Chapter Twenty-One: The Wuwan Invade

During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Han, the Han army dealt a crushing blow to the Xiongnu, driving them from the region south of the desert. The Wuhuan submitted to the Han as vassals, moving south to graze their herds outside the five frontier commanderies of Shanggu, Yuyang, Youbeiping, Liaoxi, and Liaodong, guarding the Han’s northern borders against the Xiongnu. By the time of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han, the Wuhuan migrated again, moving from outside the five commanderies to graze within the borders of Liaodong, Yuyang, and the edges of Shuofang, spanning ten commanderies. Over the course of the two Han dynasties, the Wuhuan migrated south twice, growing stronger with each move. Yet they remained under the supervision of the Han-appointed Commandant Protector of the Wuhuan, divided among several tribes, each acting independently, never forming a unified tribal alliance.

In recent years, however, a man named Qiu Liju, chief of the Wuhuan in Liaoxi, has risen to prominence—a figure of extraordinary talent, unmatched among his people. Qiu Liju gradually became king of the Wuhuan, his sharp gaze discerning the decline of the Eastern Han. He began to abandon the old policy of close alliance with the Han, frequently raiding the Han borderlands, burning, killing, and pillaging in Youzhou, leaving their mark even in the heartlands of Qingzhou and Jizhou.

Now, as autumn has returned, the season when the Wuhuan customarily ride into the Han lands to gather supplies has arrived once more. Spring is the season when livestock and horses mate; from summer into autumn, the pastures flourish and the animals grow fat, while the depths of winter are ill-suited for warfare. Only in late autumn are the Wuhuan at their leisure, with their livestock at their fattest. Regardless of the state of relations with the Han, the Wuhuan king leads his iron cavalry into Han territory each year at this time, plundering grain to prepare for the winter.

Some sixty or seventy li outside Jixian, two tall, foreign-dressed men rode ahead, followed by thirty thousand Wuhuan cavalry. These were Subur and Wudan, two generals sent by King Qiu Liju.

Subur was a giant, surely over two meters tall, wielding a spiked mace. He was heir to one of the major Wuhuan tribes, and his martial prowess ranked among the top three even among his people. Wudan, though equally tall, was enormously fat—his bulk belying his strength. He carried a hefty iron hammer in each hand, each weighing forty kilograms. He too was r