I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 816: General Tian's reputation spread far and wide, and Yunzhong County was decided in one battle (Combined Chapter)
In the clouds, the Hu people’s camp.

"Did you hear that?"

"That great general is Governor Su!"

"Are you serious? How could this be?!"

The tribal leader was shocked when he heard this.

In the past, Su Yao suppressed a rebellion in Bingzhou and marched out of Yanmen with a hundred cavalrymen, making the various Hu tribes terrified. This happened only two years ago.

Due to the low efficiency of information dissemination in this era, although the various Hu people outside the Great Wall knew that the Central Plains seemed to be in chaos recently, they had no idea that the situation there had changed dramatically. Governor Su was even directly promoted to the rank of general.

Now, when they heard that the traitor the prefect was talking about was actually the once-feared Governor Su, they were immediately furious.

All the leaders gathered together and chattered about countermeasures.

"What should we do? How did we offend this great god?"

A burly tribal leader with a full beard slammed the table, regretful and anxious:
"It's all Li Xuan's fault. He only said that a large army was coming and promised us huge benefits to help, but he didn't mention that it was Governor Su who came!"

"What's the point of saying this now?" Another thinner chief said angrily, "The most urgent thing is to find a way to protect our tribe and our people."

"First of all, you must not fight!"

An old leader said anxiously:

"Commander Su is a general from heaven who has descended to earth. Fighting him with swords will only lead to death!"

Everyone nodded in response to the old chief's words, and instantly many tribal leaders said that they were ready to pack up and leave, and no longer join in the fun.

"Don't rush away, everyone!"

At this moment, a young leader suddenly stood up, stopped the group from disbanding and said:
"General Tian has come here to suppress the rebellion. Isn't this the time for us to make achievements? Why are you running away in such a hurry?"

"what?"

Seeing that everyone was puzzled, the young leader quickly said:

"General Tian has always been clear about gratitude and resentment. He rewards those who have made contributions and punishes those who have made mistakes. The pastures of our tribe were obtained by following General Tian in the battles in the past."

"Now Li Xuan has colluded with the rebels and betrayed the court. He is a complete traitor. If we can help General Tian to capture Yunzhong City and capture that villain Li Xuan, we will have made a great contribution. By then, if General Tian is happy, he may reward us with more land and property, and our tribe will become stronger." The young leader became more and more excited as he spoke, with excitement flashing in his eyes.

"That being said, what if we help but General Tian doesn't appreciate it?" A middle-aged leader said with some concern, "After all, we responded to Li Xuan's request and prepared to fight against General Tian's army together with him. This is a fact."

"Don't worry, as long as we show our sincerity, General Tian will definitely show leniency."

The young leader said confidently:
"Besides, do we have any other choice now? If we run away directly, General Tian might think that we are guilty and send cavalry to catch up with us. Our people will be in danger. But if we take the initiative to help, at least there is still a glimmer of hope."

After hearing what the young leader said, everyone fell into deep thought.

They knew that what the young leader said made sense, and they really had no better choice now.

"Okay, let's do as you say. We will help General Tian take down Yunzhong City!" The burly leader with a full beard was the first to speak out. "We don't want to be an enemy of General Tian anyway, so it would be great if we can atone for our sins."

"I agree."

"I'm willing to give it a try."

"I'll do it too!"

Everyone nodded, eager to try. Soon, several leaders reached a consensus and decided to send someone to Su Yao's army immediately to express their intention to surrender.

Yunzhong County, the Han army’s camp.

"Report! A Hu tribe has sent an envoy to express their willingness to submit to the imperial court and assist our army in suppressing the rebellion!"

Guan Yu raised his eyebrows when he heard this: "Oh? These barbarians are so sensible of current affairs?"

Hou Cheng stood aside, clapping his hands and laughing, "General Guan has no idea how powerful the general was in Bingzhou in the past."

"When those unruly barbarians saw the general, they were like mice seeing a cat, each one more obedient than the other."

"The high priest of the Xiongnu even gave the general the title of General Shenwei Tianjiang."

"On this grassland, as long as the name of General Tian is mentioned, everyone knows him."

"General Tian?"

Guan Yu's narrowed eyes slightly widened and he also smiled:

"The general is truly a god!"

At this point, Guan Yu finally understood why Su Yao left so confidently, and only allowed him and Hou Cheng to lead a thousand elite cavalry and three thousand surrendered soldiers to dare to go north through Yanmen Pass, and he demanded without mercy that they take the people back to be punished.

It turns out that everyone outside the pass is our own people.

"Good good."

Guan Yu stood up and said:

"In that case, reply to those Hu chieftains that ignorance is not a problem. The court will accept their service and let us see what results they can produce."

Guan Yu's order soon reached the ears of the envoys of the Hu tribe. The envoys were ecstatic and hurried back to their respective tribes to convey Guan Yu's reply to the leaders.

"Okay, okay, great!"

"Finally, I can serve under General Tian again!"

