Qiu Wu was somewhat nervous, but he steadied himself. When he saw Xiongnu soldiers approaching to question them, he followed Zhao Hanzhang’s instructions and had Wei You go up to answer.

“Tell them we found rare treasures and are specially transporting them back for the general to inspect.”

Wei You hadn’t expected their audacity to be so great. If he shouted out “Jin army” or “enemy attack” right now, they would certainly be finished.

But…

Why should he do that?

They were all slaves. Zhao Hanzhang at least barely treated them like people. Although it seemed fake now, fake was fine – either way, if he shouted out, he wouldn’t survive. Qiu Wu behind him could kill him with one slash.

If Zhao Hanzhang failed, he would be the first to die.

His thoughts churned as he loudly answered the Xiongnu soldier’s questions.

The other party didn’t inspect carefully either. He glanced at the several wagons in their formation, stepped aside to let them pass the checkpoint.

He wouldn’t imagine there could still be Jin forces in the Guancheng area. After all, except for Guancheng, everywhere else had been conquered by them.

After passing the checkpoint, there was still some distance to the main camp. The dozen or so cavalrymen riding at the very back, as they passed by, struck with their blades, and several men silently fell.

They dragged the bodies along with them. Just as they were about to dump them by the roadside, people from the main camp had already noticed something wrong. “That’s not right – when did we have such a cavalry unit outside?”

These two thousand men all had horses, and they appeared to be strong, spirited warhorses – nothing like horses that had just rushed back urgently.

Those they had sent out to requisition grain were cavalry paired with infantry, with infantry as the main force. Having a thousand cavalry among five thousand men would already be considered good.

Xiongnu fought battles with both warhorses and saddles provided by themselves, and even early provisions had to be prepared by themselves. Many people, after fighting for a while, lost their horses and could only follow the army on two legs.

Some, from the very beginning, couldn’t afford horses and could only carry blades as common soldiers.

These two thousand men…

The person who realized something was wrong was still some distance from the drum. He could only turn and shout loudly, “Enemy attack—”

Zhao Hanzhang kicked her horse’s belly, and she and her mount leaped out from the formation. Before long, she caught up to the man before her. Her long spear thrust out and took his head, then she raised the spear high and shouted, “Soldiers, kill—”

The soldiers, stirred by the blood, their morale rising, followed her in revealing their weapons and roaring in unison before charging into the camp with Zhao Hanzhang.

The encampment location Qiao Xi had chosen was open on all sides, not too close and not too far from Guancheng’s east gate, positioned just right to observe the movements on the gate tower while staying outside the gate’s firing range.

Because of the wide-open view, as soon as troops appeared on any side, they could look up and see them.

This was also why Zhao Hanzhang needed to change clothes. Without changing, as soon as they appeared in view, the enemy could determine they were Jin forces, and they would likely have prepared for battle before reaching them.

Zhao Hanzhang never doubted the Xiongnu’s speed in mounting horses for battle.

Right now was just perfect – they had already entered the camp and could charge right in.

All the soldiers followed Zhao Hanzhang in killing their way into the camp. Because Beigong Chun had held his position without emerging, unless they went to attack the city, there was basically no combat.

And since Qiao Xi’s main force had not attacked the city in ten days already.

Never mind ten days – three days was enough to make soldiers lazy in their bones. At this moment, they were relaxing in the camp. Qiao Xi especially, embracing who-knows-where-from beauties, was smiling as he accepted the fine wine they fed him. Hearing the sounds of battle, he jolted awake, forcefully pushing the two beauties aside and to the floor, then reached for his armor.

A soldier, not caring what was happening inside, burst straight in and knelt on the ground to report, “General, there’s an enemy attack!”

As Qiao Xi donned his clothes, he asked, “Is it Jin people, or whose men?”

He didn’t think it would be Jin people, suspecting someone was secretly stabbing him in the back. After all, the Xiongnu were internally divided into tribes, and Liu Yuan had only unified the various tribes in the past two years – and not through force. Though they had jointly elected him as their leader, they had never truly accepted each other.

It was only because the Jin State, that sweet, large carrot, had been dangling in front of them that they hadn’t started fighting amongst themselves.

With Qiao Xi asking this way, the soldier paused, following his train of thought. He immediately said, “They’re wearing our Han State’s clothes, but flying our banners.”

With the soldier saying this, Qiao Xi became even more certain someone was stabbing him in the back. Fury flooded his mind, filling his eyes and brain with hatred and rage. “Who is it? Who wants to take advantage and kill me?”

“Liu Yao, Liu Qin, or Wang Mi and Shi Le?”

His relationships with all four were poor.

In his anger, he couldn’t be bothered to finish putting on his armor or helmet properly. He grabbed his long spear and went out.

