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

How did the White Horse Cavalry end up here?

The north bank of the Huai River is a wasteland, and it would take at least 300 li to detour there!

Unless... unless Chu Ning had anticipated their retreat across the north and ordered Zhao Yu to lead the White Horse Cavalry to wait here!

The white wave stopped three miles away.

The cavalry were well-trained; when they stopped, their formation remained perfectly intact, maintaining the perfect charging order.

At the very front, a rider slowly stepped out of the ranks.

The man was dressed in gleaming silver chainmail, with a snow-white cloak draped over his shoulders, and held a silver spear in his hand.

The spear was adorned with dragon carvings, and its tassel was as white as snow. He had a handsome face, but his eyes were as cold as ice; he was none other than Zhao Yu, the commander of the White Horse Cavalry.

Zhao Yu rode his horse to a point a hundred paces in front of the formation, his silver spear pointing diagonally at the ground. His gaze swept over the 40,000 panicked remnants of the Tang army behind Li Guangbi, and a mocking smile appeared on his lips.

"General Li, how have you been?"

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly into the Tang army's ranks, indicating that he had used internal force.

Li Guangbi gritted his teeth: "Zhao Yu, what are you doing here?"

"Your Majesty is a brilliant strategist. He foresaw that if Guo Ziyi could not hold the Jianghuai region, he would have to cross the river and retreat north."

Zhao Yu twirled his silver spear, drawing a silver arc in the morning light: "Therefore, I was ordered to lead the White Horse Cavalry across the river three days ago and have been waiting here for a long time."

Three days ago!

Li Guangbi felt a chill in his heart.

In other words, Chu Ning had already laid out this final move before launching the all-out attack.

The siege, the fierce attack, and even the deliberate surrender of the North Gate ferry crossing on the south bank of the Huai River were all aimed at forcing them to the north bank and into this already spread net!

"Your Majesty has an order."

Zhao Yu's voice suddenly turned cold, and he slowly raised his silver spear, the tip pointing directly at Li Guangbi: "The remnants of the Tang army have two choices—"

He paused, then spoke each word with the force of an ice pick piercing the hearts of every Tang soldier:

"surrender."

"or--"

The silver spear suddenly pointed forward, and 30,000 white horse cavalrymen simultaneously raised their spears, their movements perfectly synchronized, a forest of spears like snow.

"die."

The morning breeze swept across the wasteland, stirring up sand and dust.

Forty thousand Tang army remnants were positioned with their backs to the Huai River, while thirty thousand White Horse cavalrymen stood in front of them.

Behind them on the south bank, Guo Ziyi's eight thousand elite soldiers were engaged in a bloody battle, but the outcome of that battle was no longer relevant to them.

Because what lies before them is another dead end.

Li Guangbi looked around. The soldiers' eyes were filled with exhaustion, fear, and despair.

They had just survived a night of bloody fighting and crossed the Huai River, thinking they had escaped to safety, but they never expected to fall into another trap.

"General..." the lieutenant's voice trembled, "What...what do we do?"

How to do?

Li Guangbi gripped the sword tightly in his hand.

Surrender? The commander on the other side is still fighting to the death, and eight thousand comrades are going to their deaths. If he surrenders, how can he face them?

A fight to the death? Forty thousand exhausted soldiers against thirty thousand well-rested White Horse cavalry, and on this indefensible wasteland, the outcome was inevitable.

He looked up at Zhao Yu.

The famous general of Chu sat upright on his horse, silver spear in hand, his eyes cold and indifferent, as if looking at a flock of lambs to the slaughter.

Behind Zhao Yu, 30,000 white horse cavalrymen stood silently.

The morning light shone on their silver-armored white horses, which should have been a sacred scene, but at this moment it was filled with a chilling murderous intent.

Time seems to have frozen.

Only the roar of the Huai River and the faint sounds of battle cries from the south bank served as a reminder to everyone—

This is desperate.

A truly inescapable dead end.

Li Guangbi took a deep breath and slowly raised the sword in his hand.

He knew that no matter which path he chose, many people would die here today.

Including himself.

And at this time.

Outside Jianghuai City, Chu Ning stood on a high slope on his horse.

