Ji Han Liu Zhang

Taiyuan County, Zhongyang County.

More than ten days after the 3,000 Qiang and Hu troops who served as the vanguard arrived in Zhongyang County, generals Gan Ning and Zhang Ren, commanding 8,000 Shu troops, also arrived at the territory of Zhongyang County.

Gan Ning glanced at the recent battle reports between Qiang and Hu and Xiongnu and smiled slightly. "These Qiang and Hu are really working hard. They have killed and injured quite a few Xiongnu dogs in the past ten days. They have made some contributions. It is worthwhile for me to bring them all the way from Longyou to here."

Zhang Ren smiled upon hearing this and said, "Xingba was more generous than Gao Gan and Yan Liang. He sent many sharp blades and powerful crossbows to the Qiang and Hu people, which gave them an advantage in weapons when fighting against the Xiongnu. Otherwise, how could the Qiang and Hu people have achieved such great feats?"

"The Qiang and Hu are like tigers. If they are well fed, they will fight hard. If they are not well fed, they will bite their master." As the strategist of the expedition to Taiyuan County, Jia Xu had been in Liangzhou for a long time and was very familiar with the habits of the Qiang people. "But today, the Qiang and Hu are well fed by us. Secondly, the Qiang and Hu are weak. They are not tigers, but just running dogs. That is why the Qiang and Hu fight so hard."

Commander Gan Ning, deputy general Zhang Ren, and counselor Jia Xu stood on a hill, looking at Zhongyang County and the Huns' camps scattered outside of Zhongyang County from afar.

"In the past, the Xiongnu lived outside the Great Wall, but now they have moved into the inner counties. This is really unfortunate for the country." Gan Ning sighed, "Today, the Han Dynasty is still strong and can suppress this group of Xiongnu. But if the Han Dynasty declines in the future, I don't know what kind of waves the Xiongnu in Taiyuan County will stir up."

"So your order is very clear. This trip can help us find an opportunity to eliminate the Huns in Taiyuan County and prevent them from becoming a threat to the country in the future." Zhang Ren recited the order issued by Liu Zhang.

"Your Excellency has a long-term vision, but Yuan Shao is short-sighted." Gan Ning nodded. "For example, Yuan Shao was kind to the Hu people, which led to the Xiongnu, Wuhuan, and Xianbei invading the Han territory. He was not worried at the moment, but he did not care about the future."

After observing the Xiongnu camp outside Zhongyang County for a while, Gan Ning, Zhang Ren, Jia Xu and others rode back to the Shu army camp in Zhongyang County.

Inside the Chinese army's tent.

Jia Xu analyzed for Gan Ning and Zhang Ren: "We have come close to observe the enemy's situation today, but the Xiongnu have not sent a single soldier to drive us away. This shows that the Xiongnu have suffered too many casualties in the battles with the Qiang and Hu during this period of time, and have lost their will to fight."

"I think that the Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan must have sent a letter to Jinyang, asking Gao Gan and Yan Liang to lead reinforcements to fight us with the help of Gao Gan and Yan Liang's military power."

Gan Ning smiled and said, "Mr. Wenhe is right. After all, although the Xiongnu have received favors from the Yuan family, the Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan is not like the Qiang and Hu people, who are firmly under our control. He has some ideas of his own. After losing too many men, the Xiongnu will certainly ask Gao Gan and Yan Liang for reinforcements."

Compared with the Xiongnu troops under Gao Gan and Yan Liang, the Qiang and Hu recruited by the Shu army were completely controlled by the Shu army. The tribal leaders, elders, and their families were all under the control of the Shu army. If any Qiang or Hu family had any thoughts of rebellion, the end waiting for them would be the extermination of their clan.

With a sword of annihilation hanging over their heads, the Qiang and Hu tribes who responded to the call had no choice but to fight hard. They did not dare to be lazy or slack for the slightest bit, and fought with the Huns every day until the sky was dark and the sun and moon disappeared.

"The Xiongnu have suffered too many casualties. Will they harbor resentment towards Gao Gan and Yan Liang? Is there anything we can do here to sow discord between the two parties?" Zhang Ren pondered.

Jia Xu shook his head and said, "Although they are from the Xiongnu, from Chanyu Huchuquan, Zuo Xianwang Liu Bao, You Xianwang Qubei and below, they may lose many men every day due to the weak support from Gao Gan and Yan Liang, and their morale is low. But it is unlikely that Huchuquan, Liu Bao, and Qubei have second thoughts about the Yuan family."

Jia Xu then explained the reason: "Yuan's government was lenient and benevolent, and he was kind to the Hu people. He allowed the Xiongnu and Wuhuan to move into the inner counties instead of guarding against them. He was very kind to the Xiongnu and Wuhuan. Moreover, Yuan Shao was the strongest in the world, occupying the Hebei region and the northern part of the Yellow River. The barbarians were terrified when they heard about him, so they dared not disobey Yuan Shao because he was so tyrannical."

