The Military Governor in Dream of the Red Chamber

For Jia Chen, the appearance of the border troops diverted the northern barbarians' attention and increased their wariness, and that was enough.

Whether the border troops dare to fight the northern barbarians is none of his business.

Looking at the people who had been abducted, Jia Chen felt a pang of sorrow.

Hopefully, the border troops behind will be able to stand firm once again and rescue these people.

Jia Chen wanted to save the person, but his strength wouldn't allow it.

They rushed out but failed to save anyone; instead, they lost more lives.

While the northern enemy retreated, the front of the mountain beacon immediately began to clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded.

Before this battle, Shandun suffered 7 dead, 3 seriously wounded, and the rest were all injured.

Even though Jia Chen was wearing cloth armor, it only protected some vital parts of his body. He had a cut on his arm, but fortunately the wound was not deep and he was fine after being bandaged.

In addition to the casualties among the people, the Northern barbarians' arrows caused the deaths and injuries of more than half of the domesticated cattle, sheep and horses, which was heartbreaking for everyone.

The cattle and sheep are alright, since they're going to be slaughtered and eaten anyway.

Jia Chen and the others were heartbroken over the death of the horses; they were top-quality warhorses.

It will be difficult to get these good horses again.

Although there is a horse market in the border town where trade can be done with the Tumed tribe and others, the number of warhorses involved is not large each year, in addition to being expensive.

Warhorses were extremely precious to the army of the Great Hong Dynasty.

However, everyone's mood quickly improved because there were still thirty-three Northern enemy corpses left there.

If we include the heads taken during the last raid, there are now 56.

Under normal circumstances, the entire town of Datong probably couldn't gather this many people in a year.

Regarding the soldiers who died in battle, Jia Chen has made a decision: their families will receive a compensation payment afterward.

This money came from the deal with Ombu.

Jia Chen's action made everyone feel more at ease.

Even if they die in battle, their families will still have some security.

As for how to distribute the spoils of war, that will have to wait until after the war.

……

Abunai quickly reached the very end of the escort team.

From here, he could clearly see the Great Hong Dynasty army not far away.

"Taiji, you take these back first, we'll stay behind to cover the rear," one of his men said to Abunai.

Abunai glanced at him, sneered, and said, "No need. Today I will personally cover the rear. I want to see if the Great Hong Dynasty's border troops have the guts."

"Taijitsu, you mustn't!" His subordinates around him urged.

If something were to happen to Abunai, they would have no way to explain themselves to the Khan when they returned.

"I'm certain that the Great Hong Army won't dare to make a move. Even if they do, do you think we're afraid of them? In all these years, when have they ever dared to do anything?" Abunai glanced at his men. "Here's what we'll do: leave eight hundred men behind to cover our retreat, and the rest will be escorted back first."

At Abunai's insistence, the others said nothing more.

Because what Abunai said was true; the border troops of the Great Hong Dynasty were a bunch of cowards who didn't dare to fight them at all.

Let alone eight hundred people, even three or five hundred people wouldn't be afraid of the five thousand-strong Great Hong Army.

If it really came down to a fight, they were confident that a single charge of 300 men would rout and send the opposing 5,000 fleeing.

Such scenes have happened before; the soldiers of the Great Hong Dynasty were utterly ineffective.

Furthermore, our side consists entirely of cavalry, which are flexible and mobile. If the situation really turns against us, it will be easy for us to escape. We can simply protect Abuna and help her flee first.

The Great Hong Army lacked horses. Even the few cavalrymen they had were mostly of inferior quality. How could they compare to their warhorses?

Since more than fifty people died in the battle at Qianshandun, the number of Northern barbarians actually responsible for escorting them was only about one hundred, and most of them were wounded.

As for the eight hundred riders led by Abunai, they were all carefully selected and uninjured.

Abuna was not worried about anyone ambushing the escort team, as there would be no Da Hong army heading north.

As for the Tumet tribe and other tribes, they probably wouldn't dare to make any moves.

After all, he wasn't the only one on this return journey; there were tens of thousands of other troops nearby.

Seeing that Abunai had stopped in place, the five thousand Dahong Army also stopped. The two sides stood facing each other quietly, three miles apart.

"Taji, what should we do?" someone asked from the side.

"We don't need to do anything, just stall them for half a day," Abna said.

Half a day is enough for the escort team to get far away from the Great Wall in Datong Town, at which point the Da Hong Army will be even less likely to pursue them.

……

Jia Chen and his team cleaned up the battlefield and bandaged their wounds.

They kept a close eye on the movements of the Northern barbarian escort team.

The procession passed by a mile away from the watchtower, which was so close that it was clear the Northern barbarians didn't take Jia Chen and his men seriously at all.

Although the previous attack on Qianshandun had failed and resulted in the loss of many men, the Northern barbarians still did not believe that Jia Chen and his men would dare to come out.

In fact, Jia Chen and his group really didn't dare.

A large number of Northern barbarian cavalrymen were constantly patrolling around the escort team. If Jia Chen and his men went out, they would be discovered immediately, and they would not be able to return alive.

When the northern barbarian cavalry saw civilians walking too slowly, they would lash them with their whips.

Some of the northern barbarians even drew their swords and slashed down.

Seeing this, the soldiers were filled with anger but had no other recourse.

The number of Northern barbarians being escorted was still too large, and Jia Chen and his men wanted to rescue them but were powerless to do so.

"Ouch!!" Wang Baisheng slammed his fist into the stone wall, and blood seeped from his fist.

"Look! The Northern barbarian cavalry are heading south!" Ding Heihu suddenly shouted.

"Sick cat, what are you yelling about?" Wang Baisheng was in a bad mood, and when he heard Ding Heihu speak, his temper flared up.

"Brother Baisheng, it's true!" Liu Daniu shouted.

Everyone's eyes followed the direction the Northern Barbarian cavalry was moving.

The large number of cavalry that had been surrounding the column suddenly decreased.

Jia Chen stood atop the mound, observing the commotion. He saw the Northern Barbarian cavalry gathering at the rear of their ranks.

"Are the reinforcements about to attack?" Jia Chen's heart skipped a beat.

It seems that the northern barbarians gathered their forces to try and block the border troops at the rear of the column.

Soon, Jia Chen realized he had guessed wrong.

Because the escorting convoy continued northward.

The large group of Northern barbarian cavalry remained in place and did not move.

Jia Chen understood: this was to leave a large cavalry force behind to cover the rear, allowing the escorting team to escape the border troops' pursuit.

"Useless!" Jia Chen cursed.

He discovered that the border troops had no intention of moving at all.

Judging from the number of banners, the border troops probably number in the thousands.

How many Northern barbarians are there?

I was so frightened.

Jia Chen dared to say that if these border troops dared to charge, Abunai would probably have no choice but to abandon the people and the looted property and flee in a sorry state.

Unfortunately, there is no such thing.

"Hmm?" Jia Chen's gaze swept back and forth across the escorting convoy, then a thought suddenly struck him. "Those Northern Barbarian cavalry?"

Jia Chen discovered that there were not many Northern Barbarian cavalrymen left escorting the convoy, and most of them were wounded; they were the same group that had participated in the attack on Qianshandun earlier.

Keep in mind that this procession stretched for several miles, and it was only driven and escorted by a little over a hundred riders. If nothing unexpected happened, there shouldn't be any major problems.

But what if we do it ourselves?