My brothers are all warriors capable of taking on ten thousand men; I'll roam freely in the Thr

In the first month of the second year of Jian'an (197 AD), in Liangzhou, Dong Zhuo fortified his position.

The night wind was like a knife, whipping up clouds of yellow sand.

Yuan Tan stood on a high point in the camp, with the Xiliang army camp that had just been taken over behind him.

In the firelight, his face was ashen, and his eyes burned with a deep-seated hatred.

Three hours ago, he personally killed several of Han Sui's trusted confidants who had been left behind in Dong Zhuo's camp.

Even as they died, those people were still cursing him, calling him an "ungrateful wretch."

Yuan Tan offered no explanation, but simply watched coldly as their heads rolled into the dust.

"General."

Wang Zhao strode over and knelt on one knee: "All 30,000 Xiliang soldiers have surrendered! Eight or nine out of ten are willing to follow the general in the campaign against Han Sui!"

Yuan Tan nodded, his gaze passing over Wang Zhao and looking at the soldiers who were gathering.

With 20,000 of their own troops, 30,000 surrendered soldiers from Xiliang, and 50,000 soldiers, they were more than enough to flatten Jincheng.

"Pass down the order!"

He said in a deep voice, "We must reach Jincheng before dawn."

Wang Zhao was taken aback: "General, the soldiers are exhausted from marching all night..."

Yuan Tan turned to look at him, his gaze so cold that no one dared to look him in the eye.

Wang Zhao lowered his head and remained silent.

As the bugle sounded, 50,000 troops surged out of the camp like a tidal wave, charging swiftly towards Jincheng.

Jincheng, below the city walls.

As dawn broke, Yuan Tan's army finally arrived.

At this moment, Jincheng was already engulfed in flames.

Xiang Yu's 40,000 elite troops are launching a fierce attack on the city.

On the city wall, Han Sui's flag leaned precariously, as if it might fall at any moment.

Yuan Tan looked at the burning city without the slightest hesitation in his eyes.

"All troops, attack!"

The 50,000-strong army, like a flood bursting its banks, crashed into Jincheng's defenses from the rear!

Caught in a pincer attack, the defenders of Jincheng collapsed instantly.

"Yuan Tan has rebelled!"

"Run!"

The Xiliang army scattered and fled, no longer able to resist.

Flames soared into the sky, and shouts of battle shook the heavens.

Jincheng, the largest city in Liangzhou, fell in just one day under the combined attack of Xiang Yu and Yuan Tan.

Xiang Yu led his army to break in from the west gate. Yuwen Chengdu took the lead, and wherever his phoenix-winged gilded halberd passed, the corpses of the Xiliang army lay strewn across the fields.

Zhang Liao led his troops in close pursuit, mopping up the remaining enemy forces and controlling key routes.

Yuan Tan led an army of 50,000 men into the city from the east gate, advancing with unstoppable momentum.

The Xiliang army, which originally belonged to Han Sui, was already demoralized. Seeing their commander abandon the city and flee, they lost all will to fight and knelt down to surrender.

"Where is Han Sui?!"

Yuan Tan seized a captain of the Xiliang army and questioned him sternly.

The captain stammered, "General Han... no, Han Sui escaped through the north gate! He took over a thousand loyal followers and headed towards the Qiang region!"

A deep-seated hatred flashed in Yuan Tan's eyes. He shoved the captain aside and mounted his horse.

"Send the order: assemble the entire army! Follow me in pursuit!"

Wang Zhao was greatly alarmed: "General! Jincheng has just fallen, and our army has been fighting fiercely for days. We are exhausted and need to rest! Moreover, Xiang Yu's troops are still in the city, we..."

"shut up!"

Yuan Tan interrupted him sharply: "Han Sui killed my wife and daughters! How can I let him escape!"

He spurred his horse and charged ahead.

Wang Zhao gritted his teeth and waved his hand, shouting, "Chase! Protect the general!"

The 50,000-strong army, like a long black dragon, followed closely behind Yuan Tan and sped northward.

On the city tower of Jincheng, Xiang Yu stood with his hands behind his back, watching the departing army, a complex light flashing in his double pupils.

