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“Can strategists not ascend the throne?”
Chapter 86: A Deadly Arrow
The sudden enemy attack caused Xiu Tu Wang’s expression to shift.
The sound of hooves and footsteps all charged towards this place like an arrow aimed right at him.
Growing up in such a fierce environment, he could certainly tell just how many were coming this way.
There was at least a thousand-man strong force, and that thousand was just a starting point.
Yet this sudden onslaught seemed to herald no warnings at all.
He fumed inwardly; didn’t the cavalry he had stationed at the Yanshan Pass and across the grassland notice anything?!
But no matter whether those men were actually blind, he had to face the situation of unwarranted enemy troops closing in.
That one arrow shot could hit the mark at a hundred paces at most, but he feared that the next moment…
No, he could see the cavalry charging in from behind the blazing campfire!
And he heard the anguished cries coming from his side.
“What’s the panic!” Xiu Tu Wang shouted loudly, his voice booming like any hearty nomad’s, enough for everyone around to hear, “Don’t you have knives and weapons in hand?”
Right!
Though they were in the midst of a celebration, it was also a rallying call, and given the Xiongnu’s habits, there were no restrictions on carrying weapons, so they weren’t entirely unarmed either.
As Xiu Tu Wang spoke, someone yelled signals to call the horses.
True, the enemies came out of nowhere, but they could still fight back.
His words immediately calmed the crowd down.
With people below drawing blades and lining up into formations, Xiu Tu Wang noticed out of the corner of his eye a Han prisoner tied up in the dirt, suddenly turning from despair to a spark of hope due to the commotion.
That expression was illuminated starkly by the campfire.
Rage flared in Xiu Tu Wang’s heart; he thought about slaying these men as a sacrifice to rally his kinsmen’s fighting spirit.
However, as he stepped forward to strike with his blade, an instinctive sense of danger crept into his mind.
He instinctively took a few steps back just in time, watching an arrow shoot down and embed itself right before him.
It wasn’t the same arrow that had cut down the flagpole earlier.
But that clearly wasn’t the point!
If he had been a split second slower, he’d likely be a goner right there.
With the rush of narrowly escaping still fresh in his mind, he caught sight of the archer who had loosed that arrow, leading a troop of cavalry right towards him.
The Bingzhou-bred strong horses vaulted over the surrounding flag formations, and the cavalrymen were anything but ordinary.
His attendant rushed in with a shield, and the sound of arrows clashing against it rang out, meaning those cavalrymen were already firing arrows at him.
Almost at the same time, cavalry from another direction was also striking.
These guys didn’t come to shoot arrows, they were infantry with long spears!
A line of newly formed foe-repelling soldiers slammed right into this cavalry as if a paper wall were easily pierced, and the lead general swung his spear like a whirlwind, the tip glimmering by the campfire as it punctured the closest opponent’s chest without pause, pulling out covered in blood that almost looked like flowing fire.
He cast his gaze to the arrows and shields on the high platform, and at the surrounded Xiu Tu Wang, a hint of youthful bravado flashed across his face.
“Wen Yuan! Are you trying to take the glory?”
Before his words fell, he had already turned his horse directly towards Xiu Tu Wang.
In that movement, they had already taken down several of Xiu Tu’s elite men, almost forming a silver wave in chaos, or maybe it just felt that way because they acted so fast.
But regardless of whether that was just an illusion, in the face of such a terrifying presence, Xiu Tu Wang had no doubt that even with his close guards and iron shields, they couldn’t possibly stop this spear troops’ charge.
He understood a few words of Han and could clearly hear that the words spoken contained the intention of making Xiu Tu Wang into a trophy.
But to his surprise, he thought that this so-called glory-seeking young general would come rushing in out of anger, their dispute over acclaim might just give him an opening, yet he saw that young archer now aiming his arrows at another direction, specifically targeting those Xiu Tu nobles.
Clearly, they were all playing their roles!
It’s important to remember, Zhang Liao’s real combat experience along the Bingzhou frontier might not have prepared him for the skills he later had, but it taught him one thing for sure: teamwork in battle was far more crucial than fighting over accolades.
Qiao Yan had also said on their way here, that competing for Xiu Tu Wang’s head shouldn’t interfere with commanding subordinates.
So since he was just a step behind, why not let someone else take this opportunity?
He laughed loudly, “Let it be! You go snatch this achievement, then come flaunt it in front of me!”
