Chapter 536: The Great Han Champion

Chapter 536: The Great Han Champion

Chapter 536: The Great Han Champion

Ah!
On the grassland after the battle, accompanied by a scream, the vigilant Huo Qubing was almost the first to ride his horse to the place where the scream came from.

Then, following his gaze, the audience saw a humanoid monster that was completely black and seemed to be covered with scales, lying on the Han soldiers and biting them hard.

"monster!"

The movie shows the bravery of the young general Huo Qubing here. He almost rushed forward and shot the roaring monster away with one shot.

Soon after, other soldiers also rode over, using shields, swords, spears and bows and arrows to cooperate and hunt down the black-scaled monster.

Under the siege of the organized, well-coordinated and brave Han soldiers, the black monster, although extremely powerful and covered with scales that were impervious to swords and spears, was still no match for four hands. In the end, Huo Qubing took the opportunity to stab the black monster in the eye and killed it instantly.

It was not until this moment, as the camera zoomed in on Huo Qubing dismounting and walking forward, that the audience could finally see the monster's specific appearance.

It has blue-black scales, a slender body, a pointed head, a big mouth full of fangs, thick arms but no legs, and only a long tail.

If we use Chinese words to describe it, it is the "human head and snake body" recorded in many mythological literatures, which is obviously a demon or monster at first glance.

Where did these monsters come from?
Huo Qubing and others soon obtained information. They learned from a servant serving a Xiongnu wizard that this monster with a "human head and a snake body" was actually transformed from a human.

According to the other party, those Hun wizards have a strange three-eyed black snake in their hands. Although it is extremely poisonous, if it is swallowed by the most courageous Hun warrior in the tribe, not only will it die immediately, it may also be transformed into a monster called "snake puppet".

The "snake puppet" has immense strength, keen perception, and agile movements. Its body is covered with scales that are difficult to be injured by swords or guns. Its blood also carries a certain amount of weak toxicity. It can be said to be the most outstanding killing machine.

However, the success rate of transforming this kind of "snake puppet" is extremely low, and unfortunately, the Hun wizard who mastered the ability to make "snake puppets" had already died in the melee just now.

As a result, Huo Qubing and his companions lost the clue, and for a moment it was difficult to know where the wizard got the strange three-eyed black snake.

But even though the Xiongnu wizard who mastered the art of refining the "snake puppet" had died, Huo Qubing and other Han soldiers, as long as they had seen the "snake puppet", had a shadow cast over their hearts.

After several battles, the Han army did not find more snake puppets in Mobei. Finally, Huo Qubing with a gloomy face could only return to the court with General Wei Qing.

Although he reported the information about the "snake puppet", because the body of the "snake puppet" rotted quickly and there was no real object in front of them, only some scales and claws, the civil and military officials in the court and the country naturally did not care about it.

Although Huo Qubing was unwilling, he had no choice but to let the matter go.

This was the time when the Han Dynasty's national strength and military power were at their peak, and Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, had always had the ambition to open up the Silk Road and solve the hidden danger of the Huns.

In particular, in the third year of Yuanshuo (126 BC), Zhang Qian, who was on a diplomatic mission to Dayuezhi, returned to Chang'an and brought back more intelligence about the countries in the Western Regions.

It happened that after several major battles in Henan and south of the desert, the Right Wise King of the Xiongnu lost control of the kings in Hexi, and the Chanyu moved far to the north of the desert. The greatest threat to the Western Han Dynasty south of the desert was the Xiongnu army in Hexi.

So Emperor Wu of Han set his next target on the Hexi Corridor.

It was decided to cut off the right arm of the Xiongnu, sever its ties with the Western Regions and the Western Qiang tribes, and clear the way for the final decisive battle in Mobei and the opening of the Silk Road.

Such an important task, of course, fell on Huo Qubing, who had made his mark in the previous battle in the south of the desert.

In the spring of the second year of Yuanshou (121 BC), Emperor Wu of Han appointed the -year-old Huo Qubing as General of Cavalry, and led cavalrymen alone to fight against the Xiongnu in Hexi, which is known in history as the First Battle of Hexi.

The so-called Hexi region refers to Wuwei, Zhangye, Jiuquan, Dunhuang and other places in Gansu today. Because it is located west of the Yellow River, it has been called Hexi since ancient times. Because it is a narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Qilian Mountains (also known as the Nanshan Mountains) and the Heli Mountains, it is also called the Hexi Corridor. It is the throat of the Central Plains leading to the Western Regions.

This area was originally the territory of the Dayuezhi tribe. Later, Maodun Chanyu defeated the Dayuezhi and forced them to migrate westward, so this place was occupied by the Xiongnu.

