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

The torches crackled, and the groans of wounded soldiers drifted from afar.

Su Tingmei remained silent for a moment, then pointed her feather fan at the surrounded remnants of the Scorpion Clan: "Does Prince Xuan know why I have spared their lives until now?"

Chu Xuan raised an eyebrow: "Could it be that this isn't meant to lure Blackstone Fortress into sending troops?"

"Yes, not all."

Su Tingmei rode slowly forward, with Chu Xuan standing beside her: "Prince Xuan should know better than I, Su, how formidable the Scorpion Clan cavalry are."

"In open field battles, even with ten times the number of troops, it would be difficult to annihilate 40,000 cavalry. If they wanted to leave, most of them could always break through."

"So, what does sir mean?"

"Therefore, the focus of the next phase of the siege and reinforcement campaign is not on annihilation, but on routing the enemy."

Su Tingmei's voice was as calm as the night: "At midnight tonight, when Ashina's 40,000 iron cavalry arrive, we must ensure that Tuoba Hun's remnants break out at the perfect moment."

Chu Xuan was taken aback at first, then his eyes gleamed brightly: "Sir, you mean..."

"When two remnants of the army merge, morale will inevitably be thrown into chaos."

"Tufa was seriously injured, Ashina was impatient, and 48,000 defeated soldiers gathered together. It seemed that the strength of the army had increased greatly, but in fact, the command was inconsistent and the morale was low."

Su Tingmei tapped her feather fan lightly: "At that time, we will apply pressure from three sides, leaving only the north side as the breach."

"To the north is..."

"Towards Blackstone Fortress," Su Tingmei continued. "They will surely retreat towards Blackstone Fortress, and we will follow behind."

Chu Xuan gasped: "They drove and chased them all the way, and the routed troops broke through their own defenses."

"By the time they fled back to Blackstone Fortress, my eastern flank was already waiting in full battle array outside the fortress. With the fortified city in front refusing to let them in and pursuers closing in from behind..."

"The 48,000 iron cavalry collapsed without a fight."

Su Tingmei's voice was as soft as a sigh: "After this battle, the elite forces of the Scorpion Clan in this area will be wiped out in one fell swoop."

The night wind suddenly picked up, stirring up sand and dust.

Chu Xuan stared intently at the black-robed strategist beside him for a long time before slowly saying, "Sir, your plan is perhaps too ruthless."

"Ruthless?"

Su Tingmei finally revealed a smile, but that smile was colder than the northern frontier wind: "Does Prince Xuan know that the Scorpion Clan invaded the border, and 100,000 people in the three northern towns were slaughtered?"

"Women and children were abducted and enslaved, men were nailed to the roadside, and infants were impaled on spearheads?"

He paused, his voice still calm: "The art of war says, 'A merciful general cannot command an army.' If we show mercy to the Scorpion Clan today, the people of the Central Plains will be lambs to the slaughter tomorrow."

Chu Xuan was silent.

After a long pause, he nodded emphatically: "What you say is absolutely right, sir, but..."

He looked at the besieged remnants of the Scorpion Clan, "That bald-headed Hun was a renowned general, it's a pity he met such an end."

"Famous generals in chaotic times are like stars falling into the night; it is quite common."

Su Tingmei looked up at the sky, where the midnight stars shone brightly: "If anyone is to blame, it's that he was born in the wrong place and encountered the wrong times."

The sound of rapid hoofbeats came from afar, and a scout galloped up: "Report—the vanguard of the Scorpion Clan reinforcements has arrived fifty miles away!"

Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei exchanged a glance.

"Order the entire army," Su Tingmei said, raising her feather fan slightly, "to prepare to meet the enemy according to the original plan."

"Surround the area for reinforcements!"

Chu Xuan mounted his horse, his golden armor gleaming in the firelight: "The show is finally about to begin."

Outside the ring of fire, the night was as dark as ink.

The final slaughter before dawn is about to unfold a bloody curtain on this wasteland.

As midnight passed, the northern horizon began to tremble.

