The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 136 Meng Tian's Great Victory

In the darkness, warhorses circled the river bend. Lang could no longer distinguish the direction in front of him. All he could see were passing cavalrymen. He could only follow the centurion in front of him.

The cold wind was still biting, and when Bai Chang pulled on the reins, the horse stopped.

Lang quickly pulled on his reins, and the warhorses behind him stopped.

It was almost dawn, and the eastern sky was beginning to turn blue, gradually making the scenery in front of us clearer.

As a squad leader, Lang's warhorse was relatively close, and he saw the Xiongnu people, surrounded by the Qin army, retreating under the threat of crossbows.

At the very front of the column, warhorses were still moving about. The Xiongnu people never expected that the Qin army would march at night to attack the river bend.

They assumed the Qin army wouldn't venture beyond the Great Wall on a cold winter night because they felt they lacked the courage.
It should be noted that since the reforms and power struggles of the various states, the Qin army has been the most fearless of death.

Just as General Meng Tian was able to raid the Xiongnu's cavalry in the north of the Yellow River, he can now launch a surprise attack on this place.

After a night of forced march, Lang felt that the soldiers around him were shivering from the cold on their horses, and some of their beards peeking out from their helmets were covered in frost.

Lang exhaled a warm breath in the cold wind and looked ahead.

The Xiongnu warhorses trod through the puddles in the river bend, where broken ice and water mingled. Perhaps feeling too suffocated by the Qin army's encirclement, they spurred their horses forward.

The crossbows fired in unison, and the Xiongnu soldiers in front fell one after another.

Soon, this river bend was stained red with their warm blood.

In fact, the Xiongnu were on guard when the Qin army launched a surprise attack on the area, but their guards were caught up with by the Qin army before they could get far.

The centurion roared, "Kill!"

The entire army charged forward.

Lang didn't know how many people he had killed. Whenever a Xiongnu person appeared in front of him, he would swing his sword and cut them down. His warhorse also trampled countless people. He only saw that many living or dead people were trampled to death by the warhorse.

As the sun rose higher, Lang lowered his body, no longer even using his sword. The battlefield before him grew increasingly crowded, with people even crowding behind the Xiongnu. Screams and the neighing of warhorses filled the air, and the mud and blood mingled together, creating a foul stench.

The warhorse followed the one in front, still moving into the crowd. It seemed that the Huns in front had nowhere to retreat. The warhorse trampled through the crowd, making Lang feel as if he were walking through a narrow alleyway, which was crowded with people.

His gaze swept to the ground behind him, where he saw a Hun man covered in mud trying to stand up, but the horse's hooves stomped down behind him, burying half of his head back into the mud.

As Lang rode on horseback, he felt that his nostrils were filled with the smell of mud and blood when he breathed. He couldn't even tell whether what was splashed on his face was mud or blood, or it must have been a mixture of mud and blood.

I felt the warmth of the sun on my back; the weather had really warmed up, and I even felt sweaty.

When the Qin army reached the riverbank in the bend of the river, they formed a circle and confronted the Xiongnu across the river.

Lang exhaled heavily and looked up to see General Meng Tian and a group of elite cavalry at the forefront, holding long spears and confronting the Xiongnu.

Beneath their feet lay even more Hun corpses. No wonder the battlefield was so crowded; behind these Huns lay the thawed river bend, where the water had begun to flow again.

There were still some Xiongnu people swimming in the river, but they were all quickly killed by Qin army arrows.

General Meng Tian seized the crucial opportunity presented by the thawing of the river and launched a surprise attack.

When the Xiongnu first conquered this land, the river bends were not yet thawed, and warhorses could walk on the ice to enter the bends.

Now, the ice is beginning to thaw, and the river is flowing again.

The Qin army either drove away or surrounded and killed the Xiongnu on the periphery, leaving only a large group of Xiongnu troops in the center of the river bend.

Lang saw the enraged Xiongnu leader and asked the centurion beside him, "Is he the Xiongnu king Touman?"

Bai Chang replied, "No, he is just a leader of the Aries tribe."

Another young centurion explained to Lang, "The Xiongnu king Touman's royal camp is not here; he must be hiding in the north."

