Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

At three quarters past midnight, a drum was drummed outside the city.

The pitch-black night enveloped the entire battlefield, with only the pale moonlight filtering through the thick clouds, casting mottled shadows on the city walls.

The night wind whistled past, blowing up the dust on the ground and hitting the faces of the soldiers defending the city, bringing bursts of stinging pain.

The torches on the city wall swayed in the wind, and the flickering light made the tired faces of the defenders look gloomy and uncertain.

"What a horrible weather! It's already May and there's so much yellow sand!"

A young Wei soldier shrank his neck, leaned his spear against the battlement, and shook it constantly, trying to shake off the yellow sand on his body.

Suddenly, countless flames lit up in the dark wilderness, like the eyes of demons opened in hell.

"put!"

Ma Chao's cold voice exploded in the night sky.

This fierce general of the Chu army was wearing heavy black iron armor, and his scarlet cloak fluttered in the wind.

He stood on the makeshift command platform, raised his right hand high, and then swung it down suddenly.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Dozens of catapults were launched at the same time, and burning kerosene tanks streaked across the night sky, growing larger and larger under the horrified gaze of the defenders.

The first fire pot hit the city wall hard, and the exploding kerosene instantly engulfed the entire arrow tower.

A scorching air wave swept over, knocking nearby soldiers to the ground.

Gravel flew everywhere, and a soldier's scream stopped abruptly—his chest was pierced by sharp gravel, and blood gushed out.

"Prepare the crossbow!" Ma Chao's voice was like the announcement of the god of death.

"crunch-"

Amid the teeth-grinding sound of the winch, thirty crossbows were tightened at the same time.

As the command flag was waved, a giant arrow as thick as an arm whizzed out and shot towards the city wall with a scream of death.

"Puff puff!"

The dull thuds of arrows piercing the flesh continued.

A centurion of the Wei army had just raised his shield when a huge arrow pinned him and his shield to the city wall behind him.

His eyes were wide open, blood was oozing from the corners of his mouth, and his hands were still holding the shield.

"Enemy attack! All troops on alert!" Panic shouts rang out one after another on the city walls.

However, even more terrible blows followed.

The Chu army's archer phalanx had advanced within the range. Three thousand elite archers were arranged in three rows and took turns firing at the command of the officers.

"Whoosh whoosh—"

The dense rain of arrows blocked out the moonlight, and the black arrows swarmed towards the city wall like a swarm of locusts.

When the first wave of arrows fell, screams suddenly rang out from the top of the city.

A young recruit was shot by three arrows at the same time. He fell to his knees, and with his trembling hands he tried in vain to pull out the arrow stuck in his throat. Finally, he fell in a pool of blood with a look of unwillingness on his face.

"Hold the formation steady! Don't panic!"

The Wei army general shouted at the top of his lungs, but his voice was quickly drowned out by the whistling of arrows flying through the air.

He saw the soldiers around him in chaos.

Some people huddled under the battlements, holding their heads and shivering, some dropped their weapons and tried to escape, and even worse, a new recruit with a childish face slumped on the ground, his crotch soaked, and the spear in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

At this critical moment, a burly figure strode up the city wall.

"You bastards! Stand up!"

Wei army general Zhang Liao's eyes were wide open with anger. He was wearing heavy copper armor, and his scarlet battle robe was stained with blood.

This veteran general, who had been on many battles, saw at a glance that the situation was critical. He immediately drew his sword, and with a flash of cold light, two soldiers who had turned to flee fell to the ground.

"Anyone who deserts the battlefield will be executed!" Zhang Liao's roar was like thunder.

He grabbed a new recruit who was lying limp on the ground. His bloodstained face looked particularly hideous in the firelight.

"Pick up your weapons! A Wei man would rather die in battle than live on his knees!"

This bloody suppression finally stabilized the shaky defense line.

Under Zhang Liao's command, the shield soldiers quickly formed a defensive line and the archers began to counterattack.

Rolling logs and rocks were continuously transported to the city walls and smashed down on the Chu army attacking the city.

"boom!"

A huge rock smashed into the Chu army's siege echelon, and blood and flesh flew everywhere.

