Chapter 212 Incineration Hazards
As night fell, the Taiyuan soldiers took off their armor and marched north in groups of a hundred.

They cleaned the battlefield as they marched and stripped the dead Huns of their loose and thick clothes made of leather or felt.

Even though soaked in blood, such bulky and dirty clothes still have good cold-proofing capabilities.

They have been busy since the third watch until now, and the Huns and the Taiyuan soldiers have exchanged the cities where they will spend the night.

In the Xiongnu camp, when Black Bear returned, bonfires were burning everywhere in the camp, and nearly half of the soldiers were no longer sleepy.

The Four Color Knights reorganized here, and knights were walking everywhere, carrying the heads they had captured today.

Each knight carried a wooden slip with him, and at this moment, he would write words on the slip to record the number of heads.

This wooden slip was made in triplicate. I carried one copy with me, one copy was in the Hundred-Man Team, and the other was in the Thousand-Knight Team.

After the merit was recorded, the captured heads were displayed to the public, with individual bamboo slips hung on them, with the number, affiliation and name of the person who captured them written on them.

Some cavalrymen who had completed their meritorious service would also look and examine him when passing by.

This inspection will take some time to carry out, in order to prevent someone from claiming credit for beheading their own soldiers or wounded soldiers.

The whole scene was bloody and cruel, but the knights in the camp and the newly reorganized auxiliary troops were accustomed to the coming and going of them.

The commendation and inspection of heads would only stop after it became completely dark. The knights who were not commended could only continue to carry the heads they had captured and wait for the next opportunity.

In the largest tent, the captains of a thousand cavalry and the captains of five hundred cavalry from each team gathered and sat in a circle.

Zhang Yan spoke first: "The Yu Di tribes have occupied the northern part of Taihang Mountain for more than ten years, and the shortest time is seven or eight years. The winter in the mountains is very cold, so they are good at avoiding the cold. They also set up camp before the heavy snow and stored firewood. In my opinion, they can still defend themselves."

Black Bear nodded, "I think so too. The Taiyuan people came in a hurry, and I fortified the city and cleared the fields, so they suffered huge losses. Most of the fodder in the right court has been burned, but we forgot one thing. The manure accumulated in the cattle and sheep sheds. According to the scouts' reconnaissance, the Wuhuan people dug up the manure today, burned some of it, and more is still drying it."

"There are also fire beds. We moved the tents on the right and destroyed the houses, but we didn't destroy the partitions and fire beds. Many sheds were not burned down either, and many wooden rafters were left. After the Wuhuan people and the Black Mountain Army repaired the houses, they were more comfortable at night than us."

Looking around at the thousand-horse captains and five-hundred-horse captains, Black Bear said in a gentle tone, "In the future, when you defend your city and clear the countryside, you must take this as a lesson and not be greedy for easy things. Tonight, the Green Team will be on duty for the first half of the night, and the Red Team for the second half. Get through tonight and see what happens tomorrow."

The military officer wearing a blue and red headscarf bowed and saluted: "Yes."

Black Bear looked at Zhao Yun again and said, "General Zilong, keep an eye on Zhongdu City. Although it is difficult for the Xiongnu to escape, we still need to prevent them from rushing out of the city."

Even if the Huns without armor collected sticks and stones from the city, they lacked any significant destructive power.

There was no need for any cavalry charges or armored phalanxes; the Huns could block the city gates themselves with just a random arrow attack.

Zhongdu City and Jingling City are two huge prisons.

Seeing Zhao Yun's agreement, Black Bear said, "I have discussed with Chanyu Liu Bao. If there are no other changes, I will give the Wuhuan captives as a reward to General Zilong after the battle."

The expressions of some thousand cavalry commanders changed obviously, as they were already used to taking in prisoners.

Five thousand Wuhuan captives were enough for some people to be promoted to cavalry generals.

Although it was a temporary organization during the war, as a reward for merit after the war, he should at least be given the position of a county lieutenant or a county magistrate, right?

Black Bear didn't feel sorry at all. A reliable helper was more important than five thousand Wuhuan people.

This group of Wuhuan people and war horses were sent to Liu Bei. If Liu Biao and Liu Qi, father and son, wanted to offset Liu Bei's cavalry advantage, they would have to pay a greater price to exchange the captured cavalry and horses from themselves.

By strengthening Liu Biao and Liu Bei, we can directly place a sharp knife at Cao Cao's waist, making Cao Cao dare not make any big moves.

Be careful no matter what you do.

