Chapter 23

Huang Zhong let out a cold snort and said word by word, "The lord has ordered that those who offend our Great Han, no matter how far they are, must be punished. Kill them."

Following Huang Zhong's order, all the soldiers, without hesitation, swung their swords at the Wuhuan people who were begging for mercy, and all the kneeling Wuhuan people met their end.

"Everyone, clean up the battlefield." Seeing that almost all the Wuhuan people had been killed, except for the two generals and a few Wuhuan cavalry who had escaped, Huang Zhong gave the order to clean up the battlefield.

This time, because the Wuhuan people did not use their horses in battle, almost all the horses were intact, totaling 25,000 horses, which was a significant gain.

On the other side, Subul and Wudan were riding their horses in a hurry, fleeing for over twenty miles. Only when they saw no pursuers did they stop and catch their breath.

Subul looked at the people who were still following him, and there were fewer than 300 left. Most of these were the ones who had been on guard and thus had not eaten the poisoned food, escaping the disaster. However, they were not in good shape, with broken legs and arms, and fewer than a hundred were unharmed.

Subul thought about the grandeur of leading 30,000 cavalry to Youzhou. Looking at the current dire situation, he could not help but shed tears, "Great King Quli, I have failed you. I have failed those 30,000 brothers who trusted me so much."

"Brother Subul, what should we do now?" Wudan, who had no ideas to begin with, now had even fewer, and could only listen to Subul.

"We should go to Yuyang to Quli Tu for protection." Subul thought for a moment and said. Quli Tu was a nephew of Wudan's Great King Quli Ju and the main general in the attack on Yuyang.

"Good, Brother Subul, let's set off quickly." Wudan urged.

"Good, let's go." As he said this, he was about to spur his horse to start.

"Ha ha ha, you have no chance of going back." At this moment, a deafening voice came over.

Subul and the others were startled, their hearts sinking. They looked in the direction of the voice and saw a man with a swallow's chin and tiger whiskers, a leopard's head, and ringed eyes, leading a thousand cavalrymen charging towards them. "I am done for," Subul thought to himself. His side only had 300 people, all of whom were injured. The other side not only had a numerical advantage but was also well-rested. How could they possibly be a match?

But Subul still tried to muster his strength and shouted, "Who are you?"

"I am Zhang Fei, also known as Zhang Yide, a colonel under the Youzhou governor Liu Yao." Zhang Fei announced his name and then thrust his spear at Subul.

Subul, of course, did not sit idly by. He raised his wolf-tooth club to block, but the next moment, his club was deflected to the side. "What incredible strength. How can there be such a brave warrior in the Han army?" Subul thought in shock.

Zhang Fei, not letting up, used his spear like a club and smashed it down on Subul's head. Subul raised his hand to block, but it was useless. His wolf-tooth club was directly knocked out of his hand. Then, with a spear tail, Zhang Fei swept Subul off his horse, and Subul spat out a mouthful of blood, losing his ability to resist.

"Someone, tie him up." Zhang Fei called out to his men, and two soldiers quickly appeared with a long hemp rope and bound Subul tightly. Their skill showed that they were experienced in this.

"So weak, he was taken down in just two moves. How boring." Zhang Fei muttered in dissatisfaction.

On the other side, Wudan, though strong, was in no condition to use his strength. He was quickly tied up by a few soldiers.

"Sir, what should we do with these dozens of captives?" a cavalry captain asked.

"The lord has ordered that none of them be spared." Zhang Fei said with a murderous look.

"Yes." The soldiers quickly beheaded the Wuhuan captives.

"You Han people, besides using these underhanded tricks, what else can you do? If you have the courage, fight us Wuhuan warriors one-on-one." Wudan, bound and gagged, kept cursing.

Zhang Fei, not a man of good temper, walked up and slapped him hard. Wudan's mouth immediately swelled up worse than a pig's head. "If the lord hadn't ordered me to keep you two alive, I would have skewered you with my spear long ago," Zhang Fei cursed angrily. "Someone, gag these two."

Two soldiers quickly stuffed some cloth into Subul and Wudan's mouths.

Zhang Fei, seeing the two of them making "muffled" sounds and unable to speak, nodded in satisfaction. "Ha ha ha, someone, take them with us. Let's return."

When Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong returned to Jixian, they found Liu Yao and Tian Feng already waiting at the city gate.

"Lord, I, Zhang Fei, have returned." "Lord, how could we trouble you to wait here?" The two different statements easily distinguished who was Zhang Fei and who was Huang Zhong.

"Ha ha, why not? You two are the heroes of this battle, and it is fitting that I welcome you back." Liu Yao laughed.

"Thank you, Lord." Zhang Fei and Huang Zhong both bowed in gratitude.

"Alright, let's go into the city." Liu Yao led them in.

"Yes."

In the meeting hall of the governor's residence, Liu Yao sat in the main seat, while Ju Shou, Tian Feng, Zhang Fei, Huang Zhong, and Shi A stood below.

"Alright, let's hear your reports. Han Sheng, you go first."

"Lord, this time I killed 28,000 enemies, and the rest mostly fled. Our army had 1,235 lightly wounded, 20 seriously wounded but not fatally, and 58 soldiers were killed in action," Huang Zhong reported.

"Oh, that's a great victory." Liu Yao said excitedly, then sighed, thinking of the fallen soldiers, "Sigh, the compensation for the seriously wounded and the fallen will be doubled."

"Thank you, Lord." Huang Zhong said, moved. Being a commoner himself, he was most concerned about the welfare of the lowest-ranking soldiers.

"What about the spoils of war?"

"Lord, due to your strategy, the Wuhuan people fled without their horses. Apart from those injured by stray arrows and those who ran away in panic, we brought back 25,000 horses. As for other weapons, they are not worth mentioning."

"Oh, that's a lot. Now we have enough horses for our cavalry expansion." Liu Yao said excitedly, completely surprised by the outcome.

"Yide, what about your side? You seem impatient." Liu Yao teased Zhang Fei, who was scratching his head and hesitating to speak.

"Lord, this time it was really boring. Only about 300 Wuhuan people came to my side, and they were all killed by Han Sheng." Zhang Fei said jealously, then added excitedly, "But this time, I captured the two Wuhuan leaders."

"Ha ha ha, I won't forget your contribution. Bring the two leaders in," Liu Yao said with a smile.

Soon, two of Liu Yao's guards brought in the bound Subul and Wudan and removed the gags from their mouths.

"What are your names?" Liu Yao asked from his high seat.

"Hmph, we Wuhuan warriors will never submit. Don't think you can get any information from us," Wudan said disdainfully, turning his head.

"Ha ha, it doesn't matter. I didn't expect to get any information from you anyway." Liu Yao said coldly. "Someone, take them to the dungeon. Make sure they get food, but don't let them starve. They still have some use."

"Yes." The guards gagged them again and took them away.

"Alright, Yide, Han Sheng, I will remember your contributions. Go rest for a day, and then follow me to Yuyang. Yuanhao, you come with us to advise me."

"Yes."

"Thank you, Lord." The two said excitedly, after all, joining the army was to achieve glory and rank.