"The General has ordered: cremate the corpse!"

"Lang, you take your men and work with the convicts to collect the corpses."

"Yes!"

Lang didn't know how General Meng Tian confronted the large group of Xiongnu people. He was directing the convicts in the rear to carry the corpses, one after another, the corpses were pulled out and burned.

Whenever he moved a corpse, Lang would think of what his elder brother Li You had told him at the foot of Shangyan Mountain. At that time, his elder brother Li You often said that dead people are very heavy, really heavy.

Every time Lang and the soldiers carried the corpses, he understood Li You's words perfectly; it was really heavy and tiring.

The bodies were piled up and burned at night.

The Qin army continued to surround the Xiongnu people, and dared not drink the water from the river bend, instead drinking the water they had brought with them.

The grasslands were still somewhat hot during the day, but the wind turned bitterly cold at night. The Qin soldiers put their sheepskin cloaks back on. Because they were marching lightly and quickly at night, they carried only water and dry rations without any baggage.

The Qin army gathered in the grasslands, confronting the Xiongnu and seeing who could withstand the cold longer.

There were even instances of Qin soldiers and Xiongnu people exchanging insults across the river, with the Xiongnu speaking their own language and the Qin soldiers speaking their own Guanzhong dialect, or their respective native accents.

The Xiongnu people believed that Xiongnu cavalry from other tribes would surely come to their rescue.

General Meng Tian deployed scouts every mile along the outer grasslands, and they would report back every hour.

A day and a night passed, and still no other Huns from other tribes came to their rescue.

Instead, the Qin army sent supplies, tents, food, and hay from their rear.

The Qin army could transport snow from afar to boil water for drinking, but the Xiongnu trapped in the river bend could not. After they finished eating the snow, they began to drink the water from the river bend, which even the Qin army dared not drink.

The Qin people were capable of marching on snow. Lang didn't consider himself a well-read person, but he had read stories about the Qin people since he was a child. He studied at Shangyan Mountain for seven years and read stories about the Qin army for seven years.

Those were the best seven years of his life.

Three more days passed, and still no other Xiongnu tribes came to their rescue. The Xiongnu people besieged in the river bend began to fall ill in large numbers, and some were already bedridden and unable to get up.

The Qin army still had clean water and dry rations to fill their stomachs.

Seeing that the time was ripe, under General Meng Tian's cold military orders, the Qin army began to fire arrows, throw stones, or set fire to rattan balls and throw them at the Xiongnu.

A calm and ruthless massacre lasted for several hours, until Lang saw that across the entire river bend, scattered Xiongnu soldiers on the opposite side of the Qin army began to fall one by one.

In fact, even without the Qin army firing arrows, these Xiongnu people would have died from disease and hunger.

General Meng Tian seized this river bend at minimal cost, beheading 12,000 Xiongnu.

After a day of rest, the army left the river bend and headed north, eventually joining up with another Qin army that came out from the Great Wall. This was the Meng family army, the elite cavalry under Meng Tian.

There were also tens of thousands of chariot soldiers. Sometimes I think that the Qin army's greatest strength was not how fierce it was, but its powerful construction capabilities and strict command system, which allowed the Qin army to obtain sufficient equipment on the battlefield. The Qin army's rear camps always had a large number of craftsmen and laborers.

Upon seeing the large contingent of chariot soldiers, Lang was deeply impressed by the strength of the Qin army.

Guanzhong sent many more long spears, and this time Lang also received one.

It was assumed that after taking over the river bend, the Qin army would either garrison there or build a city. The Xiongnu probably thought so too. Losing tens of thousands of cavalry might not have been a big deal. The Xiongnu also thought that the Qin army would not stay in the river bend for long and would retreat back to the Great Wall.

At that time, General Meng Tian launched a surprise attack on Beihe, and then retreated back to the Great Wall.

Once the Qin army returned to the Great Wall, the Xiongnu would feel that the river bend would still belong to them.

However, the Qin army continued its northward march, and Lang was among the troops.

Messengers rode through the various military formations, relaying orders that the Qin army's next target was the Baiyang tribe's main camp, and after capturing the Baiyang tribe, they would head straight for Touman King's tent.