Zhao Yun had always thought that Black Bear would find a way to default on the debt. When Black Bear proposed three thousand, Zhao Yun had only reluctantly replied with five thousand.

Unexpectedly, Black Bear agreed. If it weren't for the alliance between the Black Mountain Army in the north and the Wuhuan, Zhao Yun might have already started selecting the elite Xiongnu troops.

He also noticed the change in the attitude of the military officers, but the entry of these 5,000 cavalrymen was related to Liu Bei's grand plan of conquering the Central Plains.

Therefore, Zhao Yun looked calm and just cupped his hands and said, "Yes."

Black Bear looked at Zhang Yan again and said, "General Zhang has some friendship with Yu Digen and Guo Xian. I'll trouble you to guard the southern camp tonight."

"I am in a dilemma because of this. This is fine. Thank you, Marshal Daqu, for your understanding."

After Zhang Yan finished speaking, Black Bear picked up the wooden bowl of milk tea and said, "It's settled tonight. Each camp will be given a password at night. I will tell them one by one when I patrol the camp later. If the password is wrong, it will be treated as collaborating with the enemy and will be executed immediately."

Everyone raised their bowls and cups to signal, held them up with both hands, and drank the bowl of milk tea.

Zhao Yun and Zhang Yan got up and left, and Black Bear also saw them out of the camp.

After nightfall, campfires lit up everywhere, and the wilderness looked like a blue-white portrait covered with black gauze.

The night sky and mountain ridges are blue-black, and the snow fields are blue-white.

Where the fighting was fierce during the day, there were still corpses that had not been cleared away.

There were also black spots dotted here and there on the snow, which might be the bleeding points where wounded horses were slaughtered, or they might be the bodies of a few horses and humans that had not been cleaned up.

Perhaps there are some unconscious or seriously injured soldiers among them, but they will definitely not survive the night.

Manpower was limited. From noon to afternoon, we only had time to collect our own wounded and dead soldiers.

For wounded soldiers who lack identification items from their own soldiers, they will often make a finishing move.

The black bear stopped and looked for a while, then turned his head to the west to look at the Fenshui Lake. Seeing that the large areas of reeds in the lake area had not been burned, he frowned slightly.

The nearby campfire lit up half of his face red. A thousand-rider commander on duty nearby approached and asked, "General?"

"nothing."

Black Bear said this, but Lu Bu, who was not far away, was still walking over with his horse, and Yuan Shu's six-man team, who were driving a heavy sled, were also driving the sled towards here.

Black Bear didn't want to ride a horse, so he got on a sled. Gao Shun's ten-man team also went to the campfire, got torches, and got on the sled.

Two heavy sleds left the camp and headed north along the ice at the edge of the lake.

After walking for more than thirty miles, we turned west and entered the edge of the reed marsh.

Gao Shun's 10-man team came forward with torches, and when the north wind blew, they used torches to ignite the reeds. The fire spread southward, just like when they had built strong defenses and cleared the fields, they only burned the reeds in the lake south of Zhongdu County.

The reed marshes are in patches, clumps and piles.

Not only is it long and narrow from north to south, it is also widely distributed.

Gao Shun's ten-man team stepped on the ice and moved towards the central area. The width of the burning reeds was about five or six miles.

Take back Gao Shun's ten-man team and summon them again.

Black Bear looked at the flames. He remembered clearly that it was during the snowfall that the air temperature dropped drastically and the lakes began to freeze.

The soldiers who had previously cleared the countryside wanted to burn the reeds in the center of the lake, and they had to move by boat.

And now, the central area of ​​the lake is also gradually freezing over. It will probably be frozen solid in a few days.

After thinking about it, he immediately directed the sled to continue heading north.

The sled is extremely fast at night, and the sled with a low center of gravity is very stable.

After about another twenty miles, the dense reeds on the west side finally became thinner.

Seven or eight miles to the north, there appeared a military camp surrounded by vehicles, with two sparse circles of warning bonfires arranged around it.

He ordered Gao Shun's team of ten people to light new torches to burn the reeds. Black Bear put on his mask again and rode his dried horse to approach the northern military camp.

Bugles sounded throughout the military camp, igniting a large number of spare torches. The soldiers, who were already alert and awake, quickly deployed their forces to defend the camp.

When the black bear was about a hundred steps away, a row of whistling arrows were thrown out from the camp and landed a dozen steps in front of the black bear's horse.

Soon, a dozen knights holding torches ran out from the side of the camp, surrounding a man. Seeing that they had half-surrounded Black Bear and the other two, the man immediately stepped forward and shouted, "Who are you?"

