The Child Emperor - Chapter 152: The Old General is not Old

The Chu army discarded some temporarily useless items, including most of the dry rations. They only kept weapons, liquor, and beans for feeding horses. At dawn, they returned to the edge of the steppes, took a short rest, especially ensuring the horses were well-fed. Next, they had to gallop continuously to return to Shattered Iron City as soon as possible.

Most soldiers took the opportunity to sleep for a while. Han Ruzi wasn’t too tired; he felt he could persist. Fang Daye said to him, “You’re making everyone more and more nervous.”

Han Ruzi smiled, found a comfortable and dry spot, wrapped himself in a cloak, and lay down. He intended to rest for a while, but soon after closing his eyes, he entered the realm of dreams. When he was awakened, he even felt a surge of anger at having to get up.

Du Chuanyun whispered, “We’re setting off.”

They had rested for less than an hour in total. Everyone mounted their horses. Because they needed to ride continuously, they didn’t dare to push the horses too far. They had scouts in the front and guards in the rear, trying their best to maintain formation.

Until past noon, there was still no sign of the Xiongnu. People felt a little relieved as they let the horses rest. Han Ruzi found Jin Chunbao and asked, “Who told you about the split among the Eastern Xiongnu?”

Jin Chunbao, whose injuries hadn’t fully healed, had been tied up by nomads and then ridden with the Chu army for most of the day, looking very exhausted. He murmured, “Who told me? All the Xiongnu are saying the same thing… Prince Zaheyan talks about it even more. He often chatted with me, saying how foolish those Xiongnu who still wanted to stick to their nomadic life were.”

“How many Xiongnu were chasing you?”

“There… there are hundreds, I don’t know. I’ve been running all the time. Sometimes I could hear the sound of hooves, sometimes I couldn’t…”

“Look at him, so dejected. It might be better to just kill him and take his head, it would be more convenient.” Cui Teng suggested again, gripping the handle of his knife, eyeing Jin Chunbao’s neck.

Jin Chunbao hurriedly straightened up and opened his eyes wide, saying loudly, “I’m fine. I can ride for another three days and three nights.”

Han Ruzi gave the order to mount up. Just as they were about to set off, a soldier from the rear waved a flag, catching the attention of everyone ahead. They all looked back and saw three cavalrymen appearing a few miles away.

“It’s the Xiongnu.” Cui Teng’s voice trembled a bit. “Let’s run.”

The command was on the tip of Han Ruzi’s tongue, but he changed his mind. “Advance toward that mountain. March normally.”

“Shattered Iron City is to the west, that mountain is to the north…” Cui Teng voiced the doubts of many.

Han Ruzi glanced at the three Xiongnu cavalrymen again. “Those three are tracking a hundred enemy soldiers without panic. There must be a large army following behind them. If we run away, the main force will chase us closely. Let’s move towards the mountains and make them think there’s an ambush.”

“Maybe there really is an ambush, all of them Xiongnu.” Cui Teng just wanted to hurry up.

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take.” Han Ruzi had some soldiers from the rear catch up. A hundred men formed a team and advanced at a normal pace towards the mountains in the northwest.

The three Xiongnu men followed not too far behind. After half an hour, when they were still one or two miles away from the foot of the mountain, the main Xiongnu force appeared.

“Heavens, there are at least… a thousand men.” Cui Teng was so scared he almost fell off his horse.

“Don’t panic. The Xiongnu don’t know our details; they won’t attack easily.”

“What if they’re not afraid?” Cui Teng had no confidence.

Han Ruzi also pretended to be calm, glanced at Cui Teng, and said coldly, “Then we’ll fight as we retreat.”

A hundred against a thousand, with no chance of winning. Cui Teng didn’t dare to question anymore.

Han Ruzi slowed down, and the Xiongnu army followed from afar. The three Xiongnu scouts got even closer and made whistling sounds, obviously taunting them.

“Enough!” Suddenly came the voice of Fang Daye, pulling on the reins and handing the flag in his hand to Du Chuanyun, saying to the Northern Protection General, “You all go on, no need to wait for me.”

“Old General…”

Before Han Ruzi could finish his words, Fang Daye turned his horse’s head and galloped towards the rear of the formation. He stopped in front of a strong and sturdy officer, saying, “Let me borrow your bow.”

Fang Daye’s status was that of a prisoner, and after taking on the role of standard-bearer, he was issued a regular bow and arrows. The person he borrowed the bow from was a junior officer in the army, with exceptional strength, carrying a specially made stiff bow which had a high draw weight. He wasn’t willing to easily hand it over to an old man in his sixties, especially given Fang Daye’s status.

“Hurry up!” Fang Daye shouted sternly. The junior officer trembled, looked towards the Northern Protection General, saw him nod, and reluctantly handed over the bow.

Fang Daye took the hard bow without a word of thanks. He took a deep breath, his chest expanding, and miraculously, his large belly shrank back.

“Go.” Fang Daye spurred his horse towards the three Xiongnu men.

Although he had said there was no need to wait, Han Ruzi and the others still watched from their horses.

The three Xiongnu men spread out, preparing to meet him in battle.

The distant Xiongnu army also halted.

A Xiongnu man shot an arrow first, but Fang Daye neither dodged nor slowed down, letting the arrow pass by his side. Suddenly, he straightened up and shot an arrow himself, but missed.

“Ah…” Several noble youths sighed with regret.

The three Xiongnu men almost simultaneously fired arrows, but Fang Daye ducked on his horse, avoiding them, then rose again to draw his bow.

One Xiongnu man was hit and fell from his horse.

Half of the Chu army cheered.

The other two Xiongnu men hurriedly retaliated. One arrow grazed its target, while the other seemed to hit.

