Chapter 52: Ambush On All Sides
Although Nie Erdu had already issued the retreat order, the Zhelan Cavalry were already entangled with the people of Tazhai.
Wanting to withdraw was not that easy either.
Li Xiao, on the other hand, made a decisive decision. Without waiting for Sixth Uncle and Dazhuang to arrive, he directly launched an attack.
“Woo woo woo~”
“Woo woo woo woo~”
Just as the Zhelan People were withdrawing one after another, a low horn sound suddenly rang out from the distance.
The sound was desolate yet powerful, shocking and resolute, as if a mysterious force from ancient primordial times was slowly awakening and reviving.
At this moment, the Zhelan People became completely silent.
They instinctively stopped their war horses and turned their heads to look around, only to be stunned by the scene in the distance.
Unbeknownst at what time, a point of orange-red flame suddenly lit up in the distant wilderness.
Immediately after, more and more flames burned across the land, like stars in the sky, enveloping Tazhai.
At this moment, every Zhelan Person had a bad premonition, with feelings of shock and fear growing in their hearts!
“What are those?”
“Enemies, all of them are enemies!”
“Ambush!”
“We’ve been surrounded!”
Under this desolate horn sound like the barren wilderness and the visual impact of the star-like torches, all the Zhelan People panicked.
At a glance, there were five or six hundred torches.
This meant the enemy’s numbers had already exceeded theirs. Most terrifyingly, they did not know if there were other hidden enemies around.
“Don’t panic, that’s just the Han People’s trick to mystify things.”
“They’re deliberately using torches to deceive our eyes.”
“Everyone, don’t panic.”
“Rally to me!”
Just as all the Zhelan People had fallen into panic, Chieftain Nie Erdu roared in thunderous rage.
His voice soon calmed the surrounding Zhelan People.
They slowly gathered by Nie Erdu’s side.
After a fierce battle, the Zhelan People had only about four hundred left, but Nie Erdu was not panicked at all.
Five or six hundred torches were just the enemy’s bluff. Based on his experience, the real number of these enemies would absolutely not exceed three hundred.
Why bluff and fake their numbers?
It was because the enemies lacked confidence!
They were afraid!
Therefore, Nie Erdu remained calm inside, only casting a slightly unwilling glance toward Tazhai before loudly ordering, “Go!”
Meanwhile in the stronghold, Zhao Tiezhu’s face lit up with joy upon hearing the Hexi Cavalry’s horn.
“Our reinforcements have arrived~”
“Little bastards, follow me to charge out~”
Having been blocked at the stronghold gate by the Zhelan People and fought for so long, Tazhai had also suffered quite a few casualties and had long been holding in a belly full of anger.
Now, the time for counterattack had finally come.
Thus, Zhao Tiezhu led the troops of Tazhai out, chasing and killing the Zhelan People from behind.
Meanwhile, Li Xiao’s two hundred Hexi Cavalry encircled the Zhelan People from the other direction.
Their speed was not very fast; he was waiting for Sixth Uncle and Dazhuang to arrive.
On the other side, shortly after the Zhelan People had run off, they ran headlong into their own three scouts.
The three scouts said in a panicked manner, “Chieftain, there are enemies ahead.”
“What?”
The scouts’ voices were not small, so the surrounding Zhelan People heard clearly and their faces changed dramatically.
Facing the pursuit and killing by the Hexi Fort and Tazhai cavalry, their nerves were already taut.
Now hearing that there were enemies ahead as well, they instantly realized they might be trapped in an encirclement.
“Chieftain, let’s turn around quickly and head south~”
“Yeah, Chieftain, brothers just attacked the stronghold and took heavy losses. If we’re surrounded, we’re done for!”
“We can’t fight, Chieftain~”
Fighting relies on momentum.
One push might turn defeat into victory, but once the retreat order is given, the soldiers’ morale dissipates.
At this point, if surrounded again, it would lead to total panic with no will to fight left in the soldiers.
“Go~”
Nie Erdu naturally understood this reasoning; his face was terrifyingly grim as he ordered a turn south.
But before they could run ten li, another starry fire barrier appeared before them.
Hundreds of torches burned fiercely. In this endless darkness, they brought no warmth to the Zhelan People; instead, their hearts fell completely into icy chill.
“So many torches!”
“Enemies ahead too.”
“Several hundred people, what do we do?”
“Stop advancing, turn around quickly.”
“Pursuers behind, enemies on the flanks—we’re surrounded.”
The Zhelan People were already panicked and demoralized while being pursued by Li Xiao and the others.
