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

"Whoosh—Buzz!"

The deep, penetrating sound of the bull horn suddenly tore through the clamor of battle over the grassland.

This horn sound was different from the sharp whistles commonly used by the Hu people; it was deeper and more resonant, carrying an undeniable sense of authority and solemnity.

Many of the Wuhuan and Xianbei cavalrymen, who were engaged in a fierce battle, paused in their movements at the sudden sound of the horn and instinctively looked toward the source of the sound.

On the low grassy slope to the southeast, where there had been nothing before, rows of silent cavalrymen appeared as if by magic.

Sunlight danced on their dark armor and the strangely shaped crossbows in their hands, reflecting a cold light.

A huge black banner with a red border bearing the character "姬" (Ji) was vigorously erected on the hilltop, fluttering wildly in the wind of the grassland!

"Han army! It's the banner of the Han army!" a sharp-eyed Xianbei cavalryman exclaimed in surprise.

Ke Zui, who was being protected by his personal guards and fighting a fierce centurion of the Wuyan tribe with his spear, was also startled by the sound and took a moment to glance at it amidst his busy work.

Seeing the well-organized Han cavalry formation on the slope, which numbered no more than a few hundred, he felt a sense of relief, but then a surge of displeasure and contempt for his disrupted plans welled up within him.

"Hmph! A mere few hundred Han dogs dare to venture deep into my grasslands, hoping to gain some advantage?" Ke Zui forced his opponent back with a spear thrust, his face contorted with rage, and gave a stern order.

"Tule! I'm giving you a hundred warriors. Go! Crush these damned Han dogs! Don't let them disturb my meal!"

A Xianbei centurion named Tule responded loudly with a sinister smile on his face. He selected one hundred of his fiercest riders, broke away from the main battle group, and charged towards the hillside like a small black whirlwind.

In their view, a hundred Xianbei warriors could easily scatter and rout a few hundred Han cavalry, even if they couldn't annihilate them all.

On the grasslands, the Xianbei cavalry's reputation was well-deserved.

However, what happened next made all the Hu cavalrymen who looked in that direction, including Ke Zui, feel a chill run from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads.

The Han cavalry showed no intention of engaging or evading the charge of a hundred Xianbei cavalrymen.

They simply and calmly picked up the strange crossbow from their horses.

The distance between the two sides quickly closed to 150 paces, 120 paces...

"Release!" A concise command seemed to drift on the wind.

The next moment, the nightmare began again.

No, for Ke Zui and his men, it was an unprecedented nightmare!

There was no buzzing of a bowstring, only a dense, continuous, sharp "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sound that made your scalp tingle instantly!

The sound was like the loom of death weaving at breakneck speed!

The charging Xianbei cavalry seemed to have crashed head-on into an invisible wall made of a storm of steel!

The twenty or thirty riders at the very front were instantly hit by seven or eight, or even a dozen, crossbow bolts.

The knight screamed and fell to the ground, his warhorse neighed and rolled, and the arrowheads of the charge shattered like waves crashing against rocks!

The Xianbei riders following behind were terrified by this sudden and terrifying attack. They instinctively tried to rein in their horses, turn around, or slow down, but the momentum of their high-speed charge could not be easily changed.

They watched helplessly as they stumbled into the ever-splashing web of death!

The three rapid volleys of fire probably took less than twenty breaths.

Those one hundred fierce Xianbei warriors had not even truly engaged the Han army before they were almost all killed or wounded. Only a few riders, either because they were at the back or by sheer luck, fled back in panic with arrow wounds, letting out incoherent howls of fear.

Aside from the slight clicking of crossbow triggers and arrow magazine changes, there were almost no other noises in the Han army's ranks.

It was chillingly calm.

At the top of the hill, Xiang Yu watched the insignificant little episode end with a blank expression. His double pupils showed neither sorrow nor joy, only absolute focus as he locked onto his prey.

He slowly raised the Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd in his hand.

"The Jingnan Army!" His voice, like muffled thunder rolling across the grasslands, drowned out all the noise.

"Forward! Crush them!"

"kill!!!"

The pent-up fighting spirit and killing intent erupted like a volcano!

The two teams, totaling six hundred Jingnan Army cavalry, swooped down the hillside like outstretched wings or two red-hot blades, plunging straight into the flanks of the chaotic battle!

Yang Zaixing's two hundred cavalrymen lagged slightly behind, occupying a slightly higher position, their crossbows pointed warily at the outer edge of the battlefield to prevent any "prey" from escaping.

Xiang Yu and Ran Min were the sharpest tips of these two blades!

Xiang Yu took the lead, swift as the wind.