"Who do you think I am?"

Black Bear asked back, and Lu Bu carried the dragged Fang Tian Ji on his shoulder. The knights who half-surrounded them immediately dropped torches to the ground.

Another person tremblingly held a torch to illuminate the Fang Tian Ji, but soon the torch also fell to the snow.

At this time, Gao Shun's ten-man team lit the last piece of reed, and the two burning reeds in front and behind caused a lot of noise.

Black Bear estimated that even if the Digen and Wuhuan people attempted a night attack or used fatigue tactics, they would have to reconsider their strategy now.

The knights surrounding them were all speechless. Seeing this, Black Bear asked, "Are you soldiers from Taiyuan or Yanmen?"

"The troops under the command of Lord Shentu of Yanmen are still fifty miles behind us. We have been assigned to escort the food and fodder."

The leader almost rolled off the saddle sideways, landed steadily on the ground and knelt down: "The Wuhuan people and the Black Mountain Army said that the general had dealt a heavy blow to the Xiongnu, and our Taiyuan troops were holding on and waiting for help. I wonder if this is true or false?"

"You didn't send anyone to scout southward?"

"We dare not. Today, there is a chaotic battle among the scouts from all sides. We dare not go deep into the enemy territory."

The man raised his hand and pointed at the burning reeds. "Although we sent people to observe from the west bank, we couldn't see clearly. So the camp didn't dare to make a decision, nor did we dare to join forces with the Wuhuan. So we built a circle of chariots and camped. Tomorrow, when Shentu Gong's troops from Yanmen arrive, we can join forces."

"You are doing the right thing, and I will not interfere with you."

Black Bear thought for a moment, then said, "I have forced the Taiyuan troops to surrender. Wang Rou died in battle, Linghu Chao committed suicide in the battle to apologize, and Wang Ling, Guo Huai and more than 500 other riders fled eastward. I have no intention of chasing them. Tomorrow morning, I will send someone to deliver the heads of Wang Rou and Linghu Chao."

He reined in his horse and turned around, looking around at the knights who dared not look up: "Don't let the camp's supplies fall into the hands of the Wuhuan and Black Mountain troops, you will be rewarded."

Without saying anything more, he drove his horse south. After he was more than a hundred steps away, Lu Bu dragged the Fang Tian Ji to the ground again and drove his horse to follow him.

Watching them leave, the other knights dismounted one after another, filled with fear.

For more than a dozen breaths, no one spoke.

When the reeds caught fire, the nearest small Wuhuan tribes sent knights to conduct reconnaissance.

At this moment, the black bear had returned to the sled, with the two sleds moving one in front and one behind.

From time to time, arrows were shot by the Wuhuan cavalry, and the cavalry with superb riding skills stabbed with spears and fought with the soldiers holding halberds in the carriages.

Lu Bu had already started to drive his horse into battle, and the poor visibility at night ensured the courage of these Wuhuan knights.

Upon seeing this, Black Bear ordered Gao Shun to ride on horseback alone to cooperate in the ambush and kill.

After defeating and killing about thirty cavalrymen in succession, the Wuhuan people gave up the pursuit.

After the artificially planted reed fields in these lakes and swamps were burned down by black bears, the Wuhuan people had to look for various unburned woods to obtain fuel.

You can go to the mountains to cut wood, but with the current temperature, it is impossible to start a fire after cutting down the wood.

When passing Qi County, two sections of reed fields were still burning.

Black Bear turned east to the outskirts of Qi County and saw bonfires for lighting and heating in various places on the city wall, as well as patrolling teams with torches.

After taking a few more glances and without communicating with Guo Xian, the black bear returned south to the camp.

He first inspected the Hun camp and then patrolled southward.

A strict curfew has been implemented in the southern camp.

Black Bear brought Jia Kui out, and he lit a bonfire near the Taiyuan soldiers' daytime position.

Two heavy sleds were placed horizontally on the north side to block the wind. Jia Kui was warming himself by the fire with a dazed look on his face, not knowing how to start the conversation for a long time.

Today we have defeated the strongest Xiongnu and Taiyuan troops, and tomorrow it will be the turn of the Wuhuan and Heishan armies.

Probably when the Hedong soldiers arrived at the battlefield the day after tomorrow, they would have no choice but to turn against their enemies and lay down their armor, vying for surrender.

It would probably be a huge farce if the big families in Hedong blamed each other.

(End of this chapter)