Chapter 211 Another forced landing
Three or four miles north of Wang Ling's formation, a curtain had been drawn when Liu Bao arrived, and the curtain faced south.

When Liu Bao walked into the curtain, he saw that inside the curtain there were three shield walls formed by rows of upright shields, each nearly six feet high.

A blazing bonfire had already been lit in the shield wall area.

Liu Bao was almost frozen, hungry and tired. How could he have room for negotiation?
After being led inside by his personal soldiers, Liu Bao sat down trembling and shivering.

He stretched out his hand to warm himself by the fire and observed the black bear who had taken off his mask. He was a little incredulous: "I heard from the people of Hedong that the general is a descendant of Marquis Lu Wen?"

“So what if it is, so what if it’s not?”

Black Bear also looked at Liu Bao. Compared with other Xiongnu nobles, Liu Bao's face was gentler and he seemed to be a little older than himself.

A pair of distinctive eyes, with gray-blue pupils, a very subtle and pale blue.

Liu Bao's hands felt itchy from the fire, so he pulled them back to rub his face. Seeing this, Black Bear looked at his personal soldier, who was holding a white bear fur cloak captured on the battlefield. He reluctantly stepped forward and put it on Liu Bao.

Liu Bao trembled again: "I wonder where Lord Wen is. If Lord Wen were still alive, how dare I offend him?"

"It's too late to say all this, and it's meaningless. During this period of time, I have also heard many rumors, such as that I am the son of Wen Hou. And among the men and women I rescued, some also said that I was the reincarnation of God."

Liu Bao listened and nodded slightly. He had also stayed in Luoyang for some time. The Huns always maintained their grassland trade routes, so he naturally understood the concept of reincarnation.

He said to the black bear who showed no obvious emotion: "The general's actions are no different from God to the Taiping Dao people."

The black bear just smiled and pointed his left arm behind him: "I thought that if I used the whole army to defeat and force the Xiongnu to surrender, the Black Mountain Army would be able to hold back the Wuhuan for me, but I never thought that they would unite. You and I are fighting each other, and it seems that one of them died and the other was injured. Now they want to eat you and me together."

Liu Bao stared into the black bear's eyes and said, "I am willing to follow the general's instructions."

"If I hadn't found you before dark, I would have set fire to Zhongdu City and killed all the surrendered Xiongnu soldiers who had entered the city. Fortunately, God didn't spare you."

Black Bear raised his right hand and pointed in the direction of Luoyang: "You should know Xiahou Dun. I could have killed him in the battle of Bowangpo, but I let him go. If I had killed him, Cao Cao would have broken an arm, but he would have grown a new one sooner or later. But if I had kept him, no matter how strong and thick this arm of Cao Cao was, he would not be able to exert any strength when he met my army in the future."

He also stared into Liu Bao's eyes: "You should know that I deliberately let you escape from the Zuobu Royal Court. You should understand what I mean."

"Yes, it was my ignorance that caused me to quarrel with the general. I deserve death."

"Now that you understand, we can talk about the next thing."

Black Bear turned his head and looked at a personal soldier: "Organize the chariot soldiers and the newly formed auxiliary soldiers to transport dead horses and food to Zhongdu City, and seal the four gates before dark."

"Here!"

The guards immediately trotted away. Black Bear looked back at Liu Bao and said, "You will also go to Zhongdu later and take care of your people. Next year, you will send out 10,000 cavalrymen to attack the Qiang and Hu people in the north. When you return, send back Cai Zhaoji and the captured men and women. You can keep the children, but you must send back all my people."

"Next year's Qiang and Hu captives can be given to you. When we join forces to sweep Hetao and Shuofang in the future, there will be enough Xianbei people for you to use as slaves. My request is very simple, and you must satisfy it."

Seeing Liu Bao's facial expression change slightly, Black Bear was too lazy to guess his thoughts and continued, "You have my support, no one can take your position as Chanyu. You also know that even if I kill you all, the Xiongnu still have the courage to fight me. But I will let you go, and you won't dare to fight me for the next two generations."

"Yes, I am willing to surrender and serve as the general's vanguard."

Liu Bao struggled to stand up, took two steps back and bowed solemnly: "Whether it is to conquer the barbarians or to punish the traitors, wherever the general's flag points, I am willing to mobilize the whole country's troops!"

"After I defeat the Wuhuan and Heishan armies, you and I will build an altar and swear an oath in public. I am willing to swear on the Fen River. I don't want to deal with a strange Chanyu, and you should not make mistakes."

"Xiao Wang doesn't dare."

"I won't keep you for dinner. Take my words back to Zhongdu City. The other captured nobles will also be brought to Zhongdu City later. Explain it to them clearly. If there are any problematic people, give me a list and I will help you deal with them."

