Invincible Iron Army 17, Being Chased by Book Flag

  The soldiers of the Great Jin were also somewhat unbelievable after defeating the enemy, and in previous exchanges with the old soldiers, the old soldiers always said to them: "The combat effectiveness of the Xiongnu soldiers is extremely strong, the combat effectiveness of the Xiongnu soldiers is extremely terrible", now they have defeated the ferocious Xiongnu, it's really unimaginable.

  The Jin soldiers cheered, their voices echoing through the clouds. This was the second heavy blow that the Jin army had dealt to the Xiongnu, and it was also the first time that the Jin army had taken the initiative to attack.

  Wang An approached the Xiongnu girl, Jiang Cai and Li Li closely followed behind him. In his heart, he thought: We are not afraid that Wang An will take liberties with this girl, but rather we are afraid that this girl will take liberties with Wang An. Wang An is a good-looking man, perhaps he will fall into someone's beauty trap.

  Wang An approached the Xiongnu girl and asked her, "Who are you?" The girl spoke in the Xiongnu language, and the translator quickly translated it for him, saying: "She says she is just an ordinary Xiongnu girl, and her brother is a member of the Xiongnu army, so she follows the army." Jiang Zai and others immediately believed her words, thinking to themselves: "This girl's brother must be a general in this army. Otherwise, the army would not let a girl follow them, as it would affect the speed of their march."

  Wang An said, "You're telling lies." He was about to translate for Wang An when he stopped him and turned to the girl, saying, "You must be a military jì from the army." The girl also knew they were not speaking kindly, and she glared at Wang An in anger. Wang An continued to speak to Li Li and the others, "Look at her figure, her appearance, this flirtatious look, which one doesn't resemble a military jì?" Li Li said, "The more you say, the more I think she looks like it." Wang An said, "Since she is a jì, we'll take her back and sell her to the jì institute. What do you think?" Li Li exclaimed excitedly, "Great! As long as we can make money, that's all that matters. This way, I can marry a wife and have children." Jiang Cai and several others looked at each other with disdain, thinking, "You're still talking about marrying a wife; don't you have any bigger aspirations?" Li Li became more and more excited, saying, "Great! Let's do it this way. I'll soon have a wife!" The Xiongnu girl cursed loudly, "You're all bastards! You're all evil!" She then began to cry, saying "Wu wu..." As soon as she spoke in Chinese, Jiang Cai was startled. Li Li said, "So you can speak human language." The girl retorted, "You're the one who can't speak human language; none of your family members can speak human language!" She continued to cry, saying, "Wu wu... You're bullying me!" Jiang Cai watched as the girl cried and didn't know what to do. He looked at Wang An with pleading eyes. Wang An also looked at the girl and said, "I knew your status must be high; otherwise, you wouldn't be able to speak Chinese. I knew you were pretending, but how could I have known that with just a little trick, you would reveal your true nature?" Li Li exclaimed excitedly, "If she's from the upper echelons of Xiongnu, it's even better! Selling her to the jì institute will be worth more money. This way, I can marry an even more beautiful wife!" Jiang Cai felt unbearable and thought, "You're still fixated on the jì institute?" He then said, "Brother, is it that you'll sell any Xiongnu woman you capture to the jì institute?" Li Li replied, "As long as we can make money and I can marry a wife, I'll do it. Even if I captured the wife of the Xiongnu Khan, I would dare to sell her to the jì institute!" Jiang Cai thought, "Staying with this kind of person is too shameful." The girl cried out, saying, "You're all men bullying one girl; what's so great about that? The men of Great Jin are truly despicable!" Jiang Cai and the others looked at each other and said to Wang An, "Brother, we can't let the army of Great Jin leave a bad name. Hurting the weak and the elderly will bring shame." Wang An nodded in agreement, saying, "You're right. Girl, don't cry; don't pretend anymore. Your status in Xiongnu must be high. Let you go, and we might have countless troubles, but we've decided to let you go. The soldiers of Great Jin are all iron-blooded men. If we were to bully a defenseless enemy woman, it would bring shame to our Han people." The girl was stunned, not expecting these evil men to let her go.

