The Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu had perished. When the imperial guards finally stopped, they discovered that the Great Chanyu had already been trampled into pulp by the panicked horses. What a miserable death.
With the Great Chanyu dead, the Xiongnu army's morale immediately collapsed. Combined with the ferocity of the Western Regions allied forces, every general began thinking about preserving his own strength.
After all, when the grassland people went to war, the soldiers each general brought were from his own tribe. If his tribesmen were all killed in battle, then as tribal chief, that general would lose his power as well.
"Retreat!"
The Xiongnu raced away on horseback. Some were lucky enough to escape the Western Regions allied forces' reach, while others were far less fortunate. They were caught and given a brutal beating by the allied forces, suffering countless casualties. The Xiongnu royal army, originally forty or fifty thousand strong, was instantly scattered.
In this battle, Jiang Hao shot and killed the Great Chanyu of the Xiongnu king. The Chanyu's army collapsed completely. After being pursued for more than ten miles, over ten thousand were cut down. Although the numbers were fewer than in the previous two battles, this was an unprecedented victory. Jiang Hao knew that with the Great Chanyu dead, the entire grassland would likely descend into chaos.
Jiang Hao ordered the soldiers to clean up the battlefield. He neither continued the pursuit nor attacked the Left Virtuous King's army a hundred miles away. Instead, he charged directly toward the Chanyu court deep in the rear. Three days later, before anyone could react, Jiang Hao led his troops in a single assault that broke through the Xiongnu royal court.
Killing and looting filled the camp as it burned in raging flames. After plundering it, the