All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

The horse seemed to understand human nature; after running for several dozen meters, it stopped and began to graze, occasionally glancing down at Maodun as if begging him not to be angry.

Maodun's face was gloomy. He looked at the thoroughbred horse with gritted teeth, as if the horse were his own father. He took down his longbow, nocked an arrow, and aimed it at the horse.

Upon seeing this, several members of his personal guard rushed forward to offer words of comfort.

Upon hearing the words of comfort, Maodun's expression darkened further. He glanced back at his hundred-man personal guard and then shouted.

"Now everyone obey my command. The horses in front are our enemies. I order everyone to nock arrows and shoot them down!"

Having said that, Maodun drew his bow to its full extent and shot at the horse in front of him without the slightest hesitation.

The arrow pierced the horse's hindquarters with great force, causing it to stumble and nearly fall. It turned back and let out a mournful whinny towards Maodun, as if pleading or questioning.

But the coldness in Maodun's eyes grew even colder. The hundred-man guard behind him was shocked to see this, but soon some of them realized what was happening and quickly drew their bows and shot at the horse.

Almost instantly, dozens of arrows pierced the horse's entire body. The horse lay on the grass not far away, its eyes wide open, seemingly still filled with tears, in disbelief.

Maodun looked at the dead horse without any expression, slowly took another arrow from his quiver, turned around, and looked at his personal guard.

Of the hundred men, ninety-eight had already fired their arrows, but two guards, one of whom was his captain, had not yet fired.

The man was a clansman who had grown up with Maodun since childhood, his most trusted subordinate and brother. A chill appeared in Maodun's eyes.

The captain of the guard stepped forward, about to explain, when he saw Maodun draw his bow and nock an arrow. Without the slightest hesitation, he shot the arrow into the man's heart.

The man couldn't believe it was real until his death. He clutched the long arrow, staggered back two steps, looked at Maodun, and tried to say something, but before he could utter a single word, he collapsed and died.

Maodun then gave his personal guard a cold look, and the others almost instinctively drew their bows and aimed at the last remaining member of the personal guard who had not yet fired an arrow.

Maodun coldly shouted.

"shoot!"

Almost instinctively, everyone released the bow, and ninety-eight long arrows turned the guard into a pincushion.

Maodun mounted his personal guard captain's horse, showing no trace of sadness. With a shout of "Giddy up!" he dismounted and galloped off into the distance, facing the setting sun.

After half a month of deliberation, the old Chanyu finally dispatched another general, leading 15,000 cavalry and 8,000 infantry, a total of 23,000 troops, to advance steadily toward the Dragon Kingdom.

Although the Xiongnu had 100,000 cavalry, their territory was also large, and they also had to guard against attacks from the Yuezhi and Donghu. Twenty-three thousand men were already their current limit.

They were well-prepared for this campaign, with three thousand well-equipped heavy cavalry and a shield battalion of infantry. Their strategy was to advance steadily and gradually erode the Dragon Kingdom.

Although the Dragon Kingdom was a small country, the Xiongnu did not underestimate their opponent this time. Moreover, according to the intelligence that came back, the enemy's cavalry was no worse than their own, and was even better equipped.

When Han Chunming received news of another Xiongnu attack, he was not alarmed. His nearly 20,000 troops had been deployed for many days, waiting for the Xiongnu to arrive.

Facing a Xiongnu force of over 20,000 men, it's impossible not to feel some pressure. However, the pace of the war is now under the control of the Dragon Kingdom. After the last battle, everyone's morale is high, and they are not afraid of the Xiongnu at all.

This time, we're going to go big. If we want to become the overlord of the Western Regions, the Xiongnu are just the first obstacle.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Modu Chanyu

With several earth-shattering roars, the mountain peak, hundreds of meters high, suddenly collapsed, sending boulders and yellow earth flying and covering the surrounding valleys below.

Dust billowed up, covering an area of ​​hundreds of meters in radius, a sight that terrified the Xiongnu people in the canyon.

The sound was accompanied by debris and rubble, like a dense barrage of meteorites crashing down. Countless cavalrymen fell to the ground, and countless others scattered in all directions.

The Hun cavalry and infantry formations, which were originally separate, were now in complete chaos. Countless men charged forward or retreated, and the whole place was in disarray.

Han Chunming coldly watched this scene, raised the Starry Sky Sword in his hand, and shouted loudly.

"Everyone, follow me and kill!"

Han Chunming took the lead, leading several thousand cavalrymen to attack the Xiongnu.

If Han Chunming truly changes history in the future, historians will certainly remember this war.

