"Are we nearing Yanmen Commandery?"
"Yes! However, according to the news we received, Yanmen Commandery is no longer guarded by Li Mu. It has been captured by Qin, and is now under the command of a Qin general named Lin Tian!"
"So it seems Zhao's Li Mu wasn't that strong after all!"
A month prior, the Xiongnu had unexpectedly learned that Yanmen had been conquered by Lin Tian's tens of thousands of troops. They immediately sent this news back to the Xiongnu tribes.
For the Xiongnu, this was undoubtedly momentous news.
If they could seize this opportunity to capture Yanmen Commandery and push further, occupying more territory, they would gain boundless wealth.
In fact, they could even establish their own Xiongnu political bases in the territories they conquered, just like the other states in the Central Plains.
If they achieved this, they could leverage their advantageous position in the north to look down upon the entire world and swallow it whole.
Therefore, upon learning of Yanmen Commandery's change of hands, the Xiongnu unhesitatingly led a twenty-thousand-strong army towards Yanmen.
At this moment, they were unaware that not only had Yanmen changed hands, but Zhao had also completely vanished.
Qin, a state they rarely interacted with, had already conquered Han and Zhao.
Because they were unaware of these developments, upon reaching Yanmen Commandery, they immediately ordered their two hundred thousand troops to attack it without any hesitation.
Soon, Yanmen Commandery responded.
Lin Tian's hundred-thousand-strong army appeared directly on the Yanmen Pass.
Among them were not only Lin Tian, Wang Ben, Zhang Han, and Wang Wu, but also Li Mu.
The Xiongnu were not familiar with the others and had not engaged with them before.
However, they were very familiar with Li Mu.
Li Mu had defended Yanmen Commandery for many years and had extensive dealings with the Xiongnu.
The Xiongnu had suffered many losses under Li Mu's command.
Therefore, upon seeing Li Mu appear, the Xiongnu panicked.
"What is going on? Didn't we hear that Yanmen Commandery was no longer Zhao territory? Why can we still see Li Mu at Yanmen Pass, and why did he appear as soon as we arrived? Has our movement been leaked long ago?"
"Impossible, our actions were extremely cautious and swift. Our movements could not have been leaked!"
"I feel something is not right. The banners on Yanmen Pass don't look like Zhao's banners; they appear to be Qin's banners!"
Someone noticed that something was amiss at Yanmen Pass.
The soldiers on Yanmen Pass were not only more numerous than they had anticipated, but the banners on the pass had inexplicably turned into the black banners of Qin.
More importantly, Li Mu, a Zhao general, was standing beneath the black Qin banner. This left the Xiongnu utterly bewildered.
"Could it be that Zhao and Qin have joined forces to resist us Xiongnu?"
"That's unlikely. They've never allied before, and they were fighting so fiercely a month ago. How could they join forces?"
"It is indeed unbelievable. Send someone to ask!"
The Xiongnu were perplexed, but upon seeing Li Mu, they decided to make an inquiry. If the situation was indeed as it seemed, they would have to consider whether they should indeed attack this Yanmen Pass.
Subsequently, the Xiongnu's shouts echoed:
"Zhao's Li Mu, have you surrendered to Qin? Why are you standing under the Qin banner, hahaha!"
The Xiongnu had intended to use these words to humiliate and mock Li Mu.
To their surprise, Li Mu was completely unfazed and replied with a calm expression:
"That's right, I have indeed surrendered to Qin!"
"What? You really surrendered to Qin??"
Li Mu's answer completely exceeded the Xiongnu's expectations.
They could barely believe their ears.
Because Li Mu had previously dealt extensively with the Xiongnu, many Xiongnu harbored a degree of fear towards him.
This fear was naturally due to Li Mu's immense strength.
But they never imagined that such a powerful Li Mu would surrender to Qin; it was simply inconceivable to them.
The Xiongnu's first reaction was that Li Mu was deceiving them.
"Impossible! You are a great general of Zhao, even the Lord of Wu'an of Zhao. How could you possibly surrender to Qin? Li Mu, stop trying to trick us! We will not give up on Yanmen Pass this time, no matter what!"
"What does the Lord of Wu'an of Zhao matter? Our Zhao has already fallen; what use is the Lord of Wu'an!"
Li Mu spoke these words without much emotional fluctuation.
The victor is king, the vanquished is a bandit. Clearly, he had accepted the reality of Zhao's demise.
Moreover, during the final defense of Handan, he had been so easily replaced, and King Zhao's capture had been accompanied by a desire to flee with beautiful women.
All these events had long since disillusioned Li Mu with Zhao.
Furthermore, Lin Tian's words about unifying the world and bringing peace to the common people truly moved Li Mu.
He admitted that he was one of those who sent soldiers to the battlefield, but he was also a general who yearned for peace.
He had done many things hoping to preserve Zhao and end the wars.
Since he could not achieve these goals within Zhao, he was willing to follow Lin Tian and accomplish them.
Therefore, Li Mu was exceptionally composed at this moment.
However, his words thoroughly bewildered the Xiongnu.
"What? Zhao has been destroyed? How is this possible??"
"Didn't they say Zhao was very powerful? Why was Zhao destroyed? Could it be that Qin is even more powerful?"
"I heard Qin excels in infantry armor, and their infantry is incredibly formidable. Did they nibble away at Zhao step by step, and then destroy it?"
"Hiss! If their infantry is so powerful, then... should we still attack Yanmen Pass?"
Zhao's destruction was completely beyond the Xiongnu's expectations.
They had also fought against Zhao's cavalry and knew that Zhao's cavalry was not weak.
Yet, such not-weak Zhao cavalry had fallen to the might of the Qin army.
If they were to engage in war with Qin, would they gain any advantage?
At this point, the Xiongnu all turned their gazes to their general.
"General, are we still attacking Yanmen Pass?"
The Xiongnu general looked at Li Mu on Yanmen Pass, then at the hundred thousand troops on the pass, and then spoke contemptuously:
"If Li Mu couldn't even defend Zhao, do you think he can withstand the onslaught of our two hundred thousand troops?"
"Order our army to charge directly and capture this Yanmen Pass!"
"How can Qin's infantry armor withstand our Xiongnu cavalry!!"
The Xiongnu had absolute confidence in their cavalry.
They were a people who grew up on horseback; their warhorses were their second lives.
No one understood warhorses better than they did.
...