Invincible Iron Army 25, Blocking Book Flag

  The orderly was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat, thinking to himself: "What kind of people are these? How dare they do whatever they want?" He no longer had the arrogance of just now. Wang An stopped them and said: "We can't engage in petty squabbles. As soldiers, we have the responsibility to defend against enemies and protect our land, and we must fulfill our duty to safeguard the people."

  Jiang Cai observed the Xiongnu troops at the foot of the mountain, constantly thinking in his mind. The Xiongnu army's marching speed was getting faster and faster, they had already found a way to break through the roadblocks, and it would be more and more difficult to slow down the enemy's marching speed later on. The Jiedushi's order was indeed somewhat too demanding.

  Du Lu and others also looked displeased, thinking to themselves: "We're not afraid of death, nor are we afraid of the difficulty of the task. It's just that this task is fundamentally impossible to complete. Using us to stop the enemy's advance is like a mantis trying to block the progress of a chariot."

  Wang An said, "Don't stay here foolishly waiting, we must now quickly find a way to block the enemy's advance." Jiang Cai and others responded with a sound, immediately following Wang An.

  Liu Jiao continued to gaze northward from the city tower, also thinking in her heart: "My military order was indeed too excessive. Originally, Wang An blocking the enemy's advance for three days had already completed his task, and I added another day to his time limit, which is really a bit too demanding. But I also have no other choice."

  The Xiongnu army continued to drive the horse herd forward, letting them trigger the mechanisms on the marching route. With the horse herd, the Xiongnu's advance speed increased greatly. The Right Virtuous King thought that with this speed, they would definitely arrive at the foot of Yuyang City tonight, and the Jin soldiers and generals would have to pay for their actions.

  Dulin said to Liu Jiao on the city tower: "Jiedushi, don't have any more illusions. Wang An and others can't stop the Huns' advance, their military strength is too weak. We must hurry up to strengthen the defense of the city, mobilize the residents as militia, increase the defensive forces, and as for what happens next, we'll just have to wait and see."

  The horse group continued to advance, but suddenly there were several cages on the road ahead. The Huns soldiers behind did not manage these and continued to drive the horse group forward. At this time, Wang An and others hiding in the dark pulled a long rope, and the mechanism on top of the wooden cage was opened, and many wolves, tigers and other fierce beasts rushed out.

  These ferocious beasts were all purchased by Wang An from the hunting households nearby, and some were requisitioned from the large estates' menageries in the vicinity. These wealthy families had set up these menageries for recreational hunting purposes, which housed various animals.

  These horses saw their natural enemies and no longer cared about the Xiongnu soldiers behind them, immediately turning around to flee. The escape of these horses even disrupted the Xiongnu cavalry behind them, causing their warhorses to be frightened and start running backwards.

  The fierce beast, having been hungry for a long time in the cage, saw food and immediately pounced on it. The Xiongnu war horses dodged in a flurry, and the entire Xiongnu army was thrown into chaos.

  When the Huns' army was in disarray, Jiang Cai and others hiding in the dark burst out laughing. Jiang Cai said: "Wang brother's rotten idea really worked!" Wang An hastily corrected him, saying: "This is a great idea, not a rotten one." Jiang Cai said: "As long as we have these few fierce beasts, the Huns will be unable to advance in a short time, and we can also complete our mission."

  Several Xiongnu soldiers immediately steadied their warhorses and rode forward, with the other Xiongnu soldiers also steadying their horses and joining the advancing troops. The wolves and tigers continued to charge forward, at which point the Xiongnu soldiers opened fire with their bows, quickly shooting down these ferocious beasts.

  The wounded beasts let out mournful howls, some continuing to charge forward. Wounded beasts are fearsome animals, but the Xiongnu soldiers drew their bows and shot arrows, almost every arrow hitting a beast. These beasts, having been injured too many times, gradually lost strength, fell to the ground, and continuously let out howls.

  The Huns' arrow shower became denser, almost every arrow hitting its mark, and more and more Hun soldiers joined the attacking troops, soon these fierce beasts were slaughtered.

  Those who were watching from a distance, such as Jiang Cai, took a deep breath and thought to themselves: The Xiongnu on the grasslands have been fighting against wolves and other wild beasts every day, their military strength is indeed unparalleled and not to be underestimated. Now that there are no more wild beasts, the Xiongnu can ride their horses again and trigger our mechanisms.

  The Xiongnu have also stopped advancing and are regrouping, preparing to continue their march. Jiang said: "Wang brothers, let's continue to gather wolves, tigers, and leopards and place them on the road. Although the Xiongnu killed our beasts this time, they also slowed down their own advance. At least for half a day, the Xiongnu army will not be able to advance. As long as we fill the road ahead with fierce beasts, the Xiongnu's advance speed will definitely be affected." Wang An nodded and said: "It's come to this, it's all that can be done now."

