We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Outside Shanhaiguan.

There was still a layer of old snow on the ground, and the horse's hooves made a slight crackling sound when they stepped on it.

Li Che silently tightened his cloak.

I don’t know if it’s a psychological reason, but I always feel that the temperature dropped a few degrees after leaving Shanhaiguan.

As soon as they left Shanhaiguan, Li Che ordered the entire army to rest, and then took out the map that his fourth brother had given him before leaving and looked at it carefully.

On the map, the mountains, rivers, counties and cities outside the Great Wall are all marked.

Ninggu County City is the destination of this trip.

Li Che muttered in his mind, referring to the memories of his previous life, and quickly determined the location of Ninggu County City.

That piece of land, later called Chaoyang, is an important town in the northeast and has been a battleground for military strategists since ancient times.

However, Li Che had no idea what the current situation of Ninggu County was like.

The area outside the Great Wall is a place where barbarians wreak havoc, and even now there are still at least several barbarian forces entrenched here.

Khitan, Xi, Shiwei...

As well as the most powerful Mohe (Mo) and the Jurchen tribe that separated from the Mohe tribe.

Whenever he thought of the Jurchens, Li Che's heart was shrouded in a gloom.

There is an old saying that "if the Jurchen soldiers reach 10,000, they are invincible." This was an extremely powerful nomadic people who once established a powerful empire and ruled the Central Plains, becoming the second dynasty after the Mongols to rule China as a minority.

After the Jurchens entered the Pass in their complete form, they carried out large-scale massacres, causing the Han population to drop sharply from more than 160 million to more than 90 million.

The Ten Days of Yangzhou and the Three Massacres of Jiading were all caused by the Jurchens.

According to historical inertia, if Li Che had sat back and watched the Jurchen tribe grow stronger, history might not have happened in this time and space.

"Is there any news about Yan San?" Li Che asked, looking up.

Qiu Wen handed a baked bun to Li Che and said softly, "Your Highness, the Yan team has not yet returned, but several scouts have already returned to the camp to report."

Li Che nodded and took the steamed bun: "Call them over."

After a while, several scouts in leather armor came over quickly.

"See Your Highness."

In just a few days, the faces of several people were beaten red by the wind and snow outside the pass, and their skin was a little cracked.

Li Che handed the steamed bun to one of them: "No hurry, warm yourself up first."

The scout quickly reached out to take it, and his body, which had been cold just now, immediately became warm.

"Have you found out the situation in Ninggu County?"

The scout quickly replied, "Your Highness, I have arrived at Ninggu County City."

"How's it going?"

"I only took a glimpse from afar, but Captain Yan ordered us to report back first," the scout explained. "He has already led the rest of his men into the city to investigate the situation in detail."

Li Che nodded slightly. Yan San was a very careful guy.

"However... although I only saw it from a distance, I feel that the situation in the city is not good."

"Why do you say that?"

"The city walls are broken in places, the city is sparsely populated, and many houses have collapsed, making it look like an abandoned city," the scout recounted. "Even the city walls are missing several sections, clearly having not been repaired in a long time."

When Li Che heard this, he felt a surge of anger in his heart.

The city walls are so dilapidated, the commanders in the city are just figureheads!

Without city walls, how could we resist the invasion of barbarians? Countless people died under the horses' hooves.

"I see. You wait and have a good rest."

After several scouts left, Li Che thought for a moment and then called Wang Sanchun and others.

"Pass the order down, break camp and set off immediately!"

"I will lead the Royal Guard Battalion to open the way, the Cavalry Battalion will follow, the baggage and the main force will be in the middle, and the Crossbow Battalion will be the rearguard."

"Your Highness, this is not possible," Wang Sanchun said hastily. "Outside the pass is already barbarian territory. What if someone launches a surprise attack? Your Highness, please command the central army. I am willing to serve as the vanguard!"

Li Che flatly refused, "If you are afraid of fighting, you will not be able to win."

"We came here to fight the foreigners, why would I hide from them?"

Seeing that Li Che had made up his mind, Wang Sanchun had no choice but to obey.

Li Che put on heavy armor, personally led dozens of personal guards, and walked to the front of the team under the guidance of scouts.

The road outside the pass is even more difficult to walk on. The mud and ice and snow on the ground melt together, often causing the horse's hooves to sink deeply into it, making it difficult to move forward.

After walking for half an hour, Li Che suddenly saw something like a flagpole appear in the distance.

"What is that?"

The scout beside him suddenly changed his expression: "This... Your Highness is better off not looking at it."

When Li Che heard this, his face instantly darkened and he had a bad feeling in his heart.

He rode forward, his guards following closely behind.

When he got closer, Li Che felt a chill running down his head, and the scene before him made him furious.

In front of him was a wooden stake with a man's body nailed to it, kneeling on the ground.

The sharp end of the wooden stake pierced through the man's mouth, and blood and intestines spilled all over the ground, having long since frozen solid.

Judging from the man’s face and clothes, he is definitely not a barbarian, but a Daqing person.

"Have you seen this?" Li Che's voice was terribly cold.

The scout quickly stepped forward to apologize: "I have seen it, it must be a barbarian custom, a means of intimidation."

"You are indifferent to the insult to your compatriot's body?" Li Che's eyes were filled with anger. "Why didn't you bury him properly?"

The scout hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, "Reporting to His Highness, because... we can't bury him."

Li Che's eyes widened: "What do you mean by not being able to bury him?"

The scout replied truthfully, "It's over three hundred miles from here to Ninggu County City. Every mile there's a wooden stake, and every stake has a corpse on it."

"There are over 300 bodies, and we only have a few dozen scouts. We don't have enough time to collect them."

Upon hearing this, Li Che was furious.

More than three hundred corpses, that is more than three hundred lives. More than three hundred Daqing people were so abused by the barbarians!

What a vicious and brutal method, damn it!

No wonder our ancestors said that those who are not of our race must have different hearts.

Looking at the desperate and unwilling face on the pile, Li Che remained silent.

After a while.

"Pass the order down, collect all the bodies and bury them properly!"

"Here!"

Li Che continued on, and sure enough, he saw a corpse every mile. The setting sun stretched the figures of Li Che and his group beyond recognition. They continued on, the tragic scenes along the way horrifying.

The guards suppressed their grief, untied the bodies from the wooden stakes, carefully collected them, and handed them over to the rear for disposal.

This resulted in fewer and fewer people around Li Che.

Qiu Bai wanted to open his mouth to remind him, but when he saw Li Che's gloomy face, he closed his mouth again.

After walking for another half an hour, there were only less than twenty personal guards left by Li Che's side.

On the distant mountain road, the shadows of several unfamiliar cavalrymen suddenly appeared.

Qiu Bai's pupils shrank sharply, and he quickly warned: "Your Highness, there is a situation."

Li Che squinted his eyes and looked over.

From the distance came shouts in an unfamiliar language, followed by the sound of hurried horse hooves.

The barbarians are coming!