Chapter Fifty: A Resounding Victory

At this moment, the great fire at Huqiu Pavilion had already been extinguished.

Scorched by the blazing flames, Huqiu Pavilion was now pitch black. Under the illumination of the moonlight, it stood there imposing and formidable, resembling an indestructible, terrifying demon god.

Amidst the darkness, Lu Ang led all available combat-ready Han soldiers away from the city gates, taking advantage of the cover of night to descend upon the enemy camp.

Soon, fires began to ignite throughout the camp, and even the warhorses in the stables were startled, breaking free from their enclosures and charging wildly into the encampment.

Immediately afterwards, battle cries erupted across the camp.

The coalition warriors, jolted awake from their sleep, were shocked to find that the entire encampment was flashing with fire and echoing with the thundering hooves of charging horses.

Their very first instinct was not to fight, but to frantically grab whatever valuables and spoils of war they could reach and flee toward the outer edges of the camp.

Utter chaos instantly consumed the scene.

The Left Worthy King woke with a start. Seeing the towering flames outside his grand tent and the deafening battle cries, he hastily rushed out to investigate.

When the Left Worthy King beheld the chaotic spectacle within the camp, an expression of sheer disbelief and helplessness washed over his face; the grand arrogance he had possessed earlier had vanished completely into thin air.

A chieftain, accompanied by dozens of cavalrymen, hurried over and urgently shouted, "Great King, we are here to escort you in a retreat!"

Regaining his senses, the Left Worthy King hastily mounted a warhorse brought over by his subordinates and fled ignominiously toward the northwest.

This sudden raid quickly drew to a close, yielding unexpectedly massive results.

The nomadic coalition forces scattered like the wind and completely collapsed. Two thousand cavalrymen were taken prisoner, while almost all the wealth and abducted women they had previously plundered were left behind for Lu Ang.

Afterward, Lu Ang ordered Xu Chu to safely escort the women seized by the barbarians to Bingzhou and Yuzhou, settling them there and providing them with employment. He also arranged for a few of these women to serve in his own mansion and Cai Yong's mansion, attending to Cai Yong, Cai Yan, and Diaochan.

Upon learning that Lu Ang had instructed his soldiers to escort them to Bingzhou and Yuzhou to settle down and find work, the women felt deeply grateful to him.

Lu Ang said, "You need not thank me, for I know how deeply you have suffered in both body and spirit. Now that I have rescued you, I hope you will cherish your lives and harbor no despair, do you understand?"

The women expressed their profound gratitude to Lu Ang one after another.

Subsequently, the soldiers escorted the women rescued from the barbarians toward Bingzhou and Yuzhou.

Dong Yuan approached Lu Ang and asked, "Husband, what shall we do next?"

Lu Ang replied, "Now that these barbarians have been repelled and are unable to invade the Central Plains once more, we must still maintain strict defensive measures to prevent any future incursions. Yuanyuan, we will first return to Luoyang, and then proceed to Chang'an to see your father."

Hearing this, Dong Yuan asked in astonishment, "Is that true?"

Lu Ang looked at Dong Yuan and said, "Indeed. We shall bring him the news of the barbarian army's retreat and let him rejoice."

Dong Yuan nodded happily.

Thereafter, Lu Ang and Dong Yuan led the remaining troops back toward Luoyang.

Along the way, the army marched steadily in the direction of Luoyang.

Suddenly, the earth began to tremor, and a thunderous roar rolled in from the distance.

Hearing this, Lu Ang and Dong Yuan immediately reined in their horses, halting the army and making defensive preparations against a potential enemy attack.

Lu Ang shouted an order to a nearby personal guard: "Order all troops to prepare for battle!"

The guard acknowledged the command, spurred his horse, and galloped away swiftly.

At that moment, a cavalryman dashed out from the nearby darkness and arrived before Lu Ang, cupping his fists and reporting, "My lord, General Cheng Lian and General Zhang He have arrived with their forces!"

Even as he spoke, tens of thousands of cavalrymen emerged from the darkness, coming directly into everyone's view.

Seeing that these cavalrymen flew the banners of the Han army and wore traditional Han armor, the troops finally realized these were indeed Han cavalry reinforcements.

Shortly thereafter, the cavalry force halted at a short distance.

Cheng Lian and Zhang He, accompanied by a few personal guards, left the main body and approached Lu Ang, bowing as they said, "My lord!"

Lu Ang inquired, "Did you encounter any obstacles along the way?"