Zhao Hanzhang killed her way through, leaving men and horses toppled in her wake. A gap opened in the middle, and only then did the flag bearer find space to yank down the banner he’d been carrying, pull out the Zhao Family Army banner from his chest, attach it, and raise it high. The Zhao Family Army banner slowly unfurled in the Xiongnu main camp.

Beigong Chun, who had been waiting on the Guancheng tower, immediately spotted the banner rising in the distance amidst the increasingly chaotic Xiongnu camp. Overjoyed, he turned and ordered, “Open the city gates and go out to meet them in battle!”

Below the tower, three thousand soldiers had long been ready. Among them, one thousand were cavalry, the remaining two thousand were infantry.

Vice General Huang An was worried. Following behind Beigong Chun as he descended the tower, he said, “General, what if this is a Xiongnu trick…”

Beigong Chun’s eyes were bright and determined. “That is definitely our Great Jin’s reinforcements!”

With that, he insisted on having the gates opened. Taking advantage of this gap, he turned to face all the soldiers and proclaimed loudly, “Reinforcements have arrived! We must seize this momentum to drive back the Xiongnu. Once Guancheng’s crisis is resolved, we can return to Xiliang!”

Hearing this, the soldiers’ spirits lifted and their eyes brightened, shouting “hah hah” twice. Though they knew in their hearts that returning to Xiliang was just a comforting statement, they still couldn’t help but feel hope stirring.

The gates opened. Beigong Chun led a thousand cavalry out first, with two thousand infantry following his deployment, jogging forward in support.

Beigong Chun was both brave and strategic. Although he had been hiding in the city without emerging this whole time, the Xiongnu all knew his prowess. After all, last year with just a few hundred brave warriors, he had driven back Wang Mi and protected Luoyang.

This year, he had led a thousand men to kill General Liu Cong’s great army into disarray outside Luoyang city – it was the only victory the Prince of Donghai had achieved against the Xiongnu.

So from afar, seeing Beigong Chun leading troops out, the Xiongnu scouts were alarmed. While beating drums, they shouted loudly, “Enemy attack, enemy attack—”

Did the camp not know there was an enemy attack?

They were fighting the enemy right now.

Amidst the chaos, Beigong Chun led his Xiliang Iron Cavalry like a sharp blade piercing into the heart of the Xiongnu main camp.

Beigong Chun took the lead, with the Xiliang Iron Cavalry behind him. Whether in martial skill or valor, they far surpassed the Zhao Family Army. As soon as they entered the battlefield, they demonstrated different battle achievements.

In just moments, everywhere they passed was cleared. Some Xiongnu soldiers, seeing them from afar, turned pale and fled.

Beigong Chun caught up from behind and cut them down. If they weren’t along his path, he simply ignored them, charging toward the center of the camp where the shouting and killing were loudest.

Zhao Hanzhang was currently surrounded by Xiongnu troops. Qiao Xi stood at a distance directing, with many people surrounding him, so Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t reach him.

However, they couldn’t harm Zhao Hanzhang either. Her horse-controlling skills were quite good, and her long spear was sharp – almost every thrust drew blood. The Xiongnu didn’t dare approach, only surrounding her from a distance.

Beigong Chun saw her, admiration flashing in his eyes. Without a second thought, he led his troops straight toward the distant Qiao Xi.

Qiao Xi turned to see Beigong Chun, his face immediately changing color. He quickly turned his horse around and ordered, “Encircle them, encircle them – stop Beigong Chun!”

But the Xiongnu soldiers who had been tightly surrounding him, upon seeing Beigong Chun, trembled in fear and couldn’t help stepping back two paces.

In that moment of hesitation, Beigong Chun led his troops in, and both sides engaged in fierce combat. But in reality, they were panicking and struggling to resist. After the comrades in front fell one by one, those behind holding blades couldn’t help but retreat three steps, then turn to run.

As soon as they turned to flee, they were thoroughly defeated. The surrounding people followed them in retreat, but in that turning moment, Beigong Chun led his men in harvesting their lives, then pursued Qiao Xi.

But he was also extremely calm-headed. He wouldn’t lose sight of everything else just to kill Qiao Xi. He deliberately maneuvered through the camp, driving Qiao Xi to draw more people in, preventing them from retreating and escaping.

Zhao Erlang, his eyes red with bloodlust, helped his sister break out of the encirclement and also set his sights on Qiao Xi, turning his horse to chase after Beigong Chun.

Zhao Hanzhang called out, “Erlang, come back!”

Zhao Erlang turned to look at his sister.

Zhao Hanzhang said, “Follow me to cut off their retreat. We can’t let them regroup.”

Zhao Hanzhang decided to thoroughly scatter them. Even if they couldn’t completely annihilate these Xiongnu, they should prevent them from gathering again. With a major battle imminent, reducing their strength even by a fraction was worthwhile.

