Explosion…
Across the entire thicket, thousands of people were instantly thrown into chaos. An unprecedented despair began to spread and fester.
After all…
The Xianbei barbarians were no different from a nightmare to the people on the border!
“White Horse Riders! Assemble!”
Tian Yu’s face darkened. He immediately picked up his long spear and mounted his horse!
“Yes!”
Under the hazy moonlight, the response of over five hundred riders was resounding and resolute!
Their current name was “White Horse Riders.” They had not yet grown into the true White Horse Vanguard, but… facing thousands of barbarian cavalry, in this battle, they would have to bear the mission of the “White Horse Vanguard” ahead of time!
Similarly, this battle was one of “ten deaths and no survival”!
Before long, over five hundred White Horse Knights quickly emerged. They held their horses in one hand and their chests in the other, a posture named “Guardian”!
The “Guardian” who guards the border!
And on their bodies, it was visible that many bore wounds and looked somewhat weary.
But…
At a moment like this, bearing the name of “White Horse”? Who would shrink back?
“Fight, fight, fight!”
Innumerable voices converged into a resounding roar, inexplicably bringing a sense of security to the people present and bringing tears to many eyes.
“Caw caw…”
“Hahaha…”
But at this moment, a rampant laughter suddenly rang out, causing Tian Yu and Yan Rou’s expressions to change.
Under the swaying tree shadows and the dark moonlight… countless torches suddenly rose around, along with dust kicked up by countless hooves. They were surrounded, the place… the thicket was completely encircled.
“I was wondering which bastard leaked the news? So it was you, Commander Yan! Hmph, betraying the Xianbei, did you ever think of this day?”
The Xianbei general Yuwen Ba, astride his tall horse, emerged from the darkness.
He stood on high, his arrogant and dismissive gaze making people extremely uncomfortable. “Your movements, your intentions have long been leaked. And you still want to flee south? Hehehe, dreaming!”
“Kill…”
Tian Yu shouted.
There was no need for many words; the Han and the barbarians already had an irreconcilable enmity.
Instantly…
Halberds and long sabers clashed, the clang of metal echoing with cries of agony. In just a moment, the forest was filled with suffering and flowing with blood!
Although Tian Yu’s White Horse Knights possessed considerable combat power and used equipment known as the “bane of barbarian cavalry” – “long spears” and “curved bows” – the soldiers were already exhausted from days of fighting. Furthermore, the enemy had superior numbers, and they also had to shield many civilians. The entire situation instantly fell into a disadvantage!
Yet, even so, these over five hundred White Horse Knights, drawn from Gongsun Zan’s command, were the last straw the civilians could grasp!
Perhaps, in people’s perception, Gongsun Zan was not a successful warlord, but throughout history, his name was always accompanied by four words: National Hero!
– Those who resist the barbarians, those who resist foreign invasion, are all heroes!
Indeed, in the decisive battle against Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan was gradually eroded, but even so, he still chose to dispatch these troops to Yanmen and chose to reforge the White Horse Vanguard!
– Where righteousness leads, life and death follow. Heaven bears witness, White Horse is the proof!
This was Gongsun Zan’s vow to the border people, and it was also the vow the White Horse Vanguard had adhered to from the beginning.
“Ah…”
Cries of agony and screams erupted everywhere!
The common people began to flee in all directions. Anyone could see that staying put meant only death!
However, how could the barbarians let go of these unarmed civilians? In the eyes of the cruel Xianbei, they were dried meat, provisions for the winter!
In the panic…
An old man seemed to have made a decision.
He took a deep look at his elderly wife, who had difficulty walking and was sitting on a plow cart, and at his son pushing the cart, and his daughter-in-law holding their young granddaughter!
“Whoosh…”
With a long sigh, he turned around, facing the barbarian cavalry, and said resolutely, “Son, take your mother, your wife, and Ya Dan, and go first!”
“Father… you!” The man called son paused, an ominous premonition instantly rising in his heart.
“Husband, why are you still being stubborn at this time? Hurry up… run for your lives!” his wife on the plow cart complained.
“Grandpa…”
“Ya Dan, my little granddaughter… hehe!”
The old man responded to his granddaughter, his face filled with love. He reluctantly shifted his gaze from Ya Dan’s chubby face and said with utmost firmness, “Grandpa’s legs and feet are probably too slow to escape, but…”
With a hint of tears in his clouded old eyes, a sharp glint flashed.