"So Huchuquan, Liu Bao, Qubei and others are just low in fighting spirit and morale. Once Gao Gan and Yan Liang arrive and comfort them, I believe the Xiongnu's fighting spirit and morale will be restored."

"However," Jia Xu said at last, "Before Gao Gan and Yan Liang arrive at Zhongyang County, we can try to do something while the morale in the Xiongnu camp is low."

After saying this, Jia Xu stroked his beard, his eyes flickering as he looked at Gan Ning and Zhang Ren. Gan Ning and Zhang Ren each looked at each other, and both understood the deep meaning of Jia Xu's words.

At night, Jian'an missed the clear moonlight on September 10th, when the faint moonlight flowed down. It was the third month of autumn, and there was a cool breeze blowing across the fields and forests.

Under the moonlight, groups of Shu troops stepped out of the barracks and headed towards the Huns' camp outside Zhongyang County, preparing to give a surprise to the Huns who were waiting for help.

Soon, taking advantage of the dark clouds covering the almost half-moon, Gan Ning led the Shu army to a valley outside the Xiongnu camp and looked at the Xiongnu camp from the side.

The Xiongnu, who had suffered setbacks from the Qiang and Hu in recent days, and were thinking of holding their ground and waiting for help, had become lazy and slack in their thinking. The Xiongnu's night guards had relaxed a bit and did not take the night watch very seriously. They only hoped that Yuan's army would arrive early so that they could replace them to fight against the Shu army.

Therefore, the Hun soldiers who were on guard at night fell asleep one by one, leaning against the pillars. Even if there were one or two soldiers who were on duty seriously, they were yawning continuously, their eyelids opening and closing, and they were unable to scan the front of the camp.

"Let the Qiang and Hu go first and tell them that if they fail to break down the Xiongnu camp gate, someone will use his knife to kill them." Gan Ning issued an order. He planned to let the Qiang and Hu break down the Xiongnu camp gate, and then he would lead his Jinfan Rangers to charge in.

Soon, five hundred Qiang and Hu soldiers were divided into five teams, and they moved towards the Xiongnu camp one after another. Behind them were the Shu army, who were supervising the battle with ring-handled swords in hand.

Retreating would mean certain death, while advancing might give them a chance of survival. The Qiang and Hu people, who were forced to fight by the Shu army, all became ruthless and rushed towards the Xiongnu camp.

Fifty steps before the Qiang Hu approached the Xiongnu camp, a cautious Xiongnu man felt the ground suddenly shake. At first, he just thought he was too tired and had hallucinations, but when he opened his confused eyes and looked at the front of the camp boredly, doing his job, he suddenly widened his eyes. In front of the camp, a group of black shadows attacked the camp where he was. These black shadows were very fast, and the time between their footsteps on the ground was very short. Just when the cautious Xiongnu man was stunned and thinking, the black shadows approached the camp more than ten steps away.

"Enemy attack, enemy..." The cautious Hun had not even shouted out two words to report the enemy attack before he saw a sharp arrow flashing with cold light fly out from the darkness in front of the camp and penetrate straight into his throat, taking his life and ending his warning.

However, the sound of this Hun falling to the ground woke up the other Huns who were dozing off against the pillars. Just as a group of Huns nearby were awakened from their sleep and were still wondering why their companion fell to the ground, the Qiang and Hu approached the Huns' camp.

The Huns, a nation on horseback, were able to fight the Han Empire for more than a hundred years, relying on the fine horses under their mounts and their swift-moving fighting style. This left the Han army with no chance to fight, and no way to fight to the death.

However, although the Xiongnu were good at cavalry warfare, they were born fools and had no idea how to build fortifications and set up camps. Although the Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan imitated the style of the Han army to make fences, ditches, deer horns and other things, they were mostly very crude and only captured the form but not the essence.

For example, the ditch in front of the Hun camp was so big that an adult could cross it with one stride. The deer antlers used for chevaux de frise were still in the shape of round logs, without any sharp peaks. The fences used as camp walls were not only made of short and thick wood, but also not inserted deep enough into the ground, and tended to collapse when the breeze blew.

Therefore, the Qiang and Hu strode across the ditch, overturned the antlers of deer, pushed down the fence, and easily broke into the Xiongnu camp. Five hundred Qiang and Hu were divided into five teams and rushed in all directions.

Gan Ning, who was in the rear, led more than a thousand elite soldiers and followed the footsteps of the Qiang and Hu people and charged into the Xiongnu camp. They brought plenty of fire starters, such as tung oil, saltpeter, tinder, etc., and set fires everywhere in the night breeze.

