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

A scheme within a scheme, a plot within a plot, the two sides are locked in a fierce battle!

The first rank of Chu heavy infantrymen were knocked away, shields and all.

Iron cavalry trampled over fallen bodies, and lances pierced the chests of the second rank.

Gongsun Yi took the lead, his eighteen-foot spear flashing like a silver light. Wherever he passed, severed limbs flew everywhere, and no one could withstand a single blow from him.

"Stop him! Stop that old general!" roared the commander of the eastern flank.

Three fierce generals of the Chu army simultaneously rushed towards Gongsun Yi.

With a knife, a spear, and an axe, they attacked from the upper, middle, and lower levels.

Gongsun Yi neither dodged nor avoided, sweeping his horse spear across the ground.

"Dang! Dang! Dang!"

Three loud bangs erupted almost simultaneously.

Knives flew, spears broke, and axes snapped.

Three Chu generals were sent flying backwards like kites with broken strings; two died on the spot, and one was seriously injured and coughed up blood.

"Is there no one capable in the Chu army?"

Gongsun Yi let out a long roar, which shook the surrounding area.

He led his personal guards like a sharp knife, continuing to penetrate deeper and piercing the heart of the Chu army's formation.

The eastern flank was thrown into disarray.

The heavy infantry were scattered by the cavalry, and the archers were trampled underfoot before they could even fire their arrows. The command structure nearly collapsed in the first wave of the attack.

Despite being outnumbered by 20,000 to 40,000, Gongsun Yi's lightning-fast charge and unstoppable bravery actually managed to tear apart the formation of the Chu army's eastern flank!

"Great General, you are mighty!" The remnants of the Scorpion Clan roared in unison from the depression, their morale soaring.

Ashina knew this was a golden opportunity: "All troops, charge! Rendezvous with the General!"

The 35,000 remaining soldiers, like tigers released from their cages, no longer confined to the low-lying areas, but instead charged outwards with all their might.

They knew that once they joined forces with Gongsun Yi's royal cavalry, the battlefield situation would be completely reversed.

The encirclement by the Chu army and the Youzhou army began to falter under the combined attack from both inside and outside.

On the hill, Chu Xuan's face was ashen.

His meticulously planned encirclement and annihilation scheme was unexpectedly broken by Gongsun Yi in such a violent manner at the last moment.

If the eastern flank collapses, a huge gap will appear in the entire encirclement.

“Mr. Su!” He looked at the strategist in black robes.

Su Tingmei had already closed her feather fan, her gaze fixed on the battlefield: "Prince Xuan, please lead your elite troops to block the gap between the eastern flank and the Youzhou army, and prevent Gongsun Yi from joining forces with the enemy in the low-lying area."

"Then, sir, you..."

"I have my own plans." Su Tingmei turned her horse around: "This game is not over yet."

Her black robes fluttered as she galloped toward the main force of the Youzhou army.

There's one last card left to play.

Chu Xuan gritted his teeth and drew his sword: "Chu soldiers! Follow me to kill the enemy!"

With the golden royal banner pointing forward, the Chu army's elite force of 10,000 heavy cavalry began to move, like a golden torrent rushing towards the breach in the battle formation that was about to be torn apart.

In the center of the battlefield, Gongsun Yi had already broken through the front half of the eastern flank, and was less than a mile from the depression.

He was covered in blood, with the corpses of three Chu generals impaled on his lance, like a war god descended to earth.

Ashina led his remaining troops in a fierce charge, and it seemed that the two armies were about to converge.

Once they reunite, the 45,000 Scorpion Clan cavalry will be united once again, while the Chu army will be divided into eastern and western parts, unable to support each other.

But just when the two armies were only three hundred paces apart, another unexpected event occurred.

Suddenly, a strange bugle call rang out from the Youzhou army formation.

It was neither a bugle call nor a retreat order, but a deep, lingering rhythm, as if it came from the underworld.

As the bugle sounded, the Youzhou army's formation changed once again.

Instead of trying to maintain the encirclement, they deliberately spread out to both sides, creating a passage.

A passage leading directly to the depression.