This was because it marked the first time explosives appeared in the history of human warfare.

Eighteen thousand men from the Dragon Kingdom fought against twenty-three thousand Xiongnu soldiers. Two hours later, under the blazing sun, Han Chunming looked at the densely packed enemy corpses in the canyon. He understood that this battle was a foregone conclusion, and he had won again.

The Dragon Kingdom achieved a great victory over the Xiongnu, which laid the foundation for the Dragon Kingdom's dominance in the Western Regions.

The Xiongnu were well-prepared and had complete confidence in the Dragon Kingdom's conquest. They had sent out at least five waves of scouts to explore the canyon they had passed through before, but found nothing unusual.

But to their utter surprise, the Dragon Kingdom, in order to welcome them, used explosives in warfare for the first time.

The black powder of that era was actually quite weak. The blown-off mountain peaks did not cause much damage to an army of more than 20,000 people, at most causing only a few hundred casualties.

However, when explosives first appeared before people of this era, the earth-shattering sound and the visual impact of splitting mountains and rocks far outweighed the actual damage.

The true effect of explosives is to win hearts and minds. In this battle, nearly 10,000 people were slaughtered, more than 8,000 were captured, and thousands escaped. The outcome of the battle was decided in one fell swoop.

After this battle, Han Chunming did not order his army to return to the capital, but instead set off directly towards the Western Regions.

Because he knew that the Xiongnu, having suffered two defeats in two battles, would absolutely not dare to launch a third war. Next, it would be the Dragon Kingdom's time to shine.

Just as Han Chunming had guessed, when news of the Xiongnu's defeat reached the capital, the Chanyu's court, the old Chanyu was completely panicked.

He never expected to encounter such a tough opponent this time. He led nearly 30,000 troops on two expeditions, but lost more than 20,000 men, most of whom were cavalry.

The general who led this expedition was the Right Wise King, the third most powerful figure in the Xiongnu. Thanks to his quick reflexes and the protection of a thousand personal guards, he managed to escape and survive.

The Right Wise King, who had escaped, suffered heavy losses and was still in shock. He immediately went to the old Chanyu, knelt down before him, and begged for forgiveness with tears streaming down his face.

Normally, if a commander-in-chief suffers a major defeat and loses so many soldiers, he would definitely be punished. In severe cases, he would be beheaded, and in milder cases, his territory would be divided up.

However, the Right Wise King was the old Chanyu's younger brother, his staunch supporter, and the person the old Chanyu trusted most. Otherwise, the old Chanyu would not have entrusted such a lucrative task as conquering the Dragon Kingdom to the Right Wise King.

Faced with his own younger brother's kneeling pleas, the old Chanyu finally softened and let him go after only a few light scoldings.

The Xiongnu lost more than 20,000 elite troops this time, and naturally there were many discontents within the Xiongnu. The old Chanyu easily let the Right Wise King go, which greatly displeased many tribes.

Among these dissatisfied people was Maodun, but this time Maodun did not impulsively question his father, but instead suppressed his anger in his heart.

The Right Wise King's crushing defeat greatly shocked Modu Chanyu, who immediately began to pay close attention to the small Western Regions kingdom of Longguo.

He captured many defeated soldiers and interrogated them, asking what exactly happened on the battlefield and why 23,000 battle-hardened elite troops were defeated by a small country.

When the defeated soldiers were asked this question, they all trembled with fear. Some said that the Dragon Kingdom was protected by gods. At that time, a fierce wind rose on the battlefield, thunder and lightning struck, and hundreds of meters high mountains were broken off and smashed down on them.

Some people say that the soldiers of the Dragon Kingdom are all incredibly strong. He personally witnessed a giant eight meters tall descend from the sky and trample hundreds of soldiers to death.

In short, the psychological defenses of these defeated soldiers have completely collapsed. They are terrified to the core by that unforgettable memory. Their fear is nine parts false and one part true, all based on guesswork, and is far removed from the actual situation.

Although Maodun believed in gods, he absolutely did not believe that a small kingdom in the Western Regions could be protected by gods.

However, the strength that the Dragon Kingdom is currently displaying is definitely not something a small country should possess.

Sure enough, in the following month and a half, the Dragon Kingdom conquered seven kingdoms in succession, a piece of news that completely shocked the entire Western Regions.

The Xiongnu, who were still discussing whether to launch another campaign against the sudden rise of the Dragon Kingdom, were greatly alarmed.

As news of the Dragon Kingdom's conquests continued to arrive, the Xiongnu court's momentum for further conquests completely ceased, and the old Chanyu lost the will to continue his campaigns, instead adopting a defensive posture.

