Ask the mountains and rivers

Chapter 268 The River of Despair (Part 3)

The Liaoxi army suffered a major defeat, and the Xiongnu barbarians also suffered casualties. The exact number of casualties was only known to the Xiongnu commander.

The main force of the Xiongnu barbarians is currently outside Liaoxi Commandery, with a portion remaining in Changli County. These two thousand-plus Xiongnu cavalry, who had been plundering everywhere, encountered a hundred or so fleeing cavalry and immediately dispatched troops to their aid.

Yang Hu, Yang Huai, Song Dalang, and Lü Feng were all on the city wall at this time.

Both Yang Hu and Yang Huai had fought alongside Pei Qinghe, but this was the first time Song Dalang and Lü Feng had witnessed Pei Qinghe kill someone with an arrow.

Pei Qinghe drew the bow with his left hand and grazed the arrow with his right, his movements as fast as lightning. Before anyone could even blink, the arrow had already left the bowstring.

The next moment, the Xiongnu barbarian at the forefront was pierced in the throat by a sharp arrow and fell straight off his horse.

Song Dalang gasped.

Lu Feng thought to himself that his father's defeat at Pei Qinghe's hands that day was entirely justified. Pei Qinghe had indeed shown mercy by not killing his father with a single blow.

When Pei Qinghe shot his second arrow, Pei Yan, Pei Zhi, and the others followed suit and shot their own arrows.

Pei Qinghe remained expressionless and fired her third arrow. Everyone with a bow and arrow raised their hands. Arrows rained down mercilessly.

The Xiongnu barbarians were shot down in droves, and they cried out in alarm and anger as they drew their bows and fired again.

The Xiongnu barbarians were skilled archers and horsemen, and they were always the ones who shot their enemies off their horses with their sharp arrows. Today, they suffered a loss in their very first encounter, and they could not tolerate this insult.

The sound of arrows piercing the air was incessant, and the screams and cries of pain after being hit were even more ear-piercing.

Soon, there were also casualties on the city gate.

The Pei family army, positioned on higher ground, held a natural advantage. The Xiongnu barbarians below the city suffered even more casualties. Neither side showed any sign of stopping; after another round of firing, some Xiongnu barbarians charged to the city gate. At Pei Qinghe's command, round logs rolled down the gate, striking several Xiongnu barbarians and smashing their horses to pieces.

"Fortunately, the general led us into Tuhe County in time," Lü Feng couldn't help but say to Song Dalang, "If we had faced these two thousand cavalrymen in the open, I don't know how many of us would have died."

Song Dalang was a kind-hearted man and did not want to hurt Lü Feng's feelings. He chimed in, "These are all elite Xiongnu soldiers. Our Pingyang army would be no match for them."

Lu Feng sighed with a wry smile, and then he heard Pei Qinghe's voice: "The Xiongnu barbarians are about to run away."

Song Dalang and Lü Feng immediately focused their attention.

Without any siege equipment, relying solely on warhorses, bows, arrows, and scimitars, it was clear that they could not capture Tuhe County. The Xiongnu barbarians were already considering retreat, and some began to turn their horses around.

For the Xiongnu barbarians, this wasn't considered fleeing. That's how they always fought: when they had the upper hand, they would slaughter indiscriminately; when they were at a disadvantage, they would ride away and come back another day.

"The Huns' ability to come and go like the wind is both their advantage and their weakness." Pei Qinghe's eyes burned with fervor: "They lack the will to fight to the death. If we defeat them head-on, they will flee."

"Now they want to run away. All cavalry, get ready. I'm going to lead the troops out of the city to hunt down the Xiongnu barbarians."

Pei Yun, Pei Yan, and the others immediately responded and went down from the city wall to prepare their horses.

"General Yang, you stay here and command," Pei Qinghe said to Yang Hu.

Yang Hu himself was of average martial prowess; his strength lay in strategy formulation and command.

Yang Hu didn't stand on ceremony and nodded in acceptance. Yang Huai then spoke up, "I will go out of the city with General Pei."

