On the Eurasian steppe north of the Black Sea lived a tribe called the Sarmatians.

These tribes relied on herding and hunting for a living, with a population of about 100,000. Their military level was quite backward, with weapons mostly consisting of wooden spears and arrows mostly made of bone.

With the barbarian tribes of the western steppes all eyeing the wealthy Rome, and no powerful enemies to the east, the situation was dire.

Therefore, although the military capabilities of the Sarmatians were very backward, the lives of the tribesmen were relatively peaceful.

However, this peace will soon be shattered by a team from the East.

A cool breeze blew by, and Li Ru patted his mount, taking a deep breath.

Beside Li Ru were Helian, the ruler of the Xianbei, and Xiezhiyu, the ruler of the Xiongnu. Behind them were 60,000 soldiers from the two tribes, and nearly 300,000 herdsmen.

It was already July, and the weather here seemed colder than on the eastern grasslands.

Fortunately, the Han army had provided them with a large number of cotton-padded clothes, so everyone was in a good mood and began to appreciate the vast grassland in front of them.

"Sir, have we arrived?" He Lian, who was following beside him, asked excitedly.

"Not yet, but it'll be soon!"

Li Ru responded with a smile on his face.

Four years have passed since I left the Kushan Empire.

During this period, Li Ru led this westward expedition, making arduous progress day after day, and finally arrived at the border of the Eurasian steppe.

Thinking about how he was about to complete the original plan, Li Ru was overjoyed.

"Report!"

Not long after the caravan had set out, a scout team galloped from west to east.

"Your Majesties, a tribal group of about 20,000 people has been discovered fifty miles ahead!"

Upon hearing the scout's report, He Lian and Xie Zhiyu both turned to look at Li Ru in the middle.

Li Ru said solemnly, "King Xiezhiyu, this tribe is now in your hands. Remember, just subdue them, and never slaughter them indiscriminately. We are new to this place and need a group of locals to scout the way for us!"

"Rest assured, sir, I know what to do!"

Xie Zhiyu agreed and then gave an order to the guards behind him.

Before long, 20,000 Xiongnu cavalry followed Xie Zhiyu and sped off westward.

As the sun set, just as Li Ru led his main force to the tribe, the tribe's inhabitants were all gathered together by Xie Zhiyu and his Xiongnu cavalry.

Following Li Ru's instructions, when Xie Zhi led the attack on this tribe, he only killed a few hundred young men who resisted. He did not indiscriminately slaughter civilians or plunder.

Therefore, the people of Sarmatia did not show much fear in the face of these suddenly attacking Huns and Xianbei.

Regardless of East or West, all peoples who live on the grasslands adhere to the survival rule of the strong being respected and the weak being enslaved.

If you want to change this rule, there is no other way but to fight with swords and arrows, provided that you can defeat your opponent.

People on the grasslands have always followed the strong. Although there are differences between races, they themselves do not have any sense of identity with these differences.

Just like when the Xiongnu were powerful in the past, all the tribes that were ruled by the steppe people called themselves Xiongnu.

Later, the Xiongnu declined, and various tribes rose up, which led to the names Wuhuan and Xianbei.

To attach oneself to the strong, and then to become strong, is the survival rule of weak tribes.

Although the Xianbei and Xiongnu people today appear to be forced to migrate westward in a sorry state, this does not mean they are incapable.

On the contrary, the two cavalry units that have now been trained by the Han army and equipped with weapons and crossbows from the Han Dynasty are much stronger than before.

Therefore, the Sarmatians, whose military capabilities were extremely backward, were almost powerless against the powerful Hunnic cavalry.

After taking control of the tribe, Li Ru also killed all the tribe's leaders and nobles. Then, in accordance with the Han Dynasty's policy of ruling the grasslands, he distributed the cattle and sheep of the noble leaders to ordinary herders.

This action further aroused the Sarmatians' awe, and they all voluntarily followed the Xianbei and Xiongnu.

After selecting three thousand able-bodied men from among these herders, Li Ru ordered them to lead two cavalry units to attack all the Sarmatian tribes on this grassland.

In just four months, the Sarmatians were all groveling before the iron hooves of the two cavalry units.

Li Ru also selected 20,000 able-bodied men from among them and incorporated them into the vanguard, before they officially stepped into the European steppes.

April of the nineteenth year of the Kaiyuan era.

Under the azure sky, cattle and sheep, like clouds, were being driven slowly.

After enduring the harsh winter, the people of the westward-bound team were sincerely grateful to Taiyi for protecting them and helping them persevere.

After several encounters with the Han Dynasty, the two herding tribes had long since abandoned the Sirius God and started to worship the more powerful Taiyi God.

After all, the scene of the Han army defeating their elite cavalry in one fell swoop was still vivid in their minds.

In addition, at the beginning of their westward journey, the Han Dynasty provided them with food and clothing, which brought them a sense of warmth amidst their trembling. Naturally, they felt grateful to the Han Dynasty.

This is like two people dueling, where the winner not only doesn't kill the loser, but also helps the loser to rise again as much as possible.

Although the loser can no longer challenge the winner's authority, it is enough for the loser to be grateful to them.

In particular, the Sarmatians, who followed the Xianbei and Xiongnu, only suffered a mere two hundred old, weak, sick, and disabled deaths from the cold winter of last year.

Such a low death toll is simply unbelievable to them.

It's important to know that in the past, even if the Sarmatians stayed in their tribes and didn't come out, at least two thousand people would freeze to death every year.

Now, they are shocked to find that they have only lost less than 10% of what they had lost in the past while they were in the process of migrating.

Therefore, these Sarmatians also attributed all of this to the Taiyi God, which was a constant topic of conversation among the Xianbei and Xiongnu people.

Of course, what they didn't know was that all of this was thanks to the planned rationing system established by Li Ru.

At this time, Li Ru's team had arrived in the grasslands of northwestern Black Sea.

This is home to a nomadic people of over 300,000 – the Slavs.

Li Ru showed no mercy to these people whose skin color and appearance were completely different from those of the East, and directly expressed his intention to exterminate He Lian and Xie Zhiyu.

In Li Ru's words, these people are inherently opposed to each other in terms of race, and cannot be allowed to live!