Chapter 21: Hanging Goat Beats Drum

  "Oh? Why?" Li Guang asked.

  Qin Cheng looked at Li Guang, under the cover of night, Li Guang's face was solemn and expressionless, which made Qin Cheng unable to guess what he was thinking for a moment. He slowly said: "The post road is only about one zhang wide, three horses can run side by side, it's already the limit, even if our army has thousands or tens of thousands of horses, there is no room to maneuver. The Xiongnu people certainly know this principle, so they won't worry about us launching a surprise attack at night."

  "Look!" Li Gan said angrily, "The terrain on both sides of the Eagle's Mouth is gentle and the trees are dense. If our army has a large number of archers, we can deploy them all at the Eagle's Mouth and arrange them on both slopes to shoot arrows in unison. The Xiongnu only have cavalry and cannot charge up the slope. This will surely cause the Xiongnu to suffer a great defeat!"

  This time when Li Gan spoke, Li Guang did not stop him, probably also acknowledging Li Gan's words. Qin Cheng saw that both of them were looking at him, smiled slightly and asked: "Then what?"

  "What then?" Li Gan asked.

  "After repelling the Xiongnu cavalry, what then?"

  "If our army really has reinforcements, then naturally we will launch a comprehensive attack!" Li Gan looked at Qin Cheng with a slanted gaze, his expression as if looking at an idiot.

  Li Guang's face was somewhat solemn at this time.

  "If the Xiongnu cavalry blocks the Hulushan Mountain Pass, what can General Li's large army do?" Qin Cheng gave Li Gan a look as if he was an idiot, completely disregarding their difference in status.

  "This……" Li Gan was shocked, momentarily stunned, and couldn't say another word. Li Gan wasn't stupid, after hearing Qin Cheng's words he naturally understood the underlying meaning, but he hadn't thought of this point himself before, and it just so happened to be a crucial one. For a moment, Li Gan didn't know what to say, and not wanting to admit defeat, his face turned red with frustration.

  "So, the Xiongnu will never worry that we will take the initiative to attack them. On the contrary, they would be overjoyed if we did so. If this were the case, all the Xiongnu need to do is use a portion of their cavalry to block the Hulushan Mountain Pass, and then have their main force sneak around behind our army under the cover of night. Once they have blocked off the Laojing Pass, even if we had an army of tens of thousands, we would be nothing more than fish in a barrel, trapped alive." Qin Cheng was not one to spare others' feelings, so he went ahead and said everything that was on his mind. It was better to let Li Dang come and suffer this hardship rather than waiting until later when he would have to lose face in front of Li Guang.

  When Li Guang heard Qin Cheng finish speaking, his mind had already turned upside down. He hadn't thought that even with thousands of troops, the Han army couldn't defeat the Xiongnu, but he hadn't considered it to a deeper level. Originally, Li Guang still held onto the idea of defending Lao Ying Kou and waiting for reinforcements, after all, on his side, they had been attacked by the Xiongnu army from both sides in Hu Lu Du, which meant that Deputy General Li Xi hadn't encountered the Xiongnu. With the tacit understanding between Li Guang and Li Xi, he believed that if he waited another day, while avoiding the Xiongnu's pincer movement from behind, it was possible that Li Xi would arrive from behind the Xiongnu and launch a pincer attack on the Xiongnu in front of them, and they might still be able to win. But after Qin Cheng spoke, all of Li Guang's thoughts were rendered useless!

  But are the Huns so clever? Would they think of something that deep?

  Li Guang was still skeptical about this.

  If Li Guang had known that they were facing not the Xiongnu army which Li Xi was supposed to deal with, but rather the Left Virtuous King, he would have been at a loss what to do.

  Li Guang thought of this and didn't speak for a long time. Qin Cheng also didn't think it was good to say much immediately, so the atmosphere became somewhat dull for a while.

  "General, the Huns have arrived!" Just as Li Guang was deep in thought, his personal soldier, a pale-faced young man, suddenly pointed to the front of the post road.

