The Three Kingdoms: The Oath of the Peach Garden, the Rise of the Han Dynasty

"Kill them!"

"Don't let the barbarians escape!"

Suddenly, countless Han soldiers dressed in gray-white wool sweaters appeared on the hillsides on both sides of the canyon.

Holding bows and crossbows, they looked down at the Xianbei people in the valley and fired a volley!

Arrows rained down!

Caught completely off guard, the Xianbei cavalry fell in droves in an instant.

Many people were still holding mutton in their hands and chewing meat when they were suddenly shot and killed without even realizing it.

"Oh no! We've fallen into a trap!" Zhi Zhang jumped to his feet, his face changing drastically. "Quick! Mount up! Form ranks!"

But it was too late.

Thirty thousand Xianbei people were crammed together, unable to maneuver effectively. Han army arrows rained down from all directions, each volley taking the lives of hundreds.

But then, the Han army threw down lit oil torches, specifically targeting the dry grass and tents on the ground, turning the valley floor into a sea of ​​fire!

"Charge! Charge towards the gorge!" Zhizhang roared, leaping onto his horse. "Only by breaking through the gorge can we survive!"

Thick smoke billowed behind him, and he could no longer see how many people were lying in ambush!

But if there are many people at the back, there must be few people at the front!

All the Xianbei people were blinded by rage, brandishing their scimitars and charging towards the gorge like madmen.

At the mouth of the gorge, Zhang Fei spurred his horse and charged forward, wielding his eighteen-foot spear.

"Drink it!!"

"You bastard! Take this spear from your Grandpa Zhang!"

The eighteen-foot spear, like a venomous dragon emerging from its cave, instantly pierced the chests of three Xianbei cavalrymen.

Zhang Fei charged left and right, as if entering an empty field.

He led his personal guards and cavalrymen to set their sights on Zhi Zhang, and even more so on the black cloud treading snow horse that Zhi Zhang was riding!

The thousands of tribal soldiers under the command of the strategist immediately formed a protective circle, giving Zhang Fei no chance to get close.

Blood stained the frozen ground, and corpses piled up like a small mountain.

The Xianbei people, blinded by rage, charged forward wave after wave. They knew that if they couldn't break through, they would face certain death.

They fought for a full half hour.

Zhi Zhang was astonished to see that so many of them couldn't defeat Zhang Fei!

Instead, many people were killed or injured!

Behind them, a huge fire and thick smoke filled the air, and no one knew what was going on!

"Walk!"

With a roar, Zhizhang led his cavalrymen and charged out from around the corner.

Seeing this, the remaining Xianbei people also rushed out.

Zhang Fei was covered in blood, and the eighteen-foot spear in his hand was dulled.

Hundreds of Han soldiers around and behind him were also killed or wounded.

"General! Should we pursue them or not?" the lieutenant asked, panting heavily.

Zhang Fei wiped the blood from his face, watched the Xianbei people flee in disarray, and spat:

"Stop chasing! Clean up the battlefield!"

In this battle, the Han army suffered more than 500 casualties, but nearly 2,000 Xianbei cavalrymen were killed, burned, or fell into the thawing frozen river, and more than 3,000 were captured.

They also seized some of their cattle, sheep, grain, and most of their tents.

In Zhang Fei's view, achieving such results with only a few deaths was a great deal! Without tents, the rest of the Xianbei would have frozen to death!

Unfortunately, most of the remaining cattle and sheep had scattered, and they were unable to gather them back.

"It's a pity that Zhizhang got away. I should have just called my second brother and Fengxian to charge straight at that Xianbei leader!" Zhang Fei kicked the corpse on the ground with some displeasure.

Only after he finished speaking did he realize that Lu Bu had been taken away by the despicable Ding Yuan.

Zhang Fei shook his head. "Quickly take the cattle, sheep, and supplies back to Yunzhong City. Burn everything you can't take! Don't leave them anything!"