He didn't care whether the people in front of him were Wuhuan or Xianbei; anyone who stood in his way was an enemy.

The Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd was swung out with a sharp whistling sound that tore through the air—simple, direct, and domineering!

A Xianbei captain raised his spear to parry, and with a "crack," the iron spear shaft snapped in two. The remaining force of the spear blade nearly cleaved his upper body in two!

Three Wuhuan cavalrymen tried to surround him, but Xiang Yu switched his halberd to his left hand and suddenly reached out with his right. He grabbed the iron mace that one of the Wuhuan cavalrymen was throwing at him, and threw it backhand. The heavy iron lump, with a terrifying whooshing sound, smashed the Wuhuan cavalryman's head like a rotten watermelon!

The other two were terrified by the inhuman strength and turned to flee, but Xiang Yu swept his halberd across them, sending them flying like broken sacks, their tendons and bones snapped.

Ran Min followed closely on Xiang Yu's flank, his killings becoming even more efficient and ruthless.

The double-edged spear, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, targets vulnerable spots in armor such as the throat, face, and armpits, while the hooked halberd, like the Grim Reaper's scythe, parries, slashes, and hooks in seamless coordination.

He remained silent, his eyes filled with bloodlust. Every time he swung his weapon, a spray of blood would inevitably rise, clearing a small area.

Two Xianbei warriors, confident in their strength, attacked Ran Min from the left and right, but one of them had his weapon locked by his hook halberd. In an instant, his double-edged spear pierced the other's heart. He pulled out the spear, slashed the throat of the man whose weapon was locked, and the whole process was smooth and effortless.

"Devil! They are devils!"

Such exclamations began to spread among the Hu cavalry.

Neither the Wuhuan nor the Xianbei had ever seen such a fierce, efficient, and... ruthless killing machine.

Ran Min was almost unbeatable, and the strange combination of his spear and halberd was like a dance of death.

Trapped in the siege of several Xianbei cavalrymen, Wu Yan bravely took a blow and slashed down the enemy in front of him. In the gap, he caught a glimpse of the "Ji" banner that was getting closer and closer, and the two figures under the banner that looked like demon gods.

The arrow wound in his shoulder had long since gone numb, but his heart was instantly filled with extreme fear and a twisted excitement.

"Hahahahaha!"

Wu Yan suddenly burst into maniacal laughter, his shrill laugh like that of a night owl, drowning out the surrounding sounds of battle: "Ke Zui! Ke Zui! Did you see that?! The demons of the Han army have arrived! I'm not going to live today, but you're not going to live either! I'll be waiting for you down there! Waiting for you to be torn to pieces by these Han dogs! Hahahaha!"

Amidst his maniacal laughter, Wu Yan unleashed his last strength, his scimitar flashing like a ball of light as he slashed down three Xianbei cavalrymen beside him.

Then, to the astonishment of Ke Zui and the others, he turned the blade without hesitation and slashed his own neck!

Blood gushed out like a fountain. Wu Yan's burly body swayed, and he stared intently at Ke Zui, whose face had changed drastically, not far away. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but only blood foam came out. Then he collapsed to the ground and died.

Those wide-open eyes still held deep-seated hatred and fear, as well as a strange sense of relief at finally being free.

Ke Zui felt a chill run down his spine at Wu Yan's insane suicide and dying curse.

He couldn't understand why Wu Yan was so terrified of this Han army that he was even willing to kill himself rather than face it.

But he was, after all, a Xianbei leader commanding tens of thousands of troops. Suppressing his unease, he roared, "Don't panic! Wuyan is dead! The Han army numbers only a few hundred! Warriors, follow me and kill them all! Slaughter all the Han dogs, and their weapons, armor, and horses will all be ours!"

He attempted to bolster morale, personally leading his personal guard to meet Xiang Yu's forces, which were deeply embedded in the battle formation like chisels.

Then, Ke finally experienced firsthand what true despair was.

He witnessed Batu, his most valiant warrior who had once fought wolves with his bare hands, swinging a heavy iron hammer at the Han general wielding a halberd.

The Han general casually swung his halberd, and Batu was swept away several feet away, hammer and all. When he landed, his chest caved in, and he was clearly going to die.

He witnessed firsthand the Han general wielding a double-edged spear and hook halberd, weaving through the crowd like a ghost, leaving a trail of blood and severed limbs flying in his wake, almost without pause.

His own captain of guards led five men to stop them, but in less than five breaths, they turned into six corpses in different positions.

He witnessed firsthand how, whenever his men attempted to rally small groups to fight back or quietly break away from the battle to flank the enemy, precise and deadly crossbow bolts would be fired from the distant high ground, shooting the organizers off their horses and rendering any attempt at regrouping futile.

