Tiger Guards

Chapter 25: The Huns Attack
At night, under the moonlight.

The young Xiongnu king Liu Hedu led dozens of knights and walked slowly, with more than 200 herdsmen following on foot.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, he followed Yufuluo and led the Xiongnu volunteers to assist the Han Dynasty in suppressing the rebellion; however, a coup d'état occurred in the country, and the Xiongnu nobles Xu Tu established themselves as emperors.

Yu Fuluo and his group found it difficult to return home, so they could only ask Emperor Ling to send troops to quell the rebellion.

By the time Emperor Ling died, the world was in chaos.

Yufuluo wandered around and finally returned to his country to succeed the throne as the new Chanyu after the Chanyu who had established himself as Chanyu died of old age.

Last year, the Right Wise King Liu Qubei raised an army to support the king. During the period when Liu Qubei was away, Chanyu Yufuluo died and was succeeded by his younger brother Huhuxuan.

Yu Fuluo's son Liu Bao became the Left Wise King, and the positions in the Xiongnu were adjusted, and Liu Hedu's status was greatly reduced.

Huochequan was a tough man and was also liked by the Xiongnu nobles of Xiutugu.

Liu Hedu intended to continue moving south and break away from Huochequan's management.

Only with the help of external forces could he lead his people to migrate safely.

Liu He had no fear or reverence for attacking the Huben.

When you followed the former Chanyu Yufuluo, what big scenes had you not seen?
The Emperor of Han has fallen to this point, so what is there to be afraid of?
Liu He just wanted to complete this task well before thinking about other things.

After walking for more than ten miles, he saw the knights in front waiting by the roadside, and he rode forward.

His son and son-in-law, who had come to investigate, approached, each holding a torch. His son Liu Ping looked up and said, "Father, this Tiger Guard unit is unprepared and is planning to join forces with the garrison commander Ma Ying and the North Bank Cavalry Commander Xu Huang to attack the Jishan bandits. They must be training their troops. Ma Ying and Xu Huang have not agreed. There are currently about 600 or less than 700 people in their camp."

Son-in-law Song Qian also replied, "There's been no movement of troops or Jiangyi. There are just over thirty boats on the shore. They were requisitioned during the day to transport grain for Xu Huang, and they say they'll be bringing more tomorrow."

"The ship is on the south bank?"

"Yes, they are all on the south bank. Even if Xu Huang wants to help, it will be difficult for him to cross the river."

"Very good."

Liu Hedu turned to look at his son Liu Ping again: "How is the investigation in Wenxi going?"

"I didn't dare go too deep. I had my third brother guard Purple Gold Mountain and monitor the main road. If a large group of troops came north, he would set fire to it!"

Liu Ping hastily added, "Third brother, there are more than 20 people here. I also carefully instructed him to evacuate immediately after setting the fire."

"Okay, I'm just worried that Li Le will break the agreement."

Liu Hedu turned to look at his son-in-law again and said, "You take the men ahead. I will take action here, and you will set fire to surround Jiangyi and disturb the garrison. They will not dare to move rashly."

"Yes!"

Song Qian responded loudly. He also knew that there were many wealthy and powerful children among the Huben, and they had close relations with the military officers stationed there.

Their purpose was never to kill, but to kidnap and force the Hedong gentry to give in and allow them to migrate to the south of the Fen River to live as nomads.

The drought that started last year also affected various Xiongnu tribes, except for the Fen River Basin in Pingyang, which was relatively better off.

The herds of animals raised by the Xiongnu tribes in Wuyuan, Xihe and Shangjun died in large numbers, and the crops they cultivated also failed.

The strength of each tribe was greatly reduced, so that when they went out to plunder, many herdsmen and slaves could only follow on foot.

As the night wind blew, a Xiongnu scout approached the Huben camp and saw that the camp gate was closed and no one was guarding it.

The campfires on both sides of the camp gate were about to go out, and no one came to add firewood.

A blazing campfire was burning in the open field inside the camp, with dozens of people sitting around it eating and drinking.

There were also small campfires burning in various small camps, which provided some dim light.

The scout made some reconnaissance, then retreated with his back bent.

There were also some scouts investigating from both sides. After all, this was a military camp made of planks and earthen walls, not a hastily built camp in the wild.

The effectiveness of peripheral reconnaissance is limited, and due to lighting constraints, many things cannot be seen clearly.

As the scouts returned one after another, Liu Hedu, Liu Ping, and a dozen or so family warriors and tribal warriors sat together.

Liu Ping felt uneasy, because this was a brave soldier of the Han Dynasty and the son of a wealthy and powerful man in Hedong.

Liu He had fought many bad battles and was used to it. He repeatedly warned: "Don't hold back. Our goal is to capture them and force their fathers and brothers to surrender. Living people are useful, and dead bodies are also useful."