With his back to his family, he spread his arms and said resolutely,
“But, Grandpa can still use these old bones to delay some time for you!”
As he spoke…
A barbarian, riding a tall horse, was chasing after them!
However, it seemed this old man did not arouse much interest from the barbarians…
After all, in the eyes of the barbarians, an old person’s meat was too tough, unsuitable for dried meat. Their only use was to feed the dogs!
“Escape? Can you escape?”
This barbarian shouted provocatively as he pursued.
“You guys go quickly…”
Who would have thought that a desperate shout would be heard, and then this old man, over sixty years old, would use all his strength and leap up, directly pulling down the careless barbarian!
“Father…”
“Husband!”
His family shouted.
But the old man seemed not to hear them. He climbed up again, his clothes disheveled… his eyes bloodshot. With his aged body, he fought ferociously with the robust barbarian.
He seemed almost mad.
Normally, how could an old man of this age possess such strength? But he did it, as if he were expending the last of his life force to prove something!
– “Barbarian dogs, how can our Han lands be trampled by you!”
– “Old man will go with you… with you in death!”
A cold, ancient, hoarse voice echoed through the sky, making countless fleeing civilians’ hearts tremble.
“Han lands? Han soil?”
Many civilians paused. At this moment, they thought of the might and heroism of Han men during the Ming Dynasty who repelled the Xiongnu and restored the glory of the Western Regions;
They thought of General Huo Qubing, who led eight hundred Han men across the northern desert and swept through the Xiongnu royal court with his soaring ambition!
For a moment, countless elderly people could not help but shed hot tears!
Because, what their ancestors had passed down generation after generation was only the pride of the Han!
Escape?
Was it worthy of the pride of Han men in the past?
“Hehe, since I’m going to die anyway, why run?”
“Let’s give the younger generation more hope!”
“Child, it’s up to you to carry on our family from now on!”
“Father is leaving. One day, when our Han men once again sweep across the northern desert, remember to come to Father’s grave and tell me!”
A string of entrustments…
It was like a final farewell. From among the civilians who had been fleeing in all directions.
Suddenly, nearly a hundred white-haired old men, they charged furiously towards the barbarian cavalry, even though they were unarmed!
But…
Flesh and blood can also forge an iron wall!
At least they could delay time for their descendants!
This scene was too unbelievable, too shocking…
No one would have thought that these old men, in their twilight years, these frail old men, would do something so “crazy,” “manic,” and “obsessed”!
But…
It was precisely because of this.
That the backbone and pride forged over hundreds of years of Han heritage were built!
…
…
“Heh, still talking about Han lands? Hmph, just a bunch of ants?” Murong Ba sneered.
“Han lands? Haha, are they the Han lands of Yanmen Pass with no garrisons? Where are your Han generals? All dead, aren’t they? Tsk tsk…” Other barbarians also taunted and mocked.
One barbarian’s tone was extremely arrogant.
“Han lands? Han men, ridiculous, ridiculous! You are just fat sheep raised by our Xianbei tribe within Yanmen Pass, no different from the livestock we barbarians herd!”
Speaking of this, he licked his lips, “I’m actually getting hungry. It looks like I need to finish this quickly! Your Han young ladies are still waiting for me!”
– “Hmph…”
– “How can you barbarians understand the backbone and pride of the Han!”
Tian Yu pierced a barbarian’s chest with his spear, he said coldly.
As a subordinate general of Gongsun Zan, he knew best why General Gongsun was so persistent in resisting the barbarians, even more so than vying for dominance and the world!
Because…
Only those born in the regions of Liaodong and Liaoxi witnessed the plundering and border raids of the barbarians from childhood!
They did not strive for a living; they began striving for “survival” at a very young age.
To live, and then… to drive away these “unfriendly” “neighbors”!
This was the vision in the hearts of every border resident.
Gongsun Zan was like this, and so was Tian Yu.
And similarly, what had been passed down and praised by ancestors generation after generation was only the word “Strong Han”!
Han? Why is it called Strong Han!
It is because, even though the world is in chaos now.
Any single warlord, if brought out, could easily defeat the surrounding foreign tribes and barbarians!
It just depends on whether these warlords want to or not!
– Those who offend my Strong Han will be punished, no matter how far away; all my Han subjects will be rescued, no matter how far away!
