Zuo Wushang gazed at Mount Langjuxu, his heart a tempest of emotions.
The barbarians, once considered crucial allies for their nation's revival and feared across the land, were now a broken people, embroiled in internal strife!
The more pathetic the barbarians became, the more the soldiers' reverence for Liang Xiao grew.
The Great Qian finally shifted from defense to offense against the barbarians, subjugating the uncivilized!
As early summer approached, a chilling wind swept across the northern desert.
Mount Langjuxu and Guyan Mountain to the north, ancient with sorrowful winds, rustled as if declaring to the world that these towering peaks were about to embrace a new destiny.
Liang Xiao, looking at Mount Langjuxu, smiled briefly, then cracked his whip towards the northwest: "Send troops down two routes, capture the Left Virtuous King and the Barbarian Chanyu, then return to perform the rites of heaven and earth, and display the might of Great Qian!"
At the military order, one hundred thousand soldiers' blood boiled. The army split into two, attacking simultaneously to the northwest and due north!
On the carriage, Braidar and his companions, watching the dust kicked up by the Great Qian cavalry, trembled: "This is truly a force of wolves and tigers that our barbarian cavalry cannot match. I must tell Attila upon our return that the barbarians can no longer remain in the desert; we must find ways to expand our territory in other directions..."
The imposing might of the Great Qian cavalry had transformed into fear, deeply etched into the souls of the barbarians!
Liang Xiao personally led one army, pursuing northward, accompanied by Zhuo Ying and Yue Qingtian.
Lu Changhe led another army, with Nan Jiyun and Nie Yuan accompanying him.
A hundred miles of sand could not conceal the Great Qian soldiers' overwhelming fighting spirit as they pressed their advantage!
After an unknown duration, the two hundred thousand-plus barbarians retreating from the northeast finally breathed a sigh of relief when they realized the Great Qian soldiers were not in pursuit.
Just moments before, the severe cold and sandstorms here had already claimed the lives of over a hundred people!
Attila, looking towards the northwest, gritted his teeth: "Great Qian to the south, Xianbei to the east, and the Tianri tribe to the northwest. We might not be able to stay in the northern desert. But all of this is because of you! One day, my barbarian cavalry will charge back into the western borders of Great Qian from the west, and I will settle the score with you, Liang Xiao!!"
The last hope of the barbarians, a king not yet in his prime, fueled by immense hatred for Liang Xiao, refused to relinquish his desire for revenge or the glory of the barbarians.
"When winter comes, the Great Qian cavalry will surely retreat. Then we can return to our homeland in the northern desert, and later, the entire tribe will migrate southwest. There will surely be a place for the barbarians there!"
The two hundred thousand-plus barbarians could only place their trust in Prince Attila, who was willing to lead them to safety.
"Lord Attila, from now on, you shall be our Chanyu!"
As time passed, the entire Great Qian nation came to know of the exploits of the Great Qian soldiers, and joy swept through the land!
In every household, ancestors were honored day and night, praying for the return of the Great Qian soldiers.
Meanwhile, Sophia, still in the Liang Residence in Yanzhou, shivered in her blankets.
"That man is too terrifying. Why did I come here to take such a risk..." Sophia finally began to doubt her decision.
Across the southwestern regions, a tense silence prevailed. The brewing warlords also sheathed their claws, choosing instead to reinforce their city walls, fearing that one day Lü Yi and Liang Xiao might march south and deliberately cause them trouble.
"Forty-seven thousand barbarians beheaded?!"
King Peacock, who was listening to music and watching dances in the Peacock Dynasty, was so startled that he tumbled from his throne, his face a mask of shock and fury: "Impossible! Our Tianri tribe is the chosen nation! Continue preparations for war, seek peace with the Great Liang, contact the Kushan Dynasty and our homeland, and also the Great Qian warlords!"