That wasn't a battle at all; it was a well-organized massacre!

The Han army's coordination was terrifyingly perfect: the rapid-fire crossbows provided long-range suppression, the two invincible generals broke through the enemy lines in close combat, and the archers on the outer perimeter filled in any gaps...

His three thousand Xianbei cavalry, plus the remaining thousand or so Wuhuan cavalry of Wuyan, were like ice and snow meeting the scorching sun, quickly melting and collapsing in front of this Han army of no more than eight hundred men!

"Run! Run now!"

It is unclear who uttered this first, but the Hu cavalry, whose fighting spirit had already been crushed by fear, completely collapsed their last shred of will to resist.

They ignored their leader's roars and disregarded the lives of their own people, wanting only to get as far away from those demonic Han soldiers as possible, and scattered in all directions.

However, what awaited them was Yang Zaixing's calm command and the relentless pursuit and firing of the divine crossbow.

Any organized group attempting to escape will be targeted; anyone running haphazardly towards the hillside will be an easy target.

Although the grassland is vast, at this moment it seems there is nowhere to escape.

The fighting, or rather the massacre, gradually subsided before dusk.

The setting sun, like blood, dyed the vast grassland a breathtaking ochre red, contrasting sharply with the blood flowing freely on the ground. The pungent smell of blood mixed with the stench of grass and dust filled the air.

Xiang Yu halted his horse amidst a pile of corpses, his Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd pointing diagonally at the ground, blood droplets slowly dripping from its blade.

Ran Min stood silently to one side, slowly wiping the bloodstains off the double-edged spear with a cloth torn from the corpse.

Yang Zaixing rode up, followed by several personal guards. On his horse were two human heads that had been simply treated with lime and wrapped up, as well as a burly prisoner whose hands were tied behind his back, his mouth was gagged, and who was struggling and glaring angrily.

It was Ke Zui, the chieftain of the central Xianbei region.

"General."

A personal guard in charge of the count stepped forward quickly, his voice hoarse from the fierce battle and barely suppressed excitement: "Preliminary count: about 1,200 Wuhuan soldiers were killed in battle, about 2,500 Xianbei cavalry were killed, several hundred were captured and wounded, the rest scattered, nearly 3,000 intact warhorses were captured, and countless weapons and leather armor were seized. Our army... suffered 17 dead, 35 seriously wounded, and over 100 lightly wounded."

The casualty ratio remains alarming.

The first large-scale practical application of the Divine Crossbow, combined with the superhuman bravery of Xiang Yu and Ran Min, and their ingenious tactical choices, led to another glorious victory.

Xiang Yu nodded, showing little concern about the casualty figures.

War inevitably results in death and injury, and to achieve such results at such a cost is nothing short of a miracle.

His gaze fell on the prisoners and people that Yang Zaixing had brought.

"Are you sure it's Wuyan and Kezui?"

"It has been confirmed that there is no error."

Yang Zaixing replied, kicking the package on the ground: "Wu Yan committed suicide, this is his head. Ke Zui was kicked off his horse and captured alive by Fourth Brother."

Although Ke Zui's mouth was gagged, his eyes blazed with fury as he glared at Xiang Yu, making a hoarse sound in his throat.

Xiang Yu glanced at him, his eyes indifferent, as if he were looking at a trophy rather than a living person.

"Ke is placed under the strictest guard. Along with Wu Yan's head, the captured horses, and valuable supplies, a capable team is dispatched to escort them to Shanggu immediately and hand them over to Fengxian. The team is also to send a fast horse to report the victory to the elder brother."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the depths of the grassland, where dusk was deepening and the landscape stretched out in a vast expanse.

"The rest of the soldiers rested on the spot for half an hour, treated the wounded, and replenished their food, water, and arrows."

Xiang Yu's voice carried clearly on the evening breeze: "Then, follow me northward for twenty li, to see if this Lord Ke's tribe has left any unexpected gains, and to see if there are any wolves in the depths of this grassland that dare to covet my Han territory!"

His tone was calm, yet it carried an air of dominance, as if he were conquering new territories and his military might commanding absolute obedience.

Having achieved such a great victory upon first entering the grasslands, capturing the Xianbei chieftain alive, Xiang Yu's courage and ambition soared.

He wanted to take advantage of the momentum of this great victory to go further and truly imprint the reputation of the Jingnan Army on this vast grassland!

Under the setting sun, the banner bearing the character "Ji" was stained even darker red by blood. It stood proudly in the increasingly fierce evening wind, as if silently announcing the arrival of a new era of power.