Chapter 420: A Fierce Wind Rises at the Frontier

The felt tents blazed, wisps of black smoke billowing and churning as they rose straight into the deep-autumn azure sky. Beneath the crumbling earthen walls, Xiongnu riders galloped back and forth; the bows in their hands loosed arrows at any Xuyan man who tried to resist, while the long whips in their hands drove weeping women and children away from their smoking homes to join the slave columns alongside thousands upon thousands of sheep.

The Gudu Marquis Huyan Lan rode a tall, fine steed, a helmet fashioned from boar tusks upon his head, and watched it all with satisfaction. The Huama Salt Pool, this land brimming with salt and grass, was being torn apart beneath the hooves of the Xiongnu.

"This is the price of betraying the Xiongnu Chanyu established by Heaven!"

Huyan Lan was one of the few Xiongnu who possessed their own clan name. Among the Xiongnu, any noble house that had held office for generations took their tribal designation as a hereditary clan name. The greater ones among them were the Huyan, the Lan, and the Xubu — these three clans were all of noble blood.

His family had served for generations as the Left Gudu Marquis at the Chanyu's side. Earlier, he had been sent by Chanyu Touman to the lands south of the river to summon back Prince Modun and the four tribal lords. Who could have foreseen that Modun would learn of the plan in advance and flee on his own, and that the four tribes south of the river would be thrown into panic — especially Xuyan and Linhu, who, either because their consciences were guilty or because they feared they would never return if they journeyed north, were so terrified by Chanyu Touman's order that they rebelled on the spot!

Huyan Lan could well imagine how furious Chanyu Touman would be upon hearing of this, and that his wrath might even be turned upon Huyan Lan himself. Thus, Huyan Lan could only strive to quell the rebellion south of the river within the year. He ordered the Helan Grand Danghu to rally the various tribes, while he himself took over a thousand riders and advanced first to Xuyan to inflict punishment upon the rebels!

According to Xiongnu custom, the lord of a rebellious tribe and his family would be sewn into sheepskin sacks and trampled to death by thousands upon thousands of horses!

And the tribe itself would vanish from the steppe — every boy taller than a cart wheel would be killed! The remaining women would be distributed as rewards to the tribes that had rendered merit in quelling the rebellion.

Huyan Lan was merely the vanguard. Behind him, another four thousand Xiongnu riders from Helan were already on the march and would arrive within days!

After spending several days sweeping through the Xuyan encampments along the way with his thousand-odd Xiongnu riders, Huyan Lan led his forces straight for the town of Huama Salt Pool. The small settlement was tightly shut, crammed full of Xuyan people who had fled there. The aged Lord of Xuyan was also atop the wall, watching in trembling terror the punishment the Xiongnu had brought.

The Xiongnu riders formed a circle. With sharp cracks of their whip-tips, they lashed at a Xuyan man who had been stripped of his weapons and was utterly defenseless, flaying his back, his cheeks, sending him scurrying with his head in his hands until his flesh was a bloody pulp. Only then did they hook a whip around his ankle, sending him sprawling to the ground, and then shot an arrow through his spine.

Huyan Lan personally severed the man's head. He had a rider gallop close to the town, dodging the scattered arrows shot down from the wall, and hurled it beneath the ramparts!

This man had been the chief of a small neighboring tribe; the Xiongnu hoped to use his death to spread panic.

In the eyes of the Xiongnu, they themselves were a wolf pack none could withstand, proud eagles soaring over the steppe, while the Xuyan Rong were merely their salt slaves — bleating sheep, chickens flapping about in terror!

The Xiongnu roared with laughter. Inside the town, the Xuyan Rong people were filled with righteous fury. They flocked to the Lord of Xuyan, begging for battle: "My lord, we too have horses, and over a thousand brave warriors! Let us charge out of the town and teach the Xiongnu a lesson!"

"No! Keep the town tightly shut — no one is permitted to leave the settlement!"

The Lord of Xuyan had lost all his former prosperous bearing. His hair had grown whiter, his body somewhat hunched from cold or fear, and his mustache, forgotten and unoiled, drooped limply.

Xuyan had always been a small Rong tribe north of the frontier, said to be descendants of the Quanrong. Two hundred years ago, they had submitted to the powerful Yiqu state. After Yiqu declined, the Qin state focused on annexing the six kingdoms to the east and had no interest in the remote, barren Xuyan far beyond the frontier. Xuyan thus enjoyed a period of freedom and amassed wealth by exploiting the Huama Salt Pool.

But about twenty years ago, the Xiongnu gradually grew powerful, unified the central steppe, crossed the great river and the desert, and arrived at the shores of the Huama Salt Pool. Though the Rong people esteemed martial valor, they were no match for the Xiongnu riders who came and went like the wind. Xuyan could only choose submission, paying an enormous annual tribute of salt and sheep in exchange for the Xiongnu not plundering them.

For twenty years, fear of the Xiongnu had taken root in the Lord of Xuyan's heart. He had been a hostage at the Chanyu's royal court and knew the might of the Xiongnu's hundred thousand bowstring-pullers.

Therefore, unless there was a more powerful patron worth defecting to, the Lord of Xuyan would never dare betray the Xiongnu.

"Qin is ten times the size of the Xiongnu, Qin's populace is a hundred times that of the Xiongnu, and Qin's wealth is a thousand times that of the Xiongnu! If Xuyan does not follow Qin, it will be annihilated together with the Xiongnu. If it follows Qin, my lord can avoid going to the Chanyu's court and shall be hereditary Rong Lord for Qin for generations!"

