Chapter 443: Are you sure you are here to fight, not to live?
The air was filled with smoke and dust.
A gust of wind swept past, blowing for hundreds of miles without stopping.
The Hun cavalrymen, who ate and slept with their war horses and treated their horses as their own family, gritted their teeth and, with even more strength than they could use to charge their wives, hit their family members hard in the abdomen with their heels.
The horses galloped in pain, responding to their master's commands with their usual rapidity - as long as they were running, their masters would not kick them in the stomach.
They were getting faster and faster, running like the wind.
The eagle in the blue sky flapped its wings hard, but it couldn't fly over the group of horses on the ground.
It twisted its eagle head and watched the group of horses go away in the dust.
The scattered dust blocked its sight, and it flapped its wings in an arc, away from where the horses had passed, and patrolled the ground in search of hares.
The three thousand horses ran at a speed that even a hawk would have to catch up with, but their abdomens were in more and more pain. Their masters were still kicking and beating them, and were still giving them orders to speed up.
So they can only keep on galloping.
Just like that, they ran and ran... The first warhorse's front legs bent and it fell to the ground. The prince of the Qiulin tribe, Qiu Ling, who was on the horse, was thrown off and fell twenty steps in front of the warhorse.
“Aaaaaaah!”
The strong man, who was as strong as an iron tower, had his eyes reflected in the sight of the galloping horse. He screamed in fear and could not utter a complete sentence.
Soon, the following cavalry flooded the hills like the most violent wave...
“Aaaaaaah!”
Qiu Ling closed his eyes and screamed continuously. This was the only thing he could do before he died.
"Shut up!
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
He slapped Qiu Ling hard on the face, silenced his unconscious howls.
When Qiu Ling opened his eyes, he saw that the veins on the neck of Prince Maodun, whom he despised, were bulging like earthworms. He raised his head, held a scimitar in his hand, and shouted at the top of his voice.
But this deafening sound in the ears of the hills could only be heard by him and the cavalry of Prince Maodun who was nearby.
All the other Huns could hear was the whistling wind and the vague and extremely unclear human voices.
How could anyone of the Hun cavalry, who were fleeing for their lives, listen carefully?
The personal guards who heard Prince Maodun's order clearly, as well as several princes of large tribes who were nearby, did not dare to slow down their horses.
The entire cavalry team was moving at an extremely fast speed. If they slowed down, they would be caught up by the horses behind them, trampled to death, and become fertilizer for the lush green grass.
“That won’t work!”
Maodun became anxious and grabbed the hill that he had placed on the horse's back.
"Hill! You control the horse!"
Although the strong man was still a little weak after reacting, he immediately forced himself to sit on the horse and held the reins with both hands.
For the Huns, who had been living with horses since childhood, there was no difference between riding a horse and running and jumping.
Maodun placed his hands on Qiu Ling's shoulders and pushed hard. He flew into the air and stood on the horse's back. Not only that, he was actually standing steadily, as if he was standing on flat ground!
This is not the end yet.
Maodun let go, completely fixed his body with his feet, turned around on the galloping horse, faced the Xiongnu cavalry behind him, waved his arms like two flags in a specific way, and shouted loudly.
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
This difficult and dangerous action has a very good effect.
No one, unless they are blind, can ignore Prince Maodun standing on horseback. Even if they cannot hear the prince's voice, they can still see his gestures.
This is a flag signal, which means stop.
The high-speed running of the Hun cavalry was originally commanded by raised flags.
The Hun cavalry stopped kicking the horses' bellies and instead tightened the reins.
The dust raised by the war horses became smaller and smaller, and when it completely disappeared, this out-of-control cavalry team finally stopped.
Noon has passed and sunset is approaching.
The oval-shaped setting sun gave the cavalry a layer of orange-yellow hue, but it could not transmit this warm color from the skin to the soul.
A group of Huns sat on the ground, with ferocity still evident on their dazed faces.
From time to time, they would look back uncontrollably, looking back the way they came with fear in their eyes.
Only when he sees the green and yellow grass and no one is there will he turn back silently, and then after a while, he will turn back again and continue looking.
It’s a fine line between life and death, a real fine line between life and death.
This group of cavalrymen were mostly princes from various tribes. They had lived a life of luxury and had never been so close to death.
Maodun inspected from the front of the resting team to the back of the team.
There were 3,000 men and horses when they came out, but now there are only 2,891 and 2,890 horses left.
They suffered no casualties in the battle with the group of black-armored Qin soldiers.
