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

Xue Huaide suddenly turned his head to look.

That's the "Gen" position circular formation—the formation located on the outermost right wing of the entire Dragon Gate Formation.

Having withstood repeated attacks from the Tang army's left-wing cavalry, this circular formation had been fighting fiercely for three hours. Their shields were shattered, their spears were broken, and their soldiers were exhausted.

At this moment, a Tang army suicide squad of about two thousand men, under the cover of night, actually bypassed the main battlefield and quietly sneaked into the rear of the Gen position circular formation from a depression!

"not good!"

Xue Huaide's pupils constricted sharply: "Who is the commander at the Gen position? Why didn't they detect any enemy infiltration on the flank?"

"It's...it's General Chen."

The lieutenant's voice trembled: "He is old and has been commanding for three hours straight. Perhaps... perhaps he made a momentary lapse..."

negligence?

On the battlefield, negligence means death!

Before Xue Huaide could even question them, he immediately waved his command flag: "Li and Dui positions, move towards Gen position immediately! Fill the gap!"

The order was issued, but it was too late.

Those two thousand Tang soldiers were clearly planning this for a long time.

Instead of attacking the front of the circular formation, they used grappling hooks to climb onto the supply wagons at the rear of the formation and threw oil canisters into the formation from above!

Meanwhile, dozens of agile assassins, armed with short blades, slipped through the gaps in the shields to assassinate the archers and commanding officers within the circular formation!

The interior of the circular formation in the Gen position was instantly thrown into chaos.

The kerosene burned, billowing thick smoke.

The archers were attacked, and the rain of arrows stopped.

With the commanding officer killed, the formation began to lose coordination.

On the front, the main force of the Tang army seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"It's now!"

Li Shiming, seeing everything clearly from within the ranks, suddenly pointed the dragon banner forward: "All troops—concentrate your assault on the Gen position! Tear open that breach for me!"

"kill--!"

The Tang army, which had been preparing for a long time, unleashed its final frenzy.

The remaining tens of thousands of troops no longer dispersed to attack, but instead pressed all towards the circular formation at the Gen position!

Heavy infantrymen rammed their bodies into the broken shield wall, cavalry flanked and intercepted reinforcements from both sides, and archers fired at close range regardless of casualties, suppressing the counterattack within the circular formation.

The circular formation in the Gen position, which had been fighting for three hours, was paralyzed in command and in internal chaos, finally could not hold on any longer.

The first shield was knocked down.

The second side, the third side...

Before the spearmen could fill the gap, they were cut down by the Tang soldiers who rushed in.

The archers were utterly helpless in close combat. The rotation of the circular formation... came to a halt.

"The Gen position is broken!" A wild roar of joy erupted from the Tang army.

Although it was just a circular formation, and the gap was only thirty steps wide, the Dragon Gate Formation was finally torn open!

Xue Huaide saw everything clearly from the high platform, and for the first time, shock and anger appeared on his aged face.

"Move out, exchange! Quick! Block the gap!"

He roared the order, grabbing a command flag himself: "Central Army Reserve—Advance!"

But how could the Tang army possibly give them a chance to reorganize?

Li Shimin personally led his imperial cavalry, like a sharp knife, and forcefully pierced through the thirty-step-wide gap!

Wherever the dragon banner pointed, the Tang army's morale soared, and the Chu army suffered repeated defeats.

The gap is widening rapidly.

From thirty steps, to fifty steps, to one hundred steps...

The collapse of one circular array triggered a chain reaction.

The flanks of the adjacent circular formation were exposed, forcing an adjustment of the formation to cope, which in turn created more gaps.

Cracks began to appear in the intricate structure of the entire Dragon Gate Formation.

"Commander Xue! We can't hold on any longer!" Cries for help came one after another from the commanders of each formation.

Xue Huaide gritted his teeth, waving the command flag in his hand like the wind.

He was desperately redeploying troops, trying to re-seal the breach and stabilize the situation.

But some things, once broken, are very difficult to put back together.

Especially—the morale of the troops.

When the Chu soldiers saw the dragon banner charging into the enemy ranks, saw the Tang emperor fighting his way through the enemy lines, and saw the Tang army pouring in like a flood bursting its banks, an uncontrollable panic began to spread.

"Retreat! Retreat to the second line of defense!" Xue Huaide finally made the most difficult decision.

We can't hold out here any longer.

The Dragon Gate Formation has been broken; continuing to fight head-on will only result in being divided and annihilated.

We must retreat and reorganize our defenses, relying on the second line of defense we established outside Jianghuai City.

With the order given, the Chu army began an orderly retreat.

Despite being described as "orderly," the retreat quickly turned into a fighting retreat under the Tang army's relentless pursuit, and then into resistance amidst a rout.

Troops were constantly being cut off, surrounded, and annihilated.

Under the cover of his personal guards, Xue Huaide took one last look at the collapsing battlefield.

Three hours.

A bloody battle that lasted for three whole hours.

He used the Dragon Gate Formation and 70,000 Chu troops to block the frenzied attack of Li Shimin's 70,000-strong army, killing and wounding at least 20,000 Tang soldiers.

But in the end... it was still broken through.

It wasn't that the formation was poorly executed, nor was it due to improper command.

It is the people's hearts, the morale, and the overwhelming momentum brought about by the emperor personally leading the charge.

“Li Shiming…” Xue Huaide murmured, “You’ve won this round.”

But he had no time for reflection.

The Chu army is in retreat; he must reach the second line of defense as soon as possible to reorganize the defenses. As long as Jianghuai City stands, as long as His Majesty is still alive, there is still a chance.

"Go!" He turned his horse around and led his personal guards at breakneck speed toward Jianghuai City.

Behind them, the Dragon Gate Formation was collapsing, the Tang army was pursuing them relentlessly, and the sky was gradually brightening.

Dawn has finally arrived.

The morning light pierced through the eastern clouds, turning the battlefield, littered with corpses, a blood-red hue.

Li Shimin reined in his warhorse and stood at the breach he had personally torn open, the dragon banner fluttering in the morning breeze.

He was covered in blood, with three broken arrows stuck in his armor, but his eyes burned with the flames of victory.

Three hours.

From midnight to dawn.

With the lives of 20,000 soldiers and the madness of leading the army in person, he finally tore open this formidable barrier.

"His Majesty!"

Xue Che rode in at breakneck speed, his face beaming with elation: "The breach has been opened! The Chu army is in retreat! We...we've won!"

"win?"

Li Shimin gazed at the remnants of the Chu army fleeing towards Jianghuai City in the distance, and at the city that was gradually becoming clearer in the morning light in the distance, and slowly shook his head.

"It's still early."

He pointed his sword at Jianghuai City: "Order the entire army—do not pursue the routed soldiers, immediately reorganize your formation, there is only one objective—"

"Jianghuai City!"

"Before sunset today, I will stand atop the city walls of Jianghuai and watch the dragon flag of Great Chu fall!"

"According to the order!"

The order was given, and the Tang army began to quickly reorganize.

Despite exhaustion and heavy casualties, the elation of breaking through the Dragon Gate Formation brought morale to its peak.

Inside Jianghuai City, upon hearing the news that the Dragon Gate Formation had been broken, the morale of the defending troops plummeted.

Feng Mulan, Guan Yun, Ran Ming, and Han Xing—these four Chu army generals who were still fighting fiercely in the central square—received this devastating news almost simultaneously.

Xue Huaide's Dragon Gate Formation has been broken!