Modu Chandler was enraged when he saw the emasculated voices of conquest within his own country.

He wasn't in favor of continuing the campaign, but he felt utterly disgusted by how quickly some people in the Xiongnu had changed their attitudes after the two failed campaigns.

The Right Wise King was his own uncle, but the other party failed twice in a row, and his father let him off lightly.

Now, the Right Wise King is the leading figure who strongly opposes continuing the war, praising the enemy and belittling his own people, like a maggot.

Moreover, the fact that such a useless person could still hold a high position of power made Maodun extremely unhappy.

In his mind, the Right Wise King, who could wield great power, should be a man of integrity, not a good-for-nothing who abandoned his subordinates and fled back to live a wretched life.

But anger was no use; he was the designated successor to the Chanyu.

But recently his father has become increasingly disgusted with him, and has reprimanded him several times in front of everyone in the main tent, which has made his attitude clear.

Maodun now felt increasingly threatened, but he was waiting for the right opportunity, which was perhaps coming soon.

The Xiongnu capital, Shanyuting, was only built two years ago. This was because they had been driven out of the Great Wall by Meng Tian, ​​and a new capital was built in a different location a few years prior.

The Shanyu court was located on a vast plain, surrounded by more than 30,000 guards, including 20,000 cavalry. If the enemy attacked and they could not defeat them, they could retreat to the depths of the grassland under the cover of the cavalry.

Of the 20,000 cavalrymen stationed there, 10,000 were under Modu's command, while the other 10,000 were from the old Chanyu's directly subordinate tribes.

However, the Right Wise King's forces suffered heavy losses last time, and to prevent other tribes from taking advantage of his misfortune, the old Chanyu gave the Right Wise King five thousand cavalrymen to take back and maintain order.

In other words, the largest force currently guarding the Shanyu court is Modu's 10,000 cavalry.

After leaving his father's tent, Maodun felt an unquenchable fire burning in his heart.

The Right Wise King suffered a major defeat without any punishment, which disappointed many people with the old Chanyu. Perhaps this is his chance.

Modu returned to his territory with a sullen face. His troops were stationed to the south and west of the Chanyu Court, with thousands of tents stretching out outside the city.

He returned to his tent, and after a few drinks, he became increasingly irritable. His concubine, seeing that Maodun was in a bad mood, quickly stepped forward to comfort him, massaging his legs and shoulders, and softly asking him why he was so angry.

Modu felt comfortable being pressed down. He turned around and glanced at the concubine, who was his favorite concubine. She was understanding and gentle.

Maodun had countless things on his mind that he wanted to tell someone. He picked up the wine bowl in his hand, drank it all in one gulp, and roared in a low voice with a flushed face.

"Shanrou, do you think it's possible for me to succeed if I start a rebellion now?"

Maodun's words startled the concubine, who was alarmed and quickly stepped forward to advise him.

Despite the concubine's persuasion, Maodun's mood did not calm down; instead, it became even more gloomy. He drank his wine in silence, his face grim, while the concubine continued to nag in his ear.

He didn't know how long he had been drinking, but it was already dusk outside. Maodun's face was as red as the sunset on the grassland. He shook his head, stood up abruptly, and walked out of the tent.

Seeing that Maodun's expression was not good, the concubine next to him quickly tried to pull him back, while also trying to persuade him.

"It's getting late, let's get some rest. Perhaps a good night's sleep will improve the Crown Prince's mood."

Maodun did not respond to the other party's question, but instead turned around and gave the beautiful concubine a cold look.

Seeing that she was still holding his hand, Maodun suddenly reached out, grabbed her hand, and pulled her outside.

The concubine was suddenly grabbed by Modu and felt uneasy, but she let him hold her. Soon the two arrived at the military camp assembly point.

Seeing that it was Maodun at the command platform, the concubine felt even more uneasy and hurriedly asked him a question. However, Maodun did not answer her question and pulled her onto the platform.

After taking their positions, Maodun immediately ordered his personal guards to sound the assembly call, so that the soldiers, who had already finished eating and were preparing to rest, would dress neatly, mount their warhorses, and assemble at the designated area.

Looking at the densely packed cavalry below the stage, facing his ten thousand men, Maodun suddenly appeared before them with his concubine, leaving all the soldiers puzzled and confused.

Maodun released the concubine's hand, mounted his horse, and then coldly addressed the concubine.

"You have half an incense stick's time. Now run!"

After saying that, he looked coldly at the concubine and said nothing more.