Gongsun Yi's pupils suddenly contracted.

This isn't right.

Su Tingmei is no mediocre person, so why did he voluntarily give way?

"General! Beware of a trap!" the lieutenant cried out.

But the arrow had already left the bowstring.

With 20,000 cavalry charging at full speed, turning or slowing down at this moment would only disrupt their formation.

Gongsun Yi hesitated for only a moment before making a decision: "Never mind him! Charge over! Reunite with Ashina first!"

The iron cavalry surged forward along the path cleared by the Youzhou army, heading towards the low-lying area.

Three hundred steps, two hundred steps, one hundred steps...

Just as the two armies were about to converge, Su Tingmei, in the distance within the main camp of the Youzhou army, gently waved her feather fan.

"put."

The ground collapsed.

The moment the ground collapsed, Gongsun Yi reacted instinctively, drawing on decades of battlefield experience.

He spurred his warhorse, and the black steed that had followed him in battle for ten years reared up, its front hooves kicking wildly in the air, managing to stop its momentum at the edge of the pit.

But the charging cavalry behind them were not so lucky—the first hundred or so riders fell into the deep pit like dumplings being dropped into a pot, with the mournful cries of warhorses and the muffled sound of bones breaking echoing from the bottom of the pit.

"It's a horse trap!" the lieutenant shouted hoarsely. "The Youzhou army dug it long ago!"

Gongsun Yi's face turned ashen.

He looked across the pit, where Ashina's remaining forces were less than a hundred paces away, but were now separated again by this sudden pit.

Even more deadly is that the Youzhou army, which had originally "gone aside" on both sides, is now rapidly closing in, intending to surround their 20,000 iron cavalry as well!

Su Tingmei's scheme was so ruthless—he not only wanted to annihilate Ashina, but also to swallow up the royal cavalry that came to his rescue!

"General! What should we do?" The generals were extremely anxious.

Gongsun Yi surveyed the battlefield.

On the east side, Chu Xuan had already led his elite troops to block the breach and was engaged in fierce combat with his vanguard.

On the west side, the Youzhou army has already formed an encirclement.

The south side was a depression, and the north side was the route they had come from. But to retreat now would mean abandoning Ashina and his 35,000 remaining soldiers completely.

There was no time to hesitate.

"Fill the hole!"

Gongsun Yi shouted angrily, "Fill the way with horse carcasses! Fill the way with our own corpses! Even if half of us die today, we must rescue Ashina!"

This is the most barbaric and cruel order.

But no one questioned the imperial cavalry.

The first cavalry unit leaped into the pit.

It wasn't a mistake, it was voluntary.

The warhorse and knight crashed heavily to the bottom of the pit, their bones broken and tendons snapped, but their flesh and blood raised the ground for those who followed.

The second team, the third team... with each team jumping down, the pit became a little shallower.

Some knights, even as they fell into the pit, still managed to throw their shields and spears to the other side, paving the way for their comrades.

"General! You mustn't!" the lieutenant cried out, his eyes wide with fury.

"Excuting an order!"

Gongsun Yi's voice was hoarse, but his eyes burned with an iron will: "Ashina and those 35,000 men are the elite of my Scorpion Clan for ten years! We cannot lose them!"

The pit, filled with flesh and blood, gradually formed a horrific "bridge".

At the same time, Ashina also witnessed this scene in the depression.

He saw the royal cavalry leap into the pit like moths to a flame, and he saw Gongsun Yi willing to sacrifice his most elite guards to clear the road.

"General..." This fierce and incomparably brave general had tears in his eyes at this moment.

"The whole army!"

Ashina turned around and roared hoarsely, "The brothers of the royal court are paving the way for us with their lives! What are we waiting for? Charge in! Join up with the Great General!"

"kill--!"

The 35,000 remaining soldiers in the depression unleashed their last strength.

They held nothing back, no longer cared about their lives; each of them pounced on the encirclement like a mad tiger.

When the arrows are used up, use a knife to cut; when the knife is dulled, pounce on it and bite with your teeth.

The wounded soldiers crawled forward, clinging to the enemy's legs even as they lay dying.

This is a contest of wills.