Inheriting a Taoist temple, the story begins with Wu Zetian offering incense.

Chapter 135 Capturing the Xiongnu Prince Alive! [Seeking Monthly Tickets]

At Huo Qubing's command, everyone mounted their horses and prepared to attack.

Twenty li is neither far nor near. Based on the terrain observed by the drone, Zhang Qian drew a simple overhead map in his notebook, marking not only the Xiongnu camp but also several prominent geographical features along the way to help him judge distances during the march.

Recently, Zhang Qian, as a deputy captain, has been earning military merits while also studying drawing-related knowledge on his own.

He is not as good as Huo Qubing in leading troops, nor as good as Zhao Ponu in maintaining military discipline and vitality. If he wants to partner with these two, he needs to develop his staff skills to make up for the weakest link in the special forces team.

Huo Qubing glanced at the map and began issuing battle orders:
"Ziwen Gong, you lead three hundred cavalry to flank from the left, Zhao Ponu leads three hundred cavalry to flank from the right, and I will lead the remaining troops to attack from the front."

Speed ​​is of the essence in war, so leave all supplies on the spot and retrieve them after the battle.

After assigning the combat mission, Huo Qubing distributed walkie-talkies. Each of the three main generals and deputy generals had a walkie-talkie. After setting the channel, the cavalry special forces set off under the setting sun.

Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu's marching distance was relatively long, so their marching speed needed to be increased. Huo Qubing's troops, on the other hand, were marching in a straight line, covering a shorter distance, so they had to keep their speed down.

With nothing else to do, Huo Qubing wiped the horse spear given to him by Zhou Yi with a silk cloth. Seeing that the captain beside him was using a wild boar spear given to him by Chen Tang, he smiled and asked:

How powerful is this spear?

"Reporting to the general, the Xiongnu's armor can be pierced with a single blow, making it much more effective than the spears issued to the army."

The wild boar spear is made of high-manganese steel, which is very suitable for straight thrusts. In addition, it is sharpened on both sides, so it can pierce through cloth armor, leather armor, or even the bronze armor of the Huns with one thrust.

Huo Qubing wrote it down, planning to ask his master to purchase some more next time he visited Hunyuan Palace.

I've been taking Master's supplies for free all this time without offering any gifts. Today, I'll take this opportunity to present my spoils to Master.

Ever since Wei Qing seized the Hetao region where the Right Wise King was located, giving the Han Dynasty the Shuofang Commandery, the Xiongnu royal family has been less inclined to venture into the border regions.

I suddenly encountered one today, and I have to take him down no matter what, and exchange his crown for the wild boar spear!
As the sun slowly sank into the western plains and night gradually fell on the grasslands, Huo Qubing and his men quietly approached the Xiongnu camp.

The group's camp was located next to a seasonal river. The river was wide, but according to Zhao Ponu, it was not deep and could be easily crossed on horseback.

The three communicated via walkie-talkie and finalized their attack plan. Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu crossed the river from upstream to downstream, circled around to the rear of the camp, and seized advantageous terrain.

Huo Qubing arrived at the riverbank and looked across the river at the camp on the other side. The Xiongnu people seemed to be eating roasted meat, and there were sounds of them toasting each other, making it a very lively scene.

"Could it be that the Xiongnu royal family came here for a team-building event?"

Huo Qubing learned the term "team building" while eating pork stew with vermicelli at Hunyuan Palace in the evening. This was also the first time that the entire Hunyuan Palace family had a meal together.

Putting his thoughts aside, Huo Qubing took out a laser pointer and drew a horizontal line on the riverbank.

Upon seeing this, the cavalry behind him immediately spurred their horses forward and formed a long line... Since there were too few cavalrymen under his command, in order to create the impression of a massive army, the momentum during the river crossing had to be greater, causing the Xiongnu to flee north in panic, thus creating an opportunity for Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu to ambush them.

Huo Qubing had never studied military strategy, and before leading troops, he couldn't explain it clearly.

