[Silver Axe Legion]

  The flags of [Xu] and [Silver Axe] fluttered as the troops of 40,000 marched on the new road from Zhongshan to Ji City .

  All officers in charge, Xu Huang, Gao Shun, Lu Zhi, Zhou Cang, Bo Cai, Zhang Liang, and Zhang Bao were here . They did not bother leaving someone to guard the city as subordinates of Lu Zhi were watching over it .

  Zhen Yi had also been quiet inside the city after he was demoted from the governor position . Nobody knew what he was doing . .

  It did not take long for a scout team to come back .

  "Report! Ji City has already fallen to Xiongnu . Our spies managed to get out of the city and meet us along the way . They said Xiongnu were looting Ji City’s treasury, provision, and enslaving the people inside!"

  Everybody glanced at Lu Zhi, waiting for his thought .

  Instead of thinking of a strategy, Lu Zhi educated the officers about Xiongnu .

  "The nature of these nomads is carefree and rootless . They never settle down in one place, but they always travel through grasslands, plains, forests, or whatever comes their way . They don’t care about managing large cities . They don’t bother fiddling with brushes and scrolls as much as we do . However, they excel in horse riding, archery, and open-field military tactics . "

  "Normally, they won’t seek trouble with the Han ever since Li Guang, Wei Qing and Huo Qubing’s had driven their forces all the way back to Lake Baikal* hundreds of years ago, they should have been crippled to the point that they can’t seek trouble with the Han again . However, their arrival is an omen that something has changed within their ranks . "

  (*Author Note: Lake Baikal is a part of present-day Russia . )

  All officers did not understand Lu Zhi . Xu Huang had to take the initiative to interrupt, "Senior Lu, what does the history of Xiongnu has to do with our current situation?"

  "This situation is too unusual, little Xu . Even I can’t grasp the logic and their motive for stealing our supplies, wealth, and our people . It should not be because of the drought since the nomads rarely cultivate lands, but they prioritized on animal husbandry . They should not lack food to the point that they have to raid our country . That comes to my wild guess . "

  Lu Zhi paused . His solemn expression and the depth of his eyes scared all elites to the point that they stopped breathing for a few seconds .

  "I’m trying to say, be wary of them . Think of their army as if our young master and his wives were leading them! If they come here for the sake of looting and stealing, everything will be fine . Otherwise, be prepared for the war of annihilation!" ……

  Lu Zhi reported everything to Tong in the clan chat .

  Tong: "We have to prepare for the immortal within Xiongnu?"

  Lu Zhi: "There’s no other explanation . Their action is against their true nature . Someone is manipulating them . "

  This year, five more people had joined the clan chat .

  Sima Fang

  He Xing

  Ju Shou

  Lu Zhi

  Xu Huang

  Lu Zhi and Xu Huang were added to the group later after the hectic early year .

  Lu Zhi: "Also, their number is too many! The battles they had with Emperor Wu was only around 100,000, but they suddenly come at the border with the greater number within a few hundred years . That’s illogical!"

  Ding Yuan: "I agree with this . They shouldn’t have this many warhorses and supplies for this many troops, but they did show up in my border . "

  Tong: "Senior Ding, have they attacked you again?"

  Ding Yuan: "No, but they are provoking us into small skirmishes . We are holding the line just fine . Lu Bu is getting better by the way . You don’t have to worry about him betraying you for the meantime . "

  Tong: "Good to hear . "

  Tong: "Back to the Xiongnu topic, how dangerous is the Xiongnu in your point of view, senior Ding, Wenyuan . I need your honest opinion . "

  Zhang Liao: "Annoying . That’s my answer . "

  Ding Yuan: "Same . But seriously, if our men didn’t wear the knight armors, we would have been in troubles . "

  \r \r \r

  Tong: "Details, please . " ……

  Xu Huang continued to read the clan chat as he refrained himself from speaking or inputting his comment . Because he judged that he was still young and inexperienced, it would be better to have elites discussing the matter without his interference .

  While Xu Huang was reading, a guard rushed at his side .

  "Commander, sir . Two young men are coming to see you . They said they were from Beiping and they want to help us eliminate the Xiongnu in the city .

  The guard let the two came in . They were a 16-year-old teenager in a white commander cloth armor and a tattered cloth 12-year-old boy .

  Zhao Yun and Tian Yu met Xu Huang .

  Zhao Yun knelt and bow to Xu Huang . He did not mind about his current position or hold any pride in his rank as the governor .

  "Sir, I’m Zhao Yun . The new protector of Ji City . Unfortunately, before I can begin my first day of work, the Xiongnu already took the city . I hope that I can join you if you plan to take the city or to fight the Xiongnu . "

  Tian Yu looked back and forth in awkwardness . In the end, he also knelt and mimicked Zhao Yun’s action .

  Xu Huang had a complicated feeling seeing the young governor . He, too, was only 19 this year, but he was already leading a 40,000-man-legion .

  Two young geniuses could sense strange compatibility at first glance .

  ’He doesn’t look like a son of a noble . He must have climb his way to the top with his skills,’ Thought Xu Huang .

  ’Unbelievable! He seems a bit older than me, but Zhang Tong puts him as the grand commander of this huge army!?’ Zhao Yun was astonished .

  Xu Huang coughed, "You can stand, young governor . We’re here to help Lord Gongsun repelling the invaders in the first place . There is no reason for refusing your cooperation . "

  Zhao Yun stood up, "Thank you, sir! By the way, I don’t mind if you assign me to the frontline . I’m confident with my fighting skills . "

  "Sure . " ……

  Xu Huang guided Zhao Yun to the officers so he could introduce this young man to them and explain about his trouble .