The Xiongnu Chanyu ordered King Hunxie to rule Jiuquan and the surrounding areas, and King Xiutu to rule Wuwei and the surrounding areas, to control the countries in the Western Regions, and to unite with the Qiang people in the south to threaten the Western Han Dynasty from the west.

Huo Qubing took the order and led the army, setting out from Longxi County, crossing the Wuli Mountain, crossing the Yellow River, attacking the Chupu tribe, quickly beheading the King of Chupu, wading through the Hunu River, and fighting for more than a thousand miles in six days. He defeated the five Xiongnu kingdoms and routed the small kings in Hexi one after another like a landslide.

Then he went into battle lightly, using the means of fighting to support himself and eating the local food, advancing at high speed, making a long raid across the Yanzhi Mountain, and engaging in a decisive battle with the main force of the Xiongnu at Gaolan Mountain.

The fierce Han cavalry, deep in enemy territory and isolated and without help, engaged the Xiongnu in close combat and killed the Xiongnu King Zhelan and King Luhou, causing King Hunxie to flee in panic.

At this point, the Han soldiers successfully gained a foothold in the Hexi region by relying on their bravery, and completely occupied the Hexi region in the second summer Battle of Hexi, annihilating more than 4 enemies.

From then on, the Han Dynasty controlled the Hexi region and laid the foundation for opening up the Silk Road in the Western Regions.

The Xiongnu sang a sad song: "Without Mount Qilian, my livestock have ceased to thrive; without Mount Yanzhi, my married women have lost their color."

The first fifteen minutes of the movie "The Great Wall" are almost entirely devoted to introducing this historical background.

However, due to the compressed narrative rhythm, the main perspective being the young general Huo Qubing, and the presence of several grand and shocking ancient cavalry war scenes, even the introduction to the historical background made the audience on site enjoy the show.

After the background introduction, the Western Han government completely established itself in the Hexi region, successively setting up four counties: Wuwei, Jiuquan, Zhangye and Dunhuang, and migrating a large number of people from the inland areas to guard the border and produce.

At the same time, the Han government also began to prepare for the subsequent Battle of Mobei, which would make Huo Qubing a legendary Chinese military general because of his "Sealing the Wolf at Lair".

In the spring of the third year of Yuanshou (120 BC), in order to prevent the Huns from returning for revenge, the Han government began to build the Great Wall from Jiuquan to Yumen, and the famous Yumen Pass was also established.

Due to the establishment of Yumen Pass and the post stations along the way, and with the protection of the Han army, the number of caravans coming from the Western Regions to the inland of the Han Dynasty increased day by day, making the Hexi border a prosperous trade hub.

At this time, Huo Qubing was garrisoning his troops at Yumen Pass. A piece of news he received recently made him quite upset.

According to rumors, some herdsmen outside the city discovered a strange black snake not far from Yumen Pass. Several of their sheep were bitten to death, and even ferocious hunting dogs were afraid of the black snakes.

In addition, in recent months, the number of Hu merchants coming from the Western Regions has been much smaller than in the past. There are rumors among the caravans that monsters have appeared in the Western Regions, making the Silk Road several times more dangerous.

The Silk Road was a major solution to the Xiongnu problem during the Han Dynasty. It used commercial trade to connect the countries in the Western Regions to form a community of interests in order to curb the Xiongnu border violations that often occurred on the Han Dynasty's borders. Now that this road has problems, it means that the emperor's strategy has problems, which is no small matter.

So, early in the morning before dawn, a team of elite knights rushed out of Yumen Pass and began to explore in reverse along the Silk Road.

On the other side, on the pure yellow barren Gobi Desert, a caravan from the Western Regions was fleeing frantically.

Behind them, a group of Xiongnu cavalry were playing with their bows and arrows, laughing wildly every time they hit a target.

The caravan had to abandon a large amount of goods and horses and split into two groups, which temporarily helped them escape the pursuit.

However, when they were hiding in the cave at night, they were attacked by a monster from the darkness, and some of their men were killed. However, the guards hired by the caravan also cut off one of the monster's arms with a sharp steel knife from the Western Regions.

Later in the day, the remaining members of the caravan continued to flee towards the Han border, but were then caught up by the Xiongnu cavalry.

However, this time they happened to meet the Cavalry Jingwei who were sent by Huo Qubing to investigate the situation.

When several Han cavalrymen wearing black and red iron armor and holding spears, Han swords and longbows appeared on the red ridge in the distance, both the fleeing caravan and the Xiongnu cavalry behind them subconsciously pulled the reins.

Although there were less than 10 people, those cavalrymen had an indescribable majestic aura just standing there, which gave people a great sense of oppression.

