Eastern Han Dynasty, not the Three Kingdoms

The night was as cold as ink. Gongsun Zan reined in his horse and stood on a hilltop, listening to the distant clash of metal and shouts of battle echoing across the snowy plains. He gazed at the flames rising from Youzhou, the lingering blood on his silver spear gleaming dark red in the moonlight. Suddenly, he threw back his head and burst into laughter, a roar that shook the whole area: "Yuan Benchu ​​is quite a tough guy for once!" His laughter carried the joy of surviving a catastrophe, but also concealed his surprise at Yuan Shao's attack. "This battle has cost him some soldiers!"

Gongsun Yue beside him gripped the reins tightly, looking at the exhausted but still standing remnants of the White Horse Yicong, and whispered: "Brother, we..."

"Pass the order and continue westward!" Gongsun Zan suddenly waved his spear in the direction of Bingzhou, "Wait until we meet up with Mengqi, and then settle the score with these jackals!" As the words fell, the sound of horse hooves gradually rang out. Ox carts loaded with women and children, and horses laden with baggage, meandered into a long, dark dragon in the night, galloping towards the beacon fires of Bingzhou.

Across the Youzhou battlefield, at dawn, Chanyu Tadun finally gathered his remaining troops. He gazed at the scattered cavalry around him and slammed his bone hammer down on the frozen ground. Of the fifty thousand cavalrymen, fewer than thirty remained. Over twenty thousand men and horses, along with the piles of corpses, lay forever buried in the blood-soaked snowfield. The cold wind whipped up the tattered wolf-head banner, and Tadun's furious roar pierced the morning mist: "Gongsun Zan! I will not be a human being until I avenge this!"

Tadun Chanyu looked at the remnants of his army, the blood scabs clinging to his bone hammer. Nearly half of his fifty thousand cavalry had been lost. This sudden night raid lingered like a nightmare. "Where did those Han troops come from?" He clenched his fists, his gaze sweeping towards the distant Youzhou, where the smoke of gunpowder had not yet cleared.

Three days later, the Wuhuan army, having rested briefly, slowly approached Jicheng. Tadun gazed at the familiar outline of the city walls, pondering how to regain his lost dignity. However, as the city walls gradually came into view, his pupils suddenly constricted—the banners waving from the city walls were no longer Gongsun Zan's; instead, Yuan Shao's dark banners fluttered in the wind.

"Impossible!" Tadun's roar startled the crows on the city wall. He rode his horse forward, only to see Yuan Shao standing on the city wall in black armor, his gilded crown gleaming coldly in the sun. "Tadun Chanyu, how are you?" Yuan Shao's voice was filled with a smile, but it chilled Tadun's body. "Jicheng has been taken over by me, Chanyu, are you... coming to give me a gift?"

Tadun suddenly realized what was happening, and the veins in his hand bulged as he clenched his glove hammer. It turned out that the Han army that day had been ambushed by Yuan Shao! He looked at the arrow array on the city wall, then at the exhausted remnants of his army around him. Hatred surged in his heart, but he had to swallow the bitter pill.

"Yuan Shao! This account will be settled one day!" Tadun gritted his teeth and turned his horse. The cold wind blew up the snow and mist behind him, blurring the fluttering black flag on the top of Jicheng. At this moment, Gongsun Zan had already led the remaining troops and galloped towards Bingzhou. Behind him was the hatred and smoke of war, gradually buried by the wind and snow.

A northerly wind, carrying fine snow, blew into Tadun's fur coat. He stroked the bloodstains on his bone hammer and watched the remnants of his army, casting long, gray-black shadows across the snowy plain. The outline of Jizhou's city walls loomed in the distance, its dark banners fluttering on the walls, stinging his eyes. "Yuan Shao..." The name, ground between his teeth, clung to icy shards. He had long heard of the overlord of Hebei, but he had never imagined he would lose twenty thousand elite soldiers to his schemes. Gongsun Zan's famed victory over the Wuhuan still lingered in his ears, but now he faced an even more ruthless foe. The frustration of defeat pierced his heart like a blunt knife.

The November grasslands were frozen solid with ice and snow, the thud of horses' hooves crunching the frozen earth. Tadun surveyed the looted fodder from the camel caravan. While it barely made up for the losses, the soldiers, wrapped in fur coats covering their wounds, shivered in the chill wind. The groans of the wounded, mixed with the neighing of the horses, were carried away by the wind. His grip on the reins suddenly trembled—this iron cavalry, which had once swept across the northern desert, now couldn't even keep the fire pits in their camps full.