But ever since he went beyond the Great Wall, his command methods have been varied and unpredictable, and each time he managed to wipe out the Xiongnu without leaving a single survivor... This is the terrifying aspect of top-tier military talent.

Without reason or logic, they always make the right judgment at crucial moments.

Once the battle formation was complete, Huo Qubing raised his spear and led the charge towards the Xiongnu camp on the opposite bank:
"kill!"

The cavalry on both sides simultaneously let out a roar, spurred their horses into the river, and charged toward the Xiongnu camp on the opposite bank.

The Xiongnu were so frightened by the sudden shouts of battle that they almost dropped their wine. Then they heard the sound of thousands of horses galloping across the river, which made them even more terrified.

The scene of being chased and beaten by Wei Qing last year was still vivid in their minds. Now, the Han army had silently attacked them again. These people had no intention of resisting. They immediately threw down their wine cups, mounted their horses, and rushed out of the camp, running north for their lives.

Some tried to organize troops to resist, even if it meant holding the camp and waiting for reinforcements, but no one listened. Everyone was in a state of chaos, like headless flies.

Zhao Ponu saw this through his binoculars and said on the group channel of the walkie-talkie:

"This isn't a regular Xiongnu army; perhaps it's some royal family member coming to the river for leisure... Should we capture them alive or kill them?"

Huo Qubing, fearing that killing them would ruin the imperial family's crown, issued an order to capture them alive:
"Try to capture them alive. If they resist fiercely, attack their torso first, and avoid their heads."

As they were speaking, Huo Qubing had already crossed the seasonal river and reached the north bank.

As soon as he landed, he picked up the high-powered outdoor searchlight from his horse, turned it on, and began searching for the Xiongnu archers guarding the camp fence.

For every archer spotted, the Han soldiers would unleash four or five arrows, providing full firepower coverage.

Under the intense light, the Xiongnu archers couldn't open their eyes and were unable to fight back. Moreover, not knowing what kind of divine magic this was, they had no choice but to jump off the stockade wall and give up resisting.

While Huo Qubing was training his archer cavalry under the lamplight, some Xiongnu people quietly dismantled the side fence, rode out of the camp, and fled north for their lives.

"Shout in the Xiongnu language that they surrender and will not be killed."

Huo Qubing ignored the fleeing Xiongnu and ordered his men to start shouting to persuade them to surrender.

The pressure was enough; all that was needed was a reason to surrender, and the Xiongnu's morale would quickly crumble. Sure enough, as soon as the persuasion began, several Xiongnu threw down their weapons on the spot and raised their hands in a standard French military salute in response to the Han army's shouts.

With one person taking the lead, others followed, and soon, large numbers of Xiongnu people in the camp surrendered.

Those who did not surrender mounted their horses and fled the camp in a panic... but they either provided experience and merit to Huo Qubing's men, or became military achievements for Zhang Qian and Zhao Ponu.

Huo Qubing raised the drone and used the night mode to take a look. None of the fleeing Xiongnu had escaped, so there was no need to worry about letting the big fish get away.

He rode up to the front of the camp and ordered the Xiongnu people inside to line up and come out:
Is there anyone who understands Mandarin?

Soon, a Xiongnu man raised his hand and replied in somewhat broken Chinese:

"I can."

Huo Qubing asked:
"What kind of team are you? You're even flying the royal wolf flag. Name the high-ranking officials here, and I'll guarantee your safety for the rest of your life."

Upon hearing this, the Hun immediately said:

"Recently, the Han Dynasty has been frequently launching northern expeditions, and several princes wish to change their fiefdoms, so they are hosting a banquet for the Sixth Prince here..."

Xiao Wang?

Immediately, a soldier well-versed in the Xiongnu official system explained to Huo Qubing:

"The so-called minor kings were the subordinate kings of the Xiongnu, who were separate from the four kings and the twenty-four chiefs, and generally commanded one or two thousand or three or five thousand people."

