A son who doesn't resemble his father? Love you, old man, see you at Xuanwu Gate!

Chapter 287 Massacre
The next day.

Beiban is a mountain plateau outside the north gate of Chang'an, and also the first ridge north of the Wei River plain.

Leaving through the North Gate of Chang'an, a long slope leads straight up to the top of the plateau, which is the flat and famous North Slope of Chang'an.

Apart from a large pine forest, the top of the plateau is a vast, flat, and desolate forest wasteland.

The restoration army came from the Jing River Valley to the south, and Beiban was the only way to capture Chang'an.

This was the location Huo Qubing chose for the decisive battle.

The best place for cavalry to gallop.

Huo Qubing did not regard the Battle of Beiban as an ordinary war, even though, in terms of the balance of power, it was indeed a trivial battle.

But in Huo Qubing's eyes, the Battle of Beiban was extraordinary, mainly because it was the last resort and force of his uncle, the emperor.

He was born in the first year of the Jianyuan era. He was the illegitimate son of Wei Shao'er, a female slave in the Pingyang Marquis's mansion, and Huo Zhongru, a minor official in Pingyang County.

When his term of service ended, Huo Zhongru, the father, returned to Pingyang County and lost contact with his mother, Wei Shao'er, who was in the Pingyang Princess's residence in Chang'an.

Therefore, Huo Qubing had no father after birth and did not know who his father was. As the son of a slave, he should have grown up in the same way as most slaves in the world, being whipped.

But in the following year, the second year of the Jianyuan era, Wei Zifu, the younger sister of the mother Wei Shao'er, gained the emperor's favor.

More than a year later, the entire Wei family rose to prominence. Wei Shao'er, the mother, had an affair with Chen Zhang, the great-grandson of Marquis Qu Ni, Chen Ping, and thus married Chen Zhang. In a sense, Chen Mo, the current commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, was his "nephew".

Huo Qubing was able to enter the palace at a young age by his aunt, becoming a member of the most important maternal relatives and living the life of the powerful and noble.

Power and wealth from all over the world were constantly pouring towards him.

Being born into wealth is not just a saying.

The emperor's uncle, who was also the emperor's brother-in-law, was most fond of Ju'er during his childhood, around the time of Ju'er's birth. At a young age, Ju'er became a close minister in the central court and was carefully taught by the emperor.

The emperor's uncle, to a certain extent, replaced the father's presence.

Now, however, he had to personally end all of His Majesty's hopes of restoration. But Huo Qubing had no reluctance or other emotions; he only wanted to deliver the strongest blow to the strongest restoration army and let his uncle, the emperor, know just how sharp the "sword" he had honed was!

Thus, he could confidently ascend to the position of Emperor Emeritus and enjoy his later years.

"Brother, isn't this going too far?" Huo Guang asked softly.

Having a senior general and a prime minister as a teacher brings many advantages. He can obtain all the information he wants and enter and leave any battlefield he wants, which is something his senior brother Mo Zimo cannot do.

As winter drew to a close, the vast ice and snow of the northern plateau melted, and the 20,000 elite troops of the empire, who had followed Huo Qubing on his campaign across thousands of miles and wiped out the Xiongnu in the west of the Yellow River, were already in battle formation.

In the center was a concave arc-shaped fortress formed by five thousand infantrymen, with an iron-gray shield at the forefront that resembled an arc-shaped iron wall, gleaming with a chilling blue light under the midday sun.

At the edge of the arc-shaped formation stood a large banner with the character "Han" about three zhang high, beneath which was a tall cloud chariot, on which they stood.

To the east and west, there were two huge black square formations, each with five thousand cavalrymen.

Behind the infantry's arc-shaped position, a hundred chariots and a hundred cowhide drums were neatly arranged. However, the soldiers standing on the chariots were not chariot warriors, but officers and soldiers from the Grand Marshal's office. Behind the chariots, there was also a squad of fully armed guards.

Even when his elder brother attacked the Xiongnu Right Wise King's headquarters, he wasn't this cautious. With such a formation, Huo Guang was momentarily bewildered. Was this an attack on the Xiongnu royal court?
After confirming several times that this was Chang'an North Slope of the Han Dynasty, not Longcheng on the Xiongnu steppe, he became even more confused. According to the information about the restoration army presented by Zhou Gong, with such a small number of people, these elite, battle-hardened soldiers of the empire wouldn't even be enough to give one to each of them.

Huo Qubing looked at Huo Guang with a very complicated expression, mostly envy, and said, "Zimeng, you don't understand. I want to prove myself."

"Prove what?" Huo Guang was completely dumbfounded.

With your achievements and status, what proof do you need?
"A son's proof of his father's abilities!"

Hear the words.

Huo Guang felt his thoughts freeze for a moment. Did his own dog father in Pingyang County even deserve to ask his son to prove his abilities?

Before setting off for the expedition to Hexi, my elder brother bought a large house for our father in the county and left him a large sum of gold and silver so that he could live out his old age in peace.

But he recently heard that his father had not only remarried and taken a concubine, but also two maids. It seemed that one of his father's women was pregnant. If it weren't for his heavy teaching duties that prevented him from returning to his hometown, he would have gone back to teach his father a lesson.

However, he has already started practicing martial arts, and he will return to his hometown to launch a powerful attack on his father.

Immediately afterward, Huo Guang realized that his elder brother was talking about proving something to His Majesty, but His Majesty's son was the Crown Prince.
Seeing that Huo Guang didn't understand family affection at all, Huo Qubing smiled faintly, without explaining further, and looked to the north. In an instant, dust rose from the distant mountain ridge where blue and white colors were mixed, and a black line was faintly unfolded under the dust.

As the rolling thunder drew closer, the black line grew thicker and thicker, eventually transforming into a vast crowd of people and a wild roar like a tsunami.

Looking into the distance, the fields are covered with "wolves," and the scimitars gleam everywhere.

The struggle over thousands of miles has turned perfectly good people into "wolves." The Zhongshan wolves eat people, and people also eat the Zhongshan wolves. Now, it is no longer possible to distinguish between people and wolves.

At this moment, restoration and such are unimportant to the "wolf pack." Excessive fear makes them urgently need to rush into human cities to unleash their beastly side.

Chang'an was within reach, and the wolf pack howled and chased after the wolf in front, turning the boundless plains into a dim yellow.

But the moment they saw the Han army's formation ahead, the wolf pack seemed to have their fate choked, as still as a mountain, silent and deadly.

Even a real wolf knows fear, let alone a person disguised as a wolf?
Just within two arrow-lengths of the target, Huo Qubing could see it clearly from his cloud chariot. With a snap of his command flag, a hundred large cowhide drums thundered out.

The drumbeats signaled the start of the battle, and the crossbowmen behind their iron shields swiftly raised their crossbows. After finding the right angle, bolts rained down on the wolf pack.

The crossbows modified by the Mohists greatly increased their range and power. Every shot hit its mark, and the wolf pack let out a miserable howl. Countless wolves died on the spot, and those that survived turned around and ran away in a frenzy.

Huo Qubing simultaneously swung his two command flags to the left and right, and the second war drum sounded again. On the eastern and western plains, two large cavalry formations roared out in a triangular formation to annihilate the remaining enemy troops.

Before the main force had finished its charge, a hundred chariots rushed out, like streaks of black lightning, rampaging and taking the lives of the wolves.

The surviving rebels, without prior arrangement, all knelt down and cried out, "We surrender!"

"Down!"

"..."

Huo Qubing remained calm and issued the final order: "Kill them all!"

(End of this chapter)