Chapter 1199: Ready for War After Thirty Years of Waiting

No one really thought deeply about the problem at hand. If the nomads fail to seize grain, do they simply wait to die without exploiting their own people?

Both Li You and Jia Xu had spent years in the north and knew well the nature of the nomads, so when they received Guo Jia’s intelligence, they didn’t give it much thought. And rightly so, even if they did, they wouldn’t have been able to draw any useful conclusions.

The Northern Xiongnu had long been erased from history. The last time they appeared was decades ago, and the Han court had long forgotten the eagles of the steppe they once fought.

Huyan Chu reined in his horse at the entrance of the Mo Tribe’s tent on the Western Xianbei border. After so many years, they had finally returned to the vast steppe of their dreams.

This was once the pastureland of the Xiongnu. This was once the battleground where they rode proudly. This was once their land. Now, after more than a century, they had set foot on their homeland again.

Countless Xiongnu stood on the snowy plains, lifting their heads to the sky and roaring in fury. The pastures they had longed for all these years—now they had returned. They were still the strongest power on the steppe, even with only a few hundred thousand remaining. They were still the eagles of the grasslands!

"Motuotong, I’ll give you a choice: submit or die," Huyan Chu casually tossed a dagger in front of the Mo Tribe leader.

Without hesitation, the leader of the Mo Tribe took the dagger and slashed it across his face. "I pledge to be the loyal hound of the Chanyu!" He knelt on the snowy plains, offering the dagger to Huyan Chu.

"From now on, you will be known as the Xiongnu Mo Tribe," Huyan Chu took back the dagger and bestowed the title of Xiongnu upon the Xianbei Mo Tribe.

"From this day forth, the Xianbei Mo Tribe no longer exists. Only the Xiongnu Mo Tribe under the Great Chanyu!" Motuotong declared, his voice filled with power. Among the northern nomads of this era, the only king they recognized was the Northern Xiongnu. As for the Xianbei, they had yet to reach their peak.

"Rise, and follow me to battle!" Huyan Chu threw his cloak back with a loud laugh. "The Xiongnu will reclaim everything that was once ours."

At that moment, tens of thousands of Xiongnu warriors gazed at Huyan Chu with deep reverence. Only Huyan Chu himself knew that he was doing this not for glory, but to quell the restless heart of the Northern Xiongnu after thirty years of waiting. The Han Empire was not so easy to defeat.

【Granting the title of Xiongnu to the surrendering Xianbei and leading them into battle—if we can achieve even a one-to-one casualty ratio, the Xianbei will fully integrate into the Xiongnu, expanding our population.】 Huyan Chu silently planned.

As the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, Huyan Chu had no desire to go to war with the Han Empire. But ever since the battle of Tianshan thirty years ago, the Northern Xiongnu had been recuperating, and now, they once again had the strength to fight. The new generation of Xiongnu warriors was eager to test themselves against the Han Empire.

Only those who had fought in the Battle of Tianshan, like Huyan Chu, understood that the Xiongnu could never defeat the Han. It wasn’t a matter of combat strength but one of numbers. The Han population was fifty times that of the Xiongnu—this was a war they couldn’t win.

In terms of combat prowess, the two sides were quite evenly matched. After spending many years in the Western Regions, the Xiongnu's weapons and equipment had been upgraded to nearly the same level as the Han. Both sides had reached their peak in terms of armament and training.

In a one-on-one battle, even if the Xiongnu lost, it wouldn’t be a devastating defeat. However, the Northern Xiongnu's population was now smaller than that of even the minor Wuhuan tribes.

The Han could afford to wear down the Xiongnu, but the Xiongnu couldn’t afford to be worn down. This was why Huyan Chu had no interest in clashing with the Han. But the Northern Xiongnu had endured thirty years, always prepared for war. The restraint imposed by the late Chanyu to curb their eastern ambitions had finally broken down.

This generation of Xiongnu was stronger than the one that fought in the Battle of Tianshan. Though Huyan Chu's reputation had grown tremendously over the past thirty years, it was no longer possible for him to suppress the new generation's desire to return east. The Northern Xiongnu were like King Goujian, who had endured hardship to bide his time. The Xiongnu were experiencing their final surge of power.

So when Huyan Chu received Li Jue's message and saw the restlessness among the Xiongnu leaders, he knew he could no longer hold them back. It was better to channel their energy than to try to suppress it.

Rather than allowing the younger generation to lead ten thousand Xiongnu cavalry to crush Li Jue and return with the momentum of a great victory, demanding to move east, Huyan Chu decided to lead the eastern campaign himself. This way, he could at least maintain control of the situation.

Huyan Chu understood clearly that if he didn’t lead the Northern Xiongnu east, the new generation, who had already gathered momentum, would eventually overthrow him and still head east.

If they charged east recklessly, relying on the strength of the Xiongnu to secure short-term victories, it would only lead to the extinction of the Xiongnu royal lineage on the steppes.

Therefore, after assessing the deteriorating situation, Huyan Chu decisively revealed his hand. By personally leading the Xiongnu eastward, he could ensure that even if they lost, their lineage would not be severed.

【The next step is to swallow up the Xianbei, Wuhuan, and Qiang nomads one by one. They share a similar origin with us. Once we absorb them and grant them the honor of the Northern Xiongnu, we’ll have enough fodder troops.】 Huyan Chu thought to himself.

This was a war that the Chanyu and the Xiongnu had no choice but to fight. Although their goals were at odds with one another, a conflict between the Han and the Xiongnu was now inevitable.

But while the ordinary Northern Xiongnu wanted to rekindle the glory of their people, the Chanyu sought something different. Huyan Chu desired a devastating defeat—one so crushing that the Xiongnu would realize they could not challenge the Han Empire. Of course, no matter how disastrous the defeat, he would not sacrifice the entire Northern Xiongnu in the process.

Only with such a painful loss would Huyan Chu be able to lead the Northern Xiongnu far away from their homeland, to find new ground on which they could survive.

Although Huyan Chu’s goal was to lose, he would not hold back during the battle. Only by giving it their all and still losing could the Northern Xiongnu awaken to the reality of their situation. Huyan Chu was prepared to sacrifice fifty thousand Xiongnu warriors in the process.

Only a pain that cut to the bone could make the Northern Xiongnu understand. Just as they once ruled the Western Regions before the Battle of Tianshan, their power had blinded them, and war had once again begun.

Leaving behind countless corpses of their people, the Northern Xiongnu retreated to the far northwest. With tears of blood, they gazed upon the Han Empire's Central Plains, with bitter hearts reflecting on their lost homeland. It was at that time that Huyan Chu had inherited the position of Chanyu.

In those circumstances, he led the Northern Xiongnu through thirty years of hardship and resurgence. Most of those who had fought in the Battle of Tianshan were gone, and the new generation, while powerful, lacked the deep, painful understanding that came with defeat.

Once again, the Northern Xiongnu had reached a point where only blood could awaken their people. But this time, Huyan Chu had prepared the blood of millions of nomads. Come, with the name of the Northern Xiongnu, with the name of the Eagles of the Steppe—defeat us, and we will never set foot on this sorrowful land again!

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