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

In the darkest hour before dawn, a bloody chase unfolded across the wasteland.

Ashina led 48,000 remnant troops in a breakout to the north, the column stretching for miles, like a wounded black python writhing across the wasteland.

The vanguard consisted of light cavalry still able to gallop, the center was a chaotic formation of wounded soldiers and infantry, and the rearguard was eight thousand elite troops personally led by Ashina to cover the rear.

Chu Xuan's Golden Armor Army and Su Tingmei's Youzhou Army did not rush to encircle them, but instead, like a pack of wolves chasing their prey, they always maintained a distance of three miles.

Their tactics were ruthless and precise: whenever the remnants of the Scorpion Clan tried to speed up and shake off their pursuers, a light cavalry unit would suddenly attack from the flank, scattering the tail and killing dozens or hundreds of people before quickly escaping.

Whenever the troops slowed down due to exhaustion, a rain of arrows would fall at just the right moment, forcing them to continue their escape.

"General, this can't go on!"

Hulun rode up to Ashina's side. The wound on Ashina's left arm had been re-bandaged, but blood was still seeping out.

"The column is too long; we can't support each other at the front and back! The Chu army is tearing us apart bit by bit!"

Ashina looked back.

In the dim light before dawn, one could see people falling one after another at the rear of the column; some were too badly wounded to continue, while many more were killed by arrows fired during the pursuit.

The ranks were in complete chaos, with infantrymen who had lost their horses and the wounded helping each other along, slowing their pace further and further.

What's even more frightening is morale.

From their initial desperate breakout attempt to their current near-collapse and desperate flight, the soldiers' initial courage is rapidly fading, replaced by numbness and despair.

"What about the bald head?" Ashina asked.

"He was at the front and fainted. The army doctor said he had lost too much blood and it was hard to say whether he could make it to Blackstone Fortress."

Ashina gritted his teeth.

He knew he had made a big mistake—he shouldn't have charged blindly, shouldn't have joined forces so easily, and even more so, shouldn't have rushed to break out without immediately regrouping after joining forces.

But it's too late to say anything now.

"Give the order to the entire army,"

He hissed, "Discard all unnecessary supplies; those too wounded to move... stay behind."

He spoke the last few words with great difficulty.

In grassland tradition, abandoning the wounded is a great disgrace.

Hulun opened his mouth, but in the end he only nodded emphatically: "Yes."

After the order was given, the marching speed of the team did indeed increase.

But the hundreds of seriously wounded soldiers who remained sat together in the cold wind before dawn, silently watching their comrades depart.

When the Chu army caught up, they did not resist, but calmly accepted their deaths.

This scene was witnessed by many soldiers who turned around to look.

Morale dropped another notch.

As dawn broke, the east began to lighten with the pale glow of dawn.

The outline of Blackstone Castle was already faintly visible on the horizon—about thirty miles away.

"Keep pushing! We'll be safe once we reach Blackrock Fortress!" the officers shouted encouragingly.

But at that moment, the pace of the pursuit suddenly changed.

The Chu army and the Youzhou army, which had been maintaining their distance, suddenly accelerated!

It's no longer about driving them away, but about charging forward with all their might.

Chu Xuan personally led 10,000 heavy cavalry to flank from the left, while Su Tingmei dispatched 8,000 light cavalry from Youzhou to outflank from the right, and 30,000 infantrymen advanced with all their might in the middle.

The three attacks were launched simultaneously, like a giant net suddenly tightening.

"The rear guard becomes the front guard! Form ranks and meet the enemy!" Ashina roared.

However, the exhausted remnants of the army reacted slowly.

Many people didn't even hear the orders and just kept running forward.

By the time Ashina had managed to organize three thousand rear guard troops, the Chu heavy cavalry had already reached them.

This time, it's a real head-on clash.

Chu Xuan, his golden armor stained with blood, his long sword like a dragon, led his heavy cavalry to crash fiercely into the Scorpion Clan's rearguard.

These heavy cavalrymen of Chu, having rested and recuperated overnight, were now at their peak fighting strength.

The remnants of the Scorpion Clan, exhausted from their long and arduous battle, crumbled as soon as they made contact.

"Hold it! Hold it!"

