Chapter Eighty-Seven: Damn It All

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With two thousand light cavalry, Qin Cheng struck a small Xiongnu tribe belonging to the Left Virtuous King’s faction in the night before last, wiping out a settlement of more than a thousand people in one blow. Because the timing had been chosen so well, several hundred heads were taken, and afterward the camp was burned to the ground.

A tribe of that size naturally would not contain the Left Virtuous King himself, but the fact remained that Qin Cheng had razed their very nest. So when he sent the rider back to report to Li Guang, he had him shout that “several thousand heads were taken and the Xiongnu Left Virtuous King was captured,” the purpose being to intimidate the Xiongnu cavalry besieging Li Guang and disrupt their morale for the operations that would follow. In any case, the Xiongnu had no way of knowing whether they had truly run into the Left Virtuous King.

Especially once word of Qin Cheng’s attack on a Xiongnu tribe reached Ixel’s ears, she had no choice but to withdraw troops to rush back in relief, thus confirming Qin Cheng’s trap, and yet she could not explain matters clearly.

It could be said that Qin Cheng’s scheme was indeed vicious.

The lone rider who came racing from the north and brought Li Guang and the others great tidings stopped at a bowshot outside the Xiongnu encirclement. He paid no mind to the cavalrymen staring at him, and simply shouted on and on to himself.

What Qin Cheng and the rider who had returned to deliver the news did not know, however, was that the Xiongnu Left Virtuous King was not in the desert at all.

When Ixel ordered the Xiongnu soldiers to launch their final assault against the Han troops in the fort, a middle-aged man stepped out beside her. He had a magnificent bearing and wore rich garments. He was unarmored, and the hilt of the curved blade at his waist was decorated with pearls, opulent to the extreme, as though it were a treasure from the Western Regions.

The man walked over to Ixel and glanced idly at the Xiongnu formations attacking the fort. For this operation, he had been nothing more than an idle bystander; he neither commanded nor fought, and he cared little for the outcome. To put it bluntly, this was merely the princess at his side sharpening her blade, and victory or defeat mattered little. Of course, that was only so long as the defeat was not too disastrous.

Seeing the solemn look on Ixel’s face, the man was just about to say something when he heard a Han rider coming from the north. After making out the rider’s cries, he let out a cold snort. “Those Han really know no shame!”

Ixel rubbed her forehead in vexation, a trace of bewilderment flashing through her eyes. Looking at the attacking Xiongnu battle line, her face was full of conflict. She glanced at the man beside her and asked softly, “Brother, what should we do next?”

The man looked at Ixel, then returned his gaze to the Xiongnu formations attacking the fort. “Little sister, you are the commander for this operation. Do as you see fit. There is no need to hesitate.”

“Damn it!” Ixel cursed. “Damn Qin Cheng, to have actually run into the lands of my great Xiongnu!”

Drawing a breath, she went on, “Since that is so, then you need not return either. You and your cavalry will use the remainder of your lives to make amends for the sins you have committed in the desert!”

“As for Li Guang, hmph, this princess will make sure he pays dearly!”

With that, Ixel ordered, “Withdraw!”

The man watched Ixel turn away in a huff, and a meaningful smile appeared on his face. “It seems that these years in the Central Plains have not stripped you of the courage of a true Xiongnu. Good. Very good.”

“Someone, go and kill that noisy Han rider for me!” the man said, pointing at the lone Han cavalryman who had come racing from the north to deliver his message.

“Yes, Left Virtuous King!”

This man was the Xiongnu Left Virtuous King.

The Xiongnu cavalry’s southward campaign was led by Ixel and the Left Virtuous King. Only, the Left Virtuous King’s role was mostly to look after Ixel, not to command the army. An army of more than ten thousand Xiongnu horsemen withdrew as swiftly as they had come, like wind sweeping away the clouds and dust. When one’s homeland is on fire, there is no room for delay.

The Han soldiers in the fort, who had been holding out bitterly for a day and a night without a moment’s rest, could finally breathe. Yet when they saw the Xiongnu cavalry retreat, they once again grew restless.

“General, let us pursue them! While they are withdrawing, we can cut them down to a man!” Ma Dashan gripped his long blade, his bloodshot eyes blazing with fervor. His voice was hoarse, but he still shouted his plea.

Li Guang, who had just been on the verge of ordering the army to charge out and fight the Xiongnu to the death, finally calmed down. Qin Cheng’s thousand-mile raid had forced the Xiongnu cavalry to turn back and relieve the siege at Shanggu. This had been a plan Qin Cheng and he had devised together, and now that it had finally been carried out, Li Guang could not help feeling a surge of excitement.

