I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 997 The Oncoming Giant Beast

"Your Highness, this King of Shule is quite interesting."

Guo Jia whispered in Su Yao's ear, "You politely declined this foreign princess in Luoyang that day, but it seems he hasn't given up yet."

Su Yao calmly took a sip of his drink: "I can tell."

After the dance, Ayina approached Su Yao again. This time, she lifted her veil, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face: "Your Highness, what did you think of Ayina's dance?"

“The princess is exceptionally intelligent; given time, she will surely achieve great things,” Su Yao said politely.

Seeing this, the King of Shule quickly pressed his advantage: "Your Highness, my daughter has long admired Han culture and has always wanted to visit Luoyang. I wonder if Your Highness would be so kind as to allow her to do so on this western expedition?"

"Father!" Ayina said coquettishly, her face flushed, but her eyes looked at Su Yao expectantly.

"I appreciate Your Majesty's kindness."

Su Yao put down his wine glass and said seriously:

"However, the future of this western expedition is uncertain, and I dare not trouble the princess with such a risk. If the princess still wishes to go after the war has ended, she can accompany the delegation to Luoyang. For now, we should focus on the war. As for the intelligence about Dayuan that Your Majesty mentioned earlier, could you please elaborate on it now?"

Seeing that Su Yao remained unmoved by his beauty, the King of Shule was surprised. He had no choice but to temporarily suppress his own thoughts, waved for the princess and the dancers to leave, and said seriously:
"According to Xiao Wang's intelligence report, the Kushan Kingdom's expedition this time was led by its eldest prince, Bodiao."

"This man was skilled in both literature and martial arts, and was a wise and intelligent man. He had the support of the people of Kushan. During the turbulent years of Kushan, he fought in the north and south and defeated the rebel army in the country many times. He was known as the Crown Prince of Restoration."

While the King of Shule was speaking, Su Yao closed his eyes, pulled up the system data, and quickly found the person's information.

Sure enough, Shule was not exaggerating.

In later history, this crown prince led the Kushan Empire, which had been declining, to rise again and rebuild its imperial hegemony. He not only stabilized the empire's territory and restored leadership over neighboring vassal states, but also launched a campaign to retake Khwarazm, formed an alliance with the Armenian Kingdom in the far west, and publicly resisted the rising Sasanian Persian Empire.

However, the rise and fall of a dynasty cannot be saved by one or two heroes.

Although Emperor Vasudeva the Great revived the Kushan Empire with his heroic power, he could not change the fate of its decline. Shortly after his death, the Kushan Empire completely disintegrated, was crushed in the confrontation with the Sasanian Dynasty, split into countless small states, crushed by the wheels of history, and became dust in the annals of time.

However, that's all in the future. At present, Prince Bodiao is undoubtedly favored by fate, winning every battle in the north and south, and is the most shining star of the Kushan Empire.

"Interesting. Someone like him is worthy of being my opponent."

Su Yao laughed and asked:
"Is this prince currently in Dayuan?"

The King of Shule was taken aback by Su Yao's high fighting spirit before quickly replying:

"Your Highness, Prince Bodiao should not be in Dayuan. It is said that he personally led troops to conquer the capital of Kangju, and he should not have returned yet."

"However, the general stationed in Dayuan was no ordinary man. He was the top general under the Crown Prince, known as General Surun, the 'Iron Wall'."

The King of Shule said solemnly:
"This man has been stationed in India for many years, suppressing countless people. He is well-versed in the art of offense and defense, especially in defense."

"This time, he not only brought 30,000 troops to garrison the area, but also conscripted all able-bodied men from Dayuan. Now, the garrison around Yucheng (the capital of Dayuan) numbers no less than 60,000. What's more troublesome is that I've heard this Iron Wall General has also brought over a thousand war elephants from the south."

"War elephants?"

Upon hearing the translation, Guan Yu frowned and whispered to Su Yao:
“Your Highness, if this is true, then it is indeed quite troublesome. It is said that Sun Wentai dealt with this thing in Rinan last year.”