The tribal warrior, Li Dang, had already donned his bronze helmet, a family heirloom. Three vibrant pheasant feathers adorned its pinnacle. He looked arrogant, yet his expression was tinged with concern. "If we kill too many, even if they agree to our migration south, they'll still seek revenge."

Liu Hedu looked at the expressions of the others, but he still insisted on his own opinion: "If we hold back and fight repeatedly, both families will suffer heavy casualties. Don't hesitate, fight with all your might, kill the brave and strong ones, and the rest will be dealt with by ourselves."

"Yes!"

Everyone agreed, stood up one after another, and packed up their weapons.

Liu Hedu jumped on the horse and swung the whip sideways.

Without any drums or trumpets, the leaders, big and small, walked forward with their relatives, herdsmen, and slaves.

Under the moonlight, a dozen Huns squatted forward, lifted up two wooden gates and moved them outwards.

"ignition!"

Liu Ping shouted softly, and the torches began to ignite one after another. When most of them were ablaze, Liu Ping shouted loudly: "Blow the horn! Raise the fire and seize the camp!"

The two trumpeters beside him immediately blew the horns with all their might, and the brave warrior led more than ten riders on horseback to charge straight into the camp gate. Behind them were teams of infantry holding swords, spears, halberds and torches. At this moment, they shouted and screamed, mixed with strange sounds and howls.

"kill!"

Li Dang took the lead, holding a spear and rushing to the campfire in the training ground.

The training ground was about a hundred paces square. He had just increased his horse's speed when he saw several people over there shooting at him with crossbows.

Li Dang did not try to dodge. He did not think that the other party could shoot him in the dark and in such a hurry.

After Zhao Ji shot the crossbow, he passed it to Yang Ji beside him without even looking at the effect.

He picked up the painted bow handed to him by another villager with his left hand, and started shooting rapidly with his right hand holding the arrow.

More than a dozen men armed with spears, halberds, swords and shields also stepped forward, throwing their short spears.

Dozens of crossbow arrows only shot down three riders. When Li Dang rushed to the training ground area, this round of short spears was thrown just in time.

He had no time to turn around and dodge, so he could only swing the spear with both hands. With luck, he knocked a short spear away.

At this moment, his excitement subsided and fear overwhelmed his body, mind and soul.

Without waiting for him to turn his horse around, Zhao Ji pulled the bowstring to eight-tenths of its capacity, and the arrow hit Li's throat.

Without even considering the outcome of the battle, Zhao Ji fired five arrows in a row, and then he saw a large group of Xiongnu infantry rushing into the training ground area and immediately dropped their bows.

At this time, the running Huns began to shoot arrows, and the Hu Ben who were ambushing behind the low walls of the camp on both sides of them stood up one after another, some stabbing with spears and halberds, some throwing short spears and stones, and some shooting with bows and crossbows.

Several arrows landed on Zhao Ji's sides. An archer, struck in the shoulder, retreated into the crowd. Zhao Ji took the halberd, held it with both hands, and shouted, "Drum roll!"

The hesitant drummer finally struck the waist drum, and Zhao Ji strode forward: "Follow me and kill!"

We must not allow the Hun infantry to come to the training ground. We must block them as much as possible so that the ambushes in the small camps on both sides can kill efficiently!
The structure of the military camp is simple, with the camp gate facing south, shaped like the Chinese character "甲". The "田" in the upper part is the training ground, and the vertical line in the middle is a passage. On both sides of the passage are small secondary camps consisting of rows of barracks, and the training ground is also surrounded by a circle of barracks.

When the Huns suffered continuous casualties, their command was bound to be poor and it would be difficult for them to respond quickly.

There was no time to explain anything, Zhao Ji could only go forward to fight with heavy spears, halberds, swords and shields.

A Xiongnu knight was already injured. Seeing the two flags on Zhao Ji's back, he immediately pulled the reins, changed direction, and drove his horse from the flank.

Before he could speed up, a short spear hit his vest and he fell off his horse.

After Wei Xing threw his spear, he leaped up from behind the low wall and said, "Hurry up and kill the bandits with me!"

During the two or three breaths he spent standing on the wall, several Xiongnu archers who had rushed into the training ground turned around and shot arrows at Wei Xing.

Wei Xing, shot in the chest, merely staggered, then leaped off the wall, raised his spear, and rushed towards the nearest small group of Huns among the crowd.

In the small camp next to him, Wang Zhi took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down.

His commander stepped forward and asked urgently, "Should we defend or join the battle?"

"war!"

Wang Zhi drew his sword and said, "After we defeat the Xiongnu, I will deal with Pei Qi!"

　There will be another update in the afternoon to avoid making everyone feel uncomfortable.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)