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

"Chanyu! Something terrible has happened! A large army is coming from the north! They're carrying banners with the character 'Liu' on them!"

"What?!"

Yufuluo suddenly stood up. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could Liu Bei have arrived so quickly?!"

"It's true! Liu Bei's army is already ten miles away! They're about to enter the city!"

Yufuluo's face turned pale; he didn't think he was a match for Liu Bei's army!

They, the Xiongnu, can't even defeat the Xianbei now, let alone Liu Bei!

"How could they be so fast? They couldn't have set off at the same time we did, could they?"

He had already considered giving up, but when he thought of the money, food, and women he had stolen, he couldn't bear to part with them!

He ordered, "Send a portion of the troops to cover the rear, while the main force takes the money and provisions!"

At the same time, outside Huguan City.

Zhang Yan also received news that Liu Bei's army was approaching, and it was said that it was a cavalry force with the character "Zhao" on its banner!

The map in his hand fell to the ground with a "thud".

Zhang Yan's expression changed drastically.

"Order! The entire army must retreat immediately! Retreat back to Black Mountain!"

He made a decisive decision.

But it was too late.

Suddenly, a black torrent appeared on the northern horizon.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Liao have already stormed into the city gates!

Behind them were a thousand people arranged by Li Chang, Jia Xu, and Cheng Yu for a journey that would take several days.

Of these 1000 people, most only knew that they had come to rescue people ahead of time. Only the leaders, Wang Jiang and Zhu Jianwen, knew that they had come to borrow money and grain from powerful families to save the people of Yanmen!

Once Liu Bei's army entered the city, they immediately closed the city gates, trapping them like turtles in a jar!

Zhao Yun, clad in silver armor and a white robe, led the charge, his Dragon Gallant Silver Spear gleaming like a dragon emerging from the sea. Wherever he passed, the Black Mountain soldiers fell in droves, like grass being cut down.

Zhang Liao wielded a hook-and-sickle, his black armor stained with blood, and each swing of the blade created a cloud of blood mist.

"Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

"Zhang Wenyuan of Yanmen is here!"

Two loud shouts announced the arrival of two unparalleled warriors.

The Black Mountain Army had already been at a loss for three days and three nights with the private soldiers of the powerful families, and were exhausted and weary.

Seeing the elite Han army descending like tigers from the mountain, they had no strength left to resist.

The soldiers in the front row dropped their weapons and ran away, while those behind them were knocked off balance and trampled to death.

"Hold on! Hold on, all of you!" Zhang Yan roared, brandishing her twin swords, but she couldn't stop the fleeing soldiers at all.

He watched helplessly as his 10,000-strong army crumbled like paper under the charge of 1,000 Han cavalry!

This group of Han soldiers was actually stronger than the previous county soldiers!

"Retreat! Retreat through the west gate quickly!" Zhang Yan gritted her teeth and led her personal guards in a desperate fight to carve out a bloody path.

They didn't even care about the money and food they had just stolen, and fled in a sorry state towards the Taihang Mountains.

Zhao Yun did not pursue them further. He reined in his horse and said to Zhang Liao, "Wen Yuan, let's each lead our men to wipe out the remaining enemies in the city."

"promise!"

Meanwhile, Wang Jiang had already led five hundred elite troops straight to Gaoshi Fortress, the largest fortress in Huguan.

At this moment, the gate of the fortified village was wide open, and the inside was littered with corpses. The surviving members of the Gao clan huddled in a corner, trembling with fear.

Upon seeing another army enter, the Gao clan chief was alarmed. His mind raced. These couldn't be the rebels, since they had almost all their belongings looted!

"General! General, you saved us! Thank you so much for arriving in time and saving my entire Gao family!"

Wang Jiang dismounted, a "sincere" smile on his face, and personally helped him up:

"Chief Gao, there's no need for such formalities. Protecting our territory and ensuring the safety of our people is our duty. We should help all the people of our great Han."

The Gao clan patriarch was moved to tears: "General Liu is so kind! The Gao family will never forget your great kindness!"

"Chief, are all your people here? Are there any stragglers? We need to make sure they are protected!" Wang Jiang asked kindly.

Chief Gao shook his head and gathered everyone together. "They're all here."

"That's good!" Wang Jiang nodded, then put on the yellow turban, his expression changing: "Leave no one alive!"

"Um?"

None of these tribesmen had time to react; before they died, all they saw was a yellow turban.

Wang Jiang waved his hand, and the soldiers behind him immediately filed in: "Men, move the old, weak, women and children abandoned by the Black Mountain bandits to a safe place and give them a new home!"