Yuwen Chengdu spurred his horse forward and said in a deep voice, "General, Yuan Tan has left just like that? Jincheng..."

Xiang Yu waved his hand and said calmly, "Let him go. We'll take Jincheng."

Yuwen Chengdu was taken aback: "General, you mean...?"

Xiang Yu turned around, looked at him, and a faint smile appeared on his lips: "Yuan Tan only has Han Sui in his eyes now. Jincheng? He doesn't care."

He paused, looked north, his gaze deep and unwavering: "Let him chase after them. If he catches them, they're our weapons; if he doesn't, they're still our weapons."

Yuwen Chengdu remained silent for a moment, then slowly nodded.

"This subordinate understands."

In the northern border of Liangzhou, on the vast Gobi Desert.

Han Sui led over a thousand remaining soldiers and galloped away on horseback.

"Yuan Tan, you ungrateful brat!"

He gritted his teeth; "I took you in, gave you troops and territory, and you dare to rebel against me!"

Cheng Gongying spurred his horse forward and cried out urgently, "My lord, Yuan Tan is already catching up! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"

Han Sui felt a chill run down his spine and turned to look.

In the distance, billowing dust could be seen, and countless cavalrymen could be vaguely seen galloping towards them.

Behind them, the shouts of the pursuers grew closer and closer.

"My lord!"

Cheng Gongying spurred his horse and caught up, hissing, "Running like this isn't going to work! The Qiang region is just ahead. Once we're in Qiang territory, we'll be safe! You've been managing things there for years; all the Qiang and Hu tribes listen to you!"

Han Sui, panting heavily, glanced back.

In the distance, billowing smoke and dust could be faintly seen, with countless flags fluttering in the wind.

Those were Yuan Tan's pursuers.

"Hurry! Hurry!"

He hissed, "Faster!"

After days of defending the city, the men and horses were exhausted, and these remnants of the Xiliang army were already completely worn out.

Some warhorses foamed at the mouth and collapsed to the ground, while some soldiers were too exhausted to run and were overtaken by the pursuers and hacked to death.

Han Sui felt an overwhelming sense of despair.

He recalled how he had ridden wildly on horseback in Liangzhou back then, but back then it was to chase the enemy, and now it was to escape for his life.

Hedong in thirty years and Hexi in thirty years.

Fate is cruel.

Thirty miles away, Yuan Tan's pursuers finally caught up with Han Sui's rear guard.

Swords flashed and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

Those remnants of the Xiliang army were already demoralized, how could they possibly be a match for Yuan Tan's army?

Within half an hour, the battlefield was littered with corpses and rivers of blood.

Han Sui had fewer than three hundred men left by his side.

"Han Sui, don't run!"

Yuan Tan's roar grew clearer and clearer.

Han Sui turned around and saw the blood-soaked figure rushing towards him recklessly.

His young face was filled with insane hatred.

"My lord! Run!" Cheng Gongying shouted hoarsely as she desperately blocked the pursuers.

Han Sui gritted his teeth and continued running forward.

But Yuan Tan's cavalry was getting closer and closer.

"Han Sui!"

A loud shout, like a thunderclap!

Han Sui turned around and saw Yuan Tan leading the way, his spear pointed directly at him, his eyes burning with a frenzied hatred!

"Yuan Tan!"

Han Sui's eyes also reddened, and he hissed, "I have treated you well, why do you repay kindness with enmity!"

Yuan Tan, enraged, laughed coldly: "You've treated me well?! You detained my wife and daughters in Jincheng, and that's treating me well?! You sent me to my death to fight the Xiongnu, and that's treating me well?! You killed my wife and daughters, and that's treating me well?!"

Han Sui's expression changed, and he said sternly, "That's your own fault! I ordered you to return to reinforce Jincheng, but you claimed to be ill and refused to go! I ordered you to fight the Xiongnu, but you dawdled! I've raised this ungrateful wretch, and now you've become my enemy?!"

Yuan Tan sneered, "You've been planning to sell me to Ji Xuanyuan for a long time, do you think I don't understand?! Sending me to fight the Xiongnu was just to deplete my forces, making it easier for you to act later!!"