  As he turned to look, a Xiongnu cavalryman was holding a torch and rushing towards Lao Ying Kou. He stopped his horse at a distance of one arrow's flight from Lao Ying Kou. Even with the firelight, Qin Cheng and the others couldn't see the man's face clearly in the dark night, but his loud voice carried over: "You Han military brats on the other side, listen up! The great Xiongnu Left Wise King has decreed: you must surrender immediately, or else tomorrow at dawn, my great Xiongnu cavalry will charge towards you, and you will have no place to die!"

  After finishing, the Xiongnu cavalry who conveyed the message burst out laughing and made a arrogant gesture, then dropped a ruthless remark: "Tomorrow we will come to take the head of Fei Jiangjun!" Then they left with a flourish.

  Is he a wise king?

  When Li Guang heard these words from the Xiongnu cavalry, his face suddenly darkened.

  "Damn it, these Xiongnu people are too arrogant! Father, either way we're dead, let's fight them to the end!" Li Gan angrily drew his long knife.

  "General, let's fight it out with them!"

  "It's all over! General!"

  "Let's fight the Xiongnu people and avenge our fallen brothers!"

  "It's all over!"

  The sound of shouting and drawing swords suddenly echoed throughout the Eagle's Mouth. This group of Han soldiers had just suffered a defeat during the day, and it was a battle that they could have won but were ambushed by the Xiongnu people and lost. Everyone had a burning fire in their bellies, and now they were being humiliated by those Xiongnu cavalrymen - how could they swallow this insult? At once, they all asked for orders, and if not controlled properly, it would result in them all charging out of the Eagle's Mouth to fight the Xiongnu cavalrymen to the death!

  The Han army's hatred for the Xiongnu had long been deeply ingrained in their bones.

  "Hahaha……" Li Guang did not immediately stop these soldiers, but instead burst out laughing. After finishing his laughter, he drew out his long knife and stabbed it into the ground, facing a group of Han military officers: "The Xiongnu people have been wanting my head for more than one or two days, but I, this general, have never once let them get their wish! As long as there is still one Xiongnu person who dares to set foot in the territory of Great Han, I will not consider dying! The Xiongnu has not been destroyed, and as a military officer, who dares speak lightly of life and death? In Li Guang's army, we never send soldiers out to die for nothing! Whoever dies in battle must not have their blood flow in vain!"

  Li Guang paused for a moment, then continued: "Today, the Xiongnu army is in front of us. I will take charge myself and lead you to kill the Xiongnu, display the might of the great Han army, and avenge my fellow soldiers! But those who recklessly seek to show off their bravery and wish to become a sacrifice under the Xiongnu's blade, do not speak again!"

  Li Guang sheathed his long sword and said no more.

  "Yes!" The officers and men were shocked, and they responded in unison.

  For those who are about to advance, it is easy to speak of advancing, but difficult to speak of retreating. Qin Cheng secretly congratulated himself on being lucky enough to have crossed over under Li Guang's command as a soldier. If he hadn't crossed over properly and followed the wrong person, his life would be ruined.

  "How hateful! I never thought that this time we would be facing Zuo Xian Wang, wasn't he supposed to be in the north? How did he suddenly appear before us?" Li Gan was so angry that he slapped his thigh, "Isn't this saying that Li Shu is also fighting against the Xiongnu people now? In that case, our reinforcement troops are hopeless!"

  Li Gan was muttering to himself on one side, while Li Guang stared at the flames in front of the eagle with a thoughtful expression. The development of things had already exceeded his expectations. Since he killed the Left Bone Lieutenant General of Xiongnu at Qin City and Xiongnu did not become chaotic or retreat, he knew that there were higher-ranking generals in the Xiongnu army, but he didn't expect it to be the Left Wise King. It seems that he still underestimated the speed of the Xiongnu cavalry.

  Qin Cheng saw Li Guang silent and unspoken, secretly anxious in his heart. At this time, he couldn't care about his identity anymore, so he stepped forward and said: "General, if we don't retreat now, it's likely to be too late."

