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

"Surround the area for reinforcements!"

Ashina murmured, finally fully understanding the entire plan.

From the feigned defeat in Jicheng, to the drive away at Yingchou Gorge, to the encirclement of Tufa Hun in the wilderness, to "allowing" them to reunite, to the pursuit all the way here, and then to inducing him to turn around and fight back.

Every step, every choice, is part of the other party's calculations.

They are not prey, but pawns.

Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei were playing chess, and the chessboard had been set up several days earlier.

“General, we…” Hulun’s voice trembled.

Ashina looked around.

The last trace of color drained from the soldiers' faces, replaced by a deathly despair.

Many men had their weapons hanging to the ground, their warhorses were panting with their heads down, and they didn't even have the strength to charge anymore.

On the hill, the Chu army began to form ranks. Heavy infantry led the way, their spears like a forest, archers followed behind, their arrows like stars, while cavalry patrolled the flanks, blocking all escape routes.

Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei stood side by side at the highest point, looking down at the trapped beast in the depression.

"General Ashina!"

Chu Xuan's voice, amplified by the messenger, echoed across the low-lying area: "Surrender! You are a renowned general of our time, why needlessly sacrifice the lives of these warriors?"

Ashina laughed loudly, his laughter desolate: "Chu Xuan! Su Tingmei! What cunning! I, Ashina, am utterly convinced of my defeat today!"

His laughter abruptly stopped, and he pointed his sword at the hill: "You want the men of my Scorpion Clan to kneel and surrender? Dream on!"

He turned his horse around to face the remaining followers.

"Bros!"

Ashina's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears: "We've fallen into a trap, we're surrounded, and there's no way out."

Deathly silence.

“But I want to ask you—” he said slowly, “what are we fighting for?”

No one answered.

"For plunder? For slaughter? For fame?"

Ashina shook his head: "No, we are here for our home on the grassland, our family in the tent, and—freedom."

"The people of the Central Plains built the Great Wall and fortified passes to trap us in this bitter, cold land forever. They said we were barbarians, wild beasts, and unworthy of fertile land."

A flame ignited in his eyes: "Even if we all die here today, we will make the people of the Central Plains remember—the wolves of the grasslands can be killed, but they can never be tamed!"

"Now," Ashina raised his long sword, "those who are willing to die with me, mount your horses!"

After a brief silence, the first soldier mounted his horse.

Then came the second, the third... more and more people silently mounted their horses and raised their drooping swords and spears.

There were no shouts, no screams, only the calm before the 35,000 people faced their deaths.

At the edge of the depression, Chu Xuan sighed, "What a pity."

“All great generals in chaotic times are like this.” Su Tingmei gently waved her feather fan. “Pass on the order.”

Chu Xuan raised his hand, preparing to issue the order for the general offensive.

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred—

Dust billowed up on the northern horizon!

It wasn't a small force, but a massive cloud of dust that swept in like a sandstorm.

Amidst the smoke and dust, black wolf banners fluttered like a forest, and the sound of horses' hooves shook the earth.

A massive cavalry legion is charging toward the battlefield with overwhelming force!

“That is…” Chu Xuan’s pupils suddenly contracted.

At the forefront of the smoke and dust, a huge golden wolf-head banner fluttered in the wind—that was the banner of Gongsun Yi, the great general of the Scorpion Clan!

The entire garrison of Blackrock Fortress has come out.

Su Tingmei paused, a flicker of emotion finally crossing her eyes: "Gongsun Yi... has come in person."

Ashina also saw the flag in the depression.

He was taken aback at first, then he understood—Gongsun Yi was still worried, and after sending him to provide reinforcements, he gathered all the troops he could mobilize and personally led his army to meet him!

A miraculous escape from a desperate situation.

Ashina burst into wild laughter, tears streaming down his face.