But when he thought of Qin Cheng facing the blockade of more than ten thousand Xiongnu horsemen, and the unpredictable pursuit of Xiongnu forces within the desert, he could not help but worry.

In that instant, many thoughts passed through Li Guang’s mind.

Before Qin Cheng departed, he had said to Li Guang, “If your humble servant’s raid succeeds, then the Xiongnu will surely turn back to relieve their own territory. However, they will certainly not be willing to return empty-handed. Moreover, they are numerous. Aside from their desire to surround me in the desert and cut me down, we must also beware that they may split off a force to ambush the outskirts of Goat Head Town. They will wait for the general to lead troops out in pursuit, and then seize Goat Head Town by surprise. If that happens, the general will be in grave danger. Therefore, once the Xiongnu army withdraws, the general must by no means pursue them. It will suffice merely to make a show of pursuit, while secretly sending elite scouts to determine where the Xiongnu have laid their ambush. If they can be taken all at once, that would of course be best. If not, then simply hold fast and wait for them to withdraw. As for your humble servant, whether I live or die will depend entirely on heaven’s will.”

Li Guang remembered that when Qin Cheng finished those words, his expression had been utterly resolute, with all the spirit of a wind-swept road to a river crossing sealed in cold. Li Guang thought of Jing Ke from long ago, and his heart stirred. He heavily patted Qin Cheng on the shoulder, thinking that if such a fine general could not be vigorously recommended and made a pillar of the state, then he might as well have lived in vain.

At that thought, Li Guang turned and issued his order: “Cavalry, assemble at the town gate. Infantry, beat the drums and shout to bolster our army’s prestige!”

The Xiongnu cavalry main force withdrew in grand style. The Han cavalry formed ranks at the town gate, yet merely beat their drums and shouted without pursuing. They looked as though the Han were seeing the Xiongnu off, or perhaps mocking them.

The Xiongnu cavalry hidden in ambush outside Goat Head Town stared fixedly at the Han troops at the gate, fervently hoping Li Guang would lead his army out in pursuit. Then they could strike in the middle of the road, taking control of Goat Head Town while also meeting Li Guang’s army on open ground. In that case, even if Li Guang did not wish to lose, he would have no choice.

Unfortunately, although the Han army had formed ranks at the town gate, and the drumming and shouting were indeed imposing, their momentum was such that even the Han soldiers themselves would probably not believe they truly intended to fight with all their strength. Yet Li Guang simply refused to give the order to attack. After a long commotion, to the stunned disbelief of the Xiongnu, the Han troops patted their backsides and withdrew back into the town!

“Damn it all! I believed your nonsense! What in heaven’s name are these Han scheming?” As Ahshina, the highest-ranking commander of the Xiongnu ambush force, watched the Han troops turn back, he cursed furiously.

“Why don’t we charge in and finish off these Han soldiers?” suggested a thousand-man commander beside him.

“Charge your grandmother’s bones!” Ahshina slapped the man hard on the back of the head and snapped, “An army of more than ten thousand couldn’t finish them off earlier. Do you have an extra hand or an extra leg? And you think you can go kill the Flying General, Li Guang? Do you even know how the word death is written?”

With each question, Ahshina smacked the back of the commander’s head again, the rhythm of it so relentless that the Xiongnu nearby felt a chill in their hearts.

The thousand-man commander was smacked until his vision swam. He hurriedly shrank back and said sulkily, “Then what are we to do?”

Ahshina stopped his hand and looked toward Goat Head Town, saying darkly, “Fortunately, our commander is far-sighted. She already anticipated that Li Guang might not lead troops out in pursuit, so she has arranged another plan!”

“Oh? What plan?” the commander asked excitedly, accidentally leaning his face forward again.

“And what right do you have to ask what plan?” Ahshina slapped the back of his head once more, so hard that he was sent sprawling flat onto the ground. Ahshina froze for a moment, and realizing he had used too much force, decided to make amends. “The commander said for us to wait here. The Han army will come out sooner or later. Who knows, when they do, they may be heading north to reinforce the Han troops. At that time, heh heh...”

“Then we’ll finish off the Flying General!” The thousand-man commander scrambled up from the ground and exclaimed with delighted excitement, as though he had just discovered a treasure.

“Damn your grandmother’s bones, who told you to cut in?!” Ahshina, who had just been grinning wickedly and trying to create a bit of conspiratorial atmosphere, was interrupted and flew into a rage. This time he switched to his feet and kicked the thousand-man commander flying far away, then withdrew his leg with what he took to be great elegance, brushed at his trouser leg, and snorted, “We’ll finish off all the Han troops in Shanggu, heh heh!”