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The wind howled, whipping up dust, yet it could not extinguish the burning fervor in their hearts. Though the early spring chill still withered the grass and trees, it could not cool the boiling blood in their chests!
Ma Yan, leading the veteran Bingzhou soldiers, moved through the battlefield as if it were unoccupied. Many Xiongnu warriors rushed at him, but they were like waves crashing against an ancient, unyielding rock on the shore—shattering to pieces. Aside from splattering some blood, they couldn't slow Ma Yan's advance in the slightest.
Rinagu frowned as he watched Ma Yan's figure. Suddenly, a name sprang into his mind, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "That's Ma... Ma Duliao! Yes! It's him! Ma Duliao! Why is he here? Wasn't it said that he had died?"
Rinagu's slightly trembling voice spread among the Qiang people, causing many behind him to huddle together in small groups, whispering among themselves. Only then did Rinagu realize that his blurted words were somewhat inappropriate, but it was too late to take them back. He could only shift awkwardly in his saddle, as if suddenly pricked by a thorn.
"Yes, Ma Duliao is not dead. Moreover, Ma Duliao has returned!" Fei Qian smiled, looking meaningfully at Rinagu.
It seemed the reputation of Ma Yan's Ma family was not as shallow as previously imagined. Although the title of "General Who Crosses the Liao" was now part of the Ma family's history, the legacy left by generations of the Ma family in Bingzhou was one of unwavering prestige.
Perhaps five or six years ago, when the Ma family followed the relocation of the former Shang Commandery administration, the title of "General Who Crosses the Liao" had become almost nominal. But today, Ma Yan, with the long spear in his hand, declared that the Ma family had risen once again on the soil of Bingzhou!
The Ma family, once the General Who Crosses the Liao, had now returned!
Facing the sturdy armor of the Bingzhou veterans, the deep-seated fear hidden within the Xiongnu hearts began to spread. Many Xiongnu instinctively started to retreat. Though they still held their swords and spears, they dared not advance. Like terrified wild dogs, they only dared to hide in dark corners, emitting mournful howls: "The Han iron cavalry! It's the Han iron cavalry! Those Han iron cavalry have returned!"
The loss of the royal court beneath the Yin Mountains remained a thick scar hidden in the hearts of the Xiongnu. Even after they returned to the foothills of the Yin Mountains, this terrible wound had never fully healed. In Xiongnu lore, the Han army's iron cavalry was synonymous with demons...
After Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, died, the Xiongnu believed they could return to the carefree days of roaming the grasslands as they had before Emperor Wu's time. However, the subsequent Emperor Xuan of Han, Liu Xun, though not an emperor who sought grandeur, knew that his great-grandmother had a younger brother named Wei Qing, a nephew named Huo Qubing, and a great general named Huo Guang. Once again, the Xiongnu met tragedy.
Within a dozen years after Emperor Wu's death, the Xiongnu thought the Han had lost their sharp edge. But they didn't expect that General Huo Guang, though perhaps not as formidable in battle as his brother Huo Qubing, was no less ambitious in achieving glory and expanding territories.
Huo Guang played a massive game of chess, sweeping through the Xiongnu Chanyu's court and capturing nearly forty thousand people, including many direct descendants of the Chanyu's royal line. This sowed the seeds of the Xiongnu's division.
By the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Xiongnu had split into northern and southern factions. The Northern Xiongnu attempted to reclaim their former glory, but this time, they didn't encounter a general surnamed Huo—instead, they met one surnamed Dou...
Dou Xian, though once a criminal, was a talented general—specifically, the nemesis of the Northern Xiongnu. In previous campaigns, Han armies often returned empty-handed, unable to locate the main Xiongnu forces in the vast grasslands. But whenever Dou Xian led an expedition, he invariably encountered the Northern Xiongnu's main force. This was a tragedy for the Northern Xiongnu but a boon for the Han army.
Dou Xian pursued the Northern Xiongnu relentlessly, defeating tribe after tribe, all the way to the Siqubi Sea. The Northern Chanyu fled in panic. But Dou Xian did not relent. After pinpointing the Northern Chanyu's hiding place, he led the Han cavalry on a five-thousand-li expedition, utterly destroying the Northern Xiongnu. From then on, the Northern Xiongnu vanished from the northern deserts...