The cavalry began to disperse, and Lang followed orders. He did not know how to fight this battle, but he had heard that Hun scouts had been spotted ahead.

They discovered that the Qin army was marching north, so naturally they took precautions.

They had actually been marching for three days before being discovered by the scouts of the Baiyang tribe. From here, it would only take half a day to attack the Baiyang tribe. The Qin cavalry began their rapid march once again, heading towards the Baiyang tribe. The place where the Baiyang tribe was gathered was called Alada. In ancient times, it was the old royal court of the Yiqu King. King Hui of Qin had conquered Beidi, killed the Yiqu King, and established Beidi Commandery there.

Now the Qin army has arrived again, and they are going to kill the Xiongnu king of the Baiyang tribe.

The cavalry charged across the grassland; the weather had only recently warmed up, and there was still a lot of snow on the ground.

The Xiongnu from the Baiyang tribe had left their camp and were charging towards the Qin army.

Lang was among the Qin cavalry at the very front. Leading his troops and wielding long spears, he faced the charging Xiongnu cavalry and shouted, "Kill!"

Arrows rained down on the Xiongnu.

Meanwhile, the Xiongnu arrows also came at the Qin army, and many cavalrymen on both sides fell.

"Thump...thump..." Two arrows from the Xiongnu pierced his leather armor, and Lang heard two muffled thuds very clearly.

The moment the two cavalry forces clashed, Lang charged into the Xiongnu cavalry at top speed, thrusting his long spear forward. A dark, overwhelming feeling pressed down on him again, and he felt surrounded by countless people. Lang went berserk, and the Qin army went berserk as well.

Their armor was sometimes slashed by swords, sometimes struck heavily, and as the Qin army's chariots charged in, they tore open gaps in the Xiongnu army.

Qin soldiers, armed with hooked halberds, slashed at horses' legs in the battle. These halberds, with their blood grooves, were extremely lethal, and the leather armor of the Xiongnu could not defend against their thrusts.

As the sounds of battle gradually subsided and there were no more Huns standing before him, Lang rose again from the muddy grass. He tore open his tattered armor and gasped for breath.

The setting sun cast a crimson glow over the battlefield, where only a few thousand Qin soldiers remained standing.

Lang felt the pain on his skin, sweat and blood mixed together, and he grimaced in pain. Only after washing it clean did he realize that he was not seriously injured.

The next day, he inevitably had bruises all over his body. After listening to the speeches of several centurions, he learned that the army that had come from afar had been divided into several teams, and three other armies were also fighting at the same time.

From fleeing the Great Wall to the river bend, and then launching a blitzkrieg northward, the Qin army annihilated 10,000 cavalrymen of the Baiyang tribe in three days and captured 300,000 livestock.

The blitzkrieg caught the Huns completely off guard.

The Qin army slaughtered livestock and made dried meat to serve as military rations. Lang met General Meng Tian again. The Qin army won a great victory, destroyed the Baiyang tribe, and beheaded three Xiongnu kings, including the Chifeng Xiongnu king.

The Qin army's next stop was Touman City, which was ruled by the most powerful Xiongnu king, Touman Chanyu.

A few days later, Meng Tian met with Lord Wu again, who brought news from Prince Fusu.

Upon receiving news from Prince Fusu, Meng Tian ordered the construction of Yangshan Barrier, the establishment of a large camp, and the rebuilding of war chariots.

Three months later, around summer in Guanzhong, the Qin army marched on the grasslands once again. Lang was still chewing on dried meat when he mounted his horse, took up his long spear, and marched once more.

After two major victories at Hewan and Baiyang, the Xiongnu gathered a large cavalry force, determined to wipe out Meng Tian's army.

Wu Gong said to Lang, "The young master sent someone to deliver a letter, asking me to check if you are still alive and well."

Lang said, "I have beheaded more than sixty people, and my warhorses have trampled countless Xiongnu to death. What kind of reward will you give me, my lord?"

Wu Gong then said, "I dare not say."

Lang said, "You don't have to march with us."

Lord Wu then said, "The Prime Minister asked me to record the battle events."

"What? Didn't General Meng Tian write it in enough detail?"

“Very detailed.” Wu Gong nodded. What he didn’t say was… the Prime Minister would only be convinced if the two battle reports were consistent.

