Invincible Iron Army 6: The First Battle Achievement Flag

  This time, the Xiongnu broke through the Great Wall and penetrated deep into the interior, but due to the timely transmission of news, many residents of the Han Dynasty fled into cities such as Yiyang City, so the Xiongnu's gains were not great. However, some residents who failed to escape in time suffered at the hands of the Xiongnu.

  The Huns left behind a desolate scene, with corpses and burnt houses everywhere. Children were crying while holding their parents' bodies, and there were also parents wailing loudly while holding their children's bodies. It was truly unbearable to look at.

  Jiang Cai gave Wang An a detailed account of the miserable situation in Guan Nei. After listening, Wang An's anger reached his crown and he said: "The Xiongnu are so detestable, we can't let them off, let's go and attack the Xiongnu, teach these invaders a lesson!" Jiang Cai, Du Lu, Li Li, and Zhang Wan exchanged glances, thinking that Wang An had gone mad. Li Li said: "Wang brother, I know Hu Yinyin abandoned you, your heart is in pain, but it's not worth killing yourself over this." Du Lu and the others silently agreed, thinking to themselves: even if you want to die, don't drag us down with you, we're not ready to die yet.

  Wang An said, "I don't want to die either." Li Li said, "Brother Wang, since you don't want to die, why do you want to go and kill the Xiongnu? You've seen it for yourself, the Xiongnu army is vast and has over a million people. With just a few of us, how can we possibly take on so many enemy troops? Isn't that just sending ourselves to death?" Wang An said, "Who says we're going to take on the Xiongnu's main army? We're going to take on their small detachments." Jiang Cai said, "Mr. Wang, even if it's a small detachment, we can't handle it. You've seen for yourself that our armor and helmets are lacking, and you and Li Li are new recruits who haven't been through the baptism of war. Your combat strength is already very weak, while the Xiongnu are cavalry with strong combat power. We're absolutely no match for them."

  Wang An said, "We are dealing with the Huns' scouts. These soldiers move quickly, but their combat strength is not strong, and scouts usually act alone, never in large groups. So we have an advantage in numbers. As long as we go, it's very likely that we can kill these scouts and achieve meritorious deeds." Jiang Cai and others' eyes lit up, saying, "Good, good! Mr. Wang is a wise man, his mind is quick. These scouts are usually alone on horseback, because if there are many people, they will easily expose their targets. They often pass through here, we don't attack them, they don't attack us, and both sides gradually form an unspoken understanding. These cavalrymen are not at all on guard against us. If we suddenly launch a surprise attack, we have a great chance of killing them. At that time, we can take their heads to the commander's place to ask for credit." Du Lu and Zhang Wan also became excited, saying, "Here, the rewards for military merit are still very generous. The officers will be promoted and enfeoffed, the soldiers will be promoted, and they will also be rewarded with ten taels of white silver." When they said this, Li Li also became happy, saying, "Great! Ten taels of white silver, I can buy a cow for about eight taels of white silver, and there are still two taels left, which can be used to buy land and get married." "Wait, wait," Jiang Cai said. "Ten taels of white silver can't do that many things. You're just dreaming, let's talk about it when night falls."

  Jiang Cai said to Wang An, "Let's ambush them under this beacon tower. They often pass by here, especially when the army is about to invade." Wang An shook his head and said, "No, let's go outside Wu's garrison to ambush. If we fail, we can escape there. Wu Gong has many soldiers and generals, he will definitely protect us well." Jiang Cai and others nodded in agreement, praising Wang An for being thorough in his thinking. However, Wang An had another idea in mind. He thought to himself, "If our ambush fails and the Xiongnu cavalry escapes, they will definitely launch a counterattack. With our defensive facilities and military strength here, we are no match for the Xiongnu. Wu Gong, you have a big family and business, take on this burden for us, substitute for us. I think you won't have any objections, even if you do, I'll pretend you don't."

  Wang An and his men carefully observed, once the Xiongnu scouts passed by their beacon tower, they went to set up an ambush. All the soldiers in the entire beacon tower were eagerly waiting for the Xiongnu scouts. Jiang Cai couldn't help but smile wryly, thinking that previously they had been worried about the Xiongnu cavalry day and night, now they were eagerly awaiting the Xiongnu scouts, how times had changed.

  One day, a cavalryman passed by their beacon tower and went to Guannei. After seeing it, he said: "Great, let's set up an ambush for the Xiongnu scouts." Jiang came over and said to Wang An: "Mr. Wang, I think they are unlikely to be Xiongnu scouts, but probably Xiongnu nomadic cavalry or some other cavalry with ulterior motives. These cavalrymen often have a small team of cavalrymen following behind them, we must not underestimate them."

  Wang An listened to Jiang Cai's words and couldn't help but consider them, weighing the pros and cons repeatedly. However, he soon made a decision and said to Jiang Cai: "Wealth and honor are sought in danger, if something happens, we can hide in Mr. Wu's castle, it will be safe then." Jiang Cai gritted his teeth and said: "Alright, let's not care about him, we'll just *one vote*". Wang An thought to himself, this is like a triad kidnapping, could Jiang Cai have been a triad member before?

