Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 66 Xu Chu's Ambition

Xu Chu was also completely frustrated about getting lost. He didn't dare to run around randomly. If he encountered the Huns, he would be exhausted and would be like a fish on the chopping board.

With no other options left, they could only place their hopes on these local Hun "residents". As people who grew up on the grasslands, they must know the way.

Therefore, Xu Chu wanted to take this opportunity to persuade several Xiongnu ministers to surrender and rely on these people as guides, otherwise sooner or later they would be trapped and die in this grassland.

Although it is very risky, after all, the Huns are fickle, but now that things have come to this point, there is nothing we can do but try it. Being cheated is better than being a headless fly in the same place.

Several Hun ministers looked at each other, but in the end no one dared to answer.

Seeing this, Xu Chu could only increase his efforts: "You have all received great favors from Junchen, don't you want to avenge your master? And from what I know, that guy is a very bloodthirsty person, and you won't get any good results if you go back."

"It would be better to surrender to the Han Dynasty. His Majesty will be very pleased when he finds out. There are also many Xiongnu ministers in the Central Plains. There is no need to worry at all."

In fact, whether it is the people in the Central Plains or the foreigners, none of them have much national sentiment in their hearts. After all, it has not been many years since the unification. Not to mention the Huns, it is not impossible for them to rebel as long as the bargaining chips are big enough.

For example, Zhonghang Shuo, the envoy who had previously gone to the Xiongnu, had defected from the Han Dynasty. Now he was a very important adviser to the Xiongnu Khan, and was highly respected. The Khan was consulted on almost everything.

Not to mention that Yizhixie came to power in an ignominious way and killed innocent people at will. Many people in the Xiongnu class had long been dissatisfied with him, and these ministers were typical examples.

"If our army is trapped and dies here, you will also die, and you will die before us." Seeing that bribery didn't work, Xu Chu decided to use force.

"General, do you mean that if I take you out and surrender to the Central Plains, you can become Han subjects?" Sure enough, a Xiongnu minister could not resist the temptation.

He was an old minister under Junchen and had no military power. Naturally, he was not valued by Yizhixie. It was a good idea for him to surrender to the Han Dynasty.

Anyway, there is no national sentiment in his heart.

"That's natural."

"Okay, General, I am willing to surrender to the king."

Finally, other wavering Xiongnu ministers also compromised and began to surrender to Xu Chu in droves.

Of course he accepted all of these. To fight the Huns, of course they had to use their own best methods. And it just so happened that the Han army also lacked guides.

.........

"General, look over there."

Xu Chu glanced in that direction and indeed found a familiar Han army camp. The flag belonged to General Huo Qubing!

Under the leadership of the Huns, the army did not get lost but found the direction. This man did not lie. It seemed that this "Hu traitor" was determined to persist to the end.

Xu Chu tidied himself up and ordered his men to reunite. This time their casualties were quite heavy, with only 600 left out of the previous 800 men, but the gains were also great.

In this battle, the Han army beheaded 1,600 people, captured 20 Xiongnu ministers, and also tied up the Chanyu's uncle. This was undoubtedly a boost for the Han army!
"So slow? It looks like you've been in a lot of trouble."

It was already evening, and Huo Qubing was squatting by the campfire, waiting for the chef to cook the mutton for them to eat. He also called Xu Chu to come along.

"Oh... I'm lost. Your sense of direction is pretty good." Xu Chu ignored the other party's ridicule and found a place to sit down.

"I don't know the way either, but I will find someone to lead the way." Huo Qubing answered as he tore off a leg of lamb, dipped it in salt and put it into his mouth. "Find someone to lead the way? You are more courageous than me." Xu Gong was also eating lamb. He was very careful on the way, fearing that he would fall into a trap. Huo Qubing was also very brave.

"Courage can win the battle..." Huo Qubing grabbed the water bag beside him and was about to drink it.

"Wait." Xu Chu grabbed his hand and said warily, "I remember you left in such a hurry that you didn't even let me prepare a drop of water."

"Use local materials. There is water everywhere." Huo Qubing disagreed.

Xu Chu sighed, took out the water bag he had prepared, and threw it to him: "You really don't prepare anything. Take it. Fortunately, I brought it. Ask your soldiers to get water as well. Don't eat the enemy's food if you can."

"Well... okay, thank you very much." Huo Qubing was about to refuse, but suddenly remembered Xu Gong's warning, so he accepted it.

After eating and drinking, the army set up camp on the spot, planning to return to the camp at dawn the next day. It was very dangerous to march alone deep into the enemy's territory at night.

Xu Chu was lying in the tent, feeling inexplicably melancholy. He resented his own incompetence. Why were there such huge differences in their ability to lead troops and their official positions despite their similar age and martial arts skills?
Except for martial arts, Huo Qubing was able to crush him in everything. For example, this breakout was not just a matter of not taking a detour.

His breakout speed was also much faster than his.

"Alas... Father, if Chu had half of your ability, I would be satisfied. I also want to serve the country and bring glory to the clan." He lowered his head silently.

He was determined to surpass Huo Qubing once and for all! He wanted to prove to the world that he was not a vassal, but Xu's general who fought against rebellion!
Day soon dawned, and Huo Qubing led his troops to march at full speed.

"It's not far away."

"There's still about fifteen miles."

Hundreds of elite cavalrymen were galloping across the grassland shrouded in the smoke of the desert. There were grass and water everywhere, and herds of cattle and sheep. This was one of the main pastures of the Huns.

No wonder Huo Qubing didn’t bring food with him when he went to war. There was food everywhere and he could easily grab it.

.........

"General, General Huo and General Xu have returned to the camp."

"Please come in." Wei Qing was very excited when he heard this and quickly put down the things in his hands. He knew his nephew's character well and he was a tough guy.

He could not take responsibility if anything unexpected happened. One of them was his own nephew, the emperor's favorite general, and the other was the son of Prime Minister Xu Gong. Both of them came from prominent families.

"Uncle, Huo Qubing is back and has brought you gifts." Huo Qubing walked into the camp with a big laugh.

"You kid, you're trying to be stubborn again." Wei Qing didn't want to scold him.

"Xu Chu and I are the vanguard of the army. This time we have captured many Xiongnu ministers, including the uncle of the Xiongnu Chanyu." Huo Qubing said with a smile, asking for credit.

Wei Qing looked at Luo Gubi who was tied up, and his shock was beyond words. This was a heavyweight figure of the Xiongnu, and he knew that this man was injured by General Zhou and had been hiding in the rear.

"Well done. Don't worry, I won't take credit for it." In addition, he also got the hand-drawn topographic map by the Huns' minister, which was very helpful in fighting the war.

Three days later, tens of thousands of Han cavalry set out collectively and launched a mighty battle. The Xiongnu Zuoxian King had to respond hastily.

　I plan to finish it before the end of the year with around 1 million words, so I will try to reduce the number of battles and speed up the pace. Anyway, the war scenes I write are not good to read.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)