My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 46 The Law of the Jungle: Survival of the Fittest!
The army that led the northern expedition numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but after wandering the vast grasslands for nearly a month, they found nothing.

Even if it was just capturing a Rouran scout and knowing the Rouran's whereabouts, it would be a great achievement for Li Chong, who was eager to engage in a decisive battle with the Rouran!
Not to mention, they captured the son of the Rouran Khan!
The Khan of the grasslands is the emperor of the Central Plains dynasty, and the son of Rouran is of royal blood!
How much credit must that have been for?
Po Liu Han Baling's eyes turned fervent, while his younger cousin, Po Liu Han Kong Que, secretly glanced at Gao Yu in the distance. "Leader, I think this group of Huai Shuo soldiers only has about fifty riders, while we outnumber them by more than double!"

"Not as good as..."

The peacock of Po Liu Han used his hand as a knife, his intention was very clear!
"They have horses, so I'm afraid we can't wipe them out completely. Besides... the leader is quite brave."

"So what if they're brave? We can just surround them and kill them! Even if they escape, it's no big deal. Bringing the Khan's son back will be a great achievement for us. Can a dead man rise up and cry foul? Besides, people like them have bullied us countless times in the past! They're utterly despicable!"

Po Liu Han Baling nodded slightly, and Po Liu Han Kongque gave him a wink. Po Liu Han Kongque immediately understood and began to gather his followers!

The six towns also had clear class distinctions!

The town general, nominally the local emperor, held the most power. However, since Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital, although the town general remained a high-ranking official appointed by the court, his actual power had diminished considerably, and he could no longer command those below him.

Below the garrison commander are the powerful sons of the Dai people and Han clans who led their troops when the Six Garrisons were first established. They are called the Good Family Commanders. These Good Family Commanders have been cultivating the land in the Six Garrisons for generations and are already the de facto 'local emperors' of the area. The current garrison commander also needs to rely on them.

Families like the Lou, Heba, and Yuwen are typical examples of virtuous and powerful families.

Below them were tribes like the Xiongnu and Gaoche who surrendered with their tribes, such as Poliuhan Baling and Hulijin. They were called chieftains, and their status was only slightly higher than that of the herdsmen under their command. They did not receive any political privileges, but instead bore a huge tax burden. They were the most oppressed group among the Six Garrisons.

Originally, the Six Garrisons were composed of these three classes, but after Emperor Xiaowen moved the capital, the Six Garrisons became a place of exile for criminal officials and criminals.

These criminals, prisoners, and herders who surrendered to their tribes became the lowest-ranking and most oppressed group in the six towns.

In this campaign against the Rouran in the north, respectable families and powerful clans like the Lou family had no motivation whatsoever. On the contrary, it was the surrendered tribesmen like Po Liuhan Baling who were most motivated to go out and rob, because if they didn't rob, life would be too hard, and they could only barely make ends meet.

With such a great achievement, why would they be willing to share it with Gao Yu and the others?

………………

"He really is the Khan's son?!"

Gao Yu also learned this crucial information from the Rouran soldiers!

Hou Jing immediately stood still like an eagle, but turned his head to glance at the group of Po Liu Han Baling not far away. His face was full of fierce and sinister looks, and he whispered, "This is a great achievement, Mo He Du! Why don't we take this opportunity to deal with those cavalrymen of Woye Army..."

"I'm afraid this is somewhat inappropriate."

Gao Yu hesitated for a moment. Over the past few years, he had already integrated into the local environment of Huai Shuo. The grassland tribes were governed by the pure law of the jungle: the strong are respected, the fittest survive, and the strong devour everything!
His concern was that...

Our forces are too few to annihilate them all; some will inevitably escape.

If I report this to the higher authorities, I can insist that the other party attacked me.

However, there are still some issues.

The main problem is that Gao Yu has caused too much trouble lately. He killed the soldiers of the central army and made the soldiers of Wuchuan feel frustrated. If he kills the people of Woye Town on top of that, it will be difficult to end the situation.

But Gao Yu thought about it again!

When Hou Jing learned of this news, his first thought was to kill the other side and claim all the credit!

that……

Aren't those people on the other side thinking the same thing?

The six towns may differ in their martial prowess, but their living environments are exactly the same. It is not possible for any town to uphold the teachings of the king and therefore have a higher moral standard.

Gao Yu made a decision immediately!

"Wan Jing, Mu Lan, Liu Taozhi, have everyone prepare to meet the enemy!"

After a series of changes in her expression, Mulan nodded firmly.

When Gao Yu turned around, he saw that Po Liu Han Baling had gathered his troops and was slowly approaching them, but he had a harmless and 'sincere' smile on his face and was shouting loudly from a distance.

"Hahaha, thanks to our comrades Huai Shuo for their support! We have done a great service this time!!"

"We do not know your names, or whose subordinates you are. Upon returning to camp, we will certainly visit the Huai Shuo military camp to share fine wine with you all!"

Gao Yu also smiled and said insincerely, "It was you who discovered the Rouran and severely damaged their army. How could we dare to claim credit for it!"

"Why return to camp? I've prepared fine wine right away. Why don't you come and drink with me now?!"

Both of them were trying to lower their opponent's guard!
but……

Gao Yu, however, struck first!
He drew arrows from his quiver with incredible speed, then nocked them and fired, giving his opponent no time to react.

The target was the leader of this group of Xiongnu chieftains, the burly man named Po Liu Han Baling. As the saying goes...

To shoot a man, shoot a horse first; to capture a thief, capture the king first!
The arrow shot through the air and flew towards Po Liu Han Baling!
Po Liuhan Baling harbored malicious intentions from the start. Judging others by his own standards, he was naturally on guard from the beginning. When he saw Gao Yu pressing his right hand on the bow, he felt uneasy. When he saw the other party twisting the arrow, he became very alert and subconsciously turned his body to the side.

