Chapter Sixty: Like Breaking Bamboo

  The battle of Baiyangshang Valley was only heard by other tribes besides the Dayuan tribe, and had not been witnessed. It was precisely because of this that the momentum of the Dayuan soldiers was much stronger than that of the other eight major tribes. This further solidified Liu Ze's determination to suppress the Xiongnu people's arrogance. If the Xiongnu people's arrogant momentum is not brought down, it will be impossible to quickly boost the morale of the soldiers of various tribes, and this battle for Guishan City will indeed be difficult to fight.

  The Huns arrived quickly, and the vanguard cavalry had already reached the foot of Guishan City. As night was falling, the main force had not yet fully arrived, and the vanguard camp did not intend to attack the city. However, these Huns were arrogant and reckless, and although there were strong troops guarding the city walls, they didn't take them seriously at all. They galloped wildly and disorderly, with some people even dismounting outside the city to rest and roast meat over an open flame.

  Liu Ze watched clearly from the city wall, secretly sneering in his heart. It seemed that the opportunity to teach the Xiongnu people a lesson had arrived. He immediately went down the city and called Zhang Fei, saying: "Third brother, I was just thinking of going out of the city to teach these arrogant Xiongnu people a lesson, come with me!"

  Zhang Fei jumped up excitedly as soon as he heard that there was a battle to be fought, and repeatedly shouted: "Good! Good! Good! Big brother, how many men will we take out of the city?"

  "We still have sixty-four men, let's move out!" When Guan Yu left with two hundred archers and cavalry, Liu Ze was only left with sixty-four riders. Since it was an ambush, the fewer people, the better, as a surprise attack can lead to victory.

  Zhang Fei was taken aback, then burst out laughing: "Good!" Zhang Fei's heroic spirit surged forth as he heard that Liu Ze had brought only his personal guard of sixty-four cavalrymen to battle, and not a single thread of fear could be detected on him; instead, his blood boiled with even greater fervor, his heroic passion soaring to new heights.

  Liu Ze led sixty-four cavalrymen and turned back to tell Pan Feng and Wu Anguo, "You two stay on the city wall and defend it. If you find any intention of the Xiongnu people to attack the city, immediately engage in battle!"

  Pan Feng and Wu Ang exchanged a glance, but Pan Feng stepped forward to block Liu Ze's horse, saying: "The Xiongnu outside the city are powerful, the safety of Guishan City depends on your person, sir. You absolutely must not take personal risks."

  Liu Ze smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, I wouldn't have come out of the city myself if I wasn't confident. The morale of the allied army is low, and nothing short of a major victory can boost their spirits. These Xiongnu soldiers outside are arrogant and used to being unruly, they don't even put us in their eyes, their formation is scattered and disorderly, taking advantage of their instability, killing them off guard will have a great benefit for boosting the morale of the allied army."

  "Even so, why doesn't the master bring more troops to provide support, or have them led by subordinates?" Pan Feng was very worried about the master's safety.

  Liu Ze waved his hand and said, "A small and elite team can achieve unexpected results. Too many people would only make the Xiongnu more vigilant. As for my safety, you don't have to worry about it. With Longyuan Taia in my hands, how many people in the world can rival me? What's more, just a few barbarian soldiers."

  As they spoke, Liu Ze had already drawn his twin swords, with a heroic air about him, and shouted loudly: "Open the city!"

  Pan Fengwu An Guo quietly retreated to one side, the soldiers guarding the city gate hastily opened the gate, Liu Ze kicked his horse's belly, and the Night Jade Lion burst out with a loud roar, leading the charge out of the city.

  Zhang Fei, unwilling to fall behind, urged on his Snowy Feathered Horse, wielding his eighteen-foot snake spear, and closely followed Liu Ze as he charged out of the city gate. The sixty-four cavalrymen behind him also emerged in a steady stream, all riding Blood-Sweating Horses.

  In the past six months, Liu Ze's more than 200 cavalry had all replaced their mounts with Akhal-Teke horses. After a period of training, the riding skills of all team members have been comprehensively improved. This time when Guan Yu went on an expedition, in order to disguise themselves as Xiongnu soldiers, they all switched to ride the Xiongnu horses captured from the Gui Mountain City, and even Guan Yu did not ride his own mount, the Zao Hong horse, but instead chose a ordinary Xiongnu horse.

  The speed of the Akhal-Teke horses, especially those two top-quality ones, was quite terrifying. Before the Xiongnu people could react, Liu Ze and Zhang Fei had already charged into their formation. The Longyuan Taia sword in Liu Ze's hand was a peerless divine weapon, capable of cutting through gold and jade, slicing through iron like mud, and when wielded, its cold light flashed brightly, as if it contained the aura of a dragon swallowing a tiger. Those Xiongnu soldiers who were struck by the sword's blade either died or were injured, and Liu Ze was able to easily reap lives in the crowd of Xiongnu soldiers, just like reaping wheat.

  Zhang Fei was even more terrifying, shouting loudly in his mouth, the ultra-high decibel noise shook the eardrums of the Xiongnu soldiers, and the 8-foot-long spear in his hand was like a black dragon swallowing the Xiongnu soldiers. With the help of the heavy weight and speed of the Wujing horse, the 8-foot-long spear often pierced through four or five people at once, and Zhang Fei would only throw away the people he had skewered before coming again for another string.

  Two men, one on the left and one on the right, like a tornado sweeping across the plain, had already cut open a path through the Xiongnu army. The sixty-four cavalrymen behind them followed closely, forming two columns that advanced in a swift and fierce onslaught, wielding their gleaming sabers to slaughter the Xiongnu soldiers who were already stunned and disoriented by the sudden attack on both sides of the path.

