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

A Han army general immediately stopped with a hundred soldiers, turned around and formed a battle formation, with long spears like a forest aimed at Xue Huaide and others who were rushing towards them.

“Liu Xiu!!!”

When Xue Huaide saw Liu Xiu's indifferent back and the order to divide the troops to intercept, he was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot and his heart was broken!

He paid the price of nearly annihilating his entire army, yet he didn't even deserve to be taken seriously?!

"Kill it!"

Xue Huaide was completely mad with rage. He ignored the dozen or so personal soldiers left around him and rushed towards the Han army's interception formation alone, waving his Fang Tian Hua Ji and like a mad tiger!

"boom!"

The painted halberd swept across, and the huge force directly knocked the first few Han army spearmen away with their spears!

Xue Huaide was extremely brave, and at this moment he was risking his life, and he actually tore a hole in the small formation of the Han army!

But he is only one person after all.

The surrounding Han soldiers immediately surrounded them, spears stabbed from all directions, and arrows shot from a distance.

Xue Huaide fought hard to block, wielding his painted halberd tightly and killing several people in succession, but his momentum of charging was abruptly curbed.

Every step forward becomes increasingly difficult.

He could only watch helplessly as Liu Xiu's main force, on a road that seemed to have been specially opened up for him, free from the interference of heavenly fire, ran further and further away, and finally disappeared on the distant horizon...

"what!!!"

Xue Huaide let out a roar of extreme pain and unwillingness. His voice was shrill, but full of powerlessness.

God is not helping me!

A crime other than war!

In the end, under the siege of the Han soldiers, Xue Huaide, who was suffering from multiple wounds and exhausted, had to give up the futile pursuit.

With the desperate cover of his last few personal soldiers, he fought his way out of the encirclement. Looking at the mess on the ground and the retreating figures of the Han army, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and almost fell off his horse.

There is no greater example of success or failure than this.

And all of this is shrouded in the shadow of the strange and deadly rain of fire.

Xue Huaide was covered in blood, his armor was torn in many places, and the arm holding the halberd was trembling slightly due to exhaustion and anger.

He looked at the direction where Liu Xiu's army disappeared, his eyes filled with endless humiliation and unwillingness.

Right under his nose, that Han army used the mysterious and unpredictable heavenly fire to fight their way out of a bloody path and escape!

The chaos around was still going on. The bombardment of heavenly fire seemed to be weakening, but it had not stopped completely. Meteorites were still falling sporadically, causing new panic and casualties.

A team of Chu infantrymen who were originally on flank alert and had a relatively intact organization discovered Xue Huaide who was entangled in a small group of Han troops.

They rushed over hastily and repelled the Han troops, thus rescuing the brave general who had almost died fighting for his country.

"General Xue! Are you okay?"

A captain of the Chu army who led the team looked at Xue Huaide's miserable condition and asked in shock.

Xue Huaide did not answer, but just gritted his teeth so hard that his gums almost bled.

He pushed aside the soldiers who were supporting him, climbed onto a spare warhorse brought by his personal guards, and spoke in a hoarse voice like a broken gong:

"Where is your majesty?"

"Your Majesty should remain in the rear army."

Xue Huaide said no more, shook the reins, and galloped towards the general direction of the central army's flag. Along the way, all he saw was the tragic scene of the Chu army after suffering heavy losses.

The burning camp, the damaged equipment, the charred crater, and the countless wailing wounded soldiers and the silent collection of corpses.

All of this cut into his heart like a sharp knife.

As a vanguard general, he failed to capture and kill Liu Xiu, and instead caused the army to suffer this "divine punishment". He felt that he was deeply sinful.

Just as he was about to approach the central army area, another rider came rushing from the side, and both of them reined in their horses almost at the same time.

Xue Huaide turned around and saw that the person coming was Zhao Yu, who was responsible for besieging other directions.

Zhao Yu was in an equally miserable state, with his helmet and armor askew, and traces of smoke and fire on his face. His eyes were filled with the same frustration and fear.

The two men looked at each other and instantly understood each other's intentions and situation. They both failed to complete the task of stopping the enemy, allowing Liu Xiu to successfully break out of their defense zone.

Needless to say, a sense of shared shame and fear of the emperor's thundering wrath lingered in the hearts of both men.

"General Zhao..." Xue Huaide's voice was dry.

"General Xue..." Zhao Yu also had a bitter look on his face.

The two men walked side by side in silence, and the heavy atmosphere was almost suffocating.

Soon, they arrived at the central army.

This place is relatively far back and the damage is less severe, but the atmosphere is still extremely solemn.

The soldiers and generals all had frightened looks on their faces. When they saw Xue Huaide and Zhao Yu coming, they all cast complicated glances at them.

Chu Ning did not stay on the magnificent imperial carriage, but immediately stood on a slightly higher slope, looking down at the devastated battlefield and the still smoking Kunyang City with an expressionless face.

His golden dragon-patterned armor looked a little dim in the dim light, but his posture remained upright, as if he was not shaken by the sudden heavy blow and strange celestial phenomenon.

Xue Huaide and Zhao Yu took a deep breath, dismounted at the same time, walked quickly to the foot of the slope, and knelt on the ground like pushing a golden mountain and overturning a jade pillar, with their heads bowed deeply.

"Your Majesty! General Xue Huaide is incompetent! He failed to intercept Liu Xiu, allowing the bandit leader to escape! He even caused the entire army to suffer this... this disaster! Your Majesty, please punish me!"

Xue Huaide's voice was filled with pain and self-blame.

"Your Majesty! General Zhao Yu failed to defend effectively and was unable to stop the enemy outside the city. I deserve death! Your Majesty, please punish me severely!"

Zhao Yu also immediately apologized, his voice trembling.

They were prepared to bear the emperor's wrath and even anticipated being punished by military law.

After all, an army of hundreds of thousands besieged an isolated city, but the cooked duck flew away and they paid such a heavy price. No matter what the reason, they, as the main generals on the front line, cannot escape blame.

However, the expected thunderous wrath did not come.

Chu Ning slowly turned around and his eyes fell on his two beloved generals kneeling on the ground.

His eyes were deep and calm, without any trace of anger or blame, but rather a kind of indifference that seemed to see through everything.

"The loss of this battle is not the fault of you two."

Chu Ning spoke, his voice surprisingly steady, as if stating a fact that had nothing to do with him:

"This heaven-sent phenomenon is beyond human control, and it's not our fault. You've done your best, so don't blame yourself too much."

Upon hearing this, Xue Huaide and Zhao Yu suddenly raised their heads, their faces filled with surprise and disbelief.

Your Majesty... didn't even blame them?

"His Majesty……"

Xue Huaide felt even more guilty and said anxiously, "Although it was a natural disaster, I still failed to complete the mission!"

"Although Liu Xiu has escaped, his troops are all exhausted and their progress will certainly be slow!"

"I will immediately reorganize the cavalry. Even if there is only one soldier left, we will definitely bring Liu Xiu back! This will atone for the crime!"