The low-key prince summons trainees from the Imperial Household Department at the start of the game.

On May 19th, outside Shuozhou City, Huo Qubing's 500 elite cavalry were ready to set off.

Heshengyuan's caravan entered the city three days ago, and the kerosene they brought was piled up in a corner of the vanguard camp's warehouse.

The earthenware jars were sealed tightly, with the mouths sealed with wax, and each jar could hold three catties of kerosene.

Huo Qubing's five hundred cavalrymen each carried two jars, one hanging on each side of their saddles.

The horse was carrying dry rations and a quiver, but no other extra weight.

There were no tents, no cooking stoves, and no supply wagons.

Five hundred men, carrying a thousand cans of kerosene, traveled light, their destination the royal court, hundreds of miles away.

Chen Qingzhi stayed up for two nights in the command tent, drawing out the route for him clearly.

This military clerk was not good at archery or horsemanship, and was frail and sickly.

But when it comes to reading maps and devising tactics, no one in the entire Shuozhou command tent can compare to him.

He unfolded the hand-drawn sheepskin map and slowly traced his finger along an arc that was almost parallel to the grassland.

The road winds its way through the border area between grasslands and hills. The terrain is uneven, and the surface is hard gravel. Horses don't kick up dust when they step on it, making it difficult for scouts to spot them from afar.

There are four water sources and three dry riverbeds along the way where one can hide and camp. The biggest weakness is that one section must pass between two sentry lines outside the Hu people's camp.

He marked each point clearly on the map with charcoal.

This section is said to be the most dangerous, as the Hu people's sentry lines appear to be loose.

However, two sentries were hidden in the bushes, and people unfamiliar with the terrain would not be able to spot them at all, so they had to sneak over at night.

Huo Qubing stared at the arc in silence for a while, then asked him how he knew about the two hidden sentries.

"When Lieutenant Huo launched his night raid on the supply camp last time, he took the small path on the west side of the valley entrance. I marked your round-trip time on the map."

"From the time you left the city at midnight to the time you set fire to the supply camp at dawn, excluding the time spent setting fire to the supply camp, you spent half an hour more on the journey than the shortest route."

"The extra half hour means you took a detour."

"There can only be one reason for taking the detour: you discovered the hidden sentry."

"I marked the section of terrain you took a detour on the map and deduced the possible location of the hidden sentry."

"There are two locations: one is a pile of rocks on the north slope at the valley entrance, and the other is a thicket of bushes by the stream at the bottom of the valley. Please check if they are correct."

Chen Qingzhi spoke in a flat tone, as if he were reporting on today's weather.

Huo Qubing stared at him for a while, then nodded slightly and said it was exactly the same.

Chen Qingzhi didn't laugh, but simply rolled up the map and handed it to him, telling him to be careful on the road.

This drawing took me three sleepless nights to complete, so don't lose it.

Huo Qubing took the map and stuffed it into his pocket, patted the armor on his chest, waved goodbye to Chen Qingzhi, and then mounted his horse.

Five hundred elite cavalrymen had already lined up at the city gate, each horse with a bit in its mouth and its hooves wrapped in newly changed thick cloth.

He spurred his horse to the front of the column, without looking back, but simply squeezed the horse's belly with his legs, and was the first to disappear into the night of the grassland outside the city.

Five hundred riders followed closely behind like a silent dragon, their hoofbeats swallowed up by the thick cloth and the night wind, disappearing completely into the deep darkness of the northern border in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

On their first night, they traveled through the hilly area along the route marked by Chen Qingzhi.

The night wind howled across the wasteland, and the moonlight appeared and disappeared, casting the outline of the hills in front of them in a flickering light.

Huo Qubing would stop every hour to check the route by the moonlight on the sheepskin map and make sure he was on the right track.

Chen Qingzhi marked every water source perfectly, even specifying the water quality.

One place has sweet water, and the other two have bitter water; humans cannot drink them, but horses can.

On the second night, they arrived at the most dangerous area outside the Hu people's camp.

The thicket looked much like the surrounding grassland in the moonlight.

But Huo Qubing remembered the locations of those two hidden sentries.

A pile of boulders on the north slope at the valley entrance, and a stream and shrubs at the bottom of the valley.

He ordered the main force to wait behind the hill, while he led five scouts to sneak out in the dark.

They crawled forward inch by inch, close to the ground, until they could see the faint glow of a campfire in the bushes and the silhouettes of two sentries beside a pile of rocks.

He didn't touch them; he simply confirmed their location and retreated the way he came.

Then he led the whole team around for five miles, silently passing through the blind spot between the two hidden sentries.

The Hun sentries remained oblivious as the last cavalryman's horse disappeared into the shadows of the hills, the campfire still flickering in the bushes.

On the third night, they reached the last water source deep in the grassland.

Huo Qubing ordered the entire team to dismount and rest for an hour, eat some dry rations, water the horses, and check the seals of the kerosene cans.

He squatted by the stream and scooped up a handful of icy water, splashing it on his face, which sent a chill down his spine.

A young squad leader leaned in from behind and asked in a low voice, "How much further?"

He pulled the sheepskin map from his pocket and pointed to the last mark on the map.

