Chapter 167
Xie Chen led his cavalry to attack the Xiongnu's center, firing arrows from his crossbow in rapid succession, causing the Xiongnu soldiers to fall to the ground in an instant. He attacked alone to the main force of the Huns, and pierced through several Hun soldiers with a sweep of his spear. His handsome face was imprinted on the iron armor, like a jade-faced Asura. The Hun soldiers were unable to stop him and were broken up by him. Even the main force of the Yan army following behind could not catch up with him.
"Great Chanyu, retreat quickly. The Yan people are cunning. The two teams just attacked to disrupt us. These are the main forces of the Yan army." Gudu Houlanke came hurriedly, his face and arms were covered with scars. There were only a few soldiers left to support him.
"Who is he?" Muxie Chanyu was still unwilling to give in. After he killed his father and came to power, he had won almost every battle. Even Captain Zhao, who was known for his experience in the battlefield, was almost captured by him. This young general looked very young. Where did he come from?
"Great Chanyu, let's break out from the west." The surroundings were filled with the sounds of gunpowder explosions and fighting between the two armies. He could not hear clearly what Chanyu Muxie said. He could only kill the Yan soldiers who had rushed forward, and then protect Muxie and retreat to the west.
The situation reversed. Xie Chen saw that the Xiongnu were about to break through, and shouted: "Whoever kills the Xiongnu Chanyu will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins and be made a marquis of ten thousand households. Kill them all."
The soldiers of Dayan were red-eyed, each of them was attracted by the military merit. Their morale was already high as they had followed Xie Chen all the way here. Now they seemed to have the momentum to kill any god that stood in their way and any Buddha that stood in their way. The crossbow team formed a formation in the front row. In an instant, arrows rained down like a tide, gunpowder exploded with a pop, and the arrowheads wrapped in kerosene instantly ignited into fireballs, causing countless Hun soldiers to be killed or wounded.
The cavalry pursued again with thundering force and encountered the Hun cavalry. Xie Chen took the lead and took out a black musket from under the saddle. He aimed at Muye Chanyu who was breaking out in front of him. The force of the gunpowder explosion shot out the bullet. Muye Chanyu seemed to sense something and leaned over the horse's back. The bullet passed over his head and hit a porter in the chest, who fell off his horse.
Mu Xie Chanyu dodged the pursuit from behind, controlled his horse with one hand, took out arrows from behind and shot at Xie Chen. Xie Chen dodged on his horse, and he turned back and shot a few more arrows. The soldiers who were chasing after Xie Chen were disturbed by the arrows and had to slow down their pace. They actually used the arrows to interfere with the firing of the muskets.
The musket in Xie Chen's hand could not fire continuously. Mu Xie Chanyu must have discovered this weakness and used the gaps between the bullets to counterattack them.
Xie Chen narrowed his eyes. This time they caught the Xiongnu cavalry off guard and defeated them. If they failed to capture the Xiongnu Chanyu this time, they would not have such a good opportunity next time.
He tightened the reins, the horse under him neighed loudly, and rushed into the Hun team at lightning speed, piercing a Hun soldier with a spear. The Hun soldiers were frightened by his bravery and surrounded him, not daring to move forward.
Xie Chen raised his spear and swept down several Hun soldiers in the front row to the ground. He then galloped on his horse and caught up with Muxie Chanyu in a few steps. Xie Chen shook his wrist and stabbed the spear with a thousand pounds of force towards Muxie Chanyu's back. Muye Chanyu turned around to avoid it, and the scimitar and the spear tip collided, sparks flying everywhere.
Xie Chen pressed the spear very hard. Mu Xie Shanyu jumped sideways and jumped onto the horse of the guard next to him. His arms were shaking slightly. He looked at Xie Chen in shock. Who on earth was this young general?
Without thinking too much, Xie Chen raised his spear and stabbed several times. The silver spear made a buzzing sound. Seeing that the Chanyu was in danger, several Hun soldiers immediately turned around to help. These Hun soldiers were all trusted confidants of Muye Chanyu and were very brave. Xie Chen was entangled by them and could not get away for a while.
Seeing that the Xiongnu Chanyu was about to escape, Xie Chen swept his spear and pierced it straight into the chest of the Xiongnu soldier. He took care of the Xiongnu soldiers who were blocking his way in a few moves. Seeing that Muxie Chanyu was leading his troops to escape, he prepared to continue chasing him.
He Xin and Lao Zhang's voices came from behind, "Sir, sir, please stop chasing."
A loud eagle cry was heard in the air, and Xiao Hei swooped down from mid-air and landed on Xie Chen's shoulder. "What's going on?"
"Sir, the scouts reported that there seems to be a large Hun army gathering ahead. This place should be the territory of the Huns' Zuoxian King. He has a close relationship with Muye Chanyu and must be here to help. Captain Zhao has been rescued, so let's retreat." He Xin said to Xie Chen while running out of breath.
Xie Chen looked at the direction where Mu Xie Chanyu was escaping in the distance, his eyes were stern, and he sighed, "Let's go back."
They traveled light and evacuated Hupo Mountain very quickly. When the Xiongnu Zuoxian King led his troops to the scene, they saw corpses and gunpowder ashes all over the ground under the yellow earth.
"Who is the commander of this army?" asked Zuo Xian Wang.
"The spies reported that this Yan army was flying a flag with the word 'Wei' on it, so it should be Wei Zhongxuan," the personal guard replied.
"The one who destroyed the Shaoliang tribe?"
"It was him. He destroyed the Shaoliang tribe and subdued all the Qiang people. This time, he even defeated the Great Khan's 50,000 elite troops with only 10,000 cavalry. If this man is not eliminated, there will be endless troubles." The personal guard dismounted and picked up a broken arrow from the ground and said.
