People had been shouting it for hundreds of years, yet when it came to putting it into practice, they had made virtually no progress.

It wasn't that they lacked ambition; they simply didn't have the strength to back it up.

Their advantage lay in cavalry, and they excelled at facing enemy armies in open battle. Siege warfare really wasn't their specialty.

They had taken Dragon Spine Pass partly because of the immense power of the forbidden technique and partly thanks to the cooperation of imperial bureaucrats.

If the Holy Glory Empire hadn't been so corrupt, they wouldn't even have been able to summon the Abyssal Demonic Dragon under the anti-magic field.

The price of using the forbidden technique was too high. Using it once in a while was manageable, but using it every day was completely out of the question.

Their truly effective siege methods were the siege engines and catapults they had forced captured craftsmen to build, and those still had to be paid for in lives.

Their early progress had gone smoothly because they had caught the enemy off guard.

By now, surprise attacks had lost their effectiveness.

Every city on the other side had strengthened its defenses, and the lesser nobles were gathering of their own accord in cities or the castles of greater nobles.

The feudal lord system had many flaws, but it was remarkably effective at carrying out a scorched-earth policy.

Once a lord ordered an evacuation, the serfs obeyed.

The property they were abandoning wasn't theirs anyway, so there was no reason to feel sorry for it.

If they continued fighting southward, they would not only have tough battles ahead of them, but the supplies they captured would also dwindle sharply.

"Chancellor, what do you think?"

Seeing that their ranks were divided, Silas turned to the old man on his left and asked.

"Great Khan, at a time like this, whether we continue south or choose to return north, we must fight the enemy.

We have captured too much loot, and transporting it will take a great deal of time. Unless we defeat the enemy's Northern Expedition Corps, we simply can't take it back."

Chancellor Oliver answered without expression.

He had spent most of his life striving for the khanate, but this was the first time he had worried about having too much loot.

The Third Supplementary Army, command tent.

"Are the things I told you to prepare ready?"

Victor asked with concern.

Plans couldn't keep up with changes. Before they had even had time to set their plan to lure the enemy into motion, the enemy's vanguard had entered the valley.

Clearly, the local Tuwu tribes were no fools either. There was no hiding a valley right under their noses from the natives.

They hadn't occupied the valley because it simply wasn't worth the cost.

Nomadic peoples depended heavily on pastures. The valley seemed large enough, but it couldn't support much livestock if used for grazing.

If they moved their tribes in, it would be stripped bare within days.

The small amount of fodder in the valley wasn't worth fighting the wolf pack to the bitter end.

"Don't worry, commander. All the hay and grease you ordered us to gather are in place.

Now we only need your command, and we can..."

Jasper immediately assured him.

As one of the army's older officers, he was extremely conservative and rigid in his strategic judgments, but he never cut corners when carrying out orders.

"Don't rush. Wait until the entire enemy force has entered the valley.

In the days ahead, every unit is to take action, actively looking for opportunities to attack enemy soldiers and cattle, sheep, and horses that have become separated from the main force.

Every sortie must be a sure thing. Withdraw immediately afterward; don't get carried away seeking credit or linger in battle.

You don't have to inflict heavy casualties, but you must keep them from getting any peace."

Victor issued the order at once.

The number of enemies killed didn't matter. The key was to interfere with the enemy commander's judgment.

When two armies faced off, the commander's state of mind directly affected his performance in the fighting that followed.

Whoever cracked first had already lost half the battle.