And in the next second, they ignored the difference in numbers between the enemy and us, swooped down from the ridge on their horses, brushed past the caravan, ignored the merchants who dismounted, knelt and raised their hands in surrender, and killed the Hun cavalry behind them.

These are the fierce soldiers led by the Great Champion Marquis of the Han Dynasty, the most powerful and elite soldiers in the world today.

There were only eight light cavalrymen, but their charge was like a crushing army of thousands.

The Hun soldiers screamed, some turned around and prepared to retreat, while others drew their bows and arrows to shoot.

However, the Hussars were undoubtedly superior to the Xiongnu soldiers in combat skills. They were able to start construction even on galloping horses, and their arrows hit the Xiongnu cavalry who were about to shoot from a distance.

After a wave of arrows, the Hussars and Jingwei rushed into the chaotic Xiongnu cavalry with spears. They had no intention of fighting anymore, but just held their spears horizontally, and like a hot knife cutting into butter, they repeatedly cut up the Xiongnu cavalry that outnumbered them by many times.

Screams, the sound of corpses falling to the ground, and the wailing of war horses were heard continuously. Some of the Xiongnu cavalry wanted to stop the Hussars and fight back, while some subconsciously avoided their attack.

Dark red blood scattered like rain on the red sand and gravel under their feet.

For this battle scene, Zhang Yimou deliberately chose to shoot on the Danxia landform in Zhangye, Gansu. Now that it appears in the movie, the unique landform like a red wave, coupled with the bloody killing, does have a unique beauty.

When the Hussars turned their horses and launched the third charge, the Xiongnu cavalry could no longer hold on. The Xiongnu cavalry on the periphery fled in panic, while those who could not escape dismounted and knelt in surrender.

Perhaps because they had followed Huo Qubing in capturing a large number of Huns, these cavalrymen, even though they were all injured, dared to boldly drive the Huns captives whose numbers far exceeded their own, back towards Yumen Pass.

In their view, these Hun cavalry might be the reason for the turmoil on the Silk Road.

However, just as this team of cavalry and guards were escorting the Hun captives and passing by the Western Region merchant caravans that had managed to escape with their lives, a disheveled, bearded Westerner in the team suddenly gritted his teeth and blocked their way.

"What do you want to do?"

The leading cavalry captain's voice came from his helmet, sounding a little muffled.

The foreign mercenary then hurriedly took out the strange severed limb from the package and held it high above his head.

When the cavalry captain saw the thing, he was shocked all over. He grabbed it with the spear in his hand, and then shouted at the mercenary to ask about the origin of the thing.

However, the mercenary did not speak Chinese, and he spoke a language that the Han soldiers could not understand.

Fortunately, since this Western Region caravan dared to travel thousands of miles to do business in Zhongran, there are naturally translators in the team who understand both Western Region languages ​​and Chinese.

With his help, the Cavalry Jingwei learned the origin of the claw. They no longer cared about the Hun captives and immediately took the Western Region mercenary and one of his companions back to Yumen Pass.

After returning to Guanzhong, the captain of the Cavalry Jingwei immediately reported the situation to General Huo Qubing.

When Huo Qubing saw the strange severed limb, he couldn't help but frown and began to interrogate the Western mercenary and his companions.

With the narration of the Western Region mercenaries and the translation of the interpreter, Huo Qubing and the audience outside the big screen finally understood what was going on.

It turned out that while the ambitious Emperor Wu of Han was planning the attack on the Huns and the opening of the Silk Road, a small country called Jingjue appeared deep in the desert of the Western Regions.

The leader of the country is a woman named Queen Jingjue, who possesses special abilities. Her eyes are said to be connected to the underworld. As long as she looks at her enemy, the enemy will disappear without a trace.

It was with this special ability, coupled with the control of a strange black snake, that the Jingjue Kingdom quickly conquered the surrounding Western Regions countries and ordered them to offer tribute on time.

And this is not the end. As time goes by, the Queen of Jingjue's ambition grows bigger and bigger.

Just a few years ago, with the Han Dynasty's attack on the Huns, the situation in the Western Regions suddenly changed, and the ambition of the Queen of Jingjue was awakened.

On the one hand, she took the initiative to form an alliance with the Huns, and on the other hand, she intended to annex the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions. If she had the opportunity, she even planned to invade the Central Plains along the Hexi Corridor.

Because of her move to annex the thirty-six kingdoms in the Western Regions, wars of varying sizes broke out on the Silk Road, and commercial trade was naturally affected.

The mercenaries' caravan was attacked by the Huns, allies of the Jingjue Kingdom, on the way to the Central Plains, and now they are the only ones left.

(End of this chapter)