Deposed Crown Prince: After three years of service on the frontier, the entire court knelt and begge

The leaders standing nearby, quite unusually, did not refute Ashina's words!

After all, it was very difficult for their people to come forward and help.

They used to be able to come and go as they pleased, which made them think that the city's defenses were as flimsy as tofu.

...

Inside Yanbei City.

Hearing the commotion, Han Da instructed the messenger beside him, "Have everyone inside get ready. Don't rush. Let them go deeper before starting the attack! And don't linger. After the sneak attack, retreat immediately! Survival is the priority! Listen for my drumbeats."

A squad of messengers beside him listened to the command and scattered in an instant to deliver the message.

Han Da ordered that those who joined the ambush be armed with composite bows and repeating crossbows.

Everyone else was creating momentum from a safe position.

As for the more than two thousand crossbowmen, they were all in the alleys, where the crossbows were extremely effective in urban warfare.

Accompanied by the sound of a city wall collapsing.

A messenger rushed over: "General Han, the city has fallen! The Turks have breached a hole several meters long in the city wall."

Han Da nodded and said, "It took a full hour. I was almost asleep waiting. We didn't put up any defenses, yet they attacked so slowly. Everyone was ready, especially the drummer."

Han Da hid in one of the dark corners.

After the city fell, these Turks did not rush to enter, but instead became humble and yielding.

After all, they were also worried that there might be traps here.

At this moment, Mos Ashina, riding his horse, said to them, "Alright, since none of you dare to go, I will go ahead first! I will send you a signal after I enter the city and confirm that it is safe."

No one said a word.

As Mos Ashina spoke, he waved his hand, and the light cavalry of his Ashina tribe led the way.

Not a single mouse could be seen on the main streets of the city; the empty streets appeared somewhat desolate and barren.

The only sounds in the entire city were the hoofbeats of their army and the clatter of armor.

Mos Ashina shouted intimidatingly into the room, "Stop hiding! I can see you all! If you come out obediently and surrender, I'll spare your lives."

"I see you. Your general left you here to die. I'm giving you a chance! If you keep hiding, we'll kill you all!"

They often use this trick, which seems very silly, but it often has a surprising effect when used in daily life.

However, after walking several hundred meters and calling out for a while, no one responded.

Mos Ashina scoffed, "It seems our worries were unnecessary. Those spineless cowards are probably fleeing for their lives right now. Who would be foolish enough to ambush us here!"

"Those people were terrified after suffering a defeat against the Xiao people! Tell them everything is fine and the army can enter the city!"

As he spoke, the messenger lit several rockets and fired them into the sky.

Upon witnessing this scene, the Turks outside the city led their armies in and poured in.

Han Da had a clear view of the position and saw that there were nearly 10,000 troops coming in, which he figured was about right.

"Drum roll!"

In one of the rooms, there was a large drum, and two burly men stood in front of it.

He picked up the drumsticks and started banging away.

The sudden sound of drums made the Turks in Yanbei City look around.

Before they could react, they heard a scream from within the ranks.

And the sound of arrows being shot.

"There's an ambush! There's an ambush!"

They discovered archers carrying composite bows in some second-floor street areas.

They could shoot an arrow in almost every few seconds; due to the close range, they shot very quickly.

The light cavalry at the forefront were all wearing leather armor, and arrows pierced through their bodies immediately.

Just as they were organizing a counterattack, some soldiers armed with crossbows rushed out from one of the alleys.

These repeating crossbows had an even faster rate of fire; they could fire as soon as they raised their hands.

These Turks had never seen a repeating crossbow before, but they saw the Turks holding a wooden box-like object pointed at them.

They didn't take it seriously until the arrows were fired from the black box.

One by one, people were shot off their horses.

A squad of crossbowmen shot down a bunch of people, and after they finished firing one round, they ran into the alley and ran away.

If they tried to pursue, they would immediately use crossbows.

Immediately, screams of agony filled the city of Yanbei.

Xiao Ce had previously taught Han Da guerrilla warfare. After each set of attacks, they would immediately retreat along the planned route, maneuvering around the enemy's rear.

They appeared in another undefended rear area.

This led the Turks to have the misconception that the Northern Desert Army of the Xiao Kingdom was everywhere!

"Retreat! This is a trap! The Northern Desert Army is everywhere here."

Watching the Turks fall one after another, while Handa's side, thanks to thorough preparation, suffered almost no major losses.

Meanwhile, a group of soldiers had appeared on the city wall sometime earlier, firing incessantly at them with hard bows.

The Turks were completely out of control.

Because when they attacked the city earlier, they made a 2-3 meter opening in order to save trouble.

