Some horses were still tied to posts, but only loosely—after all, once horses were tamed, as long as a rope bound them, they would be quite obedient. But now, with a strong pull from the horses, they could drag the posts along as they charged forward. Barbarian soldiers who had run out to engage the enemy were knocked down and trampled by horses or swept aside by the posts.

But the Xiongnu had many cavalry, so naturally there was more than one stable. Before long, men mounted horses and came to engage them. Zhao Hanzhang charged straight at them. She was in the height of battle fervor while the enemy was fearful and alarmed. Upon engaging, she gained the upper hand.

With one thrust of her spear, Zhao Hanzhang knocked away his weapon, then with another sweep, the opponent’s eyes widened as he clutched his neck with one hand before falling. Zhao Hanzhang had already leaped past him. After fighting for some time and seeing the enemy growing more organized, Zhao Hanzhang commanded, “Sound the horn—we withdraw!”

The signal soldier had been following Zhao Hanzhang closely. Hearing this, he immediately took out his horn and blew it with a whooo whooo sound.

The Zhao family soldiers in the enemy camp heard it and began to converge while fighting, killing their way outward.

Zhao Hanzhang was about to weave her way out when, turning her horse around, she glanced at the soldiers behind her but didn’t see Zhao Erlang and his squad of soldiers. Her gaze sharpened. She bit her teeth but still ordered, “Sound the horn to withdraw!”

Her eyes reddened as she looked back at the chaotic enemy camp, unable to find Zhao Erlang. Her heart felt as if it were being burned by fire, but behind her were eight hundred soldiers, and behind them was all of Yuzhou.

This night raid would devastate morale if it failed, especially with morale already so low. If they were defeated in one battle, it would be very difficult for her to win the soldiers over again, and there might even be large numbers of deserters.

Zhao Hanzhang was about to spur her horse to break out when she suddenly heard with her keen ears a familiar “Ahhh—”

Zhao Hanzhang immediately turned back toward the sound. Amid the sea of fire and light, she saw Zhao Erlang trapped in the distance. He was gripping his long spear with both hands, blocking a descending blade. Though so far away that Zhao Hanzhang could barely see the expression on his face, amid all the cacophony she could hear that faint “Ah!” as he clenched his teeth and summoned his strength.

Zhao Hanzhang immediately pulled the reins to turn back, charging in that direction at full speed while ordering, “Change formation! Drive straight into the central army, then break out from the west side!”

The signal soldier heard this and immediately blew the horn, changing from withdrawal to attack. At the same time, the standard bearer beside him closely followed Zhao Hanzhang.

Command flags follow the main general, and soldiers all follow the flags—this was battlefield protocol!

The soldiers didn’t question Zhao Hanzhang’s decision or seek reasons. Hearing the attack horn and instinctively turning back to find their battle flag, they immediately charged toward where the flag was.

Zhao Hanzhang was already cutting and thrusting her way through, her horse moving at extreme speed, even leaping over a collapsed fire column in her path…

Zhao Erlang’s face bulged with prominent veins as he desperately held up his spear, but the blade still pressed down bit by bit, drawing infinitely closer to his neck…

A cruel, bloodthirsty look flashed across Liu Cong’s face. This yellow-haired brat dared to raid him… A faint breeze seemed to brush past Liu Cong’s ear. His pupils contracted, his body reacting faster than his brain. He suddenly pulled back his large blade while throwing his body backward, his back pressed tight against the horse’s back. Almost simultaneously, a spear thrust past where his neck had just been…

The spear pierced through. Without a moment’s hesitation, the long spear swept downward. Liu Cong reacted even faster—seeing the spear slashing toward his face through the air, he rolled off his horse following the momentum, avoiding the second strike…

With the opponent suddenly disengaging, Zhao Erlang lurched forward. A barbarian soldier beside him, having just cut down one of Zhao Erlang’s men, immediately thrust his blade forward hard upon seeing this.

