The battle raged on throughout the night. At dawn, the Xiongnu troops withdrew. There was a stir in Chen Xuan's camp. The adjutant was just proposing to lead the troops to pursue the retreating enemy while taking advantage of the victory, but Chen Xuan stopped him. With a glance at the well - organized withdrawal of the enemy, he said in a deep voice, "Let's go back first."
The adjutant obediently rallied the troops.
When the group retreated into the city, Chen Xuan had just sat down on a chair when he turned his head and saw a soldier rushing over in a hurry. The soldier said anxiously, "My lord, General Mao is in trouble!"
Chen Xuan abruptly stood up.
Inside the room, General Mao was lying quietly on the bed. Due to his long - term coma, his once sun - tanned face had gradually turned pale.
Chen Xuan looked at the mess on the ground with a grim expression. He walked to the corner and picked up a dagger.
It was a very ordinary dagger. Chen Xuan ran his finger lightly along the blade, and the dagger immediately pierced his finger, leaving a bloodstain.
The adjutant frowned and said, "My lord."
Chen Xuan threw the dagger to him and said, "Only the two most famous blacksmith shops in the city can make such a sharp dagger. Go and check if anyone has bought one recently."
The adjutant nodded seriously, immediately put away the dagger, and left.
The servants were quietly tidying up the room.
Chen Xuan approached the bed and looked at General Mao with a pale face. After a long while, he let out a deep sigh.
There was a mole inside the city. Even if he sent out a letter at this moment, he was afraid it would fall into the hands of the mole. It would be better if the letter was destroyed, but what he feared most was false information being spread.
The information gap was a fatal flaw on the battlefield.
The room was soon restored to its original state. Chen Xuan hadn't even taken off his armor. He had fought so fiercely during the battle to defend the city that only when he stopped did he notice that his left hand was still trembling.
Looking at his weak and limp hands, a hint of gloom flashed in his eyes.
After a while, he stood up. Looking at the gradually brightening sky outside, he said in a deep voice, "Someone, drag that spy out of the dungeon!"
On the first day he arrived here, he had directly arrested General Mao's adjutant.
It was really stupid of that guy. After harming General Mao, he thought he had covered his tracks perfectly and even dared to swagger under his nose!
General Mao was trained by him, so the people around him had naturally passed his scrutiny.
Almost at the first sight of that guy, he knew that he had been replaced. He directly drew out a knife from a subordinate and cut off the guy's hand tendons.
This man was insidious. First, he took advantage of the battle to get rid of General Mao's trusted military advisor. Then, while General Mao was in grief, he provoked him to go out and fight the enemy. Distracted, General Mao was shot by an arrow and had been in a coma ever since due to the severe poison.
On the drill ground, Chen Xuan stood in the middle. With cold and fierce eyes, he looked at the half - dead spy hanging on the cross, covered in blood, and said in a deep voice, "Bring me a knife!"
A soldier immediately drew out a knife and handed it to Chen Xuan.
The spy moved and slowly raised his head. His swollen and bruised eyes looked at Chen Xuan as if he wanted to see his face clearly.
Looking at Chen Xuan approaching slowly, he let out a low laugh and said, "General Chen, how does it feel to see General Mao's fate?"
Chen Xuan remained silent, only staring at him coldly. When he heard the spy's words, a hint of ferocity flashed in his eyes.
The spy suddenly burst into laughter and said, "Your imperial court is rotten to the core! The emperor at the top doesn't even care about you. Why are you still putting up a futile resistance? Why don't you all surrender together? You can even become high - ranking officials under the Xiongnu soon!"
There was a sudden stir among the crowd below.
Chen Xuan's eyes turned fierce. He slashed at the flagpole beside him. A humming sound rang out, the wooden pole cracked with a "crackle", and the flag slowly fell and crashed to the ground!
Everyone suddenly fell silent.
Chen Xuan sneered, but his expression was cold: "The instigating words of a spy can even make you restless. You scoundrels!"
The last two words seemed to come from his chest, like a thunderclap that suddenly exploded in the field.
"General Mao was lenient in leading his troops, but I, Chen Xuan, can't tolerate any treachery. " Chen Xuan's fierce eyes scanned the crowd one by one. Almost everyone who met his gaze immediately lowered their heads. Their hearts were pounding, and they couldn't help but feel scared. "I'll give you a chance now. Those who want to betray the imperial court or be deserters, step forward now! I, Chen Xuan, will never force you to stay, nor will I pursue the matter. I mean what I say."
The field was deathly quiet. One could almost clearly hear the sound of the wind.
After a moment, they heard Chen Xuan let out a cold laugh: "What? Why don't you say anything now? Where's the energy you showed just now?"
The soldiers below suddenly blushed and looked ashamed.
Chen Xuan's face was as cold as ice: "I'll count down from three. Those who really want to leave, step forward now. I'll never force you to stay, and I'll never hold you accountable. I keep my word."
"Three, two... one!"
Through his messy hair, the spy looked at the soldiers who had been disciplined by Chen Xuan like well - behaved dogs. A hint of hatred flashed in his eyes. He opened his mouth and roared, "The imperial court is rotten to the core! What good can you get by following him? You're just being treated like cannon fodder and casually sacrificed on the battlefield! When you die, no one will even remember you. Even your families will forget you long ago!"
Chen Xuan suddenly kicked a sharp spear beside him. The spear flew up. He grabbed it with his left hand, turned the tip of the spear, and directly knocked out the spy's teeth!
The spy immediately let out a painful scream.
The people below were shocked and stood still on the spot. Some of them even straightened their backs, and cold sweat slowly oozed from their foreheads.
Chen Xuan sneered and said, "Helian Zhen killed his father and brother and even threw his own son into boiling water! How can he even dream of taking over the Central Plains?"
His fierce eyes swept across everyone below. Seeing that no one had taken a step forward, he reluctantly showed a satisfied expression and said, "Good."
"Since no one wants to be a deserter, then listen up!" Chen Xuan took a deep breath and shouted, "You are all people of the Central Plains. Your roots are firmly planted in this land! No matter how the imperial court changes, the brutal Xiongnu will never be the masters here!"
"We have already lost three cities in a row and retreated to this military stronghold. " He shouted, "We all know how important this place and this city are! If we retreat one more city, the beautiful rivers and mountains of the Central Plains and the parents, wives, and children we are protecting will all become prisoners of others!"
These words directly hit the softest and most painful part in everyone's heart.
If it were a prosperous and peaceful era, why would they risk their lives on this yellow - sand - covered land?
It was simply because there were people behind them to protect, so they had to fight and could not retreat.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!"
I don't know who shouted first. Like a drop of water falling into a frying pan, the field instantly boiled over!
They stared firmly at Chen Xuan above, as if staring at a long - lost belief. Those shouts of "fight" awakened the blood that they had deeply hidden before, like an arrow that suddenly woke up all the sleeping people!
The field was in an uproar, with a magnificent momentum.
Seeing this, Chen Xuan laughed out loud three times and said, "Good!"
As soon as he spoke, the field immediately fell silent.
He threw the spear in his hand aside, picked up the knife again, raised his head and drank a mouthful of wine, and suddenly spat it on the knife.
"Then use him as a flag," he said, "to sacrifice to the sky for our destined victory!"
With that said, he cut off the spy's head with one stroke!
The field instantly boiled over.
"Fight! Fight! Fight!!"