They were allowed to escape by the black-armored Qin army, and lost 110 horses and 109 men on the way.
Maodun saw that the hooves of each war horse were stained with blood and flesh, and there were deep marks on the belly of each war horse.
Sitting next to their war horses, those elite Hun cavalrymen, who should have been warriors, looked uneasy and dejected, like the living dead.
This won't work.
Maodun took a deep breath.
He gathered the remaining 2,891 people and had them sit on the ground around him.
He stood in the center, taller than everyone else, and smiled wryly.
"We failed, didn't we?"
His voice was not loud, but in the desert where it was so quiet that one could hear the rustling of leaves on the grass, it was loud enough for everyone who gathered around to hear.
"There is a saying in the Central Plains: 'Hurry like a dog that has lost its home, busy like a fish that has escaped the net', which is exactly what we are talking about.
"We fled desperately, kicking 110 good horses to death and killing 109 warriors.
"This is all my fault, Maodun."
No one responded.
After a while, Qiu Ling, the only one who fell off his horse and was saved by Maodun and not crushed into mud by the horse's hooves, shouted with a swollen face:
"This is the fault of the Qin dog! What has it got to do with the prince?"
Maodun grabbed his greasy hair tightly, his face full of pain.
"How can you say it has nothing to do with me?
"I, Maodun, brought you here. You came to the Yuezhi because you trusted me, Maodun.
"Before I set out, I swore to bring each of you back with me. But now, there are 109 warriors who can never go back..."
Maodun was speechless and choked.
The rest of the people were silent.
After Qiu Ling's intervention, everyone understood that the death of the hundred or so people could not be blamed on Prince Maodun.
Among the cavalrymen moving at high speed, if they lend a hand to their fallen companions, there is a great possibility that they will be pulled down themselves. Amazing physical strength and extraordinary courage are both indispensable to saving people.
Prince Maodun passed by Qiu Ling and rescued him. He was the only person who was rescued after falling off his horse.
How can they have the face to blame Prince Maodun when they watched their companions being trampled to death without offering a helping hand and were only worried whether the next horse to fall would be the one under their crotch?
With mixed feelings, the wind around me seemed like a mockery.
"You dogs from the Central Plains curse me and insult me, but I endure it because I am your prince and I want to take you home. Compared to the honor of a warrior, I want all of you to live more."
The Hun cavalry were stunned, looking at the prince whom they had secretly cursed as a coward just now.
Maodun drew his scimitar and placed it on his neck.
"Death is the easiest thing. Just a stroke will do it. Who can't do it? I also want to cut off the head of that Central Plains dog and die gloriously, but I choose to live with you in humiliation.
"We survived, but one hundred and nine of our brothers died. We wept for them, and mourned in silence. We asked the eagles to convey our grief, and the sun and moon to convey our condolences.
"After that, we will bear their lives, remember today's shame , live in humiliation, and strengthen ourselves. One day, we will be able to avenge them and ourselves!"
Putting down the scimitar, Maodun gasped and looked at the pairs of sparkling eyes below.
"All troops will rest and set off in half an hour, reaching the Yue clan territory before dark."
Everyone responded and started to work.
Calm the warhorse, drink some water, eat some dry food...
Half an hour later.
The cavalry, representing the Huns' sincerity in ceasefire, set out again. Maodun looked back at the way he had come, his face ferocious, as if he wanted to eat Maodun's weak flesh alive. The word "shame" was written in each of his eyebrows.
Mr. Ye, is this the alienation scheme you told me about?
But you don't know that the reason I didn't become Zuo Tuqi was because I was not old enough, not because my father didn't allow it.
Maodun will remember this humiliation today!
You have to wait for me to come back, and don’t die in the desert!
…
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
"Those who surrender will not be killed!"
The deafening sound gave this already desperate little tribe a glimmer of hope.
They put down their scimitars, threw away their bows and arrows, as well as hammers, sticks, hooks, and anything that looked like a weapon, and knelt on the ground with empty hands.
They begged these black-armored Qin soldiers, who were notorious among the Huns, not to harm their lives.
This small tribe was called the Black Stone Tribe. Its total population was only about 300 people. It was the smallest tribe of the Huns and could be annexed at any time.
The Huns defeated by Meng Tian voluntarily migrated northward, and many large tribes moved to the vicinity of Langjuxu Mountain deep in the desert.
Those remaining on the outskirts of the Yinshan Mountains are these small tribes which are disappearing every month.
They are insignificant and their words are not taken seriously. Their lives are like weeds in the desert. No one recognizes them when they grow, and no one cares about them when they die. They are trampled underfoot all their lives.
