Chapter 179 Monan
Suddenly, a series of torches lit up on the opposite bank. The newly arrived Xiutu King’s tribe was swearing an oath of blood in front of an altar made of salt bricks. The boiling horse blood in the bronze cauldron mixed with salt crystals was poured onto the battle flag.

“Switch the crossbows!” Wei Guang kicked open the secret compartment of the Wugang cart. When the three hundred copper-clad heavy crossbows were set up, the thin ice on the river surface was cracking due to the spring flood.

The specially made armor-piercing cone pierced through the twilight with a whistle, nailing the shaman who was drinking blood to the altar.

The boiling blood cauldron overturned, and the strange blue fire that ignited when it came into contact with salt rushed along the splashing trajectory towards the grain stack, and the Huns’ rear formation instantly turned into a sea of fire.

Guo Jie led his death squad to cross the river on the floating ice, and his newly replaced rhinoceros armor shone dark in the firelight.

The Huns’ poisonous arrows were nailed to the seams of the armor plates, and the mark “Yuan Shuo Year 1” on the arrow shaft made his pupils shrink suddenly.

This is exactly the batch of weapons that was stolen from the Shaofu three years ago.

The ring-handled sword slashed and cut through the poisonous smoke. The moment the blade touched King Xiu Tu’s golden armor, a rumble like muffled thunder suddenly came from the bottom of the river.

The raging waves of the spring flood broke through the ice shell, and the peach blossom flood, which had not been seen in a century, rushed in wrapped in the melted ice from upstream.

Guo Jie grabbed the remaining flag of the Han army on the edge of the ice floe and caught a glimpse of the bronze halberd floating in the whirlpool.

The halberd shaft is wrapped with the headbands of soldiers who died in the Yuanguang period, and the salt-eroded words “Xi Liu” flicker in the waves.

Wei Guang’s whistle blew through the air from the south bank, and a rain of burning arrows illuminated the way home for the retreating Han army.

Half a month later, Weiyang Palace in Chang’an.

Emperor Wu stroked a golden Xiongnu helmet seized on the riverbank, his fingertips brushing against the salt crystals on the edges of the arrow holes. “Guo Jie, a native of Chen, beheaded 1,800 captives and burned 46 carts of Xiongnu baggage.”

As the eunuchs called out the names of the emperors, the newly minted golden seal of the Marquis of Chen was placed on the desk.

When Guo Jie knelt to receive the seal, the scabbed wound on his knuckles burst open, and blood seeped into the cracks of the rhinoceros armor along the seal characters of “Three Hundred Households in the Estate”.

In late spring at the Marquis’ Mansion in Chen County, Guo Jie hung the golden seal between the beams of the Salt God Temple.

Suddenly, a dead branch of the old locust tree in the yard fell, smashing the newly built ceramic jar for chu wine.

As the wine mixed with salt particles seeped into the soil, Wei Guang’s urgent military report was passing through Hangu Pass.

The beacon smoke from the southern desert has dyed the stars in the northern sky red.

The scorching sun of the southern desert scorched the cracked saline-alkali land. Guo Jie tore open the collar of his brown robe, and beads of sweat rolled over the tattoo on his chest and seeped into the chain mail, condensing into salt frost between the fine steel buckles.

He leaned over and picked up a handful of sand, crushing the hardened salt with his fingertips.

This is the Gobi Desert that the Huns irrigated with salt water. When horses step on it, it raises salt dust like poisonous mist.

“Thirty miles to the northeast, the flag of the Aries King.”

Wei Guang’s arrows drew the outline of the enemy’s formation on the sand, and his jujube wood bow was slightly hot from the sun.

Guo Jie squinted his eyes and saw that the dome of the Xiongnu’s tent was covered with salt-soaked camel skin, which was twisted like a ghost in the heat wave.

A vulture was suddenly startled from behind the sand dune, and the broken arm of the Han scout could be vaguely seen in its circling shadow.

His five fingers were still tightly gripping half of the “Yuan Shuo Year 4” crossbow hanging knife.

The black horse suddenly snorted and pawed with its iron hooves, and Guo Jie drew out his ring-handled sword.

The blade reflected the sandstorm rising from the southwest. Three thousand Xiongnu cavalry came like a yellow dragon, and millet grains leaked out of the straw bags hanging on both sides of the saddle.

This was a vicious plot to lure the Han army deep into the desert.

“Arm the formation! Draw up!” Guo Jie pointed forward with his red banner. Three hundred officers peeled off their camouflage, and twenty iron-clad chariots sprang up from the sand.

The rawhide covering the roof of the car was soaked in salt water, and the Huns’ heavy arrows slipped about an inch when they were driven in.

Wei Guang led the archers to guard the chariot formation. The three-edged arrows penetrated the straw bags and pierced into the horses’ bellies. The fallen war horses became natural roadblocks.

