Good news: they raided the enemy camp, successfully completed their mission, and escaped.
Bad news: they apparently did not know where they had run off to and got lost.
Forget it, let's wait until dawn. We can figure out our bearings once the sun comes up, Sheng Huai'an comforted himself.
The group simply lay there on the grass, letting the wind from beyond the northern frontier blow over them.
They were too exhausted. They had crossed mountains and ridges in the pitch black of night, arrived outside the pass, and lay waiting in the darkness.
Hardly any of them had rested properly. They had assaulted the enemy camp, fought the enemy, charged around setting fires, and then fled twenty miles.
If not for the fact that they were all martial practitioners of decent strength, they would have long since perished in the enemy camp.
Twenty miles away, the glow of the fires in the direction of the Xiongnu army camp was still faintly visible.
Having lain there for who knew how long, the eastern sky gradually revealed a trace of fish-belly white.
As time passed, the fires in the Xiongnu grand camp were gradually extinguished.
On this night, the soldiers on the city walls watched the fires in the Xiongnu camp with joy, hoping they would burn a little longer.
"Who attacked the camp on the right? They really delivered, hahaha, burning down so many enemy tents."
"The ones on the left and in the rear fall far short. They didn't manage to burn many enemy camps at all."
"I wonder how many Xiongnu enemy troops were beheaded tonight."
"In any case, the losses should be quite heavy. General Polu led the cavalry to charge and slaughter the enemy camp, so they definitely cut down many of the enemy."
General Who Pacifies the North Yang Ye, who had received word that the camp raid was a success, was also quite pleased. With all this commotion, he figured the Xiongnu would likely lack the energy to continue their offensive come daytime.
"Haha, this fire caused such a massive uproar, far exceeding our expectations," General Polu Sun Hao said with a loud laugh.
"Indeed. It makes me want to lead troops straight into the enemy camp for a killing spree," another Brigade General chimed in.
"The results won't be small. I just wonder how many of the seven battalions that raided the camp will be able to return alive," another Brigade General remarked.
The others fell silent once more. Raiding a camp meant gambling with their lives just to inflict losses on the enemy.
The sky gradually grew bright, and smoke still rose straight up into the sky from above the Xiongnu army camp.
Looking at their grand camp, which had been burned to a scarred mess, the Xiongnu soldiers wore disheveled, ash-stained faces and deep despair.
The commotion lasting half the night had exhausted the Xiongnu army.
Left Virtuous King stared at the ravaged grand camp and the bedraggled soldiers, his expression pitch black.
One could only imagine just how furious he was at that moment.
He had intended to break through Anning Pass today, but after such an uproar, what did he have left to batter the gates?
With these soldiers who had lost all their morale?!
Not a single one of the Xiongnu generals dared to breathe too loudly. They trembled like cicadas in late autumn, terrified that the wrath of Left Virtuous King would descend upon them.
When full daylight arrived, the sun rose!
"Has the casualty tally come out?" Left Virtuous King asked.
His tone was flat, devoid of any emotion.
Yet the crowd of Xiongnu generals inside the great tent felt a chill strike their hearts.
Knowing Left Virtuous King well, they knew this was the prelude to bloodshed.
"Reporting to the Great King, eighteen thousand over-a-thousand men were killed in action last night, and over nine thousand were wounded," a general said cautiously.
Personnel casualties approached thirty thousand, which was already exceptionally severe.
"What else?"
"There's also... also that two-thirds of our grain and fodder were burned last night, over thirty thousand sheep fled, and more than seven thousand warhorses bolted," that general said through gritted teeth, blurting everything out in one breath.
"Useless trash, all of you are useless trash!" Left Virtuous King finally could not hold it back and roared in fury.
One-third of the thirty-some-thousand sheep had run off. The sheep brought along for food had originally numbered over ninety thousand, and now fully a third of them had run away.
Warhorses were the cavalry forces' most crucial mounts. Over seven thousand fleeing meant that seven thousand cavalrymen would lose their combat effectiveness.
Then there were the food supplies, two-thirds of which had actually been burned to ash. What was the army going to eat next?
On top of that, casualties among the soldiers had reached twenty to thirty thousand. Those were over twenty thousand heroic warriors who had simply died like that in a night raid.
Added to the soldiers killed in action over the past half-month, less than half of the one hundred thousand troops he had brought remained.
