Battle Royale of the Sinners

Tian Yu did not order his men to withdraw from the battle. Instead, he deployed a hit-and-run horse archer tactic against Wang Men's horse archers.

The crossbow arrows arrived at Wang Men's troops first, killing several hundreds of riders and a thousand horses in one volley.

Wang Men bellowed in anger, "Shoot back! Chase and shoot!"

Tian Yu also shouted, "Turn back and run! Retreat again!"

The surviving 4,500 horse archers released their arrows. The volley flew to the sky as they had predicted, but the result betrayed their expectation.

When shooting against a running away opponent, good archers usually predicted the target's movement and aimed ahead.

However, shooting on horseback was a difficult task even for elite soldiers. This skill required years of rigorous training and costs, so not every archer in Wang Men's troops were master bowmen.

As a result, most of them did not aim ahead. Ninety percent of arrows landed behind Tian Yu's riders while the rest managed to hit the targets.

Two hundred horses collapsed with the soldiers, while a hundred men had an arrow lodging in their body. Ten of which fell from the horseback and did not make it with their colleagues.

Tian Yu waved his arm to the side, "Turn right! Turn right!"

Zhao Yun and others commanded their horses, turning 90 degrees toward the direction Tian Yu was pointing.

'I see! Fighting against horse archers with horse archers, the chasers can be countered like this!'

Zhao Yun gained enlightenment from his friend's action.

While Tian Yu's troops were running away, Wang Men raised his fist, ordering his troops to stop the pursue.

"Don't follow them!"

Wang Men glared at the retreating riders in frustration. Although he wanted to kill every single of them, he was not stupid or reckless enough to fight a losing battle.

"Withdraw! We'll report this to our lord. The empress has escaped!"

.

Ten minutes after Wang Men withdrew, Tian Yu looked back with a frown.

"Bummer. I thought that idiot would have been pissed and kept chasing after us."

Looking back, there was nothing but farms and uncultivated plains. They could see a trail of dust from a distance, but they were not coming for them.

Everybody sighed in relief that they did not have to fight to the death again today.

Only

"HELP! THE EMPRESS WAS SHOT!!"

Zhao Yun and Tian Yu were shocked. They leaped from their horses and rushed to the group who guarded He Xing and Liu Xie.

Upon arriving, both could see her condition.

An arrow pierced her back, and He Xing was coughing blood. The arrowhead was inside her lung!

Zhao Yun's face lost all color while Tian Yu's heart skipped a beat. This was not supposed to happen.

Zhao Yun wanted to punch himself for entrusting He Xing to the other bodyguards. Tian Yu also blamed himself for engaging in a tactic that put her life at risk.

Now, He Xing had a life-threatening injury!

"Don't pull the arrow out! We'll transport her back and have our field physicians take care of her!"

Zhao Yun wanted to help her and tend her wound, but he did not have the right first-aid knowledge. All soldiers also did not dare to touch their young master's woman as they were afraid of the misunderstanding.

In the end, Tian Yu stripped He Xing and used clean clothes, which were torn from his spare banners. The condition of the texture was not something that should be used on a fresh wound, but Tian Yu had no other option.

Flustered and panicked, all soldiers built a wagon for the injured empress and carried them back to their main forces. Along the way, Liu Xie sat beside his mother, crying.

It took them another hour to transport her to Lu Zhi's platoon.

As if Lu Zhi knew about He Xing's condition, a team of physicians had been waiting for He Xing's arrival. They transferred her to their infirmary tent right away.

Nobody but the physicians were allowed to enter the infirmary, including Lu Zhi, Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, and even Liu Xie.

"Mama …"

Liu Xie was still crying as he was carried by Zhao Yun.

"She will be fine! Her majesty is a strong woman. She will be fine!"

Tian Yu was also by their side, "One arrow won't kill her, your highness. She will come out and talk to you again."

While both of them consoled the prince, Lu Zhi's face grimaced. He kept staring at the chat log, praying that a particular message would not appear.

Lu Zhi also did not dare to continue reading the chat log. After He Xing had sent a simple message, "I'm injured. Need help," everyone in the chat was in a frenzy.

If that similar message when Hua Shi was killed appeared, Lu Zhi did not know what he could explain to his disciple.

And everybody's nightmare became a reality.

<<Your clan member, He Xing, has been killed by Wang Men>>

The message confirmed that He Xing did not make it through the operation.

The clan chat exploded. Jia Xu, Xun Yu, Sima Fang, and Ju Shou were out for blood. However, everyone stopped when Tong finally gave his command.

Tong: "Withdraw everyone back to our territory."

