Chapter 1 The Hoofbeats on Chang'an Street

  In 133 BC, the Western Han Dynasty, which had always been friendly with the Xiongnu through a policy of intermarriage, suddenly assembled an army of 300,000 men around Maiyi, planning to lure the main force of the Xiongnu into a pre-set encirclement and destroy it in one fell swoop, thus eliminating the border troubles that had existed since the founding of the Western Han Dynasty. This is known as the "Battle of Mobei".

  The siege of Mayi ultimately failed due to the vigilance of the Xiongnu, but it marked the beginning of a century-long war between the Western Han dynasty and the Xiongnu. From then on, the Western Han dynasty, under the leadership of Emperor Wu of Han Liu Che, abolished the policy of heqin and began military confrontation with the Xiongnu.

  In 131 BC, two years had passed since the Battle of Mayi.

  Autumn, Chang'an.

  The thick, dark clouds of the east had not yet dispersed, and the morning sunlight was already bursting forth from the gaps in the black clouds. The red sun shot out suddenly, instantly dyeing the edge of the sky a deep crimson. Countless buildings in Chang'an City, whether majestic high walls and towers or humble market streets and small houses, were outlined in simple yet bold relief by the red glow. Chang'an City, which had been battered by heavy rain overnight, was unusually quiet at this moment.

  "Clang!"

  A horse's hoof struck the cobblestone street with a sudden crash.

  Clang! Clang! Clang!

  In less than a moment, the sound of horseshoes burst out one after another, and a lone horseman broke through the dust, shattering the tranquility of Chang'an City's early morning.

  A crimson-clad herald, his feet striking the horse's belly in rapid and rhythmic motion, urged the warhorse on towards the Weiyang Palace. Last night's rain had soaked him to the skin, and now rainwater and sweat mingled indistinguishably together.

  Without wiping away the sweat on his face, the messenger's eyes remained fixed on the front, only hurrying to gallop forward!

  Finally, a lone horseman, exhausted, stopped in front of the palace gate. The messenger hastily untied the package and handed a long, rectangular box to the period military officer guarding the palace gate. The officer took the box, quickly turned around, and swiftly walked away.

  "A hundred thousand urgent, border crisis report!"

  "A hundred thousand urgent, border crisis report!"

  "A hundred thousand urgent, border crisis report!"

  The soldier on the right raised a square box with his right hand and ran quickly while shouting loudly.

  ……

  Xuan Shi Hall

  In front of a huge map of the Western Han Dynasty, stands a handsome young man with a straight posture. At this moment, he is staring at the huge map in front of him, his bright and piercing eyes fixed on the positions of Dai Prefecture and Yu Yang.

  The young man was over eight feet tall, wearing a black imperial robe, with a sword hanging from his waist. At this time, his left hand was resting on the hilt of the sword. This youth, who had his back to a group of attendants, still had an unclear face. However, he simply stood there quietly, and his majestic aura made people dare not look straight at him.

  Especially now.

  "Before the autumn, I had repeatedly ordered these border county governors to pay attention to the usual plundering of the Xiongnu people this autumn. The young man's heavy voice rang out in the grand hall, his anger not concealed at all. His right hand heavily pointed twice on the map at the place of Youzhou, and then turned around, his eyes like a knife scanning over the faces of two equally young men standing nearby. 'But these county governors actually took my reminder as nothing but a rumor, allowing the Xiongnu army to deeply invade our territory, burning, killing, looting! Causing countless deaths and injuries among the border people, millions of people left homeless, property and crops lost beyond count! What can be tolerated, what cannot be tolerated?!

  When he said the last few words, the young man's tone became heavier, and the two young people in front of him lowered their heads even more.

  "What's most detestable is that the border town of Daijun, a crucial stronghold, was actually deceived into opening its gates by the Xiongnu army, who only know how to charge and kill recklessly!" The young man continued, his discontent overflowing, "What use does our great Han have for such a general?! If it weren't for this kind of general's blundering during the Battle of Mayi, would our 300,000-strong army have returned empty-handed?!"

  "By order, the county governor is dismissed and will be investigated!" The young man in imperial robes finally commanded.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." A young man dressed in official attire trembled and hastily responded, hurrying away quickly to prepare the imperial edict.

  "Wei Qing!" Emperor Wu swung his imperial robe and walked to the throne on one side, sat down, calmed himself for a moment, and beckoned to a young man standing respectfully in front of him, wearing a general's black armor, "Tell me your views."

  The young general, who was nearly eight feet tall and looked strong and handsome, heard the Emperor Wu's words and knew that he was being tested. After a slight pause, he said: "I dare to report to Your Majesty, I think that the governor of Daijun and Yuyangjun should not be blamed for being too careless, but the Huns' cavalry has always been unpredictable and our border generals and soldiers have too few horses, making it difficult to defeat them head-on. Moreover, our chariots and infantry are not as mobile as the Huns', so we are already at a disadvantage in terms of tactics. This is also an important factor that cannot be ignored. Furthermore, this time the number of troops mobilized by the Huns far exceeded previous years, and they used unexpected tactics, so it's understandable that our border generals were temporarily unable to resist."

  Wei Qing finished speaking, looked up at Emperor Wu, saw that Emperor Wu had no expression, and immediately lowered his head again. The urgent reports from Daijun and Yuyang on the border had just been read by Wei Qing, which was why he dared to say this.

  "What you said, are the problems we have been studying and trying to solve all these years." The tone of Emperor Wu's voice had eased a lot, but his words were still very heavy. He raised his hand and pointed at Wei Qing, saying loudly: "Wei Qing, if it were you, would you be confident in withstanding this attack by the Xiongnu?"

  Wei Qing was shocked and dismounted his horse, but his tone was extremely firm: "I will serve Your Majesty to the death, even if it means dying ten thousand times!"

