spend time

In the capital, people were busy preparing money and food to send reinforcements.

At this time, Jiang Shaohua, just as Prime Minister Chen and Shangshu Feng had expected, led his troops to pursue the Rouran barbarians on the day they fled.

The Rouran barbarians fled in all directions. Jiang Shaohua ordered everyone to divide their forces to pursue them, while he led the elite soldiers of the Royal Guard Battalion to closely chase the largest group of Rouran barbarians.

This group of about 10,000 cavalrymen were elite soldiers under the command of the Rouran Khan, just like Jiang Shaohua's personal guard battalion. They were all elite among the elite.

Shi Luohou was shot in the chest by Jiang Shaohua's arrow and fell off his horse immediately. Fortunately, there was a layer of hard armor to block it. The arrow penetrated more than two inches into his chest, but it did not kill Shi Luohou immediately.

Shi Luohou's personal guards immediately dragged their own Khan onto their horses like a dead dog and let the horses gallop away.

By the time Jiang Shaohua led his troops to chase them, this group of cavalry had already run dozens of miles away.

The Rouran barbarians were born on horses and knew how to ride horses. No matter how skilled the soldiers of the Royal Guards were in riding, they were still slightly inferior to the elite soldiers of the Rouran barbarians. If it weren't for the fact that Shi Luohou's life and death were uncertain and the barbarians' morale was low, they might have turned around and fought a fierce battle with the Royal Guards.

One was running away while the other was chasing, just like a hound aiming at its prey, and they chased for a whole day. From the beginning to the end, the barbarians were ahead by dozens of miles. They didn't dare to relax at all. If they were a little slower, they would be caught up by the hounds behind them.

"You can't run away like this."

"If we keep running like this, we'll all die."

"That's right. Let's run separately. The grassland is so big, we will split into five teams, with 3,000 people in each team. The pursuers behind us will have to split up accordingly."

"We can even delay them to death."

"What about the Khan?"

When this question was asked, the several barbarian generals who had been shouting loudly were speechless.

Shi Luohou was indeed lucky enough to have survived. If he had been settled down and recuperated at that time, he might have been a brave man in less than three or two months.

However, they had no time to stop and catch their breath all day. The Khan was constantly tossed on the horse's back, and the wound on his chest was tied up and then opened again, bleeding continuously. If this continued, it was unknown whether they could survive, but in short, the Khan would not survive.

They are all the Khan's most loyal guards and would never do such a thing as abandoning the Khan and escaping alone.

"I'll take the Khan with me." One of the barbarian generals spoke up. He was the most courageous warrior under Shi Luohou, and his status was like Song Yuan beside Jiang Shaohua: "We will divide our troops into five groups. Each of us will choose a direction and keep moving forward. Only after we get rid of the pursuers can we return to the tent."

"Whoever leads the Daliang cavalry to the big tent will be the sinner who will exterminate the Rouran clan."

The barbarians nodded in agreement, and after a simple division of troops, they quickly split into five cavalry groups and fled in different directions.

After just one or two hours of delay, the Daliang pursuers had already caught up. There was no shelter on the grassland, the horses galloped, and the ground kept shaking. Such a movement could not be concealed from the enemy at all.

The Rouran barbarians gnashed their teeth in hatred and fled on their horses, cursing in their hearts.

These Daliang cavalrymen used to be chased and fled by them, but now they have become prey and have nowhere to hide.

"Your Majesty!" Liu Hengchang rode to Jiang Shaohua's side, his face solemn: "The Rouran barbarians have divided their troops into five groups. Should we also divide our troops to pursue them?"

Jiang Shaohua gave the order in a deep voice: "We will also split into five groups and pursue them separately. The time limit is two days. Those who catch up will be killed. If you fail to catch up, turn your horses back to the border army camp. Don't advance alone and underestimate the enemy."

I hope the emperor didn't get carried away by the victory. Liu Hengchang secretly breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "The generals will lead the pursuit, so the emperor should go back to the barracks first!"

"Your Majesty's body is worth a ton of gold, and you can't let it get hurt at all." Qin Zhan continued, "Marquis Shi Luo was shot by your Majesty that day, and he probably would have died after running for two days. Your Majesty doesn't need to chase him in person, it would be safer to return to the border army camp first."

Meng Dashan also nodded in agreement: "That's right, Your Majesty, go back first."

Song Yuan, who always obeyed Jiang Shaohua's orders, also spoke up: "Your Majesty, please return to the barracks!"

Facing so many sincere and loyal faces, Jiang Shaohua had no choice but to compromise: "Well, okay! I'll go back first! Divide your troops into five groups, each leading a pursuit. Remember, it will only take two days. If you can catch up, kill as many as you can. If you can't catch up, return immediately."

All the generals breathed a sigh of relief.

An hour later, the group split into five groups to continue the pursuit. Jiang Shaohua rode back to the border army camp under the protection of Song Yuan and his 10,000 personal guards.

When I was chasing, I let my horse gallop and didn't feel tired at all. When I was returning, my whole body relaxed and I felt a little tired.

"My body is not as good as it was when I was young." Jiang Shaohua sighed to Song Yuan in a low voice: "When people reach thirty, their energy starts to decline."

Song Yuan responded seriously: "The emperor shot an arrow from the city wall yesterday, and it flew five hundred steps away, injuring the Khan of Rouran. Anyone who saw this scene with their own eyes would never think so."

Jiang Shaohua laughed out loud: "I was just trying it at the time. I didn't expect to be able to hit it from such a long distance."

The fall of Shi Luohou was the real reason for this great victory.

Think about it, if the person who was shot and fell to the ground in public was Jiang Shaohua, what morale would the soldiers of the border troops and the royal guard battalion have?
Jiang Shaohua led the people of the Royal Guard Battalion back to the border army camp.

The people waiting in the military camp gathered around.

The first person to rush to Jiang Shaohua was Cui Du.

Cui Du is also 30 years old this year, still clean and fresh, without a single beard on his chin, and his eyes are clear, just like when he was a teenager. He held Jiang Shaohua's hand tightly, looked up and down anxiously, and made sure that Jiang Shaohua was unharmed, then he breathed a sigh of relief: "I'm glad you're okay."

Jiang Shaohua smiled at Cui Du.

Then, Chen Jinyu and Lu Zhen came over and asked, "Did the emperor catch the deserter?"

"Is Shi Luohou dead?"

Jiang Shaohua smiled and said, "General Liu and the others went after them separately. I wanted to chase them too, but they disagreed and chased me back to the barracks."

All the ministers said in unison: "The emperor should have returned long ago."

Chen Jinyu and Jiang Shaohua were close friends since childhood and had been together for many years. She was the only one who dared to scold Jiang Shaohua with a stern face: "The emperor was hot-blooded and led his troops in pursuit. Fortunately, the Rouran barbarians did not set any traps or ambushes. If something happened to the emperor, we would not be able to return to the court."

Jiang Shaohua felt a little guilty, and coughed, "I was indeed a little impulsive, and I didn't act prudently. Fortunately, I came to my senses in time and came back halfway through the pursuit."

"I promise you that I will never do such an impulsive and dangerous thing again." (End of this chapter)