The location of the royal court was a depression surrounded by low hills; it was just over the mountain in front of it.

Set fire before dawn, then return the way you came, without leaving a single stick of incense along the way.

The platoon leader accepted the order and left, whispering the instructions to each soldier.

When they got back on the horse after resting, there was a suppressed restlessness on everyone's face.

Huo Qubing drew his Breaking Formation Blade from his waist and gave it a gentle shake in the moonlight.

The blade sliced ​​through the night wind with a very faint hum, then the horse spurred its legs and charged ahead towards the dark hill.

The moment they crossed the hill, the royal court unfolded before them without any obstruction.

It was a depression surrounded by low hills, covering an area of ​​no less than ten miles, and densely packed with felt tents.

The campfire between the felt tents had burned out, leaving only gray embers flickering in the night wind.

A stream runs through the camp on the east side, its water shimmering silvery-white in the moonlight.

The felt tents were most densely packed on both sides of the stream, with several horses tethered outside each tent.

That was the camp of the Hu people's personal guard; Attila's main tent should be nearby.

Further up the hillside, large livestock pens could be vaguely seen, with cattle and sheep huddled together in the night, occasionally letting out a low moo.

Huo Qubing did not immediately order a charge.

Instead, he reined in his horse and stopped on the hill, carefully examining the layout of the royal court for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea.

This was a habit he developed from fighting a lifetime of wars in his previous life.

First look, then think, and finally take action.

He quickly devised an attack plan in his mind.

Burn the stables to throw them into disarray, and burn the livestock pens to cut off their retreat.

Finally, they burned the main camp, forcing them to flee in panic.

He turned and gave a brief instruction to the five centurions behind him.

The five men each received their orders and dispersed with their men. The sound of horses' hooves split into five black torrents in the night, silently seeping down the mountain.

The sentries outside the royal court finally noticed something amiss.

A Hu (non-Han) sentry stood on a watchtower at the edge of the camp, dozing off while holding a spear.

In a daze, I heard the sound of horses' hooves approaching from afar. Thinking it was my own riders returning, I rubbed my eyes and peered down the slope.

He saw countless dark figures approaching the camp at an extremely fast speed under the moonlight.

Startled, he leaned back, the spear slipped from his hand and fell from the watchtower, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

He opened his throat to shout when a crossbow bolt flew from the darkness and pierced his throat with pinpoint accuracy, sealing his unuttered cry forever within his chest.

Huo Qubing retrieved the drawn crossbow, hung the empty crossbow back on the saddle, drew his Breaking Formation Blade, and suddenly squeezed the horse's belly with both legs.

With a long neigh, the warhorse leaped over the outer fence of the camp, carrying him into the royal tents.

The five hundred elite cavalry behind them drew their swords at the same time.

Like a black torrent, it burst through the fence in an instant, its hooves crushing the embers of the campfire, breaking the ropes of the felt tents, and shattering the sleeping night of the grassland.

He smashed the oil canister against the first felt tent. The pottery jar shattered, and the oil splattered onto the felt, emitting a pungent odor.

He casually snatched the torch from the cavalryman next to him and threw it upwards.

With a loud bang!

Within moments, the entire felt tent was engulfed in flames and transformed into a massive torch.

Flames licked the dry felt, crackling and popping, and black smoke shot into the sky, turning half the night sky a dark red.

Five hundred cans of kerosene were smashed into the vital parts of the royal court.

The stable fence was soaked with kerosene, and a line of fire shot straight in from the gate.

The startled horses neighed, broke their reins, and galloped wildly, rampaging through the camp and trampling the flames everywhere.

The livestock pen's fence was burned into a wall of fire by the kerosene.

The cattle and sheep huddled together in terror, broke through the fence, and ran wildly into the depths of the grassland.

One after another, the felt tents in the main camp were set ablaze, and the fire spread rapidly with the help of the night wind.

From east to west, from south to north, the entire royal court was turned into a sea of ​​fire in less than half an hour.

Attila was dragged out of his tent by his guards from his sleep, without even wearing boots.

Barefoot on the scorched grass, I gazed at the towering flames all around and the cavalrymen who moved like ghosts through the firelight.

He roared hysterically in a foreign language, demanding to know how many enemies there were.

The guards pointed to the figures that moved like the wind in the firelight but couldn't give an exact number.

All that could be seen in the firelight were the shadows of enemy troops everywhere, and it was impossible to tell how many there were.

Attila was lifted onto a horse by his guards and fled north in the chaos.

His wolf-head banner was abandoned beside the burning tent, still twirling unwillingly in the night wind before being consumed by the flames, the wolf head gradually turning to ashes under the licking of the flames.

Huo Qubing reined in his horse and looked back in the firelight, wiped the blood off his sword on the sole of his boot, and sheathed the sword.

He did not linger in the battle, but blew a sharp whistle, and the five hundred elite cavalry immediately stopped their pursuit and quickly regrouped.

He glanced one last time in the direction Attila had fled north, then turned his horse around and led five hundred elite cavalry south.

Behind them, the firelight of the royal court illuminated half the night sky, and thick smoke billowed and lingered over the grassland, continuing to rise until noon the next day.