  "All right, get up!" said Emperor Wu.

  "Your Majesty, the imperial edict has been drafted." The young man who had gone to draft the edict earlier now hurried over with the draft of the imperial edict in hand, holding it high above his head with extremely cautious movements. In fact, he and Wei Qing were both close attendants of Emperor Wu, and their usual speech and behavior were not so stiff, but today Emperor Wu was in a very bad mood, so he had to be extremely careful, lest he suffer the same fate as the fish in the pond.

  "It's settled then! Send it down!" The Emperor waved his hand.

  "Yes, Your Majesty." The young man replied and turned around to leave.

  "Hold on, Han Yan." The Emperor Wu called out to him at this time, "You send another edict to the governor of Shanggu County, Li Guang, with an urgent message of 800 miles. Tell him to be careful and guard against the Xiongnu people, don't let them repeat the mistakes of Daijun and Yuyang! Shanggu is located between Daijun and Yuyang, there's no reason why Daijun and Yuyang were attacked by the Xiongnu while Shanggu remained safe." After a pause, Emperor Wu added with emphasis, "Even if he is the Flying General, it's impossible!"

  "Yes." Han Yan naturally understood the meaning of Emperor Wu's added sentence to remind Li Guang, and immediately went to draft the imperial edict. It was inevitable that he would remind Li Guang, who had always been arrogant, not to be too proud of himself in the imperial edict. Only it was unknown whether this imperial edict could arrive in time, Han Yan sighed silently, thinking that having a hundred precautions was better than having none at all.

  "How is the training of the Feathered Forest Army going?" Emperor Wu looked at Wei Qing with great expectation, this young general he had promoted and cultivated with his own hands, held too many hopes for him to fight against the Xiongnu.

  "If I receive Your Majesty's sacred command, I will be the vanguard to attack the Xiongnu!" Wei Qing said firmly, his words were tactful but full of confidence.

  "Good!" The Emperor Wu nodded in satisfaction, finally revealing a hint of a smile. "Don't worry, the time for you to achieve great things is not far off!"

  ……

  Six days ago, in Kamitsuga District.

  A group of four riders, led by a young man with the strength of a tiger and the waist of a bear, were hurrying along the official road. The horses' hooves kicked up clouds of mud on the wet road, splashing everywhere. The four riders wore black armor and carried long swords at their waists, yet they rode their horses with incredible skill.

  The young man walking in the front had a very gloomy face, as if he had an overwhelming anger that couldn't be vented. His eyes stared straight ahead, as if he wanted to swallow all the air in front of him. In fact, this was not his fault. If any soldier under any squad leader became a deserter, the squad leader would never have a good face.

  Young squad leader Wu Zhang still remembered the words of General Li Guang when he found that one person was missing from his squad during a camp inspection. General Li Guang's normally kind expression suddenly turned furious, and his already slightly wrinkled face darkened, "A big battle is imminent, soldiers who are absent without leave, can't you, as a squad leader, cultivate an escaped soldier? Go find him! Bring him back to be severely punished by military law!"

  Every time he thought of this, young Wu Chang's face became even more gloomy, and his breathing also became slightly heavier.

  The several young soldiers standing beside Wu Long saw his unpleasant expression and didn't dare speak either.

  "When I find that scoundrel, I'll skin him alive first! Damn it, going back to visit relatives turned into deserting, I've never seen such a cowardly soldier in my life!" The subordinate next to him didn't speak, but the young company commander himself couldn't help but curse, "It's all because of him that I have to go far away to borrow horses to find people. If you ask me, it would be better to just kill him with one knife and forget about bringing him back for trial!"

  The other three soldiers next to him saw their squad leader speaking, although it was in a scolding tone, they also felt relieved and followed suit.

  "Indeed, such a young whippersnapper, really disgracing us!"

  "In everyday life, when I see his slovenly appearance, I get annoyed. Unexpectedly, this time he actually openly became a deserter. I really regret not having taken good care of him earlier!"

  "This coward is only good for deserting! Sergeant, don't worry, once I find this guy, I'll be the first to teach him a lesson!"

  "Hum!" Young Wu Chang snorted, using one hand to adjust his military cap which had been shaken askew by the galloping war horse. He shouted loudly, "This scoundrel is really not a thing! To be late for roll call is one thing, but to still not return after the deadline has passed, and to choose to do so during General Li's inspection... it makes me lose face! Damn it, what bad luck!"

  These people came out of the barracks in Qiansang City and were heading towards the home of the soldier who was absent without leave.

  "Wu Chang, Xiao Cheng may have said that he was delayed in visiting his relatives and did not return, but before the matter is investigated, it cannot be said that he is a deserter." At this time, the oldest soldier who had been silent all along spoke up, with some reluctance in his words.

  As soon as this remark came out, several of his fellow soldiers looked at him with rather complex expressions. What desertion meant, everyone naturally understood, but the squad leader was usually tyrannical, and they really didn't dare to touch his sore spot.

  "Bastard!" The young Wu Zhang cursed loudly without hesitation, "Wu Daliang, don't think you can get away with lying and covering up for this kid! Who doesn't know that late autumn is the time when the Xiongnu people like to invade and plunder? At this time, being absent without leave is clearly afraid of death, it's a deserter! Didn't you hear General Li's words today? If I excuse this kid again, I'll have you punished by military law!"

  Young Wu glared fiercely at the old soldier who had just spoken.

  Wu Daliao was scolded, and his heart was filled with anger, but looking at the young Wu Chang's ferocious appearance, he remembered General Li's words and finally endured it without retorting.

  "Wu Chang, look! That seems to be Qin Cheng!" At this awkward moment, a sentry pointed at a figure under a big tree not far away and shouted.