A divine healer, a general, a young marquis! Who can rival them!

That group of people arrived on the evening of March 29th.

Eight hundred and seventeen people, twenty-three vehicles.

Leading the way was Captain Chang, the one left behind to guard the new camp. He dismounted at the gate, his gait somewhat awkward, one leg lame.

"General," he knelt on one knee, "this humble general has deserted the new camp without permission, please punish me."

Who is guarding Xinying?

"There are 120 wounded soldiers who have recovered, plus 60 veterans carrying supplies," Captain Chang said. "This subordinate has brought all those who can walk."

"What's in the car?"

"One hundred and twenty shi of millet, eight dan of salt, and thirty-six boxes of medicine for injuries."

Cui Ting listened with his eyes wide open.

"Salt? Eight loads?"

"Reporting to Lieutenant General," Captain Chang said, "the three loads of freshly stored goods, two loads transferred from Physician Liu at Qing Shi Kou, and the remaining three loads... were bought by Miss Qin in that town on the southern slope of Hei Shi Liang with her own pay."

Cui Ting suddenly looked up.

Qin Ying came out from the group at the back.

She wore ordinary military leather armor, without flags or seals, and a worn-out short knife at her waist. She no longer needed a cane to walk, though her left leg would still land a little slower.

Yang Hu watched her approach.

"Your legs."

"You can ride a horse now," Qin Ying said, "but not very fast."

"It's 320 li from Xinying to here."

"It took seven days to travel."

Neither of them said anything more.

Cui Tingqian coughed and quickly went to check on the twenty-three cars.

That night, the fire was relit in the depression.

One hundred and twenty shi of millet, enough for more than six thousand people, two meals a day, would last for six days. Eight dan of salt were distributed, one small bag for each team. For the first time, the soup pot had a salty taste.

Su Heng cried while holding the thirty-six boxes of medicine. She didn't make a sound, but squatted by the car and opened the boxes one by one to count the medicine. As she counted, tears fell onto the medicine.

Yang Hu asked Qin Ying questions while they were on the earthen beam.

How did you know we were here?

"I don't know," Qin Ying said. "You left the border on February 22nd, and it was agreed that there would be news in early March. There was no news on March 7th, and still no news on March 12th."

"So you brought people out with you."

"Commander Chang refused," Qin Ying said. "He said that without the commander's order, not a single soldier left behind could be moved."

"Then why did he agree?"

"I didn't order him to do that." Qin Ying placed her hand on the stone of the earthen ridge. "I gathered the 120 wounded soldiers in the new camp who had just gotten up and said one thing to them."

"What did you say?"

"I said, the man who carried you off the door in August is now on the grasslands, and I haven't heard from him for two months."

The wind blew across the earthen beam.

"What happened next?"

"After saying that, they went to harness the horses themselves," Qin Ying said. "Commander Chang tried to stop them for half a day, but couldn't, so in the end he went to get the horses himself."

Yang Hu turned his face to the north.

Sixty miles to the north, the fires are more scattered tonight than they have been in the past few days.

"Qin Ying".

"Um."

"I plan to launch this battle tomorrow."

"I know," Qin Ying said. "When I entered the camp, I saw that the fire had been reduced by half, but the number of people had not been reduced; the wounded soldiers had been moved to the innermost part of the rear of the camp; and the fodder for the 1,100 cavalrymen had been increased."

She turned her head.

"You need to attack the 15,000 troops in the north."

"Yes."

"You only have four thousand four hundred."

"Adding the eight hundred you brought, it's five thousand two."

Qin Ying unfastened the short knife from her waist, held it in her hand, and weighed it in her hand.

"Eleven of my old men are still among these eight hundred," she said. "Wang Laoshuan is one of them too."

"Eleven."

"Eleven is enough," Qin Ying said. "Yang Hu, I don't want the general's flag or the military tally. I just want those eleven men to follow me, and I decide where they are stationed."

Yang Hu stared at her for a long time.

"it is good."

March 30th, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Yang Hu divided the 5,200 people into three groups.

