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

Tang soldiers rushed to the shield wall with ladders in hand, set up the ladders, and began to climb up.

Although most were pierced by spears, a few managed to climb the shield wall and jump into the inner circle.

Once someone jumps in, the integrity of the circular formation is compromised.

The archers and spearmen inside the city had to split up to encircle and annihilate the enemy, which created gaps in the external defenses.

Xue Dingshan led the central army in a desperate resistance.

He personally stood at the most dangerous gap, wielding his halberd like a windmill, each strike taking away several lives.

His bodyguards fell one by one, but he did not retreat an inch.

"Hold on! Everyone hold on!"

Xue Dingshan roared, his face covered in blood: "His Majesty is buying us time! Reinforcements from inside the city will arrive soon! Hold on for just a quarter of an hour, just a quarter of an hour!"

But the Tang army's offensive was too fierce.

Forty thousand well-rested and refreshed soldiers against fifty thousand exhausted and wounded troops.

The numbers are similar, but their conditions are vastly different.

The first circular formation was breached.

The shield wall collapsed, the spears broke, and the Chu soldiers inside were overwhelmed by the Tang army.

Screams echoed across the battlefield as the flag representing the circular formation slowly fell.

Then came the second, the third...

The Chu army's defensive formation was rapidly compressed.

From a diameter of one li, to eight hundred paces, to five hundred paces...

The more compressed the formation, the more difficult the defense becomes.

The soldiers stood back to back, with almost no room to turn around.

The archers could no longer launch projectiles, only horizontal shots. The spearmen's spears were too long, making them difficult to maneuver within dense formations.

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

Xue Huaide stood on the command platform, gazing at the rapidly collapsing defenses, at the soldiers fighting valiantly against the combined attacks of the Tang army and the Scorpion Clan, and at the black dragon banner charging left and right through the enemy ranks in the distance…

For the first time, a wavering appeared on his aged face.

But he knew that he could not retreat at this moment.

One retreat would mean total defeat.

If we retreat, His Majesty will be surrounded.

If we retreat, Jianghuai City will be unable to be defended.

"Pass the order..."

Xue Huaide's voice was hoarse, but still firm: "Abandon the outer circular formation, and withdraw all troops to the central army! Form the final defensive perimeter!"

"Tell the soldiers—behind us lies Jianghuai City, behind us lies His Majesty, we—have nowhere to retreat!"

With the order given, the Chu army began its final retreat.

The remaining soldiers abandoned their outer positions and converged on the central army like a receding tide.

They were covered in blood and wounds, but their eyes still burned with a final flame.

That was perseverance in despair, and indomitable spirit in dire straits.

At this moment, Chu Ning's White Dragon Cavalry was already surrounded.

Of the original three thousand people, less than a thousand remain.

They were surrounded by 30,000 Scorpion Clan cavalry, like an isolated island in the sea.

Each charge could only tear a brief opening in the enemy ranks before being filled by even more enemies.

Chu Ning's black dragon banner was already covered with arrows.

His armor was also covered in wounds, with a deep, bone-revealing cut on his left shoulder from a scimitar, and blood staining half of his battle robe.

But he continued to fight.

Every time the Shangfang Sword was swung, it carried the force of thunder.

He knew that the more enemies he killed, the less pressure the central army would face.

The longer we delay, the greater the chance of reinforcements arriving.

"Your Majesty! Left Wing!" the captain of the personal guard shouted a warning.

Chu Ning suddenly turned around, and with a sweep of his Shangfang sword, he cut down three Scorpion Clan cavalrymen who were attempting to launch a sneak attack.

But more enemies surged forward.

He was surrounded.

A true, inescapable encirclement.

Helian Hui, who was watching clearly from a distance, exclaimed with wild joy: "Chu Ning is surrounded! Order the entire army—at all costs, capture Chu Ning alive!"

The Scorpion Clan cavalry surged even more frantically toward the black dragon banner.

Meanwhile, Xue Dingshan, at the central command post, also witnessed this scene.

"His Majesty!"

His eyes were bloodshot with rage, and he wanted to lead his troops to the rescue, but the Tang army surged towards him like a tide, and he couldn't break free at all.

On the entire battlefield, the Chu army was on the verge of collapse.

The defensive formation was compressed to a radius of less than 300 paces, and the troops were reduced to just over 30,000 men.

The White Dragon Cavalry are surrounded and in imminent danger.

The offensive of the Tang army and the Scorpion Clan cavalry grew increasingly fierce.

It seems... defeat is inevitable.

But it was at this most desperate moment—

The east gate of Jianghuai City suddenly opened!

It didn't open slowly; it was forced open from the inside with tremendous force!

The city gates burst open with a roar, raising a cloud of dust!

Amidst the smoke and dust, a cavalry unit surged forth like flames!

Crimson armor, red horses, and a forest of spears.

At the very front, a large banner embroidered with a golden phoenix fluttered in the wind!

Under her banner, Feng Mulan, clad in crimson armor, with fierce phoenix eyes and a spear in hand, was like a phoenix reborn from the ashes!

Behind her stood ten thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry—the last and most elite cavalry force of the Chu army!

"Soldiers!"

Feng Mulan's voice, like a phoenix's cry echoing across the heavens, resounded throughout the battlefield: "His Majesty is fighting a fierce battle, and his comrades are bleeding! Follow me—fight your way out! Relieve His Majesty's siege and annihilate the enemy here!"

"kill--!"

Ten thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry erupted like a volcano, their flames blazing into the sky, launching their final and most frenzied counter-charge toward the center of the battlefield, toward the heavily surrounded Xuanhei Dragon Banner!

At this moment, it was exactly half an hour after Feng Mulan's promise.

Not a moment too early, not a moment too late.

In our dire straits, reinforcements have finally arrived!

When Feng Mulan's 10,000 Xuanjia Iron Cavalry crashed into the encirclement of the Scorpion Clan cavalry like raging flames, the entire battlefield situation instantly reversed.

The Crimson Armored Iron Cavalry, with their powerful warhorses and sharp spears, charged like volcanic eruptions, tearing a bloody gash through the encirclement of tens of thousands of Scorpion Clan cavalry.

Wherever the iron cavalry passed, the Scorpion Clan cavalrymen fell to the ground, and the black waves were split apart by red flames.

"Protect the Khan!"

"Hold them off!"

The Scorpion Clan generals roared and tried to close the encirclement again, but the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry's charge was too powerful.

Feng Mulan took the lead, her spear moving like a dragon, each strike precise and ruthless, targeting the Scorpion Clan cavalry's warhorses—shoot the horse before the rider, an ironclad rule in cavalry duels.

In just a quarter of an hour, the Crimson Armored Cavalry broke through the encirclement and joined up with the remaining White Dragon Cavalry who were trapped.

The moment the two armies met, Feng Mulan spotted Chu Ning at first glance.

Beneath the black dragon banner, the young emperor of the Great Chu sat atop a white horse, but blood was gushing from a deep, bone-revealing wound on his left shoulder, staining half of his battle robe red.

His face was pale, but his eyes remained sharp as knives, and the Shangfang sword in his hand was still dripping blood.

"His Majesty!"

Feng Mulan spurred her horse to Chu Ning's side, her phoenix eyes instantly blazing with fury: "They actually injured you!"

She whirled around, her spear aimed directly at the Scorpion Clan cavalry who were regrouping for their attack, her voice like shattering ice:

"I'm going to kill them all! Leave no one alive!"

Before she finished speaking, she was about to spur her horse and charge out.

"Wait a minute."