To the First Emperor of Qin: The state has decreed this!

Chapter 413 The True Hunnic Royal Court!

……

at the same time.

Deep in the Arctic desert lies the true royal court of the Xiongnu.

It was more than 300 miles away from the temporary outpost camp in Yinshan that had been burned to the ground.

Located in a huge basin on the back of Langjuxu Mountain, this place is low-lying and surrounded by steep snow-capped mountains. It was the core stronghold of Touman Chanyu for many years.

A fierce wind swept up snowflakes and raged through the camp.

Accompanied by the neighing of horses, hundreds of riders stumbled and crashed into the gates of the royal court.

The leader, with his armor tattered, helmet long gone, and hair flying wildly in the wind, was none other than Touman Chanyu, who had been fleeing for his life through the night.

Following behind him were Xiang Liang, who was also covered in dust, and Ji Dan.

"Bang!"

Touman Chanyu dismounted, stumbled, and nearly fell to his knees in the snow.

Several royal guards rushed forward to help him, but the Chanyu kicked them away.

"Get out of my way! All of you, get out of my way!"

Touman Chanyu's eyes were bloodshot as he strode into the royal tent.

"Clang!"

"Crack!"

The Chanyu drew his curved sword from his waist and began slashing wildly inside the tent.

Several Xiongnu maids who came to greet them screamed in terror, trembling and kneeling on the ground, not daring to raise their heads.

"A disgrace! This is an unparalleled humiliation bestowed upon us by the Eternal Heaven!"

Touman Chanyu roared to the sky, "I have roamed the grasslands and deserts for thirty years. Even the king of the Yuezhi once groveled at my feet and licked my boots!"

Now, they've been beaten like stray dogs by a bunch of two-legged sheep from the south!

Not only did they lose 30,000 of their most elite archers, but their main camp heading south was also burned to ashes!

"Meng Tian! The tyrant of Qin!"

"I, Touman, swear that if I do not cut you into a thousand pieces and turn your heads into wine bowls, I am not worthy to be the overlord of this grassland!"

Ji Dan hid in the corner of the tent, trying to minimize her presence. Her face was deathly pale, as if she were afraid of being affected.

Xiang Liang stood aside, letting his servants brush the snow off his body.

He looked at the frenzied Chanyu, his brows furrowed tightly.

Although he was also extremely shocked by the sudden appearance of the Qin army, as the strategist of the Xiang clan, he had to remain calm at all times.

When the Chanyu was exhausted from smashing the weapons and sat down heavily in the main seat, Xiang Liang slowly walked forward.

"Great Chanyu, things have come to this point, there's no use in calming down."

Xiang Liang's voice remained calm and steady, "Anger will only blind you and make you a laughingstock to the people of Qin!"

What we need to figure out most right now is exactly how the Qin army did it.

The Chanyu raised his bloodshot eyes and stared intently at Xiang Liang: "How did they do it? Three hundred thousand of them crossed the Yin Mountains overnight!"

"Besides growing wings, tell me how you did it?"

"It couldn't possibly have flown in."

Xiang Liang shook his head, walked to the overturned table, picked up a sheepskin map, spread it out, pointed to the outline of the Yinshan Mountains, his gaze unfathomable, "An army of 300,000, carrying provisions and supplies, marched faster than we did on the plains in such extremely cold weather."

"Great Chanyu, you have lived in the Yin Mountains for so many years. Are you really sure that, apart from the Baidao Gorge, there is absolutely no secret path through which a large army can pass?"

Xiang Liang's words hit the nail on the head regarding the core of the problem.

Touman Chanyu was stunned, his mind racing with memories.

"No! I, the Chanyu, swear by the name of the Eternal Heaven!"

The Chanyu gritted his teeth and said, "The northwest side of Yinshan is full of sheer cliffs and bottomless glacial crevasses, it's simply impossible..."

At this point, the Chanyu paused suddenly, as if he had remembered something, and his expression changed unpredictably.

"Could it be...?"

The Chanyu gasped, "Could it be that there really is a hidden rift valley that even we Xiongnu people ourselves are unaware of, which the Qin army has discovered?"

Xiang Liang's eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he nodded heavily.

"That's for sure! The Qin army not only discovered this secret passage, but they've also mastered some strange method of gliding quickly through deep snow!"

Xiang Liang took a deep breath. "There must be a mastermind behind all this... Our intelligence was seriously flawed!"

After listening to Xiang Liang's analysis, Touman Chanyu snorted coldly.

"Hmph! So what if they discover the secret passage? So what if they destroy my outpost?"

The Chanyu stood up, walked to the brazier, straightened it again, and added a few pieces of charcoal.

"General Xiang, although we suffered a setback in this battle, Qin should not expect to win so easily!" The Chanyu's lips suddenly curled into a smile.

Xiang Liang was slightly taken aback: "Why does the Great Chanyu say such a thing? Our army of 50,000 elite troops has been completely wiped out, and morale has been severely damaged. How can there be any chance of turning things around?"

"It's a real pity that 50,000 archers were lost; they were the apple of my eye."

A ruthless glint flashed in the Chanyu's eyes. "But General Xiang, you are not a grassland person. You do not understand the survival rules of our grasslands."

The Chanyu walked up to Xiang Liang and lowered his voice, "This year, the grasslands have suffered a once-in-a-century white disaster, with large numbers of cattle and sheep freezing and starving to death. This is a catastrophe for us Xiongnu!"

Why?

Without cattle and sheep, we have no food to eat for the winter!

"On the grasslands, when food is scarce, women are tools for childbirth, and able-bodied men are warriors who go out to seize grain. And what about those old, useless men who can't even draw their bows, the crippled soldiers, and those little brats who can only cry out…?"

The Chanyu pointed south and sneered, "They are nothing but a waste of food and a burden that will drag the entire tribe to its death in winter!"

Upon hearing these words, Xiang Liang and Ji Dan felt a chill run down their spines.

Although they are used to the brutality of power struggles, this cold-blooded rhetoric that treats their own people as objects and burdens still makes them feel uneasy.

"Under normal circumstances, even if I, the Chanyu, knew they were a burden, I couldn't openly kill them all or drive them into the snow to starve. That would incite the anger of the various tribes, and some would accuse me of being cruel and heartless!"

The Chanyu spread his arms wide, his smile growing increasingly smug and maniacal. "But now? Hahahaha!"

The Chanyu burst into laughter, his voice echoing within the tent. "The Qin army's surprise attack has actually done me a tremendous favor!"

"In that camp, the Chanyu left behind tens of thousands of old, weak, sick and disabled people!"

During the retreat, the immortal master suggested using them as human shields to block the Qin army's charge. The Chanyu readily agreed, pushing all these wasting resources onto the Qin army!

"That's a total of 30,000 mouths!"

The people of Qin considered themselves benevolent and righteous, and they certainly wouldn't have the heart to raise their knives against the unarmed elderly and weak.

"The Qin army of 300,000 has come from afar, and they can't even transport their own provisions!"

"If the Qin army were to keep these 30,000 useless people around, within a month, their 300,000-strong army would be dragged down by their 30,000 mouths, too hungry to even lift a sword!"

"But our Great Xiongnu, having shed this burden, have saved countless winter rations, allowing our truly elite warriors to be well-fed and clothed!"