Han Sui's face turned ashen, but he couldn't utter a word.

Yuan Tan suddenly raised his spear and hissed, "Han Sui! Today is your death day!"

He spurred his horse and charged straight at Han Sui.

Han Sui's personal guards fought desperately, but Yuan Tan killed them all with a single spear thrust.

Cheng Gongying rushed forward to try to stop him, but Yuan Tan pierced his shoulder with a spear, causing him to fall from his horse.

Yuan Tan was like a mad tiger, covered in blood, with only Han Sui in his eyes.

Han Sui retreated repeatedly, leaving only a few trusted confidants by his side.

He suddenly took a hard bow from behind his back and nocked an eagle-feathered arrow.

"Whoosh!"

The arrow pierced the air and flew away!

Yuan Tan was charging forward and had no time to dodge.

"puff!"

The arrow struck him squarely in the chest!

Yuan Tan was jolted and fell off his horse!

"General!"

Wang Zhao and his confidants were terrified and swarmed forward.

Han Sui succeeded with an arrow, but dared not linger in battle, and turned his horse to flee.

Wang Zhao hissed, "Protect the general!"

Several trusted men helped Yuan Tan up, and they saw that the arrow was deeply embedded in his chest, and blood was gushing out, staining his battle robe red.

Yuan Tan's face was deathly pale, his lips trembling, yet he still gritted his teeth and said, "Help...help me mount my horse..."

Wang Zhao cried, "General! You can't chase after them anymore! Let's go back to Jincheng and find a physician to treat them!"

Yuan Tan shoved him away, hissing, "Jincheng... already belongs to Xiang Yu... I... will not return..."

He struggled to his feet, grabbed his confidant's arm, and laboriously climbed onto the horse's back.

The arrow was still stuck in his chest.

The arrowhead had penetrated deep into the body, likely damaging internal organs.

Every breath brings excruciating pain.

But he can't stop.

Han Sui was not dead yet.

He hasn't gotten his revenge yet.

"Chase……"

He murmured, "Keep chasing..."

Wang Zhao knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face: "General! You'll die if you do this!"

Yuan Tan looked down at him and suddenly smiled.

That smile contained relief, sorrow, and a hint of liberation.

"I...should have died long ago."

He raised his head, looking north in the direction Han Sui had fled, and murmured, "Ji Province is gone... Qing Province is gone... Father is dead... My brothers are dead too..."

He paused, tears welling in his eyes: "Even Awen and Ayue have abandoned me..."

"What's the point of me living?"

Wang Zhao and the others knelt on the ground, their cries shaking the heavens.

Yuan Tan took a deep breath, then suddenly raised his voice and addressed everyone: "All soldiers, listen to my command!"

Everyone looked up at him.

Yuan Tan said, word by word, "Han Sui, I will surely kill him!"

"If I also perish after Han Sui's death, you shall take Han Sui's head and my corpse..."

He paused, his voice hoarse: "Go and seek refuge with Xiang Yu; he won't refuse."

Upon hearing this, all the soldiers were moved to tears.

"General! We are willing to fight to the death with you!"

"I am willing to die alongside the general!"

"Revenge! Revenge!"

Yuan Tan looked at the soldiers who had followed him for many years, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

There was gratitude, reluctance to part, and a deep sense of guilt.

He suddenly shook his head and said softly, "One should not speak lightly of life and death."

Everyone was taken aback.

Yuan Tan gazed at the vast expanse of land to the north, at the retreating pursuers, and at the fallen corpses, and murmured, "The casualties of our Yuan army... have been heavy enough."

"The Northern War has dragged on for far too long..."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"It's time to let the people rest..."

The wind blows across the Gobi Desert, stirring up clouds of yellow sand.

The figure, covered in blood, swayed slightly on horseback, yet still kept his back straight.

He raised his hand and pointed north.

"Chase."

"Han Sui...must die."

The sound of horses' hooves rang out again.

The 50,000-strong army, like a long black dragon, continued its northward march.

Behind them, only corpses and endless blood remained.