Song Dalang reacted quickly and shouted, "I will also go out of the city with the general."

The Pingyang army only sent a thousand men, but each of them had a warhorse and were cavalry.

Since Pei Qinghe couldn't directly give orders, it was best that Song Dalang volunteered. Pei Qinghe smiled at Song Dalang: "Okay."

Lü Feng was in a somewhat awkward position. Firstly, the Fanyang army had a limited number of cavalry, only a pitiful two hundred. Secondly, the soldiers of the Fanyang army had been terrified by the Xiongnu barbarians a few days prior. If they were to follow the army out of the city now, they feared they would not only fail to gain merit but would also hinder the main force. Pei Qinghe seemed to see through Lü Feng's predicament and said gently, "General Lü, you and General Yang will defend the city together."

Despite his shame, Lü Feng nodded in agreement.

"Come on!"

The Xiongnu barbarians below the city shouted as they turned their horses around: "These people are much stronger than the Liaoxi army, they are not easy to deal with."

"We'll wait for reinforcements to arrive before we fight."

The Xiongnu barbarians always held the upper hand on the battlefield, coming and going as they pleased. They would come back after a couple of days when they had recovered.

To their utter surprise, they had only run a couple of miles when they heard the sound of horses' hooves behind them.

"They actually dared to come out of the city to chase us!"

"Without city walls, killing them is like slaughtering cattle and sheep!"

"Kill!"

The Xiongnu barbarians, having suffered a defeat and filled with resentment, turned their horses around with savage grins, raising their gleaming scimitars. They prepared to wreak havoc and teach their enemies a lesson they would never forget.

This pursuing cavalry force was large in number and rode swift, powerful horses. The leader was slender…

"It's that female general!" A quick-witted Xiongnu barbarian guessed the identity of the opposing commander and exclaimed in surprise.

"She's the one who killed Wuyan!"

A person's name, the shadow of a tree.

The female warrior who had slain Wuyan and inflicted a crushing defeat on the Xiongnu was right before their eyes, and even the arrogant Xiongnu barbarians began to panic. However, the cavalry charged at incredible speeds, leaving them no room for retreat or hesitation.

Bang bang bang bang!

The warhorses charged violently into one place, causing some to fall off their horses and others to be slashed by swords. Anyone who fell off their horse would be trampled by the dense swarm of warhorses, almost certainly resulting in death.

This fierce clash demonstrated the formidable strength of the Xiongnu barbarians. Those knocked off their horses were mostly from Pei's army. No matter how much training they received, their lack of experience and poor horsemanship became apparent on the real battlefield.

If it were any other army, they would be terrified after just one such charge.

Although the Pei family army suffered heavy casualties, they did not lose heart. This was because their General Pei had always been at the forefront, using his own flesh and blood to withstand the barbaric attacks of the Xiongnu barbarians.

The Xiongnu barbarians gained the upper hand in the first salvo and wanted to launch a second charge, but they found that the Pei family army was relentlessly pursuing them. They couldn't create any distance and therefore couldn't organize another cavalry charge.

The Xiongnu barbarians showed no fear, grinning as they brandished their swords and charged into battle.

They are natural-born warriors, raised on horseback from childhood, riding with ease. They can perform various maneuvers on horseback with effortless grace; their scimitars are an extension of their arms.

This was the first time the Pei family army had fought a real horse battle, and they were at a disadvantage from the very first exchange.

Pei Qinghe swung his sword, cutting down a fierce-looking Xiongnu barbarian from his horse. The Xiongnu barbarian fell to the ground in horror, trampled into a bloody mess by the hooves of the onrushing hooves.

Pei Qinghe blew the bamboo whistle in his mouth with all his might.

The sharp sound of bamboo whistles continued incessantly.

The Pei family army, accustomed to daily drills, knew the sounds of several bamboo whistles by heart. Almost instinctively, they formed ranks with those around them and brandished their swords and spears.

(End of this chapter)