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

Xue Che's defenses began to crumble.

The situation on the left and right flanks was even more critical.

On the west side, Feng Mulan's eight thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry had completed their flanking maneuver and were attacking the gentle slope from the flank and rear.

The defenses there were the weakest, with only a thousand Tang soldiers stationed there.

"Stop them!" The Tang general stationed on the west side roared and led his troops to meet the attack.

But the outcome is predictable: infantry against cavalry, or exhausted infantry against well-rested elite cavalry.

The Xuanjia Iron Cavalry surged like a red tide, engulfing the thousand Tang soldiers in a single charge.

Feng Mulan took the lead, and wherever her spear pointed, Tang soldiers fell like weeds.

In less than fifteen minutes, the western defense line completely collapsed.

On the east side, the 6,000 naval troops, though not skilled in open field battles, had the advantage of sheer numbers.

They used insidious weapons such as fishing nets, tripwires, and hooks to divide and surround the Tang army stationed on the east side, annihilating them one by one.

Besieged on three sides, the defense line collapsed completely.

Xue Che watched from the top of the slope, his eyes wide with rage, but he was powerless to do anything about it.

His last two thousand reserve troops had all been deployed to the battlefield, leaving him with less than a hundred personal guards.

"General! The west flank has been breached!"

"The east flank can't be defended either!"

"The central route... the Chu army has broken through the central route!"

Bad news kept coming.

Xue Che gritted his teeth and raised his long sword: "Personnel guards, follow me and charge!"

"General, you mustn't!" The lieutenant desperately stopped him: "You are the commander-in-chief, if you also..."

"General?"

Xue Che gave a bitter laugh: "At this point, what's the point of talking about who's the commander? Everyone is a warrior! Everyone must fight to the death!"

He pushed aside his deputy and led the last hundred of his personal guards down the hilltop.

The battlefield has descended into complete chaos.

The Tang army was divided into dozens of small groups, each fighting its own battle.

The Chu army surged in like a tidal wave, gradually engulfing them.

Screams, wails, and the clash of weapons filled the air, turning the wasteland into a true battlefield.

Xue Che led his personal guards in a frantic charge, attempting to regroup his troops.

He cleaved a Chu soldier in two with a single stroke, then parried a spear thrust at him, but the number of enemies around him kept increasing.

"Protect the general!" the captain of the personal guard roared, leading more than ten men to desperately protect Xue Che.

But the Chu army was too large.

As more and more guards fell, Xue Che's number of protectors dwindled.

He was covered in blood, with three broken arrows stuck in his armor, and a deep, bone-revealing wound ripped into his left leg by a spear, making every step excruciating.

But he continued to fight.

Because he is a general.

Because he was the one who led these 10,000 people.

He must fight to the very last moment.

Just then, an unusual commotion suddenly arose ahead.

Xue Che looked up and saw a remnant of the Tang army of about five hundred men being besieged by a Chu army that outnumbered him several times over.

The soldiers stood back to back in a broken circle, and although people kept falling, the formation stubbornly remained intact.

And the one who commanded this remnant force was actually a young Chu army general!

The man was clad in silver armor and wielded a halberd. He charged through the chaotic army, unstoppable in his path.

Each swing of the halberd claimed the lives of several Tang soldiers.

What's even more terrifying is his martial arts skill—the halberd in his hands is as nimble as an arm, sometimes as graceful as a dragon playing in water, sometimes as fierce as a tiger descending a mountain, powerful and violent.

Xue Che's pupils suddenly contracted.

He recognized him—it was Xue Dingshan! The most outstanding young general of the Chu army, the son of Xue Huaide!

"Xue Dingshan!" Xue Che spat out the name through gritted teeth, his eyes blazing with fury.

This was the man who, in the previous battle, commanded the Chu infantry to hold off the Tang army's charge, causing Li Shimin's plan to fail.

Now, it's this same person again, slaughtering his subordinates!

"Follow me and charge!" Xue Che roared, leading the remaining guards straight towards the direction where Xue Dingshan was.

He wanted to kill this rising star of the Chu army.

To avenge his fallen comrades.

This also eliminated a major future threat to the Tang Dynasty.

Xue Dingshan also noticed the Tang army squad that had suddenly appeared. When he saw that the leader was Xue Che, a cold glint flashed in his eyes as well.

The two met suddenly amidst the chaos of battle.

No nonsense, no challenges.

Only the most primal killing intent.

"kill--!"

Xue drew his long sword and slashed down like a bolt of lightning, aiming straight for Xue Dingshan's face.

This strike embodied his life's work; the blade pierced the air, emitting a piercing shriek.

Xue Dingshan neither dodged nor flinched, his halberd held horizontally across the barrier.

clang--!

The sound of metal clashing was deafening.

Both men were knocked back three steps, their hands split open.

The first round ended in a draw.

But Xue Che's heart sank – he had used all his strength in that strike, yet it had been easily parried by his opponent.

This young man's abilities far exceeded his expectations.

"Come again!"

Xue Che gritted his teeth and slashed with his long sword again.

This time it wasn't a slash, but a sweep, the blade sweeping across Xue Dingshan's waist and abdomen.

Xue Dingshan raised his halberd, the shaft blocking the blade, while the tip, like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, thrust straight at Xue Che's throat!

This move was swift and ruthless. Xue Che hurriedly leaned back, and the tip of the halberd grazed his throat, leaving a bloody mark.

Danger after danger!

The two warhorses clashed, exchanging three blows in an instant.

Xue Che grew increasingly alarmed as he fought.

Although he was a fierce general, he was over forty years old and his physical strength was no longer at its peak.

Xue Dingshan was in his prime, and his halberd was heavy and long, making each strike powerful and heavy.

What's even more terrifying is that this young man's martial arts skills are extremely superb, and his halberd techniques are both offensive and defensive, with almost no flaws.

"The fourth round!"

Xue Dingshan suddenly spoke, his voice icy cold.

Before he finished speaking, the halberd suddenly changed its move—no longer the usual thrusting, chopping, and sweeping techniques, but instead drew a strange arc, the blade moving from bottom to top, diagonally slashing at Xue Che's left rib!

This move was executed from a tricky angle, leaving Xue Che with no choice but to block it.

clang--!

The longsword and the halberd clashed once more.

But this time, Xue Che felt a subtle, dark force emanating from the blade, causing his internal organs to churn.

He groaned, and a trace of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

The internal injury has recurred.

"The fifth round, it's time to end it."

A murderous glint flashed in Xue Dingshan's eyes. He raised his halberd high, its tip gleaming with a deathly light in the morning glow.

He was about to unleash his ultimate move—the final strike of the Xue Family Halberd Technique: Breaking the Mountain!

This move gathers all the power of the body, and when the halberd is cleaved down, it has the power to split mountains and shatter peaks.

Xue Dingshan had been practicing halberds since he was thirteen, and after twenty years of hard work, he had only mastered seven-tenths of this move. But it was enough to deal with the already injured Xue Che.

The halberd crashed down like Mount Tai!

Xue Che gritted his teeth and raised his knife to parry.

But he forgot that his sword had already clashed with the halberd multiple times, and the blade was already covered in cracks.

Click——!

The long sword snapped in two!

The halberd continued its momentum, aiming straight for Xue Che's head!

At the critical moment, Xue Che suddenly turned to the side, and the halberd slashed down on his right shoulder, slicing off his shoulder armor along with flesh!

Blood gushed out like a fountain.

The excruciating pain made Xue Che's vision go black, but he endured the pain and used the broken half of the blade to stab Xue Dingshan in the throat!

This is a suicidal fighting style!