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

"General! The eastern fence has been breached! The Zhou cavalry is charging in!"

The messenger knelt before Gongsun Ao, bloodied, his young face stained with soot and fear. Gongsun Ao grabbed him by the collar, and the iron armor clashed with a harsh sound.

"How's the situation at the granary?"

"Reply, reply, Marshal." The messenger's voice trembled, "General Yan sent a message, the granary... the granary has been completely burned."

Gongsun Ao suddenly let go of his hand, staggered back two steps, and bumped into the pillar of the central army tent.

The battle-hardened veteran now looked pale, and the scar on his forehead from the battle with the Huns ten years ago looked particularly hideous.

"Marshal!" Han Feng rushed out of the melee with two swords in hand. A deep wound on his left arm that was so deep that the bone could be seen was bleeding profusely.

"Zhao Yu's White Horse Cavalry has broken through the third line of defense, and Xue Huaide is personally leading the central army!"

Gongsun Ao drew his sword, the blade gleaming coldly in the firelight. "Pass the order down! Anyone who can still lift a sword, follow me into battle!"

"General, please think twice!" Han Feng knelt on one knee and said, "I am willing to lead the soldiers to cover your retreat. Please retreat quickly."

"fart!"

Gongsun Ao kicked over the bucket beside him, splashing the muddy water on Han Feng's face. "I, Gongsun Ao, have fought for thirty years. When have I ever sacrificed a pawn to save my king?"

On the high slope of the back mountain, Wang Xiaojie stood on a protruding rock, overlooking the chaotic scene of the Han army camp in the distance.

The raging fire engulfed the granary, and billowing black smoke rose straight into the sky, reflecting his face which was slightly hideous due to excitement.

"Hahahaha!"

He threw his head back and laughed heartily, his voice filled with pride: "Well done! This fire has completely destroyed the morale of the Han army!"

The deputy general beside him also smiled grimly: "General, what a brilliant plan! Gongsun Ao must be jumping up and down with anxiety right now!"

Wang Xiaojie narrowed his eyes, looked at the chaos of the Han army's formation in the distance, and thought about his next move in his mind.

He originally planned to continue lying in ambush here, and when the Han army sent troops to put out the fire, he would lead his troops in a surprise attack to completely disrupt their formation.

However, just as he was about to order his men to prepare for battle, a scout stumbled up the hillside, his face pale.

"General! This is bad!" The scout knelt on one knee and said urgently, "A Han army is charging towards us!"

Wang Xiaojie frowned and asked in a deep voice, "How many people are here?"

The scout swallowed, his voice trembling slightly, "They're densely packed with people, probably... no less than ten thousand!"

"What?" Wang Xiaojie's pupils shrank and the smile on his face froze instantly.

He originally thought that the Han army would send at most three to five thousand people to put out the fire, but he didn't expect that the other side would directly mobilize 10,000 elite troops!

The deputy general's expression suddenly changed: "General, we only have 2,000 men. If we are entangled by them..."

Wang Xiaojie raised his hand, interrupting him, a fierce look flashing in his eyes: "Order, the entire army retreats immediately!"

He originally wanted to fight here for a while longer to cause more trouble for the Han army, but the situation suddenly changed. If he was surrounded by these 10,000 Han soldiers, his 2,000 men would surely die!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Wang Xiaojie jumped on his horse and shouted sternly, "Follow the original route and retreat to the North Mountain Trail!"

Two thousand Zhou troops quickly assembled and evacuated along the rugged mountain road.

They moved quickly, obviously having planned their retreat already.

In just a moment, the entire army disappeared into the mountains and forests like ghosts, leaving only footprints and extinguished torches on the ground.

When Yan Liang arrived with 10,000 Han troops, all he saw was a mess.

The fire in the granary was still raging, thick smoke covered half the sky, and lying on the ground were the bodies of Han soldiers.

Yan Liang clenched his fists tightly, his nails dug deep into his palms, and blood dripped through his fingers.

He gritted his teeth, his voice low and cold: "Put out the fire immediately! Save as many as you can!"

"Yes!" All the soldiers responded in unison and quickly divided into two teams. One team fetched water to put out the fire, while the other team remained on guard around to prevent another sneak attack by the Zhou army.

Yan Liang dismounted, walked to a corpse, squatted down, and reached out to close the soldier's wide-open eyes.

