Sun Lang sat atop his warhorse, gazing at the boundless green grassland stretching to every corner, sighing at the beauty that filled the world.
He thought that if he could witness peace under the heavens once more with his lord, he would then resign and return to his homeland, pick up a hoe, and cultivate the land beneath his feet, living a simple life without regrets...
Sun Lang closed his eyes and greedily inhaled the fragrance of this sacred land, but a distant rumbling sound, sometimes close and sometimes far, disrupted his thoughts.
"They're coming! They're coming!" shouted the guards at the forefront, followed by a long blast from a horn and the neighing of warhorses.
In the direction he had just been looking, the blue sky and white clouds over the grassland were covered by rising dust, followed by a dark, endless wave surging forward!
"The Xiongnu! The Xiongnu are coming!" the soldiers at the front shouted in fear and helplessness. Sun Lang and Yu Fuluo exchanged a glance and nodded at each other.
Without waiting for orders, their tens of thousands of soldiers assumed formation as previously arranged.
The Xiongnu cavalry came on fiercely, advancing from the north, west, and east, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble.
"General Sun..." Yu Fuluo seemed about to say something, but Sun Lang interrupted him with a wave of his hand. "Hold the line. There's no other choice but to hold the line. The only ones we can count on are General Tong and his disciple to the west."
"Hu-Chuquan!" Opposing Sun Lang's army was Hu Chuquan himself. Seeing Sun Lang's troops already in formation with a solid shield wall, Hu Chuquan let out a strange cry and thrust his long mace forward.
"Xiongnu warriors, use your iron hooves to trample these Han people into the ground. Next year, the grass at Yinma Marsh will surely grow even stronger!"
"Woo!" The Xiongnu army let out strange cries, waving their curved swords and longbows. Meanwhile, the morale of Sun Lang's soldiers began to wane, with many of them trembling, perhaps due to the shaking ground.
Sun Lang drew his broadsword from his saddle, staring at the approaching Xiongnu with a cold smile instead of fear.
"The Xiongnu are said to be invincible, but aren't they just like us, with a head on two shoulders? Soldiers, stand your ground against their first wave! Hold them off, and their cavalry will be like cattle waiting to be slaughtered!"
"Kill!" Both sides' commanders encouraged their troops. With a deafening roar, the battle finally began!
"Boom!" As the continuous shield wall met the oncoming cavalry, a series of muffled sounds echoed. Then came the screams of men and horses.
The Xiongnu horses, large and powerful, crashed into the shields, often causing the soldiers behind them to spit blood. Some were even sent flying!
But the collision worked both ways; the Xiongnu horses, too, were stunned by the massive recoil, some breaking their necks. The casualties on both sides began to soar exponentially.
In such a stalemate, the generals' leadership skills were crucial. Hu Chuquan, tall and burly, leaped into the chaotic ranks, wielding his massive mace with deadly force, causing the front line of Sun Lang's troops to retreat, no one daring to face him.
Yu Fuluo engaged the Xiongnu on the flank, while Sun Lang, seeing this, had no choice but to join the fray, facing Hu Chuquan himself.
"Barbarian! Today I will show you the might of our army, and make you flee in terror!" Sun Lang shouted, charging forward with a powerful swing of his broadsword aimed at Hu Chuquan.
Caught off guard, Hu Chuquan barely managed to parry the blow with his mace, the weapons clashing with a loud clang.
He looked at his numb hands in disbelief and sneered, "You Han, you've got strength! But I'm stronger!"
"Hmph, brute strength alone won't win; you need to use your brains," Sun Lang retorted, launching a series of swift attacks with his broadsword.
Hu Chuquan, hindered by his long weapon, could only defend and retreat. Surrounded and isolated, he glanced back to see his troops blocked by the shield wall.
"Today, I'll make you pay for your arrogance!" Sun Lang pressed his advantage, his attacks growing faster. Hu Chuquan, wounded, was on the verge of defeat.
"Whoosh!" Suddenly, a sharp arrow flew from behind. Sun Lang dodged but was still hit in the right arm.
"Whooo..." At that moment, an unfamiliar sound of a horn came from a small hill to the south. Sun Lang and his men turned to see a figure atop the hill, clad in black robes and a veil, with the distinctive hairstyle of the Xiongnu...
"The Black Banner... It's the Black Banner Army!" Sun Lang's deputy pointed at the thousands of soldiers slowly appearing over the hill, his voice trembling with fear.
Yes, it was the Black Banner Army, the same ghostly unit that had raided Huang Shao's supply unit that night, inflicting thousands of casualties while losing only a few dozen.
The one who shot the arrow was none other than Hu Chuquan's nephew, General Tadun of the Black Banner!
