Chapter 134: Breaking Out

Wuhuan King Chamucuo was awakened by his personal guards. Upon realizing that the right-wing camp had been raided, his guards rushed into the royal tent to report the matter.

Hearing the news of the Han army raiding the camp, Chamucuo's first reaction was that the Han army had gone mad.

Chamucuo had a clear count in his mind of the total number of the Han army's forces and how many cavalrymen they had left after several days of fighting. In Chamucuo's view, he had nearly thirty thousand troops, while the Han army had only a few thousand, with their mobile cavalry now numbering no more than three thousand. Given this balance of power, it would be fortunate if he didn't go looking for trouble with the Han army; yet the Han army had actually taken the initiative to pick a fight with him?

The Han army wasn't picking a fight; they were courting death.

This was Chamucuo's second thought.

He stood up, put on his armor, and left the tent. At the same time, he ordered all the tribal commanders and generals in the army to assemble at the royal tent for orders. Chamucuo then personally climbed the watchtower of the central camp to observe the situation at the right-wing camp.

By the time Chamucuo climbed the watchtower, the elite Han cavalry were already wreaking havoc across his right-wing camp. Aside from the blinding fires, what met his eyes were figures running in all directions. Naturally, among these figures, some were fleeing for their lives, while others were chasing those who fled.

Seeing this scene, Chamucuo's first reaction was to roar at the guards beside him: "Is Chamu'er dead? The Han army is rampaging through his camp, and he doesn't have the slightest reaction?!"

At this moment, no one in the central camp yet knew the news of Chamu'er's death, so naturally, no one stepped forward to loudly praise, "Our King is truly divine in his calculations!" After his roar, Chamucuo's second reaction was to order a commander who had rushed over in a panic to lead men and wipe out the Han troops that had broken into the right-wing camp.

The commander received the military order, gathered several thousand cavalrymen, and charged toward the right-wing camp, heading straight for the most chaotic area.

After the commander left, Chamucuo issued another order for the entire camp to remain on high alert in place.

When Chamucuo descended from the watchtower, apart from his own tribal generals, two people with special identities had also hurried to the royal tent. Their attire was slightly different from that of the Wuhuan people; although they arrived quickly, there was not much anxiety on their faces.

Chamucuo cast a sidelong glance at the envoys dispatched by the Xiongnu, let out a cold snort, ignored them, and walked straight into the royal tent.

Under these circumstances, saying anything would only make these outsiders laugh at him, so Chamucuo simply chose to say nothing.

However, his silence did not mean others would remain silent as well.

The two Xiongnu envoys followed Chamucuo into the tent. One of them looked at Chamucuo with a half-smile and said, "King of Wuhuan, I remember telling you long ago that the Han generals are extremely cunning and not easily dealt with. Look at how adept these Han people are at exploiting openings, to the point that even I cannot get a sound night's sleep."

The Wuhuan King's complexion was very unsightly, but upon hearing the words of this Xiongnu envoy, his complexion became even worse. He narrowed his eyes at the mastermind who had single-handedly driven his southern expedition, and said coldly, "Princess, are you mocking your enemy or your enemy's ally?"

The princess was none other than the Xiongnu Princess Yixue'er. Naturally, the person who had come to the royal tent with Yixue'er was the Xiongnu Crown Prince Yudan.

After Yixue'er finished speaking, Yudan's lips moved slightly as if he wanted to say something. In his view, Wuhuan was already an ally of the Xiongnu, and the Wuhuan King was the ruler of Wuhuan. Wasn't Yixue'er being far too impolite in speaking this way? But obviously, Yudan could only think about it in his heart; he would never actually voice it out. Why? Because this time, the one who came to Wuhuan as an envoy, successfully persuading the Wuhuan King to dispatch troops and forge an alliance with the Great Xiongnu, was not him—the Crown Prince of the Great Xiongnu who would inherit the throne in a few years—but rather this Xiongnu princess who had spent many years in the Central Plains.

By now, Yudan had grown accustomed to remaining silent in any situation involving Yixue'er, except for targeted questions and answers.

"The Great Xiongnu respects its allies, and it respects its enemies," Yixue'er said with a sincere expression. "The Great Xiongnu hopes even more that its allies can defeat its enemies. For this purpose, the Great Xiongnu has never been stingy with its assistance."

"..." Chamucuo forcefully suppressed the urge to hurl the meat-cutting knife in front of him and sneered, "Could it be that the assistance the Great Xiongnu offers its allies is always limited to just talking?"

Over these past few days, Yixue'er had more than once expressed to Chamucuo her desire to command the Wuhuan troops against the Han army. However, Chamucuo obviously would not let an outsider command his forces. Aside from some gifts, the only thing Yixue'er had brought this time was a thousand fierce Xiongnu cavalrymen. The Wuhuan King wasn't overestimating himself; he truly hadn't taken that small number of people seriously.

"King of Wuhuan, you know that the most powerful force in this world is never brute strength, but wisdom. I am very willing to contribute my wisdom to you, provided, of course, that you respect my wisdom," Yixue'er said leisurely.

"Princess, you'd better save your wisdom for yourself to use in the future! To deal with these Han soldiers, a casual flick of the long sabers in the hands of my Wuhuan warriors is more than enough!" Chamucuo said through gritted teeth, enunciating every word. Without waiting for Yixue'er to reply, he stood up and strode out of the large tent.

Anger compounded by anger, the Wuhuan King naturally failed to realize that his words just now were actually an admission that the Wuhuan people only knew how to use brute force and lacked wisdom. Even if Chamucuo realized this later, he would never admit it.

Yixue'er watched Chamucuo's retreating figure as he strode out of the tent, the corners of her mouth curling into a cold sneer while a flash of contempt crossed her eyes.

