I, the prince, only want to be deposed.

Chapter 473: No Retreat! Those Who Retreat Will Die! (Two in One)

"Fire arrows!"

Following the order from the flag bearer, thousands of powerful crossbows pulled the triggers at the same time, and arrows poured down like raindrops towards the oncoming Hun army.

Indeed, compared with the powerful Hun army.

A rain of arrows of this scale seemed a little inadequate, and it was divided into three sides to jointly deal with the charge of the Huns' front army, left army and right army.

"hehe."

Wu Shilu smiled playfully when he saw this.
"If I had known that the Han army only had this method, I should not have adopted the harassment tactics from the beginning, but should have ordered an all-out charge from the beginning, so that we would not have lost nearly 10,000 people in vain."

Unfortunately, the battle between Li Ling and the Huns at Junji Mountain has not yet happened.

Otherwise, he would have to think carefully about why the Chanyu Qiedihou, who led 110,000 men at that time, failed to defeat Li Ling's 5,000 infantrymen in one fell swoop, and lost more than 10,000 men. It was not until Li Ling's troops ran out of arrows that they were finally captured.

Aren’t 110,000 people more than the 50,000 or so he has left now?

Or was it that the 10,000 men and 5 million arrows Liu Ju led this time were not as many as Li Ling's?

next moment.

As the rain of arrows fell, the Hun cavalry who were charging hard seemed to have suddenly hit a wall of air.

The countless cavalrymen at the front fell to the ground along with their horses before they could even react.

These cavalrymen and war horses that had reached the end instantly turned into tripwires or chevaux de frise, making it impossible for the cavalrymen behind them to dodge. Either their horses had nowhere to land, or they were tripped and fell to the ground, with the cavalrymen on top also falling down.

The worst suffered were the Hun cavalrymen in front who were shot off their horses but only suffered minor injuries.

They did not die under the arrows of the Han army, but were trampled by the hooves of their own horses, or hit and crushed by the stumbling horses. They did not even have time to howl like ghosts or wolves before they were no longer human.

"There is a saying in the Han Dynasty that goes 'One general's success is the result of the sacrifice of thousands of men's lives'. This is a necessary sacrifice, but it is also your honor, and it is your only value and mission."

Wu Shilu rode his horse on a high ground several miles away, looking at this bloody and tragic scene, and a ripple appeared in his heart. However, he was not a good person to begin with, and he could easily find a self-consistent excuse.

And he had prepared in advance.

Although he also sent the cavalry from the central army this time, it was not all of them. He also deliberately left 5,000 men to expand the size of the supervisory team.

Now these Xiongnu cavalrymen on the battlefield have only three options:
Or, die under the arrows of the Han army;

Or, die under the arrows of the Xiongnu's war team;
Or, fight for the only way to survive, break through the Han army camp, and capture the Han prince alive!
Facts have proved that his iron-blooded military discipline worked.

After the Han army's first wave of arrow rain, although the Hun army's charge formation was extremely dense and the Han army's crossbowmen shot with their eyes closed, there was a high probability that Hun cavalry would catch them. Just this one wave caused thousands of casualties to the Hun's front, left and right armies.

But this did not stop the Hun army.

More Hun cavalrymen stepped on the bloody bodies of their comrades and horses and continued to move forward, as if no one and nothing could stop them.

"Haha, Prince of the Han Dynasty, see, this is the Xiongnu cavalry!"

Wu Shilu was very satisfied with the performance of the Xiongnu cavalry under his command, and was proud of his decision to expand the supervisory team.

If this step had not been taken, the Hun cavalry, which lacked discipline, would have shown signs of collapse by now. After all, no one is not afraid of death.

Wu Shilu himself was no exception.

Therefore, since the confrontation with the Han army, he had at most visited the front army camp and had never personally gone to the front line to observe the Han army camp. And now he still stayed away to avoid any accidents. After all, he had heard that the Han army's yellow shoulder crossbow had a long range and the Huns' generals would be sniped if they were not careful.

However, although he knew a lot about the culture of the Han Dynasty, he never remembered that sentence:

"Do unto others, do not impose on others."

Liu Ju had the courage to join the game himself, but he only had the determination to watch the battle from a distance.

……

Finally, the second wave of arrows poured down on the Hun army.

More Hun cavalry fell, and amid the howling of ghosts and wolves, the Hun army's momentum slowed down uncontrollably.

The tragic scene of the Hun cavalry who died in the previous battle is still vivid in our minds, and this wave is even more frightening. The Huns are also human beings, and no one wants to be the one falling to the ground and being trampled on.

