In Jiuyuan Chengxi, Zhang Huan's 40,000-strong army temporarily encamped on an open space.
Upon arriving in Jiuyuan, he immediately dispatched 10,000 soldiers, divided into units of 100, to disperse and drive out the Xiongnu squads within the territory. The remaining 30,000 soldiers were sent to collect the bodies of the deceased civilians and bury them in a centralized manner.
Arriving at a burial area, looking at the huge tomb in front of him, and thinking of the victims buried there, Zhang Huan couldn't help but kneel on the ground, two lines of tears sliding down his cheeks.
The soldiers around him looked at Zhang Huan, who was kneeling in front of the grave and weeping bitterly. They couldn't understand why this old general, who had seen so much life and death, would suddenly be so sad.
No one could understand Zhang Huan's grief and self-blame at this moment. Thinking that the strategy he had followed for half his life had brought such a huge disaster to the people in the border region, Zhang Huan felt as if his heart was being torn apart.
If I and Duan Jiong had both submitted a memorial to the late emperor, urging the use of force to suppress the Qiang rebellion, the court could have deployed more troops to the north, and perhaps this situation would not have occurred.
After a long while, Zhang Huan finally wiped away his tears, his eyes sharpened, and he got up and returned to the central command tent.
Upon returning to his military tent, Zhang Huan wrote two memorials to Liu Hong.
The first letter detailed everything he had seen and heard along the way, from how many people were buried on a certain day to how many villages and towns were completely slaughtered.
The second letter details the Han Dynasty's future strategy towards the Xiongnu. The opening sentence is: "The Xiongnu have been a long-standing problem; they cannot be completely eradicated, nor can they be left uneradicated."
In his memorial, Zhang Huan proposed that a small number of elite cavalry could be dispatched to harass various factions on the grasslands, thereby inciting conflicts between the tribes and causing them to fight each other. This would allow the Han Dynasty to take the opportunity to gain valuable time to recuperate.
The strategy employed was not much different from Duan Jiong's, the difference being that this time Zhang Huan changed his usual approach and proposed taking the initiative.
After handing the memorial to the messenger, Zhang Huan left the main tent to check on the progress of the city wall repairs.
"General!! General..!"
Just as Zhang Huan arrived at the camp gate, several soldiers hurriedly carried the unconscious Lü Bu over.
"Huh? What happened?"
Zhang Huan thought something had happened and quickly went forward to ask.
A soldier quickly replied, "Reporting to the general, we passed through a village where the Xiongnu had massacred people, and this person was the one we rescued in that village."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Huan looked over and saw Lü Bu on the stretcher, his lips pale and his face bloodless.
"This person's injuries are so severe, it's probably beyond saving!"
Zhang Huan shook his head and sighed. The injury was too severe; it was almost impossible to save him.
"But General..."
Just as Xiaobing was about to say more, the sound of a baby crying suddenly reached everyone's ears.
"Huh?"
Hearing the commotion, Zhang Huan let out a soft exclamation, only then noticing the blood-stained swaddling clothes on Lü Bu's chest. Zhang Huan then untied the swaddling clothes and held the blood-soaked infant in his arms.
Looking at the crying baby in his arms, Zhang Huan couldn't help but turn his head and glance at Lü Bu.
Zhang Huan then looked at the soldiers and said, "Go and carry him away so he can receive proper treatment. As for whether he will survive..."
"promise!"
"What were you trying to say?"
"Reporting to the general, this young man alone killed more than thirty Xiongnu people, so the centurion hopes that the general can save him." The soldier then relayed the centurion's words to Zhang Huan.
"What? Do you know that there is no joking in the army?"
Zhang Huan's expression changed, and he looked at the soldier with a cold expression.
A teenage boy single-handedly killed more than thirty Huns who had grown up on horseback.
Even after so many years of military campaigns, Zhang Huan had never heard of such a thing. Was this soldier taking advantage of his senility?
Meeting Zhang Huan's cold gaze, the soldier nervously swallowed. "I dare not deceive the general. When we arrived, there was only this boy there, and the corpses of the Huns were lying beside him."
"This person actually possesses such strength...?"
Seeing that the soldier didn't seem to be lying, Zhang Huan couldn't help but exclaim softly. Such figures were not uncommon, such as Xiang Yu, the overthrower of the Qin Dynasty, whose achievements might even be more impressive.
But such a person only appears once every few hundred years, and I'm so lucky to have met one?
Zhang Huan then looked at the soldier and said in a deep voice:
"Notify the best military doctors in the army to spare no effort to save his life."
"promise!!"
Watching the soldier leave, Zhang Huan lowered his head to look at the baby in his arms. The baby, who had been crying just moments before, was now giggling at him.
"Could it be that you were crying just now to ask me to save your brother?"
"Giggle giggle~"
Zhang Huan was met with a bright laugh.
Seeing the baby covered in blood, laughing incessantly, Zhang Huan's heart melted instantly. He couldn't help but reach out his finger to tease the baby, but the baby reached out its little hand, grabbed Zhang Huan's finger, and began to suck on it.
Zhang Huan then realized that the baby must be hungry. He then summoned one of his guards and said, "Quickly, go find a wet nurse!"
"ah?"
The guards were slightly taken aback before noticing the baby in Zhang Huan's arms. They then gathered a few men and rushed out of the camp to find the wet nurse.
Deyang Palace.
"Damn Huns!"
A sudden, angry shout echoed throughout the hall. Liu Hong, his face contorted with rage, immediately stood up and kicked over the table in front of him, scattering the memorials on it to the ground.
"His Majesty.....!"
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