Chapter 54 Ambushed from All Sides

Although Nierdu had already issued the order to retreat, the Zhelan cavalry were already deeply entangled with the people of Tazhai.

Extricating themselves and withdrawing was no easy task.

Li Xiao, however, made a resolute and prompt decision, launching an attack without waiting for Sixth Uncle and Dazhuang to arrive.

"Woo-woo-woo~"

"Woo-woo-woo-woo~"

Just as the Zhelan people were retreating in succession, a low, resonant sound of horns suddenly echoed from the distance.

The sound was desolate and powerful, both startling and resolute, resembling the mysterious power of primordial antiquity slowly awakening and reviving.

At that moment, the Zhelan ranks fell into absolute silence.

Instinctively halting their warhorses, they turned their heads in all directions, only to be struck dumb by the scene unfolding in the distance.

From somewhere unknown, dots of orange-red fire had suddenly ignited across the distant wilderness.

Following that, more and more flames began to burn fiercely across the earth, resembling stars scattered across the night sky, completely enveloping Tazhai.

In that instant, every single Zhelan person was overcome by a lingering sense of foreboding, terror silently sprouting in their hearts.

"What are those?"

"Enemies, they're all enemies!"

"It's an ambush!"

"We've been surrounded!"

Under the visual impact of the wild, desolate horns and the star-like torches, all the Zhelan people panicked.

At a single glance, there were five or six hundred torches.

This signified that the enemy's numbers already exceeded their own. Most terrifyingly, they had no way of knowing whether other hidden enemies lurked in the surrounding darkness.

"Do not panic! Those are merely tricks played by the Han people to deceive us!"

"They are deliberately using torches to trick our eyes!"

"Do not panic, everyone!"

"Rally to me!"

Just as all the Zhelan warriors fell into utter panic, their chieftain Nierdu roared at the top of his lungs in fury.

His voice quickly quieted the surrounding Zhelan soldiers.

One by one, they slowly gathered around Nierdu.

After a fierce and bloody battle, only about four hundred Zhelan warriors remained, yet Nierdu showed no signs of fear.

Five or six hundred torches were nothing more than a bluff by the enemy. Based on his experience, the true number of this enemy force would never exceed three hundred.

Why resort to posturing and disguising their numbers?

Because the enemy lacked confidence!

They were afraid!

Therefore, Nierdu kept his composure. Casting a reluctant glance toward Tazhai, he shouted the order, "Move out!"

Back inside the stronghold, Zhao Tiechuai's face lit up with great joy upon hearing the horn of the Hexi cavalry.

"Our reinforcements have arrived~"

"Lads, follow me and charge out~"

Having been trapped at the stronghold gates by the Zhelan forces for so long, Tazhai had suffered heavy casualties and had long been filled with suppressed rage.

Now, the time for a counterattack had finally arrived.

Consequently, Zhao Tiechuan led the men of Tazhai charging out, pursuing the Zhelan forces closely from behind.

Meanwhile, Li Xiao's two hundred Hexi cavalry were closing in on the Zhelan forces from another direction.

Their speed was not particularly fast; he was waiting for the arrival of Sixth Uncle and Dazhuang.

On the other side, shortly after the Zhelan forces had fled a short distance, they bumped headfirst into their own three scouts.

The three scouts approached with panicked expressions, reporting, "Chieftain, there are enemies ahead!"

"What?"

The scouts' voices were not low, and the surrounding Zhelan soldiers heard them clearly, their complexions instantly changing drastically.

Faced with the relentless pursuit of the Hexi fortress and Tazhai cavalry, their nerves were already stretched to the absolute limit.

Hearing now that there were also enemies ahead of them, they instantly realized they might have fallen into a total encirclement.

"Chieftain, let's turn back immediately and head south~"

"That's right, Chieftain! The brothers just suffered heavy losses attacking the stronghold. If we get surrounded, we're finished!"

"We can't fight anymore, Chieftain~"

Warfare relies entirely on momentum.

With one burst of formidable spirit, one might reverse defeat into victory, but the moment an order to retreat is given, the morale of the soldiers instantly leaks away.

If they were to be surrounded again at this juncture, panic would spread among the ranks, leaving the soldiers completely devoid of any will to fight.

"Move!"

Nierdu naturally understood this logic as well. With an expression as dark as ink, he ordered the force to turn and head south.

However, before they had even ridden ten miles, another heavenly barrier of starlike fire appeared directly in front of them.

Hundreds of torches burned fiercely, failing to bring any warmth to the Zhelan soldiers in the endless darkness, but instead plunging their hearts into absolute ice.

"So many torches!"

"There are enemies ahead too."

"There are hundreds of them, what do we do?"

"Stop advancing, turn around immediately!"

"There are pursuers behind us, and enemies on our flanks—we're surrounded!"

When the Zhelan cavalry were initially pursued by Li Xiao and his men, their minds were already in disarray and their morale shattered.