  The Huns' originally disordered formation was now completely chaotic, like a pot of porridge. Once they were swept up in this whirlwind, all that remained was severed limbs and blood-soaked earth. Those who hadn't been swept away trampled each other, the scene was one of utter chaos.

  Several thousand Xiongnu men wanted to organize an ambush, but as soon as they appeared, the ruthless arrows of the snipers behind Liu Ze shot through their throats in an instant. Without a leader, the remaining Xiongnu soldiers had no intention of fighting and chose to flee without hesitation.

  But in the chaos, it was not easy to escape, and the speed of the sweat-blood horse became a nightmare for these Xiongnu soldiers. Wherever the whirlwind went, it swept everything away, advancing irresistibly, with severed limbs and broken arms flying everywhere, as blood rained down with the sunset in the same color.

  This terrible massacre lasted for nearly half a day, until the night was dark, and the remaining Huns soldiers who had escaped with their lives were already ten miles away. The ground was littered with corpses lying in all directions, countless military equipment, war horses, and supplies were abandoned everywhere, and no more killing sounds could be heard within ten miles of the city.

  The allied soldiers on the city wall almost finished watching this bloody game with their eyes wide open, and their eyeballs were about to fall off. The shock they received was beyond description by "stunned" or "tongue-tied". The Huns who had been slaughtering people like grass before were being harvested like grass by Liu Ze, and the scene of reckless slaughter was something that had never appeared even in their dreams.

  Liu Ze and Zhang Fei led the sixty-four cavalry back to Guishan without a single hair harmed, where they were welcomed by soldiers from various tribes who lined up spontaneously. Under the light of torches, Liu Ze saw the soldiers' faces filled with admiration and excitement, some of whom had already been moved to tears, their eyes brimming with hot tears. He asked loudly to the surrounding soldiers: "Brave warriors! Are the Xiongnu people scary?"

  "Don't be afraid!"

  "Can we defeat the Xiongnu?" Liu Ze asked once again.

  "Again, with overwhelming enthusiasm: 'I can!'"

  "Warriors, beneath your feet is the land that has nurtured you with life and vitality! For the sake of your ancestors, for the sake of your families, take up the weapons in your hands and annihilate the invaders!"

  The crowd erupted in a deafening cheer once again: "Victory! Victory! Long live the Sun God!" The atmosphere was electrifying, with blood boiling and all the soldiers picking up their weapons, excitedly charging onto the city walls.

  Looking at the soldiers who seemed to have been injected with chicken blood, Jia Yu, who had just done simultaneous interpretation for Liu Ze, was full of doubts. He really couldn't understand how Liu Ze could instantly boost the morale of the troops, which had been sluggish just an hour ago, to an explosive level with just a small-scale charge. It seemed that this young man not only had extraordinary martial skills and sharp wit but also possessed exceptional leadership qualities.

  Liu Ze didn't care about his feelings, jumped off the horse and strode towards the city tower. Tonight, the Xiongnu people were in a mess and wouldn't launch an attack at night, but tomorrow, Huludun would lead the main force to arrive, new hatreds and old grievances, it would be a fierce battle. What can be done now is just quietly waiting, nourishing energy and preparing for tomorrow's battle. Liu Ze ordered the garrison troops not to remove their armor or dismount from their horses, resting on the spot.

  Even if the enemy is unlikely to attack tonight, we can't afford to let our guard down. Moreover, Liu Ze needs to maintain the morale of his troops, which has just been boosted, and putting them on high alert will help to sustain it. As the saying goes, "One drumbeat rouses a hundred; two drumbeats bring exhaustion; three drumbeats lead to collapse." He himself didn't go down from the city wall but slept with the soldiers on the ground, and got up at dawn to make preparations for defense.

  Hutong Dan Yu also arrived at the foot of Guishan City when it was dawn, looking at the corpses of the Xiongnu soldiers all over the ground, and he was so shocked that he couldn't say a word. In these ten or more years, he had been rampaging across Western Regions, massacring cities and tribes wherever he went, and no country had ever posed even the slightest threat to him. Even when Yu Jian was annihilated at Baihe Shanggu, and Huhe Xie lost control of Guishan City, it did not shake this Grassland King's arrogant demeanor.

  But the tragic situation of the Xiongnu vanguard troops in front of him made him feel a little shocked and had some respect for the sun god in his mind. A young man from the Eastern Han Dynasty, where did he come from with such great power? He repeatedly ambushed and killed the invincible Xiongnu Iron Knights. How could he unite the fragmented Western Regions countries?

  But the pride in his heart did not allow him to have any other thoughts, would the myth of the undefeated Western Regions be ended here? Joke, behind him, there were 100,000 elite iron cavalry galloping across the vast desert of the Western Regions. To say nothing of the opponent having only 30,000-40,000 mobs, even if they added ten times more troops, Hutton Single would not take them seriously.

  He coldly ordered people to simply sweep the battlefield and clean up the bodies of the Xiongnu soldiers who had been lying there for a whole night.

  After Liu Ze returned to the city, he did not order anyone to clean up the battlefield or collect the spoils of war. Firstly, he was afraid that the Xiongnu would take advantage of the situation and counterattack. Secondly, the corpses were left there as a deterrent to the Xiongnu soldiers who came later. Let them know that so many dense corpses were actually caused by an enemy cavalry squad of only a few dozen people, and the shock degree is absolutely not low.

  The Left Virtuous King of the Xiongnu army was already furious, personally leading a group of cavalry, with a fierce momentum, rushing to the city gate, shouting loudly at the nine-nation coalition forces on the city wall, calling for battle.