Zhao Erlang had no choice but to turn his horse and follow Zhao Hanzhang in charging out.

Zhao Hanzhang led her troops chasing after the fleeing soldiers as they emerged, attacking repeatedly to scatter them in all directions.

She only pursued the main forces, not scattered soldiers. She would kill when possible, but otherwise just scatter them, preventing them from gathering in one place.

Huang An saw Zhao Hanzhang calling to her troops as they charged out, his heart tightening. He couldn’t help catching up to Beigong Chun and, taking advantage of a gap in the fighting, complained, “General, they’ve retreated!”

Beigong Chun only glanced back before saying, “She’s cutting off their retreat path, giving Guancheng a chance at survival. We must break through his camp!”

Beigong Chun was like a fierce tiger, charging through the Xiongnu camp, forcing them to abandon their encampment and scatter in all directions.

Qiao Xi fled in disgrace. He had already abandoned his helmet and, with his personal guards, simply ran.

But though Beigong Chun was killing enemies, he never stopped searching for him. Previously he couldn’t find him, but just as he was about to break out of the camp, the corner of his eye caught sight of him.

This must be fate arranged by heaven. Beigong Chun spurred his horse forward. Qiao Xi saw the killer approaching and had a premonition in his heart, but still wanted to try for a chance – what if heaven favored him?

But this was impossible. Beigong Chun’s spear pierced through him. After taking his head, he proclaimed loudly, “Qiao Xi is dead! Will you not surrender?”

Some immediately threw down their weapons to surrender, but more scattered and fled. They didn’t believe that falling into Beigong Chun’s hands would allow them to survive.

Half an hour later, Zhao Hanzhang led her forces back from the far end of the road. She was still in decent shape with some energy remaining, but Fu Tinghan returned with a numb expression on his face, expressionlessly reining in his horse before Beigong Chun, raising his head to look at this tall and imposing young man.

Beigong Chun only glanced at Fu Tinghan before turning his gaze to Zhao Hanzhang, a smile appearing on his face as he cupped his fists. “Might you be Commandery Governor Zhao Hanzhang of Runan?”

Zhao Hanzhang smiled slightly and nodded. “Indeed I am. I was ordered to command the military forces of Yuzhou. General Beigong, your ability to hold Guancheng for twenty-six days is truly heroic. I only hope I have not arrived too late.”

Upon hearing this, Beigong Chun sighed inwardly, though his face revealed nothing. “That Commandery Governor Zhao came personally to provide relief is already something for which the Xiliang soldiers are deeply grateful.”

One must know that previously when he had requested reinforcements from the court, the court couldn’t provide them and passed the responsibility to Yuzhou, while Yuzhou, being unable to protect itself, didn’t ask him for reinforcements, which was already good enough.

And when he requested provisions, not only did the court deflect, even Yuzhou couldn’t support him with anything.

He had come to support Luoyang and Yuzhou, yet ended up being passed around like a ball. Forget about working together – they couldn’t even guarantee his basic subsistence. To say he harbored no resentment would be impossible.

But Beigong Chun also couldn’t abandon a city full of common people and leave.

After the city fell, the common people’s fate could be seen from the surrounding counties’ situations. So even lacking grain and men, he still led his troops in defending Guancheng.

But honestly speaking, the military camp was running low on provisions now. The soldiers were having one full meal followed by two hungry ones. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could hold Guancheng.

Zhao Hanzhang was now the one in charge of Yuzhou’s administration and military. Though Beigong Chun harbored resentment, in order to obtain provisions, he swallowed his grievances and put on a smiling face toward Zhao Hanzhang.

But Zhao Hanzhang herself was obtaining provisions locally – where would she have provisions for Beigong Chun?

However…

Zhao Hanzhang immediately turned to look for Fu Tinghan. “The Xiongnu soldiers have all fled. There must be provisions and wealth in this camp. Find them all.”

She said to Beigong Chun, “Don’t worry about lacking provisions. We fight to sustain ourselves through war. If we can’t seize enough provisions, it doesn’t matter – we’ll use the plundered wealth to buy grain. By the way, are there major landowners and grain merchants in Guancheng?”

Beigong Chun: “…They may not be willing to sell grain.”

Zhao Hanzhang said, “I’ll go talk with them. They’ll be willing.”

Choose between: having Xiongnu come to their doors to requisition grain after Guancheng falls; having the common people, unable to survive in the city, come to them to “borrow grain”; or now selling grain to them at slightly higher prices.

Fu Tinghan led people and quickly found large quantities of treasures. Of course, there were still provisions – Qiao Xi wasn’t completely useless. Before leaving, he had ordered soldiers to burn the grain supplies.

It’s just that the one who received the order was a Jie barbarian. He cherished the grain and hesitated for a moment. Before he could act, he was caught up to by Zhao Family Army soldiers, so he failed to burn it.