He turned to look at Chu Xuan and Su Tingmei on the hill, his long sword pointing in the distance:

"Chu Xuan! Su Tingmei! The game isn't over yet!"

“Now,” he roared hoarsely, “it’s our turn to fight back!”

Dawn finally arrived, and the first rays of sunlight pierced through the clouds, illuminating the wasteland that was about to be stained red with blood.

What was thought to be a battle of encirclement and annihilation was about to end quickly turned into a decisive battle between the main forces of both sides.

And this bloody battle that will determine the fate of northern Xinjiang has only just begun.

The dust and smoke that blotted out the sky on the northern horizon had swept across three miles like a sandstorm.

At the forefront, the golden wolf-head royal banner fluttered in the wind.

Under his command, Gongsun Yi, clad in heavy black armor and wielding a ten-foot-long spear, led the charge.

This scorpion general was over fifty years old, with a beard as thick as steel needles and eagle eyes as sharp as knives in the morning light.

Behind him stood 20,000 of the most elite royal cavalry—these cavalrymen and their horses were fully armored, even their warhorses were covered in heavy leather armor inlaid with iron plates, and when they charged, they were like a moving iron wall.

"The General himself has arrived!"

In the depression, Scorpion Clan soldiers cried out in ecstasy at their miraculous escape from a desperate situation.

Ashina was also stunned.

He originally thought that Gongsun Yi would only hold Blackstone Fortress, but he never expected that this general, who was known for his composure, would personally lead the royal court's elite troops to come to his aid.

But then he realized—this wasn't a rescue, this was a decisive battle.

Gongsun Yi planned to launch a thunderous attack from the outside while the Chu army and the Youzhou army were encircling and annihilating them, thus burying the enemy's main force here!

"The whole army obeys the order!"

Ashina's roar jolted his still-dazed troops awake: "The Great General has arrived to reinforce us! Attack from both inside and outside! The moment to break through the enemy lines is now!"

The morale of the 35,000 remaining soldiers soared to its peak. The ecstasy of escaping their desperate situation transformed into a roar of resolute counterattack. They were no longer prey being besieged, but rather a hammer about to rendezvous with reinforcements!

On the hill, Chu Xuan's expression suddenly changed.

"Gongsun Yi actually came in person..." He stared intently at the golden royal banner: "He's not going to defend Blackstone Fortress anymore?"

"Black Rock Fortress was a decoy."

Su Tingmei's voice remained calm, but her feather fan was no longer waving gently: "We are besieging the point and attacking the reinforcements, and he is also playing along with our plan."

"Use Ashina and Tufahun as bait to lure out our main force, and then defeat them with the iron cavalry of the royal court."

"What a plan."

Chu Xuan gritted his teeth: "Send the order! The eastern flank will turn around and engage Gongsun Yi! The Youzhou army will consolidate its defensive line and starve the enemy in the low-lying area! The main force will follow me..."

Before he finished speaking, the battlefield situation had already changed rapidly.

Gongsun Yi's 20,000 iron cavalry did not slow down at all.

They did not form ranks or probe, but instead used the most primitive and ferocious wedge formation to directly attack the flank of the Chu army's eastern detachment.

That was precisely the weakest point in the encirclement.

The commander of the eastern flank attempted to change tactics to meet the enemy, but it was too late.

They had originally positioned themselves facing the low-lying area, but suddenly had to turn to deal with a flanking attack, creating a fatal flaw during the formation change.

"Break the formation!" Gongsun Yi pointed his spear forward, his voice booming like thunder.

Twenty thousand heavy cavalrymen, like an iron torrent, crashed fiercely into the Chu army's formation.

This wasn't a battle; it was a crushing defeat.

The royal cavalry's warhorses were all carefully selected grassland steeds, whose sprinting speed far exceeded that of ordinary cavalry.

Their weapons were not ordinary sabers, but specially made armor-piercing spears—the spearheads were three feet long and had barbs, specifically designed to break through heavy armor.