I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 361 The bandits return in defeat, Su Yao returns in triumph
"The position of the king must not fall into the hands of others."

As night falls, the starry sky shines brightly.

In the meeting hall of Pinggang City, after irrelevant people left, Wang Zilouban clenched his fists and finally revealed his feelings in front of his confidants.

It turned out that he didn't care about his father's life or death at all.

This was not only because he knew very well that, according to the consistent style of the Han Dynasty, since his father Qiu Liju did not die in the chaos of war, he would be used as a bargaining chip, a rare commodity, and his life would not be in danger.

Moreover, the Wuhuan people have always believed that the strong are respected and have never had the Han people's tradition of respecting the elderly.

Not only do they not respect the elderly, they even look down on them.

The Wuhuan tribe was located between the grassland and the valley. It was cold and windy, and they were half agricultural and half pastoral, with very difficult living conditions.

In such harsh conditions, the Wuhuan people were constantly facing food crises and great pressure to survive.

Old people with frail bodies will not be respected here, but will instead be expected to die early.

For those elderly people who are still alive after the age of 60, what awaits them is not support from their children, but ruthless exile.

Although Qiu Liju was less than fifty years old at the moment, his consecutive defeats had destroyed his prestige.

Even if he were released, it would be difficult for him to regain the respect he once had.

Wang Zilouban knew this very well, and his confidants also understood it clearly.

They just needed to use this incident to get a legitimate reason to summon those tribal warriors.

Nothing brings people together better than a shared crisis.

It was impossible for them to leave their hometown in western Liaoning, so they could only grit their teeth and work together to deal with the aggressive threat of the Han army.

And in this process, it was his chance to hold on to power and even be crowned king.

After all, judging from the news Prince Louban had received, his only rival, his cousin Tadun, now seemed to be extremely ambitious and might compete with him for power at any time.

Tadun was the opposite of Prince Louban, who was good at governance and was always stationed in the rear.

Tadun showed his bravery and fighting skills since he was young. Not only did he gather a large number of desperate criminals from various ethnic groups under his command, he also made many military achievements in several battles. He gained the trust of Qiuliju and became the leader of a thousand tents at an early age and went on expeditions with him.

Such a Tadun became Louban's strongest competitor for the throne in the aristocratic council.

I won't talk about Prince Louban's subsequent preparations, but let's go back to the night when Qiuliju was defeated.
In the valley leading from Guanzi City to Pinggang, as time passed, the brutal chase finally came to an end.

Tragic, yes.

When Su Yao was chasing Qiuliju alone, the new Du Liao army led by Lu Bu and others and Gongsun Zan's 800 white horse volunteers attacked from both inside and outside, killing indiscriminately, chasing them to the north, killing them so hard that the blood flowed like a river, and only retreated at dusk.

Tadun led the horse and walked on the rugged mountain path. He looked back from time to time, looking at the chaotic fleeing soldiers, and felt extremely heavy-hearted.

Many of these people are warriors of the Wuhuan people, and are the strongest men in their tribe.

However, in this sudden attack, they were slaughtered like piglets, fleeing in all directions like headless flies, without any fighting power at all.

The one who caused all this was Su Yao who suddenly appeared.
"Su, I will make you pay the price!"

However, after making these harsh remarks and venting his emotions, Tadun knew very well that the most important thing now was to stabilize the situation and reintegrate the power of Wuhuan in order to deal with possible crises that might follow.

However, this defeat was a fatal blow to the Wuhuan.

It's not just the loss of personnel, but more importantly the collapse of morale and loss of confidence.

The Wuhuan people have always prided themselves as warriors outside the Great Wall, and their continuous victories in the past two years have made the entire nation excited.

It seems like the good days of being a superior person are about to come.

However, this time they were defeated repeatedly by the general named Su. Each time he defeated a larger force with a smaller one, they were defeated miserably. This was a heavy blow to their self-esteem and pride.

Tadun knew that if the situation could not be stabilized quickly and the people's hearts could not be reunited, the Wuhuan would fall into an even more dangerous situation. However, compared with the future crisis, the current difficulties of survival were more fatal:
"I'm afraid that many of our warriors will freeze to death this night."

Everyone else hung their heads in response to the Tadun-headed man's words.

They knew very well that this was an inevitable fact.

The real test was this extremely cold night.

Although those soldiers who abandoned their weapons and armor while fleeing ran fast and saved their lives, their lack of equipment meant that they were unable to survive the long winter night.

Thinking of this, the remaining soldiers couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.

Fortunately, under the wise leadership of Tadun, they not only did not lose their organization, but also took advantage of the chaos to recover a lot of supplies. They even used the terrain of the valley to launch two beautiful counterattacks.

If not for this, I’m afraid it would take who knows when those Han cavalry would catch up with us.

"Quick, distribute the warming supplies!"

In the cold wind, Tadun calmly commanded:
"We have to get through this cold night."

The order was quickly passed down, and the remaining Wuhuan soldiers began to get busy. They lit a bonfire and distributed the few remaining supplies one by one. They all understood that on this cold night, any bit of warmth could be life-saving.

However, supplies are limited, so they have to make some choices.

The wounded and the weak will have no protection.

Only the most loyal and strongest warriors could be protected by Tadun.

This sparked a fight.

However, the desperate weaklings were quickly dealt with.

Relying on his outstanding performance in remaining calm during this defeat and his absolute advantage in controlling survival resources, Tadun immediately won the support of a large group of tribesmen.

Even many leaders of other tribes who had fled in panic came to him and sought refuge.

That night, Tadun won himself a group of loyal subordinates and allies.

That night, countless Wuhuan soldiers froze to death.

Su Yao, who was the one who pushed and accomplished all this, returned to Guanzi City calmly, as if he had accomplished a trivial task.

However, in contrast to Su Yao's nonchalant attitude, Gongsun Zan and others in Guanzi City had already made great fanfare and made grand preparations to welcome his return.

After all, this glorious victory was so encouraging and so timely. If it weren't for Su Yao, they wouldn't know when they would be able to escape.

So, after learning the news that Su Yao had returned to the city, Gongsun Zan immediately led his subordinates to welcome him.

then.
"What? Lord Su has captured that Qiu Liju guy?!"

Under the moonlight and in the firelight, Gongsun Zan and his generals Yan Gang and Zou Dan looked at each other in bewilderment.

They never imagined that Su Yao not only successfully defeated the Wuhuan army that besieged Guanzi City, but also captured Qiuliju, the king of the Wuhuan in Liaoxi!

It really gave them a big boost.

After repeatedly confirming the identity of the bloodied, listless, and miserable man on Su Yao's horse, Yan Gang couldn't help but exclaim:

"Lord Su is truly a god!"

"Yeah yeah."

Zou Dan also hurriedly praised:
"You defeated the enemy with a small force, and even pursued them single-handedly, capturing the leader of the Wuhuan bandits alive. You truly deserve the title of Champion Marquis!"

(End of this chapter)