"Marshal?!"
The anxious roars of the generals, coupled with the sting of the sword's edge against their necks, finally jolted the Zuo Xian King awake.
"Retreat! Retreat!!" The Zuo Xian King, disregarding his pride, spurred his horse and fled northward in a panic.
Although the white-robed soldiers fought valiantly, the path ahead was blocked by a large number of barbarian cavalry covering the retreat and fleeing. For a moment, Liang Xiao could not break through the siege to reach the Zuo Xian King.
But this did not mean Liang Xiao was prepared to give up the pursuit.
If they stopped now, once the Zuo Xian King returned to the encampment, he would have time to order his troops to burn the supplies and slaughter the horses, greatly reducing the spoils the Great Gan soldiers could capture!
Absolutely no stopping!
The Great Gan cavalry pressed their attack, determined to annihilate the barbarians, building mountains of corpses and rivers of blood along the way!
As dawn approached, the Great Gan cavalry, brandishing their slaughtering knives, relentlessly pursued the barbarian cavalry.
Some barbarian cavalry, after being knocked from their horses, were ignored by the Great Gan cavalry, left for their comrades arriving from behind to deal with.
As cavalry, they had already changed horses after returning from raiding the camp, with only one objective.
To capture the main barbarian camp and seize all the barbarian supplies!
Behold, the clanging of armored horses, a force that swallowed up ten thousand miles like a tiger!
Liang Xiao led the white-robed soldiers, pursuing for a hundred miles. Barbarian corpses littered the ground, and cries of agony had not ceased since the battle began!
Even with remnants of his army covering the retreat, the Zuo Xian King, due to the previous hundred-mile forced march, had greatly depleted his horses and could not widen the distance from the Great Gan cavalry.
Especially the white-robed soldiers, who were continuously breaking through the fleeing barbarian ranks, were now only a hundred zhang away from the Zuo Xian King's forces!
At this moment, Liang Xiao was also charging through, unable to break through the dense ranks of barbarian cavalry ahead with his White Night Flying Shadow.
The barbarian cavalry, always well-trained, did not flee in complete disarray. They all moved in one direction, coincidentally blocking Liang Xiao's pursuit of the Zuo Xian King.
And the Great Gan cavalry, having raided the camp the previous night and only rested for two hours, had not recovered to their peak and were somewhat fatigued.
Liang Xiao did not believe in stopping while ahead. Based on his estimation, the barbarians left guarding the camp should be mere supply troops with little combat power.
Cavalry required a substantial proportion of logistical personnel. The Great Gan nation even had a saying of "five men supporting one cavalryman," though this included some infantry within the cavalry logistics.
Even for nomadic peoples launching a swift attack, they would need at least thirty to fifty percent. This meant that there could still be tens of thousands of supply troops in the barbarian camp, all of whom could be decaprocitated!
It was now noon. The Great Gan cavalry, having fought for a day and a night, remained tireless, growing even more excited.
Since the founding of the Great Gan nation, its soldiers had never accomplished such a feat!
Even the Great Gan High Ancestor, on his personal expedition, had not so easily defeated the barbarians!
To achieve fame, to avenge past grievances!
Every Great Gan cavalry soldier held an unshakeable belief. As long as they approached the barbarians, they would not hesitate to raise their slaughtering knives until they could no longer fight, then rest briefly in place. Once they felt their strength restored, they would rejoin the main force.
The devastation of Yan Province last year was still vivid in their minds. Why wait to seek revenge!
In any case, Liang Xiao had not ordered them to capture prisoners alive. Anyone they could kill, they would not capture alive!
The barbarian supply troops, waiting in the camp, were all dressed in cotton and linen clothes. Upon seeing their comrades return, they were surprised and delighted, but soon realized something was wrong.
Why were they so disheveled?
"Quick, burn all the supplies, take the important provisions, and return to the great desert!"
The Zuo Xian King roared in panic the moment he approached the camp.
"What?!!"
The supply troops guarding the camp did not understand. It was only when they saw the Great Gan cavalry in the distance frantically pursuing the remnants of the barbarian cavalry that they came to their senses.
We... lost?!
The Zuo Xian King had no time to explain. He immediately dismounted his precious horse and switched to another.
"Light the fires!"
At this moment, the Zuo Xian King only wanted to escape. He no longer cared how precious these supplies were, and in his haste, he set them ablaze, not even having time to slaughter the horses.
Only by setting the fires and forcing the Great Gan cavalry to stay and extinguish them could he save his life!