The Aries King’s golden sword cut through the heat wave, and the poisonous blue light of the blade stung his eyes.

Guo Jie spun around to avoid the blade, and the ring-handled knife slipped into the saddle leather rope.

The moment the blade twisted, the entire saddle broke apart.

This was the disarming technique he learned while training wild horses in the North Sea.

The moment the Aries King fell into the sand, Wei Guang’s whistling arrow had penetrated the iron ring protecting his neck. The salt powder from the arrow shaft mixed with the sandstorm, blinding the eyes of the Xiongnu archers in the back row.

Camel bells suddenly rang from behind the sand dunes, and twelve white camels carrying giant crossbows appeared.

The crossbow arm is made of desert poplar wood, and the string is made of camel tendons.

An iron arrow over ten feet long flew through the air and pierced through the Wugang chariot with a loud noise. Guo Jie caught a glimpse of the red lacquer on the arrow shaft, which read “Made under the supervision of the Shaofu in the third year of Yuanshuo.”

This is the important defensive weapon that was stolen from Shuofang City three years ago.

“Change the hook and inlay!” Guo Jie kicked over the burning Wugang chariot.

The timber officers used hooks with barbs to clamp the camel’s leg bones. Amid the screams of Shishi’s bowstrings breaking, he led his soldiers into the crossbow formation.

The ring-handled knife split the leather bag hanging on the camel’s hump, and the smelly camel blood mixed with sand splashed onto the crossbow gears. The fine iron parts emitted green smoke as they were corroded by the salt and blood.

The hot wind suddenly changed direction, and a sandstorm wrapped in salt dust rushed towards the Han army line.

Guo Jie pulled off his robe to cover his mouth and nose, and the sand and gravel that seeped into the gaps in his chain mail rubbed against his old wounds.

The sharp sound of metal clashing came from the sand and fog. He swung his sword and chopped it down. The moment the blade touched the Hun’s heavy armor, he suddenly changed his move and slashed upwards.

The copper ring on the back of the knife hit the opponent’s face hard, and the armored helmet was dented.

The Xiongnu warrior staggered back, and the bronze tiger talisman in his arms fell to the sand. The seal characters “Great Victory in Henan” were faintly visible in the bloodstains.

Wei Guang’s whistling arrows penetrated the sand curtain, and the burning arrows pierced into the pre-buried saltpeter.

The exploding blue flames spread along the camel fat, turning the Hun’s rear formation into a sea of fire.

Guo Jie took the opportunity to lead the cavalry around to the west side of the sand dune, with the horses’ hooves wrapped in oil-soaked linen.

It was soaked in strong liquor aged in the cellars of Shuofang City, and it left a trail of flames as it passed over the sand.

The remnants of King Aries retreated to the salt wells and built arrow towers out of brine-soaked felt.

Guo Jie swung his sword to cut the well rope, and the fallen pottery jar exploded at the bottom of the well. The poisonous salt vaporized when it came into contact with water and gushed out through the vent.

The tragic sight of the Xiongnu defenders scratching their throats in the purple mist reminded him of the poisonous salt tragedy in Wuyuan County in the second year of Yuanshuo.

As dusk fell, the black wolf flag of Zuo Xian Wang swept across the horizon.

Guo Jie pulled out the arrow that was lodged in his shoulder armor. The malachite poison had corroded the wound into a black-purple color.

Wei Guang tore open the Huns’ sheepskin water bag and poured the muddy water mixed with salt grains on the wound. In the severe pain, he caught a glimpse of the secret mark on the inside of the water bag.

The Vermillion Bird pattern on the Ice Well Terrace in the Weiyang Palace shone like blood in the twilight.
The sandstorm grew stronger, and the burning camel fat illuminated the night sky south of the desert. The red flags of the Han army and the wolf flags of the Xiongnu were entangled like dragons in the sandstorm.

Guo Jie gripped the curled-blade ring-handled sword tightly, and the old wound under the chain mail felt a dull pain.

This chess game of life and death deep in the desert has just had its first piece placed.

The sandstorm carried the burning camel fat, dyeing the wolf flag of Zuo Xian Wang blood red.

Guo Jie bit the ring-handled knife in his mouth and pulled two Xiongnu corpses with his hands to form a shelter.

Amid the dull thud of arrows piercing flesh and blood, he felt the bronze kettle in the corpse’s arms.

The seal of the Weiyang Palace officials engraved on the bottom of the pot is as clear as a new cast in the firelight.

“Southeast, quicksand pit!” Wei Guang’s whistling arrows pierced the throats of three Xiongnu cavalrymen, the salt dust from the exploding arrow shafts streaking silver lines in the sandstorm. Guo Jie understood and spun around, severing the cowhide ropes holding the prisoners.