Black Bear stood up and helped Liu Bao up. "After the spring plowing next year, I will build a palace in Ganquan Mountain. Chang'an University will open in October this year. When the war stops, you can also send Xiongnu noble boys to Chang'an to study in March next year. Compared with Xianbei, Mobei, and the Western Regions, I still prefer Xiongnu."

Liu Bao nodded, his forehead covered with snow. "Yes, the young prince has been influenced by the king for a long time, and he also wants to build a school, but the priests and nobles in the clan have hindered him. Now that our young sons can go to school in Chang'an, it is a blessing for our clan."

Black Bear raised his hand to wipe the snow off Liu Bao's forehead: "Han and Xiongnu are the two great powers of the world. We can fight among ourselves, but we must not tolerate the rise of a third force. It is difficult for you and I to predict what will happen a hundred years from now, but if the two tribes join forces within a hundred years, who in the world can compete with them?"

"I will remember every word of the general's teachings and will tell every member of the tribe."

"Well, sit down and warm yourself by the fire. One of my guests will be here soon."

Black Bear supported Liu Bao, who was shivering from the cold and forcing a smile and saying nice things to him. He also brought him a bowl of salty and mellow milk tea. Liu Bao fell in love with the taste after just the first sip.

Black Bear was also sipping milk tea from a bowl. Soon a sled arrived.

Linghu Shao was wrapped in a fine felt blanket and walking in small steps. Although there was no cold wind in the cellar, there was no condition to make a fire to keep warm.

Linghu Shao was so cold that he almost lost the feeling in his lower body. He followed the sled to bask in the afternoon sun for a while.

Although the wind was cold, the sunshine still restored a lot of his energy.

However, Linghu Shao was depressed by the battle record of the Guanzhong soldiers and the current dangerous situation of the Taiyuan soldiers.

"Foreign ministers pay their respects to General Zhenbei."

Throwing away the fine felt blanket, Linghu Shao saluted tremblingly, and Black Bear stretched out his arms to invite: "Come and warm yourself by the fire, and drink some milk tea."

Seeing that Linghu Shao had difficulty moving, a personal soldier came forward to support him, and Linghu Shao sat down by the fire.

The moment he sat down, Linghu Shao felt that his vitality was awakened.

Black Bear handed over a new bowl of milk tea. Linghu Shao wanted to thank him, but his lips were numb from the cold, and his hands were shaking as he held the warm wooden bowl.

Trying to look leisurely, he blew on the tea leaves floating on the surface of the milk tea and took small sips.

Like Liu Bao, Linghu Shao also fell in love with milk tea immediately and wished he could turn into a bug and soak in this warm wooden bowl of milk tea forever.

Seeing that Linghu Shao couldn't help drinking the milk tea quickly, Liu Bao no longer cared about the integrity of a scholar and drank the bowl.

Black Bear didn't mind. He took the wooden spoon and served Liu Bao more, then passed it to Linghu Shao.

Linghu Shao drank five bowls in a row before he felt that he was truly alive again: "The general summoned an outsider, but is he really going to use one?"

"Well, go and persuade Linghu Chao to surrender. If he leads his troops to surrender, I can protect the families of his troops and not separate them. All the powerful people, leaders, and military sergeants who have rebelled will not be punished with their entire families. They will be allowed to make meritorious contributions on the battlefield." "I will put them in the Death Squad and behead five heads to atone for their sins. The son will inherit the father's throne, and the younger brother will inherit the elder brother's throne. If they accumulate five enemy heads, they will be pardoned. As for their property, I will follow the example of Wang Zhenbei and Ma Zhengbei and confiscate 90% of it."

Black Bear drank the milk tea and wiped his mouth with his hand: "I don't care what you say in front of the battle, as long as you can meet my requirements, I can let Linghu Chao go."

Linghu Shao frowned slightly when he heard this, but when he saw Black Bear observing him, his frown calmed down and he said, "How can Linghu Chao just walk away?"

His words made Liu Bao look sideways. Feeling Liu Bao's gaze, Linghu Shao immediately said, "If he doesn't die, how can we warn future generations?"

Liu Bao squinted at Black Bear, who nodded: "Let me know, sir. This is the new Xiongnu Chanyu Liu Bao. Within three days I will build an altar and swear an oath with him so that we can live in harmony."

Linghu Shao was speechless now. He wanted to thank them, but thinking of Linghu's current predicament, he could only force a smile and said, "Yes, I understand. I will go out and persuade them to surrender."

Black Bear glanced sideways at the few personal soldiers nearby. These people came up to support Linghu Shao and put a thick double-layer deerskin cloak on Linghu Shao again.

Seeing Linghu Shao walking away, Liu Bao sneered: "General, you have a group of heroes under your rule. There are all kinds of people here."