While ordering his subordinates to set fire, Gan Ning had no intention of stopping. He kept swinging the ring-handled sword in his hand. Every swing of the sword would take the life of a panicked Hun.

When the Shu army rushed into the camp and set fire everywhere, with the sound of gongs and drums shaking the earth, the Xiongnu camp suddenly exploded, and there were signs of camp roaring. The Xiongnu people were in disarray, and they fled in panic like mice in a bellows.

Some Huns were lucky enough to choose the correct escape route and escape from the chaotic and noisy front camp. Some Huns lost their sense of direction and actually ran into the blades of the Shu army, becoming a small achievement in the Shu army's book of merit.

The Xiongnu Chanyu Huochuquan, the Left Wise King Liu Bao, and the Right Wise King Qubei were awakened by the chaos in the camp. At first, they thought it was because of the howling of the men under them, but soon they learned from the guards outside that the Shu army had launched a night attack.

After a discussion, the three decided to let the Left Wise King Liu Bao go to the front camp to stabilize the situation, the Right Wise King Qu Bei went to lead the men in the rear camp to rescue the front army, and the Chanyu Huchuquan stayed in the central army to command, so as to prevent the Shu army from taking advantage of the situation to attack the central army after disrupting the front camp.

Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, rode his horse at full speed, crossed the dividing line between the front camp and the central army, and came to the front camp where the situation was in turmoil. He first found several centurions in the front camp, and then asked these centurions to pacify the panicked soldiers, preparing to gather a team of troops to stabilize the chaos in the front camp.

Gan Ning locked onto Liu Bao's image of him sitting on a tall horse and shouting orders. Needless to say, Gan Ning knew that the man opposite him must be a leader, and not an ordinary small fish, but a rare big fish.

With the target locked, Gan Ning made a decision immediately. He first ordered two groups of more than a hundred Qiang and Hu people to attack the left and right wings of the Huns gathered by Liu Bao.

Faced with the Qiang and Hu attacks from both sides, Liu Bao, who had just gathered more than a thousand scattered Xiongnu soldiers, naturally divided his troops into two teams to deal with them and ensure the safety of the two wings.

Seeing that the Huns divided their forces into two wings, Gan Ning thought that the opportunity had come. He tightly grasped the sharp ring-handled knife in his hand and even tied his palm and the handle of the ring-handled knife with a cloth strip to prevent the handle from being soaked with blood and causing the ring-handled knife to slip out of his hand.

After everything was ready, Gan Ning shouted, "Charge." Then he rushed out of the formation and, under the protection of his left and right personal guards, rushed towards the direction where Liu Bao was.

Like a tiger descending from the mountain, relying on the heavy armor on his body, Gan Ning ignored the blades of the Huns and wielded the sharp ring-handled knife in his hand, cutting through the scattered Huns who had just gathered together like a hot knife cutting butter.

"Stop him, stop him for me, Lord Nai." The Left Wise King Liu Bao shouted urgently. The Shu general opposite him was extremely brave and none of his subordinates could match him. As a result, the Shu general had advanced to more than twenty steps in front of him, and the distance between them was already very close. If he was not stopped, he might be surrounded by him.

At Liu Bao's command, his personal guards stepped forward to resist Gan Ning, hoping to interrupt Gan Ning's unstoppable momentum and stop his advance.

As the personal guards of Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, these twenty-odd Huns were naturally brave. One of them could defeat more than ten ordinary Huns. However, even such brave Huns, when facing Gan Ning, were like bubbles in the sun and burst and disappeared in an instant.

In a flash, Gan Ning saw that the enemy general was only ten steps away. He shouted loudly like thunder, and his ring-handled sword cut a full moon shape, opening a passage to Liu Bao. He strode forward and attacked Liu Bao on horseback.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bao, the Left Wise King, gritted his teeth and did not choose to retreat. Instead, he stepped forward with his crescent-shaped knife raised, hoping to use the impact force of the horse under his crotch to kill the brave and invincible Shu general with one blow.

In a flash, Gan Ning and Liu Bao started fighting, and with just one move, Liu Bao fell helplessly from his horse. The dignified Left Wise King of the Xiongnu disappeared tonight, under the moonlight.

With the death of Liu Bao, the scattered Hun soldiers in the front camp that had just been gathered by Liu Bao suddenly fell apart again and fled in all directions without caring about anything.

"Kill, kill them for you." Gan Ning showed a heroic smile. He commanded his men to completely destroy and burn the front camp of the Huns. At the same time, he did not forget to expand the results of the battle. He ordered the Qiang and Hu to kill the central army of the Huns, and he led his elite soldiers to follow closely behind.

That night, the front camp and the central army of the Xiongnu were broken by the Shu army. The Xiongnu Chanyu Huchuquan and the Right Wise King Qubei barely managed to stabilize the situation, while the Xiongnu Left Wise King Liu Bao died in the camp. (End of this chapter)