Five or six Chu soldiers were smashed into pieces, and the soldiers behind them continued to charge by stepping on their companions' remains.

Ma Chao watched coldly from the high platform. He noticed that the defenders' counterattack began to become orderly, and his brows couldn't help but frown.

This general, known for his bravery, was surprisingly calm at this moment. He raised his hand and called for his deputy general:

"Pass the order down, concentrate your firepower on the eastern section of the city wall, as it is the least defended."

The battle lasted until the hour of Yin, and corpses had piled up like a mountain under the city wall.

The Chu army's offensive was more and more fierce, and several times the vanguard soldiers rushed to the top of the city.

Zhang Liao personally led his personal guards to put out fires everywhere. There were three broken arrows stuck in his armor and the wound on his left arm was constantly bleeding, but he still fought on the front line.

"General! There's an emergency at the west gate!" A messenger stumbled over to report.

Zhang Liao wiped the blood from his face and shouted hoarsely, "Send the reserve troops up! Tell the brothers, it will be dawn in just one more hour!"

When the sky in the east began to turn pale, the battle had lasted for five full hours.

More than half of the defenders on the city wall were killed or wounded, and those who were still alive were exhausted.

Zhang Liao leaned against an arrow nest, gasping for breath. His lips were cracked and his hand holding the knife was shaking.

Looking around, the city walls were littered with corpses, and blood flowed through the cracks in the bricks, appearing a strange dark red in the morning light.

"We won't be able to hold on for long at this rate!"

Zhang Liao swallowed hard and suddenly made up his mind: "Come on! Fire three rockets and ask General Li for help!"

"Whoosh~whoosh~whoosh~"

Three red rockets with long tails of flame rose into the sky, particularly eye-catching in the dawn light.

At the same time, in the Han army camp ten miles away, Li Guang was standing on the watchtower and closely watching the battle situation.

This famous Han army general was clad in shiny silver armor, and his stern face showed no emotion.

When the three rockets took off, a gleam of light flashed in his eyes.

"Order the entire army to prepare for attack."

Li Guang's voice was eerily calm. "The heavy cavalry will be the vanguard, and the light cavalry will flank us. Our target is the Chu army's central camp."

The deputy general hesitated and said, "General, should we wait a little longer? The Chu army is too numerous, and I'm afraid we won't be able to charge through."

"It's now!"

Li Guang suddenly drew his sword, the blade flashing coldly in the morning light: "The Chu army has fought all night and is now at its most exhausted. If we can defeat their forces, this battle will be won!"

The war drums sounded, and 50,000 Han cavalry poured out of the camp like a tide.

The sound of the heavy cavalry's hooves shook the earth, and the shining spears formed a forest of death.

Li Guang took the lead, his silver armor shining in the morning sun, like a god of war descending.

There was chaos in the rear of the Chu army.

Ma Chao turned his head suddenly and his pupils shrank suddenly.

"Change the formation! Change the formation quickly!"

Ma Chao roared at the top of his lungs, but it was too late.

The Han army's heavy cavalry had already crashed into the rear of the Chu army. Their spears pierced through the archers who had no time to turn around, and their iron hooves trampled the fallen soldiers into meat paste.

"Kill!"

Zhang Liao, standing on the city wall, saw the reinforcements arriving and was so excited that he trembled all over.

He tore off his tattered cloak and raised his blood-stained sword high: "Open the city gate! Men of the Wei army, follow me and kill the enemy!"

The heavy city gate slowly opened, and Zhang Liao personally led 5,000 elite troops to charge out.

This fresh force was like a tiger descending from the mountain, instantly defeating the exhausted vanguard of the Chu army.

Subsequently, more and more Wei troops rushed out of the city to attack the Chu army.

Seeing the situation take a turn for the worse, veins popped up on Ma Chao's forehead.

He grabbed the flag officer beside him and said, "Order all battalions to take turns providing cover and retreat to the northeast!"

"But General..."

"Excuting an order!"

Ma Chao roared, then jumped onto his warhorse and swept his spear across, knocking off the two Han cavalrymen who were charging towards him.

The Chu army began to retreat.