Once Lin Dazhuang led another hundred Hexi cavalry to seal off the path ahead, the morale of the Zhelan forces completely collapsed.

They finally realized they were completely surrounded with no way out.

Furthermore, Li Xiao's previous order—instructing every man to light three torches and place them on their horsebacks—misled the ordinary Zhelan soldiers into believing they were surrounded by over a thousand cavalrymen.

In reality, the combined forces of the Hexi cavalry and Tazhai soldiers were not much greater in number than the Zhelans.

Regrettably, under the cover of darkness, the Zhelan forces could not discern the truth and were completely intimidated.

By this point, Li Xiao could finally let out a sigh of relief.

Lin Dazhuang had truly not辜负 (disappointed) his expectations, arriving at the very last moment to complete the final link of the encirclement.

"Surround them! Do not let a single enemy escape~" Li Xiao shouted loudly.

As his voice faded, the low, resonant horn sounded once more.

"Woo-woo-woo-woo~"

Simple messages could be conveyed through the tone and frequency of the horns.

Li Dashan and Lin Dazhuang instantly understood what needed to be done. Almost simultaneously, the troops from Hexi Fortress and Tazhai began closing in rapidly on the Zhelan forces from all four directions.

"Do not panic! Prepare for battle!"

"Whoever dares to run amok or disobey orders, I will execute his entire family!" Nierdu roared at the top of his lungs.

At this moment, his expression had finally changed entirely, stripped of its previous composure and arrogance.

The grim situation before him made him realize that if this was mishandled, his entire army would be annihilated.

The Han people were utterly detestable—despicable, shameless, and utterly insidious.

Lacking the courage to engage in a frontal clash, they instead resorted to such underhanded conspiracies and ambushes.

However, Nierdu was not the only one who realized the gravity of the current situation.

The Zhelan commoners and slaves were panicked to an even greater extreme.

"What should we do?"

"Where can we run?"

"There's no escape. Enemies are everywhere, we are completely surrounded."

"They have over a thousand cavalrymen, we can't beat them."

"Shouldn't we just surrender?"

The Zhelan cavalry cried out in terror, their mounts whinnying uneasily as they spun around erratically.

Panic spread relentlessly, filling every Zhelan heart with dread and apprehension.

Yet they were completely at a loss, not knowing what course of action to take.

It was an agonizing torment of awaiting the verdict of fate.

As for Nierdu's orders?

He could no longer control the herdsmen.

On the other side, the troops of Hexi and Tazhai were completing their encirclement at a blistering pace.

Li Xiao, clad in heavy armor, restrained the speed of his cavalry behind him, preventing them from charging too quickly.

His primary objective was to leverage their overwhelming momentum to continuously apply psychological pressure on the Zhelan forces.

Until Zhao Dabao arrived once again with a few men to rendezvous.

"Dalong, these are the captives we seized earlier at Tazhai."

"He's the only one who speaks our Han language~"

Zhao Dabao had a bound Zhelan slave pushed forward.

This captive was not a true Zhelan himself, but rather a slave captured by the Zhelans from another tribe, and thus he harbored zero loyalty toward the Zhelan clan.

Having been wounded and captured, he had immediately dropped to his knees to beg for mercy, which was why Tazhai hadn't executed him on the spot.

Li Xiao paid no attention to the man's background, stating flatly, "Go and tell the men ahead, loud enough for them to hear:"

"Those who dismount and surrender will be spared."

"Those who offer stubborn resistance will be executed without mercy."

Trembling all over with a look of utter terror, the slave nodded in acknowledgment.

Soon enough, the Zhelan slave repeated Li Xiao's order in the Zhelan tongue.

At these words, the surrounded Zhelan cavalry fell into an unusual silence.

They were no longer as panicked and fearful, merely murmuring questions to one another in confusion.

"The Han people said surrender means we won't be killed? Is that true?"

"It should be true, right~"

"Maybe we won't have to die after all."

The world of nomadic tribes was not exclusively one of endless slaughter; human relationships and practicality mattered just as much.

When one tribe defeated another, barring a mortal blood feud, they generally would not engage in a massacre.

As long as the opposing side offered submissive surrender, they would typically be incorporated into their own ranks as slaves.

Then, based on merit and contribution, they could gradually be assimilated into the victor's tribe over time.

Rinse and repeat, on and on—this was how nomadic tribes continuously completed the annexation and integration of one another.

Therefore, the practice of sparing those who surrendered was quite prevalent among nomadic tribes as well.

Consequently, these Zhelan cavalrymen began to waver, their resolve faltering as their scimitars unconsciously lowered.

Most importantly, they felt that even if they fought on, this unwinnable battle would merely result in the deaths of the vast majority of the Zhelan tribe.

Ultimately, as the Han cavalry from all four directions converged rapidly, more and more Zhelan people began to dismount and drop to their knees on the ground.

No matter how Nierdu cursed or threatened them, none of it worked anymore.

In the face of absolute strength, Nierdu's prestige had plummeted to rock bottom.