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

The night when Chu Ning met Li Shiming and Liu Che.

Qingcheng, east of Leling City, was shrouded in a solemn atmosphere.

The hot wind of the summer night carried sand and dust and hit the city wall, making a rustling sound.

The torches on the city walls flickered, illuminating the defenders' armor.

Chu Kuang pressed one hand on the mottled bricks, his knuckles turning white from the force.

He looked at the Tang army camp that stretched for miles in the distance. In his eyes, the scattered bonfires seemed like prey waiting to be slaughtered.

"I've been holding it in for so long, and now it's finally time to take action!" Chu Kuang's voice was filled with suppressed bloodthirsty excitement.

When he turned around, his cloak fluttered in the night wind, and the sword at his waist made a crisp metallic sound when it collided with his armor.

Under the moonlight, the face of this Prince of Xiliang was angular, and an old scar on his right cheek looked particularly hideous.

Ma Chao's clasped hands were shaking slightly, and the lining of his armor had already been soaked with cold sweat.

“Your Highness, you are worth a million gold…” Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Chu Kuang’s laughter.

The prince raised his hand and slapped Ma Chao's shoulder armor, making the metal clatter. "General Ma, when did you become so fussy? Back when you followed His Majesty to sweep through the enemy army, you were the first to charge the enemy wall!"

Jia Yu, standing in the shadows, coughed lightly, and the feather fan in his hand shone coldly in the moonlight.

This military strategist, renowned for his wisdom, frowned. "If Your Highness insists on charging, I dare not stop you, but..."

He deliberately drew out his words, pointing the tip of his fan at the distant Tang army camp: "When the enemy is defeated, the gains from pursuing them will be greater than those from charging them."

Chu Kuang's expression froze instantly. He clenched his fists fiercely, and a "crunching" sound came from the gaps in his armor.

Chu Ning's instructions in his letter before leaving came to mind: "I know that my brother is brave and valiant, but as a general, you should put your own safety first."

He spat fiercely, his armor clattering as he turned around: "Forget it! General Ma, this first place achievement is yours!"

After the third watch bell rang, the west gate of Qingcheng quietly opened in the dark night.

Ma Chao took the lead, and three thousand Xiliang cavalrymen poured out of the city gate like a black torrent.

The war horses all held their mouths shut, the sound of their hooves was muffled by specially made felt, and only the slight clash of armor echoed in the night.

Next to the campfire at the Tang army's outpost, two sentries were napping against the wooden fence.

Suddenly, the older one raised his head and put his ear to the ground: "Old Zhou, listen..."

Before he could finish his words, a whistling arrow pierced his throat.

Dozens of rockets took off at the same time, leaving scarlet trails in the night sky and falling into the Tang army camp like meteors.

"Enemy attack!" The shrill sound of a horn tore through the night sky.

The Tang army camp was in chaos. The bare-chested soldiers frantically searched for weapons, and the frightened neighing of war horses mixed with the angry curses of the generals.

Ma Chao's spear drew a silver arc in the moonlight, and the tip of the spear knocked away the brazier at the camp gate. The burning charcoal splashed everywhere and ignited the nearby grain carts.

"Hey guys from Xiliang!"

Ma Chao's roar drowned out the clamor of the battlefield: "Follow me and break through the enemy camp!"

A torrent of cavalry crashed into the camp gate, the front row of cavalry raised their two-foot-long spears, and the following troops drew their bows and arrows.

After the rain of arrows, a large number of Tang army soldiers fell in the front line like wheat being harvested.

Inside the central military tent, Zhang Gongjin was studying a map under an oil lamp.

Suddenly, the curtains were flung open, and a guard rushed in, his face covered in blood: "Sir! The Xiliang army has burned the eastern granary!"

The bronze lamp in the counselor's hand fell to the ground with a clang, and the lamp oil spread across the map, leaving a charred patch.

When he rushed out of the tent, the sky to the east had been dyed orange by the flames, and the figures of cavalrymen could be vaguely seen in the billowing smoke.

"wrong!"

Zhang Gongjin narrowed his eyes and suddenly shouted, "Messenger! Quickly go to the East Camp and check to see if the granary is really on fire!"

Before he finished speaking, deafening shouts of killing came from the west.

A group of Xiliang cavalry had broken through the flank at some point. The leading general held two axes in his hands, and wherever he passed, broken limbs and arms flew all over the sky.