They used to come in in an orderly fashion, but now they are fleeing in panic, causing congestion at the city gate.

Zhao Long, the deputy general directing from the city wall, shouted: "Go! Bring all the prepared large stones here! Smash them down!"

The soldiers on the city wall began to hurl the prepared boulders down, and the exhausted Turks didn't notice for a moment.

By the time they realized what was happening, they had been smashed into a pulp.

After they came to their senses, they launched an attack on the city wall.

Seeing this, Zhao Long said, "Everyone, let's hide!"

They hid behind the battlements, waiting for the enemy to fire a volley of arrows, but to no avail.

Then they continued their retreat.

Zhao Long was incredibly annoying; whenever no one was attacking them, they would always throw a huge rock down from the exit, killing more than a dozen people.

They smashed it and then hid.

More than half an hour later, the Turks left thousands of corpses behind again before hastily retreating.

In this battle, the Northern Desert Army suffered a crushing defeat.

The Turks were utterly routed!

The Turks had never encountered such a shameless fighting style before.

This style of play kept them constantly on edge, leaving them feeling like they had no way to use their strength.

As they fled, the large army that Han Da had left behind emerged from the alleyways.

Then they chased after them, and even managed to take down some enemies along the way.

They chased them all the way to the broken city gate, and seeing a group of eager soldiers, they shouted, "Don't pursue a desperate enemy! Let them run!"

"Sun Qiang! Go find a team to bring over all the remaining cement, mix some concrete, and repair this hole."

"Jiang Xing! Go and lead your men to clean up the battlefield. Tie up any survivors!"

"Zhao Long! Take a group of soldiers and bury the remains of the slaves who died defending the city by the roadside!"

Han Da issued one order after another.

Everyone was filled with happiness at that moment, because they had fought such a satisfying battle.

In this battle, they suffered fewer than a hundred casualties.

Compared to the casualties suffered by the Turks, their losses were truly negligible.

...

The Turks fled back in disarray once again. The people in their camp had already dismantled their tents and were preparing to catch up.

Then they saw the Turks return in a sorry state.

"Ashina, I really suspect that your whole family are spies!" Helu cursed, pointing at Ashina.

Ashina's face turned ashen as he drew his sword from his waist and shouted, "Helu, shut your filthy mouth! The Ashina people suffered the most deaths this time! Your Helu tribe, on the other hand, was the last to enter the city and suffered no losses! If we're talking about spies, you're the spies."

"Bullshit! Did I not want to go in? It was all because you guys blocked my way, all trying to steal the credit! And you ended up with a mouthful of shit. And why are you yelling at me? Didn't your informant confidently write to us saying their army had retreated? Turns out, not only did they not retreat, but it seems like they have twice as many soldiers as before! Damn it!"

As He Lu spoke, he also drew his sword.

"How about it? Want to practice? I'll go with you!"

Ashide mediated: "Alright, it's obviously another of Xiao Ce's tricks! However, Ashina, you need to investigate whether your messengers were bribed by Xiao Ce or deceived by him. We can't afford to have internal strife!"

Ashina's face was grim: "This time it's our responsibility...we will take responsibility."

He Lu sarcastically remarked from the side, "Hmph... You said you'd take responsibility before, and you're still saying you'll take responsibility now. But I haven't seen you take any responsibility! In my opinion, you're not really suitable for this position! It should have been such a simple matter to defeat those useless people from Xiao Kingdom, but under your leadership, so many of our people have died!"

Ashina frowned slightly: "If you doubt my abilities, why don't you try?"

Helu did not refuse: "I'll come! I'm definitely better than you as the chief commander. I'm not bragging, but your Ashina tribe is really not good at fighting. It still depends on our Helu tribe! Are you willing to let go?"

Ashina said, "Of course, this prefecture is one that is capable of holding! As long as no one has any objections."

He Lu glanced at the people beside him: "What do you think? Any objections? If not, I'll take over from now on!"

Ashide replied succinctly, "Since Ashina has no objections, we naturally have no objections either."

Tesa said, "Our goal is to contribute to the Xiao Kingdom; it doesn't matter who the leader is."

Musa said, "Ashina, you have suffered considerable losses in your two defeats. Why don't you try Helu instead? It might have a miraculous effect."

Ashina's sons wanted to speak when they saw this, but Ashina stopped them with a look.

Seeing this, Helu beckoned to Ashina: "Come on, since that's the case, give me the things."

Ashina took an intricate bone pendant from around his neck and tossed it to Helu.

He Lu accepted the bone pendant and said, "Gentlemen, I will lead you. This defeat will never happen again. Watch how I lead you to crush these useless Xiao Kingdom soldiers!"