Xiongnu

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Xiongnu
Original Name	匈奴
Type	Northern grassland tribe confederation
Affiliation	Xiongnu royal court, constituent tribes, and shaman lineage
Status	Active but heavily weakened; western tribes withdrew toward the royal court after the death of Left Worthy King Hu Han, while some cavalry later defected to the Ice Clan 108 111
First Appearance	Chapter 55

Society and Culture

Territory and livelihood

The Xiongnu inhabit the grasslands north of the Chen and Qing Kingdoms. Their tribes depend on livestock—particularly warhorses, cattle, and sheep—and the loss of these resources threatens their winter survival and social stability 55 65.

When food runs short, they launch southern raiding campaigns against Chen and Qing settlements, a practice they call “beating the grass valleys.” Such incursions occur every two or three years and involve pillaging villages, seizing grain, and abducting civilians 55.

Beliefs

The Xiongnu revere Eternal Heaven. Eagles are regarded as divine birds, and exceptional archers capable of shooting them are honored as Eagle Shooters 60.

Shamans serve as priests and intermediaries between the Xiongnu and natural spirits. At Yellow Sheep Plain, Xiongnu tradition held that a shaman served the Yellow Sheep Spirit, whose blessing kept the grassland fertile and survivable through winter 71.

• The Xiongnu conducted a blood sacrifice involving thousands of kneeling corpses to a Mountain Sprite regarded as a nature spirit by their shamans 72.
• Their shaman lineage later allied with the Ice Spirit Clan, but was subsequently exterminated by an extraterrestrial ice race from the Far-Northern Snowfields 108.

Leadership and Military Structure

Rank / Group	Role
Great Chanyu	Supreme ruler of the Xiongnu.
Three chief ministers and four high-ranking officials	Senior leadership beneath the Chanyu 60.
Twenty-Four Chiefs	Core mid-level commanders, each able to raise more than ten thousand cavalry; Left General Luhu Wu was one of them 60.
Left General	Senior commander responsible for a campaign direction; Luhu Wu commanded the Wild Goose Pass front 60.
Left Worthy King	One of the Four Pillars beneath the Great Chanyu; Hu Han held this position before his death 99.
Khans	Leaders of individual tribes, including Muhe Khan of the Wood Sheep Tribe and Shan Lu Khan of the Blazing Mountain Tribe 65 66.
Eagle Shooters	Elite mounted archers whose status is comparable to a commander of a thousand men 60.
Shamans	Religious figures who communicate with natural spirits and participate in major rituals 71 72.

Military Practices

The Xiongnu are renowned for mounted archery and cavalry warfare. Their speed, fine warhorses, and ability to fight on horseback historically enabled them to pressure southern infantry forces 55 65.

• Mounted archery — Their cavalry excels with bow and horse; Eagle Shooters provide long-range support and can contest elite archers directly 55 61.
• Eagle Shooters — Rare master archers revered within Xiongnu society. Gu Muda’s arrows were capable of intercepting Li Yi’s Army-Breaking Three Kills 60 61.
• Enemy-Subduing Hundred Charge Spear — A secret spear art of the Xiongnu royal clan specializing in mounted charges, armor-piercing force, and successive kills during a charge 63.
• Qiang-Subduing Mountain-Breaking Spear — The Blazing Mountain Tribe’s inherited spear art, originally created to counter the mountain infantry and massed formations of the Western Qiang 67.

History

Southern invasion and defeat at the canyon

A severe early winter prompted the Xiongnu king of the north to send three thousand cavalry south to pillage frontier villages and towns near Wild Goose Pass 55. Li Yi’s Wind Tiger Battalion ambushed the force in a canyon, using concealed archers to devastate the column before Qing cavalry cut off its retreat. The entire three-thousand-man vanguard was annihilated 55.

