Chapter Twelve: Hardship Before Success

  When the sky was slightly bright, Jamukha had already jumped up from the soft couch, dressed neatly and walked out of the commander's tent with big strides.

  As a generation of famous generals, the chief of the Flying Eagle tribe, his glory and prestige made countless people yearn for it! Unfortunately, most people have short-sightedness, they can only see the surface of the famous general, but cannot see the hardships of the famous general.

  He must rise earlier than all the soldiers and sleep later than all the soldiers. When charging, he must charge in front; when retreating, he must guard behind! When his children are drinking fine wine and indulging in music and dance, he is thinking about the direction of the army; when his children are holding onto plundered treasures and embracing plundered women to enjoy themselves, he is thinking about how to safely bring the children back home!

  What allowed Jamukha to make the entire Eagle tribe follow him wholeheartedly was not wisdom, nor strength, but a kind of emotion: sharing happiness and hardships together! Many superiors regard this as an insincere promise, but Jamukha did it; he never disappointed his children.

  "Great Khan!" A scout rode in from a distance: "Great Khan! Something is wrong with Snowy City, it seems to have been abandoned." The leader of a tribe was not qualified to be called 'Great Khan', which would lead to jealousy from other tribes. However, the warriors of the Flying Eagle Tribe believed that their king would surely lead them to unify the grasslands, and whether they called him "Great Khan" earlier or later made no difference.

  "Has the South Gate been investigated?"

  "They've just scouted and found that there are many horse hoof prints on the snowy ground outside the south gate. Lord Lemin said that there were at least a thousand cavalry!"

  "He can run pretty fast." Zhā Mù said with a chuckle: "Blow the horn!"

  As the bugle sounded, the Imperial Light Horsemen quickly emerged from their tents, mounted their horses, and in no time, a fierce and elite cavalry appeared between heaven and earth.

  The snowy city was eerily silent, with flags of various colors planted on the city walls, fluttering in the wind, and a few isolated torches burning.

  Zha Muhe waved his hand, and a hundred-man team on the left side of the army broke away and galloped towards Snowy City. When they reached a distance of over 200 meters from Snowy City, they began to charge in a diagonal line, then took down their longbows, drew their bows, and shot arrows at the city head.

  No man, no flag; the target is just the flag itself.

  After one round of shooting, there was still no reaction from Snowy City.

  Zha Muhe waved his hand again, and a hundred-man team on the right side of him departed. They didn't draw their bows, but instead took out long ropes from their quivers. As they rushed closer to the city wall, rope after rope flew out of their hands, heading towards the city gate.

  The city wall of Xueyuan City was not very high, at least half of the long ropes were ready to be tied up, and one of the city gates had more than a dozen long ropes tied up. Those who didn't get tied up dismounted their horses and prepared to tie again, while those who got tied up used all their strength to leave the horseback and climb towards the top of the city wall.

  In the blink of an eye, dozens of warriors had climbed onto the city wall. Inside Snowy City, there was still no reaction, only the occasional sound of a baby's cry, which was immediately cut off.

  The captain of the hundred-man team turned around and made a gesture to the large army, then led several soldiers to the wheel, turned the wheel, and pulled up the city gate.

  Zhamuhe led the Imperial Light Cavalry into Snowy City, looking around at the scenery. Zhamuhe couldn't help but shake his head in disdain. He couldn't understand how such foolish and weak people could occupy a position of leadership. Since they had abandoned the city and fled, they hadn't even destroyed the turning platform, and there was no one inside to hold them back. Didn't they know that leaving behind a batch of dead soldiers would increase their chances of escape? Hmm... Such weak people might not even be able to protect the princess. Zhamuhe imagined the scene of the delicate princess sitting on the snowy ground, wailing loudly, and a strange smile spread across his face.

  "Le Min."

  "In."

  "You must have been exhausted last night, take your troops and stay in Snowy City for now, it's a good chance to rest and regroup."

  Lemun, who had been on a long-distance raid and had done another night of reconnaissance, couldn't help but smile: "Yes, sir!" Although he had to hand over all the loot he found in the city to Khan for distribution, he did have the right to choose the women they caught first. The beauties from the southern country had always been the dream of the grassland warriors, and it was worth a night's hard work!

  "Good luck, kid!" Sticky slapped Le Min on the back and said in a low voice, "Leave me some pretty ones, or else I'll come back to challenge you to a duel when I return!"

  "That's for sure, that's for sure." Lemin revealed a wry smile. This guy was someone nobody in the entire Flying Eagle tribe dared to provoke, so of course they had to give him face. What was called a duel? Wasn't it just getting beaten by you?

  "Sticky."

  "In an instant, Huan Ma suppressed his licentious smile. He was someone that no one dared to provoke, but this did not include his own brother, for his brother was a god in the tribe!"

  "You lead a vanguard of a thousand men, and I'll give you four hundred men as scouts. Be careful."

  "Understood!" Zhang Han shouted loudly, then immediately lowered his voice: "Big brother, that princess..." Zhang Han was probing his own brother to see if he had any thoughts about the princess. This person wasn't very foolish either.

  Zha Mu He smiled and glanced at Zhan Yan with a hint of sarcasm: "Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

  "Got it, big brother." Zhan Han burst out laughing: "Kids, follow me!"

  Sticking out one horse in front, with a surging tide of cavalry, they charged forward.

  He gazed at the back of Hulan with a gaze that was almost doting, he had never put women in his eyes, except for the dream of unifying the grasslands and even the entire continent deep in his heart, other things were dispensable to him.

  "Advance the central army!" With Zhamuhe's command, thousands of war horses galloped forward in neat and swift strides. The central army was different from the vanguard; their speed could not be too fast or too slow. No matter what time it was, they had to ensure that they had sufficient strength to fight the enemy at any moment.

  ※※※

  "Are you afraid?" Qian Buli asked Ji Shengqing with a smile. He didn't leave Snowy City, if the plan succeeded, the enemies outside the city would no longer be a threat, on the contrary, it was the inside of the city that was dangerous!

  "It doesn't matter." Ji Shengqing's response was inevitable: "But, poor civilians..."

  "We have no choice, we need time." Qian Buli's expression also had a hint of gloom: "If the conflict comes too early and Zhamuhe is brought back, we will all die, and those civilians will still not be able to escape their fate." Qian Buli judged that Zhamuhe would definitely not wait until the entire city was searched before leaving Snowy City. Jiaji Pass was only 200 miles away from Snowy City, and when reinforcements arrived, they would be in trouble. Capturing the princess was the top priority.