The message stopped for a few minutes. Everyone wanted to ask about Tong's health and his condition, but no one dared to utter a word.

Jia Xu, Xun Yu, and Ju Shou had the urge to comment on this campaign, but they could not voice out their thoughts.

Losing Hua Shi was cruel enough. Now, Tong had lost another wife, who was also the empress of the Han Dynasty.

This campaign against Xiongnu ended in a disaster. They failed to take Khan's head, but they lost two prominent figures. None of them could find the right words to console Tong anymore.

Yet, Tong continued sending messages.

Tong: "Aside from Zhang He's Ghost Legion, Xu Huang's Silver Axe Legion, and Sima Fang's reserve forces, I want to see everyone in Ye. Gather there before the end of the year. I have an important matter to discuss with all clan members."

Tong: "We shall hold her majesty's funeral along with Hua Shi once when we return."

Finally, Jia Xu mustered his courage and asked.

Jia Xu: "Are we letting Gongsun Du go?"

Tong: "No. We are going to trap his forces here while we invade his territories."

Tong: "Senior Sima, surround them and wither their numbers. You don't have to press for the kill, but I want you to waste Gongsun Du's time in our territory."

Tong: "Feihong, Zhang He, move to Liyang and blockade the south. Don't let this bastard escape to Cao Cao's territory."

Tong: "Xu Huang, I want you in Nanpi. Prepare your legion for the northern campaign! Your goal is to capture all of Gongsun clansmen. I want Gongsun Du's family alive, especially his sons!"

Jia Xu: "What are you planning? Are you trying to torture Gongsun Du for your revenge?"

Tong: "Yes, I want revenge, but killing him now is too easy.

Tong: "Once I have all of them, and we capture that backstabbing bastard, we'll torture and kill everyone in front of Gongsun Du!"

Lu Zhi read all the chat with his heart stuck in his throat. He felt guilty that he could not protect the empress and led the situation to the present.

'I've failed you, disciple. I've also failed you, your majesty.'

Before this had happened, Lu Zhi's hair was a mixture of black hairs and grey hairs. Now, 90% of his hair turned grey as if he had become ten years older. His eyes also reddened as if he was on the verge of tears.

A minute later, the group of sullen physicians exited the infirmary tent with a piece of bad news.

"We're sorry."

They informed Zhao Yun, Tian Yu, and Lu Zhi about their failure. Liu Xie also heard the news, which he wailed.

Zhao Yun's body trembling as he knelt, gazing into the tent in disbelief, "I've failed my duty … again."

Tian Yu held his head as he bit his lower lips, "NO! I-I have done my best! But why!?"

.

The news spread within Lu Zhi's men, and they stopped marching for the rest of the day.

Many were shocked, sad, and angered. These soldiers believed that they were fighting for the Han Dynasty and the royal bloodline, yet they failed their duties because of Gongsun Du's betrayal.

All of them were once the soldiers of Gongsun Zan, who was also a royalist. Thus, Gongsun Zan had influenced their thoughts.

The remaining soldiers shed tears of anger and hatred, wanting to shred Gongsun Du to pieces. All Gongsun Zan's sergeants and officers visited Lu Zhi at his tent, kneeling and kowtowing to him.

"Lord Lu Zhi, please allow us to serve Master Zhang Tong!"

"We want revenge! Please let us serve Lord Zhang Tong."

"We know that you're still working for him! Please let us join you!"

"As long as Master Zhang Tong can kill Gongsun Du, we shall give you our lives!"

As Lu Zhi could not reject these men, he extended his hands to raise them.

"I know. I always loyal to her majesty, and Gongsun Zan was one of my proud disciples. We shall get our revenge!"

The men's cried as they slammed their forehead on the ground.

With this, another 10,000 white riders of Gongsun Zan joined forces with Tong and Lu Zhi.

.

Gongsun Du learned about the escape from Wang Men later that day. However, they did not know about her death.

The new clan lord had a headache. At this rate, the empress would have declared them as traitors, and they would be ganged by all warlords in this country.

Gongsun Du looked around, planning to ask Budugen for advice. Unfortunately, Budugen was not present.

Without anyone to rely upon, Gongsun Du made a decision.

"We're going to claim one of the counties around here to resupply. Then, we'll draft more soldiers and return to our territory!"

Meanwhile, Budugen had also sneaked to the west, escaping from the battlefield and Tong's territory through the western mountain range.

As Sima Fang established the blockade at the eastern region of Ye City, Budugen and his 5,000 men slipped through the net unhindered.

He looked back at the northern plain with a smirk.

'All of you dirty Hans can fight each other to the death. I'll rally my tribesmen, and I'll be back!'