  Wang An continued, "You go back and tell the Xiongnu Chanyu that the people of Great Jin do not want to fight a war. However, if someone forces war upon us, we will definitely accompany them to the end and be able to win." The girl said, "But our Xiongnu is the strongest in the world, and our soldiers are also the best. You Han people are physically weak and are not our match."

  She looked at Wang An's soldiers, who had eaten meat for a few days but were still mostly vegetarian, whereas the Xiongnu soldiers ate meat and drank kumis, making their physical quality naturally better and their combat strength extremely strong.

  Wang An retorted, "This world is not just made up of brute force; it also requires brains. Your Xiongnu bows and arrows are good, but did you gain an advantage in the recent battle with us?" The girl fell silent.

  Li Li was still trying to persuade the girl, saying, "If you're interested in the brothel, you can contact me. I think the brothel is really suitable for you. Think about it again." The girl glared at Li Li, thinking that this scoundrel was still trying to sell her into the brothel.

  The girl said, "Since the brothel is so good, why don't you sell your own sister there?" Li Li said, "I wouldn't bear to part with her." The girl suddenly became enraged and said, "Then you're willing to sacrifice me?"

  Wang An said, "Let that girl go. After we return, I'll pay for you to visit the brothel once." Li Li hastily waved his hand, saying, "I don't like those women of ill repute at all!" The Xiongnu girl glared at Li Li, thinking, "You don't like women of ill repute, but you want to turn me into one. You're truly a scoundrel."

  Wang An gathered the troops and said, "Hurry up and mount your war horses, retreat quickly." The soldiers cleaned up the battlefield and rushed towards the pass. These infantrymen had never ridden a horse before, and as soon as they got on, they became laughingstocks. However, having a horse was better than not having one, which immediately increased their speed by a lot.

  It wasn't long before the Xiongnu patrol soldiers discovered the anomaly here, and after inquiring about the wounded soldiers, they quickly reported back to the rear. The Left Wise King of the Xiongnu was furious when he heard this, and the Chanyu also flew into a rage, saying: "Today I came to preside over the marriage between the son of the Right Wise King and the daughter of the Left Wise King, but unexpectedly the Jin army is so bold as to dare to deeply enter the grasslands and slaughter the Left Wise King's guards. The alliance between the two kings is truly audacious! Come, gather my guards and attack towards Guannei!

  The Xiongnu's large army quickly moved towards the interior. The total strength of the Xiongnu army reached nearly 250,000 people. They were all cavalry, and their pursuit speed was very fast.

  Many of the Jin soldiers had never ridden horses before, so the army moved very slowly and the soldiers were extremely uncomfortable from being jolted by the warhorses.

  The Huns' army was rapidly closing in on Wang An, and the scouts sent out by Wang An hastily reported back to him, saying: "The Huns are hot on our heels, chasing us down the road we took." Wang An wondered, "The grasslands are so vast, how did the Huns know our route?" He inadvertently glanced at the horse hoof prints and suddenly understood. The Hun soldiers were familiar with the tracks of horses. They had followed our hoof prints to catch up with us. This won't do; we must think of a plan quickly, or else if the Huns' army catches up with us, it will be our demise. The distance between the Huns and Wang An was rapidly shrinking, and the Huns were slowly gaining speed.

  The Xiongnu soldiers really followed the horse's hoof prints and soon reached the river bank. They carefully looked at the horse's hoof prints, then pointed in one direction and said: "They went this way, hurry up and chase", The Xiongnu soldiers rushed quickly in that direction.

  The Huns' soldiers soon chased to a castle, where Wang An's war horses were grazing outside. However, the soldiers had vanished. The Hun chieftain pointed at the castle and said, "They have fled into the castle. Attack this castle for me." Wu Kuo watched nervously from outside, thinking to himself, "I'm really unlucky. Not long ago, I framed the governor and put him on death row. He wanted to kill me, but thanks to Du Lin's plea, I wasn't executed. Yesterday, I sent 10 gold bars to Du Lin and restored my official title to continue defending this place. Today, so many Huns have come, demanding that we hand over the murderer who killed their guards. This is absurd! They're just making excuses to invade our border."

