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

"The number of Tang troops is almost the same as ours."

Feng Mulan's voice was frighteningly calm: "The reason they were able to gain the upper hand was because they caught us off guard, because they were familiar with the terrain, and because we dispersed our forces."

She paused, then pierced through a Tang soldier who rushed out of the alley with her sword, and continued:

"But as long as our army stabilizes its position, as long as we regroup our scattered troops, and as long as we shift from a passive, defensive posture to an active, offensive one—"

Feng Mulan suddenly turned around, facing the hundreds of guards who had gathered behind her: "We will not lose!"

"Send the order to all departments!"

Her voice suddenly rose: "Abandon the mopping-up operations against scattered enemies and immediately assemble in the middle section of Suzaku Avenue!"

"Form a defensive formation with my banner as the center! At the same time, send someone to contact Guan Yun and Ran Ming, and have them move closer to this location!"

"Order!"

The order was quickly relayed.

The Chu army, scattered in various locations, began to abandon their original positions and retreat towards the direction where Feng Mulan was located.

Although the army suffered constant harassment from Tang troops along the way and incurred considerable losses, the organization was gradually restored and the chaos was gradually subsiding.

The western section, near Xuanwu Gate.

Ran Ming's situation is the worst.

He was already seriously injured and had not yet recovered when he was besieged by the most elite troops of the Tang army.

The remnants of the 8,000-strong vanguard battalion were besieged by 20,000 Tang troops in an abandoned warehouse, surrounded by enemies on all sides.

"General! The east wall has been breached!" the guard shouted a warning.

Ran Ming leaned back against a pile of cargo boxes, blood still seeping from the penetrating wound in his left shoulder, his face as pale as paper.

But the fierce glint in his eyes remained undiminished, and he grabbed the broken spear with his still-functioning right hand:

"If you can still move, come with me and fight your way back!"

He struggled to his feet and led dozens of his personal guards toward the breach.

The broken spears, though no longer as powerful as before, still instilled fear in the Tang army with their reckless ferocity.

After piercing the throat of a Tang army captain with a spear, Ran Ming roared with laughter: "Come on! You cowardly rats who hide your heads and tails! You can't win a fight head-on, so all you can do is resort to underhanded tactics!"

Before the laughter subsided, a cold arrow shot from the shadows, striking his right leg.

Ran Ming grunted and knelt on one knee.

"General!" The guards' eyes widened in horror.

"I can't die!"

Ran Ming gritted his teeth, broke off the arrow shaft, and used the broken spear to prop himself up: "Listen up! Consort Feng is gathering troops, and Guan Yun is definitely counterattacking! If we can hold out for another half an hour, reinforcements will arrive!"

He spat out a mouthful of blood and grinned, "Only half an hour! When has our vanguard battalion ever been afraid of holding out to the death?"

"Hold on! Hold on! Hold on!" the remaining hundreds of soldiers roared in unison.

Outside the warehouse, the Tang army's offensive intensified.

They clearly realized that they had to take down this stubborn enemy as soon as possible, otherwise the battle would be reversed again once the Chu army had completed its regrouping.

The entire city of Jianghuai was engulfed in flames of war.

Although the 70,000 Tang troops had the advantage of the ambush, the Chu army was, after all, a battle-hardened elite force.

After the initial chaos subsided, various departments began to spontaneously organize a counterattack.

Feng Mulan's banner became a symbol of unity among the troops, and more and more Chu army units were moving towards Zhuque Avenue.

On the Tang side, the command seemed to be in trouble—although their forces were roughly equal, they were scattered in various places to ambush, lacking unified command.

When the Chu army began to assemble, the Tang army found itself in a predicament of fighting independently.

After an initial sharp tilt, the balance of power in the battle began to slowly return to normal.

But the real outcome is far from decided.

Because everyone knows—

Outside the city, Han Xing is returning to reinforce.

On the north bank, Li Guangbi was engaged in fierce fighting.

On the high slope, Chu Ning still had 100,000 troops that had not yet moved.

Guo Ziyi, this veteran general who devised such a grand scheme, must still have a final trump card up his sleeve.

This street battle was merely the prelude to the final battle.

Even more brutal battles were yet to come.

Every inch of land in Jianghuai City will change hands repeatedly in blood and fire.

Until one side bleeds out their last drop of blood.

Or, until one side delivers the decisive blow.

Half an hour felt like half a lifetime in the street fighting of Jianghuai City.

In the middle section of Zhuque Avenue, Feng Mulan's banner had already gathered about 20,000 Chu soldiers.

These soldiers came from different units. Some were from her Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, some were the city defense troops left behind by Han Xing, and many more were routed soldiers who had been scattered during the ambush and then regrouped on their own.

They formed a massive defensive perimeter using barricades, buildings, and even piles of corpses.

Outside the circle, the Tang army's offensive came wave after wave.

They surged in from all directions, attempting to defeat the Chu army before it could complete its assembly.

Arrows rained down, logs and stones were constantly thrown from the rooftops on both sides, and houses lit with kerosene burned fiercely in the morning light, thick smoke obscuring half the sky.

"Your Majesty! The eastern barricade is about to fall!"

A captain, his face covered in blood, rushed over: "The Tang army has brought in battering rams and is ramming the barricades!"

Feng Mulan stood on the makeshift command platform, her red armor tattered and her long hair disheveled, but her eyes remained sharp as knives.

She glanced to the east—where a barricade made of carriages, furniture, and corpses was shaking violently, splintering wood everywhere.

"Send a squad of Mo Dao (a type of long-handled swordsman) over there," Feng Mulan said in a deep voice. "Once they break through the gap, cut them back!"

"The Mo Dao soldiers?" The captain was taken aback. "But Your Highness, General Guan's Mo Dao troops haven't arrived yet..."

Before the words were finished, a deafening roar suddenly came from the east side.

It wasn't the shouts of the Tang army, but the unique, deep, thunderous roar of the Chu army.

Immediately afterwards, a huge long-handled sword broke through the smoke and dust, appearing at the gap in the barricade.

With a sweeping motion, three Tang soldiers who were ramming the door were cut in two, along with their hammers!

Subsequently, even more Mo Dao (陌刀) appeared like a forest.

Covered in blood, Guan Yun, his phoenix eyes burning with furious rage, led the remaining Mo Dao troops into the Tang army's ranks.

Although this heavily armored unit suffered heavy losses—originally 20,000, now only 8,000 remain—it still maintains a terrifying fighting capacity.

Instead of guarding the breach, they charged out through it and met the Tang army's charge head-on!

"General Guan!" Feng Mulan's eyes flashed with surprise.

Guan Yun did not respond, or rather, he did not hear her at all.

His eyes were filled only with enemies and carnage. Each swing of his longsword claimed several lives.

His tactics were simple and brutal—he charged wherever the Tang army was numerous and attacked wherever the offensive was fierce.

This reckless fighting style actually worked.

The Tang army's offensive on the eastern flank stalled, forcing them to retreat and regroup.

But just as the situation on the east side stabilized, a critical alarm sounded from the west side.

"Your Majesty! A large number of Tang archers have appeared on the west side and are arrayed on the rooftop!"

Feng Mulan turned her head to look.

On the rooftops of the western streets, at least a thousand Tang archers appeared, occupying the high ground and their arrows covering the western half of the entire defensive perimeter.