Those were nearly thirty thousand Xiongnu warriors! The losses from last night were so immense that Left Virtuous King's heart was bleeding.
"Who was on watch last night? Drag him out and behead him," Left Virtuous King bellowed, consumed by rage.
The generals inside the great tent shivered under Left Virtuous King's fury.
How could Left Virtuous King not be furious when the losses in a single night were so massive?
If word got back, he would inevitably be mocked and ridiculed by that fellow Right Virtuous King.
And he would have no way to answer to the Great Chanyu.
"Trash, you're all trash! Attack the city, launch the siege! If you cannot take Anning Pass, you can all go die," Left Virtuous King roared angrily.
"That must never happen, Great King. Right now, our men are exhausted and our horses weary, and public sentiment is unsettled. We cannot attack the city," Left Valley Marquis advised hastily.
Left Valley Marquis was Left Virtuous King's right-hand man and also his father-in-law. With him speaking up, no matter how great Left Virtuous King's fury was, he had no choice but to suppress it.
They didn't even have fifty thousand troops left at present, making an attempt to smash through the pass in a single blow all the more difficult.
The men and horses were already exhausted; launching a siege at this moment would be no different from marching to their deaths.
The commander who had been on duty last night was executed by Left Virtuous King to serve as a sacrifice to the battle flags.
Inside Anning Pass, General Who Pacifies the North Yang Ye looked in silence at the Seventh Battalion returning in succession.
Minus the cavalry that had charged the camp later, the Seventh Battalion had set out with two thousand men, and fewer than five hundred returned.
The Soldier Commandant had died in battle, Captain Li was heavily wounded, and Martial Commandant was covered in scars.
Most of the soldiers who made it back carried injuries. One could well imagine how brutal the camp-raiding battle of the previous night had been.
"Soldiers, on behalf of the common folk of Great Wei and the people of Anning City, I thank you for your contributions and sacrifices," Yang Ye said, bowing deeply to the returning battered troops.
The returning remnants of the Seventh Battalion looked at Yang Ye, their faces holding little expression at the moment.
After a night of slaughter and flight, they were far too exhausted.
"At the same time, the soldiers who participated in this camp raid will each be credited with a major military merit and rewarded with ten taels of silver," Yang Ye continued.
"Thank you, General!"
Only upon hearing about the silver reward did the returning soldiers of the Seventh Battalion speak. At this moment, nothing could cause ripples in their hearts quite like hard coin.
"Dismiss and get some proper rest. Wine and meat have been prepared for all of you. Eat and drink your fill, then take a hot bath and have a sound sleep," Yang Ye said loudly.
If he wanted the men at the bottom to risk their lives, the treatment they were due naturally could not be lacking.
Hearing that there was food, drink, and hot water for a bath, the soldiers finally lit up in their eyes and perked up.
"Right, who was it that launched the attack from the enemy camp's right flank last night?" Yang Ye asked.
Captain Li, lying on a stretcher, raised his hand and said, "General, it was us."
"Good, good. You are all fine fellows. Go tend to your wounds first and rest well, then come back and report to me on how you attacked the enemy camp," Yang Ye said with a satisfied smile.
"Understood, General!" Captain Li was exceedingly joyful.
If not for his heavy injuries, he would have loved to report the progress of last night's attack to Yang Ye right this instant.
With the military merit from last night's camp raid, as long as his cultivation level improved, the position of a Colonel was securely within his grasp.
After dawn broke and the sun rose, Sheng Huai'an and his men oriented themselves.
"We've broken all the way out into the Xiongnu's territory on the grasslands beyond the pass," Tang Yunshan said, looking at the surrounding grassland and yellow sand.
Upon hearing this, Sheng Huai'an thought, Good grief, we've run right behind enemy lines.
"Anning Pass lies in that direction. Is anyone familiar with the way to guide us?" Sheng Huai'an asked.
"Captain, I know the way," a soldier spoke up.
"Alright, you lead the way and we'll head back," Sheng Huai'an nodded.
The group proceeded in the direction of Anning Pass.
After marching five or six miles forward, the troop came to a halt.
"Stop. There's a situation ahead."
"What is it?" Sheng Huai'an inquired.
"Captain, there are Xiongnu cavalry ahead, pursuing a party of men. It looks like they're our Anning Garrison," the guiding soldier said.
Before you continue