The emperor trusted General Meng Tian; it was just that the prime minister was suspicious.

After the army marched across the Yin Mountains, in the distance lay Touman City, the capital of the Xiongnu king Touman, where the main force of Touman Chanyu was still located.

"The General has ordered: Cut off the water supply and burn the grass!"

Lang replied, "Yes!"

When General Meng Tian issued his order, tens of thousands of captured cattle, engulfed in flames, were driven out of the camp.

They burned grasslands around Touman City and the surrounding Loufan tribe's Xiongnu settlements.

In the height of summer, when the wind blew, it stirred up black ash from the grassland, turning the grassland into black ash, and their flock of sheep lost their pastures.

General Meng Tian cut down trees to build a dam, cutting off the water source for Touman City.

Instead of attacking Touman City, the Qin army seized the upstream water source and cut off the water supply.

Now, the Qin army has burned even the grass.

Until autumn, Lang, along with several centurions and their troops, arrived at Gaoque Pass.

Gaoque Pass has a dark red mountain peak, which is a crucial passage from the northern grasslands to the Hetao region.

They came to ambush them. Lang's eyes were fixed on the valley, where two thousand soldiers had been waiting since night until noon the next day.

Lang learned that General Meng Tian had led a large army to attack Touman City, but he did not know how the battle was going.

Finally, a group of Huns appeared before them.

The group picked up their crossbows and lay in ambush on both sides of the mountain. When the Xiongnu reached the center of the valley, the Xiongnu in front seemed to have noticed something. When they looked up at the mountain, they saw the Qin army with crossbows.

But it was too late. The crossbows on both sides went off simultaneously, and arrows poured into the valley.

Lang did not go to the main battlefield, but soon cavalry arrived and he heard the news of the great victory. The Qin army had captured Touman City and the Xiongnu king Touman had fled north.

General Meng Tian led his cavalry in a pursuit of three hundred li, and in this battle, thirty thousand heads were taken.

In this battle, the Qin army captured the area north and south of Yinshan Mountain and the entire Hetao region.

The distant Western Regions.

Autumn in the Western Regions is not a good season. There is also a group of Xiongnu people here, whose leader is a Xiongnu king named Modu, whom the Xiongnu people call Modu Chanyu.

Upon receiving news of Touman's crushing defeat, Maodun spoke in a low, clenched voice, using the Xiongnu language, "My foolish father!"

……

At this moment, in Xianyang, it was the season of annoying autumn rain in Guanzhong. Fusu held his son, and in front of him was the good news sent from the north.

With a smile on his face, Tian An added, "The good news has arrived, and I hear the people in the Prime Minister's residence are very happy."

Fusu said, "Except for the Prime Minister."

Tian An nodded.

"There's nothing we can do about it. That's just the kind of person my teacher is. It's normal for him to be suspicious of Meng Tian. Actually, it's not necessarily a bad thing."

Fusu said to his son.

Gongzi Heng was smiling.

This child is at the age where all he knows is to laugh and cry.

Fusu handed the child to Tian An, and only then did his hands have a free hand to pick up his pen and continue writing the countermeasures for the ban on private schools. This was another major event in the second half of the prime minister's life.

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Note: Modern archaeology has revealed that in the first battle of the war between Qin and the Xiongnu, the Qin army marched rapidly across the frozen Hetao region at night in temperatures as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius. The convicts were wrapped in sheepskins to sneak through the battlefield (sheepskin coats were found in Qin tombs in Yulin).

In three days, they annihilated 10,000 cavalrymen of the Baiyang tribe and captured 400,000 head of livestock (Yunmeng Qin Bamboo Slips "Chronicle").
The Battle of Gaoque Pass took place in 214 BC. The "cut off water and burn grass" strategy involved Qin engineers cutting down forests to build rafts to block the river and burning pastures in southern Gobi Desert. Archaeological evidence shows that Meng Tian's burning of pastures led to the emergence of desertification (pollen analysis of strata shows a sharp decline in grass).

The bones of Xiongnu people found in the Chulechuan tombs show signs of calcium deficiency (caused by a shortage of meat and milk).
(End of this chapter)