Chapter 593

Among them, some were even stained with blood.

At a glance, it was clear they were in the midst of fleeing.

Seeing this, Budugen's eyes widened.

In that instant, a few guesses formed in his mind.

But he never once thought that the Wang Ting had already been burned to the ground.

Soon.

Several thousand herdsmen also noticed the situation here.

They hurriedly rushed toward them.

As the distance closed, Budugen's pupils constricted!

Among those thousands of herdsmen, he saw some familiar faces.

Yes, this group of fleeing herdsmen was indeed from the Xianbei Wang Ting.

"Could it be that some change has occurred within the Wang Ting?"

Budugen guessed that it was highly likely one of the Ten-Thousand-Man Commanders had taken advantage of his absence as the Great Chanyu to seize power.

But... the subsequent actions of those thousands of herdsmen left Budugen completely frozen in place.

Those thousands of herdsmen clearly recognized Budugen as well.

Some among them began to wail and cry out to Budugen:

"Great Chanyu, the Wang Ting was burned by Han cavalry, and the losses are devastating!"

"Several Ten-Thousand-Man Commanders consulted and decided to withdraw from the Wang Ting."

"But that cunning Han cavalry still did not let us go."

"On the way, our tribesmen were attacked by the Han cavalry several times."

"As of now, of our hundreds of thousands of tribesmen, I fear fewer than one hundred thousand remain."

"Thump!"

As the words fell.

Budugen tumbled from his warhorse.

Fortunately, his personal guards were quick-witted, preventing Budugen's head from striking the ground.

Even so, Budugen's entire body continued to tremble violently.

The total number of Xianbei tribesmen was roughly around six hundred thousand.

The population around the Wang Ting accounted for three-quarters of the total Xianbei population.

With fewer than one hundred thousand remaining, this meant the Xianbei had been almost completely wiped out!

After all.

If only one hundred thousand remained.

The Han might not even need to finish them off; the Southern Xiongnu next door would likely strike and eliminate the remaining Xianbei.

"Strike" meant seizing the Xianbei women.

"Eliminate" meant cutting off the heads of the Xianbei men.

The struggles between northern nomadic peoples were often simpler, cruder, and more boring than those between the Han.

If we look back at thousands of years of rise and fall, it is clear that until the Qing Dynasty, nomadic peoples almost always existed in the north.

But the names of these nomadic peoples were constantly changing.

For example, during the late Han and Three Kingdoms period, the northern nomadic peoples were called the Southern Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Wuhuan.

By the Tang Dynasty, the northern nomadic peoples were called the Tujue and the Huihe.

By the Ming Dynasty, the northern nomadic peoples were called the Oirat.

In reality, the territory occupied by these nomadic peoples hardly underwent any large-scale changes.

(Micro-changes certainly existed, as nothing remains unchanged forever. Don't argue with me; if you argue, you're right.)

But why did the names of these nomadic peoples keep changing?

This feeling is similar to the dynastic successions among the Han.

Among nomadic peoples, it has always been a relationship of mutual annexation.

Upon learning that fewer than one hundred thousand tribesmen remained, Budugen wished he could just smash his head against the grass and die.

Damn it!

He had become the eternal sinner of the Xianbei!