Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 230 Bow
what?
Yang Hu's body trembled, and he blurted out, "General Pei personally killed the Xiongnu commander?"

"Absolutely true!" The soldier who rushed over to deliver the message was covered in sweat, his voice filled with admiration and respect: "I was on the city gate at the time, and I saw General Pei come down from the city wall with my own eyes!"

"That Xiongnu barbarian commander was tall, a full head taller than General Pei, and incredibly strong. As soon as they made a move, General Pei beat him so badly he couldn't even lift his head."

"The Xiongnu barbarians broke their promise. They agreed that the generals would fight to the death, but they secretly fired a signal flare. General Pei swung his sword and beheaded the Xiongnu commander, then rushed back to the city. Unfortunately, Miss Pei Yan was hit by two arrows..."

Yang Hu's eyes gleamed, and he interrupted his personal guards' incessant chatter: "Alright! Stop the nonsense! Pass on my order: have everyone who can move take their weapons and come with me to guard the city walls!"

The guard was taken aback: "Today, it's the Pei family army defending the city. What will we do if we go?"

What else can I do?
Yang Hu glared impatiently: "Of course I'll follow General Pei's orders!"

The situation of two armies fighting together is actually quite delicate. They need to be of one mind and work together, but they also need to distinguish between their respective camps.

Originally, the Guangning Army was the main force in this battle, with the Pei family army as reinforcements. Now, the Pei family army has become the main force, while the Guangning Army has become the auxiliary force.

If you bow your head now, you'll always be bowing your head in the future.

The guard wanted to add a word of advice, but Yang Hu had already strode out.

The Guangning Army originally had 8,000 elite soldiers. Three thousand died in the battle of Bohai Commandery, and of the remaining 5,000, many were killed or wounded while luring the enemy into an ambush. After several days of defending the city and repelling the Xiongnu barbarians' relentless attacks, the casualties were horrific. Now, only about 2,000 soldiers remained, still capable of fighting.

Yang Hu led his two thousand men to the city gate. Instead of going up the city wall, Yang Hu sent a messenger to inform the city that he would wait below.

"General, the Guangning army has arrived," Tao Feng reported in a low voice.

Pei Qinghe was somewhat surprised and turned to ask Tao Feng, "General Yang is here too?"

"Yes." Tao Feng's eyes gleamed. "General Yang is leading his men below the city walls, awaiting your orders!"

Sun Cheng, being knowledgeable, exchanged a knowing smile with Tao Feng.

Pei Qinghe's brows relaxed, and he smiled: "Pass on my order, General Yang, please send five hundred men up. The rest of you, rest where you are and await further orders!"

Today, let the Pei family army and the Guangning army truly join forces and utterly crush the Xiongnu barbarians!

With the addition of elite troops from the Guangning Army, the pressure on the Pei family army in defending the city was somewhat relieved. Those who had suffered minor injuries could go to apply medicine and rest, and no longer needed to push themselves.

An hour later, Pei Qinghe issued another military order, and Yang Hu once again ordered five hundred elite soldiers to go up the city wall.

Yang Hu remained below the city walls until Pei Qinghe sent someone to summon him, at which point he went up to the city gate.

It was already afternoon. After fighting for most of the day, everyone was exhausted, only kept going by sheer willpower. The attacking Xiongnu barbarians had suffered even heavier casualties and had reached their limit.

When Yang Hu saw Pei Qinghe covered in blood, his heart sank, and he hurriedly whispered, "How badly is General Pei injured?"

Pei Qinghe replied briefly, "My right arm isn't badly injured, but my right leg hurts terribly. I can't stand anymore and need to rest. You take charge."

Yang Hu did not refuse and immediately took over the command.

Pei Qinghe didn't go down the city gate; instead, she found a relatively clean spot on the city wall and sat down. Her right arm was burning, and the spot on her right leg where she had been kicked was already numb with pain.

Pei Qinghe closed her eyes and slowly exhaled.

Leading troops into battle, it's common to get wounded on the battlefield. She had suffered minor injuries before. This time, however, her wounds were the most serious.

However, being able to personally kill the Xiongnu commander and crush the morale of the Xiongnu army made the injuries worthwhile. The sounds of battle cries filled the air.

Pei Qinghe didn't need to open her eyes; she could tell how the battle was going just by listening to the sounds. Some Xiongnu barbarians had scaled the city walls and been cut down. The Pei family army was extremely brave, while the Guangning army was somewhat weaker, but today their morale was high.

After repelling the Xiongnu barbarians once again, the sound of horses' hooves suddenly rang out below the city.

"The Xiongnu barbarians have retreated!"

Pei Xuan rushed over excitedly and shouted in Pei Qinghe's ear, "General, we have won a great victory! The Xiongnu barbarians have been defeated!"

Pei Qinghe opened her eyes, smiled at Pei Xuan, and hummed in agreement.

Pei Xuan looked at Pei Qinghe's pale face and her heart sank: "Qinghe, let me help you get treatment."

Pei Qinghe perked up and said, "No rush, let's wait a bit longer."

Yang Hu arrived quickly, as expected. As the commander-in-chief, he had to consider the overall situation. A great victory was naturally a cause for celebration, but the next step was to consider whether to press the attack and crush the fleeing enemy.

Pei Qinghe looked at Yang Hu: "General Yang, what do you think?"

Yang Hu laughed and said, "What kind of general am I in front of General Pei? From now on, General Pei can just call me by my name, Yang Hu."

Yang Hu's willingness to lower his stance speaks volumes.

Pei Qinghe's eyes flashed with a smile, and her voice lowered slightly: "In private, I call you by your name. In public, you are the commander-in-chief of the Guangning Army, so I still call you General Yang."

Yang Hu cupped his hands in greeting: "I will obey the general's orders."

Pei Qinghe was in a very good mood.

Killing the Xiongnu barbarian commander was one thing, but winning over the Guangning army was another.

After the tacit surrender, the relationship between the two armies grew closer. Pei Qinghe asked again, "The Xiongnu barbarians have suffered setbacks in the long battle and lost their commander; they will most likely retreat. What should we do next?"

Yang Hu had already considered this: "Although the Xiongnu barbarians have warhorses, they can't move very fast with a large amount of money, provisions, and prisoners. We can try to pursue them and ambush them along the way. It would be good if we could kill as many as possible."

Pei Qinghe nodded approvingly: "We can recover as much money and grain as we can, but the most important thing is to rescue the abducted people."

"First, withdraw the troops and clean up the battlefield. Let the wounded soldiers get their medicine and rest. Everyone should rest and be ready to attack at any time. Once the battlefield is cleaned up, bring your generals over and we will discuss this together."

Yang Hu solemnly bowed and replied, "Yes."

Yang Hu was in charge of cleaning up the battlefield, while Pei Qinghe, supported by Pei Xuan, slowly descended the city wall.

Everyone was looking at Pei Qinghe with admiration.

In today's battle, Pei Qinghe killed the Xiongnu commander-in-chief in full view of everyone. This scene is etched in everyone's minds.

Their General Pei is a true hero in this chaotic world!
The soldiers of the Guangning Army also looked at him with reverence. Everyone admires strength, especially in the military camp. Pei Qinghe had won them over with his formidable power.

They all saw Yang Hu bowing and cupping his hands in greeting, and nothing about it bothered them. When soldiers go to war, of course they follow the most capable general!
The young emperor hiding in Bohai County, and King Qiao and General Situ fighting in the capital, are all too far removed from them.

All they could see was General Pei!
(End of this chapter)