Suddenly, a quarrel erupted from outside the tent. Nalou and Qiuliju, the two commanders, flung open the curtains and entered, ice chips falling from their leather boots. "Great Chanyu!" Nalou tumbled to his knees. "Over half the soldiers are frostbitten, and we only have enough food for ten days..." Qiuliju's voice trembled as he replied, "If we waste any more time, we'll be defeated before the battle even begins!" Tadun stared at the two men, their faces hesitant to speak, and suddenly remembered how the seriously injured centurion had grasped his clothes and begged him three days ago during his inspection of the camp: "Please Chanyu... bring our brothers home..."

A taste of rust rose in his throat. Tadun swung his bone hammer violently, knocking the wine cups off the table. "Retreat!" Before he could finish his words, a snowstorm howled outside the tent, rustling the wolf-head banner. He gazed at the darkening sky, remembering Yuan Shao's condescending sneer from the city walls. His nails dug deep into his palms—this vengeance would be exacted one day, with interest!

Two days after Tadun's withdrawal, the cavalry of Wen Chou, Zhang He, and Gao Lan, like unsheathed swords, advanced directly upon the counties of Yuyang and Youbeiping, respectively. Their armor reflected the lingering snow, their dark banners fluttered in the cold wind, and the clatter of their hooves crushed the frozen earth, yet they provoked no resistance. Wen Chou reined in his horse and stood at the foot of Yuyang City, gazing at the mottled, crimson-headed flags atop the walls, tilted and threatening to fall. Frowning, he shouted to his scouts, "Explore again! Where is the main force of the Wuhuan?"

When the scouts returned with their fast horses, dusk had already fallen over the Yanshan Mountains. "General! The Wuhuan broke camp and retreated north three days ago, taking all the looted food and supplies with them!" Zhang He stroked the icicles on his spear, looked toward the vast snowy plains to the north, and said in a deep voice: "Tadun has suffered heavy casualties, and with this cold winter, I'm afraid they won't be able to hold out." Gao Lan, however, gripped his saber tightly and sneered: "In that case, we can seize the opportunity to pursue them!"

Wen Chou unfolded the map, the candlelight casting flickering shadows on his face. "Lord Yuan ordered us to pacify the locals and not pursue them relentlessly." He traced the map of Youzhou with his fingertips. "Although the Tadun have retreated, the bandits and mountain bandits remain a serious threat. Clear the interior first, then slowly attack the north!" Military orders were passed down, and the three armies discontinued their pursuit and instead divided their forces to sweep across Youzhou.

Within a fortnight, Wen Chou led his army to annihilate the horse bandits in Yanshan, Zhang He persuaded the powerful lords of Youbeiping to surrender, and Gao Lan crushed the Yuyang bandits with lightning speed. Yuan Shao personally arrived at the capital of Youzhou and planted large black banners with the inscription "Yuan" on the city walls. He also opened granaries to distribute food and appeased the people. On land once trampled by the Wuhuan, the Han army began repairing the city walls and reopening trade routes, bringing the entire Youzhou region under the Yuan family's control.

On a cold night, Yuan Shao stood atop the city walls, overlooking the myriad lights, his gaze fixed northward beneath his gilded crown. The wolf-head flag discarded by Tadun during his retreat drifted away in the wind, but the bronze tiger talisman in his hand held the lifeline of Youzhou firmly in his grasp.

As Yuan Shao's decrees rolled across Youzhou like iron hoofs, branding the snow-covered land with the Yuan family's imprint, torches illuminated faces shrouded in smoke in a secret passage deep within the Taihang Mountains. Zhang Yan, a member of the Black Mountain Army, stroked the hide-wrapped ring-handled sword at his waist. He glanced at the newly intercepted military report on the desk, a sneer curling his lips. "Since Yuan Shao has swallowed Youzhou, his appetite is only growing."

"General, Yuan's army has deployed in Zhongshan County." A personal guard tossed the blood-stained letter onto the tiger-skin rug. "They're confiscating weapons from refugees and even small bandits. They're clearly trying to infiltrate the lower reaches of the Taihang Mountains!" Before he could finish his words, hurried footsteps could be heard outside the tent. A snow-covered scout pushed aside the curtains. "Report! Zhang He's troops are camped at Yishui and appear to be planning a westward advance!"

Zhang Yan abruptly stood up, the clanging of armor startling birds from the beams. His gaze swept across the massive map hanging in the tent. After Yuan Shao's occupation of Youzhou, the Black Mountain Army's territory had been squeezed between Jizhou and Bingzhou. "Back when I allied with Gongsun Zan, Yuan Benchu ​​intervened." He poked his finger heavily at Changshan County on the map. "Now that he's taken Youzhou, I'm afraid he'll target us next!"