  Wang An led Jiang Cai, Du Lu, Zhang Wan, Li Li and others to carry weapons and ambush at a mountain pass near the Wugou barracks. They knew that this was a must-pass place for cavalry returning to the grasslands. Wang An and his men were hiding in the bushes, but the main road had been quiet for a long time, making them very anxious, and Li Li was almost asleep. At this moment, a fast horse came galloping from afar, and Wang An and others were shocked, because this warhorse was not returning from Wugou, but going there. Jiang Cai asked Wang An in a low voice: "What to do?" Wang An said: "Kill him first."

  The cavalryman was completely unaware of the danger and quickly approached. When he reached the ambush point, Du Lu jumped out first, swung his big stick, and hit the war horse's head. The cavalryman on the horse reacted extremely quickly, immediately pulling the reins, and the galloping warhorse stopped abruptly. The cavalryman quickly took out his bow and arrow, and one arrow pierced Du Lu's heart. Wang An and others were shocked. Du Lu felt a pain in his heart, but soon it was nothing, and the arrow fell to the ground. The Xiongnu were greatly surprised, and it turned out that Du Lu had placed a protective mirror on his chest.

  At this time, Jiang Cai jumped out from behind the Xiongnu, aimed at this Xiongnu, and shouted loudly: "Get down for me!" One arrow pierced the cavalryman's warhorse. Jiang Cai blushed and thought to himself: "My archery skills are really not good." The Xiongnu soldier had turned around when Jiang Cai shouted, and when Jiang Cai shot the arrow, he also drew his bow and shot an arrow. At this time, the warhorse was hit by an arrow, and the warhorse suddenly jumped forward in pain. The Xiongnu cavalryman's hand shook, and the arrow shot out somewhat crookedly, but it left a blood mark on Jiang Cai's neck.

  Jiang Cai was shocked and thought: "If his hand didn't shake, he would definitely pierce my throat." At this time, a stone flew out from the woods and hit the Xiongnu's forehead, causing him to bleed. The Xiongnu warhorse ran forward after being hit by an arrow, and Du Lu did not dare to block the frightened warhorse. The Xiongnu shot an arrow at Wang An while turning around on his horse, but it was blocked by Wang An's helmet. Wang An was shocked and thought: "The Xiongnu soldier's archery skills are really good!"

  The Xiongnu warhorse galloped forward, and Jiang Cai, Wang An, Du Lu, and Zhang Wan were helpless, thinking that this ambush had failed, so they gave up.

  However, the Xiongnu soldiers did not think so. After pulling back, they drew their bows again. Wang An and others were frightened by the Xiongnu soldiers' arrows and immediately looked for a place to hide. The Xiongnu soldiers thought: "Now is your last moment, I will shoot you in the face with my chest armor, and those who wear helmets will be shot in the throat. As long as four arrows are enough, you will go see King Yan." Wang An deeply regretted his mistake in decision-making, thinking that this time was over, they had all staked their lives here, and he really underestimated the quality of the Xiongnu soldiers. The Xiongnu soldiers drew their bows and prepared to shoot arrows. At this time, Li Li jumped out from the front of the Xiongnu, slashing the neck of the Xiongnu war horse with one knife. The war horse fell down immediately, and the Xiongnu soldier on it was thrown off, falling into a mess.

  Jiang Cai, Wang An, Du Lu, Li Li, and Zhang Wan charged forward together, with knives, sticks, and bricks flying in all directions. They beat the Xiongnu soldier to death. Du Lu was still a bit uneasy, so he used his wooden stick to hit the Xiongnu's head a few more times. Wang An also used his board brick to strike him several times.

  After this battle, everyone felt like they had narrowly escaped death. After the tension passed, they all sat down, feeling a bit dizzy. Jiang Cai suddenly jumped up and said, "It's bad!" Wang An asked, "What's wrong?" Jiang Cai replied, "In our Great Jin dynasty, we record merit based on the number of enemy heads taken. But look at this Xiongnu soldier - he's been beaten so badly that you can't even tell if he's a Xiongnu!"

  Everyone looked and saw that the Xiongnu's head had been smashed to pieces, with brain matter splattered everywhere. Earlier, they had been afraid of him, so they had added many more blows to his head with sticks and bricks. Li Li stomped his foot and said, "If only we hadn't hit his head! Now it's all for nothing - no ten taels of silver reward for us! My cow, my land, my wife, my children, my grandchildren - all gone!"

  Everyone was stunned. How could the loss be so great? The impact of this loss seemed to reverberate far and wide.

  Wang An said, "Don't be sad, it's no use being sad. Let's see what he has." The crowd thought the same way, and with the horse meat, they could make some improvements and earn a few more silver coins. So they started searching the Hun's body and soon Li Li happily pulled out an object that looked like a divine figurine. However, he immediately became disappointed and said, "It's not silver, damn it! I didn't even bring any money when I went out." Wang An said, "Li Li, that's not silver, it's gold, which is worth more than silver. This piece alone is probably worth a hundred taels of silver." Li Li had been very poor before and had never seen silver, let alone gold. So he asked nervously, "Really?" Wang An nodded and said, "This figurine is one of the eight gods that many people on the grasslands believe in." Li Li said, "I know them too, and I deeply believe in these gods." Then, with a look of devotion, Li Li started knocking his head against the figurine and asked, "Where are the other seven gods?" Wang An was shocked and thought to himself, "This is what you call devotion? My god, what is blasphemy then?"

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