Chapter 22: Another Great Battle

With the wisdom of Wanyan Aguda, it was not difficult to discern that Yanmen Pass had become nearly impossible to conquer at this juncture. However, the Xiongnu had no other choice. A brutal winter snowstorm had devastated the herds of cattle and sheep upon which they relied for survival. If they did not breach Yanmen Pass to plunder the wealth and lands of the Han people, the Xiongnu would surely starve to death sooner or later. It was better for their warriors to perish bravely on the battlefield than to die a humiliating death by starvation—at least in death, they would remain worthy of the name "warrior."

Wanyan Aguda, however, lived up to his reputation. Even in such dire straits, he devised a strategy for the Xiongnu's survival. He secretly presented several plans to Yufuluo. Given the current crisis, though Yufuluo was somewhat mediocre, he was not so foolish as to treat the survival of his tribe as a trivial matter. He set aside his grievances with Aguda and reluctantly accepted the advice.

Soon, Yufuluo issued orders to all Xiongnu tribes. The first was to summon another contingent of able-bodied herdsmen; the second was to call upon the elderly and infirm warriors and herdsmen from every tribe.

Summoning the able-bodied was intended to reinforce the main army, while gathering the aged warriors was a tactic to use them as cannon fodder. On one hand, this would exhaust the strength of the Yanmen garrison; on the other, it served to actively reduce the population, saving precious food for the able-bodied warriors and the women and children. The women and children were preserved for the future growth of the tribes, while the able-bodied men were kept to maintain the strength of the fighting force.

After all, the grasslands were a place where the strong preyed upon the weak. Without warriors, a tribe was destined to be devoured by the countless wolves that could smell weakness from miles away. Even among the Xiongnu, other tribes would not hesitate to pounce upon a weakened neighbor to take a bite out of them.

Ten days passed—ten full days of sudden silence at Yanmen Pass. Though the Xiongnu had not retreated, they did not launch any active offensives. Compared to the desperate, suicidal assaults of previous days, the contrast was stark. With the Xiongnu remaining docile, Li Xiang was happy to enjoy the respite. Although he and Wang Meng had already deduced the enemy's intentions, they were not the least bit worried. For Li Xiang, as long as the security of Yanmen was guaranteed, the larger the Xiongnu force, the better; it would only make his next steps proceed more smoothly.

It is worth noting that Xing Tian and Xiong Kuohai had now been promoted to the rank of Colonel, while Liu Yang and Lin Chong had been elevated to the position of Junior General—or "Separate Division Commander"—for their meritorious service in the great battle. Consequently, Li Xiang himself was promoted to the rank of Major General, as the recent victory had relied entirely on the timely rescue led by his subordinates.

During this period, Li Xiang made sure to visit Liu Yang and Lin Chong frequently. Whether genuine or performative, this was an excellent way to win hearts. Li Xiang even went so far as to personally serve them medicine, and later, he presented each of them with a grand gift. For Liu Yang, it was the great axe dropped by Jin Wuzhu when he fled; Liu Yang was so delighted he nearly slept with the weapon. While Li Xiang had nothing as suitable for Lin Chong, it would have been improper to favor one over the other. Thus, gritting his teeth, Li Xiang spent one hundred summoning points to select a warhorse for Lin Chong: the "Whistling Wind and Snow-Treading Steed." With his ancestral serpent spear already in his possession, Lin Chong was now fully equipped. Seeing the look of deep gratitude on their faces, Li Xiang knew that while they had not yet kowtowed to swear formal allegiance, they would hereafter follow his every command.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for gaining 9 summoning points from Lin Chong. Current balance: 58 summoning points, two random summoning cards, one historical beauty summoning card, and one divine weapon card."

Taking this opportunity, Li Xiang finally clarified the rules for purchasing divine weapons and steeds in the system store. The store was filled with a dazzling array of legendary arms and thousand-mile horses, all of which could boost the user's might by 1 point for a cost of 100 summoning points. Beyond that, there were divine weapons and steeds available for 120 summoning points; while they also granted a 1-point increase in might, the weapons were sharper and more durable, and the horses possessed greater stamina, speed, and explosive power.

More than ten days passed, and the Xiongnu finally gathered a sufficient force. Though they had only summoned about thirty thousand able-bodied men, they had conscripted a full one hundred thousand of the elderly and infirm. This meant that twenty-five thousand Xiongnu troops were now assembled below Yanmen Pass.

One must understand that the Xiongnu were no longer at the peak of their power as they had been during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. After the devastating blows dealt by Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, followed by subsequent centuries of warfare, the Xiongnu had gradually declined. The entire Southern Xiongnu now numbered only about 1.5 million people, and the Northern Xiongnu were in an even worse state, with barely over a million. Yet, here at Yanmen Pass, one-sixth of the entire Southern Xiongnu population was gathered.

Despite the vast number of enemy troops below, Li Xiang felt no anxiety. He even let out a subtle smile before calmly saying, "Keep stalling them," and then went to rest with Wang Meng and his newly appointed personal guard captain, Qin Qiong.

"Ding! Congratulations to the host for gaining 9 summoning points from Qin Qiong. Remaining balance: 67 summoning points."

Naturally, Xing Tian and Xiong Kuohai remained behind, as they needed to prevent any of the enemy’s fierce generals from ganging up to force a breach.

"Men! You are the descendants of the Grassland Wolf God! Take up your scimitars, break through those eyesore walls, and tear your enemies to pieces! As long as you break through, you will gain endless grain, women, and honor—everything you could ever desire!" Wanyan Aguda roared at the top of his lungs.

As soon as he finished speaking, countless elite warriors of the plains spurred their horses toward Yanmen Pass. Of course, they were not seeking death by charging the walls with their own flesh and blood.

Mounted archery was something any experienced herdsman on the plains could do with ease, but in the Central Plains, even cavalrymen trained for years rarely mastered it. Wanyan Aguda fully exploited this advantage. Two groups of cavalry cycled back and forth, firing constant volleys at the battlements, causing immense trouble for Meng Tian, who had resumed command of the city's defenses.

Because of the high mobility of the cavalry, even when the Yanmen army launched counter-volleys, the results were meager and the damage limited.

Following them, the elderly Xiongnu warriors charged forward in waves, regardless of their own lives. Even though their siege equipment consisted of nothing more than crude ladders, and despite the rain of arrows and boulders falling upon them, nothing could stop their desperate, death-defying charge.

After all, every race has those who are willing to sacrifice themselves for the continuation of their people. Every race has those willing to sacrifice themselves for the survival of their kin, just like an antelope leaping across a chasm.

Undoubtedly, Wanyan Aguda’s plan was a success. This wave of sacrificial warriors caused significant casualties to the Yanmen army and effectively consumed a portion of the Xiongnu population that was "no longer useful."

By dusk, the battle that had raged all day finally came to a halt. The battlefield had become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. That day, the Xiongnu had traded twenty thousand elderly and weak casualties for three thousand of Yanmen’s elite troops.