Yudan glanced at Yixue'er, but in the end, he did not voice the words advising her not to harbor unrealistic ambitions.

...

Ever since the first rout of soldiers appeared in the Wuhuan right-wing camp, the second and third followed suit. By the time the Han army finished charging through the military camp, scattered into action, and then regrouped, the routed soldiers of the Wuhuan right-wing camp had already begun crashing against the gates of the Wuhuan central camp.

"Open the gates and let us in! The Han army has broken through!"

"Quickly open the gates! The Han army is coming!"

"Open the gates and let us enter!"

Countless routed soldiers from the right-wing camp gathered in front of the gates of the central camp, slamming against them. Behind the gates of the central camp, countless Wuhuan soldiers were pressing tightly against the heavy doors.

"Get lost, dammit!" A central camp commander led a group of soldiers out from the camp in long strides, shouting angrily at the Wuhuan soldiers blocking the entrance.

Just as the routed right-wing soldiers who had fled to the central camp gates thought this commander was here to open the gates, a volley of arrows suddenly flew out from within the camp, plunging directly into the mass of routed soldiers gathered outside!

Amidst a chorus of shrieks, the front layer of routed soldiers closest to the gates immediately collapsed.

"Anyone who dares to approach the gates again will be executed under military law!" The commander's icy voice pierced like a curse into the ears of the routed soldiers, hammering against their already extremely fragile nerves.

The commander did not say things like, "If you are soldiers, do not fear death," or "If you are Wuhuan warriors, bravely charge back." That was not his responsibility; his mission was to secure the gates.

Just as the routed soldiers outside were at a loss, a loud sound of horse hooves rang out from behind the heavy gates. Wuhuan soldiers both inside and outside turned toward the sound, only to see a dark mass of cavalry charging furiously toward them.

"Open the gates!" The leading commander roared from a distance.

The gate guards, having received the military order, slowly pulled the doors open.

"Anyone who dares charge through the gates will be shown no mercy!" the commander ordered the soldiers behind him. He knew that at this moment, he had to reiterate those words once more.

"Step aside!" The charging cavalry commander roared, driving away the soldiers clustered around the gates, and led several thousand cavalrymen pouring out of the gates like a flood.

Qin Cheng observed the situation at the gates of the Wuhuan camp with neither joy nor worry. At this moment, Qin Cheng was extremely calm; amidst such fiery slaughter, his composure appeared exceptionally chilling.

The Han army had completely smashed through the Wuhuan right-wing camp. Seeing reinforcements charge out from the Wuhuan central camp, Qin Cheng swung his long saber to the right, and the concentrated elite Han cavalry spun their horses' heads around. Instead of continuing to chase the routed Wuhuan soldiers toward the central camp, they redirected their charge straight toward the Wuhuan left-wing camp!

Three thousand elite cavalrymen moved like a long dragon; the head of the dragon turned, yet the formation remained unbroken.

As the body of the dragon swept past a point fifteen zhang ahead of the central camp, Qin Cheng's chilling voice rang out once again.

"Bow!"

"Arrow!"

At Qin Cheng's command, nearly a thousand iron-tipped arrows instantly flew out from the Han cavalry formation. These iron arrows descended like a swarm of mad locusts, biting into the area around the gates of the Wuhuan central camp! As the arrow rain fell, a massive swath of both routed Wuhuan soldiers and newly emerged reinforcements instantly collapsed to the ground.

After two rounds of volley shooting, the ground before the gates of the Wuhuan central camp had descended into utter chaos. A vast expanse of riders and warhorses crashed down, their frantic neighs mingling with agonizing screams to create a heart-stopping chorus.

By the time the Wuhuan reinforcements managed to fight their way out of the gates, the Han army was already several hundred zhang away, hurtling straight toward the Wuhuan left-wing camp.

"After them!" The reinforcement commander snapped off an iron arrow that had pierced his armor, raised his saber, and roared in fury and desperation.

The Wuhuan King's order was for the central camp to sally forth and intercept the Han army, while everyone else remained in place on high alert. That military order was naturally correct. If a mere three thousand men charging into the camp caused the entire garrison to mobilize and revolve around those three thousand Han troops, the camp would be thrown into complete chaos. If another detachment of Han troops were to simultaneously strike the camp from another direction at that moment, the Wuhuan camp would be utterly doomed. Therefore, the camp only needed to seal off roads in other directions and dispatch an overwhelmingly powerful force of cavalry to intercept and pursue them. Even if they couldn't wipe out the Han troops who had broken in, they could at least force them out of the camp. At that juncture, this was the only method to minimize losses. Thus, one had to admit that the Wuhuan King still possessed some genuine skill.

And this, precisely, played right into Qin Cheng's hands.

It provided an opportunity to withdraw completely unscathed.

Yet at the same time, seizing this opportunity demanded extreme risk from Qin Cheng.

Putting everything else aside, had the Wuhuan King ordered both the central and front camps to jointly intercept the Han army, Qin Cheng would have had no choice but to retreat along the exact same path he took through the right-wing camp. During a rapid cavalry charge, executing an orderly turnabout in place was nearly impossible—an inherent weakness of cavalry. Coupled with pursuing enemies behind them, had such a scenario occurred, Qin Cheng and his three thousand elite cavalrymen would have been in grave danger tonight.

This was why Li Guang had remarked that Qin Cheng's strategy was somewhat risky.

Victory has always belonged to the daring.

Yet victory must equally be guided by caution.

Qin Cheng had accomplished both, so he led his three thousand elite cavalrymen in a dazzling drift right before the Wuhuan front camp, and surged away past their flanks.