The terrified Hun horses dragged the burning hay towards the sand pit, and the quicksand stirred up by their iron hooves instantly swallowed up Zuo Xianwang’s vanguard.

Suddenly, strange ripples appeared on the sand, and Guo Jie shouted and threw out the hook.

The moment the barbs pierced into the sand, twenty Hun warriors broke out of the sand, the curved scimitars in their hands shining with a poisonous malachite light.

These warriors, who were once desert bandits, were covered in resin, and the sand grains stuck to their skin to form natural armor.

Wei Guang’s poison arrow hit the resin and slid away, leaving only charred marks on the sand.

“Kerosene!” Guo Jie kicked over the burning wreckage of the Wugang cart. The timber officers wrapped linen soaked in fish fat around the hooks and brandished fire dragons, forcing the bandits into disarray.

Under the scorching heat, the resin armor began to melt. The sand bandit screamed and scratched his skin, tearing off the flesh and sand together.

The tune of Zuo Xian Wang’s horn suddenly changed, and fifty Bactrian camels appeared from behind the sand dunes.

These giant beasts were clad in bronze mail, and the crossbows mounted between their humps glowed dimly.

There is an inscription of “Shuofang Duwei Mansion” engraved on the hanging knife of the crossbow.

An iron arrow over ten feet long flew through the air, piercing through three officers, but its remaining force nailed the Han army’s battle flag to the salt pillar.

Guo Jie snatched the curved-blade knife from the bandit and hit the camel’s nose with the copper ring on the back of the knife.

When the giant beast felt pain, he turned around and cut the leather ropes between the camel’s humps, and bundles of secret letters in white silk flew like snowflakes.

Wei Guang’s rocket chased the falling silk book. The cinnabar trail that became visible when exposed to heat pointed towards the direction of the Chang’an Arsenal. The ink that had not yet dried glowed a strange purple-blue in the firelight.

“Switch to steel arrows!” Guo Jie roared, splitting the camel’s mail. The timber officers rolled out ten modified Wugang chariots, the steel arrows ricocheting off the hidden compartments in the shafts with a piercing shriek.

These arrows, made of newly refined steel from Henan County, pierced through the bronze armor, and the sparks that flew out illuminated the astonished face of Zuo Xian Wang.

Three steel arrows were pierced into the head of his mount in a triangular shape, and the fallen giant horse threw the Xiongnu commander into the quicksand.

Suddenly, there was a thunderous sound of hooves in the sandstorm, and a series of black shadows appeared on the horizon.

Guo Jie wiped the salt grains from between his eyelashes, and his pupils suddenly shrank – that was the war elephant army of King Xiutu’s tribe, and the bronze chain hammers wrapped around the elephants’ trunks made the sand tremble.

What was even more terrifying was the giant catapult mounted on the elephant’s back, which threw out fireballs that were actually incendiary oil tanks specially made by the Shaofu.

“Disband! Take shelter in the salt ditch!” Guo Jie used his scabbard to cut off the noose of Wu Gang’s chariot.

The burning baggage carts rolled down the slope, plowing out ten walls of fire in the sea of sand.

Wei Guang led the archers to occupy the commanding heights of the salt hill. The specially made steel-headed arrows pierced the elephants’ eyes, and the mad war elephants turned around and attacked the main camp of the Huns.

A giant elephant crashed into the golden tent of Zuo Xian Wang, and the bronze cauldron with its tusks flying exploded in the air. The salty brine mixed with sand blinded the entire team of archers.

As dusk fell, Guo Jie walked on the hot gravel to count his quivers.

The feather of the last whistling arrow was soaked in blood, and he suddenly discovered a Han bamboo slip hidden under the sand.

It turned out to be a list of soldiers who died in the second year of Yuanshuo. On the bamboo slips soaked in salt water, the handwriting of “Wei Ji, the commander of Xiuliying” looked like crying blood in the setting sun.

Wei Guang’s arrow suddenly pointed to the northwest. Twelve smoke columns rose in the sandstorm. The twisted smoke columns actually formed a pattern of the secret passage to the Bingjing Terrace in Weiyang Palace.
The sandstorm, carrying burning incendiary oil, dyed the sky of the southern desert red.

Guo Jie jumped onto the salt hill on the hot gravel. The salt grains that seeped into the gaps in his chain mail rubbed against his old wounds, and every step felt like a knife cut.

Wei Guang’s whistling arrows swept across the scattered Xiongnu cavalry, and the whistle in the hollow arrow shaft tore through the heat wave. The last three-edged arrow pierced the catapult winch on the back of the war elephant, and the fine iron gears broke with the harsh sound of metal twisting.

“Change to the hook-and-inlay formation!” Guo Jie roared and chopped off the bronze chain hammer wrapped around the elephant’s trunk.