When Lin Dazhuang led a hundred Hexi Cavalry to block the road ahead, the Zhelan People’s morale instantly collapsed.
They finally realized they were surrounded with no way out.
Moreover, Li Xiao’s earlier order for each man to light three torches on their war horses led the ordinary Zhelan People to mistakenly believe they were surrounded by over a thousand cavalry.
But in reality, the numbers of the Hexi Cavalry and Tazhai cavalry were not much greater than the Zhelan People’s.
Unfortunately, with the darkness of night, the Zhelan People could not gauge the truth and were completely intimidated.
By this time, Li Xiao could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Lin Dazhuang had truly lived up to his expectations, arriving at the critical moment to complete the final link of the encirclement.
“Close in, don’t let a single enemy escape~” Li Xiao ordered loudly.
As soon as the words fell, the low horn sounded again.
“Woo woo woo woo~”
Simple messages could be conveyed through the horn’s tone and frequency.
Li Dashan and Lin Dazhuang instantly understood what to do, so the troops from Hexi Fort and Tazhai almost simultaneously began closing in on the Zhelan People rapidly from four directions.
“Don’t panic, prepare to fight!”
“Whoever dares run or disobey orders, I’ll slaughter their whole family.” Nie Erdu roared loudly.
At this moment, his face had finally completely changed, no longer composed or arrogant as before.
This dire situation made him realize that any mishandling would lead to total annihilation.
The Han People were too hateful—despicable, shameless, insidious, and cunning.
They didn’t dare charge head-on but resorted to such conspiracies and ambushes.
But realizing the grim situation was not just Nie Erdu himself.
The tribesmen and slaves of Zhelan were even more panicked.
“What should we do?”
“Where can we run?”
“We can’t escape—enemies everywhere, we’re completely surrounded.”
“They have over a thousand cavalry; we can’t beat them.”
“Why not surrender?”
The Zhelan Cavalry shouted in terror, their war horses neighing uneasily and constantly turning.
Panic spread, every Zhelan Person filled with shock and unease.
But they were at a loss, not knowing what to do.
It was like the torment of awaiting fate’s judgment.
As for Nie Erdu’s orders?
They could no longer control all the herdsmen.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the troops from Hexi and Tazhai were rapidly completing the encirclement.
Li Xiao, clad in heavy armor, held back the cavalry behind him, not letting them charge too fast.
The main goal was to use powerful aura to continuously apply psychological pressure on these Zhelan People.
Until Zhao Dabao arrived again with a few men to join up.
“Da Long, this is the captive we caught earlier in Tazhai.”
“Only he speaks our Chinese Language~”
Zhao Dabao had a bound Zhelan slave pushed forward.
This captive was not a true Zhelan Person but a slave from another tribe captured by the Zhelan People, naturally harboring no loyalty to the Zhelan Tribe.
So after being wounded and captured, he immediately knelt and begged for mercy, avoiding execution by Tazhai.
Li Xiao paid no attention to his background and said directly, “Go shout loudly in your language to those people ahead.”
“Those who dismount and surrender will be spared.”
“Those who resist stubbornly will be killed without mercy.”
The slave nodded tremblingly, looking terrified.
Soon, this Zhelan slave repeated Li Xiao’s order in the Zhelan language.
As soon as these words were spoken, the encircled Zhelan Cavalry unexpectedly fell unusually quiet.
No longer so panicked and fearful, at most just muttering doubts to each other.
“Those Han People say surrender means no killing? Is it true?”
“Probably true~”
“Maybe we don’t have to die.”
The nomadic people’s ways are not entirely about killing; human relationships and etiquette are also observed.
When one tribe defeats another without deep blood feud, they generally do not slaughter them.
As long as the other side surrenders obediently, they will be incorporated as slaves.
Then, based on military merit and contributions, they can gradually become part of the victor’s tribe.
Cycle after cycle, endlessly reincarnating—the nomadic people continuously merge and integrate tribes this way.
Therefore, “surrender and live” is quite prevalent among nomadic tribes.
Thus, these Zhelan Cavalry began to waver one after another, their wills no longer firm, their sabers unconsciously dropping.
Most importantly, they felt this unwinnable war would lead to most of the Zhelan Tribe dying even if continued.
Finally, as the Han People cavalry from all sides rapidly closed in, more and more Zhelan People began dismounting and kneeling on the ground.
No matter how Nie Erdu scolded or threatened, it was all useless.
In the face of absolute strength, Nie Erdu’s prestige had already fallen to rock bottom.
