Chapter 8: Breaking the Camp

"Are you called Cheng Pu?" Gongsun Yue looked at the square-faced young clerk before him and could not help wavering slightly — could he really entrust his elder brother's life to this petty functionary?

Yet, glancing at his clan uncle beside him who could not utter a single word, and with no one else available at this moment, the young Gongsun Yue, who could not command authority by age, seemed to have no choice but to place his trust in this man.

"That is correct." This Cheng Pu was merely an unranked minor clerk, yet facing Gongsun Yue, who was commanding with composure in place of the commandery's Chief Clerk, and the sudden perilous situation both inside and outside the pass, he maintained a calm bearing throughout.

"Very well." Gongsun Yue raised his hand and pointed toward the enemy camp seething outside, and shouted sternly. "Cheng Pu, I am giving you two companies of infantry, four hundred men — are you willing to go beyond the pass to cover my brother's return to the city?!"

"Though Pu is but a minor clerk," Cheng Pu bowed his head and prostrated upon hearing this, "I do know the two words loyalty and trustworthiness! To slay rebels for the state is one's original duty, and since you, my lord, and the young master are willing to trust me, how could I dare betray that trust? Pu is willing to go forth at once beyond the pass to provide cover, and fulfill this loyalty and trustworthiness!"

"Good!" Seeing the other man agree with such heroic spirit, Gongsun Yue finally believed him three parts, and then with a whoosh, he actually drew the saber of Gongsun Zhao beside him, frightening that clan uncle so badly his face went pale, and making several senior officers standing nearby feel their hearts jump. "This is my uncle's saber. The two companies of elite troops at the gate tower have already assembled — I entrust them all to you. If there are arrogant soldiers or fierce officers who refuse to obey orders, you may execute first and report later; my uncle will take responsibility for it... Go at once! The two who led thirty riders to raid the camp are my elder brother Gongsun Xun and Squad Leader Han Dang. The lives of these two men are entrusted to you, Cheng Pu!"

That minor clerk called Cheng Pu took the blade, gave no reply, and simply strode straight down the tower. The several officers who had avoided battle exchanged silent glances.

"Run toward Lulong Pass!" Gongsun Xun thrust his lance straight through a fierce Xianbei soldier armored in leather, then turned his head and shouted at several Han captives who were already frozen with terror. "Troops have already been sent from there to cover you! Get beneath the fortress wall and wait until dawn, and you will have a way to live!"

Having said this, with no time to spare for these people's reactions, Gongsun Xun swiftly urged his horse forward again to support a Han cavalryman who had fallen from his horse not far away.

"Watch out!" Han Dang came galloping over and finished off a Xianbei soldier trying to ambush that cavalryman with a single arrow. "Young lord, the enemy camp is already seven parts in chaos, but if the central army's Kezuique is still there, he might yet stabilize the situation, and the outcome of this battle would still be uncertain."

"Then kill him!" Gongsun Xun, drenched and hot all over, not knowing whether it was sweat or blood, pulled out his lance and answered fiercely.

"But the situation is already chaotic — we don't know where the routed soldiers are, nor where our own men are. I fear it can only be the three of us going!" Han Dang was growing somewhat agitated.

"Three it is then!" Gongsun Xun had by now fought until his eyes were red with slaughter, and he answered at once with lofty spirit. "With courage such as yours and mine, why should we fear him?"

Having spoken, the two men spurred their horses forward, heading straight for a camp not far away where a great banner stood. The Han cavalryman who had fallen from his horse also climbed back onto his mount, gritted his teeth, and followed. However, just as he mounted, an arrow shot from somewhere struck him squarely in the face, and he toppled headfirst straight into the flames.

On the battlefield, neither Han Dang nor Gongsun Xun could spare a thought for this man's life or death; each simply fought with all his might, charging straight for the central army.