It was such enticement, from Wushi Yan who often came to buy salt, that had finally persuaded the Lord of Xuyan.

But at this very moment, the crisis of his tribe's destruction and his people's extinction was right before his eyes, making him cannot help but doubt the decision he had made. After exhorting everyone on the wall to absolutely not rashly leave the town, the Lord of Xuyan tilted his head to the right. Wushi Yan, who had not managed to leave in time and was stranded here, was standing on tiptoe observing the Xiongnu's movements.

The Lord of Xuyan forced a smile: "Lord Wu... when will the heavenly troops of Great Qin arrive?"

"The Commandant of Beidi has already led his forces out of Yiqu Town. I have also sent a messenger to Xiao Pass to report the emergency. I imagine they will be here soon..."

Though he said this, Wushi Yan was not confident in his heart.

Heifu had indeed risen to his current position through military merit, but the places he had fought in the past were all in the southern marshlands. The conditions north and south were vastly different, so Wushi Yan did not know whether this Commandant Heifu, when commanding the stout men of Beidi in battle beyond the frontier, could be as adept as local men from west of the pass like Li Xin and Qiang Kui.

"If they come as light cavalry, they could arrive today or tomorrow. If he is cautious and the army advances in a tight mass, I fear it will still take several days..."

Wushi Yan now felt some regret. His family, wanting to prove themselves in this war, had acted too eagerly and were now trapped in the town. This very town of Huama Salt Pool had been built by craftsmen invited by the Wushi to help the Lord of Xuyan, in order to protect the green salt transported south to Beidi.

Conditions beyond the frontier were limited; the wall was barely two zhang high. Although the Lord of Xuyan had gathered all his own able-bodied men inside and had sufficient manpower, could they withstand the Xiongnu assault for several days without collapsing?

Wushi Yan and the Lord of Xuyan descended into the town. Just as they were pondering, they heard the Rong men on the wall suddenly shout: "Look out! The Xiongnu are charging!"

In the split second he stood stunned, the Lord of Xuyan's two sons had already thrown him to the ground!

A low-pitched buzzing arose, like a swarm of bees flying past. The whistling arrows fell like a winter rain, showering the top of the Huama Salt Pool wall, thudding into the raised wooden planks and shields with a clattering din, punctuated now and then by screams.

An arrow had also lodged itself beside Wushi Yan, its jet-black bird feathers quivering slightly. He pulled it out and looked — it was a bone arrowhead...

This was merely a probe by the Xiongnu. Over a thousand Xiongnu riders had swept in with a roar, loosed their arrows, and then wheeled around and returned. The Xiongnu did not have much experience attacking cities, but they understood that their bows could not inflict much damage inside the town. The Xiongnu commander was a shrewd hunter and would not waste precious arrows on useless random shooting.

"But if all the Xiongnu able-bodied men from Helan Mountain were concentrated here, it would be a different story..."

After picking himself up from the ground, the Lord of Xuyan's face was full of misery. As far as he knew, the Xiongnu riders from Helan alone numbered four to five thousand, many of them skilled archers. When the time came, five or six thousand arrows would pour in from all four sides simultaneously, and then horses would be used to pull down the flimsy walls. At that moment, it would be utter catastrophe for the Xuyan people.

Under the Gudu Marquis's command, the Xiongnu scattered at times and gathered at others, coming and going like the wind around the Huama Salt Pool town. They detached four hundred riders, who, led by four centurions, harassed the town's perimeter from time to time. The other riders broke up into small groups and dispersed in all directions to plunder the Xuyan tribal members around the Huama Salt Pool who had not managed to enter the town in time.

The Xiongnu's intermittent harassment continued throughout the entire night. It was as if they never needed to dismount, able to eat, drink, and relieve themselves all on horseback. By the next morning, Wushi Yan, still in a drowsy sleep, was suddenly shaken awake by the Rong concubine attending him!

When he groggily threw on his clothes and arrived on the wall, the Lord of Xuyan was staring west with a face ashen pale...

In the distance, dense masses of Xiongnu riders were slowly advancing through the yellow sand and withered grass. They were in squads of one hundred, over ten squads in total. Together with the ox-carts pulling their felt tents, they spread out over an area of several li in circumference.

The Xiongnu reinforcements from Lan Mountain had set out in batches based on distance; this was only the first batch.

"It's over now." The Lord of Xuyan nearly collapsed to the ground.

Just at this moment of despair, from the southern side of the town, a stirring, excited cheer rang out...

"Could it be!"

The Lord of Xuyan and Wushi Yan exchanged a glance, instantly overjoyed. They sprinted along the wall to the south side and looked. Sure enough, several li to the south, on the salt flats by the Huama Salt Pool, a war chariot bearing a large black banner had appeared!

The banner was vivid and distinct, upon it written in plain white paint a single seal-script character: "Qin"! As the fierce wind swept up from the frontier, the banner flapped and snapped loudly!

Following the war chariot's appearance, black dots gradually emerged on the horizon, bobbing forward continuously, more and more of them, until they filled the entire field of vision!

It was the Qin army's cavalry — the thousand-strong vanguard Heifu had dispatched had reached the Huama Salt Pool!

This was also the first time an army of the Central Plains had appeared north of Xiao Pass!

Although he did not yet know the number of the reinforcements, the Lord of Xuyan felt as if he were already saved. Tears streaming down his face, he prostrated himself on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly toward the south. When he raised his head, he spread his arms wide and shouted to his people:

"Today, the sun of the Xuyan people rises from the south!"

(End of chapter)