229: 180,000 surrendered soldiers

Lin Yue looked at the 180,000 Xiongnu people cavalry before him, his eyes burning with fervor.

In two days, all six tribes had surrendered, and Lin Yue had pushed the front line a thousand li forward!

Now, they were less than three thousand li from the river, which was the ancient course of the Yellow River, and the Xiongnu people cavalry were all fleeing at the mere sight of them!

Furthermore, She Jian's Army had already moved into the tribal clusters of these six Xiongnu people tribes, both protecting their clansmen's safety and strictly monitoring them to prevent any disloyalty.

While everything was developing in a positive direction, Lin Yue continued to press forward without stopping.

Of course, this was due to urgent military orders; the Grand General had commanded that the entire Henan region must be occupied before summer. Now, less than half a month remained, time was pressing, and there was no room for delay. This was why he was on a forced march, ignoring She Jian's summons.

It wasn't because he was worried She Jian would get greedy and demand these surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers from him.

“Just say it like that, understand?” Lin Yue explained to Tong Wei in detail.

“Colonel Lin, that might work for coaxing children, but do you think the General will believe it?” Tong Wei said with a bitter expression.

“Captain Tong, you can see, I'm really very busy!” Lin Yue said with a troubled look, “If I go back and forth, three days will be gone, and how many strategic opportunities would be missed!

We're at a critical juncture now; I can't afford to waste any more time.”

“Though that's true, the General said that if I don't bring you back, he won't let me return either,” Tong Wei said with a difficult expression.

“Sigh, don't you know the General's temperament? You're his personal guard captain; if he won't let me go back, he'll still let you!” Lin Yue comforted him. Then, seeing Tong Wei's bitter face and silence, merely following him, Lin Yue said with some exasperation, “Don't follow me anymore, Captain Tong. If you follow me, I still can't go back!”

Tong Wei finally said, “Colonel Lin, then send a few tens of thousands of Soldiers to escort me back. The steppe is full of dangers now; I don't dare go back alone.”

“Tens of thousands of Soldiers? Are you joking? You're at the peak of a High-level Military General; who would endanger you?” Lin Yue looked at him in surprise.

“Alright, I'm a rough man, and the General always makes me do these kinds of things.

I'll be honest. The General said there are too few surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers left, and he also has to allocate troops to protect the Xiongnu people tribal clusters. He said even the wet nurses in the palace don't serve you this way.

And the General said you're soft-hearted, and he told me to play the victim, that I must bring back 100,000 surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers. Otherwise, the General will make me follow you indefinitely. This is true,” Tong Wei said, looking very wronged.

Lin Yue felt ashamed upon hearing this, but he still gritted his teeth and said, “Even if you sold me, there aren't 100,000 Xiongnu people cavalry!”

“No wonder the General said you weren't honest and specifically told me to ascertain the approximate number of surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers before seeing you. I estimated you have about 200,000 Xiongnu people cavalry.

Please help me, little brother, I'm truly at my wit's end.

And I came alone; I'm really afraid of being ambushed on the way back,” Tong Wei said with a mournful face.

Lin Yue's face flushed at his words, but inwardly he cursed, “This She Jian has a dog's nose! How did he send someone just as I finished accepting the cavalry's surrender!”

Lin Yue recovered and asked, “Did you really come alone?”

“Truly! The Army is short-handed everywhere now, wishing one person could be split in two; who would have time to accompany me?” Tong Wei's face was full of sincerity.

“Alright,” Lin Yue, who was most soft-hearted, said, “Men, dispatch two thousand Xiongnu people cavalry to escort Captain Tong Wei back!”

Tong Wei, hearing Lin Yue finally relent, breathed a sigh of relief, but when he heard two thousand cavalry, he nearly jumped up and quickly said, “Colonel Lin, it's 100,000 surrendered Soldiers, not two thousand!”

“I know,” Lin Yue said calmly.