Ashina brandished his longsword wildly, slaying three Chu cavalrymen in succession, but more enemies surged in like a tide.

On the left, the light cavalry of Youzhou cut in like ghosts. They did not charge head-on, but instead focused on shooting the legs of the horses and killing the lone ones.

The middle section of the Scorpion Clan's ranks began to collapse, with soldiers scattering and fleeing, completely disrupting the organization.

"General! The central army is in chaos!" Hulun rushed back, covered in blood: "It's out of control!"

Ashina's eyes were bloodshot.

He saw countless soldiers running around like headless flies in the middle of the ranks, trampling each other.

The arrows of the Youzhou army fell like raindrops, each wave bringing with it a splash of blood.

Even worse, the vanguard, where Tuoba Hun was stationed, was cut off and isolated due to the collapse of the central army.

"Go and rescue Tuoba Hun!" Ashina turned his horse around and led his personal guards to try to break through the encirclement, but the Chu army's heavy cavalry held them firmly in place.

At this point of utter chaos, Ashina made a crazy decision.

"The whole army obeys the order——"

He roared hoarsely, his voice drowning out the clamor of the battlefield: "Turn around! Counterattack! Kill all these Central Plains dogs!"

This was an order that defied common sense. Being pursued in a rout, turning back to fight was tantamount to suicide.

But Ashina had one thing in mind: the Chu army and the Youzhou army had been pursuing each other all night and were equally exhausted.

More importantly, they certainly didn't expect the routed troops to dare to fight back.

He was going to take a gamble, using a desperate counterattack to disrupt the enemy's rhythm and buy time for the vanguard to break through.

"Warriors of the Wolf Clan!"

Ashina raised his blood-stained longsword high: "We've been fleeing all night, that's enough! Now, let these people from the Central Plains see that even the wolves of the grasslands will tear their throats before they die!"

"Kill—!" The remaining Scorpion Clan cavalry were ignited by this madness, fueling their last bit of fighting spirit.

Approximately 15,000 cavalry turned around and followed Ashina in a counter-charge.

This was a desperate last stand by a cornered beast, and its momentum momentarily overwhelmed the pursuing Chu army.

Chu Xuan was indeed taken aback. He hadn't expected the routed troops to dare to counterattack, let alone that the counterattack would be so fierce.

The Chu army's vanguard was caught off guard by this sudden counterattack, and chaos ensued in their lines.

"What a fine Ashina!"

A look of admiration flashed in Chu Xuan's eyes, then turned ruthless: "Send the order: close in on both wings and let them in!"

He decided to turn the tables on him.

Ashina led his troops in a charge, and wherever his long sword pointed, the Chu army retreated in disarray.

He fought with increasing ferocity, charging deeper and deeper, and was about to break through the Chu army's lines.

"General! Something's not right!" Hulun suddenly shouted, "They're deliberately making way!"

Ashina suddenly awoke with a start.

Looking around, the Chu army appeared to be in a rout, but their retreat was very methodical. Their flanks not only did not collapse, but were slowly closing in.

Their charge was being led towards a low-lying area—

"Halt! All troops halt!" Ashina shouted.

But it's too late.

Just as the Scorpion Clan cavalry charged into the low-lying area, war drums thundered from behind the surrounding hills.

It was neither the golden banners of the Chu army nor the black banners of the Youzhou army, but rather a greater and denser array of Chu army flags.

A full 30,000 fresh troops appeared simultaneously from three directions, completing the final encirclement!

It turned out that when Chu Xuan set up the ambush at Eagle Sorrow Gorge, he had secretly dispatched a detachment from the east to detour to this place and lie in ambush all night, waiting for this very moment.

Meanwhile, Su Tingmei's Youzhou army completed the second layer of encirclement on the outside.

The current troop strength comparison is brutally laid out before us: the Chu army headquarters has 30,000 troops, the Youzhou army has 20,000 troops, and the eastern detachment has 30,000 troops—a total of 80,000 troops.

Ashina and Tuoba Hun's remaining forces, after a night of pursuit, internal division, and counterattack, numbered less than 35,000, most of them wounded, and their organization was in disarray.

Even more deadly was the terrain in which they were surrounded—a low-lying area surrounded by hills, which was the death ground for the cavalry.