He sheathed his spear, cracked his whip, and the surrounding soldiers shuddered!

"Quickly, finish it before the Xianbei people react!"

Having escaped the canyon, Zhizhang looked back at the billowing smoke and trembled with rage.

With an army of 30,000, one attack resulted in the loss of all their grain, fodder, cattle, and sheep, leaving very little in terms of supplies!

"Zhang Fei! I will kill you!" Zhi Zhang roared through gritted teeth.

But roaring solves nothing. Now, they face an even more dire problem: no food, no livestock, and no tents. They can't last more than a few days!

The deputy general beside him, pale-faced, asked:

"Chief, what do we do now? Should we... retreat?"

"Withdraw?" Zhizhang glared at him.

"If we retreat now, how will we explain it to the Great Khan? Besides, without supplies, even if we retreat, we'll starve to death on the way!"

"Moreover, we haven't avenged the deep-seated blood feud between Zhang Fei and the Han people yet!"

"How can we retreat without killing Zhang Fei!"

Two hours later, after gathering the routed soldiers and counting them, they discovered that there were still more than 20,000 people left!

Then we saw a lot of cattle and sheep running out.

Upon closer inquiry, it was discovered that the people in the back were mainly killed by arrows, and that the fire and thick smoke had created chaos.

Aside from the loud shouts and vibrations from the other side, I hardly encountered any people!

"Damn it!"

Zhi Zhang was furious. "Zhang Fei, you with thick eyebrows and big eyes, you actually used a trick!"

But he actually fell for the trap!

This makes him seem like he has a mental disability!

"Go back quickly! Surround Zhang Fei and gather the cattle and sheep!"

"Huh?" The lieutenant was taken aback. "But leader, we were just defeated by Zhang Fei!"

Zhi Zhang stubbornly refused to admit he had fallen for the trap, instead saying, "Just because we were temporarily defeated, the Han army must be gathering our cattle and sheep. Now that we've turned the tables, they certainly didn't expect it!"

But wait until they retaliate.

All that could be seen when they saw the Han army were tents that were about to burn out and some large drums that had been burned quite a bit!

And the cattle and sheep splashing in the river!

"Damn it! Quickly rescue our cattle and sheep!"

The more Zhizhang thought about it, the angrier he got!

If their men weren't so bad at counting, they would have already counted the number of people!

If they had the discipline of the Han army, they would have rallied their defeated troops and fought their way back long ago!

Next time I go back to the grasslands, I must suggest to the Xiongnu chieftain that we learn about the Han Chinese system!

After gathering the cattle and sheep, Zhizhang became even more certain that Zhang Fei didn't have many men!

They immediately marched to the foot of Cloud City, fighting their way there.

There wasn't a single village around, and even when there was a village, there wasn't a single person in it!

There's nowhere to steal hay or tents!

"Boss, what do we do? We have nowhere to rob!" the deputy asked.

After thinking for a long time, Zhizhang gritted his teeth and continued south!

I will not linger near Cloud City at all!

"We'll lure the enemy out of their hole and draw them in deep! We'll march south and plunder the people of Bingzhou; surely Zhang Fei will come to protect them then?"

"But..." the deputy said with some worry, "What if there's an ambush ahead, and Zhang Fei is behind us?"

The staff of wisdom shook its head and pointed to the ground.

"We have no way out except to plunder! If we stay here to attack Yunzhong, we not only lack siege equipment, but we are also not good at siege warfare!"

There were no tents at night, so we had to share a night with the cattle and sheep! We also had to keep one eye open to prevent being attacked!

There was no choice but to plunder!

The deputy lowered his head in resignation.

They eventually continued south.

Meanwhile, Zhang Fei had already driven some of the cattle and sheep back and made preparations for defending the city and launching a night attack.

Standing on the city wall, he waited and waited, looked and looked, but the person and horse he longed for never appeared!