Chapter 237: The Head Before the Xiongnu Array

The surrounding sounds of killing gradually ceased.

The 20,000 Zhenbei Army troops did not survive, all dying on the road following the Prince of Zhenbei, paving a difficult path with their corpses.

"Woo! Hoo! We won!"

The Xiongnu cheered happily; the many corpses and warhorses in front of them were all grain and grass for the Xiongnu to survive the winter.

With so much "meat" to eat, the old and young in the tribe would not starve to death this winter.

And Adunla, as the main general, would be rewarded by the Royal Court and hailed as the number one warrior of the grassland.

Adunla spurred his horse and slowly came to the corpse of the Prince of Zhenbei.

He looked at the Prince of Zhenbei, who remained standing even after death, and then at those eyes that refused to close, filled with anger and unyielding spirit, and a trace of chill inexplicably arose in his heart.

He frowned and waved his hand.

A Xiongnu stepped forward and hacked off the Prince of Zhenbei's head with his blade.

That headless body then fell to the ground with a thud.

Adunla picked up the Prince of Zhenbei's gray-haired head with his spear, galloped in front of the array, shouted loudly in the Xiongnu language, and showed off his martial prowess and victory.

The Xiongnu soldiers let out earth-shattering cheers; this time they could really hold a grand banquet.

The sky was about to brighten, and Adunla was full of pride, ordering the battlefield to be cleared, preparing to use the momentum of this great victory to take the city, which was now leaderless, in one go.

As long as the city was broken, the people of the northern frontier would be nothing more than their rations and slaves.

The women of the northern frontier would also all become playthings for the Xiongnu, completely turning into a living hell.

On the ridge outside the north valley entrance, the Vice General, who had already broken out, led the cavalry to lurk here; the Xiongnu's goal was not him, so they were able to break out easily.

They saw the fire that suddenly ignited and was quickly suppressed in the valley, and heard the short, exceptionally intense sound of killing.

Then, everything fell into silence.

The Colonel led 5,000 people to ambush, but was instead caught in a pincer attack; after resisting for a while, they did not escape successfully and even fell before the Prince of Zhenbei.

The Vice General gripped his fists tightly, his nails digging into his palms, and blood flowed continuously.

He saw the head that Adunla was picking up...

Although he couldn't see the face clearly, he knew that it was the General.

He endured the immense sorrow and the urge for revenge, and squeezed the order out from between his teeth: "Retreat... retreat... quickly!"

Just as quietly as they came, but with hot tears, they disappeared into the shadows of the mountains.

Wei Xikang did not sleep all night and had been standing on the city wall, looking into the distance, hoping to see the scene of his Uncle returning in high spirits.

It was just that the sky was getting brighter and there was still no sign of him, and his heart became more and more uneasy.

It was not until the black dots appeared on the horizon that Wei Xikang finally moved his stiff hands and feet.

When they got closer, Wei Xikang discovered that it was the Vice General and the cavalry he had taken with him.

"Quick! Open the city gate quickly!"

Wei Xikang did not see any movement behind these cavalry, but he kept comforting himself in his heart.

His Uncle took tens of thousands of people, so the pace was naturally not as fast as the cavalry, so the cavalry should be the ones returning first to report the good news.

The city gate opened a crack with a creak, and the Zhenbei Army drove straight in, the warhorses spraying thick white air, the riders all with crooked helmets and armor, everyone wounded.

On their faces was not the shame of defeat, but a deeper kind of dead silence, as if their souls had been extracted.

Seeing this, Wei Xikang's heart skipped a beat, and he stepped forward to ask: "Vice General... where is my Uncle? What is the situation... at the front?"

The Vice General didn't even wait for the horse to stabilize, rolled off, stumbled a few steps, and nearly fell.

Several Colonels who had already heard the news rushed over.

Wei Xikang looked at the Vice General's hollow eyes and the cavalry behind him who had clearly suffered reduced numbers and whose morale had completely collapsed, his voice trembling uncontrollably: "What is the... situation? Speak up!"

The Vice General raised his head, his face mixed with dried blood and mud, as well as tear stains that hadn't been wiped clean.

He opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound; his throat was blocked.

He grabbed Wei Xikang's arm violently and finally squeezed out a broken howl from his chest: "Your... Your Highness! The General... the General has... sacrificed his life for the country! We fell into an ambush... the whole army... the whole army was wiped out!"

This sentence was like a thunderbolt, striking the hearts of everyone who had gathered around.

Although Wei Xikang had a premonition, at the moment it was confirmed, immense despair and panic still instantly engulfed him.

"Impossible!" a young Colonel shouted out.

"It's true..." The Vice General slumped down and was supported by personal guards; he was incoherent, carrying a sobbing tone.

"The valley... was an empty camp... it was all an ambush... the General... the General led the brothers... and fought to the last moment... I saw it with my own eyes... I saw that dog thief Adunla... picking up... picking up the General's head..."

The last glimmer of hope was completely shattered!

The crowd was dead silent, and only heavy breathing and suppressed sobbing could be heard.

The main general was killed in battle, the elite who went out were wiped out, and the last pillar of morale for the Zhenbei Army had completely collapsed!

Wei Xikang's face turned pale, his body swayed, and for a time he could not accept this news.

"Uncle... Uncle..."

But he was the Crown Prince after all, knowing that he must not be chaotic at this moment.

Forcibly suppressing the grief and indignation in his heart, after adjusting his thoughts, he hissed: "Everyone, stabilize! Uncle is gone, but the city is still here! Behind us are the people of the northern frontier! You first explain in detail, where are the Xiongnu now? How many troops do they have?"

The Vice General barely calmed down and intermittently explained the encounter with the ambush, the Prince of Zhenbei's death in battle, and the judgment that the Xiongnu main army was about to attack.

Just at this moment, the city wall guards issued a shrill alarm: "Xiongnu! The Xiongnu main army is here!"

Everyone's faces changed drastically, and they crazily rushed to the city wall.

Wei Xikang did not expect the other party to come so quickly. At present, there were only 15,000 defenders in the city, and coupled with the severely low morale, they were afraid they were not the Xiongnu's opponents!

I saw that on the originally empty grassland, the black-pressed Xiongnu cavalry surged in like a tide, flags fluttering, blades and spears like a forest, and one could not see the edge at a glance.

And at the very front of the Xiongnu team, on a high spear, something was picked up, shaking with the jolting of the warhorse.

As the distance got closer, those with sharp eyes on the city wall could already see clearly—it was a head with gray hair!

Although the face was blurry, that familiar outline...

It was clearly the Prince of Zhenbei!

"General!"

On the city wall, countless Zhenbei Army troops let out indignant cries.

Some old soldiers beat the battlements, tears streaming down their faces.

More soldiers were pale, their bodies trembling involuntarily.

The main general was killed, and even humiliated like this; this destroyed the defenders' will more than any siege equipment.

And this was exactly Adunla's goal: to completely crush the Zhenbei Army psychologically, so that he could take the other party with the least loss.

"Listen, Zhenbei Army on the city wall, your general has been beheaded! If you are sensible, open the city and surrender quickly! If you are willing to bow your heads and become subjects, I can spare your lives! If you dare to resist stubbornly, after the city is broken, not even a chicken or dog will be left!" ===== CHAPTER 238 =====