"The Great Chanyu suffered a great loss this time. Not only did he fail to capture the Zhao commander alive, but he was also defeated and fled by a young general. Given his character, he will not give up until he has avenged himself." The Left Wise King added.
"However, Rank said that Captain Zhao was injured in a vital part and he may not survive. If he dies, Dingyuan County will only have the County Governor's Office and the young general named Wei. People's hearts will be unstable. Maybe we will have a chance to avenge our previous humiliation." The personal guard thought about what Gudu Hou Rank said and replied.
Xie Chen was bringing a military doctor to treat Captain Zhao's injuries. The military camp was filled with the smell of blood. Captain Zhao was lying on the bed. His resolute face looked thin and pale after several days of siege, and his lips turned gray due to excessive blood loss.
The military doctor had already removed the arrow from Captain Zhao's chest and was now bandaging his wound with trembling hands, beads of sweat on his forehead.
"How is he, Captain?" The guard grabbed the military doctor by the collar and asked sternly.
"Captain, your vitals were wounded by an arrow, and you have lost too much blood. I'm afraid..." The military doctor was stared at by a room full of ferocious generals, and cold sweat ran down his face. He wiped the sweat off his face, looked at Xie Chen, his lips trembling, not daring to say a word.
No one in the tent dared to speak for a while, only the occasional low sobbing could be heard.
Xie Chen waved his hand to let him leave. Captain Zhao on the bed stretched out his hand, and the guards quickly helped him up, choking with sobs, "Sir."
"Wei..." Captain Zhao looked at Xie Chen, "Thank you for your support today, I..." He said a few words and then started coughing violently. All the generals in the tent were promoted by Captain Zhao. They used to see him so majestic and awe-inspiring, but today he is so seriously injured and haggard. They couldn't help but feel sad, and many of them wiped their tears secretly.
Xie Chen walked to the bed and squatted down, "My Lord, there is no need to say more. This is my duty."
"In the past..." Captain Zhao's eyes were a little dazed. Others didn't know why he mentioned the past, but Xie Chen and his personal guards knew he was talking about how Xie Chen had subdued the Qiang people, which was a great achievement, but he aroused Captain Zhao's suspicion and was sent to guard Pingzhen.
Xie Chen shook his head, "My Lord, do you have anything else to say?"
Captain Zhao said again: "Be careful, from now on... I'm relying on you."
As soon as these words were spoken, all the soldiers in the military tent looked up in shock, their eyes moving back and forth between Captain Zhao and Xie Chen. Although Xie Chen had the merit of taming the Qiang people and his contribution in rushing to the rescue today, compared with other senior generals, Xie Chen was really too young. It was unknown why Captain Zhao was so optimistic about him.
Han Jue was originally crying quietly, and now his eyes were full of hatred as he looked at Xie Chen.
Although he lost the battle this time, Xie Chen stole the limelight. Now that his uncle is dying, he is actually entrusting the military affairs to him. How can he not be jealous?
Xie Chen didn't pay much attention to the glances cast at him. He whispered, "I haven't done anything, so I can't take on such a big responsibility. My lord, please..." He was interrupted by Captain Zhao.
At this moment, a soldier outside the tent came to report, "My Lords, Commander Jiang has arrived with the food and fodder."
Jiang Weicheng had obviously heard about Captain Zhao's serious injury. He walked in quickly. When he saw Captain Zhao lying on the bed with serious injuries, he was overwhelmed with grief.
As soon as Captain Zhao saw him, he said to the rest of the people in the tent, "Everyone...get out, and Commander Jiang stay."
Jiang Weicheng is a close confidant of Captain Zhao, and everyone knows that Captain Zhao has kept him here because he must have something important to tell him.
Xie Chen followed everyone out of the house, but was glared at fiercely by someone. Xie Chen sneered at Han Jue, pointed at his neck and made a gesture of wiping his neck, which scared Han Jue so much that he took a few steps back and dared not approach him again.
Coward.
Xie Chen ignored him and strode out of the tent.
Outside the door, Lao Zhang and He Xin had been waiting outside. Seeing that Xie Chen looked unhappy, followed by Han Jue who also looked pale, they hurried forward and asked, "Sir, how is Captain Zhao?"
Old Zhang stepped forward and whispered, "Why is that Han Houzhang so embarrassed? Is he plotting something again?"
Lao Zhang despised this kind of person the most. When he took his soldiers to rescue Captain Zhao, this man had his eyes rolled up and didn't even say a word of courtesy. It was obvious that he was about to be scared out of his wits by the Huns, but he still put on airs.
"Captain Zhao is dying." Xie Chen whispered.
"What? That's Captain Zhao, the Captain Zhao who has guarded Dingyuan County for more than ten years, he is actually going to..." He Xin murmured. Since they joined the army, the officer they admired the most was Captain Zhao. In their hearts, as long as Captain Zhao was there, the Huns would not dare to move south. But Captain Zhao was going to fail.
"Then sir, what do you do next..." Old Zhang paused for a while, thinking that if Captain Zhao was really gone, Dingyuan County was extremely important, and the court would either arrange for other generals to come or promote the generals here on the spot. Then his lord's opportunity would come.
Xie Chen shook his head and did not tell them about Captain Zhao’s recent arrangements. His foundation was unstable and none of the people in the barracks obeyed him. He still had to wait for Yandu’s arrangements.
However, with such a victory this time, he should be able to make further progress. He looked back at the military tent. Captain Zhao had been a soldier all his life, but he suffered a setback in the battle with the Huns and was defeated. Most of his brilliant life was ruined. He didn't know how Yan would deal with Captain Zhao.
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