Cheng Lian replied, "Your-lordship-wise, we did indeed encounter some matters. First, Li Jue came to obstruct us, and later we ran into a massive Xiongnu army, which delayed our progress! This subordinate was deeply worried about your situation here, my lord, but fortunately, Your Lordship has turned the tide and shattered the enemy!"

Lu Ang frowned slightly and asked, "You didn't go and butcher Li Jue, did you?"

Zhang He answered, "Indeed, we did. He not only refused to send troops to reinforce Your Lordship, but also spoke insolently, defying us and Your Lordship. General Guan initially wanted to intimidate him into dispatching troops to aid Your Lordship, but not only did he refuse, he even hurled insults at General Guan. Unable to suppress his fury, General Guan struck him down with a single blade."

Upon hearing this, and recalling the depictions in the posterity works *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* and *Records of the Three Kingdoms*, Lu Ang understood Guan Yu's temperament and asked, "Why didn't you and Zhongde stop him?"

Cheng Lian explained, "You and the Third Madam are well aware of Li Jue's character. He is extremely narrow-minded and prone to framing others, especially those with meritorious service."

Hearing Cheng Lian's words, Lu Ang recalled Li Jue's disposition and the look of betrayal he wore when Dong Zhuo had assigned him to Lu Ang's side. He sighed and said, "Since the matter is already done, I can only write a letter to my father-in-law, have someone deliver it to him, and then proceed to Chang'an to explain everything to him in person."

Thinking of another matter, he asked, "You mentioned encountering the Xiongnu army. Since you were able to lead your forces here, you must have defeated them already, right?"

Cheng Lian nodded and said, "It took us a few days, but we finally managed to rout them."

Lu Ang smiled, patted Cheng Lian and Zhang He on the shoulders, and said, "There is nothing to regret. You have done a magnificent job and did not disappoint me!"

Meanwhile, the Wuhuan King led his Wuhuan forces retreating northward. However, because the army was burdened with massive amounts of plundered wealth and a multitude of captured young women, their pace was far from swift.

By this time, dawn had not yet broken, and both men and horses were utterly exhausted.

The Wuhuan King paid no heed to their fatigue and simply urged them onward.

Suddenly, rapid hoofbeats echoed from behind.

Hearing the sound, the Wuhuan King immediately reined in his horse, turned around, and saw numerous Xiongnu riders galloping toward them, all appearing deeply panicked. A sense of foreboding rose in his heart. He immediately ordered his men to intercept two of the Xiongnu riders, brought them before him, and demanded, "What on earth has happened? Why are you in such a wretched state?"

The two Xiongnu riders wore expressions of lingering terror.

The rider on the left swallowed hard and stammered frantically, "That—that devilish general launched a sudden assault! Countless men were killed, and we—we barely managed to escape with our lives!"

The rider on the right nodded instinctively in agreement.

Upon hearing this, the Wuhuan King was deeply shocked and asked incredulously, "Are you telling me you were defeated by such a small force of theirs?"

Having fled in the midst of total chaos, where they could only feel the earth shaking and hear battle cries filling the air without any clear view of the enemy's actual strength, the two riders hurriedly replied upon hearing the Wuhuan King's question, "Your Majesty does not know, but that devilish general must practice sorcery, for he seemed to conjure countless cavalrymen out of thin air! By the time we realized what was happening, the entire camp was in flames and cavalry charges were coming from all directions! No one could withstand them! Those of us who escaped did so only by the grace of the Kunlun gods!"

The Wuhuan King stared wide-eyed, taking a long moment to collect his wits before muttering to himself, "I am truly fortunate! Thank goodness I departed early; otherwise, my entire army would likely have been thoroughly crushed as well!"

With that, not daring to linger a moment longer, he hurriedly ordered his army to accelerate its retreat.

As the sun rose in the east, the Wuhuan army was passing through two forests.

At this point, the formation of the Wuhuan army was in complete disarray, stretching sparsely over a distance of more than ten miles. Cries of anguish alternated with the cracks of whips and angry curses, while ragged Han women staggered along, their steps unsteady and uneven.

Having marched continuously throughout the entire night, they were utterly exhausted. Yet, not a single one dared to stop; even as their feet bled, they gritted their teeth and persevered, knowing that to halt even for a moment meant being cut down on the spot by the brutal Wuhuan soldiers.

Over the course of this single night, they had already witnessed countless sisters die brutally under the blades of these barbarian beasts.

The Wuhuan King looked up at the scorching sun overhead, frowned, and cursed, "Why is today's sun so fiercely hot?"