This soul-stirring sentence made countless Han people’s blood boil, wishing they could join the army and achieve merit by killing the enemy.
“Hmph…”
Murong Ba sneered…
The barbarians always believed in the survival of the fittest. Now… your Han warlords are killing each other, and no one dares to stop their Xianbei from going south. Then, these Han lands are like fish on a chopping board, to be slaughtered at will!
Glory?
No matter how glorious, so what?
Aren’t there still no garrisons at Yanmen Pass? Haven’t their iron cavalry broken into Han lands?
“One day, your Xianbei royal court will be slaughtered again! My Han men will tread upon and kill every inch of your Xianbei land! To repay… today’s…”
“No… to repay the blood feud of your barbarian raids over the years! Blood for blood!”
Yan Rou shouted, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his voice trembling to the extreme.
This was hatred…
Born in Xianbei, heart in Han!
Having lived among the Xianbei for these years… he endured… he had had enough!
It was just… it was just that the strategy for destroying the Xianbei royal court and the three Hu, which he had hidden in his heart and painstakingly found, could not be brought to the Central Plains.
He… he had always dreamed of telling this method to an ambitious person! To a hero who could truly seek benefits for the border people!
To let him… let him accomplish this feat!
Now, it seemed… it was impossible to complete!
Moreover…
Looking at these elderly people in their twilight years “bravely” rushing towards the barbarians, these Xianbei had no pity at all. They watched as if it were a play, their lips curved into cruel smiles, contemptuous smiles!
As if mocking… the overestimation of their abilities by these “Han men”!
“Dada dada…”
Hoofbeats sounded again, seemingly closing in from all directions. This was… the barbarians were closing their net; they seemed to have played enough.
The ambushing barbarians emerged one by one. Not a single civilian could escape!
“Commander Yan, watch carefully, the consequence of overestimating your abilities is death!”
Murong Ba shook his head… “Let me send you, these insignificant ants who are like mantises trying to stop a chariot, to your graves, one slash at a time!”
He waved his hand…
More and more Xianbei cavalry slowly tightened the encirclement.
They seemed quite leisurely, driving these civilians towards the center, chatting and laughing, completely unaware that they were on a battlefield.
“What to do? What to do?”
“This…”
“Run… run quickly and scatter!”
The civilians were thrown into chaos again… they could already see the gaping mouths of the barbarians filled with fangs!
…
“Escape? Can you escape?”
Tian Yu killed his way to Yan Rou’s side…
He knew the terrain of Yanmen too well. The entire area was flat plains. The barbarians were all mounted… Even if these civilians ran dozens of miles ahead, they would still be caught up in an instant. Where could they escape to?
Unless… they had horses!
“If, if the three thousand White Horse Vanguard were still here, or perhaps… if Lu Fengxian were still here, maybe… maybe they could…”
Thinking of these two names, Tian Yu’s heart felt particularly heavy.
“They are gone, all gone,” Yan Rou sighed. “The White Horse Vanguard died at the hands of Yuan Shao’s vanguard shock troops, and Lu Fengxian fell for Lu Yu’s stratagem and was annihilated by Cao Mengde! They… they…”
“Commander Yan, General Tian… at this juncture, shouldn’t we… shouldn’t we come up with a countermeasure first!” a subordinate reminded them.
“What do you understand?” Yan Rou spat fiercely.
If the White Horse Vanguard were still here, if Lu Fengxian were still here…
Or, to put it another way, even if Yuan Shao, who had defeated the White Horse Vanguard, were here, or Lu Yu, who had captured Lu Fengxian, were here, they would certainly be able to defeat the barbarians and save the border people!
The hoofbeats grew closer, and fear not only spread through the crowd but had even begun to expand. Every civilian’s face was filled with unease, despair… endless despair!
“General Tian, Commander Yan… I… I am willing to stay, just to carve out a path for my wife and children!”
From among the civilians, a man ran over from his wife and said tragically.
“I am also willing…”
“And me!”
Countless men gathered around. They all knew that this had reached the most critical moment, the final moment!
A group of White Horse Knights also gathered.
Among them were many able-bodied men recruited from nearby villages… many had families!
– “If… someone can survive, then… give it to these women, children, and the elderly! Where righteousness leads, life and death follow. If they were White Horse Vanguard, they… they would surely do this!”
“You… you!”
