Qiu Wu was sowhat nervous, but he still steadied himself. When he saw the Xiongnu approach to question them, he let Wei You step forward to answer, as instructed by Zhao Hanzhang.
"Just say we found so rare treasures and are transporting them back for the General to inspect."
Wei You didn’t expect them to be so bold. If he shouted "Jin Army" or "Enemy Attack" right now, they would surely be dood.
But...
Why would he do that?
They were all slaves anyway. At least Zhao Hanzhang pretended to treat them as humans, though it seed fake now, but fake is still fake. Either way, shouting would get him killed; Qiu Wu could easily stab him from behind.
If Zhao Hanzhang’s plan failed, he would be the first to die.
With these thoughts swirling in his mind, he loudly responded to the Xiongnu soldier’s questions.
The other party didn’t examine them closely either. He glanced at the few carriages in their convoy and stepped aside to let them through the checkpoint.
He wouldn’t have thought there was a Jin army unit around Guan City, as all other places had been conquered except for Guan City.
After crossing the checkpoint, there was still so distance to the main camp. As the last dozen or so cavalry passed by them, they silently cut down a few soldiers.
They dragged the bodies away, intending to throw them by the roadside, but those in the main camp noticed sothing was amiss, "Wait, when did we have such a cavalry unit outside?"
These two thousand n, all on horseback, had vigorous and strong warhorses, not like those returning from a rushed mission.
The ones they sent out to gather supplies were mainly infantry combined with cavalry, and having a thousand cavalry among five thousand would be considered good.
The Xiongnu waged war with their own horses and saddles, and even had to prepare their own provisions at the beginning. Many would lose their horses in battle and then have to follow the army on foot.
So couldn’t afford horses from the start, so they would have to carry their swords as foot soldiers.
These two thousand...
The person who realized sothing was wrong was too far from the drum, so he could only turn around and shout, "Enemy attack—"
Zhao Hanzhang kicked her horse’s belly and leaped out from the ranks, quickly reaching the person and taking his head with a thrust of her spear. Then she raised her spear and shouted, "Soldiers, charge—"
The soldiers, stirred by bloodshed, raised their weapons and roared as they followed Zhao Hanzhang into the camp.
Qiao Xi had chosen this camp location, which was open all around and neither too close nor too far from the East City Gate of Guan City. It was just right to observe any movents on the city gate tower, yet out of the range of arrows from the gate.
Because the area was wide open, any troops appearing nearby would be seen at a glance.
This was why Zhao Hanzhang had to wear a disguise. Without it, as soon as they appeared in the field of vision, the enemy would know they were the Jin army, and wouldn’t even wait for their charge to prepare a defense.
Zhao Hanzhang never doubted the speed of the Xiongnu in mounting their horses to engage in battle.
Now it was just right; they had entered the camp and could charge straight in.
The soldiers followed Zhao Hanzhang into the camp because Beigong Chun held his position without coming out. Unless they attacked the city, there wouldn’t be much combat between them.
Qiao Xi’s main force hadn’t attacked the city in ten days.
Forget ten days; even in three days, soldiers could beco lax. At this mont, they were resting leisurely in the camp, especially Qiao Xi, who was laughing and drinking wine poured by beauties he had with him. Upon hearing the sounds of battle, he woke up with a start, flipping the two beauties onto the floor and reaching for his armor.
So soldiers didn’t care what went on inside and burst in, kneeling on the ground to report, "General, there’s an enemy attack!"
Qiao Xi asked while putting on his clothes, "Is it the Jin people or whose n is it?"
He didn’t think it would be the Jin people, suspecting soone was secretly targeting him. After all, within the Xiongnu, there were also separate tribes, and Liu Yuan had only united them in the past two years, not even through force. Everyone had chosen him as leader, but they weren’t thoroughly convinced.
It’s only because the tempting carrot of the Jin State dangled in front of them; otherwise, they would have started fighting among themselves long ago.
Upon hearing Qiao Xi’s question, the soldier paused and followed his line of thought, saying imdiately, "They’re wearing our Han Kingdom’s clothing but flying our flags."
When the soldier said this, Qiao Xi was even more convinced soone was gunning for him, fury surged to his brain, filling his eyes and mind with rage and hatred, "Who, who wants to take this chance to kill ?"
"Liu Yao, Liu Qin, or Wang Mi and Shi Le?"
He had poor relations with these four.
In his anger, he could no longer care to properly don his armor or helt; he grabbed his spear and headed out.
Zhao Hanzhang was cutting down Xiongnu soldiers left and right, creating a clearing in the middle, allowing the flag-bearer to take the opportunity to pull out the flag, retrieve the Zhao Family Army flag from his chest, attach it, and unfurl it. The flag of the Zhao Family Army slowly unfolded in the Xiongnu camp.
Watching from the city tower in Guan City, Beigong Chun imdiately saw the flag rising in the chaotic Xiongnu camp, rejoicing, he turned and ordered, "Open the city gate, go out to et battle!"
Below the tower, three thousand soldiers were already prepared, among them one thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry.
Deputy General Huang An, worried, followed Beigong Chun down, "General, what if this is a Xiongnu ploy..."
Beigong Chun, with a resolute and confident look, said, "It must be reinforcents from Great Jin!"
With that, he mounted his horse, insisting they open the gate, and in this brief interval, he turned to face the soldiers, loudly proclaiming, "Reinforcents have arrived, we must strike the Xiongnu in one swift effort, and the crisis of Guan City will be relieved, we can return to Xiliang!"
Hearing this, the soldiers’ spirits rose, they brandished their swords and spears, cheering "ho ho" twice. Their eyes shone brightly, although they knew in their hearts returning to Xiliang was only a comforting ploy, they couldn’t help but feel hope swelling within.
The city gates opened, and Beigong Chun led the cavalry of a thousand charging out first, while the two thousand infantry followed as per his commands in a trot to aid.
Beigong Chun was both brave and cunning; although he had been hiding in the city lately, the Xiongnu knew of his prowess. After all, last year, with only a few hundred warriors, he repelled Wang Mi and saved Luoyang;
This year, he again led a thousand n to rout the large army of Great General Liu Cong outside Luoyang City, earning Prince East Sea the only victory against the Xiongnu.
So from a distance, seeing Beigong Chun leading troops to attack, the Xiongnu sentries were alard, banging the drums and shouting loudly, "Enemy attack, enemy attack—"
Could those in the camp not know there was an enemy attack?
They were currently engaged with the enemy.
Amidst the chaos, Beigong Chun led his Xiliang Iron Cavalry like a sharp knife into the heart of the Xiongnu camp.
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