"Brothers, are you all ready?"

When the Hu leaders learned that the imperial court was willing to accept their surrender, they were relieved and became eager to try. They immediately discussed urgently how to assist the Han army in taking Yunzhong City.

At the same time, Li Xuan, the prefect of Yunzhong City, knew nothing about the changes outside the city.

He was still fantasizing that he could rely on the strength of the Hu cavalry to resist the attack of the Han army, or even turn defeat into victory. He had no idea that the Hu allies he relied on had already turned against him and were preparing to use him as a "token of surrender."

Three days later, early in the morning, outside Yunzhong City.

The Han army vanguard led by Guan Yu was approaching the city, and the defenders on the city walls were nervously watching the Han cavalry in the distance.

Li Xuan stood on the city wall. Although he felt a lot of pressure, he was still full of confidence.

This was not only because he was ready to defend the city, but also because his Hu allies had recently received frequent news of victory.

Not only did he have a thorough understanding of the deployment of the Han troops, but his harassment of the Han army's food supply routes had also been quite effective.

According to the Hu people, the Han cavalry numbered no more than a thousand and were extremely clumsy, not as powerful as they were who could come and go like the wind.

Now the Han army in the Northern Expedition is in a dilemma. As long as he can hold on for a few days, the Han army will surely retreat.

"Good good!"

Li Xuan looked at the scattered Han cavalry outside the city, and his heart was at ease. He gave the order:
"Pass the order down, reward those Hu people allies, give them more gold and silver treasures, and let them continue to keep an eye on the Han army. As long as we can wear down these rebel troops, they will certainly get benefits in the future!"

After receiving the order, the messenger immediately rushed to convey Li Xuan's order.

Soon afterwards, another wave of Hu cavalry came out of the city and, together with the Hu cavalry in the camp outside the city, drove away the Han army vanguards outside the city.

"Li Taishou, the Hu cavalry has been ordered to leave the city and prepare to meet the Han army!"

Li Xuan felt relieved after hearing this. He focused his attention on the Hu riders who were going out of the city to fight, ready to watch a grand hunt.

There were no more than a thousand Han cavalrymen at the gate of the city, while his Hu cavalry outnumbered the enemy several times. How could this not be a massacre?
"Good guy!"

"Are all the people under Su Yao stupid?"

"How dare you charge at me?" Seeing the Han cavalry advancing instead of retreating, Li Xuan was stunned for a moment before he burst into laughter and said, "You are really trying to hit a rock with an egg. You are overestimating your own abilities!"

"No, something's wrong, sir!"

Just when Li Xuan was getting carried away, his military advisor apparently discovered the problem.

The Hu cavalry who were originally confronting the Han army not only did not charge towards the Han knights, but turned their horses around and rushed towards the gate of Yunzhong City.

"Oh no, I've fallen into a trap!" Li Xuan was shocked and immediately realized that something was wrong.

It turned out that these Hu cavalry were sent by the surrendered tribes. They pretended to obey Li Xuan's order to go out of the city to fight the Han army, but in fact they did so in order to cooperate with the Han army to capture Yunzhong City.

"Hurry, close the city gate!" Li Xuan shouted stutteringly.

However, before his order was fully conveyed, the Hu soldiers in the city had already begun to act.

They suddenly drew their weapons and attacked the guards around them. The defenders in the city were caught off guard and fell into chaos in an instant.

"Kill! Open the city gate and welcome General Tian's army into the city!" A Hu leader shouted loudly and quickly took the city gate.

As the city gate slowly opened, the Hu cavalry were the first to enter. They frantically hacked and killed the chaotic defenders at the gate to open the passage.

Soon after, the Han knights led by Guan Yu followed and poured into the city like a tide.

"It's over, it's over, the Hu people have rebelled, the Hu people have rebelled!"

"Run, run!"

"Don't kill me, don't kill me!"

In a short period of time, the defenders discovered that the situation had taken a huge turn. Faced with the Han and Hu knights who were several times their number and as ferocious as wolves and tigers, they were simply unable to resist. They either turned around and ran for their lives or dropped their weapons and surrendered.

The rapidly developing situation made Li Xuan, who was standing on the top of the city wall, look pale.

"The situation is over, the situation is over!"

"Master, go, go!"

Fortunately, Li Xuan brought 300 of his fellow soldiers with him when he took office this time. At this time, they realized that something was wrong, and some of the soldiers who were still around Li Xuan quickly surrounded him, wanting to protect him from breaking out.

"Back door! Take advantage of the chaos in the city and escape from the back door!" the military advisor shouted, "As long as we escape the city and seek refuge with Liu Youzhou, we may still have a chance to survive!"

Li Xuan gritted his teeth, feeling unwilling, but there was nothing he could do at this moment, so he could only nod in agreement.

Immediately, the personal soldiers around him took off their armor and handed them to Li Xuan, asking him to change into official uniform and become an ordinary soldier. Taking advantage of the chaos in the city, the group ran towards the back door.

