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Chapter 574: Retreat (I)

This battle of Liu Hengchang finally crushed the morale of the Rouran barbarians.

A few days later, the Rouran barbarians began to withdraw their troops.

The Rourans claimed to have 100,000 elite cavalrymen, but they suffered unprecedented losses in this border invasion. After months of fighting, some were killed in direct combat, some died of illness, some died of serious injuries, and many more died in two night raids on military camps.

In the first night raid, a large amount of food and grass was burned, and thousands of horses ran away from the stables. In the second night raid, Afro was beheaded, and thousands of people were hacked to death or trampled to death in their sleep. The most hateful thing was that the confidence of the Rouran cavalry in their bravery was destroyed.

Yu Chong! Liu Hengchang! Nanyang Army! Princess of Nanyang!
Rouran Khan Fu Mingdun rode his steed towards the northern grasslands, repeating these words in his mind, with cruelty and brutality flashing in his eyes.

He took note of this blood feud.

Countless war horses galloped forward, and behind the huge team were countless people of Daliang.

There were no children or old people, only young and middle-aged people, half of them men and half of them women. They were dressed in rags, their wrists were tied with ropes one after another, and they staggered and cried desperately as they walked towards a strange place.

They were the people of the county town outside Sizhou City. Their homes were burned down by the Rouran barbarians. They watched helplessly as their parents and children were killed. Those who had the courage to resist were killed on the spot. Those who were frightened became slaves of the Rouran barbarians.

When the Rouran barbarians retreated, they became their spoils of war.

"Come on!"

"Don't cry!"

Hundreds of Rouran barbarians shuttled back and forth. As soon as they heard crying, their long whips would fall down mercilessly like a storm.

A man in his thirties was knocked to the ground by a whip. The burning pain on his face gave him the last bit of courage. He struggled to get up from the ground and pounced on the Rouran barbarian who was holding a long whip.

"I'll fight you!"

The Rouran barbarian was very tall, with broad shoulders and a strong waist, and had amazing strength. Seeing the man struggling and resisting, he grinned, swung his long whip, tightly wrapped it around the man's neck, and pulled hard.

The man looked in pain and soon suffocated to death.

The people nearby were trembling with fear, with despair in their eyes.

They were all ordinary people who only knew how to farm and had only used kitchen knives. Seeing the people who resisted being slaughtered like chickens and ducks, how could they dare to move?

The Rouran barbarian killed a slave without any regret, and laughed loudly. He continued to wave his whip and urged the slaves to go faster.

After walking for half a day, they finally had time to rest. The Rouran barbarians had dried horse meat to eat. The Daliang people who were taken as slaves only had some black and smelly wild vegetable dumplings. One a day, no one cared whether they would starve to death or whether they could make it to the grassland.

The well-fed Rouran barbarians were in the mood to have sex with attractive women from among their slaves. In broad daylight, several women were raped, and their cries of pain could be heard everywhere.

"Don't touch my sister!"

A frail boy of fifteen or sixteen tried to stop the Rouran barbarian, but was beheaded by him. The boy's head fell to the ground and rolled around, his eyes still wide open, his face still showing the anger and hatred he had when he was beheaded.

The fourteen-year-old girl cried out heartbreakingly, "Brother!"

The Rouran barbarian found the sound irritating, so he slapped the girl hard, knocking her unconscious, and then reached out to tear off her clothes.

... "Congratulations, General! The Rouran have withdrawn!"

"The border troops have won a great victory! The border troops have won a great victory!"

The border troops were all excited, and the generals were all beaming with joy, rushing to report the good news.

General Fan showed relief on his face and sighed, "The Rouran finally withdrew. Our border troops have finally lived up to the trust of the emperor and the court."

"Someone, go and ask General Song and Commander Liu to come over to discuss the next countermeasures."

A moment later, General Song and Liu Hengchang arrived at the central military tent.

The Song general who came with 40,000 reinforcements was really unlucky. He was almost always suppressed by the Rouran barbarians. He struggled from beginning to end and never won a decent victory.

General Song, who was in his fifties, had his hair turn white and looked much more haggard in just over a month.

General Fan said to General Song: "The Rouran have retreated! Thank you General Song for leading the troops to support the border army, which has won this great victory!"

This was to share some of the credit for repelling the Rouran. In fact, the 40,000 reinforcements brought by General Song had greatly tied down the Rouran's forces, and they did have some credit.

General Song was very grateful for General Fan's generosity and said, "General Fan will decide how to write the memorial!"

General Fan nodded without hesitation. Then he said to Liu Hengchang, "Commander Liu led the Nanyang Army to attack the enemy camp at night, beheaded the Rouran's top general Afu Luo, and caused the Rouran barbarians to lose their morale. This time the Rouran retreated, Commander Liu should be credited with the greatest achievement!"

"This general will ask for merit for Commander Liu and the Nanyang Army in the memorial."

This is where General Fan's brilliance lies. Liu Hengchang came under the banner of the Nanyang Army, but in fact everyone knew that these two thousand elite soldiers were the personal guards of the Nanyang Princess.

The memorial to the emperor asking for merit could not state this. The number of personal guards of the princes was fixed, and the sudden appearance of 2,000 personal guards was a ready-made handle.

If he wanted to ask for credit, he could only ask for it in the name of the Nanyang Army. All the credit Liu Hengchang had made was attributed to him personally.

Liu Hengchang bowed and thanked General Fan.

General Fan added, "This time, the border troops fought thanks to the large amount of military rations sent by the princess. The soldiers were able to eat enough to fight. I, Fan, will always remember the princess's kindness. When Commander Liu returns to Nanyang County, please thank the princess on my behalf."

Liu Hengchang agreed with a smile.

Speaking of Princess Nanyang, General Song looked a little uncomfortable.

Three years ago, Emperor Taikang passed away, and Princess Nanyang went to Beijing to attend the funeral. He was quite disgusted by her tough attitude and strong means. When his nephew Song Yuan came to show his goodwill, he rejected him without hesitation.

Over the past three years, Princess Nanyang's reputation has spread far and wide, and everything she has done has revealed her cunning and cunning. Now, when anyone mentions Princess Nanyang, they have to be respectful. Even political enemies have to praise her in private.

The Song family and the Nanyang Palace were relatives by marriage, and they had always had contact with each other because of the late Princess Nanyang. The commander of the Princess's personal guards, Song Yuan, was his nephew. Unfortunately, due to his short-sightedness, they had almost stopped contacting each other in the past few years.

Perhaps, after this battle, he should write a letter to Song Yuan to repair their relationship...

Liu Hengchang suddenly said, "It is indeed a happy event that the Rouran barbarians have withdrawn. However, when they withdrew, they took away tens of thousands of Daliang people. May I ask General Fan, how do you plan to rescue them?"

General Fan paused.