  Upon seeing Zhao Yun, Gao Shun laughed, "Zhao Zilong? It’s you! HAHAHA!"

  Everyone was surprised, "Do you know him?"

  Gao Shun nodded, "Yes . He joined us when we went out to subjugate bandits in Ganling . He’s with us at that time . "

  Xu Huang raised his hands to stop them from getting sidetrack, "Senior, guys, I have to tell you about his circumstances . "

  Xu Huang retold what Zhao Yun reported him .

  "A protector? Wait, a governor? At his age without a family relationship?"

  Everyone was astonished again .

  Meanwhile, Lu Zhi eyes glittered . They transformed into the endless abyss in a second as he drafted a scheme in his mind .

  "We’re going to rescue the citizens of Ji City . Senior Lu, your opinion on this, please . "

  "We’ll probe their strength with our old crossbows first . Let’s send in the heavy knights to chase their caravans . As for the light cavalries, keep the distance and use our range advantage . "

  "Should we use our explosives?"

  "Only use it when it’s necessary . "

  "Alright, I’ll lead the light cavalries . Senior Gao, guide our heavy knights, please . "

  Gao Shun rubbed his hands in anticipation, "No problem . "

  Xu Huang looked at the rest of the officers, "Everyone else, stay with your platoon and wait for the command of Senior Lu . Brother Zhao, you come with me . " ……

  One thousand heavy cavalries, The Heavy Knights, followed after Gao Shun to chase after the Xiongnu . As the name implied, the knights were the soldiers who wore steel plate armor set .

  From the detailed report of Zhang Liao and Ding Yuan in the clan chat, Xiongnu’s short bows were ineffective against their plate armors and steel armors for the horses .

  Using this as a general direction about the rough strength of Xiongnu, Lu Zhi was more confident with the men . The only worry he had was their unknown King or commander, who might be an immortal like Tong .

  Meanwhile, Xu Huang, Zhao Yun, and 10,000 light cavalries detoured the city . ……

  It took Gao Shun an hour to reach the north gate of Ji . When he arrived at his destination, the civilians were still being forced to walk out of the city .

  A team of Xiangnu scouts already spotted Gao Shun and Xu Huang . They sent a messenger to the main army while the rest of them drew their short bows, getting ready to fight with the oncoming army .

  Before got into their range, Gao Shun and his 1,000 men already launched a volley of their crossbows .

  Thanked to the report of Ding Yuan, The Silver Axe Legion came here prepared . All crossbows had been modified to counter the silk clothes of the Xiongnu .

  Instead of using the repeating crossbows, they picked the standard crossbows with more firepower . Though it took times to reload, it could pierce the custom made silk-leather armor of the ancient Mongols .

  As they had expected, half of the arrows managed to lodge into the body of Xiongnu soldiers . Two hundred riders out of 500 fell from the horse and died, but the rest pulled the arrowhead out of their wound with ease and resumed their duty .

  "Ugh, this can be annoying . No, it IS annoying!"

  Gao Shun complained while he was busy trying to reload his crossbow . He and his men ignored the counter-attack arrows of the Xiongnu and continued fiddling with their hard-to-use weapons .

  *DONG*

  *TINK*

  Arrows heads ricocheted their steel armor .

  The Xiongnu scouts of 2,000 men did not notice the armor yet . They fired another volley .

  *DONG*

  *TINK*

  After the second volley, they finally noticed that something was wrong .

  Gao Shun finished the reloading after bracing two volleys of arrows, so did his men .

  "Get into a line formation . Take aim carefully this time . Either aim for the horse or the head . You can fire whenever you’re ready!"

  Unlike the Xiongnu, the horse archery of Gao Shun Army was no different from the standing still archers who fired arrows while staying in the same place . On the other hand, the horses of Xiongnu archers did not stop moving . They rode as they released their bowstring at the same time .

  Had it been a normal circumstance, Gao Shun Army would have been routed long ago .

  *WHOOSH*

  *WHOOSH*

  Patiently aiming and firing, Xiongnu horsemen dropped on the ground one by one while the steel knights braced the third and fourth arrow rain .

  As all 1,000 heavy knights had fired their round, the scouts were routed . The survivors fled the battlefield, leaving the injured behind .

  "Let’s move! We’ll leave the rescuing task to the infantries . We’ll find their main army . " ……

  Meanwhile, Xu Huang and his 10,000 light cavalries also met Xiangnu main army of 30,000 light horsemen .

  Instead of staying still and trading arrows, Xu Huang maneuvered his men to withdraw and use their repeating crossbows to retaliate .

  "Forget about the riders . Focus on the horses!"

  Using the advantage of the superior range, Xu Huang utilized the hit-and-run tactic against them . They ended up in a cavalry dog fight for hours before Gao Shun showed up to tank the arrows of the nomads .

  Furthermore, they had new toys .

  Xu Huang’s flag bearers did not wield any weapon . Instead, they equipped a flag pole behind their back while their free hand held a lighted torch .

  It was weird to Xiongnu men who were chasing after Xu Huang Army . However, they realized the horror of these people soon .

  The flag bearers pulled out a bundle of finger-size wrapped papers within their cloth . They ignited the papers with a torch and tossed them on the ground behind their back .

  "What are they throwing? Traps?"

  "A failed fire tactic . They won’t hurt us! Keep chasing!"

  *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

  The ignited paper exploded and created a loud noise, which scared the pursuing horses . The near horses raised their front hooves in a panic and throw the chasing formation of Xiongnu in chaos .

  Xu Huang looked back and smiled, "The firecracker works! Now, gain some distance and reload your crossbows!"