Tong Wei looked a bit nervous, his face full of vigilance, “Without 100,000 cavalry, I'll stick to you; I'm not leaving!”

“It's alright, they'll send you off,” Lin Yue smiled, then shouted in Xiongnu people, “Escort Captain Tong Wei back to the Encampment!”

“Yes!” Two thousand surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers responded in unison!

“Little brother...” Tong Wei saw the two thousand surrendered Soldiers rushing over and immediately lunged at Lin Yue. But Lin Yue was prepared and easily dodged, so Tong Wei fell to the ground, covered in dust.

“See you at the Encampment, Captain Tong,” Lin Yue smiled, then spurred his horse and left, the vast cavalry stretching endlessly forward.

Only two thousand surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers remained, tightly surrounding Tong Wei. Tong Wei brushed off the dirt, stood up, and muttered to himself, “These two thousand people, is this how you treat a beggar?”

Then he couldn't help but grimace, “What kind of talk is that? Am I not a beggar then?”

Seeing that things had come to this, Tong Wei had no other choice but to return to the Encampment. Two thousand people were better than none: “Heh, even a mosquito's leg is meat! You all, follow me back to the Encampment!”

Unfortunately, no one responded; the two thousand surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers merely stared at him silently.

“Look at my brain, I forgot they don't understand,” Tong Wei cursed inwardly, then grabbed the saddle, and just as he was about to mount, his eyes rolled, and he stopped.

Immediately after, he rolled several times on the ground in plain sight until he was covered in dust before flipping over and mounting his warhorse.

“Now the General shouldn't punish me,” Tong Wei said, then raised his right arm, leading the two thousand surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers toward the Encampment!

On the other side, Lin Yue, seeing that he had finally shaken off Tong Wei, ordered the Army to halt.

This wouldn't do; his target was too big.

“Pan Feng, I order you as commander to lead Du Tong's division and three thousand surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers, a total of ninety thousand troops, to attack along the left route!

Xing Daorong, I order you as commander to lead General Yang Ye's division and three thousand Xiongnu Soldiers, a total of ninety thousand troops, to attack along the right route!

I grant you both the authority to act independently, and your speed must be swift!” Lin Yue said in a deep voice.

“Understood!” the Generals responded!

Lin Yue now had a total of 400,000 troops. Moving together was too inefficient, and even with surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers guiding them, their march was too conspicuous. So Lin Yue divided his forces into two or three routes. He led 10,000 personal guards, Liu Sandao's 30,000 White Horse Righteous Cavalry, Lv Sheng's 60,000 Black Horse Righteous Cavalry, and 120,000 surrendered Xiongnu Soldiers, a total of 220,000 troops.

“Advance!” Lin Yue commanded. The Army split into three routes, each fully provisioned with half a month's rations, preparing to sweep clean the Henan region!

...“It's empty!” Aruhan reported back, looking at the deserted Encampment before him.

“It doesn't matter. They can run today, but they can't run forever. Order the scouts to expand the search radius; we continue to push forward!” Lin Yue said calmly.

“Yes, my Lord!” Aruhan responded.

“The Army continues to advance; we are bound to pacify the steppe!”

“Understood!”

For the past three days, Lin Yue had been like a spinning top, the urgent deadline forcing him to work non-stop. The Army always encountered enemies, but they were all small fry, numbering in the hundreds, at most no more than a thousand, who would flee at their sight.

Until nightfall, when the entire Army rested.

Lin Yue lay tossing and turning in a deserted Xiongnu people Encampment. For three consecutive days, not a single Xiongnu people cavalry force of over ten thousand had been seen. Their front line had advanced eight hundred li, but this was not a good sign.

The less they encountered the enemy now, the more likely it meant the enemy forces were gathering in one place. This might be good news for the Qin Army, but not for Lin Yue!

And indeed, just as Lin Yue had thought, on the other side of the Henan region, it was brightly lit.