Shao Qi led 2,000 men from the left flank to press forward from the front, pressing but not charging; Colonel Pang led 1,100 cavalry to circle around to the east, making it appear as if he was going to attack from the south; the remaining 2,100 men were led by Yang Hu himself and hid behind the earthen ridge.

"They're waiting for the horses from the south," Yang Hu said at the final military council. "If Colonel Pang moves eastward, they'll assume we're going to attack from the south. If we attack from the south, their horses won't be able to return."

"What will happen to them?"

"They will divide their forces to block them," Yang Hu said. "If they send out four or five thousand of their fifteen thousand, the remaining ten thousand will leave the front line thin."

"Where did we fight back then?"

"The part that was thinned out."

At Chen Shi (7-9 AM), Commandant Pang's horse moved.

The 1,100 riders fled southeast, making a great show of themselves, with flags flying everywhere. After running for ten miles, a force of barbarians indeed broke off to give chase.

More people chased after them than Yang Hu did.

"General, six thousand have fled!" Willow Leaf slid down the slope. "They've sent out almost all of their cavalry!"

How many heads are left?

"Around nine thousand, most of them walked."

Yang Hu raised his hand.

"General Shao, move forward."

Two thousand men from the left flank pushed forward. They stopped when they were an arrow's length away, forming three ranks with their spears raised. The barbarian formation shifted slightly, but did not charge.

They are waiting.

They sent out 6,000 cavalry, but dared not move the 9,000 facing them first.

They were locked in a standoff for about half an hour.

"move."

Two thousand one hundred people emerged from behind the earthen ridge, not from the front, but from the west. To the west was a shallow ditch that Liu Ye had scouted out the night before, large enough to hide people.

Yang Hu was in the middle. Qin Ying was half a horse's length to his left, surrounded by his eleven former subordinates.

When they charged in, the barbarian formation was facing away from them.

Their eyes were all fixed on the two thousand spears in front of them.

The first row collapsed extremely quickly. Of Yang Hu's 2,100 men, 800 were newcomers who had eaten their fill for two days; the other 1,300 had endured the hardships of the past two months, and although they were thin, their eyes were red.

When they reached the third row, the formation started to break down.

Chaos is not collapse. The barbarian's central army is still there, the great banner is still standing, and a group of people are surrounding it, trying to retrieve it.

"Insert it under the banner," Qin Ying said.

She wasn't looking at Yang Hu when she said that; she was looking at the banner.

"You brought eleven people?"

"Eleven people aren't enough," Qin Ying said. "You take two hundred and follow me."

Yang Hu looked at her and suddenly smiled.

This was his first time since he left the border two months ago.

"Walk."

When the two hundred riders wedged in, Qin Ying was at the very front.

Eleven old men formed two wings, protecting her on both sides. They were eleven men over forty, the oldest of whom had half his hair turned white, but their horses ran very steadily, knocking aside the spears on both sides along the way.

Just as they were about fifty paces from the banner, a group of soldiers suddenly appeared from the side.

Those were the barbarian's personal guards, dressed in heavy armor, who came from the side and rear, heading straight for Yang Hu.

By the time Yang Hu saw it, it was too late. His horse was already straddling a corpse and couldn't stop.

Qin Ying came across from his right.

She didn't shout or turn around. She spurred her horse, positioning herself between him and the heavily armored group, and with a backhand slash of her short sword, deflected a spear.

The second spear grazed her left side, tearing through her leather armor.

The third pole was broken by Wang Laoshuan ramming it open with his body. The old soldier, who had guarded the city wall for most of his life, rammed it with his horse, and tumbled off his horse afterward.

Yang Hu's knife arrived at this time.

Later, Cui Ting said that he had never seen anything like it in his life. The general rarely even drew his sword, but that one slash cleaved the frontmost heavily armored soldier in half, shoulder and all.

The guards were intercepted.

Qin Ying reined in his horse and turned to look at him.

Blood was flowing from her left side, her leather armor was torn, and half of her hair was disheveled.

"You still owe me one," she said.

Yang Hu was stunned for a moment.

"Sancha'ao." Qin Ying brushed her loose hair behind her ear, "the time you dug me out of the pile of corpses."

She turned the dagger around, the tip pointing towards the banner.

"This time, I've paid the price."