Tian Yu and Yan Rou’s eyes welled up. Hearing these words, their bodies began to tremble slightly.
“…Good… Good!”
Tian Yu seemed to have made a decision. “All ‘White Horse Vanguard,’ listen to my orders. Dismount… all men assemble!”
“Yes!”
“Yes, yes!”
Not a single person hesitated… Whether men or White Horse Vanguard, they all knew that at such a time, only those on horseback could possibly break out!
Without horses, no matter what, they could not escape the word “death”!
But…
Who cared about death anymore?
Rather than escaping in humiliation, they preferred to die standing!
Soon…
Hundreds of warhorses were fully loaded with women and children, sobs and cries… were unending…
The eyes of countless loved ones were filled with reluctance and farewell!
– “Mother, live well!”
– “Wife, your husband has been cowardly his entire life. This time, your husband does not intend to be cowardly!”
– “Take care… you must, you must break out!”
– “Goudan, Dad is gone. From now on… remember, remember to listen to your mother!”
Farewell, true farewell!
Instead, the Xianbei general Murong Ba watched them with amusement. In his eyes, they were merely ants, and without horses, they were even less than ants!
…
“Commander Yan, you carry a mission. Escort the civilians with a hundred brothers! We will fight to the death… to carve out a bloody path for you!”
Tian Yu’s intention was very clear…
These past few days, he had talked a lot with Yan Rou. He knew how difficult Yan Rou had endured his hardships, and he also knew that he… had finally found a method to solve the problem of the Three Hu!
“You…”
Yan Rou opened his mouth…
Tian Yu directly interrupted, “Don’t you wish for our descendants, the youths of the border, to experience such plundering again in ten or twenty years?”
“You have endured hardships among the Xianbei for decades. Your method must be good…”
“Not just these civilians, the future border… will all be entrusted to you.”
“Also… looking at all the warlords in the world, Yuan Shao is completely unreliable. General Gongsun is constrained by Yuan Shao and cannot free himself to deal with the Three Hu. You… you go south to Heli, and seek Cao Cao. In these years… he who treats the people kindly and takes nothing without permission, among all the warlords under heaven, only he alone. Moreover… it is rumored that Hidden Dragon is in Cao’s camp. If you can meet Hidden Dragon, then… the problem of the Three Hu can be solved, and the border can be pacified!”
The usually taciturn Tian Yu, at this moment, seemed to become a chatterbox. After finishing all this, he patted Yan Rou’s shoulder.
There was a sense of relief.
“Dying is easy, but living and bearing all this is harder…”
“If one day you can avenge me, please bring my remains back to Yuyang Yongnu. I… I miss home a little! Haha…”
The iron-boned Tian Yu, at this moment, became somewhat sentimental!
He truly missed home. In the past, he first pledged allegiance to Liu Bei, but because his mother was old and returned home, he had no choice but to bid farewell to Liu Bei and follow Gongsun Zan!
When parting with Liu Bei, Liu Bei had held his hand and bid him farewell – regretting only that he could not build a great cause with him!
Thinking back now, “returning to one’s roots” had even become a luxury!
After all…
Staying behind to cover the retreat, without warhorses, it was almost certain death!
“Good, I promise you!”
Yan Rou’s expression was solemn!
This single utterance…
Tian Yu’s expression froze. He patted Yan Rou’s shoulder one last time, “Remember clearly, I am from Tian family village, Yuyang Yongnu, and I have an old mother. Entrust her to you as well!”
“I… I cannot go back!”
As these words left his mouth…
Tian Yu thrust his spear forward. “Those with petals, charge with me!”
In an instant, countless men charged towards a corner of the encirclement…
“Fight!”
He straightened his spear and let out a cold cry. The remaining officers and soldiers also gripped their weapons. They were surrounded by some civilians.
There were white-haired old men, and young lads!
Their only role was to act as shields!
For infantry to fight mounted cavalry, to break through… there was only one way: to fill the gap with lives!
More precisely, what they had to do was simply tear open the defense line and delay those barbarian cavalry, allowing the women and children to escape!
Life and death, side by side!
Death and life, intertwined!
…
…
(ps: Some readers might say I’m padding the text again, but… pacifying the three Hu is an important main storyline! The tragedy of the Five Barbarians Uprising cannot happen again. Tian Yu and Yan Rou play very important roles in this, so I’ve elaborated a bit.)