Along the way, shouts and cries were heard one after another, and the figures of the Han army and the Hu cavalry kept flashing. Li Xuan and others sometimes avoided carefully, and sometimes launched a desperate attack to deal with those opponents who suddenly appeared.

In battle after battle, Li Xuan had fewer and fewer confidants around him.

His son, son-in-law, lieutenant general, and close confidants all sacrificed their lives to protect him in the previous chaos.

He regretted it deeply.

If I had known this earlier, I should have surrendered decisively and followed the people back to Beijing.
However, there is no regret medicine in the world.

Just when he was regretting, the military advisor's exclamation made him feel surprised.

"Master, we're out, we're out!"

"We're saved, run, run!"

After going through a lot of hardships, Li Xuan finally found himself running out of the back door with the fleeing crowd.

However, before he could be happy for long, suddenly, the sound of horse hooves came from all directions, surrounding their wave of defeated soldiers who were fleeing out of the city.

"Master Li, where are you going?"

This sudden remark startled Li Xuan. He didn't know whether the person was trying to trick him or had seen through his identity, so he looked up in panic.

As a result, he never expected that the person who spoke first was the leader of the Hu people who lied to him about the good news last night.

The leader of the Hu people rode on a war horse and came over with a sneer on his face, the scimitar in his hand flashing a creepy cold light.

Knowing that there was no way to escape, Li Xuan immediately started cursing:

"Shameless Hu'er, you treacherous bastard!"

"I, Li Xuan, have treated you well, yet you treat me like this, you are truly heartless and ruthless!"

The leader of the Hu people laughed loudly after hearing this, his face full of disdain:
"Li Xuan, don't you see who you are? You colluded with the rebels and betrayed the court. You deserve to die. How dare you deceive me into working for you? Pah!"

Li Xuan was so angry that he was shaking all over, his eyes almost spitting fire: "You barbarian dog, you did such a treacherous thing just to seek credit and reward in front of the traitor Su Yao. If you kill me today, if Su Yao becomes suspicious of you in the future, you will definitely not end well!"

"Shut up!" the leader of the Hu people shouted angrily, with a fierce look in his eyes. "General Tian is wise and powerful, and we are willing to serve him like dogs and horses."

"You are such a bastard, you still don't repent even when you are about to die. Come, take him down for me!"

The Hu cavalry heard the news and rushed forward to fight with the besieged and defeated soldiers.

"No, spare my life!"

"Surrender, we surrender!"

"Every wrong has its perpetrator, this is all Li Xuan's idea, it has nothing to do with us!"

Almost as soon as they came into contact, the trapped soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy.

Most of these people were civilians in the city, and they did not have much fighting power. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, they were unwilling to accompany Li Xuan to die.

"Coward, coward!"

"Li Taishou, we will help you break out!"

Seeing that the surrounding county soldiers were vulnerable, the captain of Li Xuan's personal guards glared and shouted loudly, and led the remaining dozens of personal soldiers to pounce on the Hu cavalry like a tiger, trying to carve a bloody path for Li Xuan.

It has to be said that their courage, fighting spirit and combat proficiency far surpassed those of the county soldiers. They fought for their lives and even forced the Hu riders who rushed forward to retreat repeatedly.

However, there was a huge disparity in numbers between the two sides, and Li Xuan's personal soldiers had to go through several breakout battles in the city. Not only were their physical strength consumed, but many of them were also injured.

Therefore, although their counterattack was brilliant, it was only short-lived and soon could not be sustained.

The offensive of the Hu cavalry continued like a tide, and the personal soldiers fell one after another in a pool of blood.

In the melee, Li Xuan himself was knocked down. He struggled to get up and wanted to fight again, but was pinned to the ground by several Hu soldiers and tied up tightly.

At the same time, Guan Yu had led the Han army to completely control Yunzhong City.

As the city gates were lost and the prefect was missing, the defenders in the city surrendered without much resistance. The people in the city also came out of their homes, beating drums and gongs to welcome the arrival of the Han army.

The prefect Li Xuan was even paraded through the streets under the escort of the Hu cavalry, and headed towards the gate tower amid the people's scorn.

Guan Yu stood on the tower, overlooking the scene in the city, feeling deeply moved, and said to Hou Chengdao:
"The general is indeed very smart. We barely put in any effort, but these barbarians helped us solve the problem."

Hou Cheng smiled and nodded when he heard this: "Yes, the general's reputation has long been known throughout the four borders. How dare these Hu people become his enemy?"

Guan Yu nodded, stroked his beard and ordered:

"Pass the order and immediately send people to Dingxiang, Wuyuan, and Shuofang counties to inform them that Yunzhong City has been breached and Li Xuan has been captured."

"If they know what's best for them, they will surrender immediately, hand over the city defenses, and return to the capital with me to apologize to the general."

"Otherwise, once my army arrives, they will be wiped out!"

(End of this chapter)