I will make Qin Shi Huang immortal in the Great Qin Dynasty.

The 10,000 cavalry units that were sent out returned much slower than Touman Chanyu had anticipated.

Touman Chanyu was not in a hurry at first.

The grasslands were vast, and the roaming Qin cavalry were scattered in various places.

It will take time and patience for the 10,000-strong cavalry to find them, surround them, and annihilate them.

He sat in the large tent, occasionally listening to the scattered news brought back by the scouts.

People will still drink mare's milk wine and eat roasted mutton.

He spoke in a gentle tone to reassure the slightly anxious tribal leaders around him.

No need to worry. When news of the 10,000-cavalry unit comes back, it will bring back the heads of those foolish cavalrymen.

Then the first 10,000-strong cavalry unit returned.

Less than half of the original force remained; they were remnants of a defeated army.

The horses were thin and weak, and their armor was tattered.

Some were wounded, and some had lost their weapons.

Some people even lost their horses and walked back to the camp.

The news they brought back caused the atmosphere in the tent to freeze instantly.

They encountered a small Qin cavalry squad of no more than a thousand men.

The enemy was well-equipped, their arrows were long and accurate, and they were incredibly strong in close combat.

The 10,000-cavalry charge failed to break through the enemy's lines after two attempts.

Instead, they lost most of their men.

If it weren't for the fact that it was getting dark at the last minute to cover their evacuation...

It's likely that the entire 10,000-cavalry force will perish on the grasslands.

Touman Chanyu's expression stiffened slightly.

But things quickly calmed down.

He simply said, "I understand."

He then waved for the remaining soldiers to retreat and rest.

He thought it was just an accident.

Perhaps that Qin cavalry was the elite of the elite.

Other squads won't all be that difficult to deal with.

The second 10,000-strong cavalry unit returned, bringing back roughly the same news.

The third, fourth, and fifth teams—each returning team was more disheveled than the last.

The number of people dwindled, their armor became increasingly worn, but the terror on their faces deepened.

The returning remnants all gave the same story, as if they had made a pact beforehand.

They said those Qin cavalrymen were like evil spirits that crawled out of the ground.

He was covered in iron armor and was impervious to swords and spears.

The arrows could reach places that the Xiongnu cavalry couldn't reach.

In close combat, they possess immense strength.

Any ordinary cavalryman could easily lift a Xiongnu soldier off his horse and throw him out with one hand.

The scariest thing is some of them.

Wherever it goes, not a blade of grass grows, and no one dares to approach within several feet.

Weapons will break when they touch, and people will shatter when they touch.

It's a miracle that I came back alive.

Some people even said that after that battle, they could see those iron shadows, wielding pieces of flesh and broken weapons, silently crushing towards them when they closed their eyes at night.

Touman Chanyu sat on a wolf-skin stone seat in the large tent.

Listening to the fragmented accounts of those remaining soldiers.

The expression on his face gradually darkened.

Five cavalry units with a combined force of 10,000 men each have suffered more than 30,000 casualties.

He set out with 200,000 archers, but now he has less than 170,000 left.

A loss of 30,000 is not a small amount.

The soldiers who died were warriors conscripted from various tribes.

Some of them were even his old subordinates who had followed him for many years and were the most elite riders in the tribe.

A small Qin cavalry squad of a thousand men could wipe out more than half of a squad of ten thousand.

What if there were ten such thousand-cavalry units?

What if those thousand-cavalry units were combined to form an army of tens of thousands?

He repeatedly confirmed the same detail from the remaining soldiers.

The Qin cavalry's fighting strength far surpassed that of any army they had ever fought before.

Moreover, they are worlds apart.

That's not a difference of one time, it's a difference of more than ten times.

Their arrows shot farther than theirs, and their armor was thicker.

Their melee strength and reaction speed are on completely different levels.

Not to mention those with the strength to lift ten thousand jin, running faster than a galloping horse, and moving through battle formations as if they were nothing.

He had to admit that none of his warriors could match him.

He began to hesitate.

He sat in the large tent, with the old animal skin map spread out in front of him.

His finger lingered for a moment on the mark of the Great Wall on the map.

Then they slowly moved back to the paths they had just walked along deep in the grassland.

Those Qin cavalrymen clearly numbered only 20,000.

According to intelligence, they should have no other options left.

But the fighting power displayed by those 20,000 men completely exceeded his previous estimates.

His 170,000 cavalrymen were indeed more than eight times the number of the enemy's.

But what if every single one of them really is as those remnants described?

Unrivaled in long-range shooting, invincible in close combat, one man can take on dozens.

Even if those 170,000 people fought, they probably wouldn't gain much advantage.

Should he take the remaining cavalry and retreat to the royal court?

Regroup and replan.

Should we wait until we have a clear understanding of the other party's background before deciding on the next step?

But as soon as the thought crossed his mind, he suppressed it.

What does withdrawing the royal court mean?

This means that he led an army of 200,000 to the front, but was forced to retreat in disarray when faced with 20,000 enemies.

This news will spread across the grasslands. How will the leaders and warriors of the various tribes view their Chanyu?

What would the Left Wise King and his 100,000 soldiers left behind think?

The name of Touman Chanyu has resounded on the grasslands for decades.

They relied on the courage to ride a fine horse across the plains, to draw their bowstrings and fire arrows, and to charge at the front of the ranks to cut off the enemy's head.

He couldn't let his name be associated with the phrase "frightened away by 20,000 cavalry."

Just as he was trudging back and forth in that hesitant swamp, the tent flap was suddenly ripped open from the outside.

A scout rushed in, knelt on one knee, and said urgently, "Great Chanyu, a large cavalry force has been spotted fifty miles to the south!"

"The flags are the military flags of the Great Qin Dynasty, and there are a great many of them, at least 20,000 cavalry!"

It was as if the air in the large tent had been sucked out in an instant.

Touman Chanyu suddenly stood up, took two steps to the tent entrance, lifted the curtain and looked south.

In the distance, a thin plume of smoke was slowly rising from the horizon.

Those were the tracks of a great army's march, the lingering dust left behind by countless hooves trampling across the same meadow.

The plume of smoke was approaching them.

Although it was still far away, the direction of its surge was certain; it was heading straight for his camp of 170,000 men.

Touman Chanyu stood there, watching the plume of dust.

too close.

The Qin cavalry had advanced to within fifty li.

This distance is just an hour's march for cavalry.

Fifty li is nothing on the vast grassland.

But for an army that is hesitating about whether to retreat...

This distance is enough to turn the word "retreat" into a dead end.

If he orders a break camp and retreat now.

The rear guard had not yet gone five miles.

The front team hadn't even taken a step yet.

The Qin cavalry will then crush us.

An army in retreat will be overwhelmed by its pursuers.

Especially when facing infantrymen whose physical strength far exceeds that of ordinary people.

Once his cavalry were entangled...

Those 170,000 people will be gradually devoured on their way back.

There won't even be a chance to regroup and reassemble the team.

There's no turning back. We have no choice but to bite the bullet and go for it.

Touman Chanyu loosened his clenched fist, turned around, and walked back to the center of the tent.

The tribal chiefs and generals in the tent all stood up.

Their eyes were fixed on him, waiting for him to speak.

The soldiers outside the tent who were relaying orders and making preparations also slowed down their movements.

All eyes in the night converged in the same direction.