A dark shadow appeared before my eyes and arrived in an instant.

At the same time, a sharp pain shot through his left ear, causing him to scream repeatedly. When he reached down to touch it, he couldn't feel his ear at all; instead, his hand was covered in blood!

It was fate, Gao Yu had originally aimed his arrow at Po Liu Han Baling's neck, but it only managed to shoot off one of the opponent's left ears.

Po Liuhan Baling was immediately terrified, breaking out in a cold sweat. If he had reacted even a fraction of a second slower, he might already be dead!

Seeing that he had failed to kill the enemy, Gao Yu felt regretful, but he did not hesitate. He shouted "Kill!" and immediately spurred his warhorse, leading his soldiers to charge forward!

"Kill! This man is a Rouran spy; follow me to kill the traitor!"

"kill!!"

Po Liu Han Baling finally reacted. The intense pain stimulated Po Liu Han Baling. He covered his mutilated ear with one hand, his face covered in blood. He didn't care about the wound on his ear at this moment and shouted angrily!
"Kill! Kill them for me!"

"Kill the leader first! Whoever kills him will be rewarded with a hundred head of cattle and sheep!!"

We've already torn off all pretense, what's the point of pretending anymore?

No sooner had he finished speaking than a Xiongnu man drew his bow and nocked an arrow, and in the blink of an eye, twenty or thirty arrows shot toward Gao Yu.

Gao Yu dodged, but there were too many arrows to avoid them all. Seven or eight arrows were immediately stuck in his armor. Fortunately, he was wearing heavy armor, and these arrows were only light arrows that could not penetrate him. He was not seriously injured!
"My lord, take this!"

Previously, Gao Yu had not taken out his spear in order to avoid arousing the other party's suspicion.

Liu Yi shouted from behind and threw his lance to Gao Yu. Gao Yu caught the lance in mid-air, tucked the shaft under his arm, and assumed a standard charging stance!
He shouted and spurred his horse forward!

The immense impact caused his spear to pierce through the body of a Xiongnu soldier. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the corpse flying. Dozens of riders around Po Liuhan Baling had already surrounded him, ready to kill him!

Gao Yu raised his lance, like a god descending to earth, charging left and right, his lance flying up and down. A cold glint appeared first, followed by a spear thrust like a dragon, one spear strike after another. No one could withstand a single blow from him. In the blink of an eye, half of the dozens of riders surrounding him had become the dead under his lance!

Po Liuhan Baling was terrified at the sight, but still stubbornly shouted his command, "Cut off the horse! Cut off his horse!!"

Even though he shouted himself hoarse, no one dared to step forward and challenge Gao Yu, who was as brave and powerful as a ghost!
Their usual bravery was no match for Gao Yu; they couldn't even last a single round before falling to his spear. Such ferocity was terrifying even to these soldiers who had blood on their hands. Especially since Gao Yu was now bloodthirsty, his handsome face had become extremely ferocious, and these seasoned soldiers didn't even dare to look him in the eye.

They were terrified of provoking this 'beast' exuding a murderous aura and becoming Gao Yu's next target!

Gao Yu immediately set his sights on Po Liu Hanbaling. Gao Yu's previous bravery had already made Po Liu Hanbaling's soul tremble and his spine tingle. At this moment, he dared not meet Gao Yu's gaze. He was so frightened that he quickly turned his horse around and spurred it to flee. He did not dare to stay in the same place to fight Gao Yu, this murderous bastard!
He abandoned his followers and ran away without looking back!
His men, seeing this, also turned their horses around, fearing that if they were even a moment too late, they would become the victims of Gao Yu's spear!

Seeing this, Gao Yu spurred his horse hard, then raised his lance over his shoulder in a throwing stance, twisted his body, gathered his strength, and with a powerful swing of his waist and abdomen, hurled the lance at Po Liu Han Baling!

When Po Liuhan Baling saw Gao Yu's extraordinary archery skills, he was terrified. As he fled, he hid himself under the stirrups to avoid being hit by the enemy's arrows again.

It was also luck.

See!

The hurled spear pierced the neck of the horse beneath Po Liu Han Baling. The horse neighed, its hooves buckled, and it collapsed to its knees like a collapsing mountain or a broken jade pillar, dying instantly. Po Liu Han Baling was thrown away!

After falling, Po Liu Han Baling ignored the pain in his body, struggled to get up, and continued to run wildly without daring to look back. Fortunately, Po Liu Han Kong Que caught up with him on horseback and pulled him onto his own horse, thus preventing Po Liu Han Baling from being surrounded by Hou Jing and others.

Gao Yu fired several more arrows, but the figure of the Xiongnu chieftain named Po Liu Han Baling had already disappeared among the fleeing cavalry. Although his arrows were all accurate, he failed to hit him.

Hou Jing and his men wanted to continue their pursuit.

Upon seeing this, Gao Yu immediately shouted, stopping Hou Jing and the others who were trying to give chase.

"Do not pursue! Check for casualties, take the bodies of the dead and the wounded with you, we cannot stay here any longer!!"

Many of the Rouran soldiers who had been chasing Anagui had fled, and Gao Yu was unsure whether Rouran troops would arrive quickly, so he had to leave this area first.

besides……

He needed to hurry back to the military camp with his men to meet Li Chong!
To gain the upper hand.

He complained to Li Chong, shifting all the blame onto Po Liuhan Baling and others.

Isn't this just a matter of who speaks first and who's right?

not to mention!
Anagui is in his hands, so the credit belongs to him!

(End of this chapter)