From here, one can overlook the entire city—thick smoke billows from the east and south gates, the banners of Han Xing's army stand like a forest outside the west gate, and the flames of war can be vaguely seen on the banks of the Huai River in the direction of the north gate.

Sporadic fighting continues within the city, but the overall situation is already settled.

The commander of the Imperial Guard knelt on one knee before the horse and reported the latest battle reports one by one.

Every single piece of news was a victory: Feng Mulan had taken control of the southern district, Guan Yunmo's team had cleared the streets and alleys on the eastern front, and Ran Ming, though seriously injured, was still directing the mopping-up of the remaining enemies.

Han Xing caught up with the Tang army crossing the river and was engaged in fierce fighting with Guo Ziyi's rearguard. Zhao Yu's 30,000 White Horse cavalry intercepted Li Guangbi's 40,000 main force on the north bank.

"Your Majesty, the battle is progressing surprisingly smoothly."

The Imperial Guard concluded, "At this rate, Jianghuai City will completely change hands before sunset, and the main force of the Tang army will be annihilated."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning showed no joy as expected.

He nodded slightly, his gaze still fixed on the distant city, but his brows slowly furrowed.

The morning breeze stirred the hem of his black dragon-patterned cloak, and also stirred the inexplicable unease in his heart.

"The battle is indeed going smoothly..." Chu Ning murmured to himself, "So smoothly... that it makes me a little uneasy."

The Imperial Guard looked up, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes: "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Chu Ning did not answer immediately. He spurred his horse forward slowly for a few steps, his gaze sweeping from the east gate to the west gate, and then from the south gate to the north gate.

As a monarch and a commander, he understood the laws of war all too well—the more successful a battle seems, the more likely it is to conceal a deadly trap.

Who was Guo Ziyi?

A famous general of the Tang Dynasty, he guarded the Jianghuai region for thirty years without ever suffering a defeat.

Such a person, even if defeated, should have fought and retreated step by step, how could he so easily give up the outer city and so hastily cross the river to the north to retreat?

This is not reasonable.

"Explain yourself clearly,"

Chu Ning suddenly turned his head, staring intently at the Embroidered Uniform Guard: "The exact current distribution of these 120,000 Tang troops."

The Imperial Guard quickly retrieved a scroll of silk from his robes, containing the latest intelligence gathered from the various armies at the front. He reported it rapidly:

"Li Guangbi has 40,000 main force troops, which have been intercepted by General Zhao on the north bank. Guo Ziyi is personally leading 8,000 elite soldiers to cover the rear and is currently engaged in fierce fighting with General Han on the south bank. In the battle to defend the three gates of the east, west and south, our army has annihilated a total of about 30,000 enemy troops. This is the current situation we have."

Chu Ning listened quietly, quickly calculating in her mind: 40,000 plus 8,000 plus 30,000 equals 78,000.

"How many troops were originally stationed in Jianghuai City?" he asked.

"According to pre-war intelligence, Guo Ziyi has amassed 120,000 troops in the Jianghuai region, which, together with the existing 20,000 troops in the city, brings the total to 140,000."

The Imperial Guard replied, "After the war began, the Tang army transferred another 30,000 reinforcements from the surrounding areas, but most of them were defeated by Feng's army. Therefore, at its peak, the Tang army in the city should have numbered around 150,000."

"Fifteen thousand..."

Chu Ning repeated the number: "Subtract Li Guangbi's 40,000, Guo Ziyi's 8,000, the 30,000 who died in battle, and there's still..."

He suddenly looked up, his eyes flashing with a sharp light: "There are still 72,000 people! Where are these 72,000 people?!"

The Imperial Guards were stunned.

He had been so focused on compiling reports of victory that he had overlooked this problem.

Pointed out by Chu Ning, he broke out in a cold sweat: "Your Majesty, this... the battle report on the city's cleanup shows that the total number of prisoners and executions by all armies is indeed less than 30,000, could it be..."

"Could it be what?" Chu Ning's voice suddenly turned cold.

"Could there still be a large number of Tang soldiers... hiding inside the city?" The Jinyiwei's voice was dry.