  Wu Guo thought of this and suddenly had a burst of anger, he shouted at the city below: "The culprit is right here, if you have the ability to attack this city, come and catch him personally." The Xiongnu Chanyu heard this and became furious: "It's really your doing, and you still dare to be so arrogant. Today I must capture this castle!" Arrows rained down on the city like raindrops, and soon the city was filled with arrows.

  Wu Guo's army had many soldiers injured, but they also fought back with all their might, instantly killing many Xiongnu soldiers. The Xiongnu soldiers nearby grabbed some ladders, connected them together, and started a fierce attack on the city, while other Xiongnu soldiers were responsible for covering, constantly shooting arrows at the city to suppress the firepower of the soldiers on the city wall.

  The soldiers on the city wall felt a sudden increase in pressure, and they fought back with all their might. The Huns' army suffered heavy casualties, and siege warfare was not their strong suit to begin with. In just a short time after the start of the battle, several hundred Hun corpses had piled up at the foot of the city wall. The Left Virtuous King's name was Qi Ge, and he also arrived at the city wall at this time. He looked at the defenders on the city wall and said to the Left Virtuous King: "Siege warfare is not our strong suit, and if we continue fighting like this, our casualties will be heavy. These losses cannot be borne by one family alone. Why don't we go and join forces with the Right Virtuous King's army to attack the city?"

  Lü Xianwang said, "No need, our Xiongnu army has a total of nearly 250,000 soldiers. If we can't take down this city, we will definitely be ridiculed." The Xiongnu siege troops increased their attack intensity, and arrows flew towards the city like raindrops.

  "What the heck is going on, the Xiongnu are attacking my castle as if they don't care about the cost, in a short period of time, nearly 100 of my soldiers have died", but he steeled himself: "Today we will fight to the death and inflict heavy casualties on the Xiongnu troops".

  At this time, a Xiongnu soldier climbed up the city wall, but was soon killed by the defending soldiers. Some Xiongnu soldiers, as soon as they showed their heads, were hugged together with Jin soldiers and jumped down the city wall to die together. The Xiongnu soldiers were also intimidated by the fearless fighting style of the Jin army.

  Wang An had already returned to his garrison, and he knew that the Xiongnu army would pursue along the hoof prints, so he ordered the soldiers to dismount and let some skilled cavalrymen drive these war horses to escape to Wuguo's fortress.

  The remaining soldiers advanced upstream along the river, with the soldiers walking in the water so as not to leave any marks. These soldiers arrived at a forest and quickly landed ashore, hiding in the forest.

  The Xiongnu soldiers rushed forward quickly, without noticing them. After the Xiongnu army left, they hastily marched back to their garrison. The soldiers responsible for driving the war horses near the city also hid. The Xiongnu soldiers did not discover them, but only found the war horses here. Seeing these war horses, the Xiongnu mistakenly thought that the troops who ambushed them were hiding in this fortress, and immediately launched an attack. Wu Daren was like Lei Feng again, shouldering the blame for Wang An once more.

  Wang An and Jiang Cai were happily counting their spoils of war. Jiang Cai said, "We've eliminated over a thousand enemy soldiers, this time our military merit will probably be rewarded with over 10,000 taels of silver." Wang An said, "10,000 taels of silver seems a bit little, we need to make another big move."

  Jiang Cai was taken aback and thought to himself, "10,000 taels of silver is already not a small amount." Wang An quietly told Jiang Cai, "Let's go to the grasslands and take out the Right Virtuous King. This high-ranking official must be worth a lot of money."

  Jiang Cai was shocked and jumped up, saying to him, "Brother, you're crazy! The Right Virtuous King is also a high-ranking official in Xiongnu, he probably has 200,000 cavalry under his command, we are far from being their match!"

  Wang An told Jiang Cai, "Big brother, the Right Virtuous King of Xiongnu must have something to do, or else he wouldn't go to the Left Virtuous King's territory. He won't lead too many troops when he goes out, let's ambush him there and wipe them out as soon as we get the chance."

  Jiang Cai felt a bit uneasy in his heart, thinking that this might be too crazy, but quickly calmed down and said to Wang An, "Alright, let's do it. If we die, we'll die in a blaze of glory."

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