With that, he retrieved a water skin from his saddlebag, tilted his head back to swallow several large gulps, lowered the pouch, and let out a long breath.

Just then, a chieftain rode up beside him and requested, "Great King, everyone has been marching the entire night and is extremely exhausted. Can we stop and rest for a while?"

The Wuhuan King looked at the elongated procession stretching far ahead and behind, nodded, and was just about to speak when a sharp whistling sound suddenly pierced the air.

Before he could react, a wolf-tooth arrow came flying horizontally through the sky, piercing straight through the neck of the chieftain before him and splashing blood across his face.

At that very instant, countless wolf-tooth arrows came hissing out of the forests on both sides, shooting down the unprepared Wuhuan riders in droves.

Recovering his senses at last, the Wuhuan King cried out in alarm, "Ambush! We are under ambush!"

As if in response to his words, thunderous battle drums suddenly roared to life, accompanied by deafening war cries. Tens of thousands of Han infantry and cavalry surged out from the mountain forests on both flanks, instantly fracturing the Wuhuan formation into multiple segments.

Panicked, many Wuhuan soldiers spurred their horses to flee, only to fall in droves beneath the storm of flying arrows.

The Wuhuan King shouted orders for the surrounding cavalry to rally around him. Before he could gather them, however, he was stunned to see an imposing general of godlike demeanor leading several hundred cavalrymen straight into the heart of his troops.

Though panicked, the ferocious nature of the Wuhuan cavalry drove them to put up a desperate counterattack.

Yet, this sudden adversary proved unexpectedly formidable and utterly unstoppable. In particular, the leading Han general, wielding a massive saber like a soaring green dragon, swept aside anyone in his path without meeting a single opponent who could withstand even a single blow.

That Han force smashed through the front-line Wuhuan cavalry in one clean sweep and pressed directly toward the Wuhuan King.

Seeing this, the Wuhuan King let out a roar and led his personal guards forward to engage them.

The formidable Han general targeted the Wuhuan King specifically.

Brandishing his own heavy blade with ferocious momentum, the Wuhuan King slashed fiercely toward the oncoming Han general.

Seeing the attack coming, the Han general struck second but arrived first, using the flat of his blade to deflect the incoming strike. With a resounding roar, his saber lashed out like lightning, aiming straight for the Wuhuan King's chest.

Appalled, the Wuhuan King hastily raised his saber to block.

With a loud clang, the Wuhuan King's blade snapped in half under the impact. The gleaming edge of the green-gleaming saber swept past his forehead.

The Wuhuan King froze for a moment, only to realize that his fur cap had been cleaved open. A burning sensation flared across his forehead as warm blood streamed down, dripping onto his eyelashes.

Seized by terror, the Wuhuan King frantically whirled his horse around and spurred it into desperate flight.

Clearly unwilling to let go of his most prized prey, the Han general spurred his mount in hot pursuit.

Daring not to offer any resistance, the Wuhuan King whipped his horse to run for his life, abandoning all other thoughts.

Once the Wuhuan King fled, the Wuhuan army—already incapable of withstanding the Han onslaught—completely discarded their weapons and armor and scattered on horseback.

The Han army pressed the attack relentlessly, leaving the ground littered with Wuhuan corpses and turning the terrain into a river of blood.

Lu Ang was leading his main army in the direction of Hedong Commandery.

At that moment, a scout riding a swift horse arrived before Lu Ang, cupping his fists with a beaming expression of joy: "My lord! Acting on strategist Cheng Yu's orders, General Guan executed the ambush to perfection! At Zhangzi Valley, he shattered the Wuhuan forces, beheading over ten thousand enemies and rescuing all the captured civilians!"

As it turned out, right at the onset of Cheng Lian and Zhang He's deployment, Cheng Yu had already formulated the ambush strategy. He had dispatched orders in advance instructing Guan Yu to lead the forces of Yuzhou to lie in wait near Zhangzi Valley, launching a surprise attack the moment the enemy was detected retreating northward.

The Wuhuan had considered themselves fortunate, never imagining they were marching straight into Guan Yu's ambush circle, where they suffered a crushing defeat.

Hearing the soldier's report, Lu Ang wore a look of immense satisfaction.

Zhang He asked, "My lord, what are our next orders?"

Lu Ang replied, "We march to Hedong Commandery and drive their Administrator out!"

"Understood."

Thereupon, Lu Ang led his army toward Hedong Commandery to expel the Hedong Administrator, seeing as the man refused to admit the displaced civilians into the city.