Chapter Ninety-Two: Women, Cattle, and Sheep

The Xiongnu cavalry lying in ambush on Sheep-Head Mountain had been sprawled there for two days, and their patience was wearing thin. Xiongnu horsemen were accustomed to moving like the wind, to raids, surprise assaults, and swift, decisive slaughter; suddenly making them hide quietly in the woods for days on end was truly something these men of the steppe could not quite get used to.

Ashina, commander of the three thousand Xiongnu ambushers, had already lost count of how many arrow shafts he had whittled. Ever since being left to idle on this mountain, he had taken to carving wooden shafts to pass the time. In the two days since, the ground behind him was already strewn with them.

Originally, the task Ashina had brought his men here for was to strike Sheep-Head Town while Li Guang was away, or, if Li Guang marched north to reinforce Qin Cheng, to strike from behind, launch a sudden attack on the Han army, and catch them completely off guard. If all went well, they could crush the Han cavalry once and for all and accomplish a truly glorious feat.

Yes, a complete defeat of the Shanggu cavalry, preferably even the capture of Li Guang himself. In Ashina's eyes, that would indeed be an extraordinary achievement.

But the Xiongnu, who had never been very good at this sort of warfare, had failed to notice that their whereabouts were already known to Li Guang. So while they waited in vain for Li Guang to lead his troops out of town, Li Guang had no intention of leaving at all.

Instead, Li Gan and the others who had quietly slipped out of Sheep-Head Town went completely unnoticed by these rough-hewn steppe warriors.

This was delicate work, and not something just anyone could do.

When Yi Xue'er had arranged this ambush on Sheep-Head Mountain, she naturally had no intention of keeping them waiting there until they died of old age or took up the mountain as bandits. Although she was somewhat confident that Ashina's Xiongnu cavalry could successfully ambush Li Guang, when she gave Ashina his orders she had made them quite clear: if the Han troops in Sheep-Head Town had made no move after two days, withdraw; if they had moved but still had not come out after four days, and no Xiongnu reinforcements had arrived, withdraw as well.

After all, Shanggu was territory of the Han. Yi Xue'er could not leave Ashina in Shanggu Commandery for too long. Three thousand ferocious Xiongnu horsemen turning into military merit for the Han army? She would not have been furious enough to forget her manners and curse at the heavens?

Ashina was thoroughly depressed, extremely so. At first he had thought that this unexpected ambush on Sheep-Head Mountain would surely end in success; if so, the military merit would be enormous. He had never imagined that, by today, he would have no choice but to slink away in defeat, all that hot blood and grand ambition reduced to nothing.

When he left, Ashina was smoldering with anger. As he ordered the army down the mountain, he nearly could not restrain himself from burning Sheep-Head Town to the ground. Had Yi Xue'er's command not come first, then with the fierce blood of an Xiongnu warrior, no matter what, he would have made sure Sheep-Head Town remembered Ashina.

Ashina led his men away, and the news was swiftly delivered to Li Guang.

When Li Guang heard it, his mind raced with a thousand thoughts. Especially at the mention of Li Gan and Qin Cheng, who might already have been on their way back, he made an immediate decision and gathered his heavy cavalry to give chase.

Not going out before did not mean he could not go out now.

To guard against the Xiongnu trickery, Li Guang deliberately chose a mountain pass more than ten li to the north from which to emerge. The route was also somewhat shorter. Naturally, the Xiongnu, unfamiliar with the terrain, could not have known any of this.

...

The mountain pass through which the Xiongnu charged was the main road from Sheep-Head Town out onto the grasslands, which meant that once they reached there, they were already not far from Sheep-Head Town. Before the Xiongnu appeared, Li Gan had already sent his personal guards, who had come with him to meet up with Qin Cheng, to signal Sheep-Head Town, meaning that Qin Cheng had been linked up with and everything was safe.

Not long after Li Gan's signal was sent, Xiongnu cavalry appeared ahead. The instant he saw them, a thought flashed through Li Guang's mind: had the Xiongnu seen through his signal and come bursting out because of it?

If so, Li Gan's guilt would be immense.

Qin Cheng did not pay attention to the change in Li Gan's expression. Narrowing his eyes, he watched the enemy ahead.

A single glance was enough to tell him that the two sides were only about ten li apart.

