Chapter 81

If Lijiao Mi were killed, the Wusun people, without a leader, would be easily defeated by the Da Yuezhi! Without such a powerful opponent, why would the Da Yuezhi continue to abide by the alliance? Therefore, it would be better to leave him alive to gather the Wusun remnants and continue to stand against the Da Yuezhi, so that they would still hope for Li You to bring reinforcements back from the Han Empire.

Moreover, Lijiao Mi was once adopted by Modu Chanyu and has close ties with the current Xiongnu leader, Junchen Chanyu! The Wusun are the most important and powerful vassal of the Xiongnu in the Western Regions. After such a great defeat, Lijiao Mi will surely seek aid from Junchen Chanyu! To maintain the Xiongnu's influence in the Western Regions, Junchen Chanyu is likely to send Xiongnu cavalry to support Lijiao Mi! This way, a large part of the Xiongnu forces will be diverted to the Western Regions, giving the Han Empire a chance to catch its breath!

From a geographical standpoint, the closest territories to the Western Regions are those of the Kunye King and the Xiutu King! Junchen Chanyu is likely to order them to support Lijiao Mi, which would make Li You's return journey much easier!

Strengthening the alliance between the Han Empire and the Da Yuezhi, mobilizing Xiongnu forces, and reducing obstacles on his return journey! Releasing Lijiao Mi would achieve three goals with one action, so why wouldn't Li You be happy to do it? That's why he repeatedly instructed Chen Qingzhi to ensure Lijiao Mi's survival before leaving the city! There's no way around it; Chen Qingzhi's reputation is too illustrious. Li You believes that even with just a makeshift version of the White Robe Army, Chen Qingzhi has the ability to lead these mere 7,000 men to defeat Lijiao Mi's over 100,000 troops and cut him down! He had to remind him!

Lijiao Mi, who had escaped with his life, showed no sign of joy. From a distance, he glared at the white-robed cavalry who were easily slaughtering the once valiant Wusun warriors in his camp! His eyes were almost bleeding! "Who are these people? I have never heard of such a strong army in the Da Yuezhi!"

"I don't know, but the leader doesn't seem to be from the Da Yuezhi!" The Da Yuezhi are of the Caucasian race! Chen Qingzhi, Tang Yifu, and Pan Feng, being of the Mongoloid race, stood out in their ranks. Well, Pan Feng looked more like he was of the Negroid race! But none of them were traditional Da Yuezhi! This was quickly noticed by Lijiao Mi's Left General.

"From their attire, they seem to be Han people!" Lijiao Mi stared at Chen Qingzhi for a long time without shifting his gaze. He had grown up in Modu Chanyu's tent and had seen Han envoys multiple times, so he was very familiar with their attire!

"That's right! A few days ago, our spies in the city reported that the Da Yuezhi king had formed an alliance with the Han Empire! They might be members of the Han envoy!" another Wusun minister added.

Han envoy? Are they the ones the Heavenly King sent me to kill? Lijiao Mi recalled the letter Zhong Xingshuo had sent him a few months ago! However, he was plotting against the Da Yuezhi and had no interest in dealing with it, and he somewhat looked down on Zhong Xingshuo, so he did not formulate any strategy against the Han envoy. But now it seems he made a grave mistake!

"Yes! The tactics used today are completely different from those the Da Yuezhi usually employ, and I have never seen such cavalry attire! These must be Han envoys who have trained them!" The Left General quickly realized that the Wusun's defeat was due to the interference of these Han foreigners.

"Great Kunmi! Let's go! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!" Seeing the situation in the battle becoming increasingly unfavorable, a minister could not help but remind him, "Once we retreat thirty miles to the inevitable route back to Wusun, we can gather the scattered troops! The next battle will surely be a victory for us Wusun!"

The Han and the Xiongnu are at odds; they are trying to disrupt the Western Regions and start a fire in the Xiongnu's backyard! Lijiao Mi, one of the top heroes among the thirty-six states of the Western Regions, immediately guessed the Han envoy's purpose! Alas, why didn't you come to me at the beginning? If I had known you were so capable, I would have kept you in Wusun to help me defeat the Da Yuezhi and challenge the Xiongnu's dominance in the Western Regions! All the regrets turned into a sigh, "Alas, we lost this battle! I did not expect these Han people to have such strength! Let's go, but don't worry, now that I know they are in the Da Yuezhi territory, I won't be so careless next time! After gathering the scattered troops, I will go to the Xiongnu court and seek help from Junchen Chanyu! He will surely send his elite troops to help us Wusun!"

Lijiao Mi was quite displeased. He was raised by Modu Chanyu, and Junchen Chanyu is Modu Chanyu's grandson! By right, he should be Junchen Chanyu's senior! But now he has to seek help from this junior!

Lijiao Mi led the Wusun's high officials to retreat quietly! On this side, Li You, Chen Qingzhi, and the Da Yuezhi generals had already defeated the Wusun and achieved a decisive victory!

Chen Qingzhi led the White Robe Army to pursue the Wusun remnants for twenty miles, leaving countless bodies along the way! After this battle, the Wusun's 160,000-strong army was reduced to less than 30,000 under Lijiao Mi's command! The rest were either killed by the Da Yuezhi, captured, or went missing! This made Lijiao Mi almost vomit blood! Not only did he fail to avenge his father Nandou Mi, but he also destroyed the Wusun's years of strength, losing these able-bodied men, making the Wusun's future difficult!

On the Da Yuezhi side, despite losing tens of thousands of soldiers in this war, they achieved the ultimate victory, not only reclaiming the cities occupied by the Wusun but also gaining vast fertile pastures! With the captives from the war, they had no shortage of people to tend to the sheep and horses!

It can be foreseen that with this victory, the Da Yuezhi's status in the Western Regions will rapidly rise, almost overshadowing the Wusun, Kangju, Dayuan, and other countries to become the strongest in the Western Regions!

The Yuezhi king, who survived the battle, held a grand feast in the city for three days. The wine and dances made countless Da Yuezhi people drunk, and they boasted loudly about their bravery in the war while drinking! Li You, Chen Qingzhi, Pan Feng, and other members of the Han envoy were the most respected figures at the feast.

After the great victory, it was appropriate to celebrate. Over the next few days, Li You attended the feasts while observing the different expressions of the Da Yuezhi's five noble families, gaining satisfactory results.

Three days later, the Da Yuezhi began to reassemble their forces and advance towards the Wusun territory! At this time, Li You also appeared before the Yuezhi king, it was time to leave!

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