"Lord Kezuique, you must leave at once!" Before the central army tent, Mohuquan, his face smeared with blood, barefoot and with hair disheveled, was clutching Kezuique's leg and pleading bitterly, having abruptly changed his tune yet again. "I heard from the routed soldiers that the one who came this time is Prefect Hou of Yangyue City, leading a great army! On my way to escort you with my troops, I even came face to face with his vanguard, Gongsun Xun, so the news is certainly true! Now the elite cavalry from Lulong Pass have also come out, attacking from front and rear — the situation is utterly dire! Your lordship is a man of incalculable worth, and your own troops are not even here; you must leave at once!"

Kezuique, stripped to the waist, was both furious and frantic. He raised his horsewhip and lashed it across Mohuquan's face, striking that already battered face into a bloody pulp.

Yet after lashing him a few times, Kezuique helplessly threw the whip to the ground. "Mohuquan, is it? I know you are loyal, and I wish to leave too, but the Great Khan Tanshihuai enforces military discipline with severity. If I abandon the camp and flee this time, he will certainly not spare me!"

Mohuquan's expression grew agitated, and he was about to speak again when he heard a clamor behind him. He turned his head to look, and his spirit nearly flew out of his body in terror — Gongsun Xun and that hawk-eyed armored warrior of peerless archery had actually charged right up to the central army's main camp!

Moreover, Gongsun Xun was in front, in iron armor and helmet, not even dodging arrows, wielding a steel-tipped long lance, slashing and thrusting, fighting forward with fierce valor. That hawk-eyed armored warrior behind him galloped left and right, bending his bow and nocking arrows, shouting loudly, and with every shout, a Xianbei brave fell with an arrow in him! Though they were only two men, they were utterly unstoppable, cutting their way straight toward this very spot!

"Finish these two at once!" Kezuique was equally shocked and enraged, and so he shouted repeatedly, ordering his own braves forward. "Whoever kills either one of these two will be rewarded with one hundred able-bodied people! The wealth and valuables I was allotted this time, I will also forgo entirely and bestow them all upon you!"

To the Xianbei, able-bodied people were everything; one hundred able-bodied people meant a small tribe. Kezuique's reward was so great that it stirred the killing instinct in quite a few men.

And as more men surged forward heedless of life or death, Gongsun Xun and Han Dang, just the two of them, naturally began to find it somewhat strenuous.

Furthermore, after cooperating with Han Dang to kill several men in succession, Gongsun Xun, who was holding the front, thrust his lance down only to suddenly discover that his long lance was stuck in the gap of the enemy's bones and could not be pulled back at all for the moment. He immediately let go and drew his waist saber. But the waist saber was too short and extremely ineffective in a group melee; after several exchanges, he was forced to dismount and fight on foot. And having lost the advantage of length and height, he was naturally hard-pressed on all sides and grew increasingly strained.

However, fortunately, Han Dang was still behind him providing support; every one of his arrows struck true. Under such disadvantageous conditions, the two of them could still continue advancing, appearing all the more divinely courageous.

Mohuquan watched with his heart pounding in terror. When he turned his head and saw Kezuique's expression wavering with uncertainty, and that Kezuique had actually already begun hurriedly and flusteredly putting on his armor, somehow, accompanied by the burning pain on his face, this minor tribal chieftain felt a trace of inexplicable satisfaction rise in his heart.

By this time, the Han cavalry that had sallied forth from Lulong Pass to provide support had already pierced through the enemy camp, but because they were fighting at night against the wind, they quickly lost their formation and began fighting individually. In such a situation, it was truly a matter of fighting on sheer willpower alone.

For the Xianbei, caught off guard by a night raid, should they flee or fight?

For the Han raiders, locked in bitter combat, would organized reinforcements arrive first, or would the cavalry trapped in the enemy camp lose their nerve first?

I fear no one knew the answer.