  Li Guang looked at Qin City with a glance, but didn't say anything. Li Guang had always wanted to withdraw from this place, the problem was that withdrawing like this would be difficult to avoid being discovered by the Xiongnu, even if they were covered by nightfall. Once discovered, the Xiongnu cavalry would pursue and attack from behind, and the many Han infantrymen would become live targets. How could Li Guang give such a military order?

  Li Guang did not respond, and Qin Cheng naturally knew the reason in his heart. He continued: "I have a way to make the whole army withdraw safely without being detected by the Xiongnu."

  "Do you have a way?" Li Guang looked at Qin Cheng with unexpected surprise, somewhat incredulous. As an ordinary soldier, Qin Cheng's performance today had already astonished Li Guang. Now, even he couldn't solve the problem that Qin Cheng claimed he could, which was beyond his acceptable range. But thinking of Qin Cheng's previous analysis of the enemy situation, Li Guang's gaze changed, "Speak quickly!"

  "Has the general not heard of 'hanging a sheep's head and beating a drum, starving horses neighing at grass'?"

  Li Guang was taken aback, and then his face lit up with joy. Before he could speak, Li Gan exclaimed: "Are you saying that before Duke Huan of Qi returned to Linzi to ascend the throne from Ju State, he was trapped by Prince Jiu on Mount Kunlun? Later, Prince Xiao Bai adopted Bao Shuya's plan of 'hanging a sheep and beating a drum, starving horses and neighing at grass', and managed to escape safely?"

  "General, you are wise." Qin Cheng said with a fist in his hand.

  "What a wonderful plan! Haha……" Li Gan struck his fist again, his hands and feet dancing with excitement. The dissatisfaction he had felt in his heart earlier, about Qin Cheng's unknown identity and his reckless discussion of military strategy, also dissipated. "Father, I think this plan is excellent, what do you think?"

  "What a wonderful plan!" Li Guang sighed, stroking his beard, then summoned the messenger soldier and ordered: "Pass on the order to the whole army, gather and wait for orders!"

  "Promise!"

  "Qin Lang is indeed insightful, I didn't expect that you, an ordinary soldier, could think of this layer, not simple at all!" Li Guang generously praised Qin Cheng.

  "It's just a lucky guess, General. If you weren't so preoccupied with the entire army and overthinking things, I'm afraid you would have thought of these things already, and there wouldn't be any need for me to speak up." Qin Cheng said humbly.

  It's high-profile when it needs to be, and low-key when it should be. Qin Cheng from later generations understood this principle deeply. Now that the necessary show has been put on, it's up to Li Guang to evaluate his own merits. As for himself, he still needs to remain humble, as being too sharp is not good. Besides, he's just a lieutenant colonel after all.

  "You don't have to be so modest, today you've spoken extraordinary words, all of which show your exceptional insight. Previously in battle, you were also extremely brave and even personally beheaded the Xiongnu Left Bone Lieutenant General. Such a talented individual was born under my command, it's truly comforting! " Li Guang said, "Heaven has given me this gift, how could I not use you?! Haha!"

  Li Guang smiled with joy and burst out laughing.

  "The general's wrong love, the subordinate is grateful but cannot repay. Qin City continued to be humble, who let the ancient people like this, and he also blended in with the times, what can you do?"

  "Benefited? You're wrong, Qin Lang!" Li Guang's tone suddenly became stern, his eyes flashing like lightning as he stared straight into Qin Cheng's eyes. Solemnly, he said: "The general uses you, not because I, Li Guang, have granted you a favor, but because the great Han has granted you a favor! In the future, if you can hold your own and become a general, you must do your utmost to defend the borders, bring peace to the people, destroy the Xiongnu, and return a peaceful and prosperous era to our great Han! This is the duty of a military officer, do you understand?"

  "I understand!" Qin Cheng said solemnly.

  "Good! Then what's to worry about the Xiongnu not being exterminated and the border counties being unstable?" Li Guang said, pulling over Li Dang, "From now on you should interact with Qin Lang more often, learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, do you understand?"

  "I understand." Li Gan replied, lowering his head and casting a glance at Qin Cheng with an expression of great displeasure.