The leisurely life of the Qin people

Chapter 246: Arrow
Originally, Modu sent someone to the northern desert to deliver a message, instructing the Left Wise King to lead the various Xiongnu tribes to attack the Qin army camp in Helan Mountain, thus resolving the current crisis.

Even if Modu dies, the Left Wise King can still make the Qin army suffer greatly.

But the messenger sent to deliver the message has not yet returned.

It's been four days. With the horsemanship and warhorses of the Xiongnu, four days is enough for a round trip.

After letting everyone rest for a while, Maodun was planning when to head east to the northern desert.

While everyone was resting, someone else came to report that Qin cavalry were everywhere in the east.

From here, you can already see the Altai Mountains to the west.

To the east, Han Xin continued to follow the cavalry's trail westward, even discovering two warhorses lying on the ground.

The warhorse's body was still warm, so it seemed it hadn't been dead for long.

Han Xin observed the warhorses. The fact that their hooves had been repaired indicated that they belonged to someone else. There was a brand on the side of each horse. He whispered, "These are indeed warhorses of the Xiongnu."

The dozens of people standing nearby all had smiles on their faces.

"Captain, let's give chase."

Han Xin stood up again, breathing in the chilly air, and said, "No rush."

At this moment, Han Xin remembered Wu Luo's wisdom: to capture and kill an enemy in the vast desert, one must conserve one's stamina, slowly driving the enemy along the way until the enemy is exhausted and will not resist.

Han Xin looked at the soldiers around him. The older ones were in their thirties or forties, while the youngest had only recently joined the army and was only nineteen years old.

As a captain, I cannot risk the lives of my brothers.

Han Xin said, "No rush."

The caravan set off once more. Han Xin observed the trail and counted that the enemy had two camels and thirty-five warhorses.

The next day, Han Xin arrived at a lakeside and saw a bonfire and mare's milk wine from the Xiongnu people.

The drinks are still warm, so they must be very close.

Looking at the crowd, Han Xin led his troops to continue riding forward. After traveling several miles, they suddenly heard a sharp whistling sound coming from afar.

The sound was familiar; it was Chen Ping's signal arrow.

Han Xin spurred his horse toward the sound and saw in the distance a Qin army chasing a group of Turks.

Lowering his body, Han Xin continued his pursuit. Snow was falling from the sky, and the snow on the Altai Mountains in the distance was clearly visible.

Three groups of people were chasing each other at the foot of the snow-capped mountain. Two groups of Qin soldiers were slowly approaching the Xiongnu group from the left and right. From a distance, it seemed that the Qin soldiers' warhorses were running faster.

At this moment, Han Xin also took out his whistling arrow, and waiting to get closer, he fired an arrow in the direction of the Xiongnu.

The whistling arrow emitted a piercing, mournful cry in the night sky.

Maodun glared at the Qin army chasing behind him. He was even more shocked to see the Qin army firing signal arrows. When did the Qin army start using signal arrows to send orders?

Just as he was wondering what was going on, Qin army arrows came whistling in, and Maodun could hear the muffled thuds of the soldiers behind him falling to the ground.

Maodun took the bow from his waist, leaned low on his horse, and drew the bow, aiming it at the leading Qin army behind him. This Qin general looked very young.

Just as Modu was about to release the arrow, he suddenly felt a chill at his waist, and then felt his body lose all strength.

The instant Maodun fell from his horse, he saw his arrows fall to the ground, and he also saw the tribal chief holding a knife, a man he trusted implicitly.

Maodun fell to the ground, clutching his bleeding waist and breathing heavily. He couldn't understand why the person he trusted most would stab him.

It seemed that the Qin army had gone far away, and the sound of horses' hooves had faded into the distance.

In that brief moment, Maodun remembered that night when it was snowing, and how he had personally killed his father, the old Chanyu.

It was also a signal arrow, and it was a snowy day.

"Ah..." Maodun let out a long breath, as if he had a sense of relief from accepting defeat.

The sound of horses' hooves returned from the distance. Maodun felt his body growing colder and colder. He was still conscious. He saw the Qin army surrounding him, as well as the Xiongnu people.

They were all looking at him, and he could even hear them talking.

A Xiongnu man was speaking to the Qin army in broken Guanzhong dialect. How broken was it? He was speaking broken Guanzhong dialect and also mixing in Xiongnu language.

No one can win forever, and no one can fail one day.

This was Maodun's reflection before his death.

Han Xin, of course, had no idea what Modu was thinking before he died. He looked at the Qin army in front of him and asked, "Han Xin, a colonel under General Meng Tian, ​​at the Helan Mountain camp."

The other party announced loudly, "Shejian, a captain under General Zhang Han."

"Commander She, you have excellent skills."

"Captain Han, this merit... we'll split it between our two teams."

Han Xin said, "Commander She is right, then let's split it equally between our two teams."

After saying this, Han Xin saw Shejian cleave Maodun's head in two and hang it on his waist. Then Shejian acted as if nothing had happened and directed the troops to organize their warhorses.

Han Xin looked at Maodun's neck, which was still bleeding, and for a moment he was at a loss for words.

Shejian took a sip of the Xiongnu's mare's milk wine and asked, "I saw General Han was still in the rear earlier."

Han Xin said, "I originally intended to wear down the Xiongnu's strength, but who knew that Commandant She would take the lead."

“You came just in time. If you hadn’t come, I wouldn’t have been confident of defeating Modu’s Xiongnu troops.”

Under the cover of night, moonlight shone on the snow-capped peaks of the Altai Mountains, and the two Qin armies walked silently through the desert.

On the way back, Han Xin did not travel fast, and he was able to take in the surrounding scenery. There are not many opportunities in life to travel such a long distance, and this may be the last time in Han Xin's life that he will travel such a long distance.

For the rest of his life, Han Xin would probably never come here again.

"What are your plans after we get back?"

Han Xin took the mare's milk wine handed to him by She Jian, drank a sip, and said, "I'll go home and raise the children with my wife. I don't know anything else, but all I've learned over the years is raising horses. I'll be content raising horses for the rest of my life."

Shejian said, "Commander Han is joking. To be able to find Maodun's trail and attack him from both sides with me, you are a skilled strategist. I can tell."

Shejian looked like an old Qin soldier, but he didn't look very old.

Han Xin had heard about the Qin army's practices before, and he asked, "Do you all hang the enemy's heads on your waists when you kill them?"

Shibuya shook his head and said, "No."

"then you……"

"It's just for convenience." Shima laughed again, "When I die at the hands of the enemy, they will hang my head on someone else's waistband."

Han Xin gave a dry laugh.

"How about you join our Western Army?"

Han Xin chuckled dryly again, "Commander She, you want me to come to the Western Army to raise horses?"

Shejian said, "We need to fight, and we also need to take that snowy mountain."

Han Xin nodded slightly. He did not agree to the other party's request. This place was thousands of miles away from home, and he really missed his wife and children.

Moreover, Shibuma is too cruel, and I don't want to get too close to someone like him.

When Han Xin re-entered the territory where the Qin army was active, he encountered several Qin troops along the way, and only then did he realize that General Meng Tian had already swept through the northern desert.

(End of this chapter)