"You are lucky! The general will find you a more fertile pasture! Go back and take everything you can! Naigong will lead you to migrate!"
Wang Er, the commander of the 20th Battalion of the Taotie Army, turned his horse and shouted.
The people of the Black Stone Tribe looked at each other in fear. As the rumors said, wherever the Qin army passed, there was no one young or old left. Not only did they not kill them, but they took them to more fertile pastures?
"Where are you taking us, General?"
The leader of the Black Stone tribe asked with chattering teeth, speaking Hunnic.
Wang Er frowned and looked impatient as he listened. He didn't understand.
After listening to the interpreter who accompanied him in the camp muttering something, Wang Er finally understood what the noble-looking Hun in front of him was saying.
Immediately rode forward.
"Naigong said that it is a more fertile pasture. Did you not understand what Naigong said? Or do you not want to go with Naigong?"
Wang Eryi had a grim smile on his face. He held the spear in his hand while riding on his horse. He put the spear against his waist to gain leverage and pierced the belly of the leader of the Black Stone Tribe with the spear. The spear continued to penetrate the ground half a foot deep.
The Blackrock tribe leader, who was nailed to the ground, held the spear with both hands, but he had no strength to pull it out. He howled in pain, and blood flowed from the spear.
"If you don't want to go, die with your leader!"
The members of the Black Rock Tribe looked at their leader, whose face turned pale. Many children who were less than three feet tall burst into tears.
Some of them ran towards the Black Stone leader while shouting, but were hugged tightly by their parents, who covered their mouths and dragged them back to the yurt.
Soon, all the people in the tribe were leading cattle and herding sheep, preparing to migrate with the ferocious Qin army.
The sun sets.
Wang Er, wearing armor and riding a war horse, led the Black Stone Tribe towards Gaoque.
"It's not fun, not as fun as the fight in Handan.
"It's fine if you take the things, but what does the general want to do with these Xiongnu dogs? What are you trying to do?"
Wang Er muttered and sighed, longing for a hearty fight instead of driving this group of Hun dogs to Gaoque like the herdsmen.
He turned around and spat heavily on the face of a Hun man.
The man quickly lowered his head and let the saliva run down his face without even wiping it off.
Wang Er was furious and kept cursing.
"What a bunch of wimps! Birdmen! You promised not to surrender even if you die!"
Suddenly, a man jumped off his horse, wiped the saliva off the Xiongnu man's face with his hand, and apologized in the Xiongnu language with full of apology.
The Hun man who was spat on was terrified and kept apologizing in Hun, as if he had spit on the vaulter's face.
The vaulter looked at the back of Wang Er's head, who looked back guiltily, with a serious expression.
"If you continue to cause trouble, I will report you to the general and ask him to fire you as the battalion commander!"
After saying this, he did not mount his horse, but led the horse and walked with the escorted Huns, and started chatting with them in the Hun language.
Wang Er, who was riding in front, secretly made another "Puh" sound and cursed in a low voice.
"Damn you, political commissar!"
In the vast desert of the northwest, there are ninety-nine other teams like the twenty battalions of the vanguard led by Wang Er.
There were 50,000 people, divided into 100 camps, most of which were deployed to conduct a horizontal carpet search in the area 50 miles outside the 700 miles conquered by Meng Tian.
When they encountered a small Xiongnu tribe, they would attack it, but not kill those who surrendered. Then they would drive the surrendered Xiongnu back and take away all their cattle, sheep, horses, grass, and dismantled yurts, preferably without leaving a single hair.
The Taotie army drove these small tribes towards Gaoque, like a pile of ants returning to their ant nest.
Most of these battalion commanders are veterans who have fought in wars with Ying Chengjiao. They have a very high personal admiration for Ying Chengjiao and they trust him 100% in their hearts.
All the battalion commanders had no idea what the general was going to do, but most of them carried it out very well.
There were only a few battalion commanders with extremely strong personal thoughts and eccentric or abnormal personalities, but they were restrained by political commissars, forcing them not to act recklessly.
Gaoque Mountains, the former site of Gaoque City destroyed by Meng Tian.
Ying Chengjiao took his mother for a stroll, looking at flowers and trees, catching birds and fishing, and getting very close to nature.
The right lieutenant general Meng Wu and the rear lieutenant general Wei Zhuang stood together, looking at the mother and son not far away who were laughing happily from the bottom of their hearts, but they could not laugh at all.
Set up camp and rebuild Gaoque City.
Are you sure you are here to fight, not to live?