At first, there were fine, rhythmic muffled sounds, like distant thunder rolling along the earth.

Then, the sound became clearer and clearer, gradually coalescing into a thunderous roar—a terrifying sound that could only be produced by forty thousand iron cavalry galloping at the same time.

Ashina rode at the forefront of the army, his black wolf banner fluttering behind him.

This scorpion clan lieutenant was as burly as a bear, with a full beard and eyes that gleamed like a wolf in the night.

When he received the distress signal from Tufahun, he was arguing with Huyan Ying at Black Stone Fortress.

"We can't go! This is clearly a trap!"

Hu Yanying slammed his fist on the table and stood up: "Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei have joined forces to lure us out of the city for a field battle!"

"But General Tuoba Hun and my warriors are trapped!"

Ashina stood firm: "Those are the most elite warriors of our Scorpion Clan! How can we stand by and watch them die?"

The dispute lasted for half an hour, and finally Huyan Ying compromised—but he was only allowed to bring 40,000 cavalry, and Blackstone Fortress had to leave more than 10,000 garrison troops behind.

Ashina knew that Huyan Ying's concerns were not unfounded, but some things, even if you know they are traps, you still have to jump in.

Because he understands baldness.

That general would rather die on the battlefield than easily ask for help.

Once the carrier hawk is released, it means that a life-or-death situation has truly arrived.

"Faster!" Ashina roared, lashing his horse's rump with his whip.

Forty thousand iron cavalrymen, like a black torrent, carved a long trail of dust across the wasteland.

They had been traveling for two hours, and both men and horses were exhausted, but they were less than thirty miles away from the location indicated by the last eagle signal from Tuoba Hun.

Just then, the scouts ahead shot back like arrows.

"General! Lights have been spotted twenty miles to the southeast! It's a battlefield!"

Ashina Lema stopped abruptly: "Where is General Tuoba Hun?"

The scout, panting heavily, his face covered in a mixture of sweat and dust, said, "I saw the Black Wolf Guard's banner!"

"But...but they're surrounded on a small hill, and their numbers...it looks like they only have a few thousand left!"

The surrounding generals were in an uproar.

"Only a few thousand of the thirty thousand cavalrymen remain?"

"The Chu army is determined to wipe them out completely!"

Ashina's face turned ashen, but he forced himself to remain calm: "How many enemy troops are there? Who is their commander?"

"Reporting to the General! The encirclement is divided into two layers, an inner and an outer one. The inner layer is Chu Xuan's Golden Armor Army, about 30,000 men, and the outer layer is Su Tingmei's Northern Army, about 20,000 men."

The scouts quickly reported: "The two armies have formed a pincer movement and have surrounded and killed the remnants of General Tuoba Hun's troops!"

“Fifty thousand…” Ashina repeated the number in a low voice, a sinister smile slowly spreading across his lips.

The deputy general, Hulun, rode closer and whispered, "General, the enemy has 50,000 troops. We should wait in comfort for them to tire themselves out."

"Our 40,000 cavalry have traveled this far, and both men and horses are exhausted. Should we rest for a while before..."

"Resting?"

Ashina turned his head, his eyes flashing with a cold light: "Does General Tuoba Hun still expect us to rest? Every moment of delay could mean the death of a hundred more brothers!"

He yanked the reins hard, and the warhorse reared up, its neighing piercing the night sky.

"The whole army obeys the order!"

Ashina's voice boomed like war drums, echoing throughout the forty thousand iron cavalry: "General Tuoba Hun and our brothers are fighting a bloody battle at the front!"

"Does the Chu army think they can starve my Scorpion Clan warriors with only 50,000 men? Today, let these people from the Central Plains know that wolves on the grasslands never win by sheer numbers!"

"Roar—!" Forty thousand people roared in unison, their voices shaking the heavens.

Ashina drew his longsword, its blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight: "Although the enemy has 50,000 troops, Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei belong to two separate armies, so there will inevitably be gaps in their coordination!"

"Our army has 40,000 elite cavalrymen; a single charge can tear their lines apart!"