Chapter 55

Xue Wanjun sat on a stone by the Yi River, looking at a mysterious letter in his hand. The letter was written in crooked and uneven strokes: "Are you a citizen of Huaxia or a general under Li Yi?"

At first glance, Xue Wanjun's immediate impression was that the handwriting was ugly, with the strokes of different lengths and angles. His second impression was that Luo Shixin must have lost his mind.

What's the difference between being a citizen of Huaxia and being a general under Li Yi?

Does being a citizen of Huaxia mean one cannot be a general under Li Yi, or does being a general under Li Yi mean one cannot be a citizen of Huaxia?

"What is the deeper meaning of this sentence?"

Xue Wanjun had never interacted with Luo Shixin and firmly believed he was not a frivolous person who would send a letter just to play around.

"What is his intention?"

Despite his intelligence, Xue Wanjun could not immediately grasp the key point.

"General, there's movement from the Tujue!" The sound of hooves grew urgent as a rider galloped from the distance.

Xue Wanjun put down the letter and looked forward, his expression serious. In his line of sight, the scout was drenched in sweat, with an arrow embedded in his shoulder, the black tip protruding from the other side, and blood soaking his entire arm.

"How many of them are there, and where are they heading?" Xue Wanjun strode forward and personally helped the injured scout off the horse.

The scout, ignoring his shoulder wound, shouted loudly, "At least ten thousand, marching in a grand procession. They are heading towards Yi Prefecture, as if they have a specific target. Even when they encountered our scouts, they only shot arrows to drive us away without pursuing us deeply."

"This doesn't make sense!" Xue Wanjun let the scout go for treatment, his brows furrowed. The Tujue usually split their forces to plunder, covering a wide area to maximize their gains. It was unusual for ten thousand soldiers to gather together, making it hard to find good loot. Moreover, ignoring the scouts clearly showed they did not take this thousand-strong force seriously.

Could it be that they had no intention of splitting their forces?

Yi Prefecture?

Xue Wanjun suddenly remembered that Luo Shixin was in Yi Prefecture. The counties within Yi Prefecture had gathered their grain to Yi Prefecture, which would then be transported to the front lines in Ding Prefecture...

Calculating the time, Luo Shixin was already on the road transporting the grain.

Xue Wanjun looked at the letter in his hand, pondered the current situation, and suddenly understood.

"General Luo is inviting me to join him in repelling the Tujue!"

Xue Wanjun hesitated, looking at the letter again. He suddenly realized that the ugly strokes carried a weighty meaning.

**********

The letter was indeed sent by Luo Shixin.

Not for any other reason, but to kill more Tujue soldiers.

The Tujue rose to power when the Central Plains were at their weakest, hindering the unification of the Central Plains for their own interests, causing irreparable damage.

The blood feud between the two nations could not be erased by empty talk of righteousness, just as a song says, "When friends come, we offer them fine wine; when wolves come, we meet them with rifles."

The Tujue had the audacity to raid deep into Chinese territory, and every effort must be made to completely eliminate them. This was why he had pursued the Tujue so fiercely in the past.

As autumn in the north gradually turned colder, strong winds swept across the land, making the banners flutter.

Luo Shixin leisurely escorted the grain, already aware of the Tujue's movements. There was no need to rush, as he needed to conserve his strength for battle. As for whether Xue Wanjun would come, he did not care. He had done what he could, and if Xue Wanjun did not come, there was nothing he could do. It was not that he could not fight, but that he lacked cavalry to inflict greater casualties on the enemy.

"General, the Tujue are here!"

There was no need for scouts; the thunderous hoofbeats and the dust cloud that obscured the sky already signaled the approach of a large cavalry force.

Luo Shixin, looking at the approaching force, could not help but exclaim, "So fast!"

The Tujue's speed was indeed impressive!

Based on the distance, Luo Shixin had expected the Tujue to appear after lunch, but they were now an hour early.

Such speed could only belong to a people born on horseback!

Luo Shixin, thinking this, decisively ordered the deployment of the陌刀大阵 (Mòdāo Dàzhèn, a formation using long halberds).

A thousand brave and fearless halberdiers stood at the forefront, while a thousand two hundred strong crossbowmen, who could strike fear into the hearts of the enemy, crouched behind them, hiding their crossbows. Three hundred spear wielders protected the flanks, and two hundred sword and shield soldiers and three hundred cavalry supported from the rear.

Thanks to special funding, Luo Shixin had an additional five hundred long-range crossbows, which he distributed to the archers, allowing them to use the crossbows for direct fire and the bows for indirect fire, switching luxuriously as needed.

The hoofbeats grew louder, and the ground began to tremble.

"Is this going to repeat itself?" Luo Shixin couldn't help but think.

However, reality proved him wrong. A vast cavalry force appeared on the horizon, charging without any rest or pause, intending to break through the halberd formation in one go.

"What?"

Luo Shixin was taken aback; the script seemed different from what he had imagined.

The leader of this Tujue tribe seemed much more arrogant than the one he had killed with his spear.

"Charge, charge! Show the foolish Central Plains fools what it means to be the descendants of the Wolf God, what it means to be true warriors!" De Wenhufu brandished his curved saber, urging his people to charge.

Four hundred paces...

Three hundred paces...

Two hundred fifty paces...

"Fall down!"

This time, Luo Shixin ordered the halberd formation to activate fifty paces earlier based on the situation. When the halberdiers fell to the ground, the charging Tujue cavalry had already closed to within two hundred paces.

"Fire!"

The sound of the long-range crossbows' strings vibrating was like a symphony of death.

Faced with the rain of crossbow bolts, the Tujue cavalry, protected only by leather armor, had no resistance, falling from their horses in droves and being trampled into mush by the horses and men behind them.

Hundreds, even thousands, of Tujue cavalry fell, struck down by the fierce and deadly long-range crossbows.

"Retreat, retreat quickly!" De Wenhufu's face turned pale, losing his arrogance. His heart ached as each of his tribesmen, killed by the crossbows, was a stake in his dominance of the grasslands. Such losses were unsustainable for his tribe.

De Wenhufu's tribe was between a large and a small tribe, not to be underestimated by the larger ones and not to be bullied by the smaller ones, earning a good reputation on the grasslands. He could not afford to lose, fearing that excessive losses would reduce his tribe to a small, vulnerable one. Seeing the enemy's powerful crossbow formation, his mind went blank, and he thought only of escape.

Retreating in front of a crossbow formation?

Luo Shixin saw through De Wenhufu's intentions and realized he was dealing with a foolish opponent.

In the battle at Leping, the enemy general had excellent command, able to fight effectively even against the specialized halberd formation. This opponent, however...

Only four words...

Intellectual superiority!!!