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

Feng Mulan took the lead, clad in red armor and draped in a red cloak, wielding two swords, leading 20,000 reinforcements like a bursting dam, surging out of the city gates and heading straight for the Canglang Cavalry besieging Xue Dingshan's troops!

Her objective was clear: to repel or force back the Canglang cavalry and help the remaining Chu army retreat back into the city.

On the city wall, Liu Shijie and the others watched all this with bated breath, silently praying in their hearts.

However, at the very moment that Feng Mulan led her troops out of the city gates and rushed towards Xue Dingshan's battlefield—

On the central high platform of the core camp of the Youzhou army and the Scorpion Clan allied forces outside the city.

Gongsun Yi, the Scorpion Clan General who had been observing the situation as still as a stone statue, finally let a cold and extremely smug smile slowly curl up at the corner of his mouth.

That smile looked particularly ferocious on his weathered and tattooed face.

"As expected... we fell for it."

Gongsun Yi's voice was deep and cheerful, as if the hunter had finally seen his prey step into a carefully laid trap.

"A woman is, after all, a woman. Being soft-hearted and acting on emotions is the greatest weakness of a general!"

"Feng Mulan, if you were heartless and watched those two thousand remnants of your army be wiped out, I would have really gone to great lengths to forcefully attack your turtle shell. But now..."

His eyes flashed with a cold light, and he suddenly swung his arm, shouting sternly at the many messengers and generals standing beside him:

"Send word to the entire army! The time for a general offensive has arrived!"

"Ulhan's Grey Wolf Cavalry need not entangle with Feng Mulan any longer. After a brief resistance, they should feign defeat and scatter to the flanks, allowing Feng Mulan to reunite with her reinforcements and the remaining thousand or so men!"

"The 20,000 heavily armored infantrymen of the Youzhou Army's Iron Wall Battalion, the 15,000 light cavalry of the Swift Wind Battalion, and the 10,000 elite Blood Wolf Guards of my Scorpion Clan, who are lying in ambush on the left and right flanks, shall immediately launch a full-scale attack!"

"Target—the Chu army led by Feng Mulan who has left the city! Cut them off in half, encircle them, and drive them toward the city gate!"

"The rest of the troops, follow my central army and press forward! Once the Chu army is routed and its formation is in disarray, pursue them closely and seize the gate! Jianghuai City will surely fall today!"

He paused, gazing at Feng Mulan's troops engaged in battle with the vanguard of the Azure Wolf Cavalry in the distance, as if he could already foresee victory, his voice filled with an air of absolute control:

"Next, all we need to do is defeat and scatter Feng Mulan's troops, causing them to flee back to the city gate in a panic."

"Our troops can then follow closely like shadows, trailing their defeated soldiers, and storm into the city in one fell swoop!"

"At that time, the defenders on the city walls will be hesitant to act, and the city gates will be difficult to close. Jianghuai City will then be ours for the taking! Hahahaha!"

"Waaaaaah!"

The shrill and urgent bugle call for the final assault instantly resounded throughout the plains outside Jianghuai City!

Unlike the previous horn calls used by the Azure Wolf Riders to harass them, this horn call was filled with the ferocity and killing intent of a full-scale attack and a decisive battle to the death!

With the sound of horns, the seemingly peaceful allied camp suddenly opened its gates on both sides like a prehistoric beast awakening!

Countless dark-colored armies surged out!

On the left was a square formation of heavily armored infantry from Youzhou, their armor gleaming and their steps heavy as thunder, like a moving steel wall.

To the right was a massive cavalry force, its hooves thundering like a sudden downpour, a mix of Youzhou light cavalry and Scorpion Clan Blood Wolf Guards.

Like two giant scimitars, they slashed fiercely at the waist of Feng Mulan's 20,000 Chu troops who had just left the city, were fighting the Canglang Cavalry, and had not yet fully deployed their formation!

Further back, the main force of the central army, personally led by Gongsun Yi, also began to slowly advance, like a monstrous wave sweeping everything away!

Feng Mulan was wielding her sword and felling a centurion of the Canglang Cavalry when she suddenly heard deafening horns and battle cries coming from all directions.

Looking up, one could see enemy troops surging in like a tide across the mountains and plains on the left and right horizons, instantly forming a huge pincer movement around our side!

Meanwhile, the Wolf Riders in front spread out to the flanks like a tide, revealing an even more terrifying torrent of steel behind them!

Her heart sank suddenly, as if she had fallen into an ice cave.

We've fallen for their trap!

Gongsun Yi's goal was never just Xue Dingshan's two thousand men, or even entirely about stopping them from rescuing His Majesty!

His real killer move was to exploit her reluctance to leave her comrades and lure her out of the city.

Then, with overwhelming superiority, we will wipe out her fresh army in this open field battle and seize the city!

"Contract your formation! Fight your way back toward the city gate! Quickly!"

Feng Mulan reacted swiftly, immediately shouting orders for her troops to turn around and attempt to retreat back into the city before the encirclement was completely closed.

But it was too late!

"kill--!!!"

Amidst deafening battle cries, the heavily armored infantry of the Youzhou army crashed into the flank of the retreating Chu army like an iron wall.

Meanwhile, the cavalry groups on both flanks, like sharp blades, slashed fiercely into the Chu army's ranks!

In an instant, the once orderly Chu army was scattered and fell into chaos as everyone fought their own battles!

A planned rescue operation quickly turned into a larger and more brutal battle and retreat in the wild!

At this moment, the fate of Jianghuai City was pushed into an even more perilous and unpredictable abyss!

Seeing the enemy forces on the left and right flanks closing in fiercely like giant steel pincers, their battle cries shook the heavens and the earth.

With her own formation crumbling, Feng Mulan instantly realized Gongsun Yi's entire scheme.

Regret and anger burned like poisonous fire in her heart, but as the commander-in-chief, she knew that any emotional outburst at this moment was meaningless. Only by remaining calm could she find a glimmer of hope.

"No chaos! All troops, listen to my command!"

She let out a sharp shout, and with her heavy iron sword, she fiercely deflected a spear thrusting from the side. Her voice was infused with internal energy, striving to suppress the clamor of the battlefield.

"All teams, move closer to me! Tighten your formation!"

Her gaze was like lightning, quickly sweeping across the battlefield.

Not far away, Xue Dingshan's dilapidated circular formation was still struggling to hold on, but it was being pushed even more precariously by the swarming enemy troops, like a small boat about to capsize in a raging storm.

Abandoning them might allow my 20,000 troops to retreat more quickly.

But putting aside the fact that Xue Dingshan and his nearly one thousand loyal soldiers were put in a deadly situation because of his decision, from a military point of view, every bit of strength gained at this moment would increase their chances of stabilizing their position in the field and retreating back into the city!

Moreover, the resilience of Xue Dingshan's troops, which has fought so hard to get to this point, is exactly what is needed at this moment.

In a flash, Feng Mulan had already made her decision.

"Liu Shijie's vanguard, launch a counter-charge against the enemy's left flank! Victory is not the goal; merely slowing down their encirclement is sufficient!"

She first ordered a relatively intact force to launch a proactive attack to relieve pressure on the flanks and buy time.

Then, she let out a long howl, raised her twin swords high, her crimson cloak fluttering in the morning breeze, becoming the most conspicuous landmark on the chaotic battlefield:

"All units of the central army, follow me! Target—General Xue Dingshan's troops ahead! Break through the enemy encirclement and bring them out!"