Chapter 212: The Alchemist of the Western Regions

Yarkand.

It is located on the Pamir Plateau, on the eastern side of the Tianshan Mountains and the Kunlun Mountains, which were called Congling in Han times.

To the northwest lies the Kingdom of Shule, while to the south are the Kingdoms of Yutian and Pishan on the southern Silk Road.

When Mo Xiaobai led his troops to the Wang City of Yarkand, he saw several beacon towers built at the angle of the southeast walls. At that moment, thick smoke was billowing up, clearly the fastest way of long-range communication in ancient times.

“So this is what ‘lonely smoke rising straight in the great desert’ looks like?”

The desert beacon smoke rose straight up in a column; even with the wind howling and swirling, it could not be tilted. Mo Xiaobai couldn’t help but quote a book, which made Guo Jia nod vigorously beside him.

A column of two thousand cavalry entered the city. Mo Xiaobai soon realized that he was now the highest-ranking Han General in the entire Wang City. Apart from him, there was only one Commandant leading five hundred Yicong troops, working with a group of Yarkand people to strengthen the defensive works.

At the same time, Mo Xiaobai met the ruler of the Kingdom of Yarkand.

It was a fat middle-aged man with obvious Central Asian features. This ruler spoke to Mo Xiaobai, a Han General who was a Baron and a Colonel, with a hint of respect.

Mo Xiaobai guessed that this guy must have been dealt with by Ban Chao, which is why he held such awe and fear of the Han People.

After chatting with the ruler of the Kingdom of Yarkand for a while, Mo Xiaobai immediately gathered all his civil and military officers around him. “If the Kushan decide to send troops, they will cross the Congling around the spring. It is now the end of the Twelfth Month, and we do not have much time left.”

“This time, the Old General ordered us to guard Yarkand. You should all be clear about our heavy responsibility. First, investigate enemy movements. As soon as you spot large groups of enemy soldiers, send a signal with the beacon smoke immediately. Second, we do not need to go out of the city to fight head-on. We only need to closely monitor their movements. When the Kushan army attacks Shule, we will send cavalry to raid their rear guard and harass their scattered looting troops.”

“So the key to this battle rests on the Flying General. The Scouts we sent out must be clever enough. As soon as they spot the enemy, they must retreat immediately without getting entangled. Also, urge them to learn some Xiongnu language from the Xiongnu cavalry. At the very least, they need to learn the most common few words; they will be useful later.”

After Mo Xiaobai gave his orders, Li Guang immediately clasped his fist.

Since the troops were sent out, the job of the Scouts has always been his responsibility. Li Guang is now very proficient in using Infantry Scouts and has gained plenty of insights into using Cavalry Scouts as well.

Plus, since the route of the Da Yuezhi troops was already in our grasp, discovering the enemy was naturally not an impossible task.

Once he had finished explaining everything to Li Guang, Mo Xiaobai turned his head to look at Li Ji and Guo Jia. “Although we must strictly implement the ‘fortify defenses and clear the fields’ strategy mentioned by the Old General, a city defense battle is likely unavoidable. Maogong, take my Colonel’s seal and take full command of all Han Army troops inside the city. I will not ask how you prepare for the battle; I only want the result, which is to hold the Wang City of Yarkand securely and try to minimize casualties.”

“Fengxiao, you and Ziyang will assist Maogong with the defense preparations. All other generals must obey Maogong’s orders. Since the Old General has already stated that this battle will have victory and no defeat, I hope this war can be a beautiful and great victory.”

“As ordered!”

Upon hearing this, all the civil and military officers immediately clasped their fists. For them, following Mo Xiaobai on this long journey from Jilu Fortress to the Western Regions was precisely to wait for this very moment.

…

For the next three days straight, Mo Xiaobai joined his civil and military officers to actively prepare for the upcoming battle.

The most important stockpile for the pre-battle preparations was bows and crossbow bolts.

Han bows and Han crossbows were the strongest single-person equipment that Ban Chao brought to the Western Regions from the Great Han. Especially in city defense battles, a Han crossbow with plenty of bolts could kill a terrifyingly large number of enemy soldiers. At least a thousand consecutive shots had to be fired before any wear or damage to the internal mechanism would appear.

Once all war supply preparations were proceeding in an orderly manner, Mo Xiaobai finally found a moment to step away from the busyness.

As soon as he returned to the temporary lodging, a courtyard with a distinct exotic style, he heard the clanging sound of metal hitting metal.

Stepping into the courtyard, he saw Fatty and A-Dai playing with each other, each holding a one-handed sword.

“What are you doing? Where did you buy these one-handed swords?”

Because they had been busy arranging city defenses for several days, Mo Xiaobai naturally had no time to bother with the two of them. Seeing them now swinging swords that were obviously used only by European Nobles, he raised his eyebrows and asked.

“This is a fine sword, not something you can buy just anywhere.”

Hearing Mo Xiaobai approach, Fatty and the other quickly stopped playing. Luyu held his one-handed sword by the tip and walked over. “There is only one person in the entire city who has these, a Greek person. Look, this sword is made of steel.”

“Steel?”

Hearing this, Mo Xiaobai immediately became interested. He had just received a batch of weapons made of Wootz Steel in Qiuci not long ago. He never expected that Yarkand could have steel swords and knives?

Taking the hilt of the sword from Fatty, Mo Xiaobai glanced at the one-handed sword, which was dark but had a bright sheen. He could immediately confirm that it was indeed made of steel.

It was at least one level higher than ordinary Refined Iron weapons.

“The metallurgy technology in the Western Regions is so advanced? They can smelt steel this early?”

Although he held a one-handed sword that was undoubtedly made of steel, Mo Xiaobai still found it hard to believe. After all, there was still some time before the famous Wootz Steel appeared. How could the Western Regions be the first to smelt steel?

“Bro, you don’t understand this. Tinkering with these things isn’t just for metallurgy factories; there is also a group of people who are very good at handling metals.”

Fatty looked quite proud now. He took another one-handed sword from A-Dai’s hand and said, “Come look at this one. It is a plain Refined Iron sword. Although the gap between it and steel swords is obvious, it is still much better than the weapons wielded by Players from our Plane.”

Mo Xiaobai took the other one-handed sword and played with it for a while, then nodded.

Although this sword had several notches from Fatty and the others cutting with it, its sharpness and durability were likely even three points stronger than his own Baron’s Sword.

However, the more Mo Xiaobai looked at it, the more he felt that these two one-handed swords should not be products of the Western Regions.

Such advanced smelting and forging technology must be considered some kind of black technology for the current Western Regions, shouldn’t it?

As for Fatty saying they were not products of a metallurgy factory, Mo Xiaobai felt even more confused. He spoke directly. “Stop beating around the bush. Tell me quickly where you bought them, and I will go have a look too.”

Seeing Mo Xiaobai urge him so eagerly, Fatty laughed and answered, “This was also a coincidence. I had nothing to do these past two days and wandered around the city. I found a weird-looking Greek man there. He said he is an Alchemist and has many Alchemist products in his hands.”

Greek?

Alchemy?

“There are Greeks in the Western Regions who understand Alchemy?”

“People from Africa might be here too. Having one or two Greeks is not a big deal. Don’t forget Alexander the Great of the Macedonian Empire; he already marched into India hundreds of years ago. From North Africa to Central Asia, what race is not there?”

“You make a good point. No matter how he got here, if he has skill in metal smelting, it is worth our visit.”

Fatty’s explanation made perfect sense. Mo Xiaobai immediately decided to go meet this “stranded” Greek Alchemist in the Western Regions.