Zhao Hanzhang’s spear swept downward, and seeing it miss again, she didn’t press the attack. She directly reached out to grab Zhao Erlang’s collar and yanked him backward. Her spear changed direction, deflecting the opponent’s blade and piercing through his wrist, then thrusting forward to pierce straight through his heart. She seemed to withdraw the spear effortlessly, then swept it forward, knocking all the barbarian soldiers rushing to assist to the ground…

Zhao Hanzhang roared at Zhao Erlang, “Go!”

Zhao Erlang’s reason had returned. He followed behind his sister, fighting his way out.

After hitting the ground, Liu Cong immediately leaped beyond Zhao Hanzhang’s spear’s range, then grabbed a barbarian soldier and pulled him down, vaulting onto the horse himself. Seeing Zhao Hanzhang about to leave, how could he let them go? He immediately moved to block them.

Zhao Hanzhang blocked the descending large blade, her arm trembling slightly. She fearlessly thrust back. The two immediately engaged in close combat.

Neither Zhao Erlang nor Qiu Wu could get close, only able to weave around, intercepting other barbarian soldiers for Zhao Hanzhang while waiting for the squad leaders behind to bring their men to converge.

Liu Cong was brave and fierce, with substantial prestige. Having blocked Zhao Hanzhang, the chaotic camp behind them slowly became more organized, with more and more barbarian soldiers mounting horses to come support him.

Zhao Hanzhang knew they couldn’t drag this out, or no one would be able to leave.

So her strikes were extremely ruthless and swift. Her spear thrust out in rapid succession. Liu Cong barely managed to block, but she varied her techniques. Seizing an opening, her spear slithered like a snake along his blocking blade and thrust forward with a clang, striking the armor on his right chest…

Based on Liu Cong’s experience, a thrust here wouldn’t do much—his armor could block this strike, so he wasn’t panicked. But he felt almost no pause from her as she thrust forward viciously. Liu Cong felt a stab of pain…

His expression changed, but he didn’t look down at his wound or even at Zhao Hanzhang. Instead, his large blade shifted its attack direction, sweeping ruthlessly toward Zhao Hanzhang’s neck…

Zhao Hanzhang pulled back her spear while throwing herself backward, pressing tight against her horse’s back. At the same time, her horse quickly surged forward, passing by Liu Cong in a staggered motion. Using her core strength, she sat back up, and without looking back, thrust her spear backward. Liu Cong’s deputy general saw this and without thinking threw himself forward, landing on Liu Cong’s right side. A spear pierced through his body. Before he could speak, the spear was withdrawn and he instantly lost all strength, collapsing from the left side with Liu Cong pressed beneath him…

Liu Cong was shocked and dismayed, shouting loudly, “Huyan Lang!”

Zhao Hanzhang felt regret. Though she very much wanted to turn back and stab Liu Cong again, she knew the opportunity was lost and couldn’t force it.

Indeed, as soon as they fell, barbarian soldiers immediately surrounded them, protecting the two.

Zhao Hanzhang only glanced back once before saying, “Go!”

The standard bearer followed Zhao Hanzhang’s retreat, the soldiers followed the standard, and before long they had fought their way out from the west side. The Xiongnu army also organized pursuit forces and chased after them…

At the same time, Ji Ping finally reached the grain supplies. A hundred soldiers quietly approached. Because the camp was in complete chaos, many of the soldiers guarding the grain had run out to support the fight. They smoothly infiltrated and dispersed to various locations.

Ji Ping blew his whistle, and fires started simultaneously in all locations. Having succeeded with one strike, everyone immediately withdrew. Fearing the fire wasn’t strong enough, he also signaled Li Tianhe to shoot fire arrows.

Just as they were withdrawing, Li Tianhe’s fire arrows continuously shot toward the burning area, landing on the grain supplies and instantly igniting a roaring blaze.

The enemy camp grew even more chaotic.

Liu Cong clutched his chest as he rose, seeing the grain storage area engulfed in flames. His eyes blazed with fury. “Jin people, Jin people!”