This troop of bowmen instantly shifted their target from Xiu Tu Wang to someone else, the sudden arrow assault took down a dozen enemy warriors.
And almost at the same time, Zhao Yun’s cavalry spear formation advanced onto the protective shields.
Xiu Tu Wang wasted no time jumping down from the high platform, planning to use the shield bearers to stall just enough time to quickly mount and return to battle mode.
He noted that this spear-wielding young general aimed to clear away those shielded soldiers, evidently offering him a chance to regroup his forces.
But just as he swung up onto his horse, the rest of the Xiu Tu warriors calling for their mounts gathered, even before they could form a proper charge, they collided head-on with the third wave of incoming cavalry.
As luck would have it, this was precisely the troop specially trained against Xiongnu cavalry.
These horsemen were wielding not long spears or swords, but hooked blades.
Under the leadership of what looked to him like a very young general, as those hooked blades came out, they sent a peak of horse cries ringing out at the very moment of the clash.
He hurriedly swerved his horse, but couldn’t prevent his mount’s leg from getting hurt and thus went wild, tossing him off its back.
Fortunately, a tough-skinned guy like him didn’t get knocked out right away; he scrambled to his feet with the help of his Xiu Tu brethren, barely managing to flee a little amidst the onslaught, or rather overwhelming push from both sides.
But at that moment, he heard an unusually dull sound.
Like loud thunder crashing on the ground.
Boom!
Then came the second sound.
Third sound.
…
This wasn’t a noise coming from one direction but rather surged from all directions like the initial sounds of footsteps and hoofbeats he heard, forming a dreadful cacophony encircling them.
As the opposing forces advanced, he finally caught a glimpse of the crowd.
Their attire was just regular sturdy clothing, not many donned armor, yet when they stepped in unison to tighten the enclosing circle, it stirred an undeniable sense of dread.
In the thick of the night, this peculiar encroaching style made it hard for him to discern just how many there were or the extent of their military strength.
All Xiu Tu Wang could see were his fellow tribesmen trying to break free from the encirclement, colliding with these seemingly average soldiers as they fought for survival.
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“They’re even more fired up than I expected!”
This was definitely a scene he never saw coming.
Little did he know, the White Wave bandits were only thinking about how to collect Xiongnu heads to buy themselves a little chance at redemption, and then maybe join Leping.
So, those seemingly vicious Xiongnu were just stepping stones in their eyes.
Just kill them and be done with it!
As the White Wave bandits drew closer, Xiu Tu Wang finally spotted the most striking presence in their ranks.
Unlike the cavalry that had come before, this girl in armor was riding slow and steady alongside the infantry, exuding a calmness that spoke of leadership.
She wasn’t in the glow of the campfire, but rather stood out beautifully under the moon and stars.
Even if Xiu Tu Wang had never seen a woman as a leader among the Han, he could tell right away who was calling the shots in this ragtag army.
She watched as Xiu Tu Wang managed to gather a few more troops after escaping death three times, then locked her gaze on him.
Just like how most Xiongnu couldn’t understand her command of “Follow me to kill the enemy,” she too didn’t get the wolf-like howl coming from Xiu Tu Wang.
But it probably boiled down to the old saying: “Capture the leader first.”
But could he actually accomplish that?
After giving Xu Huang another order, Qiao Yan raised her bow and arrow once more.
With Xiu Tu Wang’s keen eyesight, he could easily mark that the white-feathered arrow was the same one that had previously sliced through the perimeter’s flagpole.
What was once a signal for the enemy’s advance was now aimed directly at his head.
The trouble was, he no longer had his shield-bearing guards nearby. He couldn’t count on instinct alone to escape from such a sharp and precise shot.
Besides, he wasn’t just facing one arrow.
There were also the advancing Han soldiers around him.
These infantry units posing a threat were hardly less menacing than those pesky cavalry.
Oddly enough, he and his regrouped troops felt an untamed wildness and banditry from their opponents.
In the midst of the killing and chaos, he couldn’t discern any notable advantage in stamina or spirit from his side.
It felt as though his plans for capturing the enemy leader were like a frantic dance in a tightly sealed cage.
At that moment, the leader he referred to as “king” had drawn her bow, pulling the string taut.
Xiu Tu Wang sensed things were going south.
At this point, he was still separated from Qiao Yan by Dian Wei and his close-guard array!
Especially Dian Wei.
