As a great many horses thundered toward them, billowing dust filled their entire field of vision. A rough count put their riders at over a thousand.
The general defending the city was startled. No wonder the beacon had been lit at once-so many Xiongnu had come to raid for provisions.
In this timeline, a great war should have broken out between Great Han and the Xiongnu, but a blizzard summoned by Luo Ling had forcibly delayed the arrival of the Xiongnu's peak.
After suffering enormous losses, the Xiongnu began licking their wounds. The Xiongnu Royal Court dared not invade the Han Court to the south, so it seized the opportunity presented by the other tribes' heavy losses to annex forces that refused to submit. Even Joseon, which it had previously failed to conquer, fell into Xiongnu hands.
Meanwhile, relying on the Great Wall, the Han Court gradually entered a prosperous golden age. Moreover, beginning with Lü Zhi, its rulers placed greater emphasis on developing the lands within the Great Wall.
Rather than the bitterly cold lands beyond the Great Wall, they preferred to develop Jiangdong and the fertile lands on both sides of the Yangtze, including the Jianghan Plain and other areas. The climate there was warm, and once developed, all that land could be farmed.
Their respective strategic choices gave the Xiongnu and the Han Court this exceptionally long period of peace.
After decades of arduous marching, the Xiongnu recovered. Thanks to a favorable climate, their cattle and sheep flourished in herds, and with no major natural disasters, they once again fielded hundreds of thousands of Mounted Archers.
This could hardly have been more natural. The grasslands were right there; where there were grasslands, there were cattle and sheep. With cattle and sheep came food, and with food, a