His voice was filled with suppressed rage: "Pass the order down, send out scouts to search for the Zhou army!"

The deputy general clasped his fists and accepted the order, but after a moment's hesitation, he asked, "General, if we find them..."

Yan Liang slowly stood up, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "Once we find them, we won't need to ask for permission, just surround and kill them!"

He paused, then spoke word by word, "I will make them pay for their blood with blood!"

Soon, the Han army scouts scattered and searched along the mountain road for the whereabouts of the Zhou army.

However, Wang Xiaojie's troops had long since disappeared without a trace, leaving behind only the bleak autumn wind all over the mountain and the still burning remains of the granary.

Yan Liang stood on a high place, looking at the front battlefield in the distance where fighting was still going on, with anger boiling in his heart.

He knew that the Han army had been defeated in this battle, and the culprit behind all this was the Zhou army that had attacked the granary!

At the same time, on the front battlefield, Zhao Yu's white horse cavalry was like a silver blade, tearing a bloody wound in the Han army.

The famous Chu general held a dragon-like spear in his hand. Wherever the spear pointed, a Han soldier would fall.

"General! The Han army's central flag is ahead!" the deputy general shouted excitedly.

Zhao Yu narrowed his eyes and saw the general's flag embroidered with the words "Gongsun" a hundred steps away.

He raised the corner of his mouth slightly and pointed the tip of his spear forward: "Whoever takes Gongsun Ao's head will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins!"

Two thousand white horses neighed in unison, their iron hooves crushing the corpses on the ground as they charged towards the last core position of the Han army.

"Stop them!" Han Feng roared at the top of his lungs, "Spearmen, form a formation! Archers..."

Before he could finish his words, a stray arrow hit his throat.

Han Feng widened his eyes, grabbed the arrow shaft with both hands in vain, and slowly knelt on the ground.

"General Han!" Gongsun Ao's eyes were red with anger, and he was about to step forward, but was held back by his personal soldiers.

"Marshal! If we don't leave now, it will be too late!" Captain Wang Hu's face was covered with tears and blood. "The time General Han bought with his life cannot be wasted!"

Gongsun Aohu looked around with tears in his eyes.

The once mighty elite Han army now has less than 30,000 soldiers left, barely holding on.

And around them, the Zhou army was surging like a tide.

"Send the order!" Gongsun Ao's voice suddenly aged ten years. "Li Gan and Wang Ben will lead 20,000 soldiers to cover the rear. The rest of you will follow me to Yumen Pass."

The order was quickly passed on.

Surprisingly, none of the soldiers who were selected to interrupt retreated.

The veterans silently sharpened their swords, and the new recruits fastened their armor to each other, and everyone knew what this meant.

Li Gan climbed onto a wrecked chariot, holding high his bloodstained sword. "Brothers! Today we will fight to the death, to secure a chance for our comrades to survive! The Han army is mighty!"

"The Han army is mighty!" Twenty thousand soldiers roared in unison, and the sound waves shocked the vanguard of the Zhou army so much that they were stunned.

Wang Ben laughed loudly three times and tore off his tattered battle robe. "My men! Show Zhou Gou what it means to be a real man!"

The battle lasted from noon to dusk.

The remaining Han soldiers used their flesh and blood to build a wall of death. When their spears broke, they used swords, and when their swords were blunt, they used their hands or even their teeth.

An old soldier who had lost both legs lay on the ground, clinging tightly to the horse's legs of a Zhou cavalryman until he was hacked to death.

After a dozen archers exhausted their arrows, they launched a suicidal charge, swords raised. Wang Ben was struck by twenty-seven arrows, yet he remained standing. Finally, Zhao Yu pierced his heart with a spear...

"Report! The remaining troops of Gongsun Ao have escaped ten miles!" The scout reported to Xue Huaide.

Xue Huaide, the Zhou army's commander, sneered, "Keep chasing! Leave no one alive for the next twenty miles!"

Twenty miles away, on a high slope, Gongsun Aole rode his horse and looked back.

The setting sun stretched his shadow very long.

"Marshal, the brothers who were left behind are now safe and sound." Wang Hu's voice was choked with sobs.

Gongsun Ao slowly raised his hand and said in a cold voice, "Order the entire army to accelerate and tell the commander of Yumen Pass to prepare for battle!"