The four kings of the Xiongnu refer to the Left Wise King, the Right Wise King, the Left Guli King, and the Right Guli King. These four were the right-hand men of the Chanyu (Xiongnu ruler). The Left Wise King was usually the crown prince and was the successor of the Xiongnu.

However, the position of successor is not very secure. Take the current Xiongnu Chanyu Yizhixie for example. He was originally the Left Guli King and had no right to inherit the throne, but he led an army to rebel when his nephew took the throne and successfully obtained the position of Chanyu.

The Xiongnu had many subordinate kings. During the Battle of Hexi, Huo Qubing killed the Xiongnu kings Zhelan and Luhou, severely injured the kings Hunxie and Xiutu, and even captured Xiutu's son, Jin Ridi... Well, this famous regent was once Huo Qubing's prisoner.

As for Zhao Ponu, the deputy commander of the Golden Army, he also killed the Xiongnu's Suxi King and captured the Jiqie King during the Battle of Hexi, and was thus ennobled.

Upon hearing the word "prince," Huo Qubing immediately became interested:

"Where is the prince? Has he left or is he still in the camp?"

The Xiongnu man readily pointed in the direction of the stables:
"I only saw him go to the stables, and now I don't know if he has escaped or is hiding in the shadows."

Huo Qubing pointed the searchlight at the camp and turned the brightness to the maximum. This searchlight, with its own heat dissipation and ultra-high lumen output, illuminated half of the camp as brightly as daytime, and the Xiongnu people who were hiding were immediately exposed.

A group of Han soldiers rushed over, brandishing Tang-style swords, and escorted the men out. One of them, wearing a wolf-headed golden crown, was about twenty years old and had a typical Xiongnu hairstyle. His eyes were filled with fear and dread... It was the first time he had seen Han people who could turn night into day, and he thought they were the legendary gods.

Huo Qubing spurred his horse forward, snatched the sixth prince's golden crown, carefully wrapped it in silk, and prepared to write a tribute poem for him the next day when he visited Hunyuan Palace, to present to his mentor.

While the big fish was being caught, Zhou Yi was sitting in his room flipping through a black notebook.

When he saw his own merits, he couldn't help but rub his eyes:
[Merit: 8.8 taels]

He knew that the merit from dismantling the heretical monastery would be substantial, but he never expected it to increase by more than three ounces, exceeding the alcohol tolerance of many people.

After calming himself down, Zhou Yi looked at the notepad page again, where a series of notes appeared.

Destroy an evil cultivation site, merit +6

[Perform a ritual to help innocent souls find peace, merit +16]

Demolishing evil temples grants +6 merit.

Huo Qubing captures the Xiongnu prince alive, merit +5

The first few entries in the Book of Changes seemed quite normal: each of the sixteen wronged souls was rewarded with one coin of merit, and the destruction of the evil cultivator's temple and the felling of the mountain temple were each rewarded with six coins of merit, only slightly more than the reward for the small temple of the Stone Fairy.

However, considering that Huo Qubing and Chen Tang contributed the most today, the amount of the reward is quite reasonable.

But the last point left Zhou Yi somewhat bewildered:

"Didn't Huo Qubing just eat pork stew with vermicelli and not long after he left? How come he captured the Xiongnu prince so quickly? This guy really is a money-printing machine. He did more in two or three hours than Li Guang did in a lifetime of military achievements."

He then looked through the merits of the others and found that everyone's merits had increased dramatically, especially Huo Qubing, who gained two ounces of merit for capturing the Xiongnu prince, a very substantial gain.

Besides Huo Qubing, Gongsun Da Niang also gained new merits:

Offering advice and suggestions to Li Longji earns +2 merit points.

Upon seeing the words "offering advice and suggestions," Zhou Yi's curiosity was piqued:
"What's going on? Why did this girl suddenly switch to the strategist route?"

(End of this chapter)