"Charge!" Tadun simply shouted, and his troops let out animalistic howls.
The Black Banner Army was known as the "nightmare" among the Xiongnu. Though small in number, each soldier carried two long curved blades at their waist.
In battle, they would wield these blades, spreading terror and death wherever they went.
"Hahaha! Han, you rejoiced too early!" Hu Chuquan, seeing Sun Lang injured, didn't take the opportunity to kill him but instead broke through the encirclement and escaped.
"General, are you alright?" The deputy hurriedly checked on Sun Lang, who gritted his teeth and waved him off.
"Where's Yu Fuluo? Have him lead his troops to block the Black Banner Army!" Sun Lang frowned. The barbed arrow still in his arm would tear out flesh if pulled, so he had to break the shaft and quickly bandage the wound.
The south was their least defended side, and now with the Black Banner Army's arrival, the remaining morale of Sun Lang's troops collapsed, spreading like a plague from the rear.
In the chaotic battle, it was hard to distinguish friend from foe, and soldiers could only be identified by the color of their armor.
Fortunately, Sun Lang had ordered Yu Fuluo to have his men tie a silk ribbon around their arms to avoid friendly fire.
"General, we're surrounded by Hu Chuquan's forces from all sides!" The deputy protected Sun Lang while surveying the situation.
Yu Fuluo's troops, tasked with covering the flank, were also suffering heavy losses due to being outnumbered, and the situation was becoming increasingly one-sided.
At this critical moment, Sun Lang's long-awaited reinforcements finally appeared! Tong Yuan and Zhao Yun, leading 5,000 elite cavalry and 40,000 reorganized Xianbei volunteers, arrived on the battlefield!
"Great King! More enemies!" The Xiongnu, who thought victory was assured, were stunned by the approaching cavalry.
Hu Chuquan's face darkened. "These Han left a reserve force. Damn it!"
"Great King! Urgent news from the royal city!" Before Hu Chuquan could react, a scout arrived from the rear.
"Last night, General Butugen proclaimed himself King of Wuhuan and is leading 50,000 troops to attack the royal city. The city defenses are weak and may not hold for long!"
"What?!" Yu Fuluo's betrayal was a shock, but Hu Chuquan was even more enraged by Butugen's sudden rebellion.
"Retreat! Return to defend the royal city immediately. Once I've dealt with Butugen, I'll return to crush Yu Fuluo and these Han!"
"Whooo..." A discordant horn sounded on the battlefield, and Sun Lang's forces, unaware of what had happened, watched as the Xiongnu began to retreat in an orderly manner.
"They're retreating! The Xiongnu are retreating! We've won!" It took a moment for the survivors to realize that Hu Chuquan had indeed withdrawn his forces.
Though the main force had left, Tadun and his Black Banner Army were trapped among the chaotic ranks, unable to find an escape route.
Zhao Yun led his troops in a charge, his silver spear cutting through the enemy ranks, aiming for Tadun.
Tadun, unwilling to continue the fight, barely parried Zhao Yun's thrusts with his twin swords. After a few exchanges, his weapons were knocked away, and he was about to be killed by Zhao Yun. In desperation, Tadun flicked a poisoned dart from his fingers.
Fortunately, Zhao Yun quickly blocked it with his spear, deflecting the dart. Taking advantage of the moment, Tadun fled the battlefield with his remaining forces.
"Zilong, are you alright?" Tong Yuan arrived just in time, and Zhao Yun pulled the dart from his spear.
"Damn that treacherous barbarian! I almost fell for his trick!" Zhao Yun cursed as he watched Tadun's retreating figure.
...
The battle left both sides with heavy losses. The ground at Yinma Marsh was covered with tens of thousands of corpses, turning the once idyllic landscape into a hellish scene. The water had even turned dark red with blood.
"Generals, thank you for arriving in time. Otherwise, General Yu Fuluo and I might have perished here," Sun Lang expressed his gratitude when the four met.
Zhao Yun smiled modestly and said, "General Sun, you flatter us. Upon learning that Hu Chuquan was leading such a large army, my master and I anticipated that you would be in a difficult situation, so we hurried from Moqiu.
We must also thank the Xianbei brothers in Moqiu City; without their support, our five thousand troops alone would have been insufficient."
Tong Yuan, with his vast experience, remarked, "The reason for Hu Chuquan's retreat likely has nothing to do with us. Given their orderly withdrawal, it doesn't look like a rout. I suspect something happened at their rear."
Sun Lang laughed heartily. "As expected of General Tong, both brave and wise. Indeed, Hu Chuquan's retreat was due to trouble at their rear. Now, please come to my tent, and let's discuss this further over drinks!"