The loss led Left General Luhu Wu to personally take five thousand elite riders south, intending to capture Li Yi and seize Wild Goose Pass 60. After repeated fighting around the pass, Li Yi’s night raid burned the Xiongnu granary and threw their camp into disorder. Luhu Wu was defeated in battle and forced to flee, while the Chen army killed over three thousand Xiongnu troops and captured another thousand 62 63.

Li Yi’s northern expedition

Following the defeat of Luhu Wu’s force, Li Yi led a thousand cavalry deep into the grasslands using intelligence supplied by the captured Eagle Shooter Gu Muda 64. His forces attacked the Wood Sheep Tribe, Blazing Mountain Tribe, and Hundred Waters Tribe, killing their leaders and seizing livestock, captives, and warhorses 65 67.

The expedition caused nearby tribes to abandon their settlements and flee north. By its conclusion, Li Yi’s forces had killed roughly eight thousand elite Xiongnu warriors, captured ten thousand Xiongnu, and seized six thousand horses alongside thirty thousand cattle and sheep 67. The Xiongnu captives began calling Li Yi the Wolf God reborn out of fear 67.

Failed peace negotiations and renewed campaigns

After the grassland losses, the Xiongnu sent envoys to negotiate peace with Chen Kingdom. Li Yi rejected their terms, declaring that the Xiongnu must submit or face annihilation 69.

Li Yi later launched another northern offensive with two thousand soldiers. At Yellow Sheep Plain, his army found the local tribes gone and uncovered evidence of the Xiongnu’s ritual activity in the northern forest 71 72. After the defeat of the Mountain Sprite and subsequent raids around the plain, the remaining nearby tribes fled north, leaving no major Xiongnu threat close to Wild Goose Pass 73.

Alliance against Wild Goose Pass

The Xiongnu later cooperated with Qing Kingdom and the Black Wind Sect. Nearly twenty thousand Xiongnu cavalry joined the coalition assault on Wild Goose Pass, with Left Worthy King Hu Han leading the Xiongnu contingent 96 98 99.

Hu Han was killed by Li Yi’s arrows during the decisive battle, shattering the Xiongnu cavalry’s morale and causing their army to collapse 99. After his death, western grassland tribes withdrew toward the Xiongnu royal court 108.

Ice Clan defection

The surviving Xiongnu shaman lineage sought an alliance with the Ice Spirit Clan for another southward invasion. Their plan ended when an extraterrestrial ice race emerged from the Far-Northern Snowfields, killed every Xiongnu shaman, and enslaved the Ice Spirit Clan 108.

Later, nearly ten thousand Xiongnu cavalry were seen fighting alongside Ice Spirit wolf cavalry, having defected to the Ice Clan 111. Their low morale contributed to the Ice Clan allied army’s failure to overwhelm Wild Goose Pass 113.

Relationships

• Chen Kingdom — Long-standing enemy and frequent target of southern raids; Chen forces under Li Yi repeatedly invaded the grasslands and shattered multiple Xiongnu armies and tribes 55 63 67 99.
• Qing Kingdom — Also suffers from Xiongnu raids, but later forms a military coalition with the Xiongnu against Chen Kingdom 55 98 99.
• Black Wind Sect — Allied with the Xiongnu and Qing Kingdom during the campaign against Wild Goose Pass 96 99.
• Ice Spirit Clan — Allied with the Xiongnu shaman lineage before both became entangled with the extraterrestrial Ice Clan 108.
• Ice Clan — Received defecting Xiongnu cavalry after the Xiongnu’s defeat at Wild Goose Pass 111.
• Gu Muda — Former Xiongnu Eagle Shooter captured by Li Yi; he defected, guided Chen forces through the grasslands, and later led reconnaissance operations against his former people 63 64 95.
• Luhu Wu — Xiongnu Left General who led five thousand cavalry against Wild Goose Pass; defeated and forced to flee by Li Yi 60 63.
• Hu Han — Xiongnu Left Worthy King and commander of twenty thousand cavalry in the coalition battle at Wild Goose Pass; killed by Li Yi 99.