Three hundred woodworkers used hooks to connect with each other, forming an iron wall in the quicksand, and the barbs stuck in the gaps in the war elephants’ armor.

The mad elephant swung its trunk and threw the two Han soldiers into the air, but in the struggle it stepped on the salt crust under the sand.

The salt cover that had solidified for a hundred years suddenly shattered, revealing a saltwater swamp where the remains of the Han army were soaked.

Zuo Xian Wang’s golden helmet flashed in the sandstorm, and Guo Jie turned around and threw out his ring-handled sword.

The blade spun and cut off the war elephant’s reins, and the overturned bronze catapult smashed into the rear of the Huns.

Wei Guang’s rockets chased the splashing incendiary oil, and the blue flames rushed up the dome along the camel-hair blanket, burning the Aries King’s salt-stained battle flag to ashes.

In the air distorted by heat waves, Guo Jie suddenly caught a glimpse of the bronze halberd tip under the salt marsh.

The halberd shaft is wrapped with the Han army’s armor belt from the third year of Yuanshuo, and the salt-eroded “Li” character is faintly visible in the ripples.

“Raise the salt piles!” Guo Jie shouted.

The timber officials inserted hooks into the cracks in the salt crust and pried up salt pillars over ten feet long.

Wei Guang led the archers to guard the top of the salt pillar. The steel arrows penetrated the sand curtain and pinned the Xiongnu cavalry who tried to get around them into the quicksand.

The tune of Zuo Xian Wang’s horn suddenly changed, and a hundred Bactrian camels emerged from behind the sand dunes, with crossbows mounted between their humps emitting a faint glow.

The inscription “Shuofang Duwei Mansion” on the crossbow trigger hurt Guo Jie’s eyes.

The black horse suddenly stood up, and the moment Guo Jie pulled the reins tight, ten iron arrows shot out from between the camel’s humps.

Amid the loud noise of the arrow piercing the salt pillar, he rolled over and hid in the cracks of the salt crust, and his fingertips touched a hard object under the sand.

It turned out to be a bronze tiger talisman belonging to a captain who died in battle three years ago. The two characters “Xi Liu” on the talisman were corroded by salt water and were shiny.

Wei Guang’s whistling arrows brushed against the salt pillars and pierced into the camel’s eyes. The mad camels rushed towards the main camp, and the rain of crossbow arrows shot the Xiongnu archers into hedgehogs.

The sandstorm suddenly changed direction, and a hurricane filled with salt particles rushed towards the Han army.

Guo Jie tore off his robe and dipped it into the salt marsh. The moment he covered his mouth and nose with the wet cloth, Zuo Xian Wang’s scimitar had already chopped off his face.

He leaned back, the blade scraping against the chain mail, sparks igniting the fish fat seeping through the crevices of the armor.

While rolling, the ring-handled knife was inserted into the sand, and the dragon pattern on the handle scraped against a hard object.

The half-buried arrowhead of Li Guang, with the mark “the fourth year of Yuanguang” engraved on the arrow shaft, looked as fresh as new in the firelight.

“Northwest Salt Cave!” Wei Guang’s roar was mixed with coughing up blood.

Guo Jie split the burning camel saddle and threw the fireball into the cracks of the salt cave.

The pre-buried saltpeter exploded when heated, and the collapsed salt hill buried all the Hun ambushes.

In the rising salt mist, he saw the panic under Zuo Xian Wang’s golden helmet.

That was exactly the face of the Xiongnu noble who whipped him in the prison tent in Beihai ten years ago.

The black horse suddenly rushed towards the center of the quicksand, and Guo Jie’s reins were so strong that they tore the tiger’s mouth apart.

Dark brine surged out from under the sand layer, and the century-old poisonous salt vaporized into purple mist when it came into contact with fire.

The Xiongnu war elephants wailed and fell to the ground in the poisonous fog, and the vibrations from their trunks hitting the sand triggered a chain reaction of collapses.

When Zuo Xian Wang’s white flag and large banner slanted into the salt marsh, Guo Jie was stepping on the floating salt and jumping towards the last catapult. The moment the ring-handled sword cut the noose, the flint bombs that were ready to be fired fell to the ground with a bang, creating a sea of ​​hell in the Xiongnu camp.

As dusk engulfed the southern desert, the surviving Han soldiers were carving the names of the fallen on the salt crust.

Guo Jie was stroking Li Guang’s old arrowhead when he suddenly heard a muffled thunder coming from behind the sand dunes.

Those were not war drums, but a desert rainstorm that had not been seen in a century.

Raindrops mixed with salt particles hit the chain mail, washing the blood into a winding red stream, while on the northern horizon, the smoke of the Xiu Tu King’s tribe was twisting into a new battle map.
(End of this chapter)