The most important thing is that they have now rushed to a place only a hundred steps away from the Han army camp.

One hundred steps was completely within the range of the Han crossbows. After this wave of arrows, the Han army's crossbow camp immediately changed its tactics.

They no longer shot arrows as before, but divided into several rows and climbed onto the camp wall, taking turns to move forward and shoot. After the first row finished shooting, they immediately retreated and drew their bows and arrows, and the second row followed closely, and so on!
That is to say, from now on, the number of arrows in each wave of rain of arrows of the Han army will be reduced, but they can be seamlessly connected, one arrow after another, continuously.

Moreover, when the crossbowmen use powerful crossbows to shoot directly, the accuracy is definitely several levels higher than the hit rate of group projectiles, and killing the enemy is naturally more efficient.

The Hun army no longer had a chance to catch its breath.

Those who rush in the front will just fall down in rows as if they were lined up for execution, continuously passing the fear of death to every Hun cavalryman behind them, continuously consuming their san points.

"what!"

"Help!"

"Sun God, save me, I don't want to die!"

So far, this has been almost a one-sided massacre, as if the Huns were madly using their lives to improve the Han army's record.

They didn't even have any power to fight back, because their bows could not reach the range of the Han crossbows, and the number of bow stones used on horseback was generally not large, and it was difficult to reach even a hundred steps.

In this land of ghosts and wolves howling.

The Xiongnu army's battle line seemed to have formed a subtle stalemate with the Han army's arrows.

"This is?!"

At this moment, Wu Shilu finally couldn't see what was wrong.

The Han army camp now was like a rotating death mill. As long as the Xiongnu army came within a range of 100 steps, it was as if they had encountered a more powerful obstacle. They were quickly ground down by this death mill, making it very difficult for the front line to continue to advance.

And it wasn't just the Han army's arrows. The constantly falling Hun cavalry and horses, after gradually piling up, became a huge obstacle that prevented the Hun army from continuing to charge, greatly slowing down the speed of the charge.

"My king..."

Seeing this, the old counselor at the side quickly spoke up to give advice to Wu Shilu.

But at this moment he didn't know what to say.

Previously, he suggested that Wu Shilu constantly harass the Han army camp to consume the Han army's "limited" arrows. As a result, the Han army's arrows seemed to be endless, and they killed nearly 10,000 Xiongnu soldiers in ten days, causing panic among the Xiongnu soldiers.

Because at this time, Wu Shilu had already decided to kill him.

Fortunately, he was quick-witted and came up with a plan to cater to Wu Shilu's thoughts, suggesting that Wu Shilu attack with all his strength. As a result, halfway through the charge, the casualties have exceeded the total of the previous ones, and most importantly, the battle line seems to have stagnated, and it has been unable to advance to the Han army camp for a long time.

If this continues, the entire Xiongnu army will be wiped out by the Han army of only 10,000 people.

And if this battle is lost.

Given Wu Shilu's temperament, he would definitely vent his anger on him. He originally wanted to turn the Han Dynasty prince into a human pig, but now Wu Shilu could only turn him into a human pig to vent his anger.

Think about this from the perspective of the country.

It is time to order a withdrawal immediately to preserve the manpower of the Hun army. Otherwise, if this continues, the Hun will completely lose the capital to confront the Han Dynasty.

But the old strategist spoke, but did not dare to say it out loud, just as he had not dared to suggest that Wu Shilu withdraw his troops before.

Because saying this to Wu Shilu at this moment is also seeking death...

"Useless! All of them are useless! More than 50,000 people can't even break through the defense line of 10,000 Han troops. What's the use of these useless people!"

Fortunately, Wu Shilu was already furious at the moment and didn't hear what he said at all. He just kept waving his whip and cursing.

"Come here, pass the order down, order the supervisory team to press forward to support the king!"

"Tell the supervisors that everyone must charge forward. Anyone who dares to take a step back, even if it's my father, will be shot immediately if he turns his head back. No mercy will be shown!"

"Yes!"

When the guards beside him heard this order, a trace of embarrassment appeared in their eyes.

But at this moment he also didn't dare to touch Wu Shilu's reverse scale, because it would really kill people, so he had to bite the bullet and agree and run to pass the order.

Throughout the army, including Wu Shilu's closest people, no one dared to express dissenting opinions in front of him when they knew that something was wrong.

……

More and more Xiongnu cavalry fell under the rain of arrows from the Han army.