Including Han Ruzi, all the Chu soldiers exclaimed in dismay.

While still riding, Fang Daye shot again, this time using the enemy’s arrow. The second Xiongnu man fell from his horse.

Only one Xiongnu man remained, who, startled, turned and fled. Fang Daye pursued closely, closing the distance to just thirty-odd paces before releasing a third arrow, hitting his target accurately. In an instant, he had killed all three.

At this point, Fang Daye was closer to the Xiongnu army, but instead of immediately retreating, he rode forward a bit more, raising his hard bow high, making a challenging gesture.

“This old guy!” Cui Teng couldn’t find any other words; he repeated these words five or six times, looking at his companions on the left and right, seeing that everyone was as astonished and admiring as he was.

No one from the Xiongnu army came out to meet him in battle. Fang Daye then turned his horse’s head and returned to his own unit. With his long beard fluttering, he exhaled deeply, his belly protruding once again, and handed the stiff bow to the junior officer.

The junior officer hastily waved his hands, “Please, General, keep it. I don’t deserve to use this bow again.”

Fang Daye didn’t decline either, keeping the stiff bow and giving his own regular bow to the other.

“Let’s go rest at the foot of the mountain.” Although Fang Daye was still a standard-bearer, his words carried a certain authority. Han Ruzi nodded, and the team set off, still not moving quickly, but everyone felt a bit more at ease.

Du Chuanyun had always had high standards, but at this moment, he willingly held the flag for Fang Daye. He admired not Fang Daye’s archery skills—viewed from a distance, there was nothing remarkable about Fang Daye’s confrontation with the three Xiongnu men. Rather, he admired the old general’s courage. Facing a thousand enemy soldiers, he actually dared to charge up and confront them. This kind of calmness and composure, Du Chuanyun admitted he didn’t possess, and he couldn’t help but feel that even his grandfather, Du Motian, wouldn’t dare to do so.

When the team arrived at the foot of the mountain, the sky had darkened. The Xiongnu army hadn’t caught up, observing from afar, seeming somewhat indecisive.

The tension rose again among the group. Cui Teng asked, “What should we do? Should we really fight as we retreat?”

Han Ruzi looked at his own flag, “The Xiongnu won’t attack immediately.”

“Are you sure?” Cui Teng was becoming increasingly impatient. “The Xiongnu don’t seem to be retreating.”

Han Ruzi didn’t have much knowledge about the Xiongnu, unlike the old General Fang Daye. His composure came from his personality and some historical books he had read. “The Xiongnu tribes are numerous, and there are often disagreements among them.”

Han Ruzi bowed to Fang Daye, “General Fang…”

“The Xiongnu won’t retreat. You need to send someone back to Shattered Iron City to get reinforcements. The slope over there can block them for a while.” Fang Daye understood the Xiongnu and had observed the surrounding terrain.

Han Ruzi nodded, turning to Du Chuanyun, “You go back…”

Du Chuanyun immediately shook his head, “Although my archery skills are average, I have to stay here. I came with you to the frontier not to fetch reinforcements but to protect you personally.”

“Let me go.” Cui Teng volunteered. Compared to staying here in a standoff with the Xiongnu, he preferred to ride westward. Even if there were no reinforcements there, it didn’t matter, as long as they could get away from the Xiongnu a bit.

The confidence built up by Fang Daye’s three consecutive kills was almost driven back by the darkness.

Han Ruzi’s gaze swept over; there were quite a few people who shared Cui Teng’s thoughts, but they didn’t dare to openly suggest it like he did.

Han Ruzi named two soldiers from his troops, one regular Chu soldier, one noble youth, and finally pointed to Cui Teng, “The five of you take ten horses. After nightfall, I will light a fire to distract the Xiongnu. You go fetch reinforcements, go fast, and come back fast.”

“Understood!” Cui Teng answered loudly, gripping the reins tightly, eager to run.

“Take Jin Chunbao with you; he can protect you,” Han Ruzi said.

Jinchunbao was stunned, while Cui Teng was surprised, “Why bring him? He’ll just slow us down.”

But Han Ruzi insisted on his speculation, “The person the Xiongnu least want to kill is him; they’re chasing after this flag.”

“Leave the flag here and come with us,” Cui Teng suggested.

Han Ruzi hesitated for a moment. Han Fu, the Founding Emperor, would most likely abandon everyone and escape alone, but he wouldn’t. When Han Ruzi realized he didn’t have many reliable people around him, he feared that showing weakness would only result in losing more followers.

“The general stands where the flag stands,” Han Ruzi said. “Get ready.”

The slope wasn’t very steep, spanning several dozen steps, with cliffs on both sides. It was easy to defend but hard to attack. However, once sealed off, it would be difficult to break through. Han Ruzi led the team to the bottom of the slope. This area was desolate, with sparse vegetation. He ordered some saddlebags to be unloaded and stacked together, then set them alight.

Cui Teng and the others escorted Jin Chunbao along the foothills towards the west. Han Ruzi watched them disappear. Indeed, the Xiongnu didn’t split their forces to pursue. He felt slightly relieved.

As the fire grew stronger, Chu soldiers led their horses up the hill, standing in three rows, facing outwards, with Han Ruzi standing in the middle of the first row, supported by Du Chuanyun. Du held the flagpole in one hand and a shield in the other, whispering, “This is really different from duels among pugilists.”

Fang Daye stood on the other side of Han Ruzi, looking down at the fire below. “When we return to Shattered Iron City, if the general is still interested, we can talk.”

Han Ruzi smiled faintly. What could persuade the old general wasn’t words but battle.

In the flickering light below, the figures of the Xiongnu approached.

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