After desperately hacking down two more men, Gongsun Xun was no more than twenty paces from Kezuique, who had finished donning his armor. Had Kezuique not been tightly shielded by his personal guards, Han Dang would likely have finished him with one arrow long ago. However, Gongsun Xun now felt his strength beginning to fail, and in the distance, after Han Dang loosed an arrow and shot down a guard Kezuique had pushed forward, he reached for another — and was horrified to discover that his arrows were already exhausted.

"He's out of arrows, and the other one has no long weapon left either!" Kezuique saw his chance and immediately shouted at the top of his lungs. "All of you, at them! Use your long spears and thrust at them! You fools, don't use bows and arrows — arrows are too weak, they're both wearing double-layered iron armor, it's of little use!"

"Forget about him, mount up, and fall back for now!" Han Dang's eyes nearly burst from their sockets with fury. If Gongsun Xun were to fall here, then no death of his could ever atone for it! "Letting him live is not worth this!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Kezuique saw a flash before his eyes — an arrow came straight at his face. He ducked aside in panic, but the arrow still pierced straight through both his cheeks, blood streaming like a fountain.

"Did the Xianbei dogs think that I, Gongsun Xun, am not skilled at archery?" Gongsun Xun had cast aside his saber and taken up his bow, his voice resonant and powerful, so much so that it startled the several Xianbei soldiers holding long spears before him, and for a moment they dared not advance.

And at that very moment, Kezuique, pressing his hand to his cheek, dimly saw in the distance two fiery dragons approaching from the direction of Lulong Pass, drawing ever nearer... He knew full well that Han reinforcements had arrived, yet he could not speak, and he was also terrified of that man called Gongsun Xun's archery. In his desperation, this great Xianbei commander lost his nerve entirely for a moment and actually turned and fled outright! His several central army personal guards exchanged silent glances, then all let out a cry, turned, and fled, escorting their lord away.

Thereupon, the last shred of cohesion in the great Xianbei camp scattered as well, and next, as the Han infantry from the fortress successfully joined the battle, the course of the fight for the Xianbei naturally collapsed like a river bursting its banks!

"What a pity!" Han Dang spurred his horse forward, sighing repeatedly. "The reinforcements have already arrived — we were so close to taking him down. This Kezuique is a major figure among the central Xianbei, a great tribal chieftain directly under Tanshihuai."

"What a relief!" Gongsun Xun shook his head and, without the slightest regard for appearances, threw down his bow and sat down on the ground with a plop. "To be honest with you, Brother Yigong, my strength had actually reached its limit. That arrow managing to hit his face was already thanks to the protection of the gods and immortals... If those Xianbei mixed-breed barbarians' long spears had actually thrust at me, I fear I would be meeting my ancestors today."

Han Dang burst into loud laughter upon hearing this. "To have won this time, it must surely be thanks to the protection of the young lord's ancestors! I, Han Yigong, hereby swear an oath: if one day I can be enfeoffed as a marquis from horseback and taste wealth and honor, I shall certainly build a temple and erect a stele for the young lord's ancestors!"

Gongsun Xun, hearing this, also burst into loud laughter. Although this man's voice could not compare in resonance to that of his clan cousin Gongsun Zan, his laughter at this moment seemed exceptionally heroic, and for a time it resounded throughout the entire camp!

"The Martial Emperor, Grand Ancestor, at the age of eighteen, served as a clerk in the commandery. Encountering the Xianbei raiding the border, he led thirty riders out of Lulong Pass at night and inflicted a great defeat upon them, and from this his fame resounded throughout Hebei." — Old Book of Yan, Volume 1, Annals of the Martial Emperor, Grand Ancestor

New book period, a steady trickle... seeking bookmarks, seeking recommendations.

Also, the old book group still exists, so I don't plan to open a new book group for this book until it reaches a certain level of popularity. Interested readers can follow the clues to look through my old books on your own; if you can find the old book friends group, just write the name of this book and you can come in.

(End of Chapter)