It is not difficult to see that many people in the Xiongnu army have already begun to retreat. Some of the cavalry in the front no longer charge towards the Han army camp, but instead seize the opportunity to rush to the left and right sides, exposing their comrades behind them to the Han army's arrows.

And even so.

The Hun army was still forcing its way forward, and after losing a large number of cavalry, it finally and slowly advanced the front line to a place about seventy steps away from the Han army camp wall.

While Liu Ju was operating the large crossbow, he naturally had a panoramic view of the situation of the Hun army.

"Having such a Zuo Xian Wang is a blessing to the Han Dynasty and a disaster to the Xiongnu."

He had already guessed what kind of stupid thing Wu Shilu was doing.

If Wu Shilu ordered the army to retreat now, he might still regard him as a big shot.

After all, Wu Shilu was indeed a prominent figure in history. He should have successfully succeeded to the throne of Chanyu when Wuwei Chanyu died two years later. Then, as the "son Chanyu", he died young after only three years as Chanyu.

When he died, his offspring were too young, so his uncle, Wuwei Chanyu's younger brother, eventually succeeded him to the position of Chanyu.

During his three years in office, Wu Shilu did not do anything noteworthy, at least there is no record of him in the history books of the Han Dynasty. The only thing related to him in the history books was the capture of Zhao Po Nu.

Moreover, that incident was almost exactly the same as this time when Zhao Xincheng's commander pretended to surrender and tricked him into coming in person to meet them.

Anyway, Zhao Po Nu was on his way to meet the Xiongnu Left Commander who was secretly contacting the Han Dynasty and preparing to kill Wu Shilu who had surrendered to the Han Dynasty, and was besieged by the Xiongnu army at Junji Mountain. As for whether there was a common conspiracy, the history books are vague about it, only saying that the Xiongnu Left Commander's plan was exposed and he was killed...

"Guo Zhen, tell Zhao Po Nu to lead all his cavalry to mount their horses and gather in front of the camp gate. Once the drums sound, it means the enemy has been defeated. Immediately rush out of the camp and chase them. Do not come back to see me until you have killed 10,000 people."

While stringing the large yellow crossbow, Liu Ju still did not forget to ask Guo Zhen to go and pass on the message.

He knew very well that the casualties of the Hun army had far exceeded the army's ability to withstand combat damage. The fact that they had been able to hold out until this point had already made him look at them with new eyes and even admire them.

But that’s about it.

At any moment from then on, the Hun army could be defeated in an instant.

The opportunity for defeat must come from within the Xiongnu army. It depends on how Wu Shilu and the Xiongnu generals will deliver the last straw that breaks the camel's back!

……

Behind the Hun army.

After receiving the order from Wu Shilu, the supervisory team had all pressed forward.

They stood dozens of steps away from the army, each of them bent their bows and drew their arrows, aiming at the backs of their comrades.

"No retreat! Anyone who retreats will die!"

Looking at their comrades who had stopped in front of them, several generals of the supervisory team shouted at the top of their lungs.

The hands of the soldiers in the supervision team were shaking constantly. Some of them had expressions of pity on their faces, some had bloodshot eyes, and blood was oozing from their teeth.

Those in front were their former comrades-in-arms, and some were even their tribesmen.

But now, they are forcing these people to die or shooting them with bows.

"General, we can't push on any further. You can see that the road ahead is blocked by corpses. If we charge forward, we will die in vain. Please give us a way out, General!"

Some people in the army in the front could no longer bear it and turned back to beg the supervision team for mercy.

"This is the order of Zuo Xian Wang. I am also following the order of the army. Please don't make things difficult for me!"

The leader of the supervising team responded with a serious expression. Seeing that someone was showing signs of retreating again, he had to personally take a bow and shoot an arrow at a point less than ten feet away from the person's heel as a warning.

"Military orders are military orders. Anyone who dares to take a step back will be shot at with my next arrow!"

It would have been better if he hadn't shot that arrow.

As soon as the arrow was shot, the Hun cavalry in front, who were already like frightened birds under the powerful crossbows of the Han army, were immediately frightened.

Someone suddenly shouted:

"Murder! Zuo Xian Wang's men are killing our own Xiongnu people!"

For a moment, the Xiongnu army was in chaos, and countless people raised their arms and shouted:
"We are fighting for Zuo Xian Wang in the front. It's ok for the Han army to shoot us, but Zuo Xian Wang wants to shoot us too. Will Zuo Xian Wang be satisfied only if he forces us all to death today?!"

"Brothers, I don't want to die!"

"Whoever forces me to die, I will kill him. As long as we kill the people from the Supervisory Team, we can survive!"

(End of this chapter)