Chapter 36

The army did not continue to pursue the fleeing Xiongnu soldiers. Chen Qingzhi and Li You both understood that the Xiongnu cavalry were seasoned veterans, not untrained herders! They had won this battle partly by taking the enemy by surprise and partly by using the terrain to their advantage. The narrow terrain was conducive to ambush but also limited the mobility of the Xiongnu cavalry. If they had followed the original plan and ambushed the Han army from the hillside, it would have been easier. However, once they were scattered and pursued by Han Ju, it was difficult to regroup and counterattack.

Now that they had retreated outside the valley, they had time to reorganize their forces! After this round of fighting, no more than three hundred Xiongnu cavalry had died, either at the hands of the Han army or by trampling each other. They still had a force of over seven hundred men! In terms of numbers and combat strength, they far exceeded the Han envoy's group! Continuing to tangle with them would be unwise!

Moreover, they had now entered the Xiongnu's sphere of influence. Even if they lost three hundred cavalry, Zhong Xingshuo could still muster hundreds or even thousands of men from the nearby tribes that were loyal to the Xiongnu court! The Han army, on the other hand, would only diminish with each loss!

"Set fire in the rear to cut off the Xiongnu pursuers' path!" Chen Qingzhi had already decided how to extricate himself. He ordered the rear troops to set the valley on fire. It was a clear autumn day, with withered trees and yellowing grass. Soon, thick white smoke rose from the valley, and the flames spread.

By the time Zhong Xingshuo regrouped the defeated soldiers and returned, it was too late. Even the elite Xiongnu cavalry could not cross the sea of fire to pursue the Han envoy!

Zhong Xingshuo's piercing gaze pierced through the flames, looking westward, and he gripped his horsewhip tightly! To achieve such a brilliant victory in such dire circumstances, the leader of the Han envoy was not to be underestimated! Suddenly, he burst into laughter, "Hahahaha, hahaha..." and continued laughing uncontrollably.

"Why is the Heavenly King laughing?" Xubu Mo, who had taken over command of the cavalry from Ying Pi, asked. His surname indicated that he was from the Xubu clan, one of the four noble families of the Xiongnu, as recorded in the "Book of the Later Han: Biography of the Southern Xiongnu."

Zhong Xingshuo had to be amiable to such a noble youth, as he might one day be granted a princely title by the Great Chanyu. He patiently explained, "Xubu General, you saw today how cunning the Han envoy's commander is! He seized the slightest opportunity to crush us! And that vanguard, he was exceptionally brave! Truly, no ordinary man can match him!"

"Yes, Ying Pi, the commander of a thousand cavalry, was a famous hero among our Xiongnu, but he was killed in one move by that man!" Xubu Mo, with his limited ability, could not understand the subtlety of Chen Qingzhi's tactics and was more impressed by Pan Feng's martial prowess. However, he still did not understand why Zhong Xingshuo was laughing. "The presence of such a brave warrior among the Han is a great threat to our great Xiongnu. Why is the Heavenly King so happy?"

"Ha! I laugh at the foolishness of that Liu Zhi!" Zhong Xingshuo deeply resented Emperor Wen of Han, and this resentment extended to his grandson, Liu Che, whom he referred to by his childhood name! Zhi means pig, and the implication was clear. Seeing that Xubu Mo still did not understand, he pointed in the direction the Han army had fled with his horsewhip. "If such a cunning commander and a brave general were in our great Xiongnu, the Great Chanyu would have long entrusted them with important tasks, granted them princely titles, and ordered them to lead our armies in conquests! But in the Han, such heroic figures are sent to their deaths in the Western Regions! This shows the foolishness of that Liu Zhi!"

After saying this, Zhong Xingshuo raised his hands and shouted loudly, "This is the favor of the Kunlun God to our great Xiongnu! With such a foolish ruler in power, our great Xiongnu will surely conquer Chang'an soon! Destroy the Han dynasty! Turn the land of China into our great Xiongnu's pasture!"

"Kunlun God protect! Our great Xiongnu will surely win! Win! Win!" Encouraged by Zhong Xingshuo, the Xiongnu cavalry quickly recovered from their defeat and regained their fighting spirit!

Indeed, what could such a cunning commander and a brave general do? They were only a hundred men! If they led an army of tens of thousands, they might have been a mortal enemy to the Xiongnu, but what could a hundred men do? They had escaped this time, but the vast Western Regions were all Xiongnu territory! There would be plenty of opportunities to deal with them!

"Kunlun God protect! If these two brave warriors could submit to our great Xiongnu, the Great Chanyu would be very pleased!" Xubu Mo said excitedly.

In fact, they did not know that Chen Qingzhi and Pan Feng had been summoned by Li You and were not actually subjects of the Han dynasty! Well, Pan Feng was a subordinate of the Han, but in this dimension, he did not exist.

"Where does this road lead?" Zhong Xingshuo brought the Xiongnu cavalry to a halt and called over the local guide. Now that the Han envoy had escaped, he needed to know their route as soon as possible.

"Not far ahead is the river!" the guide answered nervously. The river referred to the Yellow River, and the direction the Han envoy was heading was roughly in today's Lintao County, Gansu Province.

"Oh? They are going to cross the river? How many fords are there, and where are they?" Zhong Xingshuo asked sternly. After the guide listed the locations of the fords, he made his decision. "The Han envoy needs boats to cross the river! Xubu Mo, you and I will each lead three hundred cavalry to the fords day and night to burn the boats and trap the envoy by the river! Then we will regroup and kill them!"

"Obey the Heavenly King's command!" Xubu Mo bowed and left with his trusted troops. Zhong Xingshuo then led his troops out of the valley and took another route to the Yellow River.

Meanwhile, Li You and his group were still basking in the excitement. "Hahahaha, General Ziyun is truly outstanding in strategy! With just a hundred mixed troops, he defeated a thousand elite Xiongnu!"

Li You praised loudly, but Chen Qingzhi remained unusually calm. Li You knew that for him, winning with a ten-to-one disadvantage was not a big deal! In his campaigns against the Northern Wei, Chen Qingzhi had achieved victories of seven thousand against seventy thousand, seven thousand against thirty thousand, and seven thousand against fifty thousand... Compared to these impressive feats, today's victory was just a small affair!

"Father Tang, what lies ahead?" As the cheers subsided, Li You asked the same question as Zhong Xingshuo. He knew that the long journey was just beginning, similar to Tang Sanzang reaching the Five Elements Mountain or the Fellowship of the Ring reaching Bree, still far from their ultimate goal!

"Envoy, in two more days, we will reach the river!" Father Tang gave the same answer as the Xiongnu guide!