On the way, they moved out all the money, food, cloth, and weapons that the Black Mountain bandits hadn't had time to take, to prevent them from being looted by the remaining soldiers.

"yes!"

The soldiers moved swiftly, transporting boxes of gold and silver, bundles of cloth, and cartloads of grain out of the country.

Along the way, everything that the Black Mountain bandits hadn't taken, or didn't have time to take, was taken by Wang Jiang!

Only a few families managed to escape unscathed, but they couldn't even leave their homes and were completely unable to go out to gather information!

When Wang Jiang reached the better-preserved sections, he pointed to the soldiers behind him:

"I'll leave a few dozen brothers behind to protect you, lest any more rebel soldiers come."

The clan chiefs looked at the expressionless soldiers with their hands on their sword hilts and felt a pang of unease. Was this protection or surveillance?

But now that things have come to this, they don't want to go out anymore, so let it be!

The same scenario plays out in every aristocratic fortified village in Huguan.

Under the guise of "rescue," Wang Jiang seized the wealth accumulated by all the aristocratic families over hundreds of years without firing a shot.

Those scions of noble families who had just escaped the Black Mountain Army's calamity did not escape the remaining one in the blink of an eye!

At the same time, in Jinyang City.

The shouts of battle were deafening.

Liu Bei and Xu Huang led a thousand men to break in through the north gate, Guan Yu through the south gate, Zhang Fei through the west gate, and Xu Rong and Huang Zhong through the east gate.

They directly surrounded the Southern Xiongnu from all four sides!

"Zhang Yide of Yan is here! You barbarians, surrender!"

Zhang Fei swept his eighteen-foot spear across the battlefield, skewering three Xiongnu cavalrymen like candied hawthorns with a single thrust.

He specifically targeted the Xiongnu commanders of a thousand and a hundred, and no one could stop him wherever he went, causing the Xiongnu people to cry out in despair.

Guan Yu, leading five hundred swordsmen, charged straight at the Southern Xiongnu's central army. His Green Dragon Crescent Blade gleamed coldly, and with each strike, a head fell to the ground.

Yufuluo stood on the roof of the governor's mansion, watching his army being divided, surrounded, and annihilated one by one by the Han army, and he trembled with fear.

The tens of thousands of Xiongnu cavalry he brought were unable to maneuver freely in the narrow city of Jinyang, and instead became live targets for the Han army!

Those cavalrymen who were invincible on the grasslands now had difficulty even turning around and could only passively take the beating.

"Retreat! Retreat quickly from the north gate!"

Yufuluo scrambled down from the roof, mounted his horse, and led several thousand guards in a desperate escape toward the north gate.

He didn't even care about the gold, silver, treasures, women, and slaves he had stolen; all he wanted was to escape back to the grasslands alive!

The other three sides are too fierce; only the north gate seems a bit easier to fight!

Near the North Gate.

"Yufrosh, go!"

Liu Bei spotted Yufuluo's royal banner at a glance and spurred his horse to give chase.

With two sword strikes, he knocked away two Xiongnu guards blocking his path and was about to catch up with Yufuluo.

Xu Huang, who was behind them, was completely dumbfounded!

My lord is so brave!

He immediately pulled out his big axe and followed!

Not long after, Yufuluo was killed by Xu Huang with an axe, and his head fell to the ground.

The fighting inside the city ended quickly.

Of the tens of thousands of Southern Xiongnu soldiers, more than a thousand died in battle, seven or eight thousand were captured, and only a few thousand managed to escape in the chaos.

All the gold, silver, grain, cloth, and people they plundered became spoils of war for Liu Bei's army.

Liu Bei led his personal guards straight to the civilian district in the south of the city. He was relieved to see Ding Yuan and more than a thousand old, weak and disabled soldiers still holding out. He thought to himself, "The Han Dynasty still has people who are loyal and courageous!"

"Commander Ding, thank you for your hard work."

When Ding Yuan saw Liu Bei, his eyes reddened: "Your subordinate is incompetent. I failed to defend Jinyang, causing the people to suffer."

"Commander Ding, you flatter me." Liu Bei helped him up. "You have already done a great service by protecting tens of thousands of people in the south of the city."

He immediately ordered: "The entire army must immediately rescue the wounded civilians, extinguish the fire, and appease the people. Soldiers are strictly forbidden from looting the civilians; those who disobey will be executed!"

"promise!"

Just before Liu Bei was busy saving and pacifying the people.

Li Chang, Jia Xu, and Cheng Li have already begun to "save the people and bring them peace"!

Led by Wang Shuang and Li Xuanwu, a thousand men took advantage of the chaos and sneaked into the aristocratic clan district of the northern city.