As night fell, Zhang Yan led his elite cavalry out of the mountain stronghold. The cold wind on the mountain road was like a knife, but it could not blow away the murderous intent in his eyes. Looking at the lights of Yuan Shao's camp in the distance, which looked like a galaxy, he gripped the reins and whispered, "Yuan Shao wants to govern Youzhou in peace? I want him to know that the tigers and wolves in the Taihang Mountains are not so easy to provoke." The mountain wind blew up the black cloak behind him, and he looked like a giant beast lurking in the dark, ready to tear apart this seemingly peaceful situation at any time. Black Mountain Flying Swallow: The Rise of Zhang Yan

Zhang Yan, whose surname was Chu, was born with a slender physique and could run as fast as the wind. His fellow villagers nicknamed him "Flying Swallow." In the first year of the Zhongping reign, as the Yellow Turban Rebellion spread across the Central Plains, he joined the army of Zhang Niujiao. Recognizing his exceptional martial arts skills, Zhang Niujiao adopted him as his son and led this rebel army, under the banner of the Taiping Dao, to battle in Jizhou.

However, the good times didn't last. The Eastern Han court mobilized a massive army to suppress the Taiping Dao, and the forces quickly declined. Zhang Niujiao was seriously wounded during the attack on Yingtao. Before his death, he entrusted the remaining members of his group to Zhang Yan. Gazing at his adoptive father's tearful face, Zhang Yan knelt and vowed, "Don't worry, adoptive father. I will lead my brothers to a way out!"

Zhang Yan, taking over the remaining troops, led them into seclusion in the Black Mountains, deep within the Taihang Mountains. The mountains were high and densely forested, making them easy to defend and difficult to attack. Countless impoverished people, having heard of "General Feiyan"'s reputation for robbing the rich and helping the poor, flocked to seek refuge with him, bringing their families with them. During the day, Zhang Yan led his brothers in reclaiming wasteland and building straw huts; at night, he personally patrolled and stood guard, guarding against surprise attacks by government troops.

Zhang Yan was deep in thought when his subordinates suddenly came to report, "General, we are running out of food again!"

Zhang Yan clutched a gnawed, whitened animal bone and gazed at the long, snake-like column of refugees below the cliff. A chill wind whipped a fine snow through the camp. The old and weak, half-clad, huddled under tattered blankets, while the leather armor of the young and strong soldiers was encrusted with icicles. A hundred thousand combatants were but a skeleton among hundreds of thousands—this army, under the banner of righteousness, was in reality a group of refugees banding together to survive in troubled times.

"General, Yuan Shao's army has entered Zhuo County." The guard's voice was wrapped in coldness, "I heard that Wen Chou is trying to recruit bandits to surrender. Anyone who refuses to surrender will be treated as a vagrant." Before he finished speaking, a child's cry suddenly came from outside the tent. A woman rushed in holding a frozen child, and her withered fingers tightly grasped Zhang Yan's cloak: "General, save my son..."

Zhang Yan sprang to his feet, the clang of armor startling the birds and birds from the beams. He looked north, where Yuan Shao's dark banners fluttered from the walls of Youzhou. Once, he had been able to eke out a living amidst the conflict between Yuan and Gongsun, leading his men to plunder the wealthy and reclaim wasteland. But now that Yuan Shao had unified Youzhou and was marching his army towards the Taihang Mountains, his old way of survival had come to an end.

"General, why don't you surrender to Yuan Shao?" Military Advisor Wang Fang said tentatively, "With our 100,000 brothers, we can definitely find a future under his command."

"Future?" Zhang Yan sneered suddenly, and the animal bone in his palm snapped. "Yuan Benchu ​​couldn't even tolerate Gongsun Zan, so how could he truly accept us 'Black Mountain Bandits'?" His eyes swept over the frozen bodies of refugees scattered on the ground, and he remembered the tragic scene of two soldiers killing each other for a bag of corn half a month ago. "We are bringing the elderly, the weak, women and children with us. We will be a burden to anyone we surrender to..."

As night fell, Zhang Yan climbed the mountaintop alone. A chill wind ripped at his cloak. The distant lights of Yuan Shao's camp twinkled like stars, dimming the outline of the Taihang Mountains. He gripped the ring-handled sword at his waist, the blade reflecting his bloodshot eyes. Perhaps, only battle could carve out a path for his people in this chaotic world.