"He has no choice but to do this. He is afraid that I will follow the clues after the war and catch Linghu Chao and kill all three clans."

Black Bear looked indifferent and turned to look at Liu Bao: "The show is over, let's go to Zhongdu City."

"Yes."

Liu Bao stood up, gathered his white bear cloak, and bowed slightly to Black Bear without any intention of taking it off. "My prince hopes that the general will win soon, otherwise the situation will change again when the Hedong troops arrive. Yang Feng's front troops can turn against us today, and I'm afraid they will also turn against us when most of Yang Feng's central troops arrive in two or three days."

Hearing this, Black Bear smiled and said, "Don't worry. Before the war, you are the only ones I care about. The others are not worth mentioning."

After hearing this, Liu Bao smiled naturally for the first time, but then he felt that the smile was not appropriate, so he stopped smiling, took a few steps back, and turned away.

There was also a sled waiting. After Liu Bao got on the sled, he pulled his cloak tightly together and felt the smooth movement of the sled, and he couldn't help but frown.

The nomadic Huns had no shortage of vehicles or vehicle-making technology.

He was not unfamiliar with sleds, and when he thought of the fighting methods of the Guanzhong soldiers, his frown gradually relaxed.

Human energy is limited and cannot do everything.

If the Guanzhong soldiers still wanted to plunder the Xianbei and Western Regions people, then the Huns would be excellent guides.

Liu Bao suppressed his distracting thoughts and looked at the city of Zhongdu in the distance. The fire in the city had already been extinguished.

The Huns who were driven into the city collected things from various places in the city and started to make fires to keep warm, so the air was filled with smoke.

Having lost their weapons and been trapped in the city, the Huns could only wait for the war to end.

It would be best if the Guanzhong soldiers won. If anyone else won, the Huns would never have a good ending.

At Linghu Chao's position, Linghu Shao stepped forward to negotiate and persuade him to surrender.

Black Bear also approached on his dried horse, and the cavalrymen who were resting nearby also began to mount their horses. More than 2,000 black flag knights lined up in a row.

After the fierce battle in the morning, the Black Flag Knights seemed more calm after being tempered in spirit.

In addition, there were 3,000 four-color knights who also started moving, forming three thousand-knight teams of different sizes, standing between Linghu Chao and Wang Ling.

If Wang Ling dares to come to rescue, they will kill him.

Zhang Yan, who was behind the wall, also led 2,000 men out of the wall to form a battle line. There were also some prisoners behind the wall holding flags and moving around, acting as decoys.

At Linghu Chao's position, Linghu Chao looked dejected and numb.

This is a choice between one person dying or the whole family dying.

To the north, Black Bear drove his horse about a mile closer and observed closely, only to find that the Taiyuan soldiers were indeed very well-trained as the scouts had reported.

There were about 6,000 people in Linghu Chao's camp, but almost everyone was wearing armor. There were also several crossbow teams of more than 200 people, and there were also 600 to 700 knights.

The armor of these knights is almost the same as that of the Hun noble knights, and is even stronger than that of their own Black Flag Knights.

Among them, the only ones who could defeat this group of knights were Gan Ning's three heavily armored centuries.

Completely consume the Taiyuan soldiers, and after careful selection, you will have the main infantry.

The black bear was not in a hurry and waited slowly for the result.

Far to the south, two thousand men of Zhang Yan's army who had crossed the wall were forming a team. Once they were ready for the attack, there would be no need for negotiations.

While thinking, Black Bear raised his hand and pointed, and Lu Bu left the team with his halberd and drove his horse slowly southward.

At Linghu Chao's position, a small curtain was temporarily set up.

He had collapsed to the ground, resisting and struggling instinctively, but with the help of his confidants, he was finally pierced through the heart with a dagger.

A dozen breaths later, his head was loaded onto the sled and quickly headed north.

The stretched hollow square formation suddenly became scattered, and the cold and hungry soldiers began to discard swords, spears, halberds, bows and crossbows.

Even the cavalry dismounted, disarmed, and waited for punishment.

Almost at the same time, Wang Ling's camp underwent a huge change.

More than a hundred knights followed Wang Ling and broke out to the east regardless of everything, each knight was equipped with two horses.

When the hundred-plus knights sped up, they passed Guo Huai's position. Guo Huai led four or five hundred knights to break away from the formation and head east.

The more than 3,000 cavalrymen in charge of supervision rushed out upon seeing this, but they never tried desperately to catch up, but maintained a team structure of roughly 1,000 people.

As if expelling them, a team of a thousand men followed to monitor their retreat, while the other two teams of a thousand men patrolled vigilantly, staring at the two already disrupted phalanxes.

(End of this chapter)