Chapter 224: Brutal
The Xiongnu Barbarians withdrew troops.
The mountain forest was full of corpses, and the official road was similarly littered with remains, warhorses shot half-dead emitting mournful cries.
There was no time to clean up the battlefield or collect the corpses.
Pei Qinghe held Pei Zhi and mounted a warhorse. Pei Yan and others helped the wounded soldiers onto horses, and after leaving the mountain forest, they rode back to the city.
Traces of fierce fighting were everywhere on the official road, with corpses lying across it from time to time.
Pei Qinghe deliberately slowed the horse’s pace. The people behind also became much more cautious. The forty-li road took nearly two hours.
Below the city gate of Guangning Prefecture, corpses littered the ground even more.
The sky was pitch black, a crescent moon in the sky emitted cold light, and several large lanterns were hung on the city wall. Some people carrying torches were cleaning up the battlefield.
Hearing the horse hoof sounds, the Guangning Army soldiers cleaning the battlefield panicked and turned to run back into the city gate. Fortunately, the Pei Family Army sounded a familiar signal.
It was their own people.
Everyone had a false alarm, and under the moonlight and the dim yellow glow of the lanterns, they watched Pei Qinghe and her group approach. Someone ran into the city to report the news, and soon Yang Hu personally came out to greet them.
Yang Hu’s left arm was wrapped in gauze, his face somewhat pale, but he mustered his spirit and said: “The lure the enemy ambush plan succeeded. Thanks to General Pei blocking half the cavalry, the other half charged below the city, and we fought them fiercely, driving them back.”
“General, please enter the city quickly.”
Pei Qinghe nodded slightly, first dismounted the warhorse, then carried the injured girl down from the horse.
Seeing Pei Zhi’s deathly pale face, Yang Hu’s heart skipped a beat: “Miss Pei Zhi is injured?”
Pei Qinghe hummed in acknowledgment, said no more, and quickly carried Pei Zhi into the city.
Pei Yan’s face was grave as she strode behind Pei Qinghe.
Captain Sun’s shoulder was injured, and Tao Feng had a wound on his back. Everyone was wounded, showing how intense the previous ambush battle had been.
There were five military doctors with the army this time, and Lu Dongqing had come along. Since joining the Pei Family Army last year, he had been studying how to treat external injuries. He was very skilled and efficient at suturing wounds for wounded soldiers.
Pei Zhi’s injury was quite severe, and Lu Dongqing spent a lot of effort cleaning and suturing the wound. Pei Zhi was painfully awakened and cried with teary eyes: “Cousin Sister Qinghe, am I going to die?”
Water flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes, but her voice remained steady: “Don’t worry, I’m guarding by your side, the King of Hell won’t take you.”
Pei Zhi passed out from pain again.
Yang Hu also came, standing outside the wounded soldiers’ military tent, his eyes red.
In this battle, The Guangning Army paid a terrible price.. The vanguard camp that lured the enemy lost more than half its men, with few survivors. Of Yang Huai and others in the first wave ambush, less than three in ten lived. To repel the Xiongnu Barbarians who charged below the city, the Guangning Army inside the city also paid a heavy price.
The injured and dead warhorses were equally heartbreaking.
It was impossible to calculate the exact casualty numbers now. Wounded soldiers were everywhere inside and outside the military tents.
Those with lighter injuries, after applying medicine, might pull through. Many with severe wounds simply wouldn’t make it and would close their eyes forever this night.
At such a time, as the commander, he had no qualification for romantic love. He stood outside the military tent for a while, wiped his eyes hard with the back of his hand, then turned to patrol outside the city gate.
Yang Huai was also seriously injured, lying pale-faced in the military tent. After treating her own wounds, Pei Yan came to visit her fiancé.
“Can you hold on?” Pei Yan was rarely this gentle.
Yang Huai hummed, his gaze falling on Pei Yan’s dark face.
Pei Yan was stared at until goosebumps rose all over her body: “Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yang Huai smiled silently, his voice low and hoarse: “Today I almost didn’t make it. Good thing I didn’t die, or else you would have become a widow watching the gate.”
Pei Yan gave him a sidelong glance: “If you really died, I would keep watch for a year, then find a son-in-law.”
Yang Huai was amused by her anger: “At a time like this, can’t you say something nice to comfort me? You have to anger me, don’t you…”
The dark face loomed over from above.
Her lips were bitten, hot and warm.
Yang Huai heard his own heart beating violently.
Pei Yan looked up, her dark face flushed red, her voice rough and panting: “You’re injured and still talking so much, go to sleep quickly. I’ll stay here and watch over you.”
Yang Huai hummed, obediently closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep.
Pei Qinghe did not sleep a wink all night.
There were too many wounded soldiers, some with light injuries, some severe, and not enough military doctors. Fortunately, the Pei Family Army had basic bandaging training during daily troop training. Those with lighter injuries bandaged themselves or helped each other apply medicine. Those with severe injuries had to wait for the military doctors to treat their wounds.
Pei Qinghe could be considered half a military doctor, busy all night long.
By dawn, more than ten seriously wounded had not survived and died in their tents.
War was like this, people dying nonstop, not even time for grief. Because as soon as it was light, the Xiongnu barbarians came.
The Guangning Army had heavy casualties, the Pei Family Army had quite a few dead and wounded, but the Xiongnu barbarians suffered a solid defeat. Yang Huai’s group of ambush troops inflicted limited kills, but at least several hundred died at the hands of the Pei Family Army. The cavalry that reached under the city gate was also killed by several hundred. In this battle, nearly three in ten Xiongnu barbarians were killed or wounded.
For the Xiongnu barbarians who were accustomed to plundering and victorious in every battle, it was simply a great humiliation.
The Xiongnu barbarians, their ferocity fully unleashed, ignored the fact that attacking the city was difficult and impatiently came to attack the city at first light.
Yang Hu had personally gone up to the city gate and sent word to Pei Qinghe: “The Guangning Army will defend the city first, and when they can’t hold, then ask the Pei Family Army to step in.”
The city gate area was only so big, and more people weren’t necessarily better. Moreover, each army had its own commander. The Pei Family Army only listened to Pei Qinghe, and Yang Hu certainly could not hand over command to Pei Qinghe.
Pei Qinghe nodded: “Tell General Yang that the Pei Family Army is ready at any time.”
The sounds of fighting to the death at the city gate continued from morning till night without stopping.
Yang Hu never sent anyone to ask for reinforcements.
At dusk, the Xiongnu withdrew troops again.
For the next few days, the Xiongnu barbarians attacked the city every day. Relying on the thick and tall city walls and Commander Yang Hu’s leadership, the Guangning Army barely resisted the Xiongnu barbarians’ offensive.
Pei Yan clicked her tongue twice: “I really didn’t see it before, but Yang Hu actually has some real capability.”
Yang Hu had previously appeared like a lecher, pestering Pei Zhi relentlessly, and his martial skills weren’t outstanding. Those who had seen Yang Hu beaten into a pig-headed state inevitably felt contempt.
At this time, the fierce fire of the battlefield had forged true gold.
Pei Qinghe felt a bit regretful: “I didn’t expect it either. If I had known, when General Yang was still alive, I should have arranged the marriage and snatched Yang Hu over.”
Pei Yan chuckled: “It would be good for Pei Zhi to marry into the Guangning Army. Maybe the entire Guangning Army will be ours in the future!”
A hint of amusement flashed in Pei Qinghe’s eyes as she warned verbally, “Our Pei Family Army and Guangning Army are allies. Do not speak recklessly!”
They are allies now, but who knows what they will be in the future.
Pei Yan grinned.