The kings from the Tianri tribe, from the Kushan Dynasty, the Peacock Dynasty, and other nations, were all terrified, yet unwilling to accept reality. They continued to reorganize their armies while desperately trying to uncover the secret behind the Great Qian army's transformation.
In the northern desert, a unit was frantically escorting their families as they fled.
"Report to the Chanyu! The Great Qian soldiers are pursuing from the rear, and they should be within twenty miles by now!"
"How can they be so fast!" The Barbarian Chanyu and his soldiers received the news with stunned disbelief, utterly baffled!
Each of them had a spare warhorse, and they had split into three routes, choosing the path with the most sandstorms, which could easily conceal their hoof prints.
How could the Great Qian soldiers still be on their trail??
"The barbarians are near! Great Qian soldiers, achieve great deeds!" Led by three thousand five hundred white-robed soldiers, forty thousand Great Qian cavalry charged under the cover of night, with ten thousand logistics soldiers working hard to keep up.
According to the intelligence provided by Braidar, Liang Xiao was pursuing the Chanyu's forces.
Liang Xiao had originally intended to pursue the killer of his father, the Left Virtuous King, but considering the Chanyu's higher value, he had to lead the troops himself.
The soldiers, refreshed after their recent rest and with the enemy ahead, were now in high spirits.
"Capture the Chanyu and achieve great deeds!"
The Great Qian cavalry did not deliberately maintain silence; instead, their morale soared, intending to crush the barbarians' spirit.
Whether it was too late to alert the enemy was no longer important; what mattered was whether they could outrun their quarry!
Two quarters of an hour later, the Chanyu's troops heard the neighing of warhorses from behind, and faint roars drifted on the wind.
The Great Qian soldiers swarmed forward, each like a tiger or wolf, eager to be the first!
In the blink of an eye, thirty thousand barbarians, including their families, were struck with terror, their wails rising in a chorus.
"The Marquis of An Guo of Great Qian has arrived! Liang Xiao of Great Qian has arrived!"
Twenty thousand men, sixty thousand horses – two-tenths of the horses had been extorted by the Chanyu from the barbarian populace led by Attila.
They had finally been caught!
"Abandon these relatives and flee this place with me!"
The Chanyu immediately issued the order. His generals reminded him: "Chanyu! These are the families of your soldiers, as well as your consorts and princes! We absolutely cannot abandon them!"
The Chanyu, a mix of shock and fear, reluctantly commanded: "The cavalry will engage!"
Ten thousand elite barbarian cavalry were forced to charge forward, drawing their bows and nocking arrows, unleashing a volley at the Great Qian soldiers.
Thousands of arrows streaked across the sky in parabolic arcs, raining down.
The Great Qian soldiers were prepared, holding up their shields to block the arrows.
"Their warhorses are armored too! They're almost impossible to kill with arrows!"
After the first volley, only a few warhorses were killed. The Great Qian soldiers, protected by their padded armor and shields, only suffered a few dozen injuries.
These barbarian cavalry, who had previously remained at Longcheng, now experienced firsthand the Great Qian soldiers' vastly improved defensive capabilities.
As they prepared for a second volley, the three thousand five hundred white-robed soldiers charged forward ferociously.
The Zhuge repeating crossbows, pre-loaded, fired ten arrows simultaneously. The dense hail of bolts, combined with the arrows from the cavalry's return fire, created sharp whistling sounds as they tore through the air.
Within a few breaths, two to three thousand barbarian cavalrymen were shot dead!
After the first exchange of crossbow bolts, the Great Qian cavalry had already closed in on the barbarian cavalry, their swords and spears striking fiercely!
An irresistible onslaught, devastating and swift, pierced the barbarian cavalry's formation, leaving them in disarray!
"How is this possible..."
Hiding in the rear, the Chanyu watched the distant battle, feeling his vision swim.
The barbarian elite were so vulnerable against the Great Qian cavalry!
"Chanyu, flee quickly!"