The supply troops, receiving the order, were in a dilemma. In the end, they gritted their teeth and set fires. Those who could ride horses rode, and those who had no horses ran on foot, fearing they would become souls under the blades of the Great Gan cavalry.
The barbarian cavalry was nearly wiped out!
"General Tian, they are setting fire to the supplies!"
Zhuo Ying said anxiously.
Liang Xiao, watching the Zuo Xian King flee into the distance, was also quite annoyed. "This old scoundrel has a quick wit. Leave twenty thousand men to extinguish the fire, and the rest of you follow me to continue the pursuit!"
After the camp fires were dealt with, Liang Xiao led another ten thousand men to pursue the supply infantry, carving a bloody path for ten miles, ultimately allowing the Zuo Xian King to escape with ten thousand men.
"Fortunately, they didn't have time to deal with the replacement horses in the camp!"
Zhuo Ying, who stayed behind to salvage the supplies, breathed a sigh of relief.
Horses were the most precious spoils of war!
The Great Gan cavalry was indeed exhausted from fighting. Further pursuit would lead into the deep, frigid desert. Along the way, there were still many horses that had fled due to the deaths of the barbarian cavalry, which they needed to capture.
The white-robed soldiers also calmed down from the slaughter and rested where they were with Liang Xiao. Their faces wore tired smiles, and some simply lay on their horses, panting, but their eyes remained excited.
"General Tian..."
The white-robed soldiers looked at Liang Xiao, who was covered in blood, their hands trembling on the reins, feeling as if they were living in a dream.
It was again General Tian who led them to fight and kill!
However, everyone knew that the greatest contributor to this battle was their Deputy Marshal, the Marquis of An, Liang Xiao.
But General Tian held the nominal highest military rank in the Great Gan nation, the Divine Might General Tian, whose might was unparalleled. He led them to break through enemy lines and kill enemies, not only reducing casualties but also capturing spoils, achieving brilliant military achievements!
If it weren't for General Tian leading the team, the soldiers would likely not have had the courage to pursue for a hundred miles, as they were also tired from fighting.
Liang Xiao estimated that the light infantry and supply carts were also on their way. He rested the blade of his Heavenly Dragon City-Breaking Halberd on the ground and arranged for everyone to prepare to return to camp, to guard against any unforeseen events.
"General Tian, the fire was extinguished in time, and the supplies were not lost by much!"
Zhuo Ying ran over from a distance, reporting with a voice trembling with excitement.
Liang Xiao asked, "Approximately how much was captured?"
Zhuo Ying grinned, turned around, and roared towards the supplies behind him.
"Reporting to General Tian! We have captured about two hundred thousand head of cattle and sheep alone, and one million two hundred thousand shi of military grain! Approximately sixty thousand live warhorses, and the dead horses and live horses along the way still need to be counted! The weapons, armor, and fodder are countless, but with our current military equipment, our army will not be able to use these weapons!"
Cheers and gasps of astonishment erupted from the surroundings!
In the northern army camp, each soldier's average monthly ration was close to two shi. The barbarians had brought so much livestock, equivalent to about half a year's provisions!
However, these surviving horses were those that had been eliminated after getting tired and some had already been rendered useless from running.
Upon hearing of such rich spoils, Liang Xiao could not hide his joy.
"Non-our kind, their hearts are bound to be different." He did not want to waste grain to feed barbarian prisoners. Now, these supplies were enough to prove to the entire nation: the Son of Heaven's exhaustive efforts to support Yan Province were worthwhile!
"Prepare to return to Yan Province, to bring the good news to the people, and send someone to notify the Marshal and His Majesty!"
Thinking of his loved ones waiting in Yan Province, and now that he had achieved his fame, the soldiers were all excited, erupting into earth-shattering cheers: "Yes!"
The Great Gan soldiers sang triumphant songs and returned to Yan Province to report their victory with pride.
Meanwhile, the Zuo Xian King and ten thousand cavalry fled for their lives. Only when they confirmed that Liang Xiao was not pursuing them did they breathe a sigh of relief.
They dismounted, looked back south in panic, and could not help but cover their faces and weep.
Eighteen thousand barbarian soldiers, with only about ten thousand survivors!!
This battle was enough to shatter the barbarian's morale. The barbarians had suffered heavy losses and were severely weakened!
"Marshal, what do we do now? Return to the great desert? Will the Chanyu be furious and execute us all..." The strategist said with a mournful face, reminding the Zuo Xian King.