The Southern Xiongnu, meanwhile, had always been under Han rule. Originally submissive to the Han dynasty, they transitioned from a nomadic, all-civilian-military society to a "shengbing" system, gradually becoming semi-agricultural and semi-pastoral. If not for the harsh and brutal rule of Han officials over the Xiongnu, the Southern Xiongnu might have been assimilated long before Emperor Ling of Han.
Even now, with the Southern Xiongnu in rebellion, the fearsome reputation of the Han cavalry remained. The prestige of the Han dynasty still loomed over the Xiongnu like an insurmountable mountain.
"Don't be afraid! The Han iron cavalry... they're human too! They can die just like anyone else!" The leader of this Xiongnu contingent, Deputy Prince Youjia Nazha, was renowned for his bravery, considered second only to Batur. Since following Yu Fuluo, he had often prided himself on his martial prowess.
Now, seeing his tribesmen being sliced apart like lamb meat—each either unhorsed by Ma Yan's spear or cut down by the Bingzhou veterans—Youjia Nazha was nearly driven mad with rage. Witnessing his clansmen growing increasingly timid and afraid to advance before the Han cavalry, he could bear it no longer. Forgetting to continue directing his men, he roared, raised a thick iron rod, parted his tribesmen, and charged at Ma Yan.
Youjia Nazha knew that Han iron armor could resist arrows, swords, and spears to some extent, but against a heavy weapon like an iron rod, it was as good as useless. A single blow to the head would splatter brains; a strike to the body would shatter bones and crush flesh...
Ma Yan also saw Youjia Nazha and silently urged his horse forward to meet him.
Youjia Nazha whirled his thick iron rod, creating a whooshing sound, and bellowed wildly, "I'll smash you flat!"
The two horses charged toward each other, closing the distance in an instant. Youjia Nazha, gripping his iron rod with both hands, leveraged the momentum of his horse to deliver a powerful overhead smash aimed at Ma Yan's head. He wanted to crush this troublesome foe in one blow, eagerly anticipating the moment Ma Yan's brains would splatter.
But the scene Youjia Nazha envisioned did not materialize.
Ma Yan executed a maneuver as deft as any Hu tribesman's, disappearing from his saddle like a passing gust of wind—a perfect "horse hiding" technique.
Youjia Nazha's mighty strike hit empty air. As the two riders passed each other, Youjia Nazha glimpsed a strange sight: it seemed he was rising higher and higher, as if floating toward the heavens, while a strangely familiar headless body heavily tumbled off its horse. Meanwhile, that damned Han cavalryman remounted his horse, now holding a blood-drenched ring-pommeled sword in his hand...
Witnessing the death of their courageously renowned leader, the Xiongnu soldiers let out mournful cries, losing their last shred of fighting spirit. As Ma Yan, holding a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, charged at them ferociously, the remaining Xiongnu were scared out of their wits. They frantically spurred their horses to flee, only to realize they were trapped inside a valley, with a large force blocking the valley entrance. Unless they abandoned their horses and climbed the mountains, there was no escape!
"We surrender! We surrender!" Bereft of their leader and courage, the Xiongnu, seeing no escape, didn't know who was first to dismount and kneel, holding their weapons overhead. Soon, the panicked and bewildered Xiongnu, one after another, dismounted and knelt on the ground.
Ma Yan slowly reined in his horse. The blood of the Xiongnu he had slain had drenched him entirely, dripping down the gleaming blades of his long spear and ring-pommeled sword.
Ma Yan surveyed the battlefield like a god of death. The kneeling Xiongnu, catching his sweeping gaze, hurriedly curled their bodies into tight balls, hoping not to attract the attention of this slaughterous deity...
Ma Yan raised his long spear high and roared:
"I have returned!"
"I, Ma Duliao, have returned!"
"Our Han iron cavalry has returned!"
Ma Yan's bloodied long spear pointed straight at the sky. The cold gleam of its tip was so dazzling under the sunlight that it seemed to radiate thousands of steel needles, stinging the prostrate Xiongnu until they wished they could burrow into the ground. It also stung Rinagu, beside Fei Qian, making him so uncomfortable all over that he involuntarily turned his head away...
The prestige of the Han dynasty persisted until the Five Barbarians plunged China into chaos. Only after many metallurgical techniques and craftsmen were learned from or captured by the Hu tribes did their equipment gradually catch up to that of the Huaxia people. By the Tang Dynasty, there was basically no technological advantage left...
But now, the equipment of the Han cavalry still surpassed that of the Hu tribes by several generations...
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