His fierce strikes with the polearm could easily give anyone the impression that he was guarding Qiao Yan like a fortress; there was no way anyone could break through.
Then, as the arrow’s tip glimmered in the moonlight, he suddenly felt an odd sense of déjà vu.
Wasn’t this the exact tactic he had used against the Han in Guyang City?
They’d surrounded the enemy so tightly they couldn’t escape. Some brave ones had even tried to attack him, but they ended up thwarted, while he shot them down like prey on the hunt.
But now, the roles were reversed—
He was the prey locked in the crosshairs!
This upside-down situation brought him a deep sense of humiliation.
And that was precisely what Qiao Yan wanted to see.
She looked toward Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, and Zhang Yang, seeing that the three of them had seamlessly agreed to let her handle the task of taking down Xiu Tu Wang. Clearly, they thought that a king’s death should be on a king’s terms.
With the arrow on the string.
The bow in hand.
Xiu Tu Wang was not her first target to practice her archery skills.
Her earlier shot that severed the flagpole provided enough proof that in this festive night-time atmosphere, stray shots were not an option.
And the massacre she had witnessed in Guyang City, along with the murals along Guyang Road, had stoked the fires of rage in her heart, perfectly timed for this moment!
With her fingers taut on the bowstring, her eyes remained fixed on Xiu Tu Wang, who was attempting to dodge the arrow.
But in that instant, her mind was exceptionally clear, driving her body to act decisively. Just as Xiu Tu Wang made to shift, she released the arrow swiftly.
So, whether it was from Qiao Yan’s side or the Xiongnu, they all witnessed Xiu Tu Wang essentially presenting himself as a target for the arrow’s tip.
The white-feathered arrow penetrated his skull, with only the fletching remaining lodged in his forehead.
The arrow through the head was indeed a fatal strike.
As Xiu Tu Wang fell, it seemed he finally remembered a saying.
One Han is worth five Hu.
The sounds of battle began to dwindle.
With Xiu Tu Wang dead at the scene, the remaining Xiongnu were utterly demoralized, while their foes appeared emboldened.
This left them with no power to retaliate against the oncoming tide of enemies.
Until the last Xiongnu fell, Qiao Yan slowly rode up to Xiu Tu Wang’s corpse.
This once lofty king, now brought down, had despair and fear etched across his lifeless face.
But compared to those Han who suffered in Guyang and were even treated as playthings or food, his death was somewhat lenient.
Thinking that, Qiao Yan glanced towards the boiling pots atop the high platform.
For a moment, she regretted that he wouldn’t experience the feeling of being thrown into boiling water like fish, to know what it was like.
But she reminded herself, humans are still people; she must never cross her bottom line!
Especially, she couldn’t set a precedent of retaliation in the same barbaric manner.
After pondering for a moment, when she opened her eyes again, clarity was all that remained.
Yet, just because revenge by throwing someone into a boiling cauldron was off the table, didn’t mean she couldn’t make a striking enough statement.
Especially when she thought about the man-made damages on the inner Great Wall outside Guyang City, a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
She absolutely had to be feared!
Not just by the Xiongnu forces north of Yanshan, but also by the opportunists within the Great Wall.
She scanned her surroundings, confirming there were no more Xiu Tu bandits alive. Everyone’s gaze was focused on her, the leader. She ordered, “Cut off the heads of the Xiu Tu!”
Build the Pyramid of Skulls?
No!
Shouxiang City is outside Yanshan; if they just erected a Pyramid of Skulls here, how would the special audience witness that spectacle?
If she guessed correctly, the damages on the Great Wall were caused by those already assimilated Southern Xiongnu!
They were discontent with the court’s conscription edict, intending to harm the Commander chosen by the Protector-General of the Southern Xiongnu, Qiang Qu, and guide the Xiu Tu forces outside!
That was entirely reasonable.
But without evidence, coupled with the fact that they had already “submitted” to the Han, Qiao Yan could only eliminate the gathered Xiu Tu forces due to their blatant crimes. She absolutely couldn’t recklessly strike at the Southern Xiongnu.
But showing them the fate of their comrades and the Han’s fighting spirit? What harm could that do?
“Hang their bodies above Shouxiang City; put their heads—”
These heads would be distinguishable as Xiongnu and not Han.
“Tie their heads to the sides of our horses. We’ll sing as we return, charging through Xihe Commandery against the Southern Xiongnu!”