"At that time, the King of Lin-yi summoned reinforcements from Funan, which included more than 300 war elephants. As a result, these 300-plus war elephants directly changed the course of the battlefield and broke through our army's defenses in one fell swoop."

Su Yao was also aware of this matter. Sun Ce's expansion into the south was not without its challenges.

Although in the early stages, Sun Ce quickly forced the King of Linyi to flee and occupied his capital by advancing by both water and land.

However, the King of Linyi did not give up. He incited the nobles and common people in his country to oppose Sun Ce, while seeking help from outside, asking for reinforcements from Funan.

While Su Yao was enjoying great success in the Western Regions last year, Sun Ce suffered a defeat in the south.

Faced with the sudden arrival of the war elephants, Sun Ce's Jiangdong soldiers were helpless. To avoid total annihilation, Sun Ce retreated more than a hundred miles after being severely defeated, almost completely withdrawing from the territory of Xianglin County. The Kingdom of Linyi was successfully restored.

This matter was no small thing, but due to Su Yao's brilliant victory at the same time, it did not cause any waves in the court and the public, and the battle report was only circulated among these main generals.

Now, with the launch of the Nanyang Development Company's project, Sun Ce has also received a second wave of supplies. Just as Su Yao was on his second western expedition, Sun Ce was also planning a new round of counterattacks in the south.

The King of Shule was naturally unaware of this, and he couldn't understand the Chinese that the generals were whispering to each other, but he could still glean something from their expressions.

So, he lowered his voice and said to Su Yao:
"Your Highness, these behemoths are impervious to swords and spears, and their charge is unstoppable. Although your cavalry is elite, without a way to deal with such monsters, you will likely suffer heavy losses."

On the banks of the Kizil River, the red sun sets in the west.

The evening breeze swept across the valley grasslands, bringing a touch of coolness to the vanguard soldiers who were still sweating profusely after the battle.

"His Highness the Tang Emperor has probably arrived in Shule by now."

After glancing at the mountains to the north, Zhang Liao paused, then turned to Fuluo, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:
"Chanyu, I see that this place is quite lush with water and grass. Let's rest here for a while tonight and then enter the valley tomorrow."

Leaving Shule Kingdom and heading northwest, following the upper reaches of the Kizil River and crossing the foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, one can reach the Fergana Basin where the Kingdom of Dayuan is located.

The land there is flat and lush with water and grass, which was the foundation of the Dayuan Kingdom. It not only has many delicious fruits and crops, but is also the breeding ground for the Akhal-Teke horse.

Although Zhang Liao and his group were not yet in the Fergana Basin, they had already traveled halfway and arrived at a crucial point in crossing the foothills of the Tian Shan Mountains.

Heading north from here, deep into the mountains, it will take another three days for them to complete their vanguard mission.

However, it is clear that the Kushans were already on guard.

Before reaching this valley, they had already encountered several small-scale attacks after leaving Shule.

Fortunately, in terms of fighting spirit, tactical skill, and the number of participants, those Kushan raiders were no match for these Hunnic knights.

However, there is no doubt that the further they go, the more severe the challenges they will face.

Therefore, Zhang Liao decided to set up camp and rest here first, establishing an outpost base to prepare for welcoming Su Yao's main force from the rear.

Although the area is rich in water and grass, tall trees are hard to find. Fortunately, nomadic armies on the grasslands always bring their own tents, so they don't need to consume a lot of timber like the Han army did when setting up camp.

So, it didn't take long for the Xiongnu warriors to set up camp on the banks of the Kizil River.

As night deepened, campfires flickered in the camp, and the Xiongnu knights drank and laughed around the fires, relaxing after days of marching.

But they didn't know that countless eyes were already watching them intently from the shadows.

Hundreds of colossal beasts, swaying their long trunks and exhaling breath, emerged from the valley bathed in moonlight, slowly approaching.
(End of this chapter)