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

On the city wall, Gongsun Ao's facial muscles twitched violently, and his eyes were filled with pain, unwillingness and deep humiliation.

As a defending general, dying for his country after the city was captured seemed to be his fate.

But he looked at the soldiers around him who had fought bloody battles with him, their eyes filled with the desire to survive, and thought of the reinforcements coming from the Protector of the Country...

Finally, he stamped his feet violently, his teeth almost breaking, and squeezed out an extremely difficult command from his throat:

"Order... all troops... retreat... to the north gate...!"

This order seemed to drain all his strength.

"All troops, listen up! Retreat to the north gate! Take turns to provide cover!" Jia Yuan immediately roared loudly, conveying the order.

Upon hearing the order, the remaining Han army began to fight and retreat, gathering towards the north gate.

The Chu army continued to press from the east and west, and the street fighting became more intense.

A short, bloody fight could break out on every street and every alley.

In order to escape, the defeated Han army burst out with their last fighting strength, while the pursuing Chu army became even more ferocious in order to expand the victory.

Gongsun Ao, protected by his personal soldiers and Jia Yuan, fought his way through and finally retreated to the north gate.

At this moment, there was no Chu army blocking the north gate, but there was chaos near the city gate. The defeated soldiers and panicked civilians crowded together, all trying to rush out of the city.

"Don't panic! Keep the formation! Leave the city!" Gongsun Ao tried hard to maintain order, but his heart was filled with sadness.

Chu Ning was indeed cunning. He deliberately left a gap in the north gate, which not only undermined their will to fight to the death, but also turned the retreat into a rout.

He took one last look back at Xunyang City, where the sounds of killing were deafening and flames were blazing, his eyes full of pain. Then he pulled the reins, joined the retreating crowd, and headed north.

Behind him was the fallen city and the deafening cheers of the Chu army.

Xunyang, the fortress that had been held for several days, finally changed hands before dusk.

Night fell, the stars and moon were dim, only the bitter autumn wind howled across the wasteland, stirring up clouds of dust and dead grass.

Gongsun Ao led the remnants of the defeated troops who retreated from Xunyang City and marched quickly along the official road heading north.

The troops were in disarray, the soldiers were in disheveled clothes, many were wounded and staggering, their faces filled with fatigue, fear and confusion after the defeat.

From time to time, the painful groans and suppressed sobs of the wounded soldiers could be heard in the team. The clashing of weapons and the chaotic footsteps seemed particularly harsh in the silent night sky.

Gongsun Ao rode on his warhorse, his heart heavy as iron.

Looking back, flames shot up into the sky from the direction of Xunyang City, dyeing the sky an ominous dark red.

The clamor and shouting of the Chu army after they broke into the city still seemed to be heard faintly, lingering like a nightmare.

He gripped the reins tightly, his nails almost digging into his palms, his heart filled with humiliation, unwillingness, and worry about the future.

"Hurry! Speed ​​up! As long as we can join up with the reinforcements from the Protectorate, we have hope!"

Gongsun Ao forced himself to cheer up and shouted to the soldiers around him, trying to boost the morale which was at its lowest point.

However, even he himself felt that these words seemed so pale and powerless in the cold night wind.

Just as this embarrassed team struggled forward, thinking that they had temporarily escaped pursuit and felt relieved -

"Da da da... da da da da..."

Suddenly, from the deep darkness ahead, there was a dull and dense sound of horse hooves!

The sound was faint at first, but quickly became clearly audible, like the muffled thunder before a summer rainstorm, rolling in, and obviously coming from right in front of them!

The defeated army suddenly became agitated. The soldiers stopped in fear and stretched their necks to look forward.

Gongsun Ao was startled for a moment, then, as if grasping a life-saving straw, his eyes suddenly lit up with surprise. He almost blurted out, his voice slightly distorted by excitement:

"The sound of horse hooves?! It's coming from the front! Could it be... could it be that the Duke of Protector's reinforcements have arrived?! God will not let me down!"

His words seemed to inject a shot of adrenaline into the desperate defeated army, and many soldiers showed expectant looks on their faces.

However, this glimmer of hope had just ignited when it was ruthlessly and completely extinguished by the scene in the next second!

In the darkness ahead, countless torches suddenly lit up without any warning!

One after another, they quickly connected into one, like a long dragon of fire rushing out of hell, instantly illuminating the road ahead as bright as day!

The flames danced, illuminating countless cavalrymen in black clothes and armor. They lined up silently in the road, like a cold iron wall, completely blocking the Han army's way.

A huge "Chu" flag was dancing fiercely in the light of torches.

"Whoosh whoosh—!"

There was no warning or shouting at all. In response to Gongsun Ao's expectation and the Han army's suspicion, there was a burst of dense and sharp sounds of breaking through the air!

A black mass of arrows, like a deadly swarm of locusts, descended from the sky with a shrill scream, guided by the light of fire, and accurately covered the front of the Han army!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

"what--!"

"my eyes!"

"Help!"

Suddenly, people and horses fell to the ground, and screams rang out one after another!

The defenseless Han soldiers were shot by arrows and fell to the ground in large numbers. Many of them were pierced through the body by sharp arrows before they even understood what was happening. The blood instantly dyed the dry ground red.

The sudden attack plunged the already chaotic defeated army into complete panic and despair.

"Oh no! It's the Chu army! It's the Chu cavalry!"

Deputy General Jia Yuan roared at the top of his lungs, his voice distorted by extreme shock and fear:

"Why are they here?! How could they appear before us?!"

The surprise on Gongsun Ao's face had already frozen, and then turned into incredible shock and horror.

He stared with wide eyes at the Chu cavalry in front of him that seemed to have fallen from the sky, muttering to himself:

"This... this is impossible! Absolutely impossible! The main force of the Chu cavalry was clearly attacking the city, how could... how could they have sneaked around to our rear without anyone noticing?"

"This is the main retreat route for our army. They..."

After all, Jia Yuan had experienced battles before. After a brief moment of shock, he quickly understood what was happening. A desperate smile appeared on his face, and he sighed:

"General! We've fallen into a trap! Chu Ning's plan is so profound!"

"These days, the Chu army has been surrounding the city without attacking, or feinting and attacking to distract the enemy. They are not just looking for an opportunity to attack the city."

"They must have already sent out their elite cavalry to encircle us from a distance, bypassing Xunyang City's sight, just to wait for us here and completely cut off our escape route!"

"We...we have been kept in the dark!"

Upon hearing this, Gongsun Ao's face instantly turned as pale as paper, completely devoid of blood.

A bone-chilling chill rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him shiver uncontrollably.