Chu Kuang on the city wall was so excited that his blood boiled. He tore off his cloak, revealing fish scale armor made of fine iron.

"Give me my sword!" The Fang Tian Hua Ji carried by the personal soldiers flashed coldly in the firelight.

Jia Yu hurriedly stopped him: "Your Highness, please look!"

Suddenly, countless torches were erected in the rear of the Tang army, and cavalry could be vaguely seen being mobilized.

"Zhang Gongjin, that old fox!"

Chu Kuang gritted his teeth and said, "Sure enough, he has a backup plan.

He pounded hard on the battlements, shaking off a few pieces of rubble. "Send the message to Ma Chao, follow the second plan!"

In the center of the battlefield, Ma Chao's battle robe was stained with blood.

When his spear pierced the chest of a Tang army general, he suddenly heard the sound of a horn from the main camp.

He blew the copper whistle around his neck without hesitation. The Xiliang cavalry, who were in the midst of a fierce killing spree, immediately changed their formation upon hearing the sound. The front team became the rear team and began to retreat in an orderly manner.

In the Tang army, Zhang Gongjin sneered at the scene, "It's a trick! Order the left and right wings not to pursue, and the archers to prepare..."

Before the order was finished, a deafening explosion suddenly came from the southeast.

The earth shook violently, and many soldiers fell to the ground.

Everyone looked in horror and saw that the entire forest to the east was engulfed in flames.

"Now!" Chu Kuang on the top of the city grabbed the signal flag.

The three gates of Qingcheng were opened, and the second wave of cavalry, which had been accumulating for a long time, rushed out like a flood.

The cavalrymen who charged this time were all wearing light armor, with oil-soaked cloth strips tied around their horses' necks, which were all set on fire during the charge. From a distance, they looked like thousands of fire dragons galloping.

Zhang Gongjin's expression finally changed: "A chain of tricks!"

He hurriedly ordered his personal guards to fetch the command flag, but it was too late.

The light cavalry of the Western Liang Army had penetrated the chaotic formation of the Tang Army like a sharp knife, and the subsequent heavy cavalry was divided into two groups, encircling them like iron pincers.

The Tang army was in chaos, and the defeated soldiers rushed back like a tide.

"Chase!" Chu Kuang personally led the personal guards out of the city gate.

The battlefield had turned into a one-sided massacre. The fleeing Tang army threw away their weapons and armor, and many people trampled on each other in the chaos.

The Xiliang cavalry specifically targeted officers and hunted them down. Ma Chao killed seven Tang army captains with a single lance, and the blood groove at the tip of the lance had already been clogged with blood plasma.

At dawn, the sound of the pursuit horns finally stopped.

The madman of Chu reined in his horse on a high slope, overlooking the battlefield within a radius of fifty miles.

The morning mist was littered with fallen flags and smoking wreckage, and crows had begun circling over the piles of corpses.

The personal guards presented the battle report: 8,000 heads were beheaded, countless supplies were captured, and the main force of the Tang army had retreated to a river valley 50 miles away.

"Where is Lord Jia?" Chu Kuang wiped the blood off his face.

Before he finished speaking, Jia Yu came slowly in a donkey cart, his feather fan still spotless.

"Your Highness," Jia Yu bowed slightly, "I just received a letter via carrier pigeon. Your Majesty is under siege in Leling City, attracting 60,000 Tang and Han troops!"

Chu Kuang narrowed his eyes and shot his gaze towards the southeast like lightning.

There, a blood-red sunrise was breaking through the clouds, dyeing the entire battlefield a glaring scarlet.

He slowly drew his sword, the blade reflecting the morning sun and emitting an eerie red glow. "Order the troops to rest for half a day and move camp in the afternoon. I want Li Shiming to remember this day forever—the first day of June, the beginning of the Tang army's demise!"

The tattered Tang army flag burned under his feet, and the rising black smoke twisted into hideous shapes in the sky.

In the distance, the surviving Tang army horses were wailing, and the sound spread across the entire plain with the summer breeze, as if playing a prelude to the coming bigger storm.

This is Chu Ning’s plan!

He used himself as bait to attract the elite troops of the Tang and Han armies to Lecheng, and then let Chu Kuang and Han Xing's two armies fight a decisive battle with the Tang and Han armies!