  The Huns' army was busy calming down the startled war horses, rounding up those that had run off in fright, and rescuing some of the wounded who had fallen off their horses. They were indeed busy for a while, but the Huns soon regained their composure and continued to drive their horses forward.

  The Xiongnu Chanyu and the Rightwise King felt a little heartache, as in these few days, the war horses responsible for triggering the mechanism had suffered heavy losses, exceeding the normal loss of numbers when fighting against the Great Jin. Fortunately, the Xiongnu had many war horses and could still withstand such losses.

  At this time, Wang An and others were worried. The hunter was constantly complaining to him: "Sir, we usually kill the prey, rarely capture them alive, and even fewer capture these carnivores. Think about it, after capturing them, we still need to feed them meat, which requires a huge cost. We can't afford it at all." Wang An saw that he was reasonable, so he led his soldiers to find nearby wealthy families, hoping they would contribute some ferocious beasts.

  These wealthy families also said to Wang An: "Lord Wang, we are not unsupportive of your work, it's just that these fierce beasts are very rare for us too, and we gave them all to you earlier. Now, we really don't have any left."

  They had been to many households, but in the end they still left empty-handed. Jiang Cai was getting anxious and said: "Brother Wang, without wolves, insects, tigers and leopards, how can we stop the enemy's advance?" Wang An said: "If there aren't any real ones, use fake ones. Scaring them for a moment is a moment, scaring them for a while is a while."

  The Huns tidied up their army and horses, then continued to advance. After a while, they encountered wooden cages blocking the road ahead, and the Hunnic army, Li Jinji, stopped advancing as if encountering a great enemy. The soldiers went forward and shot arrows at the cage, which was densely covered with arrow rain. The Huns rode their horses forward, carefully examining the cage, only to find it empty. The Hunnic army wasted a lot of time here.

  Jiang was overjoyed when he saw it and said: "Brother Wang, as long as we follow this method, in the vanguard of the Xiongnu

  "The roads are filled with traps, making the Huns' army suspicious and hesitant as they advance, which can delay the enemy's attack and give the people inside the pass time."

  Wang An nodded and said, "Let's go, we continue to set up the trap." Liu Jiao Jiao waited anxiously until nightfall, she let out a sigh of relief and thought to herself, "There are still two days left, it's really unbearable. I don't know how Wang An and the others will block the enemy's advance, it must be very difficult."

  Wang An arranged many cages along the way, and he gradually gained confidence in his heart. He thought to himself: "If the Xiongnu stop for half a day in front of each cage, the situation will definitely change." He also ordered the soldiers to go far away to buy wild beasts. In his heart, he said: "Only with both reality and deception can we achieve our goal. If it's all deception without any reality, the Xiongnu will not be afraid or wary of these cages at all."

  The Huns were indeed not worried about these traps when they advanced before, but instead drove straight in. King An was anxious in his heart and thought that if this continued, the Huns' army would soon arrive under the city of Yuyang.

  At this time some soldiers brought the ferocious beasts that Wang An had longed for, and Wang An was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the soldiers to put these ferocious beasts into cages along the way.

  The Xiongnu soldiers were still advancing when they encountered the cages, but they didn't care and prepared to pass through. Suddenly, the cage doors opened, and the wild beasts ran out, startling the Xiongnu warhorses and causing a great commotion. The Xiongnu soldiers busied themselves restraining the warhorses, while some of them drew their bows and shot arrows at the fierce beasts, quickly killing them. The Xiongnu army spent a long time calming down the startled warhorses before continuing on their way.

  Liu Jiao waited with bated breath for the third day's sunset, feeling a sense of relief. At this time, Du Lin, Sun Zhicheng, Qian Xuegui, Wang Xueli, Qian Xiangqian and others looked at each other in dismay, thinking that Wang An's army had only five hundred men, how could they stop the advance of the Xiongnu army?

  It's a miracle indeed, but Wang An's army must have suffered heavy casualties, perhaps Wang An's army has been completely annihilated.

  Wang An's army did not reduce its numbers, and they feasted and drank on the road as they advanced against the Xiongnu. One soldier remarked, "This battle is truly easy!" After speaking, he was hit from behind, and when he turned his head, he found it was Wang An. Wang An corrected him, saying, "You should say it's extremely hard work, do you know that?" The soldier nodded reluctantly, thinking to himself, where is the hardship? Look at our entire army, it's like we're on vacation.

  Wang An was confident that he could continue to block the enemy's advance. He thought to himself, "According to this trend, blocking the enemy's advance should not be a problem." The situation on the second day also confirmed his prediction, and the Huns' advance speed was indeed affected. It is expected that they will arrive at the foot of Yuyang City tomorrow evening. Wang An felt a sense of optimism in his heart. At this time, another messenger came and said: "Order Wang An's army to continue to block the enemy's advance for one more day."

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