It was true that nearly two thousand light cavalry had successfully struck the Xiongnu's lair, and it was true that Qin Cheng had led this newly trained cavalry, only four months old, to two victories in two battles. But not once in those two battles had they charged head-on into Xiongnu cavalry.

To order these nearly two thousand green light cavalrymen to clash directly with the three thousand fierce Xiongnu horsemen before them was nothing short of suicide, and they would die in no pleasant fashion.

Qin Cheng would never do such a thing.

If they could not fight, then only one road remained: run.

Running at the first sight of the enemy was no disgrace. Had they not already fled all the way back from the desert like wolves driven across the grasslands?

Just as Qin Cheng was considering whether to turn and run outright or to exploit the speed of light cavalry and repeat the escape maneuver they had used against Yi Xue'er's pursuers, a horn sounded from within the low hills.

The call was short and clipped, yet carried a distinct rhythm, clearly meant to convey some meaning.

With the Xiongnu right in front of them, the horn from the hills on the left could only have come from the Han army.

Hearing it, Qin Cheng immediately understood how they should run.

"Full speed ahead. Objective: the left-hand pass!" Qin Cheng shouted.

What Qin Cheng did not know when he gave that order was that Li Guang had shouted the very same command two days earlier, in nearly the same place, under a situation quite similar to the one now.

The difference was that Li Guang had heavy cavalry. He could lead his army straight through the Xiongnu formation ahead, tear open a path, and ride proudly into the pass. Qin Cheng, on the other hand, could only rely on the speed of his light cavalry to beat the Xiongnu to the pass!

Fortunately, there were many passes among the low hills.

The nearest pass could be reached in only the time it took to count to ten at full gallop.

On the return journey from the desert, because they had to guard against being tailed by the Xiongnu, the light cavalry formation still had several hundred cavalry instructors and Qin Cheng's personal guards at the rear to hold the line. Now, as they raced toward the pass and the Xiongnu cavalry was about to close in, Qin Cheng naturally would not miss the chance to harvest a few Xiongnu heads. Just as the soldiers in the rear of the light cavalry were about to enter the pass and the Xiongnu horsemen had already come within bowshot, Qin Cheng gave the order to loose their arrows without hesitation.

After a volley of arrows, the Xiongnu riders at the front of the formation immediately fell in a batch.

The light cavalry seized this rare opening and all rushed into the pass.

The Xiongnu cavalry, having lost several dozen men, showed no sign of slowing. They pressed tightly after them.

Ashina naturally would not let such a fine opportunity slip away.

A rough estimate told him that the Han cavalry opposite numbered barely half of his own force, and it was clear that these Han riders did not dare face them head-on at all. They only wanted to race into the mountain road and save their lives. So Ashina, who had waited in vain on Sheep-Head Mountain for two days, decided to seize the moment and earn himself a great military merit. By the time they returned to the desert, he would be able to claim more women, cattle, and sheep!

At the thought of soft-voiced women and great herds of fat cattle and sheep, Ashina's blood began to boil. The casualties among the vanguard of several dozen riders no longer concerned him in the least. Now he fixed his gaze on the Han troops ahead and wanted nothing more than to catch them and tear them apart.

At the beginning, when they had first lain in ambush on Sheep-Head Mountain, their hearts had been full of hope for victory. Then, after two days of waiting, that hope had been worn away, replaced by deep resentment, disappointment, and anger. But now, when Ashina had already fallen into despair, hope suddenly appeared again, right before his eyes and within reach. How could he not seize it tightly?

Only, in his sudden heat of blood, Ashina seemed to have overlooked something.

For instance, the horn call that had just sounded from the hills.

"Catch them, and the women, cattle, and sheep are ours!" Ashina roared, brandishing his long blade. Because his eyes were so bloodshot, they glowed an eerie crimson.

That simple shout greatly stirred the fighting spirit of the Xiongnu riders behind him. For them, women, cattle, and sheep were the most tangible things in the world. One after another, the Xiongnu warriors bellowed and charged after the Han cavalry into the mountain road.

Yet just as they burst into the pass and saw the scene before them, all of these Xiongnu warriors froze. Then, one by one, their faces lit up with savage smiles.

The Han troops who had just rushed into the pass had all turned back!

It turned out that this mountain road was a dead end!

The Xiongnu warriors immediately understood, raised their blades, and charged at the Han troops before them.

Women, cattle, and sheep, here we come!